The next morning, Jo and the others entered the Great Hall for breakfast. The first day of school had always been one of her favorite days, even when she was in Muggle school. She was very eager to get her schedule. On their way to the Gryffindor table, they passed by Draco and the Slytherins. Again, Malfoy made an impression of fainting dramatically, and the Slytherins around him roared with laughter.
Harry's mood changed drastically. Jo pushed him forward. "Think about our Quidditch match, Harry. You can ride my Firebolt against him."
They sat down next to Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. "What's up with you, Harry?" Fred asked, noticing Harry's demeanor.
"Just Malfoy being a jerk, as usual," responded Jo.
They all looked over at the Slytherin table just in time to see Pansy Parkinson yell, "Hey, Potter, the Dementors are coming!" More laughter ensued.
"What gits, the whole lot of them," said George.
"You know he wasn't so brave himself when the Dementors came to our end of the train," added Fred. He turned to George, "He came running into our compartment."
"I wasn't feeling too great myself," said George with a shiver. "They suck the happiness out of you, don't they Fred? At least that's what dad said when he went to Azkaban."
"Yeah, but none of you guys passed out though," said Harry in a low voice.
"Harry, I told you already," said Jo, filling her plate up with food. "Forget about it. Malfoy will learn his lesson on the Quidditch pitch."
"JoJo's right, Harry," George piped up.
Jo smirked at that. "See? I'm right."
That seemed to make Harry feel slightly better because he smiled and started eating breakfast too.
"New schedule," blurted Hermione, handing Jo her schedule. "We're starting new subjects too," she said excitedly.
Jo snatched her schedule and looked at it carefully. She had all of the same classes from the previous year with Care of Magical Creatures and Divination as an addition. "We have both our new subjects today," she commented.
"Um, Hermione," said Ron. There's something wrong with your schedule. You have too many classes."
"It's fine," she snapped quickly at Ron. "I've got it all worked out with Professor McGonagall."
Jo narrowed her eyes at Hermione. "Is that why she wanted to talk to you before the feast?"
Hermione looked away quickly. "Yes, as I said, we've worked it out all." She quickly stuffed her face with food so she didn't have to continue the conversation.
Jo found Hermione's behavior to be strange. She felt like Hermione was hiding something from them. And to be honest, it hurt Jo's feelings a bit that Hermione wouldn't trust to tell her anything.
Hagrid stopped by them on his way up to the staff table while they were eating. "You're all in my very first lesson today," he said to them happily. "I've been getting everything ready all morning for you." Then he headed off to the staff table with a pep in his step before anyone could respond.
"I love Hagrid, dearly," Jo said, once he was out of earshot, "but is it okay for me to be a little nervous about his class."
"Of course not," said Ron. "The books alone are enough to make you worry."
The others nodded. Their Care of Magical Creature book was a creature itself. Hers was tightly bound since the moment she and Harry witnessed its craziness back at the Leaky Cauldron when they opened the book for the first time. Since then, neither of them have touched the book.
"Well, we should head to Divination," Hermione said. "It'll take us a while to get t there."
The four finished breakfast quickly and then said goodbye to Fred and George. Hermione was right. It did take them a bit to get to the North Tower. Only because two years at Hogwarts already hadn't been enough to know the castle by heart. And at long last, about 15 minutes later, the four reached the North Tower exhausted and out of breath. Most of the class was already there, waiting outside the classroom door.
When the door opened slowly, the group of students quieted. They looked around at each other, daring someone to go first. No one knew anything about this professor. "Alright, fine," Jo exclaimed, after another minute of silence. "I'll go in first."
She took the lead with the class following in behind her. It was the strangest room Jo has seen. There were armchairs instead of desk chairs and instead of desks, there were little tables. Many drapes and curtains were hanging around the room. And it was warm, almost stifling. Jo looked around the classroom but did not see Professor Trelawney.
"Is she here?" Ron asked from behind Jo.
"Welcome, my children," came a voice from the shadows. Professor Trelawney moved out into the light. It was all very dramatic in Jo's opinion. "Please, please, set down." Jo moved to a table to share with Hermione. When everyone had found a spot to sit, Professor Trelawney moved to the front of the classroom very awkwardly to her table. "In this room, you shall explore the noble art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight." Trelawney bumped into her own table. The class chuckled as she composed herself again. "Hello, I am Professor Trelawney. Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future."
Jo could only stare at Trelawney like the way Dudley would stare at the TV. She was nuts, Jo could already tell.
"This term, we shall be focusing on Tasseomancy, which is the art of reading tea leaves. So please take the cup of the person sitting opposite you." Jo looked over at Hermione and gave a tiny chuckle. Hermione looked very uncomfortable. "The truth lies buried," Trelawney continued as the class swapped mugs from each other, "like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read. But first, you must broaden your minds. First, you must look beyond."
"What a load of rubbish," Hermione whispered across the table to Jo.
"You, boy—is your grandmother quite well?" Professor Trelawney asked suddenly, looking at Neville Longbottom.
"U-uumm I think so," Neville stammered.
"I wouldn't be quite sure of that," responded Trelawney, now standing in front of him and Dean. "Give me the cup," she told Dean. Trelawney took one glance at it and said, "Ohh… hmm pity" and put the cup back down, leaving a petrified looking Neville.
The class then took turns in studying the tea leaves at the bottom of the mug, trying to read their partner's future as Professor Trelawney walked around. Jo looked through their textbook at the meaning behind different pictures but wasn't seeing anything. "It's just a bunch of soggy brown stuff," she told Hermione.
"Like I said, rubbish" responded Hermione in a clipped tone.
Trelawney stopped in front of Ron and Harry. She gasped when she saw Ron, causing the class to jump. "Your aura is pulsing! Are you in the beyond? I think you are!"
"Sure…" Ron responded. Harry and Jo made eye contact, and it took everything Jo had not to laugh out loud.
"Look at the cup, tell me what you see!"
Ron picked up Harry's cup again and looked between the cup to the book. "Oh yeah… well, Harry's got a sort of wonky cross… that's trails and suffering." Professor Trelawney nodded supportively, urging Ron on. "And, uh, that there could be the sun, and that's happiness, so… you're gonna suffer… but you're gonna be happy about it…"
Holding her laughter in, Jo had a coughing fit.
"Give me the cup," Trelawney whispered. When Ron handed it over to her, she barely looked into it before shouting and slamming the cup back on their table. She took several steps backward. "Oh, my dear boy," she said dramatically, staring at Harry with wide eyes clutching her chest. "My dear…. You have… the Grim."
The class started whispering. "The Grin? What's the Grin?" Seamus asked.
"Not the Grin you idiot, the Grim," said another boy from their class. He had his book open and began reading. "Taking the form of a giant spectral dog, it's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen of death."
The class was silent. Harry was looking down into his cup. Jo was thinking back to the time before they got onto the Knight Bus and had seen that huge dog-like creature. Then again, when Harry was looking at a book at Flourish and Blotts that mentioned death omens. And now there was this Grim? She still believed it was a coincidence, something that Harry wanted to tie together somehow. Now with this Grim story, she wasn't so sure. But how could Jo take Professor Trelawney seriously after how this class had been going. She was all crazy pants in Jo's opinion.
"Give me that," she said, taking to cup from Harry who looked slightly pale. Jo looked down into the cup. "This doesn't look like the Grim at all," she said out loud. "It's just a blob."
"I thought it looked more like a donkey," Ron muttered under his breath. Jo snickered.
Professor Trelawney looked at Jo sharply. "Your aura is very faint. You do not possess the Sight at all, my dear."
"What a shame," Jo said sarcastically, surprising herself. She would normally never talk to a teacher like that, but Trelawney was not your typical teacher.
"I think," said Professor Trelawney, not looking phased by Jo's outburst, "that we shall leave the lesson here." She instructed the class to put away their cups and pack up.
The class whispered and stared at Harry all the way down the stairs from the North Tower. Jo was fed up with it. "You know, he's not going to drop dead this second, so why don't you look somewhere else?" She turned to Harry. "Ignore them, Harry, they have nothing else better to talk about apparently."
"This can't be a coincidence, JoJo," Harry whispered to her.
Jo knew what he was referring to. She rolled her eyes, "Come on, Harry, you can't possibly believe her. She's absurd. Nice lady, sure, but that class is a load of crap…" Jo gave her best Trelawney impression, "'Broaden your minds… use your inner eye to see the future...'"
"You don't think that Grim thing has anything to do with Sirius Black, do you?" Ron asked.
Hermione huffed in annoyance. "I agree with JoJo. Divination is a really wooly discipline. Now, Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject."
"What? Are you taking that?" Jo turned to Hermione suddenly. "How many classes are you taking?"
"A fair few," Hermione said, shrugging Jo's questions away.
"Hang on," said Ron quickly. "Ancient Runes? That's the same time as Divination. You have to be in two classes at once."
"Don't be silly, Ronald. How can anyone be in two places at once?" said Hermine. She hurried into their Transfiguration lesson before anyone else could say another word.
As they entire the classroom, their classmates continued to shoot Harry glances here and there. Jo found it somewhat distracting because Professor McGonagall was teaching them about Animagi. She even proceeded to turn into a tabby cat. "Seriously, guys?" Jo said to the class. "No one finds this at least a bit more interesting than Harry?"
With a faint pop, Professor McGonagall returned to herself. "Ms. Potter. While I appreciate your understanding of brilliant magic, normally I would not approve of that outburst. However, I cannot help but agree with it. What seems to have gotten into you all today?"
The class looked all around, not wanting to answer. Jo rolled her eyes and raised a hand. "You see, Professor McGonagall, we just came from our first Divination lesson and—"
"Say no more, Ms. Potter," responded Professor McGonagall with her hand raised. Her eyes scanned the room. "So, tell me. Who will be dying this year?"
Again, the class remained silent and avoided her eyes.
Finally, Harry spoke up. "Me."
Professor McGonagall fixed her eyes on Harry. "Ah, of course," she said. "Well, Potter, I feel it is my duty to inform you that this is not the first time Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of a student. No one has died as of yet. I feel that you are no different. Professor Trelawney has been known to be dramatic."
"That's what I was saying…" Jo muttered to her brother.
"Now," Professor McGonagall addressed the class. "With that settled, let's get back to our lesson."
After Transfiguration, the four headed to lunch with the rest of the school. "Ron, I think Harry's going to be okay. You heard Professor McGonagall. Trelawney is just a little whacky." Ron was still looking at Harry with a funny expression.
"I think she's brilliant," Lavender said from behind Jo, glaring at her.
"Well of course," Jo said quickly. "Playing guessing games with the future is much more interesting than watching someone turn into an animal."
"You're just jealous," Lavender huffed. She stalked over to Parvati further down the Gryffindor table.
"Me, jealous?" Jo called after her. She turned to Hermione, "Has everyone gone crazy now?"
"You should see your face right now," Hermione said with a laugh pointing at Jo.
Jo shook her head. "Do you think Lavender and I will ever be friends?"
After lunch, the four left the Great Hall and went outside for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson. It was beautiful outside, and Jo was happy to get out of the castle for an afternoon lesson. Ron continued to pester Hermione about her schedule until she refused to acknowledge him. The two walked in silence the rest of the walk to Hagrid's hut. Jo wasn't about to admit it out loud, but Ron had a point. How was Hermione able to go to all of those lessons. It should be impossible.
"That's it c'mon now! Come closer," Hagrid called out as the class met Hagrid outside of his hut. He looked very nervous but excited. Hagrid winked at Jo as she gave him an encouraging smile. "Less talkin' now if you don't mind," Hagrid said, getting everyone's attention. "I've got a real treat for you today. A great lesson. Right, c'mon, follow me."
As Jo started to follow Hagrid, she felt a sharp pain in her foot as she was shoved to the side. "Ow," she said out loud, falling into Harry. Pansy had stomped on her foot before pushing Jo aside to lead the class. She giggled and waved at Jo.
"Why I ought-ta," Jo began, taking a step forward.
Harry grabbed her arm pulling her back. "Quidditch, JoJo. Quidditch," he reminded her. That was becoming their motto now.
Jo took a deep breath and then forced a smile on her face as she looked back at Pansy. "One of these days," she muttered under her breath as she smiled sweetly. "One of these days…"
Hagrid led the class around the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Jo wondered where he could be taking them, wishing that they weren't going into the forest. Jo had enough of that place. To Jo's relief, Hagrid led the class off to the side of the woods in an open area.
"Right, you lot. Less chattering and form a group of there," he pointe to where he wanted everyone to stand. "And open your books to page 49."
Jo cringed. She did not want to touch that thing. Not since she tied it up. It was a vicious monster that nearly ate her shoe if Harry hadn't stomped on it back at the Leaky Cauldron.
"And exactly how do we do that?" Malfoy demanded.
Hagrid looked flabbergasted. "Well you just stroke the spine of course," he responded shaking his head. "Goodness me." Then he left the class there disappearing behind the trees.
"Oh right, silly me," Malfoy said rolling his eyes.
Neville must not have heard what Hagrid said because he already was being attacked by his book…
Jo then pulled her book out of her bag. It was already making strange noises waiting to be unleashed. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all watched her as she stroked the spine of the book. She looked at the others and shrugged, "Here goes nothing." For good measure, she stroked the spine again and then untied the book. So far, all was well. She took a hesitant breath and slowly opened the book. Nothing happened. It was just an ordinary book. "Huh, funny, isn't it?" Jo asked the others. She could see why Hagrid would pick this book.
"Oh yeah, terribly funny," said Malfoy, over hearing Jo. "Really witty. God, this place has gone to the dogs! Wait until my father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes!" The other Slytherins laughed with Malfoy.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said, taking a step towards him.
"Quidditch, Harry, Quidditch," Jo hissed at him, but he ignored her. "Well, I tried," she said to Ron and Hermione as Harry walked closer to Malfoy.
"Careful, Potter," Malfoy sneered at him. "You never know when a Dementor is lurking around. Can't have you fainting all over the place now, can we?"
But before Harry could retort, Hagrid was back, and he was not alone. He cleared his throat nervously. "Da-da-da-da!" Hagrid moved to the side to reveal the creature with him.
"Woah," Jo whispered.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid gushed. "Say hello to Buckbeak."
It was a strange creature, for sure, in Jo's opinion. However, it was pretty cool to see. To her, it looked to be half bird, half horse. She had never seen anything like it.
"Hagrid," said Ron, "Exactly what is that?"
"That, Ron, is a Hippogriff," He threw a dead ferret up into the air and Buckbeak leaped up and snatched it up in a heartbeat. "First thing you want to know about Hippogriffs is that they are very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do not want to insult a hippogriff. It may be the last thing you ever do." The class all looked around at each other nervously. "Right," Hagrid clapped his hands together, "who would like to come say hello?"
The entire class backed up. Neville even hid behind a boulder.
"Neville," Jo whispered at him. Neville shook his head wildly.
"Well done, Harry, well done," Hagrid suddenly said. Jo looked up to see Harry still standing slightly ahead of everyone. Leave it to him to not take a hint. Harry looked around quickly realizing his predicament.
Jo took a step forward and gave her brother a little shove. "Go on, Harry," she said. Harry narrowed his eyes at her before he turned back to Hagrid and Buckbeak.
"Now, you have to let him make the first move. It's only polite," Hagrid began explaining as Harry moved closer. "Step up, give him a bow and then you wait and see if he bows back. If he does, then you can go and touch him. If not... well..."
"Boy I do not envy Harry right now," Ron whispered to the girls. Jo couldn't agree more. At this moment, she was scared for Harry's life and Hagrid's teaching career.
After a very long and intense moment between Harry and Buckbeak, Jo was finally able to retake a breath when Harry was happily petting Buckbeak. "Well done, Harry," Hagrid boomed, "well done!" The class, minus the Slytherins, were all applauding.
Hagrid turned back to the class. "Right, now you all hang tight, and I'll bring out the others." He turned and left the class in the clearing, and Harry was still petting Buckbeak.
Malfoy suddenly pushed his way to the front of the class. "Please," he scoffed, marching over to Harry and Buckbeak. "You're not dangerous at all, are you? You great ugly brute."
"Malfoy, no!" Hagrid yelled, reappearing with two other Hippogriffs. But it was too late. Buckbeak screeched and made himself bigger by standing on his hind legs and raising his wings. Jo watched Harry duck behind a tree to move out of the way. Malfoy froze, staring up at Buckbeak in fear. He had no time to run as Buckbeak came back down. Malfoy raised an arm to defend himself and got scratched by Buckbeak in the process. Malfoy yelled and collapsed to the ground in pain, holding his arm.
Hagrid quickly ran over to Buckbeak trying to calm him down. Eventually, he soothed Buckbeak and lead him away. Jo and her classmates ran over to Malfoy who was holding his arm and crying out how the beast killed him. When Hagrid returned, he looked horrified.
"Hagrid," said Hermione urgently, "He has to be taken to the Hospital Wing."
Hagrid nodded quickly and gently picked Malfoy up off the ground. "Class dismissed," he told everyone, stomping away with Malfoy in his arms.
As the class started to return to the castle, Pansy said "He should be fired! They can't keep him now after letting a student almost be eaten alive!"
"Oh come on," said Jo quickly. "It was Malfoy's fault. He obviously didn't listen to a word Hagrid said about Hippogriffs." All the other Gryffindors chimed in their agreement.
Making their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Hermione asked nervously, "Do you think he'll be okay."
"Sure he will," said Harry. Jo sure hoped so, more for Hagrid's sake than Malfoy's.
"Leave it to Malfoy to mess things up for Hagrid," said Ron.
"Do you really think they'll fire him?" asked Jo, thinking back to what Pansy had said earlier.
"Of course not," Harry said quickly. But Jo could tell by his expression that he really wasn't sure what was going to happen to Hagrid now.
To worry Jo even further, they did not see Hagrid when they went to dinner later that evening. Nor did they see Malfoy sitting with the Slytherins. After dinner, as they were talking through the Main Entrance, Jo looked out the castle front doors. She noticed a faint light on in the distance at Hagrid's hut. "Look," she said pointing out toward the grounds. "Hagrid's there. We should go see him."
Hermione looked around nervously. "I don't know, Jo, it's getting late and dark.." She casted Harry and Jo a look.
"Oh come on," said Harry. "If we hurry, we'll be back before it's too late."
"Plus," added Jo, "No one said anything about not walking around the grounds. If the Dementors are guarding the school, I seriously doubt Sirius Black would want to be anywhere near those things."
Hermione hesitated for a moment, and then followed them out of the Entrance Hall and onto the grounds. Ron was the first to reach Hagrid's door. After knocking loudly, they heard a gruff voice, "C'min."
The four entered Hagrid's hut and immediately could tell Hagrid was not in a good state. He was sitting at his table with multiple glasses in front of him; Fang sat dutifully at his side. Hagrid looked up as the four sat around the table with him, his eyes had trouble focusing on them. He belched loudly. Clearly, he had been drinking a lot. "Do you reckon I've set a new record?" he slurred. "First Professor to be sacked on their first day!"
Jo's eyes widened. "You were fired?" she asked in shock.
Hagrid shook his head slowly. "Not yet anyways. School governors have been told. I don't know what will happen now."
"This is all Malfoy's fault, Hagrid," said Harry earnestly. "You gave a warning at the beginning of class. He obviously wasn't listening to you."
"Yeah, Hagrid, we have your back," said Ron. "We'll tell Dumbledore what really happened."
Hagrid had tears streaming down his face as he pulled Jo in for a bone-crushing hug. Jo patted him with her free hand. "Can't breathe, Hagrid," she muttered.
He quickly released her and placed her back in her seat. Hagrid stared at her for a moment looking confused.
"Uh, Hagrid," said Harry, getting his attention now. "Are you okay?"
Hagrid looked from Harry to Jo. Before Jo could utter a single word, Hagrid jumped from his seat, smacking his face quickly. Then he did a double take of the twins. "What are you two doing here?" he demanded. "You shouldn't be here this late and it's getting dark."
"Those were exactly my words," Hermione muttered quietly enough for Jo to hear her.
"You shouldn't be here," Hagrid continued. He stumbled around his chair and took both Jo's and Harry's arms. "C'mon! I'm taking you back to the castle now!"
Hagrid escorted them back to the castle quickly and quietly. He turned around without even saying goodnight. Jo watched him as he stumbled back to hut. Leave it to Malfoy to ruin one of the best people in her life.