Hello! I'm back! And, I'm overly excited to be writing something new! Yaaay!

Everyone read Braids and Boils; it's coming along really well!

This chapter is somewhat short, but it's purely for humor/Malfoy content (all for you, Lindsey) and I'm trying to start showing our little group in classes.

This chapter is dedicated to emlythekool, the first person ever to have read and reviewed both my stories!

Okay, now just so that I didn't have to completely retype Rita Skeeter's Scoop, this scene begins right after the trio (excuse me…quartet) read the article about Hagrid that the Skeeter cow published.

Harry finished reading and looked up at Ron, whose mouth was hanging open.

"How did she find out?" he whispered.

But that wasn't what was bothering Harry.

"What do you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Malfoy. "What's this rubbish about him" — he pointed at Crabbe —"getting a bad bite off a flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"

Crabbe was sniggering, apparently very pleased with himself.

"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," said Malfoy, his eyes glinting. "Half-giant…and there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young…None of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all…They'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha…"

"You —"

"Are you paying attention over there?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice carried over to the boys; the girls were all clustered around the unicorn now, stroking it. Tina shot Harry and Ron a questioning glance, but Ron shook his head. Harry was so angry that the Daily Prophet article shook in his hands as he turned to stare unseeingly at the unicorn, whose many magical properties Professor Grubbly-Plank was now enumerating in a loud voice, so that the boys could hear too. Tina broke away from the group of girls surrounding Professor Grubbly-Plank and the unicorn to interrogate the boys.

"What did Malfoy show you?" she asked in a whisper, pretending to point and "ooh" at the unicorn like everyone else was.

Harry thrust the newspaper into her hands (she caught it clumsily between two fingers), still shaking too much to speak. Tina's expression became angrier and more disbelieving as she read each line.

"I…she…Malfoy!" she cried, stomping over to him. Professor Grubbly-Plank was now surrounded by the group of girls completely and could neither see nor stop what was happening. Tina seized Malfoy by the shoulder and whirled him around so fast that Goyle had to catch him.

"You…" she snarled. "You…you little…"

Malfoy only grinned maliciously in her face. "What's the matter?" he asked in mock innocence. "Oh, mad about your little friend? Or should I say big?" His two cronies laughed stupidly at his sides.

"How…" sputtered Tina. "How could you possibly twist reality so much?"

"It's not twisted," said Malfoy, sneering. "It's completely true but…I made it more exciting."

Tina's loathing expression deepened and her hand twitched at her side. "That doesn't change the fact that flobberworms can't bite." She snapped. "And the only reason you got attacked was because you're a stupid, condescending little jerk."

The smirk vanished from Malfoy's face.

"You watch your mouth, Paki," he breathed.

WHAM!

It happened so fast that at first Harry thought he'd imagined it. But moments later, his suspicions were confirmed: Tina had kicked Malfoy—hard. He was bent double on the ground, gasping, his hands just beneath his stomach. Tina looked slightly out of breath as well, but the dirty look on her face had mixed with one of triumph as she watched him lying in the grass.

"Never," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Never go near Hagrid or any of my friends again!"

And she turned on her heel and stormed back towards the unicorn. But halfway there, Tina turned around as though she had suddenly remembered something else.

"Oh yeah," she said, lifting Malfoy's face so it was level with her own. "Don't call me that. Ever."

Harry and Ron jogged after her. "Wow," said Ron. "Who knew?"

"That was good," Harry agreed, his anger briefly smothered by shock. "But it won't help; you know he's going to keep being awful to all of us."

"I know," replied Tina. "But that should hold him for a little while, anyway."

She chuckled through her rage then went back to the unicorn.

"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like…proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters…"

"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as they went up the steps.

"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

Tina mouthed silently at the back of Parvati's head as she walked away. Parvati had been very cool toward Harry since the ball. He supposed that he ought to have paid her a bit more attention (Tina had said that Parvati herself mentioned this), but she seemed to have had a good time all the same. She was certainly telling anyone who would listen that she had made arrangements to meet the boy from Beauxbatons in Hogsmeade on the next weekend trip.

"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni —"

"Look at this!" Harry snarled, and he shoved the Daily Prophet article under Hermione's nose.

Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's.

"How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"

"No," said Harry, leading the way over to the Gryffindor table and throwing himself into a chair, furious. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."

"Note the word 'ferreting'," said Tina. Ron snorted but put on a straight face immediately.

"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.

"We'd have seen her in the garden!" said Ron. "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into the school grounds anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her…"

"Well what if she had someone listen for her?" suggested Tina, unaware of the fact that she was spreading butter over her plate. "Nah, she wouldn't be that accurate with her facts then, would she…"

"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, ladling chicken casserole onto is plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes and listen to people."

"Like you and Ron did, you mean," said Hermione.

"We weren't trying to hear him!" said Ron indignantly. "We didn't have any choice. The stupid prat, talking about his giantess mother where anyone could've heard him!"

"We've got to go and see him," said Harry. "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back…you do want him back?" he shot at Hermione.

"I — well, I'm not going o pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once — but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's furious stare.

"Besides," Tina put in quickly. "That's not what's important. We've got to make Hagrid remember that he's our friend, no matter what that pathetic excuse for a human being writes."

Short, I know. But it was pretty cool. Not a huge thing, which is great as I've just posted a HUGE chapter anyway, and my brain's worn out from Geometry.

You will never use proofs in real life.

Can't think of much to say now…REVIEW!

Tekvah Ariel- So glad you liked the Cedric bit! I had to put it in once the idea hit me, because it was such an insignificant little speck of dust that it seemed crucial. Does that make sense? Yeah, the arguments are a little annoying, because you can't smack Ron upside the head for being a git. Nope, Dolores ain't coming yet, but she'll be here soon enough…

Venus725- Oh my gosh! I'm practically crying, your review was so nice. If anything could have made the hours I slaved (dramatization) on this chapter worth the struggle, that was it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Well, I didn't hex the dragon as you can see, but he does seem a bit worse for the wear. Getting kicked in 'sensitive areas' can do that to people. At least for a minute or so. Looking forward to the next chapter of the Dragon's Truths…but only if Hermione hurts said dragon…

Padfoot, Prongs and Moony- Long review mode or not, I'm glad you reviewed. Yep, the Michael Corner thing was cool, but it wasn't my idea, it was Anandini77. Again.

Funness- Yay! That's an unbelievably huge comment for me. Thanks!

Mia Diablo- Love your name. Very cool. Yes, I'm into the Indian pop music scene, the movies just suck you in with those tunes. Nope, I'm North Indian, half Punjabi and half Bengali to be exact. I guess you could say I'm the Half-Blood Princess…haha.

Padfootprongz- I think this chapter granted several of your wishes. Sirius is coming, and as for Harry and Hermione…I'm afraid I can't agree…Tekvah Ariel might, though. Read her fic!

Emlythekool- Hey! Congrats on being the first person ever to have read and reviewed both my stories. It's a rare feat, considering that so few people know the Mediator. ::sigh:: But anyway, thanks for all the reviews, they're super nice! Desi pop is Indian pop music, actually. But I do have a heck of a sweet tooth…