Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Twenty Three

"I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject.

As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not— as he has always pretended— a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose where-abouts are currently unknown.

Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass muggle killings of his reign of terror.

While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Arours working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in the foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.

In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power— thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend— but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.

Of course it had been a secret that Hagrid was half giant. Giants had a horrible reputation, even among mortals. But how had Hagrid's lineage ended up in the paper? And now that it was out, what was going to happen with Hagrid? Dumbledore must have known, which didn't surprise Annabeth, but it seemed no one else had until now.

She got to Hagrid's cabin just in time to hear Ron shout, "who're you? Where's Hagrid?"

"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," the woman said shortly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry pretty much yelled.

"He is indisposed. This way, please."

Indisposed? As the class followed Professor Grubbly-Plank, Annabeth looked over her shoulder at Hagrid's closed off cabin. How much was he letting the article get to him? Was he just going to hide in his house forever? Annabeth sighed in frustration. He was letting them win.

A chorus of high pitched gasps turned Annabeth's attention back to the front of the class, where a beautiful unicorn was tethered to a tree. Its skin was so pearly white it was almost hard to look at, and its horn and hooves were a shining gold.

Annabeth had seen unicorns before, and she didn't really understand why everyone was so obsessed with them. Sure, they were beautiful, and their horns had a few magical properties, but they didn't really do any more than a normal horse would.

"Boys keep back!" Grubbly-Plank shouted. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it..."

Annabeth leaned against a tree while a swarm of girls slowly walked over to the unicorn. The poor thing was trotting in place nervously, tossing its mane as the girls surrounded it and Grubbly-Plank started listing off its magical properties.

The unicorn was starting to calm down, though it was still surrounded on all sides. No one liked being swarmed like that, and even Annabeth knew how timid unicorns were. It's why they're never seen by mortals and most wizards. Shouldn't Grubbly-Plank know that? Hagrid would have.

Hagrid's first concern in his classes was the safety and comfort of the magical creatures he was teaching about. Even with the monsters, aggressive as they were, Hagrid's priority was always safety for them. And sure, his classes were pretty dangerous (especially for Annabeth and her yummy demigod blood), but he cared so much about his job and his students. The few times people had been stung by a skrewt, Hagrid had wrapped them up himself.