Hagrid's Journey

"Hagrid!" Rubeus Hagrid dropped his cup of tea and nearly fell out of his chair when he heard the headmaster's voice in his cabin. He whirled around, but saw no one.

"Headmaster?"

"Down here, Hagrid."

Looking around, Hagrid's eyes fell on the fire. Albus Dumbledore's head seemed to be floating in the flames. Hagrid's black eyes twinkled as he smiled down at him. "Well, hello there Headmaster. How are ya'? Can I get you anything?"

The headmaster's face was grave and the customary sparkle was missing from his eyes as he replied, "There's no time to talk. I need you at Godric's Hollow as soon as you can. Use whatever means necessary to get there." With that, he vanished. Hagrid sat staring at the fire for a few seconds, before mentally shaking himself and bringing his dishes to the sink.

'Godric's Hollow...' he murmured to himself. 'Now where have I heard of that before?' As he was pulling on his huge moleskin coat, the realization came to him. 'Lily and James!' He ran out the door of his hut, not even bothering to tie up Fang. When he arrived outside, he glance around to make sure no one was watching, and promptly Disapparated.

When he arrived at Godric's Hollow, a horrible site met his eyes. The house on the hill was in ruins, smoking. Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall were standing nearby, conversing in hushed tones and looking very worried. As Hagrid drew closer, he could see Minerva had been crying. "Headmaster?" he asked. Dumbledore turned around. His face was drawn and pale, none of his usual happiness was in it.

"Hagrid, Lily and James have been killed. Earlier this evening..." But Hagrid wasn't listening anymore. He sunk to the ground, hands over his eyes. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, hugging himself, eyes staring unseeing, his mind going so fast, but he wasn't thinking anything. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked up. It was Sirius Black. His eyes, too, were red with tears, and he looked shocked as well.

"Hagrid..." he started, but his voice broke and a new flood of tears started. Hagrid stood up and wiped the tears from his eyes. He reached out to give Siruis a comforting pat on the shoulder, but the young man grabbed him in a tight embrace. He awkwardly patted him on the head and made soothing noises.

"There, there. Buck up."

Sirius pulled back and said, "They need you over there, come on." The two men walked a little way down the hill, where Dumbledore was standing talking to a ministry official.

As they drew closer, Hagrid noticed the Headmaster was holding a bundle in his arms. "Ah, Hagrid," he said. "I need you to do something for me. This is Harry." He handed the bundle in his arms to the gamekeeper. A young boy with sparkly green eyes and jet-black hair smiled up at him. "Lily and James' son," continued Dumbledore. "I need you to take him to this address right away." Dumbledore handed Hagrid a slip of paper. "Everything will be explained when you get there." Hagrid nodded and started to walk away.

"Hagrid, wait!" He turned to see young Sirius running after him. "Take my motorcycle. It will be faster. But be careful, ok?" Sirius pressed a pair of keys into the half-giant's hand before he ran back to the wreckage. Hagrid found a shiny motorcycle parked in the street at the bottom of the hill.

The young boy in his arms stirred and opened his eyes. "Hello, Harry." Said Hagrid, although he knew the boy couldn't understand. He was just under a year old, after all. 'Poor little tyke.' Hagrid thought to himself. He looked over his shoulder at the ruined house behind him. It was covered with people, mostly searching, and many crying. He saw someone pull what looked like a body from the wreckage. Hagrid gruffly wiped away a tear as he threw a leg over Sirius' motorcycle, and kicked it into life. He was surprised to feel it rise into the air. A ghost of a smile crossed the giant's face as he sat back to enjoy the ride. He tried not to think of what had happened to Lily and James.

"Well Harry, you're in for an adventure, I expect. Shame you will never know your mum or dad. They were the nicest folk you could ever hope to meet."

As Hagrid glanced down at the young boy in his arms, he noticed he was bleeding. He pulled an enormous handkerchief out of one of his many pockets, and wiped the trickle of blood off his cheek. As he lifted up the boy's hair, he found the cut. It stood out, livid, bright red against his pale skin. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt. And then Hagrid knew. The realization came at him so quickly; it could have fallen out of the sky. He knew what happened, and why Dumbledore had wanted him out of there as fast as possible.

"Avada Kedavra," he whispered, "the Killing Curse." He felt his blood run cold as he thought of the one person cruel enough to do such a thing. Instinctively, he tightened his grip on Harry and checked over his shoulder. The boy in his arms looked up at him with interest. Hagrid looked down incredulously.

"How...?" He began, and then stopped, realizing it was pointless to ask a question that had no answer. He slowly stroked the poor child's head until he fell asleep. He watched the baby breathing, looking none the worse for his ordeal, except for that cut.

Hagrid allowed his thoughts to wander as he piloted the flying motorcycle. He thought of Lily and James, even though it hurt to do so. It had always seemed like nothing could stop them. Everyone thought they would have a fairy tale ending from the moment they first announced they were 'going steady'. They were the perfect couple. Then, when they were married, it seemed certain that their future was very bright. James was becoming one of the best Aurors in the ministry, and Lily was pregnant. Everything should have been so wonderful. Hagrid had to fight back the tears these memories brought. He mentally shook himself, and then dipped below the clouds to see where he was. He spotted the town he was looking for, and began his descent.

"Well, Harry, it's been fun. I suppose I'll see you in a few years, you'll be at Hogwarts of course." He slowly brought the bike down in front of Number 4, Privet Drive, where Albus and Minerva were waiting for him.