Here is chapter 7! Enjoy!
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Chapter 7: The Giant Assistant

Lunched passed without avail. Albus and Rose had some free time before Transfiguration. Albus looked for Clementine and Viktorya’s dots on the Marauders Map. They were in a bathroom on the second floor. Albus continued to look at the map, and discovered James and Torr in the common room. He beckoned Rose to follow. They finally made there way up the stairs.

“Copernicus,” Albus shouted at the Fat Lady, who opened without hesitation. They hurried inside the room.

“Torr!” shouted Albus.

“Whoa, man, you’re ruining our game here!” Torr said, angrily. He and James were in a game of wizard’s chess. “D-5. Ah, no… no… no. That won’t do!” He looked at Albus, “Go on, you’ve already ruined my concentration!”

“This is more important than a chess game!” Albus retorted. “Look, there have been some attacks near Tinsworth. Some people have been hurt. Clementine and Viktorya are in the girls bathroom on the second floor.”

“Oh no, Myrtle’s bathroom. Okay, thanks for telling me.” And without a second glance at his best friend, he ran out of the common room.

Albus turned and looked at Rose. She looked very upset.

“Its okay,” he said, trying to comfort her. “Look, we have twenty minutes before Transfiguration. We could go wait outside of the classroom for now, and hope Clementine will show up.”

“Okay,” said Rose, weakly.

“Does anyone mind telling me what the heck is going on,” asked James, annoyed. But Albus and Rose rushed out of the common room, leaving James by himself.

They reached the Transfiguration room. As they had guessed, it was deserted outside. They set their book bags down, and sat next to them.

“Everything is going to be okay,” said Albus. “The Daily Prophet gets things wrong sometimes.”

“You’re right,” agreed Rose. “I mean they said it was unconfirmed. But, still, I can’t help but feel sad for those that have been attacked. I mean, they were positive that there has been an attack.”

“Our dad’s will find out who did it and lock them up. They haven’t failed yet.”

A couple of Hufflepuff students arrived. They mimicked Albus and Rose, and sat down beside their book bags. Albus pulled out the Marauder’s Map. Viktorya had gone down to the dungeons for Potions. Albus was looking for Clementine’s dot. He saw James and Torr in Arithmancy.

“Ah ha,” said Albus, finally spotting Clementine. “She should be here any moment.”

Rose looked around as she heard footsteps. Clementine rounded the corner. Her hair turned into the coppery red that is associated with disturbance.

“Hey, Clem. How are you doing?” asked Rose.

Clementine pulled both Albus and Rose into a tight hug.

“I am so sorry for the way I was before,” started Clementine, but Rose cut in.

“You don’t have to explain. We understand. And Clem, if there is anything we can ever do for you, you know we are here. Don’t ever hesitate to ask for help.”

Albus nodded, wiping away a tear from Clementine’s cheek.

“Thanks you guys, it means a lot.”

“We should go in, the rest of the class has already gone in,” finished Albus, and followed them into the classroom.

They took a seat near the back. They wanted to pay attention but they also didn’t want to be disturbed. The professor came out of a room that was concealed behind a tapestry. She was tall, and pale. She had curly brown hair that fell to her shoulders. Her brown eyes seemed to pop, due to her lemon colored robes. She was very pretty.

“Hello all. I am Professor Diggory, please hurry and take a seat so we may get started.”

“Diggory,” said Clementine, and she looked at Albus who seemed stunned.

“The art of transfiguration is a difficult one. Do not expect to be successful on your first attempt, nor on your many attempts after that. Very few possess such superior skill when beginning.”

Clementine frowned. Albus rolled his eyes.

“However, I would like you to note that Transfiguration is a very important branch of magic. Please, take out your school items in order to take notes. We shall not attempt to try to transfigure anything until next week.”

A whole hour and a half later, the students emerged from the classroom.

“Well, that was an interesting lesson,” said Rose.

“And boring,” said Albus, wiping the drool from his chin, as he had temporarily fallen asleep.

“Well, should we drop off our stuff, and go for some dinner?” asked Rose.

Albus and Clementine nodded. They hurried up to the common room, and put their stuff away. They went back down to the Great Hall.

“I brought some ink and parchment. I thought that if anyone knew anything about the attacks, it would be our father's,” said Rose.

“Good idea,” said Albus. Clementine looked reserved. She downed a whole goblet of pumpkin juice in a gulp. Albus grasped her hand from across the table to console her. “I’m sure everything will be okay.”

Clementine nodded. She didn’t touch anything except for the pumpkin juice. Rose finished writing the same note on two different pieces of parchment and rolled them up. They finished their meals, and rushed up to the Owlery and attached the parchments to two tawny owls. The three of them watched the owls fly away into the darkening sky before they headed back to the common room.

“Well, today was one very long day,” said Albus, as they walked through the portrait hole.

“It sure has been,” replied Clementine sleepily. She seemed reassured that everything was okay at home. “I think I’m going to head to sleep. I could use the rest,” she said, her hair still coppery red.

“I’ll come too,” said Rose.

They said good night and headed up to the empty dormitory. It was kind of early, but they were tired nonetheless. They slipped on their pajamas and climbed into their beds.

“Good night.” And the night became silent.

Morning came about too quickly for Clementine’s liking. She woke up hesitantly, pulled on some school robes then prodded Rose awake.

“I’ll go and wait for you in the common room,” Clementine told Rose. Rose nodded.

Clementine skipped down the stairs, but when she reached the bottom, an obstruction in the shape of James was there, who she ran into and she fell over. She hadn’t realized how strong he was.

“I am so sorry,” said James in a tone of voice Clementine has never heard him speak. It was neither melancholy, nor mischievous. It was consoling, even sweet. He reached out a soft hand to help her up.

“Its okay,” she said, grasping his hand and she got to her feet. “Thanks.”

“Hey, I heard about what happened yesterday, and I just wanted you to know that everything will be okay. And, you know, if it isn’t… Well, you can always come talk to me.” He pulled her into a very tight yet warm hug. They broke apart, but James still had both of her hands in his.

“Thanks, James, that means a lot,” said Clementine, pulling her hands away from his as the girls dormitory door was opened then closed.

“Wait, one more thing,” he said, looking slightly abashed, as if he shouldn’t say anything more.

“Yes,” she replied, curious.

“Well, Quidditch try-outs are next week, and… I would like you to come and cheer me on,” he said with a little smile, “That is, if you want too.” He looked at her hopefully.

“I might,” she said. She smiled then winked.

James was slightly blushing, Clementine could see, but he walked away and sat on the couch in front of the fireplace, no doubt waiting for Torr. Rose came down, almost the same time as Albus.

“So, gals, ready to go to breakfast,” said Albus. As they were exiting the common room, James glanced at them. Clementine smiled at him before leaving the room.

* * *

The week flew by. They had finished all of their classes already; their least favorite (History of Magic) had been the longest by far even though they had it once this week. No new word had come about the attacks. As disgruntled by that as they were, they were fortunate to have Friday afternoon off, where they joined Hagrid in his hut for tea.

“Ah, I was wonderin’ when yeh might be showin’ up,” he said, gripping them all in one big bone crushing hug. He set out a big platter of rock cakes (Albus warned the others about them, as his father did so for him), and four mugs for tea, which was currently brewing in a kettle over a large fire.

Hagrid’s bloodhound, Fang, was very old, and was lurking in a warm corner nearby, whimpering for attention. Viktorya, who had managed to get away from Gordon for a little bit, went over and petted him, his drool getting all over her robes.

“He’s lovely,” she said with a kind smile, while swishing her wand to clean where he had drooled.

“He’s gettin’ old he is. I don’t know what I’m gonna do without ‘im when he passes,” said Hagrid, wiping his eyes, and blowing his nose in the tablecloth-sized handkerchief.

“Its okay Hagrid, he’ll be fine,” said Albus, patting Hagrid’s elbow because he could reach no further.

Hagrid blew his nose again. He reached for the kettle, and poured the hot tea into their mugs. They told Hagrid about their week, intentionally leaving out the part about the attacks. Hagrid told them about his classes. Although he still had the fascination with creatures much too dangerous to handle, he had definitely toned it down in his old age.

“Been teaching the third years about bowtruckles. I know it ain’t much, but I can’t be bringin’ in interesting creatures any more. I can’t handle them like I used too,” he said, sadly.

Suddenly, the cabin shook, as if an earthquake had happened.

“HAGGER!” something loud bellowed.

“Oh, right, tha’ would be me half-brother, Grawp. I trained him up as me assistant. He’s been dead helpful. Would yeh like teh meet him?” Hagrid asked them.

“Um, sure,” Clementine had said before catching Albus’s darting eyes, his hands were firmly gripping the edge of the table as if the shaking would knock him over.

“Great, lets go outside, he shouldn’t be far,” he said buoyantly, the cabin still shaking.

They followed Hagrid, albeit apprehensively. Outside, they saw Hagrid moving toward the edge of the forest.

“HAGGER!” they heard again. All of a sudden, a giant, much larger than Hagrid, made his way through the trees. He was dressed in a shirt stretched tightly across his chest, and pants that look as if they were quilted. He was holding a large slab of meat that appeared to be rotted.

“Me done, Hagger,” said the giant,

“Very good, Grawpy. Did yeh check on the Centaurs too,” asked Hagrid, as if speaking to a child.

“Me did,” he replied. “Me do more?”

“That’s good fer today, Grawpy, yeh did a wonderful job. Grawp, I would like yeh ter meet me friends. This is Albus, Rose, Clementine, and Viktorya.”

“Harlo," the giant said. They just waved; they were so awe-struck. “Me go home, Hagger?”

“Yes, yes, yeh can go. Thanks again, Grawpy,” Hagrid said, happily. The giant handed Hagrid the large slab of meat then stomped off heading toward the mountains.

“Hagrid,” asked Albus, but Rose stepped on his foot to stop him saying anymore.

“Do yeh like him?” Hagrid asked. “I trained him a while back. I thought he could help me take care of the creatures in the forest. The Centaurs have been doing nicely, but they sometimes need more food. So I send Grawp in there to help them out.”

Their faces showed nothing but complete and utter disbelief. Disregarding the looks, Hagrid set back for his cabin. They followed. They decided against bringing Grawp up again. They finished their drinks then bade Hagrid a good day; they didn’t want to miss dinner.