Hogwarts: I will not become the Dark Lord

Few students chose to stay at school for Christmas. Besides Malfoy and Harry, there were also two nervous-looking first-year students, and a Slytherin upperclassman who always wore a stern face.

Oh, and the Weasley twins, George and Fred, but they set off a whole box of Stink Pellets and were sentenced by Professor McGonagall to scrub toilets!

The tables of the four houses had been moved to the sides, freeing up the central space of the Great Hall for a special table. This table was occupied by a dozen or so people, including Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Professor Sprout, as well as the unpopular caretaker, Filch. It is worth mentioning that Filch had taken off his usual brown coat and put on a tailcoat that was old and even a little moldy.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Dumbledore announced happily when everyone was finally gathered. He looked around at the small but warm group of students and smiled, "Although we are few in number, the house tables seem a bit empty. Come, everyone, sit wherever you like, no need to be reserved!"

"Next is the cracker pulling!" Dumbledore raised a huge silver cracker with great enthusiasm, the end pointing towards Professor Snape. Snape, though looking a little displeased, reluctantly pulled the string of the cracker.

With a deafening bang, the cracker exploded, revealing a tall and wide witch's hat, the top of which was decorated with a stuffed vulture, making it look both peculiar and comical.

Neville looked at the witch's hat, trying hard not to laugh. He remembered Professor Snape wearing a similar hat when he was dressed in his grandma’s clothes by the Boggart in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Everyone, please enjoy the feast!" Dumbledore ended his performance, his gaze gently sweeping over everyone at the table.

"I was just observing the crystal ball, Headmaster," Professor Trelawney replied in her usual ethereal voice, "I saw myself abandoning solitude and joining your joyful feast. How could I resist the guidance of fate? I hope you can forgive my tardiness."

"Of course, your presence makes our gathering even more perfect," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling with warmth, "I'll prepare a chair for you."

With a wave of his wand, an exquisite chair appeared out of thin air. The chair spun gently in the air a few times, then landed steadily between Snape and Professor McGonagall.

However, Professor Trelawney did not immediately sit down. Her big eyes darted around the table, carefully counting the number of people at the long table, and then murmured in relief, "Good, good, not thirteen people. Don't forget, when thirteen people gather together for a meal, the first to rise will often be the first to die!"

Everyone's expressions immediately became a little awkward and helpless, and they exchanged subtle glances. This was one of the reasons why everyone generally disliked Divination. It was supposed to be a joyous holiday, but Professor Trelawney always liked to say some vague and ominous things, which made people feel very disappointed.

"Sybil, could you please sit down!" Professor McGonagall urged impatiently.

"What if there are thirteen people?" Professor McGonagall retorted coldly, "Unless there's a homicidal maniac with an axe waiting outside, planning to chop down the first person who gets up! Let's not talk about such nonsense here."

Professor Trelawney's eyes widened upon hearing these words, as if she felt greatly insulted.

Harry gently tugged on Jerry's sleeve, about to say something, but found Snape staring straight at him with sharp eyes. Harry's mind raced, and he whispered, "Jerry, remember to come to Hagrid's hut tomorrow morning, we have important things to discuss with you."

The next morning, Jerry arrived at Hagrid's hut. He had just raised his hand to knock when the door opened automatically as if sensing his presence. Stepping inside, Jerry found Hagrid and Harry already gathered there, and the atmosphere seemed a bit heavy.

"What exactly happened?" Jerry asked, looking at Hagrid's downcast and sad expression.

Harry handed him a letter from the Ministry of Magic. Jerry took the letter and quickly skimmed through its contents. The letter mentioned the trial of the Hippogriff Buckbeak. It turned out that Malfoy had reported his injury to the Ministry of Magic, leading the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures to decide to put Buckbeak on trial on April 24th.

"I can't hand Buckbeak over to those Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures guys!" Hagrid said indignantly, "They claim to protect magical creatures, but that's all a facade. In reality, these hypocritical, selfish, and cruel people don't care about the lives of these poor magical creatures at all!"

"Jerry, we must prepare a solid and powerful defense for Hagrid!" Hermione sat down firmly, looking at Hagrid with determined eyes, placing her hand on his arm, "Hagrid, I believe you have the ability to prove that Buckbeak is gentle and harmless."

"It's useless!" Hagrid said, choking back tears, "Those guys, they're all Lucius Malfoy's dogs! They're all afraid of him! If I lose the case in court, Buckbeak..."

As he spoke, Hagrid quickly made a slashing motion across his throat with his finger, accompanied by a long wail. He suddenly collapsed on the table, burying his face deeply in his arms, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

"Jerry, do you have any good ideas?" Harry asked anxiously, "Or, can we ask Professor Dumbledore to come forward and help? The people at the Ministry of Magic will definitely listen to him!"

Upon hearing this, Jerry frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and shook his head.

"Why make things so complicated?" Jerry turned to Hagrid and asked curiously, "Where is Buckbeak now?"

"No!" Hermione immediately grabbed Jerry's arm, "Are you thinking of helping Buckbeak escape? That's absolutely not allowed, it will harm Hagrid! Even you will be implicated!"

Harry and the others also heard Hermione's words and quickly stepped forward to stop Jerry.

"Hermione is right, Jerry," Hagrid said, wiping away the tears from his face and standing up.

"What's wrong with you all?" Jerry patted Hermione's hand and said with an innocent look, "When did I say I was going to let Buckbeak go? I'm a law-abiding student, a recipient of the Third Class Order of Merlin, how could I release a criminal from the Ministry of Magic!"

"Then... then what do you want to do?" Hermione looked at Jerry with confusion, feeling a little puzzled.

"I just want to see Buckbeak, after all, this might be the last time we see each other!" Jerry explained.

"As for why Buckbeak was able to escape," Jerry shook the envelope in his hand, "Didn't they say it in their own letter? Buckbeak is a strong, fierce, and dangerous animal, so it's normal for it to break free from its shackles, right!"

Harry and the others looked at each other, their shocked gazes all turned to Jerry... That makes sense!

"That won't work, the people at the Ministry of Magic will definitely be suspicious!" Hermione shook her head firmly.

"Hermione, you said it yourself, it's just suspicion," Jerry spread his hands, with an indifferent attitude, "Who saw me let Buckbeak go? They have no evidence at all! Besides, so what if they suspect? They are the Ministry of Magic, not Death Eaters."

"But what should we say if the Ministry of Magic asks?" Harry was a little tempted.

"We do have a good relationship with Hagrid, and we also know Buckbeak the Hippogriff, and we did have the idea of secretly letting Buckbeak go, but it was just a thought, and thinking isn't against the law!" Jerry said calmly.

Ministry of Magic, don't slander us without evidence! Otherwise, we'll sue you for defamation!

"Wait!" Hermione grabbed the eager Harry, and advised, "Don't forget that the Ministry of Magic also has Veritaserum, and we still have time, let's calm down and think if there are any other ways!"

"Listen to me, Hagrid," Hermione sighed and comforted gently, "Now is not the time to give up. What you need is a strong defense. We can testify for you in court!"

"I'm going to the library to check if there are any historical cases of Hippogriffs going berserk," Hermione comforted, then looked at Jerry, repeatedly urging him with concern.