𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
                       ─── TEA OF DEATH & BUCKBEAK

At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.

"Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. Charlus, Harry, Alistair, Ron, and Hermione turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.

"All right, you five?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd. They waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around them was shunting them away along the platform.

The five of them followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled by an invisible creature because as soon as they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession. The coach smelled faintly of mould and straw.

Charlus felt better since the chocolate, but still weak. Alistair, Ron and Hermione kept looking at him and his twin brother sideways, as though frightened they might collapse again.

As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, Charlus saw two more towering, hooded dementors, standing guard on either side.

 A wave of cold sickness threatened to engulf him again. He leaned back into the lumpy seat and kept his eyes on the floor until they had passed the gates. Charlus looked up to Harry to see him cower under the dementors gaze, clearly unwilling to succumb to the same fate as his last encounter.

The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Hermione was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and the five of them got out.

Charlus watched from a distance as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had walked up the stairs of the castle entranceway. He groaned in hatred - another year with those three gits; god help us all.

Hermione took notice in the light brown-haired boy's unamused look, and quickly pulled him forward by his robes to take his gaze off of the Slytherins. The two of them met up with Harry,Alistair and Ron before they joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, and into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches and housed a magnificent marble staircase which led to the upper floors.

The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Charlus followed the crowd toward it, but had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called, "Potters! Granger! I would like a word with the three of you!"

Charlus, Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised. Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor house, was calling over the heads of the crowd. Charlus fought his way over to her with a feeling of foreboding; Professor McGonagall had a way of making him feel he must have done something wrong.

"There's no need to look so worried -- I just want a word in my office," she told them. "Move along there, Black,Weasley."

Alistair and Ron stared as Professor McGonagall ushered their three friends away from the chattering crowd; they accompanied her across the entrance hall, up the marble staircase, and along a corridor.

Once they were in her office, a small room with a large, welcoming fire, Professor McGonagall motioned the two Gryffindors and the one Slytherin to sit down. She settled herself behind her desk and said abruptly, "Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that the two of you were taken ill on the train, Potters."

Before Charlie or Harry could reply, there was a soft knock on the door and Madame Pomfrey, the nurse, came bustling in.

 Harry felt himself going red in the face while Charlus rolled his eyes. It was bad enough that  they had passed out, or whatever they had done, without everyone making all this fuss.

"I'm fine," Charlus said, "Harry is too. We don't need anything." "Oh, why am I not surprised that it was the two of you?" Madame Pomfrey said, ignoring this and bending down to stare closely at them. "I suppose you were doing something dangerous again?"

"It was a Dementor, Poppy," Professor McGonagall said. They exchanged a dark look, and Madame Pomfrey chuckled disapprovingly. "Setting dementors around a school," she muttered, as she moved to Charlus and pushed back his hair before feeling his forehead. "They won't be the last ones who collapse. Yes, they're all clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the people who are already delicate—

"I'm not delicate!" Harry said crossly. "Certainly not me either!" Charlus said, a look of offence on hisface. "Have you seen me play Quidditch? I mean, c'mon!"

"Of course you're not," Madam Pomfrey said absentmindedly, now taking Harry's pulse. "What do they need?" Professor McGonagall said crisply. "Bed rest? Should they perhaps spend tonight in the Hospital Wing?"

"We're fine!" Harry said, jumping up, which had startled Hermione. The light brown-haired boy nodded in agreement, "Seriously, we're all good."

"Well, they should have some chocolate, at the very least," Madam Pomfrey said, who was now trying to peer into Harry's eyes. "We've already had some," Charlus said. "Professor Lupin gave us some. He gave it to all of us."

"Did he, now?" Madam Pomfrey said approvingly. "So we've finally got a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies." "Are you sure you feel all right, Potters?" Professor McGonagall asked them sharply.

Charlus looked at Harry. He knew what he was feeling, but he couldn't speak for his brother. However, the boy with glasses had given him a quick look to indicate that he was alright. So, simultaneously they nodded their heads before Charlus said, "We're okay, Minnie."

McGonagall sighed, "Very well. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her course schedule, then we can go down to the feast together."

Charlus and Harry were ushered out of the room by Madame Pomfrey. Once they were in the corridor, Pomfrey started towards the hospital wing, leaving the two boys to wait. A few minutes later, Hermione emerged looking very happy about something, followed by Professor McGonagall, and the four of them made their way back down the marble staircase to the Great Hall.

As McGonagall went to find her seat at the staff table, Charlus had found his place next to Alistair, who was curious as to what McGonagall had to say. Charlus started to explain in a whisper, but at that moment the headmaster stood up to speak, and he broke off.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore said while the candlelight shimmered on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast...."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

He paused and Charlus frowned, shaking his head. Dementors at Hogwarts? What in Merlin's name is the Ministry thinking?

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Nor do I recommend that you are to approach them. It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving."

Charlus listened intently to the headmaster as he spoke, well that was until his ears perked up towards Draco Malfoy, who was desperately trying to get the attention of him and Harry.

"Psst, Potters. Potters!" Draco whispered from the Slytherin table. Charlus,Harry,Alistair and Ron turned while Hermione glared at him as he laughed, "Is it true you two fainted? I mean, you two actually fainted?"

"Shove off, Malfoy!" Alistair  retorted , whose jaw was clenched. "Black, still there?" Malfoy said in a loud whisper as he shifted his gaze to Alistair. "I believed that the Dementors would take you with them."

As the black-haired boy opened his mouth to retaliate,  a girl  had nudged him slightly, causing him to shift his gaze towards her. "Just forget it," she said softly, "It's not worth it."

Alistair gave her a reluctant nod before he turned back towards the headmaster. Charlus,Harry and Ron quickly did the same as they tried to ignore the laughs from behind them.

"On a happier note," Dumbledore continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Only those who had been in the compartment on the train with Professor Lupin clapped hard. Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes.

"Look at Snape!"Matthew hissed in Charlus' ear.

Professor Snape was staring along the staff table at Professor Lupin with an unmatched jealous expression. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, but even Charlus, who hated Snape, was startled at the expression twisting his thin, sallow face. it was beyond anger; it was loathing. Both Charlus and Harry knew that expression only too well; it was the look Snape wore every time he laid eyes on them.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his groundkeeping duties."

Charlus Harry,Alistair, Ron and Hermione stared at one another, stunned from across the tables. Then they joined in with the applause, which was tumultuous at the Gryffindor table in particular.

Dumbledore let the crowd die down before he spoke again, "With that said, I find it only fitting to leave you students with one final thought; happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Regardless of the many confused students trying to figure out the cryptic message Dumbledore had just said, the feast began and the students and staff indulged in a lovely meal together. When the feast was over, Charlus accompanied Alistair back up to the Slytherin Common Room.

 When they got there, there was an abundance of Slytherin students waiting at the hidden entrance for their new Head Boy to give them the new password."

"Coming through, coming through!" Melissa Darkwood called from behind the crowd. "The new password's 'Pure'!"

Through the portrait hole and across the common room, the girls and boys divided toward their separate staircases. Charlus climbed the spiral stair with no thought in his head except how glad he was to be back. They reached their familiar, circular dormitory with its six four-poster beds, and Charlus, looking around, felt he was home at last.

The six of them stayed up for a while to catch up, joke around with a bunch of sereval beans that allowed the one to eat one immitate an animal sound, and throw pillows at each other. It was well into the night when they had all finally gone to sleep.

                               ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

The next morning, Charlus joined his brother and his friends in the Great Hall for breakfast. It was the first official day of the term so all of the students seemed to be nervously glancing at their schedules.

Hermione was examining hers when Charlie had sat down at the table. "Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today," she said happily.

"Hermione," Ron began, frowning as he looked across the table, "they've messed up your timetable. Look — they've you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough time." "I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall." Hermione explained quickly, which made Charlus' eyebrows raise. Interesting -

"But look," Ron said and laughed, "see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And -" Ron leant closer to the timetable, disbelieving, "Look - underneath that, Ancient Runes, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's that good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"

"Don't be silly," Hermione said shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once." "Well, then -" "Pass the marmalade. Please." Hermione said sweetly to Charlus, blatantly ignoring Ron.

"But -" "Oh, Ron, what's it to you if my timetable's a bit full?" Hermione snapped, which caused Charlus, Harry and Alistair to exchange glances, "I told you, I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."

Ron had went to say something else, but Charlus quickly signalled to him to drop the idea for now.

Not long after, it was time for their first class of the day, Divination with Professor Trelawney at the top of the North Tower. It took nearly ten minutes to get there, but as they did Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Ron piled in one after the other.

They emerged into the strangest-looking classroom they had ever seen. In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all; more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned teashop.

At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by weird armchairs and fat little pouffes. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves.

The four boys looked to one another before they all took a seat at a round table in the room. As they sat down, Charlus looked around curiously.

 "Where did Hermione go?" he asked and looked to his younger brother and his two friends, "She was right behind us." "Maybe she forgot a book or something and had to go back for it." Harry suggested. "Yeah," Ron scoffed, "Her and her loads of bloody books..."

Alistair sniggered slightly as Charlus reluctantly nodded. Yeah, maybe that's where she was. Just then, a voice came suddenly out of the shadows, a soft, misty sort of voice. "Welcome," it said. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."

Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Ron all looked at one another curiously as Professor Trelawney stepped out of the shadows. She was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times the natural size and she was trapped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.

"Welcome to Divination," Professor Trelawney said,who stood in the center of the room looking at each student carefully. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

Nobody said anything in answer to this extraordinary pronouncement. Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl.

"In this room you shall discover if you possess the sight," she continued, knocking over things by her desk, "Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future! This term we shall be focusing on the art of Tessomancy, which is the great study of tea leaves. So, please take the cup of the person sitting opposite you. Broaden your minds my dears! Allow your eyes to see... beyond!"

The  four boys shared a small chuckle as they swapped their teacups, that were stationed on the desks in front of them. Charlus took  Alistair's, Harry took  Ron's, Alistair took Charlus' and Ron took Harry's.

Through all this commotion, however, the light brown-haired boy couldn't help but wonder where Hermione had gone. He was staring to get worried, it was so unlike her to miss the start of a class.

Charlus was pulled from his thoughts as Trelawney approached a table.  "You, boy," she said  to Neville, who almost toppled off his pouffe, "is your grandmother well?" "I think so," Neville said nervously and his hands, which he was kneading in his lap, trembled.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear," Professor Trelawney said, which caused Neville to gulp. Alistair rolled his eyes at the same time as a familiar whisper was heard, "What a load of rubbish. "

Charlus quickly turned and saw Hermione sitting beside him. He was stunned, "Where did you come from?" Me?" Hermione said and looked at him, puzzled, "I've been here the whole time."

No, no that wasn't right; five seconds ago he could've sworn that she wasn't -

His thoughts on Hermione were cut off at the sound of two glasses breaking and Trelawney's dramatic gasps. As it turned out, Charlus and Harry's tea leaves were very bad.

"My dears," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened wide while looking at Charlus and Harry, "you have the Grims." "The what?" Charlus and Harry asked and glanced to their three friends with a confused expression. Alistair, Ron, and Hermione had all shrugged quickly.

"The Grins? What are the Grins?" Seamus asked, quite clueless, from across the room. "Not the Grins, you idiot," Parvati Patil scolded from beside him, "The Grims."

Charlus and Harry weren't the only ones who didn't understand; Dean Thomas stared in obliviousness and Lavender Brown looked puzzled, but nearly everybody else clapped their hands to their mouths in horror.

"The Grims, my dears, the Grims!" Professor Trelawney cried, who looked shocked that the Potter twins hadn't understood. "The giant, spectral dogs who haunts churchyards! My dear boys, they are an omen — the worst omen — of death!"

Charlus and Harry's stomachs lurched while Ron and Alistair's jaws had fallen. The Potter twins glanced towards Alistair, which caused him to remember the dogs in the shadows of Magnolia Crescent. No it can't be - oh god - what the actual hell-

"Again, rubbish." Hermione whispered in an offended tone that was loud enough for Charlus to hear, "She's trying to scare you and your brother with the whole You-Know-Who thing."

The light brown-haired boy had turned to face his friend once again. He stared at her with a mixture of amazement and admiration. In all of the three years they had known each other, Charlus had never heard Hermione talk about a teacher like that.

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," Professor Trelawney said in a very scared tone which pulled Charlus' gaze off of Hermione. "Yes... please pack away your things..."

Silently the class brought their teacups back to Professor Trelawney, packed away their books and closed their bags before they headed off to their next lessons.

What a great start to the day; Charlus and Harry, well, apparently, they were going to die.

                                         ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

After divination, the five of them set off for Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration lesson.It took them so long to find their classroom that, early as they had left Divination, they were only just in time.

Charlus chose seats right at the back of the room with Harry. The both feeled as though they were sitting in a very bright spotlight; the rest of the class kept shooting furtive glances at them, as though they were about to drop dead at any moment, and Charlus would send them a glare so they turned around.

They hardly heard what Professor McGonagall was telling them about Animagi (wizards who could transform at will into animals), and weren't even watching when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes.

"Really, what has got into you all today?" Professor McGonagall said, turning back into herself with a faint pop, and staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Everybody's heads turned toward Charlus and Harry again, but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand. "Please, Pro​fes​sor, we've just had our first Div​ina​tion class, and we were read​ing the tea leaves, and –"

"Ah, of course," Professor McGonagall said, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"Everyone stared at her.

"Charlus and Harry." Alistair said to Professor McGonagall "I see," she replied, fixing Charlus and Harry with her beady eyes. "Then you should know, Potters, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues . ."

Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white. "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic," she went on, more calmly. "I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney . . ."

She stopped again, and then said, in a very mat​ter-​of-​fact tone, "You two look in ex​cel​lent health to me, Pot​ters, so you will ex​cuse me if I don't let you off home​work to​day. I as​sure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

Hermione laughed and she noticed that Charlus and Harry felt a bit betterr.

When the Trans​fig​ura​tion class had fin​ished, they joined the crowd thun​der​ing to​wards the Great Hall for lunch. "Ron, cheer up," Hermione said, pushing a dish of stew towards him. "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."

Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork, but didn't start to eat like everyone had expected. No, this time he sent a very curious look in Charlus and Harry's direction.

"Charlus, Harry," he began, in a low, serious voice, "you haven't seen two great black dogs anywhere, have you?" "Yeah, we have," Harry said before he looked to Alistair, "We three did. We saw two the night Charlus and I left the Dursleys."

Ron let his fork fall with a clatter. "Probably strays," Hermione said calmly from beside Charlus.

Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone mad. "Hermione, if Charlus,Harry and Alistair have seen two Grims, that's - that's bad," he said in a shaky voice. "My - my Uncle Bilius saw one and - and he died twenty-four hours later! "

"Well we didn't die so stop stressing, Ronald. It was all a coincidence." Charlus replied airily, pouring himself some pumpkin juice. "You don't know what you're talking about!" Ron shouted, starting to get angry. "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards."

"There you are, then," Hermione said in a superior tone to defend Charlus. "They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Charlus, Harry and Alistair are still with us because they're not stupid enough to see two and think, right, well, I'd better pop my clogs then!"

 "Excuse me for being worried about my friends!" Ron scoffed. Alistair put a hand on Ron's back, "And we thank you for that, mate, but please, can we stop talking about this?"

Ron gave a reluctant nod as Charlus and Hermione focused back on the food in front of them.

The rest of their lunch was practically sat in silence. For the first time, neither of them knew what to say to one another. Instead, they patiently waited for the bell to signal the start of the next class.

On the bright side, their next class was Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid.

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Charlus was pleased to get out of the castle after lunch. Yesterday's rain had cleared; the sky was a clear, pale gray, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot as the five of them, with their monster books in hand, set off for their first ever Care of Magical Creatures class.

While on the way, they seemed to overcome their awkward, no-talking phase as Hermione couldn't help but mock Professor Trelawney's teaching.

"If you ask me, Divination is a very woolly discipline." she said proudly as she and her friends went down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "Now, Ancient Runes, that is a fascinating subject."

"Ancient Runes?" Charlus asked with an eyebrow raised, which caused Hermione to send him a playful smile with a finger pressed to her lips. He knew that Ancient Runes was at the same time as Divination. She couldn't be in two classes at the same time. How the hell -

"There was nothing woolly about the Grims in those cups!" Ron said completely unaware of what Hermione had let slip.  "You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was two sheep,"  Hermione said coolly. "Besides, I thought we were to drop this."

"I did, for a while, but then I realized how serious this is! Maybe you didn't have the right aura! Let's face it, you don't like Divination just because you don't like being rubbish at something for a change!" Ron shouted.

He had touched a nerve. The bushy haired girl stormed down the stone steps to get in Ron's face. "If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolutely rubbish compared to my Arithmancy class!"

With that, she stormed off by herself towards Hagrid's hut. Charlus,Harry and Alistair had watched her walk off with an amused smile plastered on their faces. Ron clearly didn't find the humour in what happened as he stood there watching her with a glare.

Charlus laughed, but was somehow amazed all at the same time, "I'm going to marry that girl one day."

The light brown-haired boy continued on his way towards the hut as Harry,Alistair and Ron quickly followed behind him. Ha​grid was wait​ing for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his mole​skin over​coat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, look​ing im​pa​tient to start.

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

The Gryffindors and Slytherin's strolled behind Hagrid as he led them into his Creature Reserve. As they walked, the light brown-haired boy walked beside Hermione and talked with her.

Five minutes later, they found themselves in the wide open area of trees. "Everyone gather round the fence here!" Hagrid called. "That's it - make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books -"

"Exactly how do we do that?" Malfoy asked in a cold drawling voice. "You stroke the spine!" Matthew said, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world, and rolled his eyes before he stroked the spine of the book.

As Hagrid went deeper into the first area, the sound of Neville's yells made Charlus turn his head, watching the boy fall to the ground as his book started attacking him. Of course, Draco had to make a comment. "Don't be such a wimp, Longbottom."

"I think they're funny," Hermione said to her friends, referring to the books. "Oh yeah, terribly funny," Draco said  from behind her, his voice was full of sarcasm, "Really witty! God, this place has gone to the dogs. Wait until my father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes."

Harry rolled his eyes while Charlus turned around and took a step forward in front Hermione. "Shut up, Malfoy." he said in a cold even tone.

With the soft murmurs and laughs from the crowd, Draco took a step forward. , smirking. It was likely supposed to come off as threatening but it was anything but.  But  he stepped back, as his face fell and he pointed behind Charlus in fake fear. "Dementor! Dementor!" he blurted out  and backed away.

Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors turned around quickly, but saw no Dementor. Draco and his Slytherin friends started to laugh. They even went as far as throwing the hoods of their robes over their heads and began doing an overdramatize impression of Dementors.

Charlus let out a fake yawn as he covered his mouth. "Nice try, Malfoy." he said. "But let's be honest, if there was a real Dementor, you probably would've soiled yourself again."

The Gryffindors and a few Slytherins roared with laughter at the last statement while Malfoy turned red with anger. Hermione shook her head  before she moved forward and pulled Charlus back by his dress shirt.

 As she did so, Hagrid emerged   with a chain of dead squirrels around his neck. He beamed at them, and he held out his hands. "Tat ta ta ta da!" he sang as a creature stepped out the trees.

Although it wasn't just any creature. It was a Hippogriff. It had stormy grey feathers, the head and wings of a bird with the hind legs of a horse and sharp yellow eyes.

Charlus' mouth gaped open as he looked at it in awe. He had read several books on Hippogriffs during his own time, but he had never been so close to one.

"Isn't he beautiful? " Hagrid said and smiled at the group of students before he threw a dead squirrel at the hippogriff, which caught it mid-air. "Say hello to Buckbeak." "Wow, a real Hippogriff!" Charlus said with excitement.

"Very good, Charlus. Twenty points to Slytherin." Hagrid congratulated the boy with a smile before he continued, "First thing you need to know about Hippgriffs is that they are very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do not want to insult Hippogriff. It may just be the last thing you ever do."

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening; they were talking in an undertone and Charlus had a nasty feeling they were plotting how best to disrupt the lesson.

"Now," Hagrid said as he rubbed his hands together and beamed around, "who would like to come up and say hello?"

Most of the class backed further away out of fear of the giant Hippogriff once Hagrid turned his back to them, but Charlus wasn't amongst that group. As he was actually about to step forward, Hermione had pulled him back by his shirt once again causing him to turn to her, "I'll be careful, Mione, I promise."

"Please be careful,Charlus." she said softly so only he could hear. "Always." Charlus replied as he looked into the girl's concerned eyes. He took a step forward so that he was the only one standing out front.

"Well done, Charlus! Well done!" Hagrid called as he turned back to the students, "C'mon now!"

As Charlus stepped forward, Hagrid said, "Now, you have to let him make the first move. It's only polite. So, step up, give him a nice bow. Then you wait and see if he bows back. And if he does, you can go and touch him. And if not. . . well, we'll get to that later."

Charlus gave Hagrid a look and lowly mumbled, "Seriously?"

But the light brown-haired boy heeded Hagrid's instructions. He took a slight step forward and lowered his head into a graceful bow. The Hippogriff looked at him with interest for a few minutes and then, to Charlus' enormous surprise, the creature bowed as well.

Hagrid was clearly impressed. "Well done, Charlus!" he said before he threw another dead squirrel at Buckbeak, which he ate it away within seconds. "Alright.  Now I think you can go and pet him now. "

Charlus looked up and smiled . Behind him Hermione was tightly clutching to the fabric of her skirt. Harry noticed this and frowned in confusion, but averted his attention back to his older brother.

Charlus slowly made his way to Buckbeak, doing his best not to startle to Hippogriff. He then raised his arm up slowly as it snapped at him. But it slowly began to move forward. Buckbeak sniffed his hand for a few second, before leaning into his touch.

Charlus smiled widely as cheers erupted from the other side of the class and began to stroke the beautiful creature. "Well done, Charlus! Well done!" Hagrid said with a bright smile, "I think he may let you ride him now."

"Excuse me?" Charlus asked in disbelief and turned around to Hagrid. The light brown-haired boy let out a yelp as the half-giant lifted him up. "Hey, hey, hey! Hagrid!"

 Hagrid either didn't hear or didn't care about his protests and placed him on Buckbeak's back. "Don't pull out any of his feathers." he said before he slapped the Hippogriff on his back side.

Charlus just had time to seize the Hippogriff around the neck before it screeched and then started to take a run up. The boy let out a shout of horror as he felt the creature set to the skys.

The group of students rushed over and watched as they saw the Hippogriff take off with Charlus, some concerned, some exhilarated, some jealous.

Charlus felt his stomach fold ten times over as  the air from his lungs was  ripped out.  But when he lifted his head, opened his eyes and looked at the green forest and the bright blue sky with its white clouds, he felt wonder. Pure wonder.

The wind that blew through his hair and stroked his face,  the powerful movements Buckbeak and the breathtaking sight of the Black Lake that glistened made everything seem like a dream. It was as if he would wake up one day and be greeted by so many colors he had never imagined.

Buckbeak began to lower down and ran a talon along the water ever so gently. Charlus carefully straightened up and stretched out his arms as if they were wings. "Whoohoo!" he exclaimed with laughter in between his words.

Buckbeak suddenly rose up, which caused the boy to seize the Hippogriff around the neck again and yelp with a light laugh. In a serene motion he began to turn back, leaning back and resting his head on the body of the creature, a dreamy smile on his face.

Finally, Buckbeak flew him back to the ground. With a mild thud, they had landed. Charlus looked cheerful as he hopped of Buckbeak's back and returned to his brother and his three friends.

"Good work, Charlus!" Hagrid roared, as everyone excepts Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle cheered. "Wasn't that impressive," Malfoy drawled, loud enough for Charlus to hear him.

He then pushed through the crowd and charged towards the Hippogriff, "I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? Are you? You big, ugly brute."

" Draco!" Adrian warned his brother, but it was too late.

It happened in a flash of steely talons; Malfoy let out a high-pitched scream and in the next moment, Buckbeak struck down on his arm, knocking Draco to the floor.

When Buckbeak was about to attack again, Charlus ran out in front of him, despite Hermione and Harry's desperate reach to try and stop him. "Hey! Hey! Buckbeak stop!" Charlus said and raised his hands in peace towards the Hippogriff.

Buckbeak immediately recognized the boy and calmed down. "It's alright, Buckbeak." Charlus said and smiled slightly as he gave him a quick pat on the head before he took a dead squirrel from Hagrid's offering hand and threw it in the forest.

"I'm dying!" Malfoy cried out and clutched his injured arm, as the class panicked and Buckbeak returned to his home, "I'm dying, look at me. It's killed me!" "Shut up, you idiot!" Mattthew barked, "fucking hell he said DON'T offend the Hippogriff!"

"Calm down, it's just a scratch!" Hagrid said, who had gone very white and was trying to help Malfoy to his feet. "Hagrid!" Hermione yelled and stepped forward next to Charlus, "He has to be taken to the hospital!"

Hagrid looked to the girl with a worried expression before he turned back to Draco, "Right. Well, I'm the teacher, I'll do it!"

With that, Hagrid picked up the injured boy in his massive arms and carried him off towards the hospital wing. "You're gonna regret this! You and your bloody chicken!" Draco yelled in dramatic agony as he was carried off.

Once they were out of sight, Charlus and Hermione were quickly joined by Harry,Alistair and Harry, who looked at one another with a very confused, yet amused expression.

"They should sack him straight away!" Pansy yelled, who was in tears amongst the crowd. "It was Malfoy's fault!" Harry snapped , which caused Crabbe and Goyle to flex their muscles threateningly.

Charlus, Alistair and Ron stepped forward to back Harry in a heated exchange of toxic masculinity, which caused Hermione to roll her eyes before she pulled her four friends away from the group and towards the exit.

"Do you think he'll be all right?" Hermione asked nervously as they walked. "'Course he will, Madame Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second. Draco's just being Draco. All of the dramatics." Charlus said, who had had far worse injuries mended magically by the nurse.

"That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class, though, wasn't it?" Ron said, looking worried. "Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him . . ."

"They wouldn't sack him, would they?" Hermione asked anxiously as they passed Hagrid's hut on the way back to the castle.  "They'd better not," Charlus muttered in an unimpressed tone.

"Dumbledore would never do that," Alistair said confidently before he glanced at the Slytherins as they walked. A large group including Crabbe and Goyle were huddling together, deep in conversation. Alistair was sure they were cooking up their own version of how Malfoy had got injured.

"Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day back," Ron said gloomily. Charlus laughed, "Don't know what the blonde haired git was expecting, if I'm honest. Hagrid did warn us."

Hermione was quick to hit Charlus lightly on the shoulder, "Charlus, he was just attacked! Be a little more sensitive, would you?"

The light brown-haired boy sent the girl a very cheeky smile. Even if it hadn't been his intention, Hermione felt her heart begin to beat faster.

Harry,Alistair and Ron sniggered at the two's interaction before they walked up the stone steps behind them.

Ron was right; it was an interesting first day of the term.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

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