Hagrid's giant noggin took a second to catch up.
He stared at Sean, then at the letter.
"Transformation biscuits are…"
Sean nodded.
…
Hagrid got his wish, all right.
Inside the hut stood a fat orange cat bigger than a dog.
He'd scarfed down twenty biscuits to pull it off. Sean figured even if Hagrid had been house-sized, it'd still make sense.
Right now, Cat-Hagrid and Fang were locked in a stare-down.
Fang let out a huge bark, then cautiously started licking the orange blob's fur.
Sean packaged up the fresh batch of Animal Party series and sent them off. "White Owl," his owl, gracefully hooked the parcels and glided silently out of Hogwarts.
The joke shop was running on fumes; Sean had gone full throttle all afternoon just to restock.
Exhausted, he bit into a biscuit, ready to shift back to cat form and unwind, when he spotted Hagrid chowing down on the rock cakes Sean had given him.
Not only rock cakes; he was swiping at the dried game birds and hams dangling from the rafters.
Keep in mind, those rock cakes nearly chipped Ron's tooth. Normal people don't snack on them.
So does this mean even in animal form, a wizard keeps some habits—or some chunk of their unique will?
If you guided that part, or even slipped in a little Legilimency nudge, could you make a wizard retain willpower?
Worth digging into, anyway.
When Hagrid snapped back, he said he felt "comfy as a lie-in." Pretty novel review.
The kids who'd tried the biscuits before barely remembered anything.
On his way out, Hagrid walked Sean a long way, reluctant to let go.
"Take some rock cakes! Sorry Fang ate so many!"
He swatted Fang's head; Fang grumbled pitifully.
"Grab some of this incense too; when you're near the forest edge, I'll smell it and send Fang to find you."
"Shh—"
Hagrid added,
"Listen; when you come looking, we gotta be sneaky. Some stuff students shouldn't do. But you love magical creatures and you made those biscuits; I trust you.
"I can sneak you to the edge to meet some wild ones you'd never imagine, but stick close. Some of 'em got tempers."
Sean nodded and handed over a huge box of transformation biscuits.
Hagrid's grin lit up the hut.
"Happy to help you learn about creatures; just don't let Professor McGonagall catch us…"
…
Hagrid's hands-down the wizard at Hogwarts who's met the most magical creatures. Even the Forbidden Forest is packed with centaurs, unicorns, thestrals, bowtruckles… all kinds. With his help, a ton of Sean's creature-series problems just vanished.
Hagrid didn't just let Sean see them; he explained them.
Future Care of Magical Creatures professor, after all.
Back at the Hope Hut, everyone looked on edge.
"I have to play," Harry was telling the room.
"If I back out, Slytherin will think I'm scared of Snape. I've gotta show them… If we win, it'll wipe the smug off their faces for good."
"As long as we don't carry you off the pitch on a stretcher," Ron said.
"We still don't know who he is, Harry. This is too dangerous," Hermione added.
Sean gave them a quick glance, thought for a second, then remembered: Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff was in a few days.
"We find the guy. Even if he tries something, we'll be ready.
"Whether he strikes this time or not, if he's after Harry, he'll slip up. Goal: ID him, report to Dumbledore."
Justin nailed the plan shut.
"We split up. Everyone watches a section. Neville, take the south stands?
"Hermione, east; Ron, west. I'll cover the staff box and north. Anything happens, we signal with these—"
He pointed at the banners floating high, color-changing ink flashing "POTTER FOR THE WIN." He flicked his wand; Permanent Sticking Charm; the ink froze.
Everyone by the fireplace nodded.
Truth was, once Harry spilled why he looked miserable, the Hope Hut crew had been plotting for days.
"Emergency? Red sparks; plus the fireworks I gave you.
"I'll loop Sean in. If he's on board, we roll…"
Nods all around. They watched Justin head to the fire-lizard-ringed wooden table.
"Mm-hmm."
Sean nodded; he already knew what Justin was about to say.
"I've got eyes on all of you."
Justin's grin widened. They hashed out final details with the crew.
Harry watched everyone hustle for him and felt like a Bludger hit him square in the chest.
He just stood there, speechless.
Justin caught the look.
"Hey, no pressure, Harry. Remember our deal?
"When stuff like this hits, trust me; you'll handle it better than any of us."
…
A round table appeared in the Hope Hut. Justin thought meetings on the couch were weird, so Ron went all-out trying to Transfigure a big table; ended up with a snarling dog instead.
Sean fixed it with a flick, then conjured a fancy round table.
He wasn't aiming for anything, but it came out with exactly seven seats.
The gang silently left the head spot open, then dove into the "Protect Potter Plan" with pumped-up energy.
The name was so on-the-nose Harry couldn't look up.
Justin finally changed it to "First Round Table Plan" and casually scrawled: Leader: Sean Green.
That name lit a fire under them; they could've brainstormed all day about dragging the hidden creep into the open.
Sean felt like he'd stumbled into the Middle Ages. He hadn't done anything; how'd he end up leader?
"Oh, Sean, you have no idea how huge your role is.
"I swear, without you, I'd never pitch this.
"Because you're up there watching, we've got the guts to face the unknown.
"Like with the troll; with you around, we know we won't actually be in real danger."
That's what Justin said.