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HP Chapter 46: Care of Magical Creatures Class
🕑 Added 2025-08-20 14:00:12 +0000 UTCAfter lunch, Fanny and Anne left the castle, crossing the soft grass in front to head toward Hagrid’s hut for their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
When they arrived, they found that the class was held together with Gryffindor.
“Wow, Anne, we’re going to be in the same classes as Ron, Harry, and Hermione almost all day on Mondays…” Fanny said happily.
“Fanny, that might not be a good thing…” Anne replied, eyeing Draco Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, and Pansy Parkinson giggling together beside the hut.
“Well, they’ll definitely get into another argument with Harry,” Fanny said with a tone of resignation.
Once all the students had arrived, Hagrid appeared, wearing his mole-skin coat and dragging his hound Fang along. He shouted, “C’mon, hurry up now! Got a real treat for yeh today! Gonna be a great lesson! Everyone here? Right, follow me!”
He led them along the edge of the forest, and after five minutes, they arrived outside what looked like a paddock. But there was nothing inside.
“Gather 'round the fence!” Hagrid called. “That’s it… where yeh can all see. Now, the first thing I want yeh to do is open yer books…”
“How do we open them?” drawled Draco Malfoy lazily.
“Huh?” Hagrid said.
“How do we open our books?” Malfoy repeated. He pulled out his Monster Book of Monsters, which he had tied up with a cord.
Realizing Malfoy was trying to sabotage Hagrid’s first lesson, Harry spoke up loudly, “You just stroke the spine gently, and it’ll calm down.” As he spoke, he ran his hand down the book’s spine, and it opened at once.
Hagrid gave Harry a grateful look, while Malfoy glared at him venomously. Harry ignored him.
Once everyone had managed to open their books, Hagrid beamed. “Turn to page 95, that’s the bit on hippogriffs. I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared into the forest. A moment later, screams broke out among the students.
Anne looked up toward the far side of the paddock, where twelve strange creatures were approaching quickly. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but their front legs, wings, and heads were those of eagles. Their beaks were sharp and steel-colored, and their bright orange eyes gleamed. The claws on their front legs looked at least half a foot long, enough to be deadly.
Each creature wore a feathery collar around its neck with a long chain attached. Hagrid held all the chains bunched up in one enormous hand, jogging after them as they entered the paddock.
“Back over there!” he bellowed, swinging the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the students stood. As he secured them to the posts, most of the class took several steps back.
“Hippogriffs!” Hagrid roared happily. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
“So,” he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling at the group, “if yeh want to step forward…”
But no one moved. Anne thought to herself, We barely looked at the textbook and now we're supposed to approach the real thing? Isn't that too fast?
“Well,” Hagrid continued, undeterred, “the first thing yeh need to know about hippogriffs is they’re proud creatures, easily offended. Never insult a hippogriff. That might just be the last thing yeh ever do.”
“Always wait for the hippogriff to make the first move. That’s polite, see? Yeh walk toward it, yeh bow, and then yeh wait. If it bows back, yeh can approach and touch it. If it doesn’t, back away. Fast. Those claws don’t mess around.”
Having explained this, Hagrid asked brightly, “Right then! Who wants to go first?”
The creatures tossed their heads and unfurled their powerful wings. They clearly weren’t happy about being restrained.
Anne instinctively stepped back, and saw that she wasn’t alone. Almost the entire class did the same, even Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked hesitant.
“No one?” Hagrid asked, a pleading look in his eyes.
“I’ll do it,” said Harry.
Anne heard someone take a sharp breath. Nearby, Lavender and Parvati whispered, “Oh no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!”
Harry ignored them and climbed over the fence.
Fanny clutched Anne’s arm tightly, watching Harry anxiously.
“Well done, Harry!” Hagrid called. “Right, let’s see how yeh get along with Buckbeak here.”
He untied one of the chains and led Buckbeak away from the others, removing the collar from its thick neck. The rest of the class held its breath.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes with a smirk.
“Easy, now, Harry,” Hagrid said quietly. “Look it in the eyes, try not to blink, if yeh blink too much, it won’t trust yeh…”
Harry’s eyes watered, but he didn’t blink. Buckbeak had turned its big, sharp head to glare at him with one fierce orange eye.
“That’s it,” Hagrid murmured. “Now, bow…”
Harry gave a small bow and stood upright.
The creature didn’t move, still glaring.
“Ah,” said Hagrid, worry creeping into his voice. “Okay, back off now, Harry, nice and slow, ”
But then Buckbeak suddenly bent its scaly front knees and sank down into a bow.
“Brilliant, Harry!” Hagrid shouted, overjoyed. “Go on, give it a pat! On the beak, just like that!”
Not wanting to miss the chance, Harry cautiously walked forward and patted its beak several times. Buckbeak closed its eyes lazily, it seemed to enjoy the attention.
Most students applauded, except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who looked disappointed.
“Well done, Harry,” Hagrid said. “Think it might even let yeh ride it.”
Harry placed one foot on Buckbeak’s wing and climbed onto its back. Buckbeak stood up.
“Off yeh go!” Hagrid shouted, slapping the creature’s hindquarters.
Without warning, Buckbeak’s twelve-foot wingspan unfurled, and it launched into the air. Harry grabbed its neck just in time.
They soared once around the paddock before gliding back to the ground.
“Great job, Harry!” Hagrid cheered, while the others (except Malfoy and his gang) burst into applause. “Right then, who’s next?”
Encouraged by Harry’s success, Fanny happily tugged Anne forward. Along with most of the class, they carefully stepped over the fence.
Hagrid unchained the creatures one at a time. Fanny and Anne were assigned a chestnut-colored hippogriff. Anne bowed and received a bow in return. Fanny followed suit and succeeded too.
Anne stepped up to the creature, nearly as tall as a one-story building, and gently patted its beak. It nuzzled her hand affectionately.
Fanny stroked its feathers and turned to Anne with a wide smile. “Anne, it’s so soft!”
Anne nodded, smiling back.
But not everyone treated the creatures with respect.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle chose Buckbeak. The creature bowed politely, and Malfoy approached with a look of disdain.
“This is easy,” Malfoy sneered loudly, making sure everyone could hear. “If Potter can do it, it must be a piece of cake... Bet you’re not dangerous at all, are you, you ugly brute?”
Fanny gasped. Anne muttered, Idiot.
Right after Malfoy spoke, he screamed. Buckbeak had slashed his arm with its steel-gray claws.
Hagrid rushed over and wrestled Buckbeak back into its collar, preventing it from lunging again. Malfoy lay curled up on the grass, blood staining his robes.
“I’m dying!” Malfoy wailed. “It’s killed me!”
“You’re not dying!” Hagrid said, pale-faced. “Someone help me, we’ve got to get him out of here.”
Hermione ran to open the gate. Hagrid lifted Malfoy easily and sprinted toward the castle.
As they passed, students saw the long, deep gash on Malfoy’s arm and the trail of blood he left on the grass.
The entire class followed behind. The two houses were on the verge of arguing.
“They should expel it right away!” sobbed Pansy Parkinson.
“It’s Malfoy’s fault!” Dean Thomas snapped.
Crabbe and Goyle flexed threateningly.
Anne remained silent at the back. Fanny and a couple of Slytherin girls were consoling Pansy.
They climbed the stone steps into the deserted Entrance Hall.
“I need to see if he’s okay!” Pansy cried, chasing after Hagrid and Malfoy up the marble stairs.
Slytherin students kept ranting about Hagrid as they returned to their common room. Anne also intended to head to the dorm, but after a few steps, Fanny tugged her sleeve.
She pointed toward the Gryffindor students, the trio was frantically motioning at them. Anne was dragged into a side hall just off the Entrance Hall.
“You don’t think he’ll be seriously hurt, do you?” Hermione asked nervously.
“He’ll be fine. Madam Pomfrey can fix a cut in a second,” Harry said.
“But there was so much blood! That cut was huge! Remember how Anne’s arm took a whole week to heal last term?” Fanny said, clearly upset.
Anne gave Fanny a look that said, Why drag me into this again?
“Well, it’s different,” Ron said. “Malfoy brought it on himself with that comment about Buckbeak.”
Fanny glared at Ron. “Malfoy might be horrible, but he was hurt! He said something nasty, sure, but he didn’t deserve that! If Hagrid hadn’t held Buckbeak back, it would’ve clawed him again!”
“Oh come on, ‘just a little horrible’? He’s a lot horrible!” Ron muttered. Fanny glared again.
“Hagrid just wanted his first class to go well,” Harry said. “He never meant for this to happen.”
“But it did happen. Do you think Hagrid will get fired?” Hermione asked. Ron answered quickly, “Malfoy’ll definitely tell his dad. He’ll blow this up for sure…”
The four fell silent and looked toward Anne, who still hadn’t said anything.
“Why are you all looking at me…” Anne said helplessly. “How would I know if Hagrid’s getting fired?”
Hermione and Fanny didn’t seem convinced. Fanny tugged Anne’s sleeve. “Come on, Anne, don’t keep it to yourself…”
Sigh, Anne thought. Looks like I have to say something.
“…Hagrid rushed things. He had us read for just a few minutes before bringing out hippogriffs…”
The others tensed, worried she was about to say he would be fired.
“But no, he won’t be fired. Dumbledore wouldn’t let Hagrid go after just one lesson. Besides, Malfoy was partly at fault.”
Everyone sighed in relief.
“But,” Anne continued, “even if Hagrid is safe, someone’s going to take the blame. The Malfoy family won’t let this go.”
“Wait, Anne… You mean Buckbeak?” Hermione asked.
Anne nodded. “You should tell Hagrid to prepare himself. Oh, and don’t forget what Dumbledore said at the Welcoming Feast. It might come in handy.”
As Anne and Fanny walked away, Ron turned to Harry. “She’s talking about not leaving the school without permission, isn’t she?”
Hermione nodded. “That’s exactly what Anne meant.”
