She walked towards the Unicorn with one more glance back to see the Slytherins saying something, but she obviously couldn't make out what.
"Oh, he hasn't been attacked, Potter, if that's what you're wondering," Malfoy said softly, "Just too ashamed to show his big, ugly face!"
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked sharply.
Malfoy then put his hand inside his robes pocket and pulled out a folded piece of a newspaper, most likely the Daily Prophet.
"There you go. Hate to break it to you, Potter."
He smirked as Harry snatched the page away from him, unfolded it, and began to read it with Ron, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Lucifer reading it over his shoulder.
It was an article topped with a moving 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 School 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 move 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.
An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific Creatures.
While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening."
"I was attacked by a Hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a Flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a Fourth-Year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."
"Lie," Lucifer said as he read that.
Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however.
A Daily Prophet reporter last month witnessed Creatures called "Blast-Ended Skrewts" that had to be held in place by the Descendant of Merlin himself so that Hagrid could box them back up.
Clearly these creatures are too dangerous if He had to hold them in place.
What's more is that he didn't have his wand out, nor did the Daily Prophet reporter hear him utter an incantation.
It's known that Lucifer Morningstar, a Fourth-Year at Hogwarts who has been spending a lot of time with Beauxbatons girl, Eve Delacour, is incredibly powerful, and incredibly dangerous, but he deserves his own article altogether.
"Oh, I can't wait to see what Skeeter has to say about me, because when she does, I'm going to tear her apart, limb from fucking limb," Lucifer said, smiling sadistically.
To tack onto the dangers of Rubeus Hagrid, the Daily Prophet has 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.
While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not one of them.
It is possible she escaped to one of the Giant Communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges.
If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.
In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought about 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 had a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-Giants.
After reading it, Harry tore the newspaper page apart, but Lucifer quickly used Reparo to fix it, because he wanted it intact.
"How did she find out?" Ron whispered to Harry, and Lucifer overheard him.
"What do you mean 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Malfoy. "And what's this rubbish about him-" Harry pointed at Crabbe, "-getting a bad bite off a Flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth."
Crabbe was snickering to himself, obviously pleased with his actions.
"You stop your fucking laughing right now, or I'll rip your throat out," Lucifer said in a casual tone, which clearly shook Crabbe to his core.
"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," Malfoy said, his eyes glinting. "Half-Giant... and there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young... None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all... They'll be worried he'll eat their kids..."
"You-"
"Are you paying attention over there?"
Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice carried over to the boys; the girls were all clustered around the unicorn by now, stroking it.
Hermione looked back over at the boys when Grubbly-Plank spoke, and her smile fell as she saw that Malfoy, even from this distance, was smiling evilly, and Harry was visibly frustrated, as they all turned back to the Unicorn as Professor Grubbly-Plank began yelling it's Magical Properties.
"I hope she stays, that woman!" Parvati said when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch, "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like... proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters..."
"Everything Hagrid has covered falls under the Classification of Magical Creature, regardless of what your opinion is, Patil," Lucifer said dismissively, "Besides those fucking Skrewts, Hagrid's done a fine job as teacher for Care of Magical Creatures."
No one disputed what Lucifer said, and Hermione saw an appreciative look on Harry's face.
Of course, it might also be a slight fear of arguing against him.
The moment they got into the Great Hall and sat down, Harry angrily pulled out the newspaper article and seemed glad Lucifer fixed it after he shredded it.
"Look at this," Harry snarled as he pushed it towards Hermione.
Her mouth fell open, indicating she couldn't believe what she was reading, "How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"
"No," Harry growled, "Hagrid never even told us, did he? I reckon she was mad that she had nothing scandalous to write about, and decided to take it out on Hagrid."
"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the Ball?" Hermione suggested quietly.
"We'd have seen her in the garden," Ron said in a scathing tone, but it clearly wasn't directed to Hermione, "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her..."
"In all fairness, Sirius Black wasn't supposed to be on the Grounds either," Lucifer said, "and he got into the Castle twice that we know of that-" he stopped as his eyes widened.
Hermione noticed this and caught onto the fact he had a sudden realization.
"And?" Harry asked, and Hermione could tell that his anger was blinding him to be able to pick up on it.
"No, it's nothing, I just remembered something... um... unpleasant..." Lucifer quietly ate his food.
"Regardless, we've got to go and see him," Harry said, conviction in his voice, "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back... you do want him back?" He asked Hermione.
"Oh of course I do, Harry. But," she always had to have something extra to say, "you are lying to yourself if you say that that lesson wasn't better than most of Hagrid's with how informative that Grubbly-Plank woman was. I know it wasn't fair to be forced to stay back away from the Unicorn, but even with her yelling the information, it was a good lesson."
Hermione clearly wasn't moving from her stance, no matter what look Harry gave her.
So after dinner that evening, all four of them left the castle once again and went through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin.
They knocked and Fang's booming bark answered back, "Hagrid, it's us!" He yelled, pounding on the door, "Open up!"
But Hagrid didn't answer.
They could hear Fang scratching at the door and whining, but it never opened.
They hammered on it for ten minutes, and Ron even went up to the windows and banged on one of them, but there was still no response.
After a moment longer, they finally gave up and went back to the Castle.
"What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione asked on the trek back, "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"
But it seemed that Hagrid did care.
They didn't see a sign of him all week.
He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, they didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes.
xxxxxx
Author's Note
If you want to Read 45+ Advanced Chapters ahead of everyone. Support this novel, join me on Patreon!
Link - patreon.com/SmutDxddy
We have a stockpile upto Chapter 920 for you to binge-read! 😋
Will Hermione say "Yes" to marry him, Graduation bonus of 8th year, if you'd like to Read now! 😏
Only 4 Days left!~🎉