"So what is it exactly? Hurry up and let them out," Malfoy said, making no effort to disguise his impatience. He had no intention of letting a half-giant lead him around by the nose.
"Alright, everyone step back a little first. Don't frighten them."
Hagrid waved them back until there were roughly five meters between the students and the crates, then lifted the lid and gave it a pat, at least what he considered a pat.
"They're so cute!"
The girls reacted immediately, practically in unison. Several of the boys brightened as well, despite themselves.
Small creatures came scampering out, about thirty centimeters long, round and densely fluffy, built something like squirrels but stockier, with a little ball where a tail should have been. Their eyes were enormous and very black and very bright. They held their tiny paws tucked against their chests and stared at the gathered students without a flicker of fear.
"Does anyone know what these animals are?" Hagrid asked, already visibly satisfied. He could tell the lesson was going well. He passed a few leaves to the nearest creature and turned to the class.
"Quokkas," Tom said, getting there just ahead of Hermione, who absorbed the slight with her usual expression. "A rare magical creature native to Australia. Danger rating XX. The smallest kangaroo species in existence. They carry a low-level magical field. People who see them experience a gradual, involuntary lift in mood."
The other students nodded, several of them glancing at each other. They had assumed it was simply the animals being appealing. Good to know there was a mechanism.
"Perfect. Ten points to Slytherin."
Hagrid turned back to the class after his praise.
"You heard him. These creatures are on the brink of extinction. It wasn't easy getting them here, so I expect everyone to pay proper attention."
The corner of Tom's mouth moved slightly.
He did not doubt that it had been difficult. He believed that completely. He also suspected the channels Hagrid had used were not ones anyone would want examined closely. Australia regulated quokkas with exceptional strictness. No buying, no selling, no exceptions. Their appeal went beyond the mood effect. The pouch was a natural spatial storage chamber, more stable than an Undetectable Extension Charm, which had made them the preferred material for wallets among old wizarding families for generations.
"And remember this." Hagrid's tone shifted, turning serious. "No one touches the quokkas. You might think you mean well. For them it could be catastrophic. Human contact changes their scent, and joeys locate their mothers entirely by smell. If that scent shifts, the joey may not recognize her."
The students accepted the instruction without argument, even if it was a disappointment.
The quokkas were genuinely fearless around people, which made it worse. But Hagrid had one more thing to explain about them, and once he did, the students understood fairly clearly how a creature this appealing had managed to nearly disappear.
When threatened, when a predator came close, a mother quokka's instinct was to throw her joey from the pouch. Buy herself a few seconds. Get away clean. One joey, two, three, five, the arithmetic didn't seem to trouble them.
With survival instincts like that, extinction was not a mystery.
Just as Hagrid was about to send the students off to gather the leaves quokkas preferred, Fawkes appeared in a burst of flame and settled onto Tom's shoulder.
"The Headmaster wants to see me?"
"Chirp, chirp."
Tom looked at Hagrid, who waved him off immediately. "If Dumbledore's callin' fer yeh, go on."
Fawkes gave Daphne a small wink, then carried Tom directly to the Headmaster's office.
"Mr. Riddle. Good, you're here."
Dumbledore gave him a brief nod. His expression was not one Tom had seen before. Tighter. Something underneath it that looked, unusually, like anger.
"Professor. What happened?"
Tom asked the question and at the same time opened the learning space, drawing a portion of Grindelwald's consciousness into it without any visible change in expression.
"Something significant has occurred in North America." Dumbledore took a slow breath. "Grindelwald's campaign of retaliation is continuing. He found the Picquery family's ancestral home and killed eight people. All of them core family members, all in their prime. He left four elderly relatives over a hundred years old and a handful of children."
Inside the learning space, Grindelwald gave a small shrug. "I was just about to mention that. I didn't expect Albus to hear so quickly."
Tom left that alone and looked back at Dumbledore. "Then why did you call me here?"
"Because I have to go."
Dumbledore was already moving as he spoke, pulling his coat from the rack and putting it on. "Fawkes insists it still has an arrangement with you, so it wanted to inform you before taking me away." He paused, something almost rueful in his manner. "And if anything happens at the school while I'm gone, contact me. Any time."
"Isn't Professor McGonagall here?"
"Minerva is." Dumbledore considered his next words. "Minerva is an exceptionally responsible professor. But she carries a great deal in her heart, and that weight can occasionally slow her, or cause her to miss things. You see problems from a different angle than those of us who have been doing this for a long time. I'm only taking precautions."
"Understood, Professor. Go without worrying."
Fawkes returned to Dumbledore's shoulder. Red light began to gather around the phoenix, the air in the office warming with it. They were a moment from vanishing entirely when Tom spoke again.
"Professor. If you find Grindelwald, will you arrest him? Nurmengard is rubble now."
Something sharp moved through Dumbledore's eyes.
"No." A pause. "This time, I intend to end it."
Then man and phoenix were gone.
Tom did not hesitate. He turned his attention immediately to the learning space.
"Old Gellert. Did you catch all of that?"
"Dumbledore's coming for you properly this time. He said end it."
"You might want to run."