Into The Light (Golden Trio Era) {2}

Grawp

They walked for what felt like another quarter of an hour, in silence for the most part. The three kids eventually grouped together and were now walking side by side, following Hagrid. Harry began to open his mouth at one point, most likely to ask how much further they were to go, but didn't continue once Hagrid stopped walking and threw his arm out to signal them to stop too. "Really easy," he said in a soft voice, it still sounded very hoarse. "Very quiet, now..." Mikayla peered around Hagrid to see what it is that they had finally reached. They had stopped just before a rather large, smooth mound of earth. Mikayla swallowed, thinking of what menacing creature could possibly be using that mound as a burrow. The area had been ripped of its trees, they all laid on their sides, roots exposed to the to the world. The felled trees were positioned in such away that they acted as a kind of a fence surrounding the mound. This observation only made Mikayla think of the sheer force needed to knock down such large trees, and subsequently the size of what had done it. "Sleepin'" Hagrid nodded, Mikayla listened hard, the rhythmic rumble of lungs at work could be heard, slightly muffled.

Then it dawned on Mikayla what Hagrid has brought them to see, a sleeping giant. "Hagrid, who is he?" Mikayla said in a whisper barely detectable over the sounds of breathing. "Hagrid, you told us..." Hermione's voice was coated in fear, she took a step back, looking back and forth between Hagrid and the great, sleeping giant. "you told us none of them wanted to come!" Harry frowned, before he had the realisation wash over his face as he put together what exactly that mound of earth was. Mikayla found herself gripping the handle of her wand firmly, she was surprised it hadn't snapped in two. "Well- no- he didn' want ter come," Hagrid rubbed the back of his head, something in his voice sounded more desperate than I'd ever heard him be. "But I had ter bring him, Hermione, I had ter!" "But why?" Mikayla asked, sounding utterly terrified. "I knew if I jus' got him back," said Hagrid, tears were welling up in his eyes, "an'- an' taught him a few manners- I'd be able ter take him outside an' show ev'ryone he's harmless!" "Harmless!" Mikayla nearly shrieked, Hagrid franticly hushed her, waving his hands in the air as if it was the most important thing for her to be quiet.

The giant, grunted and stirred in its sleep, Mikayla jumped back from where she was standing, pulling Harry and Hermione with her. "He's been hurting you all this time, hasn't he? That's why you've had all these injuries!" Hermione added furiously. "He don' know his own strength!" said Hagrid in a sincere voice. "An' he's gettin' better, he's not fightin' so much anymore-" "So this is why it took you two months to get home!" said Hermione in such a fit that she reminded Mikayla of Molly after the twins slipped Dudley one of their toffees. "Oh Hagrid, why did you bring him back if he didn't want to come, wouldn't he have been happier with his own people?" "They were all bullyin' him, Hermione, 'cause he's so small!" Hagrid said in defense. "Small?" she scoffed "Small?" "Hermione, I couldn' leave him," Hagrid had begun to cry now. "See- he's my brother!"

Hermione didn't say anything else in response to this. "Hagrid, when you say 'brother,' " Harry began, "do you mean- ?" "Well- half-brother," Hagrid revised. "Turns out me mother took up with another giant when she left me dad, an' she went an' had Grawp here-" "Grawp?" Mikayla asked, as, for a moment, she didn't regard the giant as someone- or something- with a name. "Yeah... well, tha's what it sounds like when he says his name," he twiddled his thumbs. "He don' speak a lot of English... I've bin tryin' ter teach him... Anyway, she don' seem ter have liked him much more'n she liked me.... See, with giantesses, what counts is producin' good big kids, and he's always been a bit on the runty side fer a giant- on'y sixteen foot-" "Oh yes, tiny!" Hermione said in a hysterical and overly loud voice. "Absolutely minuscule!" "He was bein' kicked around by all o' them- I jus' couldn' leave him-" "Did Madame Maxime want to bring him back?" Harry queried. "She- well, she could see it was right importan' ter me," said Hagrid, his hand folding in on each other anxiously, "Bu'- bu' she got a bit tired of him after a while, I must admit... so we split up on the journey home... She promised not ter tell anyone though...." "How on earth did you get him back without anyone noticing?" Harry asked, baffled. "Well, tha's why it took so long, see," said Hagrid. "Could on'y travel by nigh an' through wild country an' stuff. 'Course, he covers the ground pretty well when he wants ter, but he kep' wantin' ter go back..."

"Oh Hagrid, why on earth didn't you let him!" said Hermione, nearly throwing herself onto a tree trunk to sit down. "What do you think you're going to do with a violent giant who doesn't even want to be here!" "Well, now- 'violent' - tha's a bit harsh," Hagrid was still messing with his hands. "I'll admit he mighta taken a couple o' swings at me when he's bin in a bad mood, but he's gettin' better, loads better, settlin' down well..." "What are those ropes for, then?" Harry raised an eyebrow. Mikayla hadn't noticed them yet, but laying on the ground, tied around Grawp were enormus ropes, thicker around than her body. "You have to keep him tied up?" Mikayla asked curiously. "Well... yeah..." he looked flushed "See- it's like I say- he doesn' really know his strength-" "So what is it you want us to do?" Hermione asked very tentatively. "Look after him," said Hagrid, his voice catching in his throat. "After I'm gone." Mikayla's heart broke once again, she felt overwhelming sympathy for him, but also sympathy for her and her friends because they had agreed to take care of an giant.

"What- what does that involve, exactly?" Mikayla said awkwardly, trying not to sound like she didn't want to do it. "Not food or anythin'!" said Hagrid, his eyes brightened up. "He can get his own food, no problem. Birds an' deer an' stuff... No, it's company he needs. If I jus' knew someone was carryin' on tryin' ter help him a bit... teachin' him, yeh know..." "You want us to teach him," Harry repeated back to him, looking toward Grawp, but also looking distant. "Yeah- even if yeh jus' talk ter him a bit," Hagrid said humbly, his eyes pleading with them. "Do you know what Language he speaks Hagrid?" "No, I don't but I reckoned since you're so good at languages that you'd figure it out and teach him English." Hagrid smiled at the blonde who went back to analysing the giant. "I reckon, if he can talk ter people, he'll understand more that we all like him really, an' want him to stay..." Harry glanced over at Mikayla, his eyebrows raised in that kind of 'Can you believe this?' type of way, but all she could do was smile and she knew he would help anyways, its just the person he is.