"You, my dear, seem to have a knack at Potions."
Aria's eyes widened at her head of house's statement. Professor Snape stood next to the Herbology professor and Professor McGonagall stood on her other side. Why Aria needed an entire audience for ju...
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~*~
As November started settling in, so did Winter. There was a sudden chill in the air, and the buzz for the starting of the Quidditch season started. Slytherin had already lost against Ravenclaw, and next would be the match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw to see who got the spot for third. If they beat Ravenclaw, Slytherin would go against Gryffindor. If they lost, they would go against Gryffindor. The fundamentals of what decided each match and who would play who wasn't quite clear to Aria, but she just went along with it.
The day before the match, and after a long morning of practice, Aria decided to go down and visit Hagrid whom she had hardly seen and hadn't talked to since she saw him in Diagon Alley. She had talked to him quite a bit the previous year, and would even consider calling him a friend. He was very friendly, and loved talking to people. He had been expelled from Hogwarts when he had attended, and though he shouldn't have been using magic, Dumbledore had given him access to his wand through a pink umbrella. He loved magical creatures and was very good with them too. He knew so much about them that he could have possibly become a professor at Hogwarts had he not been expelled.
Aria knocked on the door of his hut that resided close to the entrance of the forbidden forest and heard a loud barking on the other side. The door opened and the large man peered down at the waving Aria, looking rather surprised to see her there.
"Why Aria!" the man bellowed. "I hadn' expected to see yer here! I though' you might've been 'Arry."
"Has he been visiting you? That's good. Had I known, I would have brought him with me. He and I have become good friends since you introduced us. He's also become good friends with my friend Ron Weasley. Have you met him."
"I think I might've once," Hagrid said thoughtfully. "Red head, like his brothers?"
She nodded. "That's the one."
"Well, why don' you come inside, Aria. I've just been brewin some tea."
Aria happily followed him inside and collapsed into one of his very large armchairs, sinking in and almost disappearing. This could probably have fit three kids her age.
Hagrid handed her a large mug and began asking her questions about her year. He asked her about her friends and about Quidditch and if she had made the team or not. He asked her about her family and the Weasleys. She told him about Charlie's adventures in Romania which intrigued him quite a bit. He told her that he had always wanted a dragon, and, even though it was illegal in England, how he was sure he could take care of one just fine.
"Well, I'm sure you could, Hagrid," Aria replied. "Maybe I'll ask Charlie if you can go up there and visit him one day. I'm sure he'd love to take you on a tour and maybe, if you wanted to, he could even get you a position to work with some of them."
