The next day, Iris was out of the Hospital Wing and was making her way towards the Great Hall.

She received her schedule from McGonagall and wasn't surprised to find Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and then Double Divinations in the afternoon to top it all off.

Fred and George were sitting always with Lee Jordan deep in conversation about aging potions. Iris rolled her eyes at them and continued with her breakfast with Neville.

All together it was going to be a hectic, long day ahead.

"Bubotubers, they need squeezing. You will collect the pus-," started Professor Sprout.

"The what?" Sounded Seamus's revolted voice.

"Pus, Mr. Finnegan, Pus, and it's extremely valuable so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your Dragon Hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted Bubotuber pus."

Iris found the task ahead disgusting and nauseating. The smell the pus emitted filled her nostrils and a headache started to form.

"This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy; an excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, Bubotuber pus. It should stop students resorting to more desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples." Professor Sprout had corked the last bottle of pus.
"Like poor Eloise Midgen. She tried to curse hers off." Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff contributed.

"Silly girl; but Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the end." Professor Sprout added.

The bell rang to go to the next lesson which was Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was waiting for the class with his Boarhound, Fang, by his side. Next to him were crates filled with hideous lobster-like creatures that had seemed to be deformed.

As the rest of the class appeared, Lavender Brown had taken a look into the crates and screamed.

"On'y jus' hatched, so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!" Hagrid said proudly.

"And why would we want to raise them?" Draco's voice cut through the chatter about the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Hagrid didn't know how to answer. "I mean, what do they do? What is the point of them?"

Pondering the questions for a moment or two, "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things-I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer-I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake-just try 'em out with a each."

Iris who was standing near Dean and Seamus had overheard Seamus, "First pus and now this." Iris couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

As everyone took a Skrewt, Iris came to the conclusion that the task would be impossible because they didn't seem to have mouths.

"Ouch!" Dean yelled in pain. A Skrewt had exploded and was propelled forward. "It got me! Its end exploded!" He indicated to a burn on his hand.

Hagrid rushed over to them. "Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off."

"Eurgh!" screamed Lavender, "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing?"

Hagrid became very enthusiastic, "Ah, some of 'em have got stings. I reckon they're the males…the females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies…I think they might be ter suck blood."

Everyone had slowly removed their hands from the box and inched away from it.

Malfoy was muttering under his breath in a sarcastic tone, "Well, I certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive. Who wouldn't want a pet that can burn, sting and bite all at once?"

Hermione overheard him and retorted, "Just because they're not pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful. Dragon's Blood is very magical but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

The class ended almost an hour later and Iris made her way with Neville, Dean and Seamus back to the castle for lunch.