Monday 7th
October
Yesterday Jed and I went to visit Hagrid again. We didn’t
exactly tell Josie that we were going. I kind of feel a little bad, but going
without her seems a lot better than bringing her along and she getting upset
again. Hagrid gave Jed and me some tea again and we gathered around his table.
I actually got to try the tea and cakes this time – we left too early for my
tea to cool before. Blowing the edge of the cup, I took a sip. It wasn’t bad. A
little sweet, but I guess that if you have giant cutlery you are going to get a
lot more sugar in your tea.
“So,” Jed began as he
tapped his cake against his saucer. “Hagrid, can you tell us ‘bout what got
José so upset last time we came?”
“Well yer see Jeddy-yer,” Hagrid’s eyes
shot down to his cup, as he accidentally called Jed ‘Jeddy’ again. It was a
good save, mind you. “I ain’t so sure I know.”
“So yer don’t know what got her mad?”
asked Jed.
“Not exactly…” mumbled the giant.
“Then yeh do know somethin’,” said Jed,
dropping his rock cake. It thudded to the floor.
Fang pounced up from
his bed in the far corner of the room and crept towards the dessert. Sniffing
at the ground, he edged further towards us. Moving his snout a little from left
to right, Fang’s nose appeared to bump into the cake before he had even spotted
it. Drooping his tongue out of his jaws, he slobbered all over Jed’s cake. Jed
gave a groan before letting Fang eat it and taking another one from the plate
on the table.
Hagrid slouched down
in his chair and scratched a hand through his bushy hair. “Now, I ain’t sayin’
that I knows nuffin’or anyfink like that,” muttered Hagrid, dipping a cake in
his tea. Fang waddled towards me plonked himself down at my side. His head
flopped down in my lap and I started stroking his ear. Giving a yawn, Fang
fidgeted for a bit, before the lids of his eyes began to close. I smiled down
at him and continued listening in on the conversation at hand. “It’s j’st I
recognised that girl’s face some’ink terrible,” Hagrid confessed. “‘Cept I’ve
been rackin’ my brain ever since t’ figure out why.”
“So yeh don’t know,” Jed sighed.
“Can’t say I do,” the giant replied
with a shrug.
I must say, that was a
little disappointing. I thought that we had stumbled upon something really
interesting there. So, Josie looks like someone that Hagrid once knew. Does
this mean that Josie’s family are witches and wizards after all? But from
everything that she’s said so far, I know she doesn’t talk about her life
outside of Hogwarts, but she’s definitely dropped several hints that she’s
Muggle-born. Hagrid could easily be mistaking her for someone else – it’s not
unheard of. Don’t they say that everyone has a double out there somewhere?
Maybe Josie has one that’s from the wizarding world. Argh, but then the mystery
begins with: why did she get so upset? Oh, I don’t know.
“I do know one thing,”
Hagrid went on. “That face… that one I recognise… it’s gotta be from me time at
Hogwarts. Some’ink j’st keeps drawin’ me back there.” Jed and I looked at each
other. My eyes widened so much. “But there’s somethin’ that keeps obscurin’ me
from findin’ the right face… an’ I keep getting’ drawn back t’ those eyes.
Those unusual stone-grey eyes…”
It’s a shame that
Hagrid couldn’t give us anymore, because I’d have loved to have tried to have
pieced it all together. I guess it would be pretty impossible to try and got
back through every single student who went to Hogwarts during the time that
Hagrid did to try and find out who Josie looks most like. And I guess we’d have
to try and find someone who has stone-grey eyes too. For some reason I feel
like they ring a bell to me too, but I must just be thinking about it too much.
“Maybe we should ask
José ‘bout it?” Jed suggested as we stood up to leave.
“Aye wouldn’t be doin’ that if I were
you,” warned Hagrid. Jed and I both stared at each other wide-eyed, before
turning to face Hagrid.
“What d’you mean?” I asked. Hagrid
curled a hand to his mouth.
“Oww dear,” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t a
said nuffink. J’st pretend like yer never heard me.” Clattering the cups and
saucers that we had just been drinking from, Hagrid pushed himself off his seat
and began tidying away.
“So, you do know something…” said Jed
with a smile. He plonked himself back down on the chair that he had been
sitting in beside Hagrid, and I did the same.
“No, no, no,” muttered Hagrid. “The two
of yerh sould get goin’. Don’t yer ‘ave homework or someink to be getting’ on
wiv?” Jed and I shook our heads.
“We’re not leaving this spot Hagrid,” I
told him with a smile. “Until you tell us what you know.”
Turning his back to
us, the giant gave a deep sigh. Running his hands up his face, I watched him
rub his eyes, before dragging his hands back down. “Promise not to tell Josie I
told yer,” he said as he turned to face us. “I told her I wouldn’t tell no
one.”
“So, you have seen her?” said Jed with a frown.
“You’ve spoken to her?” I asked. When?
Where? Why? How come Josie hadn’t told us?
“Aye,” he sighed, pulling his chair
out. “I shouldn’t a told yer that either.”
“Well now you have to explain,” I told him. “You just have to.”
“Yous ‘ave to promise yer won’t say a
word,” Hagrid made us promise. “You aren’t even t’ think about what I’m about
t’ tell yer – d’ya hear?” Swallowing, I nodded. Jed did too.
Lowering his head,
Hagrid stared down at his hands. Fiddling with his thumbnails he told us, “Yer
friend came down t’ see me last Sund’y. She apologised fer getting’ upset,
which I told her was fine,” he quickly added looking up first at me, then at
Jed. “Then she went on ter tell me why.” Hagrid went back to looking at and
fiddling with his nails. “She showed me this piece a paper. It broke me ‘art it
did. Broke me bloomin’ heart.” The giant’s eyes began to sparkle. Sniffing he
rubbed his eye. “Poor kid,” he muttered. Rubbing his arm across his face,
Hagrid sniffed again. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he said, before continuing. “She
asked me if I knew anymore. I didn’t,” he stared at me when he said that. “She
went t’ cry again, but there was nuffin’ I could do but comfort her, like.” His
eyes began to water again. “She’s a good kid though, isn’t she?” he said with a
smile as he looked from me to Jed. Pinching his smile inwards, Jed nodded.
Feeling a lump inside
my throat, I nodded too. I didn’t and don’t know what to make of all this.
Nothing Hagrid said made any sense. Obviously, he can’t tell us being as he
swore secrecy to Josie, but why tell us bits without the full picture? And why
was he crying? My chest began to shake. Is there something the matter with
Josie? Can we help her? Why has she spoken to Hagrid about it and not us?
Aren’t we her friends? We could help her. Or at least we could try. Sliding my
hands up my sweatshirt, I hugged myself. Goosepimples prickled up my arms and
legs. It wasn’t from the cold. Hagrid had a fire raging in the corner. It was
from the fear. The fear of not knowing. Not knowing what Josie was going
through or being able to help her. I felt myself welling up the deeper I
thought about it.
“She’s one of the best
witches in our Year,” I heard Jed say.
“You bet she is,” beamed Hagrid. “I’ve
spoken t’ good ol’ Professor Flitwick. Asked ‘im t’ keep an eye on her. He told
me she’s a pretty powerful witch. I bet it runs in her blood.” Hagrid lost his
smile as he stared down at the table. “Tis a shame though. A real shame,” he
mumbled.
“Are you sure you can’t tell us, Hagrid?” I cried. Jed leant over towards me
and pressed a hand against my arm.
“Aye,” said Hagrid with a nod. “I’ve
told yer too much already. But yer can’t tell Josie. Don’t even breathe a
word.” I opened my mouth to object, but only a squeak came out. Hagrid
whispered, “Sshhh,” holding a finger up to his mouth. Lowering it he gave me a
weak smile, before saying, “She’ll tell yer when the time’s right.”
*
Something exciting happened to me today in Potions. Professor
Snape seemed to be in a bad mood. He was exceptionally grumpy this morning. He
didn’t even pay Blondie much attention, which is unusual, seeing how he does
seem to be Professor Snape’s favourite. With Snape giving us a new potion to
try, he stalked around the room with his arms folded behind his back, deducting
as many House Points from Gryffindor as he could. “Mister Finnigan, ten points
from Gryffindor for stirring your potion in the wrong direction,” muttered the
professor as he walked by. “Miss Brown, fifteen points from Gryffindor. You
don’t add the spleenwart until after
it’s simmered,” he groaned. A few more footsteps were taken before, “Mister
Weasley, wands are not cauldron
stirrers. Do you want to singe your life and education? Twenty-five points from
Gryffindor.”
That was pretty
intense – even for Snape. As Professor Snape crept around the classroom, I felt
my heart pound to the rhythm of his footsteps. Every time he stopped, I held my
breath. My spine tingled. Then when he paced again, my palms grew sweaty. A
lump found a way into my throat. With a shaking hand hovering over my potion, I
sprinkled in a dash of octopus powder.
“Excellent work, Miss
Frost.” I flinched. Professor Snape was stood at my right shoulder, staring
down at me. Looking back down at my potion I felt my cheeks burn, as I blushed.
“Fifteen points to Slytherin,” he announced. My first lot of House Points! And
they were from Professor Snape – I really must be doing something right.
Finally! I was the only Slytherin to get House Points that lesson. Correction:
I was the only student to get House Points that lesson. That has made me feel
all tingly. My stomach feels all pins and needles and I can’t stop smiling.
Professor Snape actually praised me. Okay, he is now my favourite teacher!
*
It’s not fair. After such an amazing Potions lesson this
morning, I’ve been instantly dragged back down to reality. In Charms, after
lunch, Professor Flitwick gave us some really confusing theory homework – and
we have to write three whole parchments. There’s all these new confusing terms
that he keeps using. Why isn’t magic just as simple as you say a word and wave
your wand and presto-changeo the spell happens? It’s so not fair. What’s even
more annoying is that I can’t even get Josie’s help with this one, as Professor
Flitwick specifically pointed out that he had been giving each of his
First-Year classes a different group of spells to start the year off with.
Therefore, different spells have different theory – I already figured part that
out by myself. I guess I’m going to be doing a lot more studying this week.
- Josie -
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