Order of the Olympians

Order of the Olympians Chapter 18

Chapter 18

After a (thankfully) quiet night's sleep, Hermione dragged the boys from their beds to meet her downstairs. "Hagrid's back!" She chimed excitedly, and Harry and Ron immediately perked up.

"No way! Let's go meet him!" Ron exclaimed, grabbing Harry to run upstairs and get dressed. Hermione pulled on her snow boots and a warm hat over her ears.

Percy settled next to Annabeth by the fire in the Common Room, "You guys go on without us. Meet us in the Room of Requirement when you get back to tell us where he's been." The Golden Trio waved their goodbyes and flew out the portrait hole of the Fat Lady.

About two hours later, the group of friends were seated on various cushions around their secret meeting spot. "So, how is Hagrid? Where has he been all semester?" Annabeth asked, fidgeting with the D.A. coin in her hand.

Hermione shook her head in distress. "He looks horrible! His face is completely ruined, and he won't tell us what hurt him."

"He's been on a mission from Dumbledore to try and talk the giants into helping us against the war against Voldemort." Harry explained, ignoring Hermione's wince when he said the Dark Lord's name.

Percy groaned dramatically and flopped onto his back. "I hate giants!"

Annabeth punched him in the arm, hard, and motioned for Harry to go one. Ron continued for him, "He and Madam Maxime had to travel for a month like muggles to the mountains, and when they got there, there were only about seventy or eighty giants left."

"If they're anything like the giants we've fought, less is better." Nico said darkly.

Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances at the thought of fighting an actual giant. "Well they were able to talk to the Gurg - or chief, who seemed to listen to them. But I guess there was a fight that night, and another giant killed the Gurg to become the new chief."

"And that Golgomath had already been approached by a Death Eater, who had convinced him to fight for their side. He and his Giant friends killed any of the other giants who had been nice to Hagrid." Hermione sniffed, wiping her running nose on the sleeve of her sweater. Ron moved to lightly touch her arm for comfort.

"Sounds like the mission wasn't exactly a success...." Will trailed, and quickly shut his mouth at the look Annabeth gave him. He raised his palms defensively, "Hey, at least he's back. I'm excited to finally have him for a teacher."

Hermione groaned even louder. "If Hagrid doesn't keep his lessons simple and safe, then that toad is going to sack him!"

"I don't think those words are in Hagrid's vocabulary. He has a tendency to bring dangerous monsters around students." Harry grimaced, obviously wishing his half-giant friend would make Care of Magical Creatures as boring as possible so that he could keep his job.

When Percy, Harry, and their friends trudged down to Hagrid's Cabin for class the next week, there were soft murmurs stretching over the crowd. Everyone was either inquiring about where Hagrid had been for the last four months, giving their own theories about what happened to his face, or praying that whatever creature Hagrid was showing them wouldn't bite off a limb.

The half-giant appeared at the edge of the Forbidden Forest carrying half of a dead cow over his shoulder. "Come on you lot, we're workin' in here today!" (OotP0

The class grumbled in unison and bundled their heavy coats tighter. The snow nipped at their frozen noses and the sheerwind berated the students continuously with a howl. At least in the forest, the wind was held back by the ominous trees.