Chapter 49. The First Lesson
In fact, Adrian Wesson had set the difficulty of this test according to each individual.
Since every student had a different personality, temperament, and appearance, the difficulty of reining in one's malice would naturally vary.
For example, most Hufflepuff students were very friendly and patient.
That was an innate advantage when it came to interacting with magical creatures.
As a quintessential Hufflepuff, Cedric had no trouble at all.
When he took one step after another towards Rai, Rai showed almost no sign of wariness and smoothly accepted the sweet in his hand.
"Excellent, Mr Diggory. Hufflepuff gets five points," Wesson said, nodding in satisfaction, applauding as he praised him.
"Just call me Cedric, Professor," Cedric replied happily.
He had been a little nervous at first. After all, according to the books, Thunderbirds were very dangerous creatures.
But things had gone far more smoothly than he'd imagined.
Next, Wesson had the students in the back take turns, using different foods to feed Rai.
With Cedric's smooth start, the others seemed encouraged and began approaching Rai one by one.
However, for some students, the process was not so simple.
For instance, a certain Gryffindor who had almost been struck by lightning just now.
Perhaps his rash first approach had made Rai extra wary of him.
Each time Fred took a step towards Rai, Rai retreated a step.
In the end, Fred could only scratch his head helplessly and look at Wesson, a little embarrassed.
"Clear your stray thoughts, Mr Weasley," Wesson reminded him. "A small suggestion: imagine yourself with a troll's brain—it'll be much easier."
"Just think of yourself as a half-wit, Weasley," a student nearby said with a laugh. "Abandon your brain. You won't be needing it."
Fred rolled his eyes and snapped at the nearby student, "Thanks for the tip."
That said, he still did as told; his gaze shifted, and in an instant it went vacant.
Suffice it to say, he was highly talented when it came to making himself look dim.
When he came up to Rai again, Rai didn't retreat. After watching him for a few seconds, at last, he stretched out his sharp beak and carefully took the food.
Fred let out a breath of relief.
In truth, for most magical creatures, those with pure hearts were more likely to gain their recognition. That was why Wesson had suggested the students empty their minds.
As it turned out, it worked.
By the end of the lesson, almost everyone could approach Rai without trouble.
A few students could even stroke his feathers.
At last, Rai gave his wings a slight shake. A single feather fell from him and landed right by Cedric.
"Huh?"
The students stared at the feather in surprise—especially Cedric, who almost instinctively bent down and picked it up with great care.
"Professor? Is this…?" he asked, looking at Wesson with some uncertainty.
Wesson glanced at the feather, smiled slightly, and announced in a clear voice, "Congratulations, Cedric. This is Rai's first moulted tail feather. The fact it chose to let you find it shows it recognises you highly."
At those words, the students turned envious looks his way.
They didn't know exactly what the tail feather could be used for, but it didn't take much imagination to know it had to be an extremely precious magical material—like a phoenix feather.
Cedric clearly understood how valuable this feather was, to say nothing of it being Rai's very first.
"Thank you, Rai," he said softly, full of sincere feeling.
Rai let out a light cry in response.
Having done all this, Rai suddenly beat his wings, turned into a streak of light, shot up into the sky, and vanished into the clouds at once.
Watching Rai disappear so quickly, the students looked at one another.
Only Wesson knew that Rai had probably been overfed and stuffed, and needed to find a place to digest.
"All right, that's it for today's lesson," Wesson clapped his hands, drawing the students' eyes back to him. "I hope you've learnt something today. Remember, most magical creatures can sense other people's emotions and thoughts to some extent. Restrain your stray thoughts and you'll be better able to approach them—and Thunderbirds are especially so. Then, as for homework…"
The students were still basking in the excitement of getting so close to a Thunderbird, but the moment they heard the words "homework," their expressions turned stiff.
It seemed that no matter the era or the place, homework was never popular with students.
"Relax," Wesson said with a smile, waving his hand. He deliberately paused before continuing, "There's no homework this time."
After a brief silence, the students burst into cheers.
"But—" Wesson drawled on purpose, cutting short their celebrations, "I need each of you to choose a few magical creatures you're interested in, write them on parchment, and hand it to me before the next class."
The cheers faded a little, replaced by soft muttering.
Cedric was carefully studying the Thunderbird tail feather in his hand, his face still bright with joy. On hearing Wesson's words, he looked up, a little curious and expectant. "Professor, the magical creatures we write on the parchment—will you bring them for us to see?"
At this, the surrounding students fell silent for a second.
Hearing Cedric's question, Wesson's lips quirked up as he announced, "Of course."
The students grew excited again at once and began heatedly discussing which magical creatures to choose.
"What should we pick, Fred?" George pumped his fist, excited. "Dragons, how about that? I've only ever seen them in the photos Charlie sent us, never in real life."
"Dragons? Oh, Merlin, do you want Professor Wesson thrown in prison?" Fred rolled his eyes. "I think Acromantulas would be better. Little Ron will love it…"
"I'd like to see a Demiguise. I heard its hair can be woven into Invisibility Cloaks…"
Hearing their chatter, Wesson's raised smile froze slightly.
This year's students were up to no good.
He cleared his throat lightly and added, "Limited to creatures of 'XXX' classification and below!"
At that, the students' enthusiasm cooled a notch.
Though a bit disappointed, they still excitedly discussed which magical creatures to choose.
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