Hagrid’s Love of Very Dangerous Creatures

Rubeus Hagrid was sneaking giant, hairy spiders into Hogwarts at the tender age of thirteen. You might think that after being expelled for it, he would try to find a love for cats or something, but years later he hatches illegal dragon in his wooden house and breeds his own “Blast-Ended Skrewts.” In addition to his dog, Fang, Hagrid also had a three-headed dog named Fluffy.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione first learned about his love of very dangerous creatures when Norbert was born. “That dragon’s the most horrible animal I've ever met,” said Ron, “but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit.” Norbert, eventually, had to go with Ron’s brother, Charlie, to Romania, to be raised among his own kind. It was very sad for Hagrid, and in book three, he says that that was one of the memories he kept going over in Azkaban.

In Harry’s third year, Hagrid begins to teach Care of Magical Creatures, the perfect job for him. He begins the year by teaching the class how to open their textbooks (‘yeh’ve got ter stroke them.”), and then goes on to learn about hippogriffs, practically forcing Harry to ride one. After a hippogriff scratched Malfoy’s arm, however, the class proceeded to learn about the ever exciting flobberworms. During Hagrid's second year of teaching, he breeds Blast-Ended Skrewts, which Rita Skeeter finds out about ("We could feature these, er, Bang-Ended Scoots."), causing some trouble for Hagrid.

What will be in store for the Care of Magical Creatures class next year? Will it be any worse than taking the Blast-Ended Skrewts for walks? As boring asflobberworms (gasp!)?

By Ingrid Johnson

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