Ron Weasley is devastated when Snape decides to make Maddie Jordan, troublemaker and potions failure, his permanent partner.
But Maddie is a strong believer that she could make friends with anyone - she just has to stick around them long enough.
A...
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chapter three | malfoy & the talons
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HAGRID SOON RETURNED with some - very bizarre looking, Maddie thought - creatures. They had the bodies, hind legs and tails of a horse, but the front legs, wings, and heads seemed to be what of a giant eagle, with a cruel, steel-colored beak and large, brilliant orange eyes. The talons on its front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking.
Each of the beasts had a thick layer collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who was jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.
"Hippogriffs!" Jake said excitedly, turning to the two girls with an enthusiastic expression.
Hippo-what?" Maddie pulled a face at him.
"I read about them in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them,'." the blonde continued. "They're... quite... actually, extremely... dangerous..."
"What?" Jess' eyes widened.
"Except when they're tamed! They have a lovely temperament when they're tamed!" Jake added quickly at the horrified looks on the two girl's faces.
Jess and Maddie exchanged unsure expressions - Jake tends to try and lighten any situation. Hagrid could've brought out some dementors on a chain and the blonde boy could've come up with some way of making them seem a bit brighter.
Then again, Hippogriffs did seem to be a lot less threatening than Dementors.
"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"
Maddie had to admit, although strange-looking, they were quite pretty creatures.
"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together. "If yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer..."
There was a slight pause of hesitation, before the first few people to move - Harry, Ron and Hermione, approached the fence cautiously. Maddie, Jess and Jake etched forward a little - but weren't quite as brave as the other trio, yet.
"Now, firs' thing you gotta know abou' Hippogriffs, is they're proud," Hagrid explained. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don' never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do,"
"Nice," Maddie muttered.
"Yeh always wait for the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk towards him, and yeh bow, and 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,"
