I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR DRACULA! PLEASE REVIEW!

LADY OF THE NIGHT: YEAR THREE:

CHAPTER TWO:

When we walked into the Great Hall the next morning, the first thing we saw was Malfoy entertaining a group of other Slytherins with what seemed to be an amusing story. As we walked past, Malfoy did an impression of a swooning fit, and the other Slytherins exploded with laughter. "Ignore them," Hermione muttered. "Just ignore them, they're not worth it..."

"Hey, Potter!" Pansy Parkinson, an ugly Slytherin girl yelled out. "Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! Woooo!" Harry scowled, sitting down next to George. "New third-year course schedules," George said, passing them to us. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"Malfoy."

George looked over at the Slytherin table, where Malfoy pretended to faint in terror again. "That little git. He wasn't so cocky last night when the dementors were down at our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"

"Nearly wet himself," Fred said, glancing over at Malfoy.

"I wasn't too happy myself," George said. "They're horrible things, the dementors..."

"Sort of freeze your insides, don't they?" Fred added.

"You didn't pass out, though, did you?" Harry said quietly.

"Forget it, Harry. Dad had to go out to Azkaban one time, remember, Fred? And he said it was the worst place he'd ever been, came back all weak and shaking...They suck the happiness out of a place, dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad in there."

"Anyway, we'll see how happy Malfoy looks after our first Quidditch match," Fred said. "Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first game of the season, remember?" Harry grinned, helping himself to some food.

Hermione was examining her new schedule. "Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today." I looked over at her schedule. "Hermione, they've messed up your schedule. They've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There's not enough time."

"I'll manage. I fixed it with Professor McGonagall."

"But look," said Ron, laughing, "see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And look, underneath that, Arithmancy, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but nobody's that good. How are you supposed to be in three classes at once?"

"Don't be silly. Of course I won't be in three classes at once."

"Well, then-"

"Pass the marmalade."

"But-"

"Ron, what's it to you if my schedule's a bit full? I told you, I've fixed it with Professor McGonagall."

Just then, Hagrid entered the Great Hall, wearing his moleskin overcoat and swinging a dead polecat in his hand. "All righ'? Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five gettin' everythin' ready...Hope it's okay...Me, a teacher, hones'ly..." I bit my lip nervously, watching him head for the staff table. "What's he been getting ready since five?"

The Great Hall started to empty as students began heading for their first lesson. "We'd better go, look, Divination's at the top of North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there." We finished breakfast, said goodbye to Fred and George, and made our way out of the Great Hall. As we passed the Slytherin table, Malfoy did another imitation of a fainting fit, and the other Slytherins burst into laughter.

The trip to North Tower was a long one. Two years at Hogwarts hadn't taught us everything about the castle, and we'd never been to North Tower before. "There-has-got-to-be-a-shortcut-" Ron panted as we climbed our seventh set of stairs, coming to an unfamiliar landing, with nothing but a painting of a stretch of green grass hanging on the wall.

"I think it's this way," said Hermione, looking down the hallway to our right.

"Can't be. That's south, look, you can see the lake out of the window..."

I watched as a dapple-gray pony entered the painting and began grazing. A little while after, a short knight came clanking after it. Judging by the grass stains on his knees, he'd just fallen off. "Aha!" he shouted upon seeing us. "What villains are these, that trespass upon my private lands! Come to scorn at my fall, perchance? Draw, you knaves, you dogs!" We watched in disbelief as he drew his sword, brandishing it threateningly. The sword was too long, though, and he fell face-down into the grass.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, stepping forwards.

"Get back, you scurvy braggart! Back, you rogue!" The knight seized his sword to pull himself up, but the blade sank deep into the grass, and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get it out again. Finally, he flopped back down onto the grass, and pushed up his visor to wipe his sweaty face. "Listen, we're looking for North Tower. Do you know the way?"

The knight's face brightened. "A quest!" He got to his feet, his armor clanking, and shouted, "Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!" I held back a giggle as he attempted to tug his sword out of the grass, tried and failed to mount his pony, gave up, and cried, "On foot, then, good sirs and gentle ladies! On! On!" He ran, clanking, into the left side of the picture and vanished from sight.

We ran after him down the corridor, following the sound of his armor. We occasionally saw him running through a picture up ahead. "Be of stout heart, the worst is yet to come!" he shouted as he ran through a painting of a startled group of women in crinolines. Panting hard, we climbed the spiral staircase until we finally heard the sound of voices above us and knew we'd reached the classroom.

"Farewell!" the knight said, popping his head into a painting of some evil-looking monks. "Farewell, my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"

"Yeah, we'll call you," Ron muttered as Sir Cadogan ran off, his armor clanking, "if we ever need someone mental."

We climbed the final few steps and found ourselves on a small landing, where the rest of the class was already waiting. There were no doors on the landing, but Ron nudged me, and pointed up at a circular trapdoor with a plaque on it. "Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher," I read aloud. "How are we supposed to get up there?" In answer to my question, the trapdoor opened, and a ladder descended at our feet. Ron grinned over at Harry. "After you." We followed Harry as he climbed up the ladder.

Ron appeared at my shoulder as the rest of the class joined us. "Where is she?" A voice came from the shadows, a soft, misty type of voice. "Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last. Sit, my children, sit." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I sat around the same table.

"Welcome to Divination. My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye." Silence met her words, and she rearranged her shawl. "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all the magical arts. I must warn you in advance that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can take you only so far in this field..." Harry, Ron and I grinned, glancing over at Hermione, who looked shocked that books wouldn't be much help in this subject.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they may be in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. It is a Gift granted to very few." She turned to Neville. "You, boy, is your grandmother well?"

"I-I think so."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear." Neville gulped, and she continued. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, dear," she said to Parvati Patil, a girl in my dormitory, "beware a red-haired man." I rolled my eyes as Parvati edged her chair away from Ron.

"In the second term, we shall progress to the crystal ball-if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February due to a nasty outbreak of the flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever." She turned to Lavender Brown, who shrank back into her chair, looking frightened. "I wonder, dear, could you pass me the largest silver teapot?" Lavender let out a sigh of relief and handed Professor Trelawney the teapot. "Thank you, dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading-it will occur on Friday the sixteenth of October." Lavender's eyes widened.

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. Oh, and dear-" she looked at Neville as he stood up "-after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue-patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."

Five seconds later, a tinkling of breaking china came from the shelf of teacups. Professor Trelawney handed him a dustpan and brush and said, "One of the blue ones, then, dear, if you would be so kind...thank you..."

When we'd had our teacups filled, we tried to drink the hot tea quickly, and I swilled the dregs around the cup three times, then swapped with Hermione. "So, what can you see in my cup?" Hermione asked me, opening her book. "Um...I see...the cross...that means-" I consulted the book, "-trials and suffering; and you've also got the skull, which means...danger in your path. Well, looks like you're gonna have a depressing year."

Hermione snorted, and picked up my cup. "Let's see...in your cup, there's the sun, and that means great happiness; and you've also got the acorn, and that means a windfall of money. Looks like you're gonna have a great year." She grinned. "Wanna swap cups?" I smirked. "Thanks, but I think I prefer 'great happiness' to 'trials and suffering.'" Hermione and I burst into laughter.

We looked over at Harry and Ron. "Right. What can you see in mine?"

"A load of soggy brown stuff," Harry said, and I laughed quietly.

"Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!"

"Um...right. You've got a sort of crooked cross...that means 'trials and suffering'-sorry about that-but that there could be the sun, and that means...hold on...that means 'great happiness'...so you're gonna suffer, but be happy about it..."

"I think you need your Inner Eye tested, if you ask me," Ron said, and the four of us had to stifle our laughter as Professor Trelawney looked over at us. "Okay, my turn...there's a blob kind of like a bowler hat. Maybe you're going to work for the Ministry of Magic." Ron turned the cup around. "But this way it looks more like an acorn...what's that?" He peered down at his copy of Unfogging the Future. "That's 'a windfall, unexpected gold'...excellent, you can lend me some...and there's a thing here...yeah, if that's its head...it looks like a hippo...no, a sheep..."

Professor Trelawney came over as Harry, Hermione and I snorted loudly with laughter. "Let me see that, dear," she said, taking Harry's cup from Ron. Everyone fell silent, watching her. Professor Trelawney stared into the cup, rotating it counterclockwise. "The falcon...my dear, you have a deadly enemy."

"Everyone knows that," Hermione said loudly. Everybody stared at her. We'd never heard her talk like that to a teacher before. "Well, they do. Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who." Professor Trelawney chose not to respond, but kept rotating Harry's cup. "The club...an attack. Dear, dear...this is not a happy cup."

"I thought that was a bowler hat."

"The skull...danger in your path..." She gave the cup a final turn and let out a shrill scream. There was another sound of tinkling china; Neville had broken his second cup. Professor Trelawney sank into her armchair, her hand over her eyes. "My dear boy...my poor boy...no, it is kinder not to say...no, don't ask me..."

"What is it, Professor?" Dean Thomas asked immediately. Everybody got to their feet, crowding around our table, trying to get a look at Harry's cup.

"My dear...you have the Grim."

"The what?" Dean Thomas and Lavender Brown looked confused as well, but nearly everybody else in the room clapped their hands to their mouths in horror.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim! The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen-the worst omen-of death!" Everyone looked over at Harry, except for Hermione, who got up, studying Harry's cup. "I don't think it looks like a Grim." Professor Trelawney looked at Hermione. "Forgive me for saying so, dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."

Seamus kept tilting his head from side to side. "It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, his eyes almost shut, "but it looks more like a donkey this way," he said, tilting his head the other way.

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" Harry suddenly said loudly.

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today. Yes, please pack away your things..." I stuffed my book back into my bag, smirking at Trelawney's dramatics. "Until we meet again, may fair fortune be yours. Oh, and dear-" she pointed at Neville, who gulped, "-you'll be late next time, so make sure you work extra-hard to catch up."

We headed for McGonagall's Transfiguration class in silence, and it took us so long to find her classroom that we were only just in time. We were hardly listening to what McGonagall was saying about Animagi (wizards who could transform at will into animals) and weren't even watching when she transformed into a cat before our eyes.

"Really, what has got into you all today?" McGonagall said, turning back into herself and looking around at us. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not gotten applause from a class." Hermione raised her hand. "Please, Professor, we just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves-"

"Of course. There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?" Silence fell over the class, and Harry finally spoke. "Me."

"I see. Then you should know, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them have died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues-" McGonagall took a deep breath, and continued. "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I will not conceal from you the fact that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Sybill Trelawney-" McGonagall stopped again, and then said in a dry voice, "You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off of homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

Hermione and I laughed, and Harry grinned. Ron still looked worried, though, and Lavender whispered, "What about Neville's cup?"

When Transfiguration finished, we joined the throng headed for lunch in the Great Hall. "Oh, Ron, cheer up," Hermione said, pushing some stew towards him. "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."

"Harry, you haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"

"Yeah. I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'." Ron dropped his fork. "Probably a stray," Hermione said smoothly. Ron stared at her in disbelief. "Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's-that's bad! My-my Uncle Bilius saw one, and-and he died twenty-four hours later!"

"Coincidence."

"You don't know what you're talking about! Grims scare the living daylights out of most people!" Hermione scoffed. "There you are, then. They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well I'd better kick the bucket then!"

Ron stared at Hermione, who took out her Arithmancy book and began reading it. "I think Divination seems like a very wooly subject. A lot of guesswork, if you ask me."

"There was nothing wooly about the Grim in that cup!" I smirked. "You didn't seem so sure when you were telling Harry it was a sheep. Baaa." He glared at me, and Hermione burst into laughter. Ron turned to her, scowling. "Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change!"

I winced as Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book shut, her eyes narrowed to slits. "If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared to my Arithmancy class!"

She grabbed her bag and stomped off, fuming. Ron looked over at me and Harry, confused. "What's she talking about? She hasn't been to an Arithmancy class yet."

Ron and Hermione still weren't speaking to each other as we headed down to Hagrid's for our first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. I spotted Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle ahead of us, sniggering about something; more likely than not, the fact that Harry had fainted on the train. Hagrid was waiting at the door of his cabin with Fang standing beside him.

"C'mon, now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" Five minutes later, we found ourselves outside a paddock. There was nothing there. "Everyone gather 'round the fence here! That's it-make sure yeh can see-now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

"How?" Malfoy's voice interrupted him.

"What's that?"

"How do we open our books?" He took out his copy of A Monster Book of Monsters, which he had tied shut. The rest of else took out our books as well. Some had tied them shut, like Malfoy; and others had belted them shut, like me. "Hasn'-hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked, looking around. We all shook our heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em. Look-" He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the Spellotape on it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a finger down its spine, and it trembled, then fell open, lying quiet in his hand.

"Oh, how silly we've all been! We should have stroked it! How foolish of us! Why didn't we guess?"

"I-I thought they were funny," Hagrid said weakly to Hermione."Oh, tremendously funny! Giving us a book that could rip our hands off!"

Harry glared at Malfoy. "Shut up, Malfoy."

"Righ' then. So-so yeh've got yer books an'-an'-now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on..." He walked off into the forest and out of sight.

"God, this place is going to the dogs. That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him-"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said again.

"Careful, Potter, there's a dementor behind you-"

Suddenly, coming towards us were the strangest creatures I'd ever seen. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses; but had the front legs, wings, and heads of what looked like giant eagles. The creatures were wearing thick collars attached to a chain, all of which were held by Hagrid. "Get up, there!" he shouted, shaking the chains as he came over to the fence where we were standing.

"Hippogriffs! Beaut'iful, aren' they? So, if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer-" Harry, Hermione, Ron and I approached the hippogriffs warily. "Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were muttering under their breath, and I had a feeling they were trying to figure out how to disrupt the class.

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, an' yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt. Right-who wants ter go first?"

Most of the class backed off, and I bit my lip. Hagrid glanced around at us. "No one?"

After a few minutes, Harry spoke up. "I'll do it."

Most of the class sucked in their breath, and Parvati whispered, "Oh no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!"

Harry ignored them as he climbed over the fence. "Good man, Harry! Right then-let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak." He led the gray hippogriff away from the other ones, slipping off its collar.

"Easy now, Harry. Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink...Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much..." Harry approached Buckbeak who eyed him suspiciously. "Tha's it. Tha's it, Harry...now, bow..." Harry gave a bow, looking up at Buckbeak. Buckbeak was still staring at him, and didn't move. "Right, back away, now, Harry, easy does it-"

Just then, Buckbeak sank into a bow. "Well done, Harry! Right-yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!" Harry moved slowly towards Buckbeak, patting him on the beak, and the hippogriff closed its eyes lazily. All except for Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, we burst into applause.

"Righ' then, Harry. I reckon he might let yeh ride him! Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint, an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that." Harry climbed onto Buckbeak's back, and Buckbeak stood up. "Go on, then!" Hagrid yelled, slapping his hindquarters, and twelve-foot wings flapped open, and soared upwards.

Buckbeak flew around the paddock once, then landed back on the ground. "Good work, Harry! Okay, who else wants a go?" The rest of us climbed over the fence. Neville ran backwards from his hippogriff, which didn't seem to want to bow. Ron, Hermione, and I practiced on the chestnut. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had taken over Buckbeak. He had just bowed to Malfoy, who was patting him, looking smug. "This is very easy. I knew it must've been, if Potter could do it. I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute?"

The next second, Malfoy had let out a scream and Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he fought to get at Malfoy, who was lying on the ground, blood spreading over his robes. "I'm dying! I'm dying! Look at me, it's killed me!"

"Yer not dyin'!" Hagrid said, his face pale. "Someone help me-gotta get him outta here-" Hermione and I ran to hold the gate open as he picked Malfoy up. There was a deep gash on Malfoy's arm, and Hagrid ran up to the castle with Malfoy in his arms.

Shaken, we followed him. The Slytherins were all yelling about Hagrid. "They should fire him straight away!" Pansy Parkinson said.

"It was Malfoy's fault!"

"I'm going to see if he's okay!" Pansy said, running up the marble stairs.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I headed for the Gryffindor common room, worrying about Hagrid. "D'you think he'll be all right?" Hermione said quietly.

"'Course he will. Madam Pomfrey can mend cuts in a second," Harry said.

"That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class, wasn't it? Trust Malfoy to mess it up for him..." Ron muttered.

We were among the first to reach the Great Hall for dinner, hoping to see him, but Hagrid wasn't at the staff table. "They wouldn't fire him, would they?" Hermione said, staring down at her untouched food.

"They'd better not," Ron said, who wasn't eating either. We looked over at the Slytherin table. A large mass of Slytherins, including Crabbe and Goyle, had their heads together, obviously making up their own version of how Malfoy had gotten hurt. I sighed. "Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day back."

We went back up to the common room after dinner, trying to focus on our Transfiguration homework, but kept glancing out the window. "There's a light on in Hagrid's window," Harry suddenly said. Ron checked his watch. "If we hurry, we can go and see him. It's still quite early..." Hermione bit her lip, looking over at Harry. "I don't know..."

"I'm allowed to walk across the grounds. Sirius Black hasn't got past the dementors here, has he?" We put our things away and left the common room through the portrait hole, relieved that we didn't run into anyone along the way, as we weren't entirely sure we were allowed to be out.

When we reached Hagrid's cabin, we knocked, and his voice growled, "C'min."

Hagrid was sitting at his wooden table, and Fang had his head in Hagrid's lap. One glance told us that he was incredibly drunk. There was a tank almost as big as a bucket in front of him, and he seemed to have difficulty getting us into focus. "'Spect it's a record. Don' reckon they've ever had a teacher who's on'y lasted a day before."

Hermione gasped. "You haven't been fired, Hagrid!"

"Not yet. But's only a matter o' time, i'n't it, after Malfoy..."

"How is he?" Ron asked as we sat down. "It's not serious, is it?"

"Madam Pomfrey fixed him best she could, but he's sayin' it's still agony...covered in bandages...moanin'..."

"He's faking it, Hagrid. Madam Pomfrey can heal anything. She regrew half my bones last year. Trust Malfoy to milk it for all it's worth."

"School gov'nors have bin told, o' course. They reckon I started too big. Shoulda left hippogriffs fer later...done flobberworms or summat...Jus' thought it'd make a good firs' lesson...'S all my fault..."

"It's all Malfoy's fault!" Hermione said.

"Yeah, we're witnesses, Hagrid," I said. "You said hippogriffs attack if you insult them. It's Malfoy's problem that he wasn't paying attention. We'll tell Dumbledore what really happened."

"Yeah, don't worry, Hagrid, we'll back you up," Ron said.

Tears fell from Hagrid's eyes, and he pulled me, Harry, and Ron into a tight hug. "I think you've had quite enough to drink, Hagrid," Hermione said sternly. She took the tankard and went outside to empty it. "Ar, maybe she's right," Hagrid said, releasing the three of us, and we massaged our ribs, gasping for air. Hagrid got out of his chair and followed her outside, and we heard a loud splash. "What's he done?" Harry asked Hermione as she came back in with the empty tankard.

"Stuck his head in the water barrel."

Hagrid came back in, his long hair and beard soaking wet as he wiped the water out of his eyes. "Tha's better. Listen, it was good of yeh ter come an' see me, I really-" He blinked at us, as if just realizing we were there. "WHAT D'YEH THINK YOU'RE DOIN', EH?! YEH'RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN' AROUND AFTER DARK, HARRY! AN' YOU THREE! LETTIN' 'HIM!" Hagrid strode over to Harry, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the door.

"C'mon! I'm takin' yeh all back up ter the school, an' don' let me catch yeh walkin' down ter see me after dark again! I'm not worth that!"