Well...I haven't forgotten about this? Honestly I wish I could explain why it has taken me this long to update, I've had this chapter mostly written out for over a year now. Life hasn't been easy, in the time between chapters I've moved, come out of the closet, started transitioning and taking T and now here we are. I've grown as both a person and a writer I think and I might even go back to change and edit some chapters now that I have a more firm timeline and idea of where I want everything to go. Not to mention that I've re-thought out some characters and might bring in some changes.
I don't even know if there's anyone still reading but well...in case you are then here's a long chapter! I really want to finish this, the whole book and then maybe do some more. I don't know if I'll try writing the other books after this, I might finish this and do a summary of the others I don't know but I hate leaving loose ends. The good news is: I have the next two chapters almost ready, with the only thing missing being the commentaries from the characters.
Now without further ado...The story!
Lupin cleared his throat as he took the book. "Alright, the next chapter is called Of Talons and Tea Leaves."
The next morning when the four friends went down to the Great Hall, the first thing Harry saw was Malfoy who was entertaining the Slythering with what looked like a very funny story. As they passed, Malfoy did a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit and there was a roar of laughter, Leon rolled his eyes at them from their table.
"Wow that kid really wants you to pay attention to him." Romulus hummed.
"Yeah he likes making me angry, he's just a brat" Harry frowned, turning over at Romulus who looked way too amused.
"Sure, that's what it must be." he chuckled.
"Ignore him" said Hermione, who was walking behind them with Ron "Just ignore him"
"Hey, Potter!" shrieked Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl with a face like a pug. "Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Wooooooooo!"
Harry dropped into a seat, next to George Weasley
"New third-year course schedules," said George, passing then, over. "What's up with you, Harry?"
"Malfoy, who else?" said Ron sitting in front of Harry and waving at Zania who was sitting on the other side of George.
"The worst is that you let him get to you Harry." Hermione sighed, looking over at his friend.
George looked up in time to see Malfoy pretending to faint with terror again. Adhara passed Harry some juice smiling encouragingly
"That little git," he said calmly. "He wasn't so cocky last night when the Dementors were down at our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"
"Nearly wet himself," said Fred, with a contemptuous glance at Malfoy. Zania snorted though she didn't look up from her plate.
"He likes to pretend he's a big deal but he's really just a spoiled brat." the girl in question said.
"I wasn't too happy myself," said George. "They're horrible things, those Dementors…"
"Sort of freeze your insides, don't they?" said Fred.
"You didn't pass out, though, did you?" said Harry in a low voice.
"Forget it, Harry," said Adhara bracingly. "We felt really bad, the only reason you passed out was because you had him closer than us, reckon I would had fainted if I had seen it as close as you did"
"And I stand by that even now, I definitely felt like I would faint." Adhara whispered, leaning against Fred.
"Dad had to go out to Azkaban one time, remember, Fred? And he said it was the worst place he'd ever been, he came back all weak and shaking… They suck the happiness out of a place, Dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad in there." George said taking a bite of his breakfast
"Anyway, we'll see how happy Malfoy looks after our first Quidditch match," said Fred. "Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first game of the season, remember?"
"Oh good, let's talk Quiditch, that will cheer the morning." James sighed and gave a smile to his son.
"What's Quiditch again?" Romulus asked confused.
"Only the best sport ever! Look it starts with…" James started
"We'll explain later." Interrupted Remmy. "After the chapter."
The only time Harry and Malfoy had faced each other in a Quidditch match, Malfoy had definitely come off worse. Feeling slightly more cheerful, Harry helped himself to sausages and fried tomatoes.
"Ah Quiditch how I missed thee" Zania said finally looking up smirking at Harry "Prepare yourself, I had a chat with Oliver last night and the only reason he won't have us practice 24/7 is because the professors won't let him"
"Oh the joy" Fred replied, rolling his eyes
"That's not the right attitude to have about Quiditch." James said with frown as he looked at both Fred and Zania.
"Sorry, I meant: Oh! The joy!" He tried, still sarcastic but trying to look cheery.
Hermione and Leonwere examining the new schedule, while Ron was eating, completely ignoring everyone
"In a world of your own huh?" Romulus teased, looking at his son with a light smile who simply sputtered and tried to deny it, only causing everyone to laugh.
"Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today," Hermione said happily.
"Hermione," said Ron, frowning as he looked over her shoulder, "They've messed up your timetable. Look — they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough time."
"How could you manage that?"
"I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."
"But look," said Ron, laughing, "see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And —" Ron leaned closer to the timetable, disbelieving, "look— underneath that, Arithmancy, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's that good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"
"Oh you really shouldn't be taking so many classes, you'll burn out with all the pressure." Lily said, looking at the girl with a worried frown.
"I'm not taking as many subjects this year, don't worry. I learned my lesson." Hermione reassured her, rubbing her arm self-consciously.
Leon looked interested at that, glancing at Hermione
"Don't be silly," said Hermione shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once."
"Well then —"
"Pass the marmalade," said Hermione.
"But —"
"Ron, maybe you should take the hint" Leon said, pushing his plate aside "besides, it's none of your business, if Hermione says that there's no problem, then there's no problem"
"Thank you Leon" Hermione said smiling at him
"Well it's true" Leon shrugged without looking at her, concentrating on his own time table
"Leon is the only one that knows how to mind his own business." Hermione snorted.
"We know, we're ashamed of him too." Adhara nodded with a grim expression before being hit in the face with a pillow, curtesy of the brunette.
"Nothing wrong with not being a nosy bastard, believe it or not." Leon retorted with a light-hearted glare.
"Children please." Lupin sighed, turning to them and staring them down until both Adhara and Leon looked down.
"Oh my god you've turned into our father." Romulus whispered to his younger brother, snorting as Remus pushed him away.
Just then, Hagrid entered the Great Hall. He was wearing his long moleskin overcoat and was absent-mindedly swinging a dead polecat from one enormous hand.
"All righ'?" he said eagerly, pausing on his way to the staff table. "Yer in my firs' ever lesson! Right after lunch! Bin up since five getting' everthin' ready… hope it's okay… me, a teacher… hones'ly…"
He grinned broadly at them and headed off to the staff table, still swinging the polecat.
"Wonder what he's been getting ready?" said Ron, a note of anxiety in his voice.
"Knowing Hagrid, something wicked no doubt" Leon said excited, Ron sent him a look that said clearly just what he thought of Leon. The Hall was starting to empty as people headed off towards their first lesson. Ron checked his schedule.
"I know I should be horrified but…honestly I've heard enough about this creatures to be fascinated by them." Romulus said thoughtfully, glancing at his son who gave him a tentative smile.
"They're great, most of them are really just misunderstood." Leon said softly, turning to Charlie as the older man put an arm around him and patted his shoulder.
"We'd better go, look, Divination's at the top of North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there…"
"Yep, and I have to go to my Arithmancy class" said Leon standing up "I'll see you at Transfiguration" he said and left, saying goodbye to the twins
Harry, Ron, and Hermione finished their breakfast hastily, said goodbye to Fred, George, Adhara, and Zania, and walked back through the hall. As they passed the Slytherin table, Malfoy did yet another impression of a fainting fit. The shouts of laughter followed Harry into the Entrance Hall.
"Man what a git, someone ought to show him some manners." Sirius growled.
The journey through the castle to North Tower was a long one. Two years at Hogwarts hadn't taught them everything about the castle, and they had never been inside North Tower before.
"There's — got — to — be — a — short — cut,"
"Oh there is." Remus said happily, snickering at the looks Ron and Harry gave him. "There's shortcuts everywhere if you look hard enough."
"Or if you have a little help huh Moony?" James grinned at his friend.
"Nothing wrong with a bit of help." Zania nodded with a smirk, pulling her jacket tighter against herself.
Ron panted, as they climbed the seventh long staircase and emerged on an unfamiliar landing, where there was nothing but a large painting of a bare stretch of grass hanging on the stone wall. "You know what? I reckon Leon knew where Divination was, and that's why he didn't take it"
"Don't be daft Ron, how could he have known?" Hermione answered, Harry continued ignoring them both.
"The best approach to take honestly." Ginny nodded, not caring about the glare from Ron and the betrayed look from Hermione.
"I don't know, but sometimes you both scare me with how much you know" Ron shrugged
"We read, that's why we know things, you would too if you opened a book once in a while"
"Oh don't start; I have enough of that with Leon on our dorm"
"Both of you stop" Harry sighed, getting tired of their bickering, paying attention to the painting. A fat, dappled-grey pony had just ambled onto the grass and was grazing nonchalantly. Harry was used to the subjects of Hogwarts paintings moving around and leaving their frames to visit each other, but he always enjoyed watching them. A moment later, a short, squat knight in a suit of armour had clanked into the picture after his pony. By the look of the grass stains on his metal knees, he had just fallen off.
"Oh it's Sir Cadogan." James grinned, followed by a cheer from Sirius.
"Aha!" he yelled, seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione. "What villains are these, which trespass upon my private lands? Come to scorn at my fall, perchance? Draw, you knaves, you dogs!"
They watched in astonishment as the little knight tugged his sword out of its scabbard and began brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in rage. But the sword was too long for him; a particularly wild swing made him overbalance, and he landed face down in the grass.
"Are you all right?" said Harry, moving closer to the picture.
"Get back you scurvy braggart! Back, you rogue!"
"He's so annoying." Percy wrinkled his nose, remembering the knight that had taken over the Fat Lady's job that year.
The knight seized his sword again and used it to push himself back up, but the blade sank deeply into the grass and, though he pulled with all his might, he couldn't get it out again. Finally, he had to flop back down onto the grass and push up his visor to mop his sweating face.
"Listen," said Harry, taking advantage of the knight's exhaustion, "we're looking for the North Tower. You don't know the way, do you?"
"A quest!" The knight's rage seemed to vanish instantly. He clanked to his feet and shouted, "Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!"
"He seems like an excitable fella, doesn't he?" Bill hummed, having never had a reason to encounter the knight though he remembered friends of his mentioning him now and again.
He gave the sword another fruitless tug, tried and failed to mount the fat pony, gave up, and cried, "On foot then, good sirs and gentle lady! On! On!"
And he ran, clanking loudly, into the left side of the frame and out of sight.
They hurried after him along the corridor, following the sound of his armour. Every now and then they spotted him running through a picture ahead
Puffing loudly, Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed the tightly spiralling steps, getting dizzier and dizzier, until at last they heard the murmur of voices above them and knew they had reached the classroom.
"Well at least he was helpful." Mrs. Weasley said lightly, though she didn't look too happy.
"Farewell!" cried the knight, popping his head into a painting of some sinister-looking monks. "Farewell, my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"
"Yeah, we'll call you," muttered Ron as the knight disappeared, "if we ever need someone mental."
They climbed the last few steps and emerged onto a tiny landing, where most of the class was already assembled. There were no doors off this landing, but Ron nudged Harry and pointed at the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it.
"'Sybil Trelawney, Divination teacher,'" Harry read. "How're we supposed to get up there?"
As though in answer to his question, the trapdoor suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended right at Harry's feet. Everyone got quiet.
"After you," said Ron, grinning, so Harry climbed the ladder first, shaking his head at his friend's antics.
"Such a gentleman." Fred teased, looking at his younger brother who didn't really seem to care, simply shrugging with a grin.
He emerged into the strangest-looking classroom he had ever seen. In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all, it look more like a cross between a very old Tea-shop and somebody's living room. At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle. The shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.
Both Remus and Leon made faces at the description, Leon going as far as covering his nose. "God that sounds absolutely horrid. How can you stand that smell?" Leon asked, turning to his friends with a frown on his face.
"You kind of stop noticing after the first 30 minutes." Ron shrugged.
Harry's first impression of their professor was of a large glistering insect, she was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.
"Wow, your descriptions are really the best Harry." Adhara laughed along with almost everyone in the room while Harry tried to hide his face.
Harry, up 'til now, had ignored Leon's comments about divination being a loss of time, but he knew after 10 minutes had passed that he was 100% right, and he could see that Hermione and Ron thought so too,
"See, you should listen to me more often." Leon grinned over at Harry, though the boy simply rolled his eyes and didn't respond.
Hermione in particular, was grimacing all through Professor Trelawney's speech and looked completely indignant when she said that they wouldn't be able to learn anything with their book.
"I want you all to divide into pairs. Take a teacup from the shelf and come to me; I will fill it. Then I want you to sit down and drink; now, you have to drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, and then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear," — she caught Neville by the arm as he made to stand up, "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."
"Well of course he did, she made him nervous." Lupin frowned, he had always felt rather nervous and unsettled around Trelawney but mostly he disapproved of her dealing with the children. Not to mention that he had never believed in divination to begin with.
Sure enough, Neville had no sooner reached the shelf of teacups when there was a tinkle of breaking china. Professor Trelawney swept over to him holding a dustpan and brush and said, "One of the blue ones, then, dear, if you wouldn't mind… thank you…"
When Harry and Ron had had their teacups filled, they went back to their table and tried to drink the scalding tea quickly. They swilled the dregs around as Professor Trelawney had instructed, then drained the cups and swapped over.
"Well at least you got some tea out of it." Remmy spoke up, looking amused as he curled in on himself, face almost invisible to the rest of the room except for the crooked smile he had.
"Right," said Ron as they both opened their books at pages five and six. "What can you see in mine?"
"A load of soggy brown stuff," yawned Harry, the atmosphere was making him really sleepy. Harry tried to pull himself together.
"He's not wrong." Percy snorted, rolling his eyes at the gasps of disbelief from his twin brothers.
"Perce! You have a sense of humor!" Fred exclaimed. "We didn't know!"
"Maybe you two just aren't funny." He replied, nodding towards Lupin so he could keep reading.
"Right, you've got a crooked sort of cross…" He consulted Unfogging the Future. "That means you're going to have 'trials and suffering' — sorry about that — but there's a thing that could be the sun. Hang on… that means 'great happiness'… so you're going to suffer but be very happy…"
"You need your Inner Eye tested, if you ask me," said Ron, and they both had to stifle their laughs as Professor Trelawney gazed in their direction.
In the room no one bothers to try to stifle their own laughs, Ron looking rather proud of himself as he looked around the room.
"My turn…" Ron peered into Harry's teacup, his forehead wrinkled with effort. "There's a blob a bit like a bowler hat," he said. "Maybe you're going to work for the Ministry of Magic…"
He turned the teacup the other way up.
"But this way it looks more like an acorn… what's that?" He scanned his copy of Unfogging the Future. "'A windfall, unexpected gold.' Excellent, you can lend me some. And there's a thing here," he turned the cup again, "that looks like an animal… yeah, if that was its head… it looks like a hippo… no, a sheep…"
Professor Trelawney whirled around as Harry let out a snort of laughter.
"Looks like you need your third eye tested too Weasley." Leon laughed.
"Bite me Lupin." Ron answered back, flinching when he saw his mather look at him.
"Ronald Weasley!" She berated.
"Sorry mum."
"Let me see that, my dear," she said reprovingly to Ron, sweeping over and snatching Harry's cup from him. Everyone went quiet to watch. Professor Trelawney was staring into the teacup, rotating it counter clockwise.
"The falcon… my dear, you have a deadly enemy."
"But everyone knows that," said Hermione in a loud whisper. Professor Trelawney stared at her.
"Well, they do," said Hermione. "Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."
Harry and Ron stared at her with a mixture of amazement and admiration. They had never heard Hermione speak to a teacher like that before; he could see that Ron was thinking the same as him 'wait until we tell Leon' Harry knew that neither Ron nor Leon would stop teasing her.
"Ah friendship." Ted snorted, nudging Remmy lightly and getting shoved in return.
Professor Trelawney chose not to reply. She lowered her huge eyes to Harry's cup again and continued to turn it.
"The club… an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup…"
"I thought that was a bowler hat," said Ron sheepishly.
"The skull… danger in your path, my dear…"
Everyone was staring, transfixed, at Professor Trelawney, who gave the cup a final turn, gasped, and then screamed.
"Drama." Zania whispered with a smirk, leaning forward.
There was another tinkle of breaking china; Neville had smashed his second cup. Professor Trelawney sank into a vacant armchair, her glittering hand at her heart and her eyes closed.
"My dear boy…my poor dear boy…no…it is kinder not to say…no…please don't ask me…"
"Well everyone's gonna want to know now." Charlie rolled his eyes, a few hums of agreement.
"What is it, Professor?" said Dean Thomas at once. Everyone had got to their feet, and slowly they crowded around Harry and Ron's table, pressing close to Professor Trelawney's chair to get a good look at Harry's cup.
"My dear," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically, "you have the Grim."
"What's the Grim?" Romulus asked, looking around the room surprised at the serious look in the Weasley's faces.
"The book will explain." Teddy told him gently, nodding back at James.
Harry looked around, confused, and he could see he wasn't the only one, Dean Thomas shrugged at him, Lavender Brown looked puzzled, but everyone else seemed to have gone pale, gasped or covered their mouths in horror
"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" cried Professor Trelawney, who looked shocked that Harry hadn't understood. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen — the worst omen — of death!"
"What? Seriously?" Romulus frowned, looking around before looking back at Lupin. It was awful to think someone would predict a child's death and he didn't know how true it might be though he hoped it wouldn't be the case.
Harry felt sick, remembering the dog he had seen in Magnolia Crescent, and the dog in the cover of Death Omens in Flourish and Blotts. Everyone was looking at Harry, everyone except Hermione, who had gotten up and moved around to the back of Professor Trelawney's chair.
"I don't think it looks like a Grim," she said flatly.
Professor Trelawney surveyed Hermione with mounting dislike.
"You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."
"That is incredibly rude." Mr. Weasley frowning.
Seamus Finnigan was tilting his head from side to side.
"It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, with his eyes almost shut, "but it looks more like a donkey from here," he said, leaning to the left.
"Yet more proof that divination is bogus." Remus huffed, leaning back where he was sitting next to Sirius.
"If you have all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" said Harry, taking even himself by surprise. Now nobody seemed to want to look at him.
"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," said Professor Trelawney in her mistiest voice. "Yes… please pack away your things…"
Silently the class took their teacups back to Professor Trelawney, packed away their books, and closed their bags. Even Ron was avoiding Harry's eyes.
Zania raised an eyebrow and looked at Ron. "You can't tell me you seriously believed that?"
"Well how was I supposed to know? Harry gets into a lot of trouble so maybe.." Ron trailed off, looking guilty.
"Nothing wrong with taking precautions." Mr. Weasley interrupted.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione descended Professor Trelawney's ladder and the winding stair in silence, and then set off for Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration lesson. It took them so long to find her classroom that, early as they had left Divination, they were only just in time.
Harry sat at the back of the room, not bothering to notice when Leon sat next to him, looking puzzled, probably wondering why everyone was looking at him, as though he would drop dead in the middle of the class
He hardly heard what Professor McGonagall was telling them about Animagi (wizards who could transform at will into animals),
"What? That's a great class you should pay attention to that Harry!" James groaned, not looking away from Lupin as he read from the book and unaware of the amused stares from his girlfriend and friends.
and wasn't even watching when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes.
"Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself with a faint pop, and staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."
"Minnie definitely loves the applause." Sirius snorted.
"Oh my god, Minnie? You call McGonagall Minnie?" George asked with a grin, sharing a look with Fred.
"Oh yeah, you should do it too, she'll love it." James nodded, looking at the twins with a smirk.
Everybody's heads turned toward Harry again, but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand.
"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and —"
"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"
Everyone stared at her
"So nonchalant." Remmy snorted, shaking his head.
"Well it's pretty common for this to happen from what I heard." Lupin explained.
"Me," said Harry, finally.
"I see," said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with her beady eyes. "Then you should know, Potter, that Sybil Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favourite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues —" Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney…"
"Never speak ill of my colleagues she says." Charlie smirked.
She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."
Hermione and Leon laughed and Harry felt a little better finding it harder to feel scared, though he could see that not everyone was convinced, and Ron still looked worried
"Such a worrywart Ronald." Hermione rolled her eyes, that year had definitely been hard on both of them. Specially given that she still believed that divination was such rubbish.
After the class, when they were all together eating on the Great Hall, Harry, Hermione and Ron told Leon everything that happened in Divination, all through the story he seemed to grow more and more amused but Ron seemed to grow more worried
"Ron, cheer up," said Hermione, pushing a dish of stew toward him. "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."
Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork but didn't start.
"Harry," he said, in a low, serious voice, "You haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"
"Yeah, I have," said Harry. "I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'."
Ron let his fork fall with a clatter.
"Oh why would you tell him that." Bill groaned. "That'll just make him think he's right. And it was just a dog."
"Oh sod off, I know now." Ron huffed.
"Probably a stray, believe it or not there's a lot of them around" Leon said, looking at Ron who looked at him as thought he had gone mad
"Leon, if Harry saw the Grim…that's bad, really bad" he said faintly "my uncle Billius saw one and he died! Less than a day after seeing it"
"Coincidence" Hermione said airily, pouring herself some pumpkin juice.
"Or perhaps instead of the omen of death it was just the reason behind his death." Lily pointed out.
Lupin snorted at that, but before Lily could ask him why he continued reading.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" said Ron, starting to get angry. "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"
"There you are, then," said Hermione in a superior tone. "They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim's not an omen; it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!"
"Oh, well exactly." Lily nodded, smiling at Hermione. "She gets it."
Leon laughed at that and Harry snorted Ron mouthed wordlessly at Hermione, who opened her bag, took out her new Arithmancy book, and propped it open against the juice jug.
"I think Divination seems very woolly," she said, searching for her page. "A lot of guesswork, if you ask me."
"Which is why I didn't take it" Leon said
"Not a nosy bastard huh?" Charlie asked amused, laughing as the boy looked away with an embarrassed flush.
"There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!" said Ron hotly.
"You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep," said Hermione coolly.
"Professor Trelawney said you didn't have the right aura! You just don't like being badat something for a change!"
He had touched a nerve. Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits of meat and carrot flew everywhere.
"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!"
She snatched up her bag and stalked away.
Ron frowned after her.
"What's she talking about?" he said to Harry. "She hasn't been to an Arithmancy class yet."
Leon looked at them but didn't say anything, lost in thought.
"How long did it take you to figure it out?" Hermione asked, to the confusion of almost everyone in the room.
"Not too long, though it took me longer since I wasn't sure how you could actually…you know. Didn't think you'd…" He said, making a motion to Hermione instead of explaining anything, getting a nod from the girl in question.
"What? What are you two on about?" Sirius asked, looking at the two kids.
"Nothing, you'll probably find out in the book anyway." Hermione told him. "If we keep reading."
All in all Harry was pleased to get out of the castle after lunch. Yesterday's rain had cleared; the sky was a clear, pale grey, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot as they set off for their first ever Care of Magical Creatures class. Ron and Hermione weren't talking to each other, and Leon was more or less ignoring them both and talking to Harry, who remained 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 three only-too-familiar backs ahead of them that he realized they must be having these lessons with the Slytherins. Malfoy was talking animatedly to Crabbe and Goyle, who were chortling. Harry was quite sure he knew what they were talking about.
"Because they're just not that original." James rolled his eyes but continued reading.
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 nasty moment, Harry thought that Hagrid was going to lead them into the forest; Harry had had enough unpleasant experiences in there to last him a lifetime. 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.
"I would have loved to go into the forest." Leon sighed wistfully, shrinking when he caught the look on Lupin's face. "What?"
"You realize Dumbledore keeps me up to date with everything you do right?" Lupin asked with a raised brow as Leon flinched along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, keeping quiet instead.
"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 the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.
"Eh?" said Hagrid.
"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated.
He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some, like Harry, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.
"Hasn' — hasn' anyone been able ter open their books?" said Hagrid, looking crestfallen.
All the class shook their heads except Leon
"I opened it" he said smiling encouragingly at Hagrid, who beamed at him
"Well of course Saint Lupin could open the book" Malfoy glared
"Saint Lupin." Percy shook his head. "Though I do have to ask, how did you know how to open that monstrosity?"
"Accident, mostly." Leon shrugged. "I was trying to figure out how to do it and turning it over in my hands when I noticed it growled in different ways depending on how to held it. When I touched the spine it almost seemed to purr so I just…stroke it?"
"Clever." Charlie whistled.
"You'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.
"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess?"
"Because you are an idiot" Leon said glaring
"Yeah you tell him son!" Romulus cheered, grinning at Leon and softening a little when the boy gave him a tentative smile back.
"I — I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.
"Oh, tremendously funny!" said Malfoy. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"
"Piss off, Malfoy," said Leon not-really-quietly. Hagrid was looking downcast and both Harry and Leon had wanted Hagrid's first lesson to be a success.
"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.
"God, this place is going to the dogs," said Malfoy loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father will have a fit when I tell him —"
"Malfoy, just shut your mouth" Leon said at the same time Harry said "Shut up Malfoy"
"Like peas in a pod you two." Remus said amused.
"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock before Malfoy could reply.
Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Harry 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-coloured 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.
"What the everloving hell are those?" Romulus asked.
"Hippogriffs! He's showing you the Hippogriffs that's amazing!" Charlie grinned, leaning forward in his seat.
"Gee up, there!" he 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. "Beautiful, aren' they?"
"Absolutely." Charlie and Leon said at the same time.
Harry could sort of 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 colour: stormy grey, 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 seemed to want to. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, approached the fence cautiously; Leon on the other hand was looking at them with the same expression he had with Norbert the Dragon and Fluffy the Three Headed Dog, beaming at them as he got closer.
"Seriously, wanna come to Romania? I could get you an internship or something you'll love it." Charlie grinned to the boy, who was looking at him as though he'd just said Santa was real.
"Yes! Please? Please yes?" He squeaked, leaning towards the older man while Charlie laughed.
"Not until you finish Hogwarts, please." Lupin sighed resigned.
"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't ever insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening; they were talking in an undertone and Harry had a nasty feeling they were plotting how best to disrupt the lesson.
"Oh they're going to get hurt aren't they?" Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Fooling around with dangerous creatures around is such a terrible idea!"
"They're not dangerous…but it was terribly stupid for them to ignore Hagrid." Leon spoke up, tugging on the sleeve of his sweater.
"Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the first 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?"
Most of the class backed farther away in answer. Even Harry, Ron, and Hermione had misgivings. The Hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn't seem to like being tethered like this. Leon looked torn, it was obvious to his three friends that he wanted to try, but they knew he hated being the center of attention.
"I hate people watching me." Leon explained with a frown.
"I'm the same way, never was much for being the center of attention." Romulus nodded.
"No one?" said Hagrid, with a pleading look.
"I'll do it," said Harry.
There was an intake of breath from behind him, and both Lavender and Parvati whispered, "Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!"
Harry ignored them. He climbed over the paddock fence.
"Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid. "Right then — let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."
He untied one of the chains, pulled the grey 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. Malfoy's eyes were narrowed maliciously.
"Little prick." Zania narrowed her eyes, she knew what had happened and hated that Malfoy would just get away with it.
"Easy now, Harry," said Hagrid quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink… Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much…"
"No one trusts you if you blink to much though, being fair." Remmy pointed out.
Harry's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Harry with one fierce orange eye. "Tha's it," said Hagrid. "Tha's it, Harry… now, bow."
Harry didn't feel much like exposing the back of his neck to Buckbeak, but he did as he was told. He 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, Harry, easy does it —"
But then, to Harry's enormous surprise, the Hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow.
"All right Harry!" Leon shouted
"I was so jealous of you." Leon sighed.
"Next time I'm forcing you to go first then." Harry smirked, snickering at the huff from the boy.
"Well done, Harry!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right — yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"
Feeling that a better reward would have been to back away, Harry moved slowly toward the Hippogriff and reached out toward it. He patted the beak several times and the Hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as though enjoying it.
The class broke into applause, all except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were looking deeply disappointed.
"Righ' then, Harry," said Hagrid. "I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him!"
"Double jealous." Leon pouted.
"…You should try riding a dragon." Charlie whispered, almost regretting it at his mother look but dismissing the thought as Leon looked at him with shinny eyes.
"You've ridden a dragon!?" Father and son asked with a fascinated look on their faces, Romulus more curious while Leon looked very excited.
This was a lot more than Harry had bargained for. He was used to a broomstick; but he wasn't sure a Hippogriff would be quite the same.
"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…"
Harry put his foot on the top of Buckbeak's wing and hoisted himself onto its back. Buckbeak stood up. Harry 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 Harry; he just had time to seize the Hippogriff around the neck before he was soaring upward. The Hippogriff's wings were beating uncomfortably on either side of him, catching him under his legs and making him feel he was about to be thrown off; the glossy feathers slipped under his fingers and he didn't dare get a stronger grip; instead of the smooth action of his Nimbus Two Thousand, he now felt himself rocking backward and forward as the hindquarters of the Hippogriff rose and fell with its wings.
"Okay that sounds terrifying." Percy grimaced, knowing he would have been yelling in fear if that had been him.
Buckbeak flew him once around the paddock and then headed back to the ground; this was the bit Harry had been dreading; 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, Harry!" roared Hagrid as everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. "Okay, who else wants a go?"
Emboldened by Harry'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 Hermione practiced on a chestnut while Leon was already petting a black one near them, Harry watched Leon who seemed to be enjoying it almost as much as the Hippogriff itself.
"You are so lucky, ridding a Hippogriff" Leon said wistfully, the Hippogriff he was petting rubbed his head on Leon's, who laughed and continued petting it "I'm jealous"
"I'm the one who's jealous, how do you manage to be so good with animals?" Harry asked
"I don't fear them and I respect them" Leon said smiling at Harry who smiled back, he noticed that Leon still looked incredibly sick but he refrained from saying anything
"But not from thinking it huh?" Leon asked amused, getting a simple shrug in response.
"I worry about you mate, you look terrible every so often." Harry explained.
"This is very easy," Malfoy drawled, loud enough for Harry to, hear him. Harry saw that he had taken over Buckbeak "I knew it must have been, if Potter could do it… I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" he said to the Hippogriff. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"
It happened in a flash of steely talons; Malfoy let out a high pitched scream and next moment, Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he strained to get at Malfoy, who lay curled in the grass, blood blossoming over his robes.
"I'm dying!" Malfoy yelled as the class panicked. "I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"
"Yer not dyin'!" said Hagrid, who had gone very white. "Someone help me — gotta get him outta here —"
Hermione ran to hold open the gate as Hagrid lifted Malfoy easily. As they passed, Harry saw that there was a long, deep gash on Malfoy's arm; blood splattered the grass and Hagrid ran with him, up the slope toward the castle.
Very shaken, the Care of Magical Creatures class followed at a walk. The Slytherins were all shouting about Hagrid.
"They should sack him straight away!" said Pansy Parkinson, who was in tears.
"It was Malfoy's fault!" snapped Dean Thomas. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly
"Please tell me that git didn't get Hagrid fired." Sirius asked, looking angry on Hagrid's behalf.
"They didn't, Dumbledore made sure they couldn't." Lupin explained calmly.
They all climbed the stone steps into the deserted entrance hall.
"I'm going to see if he's okay!" said Pansy, and they all watched her run up the marble staircase. The Slytherins, still muttering about Hagrid, headed away in the direction of their dungeon common room; Harry, Ron, Leon and Hermione went upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.
"You think he'll be all right?" said Hermione nervously.
"Course he will. Madam Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second," said Harry, who had had far worse injuries mended magically by the nurse.
"That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class, though, wasn't it?" said Ron, looking worried. "Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him…"
They were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinnertime, hoping to see Hagrid, but he wasn't there.
"They wouldn't fire him, would they?" said Hermione anxiously, not touching her steak-and-kidney pudding.
"I don't think so" said Leon, who wasn't eating either. "At least I hope not"
"You know, we've left Malfoy walk around peacefully for quite some time." Adhara said thoughtfully, receiving three equally terrifying grins from the Weasley twins and Zania in response.
"We're going to have to fix that now won't we?" Fred said.
Harry took a look at the Slytherin table, a large group of students seemed to be talking, no doubt creating their own version of what had happened with Malfoy
"Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day" Ron said sulkily
They went up to the crowded Gryffindor common room after dinner and tried to do the homework Professor McGonagall had given them, but all three of them kept breaking off and glancing out of the tower window.
"There's a light on in Hagrid's window," Harry said suddenly.
Ron looked at his watch.
"If we hurried, we could go down and see him. It's still quite early…"
"I don't know," Hermione said slowly, and Harry saw her glance at him.
"I'm allowed to walk across the grounds," he said pointedly. "Sirius Black hasn't got past the Dementors yet, has he?"
"Just leave it Hermione, come on, I want to go see Hagrid" Leon said already at the portrait hole, they left their things and followed, they were glad that they didn't meet anybody, as they weren't sure if they were allowed to be outside.
"You're not, but that would hardly stop you. Am I wrong?" Lupin said amused, rolling his eyes at the guilty look in the golden quartet's faces.
The grass was still wet and looked almost black in the twilight. When they reached Hagrid's hut, they knocked, and a voice growled, "C'min."
Hagrid was sitting in his shirtsleeves at his scrubbed wooden table; his boarhound, Fang, had his head in Hagrid's lap. One look told them that Hagrid had been drinking a lot; there was a pewter tankard almost as big as a bucket in front of him, and he seemed to be having difficulty getting them into focus.
"'Spect it's a record," he said thickly, when he recognized them. "Don' reckon they've ever had a teacher who lasted on'y a day before."
"You haven't been fired, Hagrid!" gasped Hermione.
"Not yet," said Hagrid miserably, taking a huge gulp of whatever was in the tankard. "But's only a matter o' time, I'n't, after Malfoy…"
"How is he?" said Ron as they all sat down. "It wasn't serious, was it?"
"Madam Pomfrey fixed him best she could," said Hagrid dully, "but he's sayin' it's still agony… covered in bandages… moanin'…"
"He's faking it," said Harry at once. "Madam Pomfrey can mend anything. She regrew half my bones last year."
"But of course he's going to milk it for all is worth" Leon scowled
"Wouldn't be a Malfoy if he didn't." Mr. Weasley frowned, relaxing when his wife put an arm around him as both a warning and to calm him down.
"School gov'nors have been told, o' course," said Hagrid miserably. "They reckon I started too big. Shoulda left Hippogriffs fer later… one flobberworms or summat… Jus' thought it'd make a good firs' lesson's all my fault…"
"It was all Malfoy's fault" Leon said "it was a brilliant lesson; it was going great until HE ruined it"
"We're witnesses," said Harry. "You said Hippogriffs attack if you insult them. It's Malfoy's problem that he wasn't listening. We'll tell Dumbledore what really happened."
"Yeah, don't worry, Hagrid, we'll back you up," said Ron.
Tears leaked out of the crinkled corners of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes. He grabbed both Harry and Ron and pulled them into a bone-breaking hug. Leon had quickly gotten out of the way and Hermione had followed him.
"I hate you both." Harry and Ron mumbled.
"Not our fault you were too slow." Hermione laughed.
"I think you've had enough to drink, Hagrid," said Hermione firmly. She took the tankard from the table and went outside to empty it.
"Ah, maybe she's right," said Hagrid, letting go of Harry and Ron, who both staggered away, rubbing their ribs, Leon shook his head and smirked at them, Ron stuck his tongue at him. Hagrid heaved himself out of his chair and followed Hermione unsteadily outside. They heard a loud splash.
"What's he done?" said Harry nervously as Hermione came back in with the empty tankard.
"Stuck his head in the water barrel," said Hermione, putting the tankard away.
"Great way of sobering up, eh?" he said smiling at Hermione who chuckled and nodded
Hagrid came back, his long hair and beard sopping wet, wiping the water out of his eyes.
"That's better," he said, shaking his head like a dog and drenching them all. "Listen, it was good of yeh ter come an' see me, I really —"
Hagrid stopped dead, staring at Harry as though he'd only just realized he was there.
"WHAT D'YEH THINK YOU'RE DOIN', EH?" he roared, so suddenly that they jumped a foot in the air. "YEH'RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN' AROUND AFTER DARK, HARRY! AN, YOU TWO! LETTIN' HIM!"
"Oh he's sobered up alright." Bill snickered.
"He's got a point though." Mrs. Weasley points out.
Hagrid strode over to Harry, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the door.
"C'mon!" Hagrid said angrily. "I'm takin' yer all back up ter school an' don' let me catch yeh walkin' down ter see me after dark again. I'm not worth that!"
Ron, Leon and Hermione followed them, Ron and Leon obviously amused
"You know, Hagrid must be the king of subtlety" Leon said following after them, Ron laughed and Hermione shot him a look
"What? It's not like I was wrong." Leon points out as Hermione looks at him in the exact same way as before.
Later that night, when they were all on the dorms, Ron had fallen asleep almost immediately, Neville, Dean and Seamus were also asleep, but Harry couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Can't sleep?" Leon asked without looking up from the book he was reading
"Not really, you?" he asked trying to get comfortable
"I'm not particularly sleepy" Leon said "what about you?"
"I'm not sleepy either" Harry shrugged "are you feeling alright now?"
"Hmm? Why do you ask?" Leon said, putting his book at the bedside, turning to look at Harry
"You looked pretty sick the other day" Harry said
"Oh, that, yeah I'm fine, I get sick a lot, you know that" Leon shrugged
"What do you think Malfoy will do?" Harry asked, Leon looked pensive
"I don't know, nothing good that's for sure" Leon said and then added darkly "the only thing we can know for sure is that we haven't heard the end of it"
"No, definitely no" Harry agreed "poor Hagrid"
"Yeah" Leon sighed "stupid Malfoy"
"Do you two often have talks like this in the night?" Ron asked suddenly, glancing at his two friends.
"Only when we can't sleep, not too often though." Leon answered. "Why?"
"Don't know…it just seemed like you two were far too used to it." Ron answered with a shrug.
"Nothing wrong with some pillow talk." Sirius teased, getting hit upside the head for his trouble.
"Pads! That's my son, shut up." James said, raising an eyebrow at the man who simply shrugged without a care.
"Reckon we can get the twins to prank him?"
"You kidding? I reckon they'll do it without us having to ask" Leon smiled as Harry laughed and nodded, he knew how the four friends were, they liked Hagrid just as much as Harry
"Come on, let's go to sleep, we have classes tomorrow" Leon yawned and turned off the last lamp, leaving the dorm in complete darkness, with the exception of the moonlight, shining through the window.
"Yes, goodnight Leo" Harry said finally laying down
"Goodnight Har"
"Gosh that was a long one." James sighed as Lupin passed the book down to Adhara who took it graciously.
"Only because people kept interrupting." Remmy said, not looking too perturbed about it.
"Let's get started on the next chapter then, at this pace it'll be time for lunch before we finish the next chapter." Teddy continues, nodding towards Adhara so she'd start.
The girl in question cleared his throat as he opened the book. "Very well, the next chapter is called…"
There we go. Honestly I don't want to make any more promises but I'll try to have a new chapter at least once a month. Thank you for those that have stuck with me and to everyone that might be seeing this for the first time.
Please comment and let me know what you think, whether you have any suggestions, ships you want in the story, anything! Until next time!