Chapter 294 Draco Is Still Awake

Tuesday, auditorium, lunchtime.

The long tables of Gryffindor and Slytherin were eerily quiet. Apart from the clinking of knives, forks and ceramic plates, there was only the low-pitched discussion of some young wizards.

They were discussing the accident that happened in the morning.

Justin Finch-Fletchley of Hufflepuff listened for a long time but couldn't figure out what was going on. He couldn't help but be curious and asked in a low voice: "What's going on? Why are Gryffindor and Slytherin people like this today?" Quiet?"

Ernie MacMillan poked his head around and looked around, then lowered his voice and said to several friends around him: "You don't know yet, Professor Rubeus Hagrid is in trouble!"

This is strange to say. Only the little wizard makes mistakes, and the professor can cause any trouble.

"What do you mean?" Justin asked confused.

"There is a Care of Magical Creatures class this morning. Gryffindor and Slytherin have it together. Professor Hagrid showed a dozen hippogriffs and Pansy Parkinson was scratched."

Ernie glanced at the Slytherin table cautiously, "Parkinson said he would ask the Ministry of Magic to execute those dangerous animals, and he also said he would ask the school board to expel Professor Hagrid."

"Huh? Execution!" Hannah shrank in fear.

"I heard from Seamus that Parkinson was trying to ride the same hippogriff as Malfoy." Ernie forked a piece of steak into his mouth, "What is Buckbeak called? And then she offended and She angered the hippogriff and was scratched by its sharp claws. If Malfoy hadn't pulled her, she might have been in the hippogriff's belly now."

Hannah clicked her tongue.

The Ravenclaw table was next to Hufflepuff's, and a group of young wizards nearby joined in the discussion.

Marietta Exmo curled her lips after hearing the whole incident: "There is a beast that dares to attack the wizard, so it deserves to be executed! That Professor Hagrid dared to bring such a dangerous beast to the classroom, he He deserves to be expelled."

Qiu Zhang sat next to her right hand and hesitated to speak, unable to say anything to dissuade her.

Rolf frowned and retorted: "Hippogriffs are only 3X-level magical animals. Their presence in the classroom does not violate the rules. The magical animals should not be responsible for Parkinson's own troubles. They should not be executed."

Luna looked at him with joyful eyes, her calves dangling under the table: "You're right, you're right..."

Her voice was too soft, as if she was singing.

No one paid any attention to this notoriously crazy girl. Only Rolf and her looked at each other, and they both smiled.

More little wizards joined the conversation:

"But Pansy Parkinson certainly doesn't think so."

"I heard someone in Parkinson's family works at the Ministry of Magic."

"Which pure-blood family doesn't have anyone working at the Ministry of Magic?"

"I wish Professor Hagrid good luck..."

"I heard from my uncle that the Ministry of Magic and the school board have been unable to interfere with the school since last year. Professor Hagrid should be fine. But those hippogriffs should be dead..."

Although they lowered their voices, the people at the Gryffindor table heard more or less, and the atmosphere was a little tense at this time.

Harry and Ron were silent, their faces full of worry and annoyance, their knives and forks banging on the plates.

Hermione was so worried that she couldn't eat. She was thinking about how to defend Hagrid and fight to have the complaint against the Dangerous Animals Committee dismissed.

"Concentrate on your lunch." Loren put a piece of beef ribs on her plate and reminded her in a low voice, "You have one more class in the afternoon."

Loren was not worried about Hagrid. Through Snape's narration during teaching, he knew that since last year, Hogwarts had basically gotten rid of the control of the school board, and the appointment and dismissal of professors was only discussed and decided by the principal and vice-principal.

At least for now, it seems that Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall have no intention of expelling Hagrid.

Hippogriffs don't have to worry. They were able to send Norbert away quietly in the first year. There's no reason why the third year couldn't save a Buckbeak.

It was just a pity that the morning's Care of Magical Creatures class ended too quickly, and he had not yet experienced flying on a Hippogriff.

At that time, Harry had just finished his demonstration. Hagrid distributed a dozen hippogriffs to the young wizards. Loren just touched the feathers of one of them. Miss Parkinson over there was already curled up in Draco's arms. Li screamed.

Hermione's little face tightened, she sighed deeply, and kept mumbling: "Our chance of winning the case is very small... I have seen a court trial at the Ministry of Magic. The outcome of the defense and prosecution only depends on the presiding judge. Biased. If someone like Umbridge was in charge of the trial, Buckbeak would definitely not survive."

"Eat!" Loren emphasized his tone.

Hermione puffed up her cheeks and glared at him, then exhaled the air in her mouth under the intimidation of Loren's eyes. She murmured in a low voice, "Just eat, what's so bad about it..."

The long Slytherin table on the other side.

"How's it going, Pansy, does it still hurt a lot?" Daphne forced a flattering smile and asked cautiously.

Pansy Parkinson didn't even look at her. One of her hands was tightly wrapped in a bandage, and the other hand was holding Draco's arm. She came to him with a silly smile on her face:

"Thank you for saving me, Draco. Don't worry, I will definitely expel the clothes-wearing troll from Hogwarts and make Harry Potter lose this close pet so that he can't concentrate Quidditch training..."

"You seem to have been unhappy since the beginning of school. I hope this can make you smile." Parkinson covered his mouth and smiled shyly, raising and quickly putting down the bandaged hand.

Draco's eyebrows knitted together tightly, and the disgust in his eyes was undisguised: "Stupid, there is no need for you to be smart and do unnecessary things."

"What did you say?" Pansy Parkinson was shocked, her smile froze, and the blush on her cheeks quickly faded to pale, "I did it all to help you deal with Potter! You actually said that!"

Draco picked at the salad on the plate with his fork, felt nauseated, dropped the fork and walked away without looking back.

At the end of the long table, Astoria, who was eating deliciously, had a bitter look on her face. She stuffed a few mouthfuls indiscriminately, and then started to take out the brown paper to pack the pie...

After dinner time, most of the lights in the castle were extinguished, entering the silent night.

The Gryffindor lounge was a bit crowded. Some little wizards wanted to do some homework while the lights were still on, such as Hermione. Some little wizards seized the time to play and played two games of Crack and Explosion Cards while the lights were on, such as Ron. .

Loren was writing and drawing in his notebook, his quill making a rustling sound as he scratched the parchment, calculating the various materials needed for the Wolfsbane potion.

The ingredients for the basic version should be in Snape's storage room.

Those stinking flower and herb extracts need to be prepared a month in advance. They were mentioned last semester, and Snape should have them too.

The rest is the change of the moon phase. It is a full moon at the beginning of school this year... Wolfsbane potion must be taken a week in advance... The preparation time is less than three weeks...

Harry absently copied his Transfiguration homework, pausing now and then to look out of the tower window.

"There is a light in Hagrid's window," Harry said suddenly.

Hermione and Ron looked up and the three of them looked at each other.

Then they bowed their heads in silent agreement, Harry and Ron quickly put their books into their bags, and Hermione dragged Loren and ran towards the portrait hole.

Before Filch started patrolling the night tour, a group of four people quietly slipped out of the crowded Gryffindor common room, walked quietly downstairs, and headed straight to the foyer.

As they were about to walk out of the hall, they heard someone speaking in the shadows to the right of the door.

"I knew you would be looking for Rubeus Hagrid tonight." The man flicked his sleeves and walked out of the shadows. It was Draco.

"Malfoy!" Harry looked at him warily, "What do you want to do?"

Ron tilted his head and hesitated.

He remembered the scene two years ago, that night when they were about to send away Norbert the Charmander, but Crabbe spotted him, and Malfoy also appeared suddenly.

Thinking of this, he looked around cautiously, fearing that Filch would rush out at the next moment.

Draco originally wanted to tease Harry, but when he saw him, he suddenly felt bored. He shrugged and said clearly: "It has nothing to do with you. I'm looking for Loren."

Hermione's eyes were changing with luster. She interrupted Harry and Ron who were about to say something more, and urged in a low voice: "Let's go first, and try to return to the castle before lights out."

Harry was stunned for a moment, then was pushed out of the door by Ron, and the three of them trotted towards Hagrid's cabin.

"Did anything happen during the summer vacation?" Loren asked.

Compared to the last school year, Draco seemed to have grown a lot. If he hadn't encountered something during the summer vacation, he wouldn't be waiting for him here.

Draco softly said "hmm" and followed the backs of the three people outside. He suddenly had the urge to follow him and take a look: "Let's talk while we walk. I also want to see the head of the troll." Professor, I wonder if he is hiding in the room crying now."

Loren was noncommittal and responded casually: "Then let's go."

It had rained heavily two days ago, and the sky was completely clear. The stars and moon were unobstructed, and the dim light shone on the ground, making it feel even brighter than in the castle. The grass underfoot is wet and makes a rustling sound when stepped on.

"You may not know that Bellatrix Lestrange, the person on the front page of the newspaper recently, is my mother's sister." Draco's movements were lazily, and there was no hint of any concern for this aunt in his tone. With an attitude, he walked quickly on the grass, as if he wanted to catch up with the people in front of him,

"She visited my house twice during the summer vacation. The first time was when she had just escaped. She had just come out of Azkaban. More than ten years in prison made her look very embarrassed. Her hair was a mess and her face was dark, like He came to my father for money like a beggar."

"Want money?"

"Yes, I want money, a lot of money." Draco kicked away a pebble, and his calm tone finally revealed a hint of anger, "She threatened my father with the Dark Lord in front of my mother and me. , swept away nearly ten thousand galleons of the Malfoy family."

"She didn't even have a wand at that time..." Draco muttered softly, as if to himself or to Loren, "I have two adult wizards, a young wizard, and a few domestic wizards at home. Any elf is enough to deal with her...

The second time was shortly before school started, when she asked us to help her get a mouse into Hogwarts. This was not a difficult task. Compared to tens of thousands of galleons, my father agreed easily. As a result, she said she wanted to watch us send the rat in with her own eyes..."

Loren didn't respond, just listened quietly to Draco's story.

I can vaguely imagine the scene at that time, perhaps because of Voldemort's reputation, perhaps because of his former identity as a Death Eater, or perhaps because he was worried that the missing Horcrux in the diary would be exposed.

The once-famous Mr. Lucius Malfoy was easily manipulated by a fugitive using the name of Voldemort, and he had everything he wanted in front of his family. As a son of man, Draco must have a complicated heart.

"Bellatrix praised me as a talented wizard who will definitely become a leader among Death Eaters in the future, even better than my father." Draco sneered, his tone incomprehensible, "My mother I almost knelt down and begged her to drag this matter over..."

Walking down the grassy slope towards Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the forest at night was heavy with dew, and the moist vapor flowed along the nose and moistened the lungs.

Loren looked at his expression calmly: "So why are you looking for me?"

"To hedge your bets." Draco said with a ridiculous smile, "The Malfoy family's secret has been passed down for thousands of years. This is also what my father meant."

"How to place a bet?" Loren was a little surprised. After thinking about it for a while, he felt that it was reasonable.

"There is no specific method. My father said that he would try to get along well with Potter at school and provoke other people to embarrass him, and then I would stand up and help him." Draco stopped, and he could already see Hagrid's hut in front of him. The weak candlelight shines through the window, and Hagrid's huge shadow can be seen, "But I think this is boring. I knew last year that you are a more suitable person than stupid Potter."

"Pay attention to that rat. There has been no news since it sneaked into Hogwarts through the secret passage. If you have any questions, please contact me. Just treat it as a deal between Malfoy and you." The matter was almost finished, Draco took a look House, turned around and wanted to go back.

Loren stopped him: "We've come here, let's go in and take a look."

Draco looked at him in surprise, but didn't refuse.

Pushing open the door and walking in, a majestic mixed-race giant squatted beside the fire, crying like a child, with tears and snot sticking to his beard. There was a large pewter glass as big as a bucket in front of him, and his eyes seemed blurry.

The other three people had no time to pay attention to Loren and Draco. Harry and Ron squatted next to him and grabbed his hand that wanted to continue raising the glass. Their faces turned red from the exertion.

Hermione pushed the bucket-like wine glass further away.

Hagrid must have drunk a lot of wine and was a little delirious. He didn't notice the two people who came in behind him. He cried angrily: "This is probably a record. There has never been a teacher who was dismissed after teaching only one class before." Fired.”

"You're not fired yet, Hagrid!" Hermione comforted.

"Soon, this is destined!"

"At least not now." Ron's voice was a little hoarse due to exertion.

"Maybe tomorrow morning!"

It was Harry's turn. Before he could think of how to comfort Hagrid, he was pushed hard and fell to the floor.