Harry and Ron cast a shocked yet sympathetic glance at Draco, who was clutching his nose, and then jogged after Hermione into the greyish-purple twilight.
"Do not tell anyone," Draco threatened Goyle and Crabbe, his face darkening as he watched the three hurrying figures. They were clearly stunned by the spectacle and hurriedly nodded to Draco.
Hermione Granger's pride had never been so thoroughly shattered.
Those hidden feelings, those emotions that had fermented for so long and finally been confirmed, had been mercilessly thrown to the ground and crushed in front of everyone by that wretched Draco Malfoy.
As soon as she entered Hagrid's hut, she let out a loud sob, startling the great Hagrid.
"What is wrong?" he scratched his head, hurriedly bringing her a chair and gesturing for her to sit down.
Harry and Ron quietly explained to Hagrid what had just happened.
"Draco Malfoy," he said sternly, shaking his large, unkempt head in disapproval. "There are so many good Gryffindor boys you could like, and you go and pick a Slytherin!"
Hermione trembled and cried even louder.
"The Malfoys, their whole family are Dark wizards, wicked, thoroughly wicked. When You-Know-Who was in power, they were his most loyal followers." Hagrid swallowed hard, placing a freshly brewed cup of hot tea in front of Hermione. "There's no good comes of associating with him."
"He is not like that!" Hermione said, tears welling in her eyes, hiccuping. "He is not..."
"He has made you cry like this, and you are still defending him?" Hagrid gave Hermione a look of exasperation. "That Malfoy lad is a coward, and he has terrible taste! He is even afraid to ride Buckbeak, such a beautiful and interesting little creature!"
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, still not daring to remind Hagrid of his unrealistic understanding of the dangers posed by some magical creatures. They had never fully agreed with what Hagrid considered "interesting creatures."
"There, there, I wager he will regret missing out on such a clever and excellent girl as you one day. After all, they have not yet invented a spell our Hermione cannot manage!" Hagrid said proudly.
Hermione finally stopped crying. She blushed deeply, flattered by Hagrid's compliment.
She sniffed and took a large gulp of hot tea. Her friends' company made her feel much better, though her heart still ached.
She still thought about that boy. The boy who had broken her heart.
Hagrid stood up and lifted the kettle of boiling water from the stove, intending to top up their tea.
"Oh, by the way, Hermione, is that big ginger cat yours?" Hagrid looked out from the stove towards the fields. "He has been circling round outside my hut all day; I reckon he is hungry..."
Suddenly, a pebble knocked over the tea caddy on Hagrid's table, scattering tea leaves everywhere. A bald rat squeaked and slid out of the caddy.
Ron glanced at it, his expression suddenly changing.
"Wait, why does this rat look familiar? Does it not look like Scabbers?" He grabbed the struggling rat and held it up to the light to examine it.
It looked dreadful, thin and bald, with much of its fur missing, writhing wildly in Ron's hand. Through the last rays of the setting sun, they could see the rat's missing toe.
"Peter Pettigrew!" Harry suddenly jumped up, knocking over the teacup on the table.
"It is him!"
Just then, the restless rat suddenly bit Ron hard, who yelped and instinctively threw the rat to the ground.
Then, they watched as the rat quickly rolled along the ground and slipped out through the crack in Hagrid's back door.
"No!" Harry shouted, "Grab him!"
He did not care about anything else. He grabbed his wand and ran after the rat.
"Hagrid, go and tell Dumbledore!"
Hermione finally forgot her bad mood entirely. She turned and yelled at Hagrid, who was standing there dumbfounded, then, along with Ron, followed Harry's footsteps and ran out into the twilight fields.
Hermione Granger stumbled and staggered behind Harry, but did not slow her all-out run.
Darkness fell quickly. They chased after the small, dark figure that flashed across the fields until they reached the notoriously fierce, swaying Whomping Willow... the very tree that had shattered Harry's flying broom.
Surprisingly, the rat did not stop. It nimbly dodged the furiously flailing branches of the willow and darted into the hole beneath it.
Just then, a large black dog suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was as fast as the wind, and in the blink of an eye it followed the rat and leapt into the tree hollow.
"No!" Harry cried out in despair.
He tried to rush forward, but Ron stopped him.
"That is too dangerous! Harry, you will get yourself killed!" Ron yelled at him.
The Whomping Willow clearly did not like being disturbed by anything. Otherwise, it would not have destroyed Harry's flying broomstick.
It did not know the meaning of mercy. The rat and the black dog had already provoked the Whomping Willow. It was already furious at having missed the chance to "teach them a lesson." At this moment, Harry, eager to try his luck, was a blatant provocation to it, a ready target for its anger.
A sturdy willow branch swung swiftly, striking the ground heavily in front of Harry with a defiant thud, as if daring anyone to challenge its authority.
Harry showed no fear. His eyes even seemed to go wild. He broke free of Ron's grasp and shouted, "Peter Pettigrew... I have to catch him... he betrayed my parents! If that dog can go in, so can I!"
Amid Hermione and Ron's gasps, Harry rushed forward, dodging left and right, trying to slip through the whipping branches... but a thick willow branch was about to strike him across the back.
"No, Harry! Watch out!" she shouted.
At Hermione's shout, Crookshanks appeared out of nowhere. His nimble, furry body slid through the branches like a snake, pressing his front paws directly onto a knot in the tree trunk.
The willow froze. It stopped trembling, like a lifeless thing.
The cat who had so inexplicably appeared before them had saved Harry's life just in time.
"Well done, Crookshanks!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, opening her arms to call him over. "How did you get here?"
For the first time, Crookshanks ignored Hermione. He nimbly leapt onto the Whomping Willow, perched on the thickest branch, and watched them with a thoughtful expression... if cats could think.
"Blimey... your cat is quite a character," Ron said in surprise.
"Crookshanks is very clever," Hermione said proudly. "He is a Kneazle-Persian cross, Draco told me..."
Mentioning that boy, her eyes suddenly welled with tears. She was reminded of her own tragic, unrequited love that had ended without a trace.
But she had no time to dwell on her sorrows any longer. Harry had already disappeared into the dark tree hollow.
"Hermione, let us go," Ron said as he squeezed inside. "We cannot let him go on his own."
"That is right," she replied, following Ron as he crawled in and slid down the slope into a low tunnel.
They trudged through the dark tunnel, walking as far and as long as it took to get from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade, before finally catching a glimmer of light.
They looked at each other and finally decided to follow the faint light and crawl out one by one.