Near the end of lunch, I grabbed my adorable monster book from my dorm, then made my way down to Professor Hagrid's hut, where Care of Magical Creatures was to take place. I met up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione on the way there, though we ended up walking in silence anyway - Ron and Hermione had apparently had another fight about the Grim over lunch, and were now refusing to talk to each other.

As we joined the rest of the class, my mood took a sharp downturn. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and a couple of other Slytherins had apparently chosen to take the class too - Merlin knows why, because it wasn't exactly the sort of thing the heir to a family in the Sacred Twenty-Eight would need to know - and it seemed Draco was once again entertaining them with some hilarious story about Harry's Dementor encounter.

"C'mon now, get a move on!" Professor Hagrid called from the doorway of his hut, as everyone approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Righ', follow me!"

We followed him to an empty paddock on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, about five minutes away from his hut.

"Everyone gather round the fence here!" he called. "Tha's it - make sure yeh can see. Now, the firs' thing yeh'll want to do is open yer books-"

"How?" Malfoy demanded.

"Eh?" Hagrid said.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated taking out his book, which had been bound with a long length of rope. Everyone else took theirs out too; some had used a belt to keep theirs shut, some had clamped them together with large clips, and others had crammed them inside tight bags.

"Hasn' - hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked, clearly crestfallen.

The rest of the class shook their heads, but I said, "I have, sir." Then, I turned to the rest of the class, and added, " You've got to stroke them - look-"

As my own book was already lying docile in my hands, I took Hermione's from her, ripped off the clear sticky strip that was holding it shut, and stroked it down its spine; the book shivered, then fell open and lay still in my hands.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess?!"

"I did, Malfoy; it really wasn't hard."

"Well, some of us have better things to do than sit in our rooms all day trying to get a book open, Riddle," he replied, in a superior tone. "At least my parents don't-"

"Shut up," I said, my voice dangerous. Everyone was now staring at me, but I just ignored them.

"Aunt Bella will hear about this, Riddle," he said in a calm voice.

"See if I care," I retorted, though I had difficulty keeping my fear from showing.

"Oh, I think you will when-"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said quietly.

"Righ' then," Hagrid said, seeming 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..."

He strode off into the forest, and out of sight.

"How did you know to do that to open the book, Ivory?" Hermione asked incredulously, as I passed her book back to her.

"Well, I was... uh... home alone, and I didn't have anything to do, so I cast a silencing spell on it and just experimented until I found out how to do it."

"I bet that was painful, you must've been attacked by it loads."

"I guess," I said, shrugging. "I had a stockpile of various healing potions though, so it wasn't too bad."

"God, this place is going to the dogs," Malfoy said loudly, before Hermione could reply. "That oaf teaching classes; my father'll have a fit when I tell him-"

I stayed silent this time, not wanting to get into any more trouble with Mother than I was already going to be in, but Harry said, "Shut up, Malfoy," again.

"Careful, Potter, there's a Dementor behind you-"

"Ooooooooh!" Lavender Brown squealed, pointing to the far side of the paddock.

Trotting towards us were a dozen creatures with the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of giant eagles, with cruel grey beaks, large orange eyes, and sharp talons that were each at least half a foot long.

Everyone drew back slightly as Professor Hagrid reached the fence in front of us and tethered the Hippogriffs to it.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily.

"Sir, Hippogriffs have a three X Ministry of Magic classification, and taming them should only be attempted by experts - it says so in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," I said worriedly, but Hagrid waved his hand at me.

"Nonsense!" he said dismissively, rubbing his hands together and beaming around. "So, if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer..."

Nobody seemed to want to. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I, however, approached the fence cautiously.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud," Professor Hagrid said. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle clearly weren't listening; instead, they were talking in an undertone, and I had a nasty feeling they were planning how best to disrupt the lesson.

"Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "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."

There was a feeling of anxiety in the group that was so strong, it started to give me a headache. With a barely audible sigh, I quickly built up my Occlumency defences.

"Right - who wants ter go first?"

Most of the class backed further away in answer, Ron, Hermione, and me included. The only person left was Harry, and Hagrid seemed to think he'd stepped forwards rather than us stepping back.

"Good man, Harry!" Hagrid said, as Harry looked back at us, frowning, before climbing over the fence and into the paddock. "Righ' then - let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

He untied one of the chains, pulled the grey Hippogriff away from the others, and slipped off its leather collar.

"Easy now, Harry," Hagrid said quietly. "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much... tha's it... tha's it, Harry... now, bow."

Harry gave a short bow, then looked up at Buckbeak. I held my breath, as did most of the rest of the class.

It didn't move.

"Ah," Hagrid said, sounding worried. "Righ' - back away now, Harry - easy does it-"

But then, to my enormous relief, Buckbeak suddenly bent its front knees, and sank into what was unmistakably a bow.

"Well done, Harry!" Hagrid said, clearly ecstatic. "Righ' - yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

I watched anxiously as Harry moved slowly toward the Hippogriff and reached out toward it. He patted its beak several times, and Buckbeak lazily closed its eyes, as though enjoying it. We all started to clap - all except Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy, who were looking deeply disappointed.

"Righ' then, Harry," Hagrid said. "I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him! Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint, an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that..."

Harry put his foot on the top of Buckbeak's wing, and hoisted himself onto its back. Buckbeak stood up.

"Go on, then!" roared Hagrid, slapping the Hippogriff's hindquarters.

Twelve-foot wings suddenly flapped open on either side of Harry, and then he was soaring upwards; Buckbeak flew him once around the paddock, then headed back to the ground.

"Good work, Harry!" Hagrid beamed, as everyone except Malfoy and his friends cheered. "Alrigh', who else wants a go?"