Chapter Four: Of Fear and Overcoming It

Harry almost laughed; riding a griffin? That was the great and mysterious challenge? After riding a hippogriff, a griffin wouldn't be any trouble at all. It didn't hurt that the Muggle, Parker, looked positively green at the challenge.

Silnok studied both of them. "I see that both of you are wearing dress robes," he observed. "Will you require time to change to more…appropriate clothing?"

Harry shook his head; he planned to be back in England in time to introduce his new charges to Ginny and his children and have dinner. Parker considered, then asked if Silnok had a hanger he could use for his dress robes. Silnok offered to have one brought to the clearing where the challenge would take place, an offer Parker graciously accepted.

With the details sorted, Silnok led them out of his office and to another room within Gringotts. There, a goblin passed Silnok a length of rope with a nod and one of those eerie goblin smiles. Silnok bowed back and turned to his two companions, holding the rope out. Harry grabbed hold at once, but Parker studied the rope a moment.

"Portkey?" he asked; Harry suppressed a roll of his eyes.

Silnok inclined his head to the stocky Muggle. With a small grimace, Parker grabbed hold and the goblin said something in Gobbledegook. The portkey whisked them away; they landed in a forest clearing, Harry and Silnok keeping their feet while Parker ended up in a heap on the ground. For the first time, Harry had a moment of sympathy for the Muggle; landings with Portkey and Floo (3) were his weak point as well.

Harry looked around the clearing; it was large, stretching from the woods near the three travelers in a sweep of small hills and plains to a far off stand of woods and trees that looked to be almost one-hundred meters away. The ground was shades of green and brown, with strands of undergrowth here and there. Harry drew in a breath of air, smiling at the clear, cool breeze dancing around them.

Near to where the travelers stood, there was a small corral, with a griffin inside. The wizard studied the griffin a moment, surprised at the differences between the griffin and the hippogriff he owned, Buckbeak. The lion half, as opposed to a horse half, he'd expected. But unlike Buckbeak, the griffin's front legs were mostly lion, only turning to eagle claws near the ground. The tail was a lion's tail, but again, unlike Buckbeak, the tail had tail feathers, just like a real eagle would. The griffin also had ears, something Buckbeak didn't have at all, long, furry, and tufted.

The griffin eyed the new arrivals, letting out an annoyed cat-bird grumble. Wings half-spread, then settled back. The animal moved to the rear of the corral, beginning to preen its feathers, though it kept a close eye on its guests. The tail lashed, curling around so it too could be preened by the griffin. Beside Harry, Parker was eyeing the griffin as though it was a death sentence.

Silnok cleared his throat, bringing the attention of both men to himself. "Lord Potter, as the challenger of England, you shall go first. Sergeant Parker, you may, of course, observe Lord Potter's attempt as he shall observe yours."

He offered a hanger to the stocky man and indicated a small traveling rack where Parker could hang his dress robes. Harry wrinkled his nose as Parker shed the dress robes with obvious relief, revealing a black police uniform underneath them. The wizard quite conveniently forgot his own early struggles with robes as a youngster.

Instead, Harry turned his attention to the griffin, musing on his strategy. A deep bow, of course, waiting for an answering bow, and then a quick ride to top his success off with. He turned to Silnok, offering a brief bow to the goblin. "May I?" he requested politely.

Silnok studied him, waiting until Parker was done hanging his robes up, then inclined his head. "You may begin, Lord Potter."

Greg did his best to conceal his raw fear at the idea of flying on the beautiful gryphon in the corral. He might have hoped for Auror Potter to win and spare him the ordeal, but for the fact that if Auror Potter won, he'd lose his family. Even so, flying had never been one of his favorite things, quite the reverse actually.

Auror Potter entered the corral with an almost visible confidence in his bearing. He halted a meter or so from the gryphon, who, at Auror Potter's approach, had risen to its feet and begun to hiss. Without breaking eye contact, Auror Potter bowed to the gryphon. For several moments, the gryphon continued to hiss and pace, but as Auror Potter held the bow, the gryphon studied him. Abruptly, it sank down, returning the bow to Greg's considerable dismay.

Cautiously, carefully, Auror Potter advanced, letting the gryphon sniff at his outstretched hand. The gryphon held still, letting Auror Potter come right up to it and nuzzling into the petting. Greg's heart sank; he'd already lost. Auror Potter looked over his shoulder, tossing a smirk at Greg as he kept petting the gryphon.

Without missing a beat, Auror Potter went to mount the gryphon, looking rather cocky as he rested his hand on the gryphon's back in preparation for mounting. Greg swallowed hard, trying to hold back his disappointment as Auror Potter leaned forward, about to mount.

With an outraged scree! the gryphon reared up, dislodging its would-be rider. Auror Potter fell backwards, rolling even as he hit the ground to avoid the slash of razor-sharp talons. The Auror scrambled back, dodging the furious animal as best he could. Greg, without thinking, ran to the gate and swung it open. Auror Potter leapt for the open gate, narrowly escaping the gryphon's snapping beak as he rolled out of the corral to safety. The gryphon halted as Greg swung the gate shut, eyeing both men balefully. With a final cat-like hiss, it stalked away in offended dignity.

Silnok, who had observed the entire episode, offered a leer to Auror Potter. "Never, Lord Potter, assume that you know how a cat will respond. They will invariably prove you wrong in your assumptions."

The dusty Auror scowled from his spot on the ground; in addition to the cuts from the day before, he now sported several long, thin scratches on his arms, blood leaking onto his fancy dress robes. "It's not a cat, it's a gryphon," he pointed out.

"As you say," the goblin replied, sounding amused. He turned toward Greg, giving a wide, toothy smile. "Your turn, Sergeant Parker."

Greg Parker looked from those pointed teeth, to Auror Potter on the ground, to the gryphon in the corral and gulped.

[3] Magical travel by fireplace