I can never say enough, how much I thank you all for the constant reviews and support I get just from watching the views shoot up every time I check. You are the reason I do this!
"Can we please have lunch now," James groaned, rubbing at his stomach and eyeing Lily hopefully before Harry could start.
"Oh yes, alright," Lily sighed, then asked, "would one of you go get the baby please."
Sirius jumped to his feet and did as asked, while Harry followed his Mom into the kitchen, badgering her about letting him help this time. She finally relented, leaving Remus and James in rather awkward silence.
Remus got to his feet and shuffled awkwardly for a second, then gestured vaguely to the kitchen as he began,"ah, guess I'll-"
"I'm not mad at you Remus," James interrupted, patting his hands on his knees with nerves and not exactly looking over at him. "It's not like it's really your responsibility to look after him-"
"But I still should have done something," Remus cut off, temper at himself beginning to rise again. He didn't really get mad at too much, liking to think of himself as a rather laid back person, but his own actions had set him on edge like he had just found out his future self had dumped Harry at the Dursleys.
"Like what?" Sirius asked, making the pair turn and see Sirius leaning against the door, the baby cradled in his arms.
Remus cast his mind around before offering, "gotten Dumbledore to set up somewhere I could have seen Harry, even if it was infrequently it would have been better than nothing."
Lily and Harry made their reappearance, Lily catching on at once and cutting in, "sorry Remus, but I don't see that happening."
"Why not?" both James and Sirius huffed, since this had been something they had both been thinking.
"Well think about it," Lily snapped. "You're sitting there blaming one of your best friends for something that even Dumbledore or Hagrid didn't do! No one had been there to check on Harry since he was left there, or worse Dumbledore knew and did nothing. Why I still can't imagine, but I still haven't forgiven him for what these books have implied he did back during Harry's first year, so lay off someone who might not have even been given a say in the matter."
Sirius opened, then closed his mouth and turned his attention back to the baby, rather shamefully scuttling into the kitchen to get the kid his food. James shifted his weight around, but nodded and caught Remus' eye saying honestly, "okay, true. I am sorry for, ah, being mad."
Remus hesitated, rocking back on his heels and still looking up to arguing the point anyways, then gave a dark laugh at the irony he was still holding this against himself when clearly no one else was. Now more curious than anything, he persisted, "has anyone stopped to question why though? What exactly was Dumbledore thinking when he cut off Harry like that? Remember how we thought ol' Mrs. Figg might be the same from the Order, and all those random people Harry saw when he was younger. Why didn't he grow up with someone telling him what was going on?"
"Dumbledore explained that in the first chapter," Harry reminded, "said he didn't want me growing up knowing my fame and all."
"I get that," he waved off, "and I'm not saying there's an easy way to explain that to you at any age, but if you'd grown up knowing it, been treated as a normal child and not a hero like someone should have while explaining this to you-" he finished giving a suggestive look to Lily like he expected her to give a counterargument.
She didn't though, no one did. They all saw a leader in Dumbledore, someone to be respected and not questioned too deeply, but this was Harry they were talking about. Had he really done something to make sure Remus didn't do exactly this? If so, then that truly was going to tick them all off, where did he get the authority to do that?
Harry was gently testing his feelings, trying not to pry too deeply as he pondered if he'd ever really been given an answer to this. He was still sure his headmaster explained to him more properly about these types of things later in life, but had Remus been mentioned during this? He didn't think so, and now almost hoped he had asked at some point.
With nothing else to say on the matter, they ate lunch in relative comfort, and after they were done Sirius insisted he wanted to keep the baby around again. They were all confident nothing to bad should happen to Harry this year, so no one protested as Sirius began one of the toddler's favorite games, and started releasing colorful puffs of smoke from his wand while he used his chubby fists to clutch at them, random peals of laughter erupting all around.
Harry took one more moment to capture this, looking around at his family and determined to keep this very image in his mind for the rest of his life, before starting his chapter.
"Highly doubt it was actually that funny," Sirius said in a goofy voice since he was still mostly entertaining the kid.
"Wow, Sirius was right," Remus rolled his eyes.
"First time for everything," James grinned.
"Easier said than done," Harry grumbled.
Harry ground his teeth together in annoyance for a moment, but then Sirius gave a snarky laugh and demanded, "was she actually trying to scare you, because that was pathetic."
"Probably caught sight of his own reflection," James grumbled.
"My sentiments exactly," Remus smirked.
"Now there's something I would have liked to see," Sirius grinned, still not completely over his disgust at the beasts, but pretty sure he'd tolerate them just to watch that.
James grimaced and nodded in disgust, having personally never been there himself, but knowing someone else who had that came back in the same way.
Sirius refused to let his mood drop back down at this nasty little reminder, continuing his own personal game with the baby, which made the others realize all the more why he had insisted on wanting him down here.
"How could I forget," James smiled, distracted at once from keeping an eye on Sirius to make sure he really was okay.
"I want that chapter," Sirius said at once. "I haven't gotten any of them!"
"Well you can have it," Remus said in disgust, "cause I'm rather sick of them at this point."
"Cheer up Moony," James said with a shrug, "yeah those past ones were awful, but there's no way anything like that can happen again this year. I'm sure Harry will finally have a good game." He finished with more hope than he should have, rather annoyed that his son couldn't seem to go one year without something bad happening.
"There's a pick me up," Lily smiled indulgently, still personally feeling she'd rather pull Harry from the team altogether, but it was clear he enjoyed the game as much as any of these boys. She didn't have quite as much faith as them that everything was going to be peachy this year, but she hoped as well.
Harry was blinking in puzzled shock and confusion, and then looked around to see the others were as well. What on earth could Ron have said that felt so significant to him?
"Can she really have just doubled up her schedule like that?" Lily asked with interest.
"I don't see how," Remus shrugged. "Like Ron said, there really isn't enough time in the day for all of that."
"Then what's she playing at?" Sirius demanded.
They all shrugged, at a complete loss, and Harry continued eagerly hoping for a better answer.
"Well that explained nothing," James grumped.
"That's impossible though, right?" Harry asked, ruffling up his brows with confusion and annoyance that he really thought he should know the answer to that.
The four of them exchanged stunned looks. Not as impossible as Harry might think, but time magic was a very obscure thing, hardly anyone understood it properly, and those that did, didn't share willingly. For Hermione to have gotten a hold of something like it, even with McGonagall's assent, was mind blowing to them all.
After a bit more of a pause, Lily said slowly, "well, no, not impossible dear. Very ah, very hard to pull off, but not undoable."
"How?" Harry persisted, getting rather eager now they really might know.
"Can't say for sure," James said, running his hand through his hair in confusion. "It's not something any of us have knowledge about, correct me if I'm wrong." He finished with a hopeful look at his friends.
They however, both shrugged and agreed with the couple. Sirius thought he had once heard of something odd in time magic happening to an Unspeakable, but it had been from a girl in a bar months ago, so he couldn't actually remember the details now. Something about a girl, named Eloise Mintumble, dang what had happened to her again?
Harry nodded in understanding and deflated a bit, knowing it wouldn't do any good to continue pestering them about something they couldn't answer. He did ask though, "but, what if you wanted to take Arithmancy and Divination, if they really happen at the same time is it just not allowed?"*
"Well no," Lily said fairly, "you'd have to rearrange your schedule and possibly take it without your normal classmates, like Hermione would attend Divination one day and most likely take Arithmancy with perhaps the Ravenclaw students instead of her usual house, and that would have explained it if she wasn't taking three at once. There really just isn't enough time to work all of that in. Plus, it would have been marked on her schedule as such, not the way Professor McGonagall worked it up."
"Yes, Ron's the one being silly," Lily rolled her eyes.
"Wow, she really wants him to let this go," Remus said with a frown.
"And I really hope Ron doesn't let her," James replied with the same frown.
"Because it's weird," Sirius insisted, not that anyone here needed him to remind them of that.
"Well that's not encouraging," Lily frowned in concern.
"A bit ominous," James agreed in surprise. They really did like Hagrid, but his few experiences with Harry and his pets hadn't ended well so far.
"Don't fret you two," Remus rolled his eyes, "Hagrid can handle anything in that class."
"So do I," Lily muttered.
"That, I will admit, is kind of gross," Sirius wrinkled up his nose. "Eating with that thing on the table."
"See," James nodded, "we're not the only ones."
"Well glad we get to see this new class," Remus said eagerly. He didn't think much of the future seeing magic, but he wasn't exactly against it either.
"Sorry it had to be so far away though," Sirius grimaced in disgust.
"That's not even funny," James snapped. "If he's going to mock you, at least come up with something better than a three-year old's act."
"James," Lily said severely, wondering if he'd just realized he'd said picking on their son was okay.
"What?" he snapped right back. "You can't stop children from picking on each other Lily, the world doesn't work like that."
The two sat there for a few moments giving each other moody looks, so Harry just decided to read on and hope to ignore this.
"Glad to see the whole house has the same sense of humor," Sirius said in disgust, "has to make Malfoy feel better about himself somehow."
"Seven won't either," Remus grinned, finally finding a lighter topic to discuss. "In fact, I'm pretty sure there's no one who actually knows every secret about this school."
"We did, back when it wasn't being used," James nodded. "Peter found the entrance to it, and we kind of used it as a secret meeting place sometimes." Privately keeping out where else they tended to spend their free time. Harry did know about the Shrieking Shack, but not how to get there.
"Wonder what they did to it now it's a classroom," Sirius said eagerly.
"There are a few," Remus nodded, "but either way, it is a long walk."
"Oh I remember this nutter," Sirius smirked, now watching Harry eagerly to see how he reacted.
Remus leaned in and whispered in Sirius' ear, "if only they had some sort of map to help."
Sirius nodded eagerly, but Harry didn't notice the exchange.
"Credit to him for noticing that," Lily said in approval.
"Agreed," James nodded, "I always find something interesting to talk to them about."
The way he said it made it quite clear these talks weren't always wholesome, but Harry was laughing lightly so Lily didn't see the point in demanding details.
"Bet his attitude hasn't improved any," Remus rolled his eyes.
"I'd be more worried if it did," Sirius shrugged, "he is a painting, their behaviour shouldn't change too much."
By then the three boys were laughing in both remembrance at their own interactions with Cadogan, and Harry's astonished look at the little painting. Only Lily didn't really know how to feel just now, not used to this rather exuberant nature from a painting.
"You are so sweet," Lily smiled at her son, which only increased the boy's laughter all the more at Harry's concern for a painting.
"That'll get his attention," Remus nodded approvingly.
James opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly closed it again. He didn't seem to find mocking death that funny anymore.
"Bet he wouldn't have minded staying in that painting a bit longer," Remus whispered, making Sirius release a surprised snort of laughter, making the baby in his lap giggle anew.
"He's certainly handy to have around," Lily said in some unease, still finding him rather odd.
"Plenty entertaining to," James smirked.
"You'd be surprised how often someone mental can come in handy," Sirius grinned.
"She seems to enjoy a show," Lily said in amusement.
"At least it sounds comfortable," Sirius grinned, "much better than those stools in the other classrooms."
"I would have fallen asleep in there for sure," Remus rolled his eyes.
"You're actually starting to make me sleepy just thinking about it," Sirius nodded in agreement.
Lily rolled her eyes indulgently, she'd clearly pegged this woman right about putting on a show.
"Explains why we didn't even know who she was before now," James nodded.
"Think she really does have an Inner Eye?" Sirius asked with amusement.
"She clearly thinks she does," Remus pointed out, causing all of them to laugh again.
Harry and Lily couldn't help but notice how giggly the lot of them were being, and wondered if this was how they normally made up a fight, making a lot of idiotic jokes at each other.
"Now that was just a bit pompous," Lily scoffed.
"All teachers think their branch is the hardest," James agreed.
"Sounds like a loaded class if you ask me," Sirius raised his brow in surprise "if the teachers already saying she can't teach you much."
"I can see where that would bother her," Lily nodded.
"Are those actual fields of magic," James asked between loud bursts of laughter, "because I think Sirius is most proficient in the smells!"
Remus muttered something under his breath that caused all three of them to continue laughing like idiots. Harry waited indulgently until they had subsided before continuing.
Now they were frowning, not finding that remotely funny. Why on earth would this woman say something like that to a child?
"What does Ron do to her?" Sirius chuckled.
"Might not be Ron," Remus reminded, "one of the Weasley twins might pull something on her later."
Lily made a little 'pfft' noise in disbelief.
"Well she's just going to be buckets of fun huh?" Sirius snickered.
Harry puzzled why he felt like Trelawney was right, but shrugged and kept going.
"Can't blame her at this point," James nodded, still smirking, "she probably thought she'd get the next death omen."
"That poor girl," Lily frowned. "Why would she say something like that?"
"Like you said," Remus shrugged. "I think she's enjoying scaring them. When that Friday comes and goes, and nothing happens, I'm sure these kids will realize they're being played."
"Kind of wishing I'd taken Arithmancy now," Harry grumbled, more annoyance coming up the more he heard about this new teacher. He also had a vague feeling, like she did something really important to his life, or perhaps said something to him? It was such a little thing he didn't really even register it underneath all the grumbling.
"That's self-fulfilling prophecy," Lily pointed out, "if you say something like that, it's bound to happen."
"So none of you really believes in this stuff?" Harry clarified.
"I think psychics exist," Sirius shrugged, lounging back comfortably. "I had a Great Aunt that was one, she actually did these same kinds of things and had my brother and I going for ages. This Trelawney woman in particular? Nah, she's enjoying herself more than anything."
"So, was your aunt really psychic, or pulling the wool over a couple of naive kids?" Remus asked.
"Both," Sirius grinned, "Dad swears she made a real prophecy to him when he was younger. Never did tell me what it was though, but the way he said it, yeah I believed him."
"Well, aside from Sirius and his gullible nature, no, I don't think any of us believe this," James grinned.
"I'm not gullible," Sirius snapped right back. "Prophecies really do exist!"
"Moving on," Lily rolled her eyes at the pair.
"Well that was fast," Remus remarked.
"At least there's a bonus to this class," Lily grinned.
All four of them released surprised snorts of laughter at Harry's sass, he clearly wasn't taking this class very seriously, though none of them said it in fear of eliciting a joke from Sirius.
"Sure she does that on purpose," James nodded.
"Think she heard that, or just good timing?" Sirius asked.
"Timing," Lily shrugged, "Harry can't be the only one who's thinking that."
"Sounds like life," James rolled his eyes, "so sorry to Ron for living."
None of the boys bothered to stifle their laughter one bit, even Lily was giggling and said to James, "Ron just beat you out of a joke dear."
"I'll forgive him," James chuckled, still bright-eyed.
"An acorn means gold?" Remus demanded. "What exactly does that book translate?"
"You let me know if you figure it out," Harry smirked.
"Ron just went from a hippo to a sheep," Remus smirked, "can't imagine what either of those things mean."
"Did she say to do that?" James snickered. "I don't think she said to do that. Could have saved a bit of confusion."
"Wow, thanks, I was trying to forget that for five minutes," Lily huffed.
"How did she get a falcon from a hippo?" Sirius demanded of nothing.
"I love Hermione," Lily beamed, "that girl keeps everyone in perspective."
"She is good to have around," Remus agreed with just a hint of admiration at this girl saying something like that to a teacher. James said as much out loud in amazement, none of them having guessed it would be this girl who would make a smart comment like that to any adult.
Then Sirius defended her, saying, "now remember what got them to be friends in the first place? Hermione's clearly willing to do a lot, like lie, to defend Harry and Ron."
Harry was smiling, more than pleased his family didn't seem to find either of his friends annoying like he knew some of the kids at school had.
"Well I've never met an unhappy one so I'll believe you," Sirius smirked.
"How do you get a club and a hat twisted?" James burst out laughing.
"Well she's certainly got their attention," Lily said, raising a brow in surprise.
"Guess she didn't see that coming," Remus smirked.
"She's really hamming this up isn't she," Sirius noted.
Harry rolled his eyes and said, "as if the whole class wouldn't ask after that little scene." He remembered the sinking feeling of attention as all of the students got up to go around them.
Sirius lost it. Still holding the baby to him, he continued laughing and blinking tears out of his eyes as he realized just how accurate that sentence was. James and Remus weren't much better.
"A giant, black, Scottish Deerhound is going to be tailing you for the rest of your life now," Lily nodded in approval, "well she's got that one right."
"I- told you-" James said between gasping breaths, "we should have- call-called him Grim!"
"And I told you," Remus rebutted, massaging his ribs and trying very hard not to continue laughing as he said, "we should have called him Cloud. It's got a better theme."**
"I like Padfoot," Sirius sniffed, "I think Peter had it better saying we should nickname more after the animals."
"Which is why you two won the vote," James agreed.
Harry was very curious and wanted to ask what other nicknames they might have considered, but decided to ask that later. ***
"I'm rather flattered she thinks so much of me," Sirius smirked.
"You're so big headed," Lily rolled her eyes at him, "you think every black dog in the world relates to you."
Remus muttered something that made Sirius snicker again, and James release another snort of laughter.
"Ha!" James laughed, eyes gleaming with continued mirth. "Hermione's going to be the buzz kill to this class, isn't she?" He didn't sound very sorry about it.
"Well this class obviously needs one to keep them from exaggerating," Lily nodded in agreement.
"A first for both Hermione and a teacher I'm sure," Sirius nodded.
"Was that supposed to be insulting?" Harry asked.
"I guess," Remus shrugged.
The boys almost lost it again, snickering away while Lily continued to giggle as well and state, "if you have to do that much to figure it out, it's hardly a good sign."
Harry couldn't help but smile indulgently at all of them. Back then he knew his thirteen-year-old self had been equally scared and annoyed by this, but watching his family mock the whole instance actually did put a funny spin on it. It also helped to know what exactly had been dogging him this year, and that he obviously wasn't going to die anytime soon.
"Oh, snappy," James smirked.
"Nice little reality check moment," Lily chuckled.
"Oh please," Sirius rolled his eyes, "these students are so easy."
"Oh, not Ron to," Remus groaned.
"Well he did grow up learning about Grims and such," James nodded fairly. "Remember how Peter flipped out when he first saw Sirius, called him a Grim too. It can be a little shocking at first."
"I think they're just being superstitious kids," Sirius snorted, rather siding with Remus on this one.
Lily rolled her eyes in contempt, this woman really was going to get on her nerves, wasn't she?
"Well that was a fun first class," Sirius said with chipper.
"Honestly can't wait for the next one," Remus agreed.
"Not a good omen for how the rest of the year works out," Lily grinned.
"Not a pleasant feeling," Harry shrugged, "though sadly I was used to being stared at by this point."
All five of them went bright-eyed with interest at this, James and Sirius sharing a wicked grin. Sirius adding on, "this was the class that gave us this idea!"
"We did all kinds of research for ages," James agreed, "double checking all sorts of facts to make sure it would work."
"Did you know what animals you were going to turn into?" Lily asked with interest. "It would be rather pointless to go through the whole process and find out you were all something small and not useful."
"Yes," James nodded, "there's a charm that will tell you. It's fairly reliable, never seen it be wrong."
Harry looked extremely interested in this, nodding as he remembered all the things McGonagall had talked about in this class, and dearly wishing he could spend hours interrogating his Dad and Sirius about these things. He somehow knew, without understanding, he'd never taken to becoming an Animagus himself, but he did rather like the idea. Why wouldn't you want to turn into an animal at will?
Lily, while still finding the fact that they were illegal one of her greatest hangups as of right now, was rather curious on the subject. She didn't have the inclination to be one but found the whole concept of your animal spirit fascinating. She was determined as soon as those three boys registered, she'd end up launching a whole field worth of studies.
That garnered a laugh from all of them. "'Not that it matters'," Sirius chuckled, "oh, she's completely miffed she doesn't have their undivided attention."
"Well can you blame her?" James demanded, still smirking himself. "It takes a lot of work to become an Animagus, I think she enjoys that round of applause for her dedication."
"Why am I not surprised," Harry nodded, always thankful he could rely on Hermione to answer the questions he found uncomfortable.
All three boys released surprised snorts of laughter, making Lily and Harry give them concerned looks.
"Oh don't mind us," James wheezed, looking far too giddy for the comment as far as Lily was concerned.
"Yeah, we're just over here trying to understand why she always got so lofty with us, when she goes around saying things like that," Remus cackled.
Sirius looked likely to fall off the couch soon, he was still laughing and trying his hardest to not let the baby fall and squirming all around. James finally took over the situation by taking his son back, forcing Sirius to come back down to earth.
There was a brief squabble where James won and was still cuddling his son as Harry continued.
"Well she's just a right ray of sunshine," Lily laughed, unable to keep that sarcastic tone out of her voice.
"She's really going out of her way to make sure this class knows how she feels," Remus grinned.
"Best teacher ever!" Sirius grinned like a maniac.
"Love her confidence in you," James agreed fervently.
Remus and Lily just laughed lightly, and Harry couldn't help but agree with all of them.
"You were actually scared of this?" Lily demanded, some of her humor gone and annoyance rekindling at that teacher.
"A bit, yeah," Harry admitted with a shrug, "but I guess it was just the environment and stuff. You guys convinced me already it's ridiculous."
"Glad for that," Sirius nodded with content.
Lily snorted and shook her head, but didn't bother to repeat herself.
"Wow, this is really bothering him," Remus noted in surprise.
"Like I said," James offered with a small frown, "Ron might just be the superstitious type. Once he realizes it doesn't really affect anything, he'll get over it."
"Not the best thing to tell him right then," Sirius said lightly.
They all nodded, that had been about what they were expecting.
"Now that I'll disagree with," Remus smirked.
"Ouch," Lily winced in sympathy. "Okay, I know why Ron's so spooked about this now."
"Yeah," Sirius and Remus nodded together, determining to stop picking on him for this now.
"That's Ron's middle name," Harry said randomly, looking for something more pleasant to think about.
"That was a little harsh," James frowned.
"Agreed, that's not something she should have taken so lightly, even though it probably is a coincidence," Remus agreed.
"Nah," Sirius chuckled, "there are much scarier things to die of fright from than that."
Remus couldn't help another bursting laugh. He wasn't used to Hermione giving off such dark humor, but he found it all the more hilarious coming from her.
"She's got another point," Lily nodded in agreement.
"Ron and Hermione are taking this to an extreme," Sirius noted, "it's a petty argument. Why are they treating it like this?"
"They treat everything like this," Harry noted in a long-suffering voice.
"Wow," James said, raising a brow in surprise, "and you put up with this all the time?"
"Yep," Harry nodded, popping the P for emphasis. He was far too used to this to really care though.
"Temper, temper," Remus muttered, noting she did seem to have one before as well when it came to this type of thing.
Harry blinked, both shocked and puzzled, then glanced up and around to see the rest of them were as well.
"What did she mean?" Lily asked anyways, not really expecting an answer from all the blank faces. "She hasn't been to that class yet, she's been with you all day."
True to her guess, no one answered. They were all rather stuck, and found it rather frustrating they couldn't figure something out about a third year. Bright as Hermione was, how on earth could she be doing something like this, and none of them understood how?
"Glad Ron's just as confused," Remus muttered.
Harry pushed eagerly past his confusion about Hermione, wanting very much to remember Hagrid's first class.
"A first I'm sure," Lily said with just a hint of sarcasm.
"Oh come on!" James groaned in disgust. "They already have to deal with those jerks in Potions."
"Probably the dumbest conversation ever," Sirius grumbled.
"At least he's enthusiastic," Remus grinned.
"The best teachers are," James agreed.
"Oh please no," Lily shuddered.
"He shouldn't," Sirius frowned, "at least not until his sixth year, seventh at the latest."
"Say what?" Lily balked at him.
"Sure," Remus shrugged "the advanced classes learn how to find and study them in their more natural habitat."
Lily frowned, not really sure how she felt about this. She'd heard more than enough about Harry being in there, but then she could hardly fault him if he did do it for a class. Then again, one of those times he'd been in there was for a detention, and that hadn't exactly gone over well.
James couldn't really help but agree, though he thought this class would go a long ways to helping his son if ever he did choose to go back in there.
Lily still couldn't help but release a breath of relief, thankful that she didn't have to deal with that place for now.
"Uh oh," Remus frowned.
"Ah, was there some kind of instruction manual we missed?" Sirius asked curiously. "Because I thought you never did get that thing open."
"I didn't," Harry nodded, looking rather upset. He felt like he'd let Hagrid down by this, but he still had no clue what to do with that book. He was also trying very hard to ignore this impending sense of doom, something wrong was going to happen in Hagrid's first class, which made him very uneasy.
"Poor Hagrid," Lily frowned, feeling sympathy for him.
"Don't know what to say honestly," James shrugged, "cause I've got no idea either."
Remus blinked several times, wondering if he'd heard that right, but no one really interrupted Harry to find out since he was fixing to read it anyways.
"Well there you go," James said, quirking a brow in surprise.
"Points for originality," Sirius agreed, "I never would have thought of that."
"That jerk," Lily frowned severely. "He didn't figure it out any more than anyone else. Hagrid should take points or something away from him, he shouldn't be allowed to talk to a teacher like that."
"Here's hoping," Harry nodded in agreement.
"I agree," James nodded fervently. "Now that I get the joke, I think it's actually quite hilarious, a monster book that you have to pet to open."
"Wish it had ripped your hand off," Sirius grumbled.
"Wish you'd done more then tell him off," Remus huffed, he more than agreed someone needed to knock that kid down a peg.
"Wait, he didn't say which page to turn to," Lily noted with concern.
"Wonder what he's showing," James agreed with more curiosity than anything.
"Is that his go-to for everything?" Sirius asked in disgust. "How does anyone stand this kid?"
"Search me," Harry muttered with disdain.
"And that joke is still not funny!" James snapped.
"Hippogriffs," Remus and Sirius said at once, both grinning at this prospect.
"This out to be fun," James grinned brightly.
"I didn't even know the forest had those," Lily said with honest interest. "Though I do wonder if that wasn't a little big to start?" She posed it more as a question than anything, not having much to do with the field she wasn't really sure on the matter.
"Nah," Remus shrugged, "sure it is a bit advanced, more would have preferred showing that towards the end of the year than the first class, but it's not above them either. A competent person can learn how to handle one easily enough."
"Sure," Sirius nodded. "We only ran into one, they're really secluded and spend a lot of time in the high branches. This little foal fell down in front of us, and the parents were close by, so we didn't stick around even though we did know what to do with them."
"Oh come on Harry," Sirius said bracingly, "I haven't agreed with a lot of Hagrid's pets before this, but you've got to admit this one fits the bill."
Harry nodded in agreement as he said, "it was like seeing a Centaur for the first time. Just took me a moment to get over the shock before I could appreciate it fully."
"This class is depressing me," James rolled his eyes.
"Leave them be," Lily scolded at once, "Hagrid hasn't even gotten to how to handle them yet. I'd still be nervous too."
"There's always one brave one," Remus beamed.
"Well that's not good," Lily frowned at once. She didn't like those boys more than anyone else, but she certainly didn't want to see them get hurt; which was bound to happen if they truly weren't paying attention to Hagrid in this instance.
"Those little jerks better not do anything to mess with Hagrid," Sirius growled at once.
Harry's bad feeling was rearing up again at once, and he didn't like that his first instinct was to think Sirius was right.
"Ouch," James winced, "and that was sound advice, why are they still so nervous."
Lily just looked to the ceiling in wonder, did any of these boys have a sense of life? They certainly didn't show it very often, since it seemed more often their first instinct was to jump headlong into whatever they saw fit.
"Now that's a legitimate concern," Lily nodded in understanding, "exactly how tame are these?"
"Quit being such a worry wart Lily," Remus chuckled. "Hagrid's there, and I'm more than confident he can handle this. No, they don't like being tied down, but who does?"
Lily hesitated a moment more before nodding, and amazingly her nerves actually did relax.
"That'a boy," James nodded in approval.
Harry grinned hesitantly back, not exactly mentioning that he had done this more out of loyalty to Hagrid, not out of real interest in wanting to get closer to that Hippogriff.
"What would have happened if no one volunteered?" Lily asked curiously.
"Most likely, the teacher would have demonstrated himself," Remus shrugged, "in this case Hagrid obviously, but there's always one brave soul who volunteers, so it's usually not an issue."
"Oh please," Lily muttered scathingly, "this exact set of circumstances would have happened whether Harry drank a cup or not."
"Now Lily," Sirius said at once, a light gleaming in his eyes, "think about that. Divination doesn't write what is to happen, it helps to predict what could happen."
Lily looked rather stunned for a moment before nodding, admitting she'd been a little too harsh that time.
"Can't believe you're defending that subject," Remus noted in surprise.
Sirius chuckled and admitted, "well I still think that teacher was rubbish, but I'm hardly going to pass up an instance to correct Lily."
She scowled over at him without any real heat, causing Harry to chuckle lightly before reading.
"Which means you're going to want to start blinking at once," James noted with amusement.
"Glad you're smart enough to listen to him," Remus nodded in approval.
"Wonder why," Sirius asked curiously.
"Probably because Harry was still too close, the hippogriff might still have felt threatened," Remus speculated, though not for sure since he wasn't there. There was also the fact that, these were still animals, and it was impossible to truly ever predict what they would do, feel, or think.
"You're not exactly getting into this," James noted lightly.
Harry just shrugged, he wasn't taking that back.
"The area where the beak merges into their face is a particularly scratchy spot to them," Remus nodded, "so I'm sure he did, if you were patting in the right spot."
"Did they really want that thing to attack you?" Lily asked in disgust.
"After what he said about Hermione last year, I'm not putting anything past him," James hissed.
"Ride him?" they repeated in shock.
"Now that is a bit advanced," Remus noted, "definitely should have been a bit later in education when he's had more confidence, and time, with the beast."
"Guess Hagrid really wants to show off," James shrugged, unable to hold back a hint of jealousy, this was something he'd never got to do before.
"It won't be," Sirius agreed, "but a fun experiences all the same." He also sounded just a tad envious, he would love to try something like this.
It took a lot for Lily not to snap at them; they were being idiots again, but she also consoled herself that she might be just a bit jumpy and over reactive of late, so held it back she did.
"He didn't even give you a saddle," Remus noted in amusement, "nor did he mention where you are supposed to hold on."
"Didn't exactly give him anything to steer either," James remarked, "so I'm hoping this one doesn't get any ideas."
"Sounds like a ton of fun," Sirius said eagerly.
"Though I'm glad you're hardly going to quit the Quidditch team in favor of starting a Hippogriff team," James snickered, finding plenty of amusement in that.
"You didn't exactly sound like you were enjoying that," Remus noted with high amusement.
"It's not something I'd want to repeat," Harry admitted, then he blinked for a moment and wondered if that gut feeling was really telling him he had done just this. He certainly hoped not.
Lily couldn't help but grin, more than happy to admit she was just as happy to hear Harry was both safe on the ground, and didn't have a sudden urge to go back up there again.
"Typical," James grumbled, "they think it's plenty fun now."
"He did have problems with his broom," Sirius remembered, "he's probably just as nervous now, which I'm sure that hippogriff noticed."
"Buckbeak just lost some points with me," Remus muttered to Sirius, who nodded in agreement.
"He what!" Sirius choked out.
"That idiot," Remus frowned, leaning forward in concern. While he hardly liked Malfoy, that kind of insult could get him killed.
"Uh oh," James muttered, bouncing around in agitation now, causing the baby in his lap to giggle, thinking this was a new game.
This sadly didn't actually release any tension in the room this time. They had been begging for someone to hit Malfoy for ages now, but not like this! What if this kid really did die? They would all feel ten kinds of awful for ever having mocked him, he was still a child after all, a bad one but still, even Malfoy didn't deserve that!
Harry was reading in honest panic now, very much not appreciating that he had been right in this instance.
They were all still frowning in deep concern. At least that wasn't in the chest like they had feared, but there was some very important things in the arm that Malfoy could still die from if this got too serious. None of them could think of a thing to say, so the quiet remained while Harry read.
"About what?" Lily arched a brow in disdain. "How was that Hagrid's fault? Malfoy was the one who didn't listen, in fact I'd laugh if someone decided to give him a detention on top of this."
James managed a half amused laugh at this, noting lovingly he had been thinking along those same lines.
"It was Malfoy's fault!" Remus snapped in disgust. "They can't fire him, he didn't do anything wrong."
Sirius released a surprised snort of amusement, noting pleasantly, "you just mimicked a kid we hardly even know this time."
Remus gave him the stank eye, he still didn't find it that funny.
"Ooh, I'm so scared," James scowled.
Lily was the only one who looked rather touched by this. Malfoy was an awful child, but they were seeing him from Harry's perspective. If Malfoy had actually managed to get a girlfriend, maybe he really wasn't as bad as he pretended. She declined mentioning this, knowing quite well the boys wouldn't find that interesting.
"Very true," Remus nodded in agreement, "and he did get there fast enough, there really shouldn't be a problem." Even he couldn't deny that there was still hints of nerves in his voice even as he said that. The best medics in the world couldn't fix everything.
"Agreed," Lily sighed, more than disgruntled at the boy's actions.
"Not a particularly good sign," James frowned in concern.
"They wouldn't really fire Hagrid would they?" Harry asked anxiously.
"Dumbledore wouldn't," Sirius said at once.
"They really shouldn't," Remus agreed, explaining better, "if a teacher got fired every time an accident happened in this school, they'd be going through teachers by the month. Accidents happen in a building full of too many kids and not enough supervision, it's just a fact of life. They really can't blame this all on Hagrid."
"Let's hope a Malfoy will agree with you," James muttered, no hope at all in his voice.
Sirius was still a little too distracted to notice this time Harry had just mimicked someone.
"Well then it's a good thing there are more witnesses than those prats," Lily spat in disgust.
"Why?" Sirius demanded, blinking at the random distraction.
Lily frowned pitifully at him, not exactly wanting to mention she had a good idea why Hermione might say that. Harry had a good idea as well, but simply read out sadly.
"Oh," was the only answer Sirius could come up with to that, slumping back in his seat and crossing his arms moodily. He had almost this whole bleeding chapter without having to think about that, now here was Hermione bringing it up.
James took pity on him and passed him back the baby, forcing an almost genuine smile back onto that Godfather's face.
"Of course you are," Remus scoffed, "if Ron said it's not curfew yet, then it's not." He failed to mention something he had noticed, but the others seemed to have skipped in this whole mess. He hadn't seemed to have called Harry to his office yet for that talk that was so desperately needed... surely he was just busy because of the first day back, right?
"Crap," James muttered in concern, but he was the only one who did. The others had tensed up, now fearing the worst really had happened and someone had actually managed to fire Hagrid. This really shouldn't be possible though, only Dumbledore actually had the power to fire his staff, and no force on earth should have convinced him to do this!
Lily opened her mouth in outrage, fully prepared to give a verbal beating to the poor schmuck who had done this to Hagrid, but Harry had been reading ahead a bit desperately, and read loudly before she could get started.
"Oh thank Merlin," Sirius said in relief.
"It doesn't matter what Malfoy says," James said hotly, "Dumbledore won't fire Hagrid! I'll bet my wand on that, especially because it wasn't his bloody fault."
Sirius released a half-hearted smirk, but he was honestly too curious to hear the answer to reply this time.
"Liar," Remus spat at once in disgust, this finally distracting him from his own thoughts. "If Madam Pomfrey fixed him, then she bleeding fixed him. That brat's lucky he didn't lose his whole arm, I'll be surprised if he even has a scratch left."
"I'm glad you believe me Harry," Remus noted in amusement.
Harry gave him a grin while Lily groaned and said, "oh not you too! Please don't encourage that, it's annoying enough when Sirius does it."
Before any of them could comment further, Harry decided to keep reading loudly to avoid a useless dispute.
They all pursed their lips, unwilling to admit this had sort of been on their mind earlier, but then James riled up and grumbled, "but Hagrid was handling things fine, it was Malfoy's fault for not paying attention."
Since they all agreed with him anyways, and couldn't think of anything else to add to that, Harry kept going still rather subdued.
James poked Sirius before he could mention it this time.
Sirius stopped his glaring at his best mate to smile warmly at Harry, knowing without a doubt any of them would have done the same thing in a heartbeat.
Remus chuckled and began in a conversational tone, "well, if you do go up to the Hospital to get checked out, make sure to point out to Madam Pomfrey that she needs to discharge Malfoy on the grounds he's an idiot."
"Duly noted," Harry nodded.
"And I agree," Lily smiled lightly.
"Well that'll clear you up quick," James chuckled.
"Wow," James blinked in surprise, "overreaction much."
"Guess I really wasn't allowed on the grounds," Harry noted absently, rubbing his ears at the remembered volume.
Sirius grumbled something under his breath, but refused to let himself react this time, pulling his wand back out and creating a puff of red smoke and making the little baby giggle all over again, the act making him feel slightly better. Though he was forced to continue listing.
"Unnecessary as that is," Lily noted, giving Sirius a protective sort of watch to make sure he really wasn't going to sink back down into a depression again, "that was still kind of sweet."
"I'd just like to point out that if Harry didn't know what was going on before, Hagrid would kind have blown that then," Remus agreed, placing his elbow on Sirius' shoulder and leaning on him as if he were bored with the whole topic.
"Chapter's over by the way," Harry nodded towards Remus for his turn.
*Question offered by Grank, I know it's not the best explanation especially when you consider sixth and seventh years who all take combined classes with all the houses and so it wouldn't work out in the same time frames then, but that one really did stump me. I'll try to work out something better and have Harry bring it up again at the end of the year.
**Random note, the dog that played Sirius in the Order of the Phoenix movie was a Scottish Deerhound named Cloud, thought it was funny enough to put in here.
*** Anyone want to suggest some nicknames? I've thought up a few more I'll sprinkle in, but I'm just curious.