---
Of course, Harry won the Quidditch match.
They celebrated wildly.
But before they could even recover from the excitent, June quietly arrived.
And with it ca—
Exams.
---
That afternoon, they were revising in the library when a letter from Hagrid arrived.
The Ministry of Magic would co to Hogwarts on June 6.
They would officially hear Hagrid's appeal—
And execute Buckbeak on the sa day.
The mont Harry finished reading the letter, the group went silent.
Darren's eyes slowly reddened.
He clutched the parchnt and said with a trembling voice:
"So… the Ministry has already decided… They even scheduled the trial and the execution for the sa day."
His voice cracked.
"Which ans… they never intended to give Hagrid a real chance at all…"
"Buckbeak will definitely die… It's my fault… I should have gone to Malfoy sooner… I should have begged his father… I should have done more…"
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding ... ]
Darren looked so stricken that he forgot to eat.
Harry and the others panicked.
In the end, they could only try to comfort him.
"Maybe… maybe things will still turn around."
"There's still a trial, right? What if it works?"
Then Hermione spoke firmly:
"That day is right after our last exam.
We can all go with Hagrid."
"Darren, you can speak too. You're good with words."
"At Hogwarts, you might really convince them."
"We shouldn't place all our hope on Hagrid alone, you know how nervous he is."
"We've prepared so much. We still have a chance."
Darren's eyes suddenly brightened.
He finally found a reason to eat again.
So he pretended to struggle swallowing his food—
And then forced down a ridiculous amount of it.
Only after his stomach felt uncomfortably full did he pull out the docunts again.
"You guys eat first… I'll go back to the dormitory and recheck everything. I might find sothing useful."
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding ... ]
Then he hurried away with a thick dossier in his arms.
---
For the next two days—
Darren secretly had the system darken the shadows under his eyes.
He looked more exhausted with each passing hour.
Haggard.
Overworked.
Heartbroken.
And his Holy Father Value kept rising.
But his "self-sacrificing mode" ended abruptly when exams began.
---
The Transfiguration exam was first.
Professor McGonagall asked everyone to turn a turtle into a teapot.
A perfect score required that the teapot show no trace of a turtle.
Darren transford his into a Chinese-style teapot.
Elegant.
Antique.
A dragon was carved across the surface, soaring through clouds.
Its eyes looked back over its shoulder with overwhelming presence.
Professor McGonagall stared.
Completely stunned.
She almost asked to keep it.
But Darren turned the turtle back at once.
He always worried that prolonged transformation might hurt small animals.
Instead, he handed Professor McGonagall a cartoon-style cup—
With a chubby tabby cat painted on it.
This ti, she was truly tempted.
Barely resisted.
Finally she declared:
"Full marks, kid."
When they left the classroom, it was already lunchti.
Hermione looked anxious.
"My teapot still had willow-leaf patterns… Do you think she'll deduct marks?"
Harry wasn't confident either.
"The spout on mine still looked like a turtle's head…"
Ron clutched his heart.
"Stop talking! You're making want to jump off the Astronomy Tower. Mine was worse than both of yours!"
---
After lunch, they went to the Charms exam.
As Hermione predicted, it was the Happiness Charm.
Darren's partner was Cassandra.
The mont he cast the spell—
Cassandra smiled gently.
It was the first real smile she had shown in nearly a year.
---
The next day ca Care of Magical Creatures.
Hagrid was clearly distracted.
He brought only flobberworms.
Their task?
Keep one alive for an hour.
It was the easiest exam of the year.
Darren felt it was terribly irresponsible—
After an entire year, all they had learned was how to feed flobberworms
And how to open the Monster Book of Monsters.
But as a Little Holy Father…
He could not complain.
Instead, he looked worried and asked softly:
"Hagrid… Do you really think Buckbeak will survive…?"
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding ... ]
Hagrid lowered his voice.
"The hearing's the day after tomorrow…"
Then he looked at Darren anxiously.
"Darren… you must take care of your body."
"Buckbeak's situation is uncertain… but you mustn't collapse too."
Darren lowered his head.
"But every ti I close my eyes… I see that verdict…"
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding, Holy Father Value 100]
[Ding ... ]
Everyone believed Darren must have cried.
He had always been kind.
And this ti, he was being forced to watch an innocent creature die.
Even Malfoy felt uncomfortable.
For the first ti, a faint twinge of guilt rose in his chest.
Yet he could not apologize.
He had never truly known Darren was searching for a lawyer.
Not until he saw Darren worn down this way.
After asking his father—
Malfoy learned the truth.
Darren's house-elf had caused such a stir when seeking legal information that Lucius had noticed.
Lucius did not oppose Darren.
He simply believed—
That an animal's execution did not matter.
But Draco did.
He hated the feeling in his chest.
He even wanted to argue with his father.
But—
He was a Malfoy.
Pride would never allow it.
---
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