Lauren Davies and the Glydan Pipe

Care of Magical Creatures

    Lauren stalked into Care of Magical Creatures the next morning looking utterly bedraggled. Her soaking wet hair hung loose, making dark spots on her robes where the ends met her shoulders. She had neglected to eat breakfast and instead opted for an extra ten minutes in the hot shower. Her empty stomach growled, as she trudged over towards Tess, who gave her a pitying look before pulling out two pieces of slightly burned toast from the pocket of her robe.

"Tess, you're a lifesaver!" Lauren said before eagerly grabbing and devouring the pieces in a few bites, wincing slightly as her lips grazed over some lint stuck to the crust.

"Don't mention it. I knew Oliver would have you guys out there doing drills until the last possible minute this morning."

"You can say that again," Lauren responded. "Honestly, I think the role of captain has gone straight to his head."

Tess laughed and shook her head. "Whatever you say."

A comfortable silence fell between the two as they sat down next to each other at a shared desk in the middle of the room. Lauren swiveled her head to see who else was in the class. She spotted Emily right away, who sat in the front row next to Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff fourth year and, in Lauren's opinion, the best seeker in all of Hogwarts. She suddenly became anxious about the looming quidditch tryouts. They would need a very talented seeker if they wanted any hope of defending their title. She shoved the stress down, attempting to suppress it. Chatter volume increased as the classroom slowly filled. Lauren swiveled her head around, trying to spot familiar faces.

There was Angelina and Isla of course, sitting close to the front of the room. Directly behind them, Draco Malfoy was glaring at a timid Hufflepuff. Lauren sighed in exasperation as the smaller student quickly gathered their things and scurried to an empty desk in the back of the room.

Draco Malfoy was a fourth year Slytherin. When he wasn't terrorizing defenseless kids, he was fending off heaps of attention from every girl and boy in the school. Those who weren't completely terrified of him wanted nothing more than to be with him. Lauren always found him to be insufferably evil, but had to agree with the majority of the student body. He was certainly very attractive.

He spun a ring absentmindedly around his long, slim finger and gazed up at the ceiling. Tess was staring, mouth wide open. Lauren laughed and knocked her elbow off the desk, causing her to lose balance.

"What?" Tess grinned. "You can't tell me you weren't looking too."

Lauren was about to reply, but whispers from behind her caused the thought to escape her. She stiffened as she realized who the voices belonged to.

"Erin and Claire are in this class," she stated frantically. Tess just shrugged.

"Yea, what about it?"

"Nothing, I guess they just startled me." Lauren shifted in her seat uncomfortably and tried to ignore them, but their hushed conversation seemed deafening. She was finally saved when professor Oldstrum strided in to begin class. He set down his briefcase on the desk, along with a covered crate. Lauren's curiosity washed out all other emotions, as all the possibilities of the crate's contents flew through her head.

Just as he was about to speak, the door burst open and Campbell Dankworth ran in, plopping down into an empty seat in the back half of the room. Mischief was written all over his face and Lauren immediately felt empathy for whomever would be at the receiving end of whatever prank he was planning.

"Good morning fourth years, welcome to Care of Magical Creatures. We're going to be going over a wide variety of beasts this year, but let's see how much you know already." He sat on the edge of his desk and clicked his tongue. Although he seemed casual, his very presence demanded unwavering attention. "Can anyone tell me what a hinkypunk does?" Lauren watched as Emily's hand shot up and Professor Oldstrum nodded at her.