Throughout the term, many of the students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, Ilvermorny and even Durmstrang eventually befriended each other. Marigold was pleasantly surprised to find out that most of the Durmstrang students were ordinary and nice.

 Meanwhile, when the term ended on the last week of June, the seventh-years, including Teddy, graduated from Hogwarts. The following summer, Teddy began his training to become an Auror.

 “We believe in you, Teddy,” Andromeda said. “But I’m a little surprised. Because you did so well during Hogwarts, I’m sure you can easily get a job at the Ministry or even become Minister for Magic.”

 “Yeah,” Remus added. “Why an Auror?”

 “Because Mum was an Auror,” Teddy said. “And I want to make her proud. When I become a great Auror like her, I want people to remember Mum and how brave she was.”

 If Marigold thought that her older brother was cool before, she now admired him even more. Sirius, Remus and Andromeda were also all very touched.

 “Your mother would be very proud of you,” Sirius said, patting Teddy on the back. “I know that you will become a great person like she was.”

* * *

 When Marigold began her third year at Hogwarts, what she looked forward to the most was Care of Magical Creatures, which the Gryffindors had with the Slytherins. Although Marigold didn’t look forward to seeing Alyssa Parkinson’s group, she couldn’t wait to see her favourite magical creatures, like phoenixes, Hippogriffs and unicorns.

 A giant-like man with bushy black hair and beard waved at the Gryffindors and Slytherins as they arrived in front of the hut near the castle. It was hard not to notice him; perhaps the only other largest person Marigold has ever seen was Madame Olympe Maxime. Despite his stature, he didn’t seem threatening at all, but rather gentle and comforting.

 The man introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor. Hagrid gestured towards the air; there was a bustling sound in the trees, and a Hippogriff slowly walked out. The students’ jaws dropped with surprise and fear; even Alyssa Parkinson froze with terror. On the other hand, Marigold almost squealed from delight at seeing a Hippogriff face to face.

 “Isn’t he beautiful?” Hagrid said proudly; he threw a piece of meat at the Hippogriff, who caught it midair and gobbled it down. “Say hello to Witherwings.”

 “Sir, what exactly is that?” Andrew asked.

 “That is a Hippogriff,” Hagrid replied. “The first thing you should know about Hippogriffs is that they’re very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do NOT want to insult a Hippogriff. It may just be the last thing you ever do.”

 “Now,” Hagrid clapped his hands together. “Who would like to come and say hello?”

 Marigold eagerly raised her hand. Andrew hid behind her; the other students also took a step back.

 “You.” Hagrid looked at Marigold. “What’s your name?”

 “Marigold Lupin-Black, sir,”

 “Marigold, come on.” he gestured towards her. “Now, you have to let him make the first move. So, step up, give him a nice bow, you wait and see if he bows back. If he does, you can go and touch him. If not, well, we’ll get to that later.”

 Marigold took a deep breath and slowly bowed towards Witherwings, who took a good look at her, made a loud squawking noise and flapped his wings; she froze.

 “Back off, Marigold, back off,” Hagrid said.

 Marigold slowly took a few steps back.

 “Keep still,”

 Marigold remained in a bowing position, waiting to see what the Hippogriff would do. To everyone’s surprise, Witherwings slowly lowered his head.

 “Well done, Marigold,” Hagrid said and threw another piece of meat at Witherwings. “Good boy.”

 As Witherwings gobbled down the meat, Marigold straightened herself back up, letting out a sigh of relief.

 “You can go and pat him now,” Hagrid said.

 Marigold could hear her heart pounding in her chest; she slowly walked up to the Hippogriff.

 “Nice and slow,” Hagrid reminded her.

 Marigold hesitantly held her left hand up high; she reached over towards Witherwings, who squawked again.

 “Not so fast, Marigold,” Hagrid said. “Let him come to you.”

 Marigold waited for Witherwings, her left hand still at his head level. Witherwings tentatively walked up to her.

 “Now, slowly.”

 Marigold followed Hagrid; she slowly walked up to Witherwings, who reached his head towards her hand. A smile spread across Marigold’s face.

 “Well done, Marigold, well done!” Hagrid started clapping; the Gryffindors, and even some of the Slytherins, joined in.

 “I think he may let you ride him now,” he said.

 “What?” Marigold couldn’t believe her ears.

 “Over here, just below the wing joint,” Hagrid said as he lifted Marigold and put her down on the Hippogriff’s back. “Don’t pull out any of his feathers because he won’t thank you for that.”

 Hagrid gave Witherwings a gentle slap on the behind. Witherwings lifted his front legs and started running as Marigold held onto him tightly. When Witherwings took off into the air, stretching his wings, the other students ran over to see where the Hippogriff was going with their classmate.

 As Witherwings soared across the air, Marigold felt the cool air; it was even better than flying on her Firebolt Supreme. Witherwings flew over the Hogwarts castle; he then headed downwards when he reached the Great Lake. Marigold stared at her reflection as Witherwings’s feet glided on the water.

 “Woo-hoo!” Marigold shouted, her arms spread out wide as the Hippogriff carried her across the lake.

 Witherwings soared back up into the sky and arrived in front of Hagrid’s hut. Hagrid whistled, and Witherwings circled in the air over the trees; when the Hippogriff landed back on the ground, the class erupted in applause.

 “Well done, Marigold,” Hagrid clapped enthusiastically. “And well done, Witherwings!”

 Marigold basked in the glory as Hagrid and her classmates, except for Parkinson’s cronies, clapped for her; she high-fived Andrew as she went to stand next to him.

* * *

 One morning, Clover flew over the Gryffindor table with a note tied to his ankle; he smoothly landed in front of Marigold, who was eating breakfast with her friends.

 “Thanks, Clover,” she pat him on the head.

 As Marigold untied the note, Clover nibbled on her finger; he started poking at the food on her plate as she opened the note to read it:

Dear Marigold,

 I was very impressed by you yesterday. I wasn’t surprised that you were good at flying since I’ve watched you play Quidditch, but I was very surprised at how good you were with Witherwings; he seemed to like you a lot.

 I know that you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to join me tomorrow at three for a cup of tea? You can ask your friends to join you; I would like to get to know all of you.

 Send me an answer back with Clover.

Hagrid

 “Who’s it from?” James asked.

 “It’s from Hagrid,”

 “What did he say?” Andrew asked.

 “He asked me if I wanted to join him at three tomorrow for tea,” Marigold replied. “He also asked me to bring my friends, so would you two be interested in joining us?”

 “Of course,” James said.

 “Me too,” Andrew added.

 “And we should ask David to join us,” Marigold said.

 “Let’s ask him later today during Potions,” he nodded.

 “You should be glad that Uncle Sirius is away at home,” James said.

 “Why?” Marigold asked, confused.

 “My dad used to visit Hagrid a lot while he was at Hogwarts,” he replied. “He told me that Hagrid had a dog named Fang. Uncle Sirius wouldn’t want you smelling like another dog, would he?”

 “Remind me to take a bath before I go home,” Marigold said; she and her friends started laughing.