The days at Hogwarts

"What conditions?"

Draco took a few steps forward confidently and came closer to Harry: "I just happen to be in need of a follower."

"you!"

Harry was breathing heavily in anger, staring at him with red eyes, as if he was going to punch him at any moment.

Hagrid was equally furious: "Impossible, despicable Malfoy! Don't even think about it!"

Draco had expected their reaction and was not surprised. He pretended to think for a while and said in a mean tone, "The poor Hippogriff is going to have its head chopped off. It really... really deserves it. Who told the professor and the young wizard it trusted not to save it?"

Harry's anger paused, and a look of struggle appeared on his face.

Draco took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire: "Only for one day, be my follower for one day, and I promise not to humiliate you publicly."

"Just think about it, Potter, how much that little creature loves you, and it has been flying with you for so long... Just one day, just one day of patience, and you can save its life."

A look of humiliation appeared on Harry's face. After thinking for a moment, he weakly whispered, "I promise you."

"Harry..."

"Harry..."

Hela grabbed his arm, but didn't know how to persuade him.

The feelings of self-blame and regret were like a sledgehammer, constantly hammering Hagrid's chest, making it tremble and hurt to the heart.

He knew that Hippogriffs were sensitive and would lash out fiercely at anyone who offended them. He also knew that not all young wizards were gentle and patient...

Even Gryffindor had students like MacCork McLaggen and Geoffrey Hooper who were impatient and disrespectful. In this way, accidents didn't seem to be accidents, but were destined to happen.

For the first time, Hagrid realized so clearly that those poor little creatures did not seem cute to the students.

After saying the promise, Harry stopped hesitating and stood up neatly. He looked at Draco and said seriously, "I don't know what you want to do. Maybe you just want to humiliate me. Then you did it. I will keep my promise, and please remember what you promised!"

Being stared at with such frank and serious eyes, Draco suddenly felt a little guilty.

In his plan, Potter shouldn't be like this. He should be very humiliated and angry, yelling and shouting, instead of being like this now...

Just like... just like a real warrior.

"Got it, got it." Draco concealed his sullen look and replied firmly, "I'm going back first. Remember you will be my follower tomorrow!"

Looking at Draco trotting back to the castle, Hermione was a little confused. No matter how she looked at him, she felt that he was running away.

Loren, who had watched a good show, smiled.

Hagrid broke the silence and said slowly and laboriously: "I'm sorry, Harry, it's all my fault..."

Harry shook his head. "I don't blame you."

Having said that, it was not a pleasant feeling to be forced to bow to the annoying Malfoy. Harry felt uncomfortable and couldn't say "it doesn't matter".

"I'll take good care of Buckbeak and the others, and I'll write to Mr. Kettleburn for advice on future course arrangements. This kind of thing will never happen again!" Hagrid promised earnestly.

He didn't speak fast, but his attitude was serious.

It's the same with Charmander and Hippogriff... His willfulness always involves innocent animals, and Harry and the others always have to clean up his mess for him.

It should be him who takes care of Harry, Hagrid thought.

Hagrid buried his face in his large hands, took a deep breath and rubbed them vigorously a few times, as if washing his face to wake himself up.

"You can't run around after dark, especially at this time of day. The Dementors are still floating outside the school." Hagrid stood up. "You should go back. I should also go feed Buckbeak and the others dinner."

Loren looked at Harry calmly, then at Hagrid. Both of them had unhappy expressions. If they really left foolishly, a knot would be planted in the hearts of these two people.

Winter is coming. In order to have fresh pumpkins to eat in the future, Loren decided to do something. He said loudly, "Let's go together. The accident happened too quickly during the day. Hermione and I haven't come into contact with the hippogriff yet."

"And me!" Ron raised his hand smartly.

His mind was still sorting out Draco's actions, and he didn't react to the strange emotions between Hagrid and Harry, but this didn't prevent him from keeping up with Loren's formation.

Hagrid remained silent as he walked to the wall and took the strings of ferret meat from the hooks and hung them on his body.

Loren, Hermione and Ron followed his gaze, and Harry also stared at Hagrid in silence.

Hagrid walked out the door and turned to look at them, shaking his head: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and follow me!"

Loren and his companions were stunned for a moment, then they followed excitedly, cheering as they ran:

"coming!"

"Long live Professor Hagrid!"

Harry followed in silence.

……

In the fenced yard behind the cabin, there were a dozen strange animals, with horses' bodies, hind legs and tails, but eagles' wings and heads, and cold, sharp beaks the color of steel. Their large, bright eyes were orange, and the claws on their front legs were half a foot long and looked intimidating.

A coat of shiny, shimmering fur that transitions from feathers to hair, each monster is a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pink, shimmering red-brown and inky black.

Around the neck of each monster was a thick leather collar, held by a long chain, the other end of which was tied to the fence.

In the light of the stars and the moon, the herd of animals saw several people coming and became a little agitated. Their hooves trotted restlessly on the mud, making bursts of muffled noises.

Hagrid untied the chains of four of the hippogriffs, led them to the little wizards, and told them in a gruff voice, "Help me feed these. Do as I said during the day. You can touch them, but you are not allowed to fly!"

"Okay, Professor Hagrid!" Loren answered simply.

Hermione nodded repeatedly.

Hagrid nodded, threw them a few strings of ferret jerky, and turned to feed the other winged beasts.

The hippogriff shook its ferocious head, its blade-sharp beak flashing coldly, and its orange eyes as big as bells.

"Oh my," Hermione said nervously. "They're still a little scary, aren't they?"

Loren grinned, showing off his white teeth.

……

A few minutes later.

Four eagle-headed and horse-like winged beasts with different fur colors flapped their wings one after another and took off from the ground.

Chapter 296 Harry: Tired, Destroy

Flying over the towers of Hogwarts and the low hills, four hippogriffs passed close to the Black Lake. Their sharp eagle claws reached into the water, causing ripples to spread out, and the moonlight reflected in the Black Lake was cut apart, sparkling.

On a cool autumn night, the little wizard rode a strange animal to travel around the world, and everything was silent.

Twelve-foot-long wings cut through the thick night, and the smooth feathers reflected a faint light under the shining of the stars and the moon. The cold wind blew in their faces, and Loren and his companions felt their cheeks were numb from the cold, but they could not hide their smiles, and their rapidly beating hearts kept pumping blood.

Loren put his arms around the hippogriff's neck. Birds have a higher body temperature than humans and feel warm to the touch.

Although it was his first time riding a winged beast, he was not as cautious as the others because he could sense the emotions of this big guy, and he felt particularly comfortable flying in the night sky.

Hermione followed him, nervous and excited. The smooth feathers moved under her fingers, but she didn't dare to pull them hard for fear of hurting the winged beast.

"This is really the coolest thing in my life, a night tour! Or riding a hippogriff at night!" Ron shouted loudly, curled up in a ball due to the cold, but his tone was still full of uncontrollable excitement, and he tightly grasped the hippogriff's feathers, "George and Fred must have never experienced this!"

Harry was more skilled than he had been during the day, and although Buckbeak still occasionally tripped over his calves when flapping his wings, he no longer worried about being thrown off.

The slight sense of frustration in my heart was blown away by the cold wind, leaving only a refreshing feeling.

He imitated Loren's example and hugged Buckbeak's neck, feeling the warm temperature on his hands. Buckbeak shuddered, turned his neck and cried at him.

"Hey! Stop complaining, you don't know how much sacrifice I made to save you!" Harry muttered and hugged her tighter.

I don't know if Babibak understood or not, so he called out again.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Ron overtook him from behind, shouting arrogantly: "What do you think, Harry? You can't fly faster than me without your broomstick! Eat your ass behind me! Hahahaha..."

Harry smiled and said, "Don't be too proud. Let me show you the strength of the Gryffindor Seeker!"

The four of them flew freely, free from the constraints of gravity. The boundaries of space became blurred, and the oncoming wind became the source of their sense of distance.

Until he unknowingly flew out of the blockade of Hogwarts and passed by a patrolling Dementor.

"Oh no, Harry!"

Hearing Ron's exclamation, Loren and Hermione looked back and saw Harry, with his eyes narrowed, falling off Buckbeak and falling straight to the ground.

"Harry!"

"[Shock Reduction Stop]"

……

Late night in the Gryffindor common room.

It was already lights out, and the circular lounge was quiet. Only Loren, Hermione, and Ron were sitting around a long sofa with solemn expressions.

The dim candlelight flickered constantly, causing the shadow to sway as well.

On the soft orange linen sponge sofa, Harry lay neatly, leaving a human-shaped depression. But his face was not peaceful, his brows were knitted, as if he was having a nightmare.

The few of them already had experience and were not too worried about Harry.

"I can understand that you brought Harry back directly in order not to worry Hagrid. But why did you let me lead four hippogriffs back to the paddock?"

Ron's brows were also tightly knitted together, as if he was very confused about something. He raised his head and looked at the two despicable people angrily, "I was almost torn into pieces by those four guys!"

Loren and Hermione felt a little guilty, mainly because they felt too cold after getting off the Hippogriff and didn't want to walk any further to the Forbidden Forest...

When they came to their senses, the two of them had subconsciously teamed up to trick Ron into sending the winged beast back to the paddock.

"emmmm"

Loren pondered for a moment and said, "Speaking of dismemberment, I remember there was a punishment in ancient China called chariot dismemberment, which was to use several horses to drag the limbs of the condemned prisoner separately. A great reformer was executed in this way."

Hermione lowered her head and looked at her fingernails, muttering softly, "In British history, there was also a kind of punishment called 'Hang, Pull, and Divide'. The prisoner was first hanged by hanging, and then dragged by livestock..."

Lin Mei's two dog men...

Ron was so angry that he laughed: "Am I discussing punishment with you two? What I want to say is--"

Harry, who was behind the few people, sat up suddenly, quickly lowered his head and looked down. After realizing that he was not smashed into a pulp, he finally felt relieved. He leaned back on the sofa and gasped heavily.

"Harry, are you awake?" Loren asked with concern.

Harry came back to his senses, his head was still a little confused, and he said blankly: "I, I seem to have fainted again just now..."

"Yes," Hermione nodded quickly, "the Hippogriff accidentally flew out of the school and we ran into the Dementors."

Harry felt a little complicated.

Clearly, four people had encountered Dementors, and they were ahead of him, but he was the only one who was killed in an instant.

Ron noticed his friend's disappointment, sat down next to him, pointed at the two people and scolded them bitterly: "You don't know how much these two have gone too far! In order to enjoy their own world, they actually lied to me and said that sending Buckbeak and the others back would enhance their relationship and make them fly higher and faster next time... I almost became the Hippogriff's midnight snack!"

Loren immediately defended himself: "I was just trying to take you back to the lounge. You know me. I'm the best at using the levitation spell and it's the best way to take you back."

Hermione also defended herself: "Harry, you know me, I am here to monitor Loren to prevent him from transporting you like he did to Ron in the first year."

"What! What do you mean by first year transporting me like that?" Ron's eyes widened. "When and what is that?"

Harry belatedly remembered that it was when Ron was bitten and poisoned by Norbert the Charmander in his first year. They dragged Ron up and down the stairs to the infirmary and almost ate up his brains.

"Haha..." Harry couldn't help laughing.

Seeing Ron's face getting uglier and uglier, Hermione stood up and tried to hold back her laughter: "I have a lot of classes tomorrow. I'm going back to bed first."

"Yes, that's right. There are a lot of classes."

"That's right, it's time to go to bed."

Loren and Harry nodded in agreement.

Ron jumped up and shouted, "Don't even think about running away, we're in the same dormitory, and we have to make things clear today!"

Some were chasing, some were running, and their quick footsteps made a clattering sound on the stairs.

"Meow……"

Crookshanks, who was curled up on the cushion in front of the fireplace, was awakened by them. He arched his back and stretched, licked his paws with his little tongue, then rubbed his cheeks with his paws a few times, shook his body violently, and woke up completely.

Crookshanks picked up his own cushion and trotted lightly to the portrait hole. He put the cushion down and sat down. His bright yellow eyes flashed in the darkness as he stared straight into the portrait hole.

As if waiting for something.

……

Thursday, September 9th.