It was not until late February that Hagrid fully emerged from the sorrow of parting. His hut had already been rebuilt by the end of January.
The furniture was arranged much as before, but its tidiness and sturdiness had improved several times over-the best building materials supplier in Diagon Alley had spared Hagrid the trouble of finding materials himself.
Dumbledore came for tea as promised and brought Hagrid an exquisite silk quilt-an enlarged, extra-thick magical model that could switch between winter and spring-and-autumn bedding.
"Rubeus, a patchwork quilt is very nice, but it isn't warm enough. You ought to try enjoying the conveniences magical shops offer, too."
Dumbledore surveyed the brand-new Hagrid's Hut with a smile and said with some regret,
"Ah, that large gecko I knew isn't here anymore. I hope it's still healthy and well."
Yes, because of that fire, most of the little creatures that had lived in the nooks and crannies of Hagrid's Hut had fled. Flames and smoke were clearly more effective hints to leave than cold tea.
Hugging the silk quilt, Hagrid scratched his head and explained,
"Professor Dumbledore, actually, that big gecko's still here. It's just moved into the cellar. Would you like to see it?"
"Of course. I hope it isn't asleep just now," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
They successfully found the large gecko, fully two palms in size, on the cellar wall-which suddenly reminded Brian of the two geckos at his own home.
He hoped that the next time he went home, the gecko couple would still be safe and sound behind that oil painting of "a snowy day, woods, and a man dancing in the snow with a guitar."
Back to late February.
Speaking of snow, the last snowfall had actually been twenty days ago. Only a few pieces of floating