From deep within the Forbidden Forest came the sound of hooves—clop, clop, clop—like something stamping across the earth.
The students saw a dozen or so creatures trotting toward them.
To any young wizard coming to class for the first time, they were bizarre.
They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but their front legs, wings, and heads were those of giant eagles.
Their cruel hooked beaks were the color of steel, and their bright eyes glowed orange. The talons on their forelegs were half a foot long and looked terrifying.
Each beast wore a thick leather collar around its neck, attached to a long chain.
All the chains were gathered in Hagrid's massive hands as he slowly led the creatures into the paddock.
"Move along, over there!"
he roared, shaking the chains and urging the beasts toward the fence where the class was standing.
"Come here."
The stone tablet at Sean's chest floated slightly upward, and several of the "monsters" cared for by him and the Pukwudgie butler came toward him.
They lowered their heads gently, and Sean skillfully bowed in return.
Then the "monsters" took up position behind him.
The other half moved toward Hagrid.
"That's right, just like that—did you see that—"
Hagrid said excitedly to the students.
"See what? Are we supposed to... bow to those things like that too?"
Ron asked, utterly baffled.
Harry grinned.
"Oh, you don't get it,"
Hagrid scratched his head, walked closer, and fastened the creatures to the fence.
"That's because I haven't explained it yet."
As the "monsters" drew near, the students all edged back a little.
"Hippogriffs!"
Hagrid waved both hands at the class, shouting happily.
"Aren't they beautiful?"
Sean silently observed the young wizards. Once one of them got past that first surge of fear at seeing a half-horse, half-bird beast, they would start marveling at the gleaming Sean of the hippogriffs' coats.
The feathers gradually blended into fur, and each beast had a different coloring:
storm-cloud gray, bronze, pink-dappled, shimmering reddish-brown, and black as ink.
Xavier, Vance, Emilia, Siena, and Buckbeak...
Sean knew every tree, every patch of grass at Hogwarts as intimately as his own hands, and of course that included the handful of hippogriffs he cared for.
He lifted his head. The dreamy afternoon sunlight poured over the earth, and in the distance, the soft pale green landscape formed Hogwarts' clear and lovely main melody.
Sean remembered those days picking citrus and jasmine with Professor Sprout, while Hagrid flew above the treetops on a hippogriff.
He stroked the black feathers atop Buckbeak's head, and the huge, imposing beast seemed almost childlike in front of him.
Sometimes Sean thought that he cared for the hippogriffs, and Hogwarts, in turn, naturally cared for him.
"Right then,"
Hagrid rubbed his hands together and looked at everyone with a grin.
"If any of you wants to come a bit closer..."
Apparently nobody did. Only Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione cautiously approached the fence.
If Justin had joined them, Sean would have thought they were back at Hope Cottage.
"Alright, I'll say it again. The first thing you need to know about hippogriffs is that they're proud, very proud,"
Hagrid said.
"They're easy to offend. Never insult one, because it might be the last thing you do."
Sean noticed Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening at all. They were huddled together whispering.
Probably trying to figure out how to turn the whole lesson into a disaster.
"You always wait for the hippogriff to make the first move,"
Hagrid went on.
"That's good manners, got it? You walk up to it, bow, and if it bows back, then you're allowed to touch it.
If it doesn't bow, you get away from it sharpish. Those claws can do damage."
"Right then—who wants to go first?"
At that, most of the class backed away again. Even Harry and the others looked uncertain.
The hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and stretching their powerful wings, clearly unhappy about being tied up like this.
"No one?"
Hagrid asked, looking almost pleading.
"It's alright... there won't be any danger."
Sean added quietly.
With the Void Sigil floating there, Buckbeak was in tune with him and wouldn't lose control just because someone provoked him.
Though he might still frighten a disobedient wizard or two...
That was enough to make the students look interested.
"Oh, I don't know what I'd do without you."
Hagrid flashed Sean a broad grin.
While the students were still hesitating, a voice floated out from the back of the crowd.
"I'll do it."
Harry stepped forward excitedly.
A wave of sharp intakes of breath came from behind him, and Lavender and Parvati blurted out together:
"Don't, Harry—remember your tea leaves!"
Harry ignored them.
He climbed over the fence into the paddock.
"That's the spirit, Harry!"
Hagrid boomed.
"Right then—let's see how you do with Buckbeak."
He unhooked one of the chains and led the gray hippogriff away from the others, removing its leather collar.
The class on the other side of the fence seemed to be holding its breath.
Malfoy narrowed his eyes maliciously.
"Now, nice and easy, Harry,"
Hagrid said softly.
"You've got eye contact now—don't blink. If you blink too much, a hippogriff won't trust you..."
Harry's eyes started watering almost immediately, but he didn't shut them.
Buckbeak swiveled his sharp head and fixed Harry with one fierce orange eye.
"Alright, Buckbeak,"
Sean said.
Buckbeak immediately shook his head once.
"That's it, now, quick,"
said Hagrid.
"Quick, Harry... bow now..."
Harry hated the idea of exposing the back of his neck to Buckbeak, but remembering Sean's promise that there was no risk, he did as Hagrid told him.
He gave a quick bow and straightened up.
The hippogriff went on staring at Harry arrogantly.
It did not move.
"Ah,"
Hagrid said, worry creeping into his voice.
"Right then—back away, Harry, nice and easy—back away—"
"Buckbeak,"
Sean called again, softly.
He could feel Buckbeak's approval of Harry. At this point, the beast was just feeling playful.
Then, to Harry's astonishment, the hippogriff suddenly bent its scaly front knees and made a perfectly unmistakable bow.
"Well done, Harry!"
Hagrid said, beside himself with joy.
"Right—you can touch him now! Pat his beak, go on!"
Harry would almost rather have been rewarded with permission to back away, but he slowly walked toward the hippogriff and stretched out a hand.
He patted its beak a few times, and Buckbeak lazily closed its eyes, as though enjoying it.
The whole class burst into cheers, except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who looked bitterly disappointed.
"Very good, Harry,"
said Hagrid.
"I reckon he'll let you ride him now!"
That was not something Harry had expected.
He stared at the eagle-horse creature.
"I... you... and a horse..."
Harry had completely lost the ability to speak properly.
"Oh, come on—climb up there, just behind the wing joints,"
Hagrid said excitedly, as though it were the simplest thing in the world.
"And remember, don't pull out his feathers—he won't like that..."
Harry resigned himself and stepped onto Buckbeak's wing, hauled himself up, and climbed onto its back.
Buckbeak stood up.
Harry had no idea what to grab onto.
Everything in front of him was feathers.
"Go on!"
Hagrid roared, then turned to look at Sean.
Sean gave a slow nod.
At once, twelve-foot wings spread out on either side of Harry. He had just enough time to throw his arms around Buckbeak's neck before the creature launched itself into the air.
This felt nothing like flying on a broom, and Harry knew immediately which one he preferred.
The hippogriff's wings beat around him, bumping against his legs and making him feel as though he might be flung off at any second.
"Oh, come on, Sean..."
Hagrid looked sheepish.
"You said it yourself, gentler—look, Harry's shaking..."
"Mhm."
Sean nodded.
"Siena."
At his call, a red-brown hippogriff with shimmering glossy fur stepped forward with elegant poise.
It lowered its head, then gently lifted Sean onto its back with one wing.
"You can mount them like that?"
Ron stared wide-eyed from Harry to Sean.
"You lot can stop dreaming. It's the first time I've seen it myself—hippogriffs won't use those noble wings for just anyone—"
Hagrid cut Ron off, then watched as the two young wizards rose into the air.
Flying on a broom and flying on the back of a large magical creature were completely different experiences.
Sean had ridden in a dragon-drawn carriage before, but only when he was pressed close to a magical creature like this could he really feel that blazing heartbeat. Even the freezing wind at high altitude seemed warmer somehow.
[You have gained the affection of the magical creature Hippogriff (Siena) at Master standard. Affection +300]
[Hippogriff Buckbeak: Affectionate (2800/3000)]
[Advance: Gain seven trusted (Expert-level) magical creature companions to unlock a beginner-level title in the Magical Creatures field]
The Expert-level Magical Creatures title was almost ready to unlock, and Sean was about to gain his second full epic-tier talent.
Smooth feathers slid under Sean's fingers as he lightly gripped them.
A wizard's broom flew with a smooth, steady motion, but a hippogriff's hindquarters rose and fell with every beat of its wings, pitching Sean up and down much more violently.
"Sean—"
Harry had obviously spotted him. His voice was stretched thin by the wind, his mouth blown open into a pouch shape.
"Don't worry, Harry,"
Sean called back.
The ground and Hogwarts' towering buildings sank away below them, and soon they were out of sight.
They climbed higher and higher, and within seconds the whole island spread beneath them, misty and faintly gleaming.
It was another world.
The great beasts skimmed over a soft sea of clouds, and under the dazzling daylight, the sky stretched endlessly bright and blue.
"My god—"
Harry shouted aloud in joy and freedom.
Meanwhile, Sean leaned back against Siena's soft back-feathers with a faint smile and opened his panel.
[Name: Sean Green]
[Wizard Sean, Potions Talent: Blue]
[Wizard Sean, Herbology Talent: Blue]
[Wizard Sean, Magical Creatures Talent: Light Purple]
[Wizard Sean, Charms Talent: Light Purple]
[Wizard Sean, Transfiguration Talent: Purple]
[Wizard Sean, Dark Magic Talent: Gold]
[Wizard Sean, Alchemy Talent: Gold]
Very soon, maybe today, Sean's Expert-level Magical Creatures title would unlock.
The last Skilled-level title hadn't increased his talent, so Sean suspected this one would.
But more than that, what occupied his mind were those two prophecies.
His Inner Eye was about to open...
What did that mean?
Time drifted on.
Down on the ground, the students heard a heavy thud.
Like warriors returning from battle, the two young wizards lifted their faces out from the creatures' feathers.
Harry looked flushed with excitement. With Sean alongside him, he had thrown all his fear away.
Sean was still watching Siena gently. Just now, the new title had unlocked.
"Brilliant, Harry! And thank you too, dear Assistant Sean—"
Hagrid roared. The whole class was cheering, except for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"Alright then, who wants to try next?"
Encouraged by Harry's success—and with the assistant accompanying them—the rest of the class cautiously climbed into the paddock as well.
Hagrid began unfastening the hippogriffs one by one, and soon the whole paddock was full of nervous students bowing.
Neville kept backing away over and over from the hippogriff in front of him, because it refused to bend its knees.
Sean silently walked over, and not long after, Neville gained his first hippogriff companion.
At the same time, Sean noticed that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had picked Buckbeak.
Buckbeak had already bowed to Malfoy, and Malfoy was now patting its beak with an air of smug superiority.
"This is easy,"
Malfoy drawled loudly enough for Harry to hear.
"I knew it would be. If Potter could do it, then obviously...
I'd say you're not dangerous at all, are you?"
He said to the hippogriff,
"Aren't you, you ugly brute?"
Steel-bright claws flashed in an instant.
Malfoy let out a piercing scream, and Buckbeak stretched its neck forward to bite him.
Hagrid struggled to get the collar back onto the hippogriff, while Malfoy curled up on the grass, shrieking for help.
"I'm dying!"
Malfoy wailed, while the whole class erupted into panic.
"I'm dying—look at me! It's killed me!"
"What happened to you?"
Hagrid ran over at once.
"You're not hurt?"
Hagrid's expression gradually turned strange.
~~~
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