Hagrid and the Trolls

It was in the midst of the worst winter Hogwarts had experienced. The snow was six foot deep and the wind howled incessantly. Hagrid was sitting before the fire in his hut. He was a little depressed. Still a boy, yet ten feet tall and as nearly as wide as three men, he was lonely. Tom Riddle had falsely accused him of opening the Chamber of Secrets. His pet spider, Aragog, had been targeted as the killer of a young girl. Hagrid and Aragog both knew they hadn't done the terrible deed. The Ministry of Magic was not so convinced. The Ministry had expelled him from Hogwarts and had broken his wand, forbidding him to practice magic. The great Professor Dumbledore had never believed Hagrid was guilty.

Only fourteen, Hagrid had nowhere to go. His father was dead and his mother had wandered off doing whatever giants do. Hagrid was alone. Professor Dumbledore offered him the job of Keeper of the Keys and Grounds for Hogwarts. Hagrid gladly accepted. The Professor often visited him and discussed his ideas about teaching in the school. It made Hagrid proud that the Professor valued his opinion. Others just dismissed him as a stupid oaf.

Dumbledore would ask his opinion and then muse on Hagrid's response. "Hagrid," he would say. "I never thought about that side of the problem. You are very good about revealing how some one might feel about my decisions. It allows me to make a better decision if I can understand how it might affect others."

There came a knock on the door of the hut. Hagrid opened the door and there stood Professor Dumbledore. "Well, let me in Rubeus. It is cold as the dickens out here."

Hagrid's face lit up. "Welcome, Professor!"

"I have told you many times to call me Albus," replied Dumbledore.

"I know, Professor. Would you like some tea or maybe a brandy?" asked Hagrid.

"No thank you, Hagrid, not yet. I am on a mission. As you know it is unseasonably cold this year. The snows are very deep and natural sources of food are scarce. Certain inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest may be inclined to come to Hogwarts in search of food. This presents a problem."

Hagrid drank in every word Dumbledore spoke.

"The mountain trolls do not have their usual supply of deer and other animals to feed themselves. If they get really hungry, they will come down from the mountains possibly to Hogwarts searching for food. If they do, the students will be in danger as the trolls aren't too particular as to who or what they eat. Your mission will be to patrol the grounds. I know it is miserable outside and I would not wish anyone to have to walk around in the wet and cold, but you must look for possible signs of their intrusion. As you know, with their size and strength they are capable of great destruction!"

Hagrid replied a thoughtful look on his face, "Yes, trolls aren't too smart, but we can't condemn them for being hungry. If they come, is there some way I can contact you? Is there some way we can get them food?"

"Always the considerate fellow Hagrid, you have the ability to understand other creatures' needs and methods and you don't condemn them for something that is their nature. Trolls don't kill for pleasure. They are just not too smart. Being easily confused, if they feel threatened, they strike out first with violence. They can be quite gentle at times. However, they are very powerful and so they are dangerous. I trust, you can make first contact with one in an agreeable fashion. I have contracted with some wizard suppliers for food for them, if we can find where they are wintering. If you see any, try to follow them back to where they are living. Since you don't have a wand," Dumbledore glanced over in the corner at Hagrid's umbrella, "I have developed this device."

Dumbledore gave him a small glass ball with green smoke swirling around in it.

"Just stick your finger in the hole. I will know where you are."

Hagrid stuck his finger in the hole and the smoke slowly formed into a picture of him and Dumbledore sitting in his hut.

"Interesting, wouldn't you say, Hagrid? I have the mate. The two are magically connected. And now for that brandy," said Dumbledore. They made small talk for a while. Hagrid asked if he could have a dragon.

"We will have to see." Dumbledore smiled, getting up from the chair. "Hagrid, I am depending on you." He patted Hagrid's shoulder and made his way back to his quarters in Hogwarts.

"Great man, Professor Dumbledore," thought Hagrid. "He has left me in charge of the security of Hogwarts. He really believes in me."

By the second day, there were great paths around Hogwarts stomped in the snow as Hagrid took his work seriously. Trolls, having weak eyesight, did not like traveling in the dark. They would if necessary, but not normally. Hagrid felt he could relax his vigil at night.

A week into his work it dawned a brilliant shiny winters day. Venturing out of his hut, he was suddenly hit from behind by something huge. Diving to the side, he avoided the major force of the charge. For his great size not only was Hagrid strong, but he was amazingly fast. He looked up; it was a mountain troll. The troll was about two to three feet taller than he was. It had tried to knock him over so it could bash him with its club.

It was the largest mountain troll Hagrid had ever seen. Not the tallest perhaps but it was wider than Hagrid by far. Its clothes were crude. The trousers were roughly stitched deerskin with a massive belt holding them up. Its shirt or coat was long sleeved with tuffs of long hair sticking out every which way. The buttons were lopsided the size of teacups. It had a simple cap with no bill or earflaps covering its pointed head. The prominent ears usually gray were reddened by the cold. The gray skin of its face and arms was stretched tight to the bones. It must not have eaten for a while.

All this was not important as it raised its six-foot long club and beat the ground with a mighty blow where Hagrid had been only a second before.

"Trying to hurt me are you big fellow!" thought Hagrid. "Let's see how you can wrestle." As the club raised again, Hagrid stood and then moved under the arm and grasped the troll. Picking it up, he turned and threw it to the ground. Almost as fast as Hagrid, the troll was quickly on its feet. It had lost its club when it fell. It looked over at the club and then at Hagrid. Roaring it slammed its chest into Hagrid trying to wrap its arms around him. Hagrid rolled backwards with the impact and kicked up on the troll's belly causing him to flip over and land in the snow sliding on slick surface. In a heartbeat the troll had turned over on all fours and charged again. It wasn't roaring this time; it was grunting. It was getting serious. With its long arms outspread, it again attempted to grab Hagrid. Hagrid just sidestepped it and tripped it as it went by. The troll plowed a furrow in the snow with its face. It was a little slower getting up this time. Its lack of food had weakened it. It got up slowly. It walked toward Hagrid its arms outspread, a grumbling deep in its chest.

Hagrid let it get close and slipped inside its encircling arms and clamped his hands together behind its back. Squeezing with all his might Hagrid lifted the troll off the ground. The troll screamed a most horrible sound and flailed Hagrid's back with its great fists. Hagrid squeezed harder. He felt the back and ribs starting to give way. The troll simply went limp. It was done for. Hagrid released it and gently laid it on the snow. It was still breathing, but it was no longer conscious.

"I hope I didn't hurt him!" thought Hagrid as he rearranged the troll so it would be comfortable. He then went into his hut. A great dragon steak was hanging from the rafters. He had been hanging it for a week to tenderize it. He grabbed it and took it with him outside to the troll.

The troll was finally waking up. "You sure smell bad," thought Hagrid. "Body odor is a big problem, though probably not as bad a pigsty."

The troll awoke and sat up looking for his club. Hagrid said, "Pezz!" and threw the dragon steak on the troll's legs. The troll looked at it and looked at him and began to eat.

Between bites it mumbled, "Pezz."

Hagrid thumped his chest, "Hagrid."

"Hag-id." The troll thumped his chest and replied, "Unk!"

As he ate the troll looked as if he was thinking. "Unk hunger." He patted his stomach. Standing, he put his palm at different heights and said what sounded like a name for each height. Twang at the lowest about five feet off the ground, Ruka about six feet off the ground, and Ren-na about ten feet off the ground. Again making the signs he said, "Hunger. Hag-id food Unk?"

Hagrid nodded. "Yes Hag-id food Unk."

The troll grinned. It had a great mouth full of teeth the size of Hagrid's thumbs. They were yellow and brown and had green scum living on the gray gums.

Hagrid went into the hut and got his knapsack and the locator ball. He had made up a travel pack just in case a troll appeared. Going back outside he handed Unk a large piece of dried meat. Hagrid pointed to his hut, thumped his chest, and said, "Ho Hag-id!" He pointed towards the Forbidden Forest and asked, "Ho Unk?"

Unk nodded slowly, retrieved his club, and started off through the snow into the Forbidden Forest. Neither snow, trees, nor underbrush was an obstacle for the great legs pushing his body forward. Hagrid being almost as tall as the troll kept up easily. This was the fastest Hagrid had ever seen a troll move except when they were fighting. Unk seemed to want to get some where and quickly.

When Unk finished the slab of dried meat, Hagrid reached into his knapsack and offered him another piece. Unk shook his head no and put out his palm at different heights again.

Hagrid thought to himself, "Well it appears most wizards are wrong about trolls. I believe the different hand heights are his family and they are starving. That is why he is in such a hurry. So trolls do show concern for others if only for others of their kind. The trolls that get into trouble are always males, and maybe young males at that."

Unk had lines around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. He was older than most of the trolls Hagrid had seen. No one had ever seen female trolls or children for that matter. It might be that the young males traveled to find an area to live in, large enough for their appetites and possibly also a family's. Once they had an area they controlled, they could find a mate. Pretty basic stuff. If you couldn't feed a family, you didn't get a mate. The larger older males would send them on their way if they came poking around in the elders area. In their search for new territory they would possibly come in contact with non-trolls which usually created problems.

As they walked, Unk would grab dried berries and green leaves around him and stuff them in his mouth. He also smacked a lot of trees and bushes with his club. If something came out, he was quick to grab it and eat it.

"Effective," thought Hagrid, "but not too scientific." As big as the trolls were, they had to be opportunists when it came to food. They didn't grow crops or raise animals.

As day grew into night they continued without rest. Unk must be desperate to continue in the dark. The forest was thinning a little and there was more grassland covered in snow. In the direction they were heading, there were great mountains looming. The wind blew plumbs of snow off the peak's shaping the snow to look as if it were horses tails. The air was getting thinner and colder as the miles they walked increased. Hagrid again offered Unk more meat, but he waved his hand no. He had been slowing down some probably due to weakness from hunger. Yet he wanted to save the food for his family.

As the sun began to come up, Hagrid stopped and looked back at the way they had came. They were now high up in the mountains. The trees, mostly pines, were barely twice as tall as they were.

As they walked to the top of a ridge covered with weathered granite and snowdrifts, Unk suddenly stopped. He looked carefully around, then grunted a long low sound. The sound carried a great distance echoing off the surrounding valleys and peaks. A softer quieter grunt responded. Motioning to Hagrid, Unk almost charged down the hill towards a small valley deep with snow and covered in pines. The soft grunt sounded again and he changed course bashing trees and rocks aside as if they were simply pebbles and sticks.

They came out into what would have been a grassy area before a small cave, large enough for a small family of trolls. What looked to be a very young male was huddled before a fire. He looked up and grunted weakly at his father. Hagrid took off his knapsack and handed it to Unk. Unk looked at him a second and dug into the knapsack and handed a slab of dried meat to his son. Standing wobbly, his son embraced his father and grunted greetings. Unk held him a while and grunted a louder message. A softer grunt came from the cave. Unk went into the cave. A deep forceful scream of mortal pain shattered the morning stillness. The very rocks shivered in its intensity. Unk came out of the cave carrying what appeared to be a child. Handing it to Hagrid with great care, Unk sobbed, "Gon!"

Accepting the burden, Hagrid looked down upon what must be a troll female child. Totally limp, it wasn't breathing that he could see. It must be dead. He stuck his ear to the child's chest and heard a faint, very faint heartbeat. Unk stood there wringing his huge hands, tears washing down his face.

Running to the knapsack with the child in his arms, Hagrid snatched up the smoke filled ball and ran to a cleared space on a spur of rock.

"Professor Dumbledore, if I have every needed you more, please be there!"

Tears of emotion were streaming down Hagrid's face as he sobbed uncontrollably. He inserted his finger into the ball. The green smoke changed into a picture of him holding the small troll child. It then changed to a picture of Dumbledore eating his morning breakfast and gazing into the ball. Almost instantly Dumbledore was there.

Assessing the situation quickly, Dumbledore quietly asked Hagrid to hold the small parcel gently. Taking out his wand he passed it over the child slowly. He pulled a bottle of potion from a pocket in his robe and slowly let it touch the child's lips, blue liquid dripped into the child's mouth. The lips moved. Waving his wand at the knapsack, a slab of meat hurled towards him. With a quick swish of his wand, the meat had been chopped finely. Using his wand he directed a tiny flow of the food between the lips of the girl. It made its self down her throat. Stopping, he said, "I have done what I can. We must give her back to her parents. They know more of her needs than we do."

As Hagrid carried the child back to its parents, Dumbledore gently let more potion flow down her throat. Hagrid placed the bundle into what appeared to be the hands of a female troll. She broke into great heaving sobs and accepted the burden gently. The female was barely skin and bones. Her eyes were hollow and gleaming with the fever of starvation. Sinking to her knees she accepted a slab of dried meat and began to chew it. Looking up at Hagrid and Dumbledore, she managed what would be a troll smile. Then she looked back down at the bundle and started singing and moving the bundle back and forth gently. Her singing sounded like bull elephants fighting each other, but it must be soothing to the child.

Dumbledore was checking the young male. He forced a small quantity of portion between the child's lips and it drank slowly. Approaching Unk with the potion, Unk shook his head and pointed at his mate. As Dumbledore gave the female some of the brew, Unk collapsed. He slowly sank to the ground and passed out. "Straighten him out, Hagrid, if you would."

Hagrid straightened Unk and placed a rock under his head for a pillow and stood up. Dumbledore was finished with the female. He then gave Unk some of the potion. "Professor," said Hagrid. "I think, we were barely in time. If there are other trolls here, we must help them too."

"Aye, Hagrid, so true so true. They are not a favored creature in our world, but as you can see, they can feel lost as well as us. They are neither greater nor lesser than our selves are. They are just different. We must help Unk recover quickly. I believe he is some kind of leader. He can contact the other trolls and we can proceed from there. I must go, Hagrid. I have many responsibilities. You have done an excellent job of finding them. Care for them as only you can and I will be back in a while." With a loud pop Dumbledore disappeared.

Basking in Dumbledore's praise, Hagrid set to work. He went and chopped firewood, drew water and took care of feeding the troll family. Unk and the boy recovered the quickest. They helped him feeding the female and child. The female would take a week to recover the child longer. The females apparently were the first to starve as the males were given the food to maintain their strength in hopes of finding enough food for everyone.

Dumbledore returned the next morning. "Hagrid, if Unk is strong enough we must find out how bad the situation is."

Dumbledore sat in front of Unk and started to grunt and gesture. Unk got up, went to the rock spur and bellowed three times. All three of them sat on the rocks and listened. Unk started to look worried. Then there were answering bellows echoing through out the valley. Unk looked at Dumbledore and grunted.

Unk bellowed some more and there were more bellows in answer.

"There must have been casualties, Hagrid. Mostly the very old and very young, I suspect. Unk has told them we have food." Waving his wand, immense piles of raw meat appeared.

Unk stopped himself from grabbing a bite. Sniffing the air, Unk pointed. Male trolls of all ages were climbing into the valley. They grunted to Unk.

Unk gave them each a portion of meat, which they placed in a leather bag or on a piece of skin. Each left in a hurry. He seemed to know, how much to let each have. Sounds of life and death permeated the valleys. Some were in time, others were not. As big and powerful as they were, life was still a challenge of survival for them.

"Hagrid, we must not let them become dependent on us. We will only feed them until natural food is available."

"I understand, Professor."

Unk and Hagrid visited many troll families. He was a chieftain of sorts. The head male of a family and he would thump each other's chest and bellow at each other. Then they would settle down and grumble at each other. There were only about thirty families and about one hundred and fifty individuals. As Dumbledore suspected, many very young and very old trolls had died. The trolls would dig a hole and bury the dead and then cover them with mounds of rocks. They then pounded their chests and wailed their sorrow. They didn't eat their dead as some wizards suggested.

Hagrid observed the families. The boys would play rough with each other. They copied their fathers and would bash everything with their smaller clubs. The men apparently were in charge of getting food, gathering firewood, and getting water. They used hollowed out logs for containers and each cave had a great stone basin in which they cooked food. Meat was eaten raw or cooked it did not seem to matter.

The older young males would fight, grunting and bellowing, and practice with their clubs, all the time watching to see if the older young females were watching. It reminded Hagrid of the students at Hogwarts gesturing and profiling for the attentions of their selected beau.

The females looked like the males except they had a gray mat of short hair covering their head. They had large bosoms, which hung low on their chests, under their shirts. The females tended the fires, cooked, and made clothes from the skins of animals. There was some attempt to decorate the clothes, but it left a lot to be desired. The girls closely watched their mothers and the other females. They would try to do what their mothers did. While working the females would chat, if you would call it that, with a whole lot of grunting and gesturing. They watched their children closely. The males were bigger, but the females ruled the roost.

Hagrid made a doll out of grass and sticks and tied cloth around it so it looked like a troll child. He gave it to Unk's baby girl. She was delighted. She had been recovering nicely. She was sitting on her father's lap and he had been playing with her. Getting up, she walked up to Hagrid with her eyes glowing and gently smacked him upside his head. It was the equivalent to a troll kiss. Unk laughed.

Hagrid smiled. He was happy he could help.

Dumbledore told Hagrid, "Hagrid, you are only fourteen, but you have proved yourself more mature than men many times your age. Yours was a difficult task and you performed it well. I am proud of you."

Hagrid basked in Dumbledore's praise.

Once a year in the winter Hagrid would venture to the mountains with a knapsack of meat and seek out Unk. He was always welcome.