Raised By Wolfstar: Slytherin Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Chapter Twenty-One: Hagrid's Tale

Harry sprinted up to the boys' dormitory to fetch the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map from his trunk, which thankfully none of his dorm mates were there or they would have learned his secret; he was so quick that he, Allison, and Theodore were ready to leave at least five minutes before Tracey hurried back down from the girls' dormitories, wearing scarf, gloves, and an emerald hat.

'The lake is freezing over, I'm not going out there in just the Cloak,' she said defensively, as Theodore clicked his tongue impatiently.

Having team logistics to figure out, Terence decided not to go with them, which just left Harry, Tracey, Allison, and Theodore creeping through the enchanted wall and covered themselves hastily in the cloak—it wasn't so easy covering the four of them as it had in their first year, all but Tracey needed to crouch to prevent there feet showing—then, moving slowly and cautiously, they proceeded up the many staircases, pausing at intervals to check the map for signs of Filch or Mrs Norris. They were lucky; they saw nobody but the Bloody Baron, who was gliding along menacingly as he normally did. They crept across the entrance hall and then out into the silent, snowy grounds. With a great leap of his heart, Harry saw little golden squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from Hagrid's chimney. He set off at a quick march, the other two jostling and bumping along behind him, and they crunched excitedly through the thickening snow until at last they reached the wooden front door; when Harry raised his fist and knocked three times, a dog started barking frantically inside.

'Hagrid, it's us!' Harry called through the keyhole.

'Shoulda known!' said a gruff voice.

They beamed at one another under the cloak; they could tell that Hagrid's voice was pleased. 'Bin home three seconds...Out the way, Fang...First Canini shows up and now you four...Out the way, yeh dozy dog...'

The bolt was drawn back, the door creaked open, and Hagrid's head appeared in the gap.

Tracey screamed.

'Merlin's beard, keep it down!' said Hagrid hastily, staring wildly over their heads. 'Under that cloak, are yeh? Well, get in, get in!'

'I apologize.' Tracey gasped, as the four of them squeezed past Hagrid into the house and pulled the cloak off themselves so he could see them. 'It's just—are you ok?'

'It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!' said Hagrid hastily, shutting the door behind them and hurrying to close all the curtains, but Tracey continued to gaze up at him in horror.

Hagrid's hair was matted with congealed blood, and his left eye had been reduced to a puffy slit amid a mass of purple-and-black bruises. There were many cuts on his face and hands, some of them still bleeding, and he was moving gingerly, which made Harry suspect broken ribs. It was obvious that he had only just got home; a thick black traveling cloak lay over the back of a chair and a haversack large enough to carry several small children leaned against the wall inside the door. Hagrid himself, twice the size of a normal man and three times as broad, was now limping over to the fire and placing a copper kettle over it.

Sitting in a chair looking relieved to have additional company was Canini, who gave them a little wave.

'What happened to you?' Harry demanded, while Fang danced around them all, trying to lick their faces.

'Told yeh, nuthin',' said Hagrid firmly. 'Want a cuppa?'

'Hagrid you look like you can barely stand,' said Theodore in a serious but concerned tone. Out of all of them Theodore had experience with this kind of injuries.

'I'm tellin' yeh, I'm fine,' said Hagrid, straightening up and turning to beam at them all, but wincing. 'Blimey, it's good ter see you five again—had good summers, did yeh?'