For The Love of Animals

Chase looked into the paddock of animals that she'd known for years at this point, from the Kneazles rooting around in the grass to the Hippogriff that watched her with its keen eye. She smiled at them all. They knew her. She knew them. It was a common place for her to get away from gossip and school and not think of anything for a while. She loved climbing into the paddocks, and at this point, the teacher knew if they saw a streak of red hair not to be bothered. These creatures trusted her, and she was old enough that if something went wrong, she knew how to get help and what to do about it.

Chase decided she wanted to spend some time with her favorite hippogriff that day and casually strolled over to its pen. She opened the gate carefully, never taking her eyes off the creature, and closed it behind her. Stepping forward, she bowed low to the creature, exposing the back of her neck as she did, and then stood up to watch. The creature didn't hesitate and bowed back, eager to accept her treats and scratches. Chase grinned and walked forward, throwing her arms around the creature's neck and gently ruffling the feathers there.

"I'm going to be so sad when I leave. I'll miss you the most." She whispered, gently patting the magnificent creature. She sighed, taking treats out of her pocket and reaching up to present them, happily watching as they munched on the greens. "I really will." She sighed before walking around the pen and grabbing a rake to help tidy the place up a bit. She hated it when things got messy. Maybe not for her room, but definitely for animals. They couldn't clean up after themselves, so she wouldn't let them live in filth.

Matt had never been particularly fond of large animals, he was definitely a cat person. He had dropped Care of Magical Creatures as soon as it was no longer a required course and filled his spare period with reading instead. Finding isolated parts of the castle grounds was difficult these days, the spring air had students out in droves. However, students weren't typically allowed near the magical creature paddocks and so he had been spending more time hiding in the hay bales and storerooms.

It was almost perfect.

In the weeks he'd been coming it seems he had completely and utterly missed Chase Moore and her conversations with the hippogriffs. But, there he was, nestled in some hay against some barrels just around the corner from the paddock entrance. And, as he was turning the page in "Hounds of Hecate" he heard the paddock open and a he paused.

Avoice he had only ever really heard from a distance begin to speak to one of the creatures - Chase Moore. He knew of her, a nice if not traumatized Hufflepuff girl the same age as him. So that's two things they had in common. But, he wasn't entirely sure at how to proceed with this new development. He had only had his solitude for half an hour and his book was getting good. But, if she was here to feed any of the creatures she would surely make her way over to his hay bale hideaway. So, instead he attempted to play it cool.

He closed his book and popped his head up over the pile of hay and saw her hugging the hippogriff. He moved slightly closer to the actual fence posts so his position was more obvious and gingerly cleared his throat.

"I've never seen anyone quite so relaxed around one of those things." he said.

Chase nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice. If she was honest, this place was usually pretty off-limits to other students when the teachers weren't around. Especially around the Hippogriff pen, you might get a few older students who were studying more advanced creatures. Still, for the most part, it was pretty quiet around this area at any given time unless class was in session anyway.

The boy that she saw in front of the gate was someone she knew in passing but had never really talked to one-on-one. Matthew Lestrange. He was in her year, she was fairly certain, but he was a Slytherin. She didn't have many friends from that house, maybe a few acquaintances, but that was about it. She smiled, probing her mind for more information about him and coming up short. Beyond what his last name meant, she really knew nothing. "Oh, hello! You startled me..." The hippogriff was eyeing the newcomer wearily, and she patted its side gently, settling it down.

"Oh, Wildfeather and I have been friends for a long time." She smiled at the Hippogriff and turned back to Matthew. "You're Matthew, yes? It's pretty crazy that after all these years, I've never really said much to you. Outside of classes, I guess." She smiled pleasantly and looked back at Wildfeather. "Wildfeather honestly is very easy to get along with if you relax. Have you tried?" She turned back to him with a smile and tucked her hair behind her ear as she did.

He took a moment to take in the last minute or so - it had felt significantly longer. He stared at her, probably for too long. But he was caught aback by her niceness - the sincerity in her words. He smiled loosely and leaned on the paddock fence.

"Matt, please Matthew is way too long of a name." he said without wondering why he said it. I mean it was a name that was far too long for someone like him.

He didn't care much for the hippogriffs and they did scare him a little bit but he knew what to do. That didn't make him want to approach the creature any further than the paddock fence. He shook his head and held his hands out in front of him. "I don't really talk to a lot of people these days. Not exactly popular with half of the current Hogwarts houses so it keeps me pretty solitary. It's how I can sneak out here pretty easily. There's not usually a lot of students that come hang here."

"And I've never really actually tried the whole, y'know, bowing thing before." he added.

"Oh! Sorry, Matt then!" She corrected herself and nodded to him. Chase tilted her head to the side quizzically. "Not too popular?" She asked, curiosity radiating from her. Even the Hippogriff seemed to catch her mood change and tilted its head, looking at Matt sharply, one eye staring directly towards him, taking him in. "It is a great place to get away from students. Usually, the teachers don't like you coming here, but at this point, if I get spotted, the teacher just waves." She grinned. "I guess when you're a seventh year and spent all seven years sneaking into the paddocks, there's not a lot they can do. They know I won't hurt anything." She grinned again and walked over to him.

Though walking wasn't really the right word for it, she almost... bounced towards him, a grin still on her face. "Well, would you like to give it a try?" She held out a hand for him with a grin. "I promise I won't let Wildfeather hurt you. Not that I think he will, but you definitely need to bow the right way. When you do it, you've got to bow and expose the back of your neck. It's a sign of respect." She stood there with her hand held out towards Matt, her smile having never faltered.

She didn't know.

Or at least she acted like she didn't know.

The next steps Matt took would be very important if he wanted to fix his loneliness problem. "Uh, yeah I just don't talk to people that often..."he trailed off as she began to walk toward him. Except it wasn't much of a walk it was too eager to be called a walk. She was smiling though, so he knew it was from a place of interest and niceness. This through him off a little because he was not usually met with niceness - even his closest friendship required some other substances to get to nice.

But, if he played his cards right he might be able to leave Hogwarts with more than just one friend.

"Uh, okay sure. I'll give it a try - I've seen how its done but I'll do my best" he chuckled nervously. He climbed over the fence and took her hand so she could lead them toward the creature. He wasn't sure he'd be able to do it on his own as he realized he was suddenly very nervous.

Chase was genuinely surprised he didn't talk to people very often. "Well, that seems lonely!" She frowned and was happy when he climbed over the fence and took her hand. "Okay, now keep your eyes on his." Chase went from extremely bubbly to very serious. She was watching his every move and somehow kept her attention on Wildfeather the entire time. "The best thing you can do is not look nervous. He's not going to hurt you because you aren't going to hurt him." She smiled briefly before keeping her gaze on Wildfeather.

The hippogriff had stiffened upon Matt entering the paddock and was watching him very, very carefully. Chase led him closer and then stopped him with a gentle pressure on his hand. "Okay, eyes on him, yes?" She then bowed deeply. She bent at the waist and let her head drop fully forward, her back straight. "Just copy me." She said as she bowed. Her hair slid to the side, and the back of her neck was exposed upwards, a full sign of respect to the creature who had nodded to her and then turned to watch Matt with one of its beady eyes.

"Slow and calm. He won't hurt you." She said softly under her breath, watching Matt from the corner of her eye.

The last 5 minutes had been a bit of a blur and he found himself in front of a hippogriff. He hadn't ever been this close to one before and he couldn't help but to stop and admire it now. The transition from horse to falcon was incredibly subtle and it's feathers were a beautiful pattern. It was a shame that muggles only dreamt of creatures like these - that we kept them from experiencing some of the wonders of magical nature.

He broke away to watch her carefully, he definitely hadn't been paying attention when they went over it in Care of Magical Creatures and that was years ago. Today, however, he'd prefer not to be mauled by a hippogriff and, subsequently and very likely, banned from the paddocks. She finished her bowing and he gave himself a little shake, well more of a shake than the nervous shaking he was doing already. "Alright, that's not so hard I'll give it a whirl." He said, intentionally ignoring her comment on loneliness.

He did his best, despite his nerves, and as he bent over very slowly and then straightened his spine...

The bloody thing bowed back.

He couldn't tell if the laughter was nervous relief or joy for succeeding. But it came and it was, strange, to him. He continued to stand there, eyes looking between Chase and the hippogriff.

"So I just...I go up and pet him?" he asked nervously.

Chase cheered when Wildfeather bowed back to him. He looked so nervous, and while she took this very seriously, she knew that Wildfeather was very forgiving of nerves. She grinned magnificently at him and nodded. "Yes! He's allowed you to come closer to him! Let me introduce you!" Her grin hadn't wavered as she took his hand again and pulled him to the Hippogriff. "Wildfeather! This is my new friend, Matt! Matt, this is Wildfeather! Go on. You can touch him." She smiled and stood aside slightly, giving him room to look at the Hippogriff.

"Wildfeather is very nice for people who are nervous. I think he takes it as a compliment because he knows that he can mess you up if he wants to, but he'd prefer pets and treats. Oh, Speaking of!" She flounced back up to him, digging in her pocket as she moved. "Give these to him. It's his favorite." She held out a small treat. It looked to be made of some sort of processed meat, though it wasn't sticky or bloody. "I bring some for him every time I come. You'll be sure to stay his friend so long as you give him these." She winked at Matt. "I get them from the Kitchens." She let him take it and stepped up to Wildfeather, gently running her fingers through his feathers. "Though don't forget to bow every time, it's only polite."

"What do you think? He's lovely, isn't he? He knows it too, so don't say it too much around him, or he'll get a big head." She scolded and looked up at the creature who appeared to be quite fond of all the attention.

He reached out with one hand and patted Wildfeather's beak, it was surprisingly warm. He couldn't believe he was as scared of the creature before as he was, it was simply just so imposing. He reached out his other hand to take the treat from Chase.

Friend

That word felt good, it fit. He smiled at her and took a step back, he tossed the treat into the air for the hippogriff to catch in its mouth. It did so, majestically, he couldn't take his eyes off the creature. Not out of fear, like before, instead it held his full attention. It was like he was seeing it in a new light.

"Wow, thank you for this!" he said as he fell back in line with her. "He's fantastic, I've never seen a creature this large be so gentle with a stranger. You must do some excellent work with him if he's this relaxed around people."

She went up and was petting him, he didn't want to get too much closer. That initial confrontation had taken a lot out of him, he could feel the adrenaline comedown. How silly it seemed now that his heart was racing as badly as it had been for this beautiful creature. "I think we have some classes together." he said, continuing to keep his distance. "You're in Hufflepuff right?" he asked her.