Chapter 55: Tea with Hagrid 

When Mattheus woke up, his vision was blurry, and he felt like shit.

His mouth was dry, his head was pounding, every limb felt twice as heavy, and even breathing took effort. 

Mattheus blinked several times, trying to clear his blurry vision and make the swaying stop. Wait... that wasn’t dizziness. He was actually moving- no, being carried by someone. 

He tried to lift his head to see who it was, but his neck might as well have been made of lead. The small movement sent a spike of pain through his skull, and darkness crept into the edges of his vision.

Mattheus let his head fall back with a groan.

The person carrying him stopped and said something, but Mattheus could barely understand anything as the words blurred together into a deep, distant noise. 

“Yeh all righ’ there?”

Mattheus closed his eyes for a moment, and he nearly fell asleep again. 

Focus, Matty.

He tried to remember what had happened, and all that came to mind was a field and chairs—the throne! 

“Can yeh hear me?”

The man leaned closer, and through his blurry vision Mattheus saw hair, lots of hair. He asked something, didn’t he? 

“Tired,” Mattheus managed to say before everything went dark.

***

He woke to something warm and wet dragging across his face.

Mattheus turned away, only for it to follow him.

“Fang! Get off him!”

A deep bark exploded beside his head, making his already-pounding head feel like it might split open.  

Mattheus jerked awake and saw a huge black shadow looming over him. He thought he was about to be eaten by a bear until the creature opened its mouth, panted happily and tried to lick him again like an oversized puppy.

Before it could do it, a pair of even huger hands pulled the giant puppy away.

“Sorry! Sorry about that. Fang gets friendly with guests.”

Mattheus wiped the drool from his face.

“Friendly,” he rasped.

“That’s right. Wouldn’t hurt a fly, would yeh, Fang?”

Fang barked, and Mattheus winced as the noise felt like a hammer hitting his skull.

His eyes adjusted to the dim light, and the last of the blurriness faded, so he looked around. 

He was lying on a large wooden bed. The room around him was rough but had its charm, with wooden furniture, bundles of herbs hanging from the ceiling, and a fireplace built into one wall. 

It kinda reminded him of the houses in Skyrim.

Mattheus looked at the man beside him, and he had to rub his eyes and look again.

He had known Hagrid was big. In the books he had been described as nearly twice as tall as an ordinary man, and in the films he had towered over almost anyone, but seeing is believing, he guessed.

Mattheus was six feet tall, and besides Hagrid he would look like a child.

“There yeh are,” Hagrid said, relief spreading across his face. “Had me worried. Found yeh out in the fields, flat on yer face. Thought about takin’ yeh to the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey’s gone home for the summer, and it was too late to wake Professor Snape. He’d not be happy about it, but he knows more about potions than anyon—”

Hagrid continued talking, and Mattheus’s gaze moved towards the window. He could see the castle, which was cool, but the color of the sky took all his attention: it was beginning to brighten. 

Mattheus’s eyes widened.

“What time is it?”

“Must be nearly four.”

That was almost four in the afternoon in Gotham!

Oh, shit.

He was super late for work!

Mattheus pushed away the blanket and tried to stand but his legs gave out the moment his feet touched the floor.

Hagrid caught him before he fell.

“Easy there!”

“I’m fine.”

“Yeh nearly fell on yer face.”

Hagrid placed him back on the bed.

Mattheus lacked the strength to argue. His arms felt numb, he could barely feel his legs and a cold sweat had broken across his forehead.

He was utterly spent; without a Stamina Potion, he would not be— 

A Stamina Potion! 

He had several in his Inventory, so all he needed was his phone—his heart stopped as he remembered dropping the phone in the field. 

He looked around the hut, his eyes moved frantically across the furniture, hoping to see it. 

“No, no, no…”

What happened if he lost his phone?

Would Crossroads still recognise him as its owner? Would he even be able to enter without the phone?

The door would still be there, but it was locked, and without the phone, he had no way to unlock it. He wouldn’t be able to access the Store, the Inventory, or any of the other System functions either.

Could someone else pick it up and gain control of Crossroads?

The thought of anyone else finding his phone in the field and becoming the owner of Crossroads made Mattheus’s stomach twist.

Mattheus shifted on the bed and felt something pressing against his thigh. The sensation was so familiar that his brain nearly dismissed it without a thought. 

He moved his hand over it and his breath caught. 

His phone! 

Mattheus pulled the phone out just far enough to see its black edge before pushing it back inside.

The knot in his stomach disappeared so quickly that he almost laughed. 

Thank fuck

But how did it get there in the first place? He clearly remembered dropping the phone. Had Hagrid found it? Unlikely. He wouldn’t have known what a smartphone was, and even if he recognised it as some strange Muggle object, why put it in Mattheus’s pocket?

Had it returned on its own?

That would be super useful (thought it would have been nice to know that was a feature before nearly giving himself a heart attack).

Mattheus would have to test that later.

“Did yeh lose something?” Hagrid asked.

“No.” Mattheus swallowed, his throat was painfully dry. “Thought so, but didn’t. Could I have some water?”

“Course! Should’ve offered yeh some already. Sorry, wasn’t thinking.”

“No worrie—” Mattheus coughed.   

Hagrid hurried towards the table. Mattheus used the chance to open his Inventory and take out a Stamina Potion.

Hagrid turned at the worst possible moment.

“Here yeh...” Hagrid stopped halfway through turning around, and his eyes fixed on the bottle. “What’s that?” 

“A potion.”

Hagrid returned carrying a cup of water that looked tiny in his hand. “What sort?”

“Exhaustion.”

Mattheus drank the potion and the pressure behind his eyes finally faded. Feeling returned to his limbs, and the weight holding him down disappeared.

Hagrid stared at him.

“That works fast.”

“Very fast.” Mattheus accepted the cup of water and drank the whole thing. “Thank you.”

“Can’t say I’ve seen a potion like it.”

“Foreign recipe.”

“Where from?”

Mattheus paused.

“Greenland.”

“Huh.” Hagrid scratched his beard. “Never met a Greenlandic wizard.”

Mattheus placed the empty bottle beside the bed and stood up. Hagrid kept both hands raised, ready to catch him, and Mattheus smiled reassuringly. 

“I’m fine now,” Mattheus assured him. “I overdid it last night while practising some spells.”

Mattheus smoothed down his wrinkled shirt and held out his hand.

“I’m Mattheus Garcia.”

Hagrid’s hand swallowed his and shook it very gently.

“Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.”

Mattheus smiled.

“And Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, if I am not wrong”

Hagrid’s chest puffed out before he ducked his head bashfully.

“Well, yeah. Suppose I am.”

“You suppose?”

“Still gettin’ used to it. Only started last year.”

“How did your first year go?”

“Pretty well.”

Pretty well? Mattheus nearly smiled. That was one hell of a way to describe it. 

Between Draco Malfoy, Buckbeak’s near-execution, and the whole mess with Sirius, Remus, Pettigrew, and the Dementors, Hagrid’s first year had been eventful, to say the least. 

“Had a few problems,” Hagrid admitted. “Nothin’ that couldn’t happen in anyone’s first lesson.”

“Were any students injured?”

“One.”

“Just one? That isn’t so bad.”

“Exactly!” Hagrid said, visibly brightening. “And it was just a scratch, really. Madam Pomfrey had him fixed up in no time.”

Mattheus nodded seriously.

“Sounds like a successful first year to me.”

“That’s what I said!”

Hagrid seemed to take a liking to him pretty fast.

***

A few minutes later, Mattheus had a cup of strong tea in his hands and a plate of biscuits in front of him.

He picked one up and tapped it against the plate.

Clack.

Mattheus thought about discreetly putting it back but he did not want to hurt Hagrid’s feelings. He had stayed up all night taking care of him, and had been a wonderful host, hurting his feelings would make him feel even shittier than he felt when he woke up earlier. 

“Yeh’ve got ter be careful with magic,” Hagrid said seriously. “Magical exhaustion isn’t like being tired after a long walk. Keep pushin’ after yer magic’s gone, and yer body starts payin’ for it.”

“How bad can it get?”

“Headaches, faintin’, damage to yer magical core. Some people never cast right again.” Hagrid crossed his arms. “And if yeh’re careless enough, it can kill yeh.”

Mattheus stopped trying to soften the biscuit in his tea. He wasn’t a wizard and his power didn’t use magic, but that didn’t make Hagrid’s warning any less concerning. 

The same principles might apply to his power for all he knew.

“I’ll be more careful.”

Hagrid tried to give him a stern look, and Mattheus bit his lip.

“Will yeh?”

“Yes, Professor.”

Hagrid beamed before coughing and trying to look serious.

“Good.”

Mattheus smiled into his cup.

He took a bite of the biscuit and munched it until he could swallow it. Softening it in tea helped, but it still felt like he was munching on crackers; at least the taste wasn’t half bad. In fact, he kinda liked it.

They made a little small talk, but Mattheus was in a hurry. 

He would have loved to spend more time chatting with Hagrid, but he was really late for work. 

“I should go.” Mattheus finished his tea and biscuit before standing up. “I’m already very late for work.”

Hagrid rose with him.

“Yeh sure yer well enough?”

“I feel fine.”

Hagrid didn’t look convinced.

“Might be better if yeh rested for the day.”

“I’d love to. Problem is, I’ve got a pub to open.” 

“A pub?”

“Crossroads. It’s in Hogsmeade.” Mattheus added quickly, “Sort of.”

Hagrid’s brows drew together.

“Don’t remember any pub called Crossroads.”

“It isn’t open yet,” Mattheus said. “I’m renovating the place, but I have another pub in America.”

Hagrid opened his mouth as if to ask something else, but after a glance at Mattheus, he closed it again. 

“I’ll come by when it opens,” Hagrid promised.

“You’ll be most welcome.”

Mattheus checked that Hagrid wasn’t looking in his direction before taking a catalogue from his Inventory. He held it behind his back, closed the app and slid the phone into his pocket.

He wouldn’t let go of an opportunity to advertise his new business.

“Here.”

Hagrid accepted it.

“What’s this?”

“A catalogue for a small owl-order business I’m starting. Potions, ingredients, gardening supplies, creature-care products and a few other things.” He explained. “Have a look, something might catch your eye.” 

Hagrid nodded and put it on the table before leading Mattheus outside. Fang followed them, and Mattheus scratched the dog behind the ears. 

Fang’s tail began thumping happily behind him, and he tilted his head into Mattheus’s hand, clearly demanding more.

“Good puppy.”

Mattheus continued scratching his ears as they headed towards the path leading to Hogsmeade.

“Thank you for everything, Professor Hagrid.”

Hagrid ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Ah, it was nothin’. Just take it easy fer a while, all right?”

“Yes, sir.”

They said their farewells, and Mattheus continued down the path alone. Once Hagrid was out of sight, he pulled out his phone, opened the app, and pressed Enter Pub.