𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 | √

⎡68⎦

"Harry," Sirius said from the doorway.

We all took a sip of our drinks.

"That is delicious. I shall be needing some more of that." Mr. Weasley said looking at some of the food on the table.

"Daddy, don't forget last Christmas." Mrs. Weasley said. I laughed a little and continued my eating.

. . .

The festive season was soon over, and we had to return to our normal, student lives. Harry and Cho got along very well. Apparently, they had a kiss the night Mr. Weasley was attacked. As much as I didn't like the girl, I saw that she made Harry very happy, and that's good with me. They walked next to each other, talking about nonsense just like any couple would. They were inseparable.

News spread around the school, and I heard that Hagrid was back. Hermione was with me when the news arrived, and we packed up our things at the library to find Harry and Ron. After the not so long search of finding Ron in the common room, shoving his face with candy, we ran around the castle looking for the "Chosen One". After pushing through a large crowd, we came across Harry walking with Cho.

"Harry. Harry. Hagrid's back" Hermione said when she caught up with him.

Harry turned to Cho. "I'm sorry."

We all darted off towards Hagrid's Hut down the hill, losing our breaths in the process.

"I will say this one last time," we heard from inside the Hut. We gave each other glances and rushed to a window, peering inside to see a large figure with a pink blob next to it. "I'm ordering you to tell me where you've been."

"I told you. I've been away for me health." Hagrid explained.

"Your health?" Umbridge turned slightly, so she was looking towards the window where we were looking in. We ducked in time.

"Yeah. Bit of fresh air, you know."

"Oh, yes. As gamekeeper, fresh air must be difficult to come by. If I were you, I shouldn't get too used to being back. In fact, I mightn't bother unpacking at all."

The wooden door began to creak, and Harry, Hermione, and I rushed towards the other side of the door, where we would not be seen. Ron, however, took his time so he could watch as the toad woman stepped out of the hut. I grabbed the back of his cloak and pulled him to where the rest of us were hiding.

We heard a sniffle then what sounded like a bottle being sprayed. When we saw Umbridge walk away, we went to the front door. It smelled horrid, worse than it usually smelled. It smelled like cheap perfume. My nose began to burn, and my eyes began to water. I held up a fist and knocked on the door, squinting my eyes as they welled up.

Hagrid opened the door seconds after and let us in without a word. We sat at the table as Hagrid served us large cups of tea.

"This is top-secret, right?" Hagrid asked as he sat down in his chair with a piece of raw meat to his reddening eye. We nodded. "Dumbledore sent me to parley with the giants."

"Giants?" I asked. Hagrid shushed me. "You found them?" I whispered this time.

"Well, they're not that hard to find, to be perfectly honest. They're so big, see? I tried to convince them to join the cause. But I wasn't the only one that was trying to win them over."

"Death Eaters?" Ron asked hushedly.

"Yes. Trying to persuade them to join You-Know-Who."

"Did they?" Harry pondered out loud.