Two Souls

Chapter Eleven

         The students buzz about the upcoming Triwizard Tournament as the feast comes to a conclusion. I follow Pansy, Daphne, Millicent and Blair down to the Slytherin Common Room. It's in the dungeons, which only makes Slytherin more intimidating.

"What classes do you have?" Blair asks, walking in stride with me. Through all the commotion of the tournament, I haven't gotten the opportunity to examine my schedule.

"Er- Care of Magical Creatures first, and double Divination for today," I say, reading off Monday's schedule to her.

Blair sighs. "We only have Care of Magical Creatures," She says in a disappointed tone.

"Hey, maybe you'll have some classes with Pansy!" I joke, feeling comfortable enough around her.

Blair fakes a gag. "I think I'd rather get eaten alive by a hippogriff," She says sarcastically.

The two of us walk a little bit faster to catch up with Pansy, Daphne, and Millicent. The three of them aren't talking about anything exciting- just making fun of Professor Moody's appearance and gossiping about students in the school. I can't even join in because I don't know anyone.

"I wonder who the Triwizard champion for Hogwarts will be!" Pansy gushes excitedly.

Daphne rolls her eyes. "I can't wait to see all the Durmstrang boys," She says dreamily. "And Viktor Krum- oh he's so beautiful!"

Blair nudges me gently. "Want to walk to Care of Magical Creatures together?" She whispers so the other girls don't hear. I nod at her.

The two of us retreat from the rest of the Slytherins and make our way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Without Blair, I probably never would've found this place. The Gryffindors are already here but there are no other Slytherins.

"The Slytherins don't take this class seriously," Blair tells me. "They're never on time."

"Mornin'!" Hagrid says, exiting a hut. He gives me a short wave, remembering me from earlier, but focuses mainly on Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Be'er wait for the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this— Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

"Come again?" Ron asks, wrinkling his nose. Hagrid looks at him and points down at the crates.

"Ew!" A Gryffindor girl exclaims, jumping backward and nearly toppling Ron over.

The Blast Ended Skrewts looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters. They were awfully pale and slimy, and their legs sticking out in very odd places. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, and they all smelled like rotting fish.

Hagrid beams proudly. "On'y jus' hatched, so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!" He says happily, oblivious of all our disgusted and skeptical expressions.

"And why would we want to raise them?" A cold, familiar voice asks, coming closer.

"And the rest of the Slytherins have arrived," Blair mumbles, looking over my shoulder. I do the same to notice the Slytherins are here- with Draco leading the way. Crabbe and Goyle, his two overweight goons, are chuckling at his remark.

"I mean, what do they do?" He asks. "What is the point of them?"

Draco was asking the questions the rest of us were too scared to ask. He definitely could have been nicer about it, though.

Hagrid paused for a few moments before answering- "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things— I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer— I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake— just try 'em out with a bit of each."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the first ones to start picking up handfuls of the skrewts. It looked absolutely repulsive. Neville and Seamus follow the trio quickly, and eventually all of us are clutching handfuls of skrewts in our hands. I suspect the whole thing was pointless, because none of them even had mouths to feed.

"Ouch!" A Gryffindor boy cries after about ten minutes. "It got me!"

The boy shows Hagrid his hand. "Its end exploded!" He yells to an anxious looking Hagrid.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," Hagrid murmurs as the Gryffindor boy's eyes widen.

"Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?" The Gryffindor girl who was repulsed by the bugs asks. She points to the skrewt she is holding.

Hagrid quickly explains how some of the male skrewts have stingers on them, prompting the entire class to withdraw their hands from the crate.

Draco takes a menacing step toward Hagrid. "Well I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," He drawls sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

I can't help but laugh along with the other Slytherins. Unfortunately, Draco does have a valid point. Hermione scowls at me for laughing before turning to Draco.

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," She snaps. "Dragon's blood is amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet would you?"

Harry and Ron exchange a knowing smile with Hagrid. I furrow my eyebrows but don't bother to think about the situation- it's not surprising to think that Hagrid could have had a pet dragon in the past.

The class ends shortly after that, and I find myself walking with Daphne and Millicent to lunch in the castle. Blair had left to go to the Owlery right after class, as she had a letter she needed to send out to her relatives. Pansy was nowhere to be found- although Daphne presumed she was sniffing Draco.

"I'm surprised those skrewts didn't kill me!" Daphne complains, plopping herself down at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. Millicent sits next to her, and I take the seat across from the two of them next to a brown haired boy who I recognize from the class earlier.

"I knew Hagrid was a lunatic but I didn't think he would try to kill us!" Millicent adds dramatically.

The boy next to me joins in the conversation. "That man has no idea what he's doing," He says. He turns to me. "I'm Blaise by the way," He says, smiling.

I return the smile. "I'm Amelia," I say.

Blaise takes a spoonful of food. "Oh, I know. Malfoy's told us a lot about you," He tells me.

I perk my eyes up attentively but Millicent responds for me. "That's because she lives with him, their families are friends, right Amelia?" She asks me. Her mouth is filled to the brim with chewed up food.

"Er- yeah, something like that," I muse, taking a bite of my own food.

I was too busy with my food to notice the enormous glare Daphne and Millicent were giving me.