"It's going to kill me!" Malfoy wailed, completely ignoring Hagrid.
The rest of the class crowded around, watching Malfoy cradle his arm as if it had been cleanly severed.
Hagrid scooped Malfoy off the ground with zero effort. He gently pried Malfoy's arm away from his chest—there wasn't a single scratch on it.
Sean walked over. He saw Malfoy staring rigidly at his own arm, which was perfectly intact, albeit trembling slightly.
"It... it was going to kill me..." Malfoy insisted, his face flushing, though he stubbornly tried to keep his chin up.
"We all saw it! The monster raised its talons, it was this close!" Pansy Parkinson cried, tears welling in her eyes as her shoulders shook.
Sean could tell she was genuinely terrified.
The Slytherin students loudly began shifting the blame onto Hagrid. Hagrid's face steadily drained of color; he opened his mouth to explain, but no words came out.
"He's perfectly fine."
A calm, level voice suddenly cut through the panic.
The black-haired young wizard slowly approached. He shot the red-faced Malfoy a brief glance before speaking, his voice pitched just loud enough for the students in the back to hear.
"Hippogriffs are proud creatures. In the wild, a provocation like that would put you in extreme danger... but as long as a wizard respects their hierarchy, they really aren't difficult to handle at all."
Sean gently raised his hand. Buckbeak immediately rested his massive, heavy head against Sean's palm.
It was a staggering contrast to the vicious, bloodthirsty beast they had seen just moments ago.
The class collectively held their breath, watching in awe as the proud behemoth nuzzled against the young wizard's face, letting out a soft, contented trill.
"In 1750, Clause 73 was added to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, a clause that Ministries of Magic around the world continue to uphold today: 'Each wizarding governing body will be responsible for the concealment, care, and control of all magical beasts, beings, and spirits dwelling within its territory's borders. Should any such creature cause harm to, or draw the notice of, the Muggle community, that nation's wizarding governing body will be subject to discipline by the International Confederation of Wizards.'"
Sean recited the passage softly. It was a direct quote from the Green Notebook: A History of Magical Creatures.
"A wizard's potion ingredients and wand cores all originate from magical creatures. The beasts that exist within our magical civilization are the very foundation that makes our magic possible. Naturally, caring for them is our obligation. In this dynamic, weakness is not the obstacle to civilization—arrogance is."
Any wizard who had read his surprisingly entertaining history of magical creatures knew that exact quote. To be frank, it was almost as famous as the opening lines of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
"Mr. Malfoy," Sean said, addressing him directly for the first time.
Malfoy clearly hadn't expected to be called out like this. For the first time, he looked entirely lost. The brilliant young wizard standing before him—the one his family was so desperate to align with—was completely different from the version Malfoy had built up in his head.
"You're not in shock, are you? I mean... class is dismissed, you'd best head up to the hospital wing just in case," Hagrid blurted out, finally snapping out of his daze.
"I am... not in shock!" Malfoy snapped, forcing himself to stand. Surrounded by his fellow Slytherins, he stormed out of the paddock and back toward the castle.
"Hah... serves him right! He brought it on himself," Dean Thomas said bluntly once they were out of earshot.
Crabbe and Goyle heard him and aggressively flexed their muscles in response. But the moment they caught the calm, calculating gaze of the Care of Magical Creatures Teaching Assistant, they instantly deflated and hurried after Malfoy.
The remaining Gryffindors immediately broke into excited chatter.
Sean exchanged a look with Hagrid, and the giant man raised his massive hands for quiet.
"Right, well... bit of a scare there, but I reckon yer all learned somethin' valuable today... which is exactly what I wanted. Beautiful creatures, ain't they? You've seen it yerselves—treat 'em with kindness, and you get kindness back. But if yer approach 'em with arrogance and ignorance, well... it won't end well for ya."
Hagrid delivered the speech with a deeply practiced, solemn tone.
"I bet Sean told him to say that," Ron muttered in surprise.
Harry wanted to defend Hagrid, but looking at the big man's beaming, simple face, he had to admit that philosophy probably hadn't come from Hagrid's own brain.
The Gryffindors, who didn't know Hagrid quite as well, paused for a moment before breaking into genuine applause.
"He's spot on..."
"I honestly thought he was just a big, goofy bloke."
"Looks like we actually got a decent professor..."
Hearing their praise, Hagrid blushed uncontrollably. He chuckled happily, making sure every single student was safely on their way back to the castle. When he finally returned to the paddock, he was practically jogging, his face glowing like a massive red apple.
"You did a great job today, Hagrid," Sean offered warmly.
"Oh, go on!" Hagrid practically vibrated with joy.
Sean knew that becoming a true professor had been Hagrid's lifelong dream. He was fiercely loyal to Dumbledore and idolized the greatest white wizard of the century. Now, he was finally a qualified teacher in his own right. Dumbledore was going to be so proud of him.
"It's all thanks ter you," Hagrid said, waving a hand bashfully.
"Headmaster Dumbledore... is going to be thrilled for you," Sean added softly.
"Blimey! We've gotta celebrate!" Hagrid looked like he might actually pass out from happiness.
He ducked right into his hut.
Hagrid's cabin consisted of a single room. A colossal bed sat in one corner, covered by a massive patchwork quilt. A similarly gigantic wooden table and chairs sat in front of the roaring fire, and heavy hams and dead birds hung from the ceiling above it.
Hagrid began brewing tea, humming a cheerful tune as he heated up some pumpkin juice for Sean—entirely oblivious to the fact that Sean had never actually admitted to liking the stuff.
Taking a moment of quiet, Sean finally checked his newly unlocked title.
[Title: Favored by Magical Creatures] [Effect: Massively increases your affinity with magical creatures. Massively increases your comprehension of magical creatures. Significantly boosts your Magical Creature talent, and grants the ability to directly communicate with magical creatures to a minor degree.] [Advancement: Possess 7 Master-level magical creature companions to unlock the Master-level title in the Magical Creature domain.] Significantly boosts Magical Creature talent? Sean curiously opened his stats panel to check.
[Wizard Sean, Magical Creatures Talent: Purple (Boosted by 'Favored by Magical Creatures' title. Base talent: White.) Note: The average wizard is Green.] [Evaluation: You are naturally favored by magical creatures and can engage in minor direct communication with them. You are a once-in-a-century prodigy in the branch of Magizoology. You merely need time to accumulate wisdom, and you are destined to become a highly influential Master in the study of magical creatures.] Can engage in minor direct communication with them... Sean read the line carefully. It suddenly hit him how much he was beginning to resemble the legendary wizards from the old tales. He could Transfigure inanimate objects and give them life; he could turn wizards and Muggles into animals; and now, he could literally talk to beasts.
But... how exactly did the communication work?
Curious, Sean stepped out of the cabin.
Outside, Hagrid had just gone to fetch a pumpkin and was currently facing his first major crisis of the day.
"Oh, Buckbeak, my beauty, how could I have forgotten about you?" Hagrid cooed, hovering near the Hippogriff's wings, his eyebrows furrowed in a guilty, egg-shaped arch.
Buckbeak was no longer the calm, glossy-eyed creature from moments ago. The whites of his eyes were flashing, and his gaze was rigid and intense, locked dead onto the source of his anger: Hagrid. His ears and beak were pointed aggressively forward. His breathing was heavy, his nostrils flared into wide circles, snorting thick gusts of air.
He was obviously furious with Hagrid.
"You ignored him, Hagrid," Sean stated simply.
Riding the high of delivering a perfect first lesson, Hagrid had hummed his way back to the paddock and led the other Hippogriffs away, completely forgetting about Buckbeak—who had just shown massive restraint by not mauling Malfoy despite being heavily provoked.
After being left tied up for so long, Buckbeak was making his displeasure known. He looked ready to ram his head straight through the walls of Hagrid's hut.
"Sean... please don't remind me, I know..." Hagrid turned around, looking absolutely miserable, practically on the verge of tears.
Sean looked back at Buckbeak. The beast leaned its weight onto its hind legs, lifting its front talons off the ground, striking a rearing pose. For a Hippogriff, this was an extreme threat, a clear warning that it was about to stomp or strike out.
"Screeeech!" Buckbeak let out a piercing, aggressive cry.
When the sound hit Sean's ears, he froze.
"Hagrid, Buckbeak wants you to apologize," Sean translated. Well... it felt more like he was relaying a demand.
"Oh, Buckbeak, I'm so, so sorry..." Hagrid didn't question it for a second, instantly dropping his head in a miserable plea for forgiveness.
"Buckbeak wants to eat the insects in that hollow tree on the south side of the forest," Sean added.
"Oh, come off it, Sean, you know that's right in the middle of the little guys' territory..." Hagrid grimaced, looking deeply conflicted.
Seeing Hagrid hesitate, Buckbeak started aggressively pawing the dirt.
"Alright, I agree!" Hagrid capitulated instantly. He didn't care if it meant venturing deep into Acromantula territory; he just wanted to appease his favorite beast.
Satisfied, Buckbeak let out a loud, wet snort and trotted off happily.
"See ya later, Buckbeak! Thanks for all yer hard work today!" Hagrid called out happily, waving. "Sure you don't wanna stay for dinner, Sean?" he asked, turning back around.
Sean politely declined the offer to help Hagrid finish off a plate of stoat sandwiches and shook his head.
The sky was steadily darkening. Twilight descended, blurring the jagged silhouettes of the distant mountains.
It wasn't until Sean stepped onto the stone stairs of the castle that Hagrid finally processed what had just happened. "Wait a minute... Sean, back there, with Buckbeak... you understood him..."
The more Hagrid thought about it, the more he stuttered, until he simply stared at Sean with wide, saucer-like eyes.
"Just a little trick I picked up," Sean smiled.
"Blimey!" Hagrid looked like he wanted to ask a hundred questions, but he just scratched his head and let it go. He had always been surprisingly tactful; he knew better than to pry into another wizard's secrets.
---
Sean made his way back into Hogwarts. Glancing down a completely deserted corridor, he raised his wand and tapped his chest.
[You have practiced the Disillusionment Charm at the Expert standard. Proficiency +50] Walking through the intoxicating twilight scent of gardenias, Sean slowly approached the dungeons. His Fiendfyre Curse was only 3,000 points away from hitting the Master tier. Barring any surprises, he'd max it out within the next three days.
He passed a few students along the way. First, he spotted Justin's group.
"Do you think Malfoy is going to be okay?" Hermione asked.
"He'll be fine. Unless Madam Pomfrey discovers his heart actually shrank," Harry replied.
"It's just awful that this happened during Hagrid's very first class, isn't it?" Ron said, looking genuinely worried. "Malfoy is definitely going to use this to cause trouble for him..."
"Don't worry," Justin smiled gently. "Care of Magical Creatures has more than one professor now."
Continuing past them, drawing closer to the dungeons, Sean bumped into Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Professor Trelawney, she really is..." McGonagall's expression was tight, though she carried the distinct relief of someone who had just narrowly dodged a bullet.
"Fascinating? Deliberately cryptic? Every Seer I've ever known operates exactly the same way," Dumbledore replied with a light chuckle, shooting a subtle glance toward the dark corner where a young wizard was currently hiding.
"I just hope next time, she speaks a little more plainly," McGonagall said, clearly dissatisfied.
"On that point, Minerva, I am in complete agreement," Dumbledore said, speaking directly to the empty corner.
"What are you looking at?" McGonagall asked, her sharp instincts picking up on his distraction.
"Oh, just looking at a wall. A wall that doesn't talk back," Dumbledore deflected with a twinkling smile.
---
The second day of term.
Sean was about to attend his very first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year. It was also the day his Expert-level Fiendfyre was set to advance.
When the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students arrived at the DADA classroom, Professor Lupin wasn't there yet. Sean took a seat next to Hermione. The two of them had been sticking together quite a bit lately.
They had just pulled out their textbooks, quills, and parchment when Professor Lupin finally walked through the door.
He wore a faint, easy smile as he set his battered, heavily patched trunk down on the teacher's desk. He looked much the same as he had on the train, though he was wearing a clean set of robes and looked significantly healthier. It seemed having a steady, meaningful job agreed with him.
"Good afternoon," he said cheerfully. "Please pack your books away. Today will be a practical lesson. You will only need your wands."
The students tucked their books away, exchanging curious, excited glances. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson before—unless you counted that unforgettable disaster last year when their former professor released a cage full of furious Cornish Pixies into the room.
"Right then," Lupin said, seeing that everyone was ready. "Follow me."
Intrigued and eager, the class stood up and trailed after Lupin out the door. He led them down a deserted corridor and around a sharp corner, where they immediately spotted Peeves the Poltergeist. Peeves was floating upside down in mid-air, aggressively stuffing a wad of chewing gum into the nearest keyhole.
Peeves didn't look up until Lupin was barely two steps away. The poltergeist wiggled his curly-toed feet and suddenly burst into a mocking song.
"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang off-key. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin—"
While Peeves was notoriously rude, chaotic, and uncontrollable, he usually maintained a baseline level of respect for the teachers. The students held their breath, waiting to see how the new professor would react to the blatant disrespect.
To their surprise, Lupin just kept smiling, and shot a quick, knowing glance in Sean's direction.