"Well, let's get this over with," said the reedy voice of the Committee member from inside Hagrid's cabin. "Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside --" 

"No, I -- I wan' ter be with him.... I don' wan' him ter be alone --"

 Footsteps echoed from within the cabin. 

"Buckbeak, move!" Harry hissed.

 Harry tugged harder on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. The hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. They were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door. "One moment, please, Macnair," came Dumbledore's voice. "You need to sign too." The footsteps stopped. Harry heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster.

 Hermione's white face was sticking out from behind a tree. 

"Harry, hurry!" she mouthed. 

Harry could still hear Dumbledore's voice talking from within the cabin. He gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They had reached the trees....

 "Quick! Quick!" Hermione moaned, darting out from behind her tree, seizing the rope too and adding her weight to make Buckbeak move faster. Harry looked over his shoulder; they were now blocked from sight; they couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all. 

"Stop!" he whispered to Hermione. "They might hear us 

Hagrid's back door had opened with a bang. Harry, Hermione, and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the hippogriff seemed to be listening intently. 

Silence... then --

 "Where is it?" said the reedy voice of the Committee member. "Where is the beast?"