Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [109]
As they got closer to the fire, Harry saw the outline of several giants getting clearer. They were all sleeping around the fire, and their horrible breath was almost overwhelming. Harry pulled his cloak over his nose, and Ron and Hermione did the same.
“Wha’ are you doin’ ‘ere!” boomed a voice from behind Harry. He turned around, and saw a giant standing before them with a huge club in her arm. But, this giant had a familiar face. It was Fridwulfa.
“It’s me, err- us!” stuttered Harry, still intimidated by the massive club.
Upon realizing who she was talking to, Fridwulfa dropped her club to the ground with a massive boom, and smiled.
“It’s ’Arry Potta’ and ’is ickle friends!” she belched. “Wha’ brings you here this time o’ nigh’?”
“Something was stolen,” said Harry calmly. “A blue box… we need it back.”
“Oh yea’,” said Fridwulfa, stroking her chin. “Some teach from th’ school came dow’ earlier this year an’ told us to keep ’n eye on it, an’ if anything’ happin’ t’ it, to come an’ tell ’er.”
“Yep,” squeaked Ron. “That’s it.”
“Well, earlier some guys come down an’ they took it away. I wasn’t here at th’ time, so I couldn’ stop ’em, an’ you can’t depend on them for anything’.” She nodded her head in the direction of the sleeping giants.
“Do you have any idea where they went?” asked Hermione.
“Well, I saw some tracks in th’ dirt, the box might’ve made ’em. I’m too busy t’ follow ’em though…. I hope th’ box wasn’t too ’mportant.”
“Well, err- uh….” stuttered Harry, should he tell her that his mom’s corpse was in the box?
“Not really,” said Ron. “Just a few things of… sentimental value.”
“Well then,” said Fridwulfa. “You best be on yer way, I got t’ keep gardin’ our place here, or else th’ otha’ crittas of th’ fores’ will take it over.”
“Thanks for your help,” said Harry as they walked away, toward the sleeping giants. They went around the massive beings, and Harry immediately saw the tracks in the ground of where the box was dragged. He pointed it out to Ron and Hermione, and they all started to follow the tracks in the ground.
“Lumos,” they all said at the same time. Three beams of light suddenly appeared on the ground, and they continued following the tracks. Every now and then, they would have to make a slight direction adjustment, the box looked as though it had been dragged by someone who was either insane, or didn’t have control over the box.
“Strange,” said Harry. “There’s no footprints anywhere.”
“Maybe they walked in front of it,” suggested Ron. “Then the box’s tracks would’ve covered them.”
“I don’t know, there still should be some sign of them,” said Harry quietly.
“Harry!” said Hermione excitedly. “Look over there!” She pointed her beam of light in front of the three of them, and Harry saw what she had seen, it was the blue box. It was glowing a little, giving off some heat, and they could see the glow shining through the trees.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione slowly crept towards the box. They walked in an awkward direction towards it, trying to avoid having an attention drawn to themselves. As they got closer, they saw that the box was in the middle of a small clearing in the forest, and Harry’s fear of seeing what was inside the box increased. Just before they were about to enter the clearing, Harry stopped.
“What is it Harry?” asked Hermione.
“I- I don’t know if I can see what’s inside that box,” he said. “I mean, I’ve been to funerals before, and it’s hard enough to look at someone you loved, their body lying in a casket. I… don’t know if I can bear seeing her… skeleton.” Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
“Well, Harry… if you don’t want to come in, we’ll understand,” said Ron in a very low and quiet voice.
“Yeah, you can stay here, we’ll bring it back,” said Hermione.
Harry shook his head.
“No, I have to do this,” he reminded himself out loud. “I can do this.” Ron and Hermione smiled at him, and Hermione put her hand on his shoulder as they walked into the clearing.