"she looked at my demons in the eye and smiled. she fell for the very thing i thought she'd fear"
~the slytherin prince falls for the hufflepuff angel~
{year 3 - year 4}
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*** "Dun Dun Dun Dunnnn!" Hagrid announced like a trumpet as the students got settled along the broken wall that Astrid was sat upon herself. There were shocked gasps and students were in awe and almost afraid of the creature as it squawked and walked toward Hagrid.
The smile on the white-haired girls face only broadened when she saw saw the proud creature named Buckbeak. She had met the hippogriff on multiple occasions when her and Hagrid has talked about the different lessons that they were thinking of teaching.
Despite Astrid arguing with the half giant, saying that it was his class and he didn't need her opinion on the matter, he insisted anyway saying that she probably had more knowledge about what students her age would want to learn. Her and the majestic hippogriff got along with each other that he would get excited whenever he saw her. They played from time to time and Astrid would feed him some dead ferrets (even though she loves ferrets).
She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Hagrid talk, "Isn't he beautiful?" The huge man tossed the winged creature a dead ferret that hung off his large coat. Buckbeak easily caught the rodent and quickly ate it.
One of the Gryffindor boys with bright red hair and freckles said breathlessly, "Hagrid, what exactly is that thing?"
"That, Ron, is a Hippogriff. The thing about hippogriffs are that they are very proud creatures, very easily offended. You don't want to insult a hippogriff. It might just be the last thing you ever do." His tone turned from dark and mysterious to bright and happy as he continued, "Right, we will be having Astrid, my teaching assistant, demonstrate how to properly bow to a Hippogriff to earn its trust." He gestures for Astrid to come over, so she hopped down from her spot.
She could feel the eyes students but she focused on the majestic creature in front of her. Bending her back half way, putting one arm resting on her rib cage and the other stretched out to her side. Buckbeak automaticity bowed back and trotted over to the girl, prancing around her once before nuzzling into her neck.
"Now, Astrid and Buckbeak have gotten familiar with each other quite a bit so it won't be that easy for you at first." He clapped his hands together before. "Right, so who would like to come and say hello?" The Hufflepuff looked over her shoulder to watch the students reactions. All the students stepped back expect for one Gryffindor boy. He had messy brown hair, emerald eyes, and round spectacles. That was probably that Harry Potter that everyone talks about. He seemed to entranced by the Hippogriff to realize what had happened.
He seemed to snap out of it when he heard Hagrid's booming voice say, "Well done, Harry! Well done." Turned around time both sides of him to that everyone had backed up except him. The boy, Harry, looked back to the front, still a little in shock at what he had to do. "Come on now Harry, come on." Harry stumbled forward as the red headed boy nudged him forward.
Astrid stroked Buckbeaks feathers before stepping away from the creature, making him let out a sad noise, which made her giggle to herself. As Harry walked forward, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, making him stop and look at her.
"Don't worry, it's not as scary as it looks." She said with a kind smile and a tilt of the head. He gave her a awkward smile and nodded. She patted his shoulder before walking back to her spot on the stone wall. 'No wonder people like her, she so nice and friendly.' He thought to himself before he turned to Hagrid.
"Now you have to let him make the first move. Step up, give him a nice bow, and wait for him the bow back. Like Astrid demonstrated for us. If he bows back, you can approach him. If not..well we'll get to that later."
Harry walked forward a little more as the rest of the students backed up more. He nervously bowed to the Hippogriff, keeping his eyes on the creature. "Nice and low." Buckbeak turned his head and squawked when he noticed the boy. The beast walked closer to Harry and flipped its wings at him, trying to intimidate him. "Back off, Harry. Back off."
Not daring to come up from his bow, he took and step back. He stepped on a twig which made a loud snap. The students that were huddle together gasped at the scene. Astrid got up slowly in case she needed to intervene between the two, grabbing the puckleweed grass out of her bag. The grass gave off a calming scent to predatory animals like Buckbeak.
Harry kept his bow to the large creature. "Keep still.." Once the Hippogriff decided that Harry was ok, he lowered his wings and bowed back to Harry. "Well done Harry! Well Done!" Hagrid said as he pulled off a dead ferret and threw it to the proud creature as it trotted over. The Gryffindor let out a breath of relief and grin as he stood up.
"You can go pat him now. Go on. Don't be shy." Hagrid said, sounding kind of relieved that his student kid didn't get hurt. Harry seemed to look at him in shock before cautiously stepping forward. Taking baby steps forward as Buckbeak looked at him once finishing his treat, he lifted his hand up. As he got closer, Buckbeak snapped his beak toward the boys outstretched hand. "Not so fast, Harry." More gasps ran thru the crowd. "Nice and slow, Harry continued to walk forward slowly and Buckbeak walked forward and leaned his head down to the boys hand, rubbing his beak into his hand.
Hagrid started clapping and saying, "Well Done, Harry! Well done!" The rest of the students started clapping along with him, Astrid did as well. Harry's face brighten with a grin that made Astrid smile to. This is why she wanted to be a Caretaker of magical creatures. Ever since she was a small child, she had always had a love for the strange and wonderful things of the world. Even since she found and cared for her first stray. This is what she wanted to do. To make people and creatures live together in harmony.
Hagrid walked forward to the two and said, "I think he will let you ride him now." Harry looked at him in shock and said, "What?" The half giant walked over and pick him up. "Hey hey hey hey hey! What are you doing?!" After picking him up, Hagrid walked over to the Hippogriff and placed him on the creatures back like a horse. "Now, try not to pull out any of his feathers. He won't thank you for that one." He said.
Harry looked alarmed as Hagrid slapped Buckbeak on the booty and he started to ride off. Flapping it large wings before taking off into the sky, Harry clutching onto his neck. The students that were once huddled together were now jogging to the edge of the crumbling wall to watch their fellow students flying on Beakbuck.
Hagrid walked over to the white haired girl that stood farther back then the rest of the teens. He stood beside her and asked, "Did I do well?" She looked up at him for a second before smiling and saying, "Yeah." She held out her palm to him for a high five. He chuckled deeply before returning the muggle gesture that she had taught her before.
