Prof. Griffith's door.

Alan was standing in front of the door, waiting with a lack of patience caused by a lot of excitement that was clearly noticeable in the way his eyes lit up when he heard heavy footsteps coming closer. He straightened up a bit and a bright smile pulled the corner of his lips up, when he saw the door opening. He stared at the tall professor, who was dressed like he usually did. He did not waste any time apparently, directly asking what bothered him and Alan was sure he must be kind of busy, so Alan too decided to not waste any time.

”Hello professor, I hope you are having a great day! I am sure you remember me from R.O.A.M, correct?”, he greeted enthusiastically, but not even giving any time to respond to his question. It was clearly meant to be rhetoric, since Alan was sure the professor would not let anyone close to a creature without supervising them. ”I am actually here for two things!”, he announced, holding up two fingers with a happy look on his face. Congrats, this boy could count.

”So the first thing would be that I put up a cool sign over there with a tip for the other students!”, he explained as he stepped aside to give the professor a view on a sign, that Alan now was pointing at. A sign that if the professor knew his environment probably showed that it was fairly new. So after a second he grinned and stepped back in front of the professor.

”Secondly, I had some questions?”, he added nervously.

He didn't care about a sign. It would be obvious to anyone looking that it was done by some kid, so there really wasn't any danger of anyone taking it seriously. And giving the kid attention was not the best way to discourage random signs. Whatever, at least Mr. Vanes had questions. Hopefully relevant to the care of magical creatures and not something like 'which is cuter a cat or a dog' or 'my mom doesn't like pets but I want a parrot' or something equally inane.

"Alright, let's hear them."

He wondered what it was about him that made students want to come to the door. He had thought that the lack of any signs of welcome would keep them away, but perhaps it was the fascination with the forbidden? Even though it was allowed to go to the door, he supposed that the fact that they weren't welcome to come and randomly chat made them want to see who was living in the stone fortress.

Regardless, he was here to do a job, and his job involved kids. He was perfectly okay with that, he knew what he had signed up for. He wasn't going to back out and refuse to help them just because they weren't his favorite. He just wasn't going to be thrilled about it.

The second year looked at the older man, his smile reaching his eyes now upon getting the attention he required to get the answers to all the questions that had been bubbling in him ever since the lesson about Crups. He reminded Senkel, the small quirky crup that just had a thing for laces and he wondered if the mischievous pup was gnawing around on Griffith's stuff in his office or the stables, the place that mostly was his office. Would it look like an office though? The young lion had his doubts, but all the thought made him zone out, until he snapped out of it and grinned lightly at the grumpy professor.

”So... so... Do the pups still live with you or did you give them away? Can I know how Senkel is doing and well something more random, how would you feed an animal if you do not want to buy the bad stuff from the stores? Like I already know not to give animals boiled bones, are normal bones fine? I am thinking about getting a pet soon and I don't know how to plan their diet, because I couldn't really find a good book about it!”, he rambled and his pattern of speech was fast, maybe straining yet not too fast to misunderstand what he was saying.

Another thing popped up in his mind, making his eyes widen. ”What about toys! Toys and activity is important right, but I read and heard so much about cats and dogs hurting themselves on their squeaky toys... So what should I get the pet? I would ask a vet, but I am curious and you are the only one getting close to the term vet... just like a magical one with even more knowledge about different animals! So what toys?”, he asked sheepishly, hoping that the older man would not send him away, yet he believed he had a reason to be professor and a professor becomes professor because they like to share their knowledge, right?

"Don't worry, you don't need a vet to answer your questions. I can direct you to the path of enlightenment no problem. Hold on one second..."

The professor reached into his pocket, and pulled forth a pad of paper and a small stick of charcoal, which he used to quickly scribble down a name, which he then passed to the boy. It read



"Go check this out at the library, it will cover all you need to know, including boiled bones, squeaky toys, other kinds of toys, the proper diet and anything in between. You can take your time, and even write some notes down. And hey, if you ever need help finding another book, feel free to swing on past. Well, I'll see you around okay? Get some house points, show Gryffindor spirit and all that. Right, and senkel is doing fantastic, he's growing up big and strong

Griffith would wait for the young boy to turn around and head back before closing the door, as he didn't really want to be too overly rude about it, but he certainly didn't want to waste time answering the questions if, like the boy said, he was just having trouble finding a good book. Good book found, professorial duties accomplished, he was done.

He stood there curiously and wondered what Griffith meant by that and when he made a paper appear from his pocket and a piece of charcoal, the second year blinked in slight confusion. A frown formed on his lips as he thought what he would scribble on it. A name? Something sarcastic? The latter was not likely, he was not mean like that after saying he was about to help.

When Griffith handed him the piece of paper Alan's eyes swiftly ran over it with a soft smile that lit up his face brightly. It was a name and a book, making Alan grin and nod at the professor. Guessing him telling him stuff would be unclear and just a bother. Also he liked to learn stuff like that, in practical was his favorite, like how to build stuff and how to climb a tree without falling, but in theory making yourself smart on a subject you are actually interested in? He liked that too.

”Senkel is?”, he asked with widening eyes. ”Would it be too much to ask if I can see him? If so I would be happy with a picture or so, I just wanna see him again and tell him he is a good Crup!”,he asked and maybe was testing his luck. But he was Alan after all and he cared for the four pawed lace-addict.

"Nope, Senkel is currently sick with 'Professorgriffithisbusyandlookingatapuppyisn'tgoingtohelpyouoryourgrades-itis, so you'll have to check in later. And I hate to be the one to break this to you, but hes just listening for you tone and attitude, he doesn't actually know what being a 'good crup' means. Regardless, your questions were very nice but this is not a petting zoo, it is a classroom. Is there anything else that you actually need help with?

Questions were something he was supposed to help with. He was supposed to further the knowledge of the students of Hogwarts and all of that, but this was just a little kid wanting to see a puppy. He had creatures that needed help. Still, it was kind of nice to have a student that so clearly enjoyed the first R.O.A.M event, so he wasn't going to be mad.

But not being mad did not equal spending his time to show this boy a picture of a dog. He gave a much more polite goodbye, and then retreated back into the stables, ending the interaction. Ending any human interaction, anyway, until such a time as the door bell was rung again.

"Thank you for checking in, but I really do have to tend to a creature. I'll see you at the next R.O.A.M event, should you choose to attend."

THIS THREAD IS NOW OPEN FOR INTERACTION. IF YOU WANT TO MEET PROFESSOR GRIFFITH, FEEL FREE TO ENTER THE THREAD AND PULL THE CORD.

continued from here

@Morfran Griffith

Everyone knew about Morfran Griffith. Isaac hadn't started his classes yet, nor had he even seen the Care of Magical Creatures professor in his life, but only one word came to mind along with that name: terrifying. Isaac had heard about him from other first years; the man with the mane of wild hair, a tall broad body, piercing blue eyes and countless scars. The boy already knew that this was the kind of man you avoided at all costs, and he assumed, the kind that would expel you on little notice. He had the sense to keep his head down and never speak to him unless it was required.

Well, that rule had been broken. Dressed in a filthy robe, his face stained black with soot, the boy wheeled faster and faster, gliding on air. His lungs strained for breath, but he pushed on until he could see the sturdy form of the stables come into view. Just a little farther, Isaac, a little farther. you can do it, you can do it, the others need you.. he thought. It was a mantra to spur himself onwards and fight the exhaustion threatening to overwhelm his entire body. He couldn't let Elizabeth or Illowy or anyone else die.

Finally! Almost slamming into the front of the stables, the boy grasped the black silk cord in his thin hand and yanked as hard as he could, feeling it give in his hands. Was the professor even there? There was no sound to greet him but the shrieking menagerie of creatures. Sure, he assumed him the type to love his personal space, but Isaac felt a fierce surge of frustration; he couldn't just wait for him to come! This was serious!

Pulling on the string harder, he hollered at the top of his lungs, "Professor Griffith! Professor Griffith! Are you there?!"

How many ways could you hurt someone? Was being annoyed a good enough reason to use any of those ways to hurt someone? Griffith was in the small aviary, in the corner designated for Perthyn Wendigo. But, of course, there was a loud and constant ringing. Because why not have a loud and constant ringing to bother him? Why bother being polite, anyway? It's not as if professors weren't actually at the student's beck and call every time a tie fighter fell into a swamp.

Perthyn, sensing that the large man was about to leave, decided to fly into the cavernous pockets of the large man's heavy leather coat. A few seconds later, and he had closed the door to the aviary, devouring the ground beneath him with long strides. Not much longer, and he flung open the heavy stone slab of a front door, glaring at the very scared looking soot-covered boy in front of him.

The professor knew nothing of the inner struggle or the determination that had brought the boy to him in the remarkably short amount of time that it had, he only saw a boy that looked like he had just ran away from potions class after a failed attempt at a potion that involved quite a bit of dittany.

"The explanation for this one is going to be unparalleled, I'm sure."

Seeing the man was a whole other matter. It took Isaac a whole minute to recover his breath, and in that one minute, he had already deduced a couple of very obvious things. First of all, Professor Griffith was annoyed. That was a given, seeing the scowl covering his face and the ire in his voice. Second of all, he felt even more uncertainty about his mission. But he had to press on.

"I need a shovel." he explained with a wave of his arms, wiping ash off of his cheek. He knew it sounded ridiculous, so he quickly rushed to explaining. "There was this student, a Slytherin girl, Xailah, and she was fighting with this older boy. They got into a scuffle, and she cut him with glass, and he shoved her into a table and now-" Isaac's face grew incredibly grave, "There's a huge fire in the campgrounds that's about to reach the trees and burn the whole place down."

The boy tried to stop his shaking, but the adrenaline through his veins was making him feel terribly jittery. "Okay, so there's this other girl, her name's Elizabeth. She charged into one of the tables on fire, and I tried to stop her, but I don't know if she's okay. I left to get a shovel because someone named Illowy told me to throw dirt on the fire to get it to go out."

Gasping for breath after speaking for so long, Isaac almost looked as if he were a beached fish struggling for air. He coughed, finishing his story, "So, that's why Mr. Griffith sir, I need a shovel. To throw dirt. On a huge fire. I don't know where Professor Lear is either."

The kid had run from the campgrounds to the stables because of a fire. Okay, that seemed to check out. Did the kid run to the stables to seek the aid of a professor with access to spells that could help control the blaze before it grew out of control and endangered more lives? No, he had come to ask for a shovel. Griffith just blinked at the kid, considering the possibility that he was either very sick with protagonist-itis, or he was too shook from whatever traumatic events were taking place.

Griffith stepped out of the stables, closing the door behind him and heading towards the campgrounds, moving slow enough for the boy to keep up. He needed to know more about what was going on, after all. And the welshman was not exactly an expert at divination.

He was, however, starting to feel a bubbling feeling of displeasure with the headmaster. Why had there been no professors at the event? Surely it was the Headmaster's job to make sure that there were appropriate safety measures being taken into account. And yet, according to this boy there had been an awful lot of carnage and mayhem. Were the other members of staff just not suited for the smallest of tasks? Really?

His voice was a bit harsh, but it didn't matter. The professor didn't even notice the tone of his voice. He was deep in thought, pertaining to the hypothetical situation he would find at the ball. That, and the fact that fuzz bean was probably getting hungry, or would get hungry in the next five minutes. That meant he would have to see if he could pawn off this ball catastrophe off on someone else.

"Forget the da- the darn shovel and follow me. While you're at it, try explaining to me why this wasn't stopped by a professor, and what exactly happened. We have a ways to the ball, there should be plenty of time."