Harry caught Draco's eye when he sat down for breakfast the next morning and nodded as a greeting. This caught the attention of Ron and Hermione, but Harry shrugged off their stares.
"Here's your schedules, lads and lady," George said when they sat down. He passed over their schedules.
"Oh, we're starting some new subjects today!" said Hermione in excitement.
"Hermione," said Ron with a frown, "they've messed up your schedule. Look—they've got you down for about ten subjects a day!" Ron also glanced over at Harry's schedule. "And you were given the wrong schedule, Harry! It says you're taking Runes and Ancient Studies instead of Divination. How many schedules were mixed up."
Harry belatedly realized that he'd forgotten to inform his friends that he would be switching classes.
"I forgot to tell you," said Harry sheepishly as he spun a quick lie, "I changed my courses last minute. I talked to some people while I was in Diagon and they said that Trelawney's barmy and predicts everyone's death. I don't want to sit in a class where I'm going to be told that I'm going to die a horrible, painful death every day."
"What about Runes and Ancient Studies?" said Ron, making a face at his class choices.
Harry shrugged and glanced at Hermione. "I needed another elective and I wasn't about to take Arithmancy. What Hermione said about Ancient Runes last year was interesting," he said, "and someone left a book about rituals and stuff in the Leaky. I read it and it seemed cool. It's only a two year course so I'll be doing a NEWT for it."
"I didn't know you could do that!" Hermione cried as she glanced down at her schedule. "I would have done that, too!"
"But Hermione," said Ron, "your schedule's already full. There isn't enough time to do what you have now, let alone another elective!"
"I'll have to talk with Professor McGonagall," Hermione muttered, appearing to have not heard Ron. She continued to mutter to herself and Ron looked at Harry in disbelief.
"I can understand Hermione taking an extra subject or two, but really, mate? Why're you taking all of those subjects? Really? You can tell me."
"What you said in your letters about your brother Bill was interesting," Harry said with a shrug. Ron had taken to explaining a bunch of things that Bill had told him while they were in Egypt, all of which he'd found interesting. "Don't you find that sort of stuff cool? I thought you liked Curse-Breaking. At least it sounded like you did. You can just take Runes with me and Hermione."
Ron faltered. "I guess…" he said before he looked down at his schedule. "But I'm already taking Divination and Care. It's not like I can change it now."
"Why can't you?" Harry inquired with a raised brow. "I got to change my subjects last minute. If you're worried about not having the textbooks, you could owl order them and borrow mine in the meantime.
"Come on, mate," said Harry, pulling Ron up. "Let's go talk to Professor McGonagall. We've got another half hour until your first class starts."
Ron reluctantly followed him and Harry grinned at McGonagall, who raised a brow at their approach.
"Is there something wrong with your schedules, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley?" she asked.
"Mine's fine, Professor," said Harry. "Ron was just wondering if it's too late to change subjects, though?"
"Were you, Mr Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Er, yeah…" said Ron, still looking not quite sure.
"Well, if you wish to change anything in your schedule, it isn't too late. Which classes would you like to take, Mr Weasley?"
"Er… if it's not too much trouble, could I take Runes?" Ron asked, and then with a glance at Harry, he said, "and can I change Divination to Ancient Studies?"
Harry was surprised. He'd expected Ron to keep the easy class and to only go with Runes. Don't get him wrong, Ron wasn't lazy and he did his best to complete his homework and to study for exams, but he much preferred to have fun averse to having to study more. So him choosing to take Ancient Studies, a NEWTs class, rightfully took him by surprise.
"Are you aware that Ancient Studies is a NEWTs class, Mr Weasley?" McGonagall asked. "And that Mr Potter here had to promise to get an Exceeds Expectations or higher in his Charms, Transfiguration, and Ancient Runes classes in order to take it?"
"Er…" Ron looked like a deer in headlights, but McGonagall wasn't lying. The reason that Ancient Studies wasn't usually offered to third years was because you had to have a good understanding of at least Charms and Transfiguration, and you had to be able to cast in those subjects well, too. Harry hadn't thought twice about agreeing to do extra work because he had technically already passed his NEWTs in Transfiguration and Charms, but Ron was currently thirteen and he hadn't taken the classes he had, either.
With a determined glance towards Harry, Ron nodded. "I'd still like to take it, please."
McGonagall gave him a stern stare over her glass. "All right, but be aware that if you do not meet the parameters set that you will flunk out of that class and not be able to take it at a later date," she warned. Ron swallowed but still insisted that he take it.
"All right, Mr Weasley, hand me your schedule." Ron did as told and Professor McGonagall tapped her wand on the parchment. When she handed it back to him, his classes had changed. "I'm sure that you're aware that you'll have to owl order your books from Flourish & Blotts, so I'm assuming that Mr Potter has offered to share his books with you?" Both Harry and Ron nodded and they were shooed back to their seats.
"Well, at least we didn't waste money on my Divination book," grumbled Ron. "I'll have to owl Mum, she should have Bill's old Runes book. I can't remember if he took Ancient Studies, though…"
"If your mum doesn't have the book, I'll buy it for you," Harry offered. "I'm the one who brought up switching your electives."
Ron declined as expected. "Thanks, mate, but we've got some extra Galleons leftover due to getting our books for free. I'll be fine."
As they no longer had Divination, Harry and Ron unexpectedly had the morning off. While Ron wanted to play a few rounds of chess and gobstones, Harry insisted that they visit the library for a copy of Magick Moste Ancient. Ron bemoaned the fact that Harry was 'turning into Hermione' but Harry eventually shut him up by agreeing to play a few rounds of chess if he read the first chapter of his book. Ron at first tried to rush through the chapter and Harry hid a grin in his own book—the Darke Magick one he purchased in Carkitt Market—when Ron's reading slowed as he became interested in what he was reading.
Harry had read through the first few chapters of the book in boredom and it was just as interesting as he'd expected it to be. It went over all manners of ancient magic such as rituals, spells that resembled potions more than actual spells, runes and rune circles, and what Harry suspected Ron to be most interested in after his summer in Egypt, Egyptian magic.
Crookshanks joined Harry not long after he settled in his favourite chair and Harry ran his fingers through his thick fur. He'd never expected to buy Crookshanks instead of Hermione, but he found that he enjoyed the cat's presence. He calmed him when he woke from nightmares and provided a silent vigil over him, making him feel protected. Harry also knew that Crookshanks would keep an eye on Pettigrew and Sirius for him, so he did not have to worry as much about them as he originally would have.
Lunch came soon enough, with Hermione ranting about her Divination class and how it was a good thing that they'd dropped it, and soon was their first Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid.
Yesterday's rain had cleared, and though the grass was damp beneath their shoes, the sun shined down on them.
Hermione wondered aloud about what their first class would be about as they walked down to Hagrid's hut. It wasn't long before Harry caught sight of a few Slytherins, Draco among them. Ron moaned at the fact that they would be sharing this class with the Slytherins and Harry just shook his head in amusement. Ron and Draco had formed an odd relationship in the future, not quite friends but not quite enemies, either. They loved to annoy one another, something Harry was sure would continue.
"C'mon, now, get a move on!" Hagrid bellowed as they approached, looking impatient to start his first lesson. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"
Hagrid led them over to a paddock beside the Forbidden Forest and Harry exchanged a swift glance with Draco, who looked a little pale. They planned to make the class go similar to how it originally had, meaning that Draco would be at risk of getting slashed by Buckbeak again. If everything went according to plan, however, Draco wouldn't get slashed and Harry would be seen 'saving' him. As much as Draco didn't want to be a 'damsel' (his words), they both knew that Harry protecting him would be a good start for their budding friendship.
"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid called once they stood beside the empty paddock, which Harry knew would soon be filled with hippogriffs. "That's it—make sure yeh can see—not, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books—"
"How?" drawled Draco dutifully.
"Eh?" said Hagrid.
"How do we open our books?" Draco repeated, taking out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound with a belt. Others, those who Harry assumed had gathered their books before Harry had shown the shop owner how to calm them, also had their books bound or clamped together.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Malfoy," said Harry dryly, gathering the attention of everyone. "You've just got to stroke its spine."
"Stroke it," said Draco flatly. "What are you on about, Potter?"
Harry pulled Draco's furiously trembling book from his hand and ran a finger down its spine before taking the belt off. "There," said Harry with a grin, "Now you've got a book you can open. You sure you can remember that?"
"I'm not an idiot," Draco snapped with a scowl, ripping his book out of Harry's hands. Harry just grinned and turned to Hagrid, who was beaming at Harry in thanks.
"Righ' then," said Hagrid, regaining their attention, "since yeh've got yer books, now all yeh need are the Magical Creatures. Wait here…" He strode off to the forest and they milled around.
"Honestly," muttered a Slytherin who was staring down at his book, "stroke them. Only that man would choose a book that could rip our hands off."
"The book's just enchanted," Harry said with a shrug. "You might get bit if you don't stroke it, but it's not like you'll end up in the hospital wing or anything."
"Harry, only you would end up in the hospital wing due to a book," Hermione sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry cried. Everyone here knew of Harry's habit of ending up in the hospital wing at least once a month, and so there were snickers shared around. Harry was surprised, and somewhat pleased, to find that some of the Slytherins were laughing, too.
"Ooooooooh!" squealed Lavender suddenly, pointing in the direction Hagrid had disappeared.
Trotting towards them were a dozen hippogriffs; all with the front ends of various eagles with large talons, large beaks, and brilliant orange eyes, and the back end of stallions, tails swishing behind them. Each had a thick leather collar around their necks, which was attached to a thick chain held in Hagrid's large hands, who came jogging at them from behind the creatures.
"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid announced happily as he tethered the hippogriffs to the fence. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"
They were beautiful, that was true. They had gleaming coats that smoothly changed from feather to hair, all of them a different colour: stormy grey, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.
"So, if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer—"
No one save for Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached the fence. Ron and Hermione, having no experience with hippogriffs, approached cautiously. Harry, however, walked up confidently. He knew that these beasts could cause harm, but he also knew how to tame them.
"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," announced Hagrid, his voice oddly stern as he warned everyone. "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't ever insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait for the hippogriff ter make the fir' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and 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?" asked Hagrid.
Knowing that no one would offer, Harry stepped forward. "I'll do it," he said, clambering over the paddock fence.
"Good man, Harry," Hagrid praised him. "Right then—let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."
Harry kept his eyes calmly as Hagrid untied the grey hippogriff and led him towards Harry. Everyone on the other side of the fence was holding their breath as the beast approached.
"Easy now, Harry," said Hagrid quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not er blink… Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much…"
Harry stared calmly into Buckbeak's orange eyes who stared calmly back.
"That's it," said Hagrid. "That's it, Harry… now bow…"
… Bow to death, Harry…
The words drifted through his mind and Harry twitched. Thankfully, Buckbeak did not seem to think that Harry was afraid of him, and so Harry bent into a deep, respectful bow. Buckbeak, after a few moments of staring at him haughtily, bent on his scaly knees into a bow of his own.
"Well done, Harry!" Hagrid praised with a beaming grin. "Right—yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"
Harry smiled and stepped forward, patting Buckbeak's beak. He also scratched at his neck and then on the itchy joint of his wing, causing the hippogriff's eyes to close lazily.
The class broke into applause and Harry caught sight of Draco clapping politely, much to the confusion of those who didn't know that Harry and Draco had come to a truce over the summer.
"Righ' then, Harry," said Hagrid. "I reckon he might let yeh ride him!"
Harry climbed onto Buckbeak's back, making sure not to pull at any feathers painfully. He pet the hippogriff's neck soothingly as he stood and without warning, Hagrid slapped Buckbeak's rump, sending them upward.
Harry's heart raced as they soared and though he much preferred riding a broom, there was something quite exhilarating about riding Buckbeak.
Once they landed, Hagrid praised him once more before allowing the rest of the class to approach the hippogriffs.
Ron and Hermione had no problem getting close to the chestnut hippogriff and Harry helped Neville with the black one who refused to bow.
"You've got to be confident and calm," said Harry. "She can sense that you're nervous. Just meet her eyes and bow respectfully. If you don't believe that she respects you enough not to be afraid that she'll hurt you, then why should she respect you?"
As Harry did this, he kept an eye on Draco. He'd managed to get close to Buckbeak and he was patting him lazily. "This is very easy," he drawled. "I bet you're not at all dangerous, are you, you great beast?"
Buckbeak took offence to Draco's tone and reared back, long talons reaching outward. Without a second thought, Harry raced forward. He grabbed the back of Draco's robe and jerked him backwards, spinning them so that Harry got the full brunt of Buckbeak's attack. He hissed out a pained breath as the hippogriff's talons left lines of fire trailing from his arm and down his back. Despite the flames licking at his nerves, Harry set himself in front of Draco and urged them backwards, not removing his eyes from Buckbeak's incensed orange ones.
"Calm down, Buckbeak," Harry tried to soothe the hippogriff, "he didn't mean it as an insult."
Buckbeak seemed to calm immediately and he pawed at the ground with bloodied talons, something mournful in his eyes. He reared away from Harry, looking almost regretful, as Hagrid pulled him back by his chain.
"Potter, you idiot!" Draco hissed furiously. This hadn't been their plan, and so the concern was real. They'd planned for Harry to drag Draco away, not for Harry to get hurt instead. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Harry!" Harry heard his friends cry.
"Get away from him, Malfoy!" Ron shouted furiously.
"I'm trying to help him, you bloody idiot!" Draco growled, waving his wand at Harry's back, causing bandages to wrap around his torso.
"Help him? You're the reason he's hurt!"
"Would you all shut the hell up?" Harry hissed, fingers grasping Draco's shoulder in a painfully tight grip as he tried to fight off the pain, making the blond wince. Everyone fell silent so quickly that Harry thought that he'd spoken in Parseltongue. Now that he had everyone's attention, he said, "Now, either someone carry me to Madam Pomfrey before I pass out from blood loss or someone get her down here."
Hagrid rushed into action and swept Harry into his large arms, making him let out a sharp hiss of pain as his wounds pulled. The half-giant ran for the castle, Ron, Hermione, and surprisingly Neville, at his heels.
Madam Pomfrey stared in shock as Hagrid barged in, blubbering and setting a bloodied Harry on a cot. Harry's friends crowded around worriedly and Neville was staring at the blood on Harry's white shirt with a white face.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey said sharply, flicking her wand at Harry to get a diagnostic report and shoving a pain-relieving potion into his hand.
Everyone immediately tried to tell Madam Pomfrey what happened; Hagrid was blubbering, Ron was spitting furiously about it being Malfoy's fault, Neville's voice was trembling as he stuttered, and Hermione tried to report matter-of-factly.
Harry scowled and waved his wand, muttering "Silencio!" to shut them up. Madam Pomfrey looked at him in a mixture of surprise and gratitude, and Harry began to relay what had happened.
"We were taking turns bowing to hippogriffs and I reckon that Malfoy hadn't listened to Hagrid about not insulting them because he said something that sounded like an insult, and Buckbeak—that's the hippogriff—went to claw Malfoy but I moved him out of the way and got struck instead," Harry said, wincing as Madam Pomfrey pushed and prodded at his wounds, having vanished his shirt.
"Hippogriffs?" Madam Pomfrey cried. "You're letting children near hippogriffs?" Hagrid went to say something—probably about the fact that he'd thought that hippogriffs would make a fun first lesson—but the nurse just shook her head, dismissing him. "Nevermind, who conjured these bandages on you, Mr Potter?"
"Malfoy," Harry told her.
Madam Pomfrey blinked. "They're quite well conjured," she muttered, vanishing them, too. Harry recalled from when he'd had Malfoy's wand that it was made of hawthorn wood, which was not only adept at curses, but also extremely suited towards healing magic. Madam Pomfrey shoved a nasty-looking potion into Harry's mouth and ordered him to drink it, before she urged Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Neville out of the room as they'd somehow managed to dispel Harry's silencing charm and started talking again.
"Well, Mr Potter," sighed Madam Pomfrey after shoving one more potion into his hands. "You'll make a full recovery. I can't tell you whether or not you'll scar, hippogriffs are dark creatures and dark creatures often leave marks, but you should be able to minimize the scarring with liberal amounts of dittany. If you can't reach your wounds yourself, get your friends to do it or come to me."
"Yes, ma'am," said Harry.
"I also want you to stay here for the remainder of the day," she informed him. Harry bit back a groan. He wasn't even all that injured! It wasn't like he had any broken bones, at least. He was also pretty sure that he'd got worse injuries while at the Dursleys, too.
"Do I have to?" Harry asked, screwing his face up. Madam Pomfrey sent him a stern glare and Harry sighed. "Can I at least have a shirt, then?"
Madam Pomfrey had vanished his shirt to get to his wounds and he felt extremely uncomfortable with how bare he was. While he wasn't ridiculously skinny due to the potions regimen he'd put himself on, he had scars that he would rather people not see. The Dursleys had rarely taken beatings far enough that he was left with permanent marks, but it had happened before. He had a few lashes on his back from when Vernon had been drunk and had lashed him with the buckle of his belt, and he had cuts from when he'd fallen into glass (pushed, he mentally corrected dryly) or something along those lines. He was at least happy that Madam Pomfrey had overlooked these scars and hadn't brought them up. He wasn't in the mood to speak about his home life with his relatives.
"Of course, Mr Potter," Madam Pomfrey sighed. She grabbed a plain black shirt from a cabinet and handed it to him. Harry pulled the baggy shirt on, though he winced as he had to take his arm out of his sling. He hoped that he wouldn't be stuck with it for long, but knowing Madam Pomfrey, she would force him to wear it for at least another week or something as equally ridiculous.
It wasn't long before Madam Pomfrey left for her office, but not before she warned him against leaving his bed.
Harry lied back on his bed and stared at the ceiling for a moment in boredom before he remembered that Ron and Hermione had grabbed his bag for him and he had all of his books in it, having charmed it with an expansion charm as well as a featherweight charm.
Halfway through reading a chapter on, ironically, gryphons and hippogriffs in his Darke Magick book, Harry caught sight of the door to the infirmary opening silently. A wave of his wand revealed Draco beneath a Disillusionment Charm. Once he was spotted, Draco dispelled the charm and stomped up to Harry and whacked upside the head.
"Ow!" Harry rubbed the side of his head, glaring at Draco who glared right back at him.
"What the hell was that?" Draco hissed furiously, quiet enough so Madam Pomfrey wouldn't hear them from her office. "This—" He gestured to Harry's bandages and sling. "—wasn't a part of the plan!"
Harry shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "Me getting hurt for you should make it clear that we're not rivals anymore," said Harry. "Or at the very least show that I'm not going to just stand by and watch you get hurt."
Draco ran a hand through his hair in clear frustration, something the old him never would have done. He'd become laxer in his "pureblood" attitude after the war and relaxed more often than not. That still didn't mean he didn't act snobbish at times, though.
"Just pulling me out of the way would have done that!"
Harry, again, just shrugged. What's done was done, and besides, his willingness to get hurt for Draco Malfoy, the person he supposedly hated, would work in their favour.
"You're such an idiot!" Draco exclaimed, loud enough that it made Madam Pomfrey peer out of her office.
"What's going on here?" she asked sharply, eying Draco with a narrow gaze.
"Malfoy just came over to apologize," said Harry smoothly. "Isn't that right, Malfoy?"
Draco scowled at Harry but nodded.
"Well, that was kind of you, Mr Malfoy, but Mr Potter needs his rest," said Madam Pomfrey sternly. Not wanting to face the wrath that was Madam Pomfrey, Draco shot Harry a swift glare that told him their conversation wasn't done and left.