Harry,
Hermione, and Ron were nearing the Entrance Door to the castle so
that they get out and head directly to Care of Magical Creatures
class, when...
"Wheeeeeeeeee," said a funny high pitched
voice. It came from above.
It was Peeves, the poltergeist,
dropping water balloons and dungbombs on some second year girls. They
were soaked with plenty of water, and looked very miserable. Harry
looked up at him.
"Master of Disaster," at those words,
Ron laughed, "picking on some girls again?"
However,
Peeves continuing on causing chaos and the distraction that he
usually made.
"The joker," muttered Hermione softly,
shooting Peeves a disappointed look.
Ron was checking his
wristwatch.
"Come on folks, or we'll be late," he said
quickly.
The three got out of the castle, still hearing
the voice of Peeves's chaos. Before them, stood the tall thin trees
of the Dark Forest. Hagrid was just coming out of his little hut,
dragging Fang back inside and feeding him some dog food.
The
Slytherins were soon arriving, and they were extremely bored. They
never ever like Hagrid, not one bit, just because he was a friend of
Harry, Hermione, and Ron, and another reason was because he was a
half giant, and his mother, Fridwulfa, killed innocent people,
(that's what Rita Skeeter said in Harry's fourth year).
"Gather
'round fellows," yelled Hagrid, "interestin' lesson comin'
up." Hagrid made sure every student was present, and then he
came forward, beaming at them. Draco Malfoy shot him cold looks, and
sighed, waiting for the lesson to begin.
"Right,"
grunted Hagrid heavily, "now, this lesson, ya'll be taught about
some fascinatin' creatures, by the name o' Cockatoodles."
Expressions of misunderstanding, confusion, bewilderment, and
startling spread through the class, especially the Slytherins.
"What
was that again?" asked Malfoy in a rude way.
"Cockatoodles
Malfoy, that's what I said," replied Hagrid. " Ya kids wait
here till I get the Cockatoodles from beside the lake." Hagrid
left the class to fetch the creatures.
Several students were in
conversations about Hagrid's obsession with monstrous creatures,
wondering what Cockatoodles will look like.
"Calling us
kids," began Malfoy with a wicked grin on his face, "and
who does he think he is? The great big half-breed oaf."
Crabbe
and Goyle were giggling greatly, so did some other Slytherins.
Unfortunately, Ron heard him. He remembered the fight he had with
Malfoy, and he clearly recalled the moment when he was sitting on
him, punching his whole face, which was covered in red blood. His
whole face reddened, and he attempted to step towards Malfoy and
injure him badly, but...
"Ron! Stop!" said Hermione
earnestly.
"Ron, control yourself. Don't go pick a row with
Malfoy," said Harry. "You do remember what happened last
time when you fought with him, don't you?"
"I surely
do," said Ron angrily," and I give anything, and I mean
anything, for it to happen again."
He still was trying to
get out of Harry and Hermione's strong grip, resisting them holding
him back, but it didn't work. Malfoy stared at him coolly.
"Let
me at him!" screamed Ron.
"Ron, knock it off, come on,
we can't afford to have a fight now, the lesson hasn't begun yet,"
said Harry, holding Ron back. "Allright, you can get him next
time Ron, but please, not now."
"The slimy git,"
declared Ron, finally stepping back.
"Oh, look," said
Hermione, pointing at some things coming their way. The Slytherins
turned their heads too, when they heard the cries of roosters.
And
there they were. Eight Cockatoodles crawled in front of Hagrid, just
as he described them. They had front bodies of roosters, and hind
legs and bodies of crocodiles. They also had wings, and they were
about two and half feet tall.
"Ya like 'em?" asked
Hagrid cheerfully.
"Whoa, Hagrid!" said Ron, shocked.
"What sort of creatures are they?"
"Like I told ya,
these are Cockatoodles," staring at the eight Cockatoodles,
which were still making ugly, irresistible sounds of rooster
cries.
The Slytherins covered their ears with their hands, because
the sound was too loud and annoying. Neville nearly fainted. His ear
as usual couldn't resist so much loud noise. A proof of that was when
he fainted due to hearing the Mandrake cries in Herbology in second
year. Luckily though, the Cockatoodles were all hushed up eventually.
Sandra Sanderson, a Slytherin girl, noticed some smoke coming out
of one Cockatoodle's nostrils.
"It's on---fire---something
inside its beak is burning," she shrieked.
Hagrid was
laughing at her.
"What?" she asked, puzzled.
"It's
in their nature ter to do it. Probably, ya don't know any of the
properties of those beauties. They can breathe fire Miss Sanderson,"
at those words, she fell to the floor, not believing what she just
heard.
It was enough for Hogwarts to have fire-breathing dragons
in Harry's fourth year to complete the first task of the Triwizard
Tournament. Students clearly remembered the sight of the four grown
up, vicious looking, big dragons. It caused fear beyond any fear to
them. Plus, Harry and another champion or two were injured by those
dragons. Another group of frightening creatures they had, were
dementors. Harry clearly remembered how every time a Dementor came
near him, he heard the voice of Voldemort laughing , and he heard his
mother's voice. Eventually, thanks to Professor Lupin, he was able to
drive them off using the Patronus Charm.
"Now, Cockatoodles,
" Hagrid went on quickly, "these here are only babies. But,
even if they come to be adults, they can' be any taller than four
feet. As I said, they can breathe fire. Notice the wings
everyone?"
The whole class nodded. No doubt they haven't'
noticed the feathery brown wings of the eight Cockatoodles.
"The
wings o' course are used to help 'em fly. But, because of the
additional heavy weight o' the crocodile body at the back, they can't
fly much either. Not higher than half a meter," the students
were very grateful. The Slytherins were fearing that one day, the
Cockatoodles would grab them and soar high in the air, to drop them
on a mountain cliff or something. Hermione, who was muggle born, has
previously visited some zoos with her parents. She remembered the
ostriches that she saw. They were similar to these small
Cockatoodles; they couldn't fly much either despite the fact that
they were birds.
"Now look here everyone, Cockatoodles can be
very friendly to ya if you treat 'em good," said Hagrid.
"Yeah
right, " muttered Malfoy quietly, "just like that rampaging
Hippogriff." By that, he referred to Buckbeak, the Hippogriff
that attacked him in his third year.
"Shut up Malfoy,"
whispered Harry warningly.
"Now, ya can use Cockatoodles to
dig lost treasures, valuable ones. An' when they do that ter ya, ya
have to award them. By that I mean feeding 'em some dead worms,"
Some Slytherin girls were kind of disgusted.
Hermione raised her
hand.
"Yes Hermione?" asked Hagrid.
"So, these
Cockatoodles, are they similar to Nifflers?"
Everybody
recalled studying Nifflers in fourth year. They were creatures that
would return lost valuables to persons too, just like the
Cockatoodles.
"Er...yeah, kind o'," replied Hagrid.
"Firs' thing ya gotta do when ya meet a Cockatoodle is to give
'em a sharp look, it mus' be a bit scared of ya. If ya don't, it'll
make fun of ya greatly, and it can be a big source o' exasperation to
ya. Then, ya could come nearer and pat it on the head. If ya hear
some voices from its throat, it means that it's accepting ya as a
friend. Then, ya could give it somethin' to do. Like search for lost
valuables or somethin'."
Most of the Gryffindors were
intrigued.
"Another use, is that if by any chance, ya wan'ed
your dinner-turkey grilled, they can do if for ya. Turn it into ashes
if ya let 'em do it for a longer time," Hermione was noticing
their long razor-sharp tails.
"Professor, what are the tails
used for?" she asked politely.
"Oh, the tails, glad ya
mentioned that Hermione," said Hagrid, "listen everyone,
another use of Cockatoodles. Ya can used their tails to cut what I
call uncuttable wood, hard wood, that is. Somethin' else, if ya wanna
cut your pork chops into smaller pieces, here ya go, the Cockatoodles
are available."
Several of the Gryffindors were laughing
loudly, including Seamus, Neville, Dean, Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
"I know, I know," began Hagrid in a funny voice, "
Cockatoodles can be highly useful and a source o' fun to ya."
Malfoy came to the front, to have a closer look at the
Cockatoodles.
"Will they breathe fire on us? Because if they
will, I'm stepping out of this class right now," he proclaimed
rudely. Harry swore that he could've let Ron attack Malfoy, but he
kept quiet, still red in the face. Hermione was furious too.
"Don't
worry Malfoy, everythin' will be fine as long as ya treat them right
and give 'em some worms and work to do," replied Hagrid
sincerely.
"Sure, just like that ugly Hippogriff," said
Malfoy.
"This does it," grunted Hagrid angrily, "enough
of my kindness here. Twenty points form Slytherin Malfoy. Buckbeak
was one o' the best breeds of Hippogriffs I ever knew, and he on'y
attacked ya, because ya were too busy chattin' with those two blokes
(he pointed at Crabbe and Goyle), not paying attention to me
explanation of Hippogriffs bein' easily offended."
Harry,
Hermione, and Ron never saw Hagrid this angry at a student before,
even though it was Malfoy. Malfoy was silenced.
"Ya know
what Malfoy, get out o' here," yelled Hagrid, his voice echoing
all over the deep-inside forest. "If ya can't stand a chance to
offend any of the creatures, I don' wanna see you in me classes. In
fact, I never wanted ter. If ya don't wanna teach that thick brain o'
yours anything, fine with me. But that doesn't mean that ya can waste
the whole time distracting me class, cause there are other people who
would like to learn something, you know."
Malfoy backed
away, scared of Hagrid's attitude.
"Fine," said Malfoy
weakly, soon gathering his stuff and leaving the class.
" Ya
can go with 'em if ya want, I don' care," yelled Hagrid angrily
at Crabbe and Goyle, who both remained still.
A few moments
passed, until at last, Hagrid talked again.
"Now, back to the
Cockatoodles, I want ya to pair up and enjoy bein' with 'em. Remember
to shoot them sharp looks to frighten 'em first. And then, ya can
bring some wood from over there, and watch 'em cut it into pieces."
None of the Slytherins dared to try and play along with a
Cockatoodle. Luckily, the Gryffindors didn't mind. And it happened to
be that the total number of sixth year Gryffindors was eight
students, exactly like the number of Cockatoodles available. So, each
one had to grab a Cockatoodle.
When Ron returned, he was still
laughing, not about the Cockatoodle, but about what happened moment
ago.
"What are you laughing about?" asked Harry,
shooting his Cockatoodle a sharp look.
"Did you see their
faces? Crabbe and Goyle? They nearly wet themselves!" Ron was
laughing extremely now, rolling on the floor. His Cockatoodle looked
at him curiously.
"Serves them right," said Hermione,
laughing too.
"It was odd, though, wasn't it? Hagrid never
kicked a student out of his class, has he? But at least it was
Malfoy," he was laughing too.
Now, Harry, Hermione, and
Ron's Cockatoodles were cutting a pile of wooden logs into small
cylinders, and presenting the wood to them.
Hermione patted her
Cockatoodle on the beak, and thanked it.
She, Harry, and Ron
grabbed their Cockatoodles, which were slightly heavy, and returned
them to an area near Hagrid's hut.
"So, what do ya think o'
em?" asked Hagrid, his face behind the hut's
window.
"Interesting and very useful," answered
Hermione.
"Amazing," added Harry.
"A bit funny
too," continued on Ron.
Suddenly, the trio heard a scream
from behind them. It was Sandra Sanderson, the same girl who spotted
the smoke coming out of one of the Cockatoodles' nostrils. Her
Cockatoodle was hanging on to her finger. She was bitten, and blood
was dripping.
"Get off, you stinking weird-looking---ouch!"
she cried. Then, she grabbed a small wooden log, and stroke the
Cockatoodle on the head. It was sort of dizzy for a moment, then it
fell to the ground. Sandra was still looking at it. The Cockatoodle
was in pain, crying, and making strange voices, heading towards the
Dark Forest.
Hagrid came closer to her, with some medicine to heal
the wound.
"Does it hurt so bad?" he asked quickly.
"Yeah it does---ouch! Gently!" She was criticizing
Hagrid's way of adding the medicine onto her hand.
Then, a roar
of rooster-cries echoed from the Dark Forest. Harry, Hermione, and
Ron turned around, to see a huge flock of Cockatoodles heading
towards the class.
"What the---" began Hagrid, shocked
from the Cockatoodles' attitude. "What's wrong with 'em?"
They
blew flames on Hagrid's hut. He dashed through the hot fires, risking
the chance, to save Fang.
He came out quickly, leading Fang to the
trio.
"Come on ya lazy coward hound dog!" the fires were
spreading, nearly burning Fang's tail.
Twelve more Cockatoodles
were cutting a tree from the forest. It was falling down now.
"AAAAAAAAAARGH!" screamed Neville, Seamus, Parvati,
Lavender, and Dean together. The shadow of the tree was covering them
up now, and the tree was nearing the ground, until...
"Finite
Incantatem!" screamed Harry. Immediately, the tree was blasted
into smithereens.
"Quick Hermione, do something,"
declared Harry, avoiding the fire behind him. The Slytherins were
jumping around the place , trying to escape. Five Cockatoodles
managed to lift Pansy Parkinson up in the air, and they tossed her to
land on the fires.
"Somebody help!" she shouted.
"Accio
Pansy!" yelled Hermione, and summoned Pansy Parkinson back.
She
landed on the floor, still frightened.
"Thank you Granger,"
she muttered quickly.
"That was the first kind thing you ever
said to Hermione," said Harry in amazement.
"Well---things
can change," she added on, and then joined the rest of the
escaping Slytherins.
"Ron! Look out behind you!" Harry
warned Ron of a Cokcatoodle that was nearing him, pointing its
razor-sharp tail towards his leg.
"Imobulus!"
said Ron automatically, and froze the Cockatoodle.
"Someone
get Professor Dumbledore!" gasped Hagrid, throwing some water on
his hut to put out the fire.
Hermione thought of a way, perhaps
cruel, to stop the angry Cockatoodles.
"Everyone, quick,
stunning spells at three, we have no choice,"
Several of the
Slytherins and the Gryffindors nodded.
"One---two----three!"
"Stupefy!" roared everyone. At once, the last
nine Cockatoodles were stunned, and fell to the ground. The whole
place was a mess, and smoke was filling the lungs of the students.
The bell rang, and the trio left the sad Hagrid to inform
Professor Dumbledore about this incident of the attacking of the
Cockatoodles.
"Now what was that all about?" asked Ron
furiously, catching his breath.
"There must've been something
wrong with them, because they were friendly with us. You saw them,"
answered Hermione.
"I bet you anything it was that Sandra
girl's fault," explained Harry, "she hit her Cockatoodle
with a wooden-log, didn't she? So, it must've thought of revenge.
But, clearly, it was over reacting. It brought its whole herd here to
wreck the place and destroy it." Harry's explanation was a
meaningful answer.
"You may be right Harry," said
Hermione, smiling at him ,"but they shouldn't have overreacted
at all."
They entered the castle, heading to the headmaster's
office, having the need of informing him about the vicious
Cockatoodle attack.
