Harry gave the girl a few minutes to think about that before asking, "Do you know that, by rights, Hagrid should have been executed last September?"
Hermione looked at him in shock. "What?" she blurted. "But - why?" "He committed a crime that has as it's consequence the sentence of death," said Harry. "And the crime he committed was on the orders of Albus Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore ordered him to?!" she squeaked.
He nodded and replied, "On the night my parents were murdered, Dumbledore sent Hagrid to my parent's cottage in Godric's Hollow, with orders to collect me and return with me to Hogwarts.
"Hagrid, doing as he was ordered by his boss, went to the cottage and found me in my crib upstairs. He carried me downstairs and out the door. As he was walking away up the path, my godfather, Sirius, stopped him and told Hagrid to hand me over. Hagrid refused and cited the order, by Dumbledore, to return with me to Hogwarts. With me so far?" She nodded.
"Alright, Sirius didn't push the issue. Instead, he foolishly went off after Pettigrew. For that, Hagrid was very lucky. At that time I was already the Heir Apparent to a Noble and Most Ancient House. Hagrid would have known that. He stepped over the lifeless bodies of my parents, after all. He comes across as a gentle soul but he's not an idiot.
"Because he didn't hand me over to one of my rightful named guardians, when requested by that guardian to do so, he committed the criminal act of kidnapping. Because I was the Heir Apparent to a Noble and Most Ancient House, the consequence of that action meant he should have been given the Dementor's Kiss.
"It is only that I, and my guardians, knew that it was because of Hagrid's blind and foolish loyalty to Dumbledore that he did not hand me over to Sirius that night; that we didn't push to have him tried. We knew he would have been Kissed if we did."
Hermione looked like she was about to burst into tears from shock. Tracey handed her a handkerchief.
Neville sighed and said, "He's right, Hermione. Do not doubt that. Hagrid lives today only because of the grace of Harry, Sirius, my Gran, Aunt Amelia and the Greengrasses. Any oneof them could have demanded a trial and there would have been one."
"But, he was only doing as he was told," sniffled Hermione.
"Ah! The Nuremberg defence," said Harry. "The Nazis tried that at the Nuremberg trials. It held no water then; it holds no water now. They were still executed by hanging, in many cases.
"Lawful and just orders from authority should be obeyed, I agree," said Harry softly. "If we didn't we would have anarchy. However, it is also our duty and responsibility not to obey those orders that are either unlawful or unjust. Doing so can get you anywhere up to, and including, executed."
"But I still think people in authority should be obeyed," said Hermione a little adamantly. "Sometimes, they have information we do not. And it's not for us to question them about it."
'Alright, this is going to be a little harder than I thought,' thought Harry.
"That's alright if you believe that, Hermione," said Harry. The others all looked at him a little weirdly. "You are my Protectee, are you not?" he asked her.
"Yes," she said.
"I am your Protector, am I not?" he asked. "Yes," she frowned.
"I'm sure you read up on what that means, correct?" "Yes."
"So, I have authority over you, correct?" "Yes."
Nodding with a serious look on his face, he said, "Good. Stand up, right where you are, and strip yourself naked."
He received a few incredulous looks from the others. And, Daphne suddenly clenched his arm tight. But, no one said anything. "Wh - what?" asked Hermione in a soft tremulous voice.
"I thought I made myself quite clear with what I said," he calmly replied. "I want to stare at your naked body. Stand up and strip naked."
Again, his friends said nothing. He realised they were now beginning to understand what he was doing.
"I - I..." she stuttered. "But..."
She seemed to gather herself a little and think it through before she pulled an angry expression and glared at him. "No!" she half-screamed.
"Why ever not?" he calmly asked.
"Because - because you have no right to demand that of me!" she glared at him.
"I don't?" he also calmly asked. "You already admit I have authority over you." "No! That falls outside the bounds of your authority over..." she started to say before suddenly and abruptly coming to a halt.
She looked at him with fury and outrage but now understanding.
"You!... You!..." she stuttered.
"Tricked you into disobeying authority; yes," he said. "Congratulations on taking that step."
Daphne unlatched herself from his, now slightly numb, arm. And went over to scootch in next to Hermione.
She then gave the girl a hug just as she burst into tears.
After a few sobs Hermione said, "You can be a bastard sometimes, you know that?"
"Sweet Merlin! Hermione Granger just swore. The world must be coming to an end and the denizens of Hell are getting ready for a snowball fight," grinned Harry. "Oh, and I happen to have it on good authority my parents were happily married when I was conceived and born."
That earned him a few snickers from the others, including Hermione.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," he honestly said, a few moments later. "I've just shattered one of your personal beliefs about the world around you. And, for that, I'm truly sorry to have been the one who caused it."
In a soft voice, Hermione then asked with her head down, "So. You don't want to see me naked, then?"
Stupidly, he replied, "Oh, I didn't say that."
Suddenly, wands appeared. And Harry learned the valuable lesson that you cannot dodge Stinging Hexes while sitting in a crowded train compartment. By the time he managed to get a shield up, he'd already been hit by five.
But, at least Hermione was also laughing, even if it was a little watery.
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