Chapter 203: 203
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"So you couldn't use magic to get there?" asked Ron, looking thunderstruck. "You had to act like Muggles all the way?"
"Well, not exactly all the way," said Hagrid cagily. "We jus' had ter be careful, 'cause Olympe an' me, we stick out a bit —"
Ron made a stifled noise somewhere between a snort and a sniff and Chris elbowed him. He hastily took a gulp of tea.
"— so we're not hard ter follow. We was pretendin' we was goin' on holiday together, so we got inter France an' we made like we was headin' fer where Olympe's school is, 'cause we knew we was bein' tailed by someone from the Ministry. We had to go slow, 'cause I'm not really s'posed ter use magic an' we knew the Ministry'd be lookin' fer a reason ter run us in. But we managed ter give the berk tailin' us the slip round abou' Dee-John. We chanced a bit o' magic after that, and it wasn' a bad journey. Ran inter a couple o' mad trolls on the Polish border, an' I had a sligh' disagreement with a vampire in a pub in Minsk, but apart from tha', couldn't'a bin smoother."
Something struck in Chris's head. She felt like she supposed to know something but couldn't remember what was it. Something about the vampires.
"An' then we reached the place, an' we started trekkin' up through the mountains, lookin' fer signs of 'em . . ." Hagrid continued so Chris pushed the thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on it. "We had ter lay off the magic once we got near 'em. Partly 'cause they don' like wizards an' we didn' want ter put their backs up too soon, and partly 'cause Dumbledore had warned us You-Know-Who was bound ter be after the giants an' all. Said it was odds on he'd sent a messenger off ter them already. Told us ter be very careful of drawin' attention ter ourselves as we got nearer in case there was Death Eaters around."
Hagrid paused for a long draught of tea.
"And?" said Chris and Harry urgently.
"Found 'em," said Hagrid baldly. "Went over a ridge one nigh' an' there they was, spread ou' underneath us. Little fires burnin' below an' huge shadows . . . It was like watchin' bits o' the mountain movin'."
"How big are they?" asked Colin in a hushed voice.
"'Bout twenty feet," said Hagrid casually. "Some o' the bigger ones mighta bin twenty-five."
"And how many were there?" asked Ginny.
"I reckon abou' seventy or eighty," said Hagrid.
"Is that all?" said Hermione.
"Yep," said Hagrid sadly, "eighty left, an' there was loads once, musta bin a hundred diff'rent tribes from all over the world. But they've bin dyin' out fer ages. Wizards killed a few, o' course, but mostly they killed each other, an' now they're dyin' out faster than ever. They're not made ter live bunched up together like tha'. Dumbledore says it's our fault, it was the wizards who forced 'em to go an' made 'em live a good long way from us an' they had no choice but ter stick together fer their own protection."
"So," said Harry, "you saw them and then what?"
"Well, we waited till morning, didn' want ter go sneakin' up on 'em in the dark, fer our own safety," said Hagrid. "'Bout three in the mornin' they fell asleep jus' where they was sittin'. We didn' dare sleep. Fer one thing, we wanted ter make sure none of 'em woke up an' came up where we were, an' fer another, the snorin' was unbelievable. Caused an avalanche near mornin'. Anyway, once it was light we wen' down ter see 'em."
"Just like that?" said Colin, looking awestruck. "You just walked right into a giant camp?"
"Well, Dumbledore'd told us how ter do it," said Hagrid. "Give the Gurg gifts, show some respect, yeh know."
"Give the what gifts?" asked Chris.
"Oh, the Gurg — means the chief."
"How could you tell which one was the Gurg?" asked Ron.
Hagrid grunted in amusement.
"No problem," he said. "He was the biggest, the ugliest, an' the laziest. Sittin' there waitin' ter be brought food by the others. Dead goats an' such like. Name o' Karkus. I'd put him at twenty-two, twenty-three feet, an' the weight of a couple o' bull elephants. Skin like rhino hide an' all."
Chris, Ginny and Hermione snorted.
"And you just walked up to him?" said Harry.
"Well . . . down ter him, where he was lyin' in the valley. They was in this dip between four pretty high mountains, see, beside a mountain lake, an' Karkus was lyin' by the lake roarin' at the others ter feed him an' his wife. Olympe an' I went down the mountainside —"
"But didn't they try and kill you when they saw you?" asked Ginny incredulously.
"It was def'nitely on some of their minds," said Hagrid, shrugging, "but we did what Dumbledore told us ter do, which was ter hold our gift up high an' keep our eyes on the Gurg an' ignore the others. So tha's what we did. An' the rest of 'em went quiet an' watched us pass an' we got right up ter Karkus's feet an' we bowed an' put our present down in front o' him."
"What do you give a giant?" Colin asked.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com www.webnovel.com for visiting.
"We took him magic. Giants like magic, jus' don't like us usin' it against 'em. Anyway, that firs' day we gave him a branch o' Gubraithian fire."
Hermione, Ginny and Colin said "wow" softly, but Harry and Ron both frowned in puzzlement.
"A branch of — ?" Harry questioned.
"Everlasting fire," replied Chris with a blank face.
"Yeah, Dumbledore'd bewitched this branch to burn evermore, which isn' somethin' any wizard could do, an' so I lies it down in the snow by Karkus's feet and says, 'A gift to the Gurg of the giants from Albus Dumbledore, who sends his respectful greetings.'" Hagrid said.
"And what did Karkus say?" asked Ginny eagerly.
"Nothin'," said Hagrid. "Didn' speak English."
"You're kidding!" Harry exclaimed.
"Didn' matter," said Hagrid imperturbably, "Dumbledore had warned us tha' migh' happen. Karkus knew enough to yell fer a couple o' giants who knew our lingo an' they translated fer us."
"And did he like the present?" asked Ron.
"Oh yeah, it went down a storm once they understood what it was," said Hagrid, turning his dragon steak over to press the cooler side to his swollen eye. "Very pleased. So then I said, 'Albus Dumbledore asks the Gurg to speak with his messenger when he returns tomorrow with another gift.'"
______________________________
To be continued. . .
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"So you couldn't use magic to get there?" asked Ron, looking thunderstruck. "You had to act like Muggles all the way?"
"Well, not exactly all the way," said Hagrid cagily. "We jus' had ter be careful, 'cause Olympe an' me, we stick out a bit —"
Ron made a stifled noise somewhere between a snort and a sniff and Chris elbowed him. He hastily took a gulp of tea.
"— so we're not hard ter follow. We was pretendin' we was goin' on holiday together, so we got inter France an' we made like we was headin' fer where Olympe's school is, 'cause we knew we was bein' tailed by someone from the Ministry. We had to go slow, 'cause I'm not really s'posed ter use magic an' we knew the Ministry'd be lookin' fer a reason ter run us in. But we managed ter give the berk tailin' us the slip round abou' Dee-John. We chanced a bit o' magic after that, and it wasn' a bad journey. Ran inter a couple o' mad trolls on the Polish border, an' I had a sligh' disagreement with a vampire in a pub in Minsk, but apart from tha', couldn't'a bin smoother."
Something struck in Chris's head. She felt like she supposed to know something but couldn't remember what was it. Something about the vampires.
"An' then we reached the place, an' we started trekkin' up through the mountains, lookin' fer signs of 'em . . ." Hagrid continued so Chris pushed the thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on it. "We had ter lay off the magic once we got near 'em. Partly 'cause they don' like wizards an' we didn' want ter put their backs up too soon, and partly 'cause Dumbledore had warned us You-Know-Who was bound ter be after the giants an' all. Said it was odds on he'd sent a messenger off ter them already. Told us ter be very careful of drawin' attention ter ourselves as we got nearer in case there was Death Eaters around."
Hagrid paused for a long draught of tea.
"And?" said Chris and Harry urgently.
"Found 'em," said Hagrid baldly. "Went over a ridge one nigh' an' there they was, spread ou' underneath us. Little fires burnin' below an' huge shadows . . . It was like watchin' bits o' the mountain movin'."
"How big are they?" asked Colin in a hushed voice.
"'Bout twenty feet," said Hagrid casually. "Some o' the bigger ones mighta bin twenty-five."
"And how many were there?" asked Ginny.
"I reckon abou' seventy or eighty," said Hagrid.
"Is that all?" said Hermione.
"Yep," said Hagrid sadly, "eighty left, an' there was loads once, musta bin a hundred diff'rent tribes from all over the world. But they've bin dyin' out fer ages. Wizards killed a few, o' course, but mostly they killed each other, an' now they're dyin' out faster than ever. They're not made ter live bunched up together like tha'. Dumbledore says it's our fault, it was the wizards who forced 'em to go an' made 'em live a good long way from us an' they had no choice but ter stick together fer their own protection."
"So," said Harry, "you saw them and then what?"
"Well, we waited till morning, didn' want ter go sneakin' up on 'em in the dark, fer our own safety," said Hagrid. "'Bout three in the mornin' they fell asleep jus' where they was sittin'. We didn' dare sleep. Fer one thing, we wanted ter make sure none of 'em woke up an' came up where we were, an' fer another, the snorin' was unbelievable. Caused an avalanche near mornin'. Anyway, once it was light we wen' down ter see 'em."
"Just like that?" said Colin, looking awestruck. "You just walked right into a giant camp?"
"Well, Dumbledore'd told us how ter do it," said Hagrid. "Give the Gurg gifts, show some respect, yeh know."
"Give the what gifts?" asked Chris.
"Oh, the Gurg — means the chief."
"How could you tell which one was the Gurg?" asked Ron.
Hagrid grunted in amusement.
"No problem," he said. "He was the biggest, the ugliest, an' the laziest. Sittin' there waitin' ter be brought food by the others. Dead goats an' such like. Name o' Karkus. I'd put him at twenty-two, twenty-three feet, an' the weight of a couple o' bull elephants. Skin like rhino hide an' all."
Chris, Ginny and Hermione snorted.
"And you just walked up to him?" said Harry.
"Well . . . down ter him, where he was lyin' in the valley. They was in this dip between four pretty high mountains, see, beside a mountain lake, an' Karkus was lyin' by the lake roarin' at the others ter feed him an' his wife. Olympe an' I went down the mountainside —"
"But didn't they try and kill you when they saw you?" asked Ginny incredulously.
"It was def'nitely on some of their minds," said Hagrid, shrugging, "but we did what Dumbledore told us ter do, which was ter hold our gift up high an' keep our eyes on the Gurg an' ignore the others. So tha's what we did. An' the rest of 'em went quiet an' watched us pass an' we got right up ter Karkus's feet an' we bowed an' put our present down in front o' him."
"What do you give a giant?" Colin asked.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com www.webnovel.com for visiting.
"We took him magic. Giants like magic, jus' don't like us usin' it against 'em. Anyway, that firs' day we gave him a branch o' Gubraithian fire."
Hermione, Ginny and Colin said "wow" softly, but Harry and Ron both frowned in puzzlement.
"A branch of — ?" Harry questioned.
"Everlasting fire," replied Chris with a blank face.
"Yeah, Dumbledore'd bewitched this branch to burn evermore, which isn' somethin' any wizard could do, an' so I lies it down in the snow by Karkus's feet and says, 'A gift to the Gurg of the giants from Albus Dumbledore, who sends his respectful greetings.'" Hagrid said.
"And what did Karkus say?" asked Ginny eagerly.
"Nothin'," said Hagrid. "Didn' speak English."
"You're kidding!" Harry exclaimed.
"Didn' matter," said Hagrid imperturbably, "Dumbledore had warned us tha' migh' happen. Karkus knew enough to yell fer a couple o' giants who knew our lingo an' they translated fer us."
"And did he like the present?" asked Ron.
"Oh yeah, it went down a storm once they understood what it was," said Hagrid, turning his dragon steak over to press the cooler side to his swollen eye. "Very pleased. So then I said, 'Albus Dumbledore asks the Gurg to speak with his messenger when he returns tomorrow with another gift.'"
______________________________
To be continued. . .
"So you couldn't use magic to get there?" asked Ron, looking thunderstruck. "You had to act like Muggles all the way?""Well, not exactly all the way," said Hagrid cagily. "We jus' had ter be careful, 'cause Olympe an' me, we stick out a bit "Ron made a stifled noise somewhere between a snort and a sniff and Chris elbowed him. He hastily took a gulp of tea." so we're not hard ter follow. We was pretendin' we was goin' on holiday together, so we got inter France an' we made like we was headin' fer where Olympe's school is, 'cause we knew we was bein' tailed by someone from the Ministry. We had to go slow, 'cause I'm not really s'posed ter use magic an' we knew the Ministry'd be lookin' fer a reason ter run us in. But we managed ter give the berk tailin' us the slip round abou' Dee-John. We chanced a bit o' magic after that, and it wasn' a bad journey. Ran inter a couple o' mad trolls on the Polish border, an' I had a sligh' disagreement with a vampire in a pub in Minsk, but apart from tha', couldn't'a bin smoother."Something struck in Chris's head. She felt like she supposed to know something but couldn't remember what was it. Something about the vampires."An' then we reached the place, an' we started trekkin' up through the mountains, lookin' fer signs of 'em . . ." Hagrid continued so Chris pushed the thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on it. "We had ter lay off the magic once we got near 'em. Partly 'cause they don' like wizards an' we didn' want ter put their backs up too soon, and partly 'cause Dumbledore had warned us You-Know-Who was bound ter be after the giants an' all. Said it was odds on he'd sent a messenger off ter them already. Told us ter be very careful of drawin' attention ter ourselves as we got nearer in case there was Death Eaters around."Hagrid paused for a long draught of tea."And?" said Chris and Harry urgently."Found 'em," said Hagrid baldly. "Went over a ridge one nigh' an' there they was, spread ou' underneath us. Little fires burnin' below an' huge shadows . . . It was like watchin' bits o' the mountain movin'.""How big are they?" asked Colin in a hushed voice."'Bout twenty feet," said Hagrid casually. "Some o' the bigger ones mighta bin twenty-five.""And how many were there?" asked Ginny."I reckon abou' seventy or eighty," said Hagrid."Is that all?" said Hermione."Yep," said Hagrid sadly, "eighty left, an' there was loads once, musta bin a hundred diff'rent tribes from all over the world. But they've bin dyin' out fer ages. Wizards killed a few, o' course, but mostly they killed each other, an' now they're dyin' out faster than ever. They're not made ter live bunched up together like tha'. Dumbledore says it's our fault, it was the wizards who forced 'em to go an' made 'em live a good long way from us an' they had no choice but ter stick together fer their own protection.""So," said Harry, "you saw them and then what?""Well, we waited till morning, didn' want ter go sneakin' up on 'em in the dark, fer our own safety," said Hagrid. "'Bout three in the mornin' they fell asleep jus' where they was sittin'. We didn' dare sleep. Fer one thing, we wanted ter make sure none of 'em woke up an' came up where we were, an' fer another, the snorin' was unbelievable. Caused an avalanche near mornin'. Anyway, once it was light we wen' down ter see 'em.""Just like that?" said Colin, looking awestruck. "You just walked right into a giant camp?""Well, Dumbledore'd told us how ter do it," said Hagrid. "Give the Gurg gifts, show some respect, yeh know.""Give the what gifts?" asked Chris."Oh, the Gurg means the chief.""How could you tell which one was the Gurg?" asked Ron.Hagrid grunted in amusement."No problem," he said. "He was the biggest, the ugliest, an' the laziest. Sittin' there waitin' ter be brought food by the others. Dead goats an' such like. Name o' Karkus. I'd put him at twenty-two, twenty-three feet, an' the weight of a couple o' bull elephants. Skin like rhino hide an' all."Chris, Ginny and Hermione snorted."And you just walked up to him?" said Harry."Well . . . down ter him, where he was lyin' in the valley. They was in this dip between four pretty high mountains, see, beside a mountain lake, an' Karkus was lyin' by the lake roarin' at the others ter feed him an' his wife. Olympe an' I went down the mountainside ""But didn't they try and kill you when they saw you?" asked Ginny incredulously."It was def'nitely on some of their minds," said Hagrid, shrugging, "but we did what Dumbledore told us ter do, which was ter hold our gift up high an' keep our eyes on the Gurg an' ignore the others. So tha's what we did. An' the rest of 'em went quiet an' watched us pass an' we got right up ter Karkus's feet an' we bowed an' put our present down in front o' him.""What do you give a giant?" Colin asked.Find authorized novels in Webnovelfaster updates, better experiencePlease click www.novelhall.com www.webnovel.com for visiting. "We took him magic. Giants like magic, jus' don't like us usin' it against 'em. Anyway, that firs' day we gave him a branch o' Gubraithian fire."Hermione, Ginny and Colin said "wow" softly, but Harry and Ron both frowned in puzzlement."A branch of ?" Harry questioned."Everlasting fire," replied Chris with a blank face."Yeah, Dumbledore'd bewitched this branch to burn evermore, which isn' somethin' any wizard could do, an' so I lies it down in the snow by Karkus's feet and says, 'A gift to the Gurg of the giants from Albus Dumbledore, who sends his respectful greetings.'" Hagrid said."And what did Karkus say?" asked Ginny eagerly."Nothin'," said Hagrid. "Didn' speak English.""You're kidding!" Harry exclaimed."Didn' matter," said Hagrid imperturbably, "Dumbledore had warned us tha' migh' happen. Karkus knew enough to yell fer a couple o' giants who knew our lingo an' they translated fer us.""And did he like the present?" asked Ron."Oh yeah, it went down a storm once they understood what it was," said Hagrid, turning his dragon steak over to press the cooler side to his swollen eye. "Very pleased. So then I said, 'Albus Dumbledore asks the Gurg to speak with his messenger when he returns tomorrow with another gift.'"______________________________To be continued. . .
