SCARLETT: THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Chapter 24: The Quidditch match and the giant problem

No one knew where Dumbledore had gone after he had disappeared. It wasn't like we actually expected to hear from him, but we all found it very strange that there wasn't a single sign of where he had gone off to or even how he had managed to get off of school grounds. As Hermione continued to point out, it was impossible for anyone to Apparate or Disapparate on the grounds of Hogwarts. Then again, this was Dumbledore that we were talking about - who knew, maybe he could bend the rules a bit being Headmaster and all, it was hard to say.

Anyway, there was the final Quidditch match, which Gryffindor won. Hermione and Harry disappeared during it and later they told me why.

"We went with Hagrid," Hermione said.

"For what?" I asked as I eyed Hagrid who was walking into his hut.

"Well...it's difficult to explain," Hermione said hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, becoming more confused by the minute.

Harry looked around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear him before he started to explain.

"Hagrid took us into the Forbidden Forest to show us something," Harry said.

"What did he need to show you?" I asked.

"Well...you know how he went to talk with the giants, right?" Hermione said slowly.

"Yes," I said.

I wasn't sure where this was going, but I could already tell that it wasn't going to be good. What did Hagrid's trip to the giants have anything to do with what was in the Forbidden Forest.

"He sort of...brought something along with him," Harry said.

"You don't mean that he brought one of them with him?" I asked without really wanting to know the answer.

"That's exactly what he did," Harry said.

"You're joking," I said, feeling my face fall with every word. "Hagrid brought a giant to Hogwarts - this has to be some sort of joke."

"I wish it was," Hermione said miserably.

"Why would he do that?" I asked.

"Well, the one that he brought isn't just any giant," Harry said. "It's his brother, well - his half-brother."

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Before you freak out too much, Grawp isn't exactly as big of a giant as the rest," Hermione said.

"It doesn't matter how big of a giant he is!" I said. "He shouldn't have brought him in the first place."

"I agree," Harry said. "But he told us that he would have died if he left him. Apparently the other giants were beating up on him."

"So he brought it here?" I asked.

"Where else could he bring it Scarlett?" Hermione asked. "Giants aren't accepted in the world. Just look at how they treat Hagrid and he's only a third of the size of his brother."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. I know that Hagrid may have had good intentions, but there will be horrible consequences if anyone finds out - especially Umbridge.

"What did he show you for?" I asked. "Why did he need us to know this?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other skeptically.

"Well, that's what we wanted to talk to you about," Hermione said.

"He wants us to take care of it if Umbridge gives him the sack," Harry said.

"He wants us to WHAT?" I asked.

I looked around and found that a few passerby's had heard me yelling. Judging by their questioning looks, they didn't seem to know what was going on.

"Listen," Harry said. "He only wants us to go by and talk to it - give it company and maybe help it learn our language a little bit better. Hagrid said that Grawp should be able to take care of himself besides that."

"He wants us to teach a giant English?" I asked with raised eyebrows. "And how exactly are we going to do that?"

"I was sorta hoping you and Hermione could work out that."

"You know that I will," I sighed. "But it's completely mad."

"We know," Hermione sighed. "But we don't really have much of a choice now that we've made a promise to Hagrid."

We started to make our way back to the castle after that. There wasn't really any more that could be said now that they had made a promise to help Hagrid. Don't get me wrong - I was happy to help Hagrid, but I knew that this wasn't going to be a simple task. But who knows, maybe we wouldn't even need to go through with it. Maybe Umbridge wouldn't sack Hagrid before the end of the term - after all, he had already made it this far. But I also had this creeping feeling that she was going to sack him and leave us with one giant of a problem - pun intended.