Harry successfully won the respect of the hippogriff Buckbeak, which left him somewhat flattered—just moments ago he'd thought he'd failed and was preparing to flee.
Now, Buckbeak bent his knees slightly, lowering his body so his head was level with Harry's, which greatly reduced the pressure Harry felt.
"You can touch him now. You can stroke his beak, but do it gently—don't stimulate him."
Harry hesitated for a moment but still extended his hand. He felt that if he gave up this opportunity now, he might lose something wonderful. So he stepped forward, slowly extending his right hand. Seeing that Buckbeak showed no reaction, he became slightly bolder, placing his palm over the beak and stroking it back and forth.
Buckbeak lazily closed his eyes, looking as though he was thoroughly enjoying Harry's touch.
Everyone present applauded Harry's bravery and success—even the little Slytherin snakes, and even Draco, though the latter's expression was somewhat awkward, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.
Having gained the hippogriff Buckbeak's permission, Harry's stroking technique gradually became bolder. He began grooming Buckbeak like he would a dog or cat, and the hippogriff didn't resist at all.
Hagrid observed from the side, then nodded approvingly:
"Very good, Harry. You've won Buckbeak's trust. I think he might be willing to take you for a flight around the sky."
Harry's expression froze, then showed half joy and half worry.
"Climb up from here, right behind the wing joint," Hagrid pointed to a spot. "Be careful not to pull out his feathers—he won't like that."
Harry complied, carefully and clumsily mounting Buckbeak. When he was settled, Buckbeak straightened up, his twelve-foot wingspan spreading at his sides. Then he began to run, beating his wings once before Buckbeak took Harry into the air, beginning to circle the grounds.
Before long, the boy and hippogriff returned to their starting point and landed safely.
First flight—safe and sound.
"Excellent flying, Harry."
Hagrid cheerfully gave a thumbs up, then turned to smile at everyone:
"Right then, who else wants to give it a try?"
Harry's brave performance encouraged everyone. The young witches and wizards all carefully approached the hippogriffs, and Hagrid unfastened their chains one by one. Inside the fenced circle, people were nervously bowing everywhere.
"Glenn, let's go too—I'm itching to try!"
Hermione also pulled Glenn toward the hippogriffs. The girl had sharp eyes and immediately spotted an unoccupied hippogriff in the corner with smooth, lustrous gray-white feathers.
"Hagrid, what's her name?"
Hermione walked to Hagrid's side, tugged at his sleeve, and pointed toward that gray-white hippogriff.
Hagrid looked back, and the name came out without thinking:
"That child is called Euclia. She's a shy girl, the most gentle-natured among these hippogriffs, and also the youngest. You really have good eyes to pick her out."
"OK, got it! Glenn, let's go!"
Hermione enthusiastically pulled Glenn toward Euclia. Glenn maintained his calm expression and went with the flow, letting Hermione pull his hand.
The two came before Euclia, and Hermione released his hand, slowly stepping forward.
"I'll go first, Glenn—you observe from the side."
"Mm, go ahead."
Perhaps it was the natural affinity the girl carried, or maybe it was cross-species friendly sensing between girls, but Hermione and Euclia very quickly established a good relationship of trust.
"The texture really is wonderful! So smooth—completely different from Crookshanks!"
"Not only that, the feathers and fur have slightly different textures. Being able to touch two different types of fur at once is just too blissful!"
Looking left and right and seeing no one else watching this way, Hermione let down her reserve and directly pressed her small face against Euclia, throwing herself wholeheartedly into the business of nuzzling the hippogriff.
After a little nuzzling, Hermione suddenly realized she'd left Glenn to one side. She quickly raised her head, made room, and smiled embarrassedly at Glenn.
"Oh my, I forgot about you! Come quickly!"
"You don't need to mind me—do as you like."
Glenn didn't particularly care. Although the option of petting a hippogriff was indeed quite tempting, it still couldn't compare to the option of letting Hermione personally experience the hippogriff.
"Then I want you to also gain Euclia's trust."
Hermione directly saw through Glenn's thoughts and said with mock annoyance, then smiled and whispered:
"Maybe we two will even have a chance to have Euclia take us flying together in the air."
"Although I've had Norbert do this before, riding different magical creatures always gives different experiences."
Glenn nodded and also walked toward Euclia.
Then Euclia took a step back.
Hermione: ?
Seeing this, Glenn slowed his pace and slowly moved forward a small step.
Euclia, seeing this, slowed her pace and similarly moved back a small step.
Glenn: ?
"Looks like she doesn't want to get close to me."
Glenn simply stopped walking and said this.
Animals' instincts and natural abilities make their perception of danger very acute. Even though Glenn wasn't deliberately releasing his hostility and killing intent at the moment, as a relatively advanced magical creature, Euclia probably sensed some faint, elusive threat from him to some degree.
It was a case of the body moving before the mind.
Hippogriff Euclia afraid—limited edition.jpg
"Strange, Euclia's afraid of you. How could that be?"
The girl noticed that Euclia was actually trembling slightly.
Hermione tilted her head in puzzlement, feeling very confused by this phenomenon. Then she moved closer to Euclia and began soothing her with a gentle voice.
"Euclia, don't be afraid. That big brother is a good person—he won't hurt you~"
Along with her words, Hermione slightly drew upon the power of the Saint within her, calming Euclia's nervous mood.
There might be language barriers between different species, but body language and magic could convey Hermione's intended feelings very well. Under the girl's soothing, Euclia's body stopped shaking and her mood calmed down.
"I must be brave!"
Mm, this was what Euclia was thinking in her heart.
Glenn, look what you've scared her into.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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