CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE - Hagrid's Return

Attuoria sat with Hermione in the stands, the two of them wearing long overcoats and thick scarves. November had brought along sharp, icy winds, and hard frost covered the quidditch pitch, turning the green into a gloomy white. The sky was far from clear, with grey clouds looming ominously, as if expecting the worst from the game.

The crowd, on the other hand, was wild. The Slytherins had come up with a song to insult Ron, and were singing it as loudly as possible. The other three houses, despite winning in numbers, couldn't win in terms of volume. The passionate hatred of the snakes was unmatched.

"Do you think Ron'll be okay?" Hermione asked Attuoria, breathing into her mittens.

"No." Attuoria said bluntly.

Hermione glared at her.

"I'm just telling the truth. He didn't eat breakfast, for one. He's going to be freezing. Slytherin's song isn't helping either, especially when Ron's been really sensitive lately. And since when did being nervous ever help him? Remember his first training?"

Hermione let out a huff and turned away from her, not wanting to listen anymore.

"Let's just hope Harry catches the Snitch before Ron loses too many points." said Attuoria.

"Can you shut up? You literally sound like a Slytherin."

"I'm just being honest -" Hermione gave her such a deadly look that Attuoria didn't say anything more.

But she was right. Gryffindor's chasers were good, but so was Slytherin's keeper. Slytherin's chasers were also very good, but unfortunately, Ron wasn't doing great at all. Within the first five minutes, Ron had let in three goals. It was thirty-nil, to Slytherin.

"Oh come on Ron," Hermione said through gritted teeth, her legs bouncing up and down as she sat in her seat. Attuoria couldn't tell if she was cold or nervous.

The Slytherins were singing louder than ever. Even the Quidditch players - Malfoy, Montague, Warrington, Pucey, even Crabbe and Goyle - they had all started singing. Lee Jordan was pretty much screaming at the top of his lungs into the microphone, but no matter how hard he tried, "Weasley is Our King" still echoed across the stadium.

"Ugh, Pugface Parkinson again." Hermione pointed to the Slytherin stands, where Pansy stood with her back facing the pitch, conducting the group as they sang.

"I wish you never reversed that curse you put on her that day in Potions."

Attuoria scoffed. "I would Oscausi her any day. I literally would, right now, but I would probably hit someone else and get in trouble."

Hermione let out a scowl. "At this point, I don't even care if I get in trouble anymore." But obviously, she didn't mean it.

Luckily for Gryffindor, Harry caught the snitch before Slytherin could score a hundred and fifty points. While everybody was celebrating the victory, Attuoria and Hermione peered down at the pitch where their team was gathered. They spotted Malfoy's platinum blonde hair shining near them.

"Oh no," said Attuoria. "Malfoy is going to do something stupid. He's already doing it. Does he think he can take on the entire Gryffindor team?"

"He's insulting them, isn't he? He's trying to get them in trouble - Look! Fred and George are already having a go at him."

The two watched nervously as the rest of the team grabbed onto Fred and George before they could attack Malfoy. Harry was pulling George back.

"Please control yourselves, please please please," Hermione muttered, gripping Attuoria's hand tightly.

But her prayers were no use. All of a sudden, Harry let go of George and the two of them attacked Malfoy together. Hermione smacked her forehead, the mittens muffling the sound of what would've been a loud skin-on-skin contact.

"Madame Hooch is onto them now…" said Attuoria, watching the referee break the boys apart with a spell. "Come on Hermione, let's get back to the common room. This isn't going to end well."

***

Later that night in the common room, Attuoria and Hermione were given the news: Umbridge, using her new Educational Decree Number Twenty-Five, had placed a lifelong quidditch ban on Harry, Fred and George. The Gryffindor team no longer had Beaters or Seekers. And what makes it worse, Ron was nowhere to be seen.

"Attuoria, I don't suppose you could play Beater?" Angelina suggested, glancing over at her. Attuoria was sitting on the couch next to Fred, her hand in his. She didn't quite know what to say to him. She knew how much Fred loved Quidditch.

"Really?" Attuoria said pointedly. "Me? With these noodle arms? Holding a bat? Whacking a bludger? You're setting yourself up for failure with me."

Angelina sighed. "But you're good at magic."

"Oh no you can't -" Hermione immediately reacted, but Attuoria caught on just as fast as she did.

"Now that's a tempting offer," said Attuoria, interrupting Hermione. "Wandless magic, maybe?"

Fred and George perked up slightly, a small spark of light returning to their dull eyes. "A Strengthening Solution?" said Fred, exchanging looks with George, who already had a grin on his face.

"We learnt to brew it a few classes ago!" said Attuoria, sitting up straighter. "If I just took one or two drops, it won't be that suspicious. Then combine that with a little bit of wandless magic…"

The quidditch team was now rousing with a newfound energy, even Harry had a slight smile on his face. But Hermione looked pissed.

"You can't do that! You're breaking the ancient rules of Quidditch! The foundation of quidditch! The game loses its purpose if you cheat!" She said angrily, slamming the book on her lap shut with a loud smack.

"Well Attuoria will still need skill, of course," said George. "We're just giving her a few things that she'll need. That's not cheating."

"That is literally cheating."

"I kept a whole bottle of Strengthening Solution from class." Attuoria piped up. Upstairs in her dorm, she had a trunk full of every potion she's ever made in Potions class. She always felt they would come in handy someday.

"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, standing up from his armchair. "We'll start tomorrow."

"What!?" Hermione yelled. "No, Harry -"

The team let out a cheer. "Although the three of us no longer have our brooms," Harry beckoned to himself, and the twins. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"Yeah, she never said we were banned from the Quidditch pitch, so we could technically still attend training." said George.

"Great!" Angelina clapped her hands together and stood up. "Tomorrow afternoon we'll see how things work out with Attuoria as a beater, and at the end of this month we'll hold tryouts for new players."

One by one, the quidditch team went up to their dorms. Fred gave Attuoria a quick peck on the forehead before he went to bed as well. She was left with Harry and Hermione.

"Are you serious?" said Hermione, raising her eyebrows. "You know very well that you'd be a terrible beater."

"I know," Attuoria said proudly. "But at least they're happy now."

The three turned their heads as the door to the common room opened. In walked Ron, his clothes crusted with frost and his cheeks were bright red.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped, rushing over to him and wrapping her own scarf around his neck. "Where were you?"

"Walking." Ron grumbled, slouching over to an armchair by the fire.

"It's so cold outside! You're freezing!"

"Here, Ron, hold out your hand," said Attuoria, pulling out her wand. Ron grunted and held his arms forwards, his palms facing up.

"Capiro inflamari," Attuoria waved her wand slightly and a small bundle of flames appeared on Ron's hands. "How does that feel?"

"Warm. Thanks." Ron glanced up at Harry, his eyes low. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For thinking I can play quidditch. I'm going to resign first thing tomorrow." said Ron.

"If you resign, then our quidditch team will only have three people left."

"What?"

Harry, Hermione and Attuoria told him what had happened.

"Yeah, it's so bad that Angelina has gone insane. She wants Attuoria to play Beater." said Harry.

Ron, who was gazing miserably at the fire a second ago, let out a loud 'pffft'. "You? Playing Beater? With those arms? You can't even throw a quaffle."

"I know right?" Harry grinned. "And this genius here said she'll just drink a Strengthening Solution."

Ron's mouth dropped open. "No way. Cheating? And Angelina agreed?"

"Yup."

"Wow, she is going bonkers."

"So Ron," said Attuoria. "Since I helped you train for Keeper, it's now your turn to help me train for Beater."

"Oh yeah," Ron grinned. "Now that's going to be one hell of a training session."

Hermione cleared her throat, looking very disappointed in the three of them.

"I take it she hates the idea?" said Ron, beckoning at Hermione.

"Cheating should never be tolerated," said Hermione. "But there's no point in telling you that, anymore. You've got your minds set."

Attuoria's gaze suddenly jerked towards the window. The sky had turned dark. She stuck her hand into the pocket of her dress coat and felt the crunch of a piece of parchment. Hagrid.

"McGonagall needs to see me. Is it nine o'clock?" Attuoria said, feeling a pang of guilt for lying to her friends, but she knew she was just following instructions.

Hermione glanced down at her wristwatch. "Ten minutes to nine. What's McGonagall asking for?"

"I have no idea," lied Attuoria, snatching the scarf off of her armchair and hastily wrapping it around her neck. She shoved her hands into her mittens. "Gotta run, see you!"

Attuoria bolted out of the common room before her friends could ask anymore questions. How could she have been so careless? She was usually never one to lose track of time.

Trudging through the snowy grass down the hill to Hagrid's hut, Attuoria gazed up at the night sky. It was beautiful. Stars were littered across the vast navy surface, twinkling like the glisten of moonlight on the Great Lake. The darkness surrounding her only added to her epiphany of how small she was in this world. Each star out there was a different world. A different world that had its own mortal dimension, it's own spiritual dimension. Or perhaps there were no beings in that world. Just endless space, unoccupied by anything sentient.

She reached Hagrid's hut, which was still locked and empty. Her bird, Eylense, was perched on top of the doorway, staring down at her.

"Eylense! What are you doing in the cold?" Attuoria exclaimed, holding her arm up for her bird to land on. Since she was wearing a coat today, she didn't have to worry about Eylense's long eagle talons piercing her skin.

"You stupid bird, you know where the keys are, just go in yourself. Alohomora," the door clicked open, and Attuoria pushed her way in. Her bird hopped off her arm and onto the table. Fang lay on the bed inside, snoring away loudly.

"Incendio," Attuoria pointed at the fireplace, and immediately a roaring fire appeared, heating up the chilly room. She lit a few more fires in the lamps around the room before heading back outside. She didn't want Hagrid to come back and think someone was trespassing his home.

Eylense followed her out, and the two sat on the stone steps outside the doorway to the hut. Attuoria pulled her eagle into her arms, wrapping him with her coat. Eylense was a tropical bird, so the snowy conditions weren't treating him very well.

After a few more minutes of stargazing, Attuoria heard the heavy footsteps approach them. She immediately stood up, tossing Eylense back into the hut (he let out a squawk of protest) and ran up to meet the half-giant.

"Hagrid!" She called, her boots squishing the grass underneath her. But once she got to her old friend, she realised something was wrong. "Hagrid! You're hurt!"

"Hm?" Hagrid squinted at the young girl in front of him. One of his eyes was swollen shut, with a rather nasty cut across it. "Blimey - is that you, Attuoria? Why, I haven't seen ya in years!"

Attuoria grimaced at the state of Hagrid. She could just barely make out traces of blood on his mangled beard. She glanced down at the patched bag that Hagrid held in his hand. He was pretty much dragging it across the ground.

"Here, I got it." Attuoria pulled out her wand and levitated his luggage. "Let's get you inside." She noticed as she ushered Hagrid inside his hut that he was moving much slower than usual. As if any big movements caused him intense pain.

Hagrid grunted as he sat down on the large armchair in his hut. He pulled off his coat and carelessly threw it onto his bed, where it thudded onto Fang. The dog immediately woke up and began barking. It leaped off the bed, pounced onto Hagrid's lap, and began licking at his bruised face. Attuoria stood off to the side, glancing at Hagrid with worry.

"What happened to you?" She asked quietly.

"Nuthin, nuthing at all," said Hagrid, clearing his throat but then wincing terribly. "I'm fine. How've you been since I las' met you? You've grown a lot."

Attuoria shook her head, turning around and pulling out a bucket from the corner of the hut. "I've just been here and there, finally found time to return to Hogwarts this year," she randomly said as she conjured up a bucket-full of water. She heaved it over to the table and propped it in front of Hagrid. Grabbing the cleanest rag from the rack of items near the door, Attuoria dipped it in the water and told Hagrid to hold out his hand.

"Ya really don' needa worry 'bout meh," said Hagrid, pulling out a green piece of steak from the patchwork bag Attuoria had brought into the hut for him. "I've got this ol' ting, dragon meat, it'll help me with the stingin'."

He slapped the bloody steak onto his face, where his eye was bruised. "See? Much be'er already."

"Give me your hand." Attuoria demanded again.

"Fine," Hagrid grumbled, sticking out his free hand. There were deep cuts all over his large, coarse palm. Some of them were still bleeding quite badly. Attuoria ran the wet cloth over his palm, wiping off as much of the dirt and blood as she could. After the wound was cleaned, she pulled out her wand.

"Vulnera sanentur," Attuoria said quietly, keeping her tone even. This healing spell took focus and consistency. The incantation was almost like a song - the tune had to be kept the same as it was repeated thrice. "Vulnera sanentur," the cuts on Hagrid's palm were slowly sealing itself, and traces of redness were getting paler. "Vulnera sanentur." At last, all that was left on Hagrid's hand were two slightly protruding scars, where the new skin had grown.

"Gallopin' Gorgons, yer bloody good at magic now, aren't ye?" Hagrid exclaimed, holding his healed hand out in front of his face.

"Well to be honest, you're my first patient." Attuoria said with a slight smile. She dunked the bloodied rag back into the bucket and wrung it around a few times, letting the crimson seep away.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. "Hagrid!" Hermione's voice yelled. "Hagrid, it's us!"

"Oh no," Attuoria said, glancing at the door with an alarmed look. "They're not supposed to know I'm here. They're not supposed to be here!"

"Whaddya mean?" Hagrid asked with a frown.

"Hagrid! Open the door!"

Seeing that Hagrid was about to get up, Attuoria quickly stopped him. "I'll get it."

She rushed over to the door and yanked it open. Grabbing onto each of their collars, she pulled them into the hut and quickly shut the door again. The Invisibility Cloak was now off them, and her three friends stood in the room, staring at her.

"What happened with meeting McGonagall?" Harry asked.

"McGonagall told me to come see Hagrid." said Attuoria.

"And you just decided not to tell us?"

Hermione screamed, and Ron immediately clasped his hand over her mouth. She pushed Ron away from her and approached Hagrid. "What happened to you?!"

Attuoria sighed quietly to herself. Professor McGonagall had completely predicted it. She knew Harry, Ron and Hermione were going to sneak into Hagrid's hut even if Attuoria didn't tell them anything.

But that also meant her prediction about Umbridge visiting was likely to be correct.

"I'm going to grab some dittany," Attuoria called, but no one heard her. They were too busy bombarding Hagrid with questions.

She ran out of the hut and bolted straight to the dungeons, using a shortcut she learned from Fred and George. Snape was bound to have dittany in his office. If she encountered Umbridge, her story would look much more believable with a healing plant in hand.

Stopping in front of the door to Snape's office, she knocked on it. A few seconds later, the door opened.

"Knight," Snape said, his lips curling. "What are you doing at my office so late at night? You should be in bed."

"I was wondering if you had any dittany in your office that I could use?" asked Attuoria. She debated whether or not she should tell him it was for Hagrid. During her brief moment with Hagrid in his hut, she read his mind and learnt all about the mountain giant mission he had gone on. Attuoria wasn't sure how many people knew about it.

"Why would you need dittany? You're not hurt in any way."

"I'm not, but Hagrid is. Please?"

Snape had a knowing look in his eye, and Attuoria knew her decision to mention Hagrid was correct. He did know about the mission. "Wait here."

The door stayed propped open as Snape went back into his office. She heard a few bottles clinking onto one another before he returned, a small phial of the dark green paste in his hand.

"Use sparingly. I'm not giving you any more." Snape said dully.

"Thank you so much Professor," Attuoria grabbed the phial, clutching it tightly in her palms. "Sorry for disturbing. Have a good night!" She ran back down the dungeon halls as fast as she could, feeling Snape's gaze trailing her as she disappeared around the corner. Snape had been surprisingly kind for how he usually was. Attuoria looked down at the small bottle in her hand with a slight smile on her face. Snape had even taken the liberty to crush the dittany into a paste for her.

On her way back down the hill to Hagrid's hut, she spotted a short woman heading the same direction not far in front of her. She was wearing a forest green overcoat, and a bow was propped extravagantly on the top of her head.

Umbridge knocked on the door to Hagrid's hut and entered without hesitation. Attuoria waited until the door was shut before making her way up from behind the pumpkin patch. She could see Umbridge's silhouette in the window.

Attuoria knocked on the door and waited. The door slowly creaked open, and her gaze met with Umbridge's toadlike facial features.

"Who are you? You should be in bed!" Umbridge said in a shrill voice.

"Professor McGonagall was alerted to Hagrid's return and sent me to bring Hagrid some dittany from Professor Snape's office. She heard he was hurt after taking a nasty fall into some brambles on his way back to his hut." Attuoria made sure to mention as many teachers as possible and made up an excuse for Hagrid's injuries. She held up the phial of dittany paste as well as her parchment from McGonagall as proof.

Professor Umbridge narrowed her eyes at her, but let her into the hut.

"Well, Hagrid, I will see you soon. Make sure to be prepared when I come to inspect your lesson." She flashed him a sickly smile, eyed Attuoria suspiciously, and disappeared out the door.

Hagrid peered out the window and waited until Umbridge had entered the castle.

"She's gone," he spoke to the corner of the room, where Harry, Ron and Hermione revealed themselves from under the cloak.

"That bloody woman," Ron spluttered, tossing the cloak onto the back of a chair.

"Hagrid, what have you got planned for our lessons?" asked Hermione as Attuoria started cleaning Hagrid's wounds again.

"You lot are in fer sum good fun," said Hagrid, trying to beam at them through the dragon steak on his face. "Found a colony o' em in the forest, yer gonna love it."

"Colony of what?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I ain't tellin' ye, it's gonna be a surprise."

"Hagrid, I would really suggest you teach us about the animals that'll come up on the O.W.L.s, some of the milder things. Like nifflers or porlocks or -"

"That's jus' borin'," Hagrid grunted. "What I have fer y'all is much more interestin' than that. Don't worry 'bout it, it'll be great!"

"But Hagrid -"

"Hermione." Attuoria said, glancing up and giving her friend a hard look. "Hagrid needs to rest after his journey. I'll talk to him. You guys should go to bed."

"Stop worryin' 'bout me, Attuoria," said Hagrid. "Ye better get to bed with the res' of 'em. It's gettin' pretty late."

"She's special, she doesn't need sleep," said Ron, stifling a yawn.

"Don't kid yerself, everyone needs sleep." Hagrid waved his large hand at them. "Go, go to bed."

Attuoria turned to her friends. "You guys should get going. Make sure to wipe your footsteps as you leave, or at least drag your feet in the snow. We don't want anyone else getting suspicious."

"Alright," said Harry, picking the invisibility cloak back up. "Come on, let's go. Thanks Attuoria."

"No problem." She watched the three glowing auras exit out the door before returning back to tending Hagrid's wounds.

"Yeh really didn't hafta do this…" said Hagrid gently as she wiped the clotted blood off his beard.

"I want to," said Attuoria. "Plus, Professor McGonagall did make me come so I guess I'm just following instructions." She gave Hagrid a small wink, something she'd never done before. It's easy to guess who she learned winking from (hint: Fred).

"Oh yeah, yer big bird has been with me the pas' few years," he said, glancing behind him. Eylense and Fang had both fallen asleep. Fang had his large paws around Eylense, as if the bird was just a teddy bear. "Surprise' they got along so well." Hagrid sighed. His eye that wasn't covered by dragon meat was closing with exhaustion.

"Go to sleep, Hagrid. I'll take care of everything."

Hagrid grimaced, but Attuoria could tell it was an attempt to smile. "Yer too kind."

"Don't mention it."

Hagrid lumbered over to his gigantic bed and lay down. Attuoria tossed the patchwork quilt over him before bringing the water bucket to her feet.

As the night passed, Hagrid snored on and Attuoria slowly healed each of his wounds to the best of her ability. She knew Hagrid had brought his Giant half-brother to the Forbidden forest. That was why he was so badly hurt. But as she observed the serene look on Hagrid's face, the light, erratic pattern of his breathing, she wasn't sure if she should ask him about it. By morning, the purple on his eye had been reduced to a faint pink, and all of his cuts were healed, with only faint lines as a memory of the trauma it had been through.