Chapter 289 Buckbeak And The New Plan
Evan and Hermione approached the fireplace and listened to Ron attempting to reassure Harry.
"You'll be fine!" said Ron. "You have a Firebolt!"
"Yes," nodded Harry, his stomach twisting. "I have a Firebolt, but Malfoy..."
Harry didn't seem very sure. Before Evan and Hermione could speak, Wood suddenly stood up and shouted, "Team, to bed!"
It seemed to be a signal that was a relief for everyone.
Suddenly, the Common Room was emptied. Not to disturb the rest of the players, the other students also returned early to their respective dormitories.
Evan saw Hermione return to her dormitory. He sat alone in the vacant Common Room for a while, his thoughts shifting from the upcoming Quidditch final to the Acromantulas.
Just as he was pondering that, the door of the Common Room swung open.
Colin entered panting from outside, holding a thick stack of forms in his hand.
"What do you have there?" Evan asked curiously.
"About elective courses for next year, you know, third-year students need to add some lessons," Colin replied, pulling out a form and handing it to Evan. "I just came back from Professor McGonagall's office. Originally, she planned to come and announce it. But considering tomorrow is the Quidditch final, she asked me to bring the forms and promotional materials first."
He went to put up a big notice on the board by the fireplace, and Evan saw that the first thing on it was an introduction to Divination class.
After providing information about Professor Trelawney and the Divination class, the notice displayed a huge black dog standing in the mist, like Sirius's animagus form, symbolizing the ominous sign of misfortune and calamity.
If he could, Evan simply didn't want to waste time on this class.
But thinking about those unpleasant prophecies, he had to reconsider and decided to approach Professor Trelawney as closely as planned, to be able to follow the clues and deal with the vague future that had been altered by his own hands.
"What courses are you going to choose?" Colin said. "I just briefly checked them. There are many choices to consider. Professor McGonagall suggested we think carefully."
"I haven't thought about it yet, but I must take the Divination class," Evan replied, picking up the quill from the table and marking in front of Divination class.
"You have chosen the Divination class!" exclaimed Colin, astonished. "I thought, like Hermione, you always thought Professor Trelawney was a fraud."
"Most of the time, but it's undeniable that in rare cases, she makes true prophecies, which turn out to be extremely important. That's why I chose this class," explained Evan. "And I must admit that in this class, it's very easy to get high grades. Whether you actually see the future or not, just keep predicting that you will suffer some misfortune. Professor Trelawney likes to see this aspect."
"I had no idea, but I know that Harry has also chosen Divination. Since both of you have chosen it, it must be alright," said Colin, also marking on his form and asking with uncertainty, "By the way, what else did Harry choose?"
Looking at him, it seemed like he planned to choose the same classes as Harry. Although they were very familiar with each other, Colin remained Harry's most devoted follower among all the young wizards at Hogwarts, and in certain aspects, even more enthusiastic and persistent than Ginny.
"Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid is the professor for this class. He always insists on bringing some peculiar magical creatures into the classroom."
"Yes, I remember!" exclaimed Colin suddenly raising his voice. "Hagrid and his monster friend, the Hippogriff named Buckbeak. I read the articles that you and Hermione wrote, and at the beginning of the semester, he gave Malfoy a good lesson and did what he had always wanted to do."
"The Hippogriff!" There was a flash of light in Evan's mind.
Colin continued, saying, "Buckbeak is noble, but I hope Hagrid doesn't bring him to the classroom. He looks intimidating. I've read in books that ancient wizards used this flying creature for travel, and in medieval Europe, there was a legend of someone riding a Hippogriff..."
Colin began to recount a legend he had heard as a child about creatures like Hippogriffs that roamed in the Muggle world.
Evan was certain that Colin was confusing the Hippogriff with the Griffin, as the creatures in these legends were all Griffins, beings with lion bodies, sharp claws, eagle heads, and wings.
It was generally believed that the Griffin was the result of a dangerous magical experiment by ancient wizards and was far more perilous than the Hippogriff.
In recent years, through the research of magical biologists, another new claim emerged, suggesting that the Griffin is simply a hybrid descendant of eagles and lions, while Hippogriffs are hybrids of Griffins and horses.
However, the credibility of this assertion is quite low. It can be seen in historical documents that the Griffin had always held horses in contempt, making their mating unlikely.
There was even a saying in the medieval magical world: Do not attempt to mate a Griffin and a horse, as trying to pair two incompatible beings.
Therefore, as offspring from the combination of both, the existence of the Hippogriff itself is also a symbol of miracles or love.
All of this is mere academic speculation. There is virtually no living Griffin in the magical world to prove it. This magical beast, a creature of great renown in wizarding history, had long been extinct and is only known in grand myths and legends.
Evan did not need to discuss this with Colin. They were not conducting academic research. But Colin reminded him of Buckbeak, and how he could use his assistance to fly to the Lair of Aragog.
There were many shortcomings in the broom, such as its inconvenience to carry, the unstable performance due to poor handling, the inability to safely leave after killing Aragog, and more. Riding Buckbeak posed no problems at all.
The Hippogriff possessed a high level of intelligence and could grasp the language and expressions of a wizard. It could take Evan to the Acromantula territory, wait above, and then descend to carry him away once he was finished.
Furthermore, Buckbeak himself had a certain level of attack power and could aid Evan. In the battle against the Acromantulas, Evan wouldn't have to worry about the Hippogriff while fighting.
The more Evan contemplated replacing the broom with the Hippogriff, Buckbeak, the more feasible the idea appeared.
If it wasn't too late, he would have liked to try it now.