((Kitty Felton: Glad you like it~_~
Darcel Lucia: Yep, they're a necessary evil, I'm afraid. Once they get settled in, things will get a bit more interesting.
Glowing Embers: That should be coming up pretty soon.
stokely: Okay...
goodgirlsbadboys: He may eventually, but not quite yet.
Trephinia Cealyn: Lol, I'll ask J. K. Rowling if I can give him to you when the story's over...;)
Ri: I'm PROBABLY leaving him as a ferret until June - you'll see why. However, if so, I'll be posting a sequel set during the next year.))
Disclaimer: The plot is mine. That's about it.
A/n: I'm afraid you'll have to imagine Hagrid's accent for his lines in this chapter...sorry:(.
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Jogging out onto the ground a few hours later, heading for the hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Ginny idly tried to guess what the subject of today's class would be. Last year, they'd covered flobberworms, diricawls, and a few odd cross-breeds. According to Ron, the fourth-years had had to cope with everything from nifflers to, of course, the skrewts. Thus, it was with relief that she saw a shy, pearly-coated shadow wavering at the edge of the thick trees, glints of sunlight bouncing off the creature's horn. She remembered, now, the brief time with Professor Grubbly-Plank last year, after which Hagrid had doggedly continued to provide a unicorn for the class on occasion, though they didn't reach his personal standard of 'interesting creatures'.
Shortly, the arriving students clustered in a rough semicircle around Hagrid, still quite a few feet away from the mare. Once they were all there, Hagrid began his lecture.
"First of all, could all of you who have wands made with unicorn tail-hair raise your hands?"
Slightly over a third of the class did so, and he nodded.
"Unicorn hair is generally the most popular component for wands. It's more readily available, as unicorns are more common than phoenixes. Dragon heartstring, of course, requires the death of the dragon in question. However, unicorns are very difficult to catch..."
He went on for some time, the students jotting down notes, pads propped rather awkwardly as they were in a in a standing position. Once Hagrid had finished, he nodded to the mare, and Ginny stepped forward with the other girls.
~*~*~*~*~*~
/\_/\_/\_/\_/\
Draco listened half-heartedly through the lecture, having heard much the same last year. As Ginny began to approach the edge of the forest, he raised himself slightly higher out of the pouch, looking on with mild interest. The mare had lowered her head to gently nudge the first girl, Ginny's friend Rose, who looked delighted, raising a gentle hand to stroke her cheek. While the unicorn accepted her touch amicably, doing much the same with the others, she suddenly froze at Ginny's approach. Ginny stopped, obviously bewildered, as the mare tossed her head, pawing with her forelegs, making plain her desire to escape the magical binding Hagrid had placed on her and bolt.
For a moment, Draco didn't understand, then remembered - "...They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns" - he sunk back into the depths of the bag, hearing the stamping of cloven hoofs slowly subside. He felt Ginny move forward again, murmuring gently to the mare, who apparently allowed Ginny to stroke her, though still whuffing suspiciously through her muzzle.
/\_/\_/\_/\_/\
~*~*~*~*~*~
Resting a gentle hand along the mare's neck, Ginny wondered for a moment what had startled her at first - then a flash of white fur caught her eye. Silver. Apparently, unicorns' distrust of males extended to other animals, as well. It seemed rather odd, but she could think of no other explanation, as the mare's distress had subsided only when Silver had hidden himself. And how had he known to do that, anyway? Unless he had merely been frightened of the unicorn - but she'd never known him to react like that before. Shaking her head, she put it aside to puzzle over later, along with the growing list of things that were simply not normal about her pet.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Darcel Lucia: Yep, they're a necessary evil, I'm afraid. Once they get settled in, things will get a bit more interesting.
Glowing Embers: That should be coming up pretty soon.
stokely: Okay...
goodgirlsbadboys: He may eventually, but not quite yet.
Trephinia Cealyn: Lol, I'll ask J. K. Rowling if I can give him to you when the story's over...;)
Ri: I'm PROBABLY leaving him as a ferret until June - you'll see why. However, if so, I'll be posting a sequel set during the next year.))
Disclaimer: The plot is mine. That's about it.
A/n: I'm afraid you'll have to imagine Hagrid's accent for his lines in this chapter...sorry:(.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
~*~*~*~*~*~
Jogging out onto the ground a few hours later, heading for the hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Ginny idly tried to guess what the subject of today's class would be. Last year, they'd covered flobberworms, diricawls, and a few odd cross-breeds. According to Ron, the fourth-years had had to cope with everything from nifflers to, of course, the skrewts. Thus, it was with relief that she saw a shy, pearly-coated shadow wavering at the edge of the thick trees, glints of sunlight bouncing off the creature's horn. She remembered, now, the brief time with Professor Grubbly-Plank last year, after which Hagrid had doggedly continued to provide a unicorn for the class on occasion, though they didn't reach his personal standard of 'interesting creatures'.
Shortly, the arriving students clustered in a rough semicircle around Hagrid, still quite a few feet away from the mare. Once they were all there, Hagrid began his lecture.
"First of all, could all of you who have wands made with unicorn tail-hair raise your hands?"
Slightly over a third of the class did so, and he nodded.
"Unicorn hair is generally the most popular component for wands. It's more readily available, as unicorns are more common than phoenixes. Dragon heartstring, of course, requires the death of the dragon in question. However, unicorns are very difficult to catch..."
He went on for some time, the students jotting down notes, pads propped rather awkwardly as they were in a in a standing position. Once Hagrid had finished, he nodded to the mare, and Ginny stepped forward with the other girls.
~*~*~*~*~*~
/\_/\_/\_/\_/\
Draco listened half-heartedly through the lecture, having heard much the same last year. As Ginny began to approach the edge of the forest, he raised himself slightly higher out of the pouch, looking on with mild interest. The mare had lowered her head to gently nudge the first girl, Ginny's friend Rose, who looked delighted, raising a gentle hand to stroke her cheek. While the unicorn accepted her touch amicably, doing much the same with the others, she suddenly froze at Ginny's approach. Ginny stopped, obviously bewildered, as the mare tossed her head, pawing with her forelegs, making plain her desire to escape the magical binding Hagrid had placed on her and bolt.
For a moment, Draco didn't understand, then remembered - "...They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns" - he sunk back into the depths of the bag, hearing the stamping of cloven hoofs slowly subside. He felt Ginny move forward again, murmuring gently to the mare, who apparently allowed Ginny to stroke her, though still whuffing suspiciously through her muzzle.
/\_/\_/\_/\_/\
~*~*~*~*~*~
Resting a gentle hand along the mare's neck, Ginny wondered for a moment what had startled her at first - then a flash of white fur caught her eye. Silver. Apparently, unicorns' distrust of males extended to other animals, as well. It seemed rather odd, but she could think of no other explanation, as the mare's distress had subsided only when Silver had hidden himself. And how had he known to do that, anyway? Unless he had merely been frightened of the unicorn - but she'd never known him to react like that before. Shaking her head, she put it aside to puzzle over later, along with the growing list of things that were simply not normal about her pet.
~*~*~*~*~*~