Harry and Hermione were quickly led out of the trial room along with almost everyone else. The three judges would use the room for their deliberations, and all those who didn't work at the Ministry were required to leave.
Warlock Malfoy told Professor Dumbledore that he was going to wait in the staffroom and led Draco away. Harry thought that it was presumptuous of the blond git to use the staffroom, as he wasn't a Professor or any other type of staff at the school. He wasn't even a member of the school's Board of Governors anymore, after he was removed from the position last year for threatening the other governors.
Dumbledore, however, either didn't think it was too presumptuous or thought it wasn't worth starting an argument over the use of a few comfortable chairs and an enchanted tea service for a few hours. The headmaster excused himself, citing the need to do some paperwork, and Hagrid took charge of Buckbeak, leaving to take him for what could be his last walk.
The two teens were just wondering how they would kill the next two hours when a hand fell on each of their shoulders, "Well now, the two of you do not disappoint. You said I could possibly get a story about some government corruption and you were right, and if the trial finds in your favour now, the tale of the Hippogriff that saved Mr. Potter only for Mr. Potter to save him will make a delightful little feel-good story," The reporter was beaming a wide smile, most likely at the notoriety that such a story would garner. "Now, as we have two hours to kill, why don't the two of you give me that interview you promised?" Her smile now turned a little predatory, but not particularly unkind.
Hermione jerked a little. "The promise was an interview with Harry. No one would want to read about me."
"Oh? Don't sell yourself short, dear. You have managed to capture the heart of the young man who was soon to become magical Britain's most eligible bachelor in only a few short years. Did you think I wouldn't see that the two of you were close? Many of my readers would love to hear how you did it." Miss Skeeter scrutinised the young teenage girl. "Don't worry. I know my articles can be a bit intense at times, but for now I'm looking for a public interest story. With Bellatrix LeStrange on the loose a lot of people are on edge. the public needs a pick-me-up."
Hermione was wavering. Harry wasn't going to influence her other way. Buckbeak had saved him and Miss Skeeter had already given them a good shot at saving him. Harry would give his interview, it was his debt to pay. He would, however, be lying if he said he wouldn't be more comfortable if Hermione was there.
"Why don't you lead us to somewhere quiet so we can talk?" Hermione nodded and led them to a classroom on the second floor that was currently empty.
Harry, Hermione, Miss Skeeter, and her camera-carrying colleague (who hadn't said a word so far) each sat at a desk. Miss Skeeter had her handbag open in front of her, pulling out parchment, ink and a quill. At first, she pulled out an acid green feathered quill that matched her robes, but after looking at it for a few moments returned it to her bag in favour of an eagle feather quill that looked rather smart.
"Ok Harry. You don't mind if I call you Harry do you?"
"That's fine."
"So Harry, where to start, where to start? How about...what do you think of the wizarding world? We all know that you were sent to live with muggles after what happened. Now that you have returned to your rightful home, how do you find it?"
"Um, well, I love magic, it's completely amazing. And there are things about the magical society that are absolutely brilliant. Quidditch, the sweets and some types of magic are really fun. But I don't like how much importance some people put on blood status. It's too much like what Voldemort stood for." The two Daily Prophet employees flinched at Harry's use of the name
"Please Harry, don't use that name."
"Why not? It's just a name. A made-up one at that."
"During the blood war, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named put a Taboo on his name; if you say it, then his followers can track you. Not all of them went to Azkaban and no-one knows if the Taboo is still active. So It's still not a good idea to say it." Miss Skeeter explained.
"But Dumbledore keeps encouraging people to use the name! If it could let those psychos track people isn't that incredibly risky?" Hermione half-shouted. "Why has no-one ever explained about the Taboo before?"
"I would assume most people just think you already know." Miss Skeeter shrugged. "Now back to the interview, Miss Granger, Harmony?
"Hermione, H. E. R. M. I. O. N. E." She spelled out her name for the reporter.
"Hermione," Skeeter nodded. "What can you tell me about yourself? You are obviously half-witch, half something else, but I don't know any race that has cat-like features. What is your non-human parent, if you don't mind me asking? And how did you and Harry meet and become friends?"
Despite the relatively friendly tone the gossip columnist used, Hermione grew tense as she made assumptions about Hermione's parentage. "I'm actually fully human. Both my parents are muggles." Miss Skeeter's face showed surprise at that. "My features are new. I made a mistake with a potion and it got contaminated with kneazle hair. So now I have a mild case of permanent spell damage. It's nothing serious, in fact I have better hearing now, I just need to be carefull around muggles when I go home. Harry actually helped me a lot there. He is really good at runes and he made me some accessories that conceal my ears and tail. I don't bother with them much in the magical world as I actually think my ears and tail are cute." She blushed a little at the last admittance.
"As for how we met, we first met on the Express as we came for our first year here. I was a bit of a berk and Mione fixed my glasses," Harry admitted.
"You weren't that bad, Harry. We didn't become friends until Halloween. One of the other students had said some…well he just wasn't being nice. Just regular school stuff. Anyway, I was crying in one of the toilets and I didn't know what was happening at the feast." Hermione explained her part.
Harry took over then. "As she said, it was Halloween. I don't like Halloween, it's not an easy day for me." Harry left it at that he doubted that the reporter would need more details as to why. "Rather than attending the school feast and ruining everyone's fun, I was just wandering around the castle. Only, I found that someone had let a bloody 12ft mountain troll into the castle and it was about to kill Hermione. To give you the short version, I saved Hermione and then she saved me. I accidentally managed to kill the troll, and, well, after that how could we not be friends?"
Miss Skeeter was writing at full speed taking notes, but stopped to stare at him. "Y-you k-killed a troll! Accidentally?" The shock evident in her voice.
"I was trying to blind it with a Lumos spell but my wand got stuck up its nose, and I got off a very lucky shot…when I tell it now it sounds completely ridiculous."
"Yeah, but it was terrifying at the time. We didn't even realize Harry had killed it. We thought it was just unconscious so we ran until we ran into Professor McGonagall."
The interview continued on for a while longer. Miss Skeeter asked questions about all sorts of topics, from Harry's parents, to both their opinions on more frivolous things like singers, fashion and Quidditch teams. The questions she asked about their encounters with LeStrange and how the two got together were both a little emotional but in different ways.
The reporter loved that Harry had stuck by Hermione during her cat potions mishap; according to her, "the public will eat that up."
Neither Harry nor Hermione were quite sure about how to feel about that aspect of their lives appearing in print. It wasn't as though it was a big secret. Most of the school knew that they had gotten together while Hermione was in the hospital wing, and a few students had come to the hospital wing while Harry read her books to her. Some had been there to visit Hermione and others had just needed to see Madam Pomfrey. Anyone interested who asked around could easily peace it together, and it wasn't like either of them would have hidden it from anyone who asked. There was just something about it being in the paper or one of the Daily Prophet 's sister publications (Miss Skeeter was vague on which publication would carry the article) was uncomfortable. Harry wasn't a fan of his fame to begin with, but he wasn't going to let feeling a little uncomfortable stop him from helping Buckbeak.
Hermione wasn't exactly used to the idea of being in the spotlight either, apart from in class where she (by the virtue of her academic zeal) was often the center of attention next to the professor. Outside of that, she tended to be quieter than most others. She had seen how Harry's fame affected him and wasn't too keen on experiencing it for herself, but she could see the advantages of having a soapbox in the future. She may have accepted that house elves need the bond with wizards but she was determined to give the poor things more protection from abuse if she could find a way.
Once Miss Skeeter had finished asking them questions and jotting down the answers, she asked for some photos to go with the article. Harry had expected it and was resigned to the fact but Hermione really didn't like that idea. "I'm not ready for a photo shoot. My hair is a mess and my skin is all blotchy." Hermione wasn't wearing any make-up nor had she done anything with her hair today. She was wearing her best full school uniform because of the trial, but as this was the last day of their exam week, Hermione hadn't been focused on her appearance at all.
"No problem, dear. I can help you with that. I do a lot of work with Witch Weekly and Teen Witch Weekly , beauty charms are some of our most popular articles." The reporter drew her wand. "So dear, what kind of look should we go for?"
The two women bantered back and forth for a few minutes. Miss Skeeter was pushing for a look that was more conventionally pretty, like the witches Harry saw on the covers of magazines. Hermione ,however, insisted that such a look just wasn't her. Of course, Miss Skeeter argued back that she needed to look her best if she wanted to make a good impression on the people who would read the article.
Hermione was just insisting that she would appear as herself when Harry had an idea and fished his wallet out of his pocket. A quick search through it and he found what he was looking for. "How about this?"
Hermione looked at what Harry was holding out and smiled. It was Harry's photo of Hermione from New Year's Eve, which was taken before they had left the house.
He showed it to miss Skeeter, who looked it over. "It's a nice photo, but it needs to be one that moves."
"Could you recreate the look?" Hermione asked. If she was going to be in the paper just because she had a boyfriend, then the look she wore the night they fully confessed their feelings seemed appropriate.
Miss Skeeter examined the photo. "It's so weird when they don't move," she muttered to herself before speaking a bit louder. "I can do something similar, but there is a catch." They worriedly waited for her to continue. "The charms to recreate hair like that with your type of hair are short-lived; they will come undone in an hour or two at the most and…you will have a bad hair day after the charms wear off."
Harry almost laughed. The way that Miss Skeeter was talking, he thought that it would be something serious. Hermione, while still being concerned about her appearance, wasn't the type to worry about something as trivial as a bad hair day. Well unless they were going out somewhere special. She did seem to like dressing up a little for New Year's Eve for example.
"What do you mean by a bad hair day? A little frizz, or would my hair try and strangle me?" Hermione questioned, mostly joking but with a slight bit of caution in her voice.
"Oh nothing too drastic dear, just some uncontrollable frizz and a refusal to sit flat or stay styled. Basically, it will look like you just got off a long broom flight for about twelve hours, give or take an hour." Miss Skeeter smiled
Harry couldn't help it now, he laughed. Hermione and Miss Skeeter looked at him a little offended. Miss Skeeter because she took matters of fashion and appearance seriously, but Hermione however was taken aback by Harry laughing at her appearance. That was, until she looked at Harry and started laughing herself when she saw what Harry was laughing about. The description that Miss Skeeter gave was a fair depiction of Harry's hair everyday. "Oh… I'll… I'll look just like Harry," Hermione was able to get out between laughs.
Once Hermione had stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her eyes, she agreed to let Miss Skeeter do the little makeover. It was surprisingly quick. After only a few minutes of wand waving, Hermione's hair and a light touch of make-up were a close match to what Hermione had worn to the New Year party.
For the next ten minutes, the photographer (whom Miss Skeeter only referred to as 'Bozo') had the two pose for picture after picture: facing each other, holding hands, back to back, Harry's arm around Hermione and loads more.
Once they were done with the little photoshoot, Hermione approached the photographer. "Mr… um?"
"Just call me Bozo, love." Hermione stared a little. "It's my actual name." He shook his head. "I sometimes wonder whether my parents were confunded or just smoking something when they named me. But enough of that, what can I do for you, love?"
"I was wondering if it would be possible to get a copy of the photos? The only photos Harry and I have of the two of us are from this night." Hermione held up Harry's photo.
"Yes, we can do that. But because this is a Daily Prophet camera and the photos are printed with their equipment, I do have to charge for them and you need to sign a waiver saying that the prints are not for commercial use." Seeing Hermione hesitate, Bozo offered "once this lot is developed why don't I send you an order form? That way you can see the photos and see how much they cost and make a decision then?"
Hermione quickly agreed to that and the four of them decided it was time to go see if Buckbeak's fate had been decided yet.
---ϟϟϟ---
Hagrid and Harry were both pacing back and forth along the corridor, nervous over the fate of their friend. Hermione was watching the two of them, only barely keeping from snapping at them to sit down. The Malfoys were sitting on the outside of the corridor, the younger of the two looking smug and confident. It seemed that during the break he had convinced himself that everything would go his way. His father, however, wasn't giving anything away. He was like an expert poker player, hiding if he was bluffing.
Dumbledore was as calm as Hermione had ever seen him, he almost looked like he was asleep if it wasn't for the fact he was humming a bit of music as he absently conducted it with one hand. Miss Skeeter, who was only hanging around now out of curiosity, was presumably writing away on an article for the Daily Prophet , possibly even the interview she had just gotten while it was fresh in her mind.
Hermione hoped that they would give a verdict soon. While she felt confident that they had done the best they could and that they had a fair shot at saving the hippogriff, the waiting was maddening. Every second brought with it a new doubt that collected together with all the others, forming into a heavy ball of pure anxiety that was squeezing her insides. Maybe she should have insisted that she and Harry should have spent more time in the library researching instead of the two of them sneaking off to the Room of Requirement every Friday. They were dealing with the very life of an animal. How could she have been so selfish? What if the answer had been in the next book?
She was a horrible selfish woman and because of that she was going to have Buckbeak's death on her conscience.
Hermione beat those thoughts back into submission, then retrieved a small chocolate quaffle from her robe's pocket. She quickly unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. The Dementors had been at the school so long that occasionally their effects slipped past the school wards and affected the thoughts of people in the castle. The chocolate chased away the effect of the Dementors but not all of her anxieties. Despite being amplified by the Dementors, her anxieties had a solid base in fact. She would feel guilty for not researching more if Buckbeak lost.
A little while later the door opened and the pink clad undersecretary stepped out. "The Ministry is ready to deliver its decision. Please come in." Hermione tried to get an idea about the verdict from the woman's expression and body language, since she was the most outwardly expressive of the Ministry representatives, but still couldn't tell either way. She waited until most of the other people had gone into the room before she followed with the last of them, including Harry.
They all took the same seats that they had earlier. Hagrid and Dumbledore sat up front at one large desk while the Malfoys sat at the other, facing the three judges. Hermione and the rest took their seats at the back of the room. Someone had conjured an animal pen at one side of the room in which sat Buckbeak, who was happily preening his feathers.
Hermione was on the edge of her seat as the Director for the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures rifled through a few bits of parchment while he waited for everyone to finish sitting. Hermione had grabbed Harry's hand and she was holding tight enough to hurt, but he hadn't complained to her so she hadn't noticed. The reason Harry hadn't said anything was he hadn't noticed either. He, like Hermione, was focused on the judge waiting for Buckbeak's verdict.
"We have come to a decision regarding the conduct of the hippogriff known as Buckbeak. After reviewing the evidence and the statements of people who were present at the time of the incident, it has been decided to overturn the decision that was made earlier this year and remove the destruction order." There were sighs of relief from Harry and Hermione, and Hagrid broke out into a massive grin. Draco looked like he wanted to kill Director Diggory, while Warlock Malfoy was glaring at the minister.
"However, it is still true that despite the circumstances, the hippogriff known as Buckbeak did indeed intend injury to a student. In light of this the hippogriff in question is to be removed from the school property before the return of the students on the first of September." Harry and Hagrid looked beaten; they had gotten everything they needed but nothing they wanted. Buckbeak would be safe but they wouldn't be able to see him.
The Malfoys relaxed a little at the added part to the verdict, but the two still didn't look happy. Director Diggory kept on talking, just covering a bunch of legal jargon that needed to be said, and that was it. Hermione allowed herself a small smile, she had done it . It wasn't a perfect victory and she hadn't done it alone, but she had done her part and they had saved Buckbeak.
---ϟϟϟ---
Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid were walking down to the pen where the hippogriffs were kept. Harry was riding Buckbeak while Hagrid led the recently exonerated hippogriff. Hermione walked alongside, the hair style charm starting to wear off. Harry had tried to get Hermione to ride Buckbeak with him, but her fear of heights meant that she felt much more comfortable with her feet firmly on the ground.
Both Harry and Hagrid had perked up since learning that Buckbeak would have to leave and were now focusing on the fact that they had done something that had seemed almost impossible. They had won, in spite of the galleons that Warlock Malfoy had probably given Fudge. It was the only reason Hermione could think of for the minister and his undersecretary to be judges at a dangerous creature's case. Their main job was running the ministry, appointing heads of Ministry departments, and deciding how to allocate the tax gold to those departments. Normally for a case like Buckbeak's, the judges would all be from the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures. Warlock Malfoy bribing Fudge to put himself and his undersecretary on the panel was the only reason that they could come up with for their presence. Harry was sure that the reason that they were forcing Buckbeak to leave was just to save face with Warlock Malfoy and to keep his bribes of gold rolling in.
As they walked, Hagrid was telling them about a friend of his that he was hoping would take Buckbeak. "He's a breeder. He breeds 'ippogriff's for people and Beaky, well, he's o' good breeding stock. He will have a great time at ol' Moonshine's," but the forced cheer faltered from his voice. "I won't half miss 'im, but it's better than the alternative. And old Moonshine's is just on the other side of Hogsmeade so it's not as if we can't visit him."
Harry sighed. "You can visit him, I won't be allowed out of the castle until they are sure that the bitch LeStrange has left the area."
"Harry James Potter, watch your language!" Hermione scolded him but without her normal heat.
"Sorry love."
Hermione looked at him questionly. "Love? Since when do you call me love?"
Harry shrugged noncommittally. "it just sort of happened. Is it a problem?" The question was cautious.
"Not a problem. I like the idea of having pet-names for each other, I just think you can do better." She teased.
Before Harry could even think of a reply Buckbeak took off at a canter, jumped, and with a few flaps of his wings and a short glide, landed in the Hippogriff paddock. The other hippogriffs crowded around Buckbeak, evidently happy to see him. While the herd completely ignored Harry, their insistence on being as close to Buckbeak as physically possible had Harry stuck, not having the room to climb down so he could go join Hagrid and Hermione who were now leaning on the fence surrounding the paddock. Harry wondered what the point of the fence was when the creatures it was meant to pen up could fly. But it had to do something, as despite nothing keeping them from leaving and wandering the school grounds, the hippogriffs never seemed to leave the area on their own.
It took over ten minutes for the herd to calm down enough for Harry to make an escape. He slid down from Buckbeak's back, and after a quick pat on the hippogriff's beak, Harry slipped through the mass of feathers and hooves to rejoin his girlfriend and professor, only to find that they had been joined by Neville. The boy had been saved by Buckbeak just as much as Harry had, and wanted to be at the trial to help just as much as Harry had. Unfortunately for Neville, the trial was scheduled to take place at the same time as his Divination practical exam.
Harry climbed over the fence, having to be careful not to rip his trousers on an old nail that was not hammered in all the way. "Hey Nev, good news! We saved Buckbeak!" exclaimed Harry as he joined the trio. "Beaky won't be able to stay at Hogwarts, unfortunately. But at least we saved him from Malfoy's plans." Harry had expected Neville to cheer at the news but he looked rather worried. "What's wrong Nev?"
"It's stupid." He tried to shrug Harry's concern off. But Harry pressed him for more.
"It's Trelawney, at the end of my exam she made a prediction."
Hermione scoffed. "That woman is always making predictions. How are you and Harry going to die this time? If you or Harry actually died as often as that fraud said, you would be the biggest miracle of the modern magical age! People would come far and wide to see the Longbottom and Potter Boys-Who-Keep-Living." The sarcasm practically dripped from Hermione's words.
"Don't hold back Mione, tell us what you really think." Harry joked, causing the three of them to smirk.
"I know it's stupid. She makes stupid predictions all the time. But this one was different," Neville added.
"In what way?" Harry asked.
"Well for one, she didn't predict that anyone was going to die. Then, there's the way she was talking. Normally when she makes a prediction she just says it. She hams it up all dramatic but it's still just her saying it. This time it was different. It wasn't like her voice at all and the way she sat and looked, it was like someone or something else entirely. When she looked at me it was like she didn't see me at all, and after it was over she didn't seem to remember the prediction at all."
"Sounds to me like she just read a better book on acting and wanted to finish the year with a bang." Hermione was more dismissive of Trelawney than any of their other professors. Harry suspected that it was because the professor she respected the most, Professor McGonagall, was also very sceptical about the divination instructor.
"You weren't there Hermione, it was really freaky." Neville tried to explain.
Harry was curious now "What did she actually say?"
It took a few seconds for Neville to go over it in his head but once he did he recited:-
"It will happen tonight under the light of the full moon.
The two servants, one chained, one changed, will reunite.
The servants will unite and together will restore their master.
The master will herald the coming of the shadow.
And the country shall fall into darkness once more.
Tonight the servants shall unite under the full moon. .."
Neville finished recounting the prediction to Harry, Hermione and Hagrid. The three of them stood there silently looking at Neville not knowing what to say. Hagrid was the first to break the silence. "Yah should probably go tell Professor Dumbledore. That almost sounds like a real prophecy. If anyone would know what to do about it, it would be a great wizard like Dumbledore."
"Surely disturbing Dumbledore over something like this is just a waste of his time? We are almost at the end of the school year and I bet that means a lot of work for him." Hermione objected to going to the headmaster, though Harry thought her reason was more of an excuse.
"What do you think Harry?" Neville asked
"I think Hermione is probably right, Trelawney is a known fake. If prophecies are real I doubt Trelawney has ever given one." It wasn't just that he was just agreeing with her, he would have gone the same route about anyone who constantly predicted the death of a Divination student for over ten years and all of them were still alive. Hell, if she got one right this time it wouldn't be because she saw the future, it would be the law of averages. He was reminded of the old saying, 'if you throw enough shit against the wall, eventually some of it will stick.'
The four of them chatted for a time as they watched the hippogriffs groom themselves and scratch at the ground looking for worms and talked about their summer plans.
Harry and Hermione admitted that they didn't know for the most part but Hermione said she was going to visit her grandmother for a week. Neville was planning on asking around about whomping willow trees to find out if anyone who had one would let him study it over the next school year. Hagrid was planning a trip to the continent to see about getting the school some new examples of magical creachers for his class.
Finally, Hagrid looked at the sun lowering in the sky. "Right, you lot. You better get back up to the castle, it'll be dinner soon. I don't want Professor McGonagall chasing me down because you all missed dinner."
The three of them said their farewells to the professor, who was much more jolly now than he was before the trial, and made their way up to the castle. Harry was looking forward to the next two weeks. With his exams over and the professors all too focused on the exams for the fifth, sixth and seventh years, the next two weeks would be a great time to relax. He turned back to Hermione to ask if she thought it would be nice to arrange for a picnic for the two of them tomorrow, only to find that Hermione had disappeared…