Prof. Griffith's door.

A frown formed on her forehead as she stared at the heavy doors as it creaked open. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the outline of what she presumed was the professor. She pondered her question, a lump forming in her throat. Was she being naive to be here?

She sighed as she heard his response to her pulling on the silk cord. She seemed tiny against the large man standing in front of her. She fumbled with her fingers as she thought of her question, maybe she was being foolish, she shook her head, lifted her chin and took a breath.

"I.. I was wondering,"she started softly, her words nearly failing her. " I have been reading a lot about the Forbidden Forest, and there is one piece of information that I cannot seem to find." She tilted her head to the side, deciding on how to ask this question. She continued to fiddle with her fingers. It would have been much easier to search for this kind of information in a book, however, she had exhausted the resources that were available to her.

" Hmm, I was wondering, the Headmaster has warned the students to stay away from the Forbidden Forest since there are many dangerous creatures that have made it their home. How does Hogwarts keep the creatures from leaving the forest, if nothing is keeping them in the forest, what keeps them from attacking someone?" She did not want to seem like just another face asking yet another idiotic question, but again, she did not know who else to turn to, her curiosity was killing her and she would like to gain more knowledge of the forest and the creatures that lived within its boundaries without waiting to get to the appropriate year.

"Creatures stay in their habitat. They stay where they're comfortable. Most creatures don't have a driving ambition, the desire to conquer more and more land. If they have all they need, and aren't disturbed, they stay where they are most comfortable, they stay home. Part of my job is to monitor that, to make sure that there isn't any odd shifts or changes going on that could prove to be cause for concern.

Plus, the creatures are scared of us. They don't like the open, weed and cover free grounds or the looming castle. We have some enchantments and charms to keep them out too, so even if a few got some wanderlust, they would certainly not wander over this way. That's why the students aren't allowed back there. It's almost like two different worlds. They stay in theirs, we stay in ours."

He opened the door a bit more, and stepped back just enough to allow room for the girl to enter, should she want to, but a small enough space for her to have a decent excuse to not go in if she didn't feel comfortable. It was a good question, and one that he hadn't been asked before. She had a good head on her shoulders, anyway. It made him happy that she was in gryffindor.

A slight smile appeared on her lips as she listened to the professor. His knowledge of the creatures that live within the Forbidden Forest had to be vast if he was the one who was looking after them. She wondered what he might have been like as a student, fascinated by creatures? She herself enjoyed studies, any type of knowledge attracted her attention.

She wondered if she would seem too forward to accept the professors' silent invitation, she tilted her head as she decided against her thoughts, it would be rude not to accept, and she would love to learn more, that was why she came to him. She took a short sharp breath and took a step forward.

" Do all the creatures live in harmony or are there some instances where you need to intervene?" She pondered out loud. As she stepped into the stables, a soft frown forming on her forehead, this was not at all what she was expecting. An amused smile replaced her frown, it was strange, but she felt comfortable, it was unlike a class. Her nervousness had evaporated, she wondered whether this was on purpose, but she left that thought at the back of her mind.

She would leave these silly questions to her imagination and only ever bother the professors with questions that are within their curriculum. They, of course, did not have time for such silliness.

"Creatures sort themselves out, for the most part. It's a lot different for them. If one species is displaced by another, it's nature. Out here in the wizarding world, they'd call that cruelty, or say it was unfair. I try to not interfere as much as I can. Only if it threatens the safety of the students do I intervene. They're much more adaptable, in a way. If something happens to them, they balance themselves out, always have, always will. When something happens to us, we don't balance ourselves out, we balance everything else to suit ourselves, and in the process destroy the balance we tried to maintain."

That was probably more in-depth than the girl had been hoping for, but it didn't feel right to just give a short answer, not when he had already come this far. A great internal sigh heaved in his mighty chest, but didn't breach the surface enough to be noticed. He had a sandwhich somewhere, once this was over, right? Or wait, no, Perthyn had eaten that, hadn't he. Well, what about the peanut brittle? No, that was a found by the little monkey, who had then proceeded to share it with mickey. He needed food, why did all his food always vanish?

She tilted her head to the side as she pondered the professors' response. The piece of information that he shared with her was very interesting. It was intriguing to learn the differences between their lives and the lives of the creatures.

"They govern themselves, without causing too much of an issue. It is rather silly to think that we are unable to naturally adapt like they do, it makes me think whether we really are that intelligent."

She glanced around the stables. "Sir, I was wondering, what are some of the most difficult creatures to work with? I have learned in Defense against the Dark Arts about the different ranks that are given to creatures. I have noticed that they are not given their rank just for the danger that they can possibly pose but that they can receive a higher rank due to being difficult to domesticate or that they are part of the endangered species."

She wrapped her robe around her body, it was a bit cooler within the stables, a shiver ran down her back. She was interested in the response of the professor, it would be interesting to find out which creature he deemed more difficult to work with, she wondered whether he had ever worked with dragons, she knew that they were unpredictable creatures, but there are many other creatures that she might never have thought to fall under difficult to work with.

"Oh sure we can adapt. And we do regulate ourselves, but with us, it's a lot more complicated. With them, it's two plus two is four. four minus two is two, and so on, and so forth. With us, it's more of a complicated process that involves more algebra, calculus and square roots than I'd care to get in to. But in the end, it's all just math. I hope that made some manner of sense to you, my metaphors aren't always quite as good as they could be."

He didn't have to ponder her next question long to come up with an answer. It was something of a theory of his.

"A suffering dog will be harder to deal with than a dragon, honestly. It's the background that matters most. But if you removed the backgrounds from the equation, it's reptiles that have the most problems with being trained. They don't form attachments, they just can't. It's hard as hell to get them to do anything, I swear. Dragons are different, I'm not sure I'd even call them a reptile. But mokes for example. Freaking impossible. to make a pet out of that. And petting something that doesn't eat you and making kissy faces at it doesn't qualify it for a pet title, if you ask me. Snakes are cool and all but it wouldn't care if you dropped dead right in front of it."

.

 

If you have no business here, I do not want you here.

That was what the sign read. He hadn't even been here a full two days, and already Mattathias was beginning to wonder if he could do all of this. The prospect of magical creatures was one that both amazed and intrigued him: coming from a muggle family, having been obsessed with them since his youth, now to learn they were real--it was a lot. More than anything, he wanted to learn. He'd already read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at least four times cover-to-cover and devoured books in the library. He'd been staying up with a flashlight under his blankets recently, falling asleep on top of his texts more often than not, and then bouncing back into it the moment he returned to consciousness.

Every waking moment was occupied with it. He liked other subjects, too, something that he learned wasn't uncommon for Ravenclaws--they just wanted to find knowledge--but this just seemed so...right.

So now he was standing in front of Professor Morfran Griffith's door, staring at a sign that essentially told him to go away, and seriously contemplating doing so. Or he was until he heard the peculiar squawking through the door. Carefully, quietly, Matt picked his way up to it, leaning forward to press his ear to the crack between the door and the wall. It was impossible to see anything through it but the noise persisted. What was it? What was it saying? What sort of creature could utter such a sound?

Uncertain but too caught in the siren's song of curiosity, Matt raised his hand, closed his fingers around the tassel, and gave it a solid pull.

Oh god, Professor Griffith was going to kill him. They hadn't even started classes. What did he think he was doing? Foolish. Foolish, foolish, foolish, but how else would he know what was inside?

A ring at the door. A summons that echoed around the chambers of the fortress known as the stables. Although there weren't a lot of chambers, it was certainly sporting rather thick walls. Griffith had no desire of letting anything escape, and he had even less desire to allow anything access. Although he was technically given jurisdiction over the entire castle, as were all the other professors to one degree or another, he resigned himself to almost exclusively lurking within his stable walls. There was research to be performed, work to be done.

It was only on rare occasions that he could be seen swiftly moving towards the castle in search of a sandwich or three. Griffith was a tall man with a long coat that sported especially cavernous pockets. He used his long legs to their fullest advantage, blowing past anyone who may have been inclined to strike up conversation. These trips would usually end in him reaching the kitchens, remaining there for around five minutes, and then returning to the stables.

But he was always available to help with creatures, always open to offering advice on what to do for an ailing pet. Creatures were his life and livelihood, helping those creatures who were hurt was what kept him going. That, and star trek. But you couldn't get star trek out here in Hogwarts, the magical barrier would just fry anything he tried to bring in.

When he reached the door, swinging it open to reveal a little boy, probably first year, Griffith wasn't sure what to think. He was too young to be coming with a question regarding the class, and he didn't seem to be holding an ailing pet, so it was probably either a question, or curiosity regarding the elusive professor.

"Professor Morfran Griffith, Care of Magical Creatures."

The boy would have already known who he was, but the introduction served to prompt one from the first year. You never knew how awkward they were going to be