Disclaimer: I own Wyverns, the plot, Sterling, giant blobs from Neptu- wait, that's not right. Sorry. Anyhow, I don't own Harry or his friends. Yet. *Plots J. K Rowling's death*. Muah ha ha!!

Chapter 6:
Of Weriiot and Wyverns.

Friendships begin with liking or gratitude - roots that can be pulled up.
~ George Elliot (Mary Ann Evans)

To get to the kitchens from the Gryffindor common room, meant going down eight flights of stairs, through twenty seven corridors, through the Great Hall, and then two corridors on, to a picture of a bowl of fruit. Harry went as far as the empty Great Hall easily enough, but was stopped when he saw what was posted on one of the walls.
There were sign-up sheets.
Abandoning his quest to see Dobby, Harry changed direction and headed towards the parchment. The first declared itself to be for Curses classes, to be taken at five to seven o'clock on Wednesday evenings. The second was Karate, at the same time on Friday evenings. The third was a Duelling club, at identical times on Monday. A few names were scribbled underneath each title; it seemed that only a few Wizard borns were taking Karate.
Harry briefly thought about what to do. A Duelling club; that would be useful, as would the Curses class. Karate lessons didn't seem to be as useful, although it would be good defence if Malfoy got too cocky.
Reading the instructions, he learnt what to do. Taking his wand out of his pocket, he held it up against the Curses sheet. "Harry Potter." he told it, and the name filled in one of the boxes with an elegant flourish. Doing the same with the Duelling, he left the Karate blank.
He put his wand back, thoughts such as 'why the heck did I do that?' running through his head.
Something felt. . . different. Unusual. It wasn't the Imperious curse, he knew that; the feeling was completely different, and he could throw it off within seconds. No, this feeling was of something missing.
Heaving a sigh, Harry gave up his guesses, and checked his watch. There were only ten minutes left until the next lesson, not nearly enough to visit Dobby. And not long enough to get to the next lesson.
Turning to the direction he came, Harry broke into a sprint.

~ ~ ~

By the time Harry had ran through twenty seven corridors, up eight flights of stairs, got his bag, packed it, ran outside, remembered he'd forgotten his quill, ran back, ran out the common room (again), and got to his History of Magic lesson, he was six minutes late.
"Five points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter." Binns droned tonelessly, turning back to the chalkboard. Harry stammered an apology, and took his seat between Hermione and Ron, who seemed to be asleep. "Where were you?" Hermione hissed, "He's already covered the first few years of the Ministry of Magic. You missed the creation of the Ministry as well!"
"Sorry." mouthed Harry, unpacking his bag. "I got caught up. They've got sign up sheets for the new classes down in the hall." This news seemed to make Hermione perk up. "Did you sign up for any?"
"Yeah, Curses and Duelling. They all start next week. You?"
"I'm thinking of doing Curses, but I won't have that much time if I'm doing Astronomy as well." she said, ignoring the lecture on the Ministry. "What have you got after this?"
"Single potions. Then double Magical Creatures, and double Herbology."
Hermione looked at him pityingly. "Snape next lesson? I've got another History of Magic lesson, then two lessons with and Ron, and ending with double Charms."
The rest of the fifty-three minutes dragged on. Ron stayed asleep for nearly the entire lesson, and Harry fought hard to stay awake. Hermione seemed to be the only one that was unaffected. Taking notes on every word the professor said, she had the facts and early history of the Ministry implanted in her brain within seconds.
The bell finally rang, making Ron jump out of his stupor and fall over, which at least made the lesson's ending interesting. "Those of you who have to go to other lessons, go now, and the rest of you stay." Binns said, hovering above the floor. "Your homework is - someone help Mr Weasley get up - your homework is four scrolls of parchment on the reasons for, and effects of, the creation of the Ministry, due on Wednesday."
Ron, now up, practically threw his belongings into his bag and fled the room. Harry took a bit more care and time packing his things, and left. Hermione gave the pair a small wave as they departed.
Neville passed Harry in the corridor, running as fast as he could. "Come on Harry, Snape will take points off. We're already late." he gasped, turning around the corner and out of sight. Finally understanding the reason why Ron had fled, Harry raced down the hall, finally making it to the classroom.
By the time he arrived, Ron and Neville had already entered. Flinging the door open, he ran inside and own the stone stairs.
There were five Slytherins (unfortunately including Draco Malfoy) seated at the desks, and Ron and Neville were sitting at the back of the room, talking to each other. Snape was nowhere in sight. Marvelling at his luck, Harry took his place next to Ron. "Where's Snape?" he asked, throwing his bag down beside him.
"No-one knows." Neville said earnestly. "The Slytherins say they know, but you can see they're just as confused as we are."
"He was here this morning though." Ron added, "I saw him at breakfast."
Harry shrugged. "At least he can't take points off us for being late. That would be a bit hypocritical."
"He probably will, though." Ron pointed out, when the door swung open to reveal a highly annoyed Snape. He stormed down the steps and behind the desk, shocking even the Slytherin students. "Is everyone here?" he barked, greasy hair flopping over his face.
There were small nods from around the room, and Neville sank low in his chair. "Good." Snape snapped (excuse the pun), glaring at the students. "Today, you will be in pairs, one of you will making the poison Erissan, while the other shall make the antidote. The partners will be: Longbottom and Goyle; Weasley and Crabbe; Zabini and Parkinson; and Malfoy and Potter." He smirked evilly. "You shall be making the poison for your partner, so if the person making the antidote gets it wrong - they're in trouble. Those making the poison are Goyle, Crabbe, Parkinson and Malfoy. Have fun."
Looking round at the other Gryffindors, Harry saw they had gone an ashen white. As the thought of Malfoy making a poison for him sunk in, he too turned a delightful shade. "Oh, bugger." he muttered. Picking up his belongings, he walked slowly over to Malfoy.
"Hello, Potty." leered Malfoy, making room for him at the table. "You know, I haven't forgotten this morning."
"Your memory's getting better then." Harry said dryly, throwing his bag down. Malfoy grinned. "You know, I was thinking 'what can I do to get revenge on Potty?'. And then this just pops right up. Useful, hm?"
"If you poison me, there'll be Hell to pay." Harry warned, growing more nervous by the second. "You'll be expelled at the least."
"And you'll be dead. But, hey, it all depends on whether you make the antidote the right way, so don't blame me if you get sick, or die."
"I won't be blaming anyone if I'm dead." Harry said sharply, and opened his book. "Page one hundred and fourteen."
Collecting his equipment, Harry brought it back to the table, and read the instructions through carefully. 'There's no way,.' he decided, 'that I'm going to get my antidote wrong, if I've got Malfoy making the poison.'
Sneaking a glance at Malfoy, he saw the boy was chopping his Billywigs any old way, tossing them carelessly into the cauldron as soon as he had cut them. Glaring at him, Harry turned back and started to simmer the water in the cauldron.

~ ~ ~

Just as Harry was adding the last ingredient (a bezoar), Snape finished stalking the classroom and accusing the Gryffindors of cheating or getting the instructions wrong. "Now," he said, sounding as if he was looking forward to the next stage, "you will be testing your poison and antidote. Once you have taken three drops of the poison, you will start to feel dizzy and light-headed. After three more drops of the antidote - if it works, which I highly doubt for Longbottom - you will feel normal again. Begin."
Malfoy leaned over to Harry. "Have a nice afterlife." he whispered smugly, and handed him a vial of the bluish potion. Harry took it, and raised it to his lips, letting only three drops of the mixture fall in.
Nothing was happening. Puzzled, he looked around the class to see if anyone else was the same. As he looked, he caught sight of Blaise Zabini's potion; a pale green.
Putting his hand up, Harry's heart rate increased. "What is it, Potter?" Snape said, noticing Harry's hand, and sneering at him.
"I think Malfoy did something wrong with the potion, professor. It's the wrong colour." Harry stated calmly, holding up the potion for inspection. The teacher strode up to the table, and peered into the vial. "Yes," he said finally, sounding disappointed with Malfoy. "It does appear to be made incorrectly. Did you drink any?" he asked.
"Yes, three drops, sir." Harry said. "But I don't feel any different."
All eyes in the class were on Harry and Malfoy now. Ron looked as if Harry were about to die, and Neville was biting his lip.
"Go to the hospital wing." Snape said, sounding disappointed. He seemed to want to cause Harry as much pain as possible. "Malfoy, you take him. If you don't get back before the end of the lesson, you'll have to ask someone for the homework. Now go."
Harry grabbed his bag and books and headed out, Malfoy trailing behind. Leaving the classroom, he waited beside the door for Malfoy. "You did that on purpose." he said angrily, "You deliberately made the wrong potion. What is it?"
"Weriiot." Malfoy smirked. "I couldn't do anything fatal, but you're going to feel like hell for the next few hours. Least I could do, really."
This news was slightly reassuring; at least he wouldn't be dropping dead from it; but could he really trust the Slytherin? "Let's go." he snapped, walking quickly to the Hospital Wing.

~ ~ ~

By the time Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse, had given Harry some pain-killers, explaining the potion would start affecting as soon as it entered his bloodstream which would take about half an hour, the potions lesson had ended and lunch had begun. Draco Malfoy had left him the moment they had entered the Hospital Wing, which meant Harry had to find Ron, to catch up with Potions work.
Proceeding to the Great Hall, he stopped by the sign-up sheets. Most were nearly full now; Ron had signed up for the Curses class, but the Duelling club had already been filled. Malfoy, it seemed, was one of those who had managed to sign before the spaces were taken, which did nothing to relieve Harry of his bad mood, and the sickening feeling of the poison, as it started to take effect; the pain killer did nothing to relieve the nauseous sensation.
Looking at the Gryffindor table, he spotted Ron and Hermione saving a seat for him. Slipping beside Hermione, the pair gave him a sympathetic look. "Did he poison you?" Ron asked, sympathy quickly turning to anger. "I can't believe Snape didn't take points away. Neville's antidote worked, but it turned him yellow, and Snape took away ten points. On our first school day! Then Malfoy tries to kill you, and he doesn't get punished. It's stupid. It's favouritism. Completely biased cr-"
"That'll be enough, Ron." Hermione said sharply, cutting off Ron's tirade. She looked pointedly at Harry. "Did he poison you? Or did he just get it wrong?"
"The answer is 'choice a'." Harry said moodily, glaring at the Slytherin table. "Trying to make me sick, the sneak."
Ron gave a snort. "Would you expect any less from that git?"
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, "Madam Pomfrey had a cure, didn't she?"
Harry shook his head. "The potion's meant to make you feel sick and cause pain. She gave me a pain-killer, but I feel like a hippogriff ran me over." Hermione gave him a pitying look. "Well, at least you missed the last few minutes of potions. From what I've heard, it was terrible." She smiled. "Good news, though!"
Ron groaned. "She's been telling me about this for the last ten minutes, Harry. You don't want to know, believe me."
Hermione ignored him, and sat up slightly straighter. "My first news is that I've finished the draft of the first few chapters."
Harry nodded his approval. "Great! How many are there going to be?"
"There'll be about thirty or thirty-five chapters, and maybe an introduction." Hermione explained, reaching for more ham. "The total length will probably be around seven-hundred pages."
Ron made a show of fainting, to which Hermione replied by kicking him under the table. "Potatoes, Harry?" she said sweetly, offering the dish. "The second piece of news is that we have to stay behind after Transfiguration tomorrow. That's the two lessons just before lunch," she clarified hastily, seeing Harry's questioning look. "Professor McGonagall wants the Prefects to decide on times for Hogsmeade visits. Of course, fifth years and up can visit Hogsmeade any time, so I was thinking we could go this afternoon?"
"I'm not doing anything, then." Ron volunteered. "Unless we get a lot of homework due for tomorrow," he refined swiftly, "but otherwise, I'm in."
"Me too." agreed Harry, knowing it would be good to see the 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' shop. "Oh, Ron." he said, suddenly remembering. "What's the Potions homework? I need to catch up."
"He went easy on us today. Two scrolls on the history of Erissan and how to make it. Of course, the method takes about a scroll anyway, so nothing to worry about. Due in last thing tomorrow." Ron said cheerfully, helping himself to the potatoes, which Harry had neglected to sample.
"I don't have Potions until Wednesday afternoon." sighed Hermione gratefully. "What time do you you two have Astronomy lessons?"
"Tuesday and Thursday at midnight." Harry responded. Hermione looked disappointed. "I've got it at Monday and Friday, midnight." she said, finishing her dinner. "I'm going to go work on the book for the last ten minutes. You'll tell us if the dizzy feeling gets worse, won't you?"
"Yeah, of course." Harry reassured, "Right now though, I'm more worried about the weird feeling I've got. I feel like something's missing."
"Maybe it because Sterling's gone." Hermione suggested. Harry gave a small jolt, and turned his head to look at hi left shoulder. "Where did she go?"
Ron rolled his eyes, and Hermione just looked irritated.
"Jeez mate, she's been gone all day. You didn't notice?" Ron laughed. Harry felt a little embarrassed. "No, actually." he admitted, "I must have got so used to her being there that I never expected her to go."
"She'll probably be back soon." assured Hermione. "I'll see you in Care of Magical Creatures." Getting up, she left the table and exited the room.
"How are the twins managing the shop, anyway?" Harry asked Ron, interestedly. His friend put on a world-weary expression. "They've hired a couple of people to work there while they're at school. When they've finished Hogwarts, they're opening another shop in Diagon Alley. That's where they'll be working. Did you know," he said conspiratorially, leaning closer. "they've got an anonymous co-owner?"
"Really?" Harry queried innocently, trying to sound surprised. Ron nodded. "Yep. I think it's probably the same person that gave them the money to start Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I'd say it was Lee Jordan; you know how he is with pranks; but he'd never get hold of a thousand galleons, let alone give it to the twins."
"Maybe it isn't someone at Hogwarts. It could be an adult."
"Maybe." Ron said, sounding disbelieving, "but the only person I can think of would be Bagman, and I can't imagine the twins giving him part of the company."
Knowing Ron might get suspicious if he talked about the owner any longer, Harry changed the subject slightly. "So what kind of things are they selling? They sent me a box of tricks for my birthday, but I haven't looked at all of them yet."
Ron's eyes lit up. "Oh, it's amazing," he gushed excitedly. "There's loads of different sweets; they've got the Ton-Tongue Toffee out again. They've made Ferret Fudge, just to spite Malfoy, and they've got this great gobstopper. Instead of changing colours in your mouth, it changes your skin different colours. Fred got Bill to try a beta version, and his skin was blue for hours."
Harry smiled as he imagined a blue-skinned Bill yelling at the twins.
"They've got loads of fake wands as well. They've got joke glasses and watches, which put illusions on you, so your eyes look striped, or your hand looks clawed." He paused dreamily. "They've even got a really cool quill that writes down whatever you're thinking. Just imagine giving that to someone, and having them write down their secret. Imagine what you could find out. . ."
"You're just a sneak at heart, aren't you?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, we've only got a few minutes left. We have to go and face our doom." he finished dryly, raising himself from the chair.
Ron winced, and followed him. "What do you think Hagrid's going to have for us this lesson?"
"Well, he was abroad, so I bet it's going to be a Nundu." Harry guessed, heading down the second corridor, on the way to the common room. "Nah, Dumbledore wouldn't let him." disagreed Ron. "It's got to be a chimaera."
"Maybe Hagrid's brought one of the Acromantulas out of the Forest?" Harry suggested, passing Colin Creevey. Ron shuddered involuntarily. "If he has, I'm going to kill him. After I've run away, of course."
The predictions of Hagrid's new pet grew worse and worse, ranging from Erumpents to Manticores, until it finally reached a bizarre crossbreed of Blast-Ended Skrewts, Manticores, Chimaeras, Quintapeds and, for some reason, Pixies.
When they, along with the other Gryffindors, reached the lesson, they found it was something worse, and a lot more terrifying.
"Hagrid!" Ron screamed in horror, "What are you doing with baby dragons!?"

~ ~ ~

As Ron's cry echoed across the grounds of Hogwarts, the arriving Slytherins stooped dead in their tracks and glanced round at each other, as if ascertaining what they had heard. The Gryffindors took a few steps back, looking warily at the nearly five foot long, blue dragon that Hagrid was cradling. "Don' be silly, Ron." the half-giant laughed. "This isn't a dragon. This i' a Wyvern."
"Oh, that makes it a lot better." Malfoy said sarcastically. "It looks an awful lot like a dragon to me."
Hagrid cradled the blue creature tighter. It's body was a pale blue, whereas a small ruff that ran around it's neck was of a much darker shade of the same colour. It fixed it's gaze on the students, revealing sky-blue eyes.
Hermione looked fascinated. "Is it really a Wyvern, Hagrid?"
"O' course." he nodded. "I've got three types 'ere today. We'll just be learnin' about 'em at first, then we'll see how well you 'andle 'em."
The Slytherins crept closer to the Gryffindors, still looking terrified.
"Now," Hagrid said, "the other Wyverns are in the crates over by my hut. There's twelve of 'em all together, so you'll be having one each. Now, first of all, the basic history of Wyverns. Although they are cousins of the dragons, there are a few main differences. First of all, they're much smaller. This one I've got 'ere," he held up the Wyvern in his arms, so the class could see, "is full grown, not just a baby. It's only two and a half feet long, and it's tail is another two feet. The smallest Wyvern is just one and a half feet long, while the biggest is about ten feet, eight inches. Both of those are including the tail."
He paused as the beast gave a small growl. "The second difference, is that Wyverns are a lot less dangerous. Of the fourteen types, there's only four that are particularly hostile, and one's only rated dangerous because it has poisonous fangs. Most Wyvern's claws and teeth are a lot shorter and blunter than dragons', as well. The third difference is that whereas dragons breather fire, Wyverns breathe ice. It can com' out in a steady stream, or in a quick burst, but they only do it when they feel threatened."
Most of the students were feeling more relaxed now, and Hermione seemed to be bursting with questions.
"Wyverns are predators, but they mainly eat small mammals and birds. Wyvern eggs are Class A Non-Tradable Goods, like dragons, but you can keep them as pets. Of course," he added, "if you live near Muggles, you have to perform daily Disillusionment Charms on it.
"They live for very long; the largest species live for a hundred and seventy years or so, and the smallest a hundred and forty. Wyverns live in herds of parents and young, who leave the group after twenty years. Thankfully, the adults don't breed again until their last litter have left, or we'd be drowning in 'em." This gained a laugh from the Gryffindors. "The young can breed at about fifty years, and stop at about a hundred and ten; that's the same for all the species.
"As I said before, there are fourteen types. The three types of Wyverns I have here are all at a two 'x' rating, which means they're harmless if you treat them well. This one I'm holding is a Scottish Longruff, named after the ruff round it's neck. It's found in Scotland and Northern England, and lays clutches of three, whitish-blue eggs. They're mainly found in the wild.
"The second type is the Panama Lap Wyvern. It's the smallest Wyvern type, and it's body is one and a half feet long. It's tail is another foot. It's found world-wide, although it originated in Panama, and it's only found in captivity as a pet, because of it's beautiful colouring. It has pink or light purple scales, and violet eyes, and lays clutches of three to four, pale yellow eggs.
"The final type is the Floridian Ice Dragon. This is the third most recently discovered Wyvern, and was spotted first in Florida, hence the name. However, it's found all over North America; it's the only North American Wyvern. It was originally thought to be a new type of baby dragon, which sparked a week long celebration of the new species; the American Department of Magic and Muggle Relations was going to change their symbol to it." He gave a chuckle. "O' course, when they caught it, they found it was a Wyvern. Quite amusing, to tell the truth. Anyway, it kept the name of dragon. It has green-blue scales, and brown eyes. It's body is three feet long and it's tail is another two and a half feet. It lays two or three pale green eggs. First o' all, are there any questions?"
Hermione stuck her hand in the air, waving madly. "Hermione?"
"Does Wyvern blood have any magical properties, like dragon's, and are any parts of them used in wands?" she asked eagerly, in one breath.
" To answer yeh first question, Wyvern blood is a powerful poison, but only if drunk. Other than that, no. For yeh second question, Wyvern claws and scales are used in wands, but not separately. They don't give the wand any power unless there's a scale and claw together. Wands that do have them, however, are extre'ely powerful.
"Yeh see, if you have a part of a type of creature in yeh wand, then the same type of creature will react better to yeh. If you had a unicorn hair in yeh wand, for example, even if it wasn't the unicorn it came from, another unicorn would be more likely to trust yeh. O' course, they're not goin' to trust yeh if you try to 'urt 'em.
"However, Wyvern wands, instead of making Wyverns more friendly to you, actually allow you to call up Wyverns from nearby. Unfortunately, there's only a few ever been made, and the last one was made over one and a half millennia ago. There are a couple of people who still have Wyvern wands passed down to them, so you should be sure not to make them your enemies; they're much too formidable."
The group of teenagers were silent at this comment, shaken by the idea of such power, just in a single wand.
"Now," said Hagrid cheerfully. "Who wants to 'old 'im?"
The Wyvern puffed out some icy breath and bared it's miniature fangs at them.

~ ~ ~

Ten minutes later saw Pansy Parkinson exclaiming how her pink Panama Lap Wyvern - 'Maisy' - was 'just so cuuuttte!', to which the Slytherin boys gave her some funny looks, and Blaise Zabini (the only other Slytherin Girl taking Care Of Magical Creatures) agreed enthusiastically.
Hagrid had suggested that when they chose a Wyvern to look after, they should give it a name to get closer to it. Although Hermione was doubtful as first, she had to admit that it was working. The students were now seeing the Wyverns as pets, rather than subjects to study. "Aren't you a good girl, Florence? Are you? Yes, you are, you're beautiful!" she cooed, playing a mock struggle with her Floridian Ice Dragon.
"She's gone nuts." Ron told Harry, playing with his own Floridian.
"She's not the one who called her Wyvern 'Nadom'." Harry pointed out, stroking his Longruff's back. Ron glowered at him. "His name is pronounced Nay-dom, not Nahdum. And it stands for 'North American Department of Magic', actually. Personally, I think Blur is a stupid name."
"It's a lot better than Nadom. At least mine means something." Harry said, his headache fading slightly. The Longruff gave a snort of agreement. "See? He doesn't it think it's stupid."
From over to Harry's right, Neville tried in vain to calm his energetic Longruff. He had the misfortune to have picked what seemed to be the Wyvern version of a Marauder; the creature seemed to enjoy running rings around him, and pulling the hem of his robes so that he fell over. All the Gryffindors had agreed that there could be no name for him except Prankster.
At the moment, the miniature wind-up merchant was leading Neville on a chase over to the Slytherins. Flapping as hard as he could (Harry could swear he was grinning), the blue Longruff occasionally slowed down so Neville caught up with him, and sped up just as he was nearly caught.
Over in the rival house, Harry could hear Malfoy's drawling voice. "It looks like we have a guest coming. Prepare to celebrate." There were a few sniggers from his two flunkies.
Prankster continued flying happily, dodging Neville's attempts to grab him.
Turning his attention back to Blur, Harry started running his fingers through it's long, fluffy mane. It really was quite cute. Blur lay still on Harry's lap, completely docile, watching the antics of Hermione, who was now being licked by her rough-and-tumble Wyvern, which seemed to act like a puppy.
"What's Malfoy doing?" Ron said suddenly, and Harry looked back at the scene.
Malfoy was holding his Floridian Wyvern and muttering something to it. It's huge, brown eyes seemed to fill with amusement as he spoke, and Harry dreaded what was going to happen next. Raising it's head, the Wyvern fixed it's eyes upon Prankster, and, taking careful aim, made a movement like a cat coughing up a hairball. Throwing it's head forward, a ball of ice shot out towards the Longruff.
"Duck!!" Harry yelled, leaping to his feet and knocking Blur off his lap. Prankster seemed to notice the ice coming now. Giving a yelp, he shot down and hugged the ground as the ice headed towards the space where he was. Neville, however, wasn't so lucky. "Gotcha!" he shouted joyfully, still running to the Wyvern. Just as he reached the Longruff, the ball hurtled at him like a white Bludger, slamming him hard in the stomach. Flying backwards, Neville landed unconscious on the grass.
"Neville!" Hermione cried in shock, clapping her hands to her mouth. Prankster looked terrified, and ran over to the boy, nuzzling at his neck.
Malfoy looked frightened for a second, but reverted to his usual smug look, as the Gryffindors rushed to Neville's side. "WHAT DID YEH THINK YEH WERE DOIN'?" Hagrid boomed, looking fearsome with the rage clear on his face.
Malfoy's expression turned back to frightened.
"Dean, Seamus. Get Neville to the 'Ospital Wing." Hagrid ordered and pointed a finger at Malfoy. "Twenty points from Slytherin and a detention. I'll be seein' Dumbledore about you, make no mistake."
"My father-"
"Isn't here, is he? As fo' your Wyvern, playing up like that, I don't think you should be allowed to have your own one now, if you're not goin' to act your age. Blizzard will have to stay with the other Wyverns that no-one chose."
Malfoy's face seemed to fall most at the last two sentences. Seeing that whining wasn't going to do any good, he gazed longingly after his Floridian as it was taken away by Hagrid, and put in a pen behind the hut. "That pen's got a ward on it to stop them flying out, so don't think you can sneak in and get him." Hagrid warned, slightly calmed by the return of Dean and Seamus, who said Madam Pomfrey believed Neville would be alright in a few hours, even though he was still unconscious at the moment.
Harry made up with Blur over the 'knocking Blur off his lap' incident, and Hermione joined him and Ron in playing with the creatures, including Prankster, who was allowed to stay out as he hadn't meant to cause the 'accident'.
The rest of the lesson passed quickly; when they had finished playing, Hagrid explained little-known facts about the Wyverns, such as that they enjoyed water, and some species would even dive down and catch fish. Panama Lap Wyverns, however, hated water with a passion, and liked just the opposite; to lay in front of a roaring fire and have a snooze. Harry guessed it was because of the centuries of Lap Wyverns being domesticated as pets, which tended to make them prize show animals. Hermione, busy taking notes for Neville, agreed with him.
When the second lesson was over, and it was time for either Charms, Herbology or Transfiguration, depending on the student's schedule, there were groans even from the Slytherins. The Wyverns were led back into the pens, Hagrid letting them off homework for the first day back ("Pity Trelawney, Snape and Flitwick don't think that way." Ron muttered darkly), and the teenagers were told 'get lost now, or you'll be late for yeh next lessons. Yes, yeh can come back afterwards and see them. No, you can't take them out of the pens. Look, just go, you'll see 'em again on Wednesday.', which caused them all to perk up slightly.
"Wasn't Florence sweet?" Hermione sighed, waving goodbye to the Wyverns. "I can't wait 'til Wednesday. Or should we cancel the Hogsmeade trip and see them after lessons.
"Let's see them tomorrow break or lunch." Ron volunteered. "I want to show Harry Fred and George's shop. I getting a fifty percent discount on anything, so tell me if you want something, and I'll get it. Then you can pay me back afterwards."
"Oh, honestly." Hermione said irritably. "All you ever think about are such ridiculous things." She brightened suddenly. "Maybe I should become a Wyvern instead of a polecat."
"Definitely not." Harry said sharply. Hermione looked at him questioningly. "First of all, if Muggles spot you, it wouldn't be easy to explain away, and you mainly live in the Muggle world. Second, you're not allowed a magical creature if we just have Muggle ones." He dodged a thump. "Well, it's unfair to us. If we'd known about Wyverns, we'd probably have become one."
"Well you should have researched before you chose. Seriously though, I don't think I'll be a Wyvern. It would be a bit conspicuous, even to Wizards." Hermione stopped in front of the Charms door. "This is my next lesson. Meet you in the entrance hall at four forty-five." She opened the door and went in, shutting it behind her.
"Pity we're going to Hogsmeade, instead of training." commented Ron, "I wanted to see whether she'd change as fast as us."

~ ~ ~

Gryffindor were still having Herbology with Hufflepuff, much to Harry's dread. Cedric Diggory, a popular Hufflepuff student, had died at the end of last year, by Harry's side. Mainly, Harry could shake the guilt off and continue as if it had never happened, feeling only sorrow for Cedric and the mourning Hufflepuffs. When mentioned, however, Harry couldn't help feeling that it was his fault, and that he could have done something to save him. Cedric's death had haunted his dreams more than a few times over the holidays.
Very few people were taking Herbology for this lesson; Harry, Ron, Dean, Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones were the only ones. Neville would have been, but he was still in the Hospital Wing. "Just our luck for the one subject Neville's brilliant at, to come up when he's unconscious." Ron grumbled, grabbing a stool. "Damn Malfoy."
That lesson, they studied the effects of Gertroot, a moss-green plant that changed colour to predict the weather.
Harry was thankful to note that the Hufflepuffs seemed to be talking and reacting to him like normal. It seemed Dumbledore's end-of-year speech had established the fact that it was not Harry's fault and had, in fact, taken great risk to return Cedric's body to his family.
Because of the perfectly civil and unsuspicious behaviour, the two-hour lesson flew by, regrettably leaving the students to write a scroll on the reasons for the colour change by Thursday.
As the lesson ended at four thirty, it left fifteen minutes to get ready for Hogsmeade. Harry grabbed some money from his trunk (Ron had already taken some out after lunch, when the trip had been planned) and a cloak, and they met Hermione in the entrance hall.
"Finally." Hermione said impatiently, gesturing to the door. "I've been here for ten minutes already."
Ron gave a cry of mock horror. "Alas! Woe am I! The sky shall fall on our heads!"
"Very funny. How was Herbology?"
"Okay." Ron shrugged. "A bit boring, but it is a lesson about plants, so I suppose you have to expect that."
"I find Herbology fascinating, myself." Hermione said, starting out. The boys caught up with her quickly.
"How long are we staying out until?" Harry asked, walking the familiar path to the village. Hermione shrugged. "Maybe seven thirty? We can have lunch in the Three Broomsticks, and we can sort out some of our homework in the village library."
Ron gave Harry the Look Of Despair, which Hermione saw. "We're going to shop." she tutted, "I just think we should make a start on our Potions. Plus I have Charms to do, and I bet you have Herbology. Then we can have break and lunch free tomorrow to visit the Wyverns."
"Good point," Ron admitted, "but we're going to the library last."
"Fine." Hermione agreed.
Harry turned his eyes to God, and thanked Him for letting them sort something out without a fight.
By now, they had reached the start of Hogsmeade. Up ahead of the 'olde worlde' houses and shops, Harry could see a few other students coming out of Gladrags Wizard-Wear, one holding a large bag. Other than that, Hogsmeade seemed to be devoid of Hogwarts teenagers.
"Let's visit the twin's shop first." Harry suggested, eagerly anticipating the jokes. Ron nodded his approval. "My idea exactly. I haven't see it yet, though, but Fred and George say it's near the centre of the village."
"They should have put it next to Zonko's." Hermione said. "Then they could take Zonko's customers."
"Or Zonko's would take theirs." Harry pointed out. "And I don't think there were any buildings for sale next to Zonko's."
The conversation changed abruptly as to where the students were; Hermione swore she'd seen at least twenty teenagers rushing past her in the entrance hall; but it seemed the only students in sight were the two in Madame Malkins, who now had also disappeared, and the trio themselves.
As they turned one of the cobbled corners, they could only gape.
"Well," Ron said bluntly. "That explains where everyone is."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Important note: A few people have e-mailed or reviewed to say that they changed a bit too easily YES! OF COURSE THEY DID! IT'S AN IMPORTANT PLOT POINT! The point of it was 'how the hell did they do it before even Merlin' and that WILL be answered. For now, they just think they have some kind of talent for it.
Also, who noticed that the poison ended pretty quickly for Harry? Before you say anything, yes, that's a plot point too. If anything seems completely unbelievable, (i.e. Malfoy disappearing mysteriously) it's probably a plot point (as well as a few plot points hidden in sentences, that you probably won't notice, until it's too late! Mwa ha ha!!)
Please! I live on reviews! Constructive criticism is welcome and wanted!