Renouncing Magic's Child

Everybody got up late on Boxing Day .. Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it for the ball,

"That was a Potter invention," Severus said.

"Anything to tame the Potter hair," Sirius said, messing with Harry's mop. "Not that it ever worked on James's hair."

Hearing this, Severus felt a challenge. He would brew something that worked even for Potter.

"but it's way too much ... not to discuss their argument.

The mind healers rolled their eyes but said nothing. Pointing out everyone's emotional issues could prove counter-productive.

They were being quite friendly ... nearly as shocking as Ron did.

"Of course not," Hermione said. "I mean, it's Hagrid. He's huge."

"Well, I thought he must be," ... It's just bigotry, isn't it?"

The adults all looked unsure of that. It wasn't just bigotry, but it wasn't completely true that they were evil either.

"It's more complicated than that," Albus said. "It's true that they're more violent than wixen and their intelligence is lower than ours. They are definitely a risk to the statute of secrecy and they won't hesitate to kill you. They're not really friendly towards wizard... well, actually, they're not friendly towards anyone, even their own kind. But our kind have been unkind to them, involving them in our wars and persecuting them to near extinction. All in all, its a mix of both."

Ron looked as though he would ... Hermione wasn't looking.

Ron's brothers laughed at that as George muttered, "Coward."

It was time now to think of the homework ... feel slightly nervous.

"Only slightly?" young Dean asked. He'd have been terrified.

The trouble was that February ... it would make some sense.

"That won't help," Minerva muttered. How anyone thought a fourteen year old boy who might not even know merepeople existed would work the clue out was beyond her. She was beginning to feel like an utter fool. Not even all the wixen raised kids would have known the answer. Merepeople were hardly something they would come across, unless their family had them on their land. Or they'd been to visit one of the merepeople sanctuaries, something the average teenage wix wouldn't have done. She wondered if they could arrange that for one of the many field trips that Harry had suggested. It would certainly be educational.

He strained to think ... really expected that to help.

Sirius sighed, pulling Harry closer.

Harry had not forgotten the hint ... been a lot more explicit.

The Slytherins were nodding in agreement.

He, Harry, had told Cedric ... carrying that around with him too.

Harry sighed. How was he supposed to know to put the damn egg under water?

"I worked the clue out pretty quickly," Krum said. "There are merepeople on the grounds of Durmstrang. We learn about them and can even choose to learn their language in an extracurricular lesson if we want."

Fleur grimaced. She hadn't been as quick to work out her clue. She'd found out by accident when one of her friends got so irritated by the noise the egg made that they threw it in the lake.

Snow was still thick ... Hagrid's cabin would catch fire.

A couple people laughed although not for long, feeling guilty at the look on Hagrid's face.

When they arrived ... "Where's Hagrid?"

"Manners, Ronald," Molly said, before stopping. She had promised herself that she would be more restrained.

"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," ... "Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.

Sirius merely gave Harry a look that told the young man that he wasn't impressed with his behaviour. Apparently, younger Sirius cared more about his manners than his Sirius ever had.

"He is indisposed," ... she thought he was being nosy.

Severus sighed. That's probably exactly what she thought. Teachers weren't really supposed to be friends with their students.

"I do mind, though," said Harry hotly. "What's up with him?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Harry to talk to his teachers like that.

Professor Grubbly-Plank ... really hard to catch!"

Harry shrugged. "There are loads in the forest. Hagrid cares for them."

The unicorn was so brightly white ... easy does it... "

"They'll let yer close if they can sense you're trustworthy," Hagrid said. "It's not that they prefer women, exactly. Just that they find women easier to read. It takes them a little longer to tell if a man is trustworthy. But you were all children and shouldn't have had much issue. They are innocent creatures and would sense your own innocence."

She and the girls ... show his big, ugly face."

Lucius focused on his occlumency shields.

"What d'you mean?" ... Hagrid looking extremely shifty.

Rita looked especially pleased with herself while her younger self shifted nervously.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE ... notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror,

Alastor glared at Rita. He could easily guess who had written this particular article.

to teach Defense ... teach Care of Magical Creatures.

"Oh dear," young Narcissa said.

Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled ... heads of many better-qualified candidates.

Several people in the chamber spoke out in anger. Hagrid knew more about creatures than almost anyone. Sure, he probably needed to learn what was suitable for his students to learn about and he certainly should have been allowed to continue his education, but there was no doubt among them that he could be an amazing care teacher.

An alarmingly large ... 'I was attacked by a hippogriff,

Lucius frowned. He forgot about his son's part in this article. He'd been too focused on his darkening mark, to care at the time.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Draco said. Hagrid shrugged.

and my friend Vincent Crabbe ... too scared to say anything."

"Can you even be bitten by a flobberworm?" Seamus asked.

"No," Harry answered. "They don't have teeth and they're herbivores."

Hagrid has no intention ... hastily changing the subject.

Amelia frowned. While she hated this article, she couldn't help but think that Hagrid should have been penalized for breeding those creatures.

As if this were not enough, ... whereabouts are currently unknown.

Several people looked ready to throttle Rita.

Bloodthirsty and brutal, ... mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror.

"That wasn't a lie!" Rita said in her own defense. Really, these idiots were defending a half-giant over her! What was wrong with them?

While many of the giants ... inherited her brutal nature.

Everyone stared at the book in horror. Hagrid was gentle and sweet. You couldn't call him brutal. Even if he did have a habit of picking deadly pets.

In a bizarre twist, ... dangers of associating with part-giants.

Harry glared at Rita. What he wouldn't do for Mother Magic to remove the no violence rule for just a minute or two.

Harry finished reading ... They haven't even got teeth!"

Draco did not look proud of himself.

Crabbe was sniggering, ... bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young...

Harry rolled his eyes. How could Ron and Draco ever think that Hagrid was anything except part giant?

None of the mummies ... "Are you paying attention over there?"

Everyone rolled their eyes. Perhaps if she hadn't excluded half the class...

Professor Grubbly-Planks voice carried ... so that the boys could hear too.

Minerva tutted. That was a terrible method of teaching. She'd practically excluded half the class from the lesson.

"I hope she stays, that woman!" ... not monsters..."

Charlie laughed. "That's stupid. If you want to work with creatures, you have to learn about all of them. Not just the cute and fluffy ones."

"What about Hagrid?" ... "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

Hagrid tried to hide his feelings but he'd never been very good at that and it was clear for everyone to see that Parvati's words had upset him.

Parvati had been very cool ... Hogsmeade on the next weekend trip.

"Trying to make you jealous," Seamus said with a chuckle. Harry could be so oblivious sometimes.

The girls all shook their heads. While that might be true, it was a little presumptuous on Seamus's part.

"That was a really good lesson," ... You don't think Hagrid told her?"

"Of course I didn' tell her!" Hagrid said angrily.

"No," said Harry, ... Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her..."

Rita was still grinning, clearly pleased with the devastation she'd caused.

"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," ... Ron did, you mean," said Hermione.

"It's not like we wanted to hear," Harry said bitterly.

"We weren't trying to hear him!" ... where anyone could have heard him!"

Ron groaned. He hadn't wanted Hagrid to hear that. "Sorry, Hagrid."

"We've got to go and see him," ... you do want him back?" he shot at Hermione.

Hermione sighed. "Of course, I did!"

"I - well, I'm not going to pretend ... quailing under Harry's furious stare.

"That wasn't a proper care lesson," Minerva said. "Half the class was excluded from participating."

So that evening after dinner, ... "Open up!"

Sirius smiled at his son. He really was a caring boy.

Hagrid didn't answer ... but there was no response.

"You can't force him to talk to you," Remus said.

"What's he avoiding us for?" ... him being half-giant?"

"Of course, I did!" Hagrid muttered. "Who wouldn't?"

But it seemed that Hagrid ... every possible opportunity.

Lucius said nothing. He didn't even look at his son. He was too focused on trying not to let his irritation show.

"Missing your half-breed pal?" ... "Missing the elephant-man?"

The teachers were glowering at Draco now.

There was a Hogsmeade visit ... "Really get to work on that egg."

"Right... because he's going to work out the clue in the common room," Blaise muttered.

"Why didn't either of you offer to help?" Theo asked. "You could have all researched it together in the library."

Neither Ron or Hermione said anything.

"Oh I - I reckon I've got ... "Well done!"

Hermione glared at Harry for lying.

Harry's insides gave ... persuade him to come back.

Hagrid looked at Harry. "That was silly, Harry. Working out that clue was more important than checking on me."

"You're my friend, Hagrid."

He, Ron, and Hermione left the castle ... dived, right into the lake.

"I was practicing," Krum said.

"He's mad!" ... "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."

"No. It was definitely cold," Viktor said. "I don't swim in the lakes at Durmstrang ever."

"Yeah, but there's still the giant squid," ... much better here, he told me."

"Well, not exactly," Krum said. "The education at Durmstrang is superior, I think. But it was nice to be somewhere different and to get away from the rest of the students. Durmstrang has many more students than Hogwarts."

Ron said nothing ... Bulgarian Quidditch robes.

That caused some of the others to laugh.

Harry kept his eyes peeled ... Hagrid was not in any of the shops.

"He wouldn't be in Hogsmeade with an article like that," Sirius said with a sigh.