Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: The characters of this fiction are borrowed and used as a tribute to the wonderful world created by J.K. Rowling. They're not mine, never were and never will be. No money is being made on this either.

Author's Notes:

Again I apologize because this is always taking so long, but my job's killing me. (I need to work extra during weekends so that we can keep our standards.) I also apologize that I somewhat overdid Hagrid's speech-pattern in the last chapter. Hopefully it will be better in this chapter. And again I thank those who reviewed.

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Fang growled angrily at the uninvited visitor. The boarhound had not by a long shot forgotten this hideous human whom had come together with a couple of more people in the middle of one night to do harm to his master. Fang had been hit by a stun-curse that time after he'd put up a good fight, but now he longed to sink his teeth in the woman's fat behind now that she had the nerve to come back.
'Keep that mutt in a leash or I'll notify the Department for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures to take care of it!' snarled Dolores Umbridge.
'He lives 'ere.' Said Hagrid testily. 'He 'as the righ' of his say of the people coming in this house… an' yeh aint welcome 'ere, Umbridge!'
'Rubeus…' McGonagall warned, but Hagrid ignored it. Umbridge just smiled at the giant's statement.

'Of course I'm not, and I had not expected anything else from you.' Umbridge said with a forced sweetness. 'If I had been though, I would've started to get worried.'
Harry and the other's clenched their teeth together… The nerve of that woman! It took all of his self-control not to spill out his true feelings for the foul toad-like hag. As if matters weren't bad enough, Harry was beginning to feel the familiar but uncomfortable warning-signs of his illness returning. There was a hard tug in his gut, breathing became irregular and his perspective was becoming foggy. He wished he had his worry-balls, but they were put away in his trunk back in his dormitory.
'If the pleasantries are over with…?' Fudge said impatiently. 'Minerva, send the kids out…'
'By all means Sir, let them stay…' Umbridge then cut in, sending a wink at Fudge with her eye. Fudge nodded at her in response and Harry immediately became suspicious. What were they up to if they wanted the four students to remain?
'As I was saying: Bad Business!' Fudge said again, with a threatening tone. 'Hagrid, I had people examine the area around where the remains of the student were found, and I suppose I don't need to tell you what they spotted?'

Hagrid said nothing. He only stood defiantly and refused to be intimidated.
'Footprints! And I'm talking footprints after a Giant!' Fudge roared.
'A Giant? Here? That's impossible.' Ginny blurted out before she could stop herself.
'Stay out of this!' Percy threw at her strictly. Ginny scowled at him.
'Dolores here tells me that you were gone as good as 'til Christmas last year. What were you doing?'
'That ain't any of yer business Fudge.' Hagrid said.
'Don't make it any worse for you than it already is Hagrid!' Fudge barked. 'I had an Intelligence report telling me that you've made a trip to the land of the Giants! You're famous for this sick fascination of yours for dangerous creatures, does that include Giants now as well?' Fudge was red-faced.
'If yer intelligence people told ya that much, then yeh know I took that trip to ensure that them Giants would not take side with Yeh-know-who!' Hagrid said still as testily. Fang kept quiet, but stared angrily at the bad people.

'Our Department of Intelligence assures us that You-know-who has no desire to recruit Giants within his ranks.' Umbridge said in a Matter-of-factly tone.
'That just shows how little yer Intelligence people knows!' Hagrid barked back. 'Just another bunch of incompetent morons who believes they know best instead of listening to Dumbledore!'
The three Ministry people looked like they'd just been slapped across the face. 'So you're saying that Dumbledore would make a better Minister than me?' Fudge asked with a quavering voice.
'Anytime.' Hagrid answered calmly. Fudge was shaking with anger and Harry had to turn away to stifle laughter. He had lost his respect for Cornelius Fudge a long time ago and could not help enjoying watching Hagrid down talk him.

'Mr. Fudge Sir.' Percy then spoke up. 'We seem to have side-tracked the subject.'
'Yes… yes that we have. Thank you Percy.' Fudge said trying to calm down. Percy straightened up and looked important, much to the disgust of his siblings.
'So Hagrid. How do you explain the footprints of a Giant in the forest?' Umbridge asked.
'What's all this about a Giant anyway?' Hermione then spoke up. Everyone turned to look at her, some of them annoyed, the others just curious of what she had to say.
'Weren't you listening?' Percy asked angrily. 'Our men has discovered footprints after a Giant where the body of the student was found!'
'I heard about the footprints, but who says they really came from a Giant? We got trolls living in there as well, some big enough to make quite a mess of something they happen to stumble across. Are your people certain that it's not troll-prints?'
It was perfectly clear that the three ministry people had not thought about that possibility. They could just gape at the smartest girl in school, being totally thrown off track. Umbridge looked like somebody had decided to ignore her birthday. They didn't see how Hagrid really beamed at Hermione and not even Harry could hide a smile. Trolls were big-footed and wore no shoes so the probability that it really was a troll who'd gone rampage could not be waved aside. That meant that Hagrid would have to be cleared unless something else came into view.

But Ron ruined everything.
'That's right. So there's no way Grawp could have squashed him.'
Everybody looked at Ron with a confused look except for Harry and Hermione, who looked like they were suddenly choking on something.
'Ron!' Hermione squealed quietly, yet angrily as Ron clasped his hand over his mouth.
'What's a Grawp?' Ginny asked confused. McGonagall also stood as bewildered as the female Weasley was.
'You do know something!' Umbridge howled in triumph. 'Tell us all about Grawp, young friend.'
'I… I…' Ron stammered.
'What is it that you know?' Percy now cut in aggravated. 'Is there something dangerous in there that you did not report? If that's the case, then what kind of Prefect are you anyway?'
'Go fuck yourself…' Ron said to his older brother.
'MR. WEASLEY!!' McGonagall roared. 'Your brother or not, I will not tolerate such language in school! Twenty points from Gryffindor!!'

'The fact still stands that the four of you knows something!' Fudge now angrily said. ('The three of them!' Ginny objected.) 'And if you're concealing something that caused the death of a student, I'll have you expelled from this school and have your hides put away in Azkaban for all eternity!'
'Leave 'em alone Fudge!' Hagrid roared. 'It's not their fault, but mine and mine alone! I confess; there is a Giant in there. My half-brother Grawp.'
'Rubeus!' McGonagall gasped, putting a hand over her heart.
'His own lot were 'bout ter kill 'im, so I took 'im 'ere for sanctuary.'
'Oho! A sanctuary indeed.' Fudge exclaimed. 'And by doing that, you took away the sanctuary for the students!'
'Didn't you even consider the possibility that your protégé would be a threat to the children here?' Umbridge said matching Fudge's tone.
'He didn't kill that boy!' Hagrid threw back at them. 'I can't explain what could've happened, but I taught Grawp not ter touch any child wandering in there. He's innocent!'

'Innocent? Hah!' Percy spat, earning a dark look from Hagrid. Harry's head hang towards the floor, because no matter how much he wanted to protect Hagrid, he couldn't deny that it was probably true that Grawp had indeed killed Lucas Pamir. His respiration was now hurting and Harry had to fight hard not to collapse infront of all these people. He would not satisfy them by showing weakness.
'Giant's are barbarians! They can be taught nothing!' Fudge roared. He pointed a trembling finger at Hagrid. 'You… You've really done it now! Bringing a dangerous monstrosity into the school-grounds that have now cost the life of a student. I'm putting you away for good!'
'Yeh're not taking me back ter Azkaban!' Hagrid whispered as he moved to his cupboard. Fang growled.
'Oh yes we are.' Umbridge said smiling. 'You will never see the sun again.' Harry and the others had hard time resisting the urge to hex her.
'Minister Fudge.' McGonagall finally spoke up. 'Hagrid is an employee of Hogwarts, it will be better if I deal with him…'

'NO!' Fudge barked. 'This is something I will personally deal with. And if you're trying to interfere with Ministry business, I'll have your job!' McGonagall looked like she'd taken a hit in her stomach. Hermione angrily gritted her teeth at that.
'Leave 'em out of this, I told ya!' Hagrid roared again, taking out two tomatoes from his cupboard. He began to eat one of them as he continued to speak. 'Yeh can stop wasting yer breath Fudge, 'cause I aint coming with any of yeh ter Azkaban! My punishment is fer Dumbledore alone ter decide.'
'Dumbledore is not here! I am the highest authority here, my decision is the law!'
'I don' give a damn of yer authority, Fudge. Not anymore.' Hagrid said as he finished the tomato he was eating. He still held the other one in his hand. 'Yeh've misused yer position Fudge! Yeh discredited Harry here, even tried ter have 'im expelled and yeh discredited Dumbledore, just 'cause yeh refused ter believe that Yeh-know-who had come back! And then yeh put this incompetent hag inter this school, causing a terrible disorder! Shortly said: Yer a dreadful Minister, Cornelius Fudge! And any newspaper can quote me on that.'

The four students hadn't tried to hide their sniggers as Hagrid had indicated Umbridge as a 'hag'. The three ministry people themselves stood dumbstruck, they could not believe somebody openly would dare to insult the government, especially not infront of the Minister for Magic himself.
'You will regret this Hagrid!' Percy said angrily.
'I only regret one thing… and that is that I've betrayed Dumbledore's trust.' Hagrid lowered his shaggy head in sadness as he said this. 'That great man gave me the chance no one else would've… and I betrayed 'im… I will surrender m'self ter his justice and no one else…'
'Enough of this!' yelled Umbridge. 'It is our justice that counts, not that silly old fool's…'
Hagrid glared furiously at Umbridge. 'Don't you dare insult Dumbledore infront of me!'
'Oh shut up! Percy! Go and fetch our men to haul the convicted to Azkaban!'
Fang gave a loud bark and prepared to attack. Harry and the others were about to shout their protests and go in with fists and feet, but Hagrid beat them all to it.

'NEVER!!' he shouted and threw the tomato he was holding onto the floor. Upon hit, it didn't just splatter; it exploded. Hagrid's house was suddenly filled with a thick cloud of eye-stinging smoke, causing everyone to shut their eyes and cough, gasping for fresh air. During the commotion, heavy footsteps thundered over the floor and the sound of somebody being roughly showed aside was heard.
'My eyes!' Percy shouted. 'I can't see!'
'I can't… couff, couff… breathe!' Ginny whimpered.
'Don't panic!' Hermione said loudly, covering her face with her left arm. With her other arm, she whisked up her wand. 'Animo Flabra!'
The cabin was suddenly filled a breeze that blew around everyone inside. The wind escaped out through the open door, taking the smoke with it. The cabin was soon clear with fresh air again, revealing the result of the commotion.

Hagrid was gone, and so was Fang. Umbridge was lying sprawled on the floor; she had been the one who'd been showed aside.
'What was that?' Harry asked still coughing a bit, looking at the singed remains of the counterfeit tomato on the floor. 'I could've sworn it was teargas.'
Ron spoke amused. 'Tear-eye Tomatoes! Fred and George sell those. I didn't know Hagrid had purchased some from them.'
'They do, huh?' Percy said aggravated. 'I think I should have a talk with them.' Ron scowled at him.
'Where is he?' Fudge shouted now that he'd regained his composure. 'He's escaped! What are you waiting for Percy? Fetch our men! After him!!' Percy immediately rushed out of the house.

'He will pay for this!' growled Umbridge as she got back on her feet, rubbing her soar rear on which she had fallen on. 'And so will you!' she said harshly pointing a shivering finger at the students. 'You knew about the Giant, and kept it to yourself just to protect your half-breed friend! Be assured; I will…'
'You'll do nothing Dolores!' McGonagall interrupted sternly. 'May I remind you that the Ministry does not have the authority to punish students for misdemeanours at school? I will deal with them!'
Umbridge was about to retort, but a gesture from Fudge told her not to push the subject any further.
'Very well, Minerva.' Fudge said with annoyance. 'Deal with them as it is within your rights! But I warn you, keep them out of Ministry matters!! Or I will take actions of suitable punishment for this lot personally, then Hogwarts authority be damned!! Let's get out of here!' Without as much as a wave for goodbye, Fudge and Umbridge strolled out of Hagrid's hut. The only thing that was further said was: 'And seal this house for further investigations!'

'You four, come with me.' McGonagall said to the four teenagers. Exchanging nervous glances between themselves, they followed the acting Headmistress back to the castle.

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Nothing was said between them as they walked through the corridors. The only time the silence was broken was when they'd reached the stone Gargoyle guarding the staircase to the Headmaster's office. McGonagall spoke the password: 'Mistletoe.' No candy-related name this time. The Gargoyle jumped aside. Harry recalled from the last year how this statue had promptly denied Umbridge entrance to these quarters after Dumbledore had made his escape from Hogwarts. It didn't seem to have any problems with having McGonagall using them though.
Hermione would've have been very intrigued with Dumbledore's office had the situation not been so serious. After all, she'd never been in here before. But all she could do for the moment was to wring her hands. Harry noticed that the bird-perch was unoccupied. Dumbledore's pet-Phoenix Fawkes must be with his master.
With a flick of her wand, McGonagall conjured four chairs infront of the desk and commanded them all to sit. They complied, and the deputy Headmistress took the lone chair behind the desk, looking at the four sternly.

'You four have a habit of always putting this school into difficult situations!' McGonagall told them in an aggravated tone.
'We never meant to.' Hermione said weakly.
'We're sorry.' tried Ron.
'Sorry?' McGonagall's nostrils flared. 'The situation is a lot more serious than to be excused with just a 'sorry' Mr. Weasley!' Ron gulped and so did the others.
'A Giant!' shouted McGonagall. 'Hagrid was keeping a Giant hidden in the Dark Forest for about a year! You knew about it and you didn't say a word! Why didn't you tell us about the Giant?'
'I didn't know about…' Ginny started to say but shut up as McGonagall held up a hand to silence her.
'Well?'
'Hagrid asked us not to.' Harry explained almost inaudibly.
'Does that mean that you agreed with the very idea of keeping the Giant a secret?' McGonagall continued to shout.
'No! I thought the idea was crazy…'
'Then why didn't you say anything?'

'Professor! Hagrid is my friend!' Harry argued.
'That does not justify the reason to keep quiet about it Mr. Potter! Hagrid is your teacher, and if a teacher oversteps his line, a student is obliged to report it to the higher staff! That is common knowledge between Prefects Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley!'
'Professor, if I may…?' Hermione asked anxiously. McGonagall turned her attention to the younger girl.
'This isn't just about the student/teacher relationship…' Hermione explained. 'Hagrid asked us to do this as we are his… his family.'
'Family?' McGonagall looked at Hermione with a strange look. 'You will have to elaborate this statement, Ms. Granger.'

'Hagrid is more than Harry's friend - he's his family.' Hermione said. 'You see… Hagrid is Harry's first link to the wizard-world, the two of them have developed a strong bond that can be described as a family-bond… and that strong bond applies to the rest of us as well.' Hermione indicated herself and the two Weasley's. 'The four of us are like brothers and sisters to each other; therefore Hagrid is our family as well. When Hagrid implored us to keep quiet about his half-brother… we couldn't just refuse since he trusts us like we're his family. After all, in the wizard-world… nothing is stronger than a family-bond. It's nothing we could just disregard, no matter how wrong his crime really was.' There was a short silence… 'That's why we… couldn't… say anything about the Giant.' Hermione finished.

Harry was touched by Hermione's speech, and he could tell that Professor McGonagall deep down behind her strict façade was as well. The headmistress leaned back in the chair with a sigh, removed her glasses and began to wipe them with a handkerchief. It wasn't until she'd put them back on her face when she spoke again:
'I suppose that is the only reason why I won't revoke your badges…' McGonagall said lowly, and Hermione let out a deep breath of relief.
'Not that that will smooth our troubles out.' McGonagall then said sadly. 'Another dead student… a teacher who overstepped his line and is now wanted by the law… it will all add more bad marks for Hogwarts on the ministry's lists. Sooner or later Fudge will take action to shut us down forever if we're not careful.' All this was mostly what she said to herself.

'Professor, I don't understand…!' Harry exclaimed. 'What's the matter with Fudge anyway?! He saw Voldemort himself in the Ministry, he saw that he was back and that Dumbledore spoke the truth! Then why is he still hostile against Dumbledore and Hogwarts?'
'And what about Umbridge?' Ginny spoke up. 'I thought she was sacked?'
'Unfortunately…' McGonagall said lowly shaking her head. 'The fact that Minister Fudge witnessed You-Know-Who's presence in the Ministry only made matters even worse.'
'Worse??' all four students asked in unison.
'Fudge have had no choice but to acknowledge the Dark Lord's return and confess that Dumbledore spoke the truth…' McGonagall explained. 'But to the Minister's dismay; it increased the support for Dumbledore and brought himself into bad light since he'd refused to listen in the first place.'
'Ooh. I bet Fudge does not like that.' Said Hermione.
'He's absolutely furious about it.' McGonagall answered. 'In fact, he's now even more convinced that Dumbledore is plotting to overthrow him and take the Minister's chair for himself… especially after the exposure of a certain unauthorized organisation called "Dumbledore's Army"!'

The four student's squirmed in their chairs. They still couldn't understand why their Headmaster had taken the whole blame on himself, but what made them the most uncomfortable was that they had been waiting for a long time to be punished for forming the DA-club, and now they couldn't help but to think that McGonagall's anger about it was finally reaching the surface.
'Fudge is now doing everything he can to keep his own reputation.' McGonagall continued, saying nothing more of the DA-club. 'He may have fooled the regular people, but he has not fooled us here in Hogwarts: Dumbledore is indeed helping the Ministry to track down the Dark Lord, but in case of apprehension and/or custody Fudge will not hesitate to take all glory for himself. So I'm certain that you understand that Cornelius Fudge is very dangerous to us? If he get any chance to close down this school whom he feels is working against him, he will.'
The four nodded, fully understanding the seriousness in the situation.

'And as for dear Dolores Umbridge…' McGonagall snorted. 'She didn't exactly get sacked Ms. Weasley, she was only removed from this school. And while most of us here has our own opinions on how she'd run this school, the Minister for Magic had a different point of view: he actually thought that Umbridge had done a great job.'
'A great job??' Ron exclaimed.
'Yeah, right!' Hermione huffed.
'You got to be kidding?' Ginny said.
'Typical.' Harry snorted.
'I'm afraid not Ms. Weasley.' McGonagall answered. 'And what's even worse is because of Dolores Umbridge's 'excellent' services, she's been promoted from Senior Under-secretary to the Minister to Deputy Minister for Magic.'
'NO!!' Hermione exclaimed. The others were too stunned to speak. 'B-but why hasn't the Daily Prophet said anything about that?'

'Because it has not been officially announced yet.' McGonagall said sullenly. 'It won't be until after the New Year when the evaluation of the Minister-rule for the past year is reported. We only know this because the International Confederation of Wizards where Dumbledore is chairman knows. So be careful around her. She won't stop at anything to put 'obstacles' out of the way - if you know what I mean?'
'I bet Percy likes that!' Ginny spat, turning to her brother. 'Now he's got two arses to kiss to climb the ladder.' (For some reason unknown: McGonagall let that comment slide.)
'Yeah. We saw that down there didn't we?' Ron said angrily. 'He's become so power-hungry that he will never admit that he has been wrong, even though You-Know-Who has returned.'
'Umbridge will turn the Wizard-world upside-down with her silly Ministry-approved methods…' Hermione muttered loudly to herself, not paying attention to what the redheads were saying.
'There's certainly a great risk of that Ms. Granger, that's why we must keep our toes in check… and that's why I must follow the rules and deal with your misdemeanours!' McGonagall was now replacing her stern expression on her face and tone. 'Now explain yourselves! Why did you walk down there when you were instructed to remain in your house?'

Ginny looked down at the floor as she spoke with a low tone: 'It's my fault, Professor. Since I knew Lucas, the circumstances around his death didn't make any sense. And I just couldn't relax until I found out how he ended up in the forest at all. That's why I went out… the others just followed me to keep me out of trouble. But I swear I knew nothing about a Giant!'
'Very well Ms. Weasley. Then thirty points will be taken from Gryffindor house for your disobedience. But as for you three - you should have held her back. But it makes your crime even worse because you knew about the Giant and said nothing! For that you'll cost Gryffindor Fifty points each!'
The three gasped but said nothing. It was almost like Déjà vu from their first year. There was only one thing missing…
'And the four of you will also receive detention!'
That was what they were waiting for. Dejectedly, they nodded that they had understood.
'I won't conceal that I am disgusted of your behaviour, I had hoped that previous incidents had made you wiser… now go back to your common-room, all of you.'

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It was a crest-fallen party that loomed back to the Gryffindor-tower. This little excursion of theirs had cost Gryffindor a total of two hundred points. The rest of their house would not be happy with them.
'You just had to go out, didn't you Ginny?' Ron snapped at his sister.
'Don't blame everything on me!' Ginny retorted. 'You were the ones who kept quiet of a Giant! Hagrid's crazy, keeping a dangerous creature like that in the forest.'
'Two-hundred points lost.' mumbled Hermione. 'We should have stayed in the common-room like we were supposed to!'
'Yeah, and on top of that, we also got detention!' Ron whined.
'I didn't ask any one of you to follow me!' Ginny growled. 'So blame yourselves.'
'You think I was the one who dropped detentions on all of us?' Ron asked angrily.
'Well, it was you who spilled the beans and mentioned Grawp's name!' Hermione spat back. 'I'd managed to come up with a believable cover-story until you opened your big mouth, so it's thanks to you that Hagrid's now on the run from the law!'
'Oh, sure… blame everything on me!' Ron yelled. 'Is it my fault as well that Hagrid brought Grawp here in the first place?'

'Oh, shut up all of you!' Harry barked. 'Your bickering is giving me a headache!'
'Well, excu-use us!' all three retorted.
'Mumbo-Jumbo!' Harry barked to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
'Allright, allright! No need to shout at me!' the offended Fat Lady answered and opened the door to the Gryffindor common room.
'Who came up with that silly password anyway?' Harry snarled.
'Lucas Pamir did!' Ginny said. 'Too bad you can't complain to him about it, so I suppose you just have to take that out on us, or what?'
'Just leave me alone!' Harry threw back and went up to his dormitory. Thankfully it was empty and Harry went directly to his trunk to fetch his worry-balls that he had not have had the need to use for several weeks past. All the trouble around Hagrid and Grawp, having to see Umbridge again and finally the shouting match between his friends had left him in a miserable state. The stress-related nervous disorder-illness had made itself reminded and Harry cursed the fact that he once again had to grind his Worry-balls, looking like an idiot doing so… but it was either that or risking a stroke of Aneurysm, just like Dr. McSwan had warned him about.

But even the worry-balls didn't seem to work properly this time, so Harry dragged himself down to the hospital-wing. To his dismay, Madam Pomfrey kept him there during the night for observation, but it was just as well, then he didn't have to face Ron or the others for a while. That would give the four of them to cool down while they were separated.
Breakfast next morning were quite tense… The four of them sat quietly together, avoiding bringing up their recent argument, but no other Gryffindor would acknowledge them either. They all knew now that Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny had cost their house Two hundred points, so the atmosphere around the table was quite cold. Colin Creevey on the other hand tried his best not to look all too happy. Because of Lucas Pamir's death, Colin had been appointed new fifth-year Prefect among the boys, but Colin assured everyone that he had preferred to have Lucas among them still.

Professor McGonagall gave an update of everything that had transpired the day before: Hagrid had totally eluded the people from the Ministry of Magic and no other traces of the rumoured Giant had been found. Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge and Percy had gone back home, leaving a final word behind that Hogwarts was being under probation in case of other incidents or in case Hagrid showed his face again. To many of the students joy, Professor Grubbly-Plank was called back once again to teach Care for Magical Creatures. Naturally, neither Harry, Ron nor Ginny were happy about that. (Hermione preferred to stay neutral about it.)

Of the bright side for Harry, Cho was still on his side; therefore he began to spend even more time with her. But he was very happy when he'd received an owl from Hagrid two days later. With the familiar untidy scrawl, the letter said:

Dear Harry.
I don't want you to go around and worry about me; I can assure you that I am allright. I have taken refugee with Aragog, so I am in good hands. Or in Aragog's case: good pincers. I have moved Grawp to another location, so no one should be able to find any of us. Whatever you do, don't try to look me up. I will stay here until Dumbledore returns; only he shall decide what my punishment will be.

P.S. Don't try to owl me, and destroy this letter.

With a flick of his wand, Harry burned the letter and felt better for the first time in three days.

Author's Notes:

For those who are interested: Animo means'Give life to', and Flabra means 'Blasts of wind, breezes'.
I wish you all a Happy New year.