She stepped into the Leaky Cauldron for the first time in years. After the Battle of Hogwarts, during the Second Wizarding War, she finished her studies at Hogwarts. She excelled at Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and, like most Hufflepuffs, Herbology. With Rudeus Hagrid's guidance, she pursued magizoology after Hogwarts. She travelled all over the world during the first few years after school. After spending a year in Germany, she returned to England and decided to narrow her focus on the United Kingdom's native magical creatures and how they are affected by non-native creatures. Along with Hagrid, McGonagall, and the Ministry of Magic, she established a small herd of Welsh Green Dragons in Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest. She had spent the last two years living in the forest building a rapport with many of the creatures that called the forest home. This past July she had been approached by bot Hagrid and Professor McGonagall about taking over as the professor for the Care of Magical Creatures. They had approached her when Hagrid announced his retirement from the position, but she had not been ready. She still didn't feel ready, but she agreed nonetheless because she knew it was a needed class.
"You better have a license for that beast, lady." Someone shouted from the bar. He had noticed the cat-like creature curled around her neck. She scratched the black and white Keneally ignoring the man. Because of kneazles' nature of being aggressive with some, their high intelligence, and their ability to sense suspicious people or activities, the Ministry of Magic requires kneazle owners to be licensed.
"Amethyst, over here!" A red-headed man waved to her from a table towards the back of the pub. As she approached, she noticed that he wasn't alone, but she recognized those with him.
"Sorry I'm late. Ran into an issue with some of the acromanutulas in the forest." She shook hands with the red-headed man, Bill Weasley.
"I thought the ministry ordered eradication?" Bill looked over at his sister-in-law and current Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger-Weasley.
"We did, however, we also realize that one-hundred percent eradication may not be possible. The colony needs to be controlled to a less damaging size at the very least." Hermione replied. "Ron would prefer if all spiders became extinct, but especially acromantulas."
"That is very true." Ron Weasley was quick to agree. He looked a lot like his brother, Bill. All the Weasley children had bright red hair and varying amounts of freckles. Even Ron and Hermione's children had red hair.
"Getting Hagrid on board with thinning the colony has not been easy." Amethyst said as she sat down next to Fleur, Bill's wife. Amethyst had met Bill and Fleur a few years ago when she was working with Charlie Weasley. Charlie was a dragonologist and had been a huge help in establishing the small herd of Welsh Green Dragons at Hogwarts. Bill and Fleur had visited a few times while Amethyst had been with him. She remembered Percy, George, Fred, Ron, and Ginny from Hogwarts. She and Ginny had been in the same year and had both fought in Dumbledore's Army during the Battle of Hogwarts.
"A bit off for a Hufflepuff to chase after beasts, isn't it?" Someone approached the group. Orion, the kneazle, hissed.
"Maybe you should read a little about badgers, Pansy. Maybe that would clue you into the true nature of Hufflepuffs." Amethyst recognized the voice almost immediately. She glared at Pansy Parkinson as she scratched Orion under the chin. Out of the four Hogwarts houses, Hufflepuff was the most underestimated. However, they were only second to Griffydor in how many students stood by Harry during the Battle of Hogwarts. Hufflepuff was the most inclusive house and they were fiercely loyal to those they cared about. It really was no surprise that most Hufflepuffs had sided with Harry Potter and many had been, including Amethyst herself, members of Dumbledore's Army.
"…" Pansy spun on her heel and stormed away from them. They all looked at each other and shrugged.
"Someone hasn't grown up, it seems." Hermione said.
"I thought Harry and Ginny were coming?" Fleur spoke up after a moment. Her French accent not as thick as it once was.
"The kids wanted to me up so they were making sure all was good. They should be here shortly." Hermione answered. Harry mentioned the possibility of Draco Malfoy coming as well, but that wan't something she was going to mention. There was still some distrust with Draco, even though he had proven himself the year before.
"Amethyst, are you alright?" Bill noticed that she had her phone to her ear and her eyes were wide.
"I'll be right there." She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the others. "Actually, I have to go. There's been an incident at Hogwarts." She stood up and hurried to the wall to open the archway into Diagon Alley. Before she had the chance, Harry and Ginny entered.
"What incident?" Hermione and the others were right behind her. "Acromantulas?" Amethyst just nodded. "I'm coming with you." She turned to Ron, "Get the kids home." He simply nodded, clearly relieved that she didn't ask him to come.
"We could use all the help we can get from the sounds of it." Amethyst wasn't arguing. Harry and Ginny exchanged looks.
"I can get all the kids home." Ron knew that look.
"Thank you." Harry replied.
"We've got to go." Amethyst hurried through the passage into Diagon Alley. The four found a quiet corner and apparated to Hogwarts. "Hagrid!" They appeared near Hagrid's cottage but noticed he was near the edge of the forest. They rushed over to him.
"Amethyst, good you're here. We need…" Hagrid trailed off when he noticed that she wasn't alone. "Harry? Ginny? Hermione?"
"Where are they?" Amethyst could hear the cries of pain.
"Just inside the forest, I think. I didn't see 'em breach." Hagrid looked shaken. "They're just babies…"
"Hagrid, get the paddock ready. We're going to need Neville's help gathering necessary herbs from the greenhouses. Ginny, can you let him know? He should be in Greenhouse One." Ginny nodded and took off for the greenhouses.
"What do you want us to do?" Harry asked as they pulled out their wands.
"I'm sorry, Hagrid, but we have no other choice now." Hermione looked at Hagrid. He nodded.
"We don't have to kill them though. At least not at this time." They all looked at Amethyst. "I combined arania exumai and reducio to work simultaneously on acromantulas. It will permanently shrink the acromantulas to about the size of a normal tarantula. It will be slow going since it can't do more than one at a time, but it's a start." She explained. "I perfected it this morning before I left for the Leaky Cauldron."
"What's the spell?" Harry asked quite impressed.
"Aracnis." Amethyst said. They made their way closer to the forest. "We'll enter the forest carefully. We are rescuing the baby hippogriffs. Hopefully we will be able to rescue all ten."
"Let's go." Hermione replied. They stayed together and kept their eyes peeled.
"Aracnis!" Harry cast the spell to their left.
"We are not actively seeking the acromantulas; priority are the hippogriffs." Amethyst said as they got deeper into the forest.