𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖗𝖎𝖒 [h. potter]

IX

§§§

IX: THE PIGGYBACK RIDE

§§§

§§§

"There's something sketchy going on with that woman, I swear. She's bloody mental-"

"Pippa, I understand, I really do," Terry interrupted, "but I've really gotta catch you up on an entire year of Care of Magical Creatures. I'd be a shitty tutor if you failed the course, wouldn't I?"

"I suppose so," Pippa mumbled.

"Exactly. Rule number one of Terry's tutoring: I'm always right," Terry decreed rather loudly, earning a few shushes (and many silent glares) from the students around them who had gone to the library to study. In peace. And quiet. Terry lowered his voice. "You've got your books, right?"

Pippa pulled out three books: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Barnaby's Guide to Magic Creatures, and The Monster Book of Monsters. That last book thumped quietly against the table as it struggled against the belt Pippa had secured around it per Professor Grubbly-Plank's instructions. She was a very kind woman, being extremely understanding and accommodating when Pippa explained her situation to her. She also seemed to be a very competent teacher, much more than Hagrid had been (to Pippa's understanding, no student had been "attacked" during her classes, "attacked" being a rather loose term when it came to Draco Malfoy's incident). Pippa hated to admit it, but she was sort of looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures.

It didn't hurt that she would be sharing the class with Terry and her newfound Gryffindor friends.

"So, let's get started with Kneazles."

Pippa found Care of Magical Creatures to be remarkably easy. Kneazles were simple creatures it seemed; not simple in their nature, if anything they were far from that in that respect, but simple in theory. They were sort of just really intuitive cats. The simplistic material, alongside Terry's guidance, all made their review session go by quite quickly, and before she knew it, Terry was smiling and holding his hand up for a high five.

"That's it! Merlin, Pips, you're a natural!"

"Only because I have the best tutor in this castle."

Pippa swung her hand up to meet Terry's and their hands collided with a loud clapping sound that made some Hufflepuffs sitting a few feet away to shoot them a look. Pippa bit her lip to stifle her laugh as she joined Terry in gathering the books they had used for review.

As Pippa and Terry walked out of the library, Pippa barely had time to register the poofy brown-haired figure rounding the corner before Terry collided with it. They both groaned, the girl, who Pippa had now recognized as Hermione Granger, opened her mouth, brows furrowed in annoyance. No words came out of her mouth, though, and her face almost immediately relaxed upon seeing Pippa and Terry's faces.