A full week had passed since Alexis woke up in his new house. There were many things that he understood from the modern British Magical Society. Most Noble and Ancient Houses, such as the Greengras, Malfoy, Black or his own House, the Longbottom, were still in a top position in society. Alas, they weren't treated as royalty anymore. They kept their voting right in the Wizengamot and places in the Board of Governors, organism that, together with the Headmaster, made decisions over Hogwarts' future.
The School's curriculum was still the same, with the difference that Muggle Studies was now up to par with their current times and, above all else, there was now a proper DADA professor under the name of Albert Adair. The man was supposedly a retired Auror who worked for only a few year after the war and entered the school under McGonagall's rule as Headmaster. If anything his dad said was to be trusted, the man reminded him of how Remus taught the subject. Something that Alexis felt relieved and excited about at the same time.
"Aly! Get dressed and come down already! We're leaving in a few minutes!" his mother's shout from downstairs pulled him out of his thoughts. Alexis looked at himself and smiled excitedly. They were about to use a portkey that would take them to the closest magical creatures reserve, one owned by none other than his father's childhood friend and ex-member of the D.A, Luna Scamander neé Lovegood. She married to Rolf Scamander, Newt Scamander's grandson, and had two children. They were a family that the Longbottoms didn't have that much contact with, in spite of the long friendship Alexis' parents had with the couple. At least with Luna.
Without minding too much about the reason behind said lack of contact, Alexis made his way to his closet, inside of which he had many clothes and a mirror. Since we were going to be with magical creatures and in a more "wild" environment, I went with a black overall. Below it I only had a red t-shirt and I was wearing a pair of sneakers. The good thing about the current magical world, is that there was no dressing code. Teenagers could finally choose their own clothes!
After I was dressed, I quickly made my way downstairs. I must've looked like a bundle of excitement and joy, if I understood what my mother's chuckle meant. I didn't care thought. For all matters and purposes, I was a bundle of excitement and joy at the moment. I could only think of the many creatures we would get to see. I had heard that Newt was thought to have a Nundu hidden in between his many creatures! Do you imagine seeing a Nundu up close? I don't, I don't want to die yet. Once again, it was his mother that pulled him out of his thoughts.
"How are you feeling? Ready for the portkey?" asked his mother with little concern. It wasn't the first time he used a portkey, and it wouldn't be the last, certainly. Hence, Alexis answered with little concern too "Of course, mom! Can we go already?!"
"I would usually tell you to be patient, but yes, we are leaving now" were his father's words. Once that was said, Alexis grabbed the portkey together with his parents and, in a flash of light, they all disappeared.
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Albania, Scamander Magical Creatures Reserve
Alexis, together with his parents, appeared in the middle of nowhere, in front of a house. Alexis wasn't really sure of where they were, but he was so high in excitement he didn't really care. That was until he heard a voice caling him a stunned, he turned around.
"Aunt Luna!" was all Alexis said before running into the arms of the blonde beauty in front of him. According to his memories, Luna took care of him a lot of times his parents couldn't. His mother spent a lot of time studying, as this year she was going to begin working as Hogwarts matron -after Poppy Pomfrey reluctantly retired-. As such, he got used to calling her "aunt". The only thing both the original Alexis and he were pretty bummed about was that his parents didn't allow him to go near the magical creatures, as they thought it would be too dangerous. This time they relented though, as he had been asking them for years now.
The Longbottoms had talked to their old friend, Luna, who owned a reserve with her husband Rolf. The place wasn't a sort of Zoo were magical creatures were up for display, so this was more of a personal favour than anything else. After all, they would be guided by Luna, who knew every creature from top to bottom and inside out.
"Hello there, little Aly. Ready to see the beaties?" Luna greeted him and asked in a motherly tone, much like his own mother would talk to him. He could only nod up and down energetically, eagerly waiting to see the creatures. After his parents greeted their old friend, they all went underground.
The reserve owned by the Scamanders was a huge basement, though you wouldn't notice once inside. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the one outside, much like Hogwarts, and the place was so full of nature that it looked like a mini-jungle. There were some places isolated from the rest though. Some had metal bars and others a thick glass that Alexis assumed was bullet-proof. His mind didn't linger on those places for long though, being pulled straight back to magical creatures as he saw the first Kneazle walking by.
He almost ran towards it, but he remembered from a book he read that Kneazles could be very aggressive, so he slowly walked towards it. His parents wanted to stop him, but Luna immedeately followed the kid, as the Kneazle wouldn't attack him if she was close. To the surprise of all three adults, the Kneazle ran towards Alexis and jumped into his arms, licking the boy's face and purring as he petted the creature's mane. Alexis' parents looked at each other and smiled, but Luna narrowed her eyes slightly and released a beautiful smile accompanied by a chuckle afterwards. Alexis' face was full of the Kneazle's saliva.
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In such a peaceful manner, the excursion through the reserve continued. Alexis kept showing a face of amazement decorated with twinkling, starry eyes. From a group of Kappas to a Zouwu that was isolated from the rest, all of the magical creatures got close to Alexis of their free will, treating him as if he was a part of their families. He spent the longest time playing with a pak of nifflers that wouldn't leave him go, going as far as biting his pants and jumping on top of him. The Longbottoms hadn't seen their son look so happy in a long time, so they also had a smile plastered on their faces.
It was when they were already about to finish with their excursion that everything seemed to go down the drain. A roar was heard throughout the entire place, and it was an ominous sign of danger. Neville was the first one to react.
"Could that be the Zouwu getting angry?!" he asked, wand ready in his hand and pointing it right in front of him. Hannah had grabbed Alexis and brought him to his father's side, with her wand also ready to cast whatever spell necessary. When Luna answered, they realized that it was worse than they thought.
"That is not the Zouwu. It is a new creature, one we discovered recently. It was hurt and alone, so we brought it here and healed it but... it seems it woke up earlier than Rolf thought" the adults were worried and had their wands ready, even if they were reluctant to, they would stop the beast from causing any damage. The only one who didn't seem to be worried was Alexis.
The child had realized that he could tell how this creatures felt and could also channel his own lack of hostility in them. Besides, they could somehow feel how much love he held for them. That was why all creatures became friends with him. Some people said that Newt Scamander could "talk" to creatures. That they understood him. Rubeus Hagrid seemed to also be able to communicate with them, to a certain level, at least. And now, the Heir of the House of Longbottom could feel how the creatures felt and they, in turn, could feel how he felt too.
And what he could feel right now was nothing but fear. Not his, not his parents and not Luna's. The fear he felt came from that roar, and he couldn't help but feel saddened by it. He felt that he had to be there for that creature, and so he decided on what to do. Taking advantage of his mother's focus on the possible danger, he escaped from her hold and ran towards the roar.
"ALEXIS!" he heard her mother, father and even Luna shouting his name, but he still ran. He knew they would go after him, so he wasn't really worried.
After running for a few minutes, he arrived at a clearing that seemed to be protected by many wards, and right in the middle of the clearing was a creature that he could only describe as majestic. It resembled a tiger the most, having the fur of one with the same black stripes. The biggest differences were how wild its fur was, being long enough to dance in the wind. Then there was the tail, which was thicker and longer than that of any feline he had ever seen, almost reptile in nature. Lastly, from its front legs grew a pair of wings, with majestic feathers that endes in a black tip. The entire creature was so beautiful, being the size of a horse, that Alexis drew in a breath of amazement.
The creature seemed to notice its visitor, as it immediately crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce on him at any moment. But Alexis didn't feel threatened. He could feel how afraid the creature was, not recognizing the place it woke up in and remembering how it got hurt. So Alexis focused on how worried he was about the creature and, ever so slowly, took a step towards it. He remembered from a few documentals he saw in his past life that, when dealing with wild animals, you had to always present yourself slowly, at the same height as them and presenting your hand with the palm upwards, so he followed those exact same steps. He had gotten close enough to the creature without invading its private space, so he just sat in his place, looking at the creature's eyes, and placed in hands on his lap, palm upwards.
He didn't know how long he had sat in place, but he saw his parents and Luna had already arrived. His parents wanted to shout at him but Luna seemed to have stopped them from doing so. She could tell what Alexis was doing, after all, it was something she had done countless times. The only difference being that she was a professional and Alexis was a ten year old kid without a wand. Yet she wasn't worried. There was something about the kid that made her feel like she didn't need to worry. As such, she allowed Alexis to keep with that. There were three mages with their wands ready if anything did happen.
But nothing did. After a few more minutes of being in an impasse, the creature slowly moved towards Alexis. It was similar to a crawl, but thanks to its size it reached Alexis quickly. The majestic peace of nature smelled his palms and then looked him in the eyes. Only they -Alexis and the creature- would ever know what those few seconds meant, but they were special, that was for sure. Then, the creature licked Alexis' face, much like the Kneazle had done before.
"Hey, stop doing that! It tickles!" Alexis said in between chuckles and hearty laughter. One thing was for sure, the adults who witnessed the event were, undoubtedly so, sure that Alexis had a talent to deal with magical creatures.
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An entire thirty minutes had passed since Alexis began playing with the creature when they finally stopped. To everyone's surprise, even Alexis', it just didn't want to leave his side. When Alexis explained that he couldn't bring such a big animal with him to his house, it simply shrinked to the size of a regular Kneazle and jumped on Alexis, standing on his shoulder and wrapping its tail around his neck.
Alexis used is final weapon, puppy eyes, and silently begged his parents. Before the could even deny his idea, Luna decided to drop her own grain of sand "Why don't you take care of him? He seems to be much happier around you, and he might feel safer."
Neville could only sigh, and Hannah displayed a wry smile. There was no way they could separate their child from that creature, and there was no way they could separate the creature from their child. Sighing once again, Neville just nodded. Then, Hannah looked at Luna confusedly and made a very important quesiton.
"What is its name? And what is its race?" Luna looked at her just as lost, and realized that she hadn't even gone as far as discussing the creature's name or race with her husband. She came up with one of her usual idea on the spot, and simply looked at Alexis with amusement.
"Why don't we allow his new owner to name both him and his race?" she hadn't even finished her proposal when Alexis already had stars in his eyes. He took the now little peace of nature from his shoulder and began petting its head, earning a purr of joy from his new friend. Then he began to think deeply while still petting the creatures head, and, when he finally decided on both names, he realized his dear pet was already asleep. He smiled warmly, almost like his mother smiled at him, and spoke.
"His name will be Kane, and he will be the first Gairean discovered"