After lunch, Gabriel found himself among a crowd of students from every house, all heading down the slope toward Hagrid's hut and the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The air outside was crisp and bright, sunlight pouring through scattered clouds, the scent of damp grass rising with every step.
Hagrid was already waiting for them at the door, dressed in his enormous moleskin overcoat - something between a curtain and a tablecloth in size - with his massive boarhound sprawled contentedly at his feet, belly to the sun and tongue lolling lazily.
Gabriel smiled at the sight of the other half-giant practically vibrating in place, hands rubbing together with childlike excitement.
"C'mon now, get a move on!" Hagrid called as the class drew closer. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"
He led them past the pumpkin patch and along the treeline until they reached a fenced enclosure - an empty lot that looked like it was meant for livestock, though the fences here were far taller than he had seen before and reinforced with iron. Even from a distance, Gabriel could feel the hum of enchantments woven into the barrier, the faint pulse of magic standing out clearly for him now that they were away from the castle's dense magical interference.
"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid called.
The students shuffled into a loose semicircle, mostly falling into clusters by friend groups. Gabriel followed after Hermione and ended up near Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott - which, by consequence, put him right beside Neville Longbottom, who was valiantly pretending not to sneak glances at Hannah. Judging by the small, knowing smile on her face, he wasn't doing a particularly good job.
The sight made Gabriel grin - and, feeling inspired into mischief by it, reach over and give a soft - especially considering his strength - tug on a lock of Hermione's hair. She spun toward him, indignant, and he only stuck his tongue out playfully before she promptly stepped on his foot. He used the excuse to shift a bit closer, grinning at her offended huff.
"That's it! Make sure yeh can all see!" Hagrid said happily. "Now, first thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"
"How?" drawled a familiar, unimpressed voice.
"Eh?" Hagrid blinked.
Draco Malfoy stood near the front, arms crossed. "How do we open our books?" he repeated, his tone full of annoyance.
He held up his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which had a thick length of rope tied tightly around it. Around the circle, several other students began pulling out their own copies - all either tied, belted, locked or otherwise clamped in one way or another.
Gabriel reached into his bag to retrieve his, ignoring the faint pinch of tiny teeth clamping against his hand. Pulling out a book that looked like something between a spider, a wolf, and a tome: four gleaming green eyes glaring at him from its cover, its leathery surface twitching with restrained irritation as it failed to pierce his skin.
Gabriel chuckled.
"Hasn't anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked, crestfallen.
"They don't come with instructions, Hagrid," Gabriel said with amusement, holding up his hand where the little creature-book still hung from his fingers. That earned a laugh from several students - and a sharp glare from Malfoy.
"Right, right," Hagrid said quickly. "Well, all yeh gotta do is stroke 'em along the spine - go on, Gabriel, show 'em how it's done."
Gabriel did as told, running a black-nailed finger gently down the spine. The book shivered, then rolled like a cat under his touch, emitting a low purr before releasing its grip entirely. With a quick motion, he caught it before it could fall, now placid and perfectly harmless.
He flipped it open, leafing through the animated illustrations that writhed and shimmered on the parchment - Ashwinders, Chizpurfles, Dragons, Horned Serpents, Lethifolds - before pausing at a section about Merfolk, the illustrations depicting elegant, sharp-toothed figures gliding through dark water.
He glanced up just in time to see several students still wrestling with their bound books, and Hagrid's eager grin stretching wider than ever.
"That's probably the most interesting book we've ever had," Gabriel said with a laugh, flipping through the pages until he found a section about the Iaras of his homeland. They were described as warm, sweetwater dwellers - beautiful and dangerous in equal measure. He idly wondered how they'd react to being featured in a book about monsters, before deciding they'd either adore the attention or be furiously offended by it. Probably both.
"Not everyone's a freak like you, Moretti," Draco sneered from across the fence.
"That sounds like a you problem," Gabriel replied mildly, not even glancing up from the page.
"Why, you-"
Whatever Malfoy was about to say was cut off as Hagrid stepped right between them, oblivious to the tension.
"None o' that now - no trouble in my class, or I'll start… uh… takin' points, yeah?" he said, trying to sound authoritative. Malfoy gave him a look of pure disdain that Hagrid either didn't see or chose to ignore.
"Right then!" Hagrid clapped his massive hands together, bright-eyed. "Everyone open yer books ter the section on flying equines! Wait right here- I'll be back in a tick with a proper surprise for yeh!"
And with that, he disappeared into the treeline.
The moment he was gone, Draco snorted loudly.
"Honestly. God, this place is going to the dogs. That oaf teaching classes - my father will have a fit when he hears about this. It's disgraceful. And of course you would love it, Moretti. Mudbloods, monsters, and half-breeds - it's practically a family reunion."
Gabriel didn't even blink. He just stared at Draco for a long second, then said in a ridiculously high-pitched imitation,
"'My daddy will have a fit when I tell him!'" He burst out laughing before he could stop himself. "By Merlin, Malfoy, you're such a pansy."
"What did you just say to me?" Draco hissed, eyes narrowing as a few Ravenclaws and Gryffindors snickered.
"Are you deaf too?" Gabriel asked, all wide-eyed innocence.
"Oi! Didn't I say no trouble?" Hagrid's voice boomed from the trees before Draco could respond. "Next time, I'll have yeh both doin' detention washin' Fang's bedding!"
The half-giant emerged from the shadows, holding a thick chain in each hand - and behind him came a sight that made several girls gasp and coo in delight.
A dozen creatures followed in step: bodies like great horses but far taller than any Gabriel had ever seen. Their front legs ended not in hooves but in talons, gleaming like polished steel. Massive wings rose proudly from their shoulders, feathers shimmering in colors that caught the sunlight - milky white with black speckles, burnished bronze, dappled grey, and glossy ink-black. Their eagle heads turned sharply, golden eyes gleaming with fierce intelligence. Around each neck rested a thick leather collar attached to a heavy iron chain held by Hagrid.
"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared, grinning ear to ear and waving an enormous arm at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"
They most certainly were. Gabriel took in the sight with quiet appreciation. Not his favorite kind of chimeric beast, perhaps - but certainly among his top ten. Then again, he supposed Hippogriffs were much safer to bring to a class of thirteen-year-olds than a naturally aggressive, territorial griffon… or Merlin forbid, a manticore.
"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "who wants to come a bit closer?"
"I do!" Gabriel volunteered cheerfully, stepping forward without hesitation.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Hagrid said, clearly relieved someone had volunteered. Then, leaning down closer to Gabriel, he whispered nervously, "Am I doin' well?"
Gabriel grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. That made Hagrid let out a booming laugh that startled a few students, before he turned back to his creatures with renewed confidence.
"This here's Buckbeak," he said proudly, patting the grey-feathered Hippogriff at the front.
"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is - they're proud," Hagrid said, his tone suddenly serious. "Easily offended, they are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the first move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn't bow - then get away sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."
As he spoke, Hagrid gave Buckbeak's collar a gentle pull, leading the creature closer. The Hippogriff stepped forward with deliberate grace, its golden eyes sharp and intelligent as it fixed its gaze on Gabriel.
For a moment, he almost wished it would attack him, just so he'd have an excuse to try and fight it - and Buckbeak's seemed to sense that eagerness, feathers ruffling as it let out a piercing cry that made several students gasp and take a step back.
"Easy now, Gabriel!" Hagrid warned quickly. "Don't look at him like that - he'll think yeh're challengin' him! And don't blink too much either - Hippogriffs don't trust yeh if yeh blink too much!"
Gabriel caught himself, then drew in a breath and slipped back into his Occlumency training. He focused on projecting calm, regret - an unspoken 'I didn't mean that'. He wasn't sure it would work…
But it did. Slowly, Buckbeak's feathers settled, his sharp eyes softening into wary curiosity.
"Right," said Hagrid with a relieved chuckle. "Suppose I can't expect much better than that. Try ta bow now - slowly."
Gabriel did as told, bending low in a graceful, formal bow, holding the posture for a full ten seconds in a display of genuine respect. When he straightened up, Buckbeak was watching him closely… then, with a flick of his talons and a slow dip of his head, the Hippogriff returned the bow.
The class broke into applause.
"Well done, Gabriel! Very well done!" Hagrid beamed. "Reckon he'd let yeh pat him now - go on, try it!"
Gabriel huffed a laugh at the phrasing. "Try it, he says…" he muttered under his breath, stepping closer to the still-bowing Hippogriff. He reached out, running a calloused hand along the back of Buckbeak's neck. The creature shivered, feathers fluffing under his touch in a surprisingly endearing way, and lifted its head expectantly - almost demanding more.
"Good boy, Buckbeak," Gabriel murmured, voice low and fond as he scratched under the creature's sharp beak. The Hippogriff let out a pleased rumble, and the class's applause grew louder.
"Why didn't you need to bow to him, Hagrid?" Gabriel asked over the noise.
"Ah, this old boy already knows me well," Hagrid said proudly. "We've done this song and dance hundreds o' times, we have. At some point they just get used ter yeh, see? Anyhow - he seems ter like yeh, Gabriel. I'd wager he'd even let yeh ride him!"
Gabriel laughed, shaking his head. "Hahaha- no." He smiled to show he meant no offense. "Sorry, Hagrid, but I don't trust anything or anyone besides myself to carry me through the sky."
He ignored the rather pointed look Hermione shot him - considering the number of times he'd done exactly that to her since her birthday last year.
"Ahh, that's too bad," said a disappointed Hagrid, before turning hopefully to the rest of the class. "Any of yeh would like ta give it a try?"
No one moved. Gabriel could see Harry psyching himself up, and Draco looking like he wanted to volunteer just so he could claim he'd done something Gabriel hadn't. Honestly, Gabriel kind of hoped he would - either the blond would finally grow a pair or he'd cry like a child. Either outcome was a win in Gabriel's book.
Instead, to everyone's surprise, it wasn't either of them who spoke first.
"I–I'll do it!" Neville said suddenly, sneaking a glance at Hannah, who was staring in awe at a pinkish-roan hippogriff before turning to him in shock. He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and repeated, more firmly, "I'll do it."
The shake in his legs told the truth, though.
Gabriel heard Malfoy snort and mutter something that made Crabbe and Goyle snigger. Near them, Blaise just sighed and rolled his eyes at Gabriel, who had to bite back a laugh.
Meanwhile, the Gryffindor boys were patting Neville on the back, cheering him on as Hagrid led him through the same steps Gabriel had done earlier. Gabriel stepped aside to give him space, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed.
"Good luck, Nev," he said with an encouraging grin.
"Now you've jinxed it," Neville half-joked, pale but determined.
Gabriel chuckled and rejoined the group. Susan leaned in from his side, smirking.
"The Missus is right pissed with you, you know?" she teased, nodding toward Hermione, who was glaring daggers at him.
"What did I do now?" Gabriel asked, raising a brow.
"Oh, I don't know, Gabriel," Susan said with mock innocence. "Maybe it has something to do with how you looked at the half-ton creature with talons that can slice stone and a beak that could pierce steel like it owed you money?"
"In my defense, it was a lot of money," Gabriel replied smoothly, earning muffled laughter from those nearby. Hermione's glare intensified.
"Oh, there's the eye twitch! It's been a while since I've seen it," he said cheerfully.
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, inhaling deeply. "If you want to get yourself beaten that badly, you don't need to go looking for it, you know? I'm quite sure a Bombarda would be enough to throw you on your arse."
"Language," Gabriel chided with mock seriousness - and laughed when Hermione actually winced. "Don't get jealous, Mione. My relationship with Buckbeak was purely platonic, I swear. Also, I'm pretty sure that's a fetish."
Before she could fire back, a high-pitched scream cut through the air.
Neville shot into the sky on Buckbeak's back, clinging for dear life. His shouts started as terrified wails - but then, slowly, turned into laughter. The sound carried over the field, bright and wild, as Buckbeak swooped gracefully through the air with the boy hanging on like a wind-tossed flag.
"Look at him go!" Gabriel exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "You think this is easier for him since he doesn't have to worry about messing up?"
"Or maybe he's just better with living things," Hermione said, smiling despite herself.
"What would that make Professor Snape, then?" Gabriel asked.
"Word around the castle is that he's a vampire," said Hannah, deadly serious - which only made everyone burst out laughing again.
After Neville landed - pale, breathless, and grinning like a madman - the rest of the class finally seemed to find their courage. Encouraged by Hagrid's booming praise and Neville's surprising success, they began approaching the hippogriffs one by one.
The beasts had their collars removed and were allowed to roam freely within the enclosure, which made a few students visibly reconsider their life choices.
Gabriel approached the inky-black one he'd been watching earlier, pausing to glance at Hermione as she performed the bowing ritual. To his amusement, the hippogriff dipped its head almost immediately, allowing her to stroke its neck with delighted wonder.
"Show-off," he muttered, chuckling to himself as he looked around.
Harry, Ron, and Justin were together with a chestnut-colored one, while Hannah and Susan had promptly dragged Neville to the pinkish-roan hippogriff Hannah had been eyeing earlier - demanding he 'teach them' how to do it. Michael Corner, meanwhile, lingered beside Padma, perfectly content to stay away while she in turn seemed determined to prove she wasn't afraid by bowing to the bronze one with perfect posture.
Even Malfoy seemed to have managed it - or so it appeared. He was standing with Buckbeak, petting him alongside his cronies, laughing about something Gabriel couldn't hear.
But he could see the sneering smile on Draco's face. And the way Buckbeak's feathers bristled.
Gabriel's smile vanished instantly.
Rather than shouting and scaring all the animals, he drew on the reflexes honed over months of training, slipping into that unfortunately all too-familiar state of cold rage - pressure mounting behind his eyes and fangs pricking at his lower lip - and leapt forward. He barreled into Draco just as Buckbeak lunged, knocking the boy to the ground and raising his arm defensively as the hippogriff's talons raked across it instead.
"GABRIEL!" Hermione screamed as chaos erupted.
Students shrieked and stumbled backward as Hagrid roared, "Back! Everyone BACK!" rushing forward to restrain a now-furious Buckbeak, who was thrashing and glaring with murder in its golden eyes - not at Draco, but at Gabriel.
Gabriel, breathing hard, stared right back, his own blackened eyes locked on the beast in a silent standoff until, slowly, the inhuman tint bled away. His breathing steadied. The adrenaline began to fade, leaving behind the sharp sting of pain in his arm.
He winced, shaking his hand as droplets of blood flung into the grass. Three deep, clean gashes ran down from his forearm to his wrist - not nearly enough to cripple him, but deep enough to hurt like hell.
Hermione and Neville were at his side in seconds.
"Are you alright?!" Hermione demanded, her voice trembling somewhere between fury and panic.
Gabriel flexed his fingers and laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Think the scar'll look cool?"
She scowled - hard. "You are impossible." But at the next moment she set herself transfiguring a long row of bandages and starting to put them tightly around his forearm.
Meanwhile, Draco's shrill voice cut through the air.
"THAT- THAT THING TRIED TO KILL ME!" he shouted hysterically, staggering to his feet and pointing a shaking finger at Buckbeak.
"It most certainly did not!" Hagrid bellowed, still holding the beast back with visible effort.
"Oh, honestly," Gabriel muttered, rolling his eyes. "If anyone should be complaining, it's me. I'm the one bleeding."
He took a half-step toward Draco, stopping when Hermione pulled on his arm, and glaring at him. "What's your damage, Malfoy? There were literally five rules. Five. Treat the hippogriff with respect. Make eye contact. Don't blink too much. Bow. Step back if it doesn't bow. Then - surprise, surprise! - treat it with respect again! It's not that hard!"
"Of course you'd defend the creature," Draco spat, his voice trembling with fury and humiliation. "Seeing as you're one of them."
The air seemed to drop several degrees.
"Really now," Gabriel said quietly with a smile.
Hagrid shouted something, trying to intervene, but Draco was too angry to stop.
"Oh, what's wrong? Does it hurt to hear the truth?" Draco sneered, "That you were bred from an animal by your whore of a-"
He never finished the sentence.
The crack of Gabriel's backhand echoed through the clearing. Draco flew backward, landing flat on his back and sliding a few feet through the dirt before going utterly still.
The entire class froze.
Even the hippogriffs stopped moving.
For a long, stunned moment, no one said a word.
Gabriel flexed his hand and exhaled a long, satisfied sigh. His eyes faded back to white as he muttered, almost sheepishly, "...Shouldn't have done that."
"Well," said Ron from somewhere in the silence, "I'm glad you did. It was about time, really."