ad astra per aspera - {♕ f.w.}

12. Helping A Hippogriff

It wasn't until one Friday morning, the second Friday of the new term, that she finally let you in on her secret project. 

You arrived in the Great Hall after a successful library visit, sitting down for breakfast with several new books on Potions theory. Tired students stumbled in as you read, and the table filled up with your dreary eyed friends. Just down the table from where you sat, Hermione was buried in a rather large book while Harry and Ron practically dozed off on either side of her. 

You got a solid 15 minutes of uninterrupted reading done, but when Fred and George arrived and immediately started telling you about their weekend plans to switch all of the labels on Snape's ingredients cupboards around, you abandoned your studying. 

As they talked, you couldn't help but notice in the corner of your eye that Hermione had pulled herself out of her book. She was whispering to Harry and Ron about something that looked rather serious, shooting glances in your direction. You considered asking them if everything was alright, but Hermione spoke before you did. 

"Y/N," the girl said suddenly. "Have you learned anything about magical creature trials in History of Magic?"

You considered this for a moment. When you'd noticed them whispering, it hadn't appeared they were saying anything bad. The question, however, was not what you'd been expecting. "Not much this year, but we did last year. Why?"

The girl glanced around, particularly eyeing the staff tale and the Slytherin table behind you.

"We visited Hagrid on Christmas," Hermione told you, indicating Harry and Ron. "He told us Buckbeak's being brought in front of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."

You thought briefly back to Christmas, when you'd seen the three of them trudging across the snow covered grounds to Hagrid's hut. All of them were rather solemn for the rest of the night upon their return, and only now did you understand why. 

"What?" you asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"Malfoy," Harry replied. 

Of course. It made perfect sense. If Draco's cries of a faux near death experience had made it back home, there was no doubt in your mind that Lucius Malfoy had taken it as his opportunity to rain hell upon Hagrid. You glanced over your shoulder towards the Slytherin table. Through the sea of black robes and green scarves, you found the boy's head of platinum blond hair. 

"Git," Fred, who had turned around too, muttered. 

You refocused on Hermione. "When?"

"April 20th," she said. About 4 months away. "Hagrid needs to prove that Buckbeak is safe. I've told him I would help build his defense, but I haven't found anything of use yet." 

You wracked your brain, thinking of how you could help. "I wrote an essay comparing full creature and half-human trials during third year. I'm sure I read about a case of Hippogriff-baiting to help strengthen my point. I can go to the library and see if I can find the books I used."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you so much."

A bell rang somewhere deep in the castle. You gathered your bag, ready to head to your first class. Before getting up, you considered telling the girl to go a little easier on herself. Now that she'd taken on the task of helping Hagrid, she just had another thing to do. On countless occasions you'd seen her snap at Ron and Harry for suggesting she stop doing homework, so you decided against it.

You and your friends made your way through the castle to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It was here where you found a class half full of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, and an empty teacher's desk. This was no surprise to you. At this point, it was less common to see Lupin actually sitting at his desk than it was for it to be empty.