PRANKSTER [1] ↝ C. DIGGORY

two

Clarissa entered the Great Hall with Vasantha hot on her heels, the girls taking their seats next to where Fred and George sat with Lee. Fred and George were poring over a piece of parchment, but looked up when the two girls sat down.

"Good morning, ladies," Fred and George said in sync.

"What do we have here?" Clary asked, pulling the roll of parchment out of their grasp and looking it over. "Let's see... new hair coloring charm... is this a prank I see?"

"Still in progress," Lee explained.

"But yes," George said.

"I'm so proud," Clary said, hugging George, who sat to her right. "do we have a target?"

"Not yet," Fred said. "but that's usually your choice. Anyone in particular you'd like to give a makeover?"

Clary looked around the Great Hall, instantly noticing Newt and Cedric sitting at the Hufflepuff table across the room. She looked back to her brothers with a knowing smile.

"How about Pretty Boy Diggory?" she asked.

"Very original," George said sarcastically.

"Shut up," Clary said, shaking her head and passing the parchment back to Fred. "Pass the maple syrup, would you, Lee?"

Clary grabbed the bottle from Lee's grasp and poured it over the plate of pancakes that sat in front of her before passing it over to Vasantha. She looked up to see Professor McGonagall running around passing out timetables to other students nearby before approaching where the group sat.

"Here you five are," she said, rifling through the papers. "Mr. Jordan..." she trailed off, passing Lee his timetable. "Mr. Weasley... Mr. Weasley... Miss Weasley, and Miss Scamander," she said, handing the timetables to each of their respective students. "Now, enjoy your classes, and please try to actually attend them, you three." she said with a glance over at Fred, George, and Lee.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall," the fifth years chorused as she moved on further down the table.

"What's first?" George asked and was quickly met with a squeal of excitement from Vasantha.

"Care of Magical Creatures," she said with a proud smile, excitedly drumming her hands on the tabletop.

"You Scamanders and your love for all things creatures," Fred said, shaking his head. "all their grandfather's doing, I tell you."

"Oh, piss off," Vasantha said in response.

"Well, we should be going," Clary announced, finishing up her pancakes and looking back over at the boys. "We are going to class, right?"

"But Cece," George whined.

"But George," she countered.

"Fine," he sighed.

Clary stood up from the table and led the others out of the Great Hall and towards the castle's exit. They left the castle, walking down the grassy hill towards Hagrid's Hut. When they arrived, they noticed the only other two to have already arrived were Newt and Cedric, the former talking excitedly to Hagrid about today's lesson.

"Good morning, boys," Clary said as the five Gryffindors approached.

"You five staying out of trouble?" Cedric asked, eyeing Clary suspiciously as Newt continued talking to Hagrid.

"Why, no," she said with a mischievous grin, "should we be?"

"I'm watching you, Weasley," he said, grinning, and Clary couldn't help but wonder what he might look like once her brothers finished the hair coloring charm.

"Alright, fifth years!" Hagrid exclaimed with a proud smile on his face. "Welcome to my first class as your new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. I've got a very special treat for you today." he said, gesturing for the students to follow him as they walked out towards a clearing where a large creature stood and waited.

"No fucking way," Vas said, grabbing onto Newt's arm excitedly.

"Now," Hagrid said, "before we get any closer, this is a hippogriff. They're very proud creatures, and are easily offended. You do not want to offend a hippogriff. It might just be the last thing you do."

"It's weird looking," Lee muttered under his breath, and Vas shot him a death glare.

"It's majestic," she corrected him.

"Now, the proper way to approach a hippogriff is to start by bowing. And, if he bows back, then you can go and pet him. If he doesn't bow back, do not come any closer. Do you all understand?" Hagrid asked, looking the students over, and the entire group nodded in response. "Do I have a volunteer?"

"I'll do it!" Newt and Vasantha said in unison, raising their hands.

"Thank you, you two," Hagrid said with a chuckle. "let's have Newt go first, then Vasantha can go after. Is that alright?"

"That's more than alright," Newt said with a proud grin, shooting a wink towards his sister.

After Newt was successfully able to approach the hippogriff, whose name they later found out to be Buckbeak, Vasantha was able to take her turn. With nobody else willing to step up and take a turn, the class came to a close early, and Hagrid cheerily wished everyone goodbye before leaving to get Buckbeak ready for the next class.

"That was amazing," Newt said as the group trudged up the hill. "our granddad always talked about hippogriffs, but we've never seen one."

"Yeah, it was actually cool," Lee admitted. "I was impressed."

"Well, I've gotta get going," Cedric said, his gaze cast down towards the field where a group of Ravenclaw girls stood together. "but Newt, I'll catch up with you later?"

"Go have fun with Cho," Newt teased with a laugh, giving Cedric a playful shove as Cedric grinned and waved the group goodbye before jogging off towards the girls.

"What, jealous Cece?" Fred teased, nudging his sister in the ribs and she rolled her eyes.

"He wishes."