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."Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said Hagrid, as though this was the mostobvious thing in the world."Look --"He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it.Thebook tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine,and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand."Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered."We should have strokedthem! why didn't we guess!""I -- I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione."Oh, tremendously funny!" said Malfoy."Really witty, giving us booksthat try and rip our hands off!""Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry quietly.Hagrid was looking downcast andHarry wanted Hagrid's first lesson to be a success."Righ' then," said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread, "so -- soyeh've got yer books an' -- an' - - now yeh need the Magical Creatures.Yeah.So I'll go an' get 'em.Hang on."He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight."God, this place is going to the dogs," said Malfoy loudly."That oafteaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated."Careful, Potter, there's a dementor behind you"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite sideof the paddock.Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Harryhad ever seen.They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, butthe front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, withcruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly, orange eyes.Thetalons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking.Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which wasattached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in thevast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind thecreatures."Gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creaturestoward the fence where the class stood.Everyone drew back slightly asHagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence."Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them."Beau'iful,aren' they?"Harry could sort of see what Hagrid meant.Once you got over the firstshock of seeing something that was, half horse, half bird, you startedto appreciate the hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly fromfeather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray, bronze,pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black."So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "ifyeh wan' ter come a bit nearer --"No one seemed to want to.Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, approachedthe fence cautiously."Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud,"said Hagrid."Easily offended, hippogriffs are.Don't never insult one,'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening; they were talking in anundertone and Harry had a nasty feeling they were plotting how best todisrupt the lesson."Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagridcontinued."It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yehwait.If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him.If he doesn' bow,then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."Right -- who wants ter go first?"Most of the class backed farther away in answer.Even Harry, Ron, andHermione had misgivings.The hippogriffs were tossing their fierce headsand flexing their powerful wings; they didn't seem to like beingtethered like this."No one?" said Hagrid, with a pleading look."I'll do it," said Harry.There was an intake of breath from behind him, and both Lavender andParvati whispered, "Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!"Harry ignored them.He climbed over the paddock fence."Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid."Right then -- let's see how yeh geton with Buckbeak."He untied one of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff away from itsfellows, and slipped off its leather collar.The class on the other sideof the paddock seemed to be holding its breath.Malfoy's eyes werenarrowed maliciously."Easy) now, Harry," said Hagrid quietly."Yeh've got eye contact, nowtry not ter blink.Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink toomuch."Harry's eyes immediately began to water, but he didn't shut thern.Buckbeak had turned his great, sharp head and was staring at Harry withone fierce orange eye."Tha's it," said Hagrid."Tha's it, Harry.now,bow."Harry didn't feel much like exposing the back of his neck to Buckbeak,but he did as he was told.He gave a short bow and then looked up.The hippogriff was still staring haughtily at him.It didn't move."Ah," said Hagrid, sounding worried."Right -- back away, now, Harry,easy does itBut then, to Harry's enormous surprise, the hippogriff suddenly bent itsscaly front knees and sank into what was an unmistakable bow."Well done, Harry!" said Hagrid, ecstatic."Right -- yeh can touch him!Pat his beak, go on!"Feeling that a better reward would have been to back away, Harry movedslowly toward the hippogriff and reached out toward it.He patted thebeak several times and the hippogriff closed its eyes lazily, as thoughenjoying it.The class broke into applause, all except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle,who were looking deeply disappointed
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