When Myths Meet Magic || 6

7 || Jason

"Careful, now, yeh don't want yer fingers fallin' off."

Percy jerked his hand back as a row of teeth snapped at him.

"Feisty, aren't they?" commented Piper, sourly nursing a bleeding thumb. "What are they?"

"Eh," Hagrid scratched his beard sheepishly. "I don' really know."

Frank nearly dropped the creature he was holding. "You don't know?"

"But they're cute, aren' they?"

"Cute?" Jason repeated, staring at them incredulously. The creatures were small and seemingly a naked, wrinkled pink— in reality, they were covered with thousands of tiny porcupine-like spikes that were so thin they were nearly invincible. Their eyes were tiny and beady and they had a pink nose and rows of oddly hooked teeth.

It was their second Care of Magical Creatures class. After spending the first one sitting in a circle and talking as they waited for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to come down from the castle— Hagrid was sure they would—, then realizing they wouldn't, then comforting Hagrid before he could burst into tears, interacting with actual magical creatures was almost exciting.

"Hagrid," said Thalia as she circled her finger, making the leaves swirl around her creature (it was standing on its hind legs and spinning in a circle to keep sight of them), "If you don't know what they are, how did you get and find them?"

"Well!" said Hagrid, beaming as one ran up his arm and sank its teeth in his moleskin jacket. "I was in the forest, see, an' I was takin' Beaky— er, Witherwings on a walk, an then I saw 'em, a whole colony o' em. An' they liked me, see?"

Jason's vision of Buckbeak on a retractable strong leash was interrupted by the sight of Hagrid proudly rolling up his pant leg to reveal what was a series of pricks shaped like a creature.

"They chuck 'emselves at yeh if they like yeh. Tha's how they show affection, see. Yer job this week is to help me identify 'em. What they eat, tha' sort o' thing."

It was the most homework they'd ever had in Care of Magical Creatures (which was not a particularly high standard). The next morning, Jason cut his potatoes neatly in quarters as Annabeth muttered above her parchment.

"Claim: Carnivorous," she muttered. "Evidence: sharp teeth. Reasoning: for puncturing and tearing flesh. Claim: Blind. Evidence..." Annabeth tapped her quill on her chin as she thought. "Evidence: clouded eyes. Reasoning..."

Hermione looked up from her copy of Advanced Potion Making. "How's Hagrid's class?" she asked.

"Regretting not signing up?" said Thalia. "You three ought to visit Hagrid soon. You and Harry were his favorite students, after all."

"What about Ron?" said Ron. Thalia snorted acidly.

"Well," said Harry pointedly to Thalia. "We were going to this weekend."

"Good, Hagrid was a mess the first day, so you'd better soon."

"You can't blame us for not taking the class," argued Ron. "I mean, I'm not taking care of a flobberworm for another year OR looking at another skrewt. Everyone hated that class—"

"We didn't hate it!" interrupted Hermione

"Maybe not you," snapped Ron. "But then explain why the only people who are taking the class are the ones who have no future in this world."

"We might not have a future here but at least we have one at all," snapped Nico. "Unfortunately you can't say the same for yourself if all you do is eat and copy Hermione—"