Harry Potter 04 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

him!’
    ‘We’ve got to go and see him,’ said Harry. ‘This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back … You do want him back?’ he shot at Hermione.
    ‘I – well, I’m not going to pretend it didn’t make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once – but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!’ Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry’s furious stare.
    So that evening after dinner, the three of them left the castle once more, and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid’s cabin. They knocked, and Fang’s booming barks answered.
    ‘Hagrid, it’s us!’ Harry shouted, pounding on the door. ‘Open up!’
    He didn’t answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn’t open. They hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even went and banged on one of the windows, but there was no response.
    ‘What’s he avoiding us for?’ Hermione said, when they had finally given up, and were walking back to the school. ‘He surely doesn’t think we’d care about him being half-giant?’
    But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn’t see a sign of him all week. He didn’t appear at the staff table at meal-times, they didn’t see him going about his gamekeeper duties in the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Malfoy was gloating at every possible opportunity.
    ‘Missing your half-breed pal?’ he kept whispering to Harry, whenever there was a teacher around, so that he was safe from Harry’s retaliation. ‘Missing the elephant man?’
    There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January. Hermione was very surprised that Harry was planning to go.
    ‘I just thought you’d want to take advantage of the common room being quiet,’ she said. ‘Really get to work on that egg.’
    ‘Oh, I – I reckon I’ve got a pretty good idea what it’s about now,’ Harry lied.
    ‘Have you really?’ said Hermione, looking impressed. ‘Well done!’
    Harry’s insides gave a guilty squirm, but he ignored them. He still had five weeks to work out that egg clue, after all, and that was ages … and if he went into Hogsmeade, he might run into Hagrid, and get a chance to persuade him to come back.
    He, Ron and Hermione left the castle together on Saturday, and set off through the cold, wet grounds towards the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms and dived, right into the lake.
    ‘He’s mad!’ said Harry, staring at Krum’s dark head, as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. ‘It must be freezing, it’s January!’
    ‘It’s a lot colder where he comes from,’ said Hermione. ‘I suppose it feels quite warm to him.’
    ‘Yeah, but there’s still the giant squid,’ said Ron. He didn’t sound anxious – if anything, he sounded hopeful. Hermione noticed his tone of voice, and frowned.
    ‘He’s really nice, you know,’ she said. ‘He’s not at all like you’d think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me.’
    Ron said nothing. He hadn’t mentioned Viktor Krum since the ball, but Harry had found a miniature arm under his bed on Boxing Day, which had looked very much as though it had been snapped off a small model figure wearing Bulgaria Quidditch robes.
    Harry kept his eyes skinned for a sign of Hagrid all the way down the slushy High Street, and suggested a visit to the Three Broomsticks once he had ascertained that Hagrid was not in any of the shops.
    The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look around at all the tables told Harry that Hagrid wasn’t there. Heart sinking, he went up to the bar with Ron and Hermione, ordered three Butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, and thought gloomily that he might just as well have stayed behind and listened to the egg wailing after all.
    ‘Doesn’t he ever go into the office?’ Hermione whispered suddenly. ‘Look!’
    She pointed into the mirror behind the bar, and Harry saw Ludo Bagman reflected there, sitting in a shadowy corner with a bunch of goblins. Bagman was talking very fast in a low voice to the goblins, all of whom had their arms crossed, and were looking rather menacing.
    It was indeed odd, Harry thought, that Bagman was here at the Three