Chapter 21: Ch:21
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"Hippogriffs are proud ya see." Hagrid continued. "Insult them and ya had best start running cause they'll hound ya to the edge of their territory fur even the least bit of rudeness. But treat them with respect and they respond in kind. Can't hurt someone who's been polite to ya, thems in the laws of hospitality. So all ya got to do to be safe around a hippogriff is this. Approach them straight forward, look em in the eye and then bow. Once they've bowed back, yer good and safe. If they don't bow then back away calmly, find something to give em as a gift, like red meat for a meal, and then try again. Who wants to try it first?"
Harry ended up going first with a hippogriff named Buckbeak. After a short delay the beast did indeed bow back to Harry and he was free to pet it. He even got to ride on the thing through the air. It wasn't as good as riding his own broomstick but it was good enough that Harry could see himself getting used to it and coming to quite enjoy it.
After Harry successfully interacted with this giant eagle horse without being savaged by it the rest of the class joined in without trouble. Nevil couldn't seem to get his hippogriff to bow but as soon as he backed off it calmed down. Everything was going well, until Draco ruined it.
"By God these are dumb birds!" Draco's voice shouted but it seemed to be coming from Harry. Harry turned quickly to see Draco with his wand pressed to his throat. He was using a ventriloquism spell to make it seem like Harry was insulting the hippogriffs to get him attacked. But he underestimated just how smart these hippogriffs could be.
While several of them did turn to regard Harry with open hostility; the one he had been helping Ron and Hermione deal with just looked puzzled. It knew what Harry sounded like and so knew that wasn't his voice that had insulted them. Unfortunately for Draco he had been working with Buckbeak who knew what Harry sounded like and had learned what Draco sounded like.
The hippogriff moved in an instant, Draco barely had time to react before the clawed forepaws came down on his arms. There was a flash of crimson and Draco was on the ground crying in pain. As fast as Buckbeak had moved Hagrid had moved even faster and before the Hippogriff could strike again, the gentle giant was right next to it. Hagrid wrapped his arms around Buckbeak's chest and lifted him up and back away from the fallen student.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Harry chanted and cast a levitation spell on Draco lifting him up and quickly away out of the pen. Buckbeak calmed down with the target of its ire away from its territory and Hagrid got it tied up to a post away from Draco. Then the giant man grabbed Draco and carried him into the castle to see the school healer. This ended the class.
"What an awful creature." Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl and one of Draco's hangers on, said as they left. "I can't believe that man thought it was a good idea to study such things. He should be fired."
"Draco should be expelled for that." Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor, countered. "He tried to set the whole flock of them on Harry with that trick he only got what he deserved."
"How can you say something so tactless?" Pansy shot back. "Draco was almost killed just now. Who knows how terrible that wound might be?"
"Madam Pomfrey will cure it without any trouble." Harry declared. "And maybe that will teach Draco not to meddle with things he doesn't understand. If a creature is smart enough to know when it's been insulted then it would likely know when it's being tricked."
"Quite the exciting first lesson you have to admit." Ron added which only upset the Slytherins even more.
That evening Harry and his friends visited Hagrid who had been quite upset by the day's events. The board of governors who oversaw Hogwarts had to be contacted about a student being injured. Hagrid had come under fire for starting off with something so advanced and now he was worried about his job. After some encouragement they managed to lift Hagrid's spirit by promising to stand up for him and Buckbeak.
When Hagrid finally pulled himself back together he got quite angry with Harry for being out of the school after dark. Harry guessed he was worried about Sirius Black and so didn't argue and allowed himself to be escorted back up the castle. Though he still didn't see what the big deal was. Everyone was acting like there was going to be some inevitable showdown between him and the former Voldemort supporter.
Even Draco seemed to expect it. The next day he had turned up for their potion class with his arm in a sling as if a hippogriff's claws contained some kind of magic resistant curse. The wound he had taken had been significant and Harry had felt sorry for him when it happened. But Madam Pomfrey was an excellent healer so it was clear that Draco was just milking the situation for all of it's worth.
Even that would be fine. Harry could understand someone playing up how dangerous a situation had been or how badly they had been hurt to get sympathy from their friends or a girl they were sweet on. It was understandable, if a little pathetic in Harry's eyes. Personally he didn't like getting too much sympathy, it made him uncomfortable. But Draco claimed that since he couldn't move his arm he needed someone else to cut up his potion ingredients for him.
Snape ordered Harry and Ron to do so which put them behind on their own potion. This left Draco free to talk. Rather than talk to his own friends he found time to needle Harry a bit more.
"So is Hagrid shaking in his boots yet?" Draco sneered. "He should be. I told my father about what happened and he figures that if such negligence led to a lasting injury then the oaf should go."
"Ye gods Draco." Harry stared at the man in a cold furry. "How much of a prat can you be? Your prank goes wrong and you're trying to spin it into something that destroys a man's job? Hagrid's never done anything to you, why do you hate him?"
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