Chapter Seven
"Disappearing Act"

Page Two

Everyone sat there for what seemed like ages. After a while, Hermione looked at her wristwatch. "It's almost time to go, I wonder what happened to him."

Indeed the time did come for the class to end and since no one could afford to miss their next class, they just decided to pack up their things and leave.

"Maybe we should tell someone that he never showed," said Dean sheepishly.

"Are you kidding?" said Neville, only speaking normally once they had left the classroom. "That was the easiest Defense Against the Dark Arts class I've ever had. If we tell, he might show up for our next lesson and then I'd have no hope."

Transfiguration was next with Professor McGonagall. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but the Transfiguration classroom was on the opposite side of the castle from where the dungeons were. That meant that they were a tad bit late arriving for class.

"Where have you all been?" inquired McGonagall sternly as the class entered the room. She had replaced her smiling, sprightly personality that Harry had gotten used to over the summer, with her normal stern 'game face.'

"Sorry, Professor," said Lavender. "It's a long hike from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Professor Snape has that class down in the dungeons."

"I see," sighed McGonagall. "All the same, please try and hurry yourselves next time. I don't appreciate tardiness. Let's begin."

Transfiguration went smoothly. Thankfully, Professor McGonagall didn't ask any questions about their lesson with Snape. But then again, she never really asked questions about the other classes.

When Transfiguration was over and McGonagall had handed out their homework ("explain natural metamorphosis") Ron practically leapt from his desk and ran out the door, with Harry and Hermione right on his heels.

"Where are you going in such a rush?" asked Harry, panting to keep up with Ron.

"The Great Hall o' course!" said Ron, who was now running at an amazing pace. "Lunch is in five minutes, I don't want to miss anything, I'm so hungry!"

Harry slowed down to a walk because he couldn't keep up with Ron anymore and Hermione had already given up on running because her bag was weighed down by extra rolls of parchment and ink bottles.

"Why has he been so anxious about meals lately?" Sighed Hermione, "I just don't understand him sometimes."

When Harry and Hermione had reached the Great Hall, Ron was already sitting down at the Gryffindor table, shoveling sandwiches into his mouth.

"The food here is great, isn't it?" said Ron through a mouthful of jam sandwiches. "Have a seat and dig in!"

Harry and Hermione sat down next to Ron. They too started eating, although nowhere near as quickly as Ron.

"Ron," said Harry softly, "are you sure you should be eating so much? I mean, at every meal you're eating more than what Hermione and I eat put together."

"I'm just so hungry," said Ron, who was stuffing yet another sandwich into his mouth. "Pass the carrots, will you?"

After lunch, they set off across the lawns for Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class. Harry couldn't wait to see what Hagrid meant by 'more exciting than Flobberworms'. But, he thought, anything could be more exciting than feeding shredded lettuce to a bunch of worms.

Hagrid was waiting outside his hut for the Gryffindors to arrive, teetering on the spot and twiddling his thumbs.

"Hurry up, I can't wait ter get started!" Hagrid said, waving his arms at them to get them to come faster.

"What do you have for us now, Hagrid?" asked Hermione kindly.

"Oh, jus' you wait!" he said beaming. "It's gonna be great!"

They all waited patiently for the other Gryffindors, except for Hagrid who kept going up on his toes. He looked like a gigantic hyperactive ballet dancer in an outrageous costume.

When everyone else had finally arrived, Hagrid practically exploded in excitement.

"Welcome to Care o' Magical Creatures!" he said jovially. "I'd like ter get started, so let's move around ter the back of me hut."

Hagrid led them to the opposite side of his hut where they saw a large fenced area.

"Hang on a sec," said Hagrid. "I had ter keep 'im in the forest, cute little thing don't like ter stay in large, bright areas fer very long." Hagrid dashed off into the forest, leaving the students at the edge of the fenced area. Everyone was starting to get nervous as they remembered what Hagrid considered 'cute.'

"Let's hope it isn't dangerous," said Neville. "I don't want to risk another injury like what happened to Malfoy last year."

A few minutes later, Hagrid came striding back towards the fenced pen. The animal that he was leading made many of the students scream in terror; even Neville toppled to the grass in shock.

What Hagrid had been leading was indeed an awesome sight. It was a large animal that resembled a lion, but its mane was twice the usual length and it had a large horn protruding out of its forehead. The size of the creature alone would be enough to frighten anyone; its body mass easily weighed that of three lions together.

"It's alright," said Hagrid, trying to reassure the students who were scrambling away from the corral. "He's harmless! Get up, Neville, please. He won' hurt yeh, I promise. Everyone, meet Dercetas. He's a Sin-You. And, he's perfectly harmless." Hagrid reached out a large hand and stroked the giant lion. Dercetas purred and lay down on the ground with a loud thump.

"See?" said Hagrid softly. "He's really jus' a big kitten." Hagrid continued to stroke Dercetas as though he was nothing but a giant teddy bear.

"So," asked Lavender timidly. "What's so special about Si...siw..."

"Sin-You's," replied Hagrid.

"Yeah, them." said Lavender, who was starting to blush.

"Sin-You's come from Asia. As you can see, they got the body of a lion and the horn of a...of a...somethin'." said Hagrid importantly. He continued in a very dreamy voice, "They're special because their fur is as soft as a cloud and they can tell ya if someone is being untruthful, or if someone is guilty of somefink. Isn't that right, Dercy?" Hagrid put his head down onto the creature's stomach and gave Dercetas a big raspberry, which the animal seemed to enjoy. Dercetas rolled all the way onto his back and began kicking his legs and twisting around on the ground.

"If you like," said Hagrid shyly. "You could come pet 'im. He won't mind, Dercetas likes bein' stroked, don't cha, Dercetas? Yeah, that's my boy!"

"I'll pet him," said Neville bravely.

The entire class, even Hagrid, was surprised to hear Neville volunteer to do anything that might be considered even remotely dangerous.

"Alright, Neville," said Hagrid, still shocked. "Just go slow and stroke his mane."

Neville slowly approached Dercetas, who had twisted around to where he was lying on his gigantic stomach, his legs curled underneath him. Very carefully Neville reached out a hand and stroked the massive cat's mane. Dercetas purred loudly and rolled over again. Neville jumped back and let out a slight "eep!"

"It's alright there, Neville," said Hagrid hastily. "He jus' wants ya ter pet his tummy. Go on, then."

Neville reached forward and felt the fur on Dercetas' stomach. It was surprisingly soft. Dercetas purred again and appeared to be falling asleep.

Everyone, in turn, got to pet Dercetas, who seemed to be enjoying all of the attention.

When the time came for class to be over, everyone groaned because they didn't want to leave. It had been fun petting and playing with Dercetas who turned out to be just as Hagrid promised; not in the least bit dangerous. The romp with Dercetas was a pleasant change to a day that had been less than lovely.

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