The Potter Twins and the Goblet of Fire {4}

10. The Bouncing Ferret

  "I'll be your gravity, you be my oxygen" ~ Follow You, Bring Me The Horizon

"Todays not so bad," I say the next morning, breaking the gloomy silence that the gloomy weather has summoned. "Outside all morning."

Ron runs his fingers down the Monday column of his timetable. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and then Care of Magical Creatures...dammit! We're still with the Slytherins...stop grinning Haylee, you're not ditching us for Malfoy."

Frowning, I flick the side of his head, before saying, "look, double Divination this afternoon."

Harry groans, and I suppress the urge to tear up my timetable. Divination meant only one thing; more death omens from Trelawney.

"You should have given up on it like me, shouldn't you?" Hermione stated, buttering some toast. "And then you'd be doing something sensible, like Arithmancy."

"I see you're eating again," Tay smirks, watching Hermione put a second coat of strawberry jam on her food.

"I've decided there are better ways to make a stand against elf rights!" she sais haughtily.

"Yeah..." Ron teases. "That...and you were hungry."

*~*

"Bubotubers!" Professor Sprout exclaims, holding up an extremely ugly creature. "They need squeezing. you will collect the pus - "

"The what?" Tay asks, looking like she could be sick.

"Collect the pus, Saunters, pus," she responds. "And it's very valuable, so don't you dare be wasting it. You will collect the pus in these bottles. Wear your dragon hide gloves. It can do funny things to the skin when undiluted.'

Slipping on my dragon hide gloves, I screw up my nose. "Tell me when Herbology turned into popping spots?" I ask, slowly easing my hands closer to the creature.

My first attempt at squeezing almost causes my breakfast to come back up, but after some kind hearted pointers from Neville, I manage to pop it, and a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid bursts forth, reminding me of the smell of gasoline.

"This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy!" says Professor Sprout, once we're all finished. Due to the revoltingness of this lesson, we only managed to collect a few pints. "It acts as an excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne! It should stop students from trying more desperate forms of gettin' rid of pimples."

"Like Eloise Midgen," says a Hufflepuff girl in a hushed voice, "she tried to curse hers off."

"Silly girl..."Professor Sprout chastises, shaking her head. "But Madam Pomfrey had her nose back on in the end!"

Finally, the bell rings through the greenhouse, and we all head off to our next class of the day. Care of Magical Creatures.

Hagrid, the teacher of this class, is fantastic, and we've always had a special sort of bond with him. The class itself, however, tends to be tiring and boring.

Hagrid is standing outside his hut, looking as tall and terrifying as ever, though everyone knows he's as harmless as a butterfly. On the ground sits several creates, and as we near them a strange rattling noise fills the air.

In reaction to the noise, Tay jumps and grabs onto my arm in fright.

"Blimey," I hiss, prying away her tight grip.

"Mornin'!" Hagrid greets us, grinning. "Be'er wait for the Slytherins. They wouldn't want to miss this - Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

"What?"