Not my best work, I'm afraid to say. Plus, life gets in the way. I'll be honest, bits and pieces of this chapter had been swimming in my brain that I think you'd love!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8

Talons

"I finally understand why I was told over and over again to never do drugs when I was little," Rin said as they left Divination. "You'll end up like Trelawney."

Harry tried to chuckle but Trelawney's prediction still kept him in low spirits. Everyone was giving Harry skulking glances throughout Transfigurations. No one said anything even when Professor McGonagall transformed into a cat after giving a lecture about Animagi (witches and wizards who could turn into animals at will).

"Really, what has gotten into you all today?" Professor McGonagall asked, turning back into herself with a soft pop, and stared at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not gotten an applause from a class."

Everyone's heads turned towards Harry who sat in the back of the room. Then Hermione raised her hand.

"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class and we were reading tea leaves and -"

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which one of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone stared at her.

"Me," Harry finally said.

"I see," said Professor McGonagall. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student every year since she arrived at this school. Merlin's beard, she even predicted Professor Kirigakure's death when she first started teaching here."

The entire classroom gasped.

"Even Professor Shura?" asked Lavender.

Professor McGonagall waved her hand dismissively. "She was very… verbal when she told me. It's been three years and she's still very much alive. Do not take Professor Trelawney's predictions too seriously. Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it."

When Transfigurations was finished, they joined the crowd thundering towards the Great Hall for lunch.

"Ron, cheer up," said Hermione who noticed that the redhead was quiet. She pushed a dish of stew towards him. "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."

"I know I'm not gonna take her seriously," Rin said as he helped himself to a slice of chicken pot pie. "Trelawney's clearly smoking something and it's not whatever's in her fireplace."

"You smelled it too?" asked Harry who felt a little better after McGonagall's pep talk.

Rin opened his mouth to answer but Ron interrupted them, "Harry," he started in a low, serious voice, "you haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"

"Yeah, I have," Harry answered. "I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'."

Ron let his fork drop with a clatter. He then noticed that Yukio was entering the Great Hall with his Ravenclaw friends. He waved the bespeckled boy over.

"Hey, guys," Yukio greeted. "How're classes so far?"

"Not so good," Ron answered. He then explained what happened in Divinations and what Harry just shared.

"A Grim?" Yukio asked for clarity.

"Probably a stray dog," Hermione dismissed.

Ron looked at Hermione like she'd grown a second head. "Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's - that's bad," he said. "My uncle Bilius saw one and - and he died twenty-four hours later!"

"Coincidence," Hermione said airily as she poured herself some pumpkin juice.

Harry let out a sigh. "What are your thoughts, Yukio? Care to share your opinion?" he asked.

Yukio gripped his chin in thought for a moment. "This black dog you saw - the Grim - did it do anything to you?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, the Knight Bus showed up before anything happened."

"Were you anywhere near a cemetery or churchyard?"

"Don't think so. It was pretty dark and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Yukio crossed his arms and closed his eyes with his head down as if he were very deep in thought. He then opened his eyes and looked straight at Harry.

"You probably just saw a regular black dog," he concluded. "Grims are frequently seen in graveyards and churchyards, like I said. I doubt one would just show up in the middle of a Muggle neighborhood even if it was dark outside."

"There you are, then," Hermoine said in a superior tone. "Someone sees a Grim, they die of fright."

"What if it was a demon then?" asked Rin.

"That could be," said Yukio. "I read in Demons and Magical Creatures: What's the Difference? that large, black dogs seen in graveyards have many names, one of which is the Grim."

"So I saw a demon?" asked Harry.

"That or a regular stray dog," Yukio answered. A growl came from his stomach. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to get some lunch." He then walked off to the Ravenclaw table.

Hermione then pulled out her Arithmancy book and propped it against the juice jug.

"I think Divinations seems very wooly," she said, searching for her page. "A lot of guesswork, if you ask me."

"Wooly?" Rin asked Harry.

"She thinks the subject is rubbish," Harry answered.

"There was nothing wooly about the Grim in that cup," Ron said hotly.

"You didn't seem so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep," Hermione said coolly.

"Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being bad at something for a change!" Ron argued.

That hit a nerve. Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits of meat and carrot flew anywhere. Rin and Harry flinched.

"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared to my Arithmancy class!"

She snatched up her bag and stormed away, leaving the boys to sweatdrop.

"What's she talking about?" Ron asked Rin and Harry. "She hasn't been to an Arithmancy class yet."

~0~0~0~

Harry was pleased to be out of the castle after lunch. Yesterday's rain cleared; the sky was a clear, pale gray, and the grass was springy and damp as they set off for their first ever Care for Magical Creatures class.

Ron and Hermione were not speaking to each other, making Rin nervous. He'd never been caught in the crosshairs of friends arguing, at least to this degree. He hoped that this was only a short-term thing and not something that would last the entire year. Rin and Harry walked beside Ron and Hermione in silence as they made their way to Hagrid's hut located at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. When the group saw three familiar faces, they realized that they were having this class with the Slytherins. Malfoy was talking animatedly with Crabbe and Goyle who laughed stupidly, making Rin and Harry pretty sure what they were laughing about.

Seeing Harry's mood falter, Rin said, "Look at it this way. At least in this class we'll see which of those three is the dumbest."

Harry snorted, achieving Rin's goal.

Hagrid stood in front of his hut with his boarhound, Fang, sitting right next to him, both looking impatient to start.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" He guided the class towards a paddock where nothing was there.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid called out. "That's it - make sure yeh can see - now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books -"

"How?" asked Draco Malfoy's cold, drawling voice.

"Eh?"

Another Slytherin, Renzo Shima, butted in, "What he's trying to say is how do we open our textbooks without getting mauled?"

While Harry was grateful that Shima stopped Malfoy from berating Hagrid further, he didn't really know what to think of the Japanese boy. Sure, he was also in Slytherin but he didn't act like an obnoxious bully like Malfoy and his crew did.

Everyone took out their copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. Everyone had their books bound with book straps, ropes, binder clips, belts, or (in Hermione's case) Spellotape.

"Hasn' - hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" asked Hagrid, looking downtrodden.

The class all shook their heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," Hagrid said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look!"

He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite back, but Hagrid ran a giant finger down the book's spine, causing it to shiver then fall open and lay quietly in his hands.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

"I…I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" Malfoy exclaimed sarcastically. "Really witty, giving us books that try to rip our heads off!"

"I said mauled," Shima corrected softly.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. Hagrid was looking downcast and Harry wanted Hagrid's first lesson to be a success. Rin thought the same thing. When no one was looking, he slowly loosened his book strap and waited for his chance.

"Righ' then," said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his edge, "so…so yeh've got yer books an' …an' …now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go get 'em. Hang on…"

He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight.

"God, this place is going to the dogs," Malfoy said loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him…"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated.

"Careful, Potter, there's a Dementor behind you," Malfoy taunted.

Now was Rin's chance. "Hey, Malfoy," he said. As soon as the Slytherin turned his attention towards Rin, he swung his textbook in Malfoy's direction. It broke free from Rin's bookstrap and it charged towards Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. The three of them screamed in fright as the book chased them until they climbed on the fencing of the paddock. The whole time all the Gryffindors were laughing hysterically.

"I'm definitely telling my father about this!" Malfoy yelled at Rin.

Rin shrugged. "What will you tell him? That my textbook broke free from my defective bookstrap and attacked you?" he implied. "Can't go running to Daddy every time something bad happens to you."

"Burn," Shima murmured. Ron snickered at that.

Lavender Brown suddenly squealed and pointed towards the opposite end of the paddock. Trotting towards the class were what Rin could only describe as a cross between a horse and an eagle. They had the bodies, tails, and hind legs of horses while it had the front legs, wings, and head of eagles, complete with large beaks, sharp talons, and piercing orange eyes.

Rin quickly scooped up his textbook and stroked the spine before it could maul him. Malfoy and his goons quickly slipped off the fencing and faced Hagrid who was leading the creatures with chain leashes.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid announced happily as he tethered the creatures to the fencing posts. "Beau'iful, aren't they?"

Rin's eyes widened at the sight of them. Excited, he hurried over to the paddock to get a closer look, throwing caution to the wind at the sight of the strange creatures. "These look so cool!" he exclaimed. For some reason, however, the hippogriffs closest to Rin backed away from him as if in fear. Rin was too in awe of them to realize this strange behavior.

"Eager, aren't yeh, Rin?" Hagrid asked. Rin nodded. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hesitantly approached the fence as well. "Now," Hagrid continued, "firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't ever insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Rin's eyes landed on one of the hippogriffs. It squawked in fright and backed away. Rin frowned. He couldn't help but feel like something like this had happened before. Why were so many magical creatures afraid of him?

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the first move," Hagrid continued, not noticing the creatures' strange behavior. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, and yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then back away sharpish 'cause those talons hurt.

"Right - who wants ter go first?" asked Hagrid. Everyone stepped back except Harry. "Good man, Harry!" Hagrid roared. "Right then - let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

Hagrid pulled a gray hippogriff away from the others, and slipped off its leather collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath. Malfoy's eyes narrowed with malicious intent.

Hagrid instructed Harry how to properly bow to Buckbeak which he did, being careful not to blink. At first nothing happened, but then the hippogriff bowed as well. Rin was astounded at the display, especially when Hagrid allowed Harry to ride Buckbeak. Everyone felt emboldened at the display and climbed into the paddock to try as well.

Ron and Hermione practiced on one while Harry watched. Rin and Neville, however, were having the worst luck with theirs. Neville hastily stumbled backwards as the hippogriff refused to bow to him. Rin tried but the creature screeched in fright and rose to its hind legs.

"Whoa there!" Hagrid exclaimed as he yanked on the hippogriff's chain, making its talons narrowly miss Rin's head. "Yeh two alrigh'?" Both boys nodded and shakily walked towards the fence for their own safety.

"I swear, every magical creature I've ever encountered is scared of me," Rin said to Neville.

"I don't think any magical creature likes me," Neville whimpered.

A high-pitched, girlish scream interrupted their laments. Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar and chain as Malfoy laid curled up in a ball in the grass, blood stains blooming over his robes.

"I'm dying!" Malfoy cried dramatically. "I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

Fellow Slytherin Izumo Kamiki rolled her red eyes. "What an idiot," she sighed. "That's what happens when you insult a hippogriff. Serves him right for not paying attention." The hippogriff she was petting could only nod in agreement.

Hagrid scooped Malfoy into his arms, dismissed the class, and took the injured boy to the Hospital Wing.

In addition to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to Angela Lansbury and Robbie Coltrane. Rest in peace, Mrs. Potts and Hagrid. You will both be missed.

I'm glad that I included Shima and Izumo. I didn't want them to be one-off characters for one story in particular.

Please review! You can make it my belated birthday present!