Care of Magical Creatures

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It doesn't take long for the field to fill with people, as usual it is Slytherins and Gryffindors. I wonder why they like to put us in classes together.

As I sit on the stump thinking I notice that everyone has stopped talking. Looking up I see Malfoy standing in front of me with a not very happy face.

"Yes?" I ask curiously.

Reaching into his robe he grabs a letter and hands it to me. I look at him as I take it but he doesn't meet my eyes so I just read the cover of the letter. I immediately recognize the handwriting as Lucius's.

"My father told me to give it to you."

I nod as I see Ron glaring at him from the corner of my eye, "Well thank you, is that it?"

He seems to flinch as if just realizing he is standing there awkwardly, "Y-yeah," he lowers his head a bit as he quickly turns around and walks away.

"What was that?!" Ron asks, turning to me.

"Yeah, that was weird, even for Draco." Theo says in agreement.

I shrug, "I don't know."

Hermione gives me an unbelieving gaze, "What did you do to him?" Daphne nods along with her as if agreeing I did something.

I hold up my hands defensively, "I didn't do anything, but I'm friends with his dad so I assume he got scolded."

Looking at Harry I can see he is giving Malfoy a gaze full of pity.

"Tch" I click my tongue as I lean back and open the envelope, since it is addressed to Soren and not the Reaper it should be fine.

My eyes widen as I see what it is, from the envelope I pull out a 3x5 piece of paper with golden letters. The top reads "Library Pass" reading further it lists the sections I'm allowed access to and all of them are checked off. In the bottom right it says 'Approved by the Board of Governors'.

"Bloody hell," Turning around I see the ever calm Theo with wide eyes.

"What?" Ron asks curiously as he scoots over to me and leans next to me. Ron doesn't say anything, instead his jaw hangs low.

Harry's eyes look at us curiously, "What is it?"

Ron looks at him and I can tell he is about to yell so I quickly put a hand over his mouth, "Ims emh lmewy muess!" Ron's muffled nonsense leaks out through my fingers.

He looks at me confused as I give him a glare, I take my hand off his mouth and gesture around. The entire class of twenty five students are giving us an odd look from by the treeline.

Ron blushes furiously as he rubs the back of his head, "Sorry."

I look at Hermione calmly, "It's a library pass, that's it." behind me I hear Theo scoff.

Hermione looks even more confused, "What?"

Theo raises his brows as he nods with his words, "It's a LIBRARY PASS."

Daphne seems to understand as she gasps, "Why did he give that to you?"

Harry looks confused as Hermione looks jealous, "I don't get it, what do you mean, 'Library Pass'? Aren't we all allowed in every section?"

"Harry, what is the one place we aren't allowed?" Hermione asks him with raised brows.

"The restricted section, but not even teachers are allowed in there." His eyes widen as it finally clicks for him.

"Yeah," Hermione says giving me another jealous look.

"Alrigh' time fer' class, stand up, wer' headin to the pens." We all turn to see Hargrid standing at the edge of the forest with a big grin. With his big arms he gestures for us to follow as he slowly walks backwards into the forest.

Ron and I stand up as we all begin to follow Hagrid. I quietly tuck the library pass into my 'robe pocket' as I follow along.

Not far inside the forest we could see two large pens, in one I could see Luar and Stormwing. In the pen across I can see three thestral calmly walking around their pen with Charlie setting up a feeding box..

As we get close Hagrid stops and Charlie hops the fence with a smile, "You want to take the bigger group?"

Hagrid looks a bit nervous but I can tell he is excited as he gives a small nod, "Course."

Charlie nods as he gestures towards the pen of Thestral's, "Raise your hand if you can see the animals inside this pen."

Theo, Harry, and I raise our hands along with three other Slytherin and two Gryffindor.

"You will be in my group, I will be teaching you about Thestral's today."

Hagrid nods, "And the rest of ya' will be with me. You'll be learnin' bout Hippogriff and Unicorn's."

Immediately I see two of the girls who raised their hands look incredibly disappointed.

"Alright, follow me."

Charlie gestures over at the pen twenty feet away as he begins to walk towards it. The eight of us all separate from the main group as we follow along.

"Unlike the other two creatures here today, Thestrals are an animal exclusive to the isles. There are fringe cases where they fly across the channel but it is very rare and they typically return."

Charlie opens the pen gate as he gestures us in. The three thestral are all on the opposite side so no one is opposed to going in but Theo, Harry, and I are still the first ones in.

"So why are they in a pen if they can just fly away?" I ask turning towards 'professor Charlie'.

"Two reasons, first to make them more comfortable, as this is their space. The second is for the Hippogriff, they are very territorial creatures so we needed some way to tell her that this space was not hers. Otherwise she may attack the Thestral, not that Stormwing would, but it is just safety measures."

Seeing me nod he continues, "Any other questions."

"Are these legal to own? Or would I need a permit to keep one?"

Charlie gives me a knowing smile, "They are perfectly legal to own in the Isles, you just cannot bring them across the pond as they are to be kept here as enforced by the British Ministry of Magic."

I nod, "And how would one go about getting on?"

Charlie sighs but still keeps his smile, "Although Hogwarts has a flock of thirty two there are nearly a hundred inside the forbidden forest. They are known for their extremely kind temperament making them easy to tame. That is how Hagrid made our flock here, although I wouldn't suggest going into the forest yourself. Also you could buy one, the breeders for these creatures are typically few and far between but I'm sure you could find them."

I nod with a smile, "Thank you, Professor."

He shakes his head as he walks towards the Thestrals, "Now back to class, these creatures are often known as omens of death for their appearance but that could not be further from the truth. As I told Soren, they are incredibly kind creatures with mild temperament, completely opposite unicorns who can be incredibly moody and aggressive."

"Although that is the standard it is not the rule. Like the unicorn that Soren has provided us with today, Luar is very kind even to men. Though she is an exception to the rule, she is a good example."

Seeing that only Theo, Harry, and I are close he gestures at the five behind us, "Come closer, let me introduce you all to Percy, George, and Fred."

Theo, Harry, and I immediately break into laughter hearing the names.