Chapter 760: Blamed for Being Bitten
Chapter 760: Blamed for Being Bitten
Hagrid losing the lawsuit was well within Albert's expectations, and this matter did not create any waves in his school life.
Potter, however, had come to him a few times to discuss ways to save Buckbeak. But each time, Albert would dismiss him with, "You don't have to worry about it, I'll handle it."
As for how it would be handled, that was none of Harry's business.
Albert's distrust made both Harry and Ron irritable, but they couldn't come up with a way to save Buckbeak either. Even Hermione had already lost hope and didn't believe they could get Hagrid to win the case.
Moreover, Hermione also warned the two boys not to get involved or mention it outside, lest they bring more trouble to Hagrid and possibly lead to Buckbeak's death.
So, even though Harry and Ron were initially furious, their anger didn't cloud their judgment. They knew they couldn't save Buckbeak, and they couldn't bear the thought of causing his death. For now, all they could do was trust Albert and believe that he would help Hagrid resolve this matter perfectly.
"Keep appealing?" Ron asked, perplexed.
"Yes, that's Albert's suggestion," Hermione explained. "Albert thinks Hagrid shouldn't give up on the chance to appeal, even if he knows he's going to lose. He should keep appealing until he's thoroughly defeated."
"But... why?"
Harry couldn't understand. If Albert had a solution to the problem, why waste effort on this?
"He thinks the Malfoy family spent a lot of galleons to bribe the committee wizards. Perhaps we should make them spend even more galleons," Hermione replied.
In fact, Hermione knew Albert's intention was to make the Malfoys spend more money to bribe other wizards and also to put up a show of making a concerted effort to confuse everyone.
"I understand. I'll continue with the appeal," Hagrid agreed with Albert's proposal and believed that he wouldn't be harmed.
"But... will it really help?" Ron asked skeptically.
"Albert is quite reliable. The things he taught me were actually very useful," Hagrid recalled. "Before I went to court, I drank a large cup of calming potion."
Hagrid then began to recount what had happened a few days earlier:
Last Friday, Hagrid and Buckbeak took the scheduled Knight Bus to London. The hippogriff caused quite a stir on the bus, and it was only with the help of a Ministry of Magic employee that Hagrid was able to bring Buckbeak into the Ministry.
The trial was held in a courtroom on the tenth floor underground of the Ministry of Magic, and the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures presided over the matter.
"Albert told me that when the Hogwarts Board of Governors handed this incident over to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, they had already given up on Buckbeak," Hagrid said angrily. "They don't care at all about the death of the hippogriff, and Professor Dumbledore doesn't have a good solution in this regard."
"Maybe he foresaw it."
Harry thought of Albert's talent for prophecy, and it wouldn't be surprising if he had seen the solution to the problem in a vision.
"Some things don't require Albert to expend much effort in prophesying. He can often guess the outcome just by speculating," Hermione added, aware of Albert's abilities. She hadn't given up on Divination herself, hoping to learn something useful.
Even if it wasn't divination, gaining useful knowledge was still progress.
After the court session began, Hagrid followed Albert's advice and deflected every question the committee members asked, shifting the blame onto Malfoy.
"I told the committee that Buckbeak is a magical creature that has been tamed and wouldn't arbitrarily attack students. This whole incident is Malfoy's fault. It's like you knowingly yank a dog's tail hard, and when the dog bites you, can you blame the dog for biting?"
"That's such an apt analogy," Hermione sighed. "If you don't pull a dog's tail, how could you get bitten?"
"Yes, Malfoy deserved it. He asked for it," Harry agreed with Hagrid's view, feeling that Malfoy's injury was entirely self-inflicted.
"Brilliant," Ron chimed in.
"I told them that Draco Malfoy brought it upon himself. He deliberately provoked the Hippogriff, and that's why he got hurt. You can't blame Buckbeak. He was just there for our class, and I also told them about how Harry rode him around the school," Hagrid said proudly, patting the flobberworm fondly.
"Lucius Malfoy was furious," Hagrid continued, his large hands stroking the flobberworm's head like a fan. "He must have been angry that I called his son an idiot!"
"That guy's an idiot, indeed," Harry quickly agreed.
"Most of Slytherin are inbred idiots," Ron added, noticing the others staring at him. He quickly explained, "Fred and George always joke about how they have issues upstairs, and they've got terrible tempers too, which is why they're more likely to turn into Dark Wizards."
"And then what happened?" Hermione asked, intrigued.
Hagrid sighed deeply. "Then, the committee sided with Malfoy. Lucius must have threatened, bribed, and who knows what else, spending a lot of galleons to buy their support."
"They kept derailing, saying that Hippogriffs are different from dogs, picking on all sorts of issues. Just as Albert said, wizards are arrogant. Their main argument was that a magical creature harmed a wizard, so it must be punished. They didn't really care whose fault it was," Hagrid explained.
"Then Lucius Malfoy stood up and presented his s-called evidence—a few photos of Malfoy's injuries—and so-called witnesses. The committee did exactly as he wanted and rushed to sentence Buckbeak to death. They didn't even give me a chance to rebut. The whole thing was over in less than half an hour. That's how they judged; they're a bunch of beasts," Hagrid said angrily. "Albert had already told me that the Ministry of Magic couldn't be trusted, and their laws are a joke. Most wizards are bullies, and I didn't believe it at first, but I do now."
"If it had been a centaur from the forest or one of the Acromantulas that hurt that little Malfoy brat, no one from the Ministry would have dared to sentence them," Hagrid said bitterly.
"Why?" Hermione asked, curious.
"The centaurs don't acknowledge the Ministry's authority. If they tried to capture one of their own, the entire herd would attack. As for the Acromantulas, they're extremely dangerous, especially in the Forbidden Forest. The best-case scenario if you're attacked by a swarm of them is to escape with your life," Hagrid explained gravely.
The Ministry only dared to judge Buckbeak because they knew Hagrid would never let the creature escape. If he had set Buckbeak free from the start, none of this trouble would have occurred.
The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures wouldn't dare provoke a group of angry Hippogriffs, and they didn't know it was Buckbeak anyway, so they had to back down.
As for Hagrid, Dumbledore had assured him there wouldn't be any issues, and at most, there would be a report in the Prophet about a Hippogriff injuring someone and then fleeing.
Albert had seen through the nature of the incident but hadn't reminded Hagrid of this point. He knew Hagrid was afraid of breaking the rules and probably wouldn't let Buckbeak go anyway, plus this was a trigger for a task. So he was willing to take the longer route and not use the simplest and most effective method.
There were benefits to going the long way around. Why not take advantage of it?
In the end, all the problems would be solved, and the most that could happen was a slightly more complicated procedure.
(End of Chapter)
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