Magnus watched as Hagrid rearranged the room for the umpteenth time.
"You have to relax, Hagrid," he said as a series of growls emanated from one corner of the hut where Hagrid had raised a curtain. "Your Zweilous can sense your restlessness, you know."
Hagrid had accepted his request for them to meet here as soon as he heard that his Pokémon was in jeopardy. Now, however, he seemed to be more troubled by the idea.
Hagrid forced himself to sit on the broad—probably self-made—seat near the place he had 'hidden' the Zweilous.
"It's jus' that..." he faltered as he scratched his beard thoughtfully. "I shoulda listened to ya, Magnus," he said regretfully. "Shoulda gone to Dumbledore, I mean he trusts me and all... maybe I should."
"You can't, Hagrid," Magnus interjected. He knew the kind of conflicting emotions the man was undergoing... I mean, he felt indebted to be loyal to the headmaster, but at the same time, he thought that doing so would force him to part with his Pokémon. Right now, however, the choices had narrowed—secrets were no longer an option, but a necessity.
"Think of it, Hagrid," Magnus began, hoping to ease the man's worry. "If Malfoy knows, then he probably has told Snape or written to his father, who might contact someone at the Ministry."
This line of thought did not seem to serve his purpose of calming Hagrid; instead, he seemed to be thrown into even more turmoil, but Magnus still went on regardless.
"If you go to Dumbledore now, you're just putting him in a bad position," he explained what he had been mulling over for the whole day. "He might decide to cover for you," he said, recalling the argument between the headmaster and the Ministry lady over Hermione's hatchling. He was almost certain that were it not for the headmaster, the Ministry might have confiscated the Pichu.
"But if he covers for you and the Ministry already knows..." He left the idea hanging for Hagrid to fill in for himself... I mean, the Ministry might still not side with Malfoy's rumors, but still, there was a possibility they might want to probe further.
Hagrid still looked unconvinced and wanted to say something, but a gentle knock interrupted them. Magnus got up to open, but Hagrid stopped him. Reaching the door, he pulled it slightly open and poked out his head.
"Who is there?" he called after scanning around for several seconds without seeing anyone. Magnus quickly joined him at the door, although he couldn't see anything since the imposing Hagrid had sealed it with his body.
Then an idea occurred to him. "Harry... is it you?" Magnus called from behind Hagrid, but Hagrid turned to him like he was a blubbering madman.
"Course there is no Harry... no one out here..."
"Hagrid... it's me " Harry's voice came from the empty space Hagrid was looking at.
"What the devil—" he recoiled, almost crashing into Magnus as he retreated further into the room.
Magnus almost laughed as he quickly pushed the door open.
"Guys, get in... fast." He felt rather than saw them as they squeezed past the door, and only when they were inside did they drop their concealment.
"Is that the invisibility cloak?" Magnus rushed to take hold of the cloak in Harry's hands. He felt the velvet textures pass through his fingers as if the cloak itself was nothing but liquid.
It was surreal to hold it, knowing that this was one of the Deathly Hallows.
In canon, Dumbledore had not given it to Harry until Christmas, yet now, seeing that he was in possession of the cloak only meant events had been somehow altered.
"Wow," he exclaimed in earnest awe as Harry, Ron, and Hermione greeted a flabbergasted Hagrid.
"I'm alright an' all, but what in Merlin's name are all of yer doin' here at this time?"
Magnus, who was still marveling at the cloak, suddenly realized they were all looking at him expectantly. At the same time, vicious growls came from where Hagrid had raised a curtain to block the view.
The trio's attention immediately shifted from him, and Hermione actually rushed toward the door.
Harry and Ron also slowly began to edge away from the direction of the noise.
"What... what is that?" Ron asked, looking petrified. Hagrid moved swiftly to stand between the curtains and them. He was looking at Magnus in total confusion.
When he had told Hagrid that they were having a meeting in his cabin, he hadn't revealed that these three would be part of the meeting. Hagrid had probably been expecting the earlier group comprising the twins and Lee.
Speaking of whom, another knock came and Magnus rushed to open.
"You guys are late," he said as the three scrambled to enter the inside.
"C'mon, we had to wait until..." Fred froze when he saw the other people in the room.
"What the hell is he doing here?" George voiced their surprise. He was pointing at Ron, but Magnus knew he meant the entire group.
"I could ask the same to you," Ron answered defiantly, and Magnus chose to step in... things had gone too fast, and he had barely had any time to answer Hagrid... but it was even better to explain once for all of them.
"Relax, guys... you should all sit down. We have things to discuss."
The twins looked at him confused but hesitantly found somewhere to sit in the already crowded cabin.
Hagrid looked tongue-tied as he watched them occupy every corner of the room; his mind was probably picturing himself being accused of hosting a rebellious group.
To Magnus, however... well, this was just a revolution.
He stood at the center with fourteen eyes trained on him. He turned to Hagrid.
"I am sorry, Hagrid. I did not tell you earlier about them," he said, referring to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "but I also did not tell them about yours... or yours," he said to the twins as well.
"We have been operating on many secrets, but now, I think we have to make a choice..." So far, no one had interrupted him, and he took it as encouragement. He turned to each group around him.
"Hagrid, if you think you can already face the headmaster, just say so and we will leave—we'll find somewhere else to hold our meetings."
Hagrid took a second to internalize his message, but he quickly shook his head. "I think... it's already too late for that, ain't it?"
Magnus smiled before turning to Hermione and her group, specifically Harry and Ron.
"You guys don't have to be here, so you might also want to leave before you get involved in a secret... probably illegal group."
The two boys looked at each other and almost shook their heads immediately.
"No... we're good, mate," Ron began, but Fred cut him off.
"Like hell you ain't," he said, turning to Magnus. "Mate, this one is leaving... Mother will kill us if—"
Ron got up furiously. "I am not... and you can't force me!" he began before George stepped in.
"Yes, we can!" The two looked ready to fling their little brother out, but Magnus decided this was about to go out of hand.
"Listen, guys," he said, stepping between them, "I know I can't tell you what to do with Ron—I mean, I know you're looking out for him."
"I can look out for myself!" Ron yelled, forcing Hagrid to step in.
"Better lower yer voice or I will chuck you out meself."
It was a bit harsh, but it did the trick of squashing the sibling quarrel that was about to erupt.
"What I mean is... we need as diverse Pokémon as we can without involving anyone outside of the group."
The twins sat back, although they didn't look quite pleased.
"Percy will kill us," Fred said in a resigned voice.
"Well, we do not plan to be found... do we?" Magnus said lightly.
"I don't know about that, but I think Harry and Hermione shouldn't be here if Snape knows," Hagrid said, causing the twins and Lee to get up immediately.
"Snape knows?" they exclaimed in unison.