Percy's PoV.
Buckbeak charged straight at me when Hagrid unchained the hippogriff. I managed to step to the side before I was trampled. Shocked gasps sounded from outside the paddock and Hagrid was trying to get the hippogriffs attention while he closed the distance between himself and the hippogriff as the creature whirled to face me again. The hippogriff reared up and brought it's talons down towards my head but I stepped back just in the nick of time to avoid losing one of my eyes. I put my hands up to show that I wasn't going to hurt it but it squawked at me, buffeting me with its wings in the process.
You think you can just come in here and expect to ride me, sea spawn? It said to me and I was slightly surprised that I could understand the squawking, but it was half horse after all, so I guess it made a bit of sense that I could speak to it just like any other horse. Well, think again because I will not let some half-brained sea brat on my back. So you can just leave before I trampled you.
"I'm not going to ride you." I told him. "I'm not a big fan of flying." The hippogriff calmed down a bit at that before regarding me with one of its orange eyes.
That won't stop me from trampling you if you so much as think about getting on my back.
"I'll keep that in mind."
You better, Buckbeak glared at me. Hagird stood a few feet behind the hippogriff now, ready to intercede if Buckbeak tried to hurt me again.
"Yeh alright, Johnathan?" the giant asked me and I nodded my head, keeping my eyes on the hippogriff in front of me. "Yeh want ter continue?" another nod. "'Kay, so you'll want ter bow. Make sure ter keep eye contact and try not ter blink ter much." I saw Buckbeak roll his eyes a bit and that and I smiled a bit while I followed his instructions. After a moment he bowed back. "Very good, very good," Hagrid praised, "Now yeh can go up and pet him if yeh like."
Pull out one of my feathers and you'll lose a limb. Buckbeak squawked and I laughed at that but nodded and he let me pet him. His feathers were as soft and smooth as silk, shimmering slightly in the afternoon sun. He just let me stroke him for a few minutes as the rest of the class hesitantly entered the paddock and Hagrid unchained the other hippogriffs. Fortunately they didn't charge at my classmates or try to mutilate them with their talons. Draco, Pansy and Theodore came and joined me and Buckbeak. They looked weary though.
"It's ok guys, he won't hurt you…probably." I told them.
"That's very reassuring." Draco drawled sarcastically.
"Are you sure? Because it did try to kill you." Pansy pointed out.
Excuse me, Buckbeak screeched, I am not an 'it'. They backed up quickly when the squawking started. Yeah, that's right, be afraid.
"That's why I said probably." I said to my female friend, smiling slightly at them. "And Pansy, Buckbeak is a boy not an 'it'." The hippogriff nodded in agreement.
"Whatever." She muttered and I rolled my eyes at her. All around us people were in the stages of bowing to the other hippogriffs and petting them while Hagrid made his way around the paddock, making sure that everyone was doing fine and make sure the creatures didn't harm anyone. Neville was having a hard time with his hippogriff and I saw Harry and his friends trying to help out but his fear and shyness kept him backing away from the hippogriff at the slightest movement it made.
"I'll be back. All of you behave." I told my friends before heading over to the group of Gryffindors. "Hey guys, need some help?" They jumped a bit when they heard me and I had to hold back a smirk.
"Sorry but we would rather not be killed by a hippogriff." Ron growled at me and Hermione glared at him.
"Ronald, it is not his fault that that hippogriff charged at him."
"It still tried to kill him." The two of them started arguing with each other and Harry and Neville ignored them and turned towards me.
"I grateful for the offer, Percy, but I'm not like you. Your hippogriff charged straight at you and tried to kill you and you didn't back down." Neville said looking down at the ground. "I get scared when it hasn't even done anything yet."
"Just because I didn't back down doesn't mean that I wasn't scared, Neville." I told him, and he snuck a glance up at me and I smiled at him. "It's ok to be afraid. That's the difference between bravery and courage. Being brave might mean that you have no fear but if you're not afraid of whatever it is you're doing then there's really no meaning to it. There is nothing to overcome. It also means that there is something you don't know and that could end up being very bad. Having courage is to have fear but not letting it stop you from moving forward. So summon up some Gryffindor courage and go pet that hippogriff. I know you have it in you." The shy boy just stared at me for a moment and Harry was looking at me with an unreadable expression.
"Do you really think that?" Neville asked with a bit of hope coloring his tone.
"Of course I do and don't you go forgetting it either." I told him sternly but with a good natured smiled and he smiled back.
"Thanks Percy." He said and after a moment turned back the hippogriff with slightly more confidence than he had before.
"That was nice of you to say." Harry told me as we watch Neville bow to their hippogriff and after a few moments it bowed back to him and I smile at the look of shock and excitement on his face as he slowly went up and started to pet the creature.
"It's the truth and I'll have you know that I am a very nice person." I said to him and he gave me a pointed look. "Just not when I'm in a bad mood."
"So what had you in a bad mood today?"
"Oh, you know, still feeling some of the residual effects from the dementor from yesterday, not getting much sleep last night, and of course it being the first actual day of school…and I didn't have breakfast but that was my fault for not wanting to get out of bed." I said and he thought about that for a moment. Ron and Hermione stopped their arguing long enough to go get acquainted with the hippogriff, though Ron kept throwing me glares.
"Ok I can understand how that could leave you in a foul mood. I just hope it doesn't end up being a daily occurrence, otherwise you'll end up getting a lot of detentions." My brother replied with a slight smile.
"Not to mention a lot of angry housemates if any points are lost with the giving out of those detentions." I added cheerfully and he laughed a bit at that.
"I don't envy you for that, but I can tell you that I've been in that situation before. It was not fun."
"I'll bet. You'll have to tell what happened sometime." He gave me a calculating look at that.
"One condition," I raised an eyebrow at him, "you have to tell me about the time when you've gotten into the most trouble at your old school." I laughed at that. "What? Did you not get into trouble at your old school?"
"Oh, no, I got into loads of trouble at all of my old schools. So there's a lot to choose from." That invoked a look from him that clearly said 'you've been to more than one school'. "Anyway, I should probably get back over to Draco and the others. Make sure they don't do anything to disrupt class. Unintentional or not."
"Yeah, that does seem like something Draco would do." Harry agreed reluctantly.
"See you later." I said before making my way back over to find Draco and the others petting Buckbeak and talking with each other. As I got closer I could make out what they were saying. They haven't noticed me yet. When I was just a few yards away I heard Draco say something to the gray hippogriff.
"See you're not so bad are you, you big chicken." The blonde boy sneered. Buckbeak squawked with indignation using a few choice words to describe the blonde and reared up on his hind legs. Without another thought I leaped forward and just barely managed to push Draco out of the way of Buckbeak's talons. However, I wasn't so lucky and I could feel the talons rip through my robes and tare though my side. Draco and I fell to the ground while the other students started shouting. Heavy foot falls came our way. Just as Buckbeak was about to strike again Hagrid appeared next to the hippogriff and managed to wrestle him back into the leather collar and lead him over to the other side of the paddock and re-chained the creature to the fence.
"Dear Merlin, Percy! Are you alright?" Pansy asked as she knelt down next to me. When I tried to move pain flared up on my side like flames but I managed not to scream. "Percy?"
"Well, that hurt." I said giving her a small smile before cringing from the pain in my side with every breath I took. All of the other kids had crowed around us but Hagrid came over and told them to move back.
"Yeh alright lad?" He asked me and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something really sarcastic, it wasn't his fault that I was hurt after all.
"Yeah, still breathing, which I like to consider a good thing." I answered him after a moment and forced myself to sit up despite the pain it caused me.
"You're bleeding!" Draco exclaimed, looking slightly green at the sight of my blood.
"No, you think." I growled at him and he flinched.
"I'm sorry." He murmured, looking at the ground. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Buckbeak, he's the one you insulted." I told him as I slowly got to my feet. A few of the others started to tell me that I shouldn't get up but I didn't listen to them. Almost immediately the world started to spin and I nearly fell, only to be caught by Hagrid and he lifted me into his arms.
"Let's get yeh ter the hospi'al wing. Class dismissed!" Hagrid started running and the swaying and jostling gave me vertigo so I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing evenly. After what seemed like forever, but was only about ten minutes or so, I was set down on a soft surface and I opened my eyes to see white walls and a couple dozen beds. The nurse lady from last night came bustling over to me.
"What happened?" she demanded of Hagrid as she started to check me over and quickly honed in on the slashes in my blood-stained robes.
"Draco apparently thought it was a good idea to call Buckbeak a chicken and I push him away from the angry hippogriff." I answered her before Hagrid could. "I wasn't lucky enough to also avoid the talons." My mind was starting to go fuzzy from blood loss. The nurse took out her wand and murmured something under her breath that I couldn't make out and the pain in my side started to fade and I could feel the wounds start to close. It felt a bit weird to be healed by magic different from my water healing and Nectar and Ambrosia.
"Really, Rubeus? Hippogriffs for your first class? Isn't that a bit much?" she asked the giant while she worked.
"I thought it'd be a good firs' lesson." He replied, sounding upset.
"I liked it." I told him.
"Yeh just sayin' that ter make me feel better. Yeh could have been killed. I shoulda been payin' more attention."
"Even if you had, you couldn't have stopped Draco from saying what he did. Nor could you have stopped Buckbeak from retaliating. Someone woold hav' still ended up hert." I could hear my words starting to slur and I could feel myself starting to fall asleep. "Though you shud hav' 'eard what Buck'eak called 'im in return." I smiled as I recalled what the hippogriff had squawked at the blonde boy for calling him a chicken. "'ake me up fer din'er." I said and let the darkness of sleep claim me.