The events in this chapter occurred almost exactly 30 YEARS AGO. Fuck me, I'm old! I bet the majority of people reading this weren't even alive on that day, yet I remember it like it was yesterday. How time flies eh?

We stared at him.

'It's what my mum does whenever someone's upset,' Ron muttered, shrugging.

At last, after many more assurances of help, with a steaming mug of tea in front of him, Hagrid blew his nose on a handkerchief the size of a tablecloth and said, 'Yer right. I can' afford to go ter pieces. Gotta pull meself together …'

Fang the boarhound came timidly out from under the table and laid his head on Hagrid's knee.

I've not bin meself lately' said Hagrid, stroking Fang with one hand and mopping his face with the other. 'Worried abou' Buckbeak, an' no one likin' me classes –'

'We do like them!' said Hermione, though I could tell she was lying. This made me unsure as to if I really wanted to take his classes next year.

'Yeah, they're great!' said Ron, crossing his fingers under the table. 'Er – how are the Flobberworms?'

'Dead,' said Hagrid gloomily. 'Too much lettuce.'

'Oh, no!' said Ron, his lip twitching.

'An' them Dementors make me feel ruddy terrible an' all,' said Hagrid, with a sudden shudder. 'Gotta walk past 'em ev'ry time I want a drink in the Three Broomsticks. 'S like bein' back in Azkaban –' He fell silent, gulping his tea.

We watched him breathlessly. We had never heard Hagrid talk about his brief spell in Azkaban before.

After a brief pause, Hermione said timidly 'Is it awful in there, Hagrid?'

'Yeh've no idea,' said Hagrid quietly. 'Never bin anywhere like it. Thought I was goin' mad. Kep' goin' over horrible stuff in me mind … the day I got expelled from Hogwarts … day me Dad died …day I had ter let Norbert go …'

His eyes filled with tears. Norbert was the baby dragon Hagrid had once won in a game of cards.

'Yeh can' really remember who yeh are after a while. An' yeh can' see the point o' livin' at all. I used ter hope I'd jus' die in me sleep … when they let me out, it was like bein' born again, ev'ry-thin' came floodin' back, it was the bes' feelin' in the world. Mind, the Dementors weren't keen on lettin' me go.'

'But you were innocent!' said Hermione.

Hagrid snorted, as did I.

"They don't give a shit, Hermione!" I said

"Yeah. Long as they've got a couple o' hundred humans stuck there with 'em, so they can leech all the happiness out of 'em, they couldn't care less who's guilty an' who's not.' Hagrid went quiet for a moment, staring into his tea. Then he said quietly, 'Thought o' jus' letting Buckbeak go … tryin' ter make him fly away … but how d'yeh explain ter a Hippogriff it's gotta go inter hidin'? An' – an' I'm scared o' breakin' the law …' He looked up at us, tears leaking down his face again. 'I don' ever want ter go back ter Azkaban.

The trip to Hagrid's, though far from fun, had nevertheless had the effect we had hoped. Though Harry had by no means forgotten about Black, he couldn't brood constantly on revenge if he wanted to help Hagrid win his case against the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. We went to the library next day, and returned to the empty common room laden with books which might help prepare a defence for Buckbeak. The four of us sat in front of the roaring fire, slowly turning the pages of dusty volumes about famous cases of marauding beasts, speaking occasionally when they ran across something relevant.

'Here's something … there was a case in 1722 … but the Hippogriff was convicted – urgh, look what they did to it, that's disgusting –' said Harry

'This might help, look – a Manticore savaged someone in 1296, and they let the Manticore off – oh – no, that was only because everyone was too scared to go near it …' Ron added

"Someone was found with a dragon-basilisk hybrid in 1533, bloody hell look what happened, that makes Nick's severed head look handsome..." I said.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the castle, the usual magnificent Christmas decorations had been put up, despite the fact that hardly any of the students remained to enjoy them. Thick streamers of holly and mistletoe were strung along the corridors, mysterious lights shone from inside every suit of armour and the Great Hall was filled with its usual twelve Christmas trees, glittering with golden stars. A powerful and delicious smell of cooking pervaded the corridors, and by Christmas Eve, it had grown so strong that even Scabbers poked his nose out of the shelter of Ron's pocket to sniff hopefully at the air.

On Christmas morning, Hermione woke me up by splashing some water over my head.

"What the hell Hermione!"

"Oh come on, what's the point of staying in our own dormitories by ourselves, I've come to give you your present!"

I cast a drying spell on myself and the bed, and Hermione handed me her present.

"Thanks for the book by the way, I've been interested in getting that Advanced European Arithmancy Guide for a good while now!"

"You're welcome" I told her, still a bit annoyed by how she'd woken me up.

I opened her present first. It was a watch.

"Thanks, but I've already got one" I said, pointing to it on my bedside table.

"Yeah but that's a bit old and battered isn't it, I thought you deserved a new one"

"True" I replied, picking them both up to compare them. "The old one used to belong to Mum. You know what, thank you, it's always nice to get new stuff to wear, it's a rarity for me"

I then opened the rest of my presents, which contained the usual forest green jumper from Mum, along with her mince pies. There was an anonymously wrapped bottle of a rather strange new drink, which claimed to be a cross between Butterbeer and non alcoholic Firewhisky. When I took a sip of it though, I began breathing fire, and it took an Aquamenti charm from Hermione to make it stop.

"This has to be Fred and George's Christmas joke. Surely this isn't a real product"

I looked at the bottle more carefully and found, written near the bottom "Merry Christmas, F and G"

Demelza had sent me a guide to Icelandic Quidditch teams, which she'd found in a shop there, and Amy a Quaffle alarm clock, which you could set up with various Quidditch team songs, so I set it to the Harpies anthem, Pride of Wales. She also included a letter explaining that Sarah had won her emancipation case, so was not there with her.

Luna had given me tickets to a festival of magical creatures, taking place in the Summer of 1994. Her letter explained that she was very excited to attend this, as they would be exhibiting several of her fantasy creatures.

Hermione and I then left to go to Harry and Ron's dormitory, Hermione taking Crookshanks out of her dorm along the way. We heard Harry and Ron laughing about something as we entered.

'What're you two laughing about?' said Hermione

'Don't bring him in here!' said Ron, hurriedly snatching Scabbers from the depths of his bed and stowing him in his pyjama pocket. But Hermione wasn't listening. She dropped Crookshanks onto Seamus's empty bed and stared, open-mouthed, at the Firebolt. So was I. Harry had the best broom in the world! How on earth had this happened?!

'Oh, Harry! Who sent you that?' Hermione asked

'No idea,' said Harry. 'There wasn't a card or anything with it.'

Hermione then acted in a rather strange manner. Instead of being excited, she bit her lip.

'What's the matter with you?' said Ron.

"Yeah, Hermione, this is amazing!" I added

'I don't know,' said Hermione slowly, 'but it's a bit odd, isn't it? I mean, this is the best broom in the world, incredibly expensive. Who'd send Harry something like that without telling him who they are?"

'Who cares?' said Ron, impatiently. 'Listen, Harry, can I have a go on it? Can I?

"Yeah, Harry, honestly, you need to let me try it, and defo before Ron!" I said

'I don't think anyone should ride that broom just yet!' said Hermione shrilly. We looked at her.

'What d'you think Harry's going to do with it – sweep the floor?' said Ron.

But before Hermione could answer, Crookshanks sprang from Seamus's bed, right at Ron's chest.

'GET – HIM – OUT – OF – HERE!' Ron bellowed, as Crookshanks's claws ripped his pyjamas and Scabbers attempted a wild escape over his shoulder. Ron seized Scabbers by the tail and aimed a misjudged kick at Crookshanks which hit the trunk at the end of Harry's bed, knocking it over and causing Ron to hop on the spot, howling with pain. Crookshanks's fur suddenly stood on end. A shrill, tinny whistling was filling the room. The Pocket Sneakoscope had become dislodged from some socks and was whirling and gleaming on the floor.

'I forgot about that!' Harry said, bending down and picking up the Sneakoscope. 'I never wear those socks if I can help it …'

The Sneakoscope whirled and whistled in his palm. Crookshanks was hissing and spitting at it.

'You'd better take that cat out of here, Hermione,' said Ron furiously; he was sitting on Harry's bed nursing his toe. 'Can't you shut that thing up?' he added to Harry, as Hermione strode out of the room, Crookshanks's yellow eyes still fixed maliciously on Ron.

Harry stuffed the Sneakoscope back inside the socks and threw it back into his trunk. All that could be heard now were Ron's stifled moans of pain and rage. Scabbers was huddled in Ron's hands. It had been a while since I had seen him out of Ron's pocket, and I was unpleasantly surprised to see that Scabbers, once so fat, was now very skinny; patches of fur seemed to have fallen out, too.

'He's not looking too good, is he?' Harry said.

'It's stress!' said Ron. 'He'd be fine if that stupid great furball left him alone!'

"What I'm wondering about" I said "is why Hermione thinks no-one should ride this broom yet" pointing at the Firebolt.