By the time Magnus swapped the books and rushed down to the school grounds, the lesson was already underway.
The fact that Care of Magical Creatures and Pokémon was a joint lesson for all the first years meant there was a good-sized crowd to use as cover. However, sneaking in and joining the rest was out of the question. He could swear that, although Hagrid was busying himself with whatever he had at the front of the class, he had already seen him.
Magnus broke through the crowd, pushing his way to the front to get a glimpse of what was causing the unrest among the gathered students.
Hagrid had placed a crate on the ground, from which barking and wriggling creatures could be heard.
It didn't take Magnus long to realize that the creatures trapped inside were Eevees.
His first thought was that these were the twins' Pokémon—but then he quickly ruled it out. It couldn't be. Fweg and Goj were probably inside their new Pokéballs by now in some class.
This had to be another set. Magnus had, after all, noticed that Eevees were quite common in this world.
Hagrid towered above them, grinning like it was his wedding day.
Somehow, Magnus knew that whatever this lesson was about, it was nothing to smile about.
"Teethin'," Hagrid boomed, and the students, who had begun murmuring, fell silent. The only noise now came from the Eevees. And although Magnus couldn't boast of expertise in decoding animal sounds, he could tell that those were cries of pain.
"Yer all might've noticed that yer Pokémon had teeth when they hatched," Hagrid paused, watching them digest this information.
Honestly, Magnus hadn't. He had seen it, sure, but he hadn't given it much thought. It was only now, with Hagrid pointing it out, that he realized teeth in newborns weren't exactly common. Judging by the looks around him, most of the students were just realizing it too.
"Well," Hagrid continued, "that's 'cause out there in the wild, hatchlin's don't have a trainer to feed 'em, now do they?" He asked gleefully. "That means they'll be needin' teeth to munch on anythin' they can find."
Maybe it was just Magnus, but it felt like Hagrid was trying to justify the Deino maiming his hands mercilessly. Almost every bit of his left hand was covered in a bandage.
"Now, the fact that they grow their teeth quick also means they lose their first set just as fast," Hagrid said as he lifted the cover from the crate and grabbed an Eevee that had been about to jump out.
The Pokémon screamed and screeched, clearly disoriented by the pain.
Most students took a step back, but a few were looking at the Eevee pitifully, as if they thought Hagrid's grip was the reason it was squealing. Magnus, however, knew that grip was the only thing keeping the pained Eevee from rampaging all over the place.
"This lot," Hagrid said, indicating the Pokémon he was holding and the ones inside the crate, "they're just reachin' four weeks," he explained while grabbing the Eevee that had tried to jump away as he relaxed his grip on it.
"Most Pokémon lose their hatchlin' teeth after a month, an' it's quite a painful process for 'em." He paused and glared at the students.
"That's where yer lot come in."
That got their attention. Everyone was now glaring at Hagrid dreadfully, and Magnus knew he had been right—Hagrid had reserved a menacing feat for them.
"Yer see, unlike humans an' other magical creatures that lose an' grow teeth at different times, Pokémon that experience teethin' do both at once."
Hagrid had to stop as murmurs arose at this.
"That means the permanent tooth pushes out the hatchlin' set as it grows—as ye can see on this one," he said, securing the Eevee between his hands and body before forcing its jaw open.
Crap.
Magnus immediately noticed that the two lower canines were indeed too long to be normal. The Eevee's gums were clearly swollen as well.
He pitied the wriggling creature. Toothache was a nightmare. He wouldn't wish it on a murderous basilisk, let alone an innocent Pokémon.
"The process can happen naturally without help, but it's long… an' very painful."
When Magnus caught the look in Hagrid's eyes and the suggestive tone in his voice, he knew what was coming before Hagrid even said it.
Hagrid forced the Eevee's jaw open once again before turning to Magnus, who suddenly realized he had wandered unconsciously too close.
"Hand me that vial, Magnus," Hagrid said, still reinforcing the Eevee's jaws.
Magnus spotted the tiny bottle just at the corner of the crate. He grabbed it and literally tossed it to Hagrid, eyeing the shrieking Pokémon warily.
Hagrid popped the stopper open and quickly lifted the Eevee's head upright before pouring the vial's contents down its throat.
The Eevee had no choice but to swallow it.
Hagrid pocketed the tiny bottle and waited.
Magnus didn't know what he was waiting for, but soon, they noticed that the Eevee's previously agitated body language had changed. Now, it looked curious, eyeing the gathered students as if noticing them for the first time.
The fact that its jaws were still being held open made it look even more comical now that it wasn't shrieking.
"Now that's a pain-relievin' draught… works its magic fast enough. Yer'll need that before doin' this."
With a fluid motion, Hagrid's two fingers went back into the tiny maw, and when they resurfaced, he was holding one of the canines. He held it up for the class to see before giving it to Magnus.
"Pass it around," he said, going back for the second one.
What Magnus immediately noticed was that the lost tooth was hollow. It looked like a sheath—an outer cover for another tooth.
Which was exactly what it was. Looking at the Eevee's open jaw, he could already see a thin, sharp tooth where the old one had been.
He passed it to Ron, who was standing next to him.
"Here, Harry… have a look," Hagrid handed the second one before turning to the class.
A Hufflepuff girl had her hand up, a nightmarish look in her eyes.
"Yes?" Hagrid nodded as he placed the Eevee on the ground, where it skipped off playfully.
"Are we supposed to do that to our Pokémon?" Her question was clearly reflected on everyone's faces.
"Yeah, that's right," Hagrid boomed, grinning excitedly as if he couldn't see the fear in their eyes.
"But… but what if they bite us?" the girl asked, sounding even more frightened. And honestly? She had every right to be. It's not like all of them had Hagrid's strength to handle an agitated Pokémon.
"They won't bite if yer train 'em properly! Yer s'posed to bond with 'em, aren't ya?"
"But we just got them… we haven't trained them anything," Harry said, looking dreadfully at his Vulpix, which had jumped from his hand to play with the Eevee. Ron's Meowth joined them, and even Magnus' Zorua followed. Soon enough, the ground was scattered with playful Pokémon hatchlings.
"We got four weeks to change that, don't we?" Hagrid smiled.
"Magnus."
Someone was poking at him.
He turned to see a dreadful-looking Hermione next to him.
***
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