Percy Jackson and the Department of Mysteries

146) Hagrid, The Kidnapper

"Jus' a precaution," Hagrid shrugged.

"You didn't bring your crossbow last time," Hermione said nervously.

"Nah, well, we weren' goin' so far then," Hagrid said. "An' anyway, tha' was before Firenze left the forest, wasn' it?"

"Why does Firenze leaving make a difference?" I asked.

"'Cause the other centaurs are good an' riled at me, tha's why," Hagrid spoke softly, glancing at the trees around us. "They used ter be — well, yeh couldn' call them friendly — but we got on all righ'. Kept 'emselves to 'emselves, bu' always turned up if I wanted a word. Not anymore..." He sighed heavily.

"Firenze said that they're angry because he want to work for Dumbledore?" Harry asked, pretending he hadn't just tripped over a root in the path.

"Yeah," Hagrid huffed. "Well, angry doesn' cover it. Ruddy livid. If I hadn' stepped in, I reckon they'd've kicked Firenze ter death —"

"They attacked him?" Hermione sounded strangely shocked. I thought she'd seen the hoof shaped bruise on his chest.

"Yep," Hagrid pushed his way through several low hanging branches. "He had half the herd onto him —"

"And you stopped it?" I blinked, a little amazed. "By yourself?" It was like trying to fight a chapter of the party ponies, but more organized and less likely to call for a root beer break.

"'Course I did, couldn't stand by an' watch 'em kill him, could I?" Hagrid shook his head. "Lucky I was passin', really... an' I'd've thought Firenze mighta remembered tha' before he started sendin' me stupid warnin's!" He added hotly.

My friends and I shared a look at that. Was the warning like you must stop being such a great groundskeeper, or else or was it like when the Oracle pretty much stated you were going to die but was actually talking about someone else like the son of Athena's final breath bullshit.

"Anyway," Hagrid continued, "since the other centaurs've bin livid with me an' the trouble is, they've got a lot of influence in the forest.... Cleverest creatures in here..."

"Is that why we're here, Hagrid?" Hermione asked. "The centaurs?"

"Ah no," Hagrid said dismissively, "no, it's not them.... Well, o' course, they could complicate the problem, yeah.... But yeh'll see what I mean in a bit..."

It was on that mysterious note that we continued farther into the woods, trying to come up with possible ideas of what we could be seeing without saying so much as a word. I figured it was some sort of creature — Hagrid dealt best with the life of the forest — but I had no clue what it could be that he'd keep so hush hush. I also got the feeling that the crossbow wasn't actually for the centaurs. If they'd wanted him dead, he'd be dead, defensive weapon or not. He knew that.

It was all giving me the heebie-jeebies.

The path grew more overgrown, wild grass and gnarled tree roots making the going difficult. I was familiar with the forest, though I didn't bother with paths much, but this was farther than I tended to go. Draco might've been back this far before. Probably had. I'd have to tell him about whatever Hagrid showed us. He'd probably find it interesting.

Then Hagrid stepped off of the path.

"Hagrid?" Harry fought his way over some brambles that Hagrid had easily stepped over. "Where are we going?"

"But further," Hagrid said cryptically. "C'mon.... We need ter keep together now..."

Easier said than done. I was used to a bit of off-roading, but the grass was long and rugged at your legs, the tree roots large and easy to miss, the world awash in branches that caught onto our clothes and scratched our arms. Hagrid's legs were too long for us, and we had to practically run to keep up. It didn't help that it was quickly growing dark, the light becoming murky and shadowed, Hagrid's form becoming little more than a silhouette.