There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Potter was shouting, Hagrid?"
Kirra was glaring over at Dumbledore, just about ready to snap the mans neck, but Dumbledore smiled at her and continued, "Miss Potter and Mr Rowle still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."
"Of course we still want to know you!" Kirra said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow — sorry," she added quickly, "I just meant — Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that — woman — wrote about you? I've known you a very long time now Hagrid" Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard.
"Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it —"
"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan' me ter stay."
"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"
"Yeh — yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.
"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Kirra said furiously. "Look at the Dursleys!"
"An excellent point," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery. . . ."
"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Jasper quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."
Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard. It was clear that Kirra was also becoming emotional as she watched her dear friend cry. Mattheo wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side, his fingers softly dancing against the fabric around her waist.
Kirra leant into his touch and rested her head against his arm. Dumbledore looked at the pair and it was like looking at Ophelia Winston and Tom Riddle all over again, he felt a stabbing pain in the back of his mind. He knew it was his fault, every single bit of it had been his fault, he cleared his thoughts. No, of course it isn't my fault. I was trying to kill Riddle and save the world from another powerful dark wizard. Its not my fault that she got in the way of the blade.
Dumbledore stood up. "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."
Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fang's ears, the only thing on his mind was Kirra, Ophelia, Tom and Mattheo.
Would Mattheo turn out like his father had done, they are very similar. Should he attempt to stop the rise of a dark wizard again before its too late? What if he stuffed it up again? no, I just need to make sure that Kirra isn't anywhere near him if I tried to end him, then history would not repeat itself.
When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Kirra kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore . . . great man . . ."
None of the students said anything, they all shared small glances, none of them liked the man. The slytherins were shocked when they had figured out that the Hufflepuff didn't like Dumbledore, and they were even more shocked when she continued to refuse on telling them why she hated the man.
"Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?" Jasper asked, his stomach rumbling
"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "Ar, he's righ', o' course — yeh're all righ' . . . I bin stupid . . .my ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'. . . ."
More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here . . ." Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder.
Hagrid was agood seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth — he looked hardly older than eleven. "Tha' was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked.
"I remember that!" Kirra said with a grin as she looked down at the photo, Hagrid had been younger than Tom and her when they were in school, and her being the happy, kind Hufflepuff that she was, she often helped the younger children find their way around the school and make sure that they weren't struggling too much with anything
The Slytherins all shared a look, even though they knew about the whole continuous lives thing, none of them could wrap their heads around the fact that she had died and been brought back multiple times.
Hell Mattheo was literally dating his fathers true love who was now the same age as him instead of the same age as his father (if he were alive ;) ) and she had went to school with Theodores and Mattheo's fathers.
"Yer were always so friendly," Hagrid said with a wide smile as he looked up at the girl whos was wrapped in the arms of the tall Slytherin boy who didn't really look like he wanted to be there. Mattheo and Theodore weren't on good terms with the giant and didn't particularly want anything to do with him, they were just there for Kirra
"Dad was dead chuffed . . . thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum . . . well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really . . . but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year. . . . Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job . . . trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances . . . tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent."
Kirra had to refrain from rolling her eyes at the man's words, "yeah right, he doesn't care about anyone unless they are in Gryffindor," she whispered under her breath so that Hagrid wouldn't hear her. The Slytherins on the other hand did hear her and couldn't help but completely agree with the girl. It wasn't a secret, anyone could see it... well anyone who wasn't in Gryffindor.
"Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren' . . .well . . . all tha' respectable." he looked up at the boys for a short second before looking back over at the Hufflepuff, "But some don' understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh . . . there's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say — I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say."
The Slytherins didn't want to be here anymore, this wasn't a conversation that they wanted to listen to and Kirra could sense that, she felt bad for them. She hated that they were judged just because they were in Slytherin, and just because of who their parents are.
"'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones . . . I'll give her big bones."
"Yeh know wha', Ophelia?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad. You were so kind, a;ways takin' care of us and makin' sure we weh fittin' in an' everything. An' now look at yeh, Kirra! School champion!"
He looked at Kirra for a moment and then said, very seriously,"Yeh know what I'd love, Ophelia? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all . . . yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don' have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Ophelia?"
"Great," said Kirra. "Really great."
Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile. "Tha's it Oph. . . you show 'em, Ophelia, you show 'em. Beat'em all." Lying to Hagrid wasn't quite like lying to anyone else. Kirra went back to the castle later that afternoon with Theodore, Jasper and Mattheo, unable to banish the image of the happy expression on Hagrid's whiskery face as he had imagined Kirra winning the tournament.
The incomprehensible egg weighed more heavily than ever on Kirra's conscience that evening, and by the time she had got into bed, she had made up her mind — it was time to stop procrastinating and see if Cedric's hint was worth anything.
As Kirra had no idea how long a bath she would need to work out the secret of the golden egg, she decided to do it at night, when she would be able to take as much time as she wanted.
She also decided to use the prefects' bathroom; far fewer people were allowed in there, so it was much less likely that she would be disturbed. Kirra planned her excursion carefully, because she had been caught out of bed and out-of-bounds by Filch the caretaker in the middle of the night many times before, and had no desire to repeat the experience.
The Invisibility Cloak would, of course, be essential, and as an added precaution, Kirra thought she would get the Marauder's Map of Harry (which he agreed to, considering it was technically hers), which, next to the cloak, was the most useful aid to rule-breaking Kirra owned.
The map showed the whole of Hogwarts, including its many shortcuts and secret passageways and, most important of all, it revealed the people inside the castle as minuscule, labeled dots, moving around the corridors, so that Kirra would be forewarned if somebody was approaching the bathroom.
On Thursday night, Kirra sneaked down to bed, put on the cloak, crept back upstairs. She had let Max in on the plan and Max had waited at the door and opened it for her so it wouldn't look suspicious.
"Good luck," Max muttered, climbing into the room as Kirra crept out past her. It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, because Kirra had the heavy egg under one arm and the map held in front of her nose with the other.
However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Kirra was able to ensure that she wouldn't run into anyone she wanted to avoid. When she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, she located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pinefresh," just as Cedric had told her.
The door creaked open. Kirra slipped inside, bolted the door behind her, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around. Her immediate reaction was the same as when she had first became a prefect, it was worth it just to be able to use this bathroom.
It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor.
About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool's edges, each with a differently coloured jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden framed painting on the wall.
It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored.
Kirra moved forward, looking around, her footsteps echoing off the walls. Magnificent though the bathroom was — and quite keen though she was to try out a few of those taps.
How on earth was this supposed to help solve the mystery of the egg? Nevertheless, she put one of the fluffy towels, the cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the swimming-pool sized bath, then knelt down and turned on a few of the taps.
She could tell at once that they carried different sorts of bubble bath mixed with the water, though it wasn't like any bubble bath Kirra had ever experienced. One tap gushed pink and blue bubbles the size of footballs; another poured ice-white foam so thick that Kirra thought it would have supported her weight if she'd cared to test it; a third sent heavily perfumed purple clouds hovering over the surface of the water.