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THE WEEKEND PASSED the four Gryffindors at a fast pace, mainly because Ron and Harry spent their time doing homework, Hermione down at Hagrid's, and Rory sending letters to Sirius ( who seemed ecstatic to be finally communicating with her ). By Tuesday, Hermione had gotten Rory up to speed on Hagrid, and she immediately could tell she'd like the half-giant, not having been a big fan of Professor Grubbly-Plank.
On that afternoon, the four were all bundled in their warm, winter clothes, trudging down through the snow and towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest for Care of Magical Creatures. Luckily Umbridge was no where in sight once they arrived, allowing Hermione, Harry, and Ron to sigh out of relief.
When Rory finally caught sight of Hagrid, his appearance intrigued her the most. His face tinged with green and yellow bruise and cuts on that looked fresh, as some were still bleeding. And what was the oddest out of everything, there was what looked like half of a dead cow hanging over his large shoulder.
"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called out the approaching students, jerking his back to gesture towards the dark trees behind him. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark. . . ."
"What prefers the dark?" Rory heard Draco ask his sidekicks, Elio and Romeo not there since they were a year above him. There was a noticeable trace of panic in his voice, "What did he say prefers the dark — did you hear?"
Rory rolled her eyes, "Quit being so dramatic, Draco. I know you're scared that you'll be attacked by something . . . again, but it'll actually be a blessing in disguise to not have to hear your whiny, obnoxious, voice. It makes my ears bleed."
There was a sea of audible oohs among the students. Draco glared sharply at Rory, but she only fake pouted back at him, resulting in an angry groan from him. Hagrid looked around at the class, still happy as can be, "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em —"
"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" The panic in Draco's voice was more pronounced now. "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?"
"You know, you could've always chosen not to take this class, Draco," Rory explained. "What's the point of taking it if you're afraid of every creature you come in contact with? It's honestly stupid to be so scared because — I mean — look around you. You're surrounded by snakes and you don't seem that scared to me."
