deceptive disposition || a harry potter inspired rini au

07. behind it all

"but...that doesn't make any sense!" big red whispered confused "we're only sixteen, he...he can't be a d-"

"shhh!" ricky said sharply, looking around them as they were eating breakfast in the great hall. once he was sure that no one had been listening, he turned back to his friends to keep talking "look, i'm sure of what i heard. they can't be talking about anything else can they?"

"well...maybe they were talking about a...club or something?" seb suggested

"yes, the club of you know who!" ricky replied in a hushed voice

ashlyn hadn't said anything. she was staring down at her plate, having lost her appetite after what ricky had told them about ej being a death eater and nina in the process of becoming one.

"ash, you okay?" big red asked, looking at her

the red-head girl swallowed and shook her head "it's his business. his fault if he wants to ruin his life and be on the wrong side."

"ash—"

"i'm going to be late to ancient runes, i should go." she mumbled weakly, standing up and grabbing her belongings before rushing off, leaving the three boys alone.

ricky sighed "what are we going to do?"

"what are we going to do? what can we do?" big red asked bewildered "you can't go off putting yourself in danger, ricky."

"there's a death eater at hogwarts you can't expect me to just sit here and let him go on with whatever he's planning!" ricky exclaimed quietly

"from what you told us, all he's occupied with doing is protecting nina. there's no actual mission that they're on here at hogwarts." seb explained calmly "so, maybe try to not push her to the ground anymore."

"i did not push her! i accidentally bumped into her on the train and she fell to the ground. it's not my fault she's tiny and doesn't have any upper body strength to hold herself up. besides, she's the one who called me an idiot and then stormed off."

seb and big red sighed as they all stood up to head to their classes; big red to charms, seb to herbology, and ricky had a free period, so he was heading to the little hut just outside of the castle.

"just, promise us that you won't go looking for trouble." seb said nervously "if he really is a...you know...then, they're capable of dangerous things. ricky."

"i won't..." ricky assured, giving them a small smile as he parted ways with them, making his way down the path outside of the castle doors

when he arrived at the cottage hut, he knocked on the door and took a little step back down the stoned staircase.

there was shuffling before the door opened and a giant man with a bushy beard and long hair appeared, looking around him before down at ricky who gave him a smile

"hey hagrid." he greeted

"oh it's yeh! come in,"

ricky walked after hagrid into the house, greeting his dog, fang, who was a little puppy before sitting down

"how's yer school going so far?" hagrid asked as he gave ricky a cup of his homemade tea

"it's okay," ricky shrugged "i haven't had the chance to go out to see them yet though...the last time i saw the little one he seemed a little sick."

"they're tough creatures they are." hagrid assured before sitting down

"what about you? how are things going?" ricky asked interested, taking a sip of the tea. it didn't taste great but ricky enjoyed it nonetheless. he liked talking to hagrid during his years at hogwarts.

"which reminds me!" hagrid grinned happily, standing up so abruptly that he knocked the table forward a little which made ricky jump

"what?"

"i've got something ter show yeh!" hagrid exclaimed, walking towards the door before looking back at ricky who hadn't moved "well, come on."

the curly-haired boy quickly followed the half-giant, running a few steps to catch up to him.

"hagrid, what—"

he suddenly realized that they were getting closer to the forbidden forest.

"stay quiet now," hagrid whispered before whistling and ricky's eyes widened at the sight of what had appeared before him.

a young white-winged horse was trotting towards them before coming to a stop, leaning down to notice the food that had been left out for it from earlier as he began to it.

"that's...that's an abraxan." ricky whispered in awe "where—"

"i found him wanderin' 'round." hagrid explained "must' gotten lost."

"it's exactly like how it's described in fantastic beasts and where to find them." ricky said, trying to sound calm but really he was extremely excited to be in front of the magical creature.

one thing ricky prided himself in — other than a very skilled quidditch player and one of the most handsome boys in school — was his love for magical creatures. though he doesn't yell it out from the rooftops for everyone to hear, people who know him well enough know exactly how fascinated he is by them.

ricky would come down to hagrid when he didn't have too much work to talk to him and he'd also help him with a few lost creatures that came his way. ricky would also spend time with a few other creatures he'd met and gotten a little close with alone at other times when he wanted to spend time to himself. but lately he hadn't gotten too much time seeing as last year was his fifth year where he had ro go through the OWL examinations which meant that ashlyn would drag him, big red and seb to the library to study any chance she got, along with his quidditch practices and matches that he had to do.

"is he injured?" ricky asked concerned

"don't think so, but i haven't gotten to get a close look. he won't let me towards 'im." hagrid sighed

ricky nodded "well...abraxans are frightened by their own shadow as well as other ones. some people ignore that since they're such powerful creatures but they are also just like horses when it comes to little things."

hagrid smiled at him "well, i'll be needing yer help then!"

ricky chuckled "what's his name?"

"dunno," hagrid hummed

"you didn't name him?" ricky asked confused, looking back at the abraxan who was now sitting down "names are very important...how about...wildfire? that suits him."

ricky chuckled when the abraxan snorted an approval at the name.

hagrid clapped his hands "well, best get started."

"oh! i almost forgot...we're going to need some single malt whiskey..." ricky grinned "that's the only thing they drink."