"Harry, there you are!" he shouted, and then he threw himself upon Harry, and put his rough hands about his neck.
Hagrid was at least twice the size of a normal human and weighed well over four times as much, so this action was no joke.
Harry almost collapsed under Hagrid's pressure.
Fortunately, his struggle attracted Hagrid's attention, so he did not become a savior who was not killed by Sirius Black or the Dementors, but was crushed to death by his big friend.
Hagrid let Harry take him by the arm and lead him back to the cabin, where he sat down on a chair and then slumped over the table, sobbing uncontrollably.
His face was covered with tears, and the tears fell onto his tangled beard.
"Hagrid, what's the matter with you?" Harry asked in surprise.
He was completely stunned, as Hagrid was clearly fine when he saw him a few days ago.
Hagrid sobbed and pushed an already opened official-looking letter in front of Harry.
"What's that, Hagrid?"
Harry paused for a moment, then picked up the letter and began to read:
"Dear Mr. Hagrid: We have further investigated the incident in your class where a Hippogriff attacked a student, and we have accepted Professor Dumbledore's assurance that you are not responsible for this regrettable incident."
"Isn't that great, Hagrid?" Harry asked, patting Hagrid on the shoulder after reading this.
Hagrid was lying on the table, so Harry had the opportunity to pat him on the shoulder.
Hagrid, who was lying on the table, continued to sob, and shook his huge hands, motioning 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. A hearing will be held at the committee's London offices in January next year, and we would like you and your Hippogriff to be present on that date. In the meantime, the Hippogriff is to be tethered and kept in isolation."
"Well, it doesn't seem so bad?" Harry murmured after reading the letter. "Hagrid, you said that hippogriffs are all proud and disdain to do evil, and Buckbeak is one of the gentler ones. It's just a hearing, it will be fine..."
"You don't understand those weirdos on the Dangerous Creatures Committee!" Hagrid interrupted Harry with a sob, wiping his tears vigorously with his dirty sleeves. "They are like enemies of these interesting magical creatures, and they can't bear to see them have any good!"
Suddenly there was a sound in the corner of Hagrid's hut. Harry turned quickly and saw Buckbeak, the hippogriff, lying in the corner, chewing something raw, leaving blood all over the floor.
"They told me to tie Buckbeak up, but I can't tie him up outside with a rope!" Hagrid choked, "Hippogriffs are free and proud and shouldn't be tied up! I can only 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 be willing to stay indoors for two months."
"Yes, I know..." Hagrid reached out and took out a large pot of wine from the cabinet beside him, and took a big sip, "So I am looking for help from others, hoping that someone can help this poor little guy."
Harry turned his head to look at the Hippogriff that was lying on the ground and was a head taller than him. He didn't quite agree with the adjective "little guy" that Hagrid used, but when he turned around and looked at Hagrid's larger body, he could only nod silently.
"You can ask Dumbledore for help. He is so powerful, there must be a way, right?" Harry asked.
"No, I've already troubled Dumbledore enough." Hagrid shook his head sadly, "If it weren't for Dumbledore's face, I might not even be able to be a professor, and I might even be imprisoned in Azkaban because of my past crimes..."
"But those officials from the Ministry of Magic would let me go because of Dumbledore's guarantee, but they would not let go of an animal they despise. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures likes to do this kind of thing to gain a sense of existence, otherwise they have nothing to do all year round!"
Hagrid took another big gulp of wine and continued, "I also heard that Professor Dracula is very prestigious in the school board. I met him once in the staff lounge before, but I didn't have time to speak..."
Harry's eyes lit up when he heard Hagrid's words.
"Yes, Professor Dracula is so powerful, he must have a way!" He shouted, "I'll go to Professor Dracula's office and ask him for you!"
As he said this, he excitedly said goodbye 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, wanting him to teach him the Patronus Charm.
After being rejected, he always wanted to beg again, or learn something indirectly, but he couldn't think of a reasonable excuse to go to Professor Dracula again.
In the incident where Buckbeak was prosecuted, on the one hand, Harry sincerely wanted to help Hagrid save the hippogriff that once carried him around Hogwarts, and on the other hand, he also found a reason for himself to go to Professor Dracula's office again.
So he felt a little excited.
…
"Oh? Dumbledore hasn't helped Hagrid deal with that matter yet?" In the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, Dracula looked at Harry with raised eyebrows.
"That's not the case. At least Hagrid himself doesn't have any problems," said Harry anxiously. "But Buckbeak... Buckbeak has been complained about, and there will be a hearing after the Christmas holidays. Now the people on that committee are asking Hagrid to tie him 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 himself, 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 his secret use of the Time-Turner.
As the most prestigious wizard in the wizarding world, Dumbledore could easily handle matters concerning Hagrid himself, but he had no suitable way to completely solve the problem of the Hippogriff.
Dracula fully understands what those people in the Ministry of Magic and the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures are thinking:
We would have given the strongest and most prestigious wizard a favor and let the professor you guaranteed be released, but you even want to guarantee a beast, so where is our face
Therefore, it would be a bit troublesome for a great wizard like Dumbledore, who was famous and in the spotlight of everyone, to deal with such a matter. After all, he could only act within the rules and was unwilling to break up with those official people.
However, this is not a problem for Dracula, as he has many ways to easily rescue Buckbeak.
"Well, I understand. This kind of small matter is indeed 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 think I know him very well."
"But, aren't you all professors at Hogwarts? Shouldn't colleagues help each other?" Harry widened his eyes in confusion.
"You are a little naive, Potter." Dracula curled his lips, "If you follow your method, if Professor Snape can help with this matter, do you think he will be willing to help you and Hagrid?"
Harry's expression froze when he thought of Snape's ugly face.
He could easily imagine that if Snape heard about this, he would be very kind-hearted if he did not help the Malfoys deal with Hagrid and Buckbeak, let alone rescue Buckbeak.
Speaking of which, Snape was really strange. He was willing to try every possible way to save Harry from life-threatening danger when Harry was in his first year, but in fact, his face always showed an expression of disgust and jealousy.
Harry could feel that the disgust for him in Snape's eyes was genuine, but his reluctance to have his life threatened was also genuine.
It's incomprehensible, Harry thought.
"Have you figured out the relationship between colleagues, Potter?" Dracula saw Harry's expression and realized that he had figured out the connection. "Of course, I can help you..."
"I always do things based on my own preferences. If I'm in a good mood, it's no problem for me to help you solve this matter."
A hopeful look returned to Harry's face.
"So... Professor, how are you feeling now?" he asked eagerly.
"Not very good." Dracula first showed a playful smile, then instantly retracted the smile and frowned.
Harry: “…”
You seem to be in a good mood...
"There's a student who comes to me for extra lessons all day long and wants me to work overtime for free. Do you think this will make me happy?" Dracula seemed to see what Harry was thinking and said with a straight face.
"Going to class day after day is boring enough. If it weren't for the interesting things that happen in this castle from time to time, why would I stay here..."
"Professor, how can you feel better?" Harry asked again.
Harry also realized at this time that Professor Dracula was simply too lazy to help Hagrid. Even though it was just a matter of physical effort for him, he didn't even want to do it...
Unless someone can give Professor Dracula some fun and make him want to move.
"I think you should leave my office now and stop harassing me here. Maybe I will feel a little better." Dracula said.
Harry's face was full of helplessness.
If he left now, not to mention that he was not sure whether he had really made Professor Dracula feel better... maybe according to the professor's temperament, it was normal for him to forget such a trivial matter in a few minutes.
"Professor, Hagrid is really helpless..."
Harry wanted to try to persuade him with emotion and reason, but when he saw the half-smile on Professor Dracula's face, he silently changed his words and said, "So can you tell me a way? I really want to make you feel better."
Dracula casually peeled off a bloody lollipop and stuffed it into his mouth, then glanced at Harry casually.
"How about you tell me a joke?" he said casually. "If the joke is funny enough, I can help you solve the problem directly."
Harry was stunned for a moment.
"Um... Professor, are you sure you want to hear a joke?" He looked at Dracula cautiously and asked weakly, "I heard that there was a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts who died of laughter when he heard students telling jokes..."
Dracula: “…”
With a bang, Harry was slammed outside the office door.
"You'd better come up with a funny joke, or you'll have double the homework after Halloween!"
Dracula's voice came from the office through the closed door.
…
Before I knew it, the day had passed and it was time for the Halloween dinner.
Harry walked to the Gryffindor table dejectedly, still blaming himself in his heart.
He shouldn't have complained about the last sentence, and ended up making Professor Dracula unhappy. His plan to seek the professor's help for Buckbeak fell through, and he even had to double his homework...
Ron and Hermione also came over shortly after he arrived at the Great Hall.
Their faces had been turned pink by the cold wind outside, and they looked as if they had been having a great time for a while. The conflict between the two of them over their two cat and mouse pets, Crookshanks and Scabbers, seemed to have eased a little.
"Harry, you don't look very well." Hermione took off the scarf around her neck and put it on the table, and asked worriedly, "Are you unhappy because you didn't go to Hogsmeade? It's okay, Ron and I brought you a lot of snacks there..."
As soon as she finished her words, a handful of candy fell into Harry's lap like a rainstorm.
"Look," said Ron cheerfully, "we brought you so much candy that we couldn't bring any more."
"Thanks," Harry whispered, picking up a small bag of Pepper Urchins, "How was Hogsmeade? Where did you guys go?"
It turns out they went everywhere.
Honeydukes, the Wizarding General Store, Zoco's Joke Shop, the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeer, and many other places.
"That 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 kind of fudge and they're giving out free samples, and here's a little bit, look—"
"Wish I could bring you some Butterbeer, it would really warm you up—"
When the two of them talked about today's journey, it seemed like they had endless things to tell Harry.
Listening to the lively conversation between the two, Harry's expression became even stiffer.
"Harry, you... still don't seem very happy?"
Ron was still talking excitedly, but Hermione noticed that Harry was not happy and patted Ron hard to make him stop.
Harry shook his head and then turned to look at the two of them.
"Um, you two... have you ever heard some good jokes?" he asked with a conflicted expression.
…
…