Rosabella Black |Daughter Of Sirius Black| (Book 5)

Hagrid's Tale

Rosabella's Point of View:

Harry sprinted up to the boys’ dormitory to fetch the Invisibility Cloak and I took the Marauder’s Map out of my pocket.
When Harry came back with his cloak we crept through the portrait hole. I handed the map to Harry and turned into my Animagus form. The others covered themselves hastily in the cloak — Ron had grown so much he now needed to crouch to prevent his feet showing — then, moving slowly and cautiously, we proceeded down the many staircases, pausing at intervals to check the map for signs of Filch or Mrs. Norris. Winter followed us. We crept across the entrance hall and then out into the silent, snowy grounds. We saw little golden squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from Hagrid’s chimney. I wasn't slowed down by the snow since I had four legs and I bounded towards Hagrids house and waited impatiently for the others to catch up. When the others got there, Harry raised his fist and knocked three times, a dog started barking frantically inside.

    “Hagrid, it’s us!” Harry called through the keyhole.

    “Shoulda known! Bin home three seconds . . . Out the way, Fang . . . Out the way, yeh dozy dog . . .” A gruff voice said.
The bolt was drawn back, the door creaked open, and Hagrid’s head appeared in the gap.
Hermione screamed and I winced as my ears were more sensitive in this form.
    “Merlin’s beard, keep it down!” said Hagrid hastily, staring wildly over their heads. “Under that cloak, are yeh? 'Cept you, of course, Ro. Well, get in, get in!” Hagrid said.
I went in first and transformed back into my human form. Winter followed me in and jumped happily at seeing fang and the both were barking excitedly at each other.
    “I’m sorry! I just — oh, Hagrid!” Hermione gasped, as the three of them squeezed past Hagrid into the house and pulled the cloak off themselves so he could see them.
    “It’s nuthin’, it’s nuthin’!” Hagrid said hastily, shutting the door behind them and hurrying to close all the curtains, but Hermione continued to gaze up at him in horror.
So did I.
Hagrid’s hair was matted with congealed blood, and his left eye had been reduced to a puffy slit amid a mass of purple - and - black bruises. There were many cuts on his face and hands, some of them still bleeding, and he was moving gingerly, which made me suspect broken ribs. It was obvious that he had only just got home. A thick black traveling cloak lay over the back of a chair and a haversack large enough to carry several small children leaned against the wall inside the door. Hagrid himself, twice the size of a normal man and three times as broad, was now limping over to the fire and placing a copper kettle over it.
     “What happened to you?” Harry demanded, while Fang danced around us, trying to lick our faces.
    “Told yeh, nuthin’. Want a cuppa?” Hagrid said firmly
    “Come off it, you’re in a right state!” Ron said, while Hermione and I were still horrified.
    “I’m tellin’ yeh, I’m fine. Blimey, it’s good ter see you four again — had good summers, did yeh?” Hagrid said, straightening up and turn-ing to beam at them all, but wincing.
   “Hagrid, you’ve been attacked!” I said.
   “Fer the las’ time, it’s nuthin’!” Hagrid said firmly.
    “Would you say it was nothing if one of us turned up with a pound of mince instead of a face?” Ron demanded.
    “You ought to go and see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid. Some of those cuts look nasty.” Hermione said, anxiously.
    “I’m dealin’ with it, all righ’?” Hagrid said repressively.
He walked across to the enormous wooden table that stood in the middle of his cabin and twitched aside a tea towel that had been lying on it. Underneath was a raw, bloody, green-tinged steak slightly larger than the average car tire.
     “You’re not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?” Ron said, leaning in for a closer look.
     “It looks poisonous.” I agreed with a wary look at the meat.
     “It’s s’posed ter look like that, it’s dragon meat. An’ I didn’ get it ter eat.” Hagrid said.
He picked up the steak and slapped it over the left side of his face. Greenish blood trickled down into his beard as he gave a soft moan of satisfaction.
   “Tha’s better. It helps with the stingin’, yeh know.” Hagrid said.
I winced and looked helplessly at the others.
     "Is anything broken? Fiona showed me some useful healing charms over the summer. She's studying to be a healer. She said because of all the accidents I have they'd come in handy." I said with a small smile.
Hagrid laughed and winced slightly.
     "A rib or to maybe." Hagrid said.
I asked him which side and went were he pointed.
    “So are you going to tell us what’s happened to you?” Harry asked, while I inspected Hagrid's ribs.
    “Can’, Harry. Top secret. More’n me job’s worth ter tell yeh that.” Hagrid.
    “Did the giants beat you up, Hagrid?” asked Hermione quietly.
Hagrid’s fingers slipped on the dragon steak, and it slid squelchily onto his chest.
    “Giants? Who said anythin’ abou’ giants? Who yeh bin talkin’ to? Who’s told yeh what I’ve — who’s said I’ve bin — eh?” Hagrid said, catching the steak before it reached his belt and slapping it back over his face.
       “We guessed.” Hermione said, apologetically.
      "Not too hard to figure out. We were in the same room when Dumbledore was advising Fudge on how to stop Voldemort and one was to send an envoy to the giants. He wanted to speak to you and Madame Maxime, both of you have giant blood. Makes sense. Giants are more likely to trust one of their own like most magical creatures." I said, still inspecting Hagrid's ribs.
    “It was kind of . . .obvious.”Ron agreed.
Harry nodded.
Hagrid glared at us, then snorted, threw the steak onto the table again and strode back to the kettle, which was now whistling. I backed away slightly and looked at the trio concerned.
      "Two broken ribs." I mouthed and they winced.
     “Never known kids like you four fer knowin’ more’n yeh oughta.” Hagrid muttered, splashing boiling water into four of his bucket shaped mugs.
    “An’ I’m not complimentin’ yeh, neither. Nosy, some’d call it. Interferin’.” Hagrid added but his beard twitched.
    “So you have been to look for giants?” Harry said, grinning as he sat down at the table.
Hagrid set tea in front of each of them, sat down, picked up his steak again, and slapped it back over his face.
     “Yeah, all righ’. I have.” Hagrid grunted.
I held up my hand as Hermione was about to ask something.
     "Two broken ribs Hagrid. If you don't mind, just lift your shirt up a bit and I can mend them." I said, softly and Hagrid lifted his shirts up so I could point my wand at his ribs.
I didn't miss the wince Hagrid tried to suppress when he moved.
    "Brackium Emendo." I said but I did it correctly unlike Lockhart, who tried to fix Harry's broken arm in second year.
     "Now, I can use Episkey on your lip and nose but the others are too small for Episkey and I don't know what to do for the black eye. You'll have to go to Madam Pomfrey for the rest." I said, apologetically.
      "Life saver, yeh're Ro." Hagrid said.
I smiled gently and used Episkey on his split lip and broken nose.
I then sat down with the others. Fang and Winter were playing with one of Fang's tug of war ropes and I could tell Winter was going easy on him.
  “And you found them?” said Hermione in a hushed voice, moving the topic back to Giants.
  “Well, they’re not that difficult ter find, ter be honest. Pretty big, see.” Hagrid said.
    “Where are they?” Ron said.
    “Mountains,” Hagrid said unhelpfully.
    “So why don’t Muggles — ?” Harry started to say.
    “They do. O’ny their deaths are always put down ter mountaineerin’ accidents, aren’ they?” Hagrid said and he adjusted the steak a little so that it covered the worst of the bruising.
    “Come on, Hagrid, tell us what you’ve been up to!” I said, eagerly.
    “Tell us about being attacked by the giants and Harry can tell you about being attacked by the dementors —” Ron said.
Hagrid choked in his mug and dropped his steak at the same time; a large quantity of spit, tea, and dragon blood was sprayed over the table as Hagrid coughed and spluttered and the steak slid, with a soft splat, onto the floor.
    “Whadda yeh mean, attacked by dementors?” Hagrid growled.
    “Didn’t you know?” Hermione asked him, wide-eyed.
    “I don’ know anything that’s been happenin’ since I left. I was on a secret mission, wasn’ I, didn’ wan’ owls followin’ me all over the place — ruddy dementors! Yeh’re not serious?” Hagrid said, panicked.
    “Yeah, I am, they turned up in Little Whinging and attacked my cousin and me, and then the Ministry of Magic expelled me —”
     “WHAT?” Hagrid said angrily, making us all jump.
     “— and I had to go to a hearing and everything, but tell us about the giants first.”
     “You were expelled?” Hagrid demanded.
    “Tell us about your summer and I’ll tell you about mine.” Harry insisted.
I grinned at Harry as Hagrid glared at him through his one open eye. Harry looked right back, an expression of innocent determination on his face.
     “Oh, all righ’.” Hagrid said in a resigned voice.
     "You have learned well." I said in a proud voice and the others laughed, while Hagrid rolled his eye. 
He bent down and tugged the dragon steak out of Fang’s mouth.
    “Oh, Hagrid, don’t, it’s not hygien —” Hermione began, but Hagrid had already slapped the meat back over his swollen eye.
He took another fortifying gulp of tea.
    “Well, we set off righ’ after term ended —” Hagrid began.
    “Madame Maxime went with you, then?” Hermione interjected.
    “Yeah, tha’s right.” Hagrid said, and a softened expression appeared on the few inches of face that were not obscured by beard or green steak.
   “Yeah, it was jus’ the pair of us. An’ I’ll tell yeh this, she’s not afraid of roughin’ it, Olympe. Yeh know, she’s a fine, well - dressed woman, an’ knowin’ where we was goin’ I wondered ’ow she’d feel abou’ clamberin’ over boulders an’ sleepin’ in caves an’ tha’, bu’ she never complained once.” Hagrid said.
“You knew where you were going? You knew where the giants were?” Harry asked.
     “Well, Dumbledore knew, an’ he told us.” Hagrid said.
     “Are they hidden? Is it a secret, where they are?” Ron asked.
    “Not really. It’s jus’ that mos’ wizards aren’ bothered where they are, s’ long as it’s a good long way away. But where they are’s very difficult ter get ter, fer humans anyway, so we needed Dumbledore’s instructions. Took us abou’ a month ter get there —” Hagrid said, shaking his shaggy head.
    “A month? But — why couldn’t you just grab a Portkey or something?” Ron said, as though he had never heard of a journey lasting such a ridiculously long time.
There was an odd expression in Hagrid’s unobscured eye as he squinted at Ron, it was almost pitying.
    “We’re bein’ watched, Ron.” Hagrid said gruffly.
    “What d’you mean?” Ros urged.
    “Yeh don’ understand. The Ministry’s keepin’ an eye on Dumbledore an’ anyone they reckon’s in league with him, an’ —” Hagrid said.
    “We know about that.” Harry said quickly, keen to hear the rest of Hagrid’s story.
     “We know about the Ministry watching Dumbledore —” I said just as keen as Harry.
    “So you couldn’t use magic to get there? You had to act like Muggles all the way?” Ron asked, looking thunderstruck
    “Well, not exactly all the way. We jus’ had ter be careful, ’cause Olympe an’ me, we stick out a bit —” Hagrid said cagily.
Ron made a stifled noise somewhere between a snort and a sniff and hastily took a gulp of tea.
    “— so we’re not hard ter follow. We was pretendin’ we was goin’ on holiday together, so we got inter France an’ we made like we was headin’ fer where Olympe’s school is, ’cause we knew we was bein’ tailed by someone from the Ministry. We had to go slow, ’cause I’m not really s’posed ter use magic an’ we knew the Ministry’d be lookin’ fer a reason ter run us in. But we managed ter give the berk tailin’ us the slip round abou’ Dee-John —”
    “Ooooh, Dijon? I’ve been there on holiday, did you see —”
She fell silent at the look on Ron’s face.
     "Yeah, I've been there too. Remus took us to France once. I was just starting to learn the language. Sane holiday where I locked Jake in a cage and trapped Jay in a stocks." I said, grinning.
      "What they' do to deserve that'?" Hagrid said, chuckling.
      "Stole my chips." I said, darkly.
They all rolled their eyes at me and Harry continued his story.
    “We chanced a bit o’ magic after that, and it wasn’ a bad journey. Ran inter a couple o’ mad trolls on the Polish border, an’ I had a sligh’ disagreement with a vampire in a pub in Minsk, but apart from tha’, couldn’t’a bin smoother." Hagrid said.
    “An’ then we reached the place, an’ we started trekkin’ up through the mountains, lookin’ fer signs of ’em . . ." Hagrid said.
   “We had ter lay off the magic once we got near ’em. Partly ’cause they don’ like wizards an’ we didn’ want ter put their backs up too soon, and partly ’cause Dumbledore had warned us You - Know - Who was bound ter be after the giants an’ all. Said it was odds on he’d sent a messenger off ter them already. Told us ter be very careful of drawin’ attention ter ourselves as we got nearer in case there was Death Eaters around.” Hagrid said and paused for a long draft of tea.
    “Go on!” Harry said urgently.
   “Found ’em,” said Hagrid baldly.
   “Went over a ridge one nigh’ an’ there they was, spread ou’ underneath us. Little fires burnin’ below an’ huge shadows. It was like watchin’ bits o’ the mountain movin’.” Hagrid said.
    “How big are they?” Ron asked in a hushed voice.
    “ ’Bout twenty feet. Some o’ the bigger ones mighta bin twenty-five.” Hagrid said, casually.
    “And how many were there?” I asked.
    “I reckon abou’ seventy or eighty.” Hagrid said.
    “Is that all?” Hermione said.
    “Yep, eighty left, an’ there was loads once, musta bin a hundred diff’rent tribes from all over the world. But they’ve bin dyin’ out fer ages. Wizards killed a few, o’ course, but mostly they killed each other, an’ now they’re dyin’ out faster than ever. They’re not made ter live bunched up together like tha’. Dumbledore says it’s our fault, it was the wizards who forced ’em to go an’ made ’em live a good long way from us an’ they had no choice but ter stick together fer their own protection.” Hagrid said, sadly.
I frowned, wizards can really be cruel when we're scared of something.
     “So, you saw them and then what?” Harry said.
     “Well, we waited till morning, didn’ want ter go sneakin’ up on ’em in the dark, fer our own safety,” said Hagrid. “ ’Bout three in the mornin’ they fell asleep jus’ where they was sittin’. We didn’ dare sleep. Fer one thing, we wanted ter make sure none of ’em woke up an’ came up where we were, an’ fer another, the snorin’ was unbelievable. Caused an avalanche near mornin’. Hagrid said.
    "Sounds like Jay and Jake." I said casually.
Ron laughed.
     "Fred and George said they snorted like demons." Ron said laughing.
    “Anyway, once it was light we wen’ down ter see ’em.” Hagrid said, chuckling.
    “Just like that? You just walked right into a giant camp?” Ron said, looking awestruck.
    “Well, Dumbledore’d told us how ter do it. Give the Gurg gifts, show some respect, yeh know.” Hagrid said.
    “Give the what gifts?” Harry asked.
    “Oh, the Gurg means the chief.” I said.
    “How could you tell which one was the Gurg? And how do you even know that?” Ron asked, staring at me.
Hagrid grunted in amusement while I rolled my eyes.
     "I've done research, Ron. I actually see the usefulness in what Binns teaches. It's good to know the history between wizards and magical creatures. You never know when the day might come you need their help and it's best to know how to approach and speak to them." I insisted and Ron just shrugged.
      You're not' wrong, Ro. And it's no problem finding the Gurg. He was the biggest, the ugliest, an’ the laziest. Sittin’ there waitin’ ter be brought food by the others. Dead goats an’ such like. Name o’ Karkus. I’d put him at twenty-two, twenty-three feet, an’ the weight of a couple o’ bull elephants. Skin like rhino hide an’ all.”
   “And you just walked up to him?” said Hermione breathlessly.
   “Well . . . down ter him, where he was lyin’ in the valley. They was in this dip between four pretty high mountains, see, beside a mountain lake, an’ Karkus was lyin’ by the lake roarin’ at the others ter feed him an’ his wife. Olympe an’ I went down the mountainside —” Hagrid explained.
    “But didn’t they try and kill you when they saw you?” Ron asked incredulously.
    “It was def’nitely on some of their minds, but we did what Dumbledore told us ter do, which was ter hold our gift up high an’ keep our eyes on the Gurg an’ ignore the others. So tha’s what we did. An’ the rest of ’em went quiet an’ watched us pass an’ we got right up ter Karkus’s feet an’ we bowed an’ put our present down in front o’ him.” Hagrid said, shrugging.
   “What do you give a giant? Food?” Ron asked, enthusiastically.
    "No, you wouldn't would you? They can get food easily. You'd bring them something they can't get themselves. Magic? I think I read Giants like magic as long as it's not used against them." I said thoughtfully.
Hagrid beamed at me with pride.
     "Right, yeh're Ro. That firs’ day we gave him a branch o’ Gubraithian fire.”
Hermione and I said “wow” softly, but Harry and Ron both frowned in puzzlement.
    “A branch of — ?” Harry asked.
    “Everlasting fire.” I said.
    "You ought to know that by now, Professor Flitwick’s mentioned it at least twice in class!” Hermione said irritably,
   “Well anyway,” said Hagrid quickly, intervening before Ron could answer back,
    “Dumbledore’d bewitched this branch to burn evermore, which isn’ somethin’ any wizard could do, an’ so I lies it down in the snow by Karkus’s feet and says, ‘A gift to the Gurg of the giants from Albus Dumbledore, who sends his respectful greetings.’ ” Hagrid said.
    “And what did Karkus say?” Harry asked eagerly.
    “Nothin’,” said Hagrid. “Didn’ speak English.”
    “You’re kidding!” Ron said.
    "Do you know how to speak Giant?" I asked.
    "Uh no." Ron answered.
    "So why should they be expected to know English?" I pointed out.
    “Didn’ matter. Dumbledore had warned us tha’ migh’ happen. Karkus knew enough to yell fer a couple o’ giants who knew our lingo an’ they translated fer us.” Hagrid said imperturbably.
    “And did he like the present?” Ron asked.
    “Oh yeah, it went down a storm once they understood what it was. Very pleased. So then I said, ‘Albus Dumbledore asks the Gurg to speak with his messenger when he returns tomorrow with another gift.’ ” Hagrid said, turning his dragon steak over to press the cooler side to his swollen eye.
    “Why couldn’t you speak to them that day?” I asked.
    “Dumbledore wanted us ter take it very slow. Let ’em see we kept our promises. We’ll come back tomorrow with another present, an’ then we do come back with another present — gives a good impression, see? An’ gives them time ter test out the firs’ present an’ find out it’s a good one, an’ get ’em eager fer more. In any case, giants like Karkus — overload ’em with information an’ they’ll kill yeh jus’ to simplify things. So we bowed outta the way an’ went off an’ found ourselves a nice little cave ter spend that night in, an’ the followin’ mornin’ we went back an’ this time we found Karkus sittin’ up waitin’ fer us lookin’ all eager.” Hagrid said.
    “And you talked to him?” I asked, eagerly.
   “Oh yeah. Firs’ we presented him with a nice battle helmet — goblin-made an’ indestructible, yeh know — an’ then we sat down an’ we talked.” Hagrid said.
    "Brilliant. No better quality of metal then goblin made." I said, excitedly.
    “What did he say?” Harry asked.
    “Not much. Listened mostly.
    "Well, giants aren't known for their talkative nature." I joked.
Hagrid chuckled.
     "But there were good signs. He’d heard o’ Dumbledore, heard he’d argued against the killin’ of the last giants in Britain. Karkus seemed ter be quite int’rested in what Dumbledore had ter say. An’ a few o’ the others, ’specially the ones who had some English, they gathered round an’ listened too. We were hopeful when we left that day. Promised ter come back next day with another present. But that night it all wen’ wrong.” Hagrid said.
   “What d’you mean?” Ron said quickly.
   “Well, like I say, they’re not meant ter live together, giants. Not in big groups like that. They can’ help themselves, they half kill each other every few weeks. The men fight each other an’ the women fight each other, the remnants of the old tribes fight each other, an’ that’s even without squabbles over food an’ the best fires an’ sleepin’ spots. Yeh’d think, seein’ as how their whole race is abou’ finished, they’d lay off each other, but . . .” Hagrid said sadly and he sighed deeply
     “That night a fight broke out, we saw it from the mouth of our cave, lookin’ down on the valley. Went on fer hours, yeh wouldn’ believe the noise. An’ when the sun came up the snow was scarlet an’ his head was lyin’ at the bottom o’ the lake.” Hagrid said.
    “Whose head?” Hermione gasped.
    “Karkus’s. There was a new Gurg, Golgomath.” Hagrid said, heavily.
He sighed deeply.
     “Well, we hadn’ bargained on a new Gurg two days after we’d made friendly contact with the firs’ one, an’ we had a funny feelin’ Golgomath wouldn’ be so keen ter listen to us, but we had ter try.” Hagrid said.
     “You went to speak to him? After you’d watched him rip off another giant’s head?” Ron said, incredulously.
     “ ’Course we did, we hadn’ gone all that way ter give up after two days! We wen’ down with the next present we’d meant ter give ter Karkus. I knew it was no go before I’d opened me mouth. He was sitting there wearin’ Karkus’s helmet, leerin’ at us as we got nearer. He’s massive, one o’ the biggest ones there. Black hair an’ matchin’ teeth an’ a necklace o’ bones. Human lookin’ bones, some of ’em. Well, I gave it a go — held out a great roll o’ dragon skin — an’ said 'A gift fer the Gurg of the giants —’ Nex’ thing I knew, I was hangin’ upside down in the air by me feet, two of his mates had grabbed me.” Hagrid said.
Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and my eyes widened in horror.
    “How did you get out of that?” Harry asked and he grabbed my hand from under the table.
    “Wouldn’ta done if Olympe hadn’ bin there. She pulled out her wand an’ did some o’ the fastes’ spellwork I’ve ever seen. Ruddy marvelous. Hit the two holdin’ me right in the eyes with Conjunctivitus Curses an’ they dropped me straightaway — bu’ we were in trouble then, ’cause we’d used magic against ’em, an’ that’s what giants hate abou’ wizards. We had ter leg it an’ we knew there was no way we was going ter be able ter march inter camp again.” Hagrid said.
    “Blimey, Hagrid.” Ron said quietly.
    “So how come it’s taken you so long to get home if you were only there for three days?” Hermione asked.
   “We didn’ leave after three days!Dumbledore was relyin’ on us!” Hagrid said, looking outraged.
   “But you’ve just said there was no way you could go back! And there was definitely no way you could of Giants are ones to hold a grudge." I insisted.
     “Not by daylight, we couldn’, no. We just had ter rethink a bit. Spent a couple o’ days lyin’ low up in the cave an’ watchin’. An’ wha’ we saw wasn’ good.” Hagrid said.
    “Did he rip off more heads?” asked Hermione, sounding squeamish.
     “No, I wish he had.” Hagrid said.
     “What d’you mean?” I said.
     “I mean we soon found out he didn’ object ter all wizards — just us.” Hagrid said.
      “Death Eaters?” Harry said quickly.
      “Yep. Couple of ’em were visitin’ him ev’ry day, bringin’ gifts ter the Gurg, an’ he wasn’ dangling them upside down.” Hagrid said, darkly.
      “How d’you know they were Death Eaters?” said Ron.
       "Well it wouldn't be the Ministry. They'd sooner kill the lot of them then talk to them. This is exactly why Lu went to work in the Ministry, so he could change this kind of stuff." I said, angrily.
    “Right again, Ro. But I also recognised one of ’em, Macnair, remember him? Bloke they sent ter kill Buckbeak? Maniac, he is. Likes killin’ as much as Golgomath, no wonder they were gettin’ on so well.” Hagrid growled.
    “So Macnair’s persuaded the giants to join You - Know - Who?” Hermione said desperately.
     “Hold yer hippogriffs, I haven’ finished me story yet!” Hagrid said indignantly, who, considering he had not wanted to tell them anything in the first place, now seemed to be rather enjoying himself.
    “Me an’ Olympe talked it over an’ we agreed, jus’ ’cause the Gurg looked like favorin’ You - Know - Who didn’ mean all of ’em would. We had ter try an’ persuade some o’ the others, the ones who hadn’ wanted Golgomath as Gurg.” Hagrid said.
    “How could you tell which ones they were?” Ron asked.
   “Well, they were the ones bein’ beaten to a pulp, weren’ they? The ones with any sense were keepin’ outta Golgomath’s way, hidin’ out in caves roun’ the gully jus’ like we were. So we decided we’d go pokin’ round the caves by night an’ see if we couldn’ persuade a few o’ them.” Hagrid said patiently.
    “You went poking around dark caves looking for giants?” Ron said with awed respect in his voice.
“Well, it wasn’ the giants who worried us most. We were more concerned abou’ the Death Eaters. Dumbledore had told us before we wen’ not ter tangle with ’em if we could avoid it, an’ the trouble was they knew we was around — ’spect Golgomath told him abou’ us. At night when the giants were sleepin’ an’ we wanted ter be creepin’ inter the caves, Macnair an’ the other one were sneakin’ round the mountains lookin’ fer us. I was hard put to stop Olympe jumpin’ out at them,” Hagrid said, the corners of his mouth lifting his wild beard.
    “She was rarin’ ter attack ’em. She’s somethin’ when she’s roused, Olympe. Fiery, yeh know . . . ’spect it’s the French in her . . .” Hagrid said and gazed misty-eyed into the fire.
Hermione and I gave each other knowing smiles.
Harry allowed him thirty seconds’ reminiscence before clearing his throat loudly. I glared slightly at Harry. Let the man have a moment.
   “So what happened? Did you ever get near any of the other giants?” Harry said.
    “What? Oh . . . oh yeah, we did. Yeah, on the third night after Karkus was killed, we crept outta the cave we’d bin hidin’ in and headed back down inter the gully, keepin’ our eyes skinned fer the Death Eaters. Got inside a few o’ the caves, no go — then, in abou’ the sixth one, we found three giants hidin’.”
    “Cave must’ve been cramped.” Ron said..
    “Wasn’ room ter swing a kneazle.”  Hagrid said.
    “Didn’t they attack you when they saw you?” Hermione asked.
     “Probably woulda done if they’d bin in any condition, but they was badly hurt, all three o’ them. Golgomath’s lot had beaten ’em unconscious; they’d woken up an’ crawled inter the nearest shelter they could find." Hagrid said.
     "Bless them." I said.
They all looked at me.
     "What? I hate bullies and that's what Golgomath’s and his mates sound like. Just you wait till I get my hands on Goyle." I said, defianitely.
      "What did he do this time?" Hagrid asked, apprehensively.
    "Knocked Ro off her broom when she was twenty feet in the air. George caught her luckily before she got too close to the ground." Harry said, angrily.
Hagrid looked outraged and about to shout.
    "Don't you go and mother hen over me like everyone else. I'm fine." I said quickly and determinedly.
Hagrid looked taken aback for a second before he started to laugh.
      "Yeh mus' be fine if yeh're as fiery as ever. Anyway, one o’ them had a bit of English an’ ’e translated fer the others, an’ what we had ter say didn’ seem ter go down too badly. So we kep’ goin’ back, visitin’ the wounded. I reckon we had abou’ six or seven o’ them convinced at one poin’.” Hagrid said.
     “Six or seven? Well that’s not bad — are they going to come over here and start fighting You-Know-Who with us?” Ron said, eagerly.
But Hermione and I looked at each other.
     “What do you mean ‘at one point,’ Hagrid?” I said.
Hagrid looked at me sadly.
   “Golgomath’s lot raided the caves. The ones tha’ survived didn’ wan’ no more ter to do with us after that.”
    “So . . . so there aren’t any giants coming?” Ron said, looking disappointed.
“Nope, but we did wha’ we meant ter do, we gave ’em Dumbledore’s message an’ some o’ them heard it an’ I ’spect some o’ them’ll remember it. Jus’ maybe, them that don’ want ter stay around Golgomath’ll move outta the mountains, an’ there’s gotta be a chance they’ll remember Dumbledore’s friendly to ’em. Could be they’ll come . . .” Hagrid said, heaving a deep sigh as he turned over his steak again and applied the cooler side to his face.