Hagrid Will Destroy the World

"He tried reaching out to you separately," Ron said, "but your owl wasn't in the owlery."

"Oh, right," said Oleandra sadly. "I recently sent out Pyg, my pygmy owl, to my little sister Astoria with some candy from Honeydukes', since she ran out. It told me it got injured by a great big ugly orange cat in the Gryffindor's common room, so it's currently resting up."

"You can speak to owls?" asked Harry, interested.

"I bet it was Hermione's bloody beast," Ron scowled. "First my Scabbers, and now your owl. Thing's a menace, I swear. It won't rest until it's exterminated every small animal in Hogwarts."

"So, what does Hagrid want with me?" Oleandra said, ignoring them. "I'm quite busy, you know."

"Probably wants to know about Black from a first-hand source," said Ron proudly. "He nearly killed me with his knife, you know, but I s'pose he must have known I wouldn't go down without a fight, so he chose to run before he had the entire castle at his heels."

"That doesn't explain why he wants to see me," Oleandra pointed out. The two boys simply shrugged in response.

"Tell you what," Oleandra said. "Lemme take a look at your History of Magic homework, and I'll go with you. Deal?"

Harry and Ron looked at one another in surprise.

"You really want to copy our homework?" said Ron, wide-eyed. "You absolutely certain?"

"Don't worry," Oleandra assured them. "I'll make sure to put my own spin on it."

"That's not what I meant," Ron said, shrugging his shoulders, "but your funeral, I guess."

Oleandra smirked to herself. She'd been meaning to pay Hagrid a visit for some counselling, so two birds with one stone, right?

============================================================ 

A few hours later, Oleandra was done with her homework, and she and the two boys headed to the Entrance Hall, where Professor Hagrid was supposed to fetch them. When they arrived, they found that he was already waiting for them. Unfortunately for Ron, he had already heard everything about Black's second invasion; it seemed as if he wanted to talk to them about something else.

Upon entering Hagrid's house after a short walk, the first thing the three saw was Buckbeak, and then a fuzzy brown suit Hagrid's size, along with matching lurid tie. Of course, Harry prompted Hagrid for the reason why he had such an attire picked out.

"Buckbeak's case against the Committee fer the Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures," said Hagrid. "This Friday. Him an' me'll be goin' down ter London together. I've booked two beds on the Knight Bus..."

"Oh, so that's why you asked for her," Ron realized. "You wanted her family's support to fight the charges."

"That ain't it," Hagrid responded dismissively. "Her sister's already told me her family had nuthin' ter do with Disposal o' Dangerous Creatures."

"You spoke to Daphne?" asked Oleandra in surprise. "When?"

"That's wot I wanted to talk with these two abou'," Hagrid said, gesturing at Harry and Ron. "Hermione."

"What?" said Harry in confusion.

"What about her?" said Ron in annoyance.

"She's in a righ' state, that's what. She n' Daphne bin comin' down ter visit me a lot since Chris'mas ter help with Buckbeak's case. Lucky she's got other friens', or she'd bin feelin' awful lonely. Yeh've bin ignorin' her 'cause her cat —"

"— ate Scabbers!" Ron interrupted angrily.

"Tha's wot all cats do," Hagrid continued. "She's go' a lo' on her plate right now, bu' she still took the time ter come n' help me. They found some really good stuff that might help…"

"Hagrid, we should've helped as well — sorry —" Harry began awkwardly, "but I got Oleandra to promise to help. If you lose your case, she'll help take Buckbeak away before the execution…"

"That's right," Oleandra assured him. "My family's got a great big domain; your Hippogriff will have plenty of space to stretch its wings."

"Tha's nice o' yeh," said Hagrid. "N' Harry, I'm not blamin' yeh. Gawd knows yeh've had enough ter be gettin' on with, but yeh should value yer friend more n' a rat, jus' sayin'."

"…"

"Really upset, she was, when Black nearly stabbed yeh, Ron," Hagrid continued, ignoring the uncomfortable expressions on the boys' faces, "she's got her heart in the right place, Hermione has, an' you two not talkin' to her —"

"If she'd just get rid of that cat, or admitted it ate Scabbers, then I'd speak to her again!" Ron said angrily. "But she's still sticking up for it! It even attacked Oleandra's owl!"

"Ah, well, people can be a bit stupid abou' their pets," said Hagrid, ignoring the fact that Buckbeak was making a noise like he was choking on a bone. Eventually, it threw up a bunch of bones onto Hagrid's bed.

"Speaking of pets," Oleandra said. "I've just got a new one, and ah… Harry, Ron, could you leave the room for a second? It's a bit of a private matter."

"There's only one room here," Harry pointed out.

"Hagrid's really bad at holding secrets," Ron said. "You know, in our first year, he was the one who told Quirrell how to get past Fluffy."

"I woz drunk!" said Hagrid, turning red.

"Oh, very well, then," said Oleandra. "You can show yourself, Cloak."

Ever since the Oleandra had brought the Lethifold back from Nidavellir with her, it had been spending most of its time dormant, disguised as an ordinary black cloak that students wore in the winter to help protect themselves from the cold. Sleeping had helped it stave off its hunger, but it was beginning to feel slightly peckish. And as far as Oleandra knew, this thing was a man-eater, but obviously she didn't have any of its favourite food on hand.

"What a beaut'," Hagrid murmured in awe upon seeing the Lethifold slowly unfold itself from Oleandra's body. "Where did yeh find this? Las' I heard they live in the tropics."

"It's getting kind of hungry," Oleandra said. "Know where I could get some food for it?"

"Oh, tha's easy," said Hagrid. "Jus' come 'ere when it gets hungry, I've got plenty o' raw meat for it. I jus' need one lil' favour in return…"

"What… exactly do you need from me?" Oleandra asked slowly.

"Lemme try n' crossbreed it with sum other beasts I have!" Hagrid said excitedly. "I've already got promisin' results!"