บท 90: Horseplay

"How?" asked Draco frostily.

"Eh?" said Professor Hagrid, who didn't consider the act of book opening to be that big of a deal.

"How are we supposed to open our books without losing any limbs in the process?" Draco repeated.

Students began taking out their copies of the Monster Book of Monsters; it seemed that everyone had found some way to bind their book shut, whether it be with a length of rope or cramming it in a tight container.

"Hasn' — hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" said Professor Hagrid, who was beginning to look less and less like a man mountain and more like a small sad puppy.

Most students shook their head, but the Greengrass twins proudly brandished their unbound books, causing other nearby students to cower in fear.

"Ohh!" cried Professor Hagrid happily. "That'll be five points to Slytherin. Go on, then. Ol'andra, tell the others how yeh did it!"

Oleandra rapidly racked her brains for a non-rune-related solution. How did people usually tame wild animals? She had just used the Ehwo rune to skip this process.

"Well, I, umm, I offered it some raw meat," Oleandra began fibbing. "Then I talked to it in a soothing voice, and then I rubbed its fur a little. Isn't that right, Sis?"

"Sounds about right?" said Daphne meekly.

"Yeh dinna need ta do the firs' two things, but the las' step's right. Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," Hagrid said, borrowing Granger's copy and ripping off the Spellotape binding it shut. He then proceeded to take one of his sausage-like fingers and use it to gently stroke the book's spine. The book quivered in what Oleandra supposed was pleasure, before flying open. To everyone's surprise, it just lay there quietly in Professor Hagrid's palm without biting anyone.

Now that Oleandra thought about it, the process was perfectly logical. But then again, she hadn't been expecting to be attacked by a course book, even if it had the prefix Monster. Hey, wasn't the Invisible Book of Invisibility also permanently invisible? WHO MADE THESE THINGS?

"I don't know about the rest of you," Draco said with a sneer, "but ordinary people don't expect to be attacked by a course book. And of course, you need to fondle it to make it quiet down. How silly of us, we should have known!"

"I thought they were funny," Professor Hagrid said pitifully.

"Hilariously funny, really," said Draco, buttering it on as thick as possible. "The surprise was really well executed. Not giving us a heads up, that was the cherry on top. I just love being surprised with books that try to rip my hands off!"

Professor Hagrid looked seriously depressed after enduring this tirade. But still, he soldiered on. He bid the students to wait there at the paddocks while he returned with his mystery creatures. Professor Hagrid cheered up a little at the thought of showing off his beauties. That'd shut Malfoy's trap, he told himself.

Once Professor Hagrid was out of earshot, Draco turned to the twins.

"You didn't really do all those things to get your books to be docile, did you?"

"No," Oleandra admitted. "Ehwo rune."

Draco looked thoughtful for a moment, before flashing her a grin and returning to his cronies' side.

A few moments later, Professor Hagrid returned, holding a bunch of chains in his fist. Attached to the chains were collars, who themselves were attached to the necks of a dozen Hippogriffs.

Hippogriffs obviously weren't natural creatures, they belonged to a category of Fantastic Beasts called Hybrids, which had been bred by Wizards by combining different animals together.

For example, Sphinxes are half-woman, half-bird and half-lion (Wizards aren't known to be very good at fractions). Manticores are part human, part lion and part scorpion. Cockatrices are half-serpent half-rooster. Griffins are half-eagle, half-lion. And in the cases of Hippogriffs, they are half-eagle, half-horse. They have an enormous wingspan, the back half of a horse, and the front half of an eagle, which includes the front legs, which are eagle talons.

Professor Hagrid tethered them to a fence post, causing the nearest students to back away from the fearsome creatures. From afar, they might have seemed a little silly from their mismatched parts, but up close, they looked much more impressive. Oleandra looked warily at their claws and beaks; a single swipe and she'd be bleeding out.

To Professor Hagrid's disappointment, no one wanted to come get a closer look. None that is, except for the Gryffindor Golden Trio, who didn't want to make him sad.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward 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. Well, who wants ter go first?"

Oleandra gulped. If even a man she suspected was half-giant, Professor Hagrid, said that their talons hurt, then what would happen to her delicate skin? Why on earth would he bring such dangerous creatures to his first lesson, a class of third years to boot?

Harry clambered over the fence, while Professor Hagrid untied one of the Hippogriffs, who was apparently named Buckbeak. Professor Hagrid reminded him to maintain eye contact and to stop blinking, as Hippogriffs didn't like that sort of thing. Oleandra felt as if he should have led with that first. What if Harry happened to have dry eyes that day?

Harry slowly approached the creature and bowed. After a few tense instants, Buckbeak bowed back. Harry patted its beak a few times, before Professor Hagrid picked him up and sat him on the Hippogriff's back. The pair took off and circled the paddock a few times before landing, where they were met with a storm of applause.

Emboldened by Harry's success, the rest of the class approached the other Hippogriffs in small groups to repeat his experience. Not far from where Oleandra was standing, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle approached Buckbeak.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him clumsily form a hand sign.

"Ehwo," Draco whispered.