The final quidditch game of not only the year but the last game of our time at Hogwarts. Since we had flattened Ravenclaw in our last match and Gryffindor had beat Slytherin, it was down to the two of us to play it out for the cup. It was nerve racking for sure but it was made a little easier knowing that Harry and the twins weren't playing. Going up against some of my closest friends in my last game at Hogwarts ever would have been bitter sweet. I would have loved to played against them one last time but at the same time it would have been hard if we ended up beating Gryffindor. I would have hated to see Fred and George so disappointed about losing their last game but then again, I also hated that the chance to play in what would have been the last game was taken from them.
Olaf wanted to watch our last game, so I had entrusted him to Zane because I knew that he would look after him. Especially when Olaf was in his miniature form and could end up so much trouble if he wandered off.
Feeling more than a little nostalgic, I headed down to the quidditch pitch early just so I could have a look around on last time. There were so many memories attached to the quidditch pitch and each and every one of them were running through my mind as I sat on the old wooden bench, running my hand over where Danny had carved all our names after our first game ever. I knew that not all the memories from quidditch were good, like the time Cho and Samantha had put a potion in my shampoo to turn my hair red, white and blue. But then there were other memories, good memories, that I would remember forever. Like winning the cup for the very first time and when I used my Asgardian powers to heal Cedric's ribs and somehow lifted the effects of Cho's infatuation potion which was the official start to our relationship, even if I did go into hiding for a week because of my stupid glowing hands.
"Lost in thought, love?" Cedric said, startling me and causing me to jump to my feet, immediately on the defense.
"Odin's beard! You scared me!" I told him once I calmed down. "You should know it's never a good idea to sneak up on me. But yes, I was a little."
"What were you thinking about?" Cedric asked, sitting down next to me on the bench.
"Everything that has ever happened within the pitch," I told him.
"A lot has happened on this pitch, hasn't it," Cedric said as he looked around the room. "Like when Loki let me watch Danny and you train for the first time."
"I had completely forgotten about that," I laughed. "Loki had made the whole pitch look like the Asgardian training grounds."
"I can't believe that this is the last game we are ever going to play," Cedric sighed.
"I know," Danny said, sniffling as he walked into the locker room with Hamish and Amanda.
"Are those tears I see in my tough, country cousins' eyes who never cries in public," I teased.
"I am no crying," Danny protested.
"Yeah, and we're not part Asgardian," I laughed. "Honestly, Danny. There is nothing wrong with crying in public."
"I am not crying!" Danny said as he wiped his eyes. "Okay, maybe I am. But it's emotional, okay. You know, playing our last game."
"It is hard to believe that we will never be back in here again," Amanda said, her voice filled with emotion.
"So, let's make sure it's a game to remember," Hamish said enthusiastically.
If I had anything to say about it, it would be a game that we could be proud of and remember for the rest of our lives.
To say I felt nervous as I walked out on to the pitch next to Cedric for the last time would have been an understatement. I had never felt so nervous in my life and that was saying something since I had faced both Nazis and killer robots. Just like always, the stands were packed and filled with a sea of yellow and red who cheered when we walked out on to the pitch.
It was weird to see someone other than Harry wearing the Gryffindor number seven seekers' robes but I guess if anyone could fill his shoes, it was Ginny Weasley. She looked like she was made to be on the quidditch pitch as she stood there dressed in her scarlet robes. But I also knew that she would be no match for Cedric. People always underestimated Cedric's talents on the quidditch pitch, sure they were always fast to say how brilliant he was at transfiguration or how he was the true Hogwarts champion but they never said anything about his skills as a seeker.
Ron looked like she was about to be sick as he watched Angelina shake Cedric's hand to signal the start of the game. I felt bad about it but I knew Ron's nervousness would play to our advantages. He may have earned his King Weasley title from the Gryffindor's after he blocked almost every goal during his last game but today was a new day and a new match. Unfortunately for Ron the fact that he was going up against friends was setting him on edge.
As soon as Madam Hooch blew the whistle, we all kick off the ground and flew up into the air. Danny was first to grab the quaffle from right beneath Katie Bell's outstretched hands and took off straight down to the Gryffindor goals where Ron was looking rather green on his broom. Even though they were a little clumsy, one of the new Gryffindor beaters hit the bludger right at Danny. Using my Firebolts full speed to my advantage, I raced to Danny's side and caught the quaffle the second he tossed it to me.
Knowing that Danny was quick enough to escape the incoming bludger, I took off towards to the goal post and pulled up when I was just in front of them. The analytical, super solider part of me instantly noticed that Ron was favoring the left side of the goal posts, so I took the advantage and aimed straight at the goal posts on the far right. Just as I suspected, Ron wasn't able to make it to the goal post in time to stop the quaffle and missed it as it flew through the goal post, earning us the first points of the match.
"I really am sorry, Ron," I called out as I waited for Zacharias to get the quaffle.
"That's okay, Elsa. I know it's just the way of the game," Ron called back.
Smiling at Ron over my shoulder, I followed Zacharias back on to the pitch. I knew it was the way of the game but I didn't relish in making Ron even more nervous than he already was. He second guessed himself at the best of times and I knew it only got worse when he missed blocking a goal.
But he did pick up as the game went on and managed to block several of Zacharias' throws but he just couldn't seem to block Danny's or mine. After a good three quarters of an hour, we led Gryffindor 240-200 and I could tell that Ron was starting to grow tired where Amanda only seemed to gain more confidence with each minute that passed as she protected the goals.
Above the pitch, Cedric was circling as he tried to spot the snitch. I could tell by the look on his face that he was using the new abilities he got when I transferred some of my super solider powers to him that night almost a year ago. It was the same look that Dad got when he was breaking down the enemy's plan's which told me that it wouldn't be long until he found the snitch.
But I couldn't keep my focus on Cedric for more than a few seconds because Alicia Spinet had just been grazed by a bludger and dropped the quaffle not to far from where I was. Leaning forward to go even faster, I took off towards the falling quaffle and managed to grab hold of it just before Angelina did. Speeding towards the goal post, I didn't even look back to see who or what was following me. In hindsight, it was a very foolish move to make because it I had looked over my shoulder for even a split second, I would have seen the one of the bludgers heading straight at me. The bludger hit me hard on my right shoulder, making me drop the quaffle straight into the waiting arms of Katie Bell. But before she had the chance to score again, Cedric caught the snitch and was flying straight to my side, where I was holding my throbbing shoulder.
"Elsa! Are you okay?" He asked me in a panicked tone.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dislocated shoulder. Just need someone to pull it back into place and then I can heal it," I said, wincing as I brushed the bones that was sticking out on an odd angle after popping out of my shoulder blade.
"Just a little dislocated shoulder? Elsa that is serious!" Cedric said, now in a complete panic as the rest of the team flew over to us.
"I've had worse. A lot worse, I mean you saw me in hospital in Washington," I pointed out. "Besides, it doesn't matter! We just won the house cup!"
After the game I went to the one person who I knew would have no problem in popping my shoulder back in place. In fact, I was pretty sure that they would actually enjoying doing it.
"You ready?" Cassy asked me as she gripped my arm and shoulder.
"Ready," I said through gritted teeth.
"Okay on the count of three," she said to me. "One tw..."
"Den jævelen! Det gjorde jævlig vondt som Hel!*," I swore as Cassy pulled my arm back into place even before she finished counting. "I thought you said on the count of three!"
"I did, didn't I?" Cassy said with fake innocence's. "Oh well, it was better that you didn't see it coming."
"You know one of these days I am going to repay you for the kindness you just showed me," I said through gritted teeth as I placed my hand over my shoulder and healed it using the healing magic that Loki had taught me.
"Don't worry, I don't plan on dislocating my shoulder anytime soon," Cassy laughed as she held her hand out to help me up.
"Please, with what we are going to be doing for a living when we leave Hogwarts there is a good chance that you will do more that dislocate a shoulder," I told her.
"Maybe you will but I have a suit of armor to protect me," Cassy pointed out.
"Armor can only protected you from so much," I reminded her.
"Whatever, Spangles. Let's get out of here. I'm pretty sure Pretty Boy is worrying his head off because we have been so long," Cassy said as she linked her arm through mine and led me out of the girl's locker room.
We were half way across the grounds when I saw Hagrid waving us over to where he was standing with Harry and Hermione. He had a worried look on his face where Harry and Hermione just looked plain confused.
"Should we go see what he wants?" Cassy asked.
"He looks really worried, so I think we probably should," I told her, pulling her towards the three.
As we made our way over to Hagrid, he was playing with one of his oversized handkerchiefs that he held in his hands. I couldn't think what could have got him so riled up, I only hoped that Umbridge hadn't sacked him the same way she did with Professor Trelawney.
"Elsa, who won the game?" Harry blurted out as soon as we were close enough to hear him.
"Um, we did," I said awkwardly. "Weren't you at the game?"
"Tha' would be my fault I'm afraid," Hagrid said in a teary voice. "Pulled Harry an' Hermione ou' before the game finished, yer see. I needed to show 'em somethin' important and I thought yeh would wanna see as well."
"Lead the way, Hagrid," Cassy said, flourishing her hand in a over the top way as she bowed slightly.
"Come on then," Hagrid said as we waved for us to follow him into the forbidden forest, picking up his crossbow on the way.
"Um, Hagrid but why do you have a crossbow?" Cassy asked him, sounding slightly nervous.
"Jus' a precaution," Hagrid said, as he looked around to make sure that no one way following us. "C'mon now, quick before we're spotted."
"You didn't bring your crossbow the day you showed us the thestral's," Hermione said in a nervous voice.
"Nah, well, we weren' goin' in so far then," Hagrid told her. "An' anyway, tha' was before Firenze the left the forest, wasn' it?"
"I'm assuming the rest of the centaurs aren't taking it to well," I said.
"Nothin' ever slips by yeh when it comes to magical creatures, dose it, Elsa," Hagrid said with a slight chuckle.
"Well, if I want to work with Newt Scamander, I'm going to have to," I said.
"Yeh don't have ter worry about that, Elsa. He already wants yeh ter work with 'im but I think yeh already know that," Hagrid told me. "But yeh right, the Centaurs didn't take to kindly ter him takin' the job."
"Why dose Firenze leaving make a difference?" Hermione asked.
"Really, Hermione. I would have thought you would have known why," I said, shocked that the girl who had been dubbed the smartest witch of her age didn't know the simple answer. "Centaurs aren't supposed to interfere with humans. It goes against their views of interfering with destiny and all of that."
"The other centaurs are good an' riled at me, tha's why. They blame me for 'im leaving, for interferin'," Hagrid sighed. "They used ter be, well, yeh wouldn't call 'em friendly, but we got on all righ'. Kept 'emselves to 'emselves, bu' always turned up if I wanted a word. Not anymore."
"It's stupid that they would be angry about Firenze leaving. I mean, it's his life and he can do what he wants with it," Cassy said bluntly.
"Well, angry dosen' cover it, Ruddy livid. If I hadn' stepped in, I reckon they'd've kicked him ter death," Hagrid told us.
"They attacked him?" Hermione said in a horrified voice.
"Sadly, it's quite common," I told her. "If a centaur leaves the heard, particularly to join the human world, the rest of the heard will quite often try to prevent them leaving or to punish them."
"Had half the heard on 'im, Firenze did," Hagrid said.
"And you stopped it?" Harry said in awe. "By yourself?"
"'Course I did, couldn't stand by 'an watch 'em kill him, could I?" Hagrid pointed out. "Lucky I was passin', really...an' I'd've thought Firenze mighta remembered tha' before he started sendin' me stupid warnin's!"
"Warnings? Warnings about what?" Cassy asked him.
"Nothin' you need to worry abou', Cassy," Hagrid told her, brushing aside what he had just said about warnings. "Anyway, since then the other centaur've bin livid with me 'an 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 as he shook his head. "No, it's not them...Well o' course, they could complicate the problem, yeah. But yeh'll see what I mean in a bit..."
I looked at Cassy when Hagrid finished his incoherent babbling, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Cassy looked at me as she lent her head to the side as to ask what was going on. But I has no idea so I shook my head and shrugged, hissing at the slight pain in my shoulder that hadn't completely gone away yet.
"Are you okay, Elsa?" Hermione asked me.
"Yeah, just dislocated my shoulder after being hit by a bludger," I told her, immediately regretting my words when I saw the worried look that appeared on her face. "I'm okay now, I had Cassy pop it back into place and used healing magic to fix the rest. It's just a little sore still."
After I managed to calm Hermione down, we walked the rest of the way in complete silence. Part of my mind was taking catalog of all the different creatures that I saw in the forest and the other part was concentrating of pushing all the tree branches out of the way so that I didn't get hit in the face. At one point I saw a spider the size of a cat and completely freaked out, sending icy daggers flying its way. I only stopped and got rid of the icicles when Hagrid told me it was the child of Aragog, the Acromantula that he had raised from an egg. Hagrid was the only thing stopping me from squashing the giant spider, I didn't care if it was an acromantula. I hated spiders, no matter what species they were.
The further we got into the forest, the darker it got to the point where we couldn't see our own hands in front of our faces. I heard Hermione yelp a few times which probably meant that she had tripped over a fallen log or into a tree branch. When it got to the point where we couldn't see a thing, Hermione finally spoke up.
"Hagrid, would it be alright if we lit our wands?"
"Er...all righ. In fact, " Hagrid whispered as he stopped walking suddenly. "Maybe we bes' stop fer a momen', so I can fill yeh in. Before we ge' there."
"Good," Hermione said as we all pulled out our wands. "Lumos."
"Righ'. Well, see, the thing is," Hagrid stuttered nervously. "Well, there's a good chance I'm going to be gettin' the sack any day now."
"Over my dead body," Cassy snarled as she cracked her knuckles like she was going to march back into the castle and punch Umbridge.
"But you have lasted this long. What makes you think..." Hermione started to say nervously.
"Umbridge reckons it was me that put tha' niffler in her office," Hagrid explained.
"Someone put a niffler in Umbridge's office?" I said, confused that I hadn't heard about it.
"It was Lee," Cassy explained. "He didn't want you to find out because he knew that you would have lost it at him about using a magical creature to get back at Umbridge."
"Well, he was right," I huffed as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"It don't matter," Hagrid sighed. "Anythin' ter do with magical creatures an' she thinks it's got somethin' ter do with me. Yeh know she bin lookin' fer a chance ter get rid of me ever since I got back. I don' wan' ter go, o' course, but if it wasn' fer...well...the special circumstances I'm abou ter explain ter yeh, I'd leave righ' now, before she's go' the chance ter do it in front o' the whole school, like she did with Trelawney."
"Don't say that Hagrid," I said to him. "I don't know what I would do without you here for the NEWTs."
"Come on now, Elsa. It's not the end o' the world. You could run tha' class better than I could an' yeh know tha'," Hagrid said as he patted me on the shoulder and almost knocking me to the ground. "I'd be able ter help Dumbledore once I'm outta here. I can be useful ter the Order. An' you lot'll have Grubbly-Plank, yeh'll...yeh'll get through yeh exams fine."
I was going to point out that Grubbly-Plank wasn't my biggest fan but I couldn't bring myself to say anything after I heard Hagrid's voice tremble and break as he held back tears.
"Don' worry abou' me," Hagrid told us as he pulled out his handkerchief and wiped away his tears. "Look, I wouldn' be tellin' yer this at all if I didn' have ter. See, if I go...well, I can' leave withou'...withou' tellin' someone...because I'll need the four of yeh ter help me. An' Ron and Cedric, if they're willin'"
"Of course, we'll help you," Harry said quickly.
"We'll do anything you need us to," I added as Hagrid started to cry into his handkerchief again.
"I knew yeh'd say yes," Hagrid sobbed. "But I won'...never...forget...Well, c'mon, jus' a little bit further through here. Watch yerselves, now, there's nettles."
We walked for around another fifteen minutes through the pitch-black forest. I could see that Harry was about to ask Hagrid something when Hagrid held out his arm for us to stop walking.
"Really easy," Hagrid said quietly. "Very quiet, now."
I had no idea what we were about to walk into but in that moment, I had never been more grateful for Nat's stealth training. Clearly there was something that Hagrid didn't want us to startle and the last thing I wanted to do was step on a twig or something.
Slowly what looked like a large, smooth mound of dirt that was as high as Hagrid stood. I knew better to think that it was some sort of animal den because I knew that anything that would have a den like that couldn't live in the forest. But it had to be something living because there had been trees ripped right out of the ground, forming some sort of barricade. Which only left one thing that it could be.
"Hagrid, who is he?" I asked cautiously.
"He? What do you mean he?" Cassy asked, sounding slightly nervous.
"Shh, he's sleepin'," Hagrid said as he looked at the mound with a smile.
"He? Hagrid, who exactly is he?" Hermione asked as the sleeping creature started to stir.
"Grawp," Hagrid called out softly as the creature stood up to show that he was a giant. "Down here, Grawpy. Brought you some company."
Slowly the giant turned around to look at Hagrid with a puzzled look on his face. Harry, Hermione and Cassy all took a step back from the giant but I stayed standing next to Hagrid. The last thing you wanted to do was to let a giant see your fear.
"I couldn' leave 'im here, because," Hagrid said as he started to get teary again.
"Your brother," I finished for him. "He's your brother, isn't he?"
"Half-brother, really," Hagrid said. "He's completely harmless, just like I said. Little high-spirite', is all."
The completely harmless giant suddenly lurched forward and grabbed hold of Hermione, lifting her up into the air. She froze in fear as the giant held her up so that he could get a better look at her while Hagrid tried everything to get his brother to put Hermione back down.
"Grawpy, tha' is not polite," Hagrid scolded, sounding like he was talking to a toddler.
"Hagrid, do something!" Harry said as he started to panic.
"I can get her," Cassy said as she went to activate her arc reactor.
"Cass, don't," I said, holding my arm out to stop her. "You'll startle him."
"We talked abou' this. Yeh do not grab, do yeh?" Hagrid said to the giant. "Tha's yer new friend, Hermione. Grawpy!"
"Grawp, put me down," Hermione told the giant in a firm voice. "Now."
Surprisingly, Grawp listened to Hermione and placed her gently on the ground. As soon as she was in the clear, Hermione walked backwards to Harry and Cassy, not wanting to startle the giant anymore.
"You alright there, Granger?" Cassy asked her.
"Fine," Hermione said, her voice slighter higher than normal. "Just needs a firm hand, is all."
Grawp smiled down at Hermione and almost looked like he was blushing. It seemed like Hagrid's little brother had a not so little crush on Hermione.
"I think you have an admirer, Hermione," I giggled.
"He get's his own food and all," Hagrid told us. "It's company he'll be needin' when I'm gone. Yeh'll look after 'im, won't yeh? I'm the 'nly family he's got."
"I promise you Hagrid," I said to him. "We will."
When I finally got back to the Hufflepuff common room, the celebration party was in full swing and didn't look like it was going to be stopping anytime soon. Which, of course, I wasn't all too happy about. Everyone knew how I felt about large parties and after meeting Grawp, all I wanted to do was curl up under a blanket with Freya curled up next to me as I got my head around the idea of Hagrid having a giant half-brother living in the forbidden forest. But I knew I had a few people I had to explain my sudden disappearance to, the first being my rather panicked looking boyfriend who was sitting on one of the couches at the far end of the room that had the perfect view of the dorm entryway.
"Elsa! Have been so worried," Cedric said as he rushed to my side and swept me in to his arms. "Where have you been? Nobody knew where you were! I wanted to go looked everywhere but couldn't find you."
"Trust me, you would never have figured out where I was in a million years," I said as I rested my head on his chest. "Let's just say our world got a little crazier tonight."
"Love, what do you mean?" Cedric asked.
"I can't tell you here," I said as I looked around the crowded room. "Come on, let's get out of here for a bit."
Taking hold of Cedric's hand, I dragged him out of the common room and away from the crowds. When I knew that there was no one in the corridor, I headed towards the hidden room so that we could talk where no one could over here us. The last thing I wanted was for the whole castle to know about Grawp.
When we got into the room, I sat down on the couch and created an ice pack that I put on my shoulder as I rested my feet on table in front of me. Even though it had been a couple of hours since I healed my shoulder, it was still a little sore which I had no doubt was from Cassy's 'technique' of popping my shoulder back into place.
"So, what happened," Cedric asked as he sat down next to me and placed his hand on my knee.
"Well, first I got Cassy to pop my shoulder back into place and then I healed it with the magic Loki taught me," I said, wincing a little as I moved the icepack into a better position. "And, yeah. It's still a little sore from Dr. Stark and her lovely technique of not holding anything back. But when we started to head back to the castle, we saw Hagrid with Harry and Hermione and he was waving us over to him."
"Was everything okay?" Cedric asked, taking the icepack and holding it on my shoulder for me.
"Yes and no," I told him honestly. "He said he needed to show us something important in the forest incase Umbridge sacked him."
"She wouldn't dare, would she?" Cedric asked, sounding worried.
"Probably," I sighed. "You know what she thinks of half breeds. But anyway, he took us deep into the forest where he introduced us to his younger, giant half-brother."
"Giant half-brother?" Cedric question, not quite believing what I had just told him.
"His name is Grawp," I told him. "And he has a slight crush on Hermione."
"You know what. I really can't say I'm too surprised. I would explain why it took him so long to get back," Cedric said.
"It was, he explained the whole thing on the way out," I said.
"Why did he want to tell all of you about him?"
"Because he wanted someone to know about him incase Umbridge does end up sacking him, so someone could keep an eye out on him," I told Cedric. "And Harry and I promised we would."
*Son of a bitch! That f*****g hurt like Hel!