Hermione Granger and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 17 - A fairly anti climactic story, really

She had never seen Ron and Harry move quicker. They both rushed up the stairs to their dormitory without a word, and she did the same. By the time she threw on a hat, scarf and gloves and ran downstairs, they had already found Harry's Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map. Harry had his arms folded, and Ron clicked his tongue
"Well, it's cold out there!" she protested

It quickly became clear that the Invisibility Cloak wasn't made to accommodate three teenagers. Ron had grown so tall over the summer that he had to crouch to hide his feet, and the quickest they could go was a sort of fast shuffle that put them all in danger of tripping over one another. However they were all too excited to be cautious - in hindsight it was lucky that they didn't pass by any teachers, as it would have been very obvious that something was amiss

As they went into the cold grounds - thankfully the hail had stopped - and down towards Hagrid's hut, Hermione could see light coming through the windows, silhouetting a massive, moving shape. Hermione grinned

Harry banged hard on the door three times. They heard Fang start barking. Hermione felt her insides lift - she hadn't even realised that she had missed the dopey dog. Harry bend down and yelled through the keyhole
"Hagrid, its us!"
They heard Hagrid reply jovially, and beam at each other
"Shoulda known! Bin home three seconds... out the way, Fang... out the way, yeh dozy dog..."
Hagrid opened the door and peered out. Hermione screamed, before covering her mouth to muffle the sound. Hagrid looked like he had been attacked - his left eye was indistinguishable through a large, puffy purple bruise, and his hair was matted with something that looking like blood
"Merlin's beard, keep it down!" said Hagrid, looking through them into the grounds "Under that Cloak, are yeh? Well, get in, get in!"

They went in and, when Hagrid had pulled the door shut, pulled the Invisibility Cloak off themselves
"I'm sorry!" Hermione spluttered "I just - oh, Hagrid!"
"It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!" said Hagrid dismissively
He was in an even worse way than she had first seen. Cuts and scrapes covered his huge hands, and the way he was moving as he went to put the kettle over the fire suggested some form of internal damage
"What happened to you?" Harry asked
"Told yeh, nuthin'" Hagrid insisted "Want a cuppa?"
"Come off it" said Ron "you're in a right state!"
"I'm tellin' yeh, I'm fine" said Hagrid. He straightened up and winced, but beamed at them all the same "Blimey, it's good ter see yeh three again - had good summers, did yeh?"
It was a feeble attempt at changing the subject - even Ron saw through it immediately
"Hagrid, you've been attacked!" he said
"Fer the las' time, it's nuthin'!" said Hagrid firmly
"Would you say it was nothing if one of us turned up with a pound of mince instead of a face?" Ron continued

"You ought to go and see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid" said Hermione "some of those cuts look nasty."
"I'm dealin' with it, all righ'?" said Hagrid
He walked over to the table, where a tea towel was a large lump of... something. He pulled the towel away, revealing a repulsive looking slab of green tinged meat, still bleeding
"You're not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?" said Ron "It looks poisonous"
"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat" Hagrid said "An' I didn' get it ter eat."
He picked up the meat and pressed it against his bruised face. Ron recoiled, but Hagrid sighex
"Tha's better. It helps with the stingin', yeh know"

"So, are you going to tell us what's happened to you?" said Harry
"Can't, Harry" said Hagrid gruffly "Top secret. More'n me job's worth ter tell yeh that"
"Did the giants beat you up, Hagrid?" asked Hermione
Hagrid dropped the meat - it fell on the table
"Giants?" he said quickly - he had always been a terrible liar "who said anythin' abou' giants? Who yeh bin talkin' to? Who's told yeh what I've - who's said I've bin - eh?"
"We guessed" said Hermione
"Oh, yeh did, did yeh?" said Hagrid, picking the dragon meat back up
"It was kind of... obvious" said Ron
Hagrid snorted. It sounded like a bull. The kettle whistled, and he got up to take it off the fire
"Never known kids like you three fer knowin' more'n yeh oughta" he said "An' I'm not complimentin' yeh, neither. Nosy, some'd call it. Interferin'"
But he was smiling