Magic? || Years 1-5

Time For The Holidays: Year 3

It was almost threadbare, the edges frayed and worn.

She didn't mind too much, though, it kept her warm.

They crawled through the portrait hole, headed out the front doors, and trudged through the thick snow that covered the ground toward Hagrid's hut.

Ron knocked to no answer.

"He's not out, is he?" Hermione asked, shivering slightly.

The snow had seeped through their shoes, soaking their socks and the bottom of their cloaks in a bitter cold.

"Amisty, you listen," Ron stepped aside, gesturing rather dramatically to the door.

She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly, and pressed her ear to the door. What she heard shocked her.

It was low, heavy moans.

"There's this weird noise... I don't know, it might be Fang?" She suggested, stepping back so they could listen as well.

"Think we'd better go and get someone?" Ron asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Hagrid! Hagrid, are you in there?" Harry knocked on the door roughly, loud enough for his voice to carry through the thick wood.

There were a series of heavy footsteps and the door swung open, revealing a red-eyed, crying Hagrid.

"Yeh've heard?" He almost shouted his words, miserably throwing his arms around Harry's neck.

Harry's knees buckled, and he would've been squashed if Ron, Hermione, and Amisty hadn't grabbed the man and lugged him back inside the cabin and to the table.

Shuddering sobs wracked through his body, big, pearly tears dripping down his face.

"Hagrid, what is it?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"What's this, Hagrid?" Harry asked, pointing at a very formal, very official looking letter lying on top of the tabletop.

Hagrid just sobbed harder, thrusting the letter toward him. Harry picked it up, reading it aloud to them all.

"Dear Mr. Hagrid, Further to our inquiry into the attack by a hippogriff on a student in your class, we have accepted the assurances of Professor Dumbledore that you bear no responsibility for the regrettable incident..." He read.

"Well, that's okay then, Hagrid!" Ron reassured, patting Hagrid on the shoulder with a slight grin.

Hagrid didn't cheer up, gesturing for Harry to continue.

"However, we must register our concern about the hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold the official complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will therefore be taken to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The hearing will take place on April 20th, and we ask you to present yourself and your hippogriff at the Committee's offices in London on that date. In the meantime, the hippogriff should be kept tethered and isolated. Yours in fellowship..." Harry's voice trailed off.

Amisty peered over his shoulder, her eyes running down a long list of names.

"Oh. But you said Buckbeak isn't a bad hippogriff, Hagrid. I bet he'll get off -- " Ron started.

"Yeh don' know them gargoyles at the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures! They've got it in fer interestin' creatures!" Hagrid wiped his eyes on his sleeve, words strained.

There was a loud squelching noise and Amisty whirled around, her heart leaping up to her throat.

Buckbeak was lying in a cushy bed, munching on something that was very bloody and very dead.

Amisty winced.

"I couldn' leave him tied up out there in the snow! All on his own! At Christmas," Hagrid wailed.

The four of them looked at each other and then back at the hippogriff, a shared message going between them. Even though most of the interesting creatures Hagrid had harboured were dangerous and without a doubt a hazard for people's health, Buckbeak was relatively harmless as long as he was unprovoked.

"You'll have to put up a good strong defense, Hagrid. I'm sure you can prove Buckbeak is safe," Hermione reassured gently, placing her hand over Hagrid's forearm.

"Won't make no diff'rence! Them Disposal devils, they're all in Lucius Malfoy's pocket! Scared o' him! An' if I lose the case, Buckbeak -- " He traced a line across his throat before breaking into sobs once more.

"What about Dumbledore, Hagrid?" Harry asked softly.

"He's done more'n enough fer me already. Got enough on his plate what with keepin' them dementors outta the castle, an' Sirius Black lurkin' around -- " He replied weakly.

Amisty glanced over at Harry, worried he might start on a tangent about Black, but he didn't.

"LIsten, Hagrid, you can't give up. Hermione's right, you just need a good defense. You can call us as witnesses -- " Harry started.

"I'm sure I've read about a case of hippogriff-baiting where the hippogriff got off. I'll look it up for you, Hagrid, and see exactly what happened," Hermione cut in, her voice thoughtful.

That didn't seem to reassure him much, and he wailed loudly once more. Amisty wrung her hands, looking at her friends.

"Er -- shall I make a cup of tea?" Ron suggested, shrugging with a frown tugging on the side of his mouth.

They just looked at him.

"It's what my mum does whenever someone's upset."

So they did. Ron set to work boiling the water and finding the tea leaves as Amisty, Hermione, and Harry shot reassurance after reassurance to their friend.

"Yer right, I can' afford to go ter pieces. Gotta pull meself together..." Hagrid blew his nose, hands cupped around the mug of tea.

Fang, though hesitantly, came out from under the table and placed his head on Hagrid's knee.

"I've not bin myself lately. Worried abou' Buckbeak, an' no one likin' me classes -- " Hagrid wiped his face free of tears, stroking Fang unknowingly.

"We do like them!" Hermione piped up instantly, her words a lie.

Amisty nodded, biting her cheek.

"Yeah, they're great!" Ron nodded, his fingers crossed under the table. "Er -- how are the flobberworms?"

"Dead. Too much lettuce," Hagrid replied sadly.

"Oh no!" Ron exclaimed though he didn't look very upset at all.

"An' them dementors make me feel ruddy terrible an' all. Gotta walk past 'em ev'ry time I want a drink in the Three Broomsticks. 'S like bein' back in Azkaban -- " He stopped talking, taking a long drink of his tea.

A tense silence fell between them all. They had never talked to Hagrid about his time at Azkaban.

"Is it awful in there, Hagrid?" Hermione asked softly, her voice apprehensive.

"Yeh've no idea. Never bin anywhere like it. Thought I was goin' mad. Kep' goin' over horrible stuff in me mind... the day I got expelled from Hogwarts... day me dad died... day I had ter let Norbert go..." His eyes were shiny with tears. "Yeh can' really remember who yeh are after a while. An' yeh can' see the point o' livin' at all. I used ter hope I'd jus' die in my sleep... When they let me out, it was like bein' born again, ev'rything came floodin' back, it was the bes' feelin' in the world. Mind, the dementors weren't keen on lettin' me go."

"But you were innocent!" Hermione argued, looking aghast.

"Think that matters to them? They don' care. Long as they've got a couple o' hundred humans stuck there with 'em, so they can leech all the happiness out of 'em, they don't give a damn who's guilty an' who's not," Hagrid replied darkly after a grim snort of laughter.

He paused before continuing, "Thought o' jus' letting Buckbeak go... tryin' ter make him fly away... but how d'yeh explain ter a hippogriff it's gotta go inter hidin'? An' -- an' I'm scared o' breakin' the law... I don' ever want ter go back ter Azkaban."