A/N sorry about the missing paragraphs, i didn't read the chapter like i usually do.
Chapter 37
At the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy caught Harry's eye and feigned a dramatic dead faint, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. Dumbledore addressed the growing tension, "The Dementors will be stationed at the entrances to the grounds. While they are under strict orders not to enter the castle itself, you will on occasion see them as you go about your daily activities. Under no circumstances are you to approach them. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving."
Later that evening, the students exited the Great Hall and climbed the grand Marble Staircase. Harry, Ron, and Hermione reached the seventh-floor landing, where they approached the Fat Lady's portrait. "Fortuna Major," Harry said, and the portrait swung open. The Gryffindors made their way into the common room, where the girls and boys parted ways, each heading to their respective dormitories for the night. Gray, who was with them, could be seen lagging slightly behind. Once the students were far enough away, he moved at a speed faster than any human had a right to, grabbed the student behind him, and pinned them to the wall as Gray frowned and said,
"Now why the fuck have you been trying to kill me?" Gray demanded, pinning the student so hard into the wall that cracks formed. If the walls were cracking, the student—a mere sack of flesh, blood, and bones—was faring no better. Yet, as the student's bones broke and his internal organs bled, he didn't laugh; he was smiling as he said, "For Merlin," and started to glow green. Gray suddenly felt the magic within the kid, but by the time the kid exploded, Gray had already retreated several steps, out of range. Once the explosion settled, Gray assessed the damage and thought, "This just complicates things," before casting a large Repairing Charm with his wand, which was enough to completely restore the area before he left quickly.
His timing was fortunate, as Dumbledore and the other professors soon arrived to check on the disturbance. All they could detect was the trace of powerful magic and a Repairing Charm, but nothing else. Meanwhile, the culprit—or rather, half of the culprit—was reading his small collection of books on Merlin. Merlin, the legendary medieval wizard and member of King Arthur's court, was born sometime during the medieval era. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Slytherin House, possibly even taught by Salazar Slytherin himself. During his time at Hogwarts, he may have created various puzzles beyond the Hogwarts grounds. Popular myth had it that Merlin's wand was made of English oak.
"Fucking Slytherins, still causing me trouble," Gray cursed as he looked for more information but found nothing new. "Is this all there is to this great legendary magic?" he thought, sighing. "I'll need to search the Hogwarts library, but the big question remains: why would followers of someone like that be after me?" He pondered for a while, unable to find any answers, before sighing again. Finally, he removed his shirt to get ready to sleep, only to notice his wand. He could have sworn it vibrated slightly, almost shyly, for some reason.
-scene change-
The next morning, in the murky, incense-laden Divination classroom, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and several other students, including Neville, Dean, Seamus, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and lastly, Gray, sat on fat little pouffes. Although Gray was not happy to be in Divination, he tolerated it; aside from Potions or any other class that could teach him something practical, he saw Divination as a waste of time. Something about knowing the future and the concept of fate just rubbed him the wrong way, and it made Divination one of his least favorite subjects.
The atmosphere was thick with mystery when a voice called out, "Welcome, my children. In this room, you shall explore the mysterious art of Divination." A crimson scrim fluttered as Professor Sybil Trelawney glided dramatically into view, her huge, bug-like eyes magnified by enormous glasses. She continued, "In this room, you shall discover if you possess... the Sight. Books only cloud one's Inner Eye." From the side, Gray couldn't hold back any longer and muttered, "What rubbish." To his surprise, Hermione echoed the same sentiment at the same time. As Gray and Ron spun around to look at her, Ron asked, "Where'd you come from?" Hermione replied, "Me? I've been here all along."
Professor Trelawney suddenly turned to Neville, fixing her gaze on him. "You, boy! Is your grandmother well?" Neville stammered, "I... I think so." Trelawney responded with a mysterious air, "I wouldn't be so sure of that." She then announced, "The first term will be devoted to the reading of tea leaves. If all goes well, we will proceed to palmistry, fire omens, and finally... the crystal ball." She eyed Parvati and added, "Beware a red-haired man." Parvati glanced uneasily at Ron, edging her pouffe away. Trelawney smiled brightly and continued, "Shall we?"
After some time, Trelawney approached Gray, hovering over him. "Oh dear, you will be targeted by the hands, feet, brain, heart, and voice of a legendary wizard," she proclaimed, prompting laughter from the class. Gray gave her a skeptical look, barely suppressing his frustration, and quickly departed for the next class. Outside Hagrid's hut, students gathered eagerly, with Draco and his Slytherin friends lurking nearby. Hagrid, with his usual enthusiasm, ushered them along, "C'mon now, get a move on! Got a real treat for yeh. Great lesson comin' up. Follow me," leading them to a small paddock.
In the paddock, iron racks buzzed with dead ferrets and flies near a pumpkin patch. Hagrid instructed, "Gather 'round. Find yerself a spot. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books." The students struggled with their Monster Books of Monsters, which snapped and quivered aggressively. Hagrid demonstrated, "All yeh've got ter do is stroke 'em—" calming Hermione's book, while Gray simply held his book open with his superhuman strength. Impressed but uncertain, Hagrid muttered, "Or yeh can just be like 'im," before proceeding with the lesson. before he contiued "Righ' then. So... yeh've got yer books, an' now yeh need the Magical Creatures."
He disappeared into the trees, while Draco leaned toward Crabbe and Goyle, sneering, "God, this place is going to the dogs. Wait until my father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes." which was the only thing that draco has ever said that gray agreed with. Just then, Hagrid emerged with a majestic, yet strange beast—a Hippogriff with the body of a horse and the wings of a giant eagle. "Beau'iful, isn' he?" Hagrid grinned, but the students remained wary. Ron whispered, "Hagrid, exactly what is that?" Hagrid replied with pride, "A Hippogriff, o' course. Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know is they're proud. Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it migh' be the las' thing yeh do. Right then—who wants ter come an' say hello?" The students all stepped back.
As gray then moved forward, but unlike the student behind him, gray had a creepy smile on his face as he thought, "hhhh, I will befriended you and pluck a feather or two, heck even a talon, which i can grind down into a powder and" that was his mouth as he bowed to the hippogriff which slowly did the same before they both straightened as the class clapped, "I reckon he might let yeh ride 'im!" hagrid said as he then attempted to lift gray, who instinctively resisted before remembering that he wanted to keep his superhuman physiology a secret so he let hagrid lift him up and then place him on the hippogriff, who took off, soaring over Hogwarts and the Black Lake. The flight was exhilarating, and as they returned, the class cheered, but suddenly, Gray who was actually enjoying the flight and swiftly plucked a feature from Buckpeak, felt something sharp flying towards him, he looked back to where the flying object was coming from.
However, the object which was faster than the needle he was shot with at the start of the year, was actually aimed at the hippogrift's back, which landed, and immediately, buckpeak eyes turned read and as if went berserk, buckpeak started to plump and fly widely, which would thrown anyone, even an old off of buckpeak, but gray was superhuman and he held on as he smiled, "this, this is actually fun" as he didnt feel disoriented or scared in fact, the ride felt fun, but just as it was about to hit into the side of hogwart, gray saw the panicked look on hagrid face and the student before he sighted, he then immediately steered buckpeak forcefully with his strength, avoiding a crush which would resulted in buckpeak death before gray took out one of his anti-poison potion which he then shoved down buckpeak well, peak before he landed the creature.
As Buckbeak landed with a stumbling thud, Hagrid's face blanched. His usual jolly expression faded into something worried and tense. He rushed forward, brushing past the startled students, his gaze locked on Gray and Buckbeak. "Gray! Yeh alrigh'?" he called out, his voice a mix of concern and urgency. Gray slid off Buckbeak's back, unfazed, though he shot a wary glance toward the creature. "I'm fine, Hagrid," he replied, brushing himself off.
Hagrid reached out, gripping Gray by the shoulders to steady him and giving him a once-over. "Blimey, lad! Yeh gave me quite a scare there, holdin' on like that when Buckbeak went wild. Thought I was gonna see yeh go flyin' off him back!" Gray shrugged, "It wasn't that bad. I kept my grip." But Hagrid wasn't quite convinced. He narrowed his eyes, looking Gray up and down with worry. he then turned his attention to Buckbeak, examining the creature with a gentle but practiced hand. "There yeh go, Buckbeak, easy now..." he murmured, stroking the Hippogriff's neck. His expression turned stormy as he ran his fingers over a small, strange dart sticking out of Buckbeak's flank. "What in Merlin's name—who would dare harm yeh?"
The students, who had initially been watching from a cautious distance, began whispering among themselves, eyes wide. Ron's face was pale, and he whispered to Harry, "Did you see that? Gray just rode that thing like it was nothin'. And he didn't even flinch when it went wild!" Hermione, watching carefully, looked both impressed and concerned. "Honestly, Gray could've been hurt... or worse. And poor Buckbeak, he didn't deserve this at all," she muttered, giving a stern glance at Draco and his friends, who had smirks plastered across their faces.
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A/N another chapter, hope you guys like it.