Harry smiled. "Oh, you met Fluffy."
"Fluffy!" Ron exclaimed in an outraged voice. "Fluffy! You mean that monster has a name?" From the shocked expressions on the Weasley twins' faces, Hermione surmised they had met the monster dog also.
Harry shrugged. "Well, that is what Hagrid told me. Fluffy is his."
"When did you talk to Hagrid?" Fred (or is it George?) asked.
"Um, since the first week we were here," Harry answered after some thought. "He gave me a note our first morning here inviting me down for tea. Apparently he really liked my mum and dad. He wanted to give me a birthday present. That's when I got Hedwig."
Hermione had wondered where the snowy owl had come from. Before she could comment, the owl in question suddenly flew in and landed on Harry's shoulder.
"Well, aren't you the brilliant one," Harry commented with a grin. "Knew you were the topic of conversation and had to make an appearance." Hedwig made a barking sound that almost sounded like agreement before snatching a piece of bacon from Harry's hand. Hermione wanted to ask how he thought the owl would have known they were discussing it rather then it just being a fortunate coincidence, but she forced herself to focus on the topic at hand. She mentally noted to ask later.
"Harry, what about 'Fluffy'?" Hermione asked with a disbelieving tone when she mentioned the three-headed monster's name. "My research says it is a hell hound."
"We should have known it was Hagrid's," George (or Fred) commented to his brother.
Fred nodded in agreement. "He did have a sphinx our First year."
Harry grinned at the twins but shrugged in response to Hermione. "Hagrid mentioned him to me one night when we were coming back up to the school. I think he takes Fluffy out for walks after curfew or early in the morning. He makes Fluffy sound like a big puppy."
Harry's casual comment about Fluffy made her doubt that Hagrid's mention of the animal was Harry's only encounter with it. She strongly suspected Harry had visited the monster dog in his… other form. But she couldn't voice that here.
Instead she asked, "Did you notice the trap door in Fluffy's room?"
"Never been there," Harry answered innocently. Hermione didn't buy it but again was prevented from following up here in the Great Hall.
"Good morning all," Ernie greeted them as he approached the Gryffindor table. "Harry, I wanted to ask if you would be interested in joining us for a pick-up Quidditch game? Madam Hooch had agreed to supervise a match for the First years and let us use the school brooms. I think this would afford us an excellent opportunity to gather some experience."
Harry grinned at that. "Who else have you grabbed?"
"Justin, of course. Also Sally-Ann, Daphne, Tracey, Padma, Theodore, Susan, and, um, Michael."
Hermione saw a slight tightening around Harry's eyes at the mention of Michael Corner. She had heard about the other boy's comments during the club meeting Harry went to with Padma.
"Sure, sounds like fun," Harry accepted with a shrug. Ron and Dean also asked to join in the game. Harry left with Ernie to gather up the equipment for the pick-up game while the others finished eating.
Hermione was left wondering about the trap door. If there was one thing that drove Hermione crazy it was unanswered questions. The question about what was under that door had been bugging her, but Harry didn't seem concerned at all. The young witch made a small sigh. Maybe she should leave it alone. She still had the question of what happened to Harry when he'd been bitten by what was almost assuredly a werewolf.
Currently, she had two working theories. One was that it was something naturally different in Harry the caused both the rebounding of the Dark Lord's Killing Curse and the strange mutation of the lycanthropy. The second theory was something from surviving the Killing Curse interfered with the lycanthropy. In either case it offered an interesting question on would other Dark curses on Harry also be twisted in some bizarre way? Such a fascinating topic.
Hermione decided to set the question of Fluffy aside to continue researching what happened to Harry. After all, the later was done in the library and she really didn't want to face a giant, three-headed, slobbering, guard dog again.
...
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