Chapter 175: Runic Marble, Background Politics (2/2)
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Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that they couldn't see out of them in Herbology.
Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Marcus said, the fire-beetles would probably warm them up nicely, either by chasing them or flamethrowing so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire. However, when the Ravenclaw trio arrived at Hagrid's cabin, they found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a prominent chin standing before his front door.
”Hurry up, now; the bell is about to ring,” she barked at them as they struggled toward her through the snow.
”Who're you?” said Eddie, staring at her. ”Where's Hagrid?”
”My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank,” she said briskly. ”I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher.”
”Where's Hagrid?” repeated someone loudly.
”He is indisposed,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly.
Soft and unpleasant laughter reached the students' ears. They turned, and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. All of them looked gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.
”This way, please,” said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. Quinn, Marcus, and Eddie followed her, looking back over their shoulders at Hagrid's cabin.
All the curtains were closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill?
”What's wrong with Hagrid?” Marcus said, hurrying to catch up with
Professor Grubbly-Plank.
”What do you reckon is wrong with him? You don't think one of those skrewt that the fourth years are studying— ?” speculated Eddie.
Quinn glanced at his two friends and injected, ”You two should get into the habit of reading the newspaper. It's on the front page of the Daily Prophet.” He put a hand into his attached pockets, pulled out a newspaper, and handed it to Marcus.
”You keep newspapers in your pocket?” said Eddie.
”I read a couple of them and can't read them all during the breakfast. Daily Prophet always gets left out, so it tends to end up in my market.”
Marcus unfolded the paper and read it, with Eddie looking over his shoulder. It was an article topped with a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.
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>>> DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE <<<<
Albus Dumbledore, the eccentric headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor ”Mad-Eye” Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.
Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher over the heads of many better-qualified candidates.
An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being ”very frightening.”
”I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm,” says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. ”We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything.”
Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. Last month, in conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed ”Blast-Ended Skrewts,” highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. Of course, the creation of new breeds of magical creatures is an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.
”I was just having some fun,” he says before hastily changing
the subject.
As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not — as he has always pretended — a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror.
While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.
In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power — thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend — but Albus Dumbledore indeed has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.
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Marcus finished reading and looked up at Eddie, whose mouth was hanging open. When Quinn saw that he asked, ”You.. . didn't think he was just a big guy, did you?”
”E-Eh, said Eddie, ”ahem, of course not. I knew that yeah.”
”Don't worry, people really think he just has big bones,” said Quinn as he got the paperback, ”but you got to admit, Skeeter sure has excellent writing skills. She expertly painted the specific picture that she wanted.”
”That's what you get from this?” said Marcus, raising his brow.
”The article doesn't matter,” shrugged Quinn, ”Hagrid has been here since he got expelled. Hagrid is around fifty, you know. He was here as the gamekeeper when your parent studied at Hogwarts. They know Hagrid personally; a lot of them know what Hagrid is really like, so this article might be tough for a while, but support will shine through.”
”But, how did she know?” asked Eddie.
Quinn shrugged, but he knew the answer. 'She probably was here on the Yule Ball.' He hadn't checked Recon on that day, and even if he did, Quinn wouldn't have checked for Skeeter — she wouldn't write about him.
But he did have some circumstantial proof about Skeeters' presence.
'She might've listened to Hagrid and Olympe Maxime's conversation,' thought Quinn, thinking about the angry headmistress on that day, pulling Fleur with her. 'Skeeter must've listened to their conversation.'
'Though I did warn her about being careful about fluttering at Hogwarts, it seems she didn't get the point,' thought Quinn and hummed as the new professor proceeded to lead them towards today's subject.
”Oh! Unicorns! Nice,” he exclaimed happily, and the somewhat threatening thoughts were thrown at the back of his head.
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Quinn West - MC - I have a need.. . need for_________ ? Fill in the blank.
Hagrid - Half-giant - Suddenly, a topic of discussion.
Rita Skeeter - Reporter - She knows her craft.
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