Okay, this chapter is different - I'm not completely following canon.
Chapter 12: Hagrid, Removal and the Truth.
"What's going on?" Draco asked as he, Harry and Mia hurried out of Hogwarts and melded themselves into shadows from any seeing eyes.
He was heading back to his common room after dinner when he was yanked out of the school by unseen eyes.
"We're heading down to Hagrid. Everything doesn't add up and I think that Hagrid might give us a few more answers," Harry told him.
"Erm, hello, Malfoy here. No one knows about us," Draco reminded.
"Blend yourself into the shadows. We need you there because of your dad. He told you some things and Hagrid might give us some more answers and maybe you could piece them together to give us a better idea of what is going on," Mia told him. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he told them and they hid under the invisibility cloak while Draco blended himself into the shadows. He had learned he could do this when he was younger. Sirius had told him it was part of his elemental abilities because Shadows were a part of Earth. It enabled him to move from place to place unseen. They made their way over to Hagrid's hut. "Hey, what happened to Ron?" Draco asked.
"He isn't well. Apparently he ate something that didn't agree with him - he's in the hospital wing at the moment. Madam Pomfrey thinks he just ate too much," Harry told him and Draco snorted back his laugher.
They arrived at the hut and Harry knocked on the door three times before there was a barking noise. The door, creaked, opened and they saw Hagrid standing there with a crossbow in his hands.
"Who's there?" he demanded and Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off him and Mia.
"Hagrid, it's us," he told Hagrid and the giant sighed as he stood to the side and let them through. Draco just continued to blend in with the surrounding so that no one would know that he was there.
"What are you doing wandering about the grounds?" Hagrid demanded. "You know it's not safe."
"Hagrid, why didn't you finish Hogwarts?" Harry asked and Hagrid looked at him, shocked.
"How did you…" he trailed off before shaking his head. "It's a long story," he explained before another knocking came and he muttered under his breath. "Back under the cloak," he ordered before he moved over to the door.
Harry and Mia slipped back under the cloak and watched as Hagrid opened the door to reveal a round man with grey hair and Dumbledore. The portly man didn't seem too happy with the situation.
"Professor Dumbledore, Minister Fudge, to what do I own this visit?" Hagrid asked.
"That's the minister of Magic," Draco whispered to the two of them.
"Bad business Hagrid, all this attacking at Hogwarts," Fudge told him and Hagrid paled slightly. "It's got to stop."
"I didn't send any monster on them, you know that, Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid pleaded to him and Dumbledore nodded.
"I want to Ministry to know that Hagrid has my full support behind him. I believe that he did not set the monster loose or open the chamber," Dumbledore told him. Fudge sighed.
"I know but I'm sorry, the public has been screaming. They want something done and I have to do something. I'm sorry Hagrid, but you have to come with me," Fudge told him and Hagrid paled even further.
"No, not…Azkaban," Hagrid pleaded. All three kids paled at the word. They knew of the wizard prison. It was the worst place a wizard could be.
"I'm sorry," Fudge told him. Hagrid hung his head when there was another knock at the door.
"Were you expecting any visitors?" Dumbledore asked Hagrid, who shook his head. Fudge went over to the door and opened it only this time a tall blonde man stepped into the hut. Draco felt his face pale when he saw the man.
"Dad," Draco whispered. Mia and Harry just watched, wondering what Lucius Malfoy would be doing.
"Get out of my house!" Hagrid roared and Malfoy looked at him.
"Oh don't worry, I won't be staying long in this…" he looked around, he paused at the same area where Harry and Mia were hidden by the cloak and they felt their heart stop briefly when he shook his head and turned back to Hagrid. "Delightful house, as you call it. I just came here to give Professor Dumbledore some papers." He thrust a roll of parchment to Dumbledore, who took it and unrolled it.
"What is it, Professor Dumbledore?" Fudge asked.
"It's a vote, it seems the board wish to remove me from Hogwarts," Dumbledore informed them.
"Oh that's great, they're stealing my plans," Mia hissed to Harry, who just rolled his eyes.
"You can't!" Hagrid roared but Dumbledore placed a hand on his arm.
"Calm yourself, Hagrid. Of course I will stand aside but please note that I will only be removed from Hogwarts when none are loyal to me," Dumbledore informed them before he left the hut. Hagrid caught on.
"Yeah, and if anyone who really wants the truth, all they have to do is follow the spiders. That'll put them straight. Follow the spiders," Hagrid told them before he left with Fudge.
Lucius Malfoy looked around the hut with suspicious eyes before he left, shutting the door behind him as he went.
"Does he really think we're loyal to him?" Mia demanded as she and Harry yanked the cloak of them and Draco came back into view.
"No, it's the school. The students are still loyal to Dumbledore," Draco explained before he shook his head. "They removed Dumbledore - now there's going to be an attack a day!" Draco exclaimed and Mia sighed.
"Wait a minute," Harry told them and they looked at him. "Hagrid said follow the spiders."
"If you think I'm following the spiders, you're out of your mind," Mia informed him.
"But this way, we could get answers to what the hell is going on in the school and find a way to who attacked Hermione," Harry told her and she glared at him.
"You all like to drive a hard bargain. Is this because I pulled you into the bet?" she demanded and Harry rolled his eyes.
"No, come Mia - we need all the extra powers we can get," he told her and she rolled her eyes.
"Fine." With that they hurried out of the hut and looked around till they spotted a trail of spiders heading toward the…
"Oh fuck no, not the forbidden forest!" Draco swore.
"Are we going to end up in the Forbidden forest every year?" Mia demanded.
"Come on!" Harry hissed to them as he grabbed a lantern from Hagrid's hut and pulled Fang after him. He started chasing a spider, causing Draco and Mia to look at each other before they followed Harry.
They made their way through the dark forest while keeping an eye out for anything that could attack them.
"I don't suppose there aren't any werewolves?" Draco asked and Mia shook her head.
"They don't go near the school. They know that they are more likely to attack a student or a teacher so they stay away from public areas as much as they can."
"Don't forget a certain werewolf who likes to change children," Harry called back and Draco's feature darkens.
"He's been coming round lately, I think he suspects something," Draco told them.
"Don't worry, he'll be put down like the mangy dog he is," Harry told him as they moved further into the forest.
"Did you happen to see what Hagrid was holding in the box?" Mia asked.
"Kinda, I know it's a spider," Harry told her and she scoffed.
"I don't suppose you how big it is?" Harry snorted.
"How big can a spider get?" he asked and Mia shrugged.
"We're in a forbidden forest that next to a school that teaches magic. Why don't you take a guess?" Mia asked. Harry didn't answer her, but just continued on to follow the spiders as it led him deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally they came to a large section of webs surrounding the trees and they knew that they had arrived at the right place.
There were clickers all over the place and Harry realised that the spiders were talking to each other when there was a loud groan.
"Hagrid?" a croaky clicking voice asked.
"We're Hagrid's friends," Harry called out.
"Friends? Hagrid never sent men into our home before," the rough voice stated as there was some noises and they took a step back when they saw a huge spider standing.
"That's how big a spider could get," Mia hissed at Harry.
"Hagrid is in trouble, that's why we've come," Harry told him. "They say he opened the chambers of secret again."
"That's a lie!" the spider shouted, causing the ground to rumble slightly. "I came to Hagrid from the pocket of a traveller. H e looked after me and brought me up, naming me Aragog. I was the creature that Hagrid hid in a box, I never harmed nobody."
"So that means you never attacked a student?" Harry asked, wanting to make sure.
"No, I never saw any part of the castle except from the small cupboard that I was in. The young girl was killed in a bathroom," Aragog told him and Harry nodded. That matched what Lucius Malfoy had told Draco.
"Do you know what the creature is that attacks the students?" Harry asked but apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Aragog became very angry.
"We don't speak of it!" Aragog snapped.
"That means it's very bad," Draco told him and Harry nodded in agreement. What they didn't know was that Aragog's children had been surrounding them while they were talking, waiting in eager anticipation to have fresh meat.
"Okay, thanks, we'll just leave," Harry, told him and Aragog stood up a little straighter.
"Go?" Aragog asked and Harry nodded. "But I can't let you do that."
"What?" Draco demanded.
"My children don't hurt Hagrid on my command but I can not deny them fresh meat when it wanders willingly into our mist," Aragog told them and Mia snorted.
"Not willingly," she muttered under her breath as she and Draco moved backward, wands out in front of them.
"This is not good, there's not enough spells to take them all out and we haven't practiced our elemental abilities," Draco told Harry.
"And we can't out run them," Mia added in when all of a sudden there was a roar.
They turned to see bright lights heading toward their way when it came to a screeching halt and Harry let out sigh of relief when he recognised the car.
"That's the car Ron and I drove at the beginning of term," Harry shouted at them as they moved over to the car and jumped in. Draco grabbed Fang and pulled him into the car before slamming the door shut just as a spider lunged itself at them. He was more than ready to get out of the forest.
Mia tried turning the engine but it kept stalling.
"Oh come on, don't do this to me," she pleaded as she kept turning the engine.
"Mia, you might want to kick it," Draco advised as he watched the spiders get closer to them.
"She's just being stubborn, if I give her enough love, she will work for me," Mia told him as she turned the engine once more only for it to roar for life. "Told you!"
Harry and Draco watched as a large spider geared itself jump to jump at the car before they turned to Mia.
"GO!" Harry and Draco shouted as one - Mia pushed down the gear, spun her body around so she was holding the head rest and was able to look out the back window and the front window before she slammed her feet onto the pedal of the car and twisted on the steering wheel, causing the car to drive backward as fast as she could.
She twisted the steering wheel, causing the car to spin around. Harry and Draco were flung against the windows before she pushed the gearing stick forward and pressed hard on the pedal, causing the car to shoot across the forest as the spiders followed at them.
"This is the last time I go in the forbidding forest with you two!" Draco snapped and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Just get us out of here," Harry told Mia, who shot him a glare.
"What do you think I'm doing? Skating?" she shot back and Harry threw up his hands only for the car to thump when a spider dropped down on top of it.
Draco looked behind him out of the rear window.
"The spiders are getting closer," he told her and Mia growled.
"We're demanding dad to get us a start on elemental magic," Mia informed them before pressing harder on the pedal. Their eyes widened when they saw a fallen tree blocking the path.
"Put us in the air!" Harry shouted as Mia struggled with the gears stick.
"It's stuck!" Mia shouted back, causing Harry and Draco to lean over and pull at the gears before it suddenly jerked and they found themselves flying into the air, leaving the spiders behind.
Draco and Harry let out a sigh of relief as they rested themselves on the chairs, relaxing as Mia steered the car out of the wood and on to Hogwarts ground.
All three of them rushed out of the car with Fang only for the cars to slam its doors shut and drove back off into the forbidden forest once more. The three of them stood staring after it before Draco finally lost his temper.
"Follow the spiders? Follow the spiders?" Draco demanded before he looked at Harry and Mia. "If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I will kill him myself!"
"Put it this way, we know that Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," Mia told them and Harry sighed.
"But we are no further nearer to figuring out who did! Now Hermione is petrified, who to say that whoever is doing it won't come back after their victims again?" Harry asked.
"Wait a minute," Draco started and they looked at him. "Aragog mentioned a girl died 50 years ago due to the Chamber of Secrets," Draco told them and they nodded, still not getting it. "What if she never left the bathroom after all?" Draco asked.
Harry and Mia looked at each other as understanding dawned on them.
"Not Moaning Myrtle!" they both complained.
TBC
Sorry this one was short - it had to be because I just wanted it to focus on them finding the truth, nothing more and nothing less.