Chapter 85: Partners in Crime (2)

The following week passed rather quickly. Amongst the growing mountain of lessons, the few parallel research projects that Catherine was conducting in the Library, and the private lessons with Dumbledore, there was not a lot of time left for other problems to occupy the girl's mind. Truth be told, she was extremely grateful for every night, finding herself on the brink of exhaustion as she collapsed into bed, her mind wandering between complicated transfiguration theories and advanced potions techniques. This level of fatigue meant she was less likely to succumb to any nightmares like the one she had during Christmas.

On Saturday morning, the young witch crossed the frozen school grounds. There wasn't a single person to be seen, with most of the students opting for the much warmer and cosier Common Rooms. The only sign of life was the noise coming from the Quidditch Pitch where the Gryffindor Quidditch team was practicing. The sound echoed oddly across the icy landscape, eventually fading into the dark silence of the Forbidden Forest. The sky loomed grey, ominous with the promise of an impending snowstorm.

Catherine knocked on Hagrid's door and felt relieved when the beaming Keeper of the Keys let her into the big room that served as his home. The crackling fire cast a warm glow throughout the hut, its flickering light dancing on the walls, while the massive copper teapot already hummed merrily.

"It's freezing cold outside, ain't it?" – chuckled the giant, placing two teacups the size of small buckets on the table – "Care for a cup of tea before we start baking?"

"Sounds nice, but I already had tea with my breakfast. Maybe we can postpone it until we put the cookies in the oven?" – suggested the girl, removing her heavy cloak and looking around for the ingredients she needed – "Did you get the butterscotch sauce we need?"

"Right yeh are!" – Hagrid nodded and swiftly retrieving a small brownish jar, as well as an impressive amount of butter, sugar, flour, and cornstarch.

"Alright." – said Catherine as she brought over a few bowls and a rolling pin – "Now, let's start by mixing the butter and the sugar here until they're light and fluffy. After that, we'll add the flour, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt. I'll grab some vanilla extract for an extra burst of flavour."

As the third-year rummaged through Hagrid's spice rack for the vanilla, he continued to mix the ingredients. The good thing about cooking with the Keeper of the Keys was that due to his immense physical strength all the mixing operations were easier than using a Muggle electric mixer.

Once the dough was properly rolled out on the floured surface of the table, the young witch retrieved her wand and flashed a grin at her baking partner.

"I discovered this incredibly useful spell in a book called Enchantment in Baking. Let's put it to a test, shall we? Sideris Carpo!" – Catherine exclaimed, swirling her wand. In response, dozens of star-shaped cookies materialised, neatly cut out from the dough.

"Blimey, this is brilliant!" – Hagrid boomed, clapping together his massive hands – "Could yeh cut 'em into different shapes, like dragons, perhaps?"

"Ahm, I don't think so." – the young witch admitted with a smile – "But I could probably tweak the spell a bit to change the shape, although turning it into a dragon might be a bit more complicated."

"Ain't that a shame!" – sighed the giant while they were placing the cookies into several greased trays and carrying them to the oven.

Once everything was settled and a mouthwatering aroma filled the hut, Catherine and Hagrid finally sat down to enjoy their tea. They chatted about the Gryffindor team's chances of winning the Quidditch Cup, the amount of homework the third-years were receiving, and which classes the students were enjoying the most.

"Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy purely academic subjects like Ancient Runes, but if I were to take another one, like Arithmacy, it would have been way too much." – the girl explained, sipping from her cup, which she needed to hold with both her hands.

"I dunno where yeh fit all them facts!" – laughed the Keeper of the Keys – "Ancient Runes give me a right headache. That's why I never even thought about takin' it for electives!"

"Was it part of the electives when you were a student, Hagrid? You've never mentioned your favourite subjects." – asked Catherine with curiosity. Her friend had never really discussed his time at school, and the witch had never seen him use magic. In fact, the third-year was beginning to wonder if he could do it at all.

"Oh, err…" – Hagrid stammered uncomfortably – "It were offered as a subject, but, y'know... I mean... well, I s'pose it's no secret I didn't graduate, so I can't really say much about the subjects. Got expelled in me third year."

"They expelled you?!" – Catherine stared at the giant with astonishment and put down her tea – "But why?"

"It ain't that important..." – mumbled the Keeper of the Keys, his face looking upset and miserable under the bushy beard covering the most part of it – "I did some daft things, an' if it weren't for Dumbledore helpin' me land this job... he's a real great wizard, Dumbledore!"

Catherine genuinely felt bad for Hagrid. Despite his imposing stature, the Keeper of the Keys was truly a gentle soul, and he seemed deeply ashamed of his admission to the third-year. It was as if he anticipated her to laugh at him or to be shocked by his illiteracy. To mask his discomfort, the giant swiftly leaped into action, attending to the trays of cookies in the oven.

Meanwhile, the young witch tidied up the table and retrieved the jar of butterscotch sauce intended for drizzling over the cookies. With a warm smile, she gently nudged Hagrid's sleeve and passed him the jar.

"I hope you don't feel awkward about what you've just told me, Hagrid. I was surprised, but only because you possess such vast knowledge of magic and magical creatures. I never would have guessed that you hadn't excelled academically."

"You're right kind to say that." – sniffed the Keeper of the Keys, appearing truly touched by the compliment, even managing to squeeze out a wee smile.

"It's true though!" – said Catherine sincerely – "I know that you're an irreplaceable help for Professor Kettleburn. You also help Professor Sprout and Professor Slughorn, and on top of that, the Headmaster trusts you with all kinds of serious business for Hogwarts!"

Hagrid smiled broadly when he heard the praise and his black beetle eyes shined with pride. He left the now empty jar of butterscotch sauce and transferred some of the cookies into a plate which he took back to the table, taking a seat with an audible sigh.

"I s'pose I know a bit." – he stated modestly, snatching a hot cookie from the plate – "Even give Professor Kettleburn a hand with his lesson plans, y'know? Though, truth be told, we've had our disagreements more than once."

"What about?" – asked the young witch as she also returned to her seat and feeling relieved that she had managed to cheer up the Keeper of the Keys.

"Care of magical creatures, o' course!" – smirked Hagrid and gobbed another cookie – "He don't rightly appreciate the interestin' ones!"

Catherine hesitated for a moment. She sensed a good opportunity to gently guide the conversation towards the topic of Thestrals without seeming manipulative. At the same time, she felt guilty for taking advantage of her friend after a difficult moment and since he had demonstrated his trust by sharing his 'disgrace' with her.

'It seems being sorted into Gryffindor does affect you at one point.' – she thought, deciding to come up clean to a certain extent, without compromising the mission.

"Speaking of interesting creatures, Remus told me that the carriages we use to get to Hogwarts from the station were pulled by Thestrals. Is that true?"

"Oh, could he see 'em?" – Hagrid's voice tinged with sadness – "Aye, it's true, it is! Hogwarts 'as the biggest herd of trained Thestrals in all of Great Britain!"

"This is very impressive." – the girl said, adding – "I don't fathom we're going to learn about them any time soon in Care of Magical Creatures."

"Ain't likely." – the Keeper of the Keys shook his head with disappointment – "Them folks at the Ministry of Magic slapped a Class XXXX label on Thestrals. Professor Kettleburn only brings 'em out and show 'em for his NEWTs students... ahm…'show' might not be the right word here, though."

"Are they really that dangerous?" – asked the young witch being actually curious about the beasts she could not see.

"Not at all!" – exclaimed Hagrid defensively – "They're as gentle as can be, and mighty useful too! Dumbledore himself sometimes chooses to ride one of our Thestrals instead of apparating!"

"So you can ride them?" – asked Catherine – "Though, I guess it's going to be really odd if you don't see them."

"It's best if y'don't see 'em, believe me." – mumbled the giant – "I love the herd, truly do, but I'd trade takin' care of 'em in a heartbeat if it meant gettin' me old man back."

"I'm sorry, Hagrid. It seems I keep upsetting you today." – the girl apologised, considering if she should give up for the present moment.

"Nah, it's nothin'." – Hagrid patted Catherine's hand as gently as possible – "Life moves on. Proud of the work I do 'round here, especially with the Thestrals. And if ya ask old Slughorn, he'd say it's the most crucial part o' my job."

"What do you mean?" – asked the Gryffindor confused.

"Yeh might not know this, but Professor Slughorn, he's got an eye fer them rare ingredients, see? Always on the hunt for 'em, thinkin' he can turn a tidy profit. But, not too long ago, Dumbledore put the kibosh on teachers usin' Hogwarts' resources to line their pockets. Ruined old Slughorn's little scheme, it did. But he's a stubborn one, ain't he? Keeps tryin' to wheedle anythin' rare outta me that I might find in the forest. Can't say I'm fallin' fer it, though!"

"Sounds like him." – Catherine agreed. 

"Ah, them sneaky snakes, they do tend to slither about like that." – Hagrid chuckled – "So there was Slughorn, heard I'd been gatherin' up some of them Thestrals' shed hair, and he comes knockin' at my door, all full of praise for my work and fussin' over them 'precious darlings' in the cold without their hair. But o' course, he left with his hands as empty as his flattery!"

"But why are they shading during winter, indeed?" – asked Catherine contemplatively, her tone laced with amusement at her Potions teacher's clumsy attempt to obtain the same ingredient she was after.

"They do just fine in the cold." – Hagrid explained – "The hair's actually for protectin' 'em from the heat. It sorta radiates coldness, y'see. That's why, among other uses, Thestral hair is mighty suitable for weavin' bandages that soothe wounds caused by fire."

"That's not what Slughorn needs it for, I reckon." – suggested the girl, finally taking a cookie from now almost empty tray.

"Not likely." – agreed the Keeper of the Keys – "It's probably for his potion-making or to sell it, and I assure you, it costs a 'uge amount of gold."

"Then he's definitely not done with you." – the witch smiled.

"Hah, he could give it a go, but I says to him: all them hairs I've gathered, they're for Madame Pomfrey, and whatever's left, well, it's for St Mungo's." – Hagrid exclaimed, puffing up his chest as he glanced proudly at the ceiling. Catherine's eyes trailed after his, but all she spotted were a bunch of hams and pheasants dangling about.

"The hair is also not visible unless you've seen death, is it?" – the young witch suggested, earning a nod from her huge friend.

'That makes things rather complicated.' - the girl thought and sighed. Finally, she took a bite from the cookie she had been holding for a while and immediately choked.

"Hagrid, next time the recipe requires 'a pinch of salt' remind me to consider the difference in the size of our hands!"