Chapter 213 Tell a Joke

"Harry, you're here!" he shouted loudly, and then he rushed on Harry, wrapping his two rough hands around Harry's neck.

Hagrid is at least twice the size of an average person and weighs far more than four times an average person. This kind of behavior is no joke.

Harry almost collapsed under Hagrid's weight.

Fortunately, his struggling movements still attracted Hagrid's attention, and he luckily did not become a savior who was not killed by Sirius Black or killed by dementors, but was crushed to death by his big friend. .

Hagrid let Harry take his arm and led him back to the hut, where he sat down in a chair and threw himself on the edge of the table, sobbing uncontrollably.

His face was full of tears, and the tears fell on his tangled beard.

"Hagrid, what's wrong with you?" Harry asked in surprise.

He was completely stunned. Hagrid was clearly fine when he saw him a few days ago.

Hagrid sobbed and pushed an open, official-looking letter in front of Harry.

"What is that, Hagrid?"

Harry was stunned for a moment, then picked up the letter and read it:

"Dear Mr. Hagrid: We have further investigated the hippogriff attack on a student in your class, and we have accepted Professor Dumbledore's assurance that you are not responsible for this regrettable incident. responsibility."

"Isn't that great, Hagrid?" After reading this, Harry patted Hagrid on the shoulder and asked.

Hagrid was lying on the table, so Harry could take the opportunity to tap his shoulder.

Hagrid, who was lying on the table, continued to sob, while shaking his huge hands, gesturing for Harry to continue reading.

"However, we must express our concern about the hippogriff in question. We have decided to uphold Mr. Lucius Malfoy's formal complaint and the matter will therefore be referred to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. There will be a hearing at the Commission's London offices next January, and we will ask you and your hippogriff to attend on that date. During this period, the hippogriff should be tethered and kept in isolation. "

"Well, it doesn't seem too bad?" Harry murmured after reading the letter, "Hagrid, you said that hippogriffs are proud and disdain to do evil, especially Buckbeak. One of the gentler ones. It's just a hearing, he'll be fine..."

"You don't understand those weirdos from the Dangerous Creatures Committee!" Hagrid interrupted Harry with a choked sob, wiping his tears with his dirty sleeves. "They are like enemies to these interesting magical animals, and they don't even know they have anything to do with them." Every little bit is good!”

Suddenly there was a sound from the corner of Hagrid's hut. Harry turned around quickly and saw Buckbeak, the hippogriff, lying in the corner of the house, chewing some animal raw and leaving stains all over the floor. There is blood flowing.

"They asked me to tie up Buckbeak, but I couldn't tie him outside with a rope!" Hagrid choked and said, "Hypogriffs are free and proud and should not be tied up! I I just have to let him rest in my house for a while."

"But there are still more than two months until January next year..." Harry said worriedly, "Buckbeak will definitely not want to stay indoors for two months."

"Yes, I know..." Hagrid reached out and took out a large basin of wine from the cabinet on the side, and took a deep sip, "So I am seeking help from others, hoping that someone can help this poor little guy."

Harry turned his head and glanced at the hippogriff lying on the ground, which was also a head taller than him. He didn't quite agree with the adjective "little guy" in Hagrid's mouth, but when he turned back and looked at Hagrid's more The larger one could only nod silently.

"You can ask Dumbledore for help. He is so powerful, so there must be something he can do, right?" Harry asked.

"No, I've troubled Dumbledore enough." Hagrid shook his head sadly, "If it weren't for Dumbledore's sake, I might not be able to be a professor, and it might even be because of my previous experience. Finally got imprisoned in Azkaban..."

"But those officials from the Ministry of Magic will let me go because of Dumbledore's guarantee, but they will not let go of an animal they despise at all. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures likes to do this kind of thing to gain a sense of existence, otherwise they will There’s nothing to do all year long!”

Hagrid poured another sip of wine into his mouth and continued: "I also heard that Professor Dracula is very prestigious in the school board. I met him once before in the staff lounge, but I didn't bother to speak. …”

Hearing Hagrid's words, Harry's eyes lit up.

"Yes, Professor Dracula is so powerful, he must have a way!" He shouted, "I'll go to Professor Dracula's office to ask him for you!"

With that, he happily bid farewell to the crying Hagrid and hurried to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office on the third floor of Hogwarts Castle.

In fact, Harry had just been to Professor Dracula's office a few days ago and wanted him to teach him the Patronus Charm.

After being rejected, he always wanted to plead again, or learn something in a circumstantial way, but he could not think of a reasonable excuse to go to Professor Dracula again.

In the case of Buckbeak being prosecuted, Harry sincerely wanted to help Hagrid save the hippogriff that once carried him to Hogwarts, and on the other hand, he also wanted to run again for himself. A trip to Professor Dracula's office found the reason.

So he felt a little inspired.

…

"Oh? Dumbledore hasn't helped Hagrid handle that matter yet?" In the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, Dracula looked at Harry with raised eyebrows.

"You can't say that, at least Hagrid doesn't have any problems himself." Harry said anxiously, "But Buckbeak... Buckbeak has been complained about, and there will be a hearing after the Christmas vacation. What kind of committee is that now? The person had to let Hagrid tie it up."

"Is that so?" Dracula frowned.

He remembered that he had asked Dumbledore if he needed help before, but the old headmaster said he could handle it, so he refused his help.

It now appears that Dumbledore did not want to seek Dracula's help at that time because he wanted to hold Dracula accountable for secretly using the time turner.

As the most prestigious wizard in the wizarding world, Dumbledore could indeed easily handle matters related to Hagrid himself, but he did not have a suitable way to completely solve the problem of the Hippogriff.

Dracula fully understood what those in the Ministry of Magic and the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures thought:

We give face to the strongest and most reputable wizard, just let go of the professor you vouched for, but you have to vouch for even a beast, so where do we put our face?

Therefore, a great wizard like Dumbledore, who is famous and in everyone's attention, would be in trouble if he had to deal with this kind of thing. After all, he can only act within the rules and does not want to break up with those in the officialdom.

However, this kind of thing is not troublesome to Dracula. He has many ways to easily rescue Buckbeak.

"Well, I know, this kind of trivial matter is really easy for me to solve." Dracula chuckled and said casually.

Then, he suddenly changed the subject, "But why should I help Hagrid unconditionally? I don't seem to know him very well."

"But, aren't you all professors at Hogwarts? Shouldn't colleagues help each other?" Harry's eyes widened in confusion.

"You are a bit naive, Potter." Dracula curled his lips, "If you follow your approach, if Professor Snape can help in this matter, do you think he will be willing to help you and Hai Qualified?"

Harry's expression suddenly froze as he thought of Snape's ugly face.

He could fully imagine that if Snape heard about this, it would be considered a kindness if he didn't add insult to injury to help the Malfoy family deal with Hagrid and Buckbeak, let alone rescue Buckbeak.

Speaking of which, Snape was really weird. He was obviously willing to use all kinds of methods to save Harry from danger when he was in first grade, but in fact, the expression on his face was always an expression of disgust and jealousy.

Harry could feel that the disgust for him in Snape's eyes was sincere, but he also sincerely did not want his life to be threatened.

This is really incomprehensible, Harry thought.

"You have figured out the relationship between your colleagues, Potter." Dracula saw Harry's expression and saw that he had figured out the joints, "Of course, I can't help with this... "

"I always do things based on my preference. If I'm in a good mood, there's no problem in helping you solve this matter."

A look of hope appeared on Harry's face again.

"So...Professor, how are you feeling now?" he asked eagerly.

"Not very good." Dracula first showed a playful smile, then instantly put his smile back and put on a serious face.

Harry: "..."

You are clearly in a good mood...

"There is a student who comes to me all day long to make up lessons and wants me to work overtime for free. Do you think this will make me feel good?" Dracula seemed to have noticed Harry's thoughts and said with a straight face.

"Going to class day after day is boring enough. If it weren't for some interesting things happening in this castle from time to time, why would I still stay here..."

"Professor, how can you feel better?" Harry asked again.

Harry also figured out at this time that Professor Dracula was simply too lazy to help Hagrid. Even though this was just a physical matter for him, he didn't even want to do it...

Unless someone can give Professor Dracula some fun and get him thinking about moving.

"I think if you leave my office now and don't continue to harass me here, I might feel a little better," Dracula said.

Harry's face was full of helplessness.

If he leaves now, let alone he is not sure whether it really makes Professor Dracula feel better... maybe according to the professor's temperament, he can forget about this small thing in his eyes in a few minutes. normal.

"Professor, Hagrid is really helpless..."

Harry originally wanted to try to explain things emotionally and rationally, but when he saw the half-smiling expression on Professor Dracula's face, he silently changed his mind and said, "So can you tell me a way? I really want to You feel better."

Dracula casually peeled off a blood-flavored lollipop and stuffed it into his mouth, and glanced at Harry casually.

"How about you tell me a joke?" He said casually, "If the joke is funny enough, there's nothing wrong with me directly helping you solve the problem."

Harry was stunned for a moment.

"Um...Professor, are you sure you want to hear the joke?" He glanced at Dracula cautiously and asked weakly, "I heard that there used to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts who listened to the students telling jokes. Laughing to death..."

Dracula: "..."

With a bang, Harry was slammed outside the office door.

"You better come up with a funny joke, or else your homework after Halloween will double!"

Dracula's voice came from the office through the closed door.

…

Before you know it, the daylight hours have passed and in a blink of an eye it’s time for the Halloween dinner.

Harry came to the Gryffindor table dejectedly, still blaming himself secretly.

He shouldn't have complained about the last sentence, which ended up making Professor Dracula unhappy. His attempt to ask the professor to help Buckbeak failed, and he even had to double his homework...

Ron and Hermione came to find him shortly after he arrived in the Great Hall.

Their faces had been blown pink by the cold wind outside, and they looked like they had been playing happily for a while. The conflict between the two of them because of Crookshanks and Scabbers, two cat and mouse pets, seemed to have eased. Some.

"Harry, you don't look very good." Hermione asked worriedly as she took off the scarf from around her neck and put it on the table, "Are you unhappy because you didn't go to Hogsmeade? It's okay. , Ron and I brought you a lot of snacks over there..."

As soon as she finished speaking, a large handful of candies fell on Harry's lap like a rainstorm.

"Look," Ron said cheerfully, "we brought you so much candy, we can't take any more."

"Thanks," Harry whispered, picking up a small bag of pepper urchins, "How was Hogsmeade? Where have you been?"

As it turns out, they went everywhere.

Honeydukes, the Magical Goods Grocery Store, Zoko's Joke Shop, the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeer, and many other places.

"The post office, Harry! There are about two hundred owls, all sitting on racks, all color coded, depending on how fast your letter needs to go!"

"Honeydukes has a new milk fudge, and they're giving away free samples, and here's a little bit, look--"

"I wish I could bring you some butterbeer, it'll really warm you up-"

When the two of them mentioned today's journey, they seemed to have endless things to say to Harry.

Listening to the lively words between the two, Harry's expression became even stiffer.

"Harry, you... still don't seem happy?"

Ron was still talking enthusiastically, but Hermione saw Harry's unworthy look and patted Ron hard to make him stop.

Harry shook his head, then turned to look at the two of them.

"Um, you two...have you heard any good jokes?" He asked with a troubled expression.

…

…