REPTOMAMMAL
"Ugh! What is it?" Ron protested, turning away with a look of disgust on his face. Hermione assumed a familiar and disapproving look whilst Harry simply found himself staring up at the animal's large, doleful eyes.
It was somewhere between a camel and a sheep, he decided, continuing to stare up at it. It stood on two legs and was covered in coarse grey and white fur but its head boasted a set of curling horns like those of a ram's. Its nose was splayed, one set of nostrils above the other, all the better for searching out food, Harry assumed and in its mouth, which was now concerned with devouring the remnants of a chocolate frog it had claimed from Ron's pocket, were sharpened, yellowing teeth suggesting that unlike a horse, the animal was of a carnivorous nature.
Hagrid's chest swelled with pride as he slapped a heavy hand on the creature's flank. If the beast noticed this, it showed no outward signs.
"This here," began Hagrid, turning his beetle black eyes from Ron to Hermione and at last to Harry, "is what they call a taun-taun."
Harry couldn't help but feel slightly suspicious of both Hagrid's pride at the creature and his acquisition of it. The large gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher didn't have an especially good record with creatures smuggled into the school grounds.
In Harry's first year, Hagrid had been given a dragon egg by a stranger in The Three Broomsticks, a stranger that had later turned out to be the then Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell, acting under instructions of Voldemort himself in a rouse to trick Hagrid into surrendering information about the Philosopher's Stone.
Only last year, Hagrid had almost been fired because a hippogriff named Buckbeak had taken offence at the Slytherin bully, Draco Malfoy's words. Seeing the size of the taun-taun, it was obvious that Harry was worried about something similar happening.
"Does Professor Dumbledore know about this?" Hermione asked sharply.
Hagrid affected a hurt expression.
"Of course he does! You don't think I'd be keeping anything from Dumbledore, do you?" The giant gamekeeper proclaimed.
The taun-taun sniffed the air again with its large nostrils and then craned its neck forwards, searching Ron's pockets for further treats.
"Ow! Gerroff!" He protested, trying to brush away the beast's insistent head. "Where did you get it?"
"Ah," said Hagrid, his smile looking around with suspicion. "Well that's the thing, isn't it?" The giant lent in closer and whispered conspiratorially:
"Now, I don't want you to go telling anyone about this, you understand? Last night I met these two fellows, the first is right as any muggle, chatting away about money and spices and talking a lot of gaff about getting sidetracked whilst trying to deliver some sort of cargo or other. The other...well, the likes of him I've never seen before! Big hairy apeth he was! Covered head to tie in fur and carrying a mean looking crossbow of sorts. "So anyways, my curiosity being peeked I thought I'd ask what exactly this cargo was. Bit suspicious at first they were, mind, but after a couple of drinks I won them over. Turns out the cargo was none other than this here taun-taun! And a good taun-taun he is too! Pedigree stock, they said and a good runner."
"That's no excuse for bringing potentially dangerous animals onto the school grounds!" Hermione protested.
"Bah! He ain't dangerous!" Proclaimed Hagrid, slapping the taun-taun's flank again. "Look, he's as gentle as a lamb."
"So what are you going to do with it?" Harry finally asked, tearing his eyes away from the animal.
Hagrid shrugged.
"I thought he'd make good company for Fang. Poor Fang don't half get lonely these days and well, between you and me, he's getting on a bit in years so it'll do him some good to have a bit of companionship when I'm out in the forest."
Hermione opened her mouth but failed to come up with a convincing counter-argument.
Smiling Harry reached up and patted the taun-taun's coarse hair. The beast nudged his hand happily and made a content sound that sounded something like 'marbbbit-marbbbbit', breathing all over Ron as it did so.
"Ugh!" The youngest of the Weasley boys proclaimed, turning his head away. "And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!"