[1] PARADIGM ↳ Harry Potter

-SEVEN: BOGGART

    RAVEN STRUGGLES TO complete her homework assignment from Professor McGonagall that evening after dinner, as she notices the light is on at Hagrid's and she cannot stop worrying about him. She sighs as she sets her quill down and moves over to the couch, sitting on her knees and gazing out the window.

    "You'll never finish your work if you keep moving over to the window, Raven," Hermione scolds her. Harry and Ron are on the couch opposite of Raven, trying to do their work as well, but they too are distracted about the light on in Hagrid's window as well.

    "There's a light on over there," Raven tells her friends, not looking away from the window. She is really starting to worry for Hagrid. The man has been wonderful to the four students ever since their first year, and if he's going through a hard time, they should be there to comfort him, or at least try to.

    Ron glances at his watch. "If we hurried, we could go down there and see him," he suggests. "It's still quite early..." Raven nods her head vigorously, eager to get down there, before it's too late.

    "I don't know," Hermione says slowly, uneasy about leaving the school grounds, especially with a mass murderer like Sirius Black roaming around.

    "I'm allowed to walk across the grounds," Harry points out. "Sirius Black hasn't gotten past the dementors yet, has he?" Raven shakes her head.

    "No, he hasn't," she confirms. After a beat of silence, the girl jumps up from the couch and zips up her sweater, heading for the door. "I'm going. Hagrid needs us right now, and we need to be there for him."

    "Alright, alright!" The three others scramble after their friend, hesitantly following her out the portrait hole and down the stairs to the doors. They were thankful that they did not meet anyone else on the way, because they weren't sure they were supposed to be out this late.

    Raven's feet become wet as she walks through the grass to Hagrid's hut. She reaches the large wooden door first and she raps her fist against it a few times. The four students step inside the hut when they hear Hagrid's low voice telling them to come in.

    The first thing that Raven notices when she steps inside is that Hagrid is drunk. He is sitting down with his enormous dog's head in his lap. Raven would smile and pet Fluffy's head if it weren't for Hagrid's current state. She frowns at the giant of a man.

    "'Spect it's a record," Hagrid grumbles thickly as he notices the four students standing there. "Don' reckon they've ever had a teacher who lasted on'y a day before."

    "You haven't been fired, Hagrid," Hermione says with a gasp.

    "Not yet," Hagrid grumbles. He takes the tall mug from the table in front of him, which contains some kind of liquid. Raven guesses it's some kind of alcohol. Her frown deepens as he takes a large swig of it. She decides that she hates seeing Hagrid like this. "But's only a matter o' time, innit, after Malfoy..."

    "How is he?" Ron asks as the four students take a seat on the couch. Even though it's larger than any couch they've ever been on, they still have to squeeze together. Raven sits on the end with her leg pressed against Harry's. "It wasn't serious, was it?"

    "Madam Pomfrey fixed him best she could," Hagrid tells them. "But he's sayin' it's still agony... covered in bandages... moanin'..."

    "I'm sure he's faking it," Raven points out, knowing Draco Malfoy has a tendency to make a lot of of nothing. Harry nods at his friend before looking to the intoxicated man in front of him.

    "Madam Pomfrey can mend anything," the spectacled-boy says. "She re-grew half my bones last year. Trust Malfoy to milk it for all it's worth." Raven nods, remembering the incident when Madam Pomfrey had to mend Harry's arm, which had been practically turned to jelly by the Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts that they had last year. Professor Lockhart has been such a joke, Raven didn't understand all the fuss about him. She even smacked Hermione on the back of the head when the bushy haired girl was caught gazing dreamily at the Professor.