Chapter 31: The Indelible Memories
"Boy sure seemed uncharacteristically rude to Longbottom," one portrait stated on the day of the next Hogsmeade visit. Albus had been pacing his office once again, feeling as if he was slowly, but surely, losing his mind from being trapped inside. He needed to get out of the castle or at the very least have something to do to take his mind off everything that'd been happening. He was wishing that he went to Hogsmeade as well; but he glanced up at them instead and they elaborated. "He's up to something. First, he gets told off by Snape for sneaking around on the third floor, and then he just makes some excuses to ditch Longbottom and heads right back down to the third floor and disappears."
"Why? What's happening?" Albus asked tiredly.
"No idea. He just kept making excuses to get away. He left the boy at the common room and took off, and by the time I followed him back to the third floor, he disappeared again."
Albus sighed again.
"You don't look so good, Albus," Dilys observed, as she peered down at him from her portrait.
"I'm just tired," he assured her. "With all this happening, I'm just not myself." He ran a hand through his beard. "Just keep a close eye on the third floor for me. I don't think that Harry's up to anything dangerous or risky… at least I hope not. But I don't think we have to worry now. As for me," he added as he opened his office door and getting ready to head downstairs. "I'm sure that I'll find something to do to keep me entertained."
*Later*
Albus walked back into his office a few hours later. He had spent the better part of the last hour taking a long, hot bath to relax. "Did you find Harry?" he asked, feeling better than he had been for the last few days.
"Yes, I saw him being dragged off to Snape's office," he heard one of the portraits call out.
"Oh, no," Albus said, looking up—expecting the worst. "What happened now?"
"Not sure… but apparently, Malfoy came back and ranted about seeing Potter's head in Hogsmeade."
Albus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hogsmeade? How—and more importantly—why was Harry in Hogsmeade? I thought that all the secret passageways were sealed off…?"
"Not sure! But that's what Malfoy saw! Don't know if he was telling the truth or not… but it does make sense. It explains where Potter disappeared off to, and why he was sneaking around and trying to ditch Longbottom."
"I'd look for any excuse to ditch Longbottom," Phineas yawned.
"Phineas," Albus said firmly before he turned back to the others.
"Lupin covered up for him though," one of them went on. "He's good at making others feel guilty isn't he? Said that he wasn't going to cover up for him again, and that he couldn't make him take Black seriously; but that he should remember what the Dementors showed him. Said that his parents gave their lives to protect him and that it was a poor way to repay them by gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks. I don't think that Harry will try sneaking off like that again in a real hurry."
"That is cold," Dexter said shaking his head.
"But if it keeps Harry inside," Albus said, knowing that he was sounding cold himself—Harry wasn't even supposed to be in Hogsmeade in the first place. Maybe Remus sounded a bit harsh, but he was also right. He said coolly, "I see that Remus hasn't lost his touch. After all, he had a gift for making James and Sirius guilty. And that isn't something that just anyone can say."
"Oh, and before I forget, Lupin took some kind of map," he heard a wheezy voice call out from near the ceiling.
"Map?" Albus repeated in confusion.
"Not sure what it's about…" someone else said. It was difficult to tell whose voices were coming from where. "Just that Lupin said something about a map and that its manufactures would've thought that it was funny if it lured them out of the castle."
"Interesting," Albus whispered to himself. "Sounds like Remus is keeping more from me than I thought."
"I knew that werewolf couldn't be trusted!" Phineas called out in a know-it-all voice.
"Enough, Phineas," Albus told him sternly. "If it was something about Sirius Black, I know that he would've come and tell me."
"You trust to easily old man," Phineas told him sourly as he folded his arms.
"I'm glad to say that they've also made up with Granger," called another voice. Albus turned just in time to see Everard once again strolling into his picture frame. "Just saw them! She came to them and told them that Buckbeak lost the trial."
"Oh no," Albus groaned, running a hand through his hair. He knew just how much Hagrid cared for all of his creatures—and he knew that Buckbeak wasn't particularly dangerous… "Poor Hagrid… he must be devastated."
"Granger almost gave up that they might be able to save the Hippogriff but then Weasley said that he wasn't going to let her do all the work all by herself anymore. And she started crying and hugged him," the former Headmaster said. He shrugged and said, "Women…"
"Hey!" called out Dilys and all the other former Headmistresses.
"Well, in any case, I'm glad to hear that they made up," Albus said conversationally, still feeling his heart ache for Hagrid. "They all need each other too much to hold a grudge forever." He stood up and reached for his cloak to wrap around his shoulders. "I'll go down and talk to Hagrid now."
*Couple days later*
Hagrid was frozen with shock at the verdict and nothing that Albus had said had helped; his friend just kept blaming himself for getting tongue-tied and forgetting dates… but Albus had a bad feeling that the committee's mind had already been made up thanks to Lucius.
"There's still the appeal," Albus had said after Armando had reported back just before the Easter holidays, saying that he heard the trio talking about how Hagrid was taking the news.
"That's exactly what Weasley said," Armando said sadly. "But Hagrid just seems to have lost all hope. However, it cheers me up slightly to know that Miss Granger had gotten a small bit of justice for Buckbeak."
"How so?" Albus asked curiously.
"Malfoy called Hagrid pathetic," he explained. "And Miss Granger had finally cracked and punched him in the face."
Phineas let out a shout of indignation while the others let out bawls of laughter. Albus didn't know if he should laugh or not at this information. Though he disapproved of violence, he couldn't deny that he felt a bit of retribution for Hagrid and Buckbeak. But the next piece of information that he gave him was even more shocking.
"Also," Armando said, "She just walked right out of Divination."
"Who did?" Albus asked politely—though he had a pretty good idea to who 'she' was.
"Hermione Granger of course!" he answered in an almost awe voice. "She just got right up and left. Said that she had enough and she wasn't coming back to that class."
"What happened?" Albus asked, shaking his head incredulously.
"No idea," he shrugged, "I was watching at the foot of the classroom like you usually have me do. And I watched her leave before the bell rang and she didn't come back. The boys showed up after class had ended and I overheard them talk about how she was cracking up. That girl is having one bad day. First she hit Malfoy, forgets to go to Charms, and now this…"
"She missed Charms?" Albus asked in surprise. "I thought that she loved that class."
"She does," Armando told him. "But she's just been under so much stress, and so tired that she must've fallen asleep or something and missed it. She was wailing about it all the way up to Divination."
"Knew that something as powerful as a Time-Turner would be too much for a Muggleborn to handle," Phineas said smugly.
Dilys sighed from her side of the room and asked, "Please, Dumbledore. Can't we move him? I was thinking to North Tower? Hardly anyone goes there."
"WHAT?" Phineas bellowed and they started up yet another yelling match.
As they argued, Albus took his seat and thought about everything that had been happening with the trio since they heard of Buckbeak's trial. Ron had taken over responsibility for Buckbeak's appeal and spent many hours looking up anything that he thought would be helpful. Hermione was still struggling to use the Time-Turner and keep up with all her classes. Albus felt his heart go out to the girl at the very thought of all the work she that she was doing.
Harry barely had time for his homework as he had Quidditch practice every day—with the pressure between the two Houses was reaching its boiling point. Albus couldn't remember the last time a match was causing so much tension. The closer they got to the game, the more the two teams and their Houses were quickly reaching the breaking point. He was constantly being told of the many fights and jinxes that were used between Gryffindor and Slytherin—and Poppy had threatened to quit if she wasn't given a break.
The Gryffindor team was having a bad time of it as well. They, Harry especially, couldn't walk to class without Slytherins sticking out their legs and trying to trip themup; and was now constantly surrounded by people to escort them. He had also gotten many complaints from the teachers saying that it was impossible for anyone to get to classes on time because of the huge blockades they caused in the halls.
It would be a great relief when the match was finally over.
*The Next day*
The Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall the next day to enormous applause. Albus looked up to see them all grinning broadly as, not just the Gryffindors, but the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were joined in and treated them all as if they were conquering heroes. He also noticed out of the corner of his eyes, the Slytherin table hissing loudly as they passed—not that he could blame them. Whoever won this next match would win the Quidditch Cup.
He could see that both teams were very pale and they didn't bother themselves to eat much. But at last, Oliver Wood stood up, said something to them all, and the entire team got up as well. As they left the Great Hall, everyone applauded again—including some of the teachers.
Feeling cheerful, he watched them all leave, and he couldn't help but notice as Miss Chang waved merrily at Harry and he blushed back at her.
*The Game*
Albus took his seat and looked around to see the most of the crowd was wearing scarlet rosettes, or waving scarlet flags with the Gryffindor lion, or his personal favorite—brandishing banners that said "GO GRYFFINDOR!" or "LIONS FOR THE CUP." Behind the Slytherin goal posts, however, his two hundred Slytherins were in their trademark green with the silver serpent glittered on their own flags, and Severus sat in the very front row, looking grim.
Albus smiled at him as he turned back to the field… though as the Headmaster, he wasn't supposed to be taking sides… but he was wearing a scarlet rosette underneath his robes.
"And here are the Gryffindors!" yelled Lee Jordan, who was acting as the commentator as usual. "Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years —"
The Slytherins booed out at Lee's comments for several minutes until he introduced the Slytherin team.
"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill —"
More boos from the Slytherin crowd. Albus, however, looked over them all—and he could see how Mr. Jordon came up with that conclusion. Draco Malfoy was easily the smallest person on the Slytherin team; the rest of them towered over the smaller Gryffindor team. Albus knew that wasn't the best strategy… while they were larger and stronger… the Gryffindors were smaller, able to fly easier and quicker. This would be an interesting game to say the least.
"Captains, shake hands!" he heard Madam Hooch shout over the noise and he folded his own hands and leaned back in his seat. "Mount your brooms!" she called to them all. "Three… two… one…"
The game that followed was the dirtiest game that Albus could remember seeing for a long, long time.
After the first goal, Angelina Johnson was nearly thrown from her broom when Marcus Flint smashed into her. Fred Weasley then hit Marcus in the back of his head for revenge and caused a bad nose bleed. And that was just in the first few minutes.
The game continued like this for some time. It was completely different from the match with Ravenclaw… that one had been exiting and tough no doubt about it, but this one was downright dirty. People flew into each other, the Beaters didn't care if they were swinging their bats at Bludgers or heads, and to top it off—Lee Jordan kept swearing into the microphone. Albus had seen a lot of Hogwarts Quidditch-matches, but this had to be one of the most brutal ones to watch… at least you couldn't say that it was boring. The game became more and more rough with each second; and when Malfoy caught the end of Harry's broom to prevent him from catching the Snitch, Albus didn't stand up, shouting boos and insults as did most of the rest of the crowd did around him. But at that time, he heard a noise that should have been impossible to hear among this crowd, yet still he heard it. His eyes tried to find the source, and a wave of shock crashed over him at what he saw.
There was a dog.
There was an enormous, jet-black dog sitting at the very bottom of the bleachers—next to the tribune not far from where Remus was sitting. The dog was huge, almost bear-sized, and looked quite intimidating as it barked like mad at the broomsticks in the air; as if enjoying itself.
"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics!" Albus heard Madam Hooch screech, shooting up to where Malfoy was sliding back onto his Nimbus Two Thousand and One.
"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" he heard Lee Jordon shouting "YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B —"
But Albus seemed almost transfixed by the dog as it watched the players fly. Its tail was wagging madly as if it understood exactly what was happening… Albus leaned back into his seat, but kept a close eye on the dog for the rest of the match.
On and on the game went until finally, Harry was able to catch the Snitch.
Wave upon wave of crimson supporters was pouring over the barriers onto the field. Hands were raining down on their backs. Hagrid, who was plastered with crimson rosettes — "Yeh beat 'em, Harry, yeh beat 'em! Wait till I tell Buckbeak!"
Albus grinned at those words as he also stood up. He took one last glance back down at the dog, but he saw that the large animal was still wagging its tail, and then, amid all the noise that now erupted from the side of the Gryffindors, left its hiding place and disappeared behind the stands.
Not even the sudden appearance and disappearance of the dog was able to stop the happiness that was flowing through him however. He could only smile even wider when he saw Minerva crying, wiping her eyes with an enormous Gryffindor flag; and at the Gryffindor team that was brought to the stands where he was waiting with the Quidditch Cup. He beamed at them all as he passed the Cup to them and it was lifted it into the air in victory.
*One week later*
The Gryffindor celebrations lasted at least a week as well as the random parties that kept breaking out. Even the weather seemed to be celebrating along with them; as June approached, the days became clear and humid; truly beautiful weather. Causing everyone to wish that they were out on the grounds instead of being forced to stay inside and study for their upcoming exams.
"Girl's pushing herself too hard," Dexter told him on the final day of exams. "Miss Granger has so much work on her shoulders… even without Divination, she's got eleven classes to study for. She's burning herself out."
"Well this year is almost over. Hopefully we can make it to the end without any more accidents," Albus said, hoping he didn't sound too optimistic. "I am certain that she will be eager to drop whatever subjects that she doesn't care for once she finishes her classes."
He was informed of how well that the students had done in their exams of course… and he was very interested to hear that Remus had compiled a sort of obstacle course outside for his third years, where they had to wade across a deep pool where a Grindylow was prowling, dodge a field full of that were filled with Red Caps, march across a marsh where a Hinkypunk was trying to confuse them, before they finally climbed into an old trunk where lurked a Boggart.
"He got full marks," Dexter told him late that afternoon. "And can you believe that Potter had actually beat Miss Granger? He got the highest score. Amazing what a student can do when they have a proper teacher isn't it?"
"Spoiled if you ask me," Phineas stated stubbornly. "He's too easy on them…"
"What of the others?" Albus asked loudly over Phineas.
"Mr. Weasley did very well until he reached the Hinkypunk… got waist-deep in the marsh before Lupin had to go and get him before he was eaten… and Miss Granger…" he seemed close to laughing at this point, "Miss Granger's worst fear was McGonagall telling her that she failed everything!"
Albus smile faded slightly as the portraits all roared with laughter. Failure wasn't anything to laugh about… Albus only smiled an understanding, sad smile. He knew what failure meant to Hermione and to others like her who always tried so hard only to know that they failed in the end. He knew that feeling all too well, after all, how hard had he had to work to try and make up for all his mistakes? He understood how painful and terrifying it must've felt for her… it certainly was for him.
*Flashback*
Albus was sitting at a weather-old desk in his bedroom with Gellert Grindelwald sitting there right beside him. Intelligent and cunning, and undoubtedly ambitious—Gellert made sure that every decision he had ever made was calculated, specific, and thorough in every way so that there was no flaws.
"Wizards are the ones who are born with magical powers," he said to Albus as they went over a map of England. "That alone proves that we are superior. We have the ability to achieve greatness, Albus. Don't you understand? As wizards, we were meant to reign supreme over Muggles, Squibs, Mudblo… Muggle-borns and all the rest who are beneath us. I assure you, us taking control is what is best for this world! We can create a world where wizards wouldn't have to hide any longer!"
He smiled serenely at him when Albus didn't say anything.
"What good as come from coexisting with Muggles?" he asked. "Consider those weaklings equals? We should be forcing them into hiding!"
"But why must we go to such extremes?" Albus asked him slowly.
"For the greater good, Albus. It's all for the greater good," was his friend's simple answer.
There was no hint of hesitation in Gellert's response… almost as if he had been constantly rehearsing them… Albus looked over and studied the closed expression on Gellert's face.
Everything that Albus had ever hoped for was in his grasp… everything that he wanted—desired was possible if he joined Gellert's plan. And yet…
Albus turned his face away from his friend. There was a feeling in his gut that told him that something was wrong. Albus knew that many innocent people would be hurt by this plan, including his brother and sister. But some inexplicable force kept him from saying anything negative to Gellert, preventing him from standing up to these ideas that went against his own values.
"What say you?" Gellert asked with that bitter smile.
Albus was frozen where he sat as he looked long and hard at him. He finally answered:
"Yes."
The cemetery
"The Deathly Hallows?" Albus repeated with a smile as the two of them walked through Godric's Hollow cemetery to the grave.
"The Deathly Hallows," Gellert repeated with passion. "Look," he said and pointed to an odd-looking mark on the Peverell gravestone. At first glance, it could easily been mistaken for an eye. A symbol composed of a circle within a triangle with a line straight down the middle. "It's strange how all our hopes and dreams are connected by one simple mark. Obviously, the wand is the best out of all three. We will be able to use it to defeat everyone who stands in our way. But to become 'Master of Death' then we must covet all three times."
Albus pondered that thought. He had to agree that the Elder Wand was, without a doubt, the most powerful wand in all existence, and they would surely defeat any challenger in a duel. The Invisibility Cloak, seemed to be the weakest as anyone could learn the art of concealment. However, the object that particularly interested Albus was the Resurrection Stone. For once he found it then he would use it to bring back his mother and father… to remove all the responsibility of caring for Aberforth and Ariana.
Gellert grinned at him. "If we are going to fulfill all our goals then we will need them," he told him. "Once we find all three, we will be invincible. If we can successfully conquer death, then nothing will be able to stand in our way. It all starts as soon as we finish our plans. Don't you agree, Albus?"
Albus smiled back, his guilt being pushed to the back of his conscience. "I do indeed agree."
The House
Aberforth was back on his feet after Albus had forced himself between him and Gellert.
His brother was shaking, gasping for breath—still ready to fight even though he had just been tortured. "You want to want to fight?" he screamed at Gellert. "You want to duel? Fine, I'll more than willing take you down for that!" He whipped out his own wand as well.
Gellert lost his temper and slashed his wand through the air, a deep gash appeared on Aberforth's face as he sent a curse flying back at him. Albus stood, frozen and in shock as Gellert yelled out, "You brats will never understand! How could a school dropout like you possibly understand anything what we're planning? YOU? A brainless and brute child who can barely read. And her," he pointed his wand at Ariana who had just wandered up from her room and was pressed up against the wall in terror. In fury, Aberforth ran sideways until he put himself between Gellert and Ariana. "She can't even control her magic! What use is she?"
Gellert wasn't even himself anymore—his eyes had turned mad and was looking ready to kill. He pointed his wand at Aberforth's chest.
"NO!" Albus yelled and jumped in. He had to fight back; to fight the man he thought was his best friend—he had to protect his brother.
Gellert stared at him in astonishment when he had pulled his own wand on him. "Albus," he said gravely. "You're making a huge mistake. Are you really willing to throw away everything? All we planned for the greater good? And for what? Him?" he pointed to his brother.
Albus couldn't say a single word—his hand was shaking as he kept his wand pointed at him. Albus understood, what he was doing. He knew what the greater good was all about because he had helpt to create it. His brain was telling him one thing… his heart quite another.
All he knew for sure was that he was seeing a part of Gellert that he had never seen before and he didn't like what he saw.
He couldn't remember much of what happened after that except that it was an all-out war.
Jets of bright light flew every which way when all three boys started to duel. Flashes of light that half blinded them, explosions were sounded off as curses met in mid-air; everything that was in sight was either blasted into pieces or set on fire. Ariana was screaming as she slid down to the floor and stayed helplessly still, blinded by her own tears and covering her ears to try and block out the shouts and noise. There was no sense of direction or sensation of what was reality anymore.
Albus wasn't sure what had happened, except that Ariana suddenly stood up… he remembered seeing her scared face as she ran forward towards them… and then the next second…
He screamed out curse, not even remembering what kind of spell that it had been, and suddenly the largest blast of all sounded as three curses met in midair. The force of the collision caused a great explosion and brought down the ceiling above them. Albus dove aside and hit the floor hard—he tasted blood as he closed his eyes and covered his head… hearing the sounds of the house being torn apart.
Praying that it would stop… that it would hurry up and end…
And then it did.
The sounds of the caving in roof stopped… only the occasional tinkling of broken title pieces and splintered wood falling from the destroyed second floor was left. Otherwise, it was complete silence.
The smoke had cleared as Albus slowly got up. He coughed and looked around, trying desperately to see what had happened. That was when he heard it. Aberforth screamed out and Albus spun around to see that Aberforth was cradling a body in his arms.
Ariana was lying as limp as a rag doll in Aberforth's arms… her long blond hair was spread about her almost like a fan… her beautiful bright blue eyes… were faded and lifeless as they stared at him… blaming him for what had happened…
And Gellert Grindelwald was nowhere to be found.
Albus's wand slipped from his numb fingers and fell to the cracked floor with a loud clatter. He stared into those dead eyes… eyes that he knew would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.
*End of Flashback*
It had been many years since that day… and he still often had nightmares about it. As his punishment for his foolishness, not a single day had passed had he not thought of his sister and of Grindelwald. He could've easily found a way to stop those thoughts from haunting him… but he decided that he deserved to be punished.
Dexter's voice suddenly interrupted his memories and brought him back to the present. He forced himself to hear his words. "Oh, they ran into Fudge on the stairs. I don't think it went very well."
"Oh? And what happened?" Albus asked, not sure if he would like the answer.
"They just talked. About Buckbeak of course. But they're outraged that Fudge was certain that the Hippogriff is going to be killed. Ron was complaining how they even had an axe ready," he told him with a shake of the head. "Well, I have to agree with him when he said that this isn't justice."
Albus sighed as he nodded grimly. "I'll hear about the verdict soon. We can only hope that Fudge will do his job for once."
*Later*
Albus read the short message from Hagrid—a letter that was smudged with tears and was shaking so badly that he could barely read anything. Telling him that they had lost the appeal and Buckbeak was going to be killed at sundown. He sent a quick letter back to him, telling him how sorry he was and that he wished to be there for him. Albus sighed, wishing that there was more he could've done. He watched owl fly back to Hagrid's hut when Everard appeared and said, "They want to go down and be with him."
"By 'they' I'm assuming that you're talking about Harry, Ron, and Hermione?" Albus asked sadly, not in the mood for any news.
"Who else?" he demanded grimly. "They just got a letter from Hagrid telling them that Buckbeak's history at sundown. They're going to sneak out so that they be there with him until Fudge and the others arrive."
"I see," Albus sighed as he continued to look down onto the grounds.
"And I notice, though I'm not surprised, that you chose not to do anything about it," Phineas snapped irritably from his painting.
"I think Hagrid needs them," Albus answered simply. "And please don't talk to me right now. I need some quiet… some time to think."
*Later*
The sun was setting just as he was pulling on his cloak. He took one last look at the grounds that were glowing from the fading sun. "DUMBLEDORE!" he heard a shout. Albus looked up to see Dexter was waving at him—trying to get his attention. He then proceeded to tell him that he saw the trio go down and then go down again.
"What?" Albus asked bewildered, certain that he heard wrong.
"Just like I said," Dexter said quickly. "I saw the three of them cover themselves with the cloak and leave, but then I saw Harry and Hermione following them. AGAIN! They came out of the broom cupboard and followed themselves down the grounds. It's that Time-Turner's magic!"
"What was that I remember hearing that Granger would never use that Time-Turner for anything but her classes?" Phineas asked loudly. "You can't trust kids to do anything right can you? Why you all fool yourselves into thinking otherwise, I'll never know… and another thing…"
He went on like that for awhile, but Albus wasn't listening as he thought about what he had just learned. He was deeply concerned. He knew that if they were caught, then they would be in even more trouble than ever. They weren't just breaking a simple school rule this time—this was the Wizarding law…
He had to do something… he quickly went down to the Great Hall to where Fudge and the others were waiting. With a dark look at Fudge, he led the way down to Hagrid's hut—taking as much time as he dared; while keeping his eyes open. While they took the slow walk down to the hut, he pondered what on earth had been going through those kid's minds when they thought of this. He knew that those three were willing to do anything to help their friends… but what were they thinking?
Once or twice he thought he saw something move on the very outskirts of the forest, but didn't try to look more closely in case the others noticed.
They had arrived at Hagrid's hut, and he knocked, hoping that the trio wasn't still inside. A few seconds later, Hagrid—looked petrified as he opened the door and let them in.
"Where is the beast?" Macnair demanded as he glanced out the window to see the Hippogriff tied out there.
"Out — outside," Hagrid croaked and Albus gently laid his hand on one of Hagrid's trembling arms.
"It'll be alright, Hagrid," he whispered kindly to him.
"We — er — have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, You're supposed to listen too, that's procedure-"
Macnair walked away from the window, and Albus was able to get a better view of Buckbeak.
As Fudge's voice started again, Albus saw him. He saw Harry darted out from behind a tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin patch, and approached Buckbeak carefully. Albus looked back to the three Ministry officials and knew that he had to keep them inside until they were able to get Buckbeak out of sight.
"It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the Hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called the condemned, shall he executed on the sixth of June at sundown—"
Albus nodded to Fudge and the others as he continued to pat Hagrid's arm in a consoling way… but his eyes were still fixed on the window as he watched Harry bow. He was pleased to see Buckbeak return the bow and then stand up as Harry began to fumble with the knot of rope tying Buckbeak to the fence.
"… sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair as witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here…"
Albus let Hagrid slump over to the table and began to write his name with a hand that was shaking so badly that he almost tore the parchment in half. While they were all focused on him, Albus watched Harry throw all his weight onto the rope, but Buckbeak had dug in his front feet—not wanting to go.
'Come on, Buckbeak,' Albus thought in worry as Hagrid had finished writing. 'You have to trust them. I don't know how long I can keep them in here.'
"Well, let's get this over with. Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside —?" Fudge asked him.
"No," Hagrid said quickly, tears falling down his already red and swollen face. "I — I wan' ter be with him… I don' wan' him ter be alone —"
Albus could feel his heart quickening as he looked back to the window to see that Harry was still tugging hard on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. Finally, the Hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably and towards the forest. But they were still in plain view of Hagrid's door.
"One moment, please, Macnair," he said quickly. "You need to sign too." He reminded them all. Macnair… whose hand had just reached for the doorknob stopped and he came back, looking irritable. As he signed his name with a flourish, Albus watched and saw Hermione's white face was sticking out from behind a tree.
He didn't know what she was saying to them, but Albus saw them reached the trees… Hermione darting out to help make Buckbeak move faster… at last, they were out of view and Albus almost sighed with relief.
"Let's get this over with," Macnair snarled as he headed back and forced Hagrid's back door open with a bang. There was a stunned silence as Macnair looked around at the apparently empty grounds. The rest of them followed him and for a moment no one was able to speak.
"Where is it? Where is the beast?"
"It was tied here!" shouted Macnair furiously, pointing to the fence. "I saw it! Just here!"
"How extraordinary," Albus said trying hard not to laugh; his eyes flickered to the forest.
"Beaky!" said Hagrid huskily as he took several steps forward, his knees trembling as if he hardly dared to hope.
There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe and Albus nearly jumped when he heard it. Macnair, who had always had a bad temper, swung it into the fence in anger. As Hagrid began to sob tears of happiness.
"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"
Even if they had been alone, Albus didn't think that he could ever tell Hagrid what had happened. He glanced back at the forest, making plans to speak to those two later on and decide what to do with Buckbeak after he gave them both a long lecture.
"Someone untied him!" Macnair was snarling as he went to the look at the fence. "We should search the grounds, the forest."
Sensing danger, Albus said quickly, "Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" Albus thought that a couple ribs were going to crack from trying not to laugh at the look of fury on his face. "Search the skies, if you will… Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy."
"O' — o' course, Professor," said Hagrid, who sounded weak with happiness and turned back to the hut. "Come in, come in…"
He followed Hagrid inside, where his old friend broke down completely and started crying from happiness. Albus could only smile and say, "You see, Hagrid? There's always hope."
(Finally done! Hope you like this chapter! I think one maybe two more chapters that talk about year 3. Then we'll move onto year 4. Sorry for taking so long, but I'm afraid that the computer was infected with a bad virus and I lost a lot of my work. Anyway, thank you for your patience and again, thank you.)
