CHAPTER FOUR:
Third Person P.O.V.:
At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets.
"Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice.
Harry, Charlie, Ron, and Hermione turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake.
"All right, you four?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd.
They waved at him, but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around them was shunting them away along the platform.
Harry, Charlie, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled by an invisible creature because as soon as they climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession.
Harry felt better since the chocolate, but still weak.
Charlie, Ron and Hermione kept looking at him sideways, as though frightened he might collapse again. Other than that, the brown eyed boy chose not to speak about the dementor attack on the train until he had the chance to speak to his grandfather.
As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, Charlie saw two more towering, hooded dementors, standing guard on either side.
A wave of cold sickness threatened to engulf him as he suddenly felt like the happiness in his body would disappear at any moment. He leaned back into the lumpy seat and kept his eyes on the floor until they had passed the gates. Charlie looked up to Harry to see him cower under the dementors gaze, clearly unwilling to succumb to the same fate as his last encounter.
The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Hermione was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and the four of them got out.
Charlie watched from a distance as Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini had walked up the stairs of the castle entranceway. He groaned in hatred - another year with those foul gits; god help us all.
Hermione took notice in the brown eyed boy's unamused look, and quickly pulled him forward by his robes to take his gaze off of the Slytherins. The two of them met up with Harry and Ron before joining the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches, and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.
The door into the Great Hall stood open at the right; Charlie followed the crowd toward it, but had barely glimpsed the enchanted ceiling, which was black and cloudy tonight, when a voice called,
"Potter! Granger! Hawthorne! I would like a word with the three of you!"
Charlie, Harry and Hermione turned around, surprised. Professor McGonagall was calling over the heads of the crowd. Charlie fought his way over to her with a feeling of foreboding; although very nice, Professor McGonagall had a way of making him feel he must have done something wrong.
"There's no need to look so worried - I just want a word in MY office," she told them once they got to her. "Move along there, Weasley."
Ron stared as Professor McGonagall ushered his three friends away from the chattering crowd; they accompanied her across the entrance hall, up the marble staircase, and along a corridor.
Once they were in her office, a small room with a large, welcoming fire, Professor McGonagall motioned the three Gryffindors to sit down.
She settled herself behind her desk and said abruptly, "Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Potter. And that there was same near experience with you, Charles."
Before Charlie or Harry could reply, there was a soft knock on the door and Madame Pomfrey, the nurse, came bustling in.
Harry felt himself going red in the face.
Charlie rolled his eyes, "Oh god."
It was bad enough that Harry had passed out, and as far are the brown eyed boy was concerned, nothing detrimental had happened to him. So there was no need to make a fuss over anything.
"I'm fine," Charlie said, "Harry is too. We don't need anything."
"Oh, why am I not surprised that it was the two of you?" said Madame Pomfrey, ignoring this and bending down to stare closely at him. "I suppose you were doing something dangerous again?"
"It was a dementor, Poppy," said Professor McGonagall.
They exchanged a dark look, and Madame Pomfrey chuckled disapprovingly.
"Setting dementors around a school," she muttered, as she moved to Harry and pushed back his hair before feeling his forehead. "Potter won't be the last one who collapses. Yes, he's all clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate."
"I'm not delicate!" said Harry crossly, but Charlie couldn't help but stifle a laugh.
"Of course you're not," said Madame Pomfrey absentmindedly, now taking his pulse.
"What does he need?" said Professor McGonagall crisply. "Bed rest? Should he and Charles perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?"
"I'm fine!" said Harry, jumping up, which had startled Hermione.
The brown eyed boy nodded in agreement, "Seriously, we're all good. I think it'd be best if we just went to join the feast."
"Well, they should have some chocolate, at the very least," said Madame Pomfrey, who was now trying to peer into Charlie's eyes.
"We've already had some," said Charlie. "Professor Lupin gave us some on the train."
"Did he, now?" said Madame Pomfrey approvingly. "So we've finally got a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies?"
"Are you sure you boys feel alright?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.
Charlie looked at Harry. He knew what he was feeling, but he couldn't speak for his friend. However, the boy with glasses had given him a quick look to indicate that he was alright. So, simultaneously they nodded their heads.
McGonagall sighed, "Very well. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her course schedule, then we can go down to the feast together."
Charlie and Harry were ushered out of the room by Madame Pomfrey. Once they were in the corridor, Pomfrey started towards the hospital wing, leaving the two boys to wait. A few minutes later, Hermione emerged looking very happy about something, followed by Professor McGonagall, and the four of them made their way back down the marble staircase to the Great Hall.
As McGonagall went to find her seat at the staff table, Harry, Charlie and Hermione had found their places next to Ron, who was curious as to what McGonagall had to say. While Harry explained to him what happened, Charlie looked up towards the front of the room, he saw his grandfather looking down at him with concerned eyes - he must've heard about what happened.
Charlie quickly smiled widely at Albus to reassure his safety. Dumbledore nodded his head with a smile before getting up to address the room.
"Welcome!" he said while the candlelight shimmered on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast...."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."
He paused, and Charlie suddenly frowned at the mention of the Ministry. It wasn't a surprise that his father was capable of sending those foul creatures to prey on students, and them deem it as a "safety precaution".
"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Nor do I recommend that you are to approach them. It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving."
Charlie listened intently to his grandfather as he spoke, well that was until his ears perked up towards Draco Malfoy who was desperately trying to get the attention of Harry.
"Psst, Potter. Potter!" Draco whispered from behind them at the Slytherin table. Harry and Ron turned while Hermione and Charlie glared at him as he laughed, "Is it true you fainted? Like actually fainted?"
"Shove off, Malfoy," defended Charlie, whose jaw was clenched.
"Did you faint as well, Hawthorne?" said Malfoy in a loud whisper as he shifted his gaze to Charlie. "Did the scary, old dementor frighten you too?"
As the brown eyed boy opened his mouth to retaliate, Hermione had nudged him slightly, causing him to shift his gaze towards her.
"Just forget it," she spoke softly, "It's not worth it."
Charlie gave her a reluctant nod before turning back towards his grandfather. Ron and Harry quickly did the same as they tried to ignore the laughs from behind them.
"On a happier note," Dumbledore continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Only those who had been in the compartment on the train with Professor Lupin clapped hard. Professor Lupin looked particularly shabby next to all the other teachers in their best robes.
"Look at Snape!" Ron hissed silently.
Professor Snape was staring along the staff table at Professor Lupin with an unmatched jealous expression. It was common knowledge that Snape wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, but even Charlie, who hated Snape, was startled at the expression twisting his thin, sallow face. it was beyond anger; it was loathing.
"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his groundkeeping duties."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another, stunned, while Charlie's smile widened. He rose to his feet and began a huge applause. Not long after everyone joined in, but was there was a significant cheer at the Gryffindor table in particular.
Dumbledore let the crowd die down before he spoke again, "With that said, I find it only fitting to leave you students with one final thought; happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light."
Charlie tried to process the cryptic message for a moment. Was there some hidden message in there? His grandfather always was so mysterious when it came to his speeches.
Regardless, the feast began and the students and staff indulged in a lovely meal together. When the feast was over, Charlie accompanied Harry, Ron and Hermione back up to the Gryffindor tower.
When they got there, there was an abundance of Gryffindor students waiting at the entrance for their Head Boy, Percy Weasley, to give them the new password.
"Coming through, coming through!" Percy called from behind the crowd. The new password's 'Fortuna Major'."
"Oh no," said Neville Longbottom sadly, he always had trouble remembering the passwords.
Through the portrait hole and across the common room, the girls and boys divided toward their separate staircases. Charlie bid a small farewell to Hermione as she ascended the girl's staircase. They still had yet to talk about what had happened on the train and it was safe to say that things were kind of awkward.
Nonetheless, Charlie joined Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus in their dorm room. The six of them stayed up for a while to catch up and joke around with a bunch of wizarding candies. It was well into the night when they had all finally gone to sleep.
--------------
The next morning, Charlie joined his friends in the Great Hall for breakfast. It was the first official day of the term so all of the students seemed to be nervously glancing at their timetables.
Hermione was examining hers when Charlie had sat down at the table.
"Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today," she said happily.
"Hermione," said Ron, frowning as he looked across the table, "they've messed up your timetable. Look - they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough time."
"I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall." Hermione explained quickly, which made Charlie's eyebrows raise. Interesting -
"But look," said Ron, laughing, "see this morning?Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And -" Ron leant closer to the timetable, disbelieving, "Look - underneath that, Ancient Runes, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's that good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"
"Don't be silly, Ronald" said Hermione shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once."
"Well, then -"
"Pass the marmalade," said Hermione sweetly to Charlie, blatantly ignoring Ron.
"But -"
"Oh, Ron, what's it to you if my timetable's a bit full?" Hermione snapped causing Charlie and Harry to share a glance from opposite one another, "I told you, I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."
Ron had went to say something else, but Charlie quickly signalled to him to drop the idea for now.
Not long after, it was time for their first class of the day, Divination with Professor Trelawney at the top of the North Tower. It took nearly ten minutes to get there, but as they did Charlie, Ron, and Harry piled in one after the other.
They emerged into the strangest-looking classroom they had ever seen. In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all; more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned teashop.
At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by weird armchairs and fat little pouffes. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves.
How strange -
The three boys looked to one another before they all took a seat at a round table in the room. As they sat down, Charlie looked around curiously.
"Where did Hermione go?" he questioned, looking to his two friends, "She was right behind us, wasn't she? I could've sworn -"
"She probably forgot a book or something and had to go back for it." Harry suggested.
"Yeah," Ron scoffed, "Her and her loads of bloody books..."
Harry sniggered slightly as Charlie reluctantly nodded. Yeah, maybe that's where she was.
Just then, a voice came suddenly out of the shadows, a soft, misty sort of voice.
"Welcome," it said from the darkness. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."
Charlie, Harry, and Ron all looked at one another curiously as Professor Trelawney stepped out of the shadows. She was just as peculiar looking as Charlie remembered from when he was little; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.
"Welcome to Divination," said Professor Trelawney, who stood in the center of the room looking at each student carefully. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."
There was a light chatter amongst the students in the room, but the Professor didn't seem to notice.
"In this room you shall discover if you possess the sight," Trelawney continued, knocking over things by her desk, "Together, we shall cast ourselves into the future! This term we shall be focusing on the art of Tessomancy, which is the great study of tea leaves. So, please take the cup of the person sitting opposite you. Broaden your minds my dears! Allow your eyes to see... beyond!"
The three Gryffindor boys shared a small chuckle as they passed their teacups, that were stationed on the desks in front of them, in a counter-clock wise rotation. Charlie took Ron's, Harry took Charlie's, and Ron took Harry's.
Through all this commotion, however, the brown eyed boy couldn't help but wonder where Hermione had gone. He was staring to get worried, it was so unlike her to miss the start of a class.
Charlie was pulled from his thoughts as Trelawney approached him and his friends, and had asked Harry what he saw within Charlie's cup.
The boy with glasses shrugged, unaware of what he was supposed to be looking at. Unamused by this, Trelawney took the cup in her hands and was quick to look up to Charlie with a sympathetic gaze.
"My boy," she said softly, "You have so much going on. Dear, oh dear, this is not a happy cup.The falcon and the cross have joined forces in your tea leaves! A deadly enemy shall bring you great trials and suffering, which, with the addition of a small skull in the top right hand corner, means that you, my dear, are in grave danger. Beware my dear, beware!"
Suddenly, the entire class looked in Charlie's direction to which he simply sat there with an unreadable expression on his face. What was he supposed to do? What could he do? How the hell was he to respond to that?
Charlie looked down to the ring on his finger. He caressed the falcon in the middle. Is this what his grandfather meant when he said he'd understand the falcon with time? Why would Dumbledore give him a ring with a symbol the represents a deadly enemy? Again, what a cryptic old man.
Then, there was a familiar whisper heard from beside him, "What a load of rubbish. Nothing's going to happen to you, Charlie. This delusional, old woman doesn't know what she's on about."
Charlie quickly turned and saw Hermione sitting beside him. He was stunned, "Where did you come from?"
"Me?" Hermione looked at him, puzzled, "I've been here the whole time."
No, no that wasn't right; five seconds ago he could've sworn that she wasn't -
His thoughts on Hermione were cut off at the sound of a glass breaking and Trelawney's dramatic gasps. As it turns out, Charlie's tea leaves weren't nearly as bad as Harry's.
"My dear," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened wide while looking at Harry, "you have the Grim."
"The what?" asked Harry, glancing to his three friends with a confused expression. Charlie, Ron, and Hermione had all shrugged quickly.
"The Grin? What's the Grin?" Seamus asked, quite clueless, from across the room.
"Not the Grin, you idiot," Parvati Patil scolded from beside him, "The Grim."
Charlie could tell that him and his friends weren't the only ones who didn't understand; Dean Thomas stared in obliviousness and Lavender Brown looked puzzled, but nearly everybody else clapped their hands to their mouths in horror.
"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" cried Professor Trelawney, who looked shocked that Harry hadn't understood. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards. My dear boy, it is an omen - the worst omen - of death!"
Harry's stomach lurched while Ron and Charlie's jaws had fallen. The boy with glasses immediately glanced towards Charlie causing him to remember the dog in the shadows of Magnolia Crescent. No it can't be - oh god - what the actual hell -
"Again, rubbish." Hermione whispered in an offended tone that was loud enough for Charlie to hear, "She's trying time scare him with the whole You-Know-Who thing."
The brown eyed boy had turned to face his friend once again. He looked at her in amazement and awe. In all of the three years they had known each other, Charlie had never heard Hermione talk about a teacher like that.
"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," said Professor Trelawney in a very scared tone which pulled Charlie's gaze off of Hermione. "Yes... please pack away your things..."
Silently the class brought their teacups back to Professor Trelawney, packed away their books and closed their bags before heading off to their next lessons.
What a great start to the day; Charlie had immense danger in his future, and Harry, well, apparently, he was going to die.
---------------
After divination, the four of them had set off to Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. The lesson had actually been really informative. The students had learned all about Animagi; people who could turn into animals. However, it was hard to focus when both, Charlie and Harry, could feel the fearful gazes of their classmates around them. Thankfully, there was no death omens mentioned in Transfiguration, but it had felt like there had been with the way everyone was staring.
When the Transfiguration class had finished, they joined the crowd thundering towards the Great Hall for lunch.
"Ron, cheer up," said Hermione, pushing a dish of stew towards him. The boy had barely said two words since the revelation of the Grim in Harry's cup. "It was a delusional comment made to scare us. I bet she does that every year; Harry just happened to be the unlucky student she chose to prey upon."
Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork but for the first time, didn't scarf it down quickly like everyone expected. No, this time he sent a very curious look in Harry's direction.
"Harry," he said, in a low, serious voice, "you haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"
"Yeah, I have," said Harry before looking to Charlie, "We both did. We saw one the night I left the Dursleys."
Ron let his fork fall with a clatter.
"Probably a stray," said Hermione calmly from beside Charlie.
Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone mad.
"Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's - that's bad," he said in a shaky voice. "My - my Uncle Bilius saw one and - and he died twenty-four hours later! And Charlie" - he looked towards him with wide eyes - "what if your immense danger is a side effect of the Grim? That's why you both saw it! Harry'll die and you'll suffer!"
Charlie groaned, "No ones going to die! And I can tell you right now, no suffering is worse than dealing with my father for the last thirteen years - Just - Leave it alone, Ron."
This comment caused not only, Hermione, but Harry as well, to shoot Charlie a worried look. Was life with Fenwick really that bad?
"Don't be reading too much into that," Charlie scolded as he saw their faces fall, "I didn't mean anything by it, it was just a harmless comparison."
Hermione and Harry shared a glance while Ron kept staring at his stew in horror. Harry was quick to drop the topic and start eating, but Hermione, despite being asked not to, read too much into it. She started putting together made up scenarios in her head.
What if Fenwick has something to do with -
"It was all a coincidence," said Charlie dismissively, pouring himself some pumpkin juice.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" shouted Ron, starting to get angry. "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards."
"There you are, then," said Hermione in a superior tone to defend Charlie. "They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And both, Harry and Charlie, are still with us because they're not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I'd better pop my clogs then!"
Ron scoffed, "Excuse me for being worried about my friends!"
Harry put a hand on Ron's back, "And we thank you for that, mate, but please, can we stop talking about this?"
Ron gave a reluctant nod as Charlie and Hermione focused back on the food in front of them.
The rest of their lunch was practically sat in silence. For the first time, neither of them knew what to say to one another. Instead, they patiently waited for the bell to signal the start of the next class.
On the bright side, their next class was Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid.
---------------
As the bell rang, the four of them, with their monster books in hand, set off for the Creature Reserve by Hagrid's hut.
While on the way, the four seemed to overcome their awkward, no-talking phase as Hermione couldn't help but mock Professor Trelawney's teaching.
"If you ask me, Divination is a very woolly discipline. Now, Ancient Runes, that is a fascinating subject." She said, proudly.
"Ancient Runes?" Charlie questioned with an eyebrow raised causing Hermione to send him a playful smile with a finger pressed to her lips. He knew that Ancient Runes was at the same time as Divination. How the hell -
"There was nothing woolly about the Grim in that cup!" said Ron completely unaware of what Hermione had let slip.
"You didn't seem quite so confident when you were telling Harry it was a sheep," said Hermione coolly. "Besides, I thought we were to drop this."
"I did, for a while, but then I realized how serious this is! Maybe you wouldn't understand without your stupid books. Let's face it, you don't like Divination just because you don't like being rubbish at something for a change!" shouted Ron.
This seemed to strike a nerve within the bushy haired girl. She stormed down the stone steps to get in Ron's face.
"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! It's a load of rubbish!"
With that, she stormed off by herself towards Hagrid's hut. Harry and Charlie had watched her walk off with an amused smile plastered on their faces. Ron clearly didn't find the humour in what happened as he stood there watching her with a glare.
Charlie laughed, but was somehow amazed all at the same time, "That girl never ceases to amaze me."
The brown eyed boy continued on his way towards the hut as Ron and Harry quickly followed behind him. Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. 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."
Charlie's ears perked up at Hagrid's voice; he suddenly remembered what the half-giant said he was going to do for his first lesson. The boy couldn't wait to see his friends's reaction to Buckbeak.
The Gryffindors and Slytherin's strolled behind Hagrid as he led them into his Creature Reserve that Charlie was all too familiar with. As they walked, the brown eyed boy walked beside Hermione and whispered to her about certain creatures as they passed them; she responded with a soft smile each time. It was the first time the two of them had had the opportunity to speak one-on-one since the train, and it seemed as though the awkwardness had subsided.
Five minutes later, they found themselves in the wide open area of trees where Charlie had first seen Buckbeak. Hagrid gave Charlie a small smile as the two shared a glance.
"Everyone gather round the fence here!" Hagrid called. "That's it - make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books -"
"How exactly do we do that?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.
"Jus' stroke the spine, o' course!" Hagrid said happily.
As Hagrid went to retrieve Buckbeak, Charlie watched Neville's book blatantly attack him. Holding in a laugh, the brown eyed boy walked over, pulled the monster book off of his friend, and helped him to his feet.
Charlie stroked the spine of Neville's book before handing it back to him, "Careful there Neville, class hasn't even started yet."
The two shared a quick laugh before Charlie walked back over to Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"I think they're funny," said Hermione, referring to the books.
"Oh yeah, tremendously funny," said Draco sarcastically from behind her, "Really witty, giving us books that can bite our hands off. Wait until my father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes!"
Charlie scoffed in annoyance as he turned around to face the Slytherins, "Do you ever get tired of hearing yourself speak? Or do you just naturally tune out the load of absurd and nonsensical rubbish that comes out of your mouth?"
With the soft murmurs and laughs from the crowd, Draco took a "threatening" step forward. The brown eyed boy laughed as he took a challenging step forward as well, much to Hermione's disapproval.
Charlie had a very amused smile plastered on his face, "What are you going to do? Tell daddy on me?"
Draco clenched his jaw before smirking slightly, "Actually, maybe I'll have a word with your father as that seemed to work so well the last time."
Charlie clenched his fist. Draco's comment was sure to cause a future conversation with Hermione, Ron and Harry that quite frankly, Charlie didn't wish to have. As a way to stop his friend from doing something stupid, Harry took a step forward in front of Charlie while Hermione pulled him back by his dress shirt.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry sneered.
"Oooo," Draco laughed, "Hawthorne can't fight his own battles, eh? How ironic." For the first time, Draco shifted his gaze from Charlie to Harry. His gaze was confident up until his face fell and he pointed behind Harry in fear, "Dementor! Dementor!"
As Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors, Charlie included, turned around quickly, Draco and the Slytherins began to laugh. They even went as far as putting their hoods up and began doing an overdramatize impression of a Dementor.
Charlie shook his head as he moved forward and pulled Harry back. As he did so, Hagrid emerged with Buckbeak following closely behind him.
Hagrid gave the same speech to the class as he had given to Charlie when he had first shown him the hippogriff. Malfoy, Crabbe, Zabini and Goyle weren't listening, however; they were talking in an undertone and Charlie 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 towards him, and yeh bow, 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 ter go first?"
Most of the class backed further away out of fear of the giant hippogriff, but Charlie wasn't amongst that group. As he was actually about to step forward, Hermione had pulled him back by his shirt once again causing him to turn to her with a furrowed brow.
"Don't, please," she said softly so only he could hear, "I don't have a good feeling about this."
Charlie sighed as he looked into the girl's concerned eyes. He reluctantly took a step back to stand beside her, which ultimately left Harry the only one standing out front - sorry mate.
"Well done Harry! Well done!" Hagrid called, "C'mon now!"
As Harry stepped forward, Hagrid informed him on the steps he had to make so that Buckbeak wouldn't get offended. The boy with glasses seemed to do everything right, well, that was until he took a premature step forward, causing a twig to snap beneath his foot.
The entire class gasped as Buckbeak's head snapped forward aggressively. Out of the fear she felt for Harry, Hermione reached out to grab Charlie's hand as she had always had this comforting instinct when it came to him.
As they both realized what was happening, they shared an awkward glance before unlocking hands and turning back to Hagrid who was trying to calm down Buckbeak.
Sure, the two of them had held hands before, but now things were different -
In first and second year, their interlocked hands were a mere symbol of their friendship, but everything's changed between the two of them since their close encounter on the train. There was this palpable tension between the two of them now, and it didn't help that they never tried to acknowledge it. Instead, they were forced to deal with moments like these.
It was hard to explain; they both undeniably cared for one another as friends, but lately it's been weird...
Out of fear for ruining their friendship, they never brought attention to the matter. They just let the awkwardness surround them every time they had a near moment of intimacy.
Nonetheless, they recovered quickly and focused back on Harry, who had now appeared to have gained the trust of Buckbeak.
"Righ' then, Harry," said Hagrid happily, "I reckon he migh' let yeh ride him now!"
The half-giant hoisted Harry up on Buckbeak's back and soon enough, the large wings of the hippogriff began to flap and they set off. Harry and Buckbeak flew around for several moments as the group of students watched in awe. Charlie couldn't help but feel a little jealous; he never got the chance to ride the hippogriff.
Buckbeak flew Harry once around the grounds and then headed back to the ground. With a mild thud, they had landed. Harry looked cheerful as he hopped of Buckbeak's back and returned to his three friends.
"Good work, Harry!" roared Hagrid, as everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, Zabini and Goyle cheered.
"Wasn't that impressive," Malfoy drawled, loud enough for Harry to hear him.
He then pushed through the crowd and charged towards the hippogriff, "I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you? Are you? You big, ugly brute."
"Uh oh, this can't be good," Ron said softly, holding back a laugh.
It happened in a flash of steely talons; Malfoy let out a high-pitched scream and in the next moment, Buckbeak struck down on his arm, knocking Draco to the floor.
When Buckbeak raised up to do the same thing again, Charlie ran out in front of him, despite Hermione and Ron's desperate reach to try and stop him. Charlie raised his hands in peace towards the hippogriff.
Buckbeak immediately recognized the boy and calmed down, even going as far as bowing before him. Charlie smiled slightly as he gave him a quick pat on the head before taking a dead ferret from Hagrid's offering hand and throwing it in the forest.
"I'm dying!" Malfoy yelled, as the class panicked and Buckbeak returned to his home, "I'm dying, look at me. It's killed me!"
"You're clearly not dying." Charlie rolled his eyes, "Shame honestly, imagine the peace and quiet... In fact, -" the brown eyed boy joked as he turned back to the direction the hippogriff had ran to, "- Buckbeak come back!"
Only Ron and Harry seemed to find this funny because the rest of the class was still too panicked to respond. Hermione had simply just scolded her three friends for poking fun at a serious situation.
"Calm down, it's jus' a scratch!" said Hagrid, who had gone very white trying to help Malfoy to his feet.
"Hagrid!" Hermione yelled, stepping forward next to Charlie, "He needs to go the hospital!"
Hagrid looked to the girl with a worried expression before turning back to Draco, "Righ'. Well, I'm the teacher, I'll do it!"
With that, Hagrid picked up Draco in his massive arms and carried him off towards the hospital wing.
"You're gonna regret this! You and your bloody chicken!" Draco yelled in dramatic agony as he was carried off.
Once they were out of sight, Charlie and Hermione were quickly joined by Ron and Harry who looked at one another with a very confused, yet amused expression.
"They should sack him straight away!" yelled Pansy Parkinson, who was in tears amongst the crowd.
"It was Malfoy's fault!" snapped Harry which caused Crabbe, Zabini and Goyle to flex their muscles threateningly.
Ron and Charlie stepped forward to back Harry in a heated exchange of toxic masculinity, causing Hermione to roll her eyes before pulling her friends away from the group and towards the exit.
"Do you think he'll be all right?" said Hermione nervously as they walked.
"'Course he will, Madame Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second. Draco's just being Draco. All of the dramatics." said Charlie, who had had far worse injuries mended magically by the matron.
"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..."
"They wouldn't sack him, would they?" said Hermione anxiously as they passed Hagrid's hut on the way back to the castle.
"They'd better not," muttered Charlie in an unimpressed tone.
Harry was watching the Slytherin's as they walked. A large group including Crabbe, Zabini and Goyle were huddled together, deep in conversation. Harry was sure they were cooking up their own version of how Malfoy had got injured.
"Well, you can't say it wasn't an interesting first day back," said Ron gloomily.
Charlie laughed, "Don't know what the blonde haired git was expecting, if I'm honest. Hagrid did warn us."
Hermione was quick to hit Charlie lightly on the shoulder, "Charles, he was just attacked! Be a little more sensitive, would you?"
The brown eyed boy sent the girl a very cheeky smile, that wasn't intended to make Hermione's heart beat quicken, but it did.
Harry and Ron sniggered at the two's interaction before walking up the stone steps behind them.
Ron was right; what an interesting start to the term.
---------------
Author's Note:
*this chapter was not proof read*
Pretty straightforward chapter before we start getting into the cool stuff.
Hope you enjoyed!
[insert annoying begging of votes and comments]
Lol, love you guys! Until next time!
xo, Selena