All is well - A Hinny fanfiction

Chapter 11

Wordcount: 3797

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The days following their return from the Burrow, Mary was besieged by a flurry of questions from her friends. She told them all about what a nice family the Weasleys were and they were awestruck when she showed them her new broom. She didn't tell them who had given it to her, at Harry's request, and they spent the better half of the week trying to guess. Weirdly enough, they were not even close.

While this took place, Harry and Ginny started to ease back into the routine of their studies. Harry was set on doing something special for his second and third-year classes and talked to Hagrid about it. The first class back from Christmas break, Harry was walking through the grounds of Hogwarts, his first year class in tow. He stopped in front of Hagrid's hut and knocked. A loud bark from Fang came from inside, and the door opened moments later, filled by the form of Hagrid.

"Mornin, Harry. I mean, Professor," greeted Hagrid, shaking Harry's hand. The students, even though they had seen Hagrid many times, were awed by the sheer size of the half-giant, "Back this way, if yer please," he boomed, beckoning them to follow him to the back garden of his hut.

As they approached, two majestic hippogriffs stood in a pen, looking at the small first years with a piercing stare. All students stared at the animal with wide eyes and mouths open. Harry, noticing their apprehension, approached the bigger hippogriff slowly. Bowing deeply without breaking eye contact, Mary and her classmates watched in awe as the hippogriff returned the gesture and Harry walked up to it, patting his head,

"Hey, old friend," he said.

"See there, kids. Tha's how yer approach a tame hippogriff," explained Hagrid to the awestruck students, "O' course, this one here is Buckbeak. The Professor and him go back a long time," he added as Harry walked back to the group and stood before them.

"So, who would like to try it?" he asked. After the initial shock of such an invitation, a small hand raised itself from the crowd.

"Miss. Windsor, follow me, please," said Harry formally. They had discussed their relationship over the break and agreed that a student-teacher relationship, at least during classes and in the halls, was appropriate. Mary timidly approached Harry and followed him until they were standing twenty feet from Buckbeak, "now, bow and don't break eye contact. Do not approach him unless he bows back," Harry explained in her ear, and Mary nodded.

She took a step forward and slowly bowed to the majestic creature before her. When she came back up, Buckbeak regarded her for a second, before responding in kind. Mary's face lit up, and she slowly walked up to him, patting Buckbeak below the neck, as she couldn't reach much further. She giggled as the hippogriff knelt so that Mary could reach his head.

Boosted by their classmate's confidence, the other students stepped forward and starting following Harry's instructions with various levels of success. All of them were deemed worthy of a hippogriff's respect; however, none were as bold as Mary, who eventually let Hagrid sit her atop Buckbeak. Harry warned him not to take flight, and the hippogriff settled for walking around the pen, to Mary's enjoyment and her classmates' amazement.

The rest of the month of January passed quickly, with more visits to Buckbeak's pen by Harry and his different classes. Harry's NEWT lessons were becoming more demanding, but he took it in stride. His extraordinary ability for magic helped him through the hardest spells with little more than a day's practice. As he only had to concentrate on was the theory part of the incoming exams, and having Hermione as a best friend certainly helped. With the stress of having Snape breathing down his neck, Harry found that he was actually quite good at Potions, to Slughorn's delight. Harry had so far avoided re-entering the Slug Club, claiming he wasn't interested in more fame than he already had.