Chapter 300. Roskin and the Thunderbird
Mid-November arrived quickly.
On the clearing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a special Care of Magical Creatures lesson was under way. Unlike usual, there were many Beauxbatons students in pale blue uniforms intermingled with the Hogwarts students.
Yes—this time Beauxbatons would be having class together with Hogwarts.
Roskin, naturally, had blended in among them as well.
Adrian Wesson had specially brought the unicorn herd out of the Forbidden Forest for them to see.
After some time apart, the herd now had a few new, pink-fuzzed foals.
Unicorns are mostly shy by nature and keep their distance from humans; under normal circumstances they are very hard to see, let alone as an entire herd.
When several dozen unicorns appeared before the Beauxbatons students, they all showed the same look of surprise.
As Wesson had expected, because most of the Beauxbatons students were girls, the unicorns got on very well with them.
Especially Fleur's younger sister, Gabrielle Delacour.
Gabrielle Delacour looked very much like her sister: the same beautiful waterfall of silvery hair and eyes that glittered silver.
Perhaps because of her quarter-Veela heritage—or simply because she was still very young—almost all the unicorns were willing to approach her.
Watching Gabrielle cuddle a unicorn foal and play with it, a question surfaced in Wesson's mind:
"Has Gabrielle started at Beauxbatons this early? I thought Beauxbatons had the same admission age as Hogwarts—eleven years old…"
"Gabrielle really isn't old enough for school," Roskin explained offhand. "Fleur insisted on bringing her along, and Madam Maxime agreed. Everyone knows that when she's of age, Gabrielle will certainly attend Beauxbatons anyway, and…
She shrugged and went on, "Excellent students do get some privileges, don't they?"
Wesson nodded and let his gaze fall back on the laughing Gabrielle—perhaps because of bloodline, he felt a genuine affection for this adorable girl, a warmth that felt instinctive.
"But it's a bit of a bother," Roskin sighed helplessly. "Fleur has no time to look after Gabrielle, so I've had to stand in."
Just then, a bolt of lightning fell from the distant sky.
A moment later, a low, thrumming cry followed.
Roskin couldn't help tilting his head up; faintly, the call sounded familiar.
"Is it going to rain?" one student asked, peering at the sky.
However, though the sky was a little dim, there wasn't a cloud to be seen—no sign of rain at all.
Wesson, of course, knew what was happening. He smiled slightly at Roskin. "An old friend is coming, Roskin."
A grey speck appeared on the horizon and closed the distance at astonishing speed.
When the figure came near enough, Roskin understood.
Wasn't that a Thunderbird?
Rai spread his enormous wings, tiny arcs of electricity dancing among the cloud-grey feathers; every beat of his wings kicked up a gust.
Noticing Wesson waving to him, he folded his wings and came down in an elegant landing before Wesson, then gave a cheerful cry.
"It's Rai!" several Hogwarts students shouted.
To Hogwarts students, Rai's presence was already familiar, and the Beauxbatons students had probably seen Thunderbirds around Roskin as well.
So after a glance at Rai, everyone turned their attention back to the unicorns—Wesson had just said that, if the unicorns were willing, they could take a few tail hairs.
Everyone was busy choosing their favourite hairs.
Wesson stepped up to smooth the feathers on Rai's crown, then turned to Roskin. "I think you remember him, Roskin."
"Of course." Roskin sounded slightly surprised. "I thought you'd have let him return to the wild by now. Adult Thunderbirds rarely stay with a wizard for long."
"Really?" Wesson said in surprise. "Then the Thunderbirds you raise…"
"They all flew off after coming of age—probably to seek places better suited to them," Roskin said with a little spread of his hands. "That's their choice. I suppose it's just their nature."
"You never mentioned that," Wesson said, looking puzzled.
"It only happened not long ago," Roskin said ruefully. "I thought those Thunderbirds were very fond of me, but it turns out they were only treating me as a temporary minder… All right, just a joke. I don't object to it—I respect what every animal wants."
Wesson thoughtfully stroked Rai's neck. "Hear that, Rai? If you want to leave, you can do so any time."
Rai cocked his head, tapped Wesson's shoulder lightly with his beak, then shook his head in a very human-like way.
It seemed he wasn't ready to give up a free meal ticket like Wesson—or the nest he'd built on the lightning-struck tree.
When the end-of-lesson bell rang, the unicorns all returned to the Forbidden Forest, and Rai vanished into the sky.
Most students had done quite well for themselves and were comparing the unicorn tail hairs they'd collected in little groups.
Before leaving, Gabrielle ran up to Wesson and Roskin.
"Unicorns are great fun, Professor Wesson." She flashed Wesson a sweet smile, then rose on tiptoe and handed him a slender unicorn tail hair that glimmered with a faint light. "This one's the prettiest."
"Oh—thank you, Gabrielle." Wesson blinked, then accepted the hair.
Gabrielle nodded and turned to Roskin. "Let's go, Professor—my sister's probably been waiting a while."
"Don't rush, Gabrielle."
Roskin took Gabrielle by the hand and said quietly to Wesson, "You must have noticed Fleur didn't attend this lesson. That's because Madam Maxime is giving her special training."
"What's the matter?" Wesson raised an eyebrow, unsure why Roskin was bringing this up.
"I mean you'd better give your own champions special training too," Roskin said seriously. "Otherwise you'll lose the Tournament."
"Looks like you care very much about winning," Wesson said with a cheerful smile.
"Oh, I count as a Beauxbatons professor of sorts," Roskin said earnestly. "A bit of urgency never hurts. Wesson, I'm sure you also want Hogwarts to win."
With that, Roskin led Gabrielle back towards the castle.
Wesson stood where he was, thoughtful.
Special training, hm…
In truth, if the tasks in the Triwizard Tournament were the same as before, then with Harry's current abilities there would be no problem at all.
Cedric, he believed, could handle them too.
There was really nothing to worry about.
Still, a bit more training never hurt—safer, anyway.
An interesting idea came to Wesson at once.
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