Guilty

"Guilty? Of course not. I never believed the Hippogriff was guilty." Hagrid took a deep breath and began flipping through his cue cards for an answer.

This old man was truly insidious.

Thankfully, Albert had warned him. Otherwise, he would likely have been led around by the nose.

"Then why did you hope the ruling could be changed so that the victim's medical expenses would be compensated?" the elderly wizard pressed. His goal was to convict the Hippogriff.

As long as it was found guilty, it could be sentenced to death.

Hagrid glanced at the contents of his cue cards. He was not at all intimidated by the old wizard's question; Albert had even helped him prepare the answer.

"That was merely out of sympathy for Mr. Malfoy and concern for his family's financial situation."

Having said that, Hagrid shot Lucius a challenging glance and continued reading from the cards, his voice growing louder with every word. "As far as I know, Mr. Lucius Malfoy has already spent a considerable sum of Galleons trying to win this appeal, and he seems rather strapped for cash at the moment. Of course, this is also a small gesture of goodwill on my part, to make sure their lives do not become too difficult. You may consider it humanitarian aid. Naturally, since I do not have many Galleons myself, I can only offer fifty Galleons."

Albert had gotten those Galleons from Malfoy, so Hagrid did not feel the slightest bit bad about spending them.

In short, Hagrid was proposing a monetary settlement, though he was doing so very reluctantly.

After Hagrid finished, the elderly wizard turned to Lucius Malfoy and asked, "Mr. Malfoy, do you accept Mr. Hagrid's proposal to settle this matter peacefully, with him compensating you fifty Galleons?"

Hagrid's willingness to