Serendipity

Harry 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 they set off for their first-ever Care of Magical Creatures class.

Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other. Harry and Anneliese walked along side them chatting lightly about what the class was going to be like. Charlotte decided to not take the class and take Muggle Studies with the Ravenclaws instead because she claimed 'she didn't want to get her fingers bitten off by whatever creature Hagrid is going to show us. Knowing Hagrid it's going to be slightly dangerous.'

"What do you think Hagrid's going to show us?" Anneliese asked the Harry as they made their way down to Hagrid's hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"I don't know but I hope his first lesson goes well," Harry replied anxiously sending his best friend a small, reassuring smile. "Especially since it's with the Slytherins. Knowing Malfoy he's not going to make it easy on Hagrid."

"If he doesn't I'm going to take a long stick and shove it so far up his arse he won't be able to see tomorrow," Anneliese muttered under her breath sending a cold, hard glare at the Malfoy boy who was talking animatedly to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Yeah, let's not do something that gets you chucked into Azkaban," Harry said grabbing the girl's hand softly. "It may run in the family, but I'm sure you and Charlie are going to break the tradition."

"Thanks Har," Anneliese smiled sarcastically. "That really helps."

"No problem, love," Harry smiled squeezing her hand gently.

The four of them finally reached Hagrid's hut and noticed that Hagrid was waiting outside it for the class to fully arrive. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient 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!"

For one nasty moment, Harry thought that Hagrid was going to lead them into the forest; Harry had had enough unpleasant experiences in there to last him a lifetime. However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing there.

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

"How?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.

"Eh?" said Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some, like Harry, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.

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

As the class all shook their heads, Anneliese raised her hand. "I have Hagrid. It took me a while to figure out, but then my mum showed me how too. You all just stroke the spine." When the whole class looked at her confused she grabbed her book and added, "Like this." Anneliese then stroked the spine of the book as it fell open to the first page.

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

"I-I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainty to Hermione.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" said Malfoy. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Hagrid was looking downcast and Harry wanted Hagrid's first lesson to be a success.

"Righ' then," said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread, "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 away from them into the forest and out of sight.

"God, this place has gone to the dogs," said Malfoy loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him-"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated.

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

"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock.

Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most biazarre creatures Harry had ever seen. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front of the legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.

"Gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beu'iful, aren' they?"

Harry could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once you go over the first shock of seeing something that was half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.

"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer-"

As no one seemed to want to, Anneliese rolled her eyes as she grabbed Harry's hand and brought her up to the front of the fence with her. Hagrid beamed at her as she sent him a small smile as Harry threw Anneliese a look as if saying 'why the hell would you drag me up here with you?'.

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

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening: they were talking in an undertone and Harry had a nasty feeling they were plotting 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 bon, 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.

"Right - who wants to go first?"

Most of the class back farther away in answer. Even Harry, Hermione, and Ron had misgiving. The hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn't seem to like being tethered like this. Anneliese then raised her hand into the air and said, "I'll do it!". This caused Harry to look over at her like she was crazy. "Just that Harry has to do it with me."

"Why do I have to do it with you?" Harry whispered to her sharply.

"Because I said so and you're doing it," Anneliese replied back, sending Harry a quick smile before Hagrid beamed proudly at the two of them. Anneliese shot Harry a look asking him if he wanted to back out. He then thought about it though that if Anneliese got hurt he wouldn't be able to protect her, not that he needed to protect her or anything she could do fine on her own, but he would have had the chance to get hurt instead of her. He then sent her a look basically saying, 'Fine I'll do it.' Anneliese beamed at him.

There was an intake of breath from behind him, and both Lavender and Parvati whispered, "Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!"

Harry ignored them. When he looked back over to Hagrid Anneliese was already bowing in front of the hippogriff as Hagrid was cheering her on. Harry saw the hippogriff bow back to her as Anneliese started to gently rub the creatures beak. Harry smiled in aww at how gentle the creature was with the girl. He knew that his best friend had a love for magical creatures, he just never saw her interact with them. He decided to then walk forward and he climbed over the paddock fence.

"Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid. "Right then - let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak." Anneliese gave him a smile as the hippogriff she was with walked away from her and over to Hagrid. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath. Malfoy's eyes were narrowed maliciously.

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

Harry's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut them. Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Harry with one fierce orange eye.

"That's it," said Hagrid. "That's it, Harry...now, bow..."

Harry didn't feel much like exposing the back of his neck to Buckbeak, but he did as he was told. He gave a short bow and then looked up.

The hippogriff was still staring haughtily at him. It didn't move.

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

But then, to Harry's enormous surprise, the hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow.

"Well done, Harry!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right - yeah can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

Feeling that a better reward would have been to back away, Harry moved slowly toward the hippogriff and reached out toward it. He patted the beak several times and the hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as though enjoying it.

The class broke into applause, all except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were looking deeply disappointed.

"Righ' then, Harry, Anneliese," said Hagrid as the black haired girl walked back over toward them. She quickly bowed for Buckbeak and he instantly bowed back to her. "I reckon he might' let yeh ride him!"

This was more than Harry had bargained for. He was used to a broomstick; but he wasn't sure a hippogriff would be quite the same. Anneliese's face broke out into a large grin at the thought of getting to ride the adorable hippogriff.

"Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint," said Hagrid, "an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, won' like that..."

Anneliese was the one to climb up first as she put her foot on the top of Buckbeak's wing and hoisted herself onto its back. Harry then did the same thing, gulping nervously. Anneliese bent down to whisper into his ear as she sat in front of him, "Hey don't worry it's going to be fine." Buckbeak then stood up. Anneliese wrapped her arms around the creatures neck as Harry wasn't sure where to put his arms, but quickly wrapped them around the girls waist as Hagrid slapped the hippogriffs arse and it flew up into the sky.

It was nothing like a broomstick, and Harry knew which one he preferred; the hippogriff's wings beat uncomfortably on either side of him, catching him under his legs and making him feel he was about to be thrown off; the glossy feathers slipped under his fingers and he didn't dare get a stronger grip; instead the smooth action of his Nimbus Two Thousand, he now felt himself rocking backward and forward as the hind-quarters of the hippogriff rose and fell with its wings.

The hippogriff then flew over the lake as Anneliese's face broke out into a smile and she turned around the see the boy behind her having the time of his life. She noticed a couple minutes ago that he had let go of her waits, it felt weird when he first started to wrap his arms around her, but then it just felt normal. She noticed that he looked the happiest than she had ever seen him before. She then turned and called to him, "I told you this would be fun!" Harry looked at her and without knowing possible his smile grew even bigger at the sight of her happiness. All he could do was smile back at her.

Buckbeak flew the two of them back around the paddock and then headed back to the ground; this was the bit Harry had been dreading; he leaned back as Anneliese went forward on the hippogriff. The two the felt a heavy thud as the four ill-assorted feet hit the ground. They just managed to hold on and push themselves straight again.

"Good work, Harry, Anneliese!" roared Hagrid as everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. Anneliese bowed dramatically as Harry rolled his eyes softly. "Okay, who else wants to go?"

Emboldened by Harry and Anneliese's success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously, all over the paddock. Neville ran repeatedly backward from his, which didn't seem to want to bend its knees. Ron and Hermione practiced on the chestnut, while Harry and Anneliese watched.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had taken over Buckbeak. He had bowed to Malfoy, who was now patting his beak, looking disdainful.

"This is very easy," Malfoy drawled, loud enough for Harry and Anneliese to hear him. "I knew it must have been, if Potter and Black could do it...I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" he said to the hippogriff. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"

It happened in a flash of steely talons; Malfoy let out a high pitched scream and next moment, Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back into his collar as he strained to get at Malfoy, who lay curled in the grass, blood blossoming over his robes.

"I'm dying!" Malfoy yelled as the class panicked. "I'm dying look at me! It's killed me!"

"Yer not dyin'," said Hagrid, who had gone very white, "Someone help me - gotta get him outta here-"

Hermione ran to hold open the gate as Hagrid lifted Malfoy easily. As they passed, Harry and Anneliese saw that there was a long, deep gash on Malfoy's arm; blood splattered he grass and Hagrid ran with him, up the slope toward the castle.

Very shaken, the Care of Magical Creatures class followed at a walk. The Slytherins were all shouting about Hagrid.

"They should fire him straight away!" Said Pansy Parkinson, who was in tears.

"It was Malfoy's fault!" snapped Dean Thomas. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles threateningly.

"Oh you really think he's scared of the two of you," Anneliese stopped in her tracks as she stared at the two boys who stood there threatening Dean. "You two probably don't even know a spell in those thick heads of yours and here you are ready to physically beat someone who if just stating the truth. I knew you two weren't smart, but I thought you had some common sense in you."

Everyone stared at the girl in shock. Normally she was quiet and really only talked to Harry, Hermione, Ron, Charlotte, and Neville. They all climbed the steps into the deserted entrance hall.

"I'm going to see if he's okay!" said Pansy, and they all watched her run up the marble staircase. The Slytherins, still muttering about Hagrid, headed away in the direction of their dungeon common room; Harry, Ron, Anneliese, and Hermione proceeded upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.

"D'you think he'll be all right?" said Hermione nervously.

" 'Course he will. Madam Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second," said Harry, 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?" said Ron, looking worried. "Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him..."

"I was really hoping that his first class was going to go so amazing," Anneliese whispered, sadly.

Harry turned to her and said, "I know, love, me too." Harry brought the girl into a hug as Hermione sent her a knowing look. Anneliese just raised an eyebrow in confusion at the girl.

Anneliese, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinnertime, hoping to see Hagrid, but he wasn't there.

"They wouldn't fire him, would they?" said Hermione anxiously, not touching her steak-and-kidney pudding.

"They'd better not," said Ron, who wasn't eating either.

Just then, Charlotte came over to the quartet and sat down next to Anneliese. "Wow Ron, I'm surprised your not eating. Seems to be all you ever do." Anneliese elbowed the girl harshly in the ribs. "Ow Liese, what was that for?"

"It's not the time to be joking about not eating, Char," Anneliese said to the girl who sat there confused. "Hagrid might've gotten fired."

"Why would Hagrid get fir-" Charlotte was cut off as she turned and looked to the rest of the quartet. "Did something happen in Hagrids' first lesson today?"

"Malfoy happened," Ron replied glumly.

Harry was watching the Slytherin table. A large group including Crabbe and Goyle was huddled together, deep in conversation. Harry was sure they were cooking up their own version of how Malfoy had been injured.

"Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day back," said Ron, gloomily.

They went up to the crowded Gryffindor common room after diner and tried to do the homework Professor McGonagall had given them, but four out of the five of them kept breaking off and glancing out of the tower window.

"There's a light on in Hagrid's window," Harry said suddenly.

Ron looked at his watch.

"If we hurried, we could go down and see him. It's still quite early..."

"I don't know," Hermione said slowly, Harry and Anneliese saw her glance at them. Charlotte didn't bother to look up as she knew that she was going to say something about Sirius Black.

"We're allowed to walk across the grounds," he said pointedly. "Sirius Black hasn't got past the dementors here, has he?"

So they put their things away and headed out of the portrait hole, glad not to meet anybody on their way to the front doors, as they weren't entirely sure they were supposed to be out.

The grass was still wet and looked almost black in the twilight. When they reached Hagrid's hut, they knocked, and voice growled, "C'min."

Hagrid was sitting in his shirtsleeves at his scrubbed wooden table; his boarhound, Fang, had his head in Hagrid's lap. One look told them that Hagrid had been drinking a lot; there was a pewter tankard almost as big as a bucket in front of him, and he seemed to be having difficulty getting them into focus.

" 'Spect it's a record," he said thickly, when he recognized them. "Don' reckon they've ever had a teacher who lasted on'y a day before."

"You haven't been fires, Hagrid!" gasped Hermione.

"Not yet," said Hagrid miserably, taking a huge gulp of whatever was in the tankard. "But's only a matter o' time, I'n't it, after Malfoy..."

"How is he?" said Ron as they all sat down. "It wasn't serious, was it?"

"Madam Pmfrey fixed him best she could," said Hagrid dully, "but he's sayin' it's still agony...covered in bandages...moanin'..."

"He's faking it," said Anneliese at once. "Madam Pomfrey can mend anything. She regrew half of Harry's bones last year. Trust Malfoy to milk it for all it's worth."

"Isn't Malfoy you and Charlotte's cousin?" Hermione asked Anneliese.

"Yeah, but he's a prat," Anneliese replied shrugging.

"School gov'nors have bin told, o' course," said Hagrid miserably. "They reckon I started too big. Shoulda left hippogriffs fer later...done flobberworms or summat...Jus' thought it'd make a good firs' lesson...'S all my fault..."

"It's all Malfoy's fault, Hagrid!" said Hermione earnestly.

"We're witnesses," said Harry. "You said hippogriffs attack if you insult them. It's Malfoy's problem that he wasn't listening. We'll tell Dumbledore what really happened."

"Yeah, don't worry, Hagrid, we'll back you up," said Ron. Anneliese nodded encouragingly.

Tears leaked out of the crinkled corners of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes. He grabbed both Harry and Ron and pulled them into a bone-breaking hug.

"I think you've had enough to drink, Hagrid," said Hermione firmly. She took the tankard from the table and went outside to empty it.

"Ar, maybe she's right," said Hagrid, letting go of Harry and Ron, who both staggered away, rubbing their ribs. Hagrid heaved himself out of his chair and followed Hermione unsteadily outside. They heard a loud splash.

"What's he done?" said Harry nervously as Hermione came back in with the empty tankard.

"Stuck his head in the water barrel," said Hermione, putting the tankard away.

Hagrid came back, his long hair and beard sopping wet, wiping the water out of his eyes.

"Tha's better," he said, shaking his head like a dog and drenching them all, "Listen, it was good of yeh ter come an' see me, I really-"

Hagrid stopped dead, staring at Harry and Anneliese as though he'd only just realized they were there.

"WHAT D'YEH THINK YOU'RE DOIN', EH?" he roared, so suddenly that they jumped a foot in the air. "YEH'RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN' AROUND AFTER DARK, HARRY, ANNELIESE! AN' YOU TWO! LETTIN' THEM!"

Hagrid strode over to Harry and Anneliese, grabbed both their arms, and pulled them to the door.

"C'mon!" Hagrid said angrily. "I'm takin's yer all back up ter school, an' don' let me catch yeh walkin' down ter see me after dark again. I'm not worth that!"

Once they had all gotten back up the castle, the four of them trudged back to the Gryffindor common room. Once back, Hermione and Ron trudged up the stairs and into their respective dorms before Harry pulled Anneliese into a hug.

"I was really hoping today was going to be a good first day," Anneliese muttered into the taller boys shoulder.

"I know, but when you're me I guess everything has to be eventful," Harry responded. Anneliese yawned tiredly when they pulled out of the hug and he sent her a small smile. "Why don't you go and have a nice sleep. You need it."

"I'm fine,"

"No you're going to go and get sleep," Harry responded.

"Fine," The girl rolled her eyes before ruffling the taller boys hair, and walking up the stairs to her dorm room. Harry smiled to himself before turning and looking at her reseeding figure. Once he couldn't see her in the stairwell anymore, and heard the door open and shut, he sighed and walked up to his own dormitory to get some sleep.