"Please give me a reasonable explanation."
Professor Lupin said solemnly, his voice echoing in the small wooden hut.
Harry knew very well that he should answer Professor Lupin's question, but when he looked at Hagrid lying on the bed, his furry face covered with dried tears, and the pungent smell of alcohol filling the air, he was so angry that he couldn't speak. He felt a surge of sympathy for the half-giant who had always been kind and helpful to him and his friends.
Why did Hagrid get drunk outside?
Harry didn't need Hagrid to explain, he could figure it out. Hagrid had been working hard for Hogwarts and Dumbledore all along, he didn't ask for anything else, just to be recognized by others. Now, with the help of Professor Watson, he cleared his name of being a murderer, and with the help of Professor Dumbledore, he became the professor of care of magical creature, which was Hagrid's dream. But before he could live his dream, he was ruined by Malfoy's trouble.
The blond boy had deliberately provoked the hippogriff Buckbeak, and then pretended to be seriously injured, causing a lot of trouble for Hagrid and the school.
Fang lay on Hagrid's arm and whimpered anxiously, sensing his master's distress. Harry clenched his fists, his face pale, and wished he could rush into the castle and beat Malfoy up.
Ron obviously noticed Harry's abnormality, but under the solemn gaze of a professor, he didn't dare to move, he just lowered his head and winked secretly at Harry, hoping he would calm down.
"It was me, professor–"
Hermione said with a sob, her bushy hair falling over her face, "I saw Hagrid's strange appearance, and thought something happened to him, so I dragged Harry and Ron along, and we followed him here."
Lupin looked at Harry, his eyes faintly disappointed, but before he could say anything, Harry suddenly roared angrily,
"It's all Malfoy! Professor Lupin, he was injured because he didn't listen to hagrid, he asked for it, but he made Hagrid lose his job, becoming the professor of this course is Hagrid's dream!"
Harry's outburst startled everyone in the hut, even Hagrid stirred slightly in his sleep. Lupin looked at Harry in rage, expecting him to be scolded, but surprisingly, he was not offended, but his expression was much gentler. In a trance, In Lupin's eyes the facial features of Harry, who was angrily defending Hagrid, vaguely overlapped with the facial features of another person in his memory. A person who was also brave, loyal, and -impulsive.
"Mr. Malfoy's injury may be due to his reckless behavior"
Professor Lupin said gently, trying to calm Harry down,
"But that doesn't mean you can break the rules and endanger yourself and your friends. This is near the Forbidden Forest, if you are attacked when you are out of sight of professors, and thus implicate Ron and Hermione, who would you blame?"
Harry froze, not knowing how to answer this question. He knew that Lupin was right, that they had been foolish and reckless, but he also felt that he had to stand up for Hagrid, who had no one else to support him.
"Professor Lupin, Dumb- I mean, Professor Dumbledore is in the school, and, no one will come here in the daytime"
Ron's ears turned red and he stammered, for him, it was very difficult to defend himself under the scrutiny of a professor.
"Do you really think so, Ron?" Lupin asked, his voice stern and serious. He stopped Ron with his eyes, and continued,
"Those dark wizards hiding in the shadows will use all kinds of unexpected and unimaginable ways to appear, if the walls of Hogwarts and the Dementors can't stop them, then do you think the sun will make them helpless?"
There was silence in the crowded hut, Harry and Ron and Hermione, none of them tried to argue. They felt a chill in their hearts, as they remembered the recent events that had shaken the wizarding world. The escape of Sirius Black, the notorious mass murderer and Voldemort's supporter, from Azkaban.
Thinking of the fifth-year students waiting for him, Professor Lupin didn't go on, he glanced at Hagrid with a snotty nose, and showed some worry. After thinking for a while, he said to the three little wizards,
"You can stay here and take care of Hagrid for a while, but I hope you can go back to Professor Sprout's class as soon as possible, and admit your mistakes to her, I will know whether you have done so."
After saying this, Professor Lupin walked to the door, but before he stepped out, he paused and looked at the three little guys with guilty faces and said,
"Hagrid is a qualified and excellent adult wizard, you should trust him, and believe that he has the ability to deal with his own problems."
He gave them a small smile, and then left the hut, closing the door behind him. After Professor Lupin left, there was still an awkward silence in Hagrid's hut, until Ron pouted and said in a relaxed tone,
"I think, we three should be the first young wizards to get detention this year, right-?..... Sorry! I shouldn't have said that!"
Hermione looked at Ron who acted as if nothing had happened, and pursed her lips, trying to suppress her anger.
"I thought we had convinced Hagrid last time,"
Hermione said sadly, her voice trembling slightly. She looked at the drunk Hagrid and felt a surge of pity and frustration. He was lying on his huge bed, his face red and swollen, his eyes closed, and his breath heavy. His clothes were dirty and torn, and his hair was messy and tangled. He looked like he had been in a fight, or worse.
"He must be very worried about Buckbeak and afraid of being fired by the school board."
"Hagrid won't be fired, Hermione, you and Hagrid are both worrying too much, Dumbledore won't do that."
Ron retorted, trying to sound confident. He was sitting on a stool next to the bed, holding Hagrid's massive hand, which was bigger than his head.
"Professor Dumbledore also has to follow the opinions of the board of governors and the Ministry of Magic, if Malfoy-, that Lucius Malfoy, we saw him here last year, I asked someone later, he has close ties with many officials in the Ministry of Magic."
Hermione said anxiously, her eyes wide and worried. She was standing on the other side of the bed, holding a wet cloth and dabbing Hagrid's forehead.
"If Malfoy is determined to make a fuss about this."
She trailed off, not wanting to say the worst possible outcome.
"There are many people in the Ministry of Magic that Lucius Malfoy can't control, Hermione!"
Ron and Hermione argued back and forth, Harry knew, they were trying to ease their guilt, which made him more touched and ashamed. He felt responsible for Hagrid's situation, since he had been the one who had encouraged him to teach the class of care of magical creatures, and who had witnessed the incident with Malfoy and Buckbeak. He wished he could do something to help Hagrid, to prove his innocence, and to save his friend.
During the summer vacation, Professor Watson had warned him about many things, but every time it came to the critical moment, he always forgot those well-intentioned warnings.
Speaking of Professor Watson, Harry suddenly missed him a little. He wondered where he was, and what he was doing. He wished he could contact him, and ask for his help. If Professor Watson was still in school, he could easily order Draco Malfoy not to make trouble.
"By the way"
Harry rubbed Fang's ears and pulled out the stained handkerchief that Hagrid often used from his pocket and wiped Hagrid's nose, trying to make him more comfortable.
"Maybe I can really ask Professor Watson for help, if he is willing to give Malfoy an order."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and no one spoke. They didn't forget Professor Lupin's instructions before he left, but before leaving, they decided to help Hagrid take off his coat to make him more comfortable.
For a normal-sized wizard, this was a very easy thing, but to help Hagrid take off his robe, who was close to an elephant in size and weight, this was a huge project. The three of them climbed up and down on Hagrid's bed, and it took them a while to finally take off Hagrid's coat. They had to use all their strength and coordination, and to avoid being crushed or suffocated by Hagrid's massive body. They also had to dodge the various objects that Hagrid had stuffed in his pockets, such as a dead rat, a moldy cheese, and a live frog.
"Speaking of which" After finishing the work, Ron bent over and gasped, his face red and sweaty. He felt exhausted and sore, and wondered how Hagrid could wear such a heavy and bulky coat.
"Why don't we use magic to lift Hagrid up?"
"Because our magic can't move Hagrid's body."
Hermione wiped the hair that stuck to her forehead, and then glanced at the angle of the sun outside. Her orange eyes flashed with a hint of eagerness. She looked at Harry and Ron who were busy taking off Hagrid's socks and said casually.
"Um, I'll get some water for Hagrid to wash his face–"
As she said, she ran out without waiting for their response, and quietly took her backpack with her when she left.
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