Chapter 168: Of Uncomfortable Giants
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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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15 November 1993, Hogwarts
Harry Potter woke up earlier than usual and decided to walk by the Black Lake to clear his head. He had gone down without even actively thinking about it, but he found himself treasuring his solitude after the argument he had with his friends. It had been his fault, after all, he had forgotten that they were children, teenagers mostly, and he had pushed them a little too much. Blaise, Tracy, and Daphne had asked him to treat them as equals, without even realizing what it meant for him to actually receive that, and Harry had trusted their judgement. They were not ready for the responsibility and didn't have the maturity needed to prioritize a few tasks instead of goofing off.
It was his fault, really. He had expected too much from them. Daphne definitely had the maturity required, but she had her share of issues with Astoria, and that piling up on them needlessly was just cruel. The blonde had shaped her entire life around the goal of saving her sister, a noble endeavour, but with the very real possibility that she wouldn't survive, it was very risky. She would end up as a shattered shell as her very purpose withers in front of her. Harry was going to help her get started on healing. He was interested in the subject, but not enough to invest his time and money as he prioritized controlling his magical crest and developing his magic circle, which ended up far more of a hassle than he predicted.
For whatever reason, whoever designed this crest did not add in the perks that he saw Daphne and Blaise having. While there were programmed spells to call in at a single thought, there were very few and were unlocked at a very low pace as he figured them out. While that did make him a better wizard, the progress was far slower than he liked it to be. Every type of spell he figured out using magic circles unlocked a small arsenal of saved circles that he could use as bases to create his own spells. It was slow and time-consuming, but very rewarding since he could sometimes come up with spells on the fly.
Back to the issue regarding his friends, he decided to stop giving them excuses to rebel. He could see that Daphne was often distracted with her sister around. Blaise and Tracy were showing the signs of textbook teenage rebellion. They didn't really want to join him, not really, and he didn't blame them. It was just too much for wizards and witches of their age to handle. They were just seduced by Harry's attitude towards them that they must have mistaken to be condescending.
The solution was evident, to stop acting condescendingly towards them and not involve them in his most sensitive endeavors. Their attitude during the Hogsmeade attack and their constant second-guessing and protesting his orders meant that they just didn't have the maturity needed to be of any help in a sensitive situation.
They had lost the trust he had in them, to not cause him problems or impede him during a sensitive situation. He could still ask Tracy to tell him rumours, and he could still ask Blaise to sneak things into the castle, but outside their training sessions, he wouldn't involve them in anything else. During the Hogsmeade attack, they were more of a liability than a help because of their attitude.
It was a shame since Blaise was very good at smuggling. He hadn't even ordered the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder to Britain, but he did it to his friends in Italy that he discreetly shipped in a magically enlarged bag to the castle. The ministry just couldn't ask other countries for details about their imports so that made the purchase essentially untraceable.
Perhaps, he should ask Luna. She always provided a different perspective to most situations, and she had this inherent maturity that she probably got with her clairvoyance. Harry hasn't really interacted with her during this school year and promised himself that he would fix that.
Fifteen days had passed since the Hogsmeade attack, yet its consequences kept appearing. Fudge trying to capitalize on the capture of the attackers was bordering on propaganda, and people were buying it. Except for the students who had been in Hogsmeade that day, they weren't really convinced by the minister's promises of safety after their experience. Sure, the attack had lasted less than a minute, but it seemed to have traumatized them enough to always walk in groups and the sale of wand holsters and defence books have risen tremendously.
The Ministry, under Fudge's guidance, had been using the capture of notorious Azkaban escapees like Rookwood and Dolohov as evidence of their efficiency and commitment to public safety. Every Daily Prophet headline seemed to scream a new victory for the Ministry, a new assurance that the dark times were over. Honestly, it wasn't Dolohov's or Rookwood's capture that had affected the populace, but Greyback's. Harry underestimated how much the werewolf's presence affected the general populace. He had instilled a visceral fear in the heart of the wizarding community and his capture, alongside his entire pack, did make a huge difference. Even Lupin seemed to be extremely happy with the news when Harry saw the injured man in the Great Hall.
If Harry had thought that the werewolf was obsessed with him previously, then it paled to how he acted now. Every time they were in the same room, Lupin kept staring at him with an expression that Harry couldn't quite decipher, like a mixture of hope and longing. His inner wolf's constant howling was just so loud and didn't help matters at all. Honestly, to say that Harry was uncomfortable would be an understatement.
Speaking of his professors, they were acting oddly, as if they were distracted by something, perhaps even preoccupied by a matter that they didn't discuss with the student body. He wasn't the only one who noticed it, since the number of school fights and pranks did rise dramatically since the chance of getting caught was lower.
Harry's thoughts were interrupted when a few sparks illuminated the morning sky, followed by a loud noise. Curious, he walked towards the source of the disturbance which happened to be Hagrid's shack. He never really interacted with the Groundskeeper. The man was too loud for him and did have a tendency to do foolish things. Sure, Hagrid was a genius when it came to magical creatures, but outside of that, he was obviously not as bright as the common man, and that was Harry trying to be kind about it. There was nothing wrong with that, but the last Potter could only dumb down a conversation so much before getting frustrated, so he never really tried.
Don't get him wrong, he didn't dislike Hagrid at all, he just never really went out of his way to speak to the half-giant. Curious to see what he was up to; Harry made his way forward and saw the man struggling with casting an enlargement charm on the pumpkins.
The man was obviously overpowering the spells, causing the outside shell of the pumpkin to grow faster than the inside, causing it to implode. Harry would have left him alone if it wasn't for the fact that the man didn't seem to be getting better. After almost ten minutes of watching the groundskeeper struggle with a simple charm, he decided to intervene.
"You're doing it wrong…" he simply commented.
The half-giant's situational awareness must have been disappointing since Harry had made no attempts at being discreet in approaching the man. Instead of just turning, the man just sent a blast of pure magic from his frankly ridiculously large wand, and no that wasn't a dirty joke no matter how it sounded. Damn, Tracy really has corrupted him…
Harry simply redirected the magic with a flick of his wand, and raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the groundskeeper, who looked sheepish, "Blimey, sorry 'bout tha', Potter. Yeh gave me a bit of a scare, yeh did."
"Don't worry about it," Harry responded with a shrug, "I wasn't in any real danger. The worst you would have done was push me back slightly."
"Still, it's my fault, attacking a student like that. No wonder they weren't too keen on me bein' a professor…"
The last Potter couldn't help but feel surprised at this admission. The position as a Hogwarts professor was a very prestigious one. It wasn't lucrative, but there were still traces of the wizarding culture before Dumbledore took over. In a society where magical research was treasured, educators were the best of the best. Wizarding families wouldn't have taken anything other than the best for their children's education, to carry out their family legacy.
Choosing to comfort the simple man instead of being needlessly cruel, Harry said, "You were applying for the care of magical creature class, right? I don't think that it's your lack of knowledge that stopped Dumbledore from hiring you. As far as I know, you're probably more familiar with magical creatures than most experts. I think it has more to do with the fact that you don't have a NEWT or even an OWL on the subject. It would set a very bad precedent if a headmaster could hire anyone without any official qualifications. And considering that enlarging charms are part of the OWL curriculum, I think you're on your way to remedy that."
The man's eyes grew teary, "Yeh really think I've got a shot at it?"
"If you pass, yes. But you'll need to curb your impulsivity slightly. There's more to teaching than understanding your subject, after all."
"Like what?"
Harry simply shrugged, "Like making sure that the creatures you're studying are safe for the students, or even how to command respect and discipline those who will not listen. I believe Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall have mastered that particular skill. Don't get me wrong, if I have a problem with a magical beast, I'd ask you about it and would trust your opinion on the matter, but if I'm completely honest, I wouldn't have hired you as a professor, at least not as you currently are."
Hagrid looked down, "Didn't think o' that, did I…"
"There's nothing wrong with that. People often underestimate the skills needed for teaching. At least now you know how you should grow, and what you should focus on learning if you want to one day get that position. I'm assuming you're studying for your OWLs?"
"Yeah. Need a NEWT in Charms an' Care o' Magical Creatures for bein' a magizoologist. I know me creatures well enough, but Charms? Never been my strong suit, tha'."
Harry simply shrugged, "I can help you if you want."
"Of course, I know that I need all the help I can get."
"Alright, show me what you got."
Happily, the half-giant waved his wand once more. The movements were smooth and correct, yet the spell was overpowered. By the time the charm travelled to the middle of the pumpkin, it had already started to grow the shell, and the sudden change in pressure caused it to implode. It didn't really make any sense. Charms were designed in a way that only a small quantity of magic used would work. Harry did know the arithmetic formula of that particular spell. It was hard coded since the control wasn't something that everyone had, and the results could be disastrous if this spell was overpowered. He quickly came to a conclusion, but he didn't know how Hagrid was going to take it.
He resolved to test that theory before saying anything about it, "Umm, I believe I know why this particular spell isn't going to work and it won't get any better with practice because you're not doing it wrong. Try to make the downward flick a bit slower. It won't be that intuitive since you've memorized wand movements over the years."
The half-giant seemed perplexed for a moment before trying again, only for the pumpkin to double in size, "Blimey! I did it, I really did. Was that all it was? I've been wrackin' my brains over it for ages. Thanks, Potter. D'you know what the trouble was, then?"
"Yes, but I think it's a sensitive matter."
"How so?" the groundskeeper asked without even trying.
Harry was tempted to just tell him, but he knew that hybrids, or Half-breeds as the wizarding world liked to call them, were disliked from both sides. Hagrid must have been exposed to a lot of insults regarding his ancestry, and the fact that his magical channels being larger than usual due to his giant blood would cause him issues with a few spells, wouldn't be welcome news. Charms needing controlled magic meant that the man would keep having trouble until he realizes the issue. They were strangers and Harry knowing about his heritage and being a Slytherin to boot, could get the man to overreact.
Choosing not to force the man to reveal any uncomfortable secret, he said, "Never mind, it's not that important. You know what, you can send me an owl if you need help with any more spells. I might have more modifications to help you with them."
"You're a nice boy, Harry Potter. A lot kinder than those rumours say about you…"
Harry snorted, "This is Hogwarts, people will always try to make a mountain out of an anthill. I learned to ignore them a long time ago. In the end, it's not the opinions of strangers that matter, but that of the people close to you, your friends, your family…"
The half-giant sniffed once more and Harry didn't want him to start crying, "Now, I believe I must be going. I woke up early today to say hello to a dear friend of mine, one that I didn't have time to see in the last few months."
"Who's that?"
"A quite large dog. One with three heads. We used to meet during the clearing last year…"
The distraction must have worked since the man had forgotten his previous mood, "Fluffy? You've been visiting him last year? No wonder he's been down for months. He must have taken a liking to you."
Harry snorted, "I'd like to think so. You're the one who raised him right? How was he as a pup?"
The conversation quickly turned jovial as the half-giant started talking about magical creatures. The man really knew his stuff. In the end, Harry had to leave the man to actually go see Fluffy. He wasn't lying when he said that he wanted to go see his good friend. And with that, Harry entered the forbidden forest once more.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.