The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

2.34 | Tricky Treats & Tricky Threats

One evening, after classes were over, Margaret found herself outside Hagrid's hut.

Knowing of her recent interest in magical creatures, Hagrid had invited her to visit while he looked after a group of bowtruckles who had been injured in some skirmish in the Forbidden Forest. He soon taught her how to befriend them and how to handle them gently.

Despite the sharp limbs, the little plant-like creatures were quick and smart. They understood that Margaret was only trying to help them with their injuries after she bandaged the first of them.

"There you go," she tells a three-legged bowtruckle, placing him on the rock with his friends. "You're all gonna be just fine."

Once the group of bowtruckles has reunited, all healed, they sprinted over towards the treeline and disappeared in the undergrowth of the forest.

"Not bad," comments Rolf, smiling. "They usually don't do well outside their trees, so it's harder to tame them."

Margaret shrugged, walking over to sit next to him on another rock near the pumpkin patch. "It's all Hagrid's teaching, really."

"And to think you weren't going to take this class," Rolf teases.

"For that, I should thank your grandfather and his basement," says Margaret, chuckling. "It's what convinced me to take this class."

"Well, you can thank him soon, I think," says Rolf. "Granddad is a guest lecturer for sixth and seventh years, or NEWT students, and that includes us."

Margaret looked to him in surprise. "Really? So he's gonna visit sometime this year?"

Rolf nodded. "Yes, he'll take week-long classes with Hagrid, once each term. It should be fun, he and Hagrid get along quite well."

"That's great to know! I'd love to learn from two of the best magizoologists in this country," says she before glancing briefly at the heavily annotated notebook on his lap. "And tell me, how's your work on creature medicines going?"

"It's... going," he says, sighing a little. "Sometimes I feel like I need to bury this book and start all over again."

"And lose three years' worth of work?" asks Margaret, mildly surprised.

"Yeah, well..." Rolf trails off, looking off into the distance, his mind seemingly far away.

From the other side of the hut, they could hear Hagrid setting up tents for some creature that he claimed was a surprise. He had never shied away from introducing them to different kinds of creatures, no matter how many X's they had in their classifications. The only five students in Hagrid's class were easier to handle than the thirty there were before.

Even if three of them were Slytherins - Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott.

The three being in the only class that she didn't share with Harry, Ron and Hermione had been a coincidence. At least she thought it was.

Margaret was as surprised as anyone to see them on the first day as no Slytherin had ever been a fan of Hagrid's. However, it soon became apparent why they had taken Care of Magical Creatures: Hagrid's class didn't involve much theory, if at all, they were outdoors all the time and Hagrid didn't care if any of them were late as long as they all showed up. He would even let them off early if possible.

It had taken a little time for Hagrid to get used to the idea of three out of his five students being Slytherin, but as days went on and they showed no outright disrespect to him nor tried to sabotage his work, it seemed that they had all called a silent truce.

Margaret usually spent much of the lecture by herself or with Rolf. They often walked back to the castle together, chatting about their interests, their classmates and professors, and much more. This was when she found out about his unique study of medicines for magical beasts and their illnesses.