They reached the cabin and knocked.
“It's us, Hagrid,” Megan said.
He opened the door, pale in the face. He stepped back to let them in.
“Yeh should'na come…” he said.
“We couldn’t just leave you, Hagrid…” Megan said, stepping in.
He wasn’t crying or howling… he just looked lost… which was worse. They sat around his table.
“Where’s Buckbeak?” Hermione asked gently.
“Outside,” he said. “Though’ he’d want to smell the fresh air a bit… before…”
He sniffed loudly.
“We’re so sorry, Hagrid…” Megan said, desperate to do something for him.
“S’not yer fault…” he said. “Wherever a Malfoy’s involved, ain’t much chance of winnin’… Threatened ‘em, ‘xpect…”
“What about Dumbledore?” Megan asked.
“Ah, he’s done what he could… can’t overrule the committee, can ‘e? He’s comin’ down, to… be there with me. Great man, Dumbledore… Oh, b’fore I forget, Ron…”
He pulled a tin from the shelf and produced…
“Scabbers!” Ron gasped. “You’re alive!”
He looked thinner and older than ever but he was definitely alive. Ron put him in his pocket. Then, he turned to Hermione.
“Sorry I accused your cat...”
“... Well... we all thought he'd done it...”
Just then, Megan, who glanced outside, said:
“Hagrid… they’re coming…”
They looked out as the party steadily came nearer. Hagrid was paler than ever. Megan's small hand squeezed Hagrid's. Walking down was Dumbledore, Fudge, and a member of the committee followed by the executioner, which Cedric informed them was McNair.
“Yer gotta go… if yeh're caught yeh’ll be in so much trouble… hurry, go out the back.” Hagrid said.
“Hagrid, we can’t…!” Hermione said.
“We’ll tell them what happened!” Harry said.
“It won’t change nothin’, now get goin’!”
Heavy hearted, they hurried up the path, Megan clutching the cloak. They passed behind the pumpkin patch to avoid being seen. They scurried up the path and stopped at the entrance of the covered bridge. They waited. And then, in the deadly silence was the thud of an axe. Hermione's hands flew to her mouth.
“No…!” Megan gasped.
Hermione buried her face in Ron’s shoulder, sobbing. Megan held on tight to Cedric who wrapped his arm around her.
“I can’t believe it… they did it…” Megan whispered, too shocked to even cry. “They killed Buckbeak.”
They stood there, unable to move for several moments. Megan badly wanted to go back to Hagrid’s to see him but knew they would get him into trouble. They said nothing. When suddenly, Scabbers starting wriggling madly in Ron’s hands.
“What the- Scabbers, it’s me! What’s gotten into you?” Ron said. “Pipe down, you stupid rat-Ow!”
He dropped him, and Scabbers scampered off.
YOU ARE READING
Megan Potter - A saga of the Heart - Book 3 - Past and Present
Fanfiction- Things are seldom what they appear - Megan was ready for yet another long, boring summer at the Dursleys. Little did she know that this summer would soon turn out even worse than the last. The reason? Her cousin's aunt Marge. And as if that wasn'...
