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chapter thirteen / a professors' quarrel
The safety measures imposed on the students since Black's second break-in had made it impossible for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Cassie to visit Hagrid in the evenings. Their only chance of talking to him was during Care of Magical Creatures. Even then, he seemed numb with shock at the verdict.
"S'all my fault. Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin' there in black robes an' I kep' droppin' me notes and forgettin' all them dates yeh looked up for me, Hermione. An' then Lucius Malfoy stood up an' said his bit, and the Committee jus' did exac'ly what he told 'em..."
"There's still the appeal! Don't give up yet, Hagrid. We're working on it," Ron said with an encouraging smile.
They were walking back up to the castle with the rest of the class. Ahead they could see Malfoy, who was walking with Crabbe and Goyle, and kept looking back and laughing derisively.
"S'no good, Ron," said Hagrid sadly. "That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that..."
Hagrid turned around and hurried back to his cabin, his face buried in his handkerchief.
"Did you see him blubber?" roared Malfoy in laughter from the door where he'd been listening. "Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic? And he's supposed to be our teacher!"
Harry and Ron both made furious moves towards Malfoy, but Cassie put her hands on their shoulders. She was too slow to stop Hermione, and the girl punched Malfoy right across the jaw. Harry, Ron, Cassie, Crabbe, and Goyle stood there, completely flabbergasted.
"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you little cockroach!" she shrieked, pointing her wand at Malfoy's face.
"Hermione, no..." Cassie said, though it was quite unenthusiastic. "You can't..."
"Come on," Malfoy's voice wavered. Him and his crones stalked off towards the dungeons. They were only gone for a fraction of a second before Cassie burst into laughter. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined in as well, all four of them clutching their stomachs.
"Second time he's been decked! In a week!"
"They call this a holiday?" Seamus Finnegan exclaimed angrily to the common room, his voice carrying loudly over the chattering of panicked students. It was packed with Gryffindors, every one of them studying multiple subjects at a time, but none had it as bad as Hermione. "Exams are ages away, what're they playing at?"
Ron had taken over the responsibility for Buckbeak's appeal. When he wasn't doing his own work, he was poring over ridiculously thick volumes like The Handbook of Hippogriff Psychology and Fowl or Foul? A Study of Hippogriff Brutality. He was so absorbed, he forgot to be horrible to Crookshanks.
