Echo | Harry Potter - George Weasley

Chapter 25: Arachnophobia

That evening, after everyone else in the Gryffindor common room had gone to bed, Shaye, Harry, and Ron snuck out of bed. Making sure not to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves, they crept through the portrait hole, out of the castle, and down to Hagrid's hut with the help of Harry's invisibility cloak.

The small, stone, circular hut that Hagrid called home was located on the outskirts of school grounds, just far enough away that you could only see it from the castle if you were up in one of the towers. On this night, the hut as was obviously occupied as a warm, orange glow was shining from the small windows and a bonfire was cracking just outside the front door, smoke was spilling out from the chimney. 

The hut appeared just as cozy and welcoming as every other time the group of friends had visited Hagrid in the past for a cup of tea or a chat. The dark and uninviting Forest that loomed behind it, however, was the polar opposite.

When the three students approached the front door and knocked, they were surprised to see Hagrid answering the door with a crossbow pointed at their faces—or more accurately, where their faces just so happened to be because they were still hidden under the cloak.

"Hello?" Hagrid called out.

When Harry pulled the cloak off, his gaze drifted immediately to the crossbow. "What's that for?"

"Nothing. I was expecting ... it doesn't matter." Hagrid lowered the weapon and invited the kids inside. "Come on in. I just made a pot of tea."

Shaye felt a tinge of guilt wash over her as Hagrid so willingly invited them into his home. She couldn't believe that they were actually considering him to be the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets, even if all of the evidence did point to him.

Putting his crossbow down and giving Fang—who was lying in an armchair and taking up the entire seat himself—a pat on the head, Hagrid pulled out four cups for tea and began pouring from his teapot. Seemingly distracted by something else, however, he accidentally overflowed one of the cups and the tea spilled over the sides and onto the table.

"Hagrid, are you okay?" Shaye reached for a rag to help clean up the spill.

"I'm fine. I'm all right," Hagrid answered but the wobbling of his voice and shaking of his hands were less than convincing.

The three students shared a look of concern for their friend. They could sense something was wrong whether Hagrid was going to admit it or not. 

"Did you hear about Hermione?" Harry asked in an attempt to ease the tension before they got into the real reason for their visit.

Hagrid nodded. "Yeah. I heard about that, all right."

Harry was slightly taken aback by the lack of emotion in Hagrid's response. He had been so passionate and helpful when Draco had called her a mudblood but now that she had been petrified he seemed, for lack of a better word, indifferent.

"Look, we have to ask you something." Harry cut to the chase. "Do you know whose opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

Hagrid sighed heavily, almost like he had been expecting this, and averted his gaze to the floorboards. "What you have to understand about that is-"

A loud knocking from the front door brought a hush over the room. Fang let out a loud bark as everyone turned toward the door, afraid that whoever was on the other side had been there a while and had heard what they had been talking about. 

"Quick, under the cloak," Hagrid instructed in a hushed whisper. "Don't say a word. Be quiet."

Acting fast, the three students ran over to the fireplace and threw the cloak over themselves. Keeping their breathing slow and quiet, they watched as Hagrid approached the door, crossbow in hand.