08/1/23

Happy New Year!

AN: Going by my feelings, and the one single review from the Author's Note by Snowy Monday asking - 'What month I should set this story to be at?' : The story will be continuing to be in February, rather than April.

I'm not sure where it will go, but I hope you will all still stick with me and like it.

P.S There will not be any Jack / Elisa in this chapter - sorry.

The next day was Monday, so everyone was up early to go get some breakfast before heading off to lessons.

By the time February comes around, everyone (Muggle-borns partially) are used to hundreds of owls coming in near the end of the meal to deliver post, and only look up from their eating if they're expecting something or when a night bird lands on the table in front of them.

Having been told by Neville that the Ministry takes their time with post, and since they only sent the letter to his grandmother last night, Jack wasn't really expecting anything, but looked up when there was a flutter of wings and a proud smart looking owl was on the table before him, an envelope with a wax-seal of the letter 'M' in it's beak.

"That was fast," he said taking it and giving some of his bacon to the bird as thanks, before it flew off.

"What's that, Jack?" Harry asked looking at the letter.

Not answering him, Jack opened it and read:

'Dear Mr. Frost,

Your presence is required at the hearing of the trial for the Hippogriff 'Buckbeak' for your statement on what happened on the date on Thursday 2nd of September.

Please come to the Ministry in London, on April 20th to give your statement and please bring any evidence you have.

From ...'

There was a list of boring fancy names, but Jack didn't read them out.

Looking up he saw everyone around him staring at him.

"What?" he asked folding the letter away "The good news now is that Hagrid won't be alone in all this."

"Jack, children are never allowed to go to Minstery trials unless they're being accused of something themselves," Neville said checking the letter himself.

"Yeah, and you get a whole day off school..." Ron said moping a little.

"Good thing I'm smart enough to miss a whole day then, isn't it?" Jack said aiming this at Ron.

There was minor laughs and everyone getting back to their morning meals when Harry noticed he got a letter too.

"Um, thank you," he said to the owl not sure who it was from as normally Hedwig was the one who delivered his post.

The brown owl fluttered his wings and flew off.

Harry opened his letter and read it.

"It's from Hagrid."

"What's it say?" Ron asked looking over his friends shoulder.

"He's inviting us to tea around six, tonight," Harry said looking to Jack to show he was included. "But he says to wait for him in the entrance hall."

"He probably wants to hear all about Black!" Ron said proudly, his head looking just a little bit bigger than before, in Jack's opinion.

That night the three boys and Baby Tooth went down to the entrance hall to meet up with Hagrid.

Jack had invited Neville to come, but he politely said no, saying he would stay behind to try and cheer up Hermione some more.

Hagrid was already there waiting for them.

"All right, Hagrid!" said Ron. "S'pose you want to hear about Saturday night, do you?"

"I've already heard all abou' it," said Hagrid, opening the front doors to let them all out.

"Ha!" Jack said pleased Ron got shot down before he could even say anything.

"Oh," said Ron slightly put out it seemed.

The first thing they saw when they got to Hagrid's cabin was Buckbeak stretched out on top of Hagrid's patchwork quilt by the fire, his enormous wings folded tight to his body enjoying a large plate of ferrets.

Smiling Jack went over to him, bowing, when the Hippogriff looked up, and only moving forward to pet him when he bowed back.

Baby Tooth was hiding behind Jack as she was a little nervous to be around the creature that hurt her friend.

"What are those for Hagrid?" Harry's voice said making Jack look over to where everyone was, but being careful not to turn his back on the beast in front of him.

There was a (rather horrible looking) hairy brown suit and an equally horrible yellow and orange tie with hanging from the top of Hagrid's wardrobe door.

"Buckbeak's case against the Committee fer the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures," said Hagrid. "Only a couple'a months away now, but Hermione suggested I find that out to see if it was alright."

Upon hearing Hermione's name, Ron just huffed a little, but Harry looked unsure of what to say not realizing that Buckbeak's hearing was so close, despite the letter Jack got that morning.

"Learnt how to not get all tongue tied yet, Hagrid?" Jack asked coming back to them.

"Well, not quite, Jack, But I'm learnin'," he said proudly, before turning to Ron and Harry. "Now, there is a reason why I called you two here. And that's to have a small talk about something."

"What about?" Harry asked taking a sip of tea.

"Hermione," Hagrid answered.

"What about her? OW!" Ron cried out when Jack punched him in the arm, giving him a glare.

"She's in a right state, that's what. She's bin coming down ter visit me a lot since Christmas. Bin feelin' lonely." Hagrid explained, aiming it mainly at Ron and Harry, not caring that Jack had just hit the red-head.

"Firs' yeh weren' talking to her because of the Firebolt, now yer not talking to her because her cat –"

"Ate Scabbers!" Ron cut him off, earning another punch from Jack, but Hagrid didn't seem to mind that either as he calmly said:

"Because her cat acted like all cats do," Hagrid finished his sentence. "She's cried a fair few times on her visits to see me yeh know. Going through a rough time she is, taken on more than she can handle."

"Yeah. That's exactly what I said to her," Jack said smiling as he politely hid his a rock-hard rock cake as he pretended to eat it into his bag, while getting 'Husssshed' by Baby Tooth.

"Still, she and Jack have been finding time to help me. Recon with a bit more Buckbeak might stand a chance."

"That depends who will be there fighting against him," Jack said thinking of Mr Malfoy.

"Yeah, well we'll just have to hope, it will be enough." Hagrid said looking over to Buckbeak smiling at him.

"Hagrid, we should've helped out too – sorry," Harry began but was cut off by Jack.

"There's still time to help you know, only I think me and Hermione have found everything we could in books, if only there was someone we could ask who knows magical creatures." he said hinting but didn't think any of them noticed as Hagrid said:

"I'm not blaming yeh!" he said, waving Harry's words away. "Gawd knows yeh've had enough ter be getting on with what with Quidditch an' everything. But even so, I thought you two'd vaule yer friend more'n broomsticks or rats. Tha's all."

Harry and Ron exchanged uncomfortable looks.

"Was real upset when Black nearly stabbed yeh, Ron. Her heart's in the right place, Hermione, and you two not talking to her."

"To be fair, she's not talking to them either because she's using up all her energy for her lessons." Jack said, once again getting 'Husssshed' by Baby.

"If she'd just get rid of that cat I'd speak to her again – Ow!" he said once more, turning to Jack who had just hit him over the head "Will you stop that?!"

"No. You see this is called 'Punishment Learning'." Jack said calming playing with invisible glasses to make himself seem smarter. "When a being, be it a dog, a cat, a horse... a human, does something wrong," he explained. "The Punisher, grabs onto, hits or sprites water at them, to let them know they did something wrong. And for horses, at least, won't stop until they work out the only to make them stop is to calm down."

"What's any of that got to do with me?" Ron asked frowning.

"He's saying," Harry said calmly. "That he's punishing you, for still being rude and forgetting your manners about Hermione, and will stop 'punishing you' once you learn to think before you speak."

This got a nod from both Jack and Baby Tooth, proud that Harry understood.

"It used to be how teachers punished students in Muggle schools," Harry added to Ron's confused look "They had a whole load of punishments they gave to students for loads of thing, even a misspelling of something was some form of punishment. And then there was a punishment if you were left handed. You would get beaten and then forced to learn how to write and do things right handed."

"Why?" Ron asked not understanding this.

"Because old-time Muggles believed the left side of your body is the 'evil' side," Jack said using his spooky voice for the word 'evil'. "Which, strangely, I don't understand because the left side is where your heart is, right?"

This got a nod from Harry, the only one who seemed to understand what was being talked about.

"Anyway: She bought Crookshanks with her own money, brought everything he needed, and loves him. Unless something big happens, I don't see any chance of her abandoning him, Ron." Jack said.

At that point, Hagrid changed the subject and for the rest of the visit, they discussed the improved chances of Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup.

At 9:00pm Hagrid lead them back up to the castle.

o0o

As they got to the common room there was bunch of students in front of the notice board.

"Hogsmeade weekend coming up." Ron said as he read the note "What you recon?" he asked Jack and Harry quietly as they went to sit down.

"Well I am banned for the rest of the school year, remember?" Jack said in an almost proud voice. "Besides even if I went I would be spending it with Elisa and not you anyway."

"Oh, yeah," Ron said forgetting all that, but quickly turned his attention to Harry.

"Well, Filch hasn't done anything about the passage way into Honeydukes..." Harry said more quietly.

"Harry!" a voice said to the right of them.

From behind a tower of books, Hermione moved some so they could speak face to face.

"Harry, if you go into Hogsmeade again, I'll tell Professor McGonagall about that map!" she hissed.

"Can you hear something, you gu- OW!" Ron tried to say before glaring at Jack, who was whistling innocently, and rubbing his arm.

"Ron, how can you let him go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you! I mean it, I'll tell –"

"So now you're trying to get Harry expelled!" Ron said furiously, getting out of Jack's radius before adding: "Haven't you done enough damage this year?"

Hermione opened her mouth to continue her argument, but with a soft hiss, Crookshanks leapt onto her lap, glaring at Ron himself.

After a frightened look at Ron, Hermione gathered her things and went upstairs.

"Girls..." Ron said in an uncaring way.

Jack was about to get up and 'punish' Ron again when surprisingly, Baby Tooth started pecking at him, squeaking at him, and waving her tiny finger at him.

The disturbance in the room got everyone's attention and Percy, Fred and George came over to rescue their brother from the little fairy.

"What's going on?" Percy asked one they rescued Ron from Baby's fury.

"Well, once again, Head-boy Percy," Jack said firmly, Baby in his hands her back to the boy she had just told off. "You youngest brother was being a dick, to Hermione, and then possibly without meaning to, I don't know, said that all girls were like her: Causing damage by telling teachers about things that are possibly dangerous, or harming, only to keep their friends safe."

This got a lot of death-glares from all of the lioness's in the room.

"Add that to how he's been... metaphorically harming her with the words he dished out while he, Harry and I were just down at Hagrid's for tea," Jack added "I think that one last comment made her patience with him snap. Hence why she was saying so many horrible things. You're lucky your brothers stopped her when they did," he whispered to Ron "Cause she was about to lay a curse on you for your mistreatment to the feminine sex."

"Ha! Like a little fairy like her could do that," someone on the other side of the room said.

Jack looked and saw it was the big boy the Twin's warned him about Cormac McLaggen.

"Well, we'll let her do it to you instead and see what happens then, shall we?" Jack asked a smirk on his face "I've heard the curse makes one lose their family jewels if you get what I mean..."

There was a pause before fear came to Ron's face and the rest of the boys (minus the first years as they were too young to understand) shuddered a little.

"HA! Yeah! Go Baby!" some of the girls cheered the little fairy.

"And for your information," Jack said turning back to Percy. "A fairy needs to be, really mad to lay a curse like that."

Giving a silent nod, the older Weasley grabbed Ron by the shoulder and lead him away upstairs to have a private word with him.

Once they were gone, slowly the room settled down again, a few of the girls coming over to congratulate Baby Tooth, despite her not actually setting the curse into action.

"What was happening before all that... happened?" Fred asked taking Hermione's now open seat.

"We saw the notice of the Hogsmeade weekend and Ron was asking if I was thinking on going." Harry said calmly and quietly. "Then Hermione said if I do, she would tell Professor McGonagall about the map."

"Oh..." Fred said nodding in slight understanding.

"And I take it Ron didn't take this very well?" George asked, already knowing the answer but felt it should be asked.

"Nope." Jack and Harry said together.

"Well the choice if yours Harry," Fred said calmly, fingertips touching before himself as if thinking about something "Don't let our brother push you into it."

"However, from what we hear, you haven't really seen much of the town yet." George said in slight disappointment "Have you at least been in Zonko's?"

Taking a moment to think himself, Harry said agreed he would try and go, but he was going to take his invisibility cloak