IN WHICH our Hippogriff friend meets his end 

The Firebolt was at Harry's side at the final game of the Quidditch match, as the other Gryffindor admired it with pride.

"A real Firebolt." George gasps.

"Wicked." Fred finishes.

"We have to win this." Angelina cheers.

"Alright, Gryffindors this is my last chance to win that silver cup before I leave, but I know, even if we don't, we're still the best ruddy team there is." Wood punches the air.

"We have 4 amazing Chasers." Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and Aubery smiled.

"2 unbeatable Beaters." 

"Oh stop it Wood, you're embarrassing us!" Fred and George laughed.

"And a Seeker who has never. lost. a. match." Wood stopped, then added, as an afterthought. "And me I guess."

"You're a great Keeper Oliver." Angelina grins.

"Yeah, spanking good." George nods.

"We've trained every single day for this, and remember Harry, you need to catch the Snitch by-" 

"I KNOW!" Harry groans.

"Alright." Wood nods and they walked out of the locker room. 

Never in anyone's memory, had a match approached in such a highly charged atmosphere.

Wood and Flint shook hands, although it looked like they would very much like to throw each other off their brooms. 

Three-quarters of the crowd supported Gryffindor since Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were eager to see someone else's name on the Cup even if it couldn't be theirs, but also because Harry was now flying with a state-of-the-art Firebolt broomstick which was met with great acclaim.

Lee Jordan frequently turned the match commentary back to The Firebolt, much to Professor McGonagall's displeasure.

Angelina scored first, to great applause, then was nearly knocked off her broom when Flint deliberately smashed into her. While he was untruthfully claiming to have failed to see Johnson, Fred threw his at the back of Flint's head which smashed into his broom handle, bloodying his nose. Penalties were given to each side.

Alicia scored and Wood saved. Katie took possession of the Quaffle but lost possession of it when Montague seized her head, almost sending her to the ground as well and gaining Gryffindor another penalty that Aubery successfully took. 

Flint then scored for Slytherin. Bole hit Alicia with his club and George elbowed him in the face, resulting in two more penalties. Wood saved again and Gryffindor scored. A goal from Katie made the score 50-10, and while Fred and George were absent in defending her from any retaliatory attacks, Bole and Derrick whacked both Bludgers at Wood, winding him completely. 

Madam Hooch, almost beside herself with rage, screamed at the two for attacking the Keeper without reason. Johnson scored the resulting penalty, and Gryffindor moved into a 70-10 lead when Alicia scored.

"HARRY WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Aubery screams. "WE HAVE ENOUGH POINTS." The Snitch darted around near Harry, and he set off after it, ensuring a Gryffindor victory now that they had enough points to do so, but right before he could grab it, Malfoy grabs the tail of his Firebolt and pulled it back, despite the efforts of the angry broomstick to escape his grasp, and the Snitch escaped in the confusion. 

The utterly loathsome display of cheating earned Gryffindor a fifth penalty from an apoplectic Madam Hooch and many of the Gryffindor supporters, even the normally restrained Professor McGonagall, screeching insults and angry remarks at Malfoy. Alicia took the penalty, but she was so angry at the foul that she missed by several feet and Montague scored for Slytherin. 

After Aubery scored to make it 80-20 Malfoy plummeted towards the Snitch. Harry pursued him and took both hands off his broom to reach out and capture the Snitch winning Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup.

The entire team flew straight at Harry, cheering and crying, yelling hoarsely as they flew to the ground, where a wave of scarlet-red approached them. Dumbledore bestowed the Quidditch cup in Wood's hands, which Wood they gave to Harry, and the team lifted him up cheering crazily as they went back to the common room.

"Party in the Common Room!" George yells. 

The party went on for what Aubery felt as forever, and even when Fred and George came back with arms full of food, Gryffindors screamed in delight.

Hermione smiled and ate some food, but the pile of work on the table was moved to the common room before Aubery had time to engage her in conversation.

Soon, the party came to an end, and Aubery had drifted off into sleep.

The entire Gryffindor House, in pajamas, stand before McGonagall, who wears a tartan robe and an expression of singular irritation. "That's preposterous, Weasley. How could Sirius Black possibly have got through the portrait hole?"

"I don't know how he got in! I was a bit busy dodging his knife!" Just then, a curiously content Crookshanks wends his way through Ron's legs. "And this bloody cat ate my rat!"

"That's a lie!" Hermione snarls, picking up Crookshanks.

 "It is not and you bloody well know it!" Ron snaps.

"Silence!" McGonagall turns then and everyone follows her eye to Sir Cadogan who, sensing the attention, perks up instantly. "Sir Cadogan. Is it possible that you let a mysterious man enter Gryffindor Tower tonight?"

"Certainly, good lady! He had the password. Had the whole week's, in fact. On a little piece of paper." Cadogan nods.

McGonagall shook in anger. "Which abysmally foolish person wrote down the passwords and then proceeded to lose them!"

Neville raises his hand.

"There will be no Hogsmeade trips for you Mr. Longbottom! Everyone will not tell him the password!" Professor McGonagall then addresses the crowd. "Sirius Black may be gone for now, but I hope that you won't do anything as fool as Mr. Longbottom." A collective nod of the head. McGonagall gives the ties of her robe a sharp tug, collects herself, and exits.

"Very well then. Go to bed."

As the students drift off, Ron casts a last angry glance toward Hermione, who now holds Crookshanks in her arms. 

"I could've killed him." 

Hermione turns and sees Harry staring out the window. 

"He was right there. Close enough to touch. I could've killed him." Harry answers.

The trio make their way down the slope. 

"I find it astonishing that someone who prides herself on being so logical can be in such denial." Ron scoffs.

"Harry. Will you explain to your friend Ronald that he has absolutely no proof whatsoever that my sweet, unassuming cat ate his shabby, decidedly decrepit rat." Hermione snaps.

"Harry was there! He'll tell you how it was. Go on, Harry, tell her." Ron retorts, as Aubery angrily covers her ears.

"No, I won't. Know why? Because I don't care about your stupid rat! I don't care about your stupid cat! I've got few other things on my mind right now!" Harry snaps.

"Really? Wasn't you had to roll under the bed last night to avoid getting cut to ribbons! A person could die, being your friend, Harry!" Ron stops, wishing he could take it back. They all wish he could. 

Avoiding each other's eyes, they turn and continue on. Hagrid, wearing a gigantic, hairy brown suit and perhaps the world's ugliest yellow and orange tie, stands kneedeep in the shallows of the Black Lake, skimming rocks as big as flagstones across the water's shiny gloss. As he turns, the trio catches a brief sight of his eyes, red with tears, then he looks away. 

"How'd it go, Hagrid?" Aubery asks.

"Buckbeak liked London," Hagrid replies.

"I meant the hearing." Aubery clarifies.

"Oh. That. Well, I got up an' said my bit. You know, how Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff an' as long as yeh treated 'im with respect, he'd treat you the same. Then Lucius Malfoy got up an' said his bit, you know, how Buckbeak was a deadly dangerous beast that no teacher in their righ' mind would expose their students to..." Hagrid sighs.

"And...?" Aubery asks, already dreading the answer.

Hagrid slings another rock into the water. 

"You mustn't blame yourself, Hagrid," Hermione assures.

Draco. It's him the Committee should punish. It's him they should send off to the forest, not Buckbeak." Harry says.

"Buckbeak's not going back to the forest..." Hagrid shakes his head.

"Where's he going, Hagrid?" Hermione asks.

"He asked fer the worse, yeh see, Lucius Malfoy did. An' the Committee granted it. Buckbeak's bin sentenced ter death." Hagrid sobs.

"Relax... Let your mind... go..." Professor Trelawney's airy-fairy voice drifts through the room. 

The students gaze into crystal balls, faces reflecting the mist within, so that their very skin seems to be made of smoke. Conspicuously, Harry, Ron, Aubery, and Hermione sit apart. 

"Crystal-gazing requires that you clear the Inner Eye. Only then, will you... See. Oh my, what do we have here...?" As Trelawney eyes Harry's crystal, Hermione rolls her eyes. 

"Here we go again. It's the Grim! It's the Grim!" Hermione mocks.

Professor Trelawney's eyes narrow, all hints of her usual airy-fairy demeanor gone. "My dear, from the moment you first arrived in my class, I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination. You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave."

Stung, Hermione starts to reply, but remarkably seems incapable of a single word. Rising gracelessly, she exits, knocking her crystal ball to the floor. Harry watches curiously as the ball rolls slowly out the doorway.

Aubery stared at Professor Trelawney with the utmost loathing, slamming her books and shoving them in her bag, and swinging her legs on the table, and playing with the crystal ball like a toy. Trelawney pretends not to notice her, but when Aubery hangs a ball over a edge, she snatches the ball from her hands.

"'In late spring, one of our number will leave us forever!' You knew, Professor! You saw." Lavender gasps.

"On these occasions, I take no joy in my gift, Miss Brown." Professor Trelawney says.

As the students exit, Ron, walking separately from Harry, turns to Neville. 

"She's gone mental, Hermione has." Ron stops, glances at Harry then moves off. Harry watches him go, along with the others, then spies Hermione's crystal ball lying on the landing.

"Harry?" Aubery questions.

"Wait here." Harry answers.

Harry, leads Ron, Aubery, and Hermione toward Hagrid's hut. 

"I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak! It's too horrible." Hermione shakes her head.

"It just got worse," Harry replies.

Hermione, Aubery, and Ron look and see Malfoy, along with Crabbe and Goyle, lurking within a grouping of monolithic menhirs, binoculars in hand, spying on Hagrid, who stands in the pumpkin patch, tossing dead ferrets to Buckbeak. Hagrid wipes his eyes, and lopes into the hut. 

"Did you see the big, fat blubbering oaf?! Oh, this is going to be rich. Did I tell you, Father said I can keep the head" He looks up. "Ah. Come to see the show?"

"You... foul... loathsome... evil... little cockroach..." Malfoy stumbles back against a tree, cross-eyed with fear as Hermione jabs the tip of her wand under his nose. 

"Hermione! No!" She turns, surprised Ron's spoken to her. He looks away. "He's not worth it."

Hermione nods, then- Smack!- quick as lightning, lands a looping right to Malfoy's jaw, putting him flat on his back. Stunned, he leaps to his feet and runs, Crabbe and Goyle huffing and puffing behind. "That felt good."

"Are you sure you're okay 'Mione?" Aubery questions, as the group makes their way down the slope and past Buckbeak, chewing on a ferret with idle satisfaction. Hagrid stands by the window watching Buckbeak. Harry and Ron sit. Hermione makes tea. 

"Look at 'em. Loves the smell o' the trees when the wind blows..." Hagrid sighs.

"I say we set him free." Harry answers.

Hagrid shakes his head. "They'd know I did it. And tha' would only get Dumbledore in trouble. Gonna come down, yeh know. Says he wants ter be with me when it... when it happens. Great man, Dumbledore."

"We'll stay with you too, Hagrid," Hermione answers quickly.

"Yeh will not! Think I wan' yeh seein' a thing like this! No. Yeh'll drink yer tea an' be off. But before yeh do- I wan' ter see you an' Ron shake hands, Harry." Ron and Harry exchange a glance, then look to Hagrid. "Thin' I haven' seen 'ow it's bin betw'n you two? Go on now..."

Reluctantly, Harry, and Ron extend their hands and shake. Aubery considered it to be the most awkward handshake in all of Hogwarts.

"Good. Now then. Ron, I wan' ter see you give Hermione a hug." Hagrid says.

"What!" Hermione and Ron gasp.

"Go on! You two've been at it all year. An' I'm sick o' it." Hagrid shakes his head.

Acutely uncomfortable, Hermione and Ron step forward and perform perhaps the most awkward hug Hogwarts has ever seen. 

"Crikey, tha's jus' abou' the most pathetic hug I e'er seen. But yeh did it, an' tha's wha' matters. Aubery, I don't wan' yeh to cause more trouble. Professor Trelawney bin complain'."

"She insulted Hermione!" Aubery says.

"Yeh best not cause more trouble though, eh?" Hagrid asks.

"I guess so." Aubery sighs.

"There's jus' one other thing..." Hagrid says.

"I'm not kissing Fang if that's what you're thinking." Ron quickly replies.

Hearing his name, Fang, Hagrid's boarhound thumps his tail happily, and goes to a flour tin, and opens it. A tiny head, ears flecked with powder, emerges. 

"Scabbers! You're alive!" Ron gasps.

"Yeh should keep a closer eye on yer pets, Ron." Hagrid answers.

"I think you owe someone an apology," Hermione says.

"Right. Next time I see Crookshanks, I'll let him know." Ron nods.

"I meant me." Hermione narrows her eyes.

"Crikey. Here we go again..." Hagrid sighs.

Smash! A glass jar on the shelf shatters. Hermione scoops up a jagged star-shaped stone, a second stone bounces off the back of Harry's head. 

"Ow!" Harry turns, looking out the window. "Hagrid..."

Everyone turns and looks. Dumbledore and Fudge approach. Behind them, in a fluttering shroud of crows, the Executioner follows, axe at his side. Hagrid begins to panic. 

"Yeh got to go! It's almost dark. Anyone sees yeh outside the castle it'll be trouble! Big trouble! 'Specially you, Harry-" The door shakes. Hagrid stiffens in fear. Harry reaches up, putting his finger to Hagrid's trembling lips, and speaks softly to the others. 

"C'mon." As the squad exit through the back door, Fudge, Dumbledore and the Executioner enter through the front. 

A veil of crows flutters onto the roof. More drop into the patch, begin to slowly circle Buckbeak. Harry and the others duck behind the pumpkins, watch Hagrid solemnly greet the others. Fudge appears at the window. 

Just then, a small "Shhh!" is heard. Hermione turns. The branches of the trees behind her are dancing oddly. 

"What?" Aubery asks.

"Nothing, I just thought I saw... Never mind." Hermione shakes her head,

The squad slips silently into a stand of trees. Beyond them, Hagrid's hut glimmers desolately in the dying sun. High in the clock tower, a bell begins to toll. The group stops, fighting their tears.

A quartet of bleak shadows files from the hut. One of the shadows, Dumbledore, raises his hand and points, directing the attention of the others away from Buckbeak. Dumbledore speaks briefly, unintelligible from this distance, then the crows shriek excitedly and the Executioner separates from the others, disappears behind a low stand of trees.

All goes very still. The wind loses its voice. 

Sunlight kicks off the ax as it rises over the trees, into view. The ax hangs seemingly forever, etched against the sky, then drops from sight. A sickening chop fouls the breeze and Ron and Harry stare toward the trees in numb disbelief. Hermione, face turned away, in the crook of Ron's neck, trembles as Aubery grabs Harry's hand, the other covering her eyes.

The sun sets, dropping behind the mountains in the distance. Hermione turns and sees a frenzied spray of crows stain the sky, their primal shrieking rising like a curse. 

Hermione stares downward, where a drop of blood hangs from Ron's finger, dropping like a tear.