Vita Mortem

Scarlet shook her head as Ravan ran off to her class, not noticing that Ravan was going the wrong way to the room. She turned to walk off to Care of Magical Creatures, her next class, when she was stopped by a certain red-head.

“Scarlet, right?” A voice asked, appearing beside Scarlet, “Where are you off to?”

“Oh, hello!” Scarlet replied, seeming to curl in on herself, “Just to Care of Magical Creatures. Wait, you remembered me?” Scarlet was often the girl that was overlooked, but she didn't mind, because Ravan was always there to make people notice her. This was one of the rare times that Scarlet was on her own and being noticed, and she found she liked it.

“Yeah? I have Care of Magical Creatures as well, mind if I walk with you?” He questioned.

“Oh, if you want,” Scarlet said hesitantly, “I don’t want to trouble you.”

George let out a chuckle, “No trouble, let’s go!”

They walked the rest of the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest in silence, Scarlet too nervous to speak and George feeling no need to talk. As they came to a stop where the rest of the class was gathered, Fred waved them over to where he was standing.

“What in Merlin’s name took you so long George,” Fred stated, rolling his eyes at his brother.

“I stopped to spontaneously snog Scarlet, what do you think I was doing?” George fired back, not letting his brother’s shortness stop his own sarcasm.

At George’s comment, Scarlet blushed as bright as the colour she was named after. “He stopped to walk me to class, it was really nice of him,” she stuttered, smiling at George.

Their stilted conversation was halted by Hagrid coming up to address the group of students.

“Class, I have a very exciting animal to start your first lesson in Care of Magical Creatures off! Now, the other classes will be getting to see him later in the year, but I wanted you students to see him first, considering this year will be your OWLs. Say hello to Buckbeak!” Hagrid gestured, pointing to a creature behind him.

A majestic Hippogriff walked forward, proudly showcasing his feathers on his chest and looking every student in the eye. It stopped just in front of Hagrid and stood there preening his feathers.

“Now class, you ought to be very careful with ‘ippogriffs. Very proud, very noble creatures they are. You want to pet him, you show respect by bowing, and looking him in the eye. Any volunteers?” Hagrid motioned with his hands to approach the haughty-looking Hippogriff, and a male student did so with confidence.

As he strode forward staring at Buckbeak, his gaze faltered and dropped to the ground. Buckbeak saw it as an opportunity and pounced towards him, causing him to quickly rush back and hide behind Hagrid.

Hagrid chuckled, “e’s a bit ‘igh-spirited you could say,” moving forward to show the students there was nothing to be afraid of. He motioned for Scarlet to come forward, and she squeaked in surprise, causing her fellow students to laugh.

“Hagrid, are you sure?” Scarlet asked, trembling at the thought of such a powerful animal being so close to her. Yes, she was a lover of animals, but this was quite different to adoring Ravan’s cat Nova. This was a scary predator that could tear her up in seconds.

Hagrid scoffed at Scarlet’s doubt. “Old Buckbeak ‘ere wouldn’t ‘arm a fly!” he stated, as Buckbeak snapped at a butterfly for coming too close to him.

Scarlet blinked, telling herself she could do this, and stepped forward. Buckbeak’s eyes snapped to hers and he rushed forward towards her. Scarlet’s eyes widened and she brought her hands up to defend herself. Her eyes closed to block out the scary creature rushing towards her, screams erupting from her classmates.