Slytherin Raised by Wolfstar: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter Fifteen: Confessions and Coverups

(Warning meantions and descriptions of abuse. Those who are negatively triggered by abuse should not read this chapter.)

Harry had always known that Hagrid had an unfortunate liking for large and monstrous creatures. During Harry's first year at Hogwarts he had tried to raise a dragon in his little wooden house, and it would be a long time before he forgot the giant, three-headed dog he'd christened 'Fluffy'. And if, as a boy, Hagrid had heard that a monster was hidden somewhere in the castle, Harry was sure he'd have gone to any lengths for a glimpse of it. He'd probably thought it was a shame that the monster had been cooped up so long, and thought it deserved the chance to stretch its many legs; Harry could just imagine the thirteen-year-old Hagrid trying to fit a lead and collar on it. The only problem was Harry couldn't tell for one hundred percent certainty if Hagrid had intended for anyone to get hurt or not, Hagrid was mostly harmless now, but Harry new he had a temper and it could have been worse in his youth.

Harry half-wished he hadn't found out how to work Riddle's diary. Again and again his friends made him recount what he'd seen, until he was heartily sick of telling them and sick of the long, circular conversations that followed.

'Hagrid couldn't have been the heir of Slytherin,' argued Theodore. 'One, he was a Gryffindor. Two, long standing rumour is he has giant blood in his ancestry, no Pure-blood would mate with a muggle let alone a Giant.'

'Your Pure-blood mindset is keeping you close minded,' said Tracey, 'Salazar's descendants might have forgotten or lost their roots, or simply one of them just didn't care about blood status anymore.'

'I don't think it is Hagrid,' said Allison, 'But a spider like creature does make sense, that might be why they've never been caught, it walks on the ceiling.'

'We always knew Hagrid had been expelled,' said Harry miserably. 'And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award.'

'Do we really know much about Hagrid's life besides his job here?' asked Theodore. 'Can he even leave the grounds, because sometimes it feels like his job here is an alternative to Azkaban.'

'Well,' said Harry, trying to think, 'He's talked about going to the Hogshead before, but that is only a short walk away, and the two times I've seen him in Diagon Alley it was on Hogwarts business. I am not sure actually, if this is meant as a prison he is trusted with a very long leash at least.'

'Our speculations are getting all over the place and aren't getting us anywhere,' Tracey told the group, 'Why don't we just ask Hagrid what happened fifty years ago?'

'And say what?' Allison asked seriously, 'Hagrid, did you kill a kid fifty years ago with a secret creature and are now helping that creature kill again?'

In the end, they decided that they wouldn't say anything to Hagrid unless there was another attack, and as more and more days went by with no whisper from the disembodied voice, they became hopeful that they would never need to talk to him about why he had been expelled.

Time continued to move forward as normal, though a layer of unease never was truly gone. Harry and Allison faced off against Ravenclaw and won, but not by much, Harry was very impressed by their teams skill and position. Classes continued to get harder, all except for Lockharts class that just seemed to get dumber. Before they knew it, it had been nearly four months since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Peeves had finally got bored of his 'Oh Potter, you rotter' song, Ernie Macmillan wasn't actively frowning when Harry was around, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. This made Professor Sprout very happy.