"Don't rush, Damon, wait for them to make the first move."
Hagrid seemed to realize his mistake, or perhaps he was simply following Damon's lead and continuing his explanation.
"Now, it's noticed you. Bow to it first. If it bows back, you can touch it.
If it doesn't bow, get away from it quickly, because those claws can hurt."
"Bow, let me?"
Damon didn't intend to act, nor did he need to—he simply approached, and the hippogriffs began to panic—after all, Damon had been feeding the Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon (Hazard 5X) and the Thunderbird (Hazard 4X) for a long time, and his body was already imbued with a strong dragon's might and thunderous aura.
This scent was undetectable to humans, but to the magical creatures it was like a rich, fragrant incense.
"Gah—"
The lead hippogriff let out a strange cry like a platypus, and despite the chain around its neck, immediately lowered its head and prostrated itself before Damon so that Damon could reach out and stroke its head.
"Oh—this—this is a special case, don't take it seriously."
Hagrid was stunned by the scene before him. His dazed appearance made Hermione wonder if he had forgotten all the amazing feats Damon had previously displayed—even the ferocious Norwegian Ridgeback was as docile as a dog in front of Damon, so the hippogriff's behavior was quite reasonable.
Damon had already mounted the leader of the herd—it even let out a majestic cry, spreading its wings as if ready to take flight at any moment.
The witches were dazzled by Damon's knightly figure, wishing they could frantically record it with cameras like Colin Firth, Harry's fanboy—but they didn't have the guts, because Damon wasn't a nice guy and wouldn't tolerate such unwarranted harassment.
"But it'll be soon. Apparently, a seventh-year student is researching a new magical camera that will allow for discreet photography.
" "Alright—anyone else want to try?"
Hagrid urged, seeing the gleam in Harry and the others' eyes.
"I'll go!"
Harry volunteered, but the Parvati sisters warned him worriedly,
"Oh no, Harry, think about your tea!"
They were clearly Trelawney's allies, believing bad omens might befall Harry at any moment.
Harry ignored them, climbing over the enclosure fence and attempting to interact with a hippogriff named Buckbeak.
"Could you ask your friends to be gentler? They're all children—of course, if you don't like them, just ignore them, but don't hurt them,"
Damon whispered in the leader's ear. Buckbeak obediently cried out and spread its wings to command its kin.
Thanks to this, at the end of the class, everyone successfully rode a hippogriff. Malfoy, who would have caused trouble during the event, held his breath and carefully completed the entire process.
When he succeeded, Harry and Ron saw him on horseback, arms outstretched, looking as excited as a kindergartener.
"He's not as cold-blooded as he thinks, is he?"
Ron glanced at Malfoy and whispered to Harry beside him.
Harry had been worried all class that Malfoy would ruin Hagrid's first lesson, but now he was relieved.
Although the whole process was thrilling, it was generally enjoyable. After the class, the students' goodwill towards Hagrid increased significantly—even though the creature this big guy brought was indeed dangerous, it was also very interesting, wasn't it?
Their goodwill would remain—until Hagrid caused trouble in class.
After class, Damon and the others didn't rush to leave but chatted with the excited Hagrid.
"Hagrid, congratulations on completing your first lesson, very good. I mean, it can actually be even better, would you like to?"
After exchanging glances, Hermione finally stepped forward.
"Why am I the bad guy!" Hermione glared at the three boys, but still forced herself to say those words to Hagrid.
"Um—I know." Hagrid wiped away large tears from the corners of his eyes, "If it weren't for Damon, this lesson would have been terrible, I know—I'll be more careful next time.
Malfoy is actually right, I should have prepared the teaching materials in advance."
Suggestions made after success are far more acceptable than reflections after failure.
Hagrid, unusually, humbly accepted Hermione's series of suggestions and promised to change next time.
"Hey Damon, do you want to take Isabella with you?" Hagrid pointed to the lead hippogriff. "I have a feeling it'll come with you if you ask."
Harry and Ron turned to look at Damon with envy—after their ride, they both dreamed of having a mount like that—especially considering Damon also had a dragon and a thunderbird.
"No need, Hagrid. Since hippogriffs are social animals, it won't be happy if I take it—the dragon and the thunderbird are already enough for me."
"Alright, if that's your decision."
Hagrid scratched his head and led the creatures back to the Forbidden Forest.
Professor Snape was furious during the first Potions class of the new term.
He attacked almost every student indiscriminately—except for the Slytherin students who were spared. Almost every Gryffindor student was scolded by him at least twice for legitimate reasons.
Harry, Ron, and Neville were particularly hard hit.
Neville's clumsiness with potions already annoyed Snape, and he wouldn't let Damon help Neville—that would defeat the purpose of the lesson.
By the end of class, Harry felt his hair was soaked—completely wet with Snape's passionate outburst.
"Orange, Longbottom,"
Snape said, scooping a little potion out with a spoon and letting it splash back into the cauldron so everyone could see.
"Orange, tell me! Child! Has something seeped into your thick skull?
Didn't you hear me say, clearly, just a drop of rat bile? Didn't I say clearly, just a little leech juice? How can I explain it to you, Longbottom?"
Neville's face turned pink, his body trembling uncontrollably, but to Snape's surprise, he managed to maintain a semblance of composure, as if forcing himself to calm down.
"I understand, Professor, I will correct it."
Neville picked up his notebook and quickly jotted down the words "leech juice," which made Snape's expression soften, but then worsen.
It was hard to imagine such contradictory feelings appearing in one person at the same time.
"Longbottom, before class ends today, I'm going to give your toad a few drops of this potion and see what happens.
Maybe this will encourage you to make this potion properly."
Neville's face turned ashen—but Damon had already been kicked out of the classroom by Snape after completing the potion, so the old bat was clearly prepared.
"Don't be afraid of him, Neville, Damon will handle him."
Harry and Ron quietly encouraged Neville.
"Deduct five points from Gryffindor! Because you—Potter—spoke ill of the professor behind his back!"
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