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Milo wasn't sure if he had made the right decision, ignoring Cedric's request to speak with the boy. It's not like he actually wanted to continue on ignoring him, but if Cedric had plans for them to revert back to their old ways, Milo couldn't say that he wanted a part in it. Although if Cedric was about to inform him of some sort of good news, well, he had totally ruined that by standing him up in the Common Room. At the very least, Milo could say that the flowers that Newt Scamander helped him collected were watered and they would live a lot longer now that Milo had tended to them first.
He was going to do his best to avoid Cedric the next morning as he didn't want to face the boy's wrath in the slightest or see any hint of disappointment on Cedric's face. It was going to make him feel guilty when deep down, Milo was sure he did the right thing. In a way, Milo was ahead of the game, enough that he honestly didn't care what people outside of the people he cared about, thought of him. And if they didn't respect him, he didn't care about them or he at least tried not to. It was all about him providing the same love and care for himself that he provided for others. However, while he didn't consider Cedric a coward for the boy's actions and lack of actions, Milo knew they were at the same level for the time being.
Cedric was worried about his parents and what others would think about him and his relationship. Even people he didn't know and didn't know him, Cedric feared their reaction. Milo didn't blame him, but he didn't live in that sense and it would be difficult to manage any kind of relationship, especially a first one. It was supposed to be their first relationship, they were young, and already they were facing more difficult elements than most adults faced in their lifetime in relationships. Milo wanted more out of life besides secrets and pain, people had torn him down for so long without even trying to, and he didn't want to stand for it anymore.
He knew that Cedric would have support when or if the time came, no matter how his parents reacted. But Milo had to wonder would it be enough for Cedric? The boy seemed so set on the idea of having his parents' support, that they had to be a part of his life, that it made Milo wonder if the Diggory's would ever return such dedication and loyalty to their son. Would they go out of their way, stress themselves mental to want to be a part of Cedric's life or would the idea of their son being "different" destroy their image of their golden boy?
Milo had other matters to dwell on, especially as he found himself outside near the afternoon for Care of Magical Creatures class. It was so odd not to have Professor Kettleburn around anymore, Milo, unlike a great deal of staff and students in Hogwarts missed the man and his eccentricity. While Professor Kettleburn was rough around the edges personality wise, Milo knew that the man was more than passionate when it came to magical creatures. Despite losing the majority of his limbs to them, the man dedicated his entire life to learning and teaching about the creatures. Some saw it as madness settling in, but Milo didn't.
But as Milo arrived outside of Hagrid's hut, he was happy to see Hagrid in the teaching element. Hagrid didn't get enough credit around the grounds as it was, mainly because too many were just focused on the man's size. They stood in awe at his height and such, but no one ever really seemed to make note of how much work Hagrid put in as Keeper of Keys and Ground. Probably because they simply didn't care.
"Morning, Hagrid," Milo greeted as he approached the bearded man with a wave of his hand. He noticed that there was an empty pen outside, that would probably involve the lesson, and with Newt's discussion of having Hippogriffs around for the third years, Milo was hoping that they would be included in their lesson as well.
"Mornin', Milo," Hagrid greeted him in return with a smile, "glad to see you're here."
"Why wouldn't I be, Hagrid?" Milo asked him curiously, "I love this class."
"Apparently, so did some others, bu' you won't fin' them here today," Hagrid informed him before he went on to tell Milo that a good amount of the older students decided to drop the class upon hearing that he had become the one in charge. Milo didn't understand why they would, was it simply because Hagrid didn't carry the title of a professor like the others? It was ridiculous and it made Milo angry, but Hagrid reassured him that it wasn't a big deal, the fewer students he had to bother with, the more they could get done.
He admitted to the boy that he much preferred working in smaller groups.
"Well, just as long as you're alright with it," Milo told him, "sorry it worked out that way though."
When a couple of handful of students arrived for the lesson, Milo didn't really seem to notice as Hagrid announced that they would be working with the hippogriffs. Milo thanked whoever was watching over and silently to Newt Scamander, who had made it all possible. Hagrid seemed eager to introduce him to the Hippogriffs, telling the students to remain where they were standing before he ventured off to collect the herd. The students around eagerly looked off to the forest where Hagrid had disappeared curious as to what the lesson plan was going to entail.
Professor Kettleburn often didn't bring students around magical creatures, probably because the man wasn't allowed to. With so many limbs missing, Dumbledore probably didn't want the students to meet a similar fate so the man probably wasn't allowed to bring them around the majority of creatures that he taught about. However, Hagrid was different, he wrangled Fluffy and had owned a dragon at one point, he was left unscathed. So while others didn't have faith in Hagrid, Milo did. Newt Scamander trusted the man with the lesson and that was saying enough.
Minutes later, the movement from the forest brought all the students to look over as Hagrid returned with the hippogriffs, all of them bound by strange leather collared leashes. His large hands held onto the chains guiding the creatures along to the paddock that the students surrounded.
"Merlin's sideburns," Milo muttered to himself, in too much awe of the creature to squeal to express his delight. The creatures had bodies of horses, paired with the hind legs and tail but the massive wings, head, and front legs belonged to that of an eagle, holding their sharpest features. They were a vast range of colours, from a light pink roan to a stormy grey, even a mixture of bronze or a solid black.
Milo had grown up around magic, yet there was always something to be seen in the world that left him humbled and in a state of awe.
"They're beautiful," he said loud enough for Hagrid to hear, bringing the man to smile. The other students probably weren't looking at beautiful for their first adjective to describe the creatures but they merely nodded their heads for the time being.
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Hagrid began the lesson, explaining to the students that Hippogriffs were known to be proud creatures and the relationship between human and creature had to be based on respect. If a hippogriff felt disrespected, they were going to make it well-known that they didn't like how they were being treated. Milo could certainly relate to that and appreciate it as well.
Paden who had been tucked away in the boy's hair peered out at the scene of the creatures and decided that the lesson of the day was not for him as he quickly retreated back into the boy's locks. He could wrestle a baby dragon, but he was not going to take on a hippogriff out of jealousy that they had captured Milo's attention.
Hagrid offered the students to come up and bow to present themselves to the hippogriffs and see if the creatures would allow them to be pet. Cautiously the majority of students approached the paddock, some lingering behind as they certainly didn't feel ready as Hagrid warned that the talons were sharp, so if one of the hippogriffs didn't bow back, they were to move fast out of the way.
Since spotting the one that looked like it had been dipped in bronze, Milo knew which one she wanted to approach.
"Fleetwing," Hagrid introduced the female Hippogriff to Milo before the boy could take a step forward. Milo quite enjoyed Fleetwing, mainly because the hippogriff was giving him the same stern look that reminded him of his mother. It brought him to smile, not in a disrespectful manner of course, but in a way that he was happy to see her.
As instructed, he took to slowly bowing to the hippogriff after the two made eye contact, he didn't step too close and waited a few seconds for Fleetwing to bow in return. He counted in his head, fully prepared to back away if necessary. Her bow was dainty, in the sense that she readily gave in to bending at the knee, and with her wings spread, it only added to her majestic nature.
Milo got a little too excited that he had been given permission and the hippogriff was quick to warn him with a snap of her beak that he could approach her so fast. He quickly slowed down his approach and took his next few steps slowly.
"Sorry about that," Milo whispered to Fleetwing, "I tend to get ahead of myself if I get too excited. Ooh, wait a minute!"
During their time in the forest, Newt had told Milo all about growing up around hippogriffs, especially when it came to the trial and error of approaching one. His mother had told him how to step to the creature but as Newt admitted, he had been a bit of dunce as a child when it came to listening. Several times he had been thrown out of the paddock by one of the males because he overstepped his boundaries. But it was one day that he sat outside the paddock, just listening to the calls of the creatures going back and forth. He sat there for hours, attempting to mimic the call over and over, and finally, when he called it out at one point, the hippogriffs stopped. All of them, every male and female turned to him as if they had been placed under his command.
From that moment on, he no longer needed to bow when he approached and he was no longer thrown out of the paddock. Milo asked if he could learn the call, but he wasn't sure if he had mastered it during the time spent in the man's company.
It was a throaty call that screeched near the end, not too high of a pitch though.
"Now, I can't blame to be an expert on hippogriff calls," Milo informed Fleetwing as she tilted her head in curiosity as the boy rambled on and pushed up his frames from the bridge of his nose. "But here goes nothing...please don't kill me if I offend you. A good cuff behind the ear gets the message across just as well."
He cleared his throat off to the side before facing Fleetwing again. Hagrid had been assisting a couple of other students to approach the hippogriff called Stormswift when he heard the screech. He immediately turned around, believing that one of the students had thought it would be funny to mock one of the creatures. However, he was more than surprised to see that it was Milo. He would have never suspected such behaviour from the boy. Just as Hagrid was preparing to tell the boy to back away as fast as possible, Fleetwing let out a screech of her own before burying her head into the boy's abdomen with a nuzzle.
Milo let out a laugh, mainly in relief that she didn't take to impaling him. Another of the females, Hothoof made her way over to greet the boy, but as she ventured too close, Fleetwing snapped in her direction with a defensive call.
Paden was practically shaking in his owner's hair as they were too close to the hippogriffs for his liking.
"Hagrid, I think she likes me!" Milo called out to the man. Hagrid scratched the top of his head, curious as to what the boy said to the creature when he screeched out.
"You can probably ride her," Hagrid told him, but Milo shook his head no, he was far too content with just petting Fleetwing for the rest of the lesson.
The boy ran his fingers gently over the bronze feathers that covered the front half of the creature before Fleetwing gazed up with one of her beautiful orange eyes settling on him.
"We've only just met, haven't we?"