Giant

"Jason!" Chris muttered.

"Yeah?"

"I'm a muggle-born, does this effect you?" Chris asked seriously.

"What do you think?" Jason said looking into her eyes.

"I don't know. Sometimes I feel it doesn't matter to you, sometimes feel it does." Chris shrugged.

"If it really mattered to me then I wasn't sitting here with you." Jason replied. "I mean can you imagine Malfoy sitting here with your friend Hermione Granger?"

Chris grinned, "Well that will be something."

"You're a talented witch Chris and that's the thing only matters to me." He said seriously.

"I thought, I was annoying you." Chris said smirking. "Usually you seemed very irritated after talking to me."

"Well you still irritate me." Jason chuckled. "But you know after you started ignoring me, I realized I was looking forward to that annoyance, once in a week."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny." Chris said sarcastically.

"No seriously, you helped me lot to open up to people. If I hadn't met you then I'll never befriended with Theodore again. I usually shut people out, Chris. Remember I said I don't do friends." Jason paused for a moment. "From the first year, you always tried to pushed through the barrier around me, just because I saved you once."

"Yeah that was a nasty day." Chris said after listening to him. "People should've thought, how dumb are you? You can't even dodge a spell? I mean you tell me, who would've thought that the first time I'll walk on the Quidditch field, some Slytherin will throw a massive dark spell at me!"

"People? Who?"

"No one. Leave them."

"So are we good?" Jason asked after few minutes.

"I guess we're, if you're not planning to scream at me again." Chris said grinning.

"Only if you're not going to tell Astoria, everytime I do something." Jason grinned back.

"Deal." Chris stood up.

Jason also stood up and pulled Chris into a warm hug. Chris blushed this hard for the first time as she hugged him back.

Jason and Chris walked back, talking about the tournament. At last when they reached at the foot of the marble staircase, Chris kissed him on the cheek and said, "Good night," as she ran upstairs to the Entrance Hall, blushing furiously.

Ginny and Michael were sitting with Shawn and Luna on a table and Neville was sitting with Ron Harry on another table. Hermione was still dancing with Krum.

Chris sat beside Luna.

"Where were you?" Ginny asked at once. "You missed my favorite song."

"Oh.. me? I was taking a walk.. outside." Chris replied.

"Alone?" Ginny asked raising her eyebrows, looking at her pink face.

"Ye.. yeah." Chris replied looking away. "I'll see what Neville is up to."

As Chris walked, she saw a Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies talking.

"Z's almost midnight, we've zo go back zo our carriage." Fleur said looking very sad.

"Or what? Your carriage will turn into a pumpkin?" Chris muttered as she walked past them.

Fleur instantly turned towards her.

Chris went to the table where Ron and Harry was talking and Neville was just listening.

"Hey." Chris sat beside Neville. "What're you three talking about?"

"Giants. They're talking about giants." Neville answered quickly. It was clear he didn't like the conversation.

"Well I guess interesting choice of topic." Chris said. "Is it the clue about your next task Harry?"

"... er.... it's... it's...." Harry was hesitating looking at Ron.

"He hasn't figured out his second task." Ron said changing the topic.

"December is already finished, so he doesn't even have two months." Chris said casually. "So if the second task is more difficult than the first one; which I think will be, then Harry, best of luck. You're going to need it."

"I'll figure it out." Harry said confidently.

"Great then." Chris smiled though she didn't like Harry's overconfidence. Chris realized Harry was too distracted for some reason.

"Neville, do you want to dance? It's the last song." She asked.

"Are you sure?" Neville asked hesitantly.

"Oh c'mon Neville. It's a very fast song. We'll be fine." Chris said getting up.

"You look very happy." Neville said grinning as he got up.

"Because I'm very happy." Chris replied walking into the Dance floor.

"So the walk worked." Neville said and both of them laughed.

At last the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall.

After saying goodbyes, Chris, Neville, Ginny and Colin walked towards the Gryffindor tower.

The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. They had to yell "Fairy lights!" to wake them up. Then the portrait swung with irritated muttering by fat lady and her friend, as they climbed into the common room.

___________________________________

Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor com­mon room was much quieter than it had been lately, many yawns punctuating the lazy conversations. Hermione's hair was bushy again; she told Chris that she had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it for the ball, "but it's way too much bother to do every day," she said matter-of-factly, scratching a purring Crookshanks behind the ears.

Chris decided that unless Harry asked for her help, she'll not help him. If he thinks he can figure out it own then why not. Though Chris was curious about the next task, she tried not to look desperate.

As the first day of the new term arrived, and Chris set off to lessons, weighed down with books, parchment, and quills as usual, with her friends.

There first class was cancelled due to snow in greenhouse. Chris was rather happy as she, Ginny and Colin were eating their breakfast lazily. When Alex came to Colin.

"Have you heard Colin?" Alex asked.

"What?" Colin asked blankly.

"About Hagrid. Haven't read the Daily Prophet?" Alex said rather shocked.

"What about Hagrid?" Ginny asked.

"Here." Alex pulled a Daily Prophet from someone else and gave it to them. "He's a half-giant. I think he'll not teach anymore."

"What rubbish." Chris said in disbelief as she opened the Daily Prophet.

It was an article topped with a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE

Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hog­warts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appoint­ments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of at­tacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.

Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates.

As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not — as he has always pretended — a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are cur­rently unknown.

Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror.

In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power — thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the un­pleasant truth about his large friend — but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants.

Chris looked up from the paper as she finished reading. Ginny and Colin both looked shocked as well.

"That's why they were talking about giants last night." Chris muttered.

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"Harry and Ron. Neville told me." Chris said.

"Do you think Hagrid will resign after this?" Colin asked.

"No he'll not." Ginny said firmly. "We'll talk to him, Chris."

"Good idea. Let's go." Chris got up, leaving her half eaten breakfast.

And the three of them left the castle and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.

"Hagrid, it's Chris!" Chris shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!"

Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open.