a maddening question of my own

[Hitomi]

No: HPFGUIDX 91269

LizVega wrote: 
> I'm not sure if this has been covered, I'm jumping in a little 
late 
> on this one. But, in COS Hagrid was sent to Azkaban by Fudge. 
After 
> Harry and Co. return from the Chamber of Secrets, doesn't DD tell 
> Ron to send a letter for Hagrid's release? If Fudge was the one to 
> put Hagrid in Azkaban, surely it must've been him who released 
him, 
> DD couldn't have just done that. So, if he was released, wouldn't 
> there have been some kind of reversal of the former sentencing? 
I've 
> been reading the posts that suggest that Hagrid simply returned to 
> Hogwarts, no questions asked. That doesn't make sense, IMHO, 
anyway. 

Hitomi:
I'm with LizVega on this one, sorry Steve.  But I honestly think 
Hagrid's original ruling of expulsion and ban on using magic was 
overturned, at least according to that quote I gave from JKR.  But 
dorapeye's quote from Book 5 (thanks for reminding me of that!) 
confused me, too.  Here's what I'm speculating:

1) As someone else mentioned, Hagrid was still guilty of breeding 
acromantulas, which Fudge might not know about, but if he wanted an 
explanation of why Riddle said he saw Hagrid with a monster, than 
Aragog's existence would have become known.  Of course, DD could 
have just written it off for Fudge as the typical lying and 
manipulation of the Future-LV-Slytherin-Prefect (which seems more 
likely, in my opinion).

2) Maybe since Hagrid only has less than three years of full-magic 
training, he isn't allowed to use excessive magic, even though he is 
of age.

3) After all the Skeeter articles in Book 4, and then Umbridge's 
bills and laws, Hagrid's being half-giant was obviously a liability 
in Book 5.  I'm sure DD has that cleared up now, but the MOM was 
looking for any excuse to bag Hagrid, a known supporter of DD.

4) Because of his known support of DD, Fudge could have had the 
ruling on Hagrid's ban reinstated again, making it easier to find 
legal reasons to arrest him.  I always wondered why Fudge tries to 
have him arrested during the O.W.L. exams, instead of treating the 
situation like Trelawney's.  They had to have had a reason for 
arresting him, besides the conjecture that he might have known where 
DD was.  If they could arrest someone on those grounds, they could 
have arrested Harry, or at least have had him expelled (which was a 
goal of Fudge's throughout the book, in an effort to discredit Harry 
further).

5) Hagrid and Maxime were trying to remain inconspicuous, not only 
to the Death Eaters, but also to the MOM, and if Hagrid's using 
magic that year might have been disallowed (and the MOM was looking 
for any excuse, even if his using magic was technically still 
legal), then Hagrid wouldn't have been able to use magic openly.

More thoughts, anyone?

~ Hitomi