Long Road Ahead // Sebastian Sallow x Reader

18

"Welcome to Feldcroft students! You're instructor today is the caretaker for all of the creatures you see here. She is also a wonderful former student of mine and Professor Sharp's. I will turn you over to her now. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions."

"Thank you Professor Howin. Welcome students. Again, welcome to Feldcroft. I care for all of the magical beasts in the town. There are only four of us that live here. My neighbors are Rose and Marcus, who you will meet a little later. There is also Sebastian, who is unfortunately not here today. All three of them occasionally help me as well. In fact, Sebastian and Marcus were the ones who converted the whole town to be able to house and care for the creatures. Enough about our history though, let's start with the smaller pens, then we will move on to the larger beasts."

I began with the mooncalves and threw a pumpkin in for them. The students had surprised reactions to how quickly the mooncalves destroyed the pumpkin. After rattling off a few facts, I moved onto the kneazles, then the nifflers.

"As we walk to the bigger pens, you'll notice that we have some unused pens up on this hill over here. These pens remain empty for two reasons. One is if I receive a beast that needs to be quarantined, I can place it there until it can be introduced to the pen it belongs to. The other reason is that each of the pens is set up for a specific beast type. I know I have a lot, but there are many beasts that we do not have here. I only bring in injured beasts. If I can release them after they have healed, I will. Otherwise, they remain here permanently to live a comfortable life."

I led them to the hippogriffs which one walked over to us quickly. I instructed the students to take a few steps back as I picked up some ferrets and started to feed the one who was bumping my shoulder now.

"With hippogrifs, they require respect. All of these ones are on the friendly side, especially with me. If anyone wants to meet one once the tour is finished, make sure you follow your professor's instruction extremely close." I finished a few more facts and then continued to the thestral pens. 

" Can anyone see anything in this pen?" I looked around and one student in the back slowly rose his hand. I nodded my head at him and he pulled it back down. I took my necklace off and held it up for the students to see. "What is in this pen is what is on my necklace here. They are called thestrals." I put my necklace back on and continued. "I have a slight favoritism for this specific beasts. They are beautiful if you can see them."

"Why can't any of us see them?"

"That is an excellent question. You can only see them if you have seen death. Many people are scared of them or see them as a bad omen, but they are harmless and beautiful beasts that deserve the same respect as other beasts receive."

"How many do you have?"

"We currently have five. Three that permanently live here, and a set of twins that were born that will be released next month into the wild."

"Aren't you afraid of poachers? Why release them?"

"Well first, if I didn't release them, I would be quickly overrun by beasts here. With beasts, I can make them extremely happy here, but the true calling of the is to be in the wild. With some of the smaller ones, they can have the same amount of joy as being a pet for someone as they can in the wild. As for these larger beasts, there isn't many people who want them, or even have the space for them. And poachers don't scare me. It's an ongoing issue that has been going on for many years, and it will continue for may years. The only thing we can do is fight against them. Many of my permanent residents here I rescued from poachers."

I continued on to the unicorns which many of the students loved. The pair came over to the fence and I gave them some treats. I was surprised to see that all the students continued to listen to the instructions I had given them earlier and took a few steps back. We then walked over to our final beasts which were the graphorns. As I walked up, the one that I have had the longest stood up. The other two continued to lay down. A few of the students looked terrified, but a few looked amazed at the size.