Apart from the Slytherins, all the young wizards thought the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the new academic year had been a great success.
In fact, even saying "apart from the Slytherins" might not have been entirely accurate. The only ones who really had a problem with the lesson were Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle (and whether the two chubby boys actually had any opinions of their own was debatable).
The other Slytherin students had actually enjoyed it too. Zabini, in particular, who really did not get along with Draco, had even felt rather pleased.
The success of this lesson also gave Hagrid confidence in his upcoming classes. It gave him the courage to show what he could do in his lessons over the next two days. Although his performance could not be called especially outstanding, it was already quite respectable.
And compared with Professor Kettleburn, Hagrid had brought actual magical creatures to his very first lesson, letting the young wizards get close to them, an approach they welcomed and loved.
Still, that was probably partly because most of those who had chosen the subject were Gryffindors who already enjoyed a bit of excitement.
Hagrid made a point of thanking Harry and the others profusely for this, but that came later.
After the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson ended, Harry had no time to say goodbye to Hagrid or congratulate him on his great success. Instead, he hurried toward the castle.
His next class was Ancient Runes, and it started very soon after Care of Magical Creatures.
When he ran up to the Ancient Runes classroom, he was surprised to find that Hermione had already reached the door before him.
"Hermione, how did you get here so quickly?" Harry looked incredulous. He had run all the way