𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 | 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧

chapter ten: buckbeak.
date: september 2nd 1993.

HAGRID WAS WAITING FOR HIS CLASS AT THE DOOR OF HIS HUT. Stella thought he looked a little impatient, like he was itching to start the lesson; she couldn't blame him after all; it was his first day as a teacher. The group were beyond proud of his achievement; they knew how much it meant to him.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" Hagrid called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

Stella shared a look of excitement with Jade, and along with Hermione, arms linked, they skipped down the path towards the forest; eventually 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.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid ordered them, "That's it—make sure yeh can see—now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books—"

Like everyone else, Stella took her copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which was fluffy but rather menacing, out of her bag before dropping her bag upon the wet grass. She had bound her book with one of her father's black belts, whereas Jade was bound tightly with what Stella thought were shoelaces.

"How?" Draco asked, his voice cold.

"Eh?" Hagrid said.

"How do we open our books?" Draco asked, irritated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope.

"Hasn'—hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid wondered, looking crestfallen.

The class all shook their heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," Hagrid informed them, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look—"

He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the sellotape 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. Stella raised her brows in surprise; she glanced down at her own book, but the thought of it coming alive and trying to bite her was enough to put her off.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Draco shouted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess?"

"If you don't shut up, I'll come over there and crush your windpipe," Jade threatened, her jaw clenching in anger.

Draco and his gang glared at her, which Jade returned.

"I—I thought they were funny," Hagrid uttered uncertainly to Hermione.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" Draco continued. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry muttered quietly.

Hagrid was looking downcast, and all Stella and the others wanted was for Hagrid's first lesson to be a success.

"Righ' then," Hagrid said, he seemed to have lost his train of thought, "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."

"God, this place is going to the dogs," Draco grumbled in disgust. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him—"

"Honestly, you are giving me a headache today," Stella whined, resting her book on the edge of the fence. She bought her fingers up to rub her temple.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated.

Lavender Brown squealed loudly, gaining the attention of everyone as she pointed toward the opposite side of the paddock. Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre yet beautiful creatures they 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.

"Gee up, there!" Hagrid roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone but Stella drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

"Oh Merlin, Hagrid, they are so beautiful," Stella gasped in shock, gripping the fence in awe.

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. Stella quite likes the pinkish roan colour.

"So," Hagrid began, rubbing his hands together and beaming around. "If yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer—"

No one dared to move an inch, Harry, Ron, Jade, and Hermione, however, approached the fence cautiously, standing beside Stella.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," Hagrid explained to them. "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't ever insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

"How much do you want to bet that one of the goonies insults the creature?" Jade muttered under her breath.

"I bet you one galleon," Harry whispered to her, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Your on, Harold," Jade grinned, holding her hand out to shake his, sealing their deal.

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued to speak. "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."

After a moment of silence, Hagrid spoke again, his eyes darting over the large group of students. "Right—who wants ter go first?"

Realising what he was asking, most of the class backed farther away in answer. Even Stella, who seemed quite keen on them early, Harry, Ron, Jade, and Hermione had misgivings. The hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings, Stella could tell they didn't seem to like being tethered like this.

"No one?" Hagrid asked, with a pleading look.

"I'll do it," Harry offered.

There was an intake of breath from behind the group, and both Lavender and Parvati whispered, "Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!"

"Seriously?" Stella questioned, turning around to glance at them. "Fuck the tea leaves."

Lavender and Parvati gave her a distasteful look before turning their attention to Harry, who slowly climbed over the paddock fence, greeting Hagrid and his beast with a wary smile.

"Good man, Harry!" Hagrid laughed. "Right then—let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

Stella nervously tugged her bottom lip as Hagrid 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.

"Easy, now, Harry," Hagrid warned him quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact; now try not ter blink. Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much."

"I'm not sure I can watch this," Stella mumbled, her hand instinctively grabbing onto Jade's cloak.

Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Harry with one fierce orange eye.

"Tha's it," Hagrid praised. "Tha's it, Harry now, bow."

He gave a short bow and then looked up. The hippogriff was still staring haughtily at him. It didn't move a muscle.

"Ah," Hagrid says, sounding worried. "Right—back away, now, Harry, easy does it."

But then, to everyone's surprise, the hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow. A breathy laugh left Stella's lips; she wished she had a camera to capture this moment.

"Well done, Harry!" Hagrid roared, ecstatic. "Right—yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

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.

"Go on, Harry!" Stella cheered, clapping her hands. Following her lead, the rest of the class broke into applause, all except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were looking deeply disappointed.

"Righ' then, Harry," Hagrid said. "I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!"

"Is he bloody crazy?!" Ron asked, his mouth parted open in shock.

"Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," Hagrid began to explain to him. "An' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out; he won' like that."

Everyone watched as 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!" Hagrid shouted, slapping the hippogriff's 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. While Harry was riding Buckbeak, Hagrid had insisted that the rest of the class try to gain the respect of the other hippogriff.

Stella cautiously approached the nearest hippogriff, its sharp talons digging into the grass as it eyed her warily. She glanced over at Jade, who was already bowing to a large, silver-feathered hippogriff with a confident grin on her face.

"Careful, Jade," Stella whispered. "I don't want to have to explain to your parents why you got trampled."

Jade laughed lightly, keeping her gaze on the majestic creature. "Oh, please, Stella. If I can survive your sleep-deprived rants during exams, I can handle a hippogriff."

"Rants?" Stella scoffed; she rolled her eyes, but her smile betrayed her. "You exaggerate. I was focused."

Hermione, standing next to a dark-feathered hippogriff, was already deep into the bowing motion, muttering under her breath. "I'd rather not get clawed today; thank you very much."

Ron, however, was still standing several paces back, his eyes darting nervously between the creature and Hagrid.

"Harry's mental, I swear," he mumbled. "Who in their right mind volunteers to be the first to ride one of these?"

"You're just jealous," Jade teased, sidling up beside her own hippogriff. "Imagine the story he'll have to tell after this! The famous Harry Potter and his new flying steed."

Ron groaned. "Yeah, well, better him than me."

Stella shook her head as she bowed again, finally earning a slow nod of approval from her hippogriff. "It's not so bad, Ron. Just don't make any sudden moves, and you'll be fine."

As Ron hesitantly bowed to a smaller, grey hippogriff, Hermione interjected, "Honestly, Ron, you're overthinking it. They're intelligent creatures. You just need to show them respect."

"Respect? Ron huffed. "I think it's the other way around. They need to respect me."

Stella and Jade exchanged amused glances, Jade adding, "Right, because nothing says authority like a Weasley wobbling through a bow."

Ron shot her a playful glare. "Laugh it up. We'll see who's laughing when one of these things snaps at you."

"I think I'll manage, thanks." Stella chuckled; she patted her hippogriff's beak gently, satisfied with the small breakthrough. "Besides, they're not half as terrifying as Snape's potion classes."

"Too right," Ron snorted. "I'd take this lot over Snape any day."

Hermione, finally managing to gain the trust of her hippogriff, turned to the group with a proud smile. "Well, if you all spent more time reading up on magical creatures, you wouldn't be so nervous. It's all about trust and knowledge."

"Knowledge won't help if you end up on the wrong side of those talons," Stella told her, smirking.

"Exactly!" Ron added. "Glad someone else sees sense around here."

Just then, the group looked up as Harry soared overhead on the back of Buckbeak, the wind rushing through his hair. Ron's jaw dropped as Hermione gasped in awe.

"Well, looks like Harry's enjoying himself," Jade says, giving her hippogriff one last pat, grinning widely.

"He's always the first to dive into things headfirst," Stella noted, watching Harry with a mix of awe and pride.

Ron shook his head, unable to take his eyes off his friend in the sky. "Mental. Absolutely mental."

"Good work, Harry!" Hagrid boasted as everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. "Okay, who else wants a go?"

It all happened in a blur. One moment, Draco Malfoy was arrogantly strutting toward Buckbeak, tossing a sneer back at Harry and the others. The next, a sharp cry pierced the air as Buckbeak reared up, slashing his talon through the air. Draco yelled, clutching his arm as he stumbled backward.

"I'm dying!" Malfoy yelled as the class panicked; he fell to the ground, writhing dramatically. "I'm dying; look at me! It's killed me!"

Harry, who had been watching the scene unfold with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance, was the first to react.

"He didn't listen to Hagrid," Harry muttered, stepping forward instinctively. "He's the one who didn't bow properly."

"Oh no!" Hermione gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Hagrid's going to be in so much trouble."

"Serves him right, the git," Ron muttered under his breath, though there was an unmistakable flicker of concern as he watched Hagrid rush over to Draco's side.

Jade, always one to find humour even in tense situations, leaned over to Stella. "Reckon Draco'll be telling everyone he wrestled a full-grown dragon by the end of the day."

Stella snorted, though she tried to suppress it. "Or that he single-handedly defeated Buckbeak with nothing but a glare."

But as Draco continued to wail, clutching his arm as though it were about to fall off, even Jade's smile began to fade. "That's a lot of blood..."

By now, Hagrid had reached Draco, kneeling beside him and examining his injury. His large hands hovered awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Yer not dyin'!" Hagrid uttered, the colour draining from his face; he 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, Stella 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.

"This is going to be bad for Hagrid, isn't it?" Hermione pondered, shaking her head.

Stella gathered her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she walked towards Hermione, who continued to hold the gate open for everyone else.

"Yeah," Harry sighed, his brows furrowed. "Malfoy's not going to let this go."

"And it's not even Hagrid's fault," Stella grumbled. "Malfoy didn't listen once again."

"Does he ever?" Jade quipped, though her usual grin was gone, replaced by a hint of unease.

꒰⚘݄꒱₊______________________________

welcome back!

i can finally say, i have finished
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book all i have got to do is edit
and publish, but don't hold your
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maybe twice a week!

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