Night lay deep, and snowflakes swirled down, turning the edge of the Forbidden Forest into a blur of silvery white.
Only the window of Hagrid's little wooden hut stubbornly cast a small square of warm golden light.
"I'm telling you, I wasn't attacked!" Hagrid waved his huge hands agitatedly, his voice making the teacups on the table rattle. "I just—"
Knock, knock, knock! A sudden knocking rang out.
Inside the hut, Harry, Ron, and Hermione instantly held their breath and sprang from their chairs in alarm. Fang, curled up beside the fire, pricked up his ears.
"Who—who's out there?!" Hagrid's enormous frame blocked the doorway.
"It's me, Hagrid. You're back?"
"That's Jerry's voice," Hermione said, recognizing it at once.
Hagrid hauled open the heavy wooden door. A bitter wind swept inside, carrying a flurry of snow.
"Come in, quick, lad. It's freezing out there!" Hagrid hurriedly stepped aside.
Jerry shook off the snow and stepped into the warm hut, bringing a gust of cold air with him.
"Jerry, how did you know we were here?" Hermione asked after helping brush the snow off him.
"There were several sets of fresh footprints in the snow, leading straight from the castle entrance to Hagrid's Hut. I guessed they belonged to you lot."
"Oh, no!" Harry and Ron cried almost in unison, their expressions changing instantly.
"Don't worry," Jerry said calmly. "I cleared them away on my way here. No one will find them."
"Be more careful next time. Snow's a natural informer!"
"That's a relief..." As Jerry finished speaking, the tension in the hut abruptly eased. After all, Umbridge was in the castle now.
The moment Jerry entered, he saw that Hagrid's left eye was swollen into a bruised, purple-black slit. Crisscrossing wounds covered his face and hands, several still beading with