The day's classes had ended by the time the headmaster allowed them to take their leave.
Magnus couldn't wait any longer.
He dashed through the castle, completely forgetting about the vanishing steps that often waited to bait students who were in such a rush.
Lucky for him, the steps seemed to decide he had been through a lot for one day.
He reached the school grounds and made a beeline for the daycare.
God, he had missed his Zorua. It had been, what... almost two days without any sight of it?
"Oi..."
He heard someone call behind him but didn't give it much thought. He didn't think it was him.
"Oi, Magnus... wait up!"
Now he skidded to a stop. His weary mind was only now registering that the voice belonged to George.
True enough, when he turned around, George alongside Lee were running towards him, panting like it had been a marathon.
"Where the... hell are you running like that?" George panted, clutching his knee.
"Hello Magnus... good to see you can still run, mate," Lee joked while patting him on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Lee... good to see you too, guys," he said, ignoring George's question.
There was only one place he could be running to like that.
Funny thing though, he only now recalled Mr. Weasley requesting him to ask the other Weasleys to meet them near the headmaster's office.
Having been the only one without parents to hold him back after the headmaster allowed them to leave, he had excused himself, leaving Hermione and Fred receiving whatever additional parental lecture they were pouring on them.
He had planned to ask a Gryffindor student or a prefect but... well, this was even better.
"George... you should find Ron... your dad said you should meet them at the headmaster's office."
"Crap," George cursed as he straightened up. "I was hoping to avoid being involved."
"Well... you are. We told them the whole truth."
The two looked like they had expected as much. Then again, knowing how these guys found ways around restricted areas, it wasn't far-fetched to think they had been in communication with Fred.
"And...?" Lee asked.
"And nothing," Magnus said curtly.
"Nothing? What do you mean, nothing?" George exclaimed.
One could almost think he had wished for something to happen.
But then again, Magnus could understand his surprise.
He too had been caught completely off guard by the Ministry's decision.
At the very least, he had expected to be suspended for a few weeks.
"It's a long story, guys, which we'll tell you later," he said, turning to leave. "Gotta check on my Zorua."
"Well, you won't find it in your house daycare," Lee told him, and he found himself turning around once again.
"What... why..."
Then halfway through his question, he understood the logic.
Of course they would hold the Pokémon involved in those incidents separate from the rest.
It was not likely that they would be in the open daycare where students constantly frequented, in case they unleashed more attacks... at least, that would be the Ministry's thinking.
"You have to ask Hagrid, mate," George said, and Magnus automatically changed his direction towards the cabin.
"Thanks," he called, already having broken into another run.
On arriving, he was overjoyed to see the door was slightly open.
He gave it just three quick knocks, just for the sake of politeness, before pushing it.
"What the bloody..." Hagrid, who had been in the act of dashing to reinforce the door, stopped when he saw who it was.
Magnus was surprised to see there were people already here.
It was Harry and Ron, and by the look of things, they had been in the act of covering themselves with the invisibility cloak.
Hagrid reached out and pushed the door shut, reinforcing it with the lock.
"Sorry, guys... the door was open," he hastily apologized before his attention was captured by the Pokémon in the corner of the room.
"Blimey boy... I thought they had you," Hagrid said, clapping him 'gently' on the back, making him almost sag to the floor.
He did not take his eyes off the Zweilous.
"Hagrid... it's... you allow it to roam freely?" he said, recoiling back slowly until he was on Hagrid.
"It's not free," Harry, who had tossed the cloak aside, said as both he and Ron rushed towards him.
"What happened... did you... I mean, did they expel you? What about Fred... I know Mum will have fried him already... and Hermione..."
"Come now... let him catch his breath," Hagrid stopped the train of questions as he led, or rather pushed, him toward the seat in front of the Zweilous.
"It's not free... there's a shield right there, see?"
Hagrid shoved his hands towards the calm Deino, but before it could reach the two heads, he was pushed back with intense force, as if someone had shoved him.
"Oh... he is used to you now," Magnus remarked, seeing neither of the heads had tried to attack Hagrid.
"Yes..." Hagrid beamed as if Magnus had given him the biggest of compliments.
"They are two good boys now... the shield is for Harry n' Ron. I let him free at night. He loves it."
The three first-years stared at each other in shock.
"Hagrid... it's not safe."
Magnus could picture the heads closing on Hagrid's throat as he slept.
Comfortable as Hagrid now felt around his Pokémon, that trust was totally ill-placed and could turn fatal real quick.
"Forget it, mate," Ron said. "We told him countless times already... but you haven't answered our questions yet."
"Oh."
Having satisfied his curiosity on the safety, he skimmed through the details of what had happened as fast as he could.
When he was done, the three did not seem to believe anything he had said.
He might as well have been reading them the Tales of Beedle the Bard.
"They want you to form a club?" Ron exclaimed. "Everyone thought you would get expelled."
"Yeah... I did too," he said just as Hagrid boomed in excitement.
"Must have been Dumbledore," Hagrid boomed happily.
Magnus had to agree with him. The headmaster must have found a way to convince the Minister against punishing them.
As far as he could remember, the rest had all shown signs of being ready to expel him even without hearing him.
Magnus seemed to recall the reason he was here.
"Oh... Ron, your parents are looking for you. And Hagrid, you know where my Pokémon is?"
Suddenly the room seemed to be robbed of all the warmth it had a few seconds before the question.
Now none of them wanted to meet his eyes.
"Hagrid?" Magnus stood up, feeling his limbs begin to tremble.
Something had to be wrong here.