Authors Note: Argh! Sorry it took so long! I've just gone back to school, and everything is MAD ; I won't be able to update as regularly as I did before, but hopefully I won't have to leave it so long next time =X
---
By the next morning, the three of us acted as though nothing had happened. Ron was still a little on the moody side, but that was nothing new.
I scanned the headlines of the Prophet, searching for any mention of Wilder's name, and had mixed feelings when I didn't find it.
For one, that meant that he was still in hiding and had not been found, but on the other hand, it meant he hadn't done anything major yet. I sighed and put the paper away.
First lesson that day was Care of Magical Creatures. It was my first lesson with both Hagrid and Malfoy at the same time since Malfoy had been in the hospital wing, and I was feeling a bit jumpy.
"Mornin' class!" Hagrid bellowed, a huge smile on his face.
I cringed. Judging by Hagrid's good mood, he probably had some kind of horrifically dangerous creature waiting for today's lesson.
"This way!"
My worst fears confirmed, Hagrid began to lead us into the Forbidden Forest.
I hurried over to catch up with him.
"Hagrid? Where are we going?"
"Now, now 'Ermione. If I told yeh tha' it'd ruin the surprise!"
I looked pleadingly at him, but he just grinned under his bushy beard and said nothing.
We finally stopped walking when we reached a clearing. I tried not to glance over to Malfoy, who was surrounded once more by snickering Slytherins.
"Alrigh' class. Today we gunna be learnin' 'bout Griffins."
My heart did a horrible lurch.
"Now, Griffins are pretty dangerous animals, so yer gunna have to be careful, bu' we got one sleepin' jest behin' those bushes o'er there."
He pointed a gigantic finger to one corner of the clearing, and I wondered if he noticed that everybody moved instinctively away from it.
"Uh, Hagrid?" Ron asked, tentatively. "How do you know it's still asleep?"
I suddenly noticed that two bright gold eyes could be seen peering out from under some shrubs just nearby, and I gasped.
"H-Hagrid!"
The Griffin launched itself at Hagrid, claws and beak first. A scream escaped me, and I took a few reflexive steps backwards. I felt a hand behind me steady me as I almost tripped over a root, but I wasn't paying attention.
Hagrid was batting at the Griffin's claws, trying to hold it at arms length away from his face. He was getting horribly scratched.
By instinct, I pulled out my wand, pointed it at the creature, and yelled a stunning spell at the top of my lungs.
The Griffin turned to me, and glared at me with it's huge gold eyes before it fell to the ground.
Hagrid wiped his brow, and I noticed that his hand was shaking.
"W-well. Thank yeh, 'Ermione. Uh, ten points fer Gryffindor. That ... that should 'bout do it fer today."
It was obvious that Hagrid was trying to ignore the barely concealed laughter of the Slytherins. I could sense Harry and Ron were tensing up with anger, and hoped that Malfoy wasn't laughing.
"Uh, yeh, well, fer homework I'd like yeh all to find out as much as yeh can 'bout the Griffin, in, uh, preparation for next lesson, like."
"What? So that wasn't the lesson on Griffins? What was it, then?"
I closed my eyes, and counted to ten under my breath. It was Malfoy who had spoken. When I opened my eyes again, I could see that Hagrid was flushing slightly.
"That was just a, um, a test. To show yeh how dangerous Griffins are. Shouldn't be handled unless yeh know what yeh doin'."
Malfoy laughed. It was not the good-natured laugh that I had been growing quite fond of, it was a malicious laugh. A cold laugh.
"Does that mean you don't? Know what you're doing, I mean."
Hagrid glared at Malfoy, and then at the whole class.
"I gave yeh the rest of the period off! What are yeh standin' 'round 'ere fer?"
The class all hurriedly picked up their books, and power-walked out of the forest, casting worried looks at Hagrid over their shoulders.
As Malfoy brushed past me, I glared at him. He raised a single pale eyebrow, but said nothing.
---
Harry, Ron and I had stayed back to try and help Hagrid out, but he would have none of it. He insisted that his giving us the rest of the class off was a special treat.
The three of us trudged back up to the castle, and I noticed that Ron was carefully avoiding my eyes. Harry hadn't been as obvious, but I could tell that neither of them were happy with Malfoy and his cruel comments to Hagrid. Any other time, they would have been ranting about his horribleness, but they kept silent about it.
We were going to spend the rest of the period in the common room with the other 6th year Gryffindors. Harry and Ron played wizards chess, and after a while I grew bored with watching them and went up to the library.
On the way, I heard a familiar sneering voice behind me.
"Granger?"
I didn't turn around, and pretended I hadn't heard him. I still couldn't believe how cruel he'd been to Hagrid.
"Granger?" Malfoy said again, and hurried up beside me. I glared at him.
"What?" He said, angrily. "What did I do now?"
"What did you do?! You said Hagrid didn't know what he was doing! You made fun of him in front of the whole class! You-"
"Oh, for God's sake. You know it's all true, Granger. He's a hopeless case. He got attacked by the thing he was trying to-"
"I don't care! I hate the way you have to insult him all the time!"
"Insulting or not, you know it's true! All of it! Hagrid is a buffoon who-"
"HE IS NOT A BUFFOON!" I yelled, making him jump.
Malfoy ran a hand angrily through his hair, and glared at me.
"I know you and Potter and the Weasel think you have some kind of loyalty to that OAF but even you three are going to admit SOMEDAY that he's the most PATHETIC teacher at Hogwarts!"
I was so angry that I was shaking. It took every ounce of my self-control not to jinx him into next week.
"Maybe you just think he's hopeless because you never give him a chance!"
"I gave him a chance today, and look how well that turned out!"
"YOU DID NOT!"
"I did! I didn't say a single word until the bloody moron got himself attacked by his own class material!"
"And that's SO different from you getting mauled by Buckbeak after Hagrid SPECIFICALLY SAID-"
"Stop changing the subject you infuriating mud-"
He stopped himself, but only just in time. I could feel my eyes bugging out of my head, but I didn't care. When I spoke, my voice came out dangerously low.
"What did you just call me?"
A faint flush was rising on Malfoy's face, and he took a step away from me.
"Look, I-"
"You PROMISED me that you'd never call me that again."
"I know. It just slipped out, Granger, I'm-"
"Slipped out. Right. Well, you know what? I might just let a little thing of my own slip out, Malfoy. I am sick of you being nasty to my friends, calling me a mudblood even when you promise you won't-"
"So, what then? If you're sick of those things, you're sick of ME."
My glare deepened.
"Right. Maybe I am" I said, softly, and pushed past him into the corridor.
He didn't follow me.
---
By the next morning, the three of us acted as though nothing had happened. Ron was still a little on the moody side, but that was nothing new.
I scanned the headlines of the Prophet, searching for any mention of Wilder's name, and had mixed feelings when I didn't find it.
For one, that meant that he was still in hiding and had not been found, but on the other hand, it meant he hadn't done anything major yet. I sighed and put the paper away.
First lesson that day was Care of Magical Creatures. It was my first lesson with both Hagrid and Malfoy at the same time since Malfoy had been in the hospital wing, and I was feeling a bit jumpy.
"Mornin' class!" Hagrid bellowed, a huge smile on his face.
I cringed. Judging by Hagrid's good mood, he probably had some kind of horrifically dangerous creature waiting for today's lesson.
"This way!"
My worst fears confirmed, Hagrid began to lead us into the Forbidden Forest.
I hurried over to catch up with him.
"Hagrid? Where are we going?"
"Now, now 'Ermione. If I told yeh tha' it'd ruin the surprise!"
I looked pleadingly at him, but he just grinned under his bushy beard and said nothing.
We finally stopped walking when we reached a clearing. I tried not to glance over to Malfoy, who was surrounded once more by snickering Slytherins.
"Alrigh' class. Today we gunna be learnin' 'bout Griffins."
My heart did a horrible lurch.
"Now, Griffins are pretty dangerous animals, so yer gunna have to be careful, bu' we got one sleepin' jest behin' those bushes o'er there."
He pointed a gigantic finger to one corner of the clearing, and I wondered if he noticed that everybody moved instinctively away from it.
"Uh, Hagrid?" Ron asked, tentatively. "How do you know it's still asleep?"
I suddenly noticed that two bright gold eyes could be seen peering out from under some shrubs just nearby, and I gasped.
"H-Hagrid!"
The Griffin launched itself at Hagrid, claws and beak first. A scream escaped me, and I took a few reflexive steps backwards. I felt a hand behind me steady me as I almost tripped over a root, but I wasn't paying attention.
Hagrid was batting at the Griffin's claws, trying to hold it at arms length away from his face. He was getting horribly scratched.
By instinct, I pulled out my wand, pointed it at the creature, and yelled a stunning spell at the top of my lungs.
The Griffin turned to me, and glared at me with it's huge gold eyes before it fell to the ground.
Hagrid wiped his brow, and I noticed that his hand was shaking.
"W-well. Thank yeh, 'Ermione. Uh, ten points fer Gryffindor. That ... that should 'bout do it fer today."
It was obvious that Hagrid was trying to ignore the barely concealed laughter of the Slytherins. I could sense Harry and Ron were tensing up with anger, and hoped that Malfoy wasn't laughing.
"Uh, yeh, well, fer homework I'd like yeh all to find out as much as yeh can 'bout the Griffin, in, uh, preparation for next lesson, like."
"What? So that wasn't the lesson on Griffins? What was it, then?"
I closed my eyes, and counted to ten under my breath. It was Malfoy who had spoken. When I opened my eyes again, I could see that Hagrid was flushing slightly.
"That was just a, um, a test. To show yeh how dangerous Griffins are. Shouldn't be handled unless yeh know what yeh doin'."
Malfoy laughed. It was not the good-natured laugh that I had been growing quite fond of, it was a malicious laugh. A cold laugh.
"Does that mean you don't? Know what you're doing, I mean."
Hagrid glared at Malfoy, and then at the whole class.
"I gave yeh the rest of the period off! What are yeh standin' 'round 'ere fer?"
The class all hurriedly picked up their books, and power-walked out of the forest, casting worried looks at Hagrid over their shoulders.
As Malfoy brushed past me, I glared at him. He raised a single pale eyebrow, but said nothing.
---
Harry, Ron and I had stayed back to try and help Hagrid out, but he would have none of it. He insisted that his giving us the rest of the class off was a special treat.
The three of us trudged back up to the castle, and I noticed that Ron was carefully avoiding my eyes. Harry hadn't been as obvious, but I could tell that neither of them were happy with Malfoy and his cruel comments to Hagrid. Any other time, they would have been ranting about his horribleness, but they kept silent about it.
We were going to spend the rest of the period in the common room with the other 6th year Gryffindors. Harry and Ron played wizards chess, and after a while I grew bored with watching them and went up to the library.
On the way, I heard a familiar sneering voice behind me.
"Granger?"
I didn't turn around, and pretended I hadn't heard him. I still couldn't believe how cruel he'd been to Hagrid.
"Granger?" Malfoy said again, and hurried up beside me. I glared at him.
"What?" He said, angrily. "What did I do now?"
"What did you do?! You said Hagrid didn't know what he was doing! You made fun of him in front of the whole class! You-"
"Oh, for God's sake. You know it's all true, Granger. He's a hopeless case. He got attacked by the thing he was trying to-"
"I don't care! I hate the way you have to insult him all the time!"
"Insulting or not, you know it's true! All of it! Hagrid is a buffoon who-"
"HE IS NOT A BUFFOON!" I yelled, making him jump.
Malfoy ran a hand angrily through his hair, and glared at me.
"I know you and Potter and the Weasel think you have some kind of loyalty to that OAF but even you three are going to admit SOMEDAY that he's the most PATHETIC teacher at Hogwarts!"
I was so angry that I was shaking. It took every ounce of my self-control not to jinx him into next week.
"Maybe you just think he's hopeless because you never give him a chance!"
"I gave him a chance today, and look how well that turned out!"
"YOU DID NOT!"
"I did! I didn't say a single word until the bloody moron got himself attacked by his own class material!"
"And that's SO different from you getting mauled by Buckbeak after Hagrid SPECIFICALLY SAID-"
"Stop changing the subject you infuriating mud-"
He stopped himself, but only just in time. I could feel my eyes bugging out of my head, but I didn't care. When I spoke, my voice came out dangerously low.
"What did you just call me?"
A faint flush was rising on Malfoy's face, and he took a step away from me.
"Look, I-"
"You PROMISED me that you'd never call me that again."
"I know. It just slipped out, Granger, I'm-"
"Slipped out. Right. Well, you know what? I might just let a little thing of my own slip out, Malfoy. I am sick of you being nasty to my friends, calling me a mudblood even when you promise you won't-"
"So, what then? If you're sick of those things, you're sick of ME."
My glare deepened.
"Right. Maybe I am" I said, softly, and pushed past him into the corridor.
He didn't follow me.