Patrick Stump and the Flying Car Brigade

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Care of Magical Creatures had never been my best class. Professor Hagrid wasn't a bad teacher, but he had a terrifying obsession with dangerous creatures. This occasionally resulted in trouble, such as when Hayley Williams was bitten by a Blast-Ended Skrewt during her fourth year. However, Professor Hagrid's lessons were usually enjoyable, but I could only cross my fingers that they were going to be safe.

I was in Care of Magical Creatures one day when Hagrid decided to do a lesson on Kelpies. I was sitting next to Dallon, who was talking to another Ravenclaw about some Muggle television show that I had never heard of. Professor Hagrid interrupted them by asking, "Hello everyone an' welcome to class! We're learnin' about Kelpies today. Who can tell me about 'em?"

Dallon raised his hand, and Hagrid called on him. "A Kelpie is a British and Irish water demon that can take various shapes, although it most often appears as a horse with bulrushes for a mane," Dallon explained.

"Good work, Dallon," Hagrid said. "Ten points fer Ravenclaw. What else do yeh know about Kelpies?"

Miss Jackson raised her hand. "It eats wizards, so I have no bloody idea why we're studying this thing."

Hagrid shrugged. "Yeh can easily defeat a Kelpie by puttin' a bridle over its head with a Placement Charm. In fact, we're goin' on a field trip today to see the world's largest Kelpie!"

"We're going on a field trip?" I whispered to Miss Jackson in shock. We rarely went on field trips at Hogwarts.

"Yes, Patrick, we're goin' on a field trip to Loch Ness to see the Kelpie there," Hagrid said. He then held up a car radio. "Everyone, grab this Portkey."

All of a sudden, Tyler ran into the forest and towards our class. "Someone stole my car radio again, and now I just sit in silence!" he screamed. "What is with this?!"

We simply ignored him and grabbed onto the Portkey. The world began to spin as my feet left the ground, and before I knew it, I could see the beautiful shores of Loch Ness. As we passed by a number of gift shops and tourist traps, I had to discretely do a number of Disillusionment Charms to keep the passing Muggles from staring at our school uniforms and our eleven foot tall professor. Hagrid instructed us to buy tickets to go on a Loch Ness cruise, hoping that we might get a glimpse of the famed Loch Ness Monster, also known as the world's largest Kelpie.

We boarded the boat, along with a whole bunch of Muggle tourists. Thankfully, none of them noticed us. I found a spot next to the window, and looked out across the brilliant blue surface of the lake. The wind blew in my face, and at the very least, I enjoyed the view while I searched for the Kelpie.

Esteban was the first one to spot the Loch Ness Monster. "There it is!" he shouted, and we all crowded around him. I thanked God for Esteban once again as I looked over the surface of the lake and saw something moving along the water near the shore. At first glance, it appeared to be a very large sea serpent, but then I remembered that the Loch Ness Monster's favourite form was that of a sea serpent. Esteban had almost certainly spotted the monster, but thankfully, it hadn't spotted us yet.

The monster raised its horse-like head out of the water and turned towards our boat. All of us watched in fascination, but that fascination turned to horror when the Kelpie climbed onto the deck of the boat. All of the Muggles on the boat screamed, but the Kelpie only continued onwards. The monster even managed to get Dallon onto its back. Miss Jackson tried to grab him, but it didn't work. The monster dove back into the lake, and I knew I had to act fast if I wanted to save Dallon. I took out my wand and I put a bridle over the Kelpie's head with a Placement Charm. I then instructed the rest of the class to start performing Memory Charms on the Muggles on the boat. We would be in serious trouble with the Ministry of Magic if they found out about this.

I pulled Dallon out of the water. He gasped and then said, "Thank you, Patrick. That Kelpie was going to eat me!"

Professor Hagrid took out the car radio again once we arrived back at the dock, and we used it to get back to Hogwarts. "Class is dismissed," the professor said when we landed back in the forest. "Patrick, can I see yeh?"

"What is it, Professor?" I asked.

"Tha' was some good work back there," Professor Hagrid said. "Forty points fer Hufflepuff fer helpin' out a fellow classmate."

I smiled. Forty points would be enough to put Hufflepuff in first place for the House Cup, and it was all for something that I would have done anyways. "Thank you, Professor Hagrid," I said.

I walked back to the castle, feeling satisfied with myself. I had saved Dallon, as well as our Care of Magical Creatures trip, and I had given Hufflepuff a whole bunch of house points. Tonight, I was victorious.