Care of Magical Creature Class

When Jon and a group of Hufflepuff students left the castle after lunch, they noticed that the rain from the previous day had finally stopped. The clear sky and the soft, damp grass under their feet set the stage for their first lesson of protecting magical creatures.

Heloise Midgen expressed her concern about Hagrid, referring to the previous year's incident where a student was injured in his class. Steven Lucas, despite his distaste for the dragon leather coat they were required to wear, still put it on tightly.

Curiosity piqued, Jon casually asked, "By the way, which house are we having the magical creature protection class with?"

"It should be Slytherin," Steven replied. "Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had their morning lesson on protecting magical creatures together."

"Is that so..."

As they made their way down the slope, the shack in the Forbidden Forest came into view.

...

Rubeus Hagrid awaited his students by the cottage door. He wore a moleskin coat with his hands in his pockets, while a large, intimidating black hound stood at his feet.

Many students were taken aback by the hound, instinctively keeping their distance.

The Slytherin students arrived, and Jon couldn't help but giggle when he saw Astoria and her friend Selwyn together. Astoria blinked in surprise upon seeing Jon, and he nodded and smiled in return.

"Come on, hurry up!" Hagrid shouted as he saw the students almost assembled. "I've got something exciting planned for you today. We'll have a fantastic class soon... Everyone, follow me!"

Despite the previous reservations, both Hufflepuff and Slytherin students exchanged glances. It seemed they were not entirely convinced about the "excitement" Hagrid promised.

The path ahead led them into the Forbidden Forest—

The group followed Hagrid at a leisurely pace. Jon deliberately lagged behind, and Astoria did the same.

"I didn't expect you to choose the magical creature protection class too!" Astoria said with a happy smile.

"Yes..." Jon nodded. "I wonder what 'exciting' things Professor Hagrid has in store for us in this lesson?"

"My sister mentioned that last year they dealt with a group of eagle-headed horse-winged beasts... Actually, they were quite fascinating!" Astoria paused for a moment and continued, "Flying with them felt incredible... I mean, I imagine it would be."

"Chuck..." Astoria pursed her lips and smiled.

...

After a few minutes, they followed Hagrid to the edge of a dense forest.

"Everyone, gather around this fence!" Hagrid shouted. "Now, wait a moment... The first thing you need to do is open your books and gently stroke the spine."

Hagrid walked away, and Jon carefully took out the "Monster Book of Monsters" from his cloth bag. As he gently stroked the spine of the book, it shivered before opening and lying quietly in his hands.

Likewise, Astoria handled her textbook with ease.

However, not everyone had the same experience.

"Ah..." a Slytherin girl screamed.

She threw away her book, taking a few steps back in fear while clutching her hand.

Apparently, she had nearly been bitten by the book.

"Handle them gently!" Hagrid returned with a heavy bamboo basket and shouted at the Slytherin girl. "Whether it's books or magical creatures, treat them with care!"

The Slytherin girl turned her head away in disgust.

Pretending not to notice her reaction, Hagrid placed the bamboo basket heavily on the ground.

"Now, come and see what's inside!" he nonchalantly exclaimed. "Can anyone tell me what's in there?"

Several students gathered around and, with a hiss, took a few steps back in terror.

Jon took the opportunity to step forward and observed that the bamboo basket was filled with black ovoid insects.

"These are grubs, Professor Hagrid!" Jon exclaimed.

"Correct!" Hagrid happily patted Jon on the shoulder, almost knocking him over.

"Wait, what's your name?" Hagrid reached for the student roster and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Hart, Jon Hart!" Jon replied.

Hagrid earnestly looked through the student roster, flipping it over twice before finally finding Jon's name. "Very well, Mr. Hart... Hufflepuff earns five points!"

"Now, does anyone know the primary purpose of these beetles?" Hagrid asked again.

"They are a form of feed!" Astoria raised her hand high. "They're used to feed the tree guardians!"

"You're absolutely right, girl... Wait, who are you?"

"Astoria Greengrass!" Astoria turned her head and playfully winked at Jon.

"Very well, Miss Greengrass... Slytherin also earns five points!"

"Now, take a look at the woods ahead..." Hagrid opened his arms and exclaimed.

Following Hagrid's pointing direction, they noticed palm-sized magical creatures resembling tree bark and small branches hanging from the trees.

"Oh!" The girls couldn't help but scream in astonishment.

...

Jon hadn't anticipated that the focus of this class would be tree guardians.

Undoubtedly, these small magical creatures were much more manageable than eagle-headed horse-bodied winged beasts, exploding snails, or nocturnal snails.

Even many Slytherin students seemed genuinely interested.

Hagrid divided them into pairs and instructed them to feed the tree guardians with the grubs to gain their favor.

Jon and Astoria were paired together and found a willow tree on the shores of Lake Hogsmeade. They discarded their dragon skin coats and sat side by side next to the tree.

"The tree guardians are quite shy," Astoria said softly. "So be gentle when you feed them."

As she spoke, she took a few soil grubs from Jon's hand and placed them by the tree hole, gently tapping the willow tree.

After around ten seconds, a cute little creature crawled out of the tree hole. It gave Astoria a timid look, grabbed a grub from her hand, and quickly retreated into the hole. After a few more trips, it finally emerged from the hole and stood on Astoria's palm.

"We did it!" Astoria exclaimed excitedly. "Jon, come and touch it too!"

Jon reached out his hand and pressed it against Astoria's palm, gently stroking the tree guardian's branches with his thumb.

"It seems to like you a lot," Astoria said happily.

"Of course, remember the first time we met on the train..." Jon smiled.

"Yes, we talked a lot about magical creatures... Including the tree guardians!" Astoria closed her eyes and spoke softly.

After a while, she opened her eyes, lowered her head, and blushed slightly.

"Jon, I'm really glad to have met you..."