Chapter 402: The Plan
Chapter 402: The Plan (Request for Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
The next day, Hermione and Liam rushed to Hagrid's to persuade him not to surprise the class with anything during his lesson. After all, with Umbridge at the School, she would find any excuse to remove teachers she believed were too close to Dumbledore. However, Hagrid thought that any sane person would prefer studying the Chimera over the Niffler.
Of course, he didn't have a Chimera now, not because he didn't want one, but because it was difficult to get a Chimera egg. After failing to convince Hagrid, Hermione looked very dejected.
"I think we can try to follow Hagrid and see what he has planned. If it's too dangerous, we can find a way to prevent him from teaching it", Liam suggested.
Clearly, Hagrid didn't see anything wrong with his creatures and had no intention of hiding them. The next day, during their lunch break, Liam and Hermione saw Hagrid carrying a whole sheep into the Forbidden Forest.
They followed him for a short distance and soon saw him stop in a clearing, place the sheep on the ground, and let out a strange, shrill call that echoed through the dark forest, like the cry of a giant bird.
A few minutes later, several Thestrals emerged from the dark forest, their white, pupil-less eyes watching Hagrid for a few seconds before they lowered their heads and began tearing into the dead sheep with their sharp teeth.
"This should, um, not be too dangerous", Hermione said, watching the Thestrals tearing at the sheep from a distance. "They've been pulling the School Carriages for years without hurting anyone. At least they're safer than half-wild Hippogriffs."
"True", Liam said, watching Hagrid hum a tune as he fed the Thestrals. "I had planned to let the creatures go if they were too dangerous, but it seems Hagrid's choice isn't bad this time."
Despite Hagrid's choice of creatures not being disastrous, he still received a defamatory evaluation from Umbridge during the class inspection. It was clear that Hagrid's final rating would not be high. During the class observation, Umbridge tried her best to portray Hagrid as a dim-witted Troll due to his Giant heritage. Although Liam's intervention last year had prevented Hagrid's Giant heritage from being exposed, Dumbledore's assignment to Hagrid this time had likely led Fudge and his cronies to guess the truth. Naturally, Hagrid's bloodline issue became a weapon for Fudge to use against Dumbledore.
"Yet another despicable blood purist", Liam said to Neville and Hermione as they walked back to the castle after class. "I bet she only didn't become a Death Eater because she couldn't find the right group."
"Didn't you say a few days ago that you opposed the Headmaster's leniency towards Britain's Giants?" Harry, who had been walking behind them, heard Liam's complaint and ran up to ask.
"I'll say it again, I'm not like that cow Umbridge. She opposes Giants because of their blood, believing that any creature with Giant blood is barbaric and should be eradicated. I, on the other hand, oppose leniency towards Giants who indiscriminately kill, believing that any crime must be punished, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a Giant or a Wizard", Liam clarified his stance.
"I see", Harry finally understood Liam's point. He had thought Liam was dissatisfied with Dumbledore, but now he realized that Liam merely had differing views on certain matters, though his motivations were just as valid. Any lingering dissatisfaction disappeared.
December brought more snow and an avalanche of homework for the fifth-year students. As Christmas approached, Liam and Hermione's Prefect duties became increasingly demanding. They were responsible for supervising the castle's decorations. Fortunately, since Liam had trapped Peeves in a suit of armor for a while, Peeves now chose to avoid Liam rather than cause trouble. Additionally, they had to take turns patrolling the corridors with Argus Filch, as Filch suspected that fights might increase during the holidays.
However, during this patrol, Liam unexpectedly won Filch’s favor: Mrs. Norris had diarrhea, and Liam volunteered to spend fifteen minutes making an Elixir to cure the cat. Through his communication with the cat, he also advised Filch on several mistakes he had made in caring for her.
Filch did indeed love his cat, but his methods of care were far from scientific. Otherwise, Mrs. Norris wouldn’t have been so emaciated. A week after Liam’s advice, Filch even sent him a thank-you letter along with a large box of Honeydukes sweets. Following Liam’s instructions, his cat had visibly improved in health and looked much plumper.
“You shouldn’t have cured that cat,” Ron said when he found out where the sweets had come from. “I always thought that cat would sneak around and chase anyone. You’re just helping the enemy.”
“I think Liam did the right thing,” Ginny had a different opinion. “Filch is a pain, but the cat isn’t bad. It’s just following its Master’s orders.”
“I agree,” Liam said. “More importantly, once the cat gets fatter, it will naturally become lazier, reducing our chances of being caught by it. Filch’s precious pet will be healthier, and we’ll have a lower chance of getting caught. Isn’t that a win-win?”
“Right,” Harry chimed in. “I’ve been noticing that I’ve seen the cat less often these past few days. Now I realize it’s all thanks to Liam!”
These days, besides decorating the castle, the most important thing was the Christmas plans. One day in the library, Hermione asked Liam, “Liam, where are you going for the holidays?”
“Hmm, I plan to go to Russia,” Liam said, pausing his writing.
“Russia? What are you going there for? Our parents are in China this year, and I thought you’d stay at school?”
Hearing Hermione’s question, Liam waved her over and whispered in her ear, “Since Hagrid’s attempt to recruit the Giants failed, I plan to go to the Giants myself to resolve the issue. Now that I have the ability, I’ll do my best to prevent another massacre of Muggles like the ones that happened decades ago.”
“You’re right; Dumbledore won’t accept your plan,” Hermione, being very clever, quickly understood Liam’s approach. “I’ll go with you.”
Before Liam could protest, Hermione raised her hand to signal him to let her finish. “I’ve said before that I don’t want you to face danger alone. Besides, I’ve been preparing for this for a long time and it’s time to step up.”
“—Alright,” Liam thought for a moment and agreed to let Hermione join him. On one hand, Hermione was no longer helpless; she could at least defend herself against one or two Death Eaters. Having a competent ally in a fight would be a significant help. On the other hand, Hermione was the type of person who, once she set her mind on something, would devote herself entirely to it. Now that she had decided to fight, Liam decided it was best not to try to stop her.
“I’ll have Penelope help you with the tickets and paperwork,” Liam added. Penelope was now the manager of the Joke Shop, having been the best and most reliable of the many people they had hired. As a Muggle-born wizard, she had abandoned her career in the Ministry of Magic after realizing they were unfriendly toward people of her background and chose to work at the Joke Shop instead.
Of course, Liam and Hermione told everyone they were going on a skiing trip abroad. This naturally sparked Harry’s envy, but he didn’t have to be envious for long because Ron told him that Mrs. Weasley had invited Harry to spend Christmas at The Burrow.
In any case, everyone was now looking forward to the Christmas break.
(End of Chapter)
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