"I don't quite understand why..." Hagrid's eyes showed a hint of confusion, "I received a letter from the Ministry of Magic this morning, saying that my case has been moved to Friday, which is next Friday."
Everyone present frowned except Tom. Tom understood that this was Bones' action.
"Could it be the fault of that old guy Lucius?" Ron thought for a while, always feeling that there must be a conspiracy behind this sudden change.
"It's hard to say," Harry, who was sitting next to him, shook his head, "but we have no choice."
"Let's send a letter to the Knight Bus first and book two berths on the bus. This should be the easiest way - transporting Buckbeak via broom or floo network is not practical." Hermione said.
She was thinking about countermeasures. She understood that Hagrid had absolutely no bargaining power in the face of the Ministry of Magic's orders, so the first thing he had to do was to find a way to take Buckbeak to London.
Hermione thought about it and felt that the traditional methods were not feasible - Hagrid was too big and Buckbeak was too big. She could only hope for the simplest way: taking a car.
And due to the restrictions of the Statute of Secrecy, one person and one beast must go directly to the Ministry of Magic.
"Also, you need a defense statement, a decent set of clothes, and if possible, tidy up your beard and hair - the first impression on the jury is very important." Hermione had already started planning.
"Yes... you are right..." Hagrid took action and took out an oversized fluffy brown coat and a yellow and orange tie from his wardrobe. After finding the clothes,
He leaned on the table again and began to write a letter to the person in charge of Knight Bus.
Hermione took out a piece of parchment and began to help Hagrid write a defense statement - Hagrid himself could not hold back a word before, which was too difficult for him. As for Tom and the other three,
Sit aside obediently and try not to get in the way.
Harry and Ron were very poorly prepared, and Tom was not prepared at all. He didn't even read a single magical beast case, but he found connections for Hagrid.
The night passed in such a busy way.
Friday came. Hagrid fed Buckbeak well early in the morning, and then led him onto the Knight Bus. The Knight Bus deliberately did not carry other guests for Hagrid's sake. Because of the Hippogriff
It was too dangerous and might hurt other passengers. Buckbeak even got on the bus through the back door so he could avoid the driver and conductor.
Not everyone can be recognized by the hippogriff. If Buckbeak doesn't accept the bows of these two people, Hagrid will be in big trouble.
When Hagrid got out of the car, two wizards came over. One was extremely old, as if he would shrink in front of Hagrid in the next second, while the other was tall and burly.
The old wizard had just taken a few shaky steps when Hagrid signaled him to stop in a panic. This unexpected move startled the old man. Looking at him, he almost looked like he was walking through the gates of hell.
"Please bow to Buckbeak first so that he will not attack you. Buckbeak is a very gentle bird-"
"So if we don't bow, will this beast attack us?" The tall wizard said angrily, and even Hagrid could hear the anger in his voice.
"Ah, well, this -" Hagrid was speechless. He could not deny what the man said, but his instinct told him that once he admitted it, the consequences would be very serious.
It was the old wizard who stood up and smoothed things over, "It's okay, it's okay... magical animals, it's normal... This is the nature of hippogriffs, no need to make a fuss... Oops, I'm old and useless.
, I actually just remembered this now..."
He spoke tremblingly, and his tone was broken, making people worry whether he would die in the next second.
"In this way..." the old wizard narrowed his eyes, "We keep our distance from you, and you take it to the trial hall..."
Hagrid nodded repeatedly, followed the old wizard's instructions, and took Buckbeak to the Trial Hall of the Ministry of Magic. There was another struggle. Obviously, Buckbeak was wary of unfamiliar environments and had a strong sense of resistance.
Without the help of the old wizard, he might have been arrested before he even arrived at the trial hall. The old wizard was very kind and helped Hagrid clear the pedestrians on the road in advance, and reserved a special machine for him and Buckbeak.
The elevator can ensure that they go all the way to the trial hall without stopping in the middle.
These are the practices of the Ministry of Magic, and experienced wizards are familiar with them.
"Why bother with so much effort." After Hagrid walked into the elevator, the strong man muttered dissatisfiedly. He took out a handkerchief from his robe pocket and wiped the sweat on the old man's head, "Let me tell you,
Just ignore them and let that beast go crazy in the Ministry of Magic and hurt the people——"
"MacMillan!" The old wizard glared at his junior very sternly, "I know you have been in charge of executions, but the sentence has not been handed down so far. We cannot have a discriminatory attitude towards the prisoners! Everything must be in accordance with the rules.
Come on...cough cough——"
He spoke very fast and started coughing at the end.
"Okay, okay, follow the rules," the strong man quickly stroked the old wizard's back and verbally agreed.
"But I don't think that guy has much chance of winning. Lucius Malfoy is determined to win this time and has summoned a large group of wizards from pure-blood families to help..."
When the old wizard heard this, he couldn't help but sigh secretly. He felt enlightened. He knew that he could not refuse Malfoy's request. This time, the man named Hagrid would definitely lose the case.
Sorry, Albus, who let Hagrid mess with the wrong people?
Hagrid walked into the trial hall and found that it was a little different from other trial halls. The entire trial hall was like a bowl. The jury members were on the edge of the bowl, while Hagrid and Buckbeak were at the bottom of the bowl, surrounded by iron railings.
Wrapping it up is like being in a big cage.
This is where the Dangerous Animals Committee conducts trials. Due to the special nature of the subject of the trial, this place has been renovated and is completely different from other trial halls. The defendant and the defendant animal will be tried in a cage.
At this time, a group of committee members had already taken their seats. After a while, the old man just now also appeared here, but he did not sit in the jury box, but walked directly to the presiding position.
Then came the audience who came to listen - since Hagrid's case was unremarkable, the audience who came here were all pure-blood family members invited by Lucius Malfoy to build momentum.
Seeing wizard nobles entering one after another, the people in the committee gradually became agitated. At this time, the balance in their hearts had begun to tilt.