The closer Brian got to Hagrid's Hut, the stronger the smell of blood became. Deeply worried, he quickened his pace. The cabin door was almost within reach, yet suddenly he was a little afraid to push it open-
Thankfully, although Fang lay on the bed swathed in bandages, he still had enough strength to give a reassuring whine.
Hagrid crouched beside the bed, his head bowed as he sobbed silently, trying to drown a beetle crawling across the floor in his copious tears. At the sound of the door opening, he immediately stood up. Without a word, he lifted Brian over to Fang before lamenting:
"Help him, Chet... Fang... poor Fang... I've let him down... I shouldn't have left him to face danger alone..."
Brian gently stroked Fang's head and interrupted Hagrid's self-reproach:
"Fang will be all right, Hagrid. Before I heal him with magic, we need to take his bandages off, or they'll get embedded in his flesh-Halloween is long over. A mummy dog isn't an appropriate costume."
"Oh! Yes! You're right."
Brian's words only made Hagrid feel guiltier. Very carefully, he peeled up a corner of Fang's bandages-
Dried blood had stuck Fang's fur to the bandages. In the ten minutes it took just to remove them from the front half of his body, Fang cried out more than thirty times-and that was with the big dog stubbornly trying to stifle his cries.
The smell of blood grew stronger. Amid the pungent odor, Brian also caught the scent of dittany extract.
By the time the bandages had all been removed from Fang's hindquarters, the big dog barely had the strength to make a sound. Cloudy tears trickled slowly from the corners of his dull eyes, while his belly rose and fell as he struggled for breath.
Brian was