Chapter 326 Kind Claws, Humans Are Not as Good as Dragons
Aaron slipped into the golden necklace's range. "Just so you know, I'm not doing this purely out of sympathy for someone."
"Got it, got it." Hermione laughed easily, no matter the reason, Aaron's involvement showed she hadn't misjudged him.
"Um..." Harry looked bewildered and confused. "Can someone explain what we're supposed to do?"
"You'll know soon enough." Hermione picked up the golden hourglass hanging from the chain and carefully turned it three times.
The entire infirmary was like a fast-rewound tape; everything receded rapidly, blurry colors and figures flashed past, even the light itself.
When they came to their senses, night had turned to evening, and Ron, who had been in the infirmary, was gone.
"What's going on?" Harry looked at his surroundings, growing even more confused.
"You can think of it as time travel, or us having traveled back three hours," Aaron explained, a little helplessly.
Although he was also shocked by the Time-Turner's effect, time was too mysterious, and he had to be careful in the past.
"Are you kidding me?"
"Do you think I'm that bored, that I'd joke around with you for no reason?
Time travel has too many precautions, the most important of which is not to be noticed by others that you are from the future, because that's the easiest way to cause trouble."
Hermione put the Time-Turner away. "Half past seven. Where were we at half past seven?"
"We should have been rushing to Hagrid's Hut!"
"Aaron, what about you?"
"I should have been at Hagrid's Hut at half past seven."
"Then it's fine.
Hurry, we can't be seen."
The three of them ran wildly along the route they remembered, hiding in the woods near Hagrid's Hut, making sure not to be discovered by their past selves.
"Where did you get this hourglass?" Harry asked curiously. "This is too unbelievable."
"This is a Time-Turner. Professor McGonagall applied for it for a long time before the Ministry of Magic approved it.
I've been relying on it to attend all my classes this year."
Harry nodded, half understanding, then looked at Aaron. "You knew? Did you also use a Time-Turner for your classes?"
"No, I used a different method.
To be honest, this is my first time traveling through time."
"Dumbledore wants us to go back to this moment and change what has already happened." Hermione mused, "But why did he want us to go back three hours? That doesn't help Sirius much."
"More than one innocent life." Harry seemed to have realized something. "He wants us to save Buckbeak."
"Unnecessary," Aaron said disdainfully.
"We know you don't care if it lives or dies, but this isn't unnecessary," Harry said. "Save Buckbeak, and Sirius can ride him away; they can escape together."
"I know, but that's not what I meant." Aaron rolled his eyes. "You'll understand if you keep watching."
The caw of a crow came from afar, and Dumbledore, Fudge, Macnair, and the old committee members of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures walked down the stairs.
At the same time, Hagrid's voice came from inside the hut.
"You two, get out! Don't let them find you here, go!"
"Actually, if I stayed..."
"Things are already complicated enough; I can't drag you into this too. Go!"
Harry and his two companions carefully left, cloaked in the Invisibility Cloak, while Aaron seemed particularly casual, yet still managed not to be discovered by those inside the hut.
"Where is that beast?" Macnair asked coldly.
"Out... outside," Hagrid said hoarsely.
Macnair saw Buckbeak still outside through the window before pulling his face back in.
Fudge's voice came out, "We have to read you the official execution order, Hagrid.
I'll read it quickly, then you and Macnair will sign..."
"Now's our chance," Harry whispered to the two. "You wait here, I'll go save him."
"No need for that," Aaron said, stopping him.
"Why not? I've communicated with Buckbeak; I'm the most suitable person to go," Harry said, but the next moment a white shadow flashed across his vision.
Abey darted quickly into the pumpkin patch, its cat-sized body completely obscured by the pumpkins. No one in the hut could spot it, and if the trio hadn't been positioned slightly higher, they probably wouldn't have seen it either.
Abey walked up to Buckbeak and extended a kind paw.
A silver flash, and the rope tying Buckbeak was cut through by the sharp claws without any resistance.
The Hippogriff stood up, looking at the small creature in front of it, which exuded absolute dominance, and for a moment dared not act rashly.
Abey looked around, then spread its wings and flew up. One paw held the rope around Buckbeak's neck, the other pointed towards the Forbidden Forest.
Buckbeak dared not disobey Abey and obediently flew behind Abey.
Seeing this, Harry and Hermione were dumbfounded.
They had thought this would be a rather troublesome affair, but they hadn't expected to have to do anything at all.
The entire process was not only without any risk but also unexpectedly dramatic.
"This, this, this..." Harry struggled to form words for a long time, unsure what to say.
"You planned for Abey to save him all along?" Hermionelooked at Aaron with a complicated expression. "But why didn't you tell us?"
"Why should I tell you?" Aaron retorted. "You found many cases for this one; wouldn't telling you destroy your motivation?
Honestly, I still held a tiny bit of hope for you, but I didn't expect you to lose the case anyway.
Draco is my friend; Buckbeak injured him, so logically, I have no reason to save him.
But Hagrid's crying was too ugly to watch, so to protect his fragile glass heart, I had no choice but to resort to this last measure.
Saving the Hippogriff right under their noses means that when they find out, they can't blame Hagrid; at most, it's just Buckbeak escaping."
Hearing this, Hermione felt inexplicably ashamed. She had previously complained that Aaron lacked compassion, but now her cheeks just burned.
A few minutes later, Hagrid and the others slowly emerged from the house.
But the next moment, they were all dumbfounded; Buckbeak had vanished, leaving only an empty pumpkin patch.
"Where is he?" Fudge asked, bewildered. "I just saw him, and then he was gone. It's very strange."
"Oh dear, Dumbledore, someone has clearly let him go," the old committee member whispered.
"Beak," Hagrid murmured, but a hint of secret joy flickered unnoticed at the corner of his mouth.
"Hagrid, Buckbeak..."
Fudge was about to ask if it had anything to do with him when Dumbledore interjected, "Minister, no one is suggesting this has anything to do with you, Hagrid.
How could it be you? You've been with us the whole time."
"Alright!" Fudge said helplessly. "Then we'll have to search the entire grounds."
"If necessary, search the sky, Minister." Dumbledore hinted that the escapee was a flying magical creature, then smiled at Hagrid. "Now I think I'd like a good cup of tea, or a large brandy.
Executioner, your services may not be needed here, thank you."
"I don't have small cups in my hut, Professor." Hagridcheerfully invited Dumbledore inside, while Macnairangrily hoisted his axe and chopped a pumpkin in half.
"So that's the sound we heard a few hours ago." Aaronchuckled. "As expected of an executioner, it really does sound like a head falling."
"We have to get Buckbeak back!" Harry said urgently.
"To the Forbidden Forest!" Aaron shrugged. "Abey will bring him."
The three cautiously entered the Forbidden Forest, watching the Whomping Willow swaying in the distance.
Aaron uttered obscure tones, summoning his dragon cub in Dragon Language.
Soon, hoofbeats reached the trio's ears. Turning their heads, they saw the Hippogriff slowly approaching, with Abeysitting majestically on its back.
"My Merlin!" Harry's mouth twitched violently, feeling as if his worldview had been somewhat shaken.
He had put so much effort into gaining Buckbeak's approval during Care of Magical Creatures class, every step filled with trepidation.
But even if a human couldn't compare to a dragon, Abey's ease was simply too much.
Abey flapped its wings and flew up to Aaron, pointing at Buckbeak. "I did pretty well, didn't I?"
"You did beautifully. I'll give you an extra meal when we get back."
Hermione and Harry tied Buckbeak to a tree, then sat on the grass, waiting for events to unfold.
As dusk fell, they saw Lupin enter the tree hollow. Not long after, Snape also arrived, but he seemed to notice something, picked up an Invisibility Cloak from the ground, put it on, and entered the secret passage.
"Harry, there's something I don't quite understand," Aaronsaid hesitantly. "When you and Black were surrounded by Dementors, that Patronus Charm was..."
"I don't know either." Harry shook his head. "I was almost unconscious then; I just saw something silver fly over the lake, and it drove away the Dementors."
"Ron and I thought it was you!"
"How could it be me? I can handle one Dementor, but a group is too much to ask."
"But who could it be?" Hermione asked curiously. "I remember Dumbledore saying that only truly powerful Wizards can cast the Patronus Charm."
"I beg to differ," Aaron said dismissively. "To be precise, only talented Wizards with kind hearts can learn the Patronus Charm.
As for the spell's power, that depends on the Wizard's skill. The more magic a Wizard has, the longer it lasts, and the greater its power."
"Harry, did you get a clear look at the Wizard?" Hermioneasked eagerly. "Was it one of the Professors?"
"No, it wasn't a Professor." Harry said regretfully. "I could feel that the person was very familiar, but he seemed not to want me to know who he was; maybe a friend of my father's!"
Aaron and Hermione exchanged glances, noncommittal.
After all, too much had happened tonight, and Wizards from Harry's father's generation were appearing one after another; one more wouldn't be unacceptable.