Chapter 419

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-February - Care of Magical Creatures Class-

It was Thursday morning, and I was with my other classmates in the magical creature enclosures near the Forbidden Forest.

We were here for a practical Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Hagrid, and at this moment the half-giant was introducing us all to the Abraxans, the giant winged horses that brought Beauxbatons' carriage.

And after explaining to us what Abraxans are and how we should take care of them, Hagrid let the students pet and feed the flying horses.

"You're very beautiful, you know that, big boy?" I said to the Abraxan I was feeding, seeing him crouch down so I could pet him.

And unsurprisingly, as soon as I approached this Abraxan, he showed affection towards me and was now acting docile as he reveled in the attention he received from me.

'Hmm, will the people of Beauxbatons notice if one of their Abraxans goes missing?' I asked myself.

But before I could continue thinking of a plan to steal one of the French's winged horses I felt Hagrid approaching me.

"Ethan, it's great to see you here!" Hagrid said, coming up to me with a happy smile on his face, "It's been a while since you last came to my class."

"Oh, sorry about that" I said, turning to him, "It's just that I've been very busy with some matters" I scratched the back of my head with an apologetic look.

"Oh, don't worry about it" Hagrid patted me on the back, almost making me stumble forward, "I understand that training and preparing for the tournament must be taking up a lot of your time."

"Yes... The tournament..." I nodded slowly, knowing that the tournament itself was the least of my problems.

"But, changing the subject, what do you think of this class?" Hagrid asked me with a look of gleeful anticipation.

And it wasn't too difficult to see that he was waiting for some praise.

'Just like a child... A very big, bearded child' I thought, smiling while shaking my head.

"Your class is amazing Hagrid" I said, making a huge happy smile appear on his face, "But you know, I'm surprised that Beauxbatons let you use their Abraxans in your class"

"Oh, well…" Hagrid started to say, his cheeks flushed, "I asked Oly… I mean, Madame Maxime, and she gave me permission."

"I see..." I said with a knowing look, which only made Hagrid blush even more.

'Apparently their relationship didn't get worse after the Yule Ball like in the canon... And without Skeeter's presence the two won't have to worry about their "big secret" being revealed to the newspapers' I thought, happy for my big and kind friend.

"But well, since you seem to be doing very well taking care of that Abraxan, I'll go help the other students" Hagrid said, wanting to escape before I continued talking about his crush on the Headmistress of Beauxbatons.

But before he could turn to leave I called out to him, "Wait Hagrid" I said, making him turn to me, "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask you" and that made him look at me curiously.

"What do you want to ask me?"

"I wanted to know, what do you know about the magic of magical creatures?" I asked.

"Magic of magical creatures?" he repeated with a confused look.

"Yes. I wanted to know if they are different from each other, if they have any abnormal characteristics, if they have properties that make them special" I explained.

"Well, as far as I know their magic is like all other magic" he said rubbing his chin.

"Oh…" I said, a little discouraged.

'So he doesn't know anything' I thought, but then he continued talking, catching my attention.

"Well, actually I remember reading some theories from other wizards and witches that said that some creatures' magic was different... more powerful and unusual," Hagrid began to say, "Like dragons and unicorns by example"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, but that's just a theory, and neither the Magizoologists nor the Ministry takes it seriously," he said, but then Hagrid frowned, "But you know, some people say that this was just an attempt by the ministry of denying the theory and making people forget about it"

"But why would the ministry try to make people forget about it?"

"Because those who believed in this theory thought they could become more magically powerful if they used these creatures in rituals to improve themselves" he replied to me, making an expression of disgust and anger at the end.

And when I heard the word ritual I stopped.

'Use magical creatures in rituals to improve yourself... Just like Riddle did' I thought, and then I remembered that Marcel had also researched these types of rituals and even wrote some down in his diary.

And I remembered Marcel's descriptions of what had to be done to complete the rituals, and how much magical creatures suffered before they died.

And I felt angry and disgusted thinking about how these despicable people used magic, which was supposed to be a blessing to everyone, to hurt these innocent creatures in order to become more powerful.

'Wait a minute... Using magic...' and then I felt realization hit me.

'That's it... all this time I've been looking from the wrong angle' I thought.

'I am trying to understand the ability of the Thestrals through research and study, but from the beginning I have always had at my disposal the best method to help me understand their ability' and looking at my hands I felt the mysterious and powerful energy that ran through my body.

'From the beginning, I always had the magic'

And at that moment I felt as if a clarity came over me, and quickly my mind began to work thinking of ways to use magic to solve my problem.

"But well, that's all I know about the magic of magical creatures," Hagrid said, interrupting my moment of reflection and breaking me out of my thoughts, "I'm sorry if this isn't much, but this is a topic that I haven't studied much." he looked at me with an apologetic look.

"Don't worry Hagrid, you were a great help" I said, smiling at my half-giant teacher.

"Oh... In that case then there's no need to thank me" Hagrid said, happy to have helped in some way.

"No my friend, you've helped me a lot now... More than you know" I said, placing a hand on his arm since I couldn't reach his shoulder, "You know, maybe as a thank you I'll send you some chocolates imported from Switzerland for you to give as a gift to Lady Maxime" I moved my eyebrows suggestively.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Hagrid said in a nervous tone of voice.

"Uhum" I just smiled mischievously at him.

"W-well, it looks like a student needs my help over there" the embarrassed half-giant said, looking away, "It was really nice talking to you again Ethan, bye"

And without waiting for me to say anything, Hagrid turned and left, walking away from me with quick steps while trying not to blush.

'Poor guy in love' I thought, shaking my head with an amused smile on my face.

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After the Care of Magical Creatures class ended I quickly went to meet Nick so I could share with him what I discovered from my conversation with Hagrid.

And after searching for him around the castle with my senses, which wasn't too difficult since his magical signature glowed like a lamp in the dark, I found him in his office next to Penny.

And now here I was, sitting next to my two immortal grandparents telling them about the eye-opening conversation I had with Hagrid.

And I also told Penny about all my research involving the Thestrals, and while she was still shocked absorbing this new information, Nick looked at me in surprise.

"Using magic to try to understand their ability... How did I not think of that?" he muttered, his eyes slightly wide.

"Yes, the answer was so obvious" I said, still feeling a little stupid for not realizing that the solution to my problem was right under my nose.

"I'm actually surprised you DIDN'T think of that" Penny said, making us both look at her, "And you know, you could have figured out the answer to that a lot sooner if you had asked for my help" she frowned.

"Sigh… Are you still upset that we didn't tell you about this project?" Nick asked her.

"I'm not upset," she said, crossing her arms.

But the pout on her face gave away her true feelings.

"I'm sorry grandma" I said to her with an apologetic look, "I would ask for your help, but I was so busy and my mind was so full that I forgot to talk to you"

"Aww, don't worry darling, I'm not upset with you" Penny said, coming over to me and hugging me with a loving smile.

"Really?" I asked, looking at her face.

"Yes" she nodded, "Actually I'm upset with HIM" and then she faced Nick, who backed away.

"With me?!" he asked shocked, "You should be upset with him since all this research and project is his thing!" he pointed at me accusingly.

"And you think I could be upset with this cute face?" Penny asked, cupping my cheeks and squeezing them.

And I, who was having my cheeks treated like modeling clay, just silently accepted my fate, with me considering it a way to make up to my grandmother for not having involved her in my project sooner.

"This... You... I..." Nick stuttered as he looked at us.

And seeing the indignant look on Nick's face as Penny spoiled me made me smile smugly.

And the old immortal noticed my look, and then he felt a huge urge to strangle me.

But he could also see that his wife was looking at him with a pout, and he knew she was joking with him when she said she was upset, but he knew her well enough to know that she was a little sad that we hadn't involved her in this project from the beginning.

"Sigh... Okay, I'm sorry" he said, lowering his head.

"I accept your apology" Penny nodded, smiling happily again.

And seeing Penny's emotions change so quickly Nick blinked, before shaking his head, 'I'll never understand women...' he thought with a wry smile.

End.

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