Chapter 345: Chapter 345: Can You Help Him? (Edited)
Hagrid took a small grinder, put some coffee beans in it, and turned the lid's lever. Soon, a fine black coffee powder was ground. After pouring the freshly ground coffee into a cup, Hagrid poured boiling water, and in an instant, a strong coffee aroma filled the room.
"I roasted the beans myself; maybe the roast isn't perfect, but it'll perk you up." Hagrid pushed two cups of coffee toward Tom and Hermione, sat on the other side of the table, and prepared a cup for himself.
Tom took a sip of the coffee in his cup and found the taste to be just fine, not as bitter as he had imagined.
"What brings you to my house?" Hagrid blew the foam from his cup and then took a long sip of coffee.
"I saw Buckbeak lying in the pumpkin patch, so I came to take a look."
"Haha!" Hagrid became enthusiastic when mentioning Buckbeak. "He's a beautiful creature, isn't he? But... it's a pity..."
Hermione's gaze landed on the stack of books behind him. "How are your preparations for Buckbeak's case going?"
Hagrid showed a tired expression. "It's going well; I just saw a case where a hippogriff that hurt someone was acquitted, so I still have a chance."
Seeing the thick stack of books, Tom understood why Hagrid had prepared so much coffee. With Dumbledore's guarantee, Hagrid wouldn't assume any responsibility, but Buckbeak might be sentenced to death. That was something Hagrid couldn't accept.
The tricky part was that Hagrid could secretly release Buckbeak, but he didn't dare to. Because that would cause even greater problems: the Ministry of Magic wasn't stupid, if Buckbeak escaped at a critical moment, Hagrid would be in trouble and could even implicate Dumbledore. That was also something Hagrid couldn't accept.
He could only focus on studying, trying to find an opportunity for Buckbeak among the endless case files. But it was so difficult! The magical world's attitude towards magical creatures was very delicate, using a common term in the Muggle world, it was "wizard supremacism." When wizards and magical creatures came into conflict, the Ministry of Magic tended to punish the magical creature.
Everyone present knew this, so they also knew that Hagrid's chances of success in the trial were very low.
The three of them were silent, just enjoying their coffee.
"Hagrid, we don't want to bother you any longer, the coffee is delicious." After finishing her coffee, Hermione placed her cup back on the table.
"Can we go see Buckbeak again?" She made this request.
"Of course, the animals hanging on the fence are his food; they can feed him whatever they want." Hagrid, naturally, was glad to have someone spend more time with Buckbeak.
After thanking Hagrid, Hermione led Tom out of Hagrid's cabin, and they returned to Buckbeak. Meanwhile, Hagrid picked up a book from the bed and began reading earnestly. The thick tome looked like a miniature comic book in his hands.
Hermione brought Tom back to the pumpkin patch. Tom stood by the fence and took down some small animals from it; there were rabbits and ferrets, mostly products of the Forbidden Forest.
After bowing to each other once more, the two sat next to Buckbeak. Buckbeak stretched his neck to reach the food in Tom's hand, which he tossed one by one into Buckbeak's mouth.
Watching Buckbeak enjoy the delicious food, Hermione took a deep breath and looked at Tom. "Is there any way to help him, Tom? I don't want to see him die."
After spending time with Hagrid, something soft inside Hermione had been touched, and now she wanted to save Buckbeak.
Tom fell into a brief silence.
During this moment of silence, he was thinking: What kind of person was he?
Apparently, he was polite and courteous to everyone, but when it came to things around him, he seemed to have a surprising indifference. He hardly paid attention to things unrelated to Hermione. Like what happened earlier with Peggy, he vaguely noticed that something was wrong with the girl, but he didn't do anything about it; he simply didn't care.
Indifferent. That seemed to be the adjective that described him best, as if there was nothing that could matter to him. Voldemort, the Horcruxes, the mentally unstable girl... as long as it wasn't related to Hermione, he wouldn't care.
To be honest, he even thought that if he and Hermione hadn't been the ones Voldemort was purging, then maybe he wouldn't have gone against him!
Including the Buckbeak case at this moment, it seemed like he had no intentions of actively resolving it.
Upon careful thought, wasn't this like a "not actively, not rejecting, not taking responsibility" attitude? Not actively seeking trouble, not rejecting it when it arises, and not taking responsibility for how things turn out.
Hiss! Tom took a deep breath as he reached this point. He began to recall if he had ever done anything voluntarily. Did substituting for Lockhart in classes for a year count?
"Tom," perhaps Tom had been lost in thought for too long, Hermione tentatively called his name again. "I feel like maybe you have some idea..."
Tom smiled ironically. "It's nothing, I was just reflecting on how I seem to be like a spinning top. Pushed and moved, if I'm not pushed, I don't move."
"So can I push you?" Hermione laughed.
"You're really amazing, how do you know I'll find a solution?"
"You always find a solution, don't you?"
Tom placed a grey rabbit near Buckbeak's mouth. "What do you think we should do?"
"I can only do it in a complicated way, helping Hagrid search for documents, writing reports, but I feel like you have a simpler and more direct way of approaching it." Hermione showed a hopeful look in her eyes.
"Actually, I have a plan." Tom winked.
"Just set him free."
Hermione: ?!
She was amazed and incredulous. It was hard for her to believe that this bad idea had been proposed by Tom.
"You should know what consequences this will bring for Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore."
Tom waved his hand; to him, releasing a hippogriff. Dumbledore's goodwill and the Ministry of Magic would eventually crumble, so it was better to seize the opportunity now. Of course, there was still a way to handle it properly.
"Do you mean releasing him under the supervision of the Ministry of Magic?" Hermione was shocked by this innovative idea. "It's too risky! Isn't there a safer way?"
The simplest way to save Buckbeak was indeed to release him after the Ministry of Magic inspected him. But there was also a lot of uncertainty in that, like if the executioner took a peek out the window while they were moving Buckbeak or if Dumbledore's attempts to delay the process failed, among other things.
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