• Serena Black •
"Help someone,
you earn a friend.
Help someone too much,
you make an enemy."
June had come faster than Serena would have liked and so the exams were right around the corner. She would have loved to celebrate the victory for a while longer, but she also had to realise that she had more important things to concentrate on.
The sun's rays falling through the window into the common room felt good on her pale face. She listened to Harry and Ron only half-heartedly as they quizzed her about potion ingredients. Ron promptly fell silent and turned away ignorantly as Hermione climbed through the portrait hole and came towards them with quick steps.
Hermione paid no attention to the redhead's narrow-mindedness and instead held a letter up in the air in front of her as she announced with trembling lips, "I just thought you should know ... Hagrid has lost the trial. They're going to execute Buckbeak."
Serena took the damp parchment from her and tried to read the words with a thick lump in her throat. Huge tears had blurred the ink so much in places that some of it was hard to decipher.
Dear Hermione,
We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed.
Beaky has enjoyed London.
I won't forget all the help you gave us.
Hagrid
Serena handed the letter to Harry, who began to read it silently. "They can't do this," she muttered, overwhelmed, simply unable to believe that they would kill a creature over such nonsense. Her heart felt heavy at the injustice and the thought of poor Buckbeak not knowing what was going to happen to him.
"Malfoy's father intimidated the committee," Hermione said, wiping her brown eyes. "You know what he's like. They're a bunch of doddery old fools, and they were scared. There'll be an appeal, though, there always is. Only I can't see any hope... Nothing will have changed. "
"Yeah, it will." Ron seemed to have completely forgotten his anger all of a sudden. "You're not alone this time, Hermione, I'll help you."
"Oh Ron!" Sobbing desperately, she threw her arms around his neck as Ron patted her head, completely at a loss, shyly. But it was a step in the right direction and even if Serena would have liked a different scenario for it, she was glad that the two of them had apparently made up.
"Ron, I'm really terribly sorry about Scabbers..." she said, pulling the redhead even closer to her. She had closed her eyes as if she never wanted to let go of this moment, while her running tears dripped onto the floor in front of her, leaving nothing but salty puddles on it.
"Ah... um.... it was an old rat all right," Ron admitted at last hiding it. There was no mistaking the relief that had spread across his freckled face now that he and Hermione had finally laid down their hatchet. Serena merely rolled her dark eyes, for after all, the Weasley's realisation had been quite a long time coming.
Shaking her head, she turned back to the letter and frowned. "Hey, there's something else on the back here." She turned the damp paper over and read aloud, "Buckbeak's appeal hearing will be held on June eighth."
"This is our last day of exams after all," Hermione sniffled, finally letting go of Ron to wipe her tear-soaked face.
"They're coming here especially for this, someone from the Ministry of Magic and.... and an executioner," Serena added in a trembling voice. She suddenly felt nauseous and clutched the hem of her cloak for support. If Hagrid lost the trial, Buckbeak would be executed the same day and there would be nothing they could do about it. It seemed they had decided his fate long ago.
As the exam week began, an unnatural silence spread through the castle and everyone's thoughts seemed to be merely on the exams ahead. Serena, too, felt an inexplicable restlessness. But at least she was able to push her worries aside and banish them to the back of her mind.
Only Malfoy, who had been conspicuously meek since the Gryffindors' Quidditch triumph, seemed to become his old loudmouth self again in the days that followed. Apparently, the Slytherin was sure that Buckbeak would be executed, and he was apparently very happy about it. At least the fact that an executioner was brought to the trial endorsed his disgusting arrogance.
The worst thing about the whole thing, however, was that the stress of the exams meant they had neither the time nor the opportunity to visit Hagrid. On top of that, the new safety rules had not been lifted, which meant that they had to wait until their exam date in Care of Magical Creatures.
Monday at lunchtime the third years came out of Transfuguration. Serena was actually quite pleased with the result, after all it was her best subject. After a hasty lunch, it was straight back upstairs for their exam in Charms. Even though it wasn't quite her best subject, Serena managed to successfully cast a Cheering Charm on Hermione.
After dinner, they quickly returned to their common room, not to relax, but to cram for Care of Magical Creatures, Potions and Astronomy. These were definitely the subjects Serena was most concerned about. At least with the exception of Care of Magical Creatures.
Hagrid took the exam the next morning with a decidedly worried expression, and his heart seemed to be somewhere else entirely. He had prepared a large tub of fresh flubber worms for the class and told them that if they were to pass the exam, the worms would still have to be alive after an hour. Since flobberworms thrived best when left completely alone, this was the easiest exam of their lives. Serena only regretted the fact that she had actually studied for the subject and could have used this time better for Potions.
After the exam, she shuffled back to the castle with her classmates and the gamekeeper. Some distance away, they spotted Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle, who kept turning to them, laughing maliciously.
"Beaky's gettin' a little depressed," Hagrid reported. "S'all my fault. Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin' there in black robes an' I kep' droppin' me notes and forgettin' all them dates yeh looked up fer me, Hermione. An' then Lucius Malfoy stood up an' said his bit, and the Committee jus' did exac'ly what he told 'em..."
"There's still the appeal!" interjected Ron grimly. "Don't give up yet!"
"S'no good, Ron," Hagrid said sadly as they reached the castle stairs. "That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that..."
Burying his face in a huge handkerchief, the half-giant turned and quickly returned to his hut. He left the students standing just outside the palace gate. Serena looked sadly after him.
"Look at him blubber!" exclaimed Malfoy, who had apparently been standing and listening behind the portal with Crabbe and Goyle. "Have you ever seen anything so pathetic?" added the blond Slytherin contemptuously. "And he's supposed be our teacher!"
Harry and Ron angrily took a few steps towards Malfoy, but Hermione was quicker. With all the strength she could muster, she gave Malfoy a few peppery slaps. Serena, Harry, Ron, Crabbe and Goyle stood there with their mouths agape and again Hermione raised her hand. "Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic again, you foul... You evil...!"
"Hermione!" breathed Ron tentatively, reaching for her hand, which lashed out again. Serena just stood there transfixed, unable to believe that it was Hermione, of all people, who had rebuked the snobby Slytherin. But part of her was immensely proud of her friend. "Let go of me, Ron!" the Gryffindor hissed.
Malfoy, however, had seized this moment of distraction and drawn his wand. Before he could moon Hermione with it, though, Serena had followed suit and cast the first spell that came to her mind given the situation. "Levicorpus!"
The blond bastard was swept off his feet by an invisible force and left dangling upside down in the air by the same force. As he did so, he shrieked like a girl and thrashed wildly with both fists. But he met nothing but the wind blowing through his fair hair.
"Serena!" The Gryffindor turned around, heart pounding, to discover Professor Lupin, of all people, rushing towards her. Triumph drained from her expression. What would he think of her? Was he disappointed in her? After all, her godfather was still a teacher....
Unfortunately, these thoughts put a damper on their concentration, which had previously been on the wailing Slytherin in the air, and Malfoy plopped back down on the floor. "Come on," he muttered hastily and in a flash all three Slytherins had disappeared into the entrance to the dungeons.
Lupin had reached them now. He looked down at them reprovingly, but Serena couldn't read anything else from his expression. He looked exhausted, but that was nothing unusual with him, after all. It didn't have to be anything to do with her. "Detention, Thursday at five."
Serena groaned inwardly. Thursday was her last day of exams! At last she could have relaxed from all the exam stress and devoted herself entirely to Buckbeak's calling. But she didn't argue. Instead, she tried to console herself with the thought that at least it wasn't Snape. Even if she was still ashamed that her godfather had seen her hex a spell. Deserved or not.
"But Professor... Malfoy was going to..." Ron had already started, but Lupin had already continued his way in the direction of Hagrid's hut and he had long since stopped hearing them. At least he pretended not to. Because Serena was pretty sure she'd read that werewolves had pretty sensitive ears....
"Potions has already started," Harry interjected ominously. "We need to hurry."
The dungeons were the last place Serena wanted to go at this moment, but she had to go through that now. Reluctantly, she followed her friends, trying to recall the numerous formulas. At least Snape wouldn't be able to pester her during the exam. Hermione, too, was muttering all sorts of ingredients to herself, but adrenaline was shining in her dark eyes. Apparently it had done her good to smack the blond Slytherin.
But that mood ebbed as soon as they entered the classroom. The mood was tense. They were supposed to make a confusion elixir, which Serena did surprisingly well, much to Snape's resentment, so that he took her sample at the end of the test with a bitter expression on his face.
Unfortunately, she wasn't lucky in all subjects. In Astronomy she had fallen asleep in the middle of the exam at midnight and apparently her teacher was not very tolerant in such a situation. The penultimate exam on Thursday morning was Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Professor Lupin had prepared the most unusual task of all, a kind of obstacle race outside in the sun. They had to trudge through a deep pool where a Grindylow lurked, cross a series of sinkholes full of red caps, wade through a swampy field disregarding the misleading directions from a Hinkypunk, and finally climb into an old wardrobe trunk and deal with a boggart.
"Great, Serena! Full marks," Lupin muttered as Serena proudly climbed out of the suitcase. He looked up from his clipboard after noting her points. "Don't forget, five o'clock today."
Serena rolled her eyes, she actually hadn't thought of that anymore and part of her had hoped that would have been the case with her godfather. But she didn't regret one bit in hindsight that she had left the Slytherin dangling in the air. After all, he had been on the verge of hexing Hermione and it was his fault that Buckbeak would be executed.
On the way back to the castle, thinking of the devil, they met Cornelius Fudge standing at the portal, sweating slightly and wearing a pinstripe cloak. The minister raised his hand when he recognised Harry. "Hello, Harry!" he said. "You've come from an exam, haven't you? Have you passed it soon?"
"Yes," Harry replied, as the other three stood sheepishly in the background. Serena in particular was not eager to talk to Fudge. Not after she found out what he thought of her. A security problem at Hogwarts.
"Nice day," the minister remarked, letting his eyes wander over the lake as he sucked in the spring air. "A pity, a pity indeed..." He expelled the air he had previously sucked in with a sigh. and looked down at Harry. "I'm here for an unpleasant task, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures needs a witness for the execution of a mad hippogriff. Since I had to stop by Hogwarts to look into Black anyway, I've been asked to step in." His gaze roamed Serena, who merely crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried to scowl extra hard.
"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Ron interrupted, stepping forward.
"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon," Fudge replied, now looking curiously at the redhead.
"Then perhaps you won't have to witness an execution at all!" the Weasley remarked stoutly. "The hippogriff might be acquitted, after all!"
Before Fudge could reply, all their attention was drawn to the wizards who abruptly stepped out of the castle doorway. Serena had never seen them before and guessed that they must be part of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. The stone-aged wizard peered over to Hagrid's hut and turned to the minister in a thin voice: "Goodness, I'm getting too old for these stories.... It's two already, isn't it, Fudge?"
The other man wore a black moustache on his face and fiddled with his belt as if his fingers were already itching. For there he stroked a gleaming blade of a hatchet, which was attached to the dark leather. The sun and the executioner's grim face were reflected in the edge. Serena's heart went up her skirt at the sight. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione poked him violently in the ribs in response and nodded her head towards the entrance. It was her signal to leave.
"Why did you stop me?" hissed Ron angrily as they stepped into the Great Hall shortly after for lunch. "Did you see those two? They've got the axe ready! That's not fair!"
"Ron, your dad works at the Ministry, you can't talk to his boss like that!" said Hermione, but she didn't seem any less upset either. Her dark eyes flickered back and forth uneasily. "If Hagrid keeps his nerve this time and pleads his case properly, there's no way they can kill Buckbeak..."
Their last exam was Divination. But Serena thought she could hardly concentrate on the subject, for still she had only the sharp blade in her mind's eye that would kill an innocent being. She found it disgusting. Buckbeak was, after all, a wild animal. How was he to know what was right or wrong when he felt threatened?
Together with Ron and Harry she walked to the seventh floor, where some of their classmates were already sitting on the spiral staircase to Professor Trelawney's room, making their last-minute queries.
Serena spotted Hailey, among others, and joined her. "She wants to take us all on one by one," the Hufflepuff explained. She had the chapter on crystal balls open on her lap. "I've never seen anything in this stupid ball, have you?"
Serena shook her head and sighed. "Nothing but fog." Maybe she was psychic? After all, that was what she had had in mind at the moment, and for most of the exams....
The queue in front of the classroom was getting shorter. Everyone who descended the silver ladder was pestered by the others with hissed questions, "What did she want to know? Was it hard?"
But no one wanted to say anything. "She thinks she knows from the crystal ball that something terrible will happen to me if I tell!" squeaked Neville as he climbed down the ladder and was gone faster than Ron if there was cake.
Then it was Hailey's turn. With a doubtful expression, she closed the textbook and climbed up the ladder. Leaving Serena, Harry and Ron last. The three of them kept looking at their watches, it was now two. "If only she would hurry..."
In their minds they were all over at the edge of the forest with Hagrid, wishing for nothing more than to be with him at that moment. It was a full fifteen minutes before the Hufflepuff finally climbed back down the ladder with an annoyed expression.
"How was it?" asked Serena, standing up as she was next in line. Her best friend sighed and made a dismissive hand gesture. "Don't ask, I didn't see anything at all."
"Serena Black," the familiar smoky voice then said over their heads. Serena sighed and finally climbed up into the stuffy tower room. At least she had made it after that. The dark-haired girl stumbled through the tangle of chairs and tables over to Professor Trelawney, who was sitting in front of a large crystal ball. "Good afternoon, my dear," she said softly. "If you would be so kind as to look into the sphere.... take your time... and then tell me what you see..."
Serena bent over the crystal ball and stared into it, searching with all her might for something other than the white fog.
She wanted to give up and come up with something that seemed logical to her. But
But to her surprise, deep in the fog she saw three barely visible small figures in the shape of a dog, a rat and a wolf. Above them shone the full moon. The scene changed suddenly and she saw a raven flying directly towards her. She squinted her eyes to make sure she hadn't imagined it. She was probably already hallucinating at the penetrating smell of some herbs.
"Well?", Professor Trelawney gently probed. "What do you see?"
So much, then, for taking one's time.... The heat overwhelmed Serena and the perfumed smoke wafting from the fire clouded her mind. There was no doubt that she had imagined it. But she had nothing else to show for it. "Um..." she faltered briefly. "A few figures."
"Who do they resemble?" whispered Professor Trelawney urgently. "Think about it..."
"They're animals... And um... it's a full moon..."
"Indeed!" whispered Professor Trelawney, busily scribbling notes on the sheet of parchment on her knees. Serena frowned, beginning to wonder what the teacher was actually assessing her for. "What kind of animals? Maybe a hippogriff?"
"No... Um... A rat, a dog and a wolf... and a raven..." Serena saw the teacher's face drop in disappointment, so she quickly added, "And yes, there is a hippogriff! And he... he's alive."
Trelawney sighed, as if she had hoped for a different answer. "Well, my dear, I think we'll leave it at that.... a little disappointing... But I'm sure you've done your best."
Relieved and also a little confused, Serena stood up, grabbed her bag and finally left the stuffy room. She had made it. The school year was as good as over! If it wasn't for the whole Buckbeak thing....
"Have fun," she wished Ron and Harry with a smile as she walked past them. This was by far the strangest exam she had ever taken. Outside the portrait hole to the Gryffindors' common room, she suddenly bumped into Hermione. Her expression was distorted and in her hand she held a note in shaky hands. When the she her, she sobbed. "Buckbeak lost!" she cried. „This just came from Hagrid."
This time Hagrid's message was dry, not a tear had wetted the paper, but his hand had obviously shaken so much that the note was barely legible.
Appeal lost.
They execute him at sunset.
There is nothing more you can do.
Don't come down.
I don't want you to see it.
Hagrid
"They can't do that!" cried Serena in panic, anger welling up inside her so that she clenched her hands into fists. "This is all Malfoy's fault!"
The two girls were silent as they waited for Harry and Ron to return from the exam. Together they sat down in a quiet corner in the common room. "We have to go," Harry said immediately. "We can't let him sit around by himself waiting for the executioner!"
"Sunset..." muttered Ron, his eyes glazed out the window. "They'll never let us do that... and I certainly won't allow you..."
"We'll take the invisibility cloak!" suggested Harry with a determined air, and Serena agreed with him affirmatively.
"Four of us won't fit under it..." interjected Hermione. "But Serena can't go anyway. You have detention, remember?"
Serena groaned in annoyance. Could she afford to stand up her teacher, and godfather at that? Maybe he would understand if there was no curfew. But there was, and it would be noticeable if she didn't show up. She had to admit defeat. Even if she wished she could be there for Hagrid too.