Tension filled the air as his fellow students rushed about their business, desperately trying to forget about the most recent attack. He could literally feel it hanging in the air, like a dark cloud. Whoever the heir was, they had successfully created the climate of fear they desired.
However, life carried on. "Potter!" a familiar voice shouted from behind him, bringing him out of his own internal thoughts.
Turning in the direction of the sound, he saw it was one of his teammates. "Chambers," he answered back in greeting to the fourth-year chaser, who frankly seemed better suited for a beater position rather than a chaser.
"Roger has managed to book the pitch for this evening. Practice starts at 7 p.m. and should go on till maybe 9 o'clock. Be there," the stocky chaser instructed before moving away, not waiting for a reply.
He didn't even bother with a reply; it seemed rather pointless since it wasn't a debate nor a true question. But it did upset his current plans for the evening, since he had already planned to train with his cousin, then work with Padma on their current homework assignments. 'Oh well.' It wasn't like he could just ditch the training session; Cho would be there as well, clearly trying to steal his spot on the team.
All in all, it was rather annoying being forced to go. He then heard the familiar crackle of distant thunder. 'Oh great, rain too, no wonder the pitch was available,' he thought as he looked out the nearest window to see that it was already raining, with more dark clouds on the way and random flashes of lightning in the distance. He looked out solemnly over the grounds as the rain continued to pour down. 'Maybe it will be cancelled,' knowing it was a real possibility.
After all, Ravenclaws were hardly known for being truly reckless or brave enough to train in the middle of a storm. Though he was willing to admit in the privacy of his mind that he felt a rush of excitement at the thought of playing in such challenging conditions.
That evening, the rest of the team stayed inside, not bothering to tell him the training session had been cancelled. He was out there all alone, facing the storm. He didn't even bother releasing the snitch; he just flew around without any real purpose or urgency, just riding the powerful, cold air currents, scenting the power in the very air he breathed, enjoying the exotic rush of it all. It was truly a primal experience, and his very blood and magic sung to him in joy.
However, there was another who bore witness to this bit of joy a pair of small, beady eyes watched him from the shadows, tracking him, measuring him, scrutinizing him, desperately hoping for the boy to fall to his grisly death or to be hit by lightning.
Unfortunately, Lady Luck refused to play ball.
...
Knocking on the half-giant's door, he shortly heard a rather predictable response. "Just a minute!" Looking over at his friend as he waited patiently, he saw that Luna was already off in her own little world, watching the clouds and not really paying attention to anything. 'Damn that is disarming,' admitting that Luna could properly disarm anyone with her dreamy look.
"Harry! What are you doing down here?" Hagrid exclaimed, clearly surprised to see him. "And who is your friend?" examining Luna, who was holding Harry's left arm.
Smiling at his rather big friend, "I thought I'd come down and see you, my friend, since we haven't had a chance to really talk since last year. Sirius sends his regards," giving both his greeting and his explanation for being here. "Now let me introduce you to my friend," gesturing to Luna. "This is Luna Lovegood. I thought I'd bring her along; she happens to love creatures almost as much as you do."
"Oh really!" the half-giant beamed. "It's good to meet you too, Luna. Come in and sit down," letting them into the hut. The moment they walked through the doorway, they were hit with hot, smoky air, which was rather pleasant and earthy, actually.
"Drink?" the half-giant asked, moving to put a kettle of water to boil over the log fire.
"Sure," before giving a soft shake to his friend. "Luna, do you want a drink?"
"Tea, please. Hagrid, you must get a lot of Nargles in here. They like the wood," she said dreamily, whilst staring at the wood-thatch ceiling of the hut.
Smiling slightly, as the half-giant was thrown for a loop like everyone else was. Seeing Hagrid looking at him for help, he just gave a shrug of the shoulders, which said 'I don't know,' whilst mouthing *play along*. "Of course," Hagrid hurriedly agreed. "The little things love the wood, just like forest pixies do," as he moved to sit down. "This is Fang," introducing his dog. "Don't worry, he's harmless," clearly trying to move the chat away from the creature he had no idea about.
"Harry, I got me some exciting news. The Headmaster is considering my request to take over the COMC position," causing him to smile at the news, wondering just what Hagrid would introduce them to. "Of course, a couple of the school governors are questioning it, but the Headmaster said he was sure he could persuade them to see it his way."
"That's excellent news! Well done!" already guessing which governor was leading that campaign against Hagrid. "What creatures can I expect next year?"
"Oh, this and that. It depends how the classes go... However, I'm hoping that I can introduce some of the lower years to the unicorn herd, without scaring the poor things. They don't react well to older students not innocent or pure enough for them, I suppose, especially the Slytherins," the groundskeeper said rather negatively.
Seeing his way in, "If you don't mind me asking, is there any reason for you disliking them? Surely you have a good reason? Oh Hagrid, the kettle," seeing the water starting to boil over.
"Oh, right," as the half-giant scrambled to serve the tea. "Would you like honey tea? Or lavender? Or maybe something a bit stronger, such as hazelnut?"
"Honey flavour, please. Luna will have the same," he requested, since she was busy looking at something else, rather than listening to Hagrid.
"Alright," he said, as he went about serving them up some honey tea, in some truly oversized cups, which seemed to hold about two litres of the mixture. 'Damn, I'm going to need the bathroom after this,' he thought as he sipped the steaming drink, being careful not to burn his lips.
"So Hagrid, what do you have against Slytherins? I would think you of all people wouldn't judge people just on their appearance, or their house," he probed, wondering if the friendly groundskeeper would have been hostile to him if he was wearing green instead of blue.
"Yeah, but I was a Gryffindor in my time here. Bad memories, you see," the man admitted soberly.
"Do you want to talk about it? Slytherins often make fun of me too," Luna said out of nowhere, focusing on the groundskeeper. "The Lions do as well they call me *Loony Luna*," once again throwing off their host.
"You know, not all Slytherins are out to get you," he spoke. "Yes, some are jerks and brats, but that's due to them having been brought up that way by their parents," he added, thinking of a couple of his year-mates. "You never know, some could be rather nice people given the chance. As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover," smiling as he said it, knowing that saying was very popular amongst Ravenclaws.
"Yeah, you're right. Ignore their name-calling, Luna. They'll grow out of it," Hagrid advised, before downing some of his drink.
"Not everyone is good or evil based on the house they're sorted into, or even born into. Look at Sirius for an example of that born to the Black family, one of the darkest households around, went into Gryffindor, befriended a werewolf, and fought against Lord Voldemort," he explained, seeing the groundskeeper flinch at the name. "Then you have Peter Pettigrew," he said with some venom. "Born to a nice, light-sided family, sorted into Gryffindor house, just to end up betraying his friends—my family to the Dark Lord," knowing he was making an impression, since Hagrid knew Peter.
"Yeah, I never would have guessed that. He was such a nice boy, always following your father and Sirius around; I don't understand what happened..." shaking his head, as if he had personally failed somehow. "But it's good to know about Sirius. So when will I see him? I missed him last time he was here," referring to Sirius and Harry's announcement.
"My godfather is on holiday with Remus currently. He might pop in after Christmas," not really knowing if his godfather would or not.
"It would be good to catch up with him."
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