-CHAPTER 4-

TALONS AND TEA LEAVES

When Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, the first thing they saw was Draco Malfoy, he was obviously overjoyed at the fact that Harry had fainted and was doing a ridiculous impression of him. Hermione told Harry to ignore them and began to study her new timetable.

'Oooh, good. We're starting some new subjects today!'

No sooner had she said that, Ron turned into his usual nosey self, and looked over her shoulder at her timetable. He began to complain about the fact that Hermione had about ten subjects a day. She had secretly been given a time-turner by Professor McGonagall, but she wasn't going to tell Ron or Harry that.

The three of them then headed off to their first lesson, Divination. They had been searching for ten minutes and still hadn't found the North Tower. They walked past a painting that seemed to be of a Knight. It shouted at them, telling them to come back and fight. They gave in and decided to ask the knight for directions. He pointed them in the right direction and at last they found the North Tower.

After their Divination lesson, they weren't exactly in peals of laughter. Harry had been told he was going to die and Hermione, in thinking it wasn't true, stormed out of the classroom, meaning not a very successful lesson. Harry then thought it time to tell them about the Grim he saw the night that he left the Dursley's. Ron seemed set on the idea that it really must have been a Grim and insisted that he was probably going to die twenty-four hours later. However, Hermione was sure that it must have bee a stray dog. Slytherins still continued to take the mickey out of Harry, and in Hermione's opinion, he simply shouldn't care.

Their next lesson was Care of Magical creatures, with Hagrid. When they first reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the three of them could see three all-too familiar backs. Those of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. It was obvious to Hermione of whom they would be laughing about, and if they dared try anything, her mind was set on punching their lights out. Miraculously, they didn't and Hagrid told them to get out their books. The same question seemed to arise to everyone

'How?'

The students had been given a book in their set of books, called 'The Monster Book of Monsters'. Monster by name, monster by nature. Every time Hermione had the slightest interest in opening hers, it would try and rip her fingers off. It looked like everyone else had, had the exact same problem. Hagrid soon explained that you had to stroke the spine. Hermione thought it ridiculous in her head, but said nothing. Unfortunately, someone wasn't so keen to keep their mouth shut, and with heavy sarcasm, Malfoy said, 'Oh how silly we've all been! We should have stroked them. Why didn't we guess!'

'I…I thought they were funny!'

In her mind, Hermione wished that Malfoy would shut up, and it seemed to work. He quickly shut his mouth and said no more.

Out of one of the padlocks, came a Hippogriff with

a gleaming coat. Hagrid introduced him as Buckbeak and insisted on Harry riding him. Harry gave in reluctantly and was hoisted by Hagrid onto the enormous bird's back. All the time Harry was gone, Hermione could not help but worry. What if he fell off, or Buckbeak tried to attack him! She had no need to worry, as about twenty minutes later, Harry was back safely on the ground. Once Harry had returned, Malfoy became a bit too big for his boots and started towards Buckbeak, insulting him. He was stuck on the idea that the bird was harmless and Hermione knew what Malfoy was doing was a bad idea. The Hippogriff became angry and uplifted onto its hind legs, scratching Malfoy with its giant talons. Malfoy was writhing on the ground with pain. Hagrid became very worried and lifted Malfoy into his arms to take him to the Hospital Wing. Once the lesson had ended, the three of them began to wonder if Hagrid would be sacked. He shouldn't be, as it was Malfoy's own fault. Later that evening the three of them decided to go down and visit Hagrid, thinking he would be grateful, but instead he began to give them a lecture about being out after dark. He took them back up to the castle himself and handed them straight over to professor McGonagall.