twelve. a dawning realisation

                                    

                                          
-CHAPTER TWELVE-
~a dawning realisation~
                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
AS IT TURNED OUT, Hagrid had been off partying with giants. Well— maybe partying wouldn't be the exact word since he had almost been killed on several occasions, but the giants part remained true.
                          
According to Harry, Ron and Hermione, he— along with Maxime— had been sent by Dumbledore to go and try and convince the giants to join their side. It took ages for them to even be able to speak to the leader, and with Death Eaters arriving, too, it didn't go all that smoothly. Hagrid was safe, though— apart from some scratches and bruises on his face that he refused to tell them the cause of.
                          
Their meeting was cut short, too, when Umbridge abruptly showed up at Hagrid's door and hinted very clearly that she had plans to dismiss him as a teacher.
                          
"Which is why I'm going back tomorrow to make sure his lessons aren't dangerous!" said Hermione. "That foul woman is not getting rid of Hagrid!"
                          
Yet the next day, in Care of Magical Creatures, Hermione stood beside Viola with her arms crossed.
                          
"He wouldn't listen to anything I had to say!" she whispered. "I gave him some excellent examples of topics to cover, but all he said was that he had it sorted."
                          
"It's Hagrid," said Viola, "you know how he gets around his creatures. If he likes them, he won't care if they're dangerous."
                          
"But if he does show us something like that, then Umbridge will definitely—"
                          
"We're workin' in here today!" announced Hagrid. He was emerging from the forest, some kind of dead creature slung over his shoulder. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark..."
                          
Maybe Viola could see where Hermione's concerns were coming from. She could only hope that it would be some kind of interesting— and not dangerous— creature, like the Hippogriffs. Then again, Malfoy was still here, and practically programmed to cause trouble. He would find any way he could to make it go wrong for Hagrid.
                          
As they ventured into the forest, Viola could see that nearly all of the other students looked like they were sharing the same doubts about Hagrid. The Slytherins looked terrified, and even some of the Gryffindors were looking around nervously. 
                          
It was about ten minutes of walking until Hagrid stopped them.
                          
The area they arrived at was filled with trees knitted so tightly together that barely any light was filtering through the thick canopy of leaves. It was colder, too, with any feeble rays of November sun completely blocked. It wasn't all that reassuring, being in an eerie setting and waiting for Hagrid's mysterious creature reveal.