Dean had been through some rough hangovers, and the subsequent questionable places he had awoken. To him, waking up in the Forbidden Forest did not even register on his radar of bad places. It had actually been somewhat comfortable when considering the places he and Sam had stayed whilst on a hunt. He trudged along through the forest, an uncomfortable feeling of being followed nagging at his instincts. He knew the area fairly well and between the centaurs, the spiders, and his well-hidden friends the area was extremely safe. The most he had run into was a very territorial hinkypunk however, when he had ventured deeper into the woods, he had encountered some very dangerous creatures. Hidebehinds, Ghouls, and though he had only briefly seen it he swore that a Chimaera roamed those woods as well. But that was far, far deeper into the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid told him that, on occasion, some of the more dangerous creatures had a habit of making their way into areas closer to the castle but that was rare. Unless Hagrid decided that he wanted one of course, which seemed to happen pretty often.

He continued on for a few more minutes when the sense of being followed came to a head and he whirled around, expecting to see some creature diving away for cover to avoid being seen. He did not expect to see a Ford Anglia floating slightly in the air behind him. "Werewolves, moving staircases, giant snakes, and now flying cars? What was with this place? "Uh, nice… car?" Dean said warily, assuming that the car could understand him. "Don't run me over."

The car's engine roared once and then it took off, narrowly avoiding taking Dean's head off with its back tire. Dean muttered the entire way back to the castle, taking the car's apparent rejection of him somewhat personally. Baby wouldn't have treated him like that if she was here, she would have given him a ride. When he finally made his way out of the Forbidden Forest he was only mildly surprised to see Hagrid leading a bunch of Hippogriffs from one paddock to the next, looking thoroughly shaken. "Hey Hagrid," Dean called, hopping over the fence that housed the hippogriffs. "What's up?"

Dean's suspicions were confirmed when the large man nearly jumped out of his skin. For a man who habitually attempted to cuddle with creatures who wanted to eat him, this was a very telling and worrying sign. "Oh, it's jus' you Dean," Hagrid said, closing the gate. "Sorry abou' tha'. Thought you were someone else."

"Nope, just me," Dean said, bowing to Tempest and stroking the beast's feathers when she bowed back.

"'spose you are looking for Remus then?" Hagrid asked, nodding to his cabin. "He's inside, dead asleep las' I checked."

Dean noted this, but if Remus was asleep he undoubtedly needed the rest considering that tonight was the full moon. "Thanks but, uh, Hagrid what's up man? You seem off."

The waterworks started then, and Dean massively regretted his decision to inquire as to Hagrid's mood. The large man burst into tears and wrapped Dean in a massive bear hug as he sobbed, leaning most of his weight onto him. "They're gonna kill my Buckbeak," he wailed.

Dean struggled to simultaneously breathe, hold Hagrid up, and prevent the large man from crushing his ribs. He spied Sam running towards him with a confused look, Crowley strolling down the hill calmly behind him. "Help," he said weakly.

The combined efforts of he and Sam were able to push Hagrid back onto the fence where the wood creaked in protest as Hagrid sat on it. "This about Buckbeak then?" Sam asked, catching his breath. Another wrong move as it turned out.

"So you've heard abou' it too!" Hagrid sobbed even louder, lurching off the fence and embracing Sam in a hug much like the one Dean had just experienced. "I knew it! I'm goin' ta get fired for sure! All the teachers mus' be waitin' for it."

"Come on now man, pull yourself together," Crowley said, finally arriving at the scene. He pulled his ever present flask from his pocket and firmly placed it in Hagrid's massive hand. "Have a drink, there's a good lad."

Hagrid nodded his thanks to Crowley and began to drink from the flask. After a few seconds of this Dean glanced to the former King of Hell in question and Crowley shrugged in response. "Permanent refilling charm," he said simply, a mischievous smirk on his face. "For those days when I actually contemplate drowning myself in alcohol."

Hagrid drank for a solid minute, impressing even the veteran drinker in Dean. When he finally finished he shook his head once and handed the flask back to Crowley who discreetly cleaned it on Sam's robe. "Thanks you three," Hagrid said, breathing normally now except for the occasional hiccup.

"What were you talking about man, who is going to kill Buckbeak?" Dean asked.

Hagrid's voice grew progressively more slurred throughout the tale, but eventually he managed to explain to them the events that had taken place between the hippogriff and Draco Malfoy. Evidently the boy's parents were furious and were calling for both Hagrid's immediate dismissal and the execution of the beast. Recognizing the signs of an imminent alcoholic induced slumber they coaxed Hagrid back into his cabin, waking Lupin and moving him from the bed and letting Hagrid fall onto the bed. The cabin shook slightly at the fall of the half-giant but the bed didn't break. "Does someone care to explain to me what just happened?" Lupin asked uncertainly, glancing between Hagrid and the others. "Where's Castiel? How did I get here?"

Dean was just about to answer when there was a knock at the cabin door. Sam opened the door and revealed a mud-covered and very unhappy Castiel. The angel strode into the room, an old broomstick in his hand. He tossed it into the corner of the room and stood silently, dripping mud and snow onto the cabin's floor. "Quite like the new look, Feathers." Crowley said amusedly. "Really does you justice."

"Cas, what happened to you?" Sam asked, ignoring Crowley's quip.

"I woke up in Norway and I Apparated back to the bar we went to last night and he lent me this broomstick so I could make my way back to the castle as there is a spell preventing teleporting within the boundary of the castle." Castiel explained. "Flying is very difficult."

His look dared the others to any further questions. "Okay then," Dean said, stretching out the 'o' in okay and turning to Sam. "What happened to you and why do you smell nice?"

Sam's face turned red. "What, I'm not allowed to smell nice?"

"You smell like a chick," Dean said, noting the evasion and preparing to barrage his brother with questions until he cracked. "And like sex."

The taller Winchester was about to answer when a scream came from the direction of the castle. The five of them left Hagrid in the cabin and bolted toward the direction that the scream came from, even Crowley. They quickly identified the source of the scream, a first year student was on the ground in the fetal position with his hands covering his head as a group of dark-hooded figures floated around him. "Oh hell no," Dean said, ripping his wand from his pocket and aiming it at the dementors. His cry of 'Expecto Patronum' was echoed by four other voices and a barrage of silvery figures rished towards the dementors. A silver lion batted away one black robed figure with one massive paw, a large serpent sank its fangs into another, a wolf tackled a third, a large winged horse struck out with its hooves, and Dean's own impala impaled the last with its horn. The dementors made inhuman shrieks of pain and anger as their meal was taken from them. The professors circled the child and, surprising everyone, Crowley took the small Ravenclaw into his arms. "Inside, now." Remus said tensely, his eyes on the distance where the dementors had stopped running and were now watching them.

Once they had safely placed the first-year in the hospital wing they allowed themselves a moment to breathe. "While I do so enjoy your company, I am afraid that this will be the last time that I go drinking with you four." Remus said after a few minutes of silence. "Especially if this is the norm."

"You have no idea." Castiel said gravely.