Victoria

Year Three - IX

[I've tried my best with Hagrid's accent, I sincerely apologize if I've fucked it.]

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" Hagrid called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" 

Victoria, after a very long time, was walking with a skip in her step and a smile on her face. While she loved all her subjects equally, Care of Magical Creatures had always had a very special place in her heart. Just the fact that she would get to be with creatures that only knew and lived in a magical world was a treat in itself that she would be willing to pay for, and now that Hagrid was her Professor, the subject just seemed more wonderful.

All Slytherins and Gryffindors alike looked at her as though she were a weird species, as Victoria happily jumped and skipped, keeping up with her professor who had been engaged in an extremely interesting conversation with her, debating the existence of Heliopaths in the wizarding world.

"Yeh never know," He had said with shining eyes when Victoria asked about his opinions on the mystical and mythical creature, "Not till yeh find one yerself."

It was awe-inspiring to talk to someone on a topic they were passionate about, the new information they'd give being digested by Victoria's ever-hungry brain in seconds, "Where'd'you reckon they'd be?" She asked, eyes wide with fascination, making Hagrid laugh and ruffle her hair, his expression matching hers in excitement.

"They could always be in volcanos," He started, absentmindedly scratching his beard, "But Phonenix are fire-birds and yeh'd never see 'em in a Volcano, so yeh ne'er know!"

Whispering a little 'okay, we're here' Hagrid turned to the students trailing behind him, announcing their arrival, quickly asking them to gather around and open their books before leaving to bring out their 'real treat'.

There were a few snarky comments passed around behind Victoria, some about her, some about Hagrid, and some about Harry, but the girl paid no mind to it, too busy staring at Hagrid as he disappeared into the forest for a few moments. A distinct shout of 'Dementor!' reached her ears, but once again, Victoria was too busy to act upon it, since Hagrid had reappeared along with a magical creature that took her breath away - A Hippogriff.

"Isn't he bee-utiful?" Hagrid's voice and the Hippogriff's little noises gained everyone's attention, "Say hello to Buckbeak!"

The moment they saw the look on Victoria's face and heard the little gasp that escaped her lips, both Harry and Hagrid knew that she was a goner. Both of them knew that she was going to be spending more time with Buckbeak back at Hagrid's place than she was going to spend at the castle, and both of them knew that as soon as the sun set and it was past curfew, Victoria was going to be knocking at the door to Harry's dorm to borrow his invisibility cloak.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do," And after an eerie pause, almost as though he meant to make the poor kids uncomfortable, he continued, "Now! Who'd like to come and say hello?"

Unsurprisingly, the only kid 'mad enough' to do such a thing was Victoria.

Victoria had read too much about Hippogriffs. She was practically in love with the creatures. They were gentle and kind yet so regal and firm, they were strong and protective and dangerous and prideful creatures that respected themselves and weren't afraid to wreak havoc on anyone that failed to give them the respect they deserved, all qualities Victoria admired more than anything. In fact, meeting a Hippogriff and maybe being able to fly with one was one of the top ten things on her bucket list, and now, she could - hopefully - finally bring that dream to reality.