XXVI. The Restricted Section

                                    

                                          
Hagrid was in his garden, tending to his crops. His bloodhound puppy, Fang, was jumping about, chasing a big blue butterfly that had gathered his attention by landing on one of Hagrid's ginormous pumpkins. Fang began yipping and yapping about, one of his big ears flipping onto his small head and getting stuck.
                          
"Fang, yer a menace!" Hagrid said, using one of his dustbin-lid sized hands to right Fang's ear. The small puppy nipped cheerfully at Hagrid's fingers, and Hagrid let out a booming laugh that echoed all the way across the grounds.
                          
"Excuse me, Mr. Hagrid?" a small voice rang across Hagrid's garden, and he looked up in surprise. Standing just beyond the small white picket fence that surrounded his garden, was Regulus Black. 
                          
"Oh, hello!" Hagrid said, and he quickly wiped the dirt from his hands onto his big shirt. "Gi'me just a minute," he hurriedly put away his gardening tools, almost knocking over his watering can and spilling it across the patch of carrots that he was growing. 
                          
When he finally looked up again, it was to see that Fang had somehow scaled the fence and was intently licking Regulus's hand. Regulus Black laughed and pet Fang, kneeling down so that he was closer to the small puppy in front of him. 
                          
"Fang! Sorry there," Hagrid stepped over the fence, which was quite short compared to the giant of a man, and looked down at the tiny boy before him. 
                          
Regulus stood up straight and looked at Hagrid. "Sorry to bother you, I was just wondering - do you - er - do you happen to know when Mr. Filch is... busy?" 
                          
"Busy?" Hagrid asked, his wooly dark brown eyebrows knitting together in confusion. 
                          
"Yeah. Like when he might not be checking the halls?" Regulus was absently picking at his nails and staring up at the giant groundskeeper with as much confidence as he could muster. 
                          
"Why do yeh need ter know?" Hagrid asked suspiciously. 
                          
Regulus felt the back of his neck flush, and he opened and closed his mouth multiple times - his resemblance to a fish was uncanny. "So - uh - so that - so..." he trailed off. 
                          
Hagrid waited patiently, and Fang jumped between the two happily, nipping at Regulus's hands playfully. "So that I can watch the halls for him," Regulus said suddenly. 
                          
"Watch 'em for him?" 
                          
"Yeah! I mean, if he's busy, he won't be able to stop kids from... from causing trouble in the halls, will he?" 
                          
Hagrid's face broke into a wide grin, and he patted Regulus firmly on the shoulder. The force of his 'pat' caused Regulus to stumble quite far to the left and almost fall on the ground. "That's mighty kind 'o 'ya, Regulus!" 
                          
"Thanks," Regulus said, reaching up and rubbing his shoulder gently with his right hand. "So, do you know when he'll be busy?" 
                          
Hagrid thought for a moment, and he absently brought one of his hands up to scratch his head. "I think Filch usually sleeps from one ter four in the mornin' on Sunday's."
                          
"One to four on Sunday as in on Sunday, like Sunday morning, or Monday morning?" 
                          
"On Sunday," Hagrid replied, nodding his head. 
                          
Regulus nodded and began backing away, back to the castle. "Ok! Thank you, Mr. Hagrid!" and he took off jogging. 
                          
"Yer welcome!" Hagrid shouted after him. "Hey, Fang, come back here!" the small puppy had taken off after Regulus, wanting to follow the small boy back to the castle.
                          
Regulus stayed up that night mapping out a plan of action. He pretended to fall asleep at around seven that night, saying he was simply exhausted from his day (he had gone and joined Barty out on the grounds after his visit to Hagrid so as not to raise suspicion).