SABAISM | H. POTTER

FIVE. | SLYTHERIN CRYBABY

Hagrid, who was situated at the door of his hut, awaited the arrival of the first class. The half-giant stood in a tattered moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boar-hound 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!" Gemini, posterior to the sizable man, couldn't help but smile at Hagrid's child-like excitement. However, that grin slipped from her features like a shot after surveying their surroundings. For one nasty moment, the girl held the idea that Hagrid was about to lead them into the forest; she had had enough unpleasant experiences in there to last a lifetime....plus, she certainly didn't wish to cross paths with Aragog again. Though; Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, the class found themselves outside a kind of paddock...one with nothing that inhabited it. What exactly could his intentions be? "Everyone gather 'round the fence here," he instructed, "That's it - make sure yeh can see - Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books --." Directions halted; for the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy spoke, "How?" Hagrid, affronted by the disruption, confusedly queried, "Eh?" The platinum blonde scoffed. "How do we open our books?," Malfoy repeated. The Slytherin then retrieved his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he'd bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some, like Harry and Gemini, 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?," asked Hagrid; obviously crestfallen. The class all shook their head in dissent. "Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," explained Hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look," he instructed; taking Hermione's copy and ripping off the Spellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite, but the half-giant ran a hulking forefinger down its spine; and the book shuddered, and then fell open and lay muted upon his outstretched appendage. - "Oh, how silly we've all been," Malfoy sneered after his demonstration, "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess." I mean, just this once, Gemini was able to empathize. She adored the gamekeeper, but this edition had nearly bit her hand off. It was understandably frustrating to have to deal with it. "I...I thought they were funny," Hagrid, uncertainty, admitted to Hermione. "Oh, tremendously funny! Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off," Malfoy heatedly judged. Harry, obviously wanting Hagrid's first lesson to be a success, quietly hissed, "Shut up, Malfoy."

"Righ' then," continued Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread, "s-so yeh've got yer books an'...an'...now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on." After his directive the man strode away from the group, into the forest and out of sight. - "God, this place is going to the dogs," Malfoy loudly complained, "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him -." Gemini gaudily laughed at her cousin's declaration. The attention now located on the notorious Black descendants; as the female mockingly pried, "Tell me, Malfoy...do you think your Father'll have a fit when you inform him of what you do in your spare time?" Surprisingly; Harry intervened, "Just shut up, Malfoy." The blonde, already irritated by his cousins implication, tauntingly derided, "Careful, Potter, there's a Dementor behind you-." However, his quip was intruded by the annoying squeals of Lavender Brown...meaning that the Gryffindors had triumphed in this dispute. Gemini twisted, not before she awarded Draco with a provoking smirk, to view what had Lavender so worked up; now understanding the warranted rejoinder. Towards the opposite side of the paddock, trotting in the direction of the teens, were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures she'd ever seen. - They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses; but the front 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 these beasts had a thick leather collar decorating its cervix, which happened to attach to a long chain, and the ends of these manacles were gripped in the vast hands of Hagrid. "Gee up, there," the half-giant roared; shaking the chains as he urged the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as their Professor reached them and tethered the quadruped to the fence. - "Hippogriffs!," Hagrid happily boomed; waving a hand at them, "Beau'iful, aren' they?" Gemini supposed she could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once the initial shock of seeing something that was half horse and half bird had worn off, you started to appreciate the Hippogriffs. These animals had gleaming coats; changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a divergent color: stormy grey, bronze, pinkish roan, glossy chestnut, and inky black.