When the bough breaks (Hippogriff one-shot)

[Deleted]

There was a beauty to nature that even Daniel couldn’t deny and as someone who couldn’t have cared before, that was saying something. If he had been asked where he found himself a few years ago. Bumming around Europe with some stolen Galleons and his mother’s old magical tent would not have been his answer. He probably wouldn’t have had an answer to being with but this certainly wouldn’t have been on the table at all. This wasn’t who Daniel was or at least who he used to be but he was coming to enjoy it. Not just for the joy of getting away from his father but for the freedom it provided. His freedom, a chance to go where he wanted, and do just about anything. He never noticed how suffocating it was living in his father's house. At least till he experienced being truly on his own. That was even with his father never being around, he just couldn’t do anything back there.

Noticing the beauty of nature didn’t come from some desire to be in nature more. No, it came from being essentially homeless. Granted it wasn’t anything like being homeless as a No-maj. His magical tent which fit neatly into his backpack when set up was pretty much a one-bedroom apartment in its own right. If he hadn’t been living this way he would be back in any major city in a second. Yet, wandering about the countryside of the U.K and nearby Europe by day. Back at home at night was a nice life.

It wasn’t financially going to last forever. The galleons Daniel stolen from his father's bank account while he was still under his name wasn’t exactly going to last. Even now he was down to just a few and some change. Eventually, he was going to have to figure out what exactly he was going to do with his life. Just not right now as he made his way peacefully through the Galloway National Forest Park. Daniel long since stopped asking how he found himself places, he just wandered around and apparated for food and supplies before returning to where he had been.

The peace of the forest was broken by the loud beating of wings and a louder thump of something landing. He knew magical creatures were around the parts of the parks he walked. Unlike No-maj’s he didn’t have to worry about the charms that kept them away or from not noticing. Yet that also meant he didn’t know if he was walking into magical areas or not till he ran into something magical. That seemed to be the case with whatever that sound was. Curious but also not wanting to die either he slowly kept a distance from the area where the sound had stopped. Which had been already too close to him. He wasn’t scared but Daniel also wasn’t foolish enough to just charge right at any sound.

The night was falling not too soon after that and knowing it was best to not wander a magical forest at night Daniel made camp. Setting up camp was just as simple as digging out the magical tent from his backpack, placing it, and tapping it twice with his wand. With-in seconds the small beat-up box spun around and grew into the size of a normal albeit slightly larger than a normal tent would have been. The only real difference was it still appeared beat up and had a door like a building would, not the typical flaps of a no-maj tent. Yet, inside was another story.

It was like walking into a small apartment. His tent was old and nowhere near the top of the line even when it came out. Daniel was sure of that. What he wasn’t sure of was why his mother used to own it or if it was a hand me down from his grandparents. Once inside you were in the living room pretty much. Which was attached to a small kitchen. With two doors one for a bathroom and one for a bedroom. When he first found and used the tent for the first time it was a mess from disuse but over time it became his own home. More of a home than living with his father had ever been.

Daniel made himself soon instant noodles, his ability to cook was something that was left to be desired but he could get by. He had too as he was expected to feed himself as soon as he was able to. It wasn’t like his father to make him any meals and once he was old enough he no longer had a nanny to watch over him. Still, noodles were cheap and that was another plus. His funds at the moment didn’t leave much for regular grocery trips. This was very much what one would call a bachelor pad. The windows from the inside didn’t give a view of the area around him, instead, it was just a generic view. They did mirror the light outside pretty well. It was dark looking out so it had to be pretty dark outside and getting late.

He was just about to go to sleep. Planning to get up early and make it back to civilization the next day. Suddenly there was a loud crash from nearby his tent. Sound didn’t exactly carry very well into the extended space so whatever it was had to be loud to begin with outside. Daniel didn’t exactly want to be crushed inside a magical tent. He didn’t know if that was about to happen or not so he rushed out with his wand in hand. Thankfully whatever it was was further away than he expected for how loud it was. Instead, it seemed to be where he first heard the creature land from earlier. It didn’t exactly sound like his business but he didn’t need to be around here any longer. Daniel rushed back inside grabbing his backpack and right back out. Tapping the tent 3 times with his wand it reverted to its packed up box shape and he put it away.

All he wanted right now was to be as far away from the crushing and now screeching as he could get. Daniel started to walk away before the loud crashing and screeching was joined with human shouting. He couldn’t exactly make out what was being yelled with all the other sounds but it was clearly coming from a human or something that could speak English. Daniel knew he should just keep walking, this didn’t involve him and from a safety standpoint, it was best to just go. Still, he couldn’t fight the curiosity of what exactly was going on and if it was someone who needed help he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. With a low voice, Daniel just sighed and spoke a soft “God dammit..”. Turning around while carefully and quietly making his way to the screeching and shouting.

Every step closer helped Daniel hear what was being shouted and before long he could clearly make it out. Whatever was going on it was two men trying to restrain something. It was obviously fighting them and the stunning charms they fired every so often. The red lights made it clear just what kind of spell they were firing off. Whatever they were fighting it refused to go down or was dodging very well. Daniel arrived at the small clearing and hid behind the surrounding trees. He found the two men who were the ones shouting and firing off spells at what seemed to be a Hippogriff. Sadly he arrived right around the same time the Hippogriff lunged at one of them. The other cast the killing curse and with a bright green flash, the Hippogriff slumped over, dead.

Daniel expected it to be over but now the two men started shouting at each other, the area dim only being lit by moonlight and the light from one of their wands. “Why the hell did you kill it?!” The first man shouted, a short figure was all Daniel could make out. “Did you want to die, Marv? That thing was coming right at you and I don’t think it was going down any other way.” Replied the other one, taller by about two feet. “Now how are we going to sell it? They wanted it alive! You need to think about these things!” The two men fought and Daniel could tell from the context that these men weren't some caretakers or ministry workers. They appeared to be poachers or animal traders. He should have been on the Hippogriff's side if anything. Not like he would have known any of this beforehand but still. Something had died in front of him that didn’t need to.

“Marv, look! It’s not all bad. He had an egg.” The tall one pointed out with his wand which snapped Daniel out of his own thoughts. A large egg sat in a mess of sticks leaves towards the edge of the clearing. “Fine, this wasn’t a total loss. Babies sell for more anyway. Go get it Harry and carry it back.” The short one barked his orders, the tall poacher started walking toward it and Daniel questioned himself on what he should do. Again, the safest choice was to just leave, these two men had already killed once and it was just him. The tall one stopped and marched back to the one named Marv. “Why do I always have to carry things?! I saved your life and found the egg! You should carry it.” The one named Harry shouted and Marv just laughed. “Because I’m the smart one here, if you were smart we would have a hippogriff to sell and an egg. Now we just have an egg.” The two men, Marv and Harry proceeded to fight between themselves on who would take the egg. Daniel attempted to think of a plan, he had already watched its mother, he assumed, die. He couldn’t exactly leave the egg to these people too.

No matter how dumb the two men fighting seemed he doubted he could take them both on at once. Especially if they were willing to just throw around the killing curse. Still, Daniel didn’t need to take them on exactly. He just needed to get away with the egg. While the two were busy fighting over who had to carry the egg Daniel cast Wingardium Leviosa with nonverbal magic. Once it was just floating above the ground, he cast the summoning charm and floated the egg slowly to where he was. A few times he thought they might have been looking but they were too wrapped up in fighting each other. Once it was close enough Daniel grabbed it, it had to have been almost thirty pounds and it wasn’t exactly easy to carry. It was clear to see why the tall one didn’t want to carry it. He wouldn’t exactly be able to quietly leave carrying something this heavy. Casting locomotion on the egg, Daniel guided it ahead of him and away from the two men fighting.

Only minutes away from the clearing Daniel could hear the shouting pick up, this time the men had realized the egg was gone. They were obviously not happy about this and had begun searching the area. Daniel picked up his steps with the repeated word “crap.” Leaving his lips quietly as he wasn’t looking to take on two men at once and trying to defend an egg. Daniel just made a straight line away from the voices. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going but that didn't matter. All that mattered at the moment was getting as much distance from the two men as he could.

(Part one.)