Chapter 58: Revenge And Buckbeak

After hearing the story in the pub, Harry left us without saying a word. He didn't want us to walk with him back to Honeydukes, so we headed over to the carriages, not really interested in seeing anything else anymore.

Once again we got a carriage to ourselves. We climbed in, and Hermione let out all of her emotions.

"Oh Ron, can you believe it? Can you believe a word of it? Sirius was...and he..."

"I know." I said, looking at my chilled hands. "How could he have done such a thing? He was Harry's father's best mate. It just doesn't seem real."

"It does make sense now," said Hermione. "the reasoning behind him wanting to kill Harry."

"No, it doesn't." I said, feeling somewhat skeptical. "He could have killed Harry when he was a baby. Instead, he gave him to Hagrid to save. Why do that then, and now want to kill him?"

"Maybe he felt some sort of guilt in trying to kill a baby." Hermione suggested. "And now that Harry is a teenager, he wants to have his chance."

"Sounds logical." I said, not wanting to hurt my head even more thinking about it. "Well, what we need to do now I watch out for Harry. You know how he gets with bad news."

I had learned last year that Harry was a broody person, and not very good about telling his true feelings about a situation. He had the nasty tendency of holding things in, instead of letting them out, and sometimes when he eventually did, it was like a volcano erupting.

Kind of like me sometimes.

Hermione and I watched Harry nervously all through dinner, not daring to talk about what we overheard, because Percy was sitting close by us. When we went upstairs to the crowded common room, we seen that Fred and George had set off half a dozen Dungbombs in a fit of end-of-term high spirits. Harry left, saying he wanted to go to the dorm.

After about ten minutes, Hermione and I went to check on him.

"Harry?" I said, peeking into the door.

Harry looked as if he were asleep, but I knew better. No way would he be napping while all that we had heard was swimming in his mind. Still, I closed the door to give him some more time.

We decided to leave the matter alone for the time being.

The next day, I woke up to find only Harry in our dorm. Everyone else had gone home.

I took a shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs. When I got to the common room, Hermione and her dumb cat were already there, with Hermione deep in homework. Only there was a lot of it. More than I have ever seen even a seventh year work on.

"What's all that there?" I asked.

"My over the break homework, of course." said Hermione, as if I should have known.

"All of that? Hermione, we don't have all of that to do!"

"I have more classes, remember?"

"You still haven't told me how you are doing all of this." I said, staring at the mountain of papers and books.

"Don't worry about it. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

I seen that this was going nowhere, so I quickly changed the subject.

"So, what are we gonna tell Harry?" I asked.

Hermione sighed. "Well, you know how he is probably thinking. He probably wants to seek revenge, you know."

"I don't blame him." I said, crossing my arms. "If it was my family, I would want to do the same."

"But is it the right thing to do, Ron? Be honest." said Hermione.

I slumped into the seat. I hated when she was right.

"No..." I pouted.

"Exactly. So we need to tell him not to go looking for him."

"I'm not sure I-"

"Ronald!"

"Fine! Merlin, woman, you're worse than my mum."

We spent the next hour trying to figure out the best way to talk to him about everything. About an hour later, Harry came down the stairs looking a right foul mess.

"Harry, you - you look terrible." said Hermione.

"Thanks. Where is everyone?" said Harry.

"Gone! It's the first day of the holidays, remember?" I said, watching Harry closely. "It's nearly lunchtime. I was going to come and wake you up in a minute."

Harry slumped into a chair next to the fire. Snow was still falling outside the windows. Crookshanks was spread out in front of the fire like a large, ginger rug.

Was it wrong that I wanted his tail to catch on fire?

"You really don't look well, you know." Hermione said, peering anxiously into Harry's face.

"I'm fine." said Harry.

"Harry, listen," said Hermione, exchanging a look with me, "you must be really upset about what we heard yesterday. But the thing is, you mustn't go doing anything stupid."

"Like what?" said Harry.

"Like trying to go after Black." I said sharply.

Harry just stared at us not saying anything.

"You won't, will you, Harry?" said Hermione.

"Because Black's not worth dying for." I said.

Harry looked at us as if we didn't get it.

"Do you know what I see and hear every time a Dementor gets too near me?"

Hermione and I shook our heads.

"I can hear my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort. And if you'd heard your mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldn't forget it in a hurry. And if you found out someone who was supposed to be a friend of hers betrayed her and sent Voldemort after her -"

"There's nothing you can do!" said Hermione, looking stricken. "The Dementors will catch Black and he'll go back to Azkaban and - and serve him right!"

"You heard what Fudge said. Black isn't affected by Azkaban like normal people are. It's not a punishment for him like it is for the others."

"So what are you saying?" I asked, feeling tense. "You want to - to kill Black or something?"

"Don't be silly," said Hermione in a panicky voice. "Harry doesn't want to kill anyone, do you, Harry?"

Harry didn't answer. Hermione looked fearfully at him.

"Malfoy knows." he said abruptly. "Remember what he said to me in Potions? 'If it was me, I'd hunt him down myself...I'd want revenge.'"

"You're going to take Malfoy's advice instead of ours?" I yelled furiously. "Listen...you know what Pettigrew's mother got back after Black had finished with him? Dad told me. The Order of Merlin, First Class, and Pettigrew's finger in a box. That was the biggest bit of him they could find. Black's a madman, Harry, and he's dangerous!"

"Malfoy's dad must have told him," said Harry, totally ignoring me. "He was right in Voldemort's inner circle -"

"Say You-Know-Who, will you?" I growled angrily.

"- so obviously, the Malfoys knew Black was working for Voldemort -"

"- and Malfoy would love to see you blown into about a million pieces, like Pettigrew! Get a grip. Malfoy's just hoping you'll get yourself killed before he has to play you at Quidditch. Don't be bloody stupid!" I yelled.

"Harry, please," said Hermione, her eyes starting to fill with tears, "Please be sensible. Black did a terrible, terrible thing, but d-don't put yourself in danger, it's what Black wants...Oh, Harry, you'd be playing right into Black's hands if you went looking for him. Your mum and dad wouldn't want you to get hurt, would they? They'd never want you to go looking for Black!"

"I'll never know what they'd have wanted, because thanks to Black, I've never spoken to them!" said Harry shortly.

There was a silence in which Crookshanks stretched, flexing his claws. Scabbers must have sensed him, because I felt him quiver in my pocket.

"Look," I said, trying to change the subject, "it's the holidays! It's nearly Christmas! Let's - let's go down and see Hagrid. We haven't visited him for ages!"

"No!" said Hermione quickly. "Harry isn't supposed to leave the castle, Ron!"

"Yeah, let's go," said Harry, sitting up, "and I can ask him how come he never mentioned Black when he told me all about my parents!"

"Or, orrrrr... we could have a game of chess." I suggested instead."Or Gobstones. Percy left a set -"

"No, let's visit Hagrid." said Harry firmly.

So Hermione and I reluctantly got our cloaks and set off through the portrait hole ("Stand and fight, you yellow-bellied mongrels!"), down through the empty castle and out through the oak front doors.

We made their way slowly down the lawn, making a shallow trench in the powdery snow, our socks and the hems of our cloaks soaked and freezing. Hagrid's cabin looked like an iced cake.

I knocked, but there was no answer.

"He's not out, is he?" said Hermione, who was shivering under her cloak.

I pressed ear to the door and heard noises.

"There's a weird noise. Listen...is that Fang?"

Harry and Hermione put their ears to the door too. It sounded like low, throbbing moans.

"Think we'd better go and get someone?" I asked nervously.

"Hagrid!" called Harry, thumping the door. "Hagrid, are you in there?"

There was a sound of heavy footsteps, then the door creaked open. Hagrid stood there with his eyes red and swollen, tears splashing down the front of his leather vest.

"You've heard?" he bellowed, and he flung himself onto Harry's neck. Harry, about to collapse under Hagrid's weight, was rescued by Hermione and I, who each seized Hagrid under an arm and heaved him back into the cabin. Hagrid allowed himself to be steered into a chair and slumped over the table, sobbing uncontrollably, his face glazed with tears that dripped down into his tangled beard.

"Hagrid, what is it?" said Hermione in a concerned voice.

"What's this, Hagrid?" asked Harry, pointing to the official-looking letter on the huge table.

Hagrid's sobs grew louder, but he shoved the letter toward Harry, who picked it up and read aloud:

Dear Mr. Hagrid,

Further to our inquiry into the attack by a Hippogriff on a student in your class, we have accepted the assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility for the regrettable incident.

"Well, that's okay then, Hagrid!" I said, clapping Hagrid on the shoulder. But Hagrid continued to sob, and waved one of his gigantic hands, inviting Harry to read on.

However, we must register our concern about the Hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the official complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will therefore be taken to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.

The hearing will take place on April 20th, and we ask you to present yourself and your Hippogriff at the Committee's offices in London on that date. In the meantime, the Hippogriff should be kept tethered and isolated.

Yours in fellowship ...

There followed a list of the school governors.

"Oh," I said, in a low voice. "But you said Buckbeak isn't a bad Hippogriff, Hagrid. I bet he'll get off."

"Yeh don' know them gargoyles at the Committee fer the Disposal of' Dangerous Creatures!" choked Hagrid, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "They've got it in fer interestin' creatures!"

A sudden sound from the corner of Hagrid's cabin made us whip around. Buckbeak the Hippogriff was lying in the corner, chomping on something that was oozing blood all over the floor.

"I couldn' leave him tied up out there in the snow!" choked Hagrid. "All on his own! At Christmas."

Harry, Hermione, and I looked at one another. We had never seen eye to eye with Hagrid about what he called 'interesting creatures' and other people called 'terrifying monsters.' On the other hand, there didn't seem to be any particular harm in Buckbeak. In fact, by Hagrid's usual standards, he was positively cute.

"You'll have to put up a good strong defense, Hagrid," said Hermione, sitting down and laying a hand on Hagrid's massive arm. "I'm sure you can prove Buckbeak is safe."

"Won' make no diff'rence!" sobbed Hagrid. "Them Disposal devils, they're all in Lucius Malfoy's pocket! Scared o' him! Ad if I lose the case, Buckbeak -"

Hagrid drew his finger swiftly across his throat, then gave a great wail and lurched forward, his face in his arms.

"What about Dumbledore, Hagrid?" said Harry.

"He's done more'n enough fer me already," groaned Hagrid. "Got enough on his plate what with keepin' them Dementors outta the castle, an' Sirius Black lurkin' around."

I looked quickly at Harry, eyes willing him not to bring Sirius Black up. Either Harry got the message, or after hearing Hagrid's troubles, couldn't bring himself to do so, because he simply sighed.

"Listen, Hagrid," he said, "you can't give up. Hermione's right, You just need a good defense. You can call us as witnesses."

"I'm sure I've read about a case of Hippogriff-baiting," said Hermione thoughtfully, "where the Hippogriff got off. I'll look it up for you, Hagrid, and see exactly what happened."

Hagrid howled still more loudly. Harry and Hermione looked at .e to help them.

"Er - shall I make a cup of tea?" I said, having nothing to add.

Harry stared at me as if I was no help.

"It's what my mum does whenever someone's upset," I 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 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!" lied Hermione at once.

"Yeah, they're great!" I said, crossing my fingers under the table. "Er - how are the flobberworms?"

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

"Oh no!" I said a bit too expressively, my 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 -"

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 . Yeh can' really remember who yeh are after a while. An' yeh can' really 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'rythin' 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.

"Think that matters to them? They don' care. 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 don' give a damn 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 them, 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 Hermione and I had hoped. Even though we knew Harry hadn't forgotten about Black, we could tell that helping Hagrid had taken priority.

Hermione, Harry, and I went to the library the next day, and then returned to the empty common room, arms filled with books that might help prepare a defense for Buckbeak. We sat in front of the roaring fire, slowly turning the pages of dusty volumes about famous cases of marauding beasts, speaking occasionally when we ran across something relevant.

"Here's something...there was a case in 1722," I said. "but the Hippogriff was convicted... Ugh, look what they did to it, that's disgusting..."

"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..." said Hermione, slowly.

By the time dinner was ready, we had found nothing. A very depressing feeling washed over all of us.