Disclaimer: The fine tapestry of plot and characters belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am merely pulling threads at will and weaving my own design in counterpoint to hers.
Chapter 29
Tea with Hagrid
Harry awakened the next day to the cries of merriment and laughter that always accompanied the season’s first significant snowfall. He took a quick peek out his window and saw that the lawn was already teaming with students. He resisted the urge to search out Ginny; he would see her soon enough at the next practice session with Lupin.
His stomach reminded him rather insistently that he had not had any dinner last night so he wandered down to the Great Hall in search of some breakfast. He settled himself with a hearty plateful at the Gryffindor table and was soon joined by faces that he remembered from yesterday’s party, eager to discuss the Quidditch match and dissect their team’s strengths and weaknesses. Since none of the actual team members were present, it seemed like a harmless enough diversion.
He ran into Ron and Hermione as he was climbing the grand staircase and mentioned that he was going to see Hagrid about taking care of his owl, Hedwig, over the Christmas holidays. Hermione asked if he would mention Crookshanks as well since he always got along surprisingly well with Hagrid’s dog, Fang.
Unable to persuade more than a handful of students to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays, the headmistress had stressed that all travel was to be arranged as simply as possible and that no one would be allowed to leave without an escort. Mrs. Weasley had sent them an owl to say that Fred would be retrieving them as it was his week to man the Hogsmeade store, but she had not given them any additional details other than to be ready at four on Friday afternoon.
Since Pigwidgeon was such a tiny bird, Ron would not have much trouble hauling his cage even if they had to travel by the constricting demands of the Floo Network. However, larger animals like Hedwig and Crookshanks would not be so easy to accommodate.
Harry squirmed into his snow gear and set off across the lawn to Hagrid’s cabin, bypassing many spirited snowball fights along the way. After being slammed a number of times in the back, he couldn’t resist taking on the Creevey brothers “ even though he knew they would gang up on him and he would come out on the losing end.
He was still shaking snow from his collar when he knocked on Hagrid’s massive door.
“Blimey, Harry, yeh gave me an’ Fang a start,” began Hagrid as he enveloped him in a gigantic hug. “Best be getting’ outa yer wet clothes and sittin’ down next ta the fire. How’d yeh manage ta get snow in yer pockets?” he added as he shook Harry’s coat thoroughly before hanging it up on a peg.
Harry grinned at his old friend and remarked, “Snowball fight. Two against one, I lost.”
“Shouldda expected it.” Hagrid nodded as a grin split his wide face. “Can I interest yeh in a cuppa tea? Got some scones, too, fresh made.”
“Just finished a huge breakfast,” Harry demurred, remembering that Hagrid’s baking skills were better suited to brick-making, “but tea would be just great!”
He settled snuggly by the fire, wrapped in a huge blanket that Hagrid had readily supplied. Fang alternated between nudging Harry’s hand to be petted and going up to the front door and sniffing expectantly.
“Don’ pay Fang no heed, Harry,” Hagrid advised as he settled two steaming mugs on the worn tabletop and then retrieved a bottle of honey mead they could use to sweeten it. “Special treat now tha’ yer seventeen an’ all,” he added with a wink.
“Do you suppose there’s someone lurking about outside?” Harry asked, instantly thinking of yesterday’s intruder.
“Heard yeh ‘ad a bit of a ruckus at the match yesterday, Snape bein’ sighted an’ all. But yeh’d ‘ave to be crazy ta get near the school today and Snape’s never been no lunatic. They’s guards all over the place.” Hagrid tilted his massive head towards the front window to emphasize his point.
Harry followed his line of sight and, for the first time saw that there were teachers strategically stationed around the school entrances, keeping careful watch over the playful scene on the lawn.
“Expect we’ll be seein’ Luna soon, though, she usually come by about this time o’ day on the weekend,” Hagrid explained. “She’s my first N.E.W.T. level student, yeh know.”
“That’s great, Hagrid! I hadn’t heard, word just doesn’t get around when you’re not in regular classes anymore. I’m sure she’s great with all the animals.”
“Has an absolute sixth sense about ‘em,” Hagrid agreed. “Even the mos’ skittish respond ta her gentleness.”
“I haven’t seen Luna since Halloween so it will be an unexpected pleasure for me, as well,” Harry offered.
“Just don’ go sayin’ nothin’ about her beau,” Hagrid suggested sagely.
“I’m afraid you’ve lost me there, Hagrid.”
“She’s bin comin’ 'round more regular like since her boyfriend, Robert; seems ta be lookin’ elsewhere.”
“You mean, Robert Anderson, who does the Quidditch commentary?”
“Yeah, tha’s the one, the one wit’ the deep voice,” whispered Hagrid, looking furtively out the window. “They’s bin goin’ out, as yeh kids say, since October but lately she says he’s like in his own little world. Losin’ interest, I says. Jus’ don’ say I’s told yeh nothin’.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Harry replied, thinking how he’d been seeing Robert all over the place lately, but always alone.
“Ah, there she is.” Hagrid nodded towards the window as Fang starting whimpering softly at the door. Harry could see a small bundled shape with long blond hair starting to make her way down the long sloping lawn to Hagrid’s cabin.
“Before she gets here then, Hagrid,” Harry began, “I wanted to ask if you would take special care of Hedwig for me over the holidays?”
“O’ course, Harry. Headmistriss’ got yeh travelin’ on restrictions. Does Hermione need me ta see ta Crookshanks, as well?”
“That’d be great, Hagrid,” Harry smiled gratefully. “Ron’s set to take Pig with him, though, since he’s so tiny.”
“I understand. Jus’ tell Ron, though, if he has a change o’ plans, ta let me know. Two owl’s just like takin’ care o’ one.”
“Thanks again, Hagrid,” Harry started to say but was drowned out by Fang’s feverish barking, followed by a knock on the door.
“Hi, Luna,” Harry volunteered, then got up to give her a much deserved hug. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Harry,” she replied in her trademark wistful manner. “Last time was at Halloween, wasn’t it?”
“That was a great costume you wore “ made quite an entrance, too,” he recalled fondly. “Not to mention that Professor Lupin was absolutely in awe of your table decorations.”
Luna smiled dreamily as Hagid handed her a steaming mug and placed sugar and cream on the table. “Professor Lupin is such a dear man,” she remarked. “He notices the tiniest details about everything; always had something nice to say about everyone. It must be wonderful to have him as an advisor.”
“We get along pretty well,” Harry conceded, not certain what to make of her assessment of Lupin. “If you don’t mind me changing the subject, though, I wanted to ask Hagrid about a more personal matter…about the night my parents died.”
“Oh, would you rather I gave you some privacy?” Luna asked immediately.
“Not at all, Luna, I wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t mind getting your viewpoint on a problem I’ve been struggling to solve.”
Luna nodded in understanding and then uttered the last words that Harry expected, “You must mean the Godric’s Hollow Conundrum.”
Harry’s mind swirled in turmoil. He and Luna had often shared an uncanny empathy, but this was beyond that. “Luna….how?” he stammered, unable to put the rest of his unfinished thoughts into words.
“Professor Flitwick is my Head of House,” she explained gently. “He’s been studying the Conundrum for years. It’s a unique permutation of the Fidelius Charm.”
“I always said yeh was famous, Harry,” Hagrid commented.
“Are you telling me that the circumstances of my parents’ deaths, my personal tragedy, has been reduced to a textbook exercise?” Harry could not believe what he was hearing. He downed the rest of his tea, hoping that the upraised mug would hide the anger that he could feel forming behind his eyes.
“Harry, you misunderstand. While the Professor has devoted many hours to the study of the Conundrum, it would never be the subject of a classroom discussion. He only shared a fragment of his research with me because he knew I was your friend “ and I had to beg for that,” Luna clarified, holding Harry’s gaze in that forthright way of hers.
It was the earnestness in her eyes that finally convinced Harry enough to mutter, “I’m sorry, Luna, I over-reacted. The whole situation has me a bit frustrated.” Harry nodded when Hagrid offered to refill his tea, but shook his head to adding any more honey mead.
“Please share with me what you learned,” Harry pleaded, steeling himself inwardly.
“Firstly, the Fidelius Charm is not meant to last indefinitely without having to be recast. The fact that it has lasted sixteen years is unprecedented even though the Secret-Keeper is still living. Common belief is that the Charm would expire upon the death of the person who cast it, but that hasn’t happened either. The Professor is of the opinion that, in this case, the spell was cast by your mother who he remembers as an exceptionally talented witch with a special gift for charms. There are others who believe that the Charm had to have been cast by someone of Dumbledore’s skill to have survived as it has.”
“It couldn’t have been Dumbledore, or he would have known that they had substituted Pettigrew as the Secret-Keeper at the last minute “ and he didn’t. That’s one fact that I know for certain,” supplied Harry.
“Yes and Professor Flitwick agrees with that,” Luna continued. “The Charm also becomes naturally weakened the more people know the secret; but in this case, it is believed that no more than three or four people actually knew.”
“Lupin thinks that it was actually no more than two,” Harry added. “Did anyone ever think to consult Dumbledore about this issue? His opinion would have been invaluable.”
Luna nodded in agreement. “He suggested that because it was so newly cast, the Charm was somehow strengthened by your mother sacrificing herself to save your life. That it was basically bound up in the old magic that no one has really studied in hundreds of years.”
“Other than prying the secret from Pettigrew, which I admit has its appeals, any ideas on how I could visit my parents’ home?” Harry asked hopefully.
“Only to find someone else who knows the secret,” Luna answered sadly. “Harry, are you sure you want me to continue?”
“You mean there’s more? I take it, it’s not good news.” Harry sighed. “You might as well finish it, Luna.”
“Assuming that the secret is not revealed to you in some way, it is theorized that the house will only become visible after your death. I’m sorry, Harry.” Luna’s eyes glistened as she finished in barely a whisper, “Others believe that all blood ties must expire, which would also include the death of your mother’s sister, your cousin, and any other blood relations.”
“It’s just Aunt Petunia and Dudley, my cousin,” Harry clarified.
“Tha’ could always change in the future, Harry,” Hagrid suggested. “It sounds like they’re takin’ about decades here.”
“Tell me then, Hagrid, how were you able to retrieve a baby from within the rubble of an invisible house that night?” Harry posed. “This is the part of the story where I always get confused.”
“I never thought about that.” Luna perked up, suddenly realizing that this was a new angle. “Based on Professor Flitwick’s analysis, Harry should still be trapped inside the secret location “ unless he walked out himself. Were you walking at that age, Harry?”
“Harry woulda been too young ta walk outta tha’ mess,” Hagrid replied. “Dumbledore musta had spies watchin’ the house, or the general area, cuz he knew wot had happened almost immediately after the Dark Mark had lit up the sky. Then he sends for me, says, ‘Hagrid, I need you to perform a sad duty tonight, and it must be you, my friend, as only your giant’s blood will allow you to go where others cannot.’ I’ve never seen Dumbledore lookin’ so solemn an’ sad. So he takes me there by Apparition, side-along style, wors’ sensation o’ me life. Must have been the middle o’ night by then, all Godric’s Hollow is quiet, so quiet yeh’da thought there was only ghosts. He leads me like he’s blindfolded, can’t hardly find his bearin’s and finally points in the general direction o’ wot I take to be yer parents’ house. Only there isn’t nothin’ there, just a dark hole in the air, blacks out the sky behind it so no stars shine through. It looks like the mouth o’ the underworld itself, but when Dumbledore asks me to describe wot I sees, he tells me it’s just the way the charm looks ta one who’s only half affected by it. Then he bids me ta go forth, inta that darkness and see wot I can find. I don’ have ta tell yeh I was terrified, not knowin’ wot dark fiend I would find lurkin’ in wait. But for Dumbledore’s sake, I do it. As I get closer, the darkness seems ta recede a bit as if there’s a portion along its edge that’s jus’ in shadow and there I finds a baby “ yeh, Harry “ cryin’ silently, his forehead a mass o’ dryin’ blood. I looks ‘round a bit more along the edges, where the shadow seem ta waiver, and among the bits o’ plaster an’ broken brick, I finds a photo album “ the one that I gave yeh after yer first year, remember?”
“Then what happened, Hagrid?” Harry urged softly. “At what point did Sirius arrive and beg Dumbledore to turn me over to him? To turn me, his godson, over to his godfather.”
Hagrid took a few swallows of cold tea and then continued sadly, “Dumbledore takes me with baby Harry in me arms ta another house in the village. Don’ rightly remember where, I was bone tired by then, it had ta be close ta dawn. He’s inna right state, Dumbledore is, pacin’ back and forth from one end o’ the room ta the other as if he’s goin’ ta burn a hole through the carpet. I musta dozed off, cuz next thing it’s mornin’ and I’m woken up by the sound o’ a loud motorbike outside. Dumbledore says I’m not ta go outside the house and not ta let the baby out o’ me arms “ yeh was sound asleep by then. So I stands just inside the door where I can see wot’s transpirin’ outside but still remain in the shadows. Dumbledore goes out ta meet Sirius who looks half-mad wit' grief, staggerin’ ‘round like a drunkard, musta woken up half the neighborhood. Sirius is beggin’, he’s pleadin’, he practically throws himself prostrate on the ground. Not that it woulda made any difference, Dumbledore tells him, he will not turn over Harry ta the man who just betrayed his parents. Very slowly, Dumbledore walks back inside the house and closes the door behind him. Then he collapses in the nearest chair as if all the air’s been taken outta him. I’m standin’ there lookin’ out the front window; Sirius is sobbin’ in a heap on the front lawn and Dumbledore’s cryin’ silently in the chair for the longest time. Finally Dumbledore calls softly ta me and asks if he can hold the baby now. Then he asks me if I will please go outside and see if Sirius has any statement ta make before the authorities arrive.
“He was a broken man, Sirius was. It weren’t the years he spent in Azkaban that broke him, but tha’ moment there when Dumbledore turned his back on him. All he could keep sayin’ was, ‘Hagrid, tell him I’m innocent, I’m innocent.’ Then finally he stands up wit’ a shudderin’ breath an’ announces, ‘Fine, I will bring back proof of my innocence if it’s my final act,’ and the madness recedes a bit from his eyes only ta be replaced by a determination so fierce tha’ the madness seems preferable in comparison. Then he says ta me, all quiet like, ‘You can keep the motorbike, Hagrid, I know you’ve always admired it. I won’t be needing it where I’m going.’ Then he Disapparates. The rest o’ the story yeh already knows, Harry.”
“Here, let me get you some more tea, Hagrid,” offered Luna as she heated up the water with her wand.
Harry felt numb as he watched Hagrid withdraw a large checkered handkerchief from his pocket and wipe his eyes. “I’m sorry I put you through that again, Hagrid,” he offered, feeling as if no words could compensate for the ordeal.
“It’s nothin’, Harry,” Hagrid mumbled as he continued to dab his face. “I knew yeh’d be wantin’ ta hear that story sooner or later, ‘specially now that neither Dumbledore nor Sirius is here ta fill in the blanks for yeh.”
“Let me go get some mint for the tea,” Luna volunteered brightly. “I know where there’s a teeny patch that’s been protected from the cold and snow under the back of the cabin. We could all use a bit of soothing right now.” She quickly jumped up and grabbed her coat in one motion, almost making it out the door before Harry noticed that her face was also wet with tears.
“So tell me, Harry, how’s Ron and Hermione been?” Hagrid asked, attempting to steer the conversation in a less stressful direction.
“Well, they keep to themselves mostly these days. Now that they’re officially going out together, as you like to put it.”
“Really? How long has tha’ bin?” Hagrid inquired in a friendly manner.
“Well, if you ask me, I think it started somewhere around the beginning of the last school year,” Harry commented wryly. “But I think they finally admitted it to themselves sometime around this September or October.”
“They drove yeh crazy in the meanwhile, didn’t they?” Hagrid chuckled.
“More than you’ll ever know,” acknowledged Harry.
“So how’s it been goin’ for yeh? Yeh still seein’…” Hagrid broke off, seeing the look that crept into Harry’s eyes.
Harry could not lie to his friend, but there were no longer any words to describe the anguish he felt over Ginny. He simply shook his head morosely.
“I’m sorry ta hear it, Harry,” commiserated Hagird. “Sometimes the timin’s just not right. I believe that’s Luna comin’ back wit’ the mint.”
As quixotic as Luna’s idea about mint tea seemed at first, Harry had to admit that it was very effective. For the first time all day, it seemed like his head was clear and every icy breath was newly scrubbed as he walked back towards the castle. Hagrid ploughed on ahead so he could relieve Professor Sinistra who’d been watching over the back lawn, so Harry was left to accompany Luna at a more leisurely pace.
It always surprised him that he found it so easy to talk to Luna even when they spoke of nothing in particular. Remembering what Hagrid had said about her being at loose ends, he was struck with sudden inspiration.
“Luna, you know we really haven’t worked together since the D.A.,” Harry began.
“I really miss those days sometimes,” she responded dreamily.
“Well, I’ve been training a bit with Ron, Hermione and Neville. Just dueling stuff in case we ever get attacked again--”
“I heard about the ambush by Snape.” Luna nodded.
“Would you like to join our group? It’s all hush-hush and we only meet one evening a week, but I’m sure you would be a welcome addition.”
“Will we be meeting in the Room of Requirement?” she asked hopefully.
“Just like old times,” Harry assured her. “We’ll be starting back after the holidays.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Luna smiled beatifically in return.
Harry Potter and the Hero's Lament by L A Moody
Chapter Notes: Harry listens to Hagrid’s version of the events of that fateful night and receives insight into the Fidelius Charm from an unlikely source.