Card the moon
Chapter 06 – A rather blustery day
…
As shit days went, this one was pretty shit. Not the shittiest in his life, not by far; but that did not detract from the shitness. And let's just be clear, Harry Potter knew shit days. His life had been full of them. In some respects, his life had been one, just stretched out over thirteen odd years.
This had never felt more true than after meeting Sybil Trelawney. The things that made you wish you never got out of bed started and ended with Sybil Trelawney.
Even Professor McGonagall's assurances about the unlikeliness of his predicted demise had not entirely relieved his anxiety, and Ron's insistence was not helping. Lavender he could ignore, Ron was a whole other matter.
"Don't listen to him Harry. You heard Professor McGonagall."
He had, and he really wanted to believe her, honest. But, and it was a big but; Aunt Marge big, but; the Knight bus nearly ran him over on Privet Drive the night he saw the Grimm. And if not for Professor Lupin, that dementor might have…
No, that didn't bear thinking about, not now. It was plainly evident death was hovering close, more so than usual. He needed to be careful this year, no stupid chances. Easier said than done, with a crazed murderer after him and those foul things circling the castle.
He had to be careful, no tempting fate; especially since fate had been so generous as to give fair warning. It would have just been rude. No; careful, that was his new motto, careful.
He was still thinking this as they all trudged down to Hagrid's hut against a strong stiff breeze for their first care of magical creatures class. It was easy, thinking about being careful when the mad book with the teeth kept struggling despite the belt tied around it.
"You think this'll be the first magical creature he teaches?" asked Ron, having little more luck with his than Harry.
"We can only hope." Anything to keep from losing an arm to the angry literature.
"Good afternoon students," the big man bellowed excitedly.
The wind continued picking up as Hagrid explained how to manage the monster manual. He looked a bit disappointed no one had figured it out which was only exacerbated by Malfoy's need to rub it in. Git.
Would serve him right if the book took his arm off, or his head.
Crestfallen but still determined, the big man marched into the forest, returning a moment later with three of the strangest creatures Harry had ever seen.
"These are Hippogriff's. Handsome, ain't they."
With the initial shock aside, he could see why his overlarge friend would think so. There was something about the sleek coats and fine feathers. Harry had a penchant for flying things, and he couldn't deny there was an allure to the half eagle beasts.
"Now then, who wants to go first?"
But not that much.
The class as a whole took a giant step back, which Harry thought was a very good idea. But Hagrid was his friend; he wanted his first class to go well. His sense of loyalty warred with his desire not to tempt fate; she seemed the sort to call his bluff.
In the end, loyalty won our over caution; he, Ron and Hermione all stepped forward, though with more than an ounce of apprehension; three at least, maybe a whole pound between them.
"Right then, first thing ya gotta remember's, Hippogriff's is very proud creatures. Won't tolerate no disrespect. The man what insults a Hippogriff will not be doin so twice, if'n ya catch my meanin."
One look at those talons; yeah, they got his meaning.
"Harry, you first, let's try with Buckbeak here."
Harry stepped forward toward the gray coated hippogriff and stopped when he caught his eyes. "Thas it Harry, ya got his attention. Try not to blink, the don't trust ya if'n ya blink too much."
The two stared at each other but it was clear Buckbeak did it better and Harry had no qualms in acknowledging he was outclassed. "What ya need to do now Harry is bow to 'im, then wait and see if he bows back."
He didn't much care to expose his neck to that beak, or those talons, but when you thought about it, his neck wouldn't provide much less resistance than any other part of him. Comforting thought, right?
The wind blew chill across his neck, sending goosebumps waddling down the spine. Cold sweat collected in all the uncomfortable places and just when it seemed he'd need to retreat and Hagrid was instructing him to do such; his head dipped, leg bent, the hippogriff bowed.
Harry released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He'd attributed the light headedness to something else; honest mistake.
"Go on than Arry, stroke is beak."
With a healthy dose of caution; three drops, maybe four, he approached the avian equine and offered his hand. Buckbeak leaned into the attention without hesitation, greatly easing Harry's nerves.
"Good, good. I reckon he might let you ride him now."
Crazy man say what!
Harry was all for flying, there was nothing like getting a hard bit a wood between your legs and just going for it. He wasn't so sure how he felt about a hippogriff between his legs.
Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Hagrid hoisted him up and gave the horse end a swat. Harry held on as tight as he dare and prayed this wasn't tempting fate, daring to fly by a method other than magical wood.
Take off was rough, the wind saw to that, fighting them for every inch. Buckbeak though, was no amateur on the wing and it wasn't long before the earth was vanishing beneath their feet.
High into the air the thrill of freedom he always felt when flying caught up with them. The exhilaration for a moment banished his anxiety and he whooped in excitement. Unfortunately, for fate this was just a step too far.
She could tolerate approaching a deadly magical creature; sharp beak and talons and fearsome, fearsome pride. She could even tolerate him mounting the beast, going for a fly. But when he started to enjoy it, well, that was just too much.
A blast of wind took them by surprise and Buckbeak floundered. Harry had a moment to know what it felt like to be in space; weightless, before gravity noticed he was breaking the rules and planted him firmly back on the bird horse.
Buckbeak screamed, panicked, tried to get the air back under his wings, but the wind was not through with them. It came at them again, a vicious swirling gale that lifted them straight up.
It was all Harry could do not to be separated from his mount, gripping him tighter than was strictly polite. The permeating sense of danger triggered a reflex and he pulled his wand. A bit useless he realized; what could he spell, the wind?
The situation brought home just how useless his magical education had been. He wasn't going to swish and flick his way out of this. How was turning a dormouse into a doorstop supposed to help him now?
He vowed, if he survived, he was going to take a far more serious interest in his education, particularly the bits that would keep him not dead.
As the wind twisted and turned, that 'if' felt exceptionally large. If the wind suddenly died, would Buckbeak be able to bring them to earth at less than terminal velocity. The situation seemed almost certain, certainly hopeless.
Then, all at once his perspective shifted, he felt rather than saw, and what he felt was a presence, eyes; tempestuous and old, watching him. He had no context for the sensation, nor for the name that appeared on his lips without his volition but spoken with thunderous command.
"WINDY!"
Something responded, struggled, resisted. It pressed against his will, but fear and desperation bolstered his mental resilience and he overcame. Battle won, the aftermath set in, and Harry clung for dear life as the earth rushed up to meet them.
They were as one mind, the horse bird and the wizard. Buckbeak threw his wings wide and flapped for all he was worth. Their meteoric descent became somewhat less but they were still coming in too fast and right at the rest of the class who ran and dove frantically as they zoomed through.
"Look out!"
They landed hard; skidding and skipping, Harry was thrown from the hippogriff; sailing, somersaulting and finally sliding across the hard-packed earth.
Watching from the heavens, the judges weighed his performance. Destiny allowed him a 08; Coincidence threw out a 0l; then flipped it over, blushing. Fate hemmed and hawed before yawning and lifting a 06.
"Aw, come on!"
"Harry, Harry! Are you alright?"
"She gave me a six," he grumbled.
"What? Harry are you alright? Did you hit your head?"
Probably. Felt like he'd hit everything else. "Where's Buckbeak?"
He really needn't have asked, once his glasses were back on he could see the hippogriff prancing about nervously, rearing whenever Hagrid tried to get near him. Still plugged into the same wavelength he could feel his fear. Feet on the ground the panic of plummeting still gripped him.
Aching and groaning he struggled to his feet and staggered toward Buckbeak. His full attention on Hagrid he never saw Harry till the boy latched onto his neck. He reared, lifting Harry off the ground but through sheer tenacity he held on.
"That's it Harry, hang on. Talk to 'im. Calm 'im down."
Harry didn't know how much words were going to help but he tried, clinging for dear life he spoke with surprising calm and gentleness. Surprising to him that he could even feel calm after such a ride.
Whether through words or something deeper he seemed to reach the hippogriff who stopped rearing and slowed his prancing to a timid clawing at the earth. Harry stroked the eagle head and whispered soothingly.
"It's alright. We're alright."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Hagrid approached and Buckbeak looked up penitently as the giant man stroked him.
"Well, that was quite some ride Arry."
"Yeah," he thought, "quite the ride."
…
Luna gaped at the tale she'd been told, "Are all your classes this exciting?"
"I actually found my Arithmancy class quite exciting," said Hermione. "Though no one almost died, but that doesn't mean I believe that nonsense from Professor Trelawney."
"Yes, well," definitely need to investigate that woman. "So, what happened then?"
"Hagrid ended class. Said the others were too riled up. Didn't want anyone getting hurt. He gave us twelve inches on Hippogriffs then told Ron to help Harry up to the hospital wing."
"You didn't go with them?"
"I was going to, but Harry insisted he was fine, and I had so much homework I needed to get started. I hope he's alright."
"He seemed a little dazed when I came down," and now she knew why. "His petting hand still worked; couldn't have been that bad."
"Oh, really?"
Her grin was perfectly unrepentant. Her memory may have looked like swiss cheese, but she still had her priorities in order, you couldn't say she didn't have that. "In any case; while I wouldn't call it a natural phenomenon, not by the sound of it; it also doesn't sound like youma activity."
"What would sound like youma activity, just so I know what to look for?"
"Probably benign things like sudden sluggishness or low energy. Youma feed on life energy. If a bunch of people show up staggering like zombies, that's probably a youma. It's unlikely they'd so blatantly attack anyone, except us of course."
"Oh, yay."
"Which is why we'll need to be discreet if at all possible. The longer we can keep them from finding out there's an active sailor scout the better."
"But won't us destroying them tip them off to that?"
"Not necessarily. We're living amongst magic users. They aren't tapped into a galactic power source like you and I don't have a proper understanding of your magic's potential; but by that same token, neither do they. I suspect a fully trained wizard might be a match for a youma, especially a starving one."
"Then why don't we ask for help? I mean, we are in a school full of…"
The raised paw halted the girl midsentence, "Hermione. I understand the task may seem overwhelming, but I want you to think about this for a second. I'm a talking cat from a kingdom that existed ten thousand years ago. Let that sink in for a second."
She did, and she blushed, "Does sound a bit silly on the face of it I spose."
"Now imagine trying to explain youma to one of your professors," she continued.
"I could…"
"One of your professors who, for all we know, may be a youma in disguise or some other enemy agent sent to infiltrate the school."
"Oh."
"Yes. The situation is really that bad."
"I see."
She hated to bring her down; moral was important, but she simply could not understate the severity of their situation. "Until we know for sure, we can't trust anyone."
"Not—not even Harry, and Ron?"
"Have either of them been acting strangely?"
"No stranger than usual."
"Then their probably alright; but just to be safe, it's probably best you don't tell them, just for now. Not the only secret you're keeping from them or did you tell them about the time turner?"
"Of course not. Professor McGonagall was quite adamant that no one else should know I had it."
And just like that McGonagall was moved to the top of the inspection list. "Well then, we'll leave it at that. Now, off to bed with you. It's no good staying up all night if you're useless in the morning."
"But I have to…"
"Bed! Now! Go!" the cat shouted, swiping at the girl's feet till she scampered up the stairs with Luna in hot pursuit.