The Wand of Ravenclaw

Where There's A Will...

Hagrid's tea was foul. Harry suspected it might have had something to do with the gamekeeper's shaking hands as he had added tea leaves to the pot using a trowel rather than a spoon. The water had been piping hot, direct from the roaring fire in the grate, and it was tinged with a strange harshness that Harry thought might have been Firewhiskey. All in all it was probably the worst cup of tea he had ever tasted.

Harry had been at Hagrid's for a day or so. He had been taken there directly from the school as Hagrid would have been unable to enter Grimmauld Place without Harry's permission. He had woken during the night but in pain so great that he couldn't even get up from bed. He had taken a foul potion brewed quickly by Hermione and slept again, feeling slightly better in the morning where an all-over ache had replaced the burning pain in his bones. Hermione was not there to be thanked.

Hagrid told Harry she had left after brewing the potion, not even staying to see him take it. When Harry asked where she had gone and why, he received no answer; Hagrid, it seemed, couldn't find the words to describe it.

'Is she coming back?' Harry had asked.

'I don' know,' said Hagrid. 'She was pretty upset. She was all pale and didn' say much. Jus' made that you're drinking and left. Didn' even say goodbye.'

'That's not like her,' said Harry. 'Did seeing Voldemort as me upset her that much?'

'I don' think it was that, Harry,' said Hagrid. 'It was doin' them curses on ya. She had to hurt ya, nearly kill ya to get him outta ya. Can' ave been easy for her. Poor Hermione, she probably blames herself for how ya are now.'

Harry forced himself to sit up, which was no mean feat in his condition. He downed what was left of the ointment-potion and winced at the foul taste. He hadn't considered the effect on Hermione of what she'd done to destroy the Horcrux. He tried to imagine himself performing the Unforgivable Curses on her, wondering if he'd have been able to do it. His heart panged at the thought.

'How could I do that to her, Hagrid?' said Harry ruefully. 'I shouldn't have asked her to do that. No friend should have to.'

'No normal friend would have,' said Hagrid. 'But what you an' Hermione have got is a bit more special than that, I think.'

'I doubt that anymore,' said Harry, though he warmed at Hagrid's words. 'What have I done?'

'What you had to do,' said Hagrid simply. 'What people like you and Dumbledore always do. The kind of things great men have to – turn death into a fightin' chance to live.'

Harry choked back a lump in his throat. Hagrid was comparing him to Dumbledore, a man he looked up to almost like a God? The cabin was feeling hot all of a sudden.

'I have to make it up to her, make her see that it wasn't her fault,' said Harry. 'I hope she'll forgive me.'

'Don' think she blames you, Harry,' said Hagrid who was now peeling potatoes into a huge vat. 'Could be something else.'

'Like what?'

'Hermione's a good girl, always had her heart in the right place. But she had to do them evil curses, and she did 'em. Cant have bin easy for her. Might be she didn't know she had it in her to do them things, and to you an'all. Or maybe she was willing to do 'em because it was you, her mind might be all messed up.'

'I have to get up and go to her,' said Harry pushing the patchwork quilt aside.

'You'll do no such thing,' said Hagrid. 'Hermione said you're to stay here till you're well and I reckon the same. Gotta get fit before you get up.'

Harry knew it was useless to argue. Hagrid was stronger than your average troll and getting away from him was as close to impossible as you could get. And using magic against him was out of the question. Reluctantly, Harry slumped back down to the bed and tried to ignore the growing sensation of guilt building within him.