James was thinking hard. 'How high do you have to be?'
Hardcastle looked sideways at James. 'Higher than man-height's really all that matters. High enough to get a bird's-eye view of the ground, but slow enough to be able to study it. You've an idea? Spill it, son.'
'What about giants?' James said after a pause. He was worried it was a stupid idea. Mostly, he was afraid of losing the respect his dad had shown him by inviting him along on the search. 'There's Grawp, who's tall as some trees, and his new lady friend. Hagrid says she's even bigger than your regular giant.'
Hardcastle glanced at Harry, his expression unreadable. Harry looked considering. 'How fast do you think Hagrid can get them here?' he asked, addressing the question to the Headmistress.
'That's certainly a question worth asking,' she said, a little archly, 'seeing as I had no idea we now had two giants living among us. I'll go and request their services from Hagrid personally.' She turned to James. 'Go and fetch Mr. Lupin, and tell no one what you are up to. Both of you meet your father at Hagrid's cottage with cloak and wand within fifteen minutes. I'll need to return to the castle to see to our guests.'
'And James,' Harry said, smiling that crooked smile, 'now, you can run.'
James was out of breath by the time he reached the common room. He found Ted still in his Quidditch jersey, moping with several other players in a corner alcove.
'Ted, come here!' James called, catching his breath. 'We don't have much time.'
'That's no way to enter a room,' Sabrina said, turning to look at James over the back of the couch. 'One might get the rather inescapable impression that you were up to something.'
'I am. We are,' James said, leaning forward, his hands on his knees. 'But I can't tell you right now. Not allowed to. Afterwards. But they want you, Ted. We're supposed to be at Hagrid's cabin in five minutes. Wand and cloak.'
Ted jumped up, apparently happy to forget the first loss of the season and always ready to tag along for an adventure. 'Well, we all knew this day would come. Finally, my unique skills and insight are being recognized. We'll regale you with the story of our adventure, assuming we live to tell the tale. Lead on, James.'
Ted stuffed his wand into his pocket and slung his cloak over his shoulder. As both boys strode through the portrait hole, James still panting, Ted strutting and rock-jawed, Sabrina called after them, 'Bring more Butterbeers when you get back, oh mighty ones.'
On the way around the balcony, James was dismayed to see Zane wave at him from across the stairwell. He detoured to meet them at the landing.
'Hey, Ted, great game!'
Ted growled, annoyed to be reminded of it.
'Where you going?' Zane asked, trotting to keep up with James and Ted.
'Adventure and mortal peril, I'm thinking,' Ted replied. 'You want to come?'
'Yeah! What's the plan?'
'No!' James exclaimed. 'Sorry. I'm not supposed to tell anyone about it but Ted. My dad said--'
Zane's eyebrows shot up. 'Your dad? Cool! Serious Auror stuff! Come on, you can't run off to have Harry Potter-style adventures without your buddy Zane, can you?'
James stopped in the main hall, exasperated. 'All right! You can follow us out, but if Dad says you have to come back in and be quiet about it, you have to. All right?'
'Woohoo!' Zane called, running ahead of them down the steps into the courtyard. 'Come on, you guys. Adventure and really wild stuff awaits!'
Harry and Titus Hardcastle were standing outside Hagrid's cabin with their wands lit by the time the three boys arrived.
'Thanks for coming, Ted,' Harry said, his face stoic. 'And Zane, as well, who I hadn't exactly expected.'
'I asked him to come, Harry,' Ted said, effecting a grave expression. 'He's new, but he's sharp. I thought he might be of service, depending on what you're planning.' Ted studied Zane critically. Zane wiped the grin off his face and attempted to look serious, without much success. Harry studied them both.
'Mainly, we just need eyes. Since Zane has as many of those as the rest of us, I guess he's qualified. Let's just hope Minerva doesn't find out I took another first year into the forest or she'll bloody well figure out a way to give us all detention. James hasn't told you what we're doing here tonight?'
Ted shook his head. 'Nary a word. Just said it was top-secret, hush-hush stuff.'
Harry slid an eye toward James. 'The Headmistress told you not to say anything, my boy.'
'I didn't!' James protested, shooting a look at Ted. 'I just said I wasn't allowed to tell anyone what we were doing!'
'Best way to get people suspicious, James, is to tell them not to ask.' But Harry didn't seem angry. In fact, he seemed a little amused. 'No matter, though. We'll be done and back to the castle before your Gremlin friends mount any kind of reconnaissance. Right, Ted?'
'They're probably tucked into their beds even as we speak, Godfather,' Ted said primly. Harry rolled his eyes.
James became aware of a dull rumbling underfoot. Moments later, he heard the distant barking of Trife, Hagrid's bullmastiff, who had long since succeeded his beloved boarhound, Fang. Everyone present turned toward the woods as the rumbling underfoot became a rhythmic pounding. After a minute, huge shapes loomed in the darkness, lumbering between the trees, their footfalls shaking the ground. Trife bounded in and out of the giants' legs, apparently unfazed by the fact that he'd be squashed to putty if one of them accidentally stepped on him. He barked up at them excitedly, his normally substantial frame dwarfed by the plodding figures. Hagrid followed, occasionally calling at Trife to quiet down, but with no real conviction.
'Grawp was easy to bring along,' Hagrid called, stepping out of the forest. 'He always wants to help. Got himself a great big heart o' gold, he does. Gettin' better and better with his words, too. His lady friend, though…' He dropped his voice as he approached Harry, affecting a secretive pose that James thought was about as subtle as a banshee in a matchbox. 'She's not quite so used to being around folks as Grawp is. Didn't take too well to being woken up, either. Barely understands a word we say, but it seems best just to keep on talkin' to her as if she does. She'll come along all right, so long as we take it slow with her.'
James reminded himself that this was the same Hagrid who had raised Blast-Ended Skrewts for fun, and persisted in thinking that the primary characteristic of dragons was their cuteness. Any warning from Hagrid about a creature's temperament, therefore, was definitely worth hearing. Everyone turned to greet the giants as they emerged from the trees. Grawp came first, blinking and smiling in the wand-light. He waved a piano-sized hand at Harry.
'Hullo, Harry,' Grawp's voice was deep and slow. James had the impression that making words wasn't quite what it had been designed for. 'How Herm-ay-nown… Her-mime-nin…'
Harry tried to save Grawp the effort. 'Hermione is fine, Grawp. She would say hello if she had known I'd be seeing you.'
This seemed to be more than Grawp could quite wrap his mind around. 'Hullo, Herme
nimminie…' He continued working through Hermione's name as the she-giant emerged tentatively from the forest behind him. James craned his neck, feeling an involuntary thrill of fear course down his spine. The she-giant
