Spells and Visions; A Harry Potter story

Chapter 9: Water-Sleep

When we went back to Hogsmeade, we ran into Hermione, Harry and Ron, who seemed in a rush.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Ask Hermione," Harry said, as confused as me.
"You better go to find out," Cedric winked at me.
I nodded with a smile, and ran to keep up with the trio.
"Why are we running?" I asked Hermione, who looked furious.
"Rita came into the Three Broomsticks," Ron panted. "She made Hermione very mad, saying things about Hagrid. Remember the article? Well, we had gone to Hagrid, but he wasn't home. We're going to see if he is now."
"Right."
"And she said terrible things about Hermione as well," Harry added.
"Well, that's not good," I said.

We ran all the way to Hagrid's cabin.
Hermione pounded on his door.
"Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mother was a giantess, you can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you!"
The door opened.
"About ti-" Hermione stopped. It was not Hagrid, but Dumbledore who opened the door.
"Good afternoon," he said. "Why don't you come in?"
Startled, because the Headmaster had opened the door, we went inside.
Hagrid looked like a mess. His eyes were red and swollen, but his face was barely visible, because his hair was now so bushy and tangled, there was no hope in trying to make it stay in place.

"Hi, Hagrid," Harry said.
"Hello," Hagrid said hoarsely.
Dumbledore gave us tea, because Hagrid was in no state to do that.
"Did you hear, by any chance, what miss Granger said at the door?" Dumbledore asked Hagrid.
"These four apparently still want to know you, judging by the way they were ready to break down the door."
"Of course we still want to know you!" Harry said. "You can't let that Skeeter cow- sorry Professor."
"I have gone temporarily deaf and have no idea what you said," Dumbledore said innocently.
"Okay- point is, Hagrid, you can't think we'd care what she wrote."
"Living proof of what I've told you, Hagrid," Dumbledore said. "I've shown you letters of countless parents who remember you, that will have something to say about it if I sacked you-"
"Not all of them," Hagrid said, while another tear passed over his cheek. "Not all of 'em wan' me ter stay."
"You'll be in here for very long if you look at universal popularity. I wasn't a week Headmaster, when I had at least one owl complaining about the way I ran the school. But should I have barricaded myself and refuse to talk to anybody?"
"Ye're not half-giant!" Hagrid blurted out.

"Look at what I've got for relatives!" Harry said angrily. "Look at the Dursleys!"
"Excellent point," Dumbledore said, and gave an example of his brother Aberforth (I didn't know he had a brother), who also didn't give up when there was bad news spreading about him.
"Yeah, I didn't back down either when the news of Sirius Black spread," I said. "Everyone stared at me, but I didn't shut myself out."
"Come back and teach, Hagrid," Hermione said. "We really miss you."
More tears fell into his tangled beard. Dumbledore went up to the cabin door.
"I refure to accept your resignation, Hagrid," he said. "I expect you back at work Monday. You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon."

The door shut and Hagrid began to sob again. Hermione patted him on his arm, and Hagrid looked up.
"Great man, Dumbledore, great man... he's righ', ye're all righ', my dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin actin... Never shown you a picture o' my dad, have I?"
Hagrid went to a dresser and pulled out a picture. He showed us. It was a short wizard with dark eyes, like Hagrid, and he sat on his shoulders, who was very tall, but without beard, but he looked around eleven.
He told us about his dad, and got more happy instantly.

When we were back in the common room, Hermione told me that Bagman had been talking to goblins in the Three Broomsticks, and that he had tried to offer Harry help with the Tournament, which he refused.
"That's really suspicious," I said surprised. I had half expected Bagman to be innocent. "Let's keep him on the list."
"What list?" Ron asked.
"Never you mind," Hermione said, as she led me upstairs, to check our list again.
"We were in the kitchens once," Hermione said. "Dobby and Winky work there now, but Winky has a Butterbeer addiction, which is really bad for elves; she misses mr Crouch. Anyway, she said that Crouch doesn't trust Bagman either. So I don't know which of the two I find more suspicious now."