CHAPTER 7:
THE SIXTH YEAR BEGINS
Harry looked up and down the length of the train. The creature couldn't have just disappeared, could it?
"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid's voice called from behind him. "Ya look a littl' sick."
"Hi, Hagrid," said Harry, spinning around. "I'm fine. Hagrid, you didn't happen to see this, uh, thing on the train's roof, have you?" He had a feeling that whatever this 'thing' was had something to do with Hagrid.
"Thing?" Hagrid repeated. "Uh, sorry, Harry. Don' seem ter know what yer talkin' abou', there."
"Really? You don't have any creatures with you lately?"
"Course, I do. I am the Care o' Magical Creatures Professor, after all."
"Anything with big red eyes?"
Hagrid thought for a moment. "Unless yer talkin' 'bout Fang, then no. 'Fraid not, Harry."
"What do you mean? What happened to him?"
"Gotta face full o' skunk musk earlier today. Poor bloke's always stickin' his nose in places it doesn' belong."
"Hey, Harry!" Ron's voice called. "You coming, or not?"
"Yeah, in a minute," Harry called back. He then said goodbye to Hagrid and followed Ron and Hermione into the thestral-drawn carriages, which carried them up to the castle of Hogwarts, where the start-of-term feast was being held.
***
Harry awoke in his four-poster the next morning and headed down into the Great Hall for breakfast. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, he picked up his schedule and opened it. To his dismay, he still had Potions and Divination.
Ron was struggling with his new Monster book. "Why would they even bother to make a revised addition of this book?" Ron groaned in frustration.
"Well, new magical creatures are being discovered all the time, aren't they?" Hermione informed him. "I've already begun reading it. Some of the newest creatures are rather interesting."
"Really?" said Harry. "Name a few of them."
Hermione gently stroked the spine of her book, causing it to fall open harmlessly. She leafed through the pages until she came to one creature that she liked. "Here's one.
PERYTON
XXXXX
Occasionally seen flying above the Mediterranean Sea, the peryton has
the body of a stag, is covered in feathers, and sports two large wings
on its back. Although graceful at first glance, the peryton is
strictly carnivorous and highly dangerous. It has many long, sharp
teeth and, oddly, casts the shadow of a man until it kills its first
human victim. For some strange reason, after that first kill, it will
never harm another human in its lifetime."
"Weird," Ron remarked. "You'd think it would keep killing humans after that first taste of blood."
The bell rang and Harry hurried towards his first class.
***
Later on, Hagrid had asked Harry if he could come over for tea.
"How's yer firs' day back been?" Hagrid asked.
"Not too bad," Harry replied. He spotted a large cage on Hagrid's table, covered with a cloth. Knowing that Hagrid was usually interested in creatures that other people thought of as monsters, Harry began to get slightly nervous. "Hagrid, what's in that cage over there?"
"Well, I really shouldn', but what could it hurt?" He stood up, walked over to the cage, and removed the cloth.
Harry saw a bunch of lights flying around the cage like fireflies. "Um, Hagrid, are those pixies?"
"Pixies? Oh, no, Harry. I wouldn' bring pixies ter school after what happened durin' yer second year. No, these are one o' them new creatures. Cucuios. May look like large fireflies, bu' their actually small birds tha' can produce their own light. Found on'y in the West Indies."
"Are they, um, dangerous?"
"No, 'course not." He opened the cage and gently grabbed one of the cucuios with his enormous hand. Walking over to Harry, he opened his hand and let the tiny bird jump into Harry's.
It looked just like a small, black bird, except for the firefly-like pustule on its backside.
They continued to talk about Hagrid's newest creatures until Hermione said, "It's getting pretty late. We'd better head back up to the castle."
Harry looked out the window. The sun had just sunk behind the treetops of the Forbidden Forest. "Yeah, alright," he replied. "See you tomorrow, Hagrid."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione crept quickly across the school grounds towards the castle, since Harry didn't bring his invisibility cloak with him. They were halfway across the grounds when Harry heard a sound that chilled him to the bone. He had never heard anything like it before, but it sounded like a cross between metal scratching metal and a woman screaming. And it was coming from the other side of the grounds. "Did you guys here that?" he whispered.
Ron and Hermione nodded their heads, their faces pale.
Looking ahead towards the source of the sound, he saw those telltale red eyes looking at him in the distance. "Guys," he said in a hoarse whisper. "I-I don't think we're alone out here!"
"Should we risk running?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide in terror.
"I don't think I can run," Harry replied. "I-I feel like I've been paralyzed."
Like before, the creature just stood there, its enormous, red eyes staring at them without the slightest bit of expression. Even at that distance, the eyes still appeared huge. Then, without warning, the creature sped towards them.
All Harry could do was watch as the creature glided towards them, shooting across the grounds at a tremendous pace. Its enormous wings were unfolded, but they didn't seem to be flapping.
The creature stopped abruptly just in front of them. This was the first time that Harry got a good look at the thing. It was about 7 feet tall, with the body like that of a human torso covered in black hair or feathers, he couldn't tell which. Two large, bat-like wings were spread out from its back, and it stood on two short legs. And let's not forget those eyes. There didn't seem to be a mouth or nose, but it did have those big, red, quaffle-sized eyes that Harry now dreaded so much.
"That's one hell of a fairy!" Ron commented, gazing up at the bizarre, frightening monster standing before him.
"Run!" Harry shouted, and he sprinted towards the castle at top speed, Ron and Hermione at his sides. He could hear the creature shuffling along behind him. He ran up the stone steps towards the great oak doors, skipping three stairs at a time. He reached out and grabbed the bronze doorknob, turned, and pushed it open. Ron and Hermione sprinted in after him, and he closed the door with a bang, shutting the creature outside. He then slumped to the stone floor with his back against the door, clutching the stitch in his chest.
"What...was...that?!!" Ron wheezed heavily.
"I...don't...know," Hermione breathed. "But, whatever it is, it can't get inside."
SSSCCCRRRAAATTTCCCHHH-THUD-CLICK. SSSCCCRRRAAATTTCCCHHH-THUD-CLICK. SSSCCCRRRAAATTTCCCHHH-THUD-CLICK.
"What's that?" Harry asked, but he knew too well what it was. He looked towards the end of the dark hall and saw those red eyes coming towards him.
TO BE CONTINUED
THE SIXTH YEAR BEGINS
Harry looked up and down the length of the train. The creature couldn't have just disappeared, could it?
"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid's voice called from behind him. "Ya look a littl' sick."
"Hi, Hagrid," said Harry, spinning around. "I'm fine. Hagrid, you didn't happen to see this, uh, thing on the train's roof, have you?" He had a feeling that whatever this 'thing' was had something to do with Hagrid.
"Thing?" Hagrid repeated. "Uh, sorry, Harry. Don' seem ter know what yer talkin' abou', there."
"Really? You don't have any creatures with you lately?"
"Course, I do. I am the Care o' Magical Creatures Professor, after all."
"Anything with big red eyes?"
Hagrid thought for a moment. "Unless yer talkin' 'bout Fang, then no. 'Fraid not, Harry."
"What do you mean? What happened to him?"
"Gotta face full o' skunk musk earlier today. Poor bloke's always stickin' his nose in places it doesn' belong."
"Hey, Harry!" Ron's voice called. "You coming, or not?"
"Yeah, in a minute," Harry called back. He then said goodbye to Hagrid and followed Ron and Hermione into the thestral-drawn carriages, which carried them up to the castle of Hogwarts, where the start-of-term feast was being held.
***
Harry awoke in his four-poster the next morning and headed down into the Great Hall for breakfast. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, he picked up his schedule and opened it. To his dismay, he still had Potions and Divination.
Ron was struggling with his new Monster book. "Why would they even bother to make a revised addition of this book?" Ron groaned in frustration.
"Well, new magical creatures are being discovered all the time, aren't they?" Hermione informed him. "I've already begun reading it. Some of the newest creatures are rather interesting."
"Really?" said Harry. "Name a few of them."
Hermione gently stroked the spine of her book, causing it to fall open harmlessly. She leafed through the pages until she came to one creature that she liked. "Here's one.
PERYTON
XXXXX
Occasionally seen flying above the Mediterranean Sea, the peryton has
the body of a stag, is covered in feathers, and sports two large wings
on its back. Although graceful at first glance, the peryton is
strictly carnivorous and highly dangerous. It has many long, sharp
teeth and, oddly, casts the shadow of a man until it kills its first
human victim. For some strange reason, after that first kill, it will
never harm another human in its lifetime."
"Weird," Ron remarked. "You'd think it would keep killing humans after that first taste of blood."
The bell rang and Harry hurried towards his first class.
***
Later on, Hagrid had asked Harry if he could come over for tea.
"How's yer firs' day back been?" Hagrid asked.
"Not too bad," Harry replied. He spotted a large cage on Hagrid's table, covered with a cloth. Knowing that Hagrid was usually interested in creatures that other people thought of as monsters, Harry began to get slightly nervous. "Hagrid, what's in that cage over there?"
"Well, I really shouldn', but what could it hurt?" He stood up, walked over to the cage, and removed the cloth.
Harry saw a bunch of lights flying around the cage like fireflies. "Um, Hagrid, are those pixies?"
"Pixies? Oh, no, Harry. I wouldn' bring pixies ter school after what happened durin' yer second year. No, these are one o' them new creatures. Cucuios. May look like large fireflies, bu' their actually small birds tha' can produce their own light. Found on'y in the West Indies."
"Are they, um, dangerous?"
"No, 'course not." He opened the cage and gently grabbed one of the cucuios with his enormous hand. Walking over to Harry, he opened his hand and let the tiny bird jump into Harry's.
It looked just like a small, black bird, except for the firefly-like pustule on its backside.
They continued to talk about Hagrid's newest creatures until Hermione said, "It's getting pretty late. We'd better head back up to the castle."
Harry looked out the window. The sun had just sunk behind the treetops of the Forbidden Forest. "Yeah, alright," he replied. "See you tomorrow, Hagrid."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione crept quickly across the school grounds towards the castle, since Harry didn't bring his invisibility cloak with him. They were halfway across the grounds when Harry heard a sound that chilled him to the bone. He had never heard anything like it before, but it sounded like a cross between metal scratching metal and a woman screaming. And it was coming from the other side of the grounds. "Did you guys here that?" he whispered.
Ron and Hermione nodded their heads, their faces pale.
Looking ahead towards the source of the sound, he saw those telltale red eyes looking at him in the distance. "Guys," he said in a hoarse whisper. "I-I don't think we're alone out here!"
"Should we risk running?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide in terror.
"I don't think I can run," Harry replied. "I-I feel like I've been paralyzed."
Like before, the creature just stood there, its enormous, red eyes staring at them without the slightest bit of expression. Even at that distance, the eyes still appeared huge. Then, without warning, the creature sped towards them.
All Harry could do was watch as the creature glided towards them, shooting across the grounds at a tremendous pace. Its enormous wings were unfolded, but they didn't seem to be flapping.
The creature stopped abruptly just in front of them. This was the first time that Harry got a good look at the thing. It was about 7 feet tall, with the body like that of a human torso covered in black hair or feathers, he couldn't tell which. Two large, bat-like wings were spread out from its back, and it stood on two short legs. And let's not forget those eyes. There didn't seem to be a mouth or nose, but it did have those big, red, quaffle-sized eyes that Harry now dreaded so much.
"That's one hell of a fairy!" Ron commented, gazing up at the bizarre, frightening monster standing before him.
"Run!" Harry shouted, and he sprinted towards the castle at top speed, Ron and Hermione at his sides. He could hear the creature shuffling along behind him. He ran up the stone steps towards the great oak doors, skipping three stairs at a time. He reached out and grabbed the bronze doorknob, turned, and pushed it open. Ron and Hermione sprinted in after him, and he closed the door with a bang, shutting the creature outside. He then slumped to the stone floor with his back against the door, clutching the stitch in his chest.
"What...was...that?!!" Ron wheezed heavily.
"I...don't...know," Hermione breathed. "But, whatever it is, it can't get inside."
SSSCCCRRRAAATTTCCCHHH-THUD-CLICK. SSSCCCRRRAAATTTCCCHHH-THUD-CLICK. SSSCCCRRRAAATTTCCCHHH-THUD-CLICK.
"What's that?" Harry asked, but he knew too well what it was. He looked towards the end of the dark hall and saw those red eyes coming towards him.
TO BE CONTINUED