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

Dean and Ron were talking about the upcoming quidditch trials which would take place at the end of the month. Ron had been seeker last year but had lost his only match to Slytherin and was eager for revenge. Dean planned to try out for seeker.

Dudley walked beside them in silence as they went down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was only when he spotted a cluster of people in green robes that he realized they must be having these lessons with the Slytherins. Malfoy however wasn't there, Dudley assumed he was still in the hospital wing having his hair regrown and smirked.

Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, 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!"

For one moment, Dudley thought that Hagrid was going to lead them into the forest; Dudley had been in there only once, but had heard plenty of rumors about the creatures that dwelt within. There was talk of werewolves, trolls and deranged goblins. Fred and George even claimed to have seen a giant spider creeping through the trees once. However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing in there.

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

"How?" said Pansy Parkinson

"Eh?" said Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" Parkinson repeated. She took out her copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which she had bound shut with a belt. Other people took theirs out too; some, like Dudley, had tied their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.

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

The class all shook their heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said Hagrid, as though this 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, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand.

"Genius, why didn't we think of that," Parkinson said. Her friends, Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass laughed.

"I - I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to the class.

"Great joke, giving us books that try to bite us," Parkinson said.

Hagrid looked crestfallen, but privately, Dudley agreed with the Slytherins for once. The biting books were stupid. He had been bitten twice and, even worse, when he had punched the book, it had had no effect.

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

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

"Not off to a good start is he?" Ron said in an undertone.

"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock.

Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Dudley had ever seen. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly, orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.

"Wow!" Dudley said, admiring the long, curved beaks. "Those things could tear you to pieces."

"Very cool," Dean said.

Hermione too looked impressed.

"Gee up, there!" Hagrid roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

Dudley could see what Hagrid meant. Once you got over the first shock of seeing something that was half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the Hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.

"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer..."

No one else seemed to want too.

"Come on," Dudley said, dragging Ron and Dean closer to the fence so he could get a good view. Dudley had a feeling he was going to like Care of Magical Creatures if Hagrid was going to show them things like hippogriffs. There was no other word for them—they were cool.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

"Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."

"Right - who wants ter go first?"

Dudley raised his hand immediately. "Me!" he said, eagerly.

There was an intake of breath from behind him, and both Lavender and Parvati whispered, "Oooh, no, Dudley, remember your tea leaves!"

Dudley ignored them. He climbed over the paddock fence.

"Good man, Dursley!" roared Hagrid. "Right then - let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

He untied one of the chains, pulled the gray Hippogriff away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath.

"Easy now, Dursley," said Hagrid quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink...Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much..."

Dudley's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Dudley with one fierce orange eye. "Tha's it," said Hagrid. "Tha's it, Dursley...now, bow."

Dudley gave a short bow and then looked up.

The Hippogriff was still staring haughtily at him. It didn't move.

"Ah," said Hagrid, sounding worried. "Right - back away, now, Dursley, easy does it -"

But then, to Dudley's enormous surprise, the Hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow.

"Well done, Dursley!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right - yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

Dudley reached out a fat hand and patted the hard beak several times. Buckbeak closed his eyes as if enjoying it. "Very cool," Dudley said.

Hagrid looked pleased.

"Righ' then, Dursley," said Hagrid. "I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him!"

"Seriously?" Dudley asked. "You can ride them?"

"Yeah. Great flyers hippogriffs are. Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," said Hagrid, "an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that..."

Dudley put his foot on the top of Buckbeak's wing and hoisted himself onto its back. Buckbeak stood up. Dudley wasn't sure where to hold on; everything in front of him was covered with feathers.

"Go on, then!" roared Hagrid, slapping the Hippogriffs hindquarters.

Without warning, twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side of Dudley, he just had time to seize the Hippogriff around the neck before he was soaring upward. Dudley loved it. It was more exciting than any roller coaster he had ever been on.

Buckbeak flew him once around the paddock and then headed back to the ground. He leaned back as the smooth neck lowered, feeling he was going to slip off over the beak, then felt a heavy thud as the four ill-assorted feet hit the ground. He just managed to hold on and push himself straight again.

"Good work, Dursley," Hagrid said as the Gryffindors cheered—even Seamus, who Dudley didn't get on with was applauding.

Emboldened by Dudley's success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied the Hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously, all over the paddock. Neville ran repeatedly backward from his, which didn't seem to want to bend its knees. Ron and Dean practiced on the chestnut, while Dudley watched.

Crabbe and Goyle were working with Buckbeak and Dudley was pleased to see that the Hippogriff didn't want to bow to any of them.

"No, no—yeh got to bow better than that," Hagrid said. "Dursley, come show 'em how it's done."

Smirking, Dudley walked up to Buckbeak and bowed confidently. The hippogriff sank its knees into a bow back.

"See,' boomed Hagrid. "Nothin' to it."

"Has your friends hair grew back yet," Dudley whispered to Crabbe as Goyle approached Buckbeak.

"Shut it," Crabbe growled.

"It's his own fault for being a muggle-hating piece of garbage."

"I said shut it."

"Or what? Going to hit me?" Dudley laughed and stopped talking as Goyle and Hagrid came over to them. The hippogriff still didn't bow to Goyle who looked annoyed.

"See you around, Crabbey." Dudley laughed as he headed over to rejoin Ron and Dean.

After class, they headed back to the castle. Hermione and Neville went to join them.

"That was a really good lesson," she said, approvingly. "Huppogriffs are really interesting aren't they?"

"I hope Hagrid doesn't show us dangerous creatures every lesson," Neville said. "They were cool, but did you see the size of their beaks and claws?"

"That's what made them cool," Dudley said. "I wonder what he'll show us next. I'd love to see a chimera or a minotaur."

"It was almost as good as my arithmancy class," Hermione said.

Ron gaped at her. "What are you talking about? You haven't taken arithmancy yet."

Hermione turned pink and quickly changed the subject to what Professor Lupin's class would be like.