Hagrid burst out his cabin to start the class and beamed at us all. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lessons comin' up, follow me!"

I shot a nervous look at Hermione. "You don't think he has anything…dangerous…planned?" I asked. The last thing I wanted was Hagrid sacked on his first day.

Hermione shook her head, but doubt filled her expression. "He wouldn't dare…"

He led us to a large fenced area. "Gather 'round! Now, open yer books."

Everyone pulled out their books. I noticed that many people, like me, had bound them with belts, and others had used ropes and numerous other materials. We stared questioningly at Hagrid. "Hagrid," I said quietly. "Please tell us how to open them."

Hagrid looked around, wide-eyed. "Oh. Erm. Yeh've ger stroke 'em. Just pet 'em a bit," he called throughout the small clearing.

We all looked at each, shrugged, and petted our ferocious books. Hagrid looked a little down that we hadn't be able to open them all summer. "Guess I'll go and get the Creatures, then…" He disappeared into the forest behind the paddock.

Malfoy snickered. "Stroke them! Of course! This is absolutely ridiculous, when my father finds out this oaf got a job…"

I turned towards him, viciously, aware that people were staring. "Shut up, Malfoy," I said acidly. I wasdone with his arrogance this year. Ron was, too, because he was at my side in an instance.

"Is that a dementor, Potter?" Malfoy sneered, and Ron made a movement as if he was going to jump at him, when Parvati and Lavender let out squeals.

Ron and I turned around, and saw about ten of these…great, winged, eagle-faced horses that strode towards us on front legs with talons. They were brilliant: colorful with striking, bright eyes. They were all attached by chains held by Hagrid.

"These…" Hagrid announced, gesturing to the beautiful bird-horses. "…are hippogriffs! Firs' thing yeh gotta know. Easily offended, they are, so don't ever insult one unless yer asking for a fight.

"Also, yeh gotta wait for the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite. Yer gonna bow ter them firs' and wait ter to see if they bow back. If he does, you can touch him. If he don't…then get away from him at once, slowly.

"Who's firs'?"

The class involuntarily backed away, glancing at each other. Ron and Hermione were among them. I sighed. "I'll go," I said before I could stop myself.

Hagrid grinned. "Brave girl, Haile!" Hagrid boomed, as I climbed over the fence, trying to keep my heart rate down.

"But…Haile!" Lavender called after me.

Parvati finished for her. "Your tea leaves!"

The Slytherins looked confused, but the Gryffindors shot nervous looks at each other. I sighed, facing the crowd of my fellow house members. "'Kay. Let's end that ridiculous prediction now. If I don't die here, I'm pretty sure my chances to die have run out."

The Gryffindors eyed me curiously as I turned my back and Hagrid led me in front of one of the biggest ones there. "This is Buckbeak," Hagrid introduced as if it was his old friend.

The class was now eyeing me apprehensively. Even the Slytherins were paying close attention now; Malfoy in particular. His eyes were narrowed and he looked almost worried.

Hagrid untied Buckbeak, and he ruffled his feathers magnificently. Buckbeak caught my eye, and I had to force myself not to look away. "Try not ter blink now that yeh've got eye contact, Haile," Hagrid told me.

I didn't even though my eyes began to water. Buckbeak's expression didn't change. I gave him a weak smile. "Now bow…" Hagrid ordered softly. I noticed out of the corner of my eye he had retreated a bit.

I gave Buckbeak a bow and looked up. The hippogriff gave me a look of high authority and I gulped. Hagrid cleared his throat. "Alright, then, Haile, back away slowly—"

Then, the hippogriff bent its knees and sank into a bow. I grinned widely, and Hagrid encouraged, "Pet his beak, Haile!"

I reached out with a new surge of confidence and pet Buckbeak's beak. The bird was no longer haughty; it was friendly and inviting. It allowed me to bet its beak several times.

The class applauded and cheered. "How's that for those silly tea leaves?" Hermione barked, and even Lavender and Parvati shrugged.

"Yeh can probably even ride him if yeh want," Hagrid said, enthusiastically.

"What?" I said, jerking my head to look at him.

"Go on…put yer foot on his wing and climb up, but be gentle." I shot 'help me!' looks at Ron and Hermione.

"Hagrid, I really don't think this is—"

"Nonsense, Hermione! Go on, Haile!" Hagrid's happy face was too precious to break. I stepped on Buckbeak's wing, shutting my eyes as I hoisted myself up. Okay, so far so good.

"Off you go!" roared Hagrid, and Buckbeak, without any warning for me, took flight.

I seized the Buckbeak's neck as we soared up and up. It was quite different from flying on a broomstick, though if I hadn't had practice on my broomstick, I probably would have fallen off by now from panic.

I felt like I was going to slide off any moment, but luckily, Buckbeak seemed to feel my tenseness. He brought me back down to paddock after a few more seconds. Our landing was somehow smooth even though I had my eyes shut tight the whole time.

"Well done, Haile!" Hagrid said, pulling me off the hippogriff. "I think he likes you!"

I gave a huge smile at Buckbeak and he bowed again at me.

"Who's next?" Hagrid asked.

The rest of the class eased up by my success and began to bow nervously to the hippogriffs. Malfoy took over Buckbeak while I watched anxiously. Leave it to Malfoy to screw things up.

Malfoy bowed, and Buckbeak bowed back. Malfoy began to stroke his beak, and said to me in a loud carrying voice, "Oh, this is easy, Potter. No wonder you could do it. I mean…" he continued, turning back to the hippogriff, "I bet this big ugly brute wouldn't hurt a fly!"

Suddenly, Buckbeak took a strike. Malfoy screamed and fell backwards, while Hagrid struggled to get Buckbeak under control. The class ran out of the fenced area and watched in silent alarm; Pansy Parkinson was in tears.

Malfoy's arm appeared to be gushing blood and he was screaming, "I'm dying! I'm dying!"

"Yer not!" Hagrid said, beginning to sweat and turning white. "Haile, Seamus," Hagrid said to us, since we were the nearest. "I need ter get the hippogriffs under control…could yeh take him up to the hospital wing?"

Seamus and I groaned and hoisted Malfoy up. "Couldn't he have asked another guy to do this?" I grumbled, as Malfoy who was very white, put his weight on us. His blood got on our robes.

Seamus rolled his eyes. "He's like twice your height," he agreed. We lugged him up the stairs and it seemed forever to drag him to the hospital wing.

"It's your own fault!" I told him as he moaned. "Madam Pomfrey can mend your cut in a second, just shut up!"

Seamus laughed, and Malfoy stopped moaning, but closed his eyes, clearly in pain. I, personally, thought he was being a drama queen.

Madam Pomfrey helped us lift him into a bed. He didn't even thank us for lugging his idiotic butt up here. Annoyed, I stomped out of the hospital wing after Seamus was finished telling Madam Pomfrey what happened.

Seamus caught up with me, amused at my obvious anger. "Well, you know what this means," he said, more gravely. I looked at him, confused. His eyebrows shot up. "This doesn't mean good news for Hagrid—once Malfoy's dad finds out, at least."

My heart sank. Seamus was right.

Ron and Hermione had similar worries that night at dinner. "Oh, I'm so mad I could scream!" I said, kicking under the table.

"Ouch!" cried Percy who was sitting across from me.

"Oh, sorry, Perce," I said, looking down at my dinner instantly.

"He can't get Hagrid sacked!" Hermione assured me, terrified.

Ron looked solemn. "Oh, he could, and he'll try," Ron informed us. "We'll just have to make sure Hagrid doesn't do anything else dangerous."

We nodded in agreement.

That night, we sat up in the Gryffindor tower. "There's a light on at Hagrid's," I said lightly. Ron and Hermione continued to work on homework, but sighed. "We could go down and visit him."

They both looked up, looked at each, frowned, and shook their heads. "Come on!" I moaned. "Hagrid needs us!"

"No, Haile," Hermione said, sharply. "I won't have it. We'll let Hagrid mull over this himself, and we'll go visit him straight tomorrow morning." She put down her quill. "You know, H, I'm really surprised at you. With Sirius Black on the loose, you're already just itching to go sneaking around at night. No, no, and no. And Ronald Weasley," she said in an even more acidic voice, "if I find out you sneak her out yourself, you'll be truly sorry. This is for her safety, and that only."

She then smiled warmly at both of us and stood up, announcing it was time for bed, and wouldn't I, Haile, come along, too?

I agreed, and said goodnight to Ron, almost amused. I knew Hermione only wanted the best for me. I could only admit that she was right. I was glad I had a practical friend like her...she always had my back, after all.

It wasn't until Thursday during Double Potions that Draco returned to classes. His arm was covered in bandages and he constantly complained of the pain.

Pansy Parkinson absolutely swooned over him. "Does it hurt, Draco?" she cooed.

"Yes…" he sighed, and then winked at Crabbe and Goyle.

I narrowed my eyes. Malfoy chose the seat next to me, and I shot a look at him. Why?

Then, Malfoy looked at the ingredients he was supposed to cut up for his Shrinking Solution. "Sir," he called. "I can't cut up my daisy roots…my arm…"

"Potter," Snape called clearly. "Cut up Mr. Malfoy's daisy roots."

I now understood why he chose the seat next to me. He watched contentedly as I cut up his roots, angrily. He smiled when I was done. "Thank you," he drawled. "And skin my shrivelfig."

"Malfoy…I swear…" I hissed, grabbing his shrivelfig.

"What, Potter? So…how's your dear pal, Hagrid, lately?" he asked in an offhand tone.

Ron joined the conversation, helping me cut up my own ingredients.

"Weasley, I'm quite sure the famous Haile Potter is capable of cutting up her own roots," Snape drawled. "But if you'd like to put yourself behind, continue."

"Yes, sir," Ron said, and continued cutting up my roots. I quietly thanked him. "And that's none of your business, Malfoy."

We had gone down to see him, and it wasn't good. He was really upset by the whole ordeal, and was going to continue with something smaller.

"Father's not very happy about my injury," Malfoy said, smirking. He gave a fake sigh. "Will my armever be the same?"

"Nice plan," I hissed at him. "Get Hagrid fired. Really slick."

Malfoy sneered, "I thought so."

I glanced across the room. Neville as usual was being scolded by Snape for messing up his potion. Hermione frantically tried to help him set it right without Snape noticing.

"By the way, Potter," Malfoy said, in a casual voice. "Black's been sighted not too far from here by a Muggle."

Ron and I looked at him sharply.

"Why you haven't done anything yet…it's beyond me," he said, pushing his caterpillar that needed to be sliced towards Ron. "If it was me, I would have gotten my revenge by now."

Ron shot at him, "What do you mean by that, Malfoy?"

"Don't you know, Potter?" Malfoy asked, cocking his head at me. "Well, I won't spoil the surprise for you."

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Ron and I jumped up and ran away from Malfoy. "Hermione, Black's been sighted," I told her, walking out of the classroom.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, and Malfoy was saying something about Haile getting revenge…but for what? What do you reckon?"

No answer. We turned around. "Hermione?" I called. "She was right behind us…"

We turned back around and saw her hurrying towards us. "Oh, sorry," she muttered, looking flustered. She shifted her bag from one shoulder to another. "Oh, this bag is so heavy."

I peered inside it. "Hermione!" I exclaimed. "Look how many books you're carrying!"

Hermione quickly shut her bag. "It's nothing. Let's go down to lunch, shall we?" She gave us a quick nod and shuffled away.

Ron looked at me, curiously. "Do you get the feeling she's keeping something from us?" I nodded and followed her down to lunch.

After lunch we had our first ever Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Lupin. He entered when us Gryffindors were already seated with our books out. "Oh, no need for books," he said airily. "Today will be a practical lesson—wands only. Follow me."

We curiously followed him out of the classroom and down the corridor. Peeves came out of nowhere, blocking our way. "Loony, loopy Lupin," he chanted over and over.

"Kindly step aside, Peeves," Lupin said, grinning.

Peeves stuck out his tongue at him instead. Lupin grinned wider, and pulled at his wand. "Watch, everyone. A useful spell this is. Waddiwasi!"

A piece of chewing gum Peeves had just stuck in the keyhole of the door we needed to get through shot up his nose, causing Peeves to fly away, yelling.

We smiled at him, approvingly. He led us into the staffroom, where Snape was just exiting. "Good afternoon, Professor Snape," Lupin said pleasantly.

Snape eyed him maliciously. "Hello," he murmured. "I can't help but notice this class contains Neville Longbottom. I wouldn't put anything too hard on him unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."

Hermione scowled, and Neville turned pink. I felt a wave of fury at Snape.

Professor Lupin merely smiled. "Oh, I was actually hoping Neville would start," he said, lightly. "I'm quite sure he'll succeed with confidence.'

Snape glared before leaving.

Lupin motioned to the wardrobe at the back of the room. "There's a boggart in there," Lupin said, as the wardrobe wobbled ferociously. "Boggarts like dark, small places. The headmaster was kind enough to let me use this one for practice for you. Now, can anyone tell what a boggart is?"

Hermione's hand shot in the air. "It's a shape-shifter," he answered. "It takes the shape of whatever will frighten us the most."

Lupin smiled at her. "Precisely. No one knows that the boggart looks like on the inside, but once exposed to us, will immediately take the shape of our biggest fear. Haile, can you tell me why we have the upper hand when dealing with the boggart?"

I was startled at being addressed, but I had a go. "Well…since there's so many of us, it will be confused and not know what shape to take?"

"Yes," Lupin agreed. "That's why it's easier to rid of it with a group. The charm that repels a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is envision your biggest fear so it's merely a joke—not scary at all. The charm is…repeat after me…riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" we shouted together.

"Yes. Now, the hard part. Neville?" Neville stepped forward. "Good lad. What is your biggest fear?"

Neville thought for a moment and then said, "Professor Snape."

Everyone laughed and Neville cracked a grin himself.

"Now, Neville, you live with your grandmother, I expect?" Lupin asked. "Can you think of the clothes she wears?"

Neville thought. "A long green dress, a fur hat, and a scarf. With a big red handbag."

"Good. Think of them clearly. Now, when the boggart comes out, it will assume the form of Professor Snape. Then, say the charm, and think clearly of the clothes your grandmother wears. I won't spoil the surprise for you all…but concentrate hard on your biggest fear, everyone, so you will be ready to go next."

I knew mine at once—and it wasn't Voldemort or Sirius Black. It was dementors.

"Everyone back up, give Neville room. I'll call the next person up. Ready, Neville?" Neville gulped and nodded. "One…two…three!"

The wardrobe burst open and Snape stepped out, his glare intensifying on Neville. "Riddikulus!" Neville yelled as loud as his voice would go.

There was a loud crack. Snape was suddenly wearing a long green dress with a fur hat, a large red purse, with a scarf. The class roared in laughter, and the boggart, confused, paused. "Parvati, next!"

It went like this for the next few people. It was really fun to watch, the class laughing every time someone's biggest fear turned into the funniest thing they had ever seen.

Finally, the boggart was becoming extremely confused. Lupin stepped forward and it became a silvery white orb, like a moon. "Riddikulus!" Lupin cried. Crack! "Neville, finish him off!"

Snape appeared again in the lacy dress before Neville laughed and the boggart exploded into a million wisps of smoke.

"Fantastic!" Lupin exclaimed, beaming. "Neville—excellent job. Five points to Gryffindor for every person who helped tackle the boggart, and five for Hermione and Haile."

"But we didn't get to tackle the boggart," I protested.

"You two answered my questions at the beginning of class," Lupin reminded me. "Homework: read the chapter on boggarts with a summary due Monday."

Everyone left the classroom, talking excitedly of the boggart and how cool Professor Lupin was. Hermione said, "I wish I could have a turn. He seems like a really good teacher."

"Me too," I sighed. "I wonder why we didn't get to."

Ron shrugged.

From then on, Defense Against the Dark Arts class was everyone's favorite. Potions had gotten worse, however, especially when Snape found out about the boggart incident. Divination was a nightmare. Professor Trelawney never tired of predicting my death. Care of Magical Creatures had become dull fast now that Hagrid was taking extra precautions to be safe.

Finally, October came and that meant Quidditch season. Oliver Wood called a meeting one Thursday. We met down in the locker rooms, as always. He stood in front of us, and said, "This my last chance to win the Cup. We have the best team in the school! It's time for us to win!"

The team responded enthusiastically, and we began practicing three times a week. It was going quite well, as our determined spirits never diminished by the chilly, rainy weather.

One night after a particularly excellent practice, I came home to find the Gryffindor common room buzzing with excited people. "What's going on?" I asked Ron, who was chatting happily with Hermione.

"Hogsmeade weekend on Halloween!" Ron said, happily. Then, his face fell at same time mine did.

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, H. Maybe they'll catch Black soon and you can go next time."

I sighed, too. Ron looked at me pityingly. "I know!" he said, suddenly. "Ask McGonagall."

Hermione and I gave him a doubtful look. Ron defended his outburst. "Come on, like Black would try anything in front of all those people."

Hermione shook her head, but I considered it. "I think I'll ask her tomorrow," I said.

Ron pulled Scabbers out of his bag. "Poor Scabbers hasn't been feeling well lately," Ron said, eyeing his ill-looking rat.

Just then, Crookshanks jumped up and sat on Hermione's lap, eyeing Scabbers evilly.

Us there were silent for a moment in anticipation. Then, Crookshanks lunged for Scabbers and Ron, unable to keep control over the scurrying, frightened rat, dropped him.

Crookshanks chased after him full speed.

Ron was yelling. "CATCH THAT CAT! GET THE STUPID ANIMAL!"

People were staring, and many of the boys made lunges to catch Crookshanks. George finally snatched the small lion/large cat up, and brought him over to Hermione.

Ron had retrieved Scabbers from underneath a nearby chair. He was shaking head to foot—and so was Ron, in anger. "You keep your cat away from him! You're making him worse!" he snapped.

Hermione held Crookshanks tighter. "It's not his fault, Ron! He doesn't know any better!" she said, furiously.

Ron yelled back, "Why don't both of you just keep away from us?!" and without another glance, stormed into his dormitory.

I sighed. I hated when they fought. Hermione was close to tears and when I suggested we go to bed, she nodded silently. I led her upstairs, away from the curious spectators that had gathered around. Everything would be better tomorrow, right?