Jumping out of the undergrowth where six beasts, they had the hook becks of a bird of prey, with tiny upturned tusks, horns jutting out of their heads, and prominent feathered ears. Their fur was a mix of yellow and brown spots, and with none of the wings of its other kin. Yet spins protrude all over their back like that of a porcupine, with the front feet of an eagle, and the back feet of a lion.
The creatures were as large as the biggest breed of dogs, the Great Dane, as they stood three-quarters the height of an average man. They didn't look the most friendly of lot as they growled and pranced before him ready to go on the attack.
Without any delay, Harry put up Protego spell around himself, he knew what these creatures were, they were the one kind of Griffin-kin that Tobry told him to avoid at all cost.
The Keythong.
Keythong were the most vicious and cruel of the Griffin like beasts that his family reared. They act as the attack dogs and scots of his house. Send them out to hunt down a wizard, and they would sniff him out and tear him from limb to limb.
However, the hold that his family has on them is very tentative at best. A creature's nature can never be changed no matter what sort of compulsion or bond you have with it.
Just as he was about to discipline the rabid creatures that bite the hand that feeds you, a white and light brown furball came reeling into the opening. Butting its head against the closest Keythong which stunned it, then smacking away the second Keythong that came to the defense of its packmate.
The furball stood menacingly before the remaining Keythong. It stood tall with its eyes narrowed into slits, its tail standing on end, and most importantly right before him at his defense.
Comparing the two creatures was like that of a massive lion and four scranny street cats. They yipped and pranced all they wanted to but they did not dare attack the Demigryph.
Finally, after a brief confrontation, the Keythong slowly back up dragging away their slightly dazed packmates. Once Harry was sure the vicious little pack of Keythong were gone, he came up to the Demigryph and scratched his neck and ear. "Ow, you did not have to do that buddy."
Chirping in answer as it leaned its head in for him to get the best spots, Harry whispered to him, "I am sorry, I shooed you away buddy. I just wanted you to be safe."
Whining as it gave him the puppy eyes, Harry begrudgingly added, "You can come with me if you want."
Wagging its tail like a dog, Harry softly chucked as nipped at him affectionately. He quickly had to dodge as that sharp beck was like that of a bear trap. Still, he comforted it with scratches especially behind its ears where it liked it.
"Alright let's go," Harry said as he led the way forward, however, he came to a stop when the big furball didn't follow him. Turning around, Harry looked at the magical beast in confusion and asked, "What wrong, buddy? Don't you want to come with me?"
Whimpering the Demigryph pointed down and he looked over in confusion at its front paws. Coming over he looked again at its powerful lion feet and asked, "Is there something wrong with your legs."
Nodding it head up and down, Harry held out his hands and instructed, "Alright, let me see."
Raising its powerful right foot which he noted it used to smack away the Keythong, it rested it on his palms and turned it around until he could see the sole of its feet.
Right away he spotted what was wrong as he saw two spins lodged into its paws. Taking a sharp intake of breath harry finally understood what was wrong. Keythong are very hard creatures to hurt physically since their spins cover most of their body. To get to it you will need to deal with its spins which are very painful and most importantly coated in very deadly poison as well.
"Alright buddy," Harry muttered, "don't worry I will take care of it." Unslinging his bag from his shoulders, Harry dug into it and pulled out a few flasks. At that moment he was very thankful towards Tobry who went beyond what was necessary as he packed everything imaginable including a few Antidote to Uncommon Poisons.
"Here you go boy," Harry said as he removed the stopper from the flask and held it out. "Drink it all," he commanded as the Demigryph protesting squawks at the foul tasting concoction. Unsure of how Demigryph physiology worked he shoved another antidote down its gullet.
"Now give me your paw again," Harry instructed which the hybrid creature did as told. "This is going to hurt for a moment, but bear with me." Looking at him with trusting eyes, Harry nodded his head and uttered on the count of three, 1, 2..."
Before even uttering three Harry pulled out the first spin and the Demigryph uttered a skrill cry of pain and betrayal. Ignoring it, Harry quickly followed his action up as he pulled out the second and final spin from the beast's paw.
This time there was only a brief echo of pain as Harry poured the last antidote on the wound and muttered a few words under his breath. Then before his very own eyes, the spell he cast took effect and the wounds slowly nit shut until only a tiny scar was left.
Letting the massive beast's paw drop to the ground, Harry turned to look up at the furball and asked. "Now how is your foot feel?"
Slowly trying out its foot, the big furball stared up at him in surprise once it felt no pain and started to bounding around in happiness. Even Hary was effect by the creature's jovial nature as he laughed out loud.
"Alright let go you big softly," Harry said.
Nudging its head against him, Demigryph pointed to its back and Harry slowly asked, "You want me to climb aboard?"
Nodding its head happily, Harry thought it over for a moment until he just said, "Screw it, let's go." Riding on the back of a Demigryph like the Potters of old would be too fucking awesome to pass up.
Anyways it would cut his journey in half if he took a ride on the back of the big, old furball. Even with Haste, the journey to the top of the mountain would take half a day without any interruptions on the road.
Climbing aboard, and grabbing on to its white-feathered neck, Harry didn't even have time to utter a "Yee-haw," as the furball took off up the mountain.
----------------------------------------------
At long last Harry reached near the top of the mountain where the Royal Gryphon territory began at. Here snow-covered the whole of the area, with freezing winds billowing about, and it offered a really great view.
Looking back at where they come from Harry recalled all the sights and creatures he met along the way.
After healing the big furball's paw and their run-in with the Keythong pack, both Demigryph and wizard carried on their way. The first magical beast that they ran into was a Minoan griffon who was basking in the rays of the bright afternoon sun.
The sight of the creature perched on outcrop was a sight for sore eyes. The Minoan griffon was the most beautiful and stunning griffin-like creature that his family kept. These beasts were natives to the islands of Greece before one of his ancestors brought them here to the Roost.
They had leopard-like bodies with white fur, fringes of colorful feathers on their head and shoulders, plus they have the most amazing feathered wings of a myriad of colors.
Coming to a stop, Harry went over to greet the magnificent creature and it in turn bequeath him its most valuable feather, the crest feather.
Griffin feathers of all kinds cure many ailments. However, what makes a Minoan griffon's feather different is that they are used in all sorts of beauty products since they bring out a certain pop and they just don't hide age lines, scars, pimples, and other minor defects but make them go away permanently.
Now what makes a Minoan griffon's crest feather very special is that they are the key ingredients for the very rare beautification potions and love potions that work permanently.
Harry wasn't going to use it for a love potion since he just held a certain distaste for that kind of thing and had no idea why it wasn't already illegalized since it was basically mind control like the Imperius Curse. But if he was to give it to any woman out there for the very ultra-rare beautification potions then they would worship him like their idol.
Carefully pocketing the crest feather, Harry continued on his journey. As Harry was cresting a small rise on the back of the big furball they saw a small deer herd grazing on the patchy grass earth. Suddenly before the herbivores could turn their heads upward a shadow came swooping down.
Turning to look upwards at what ensnared the deep, Harry saw a creature much bigger than a horse but more to the size of a van with the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle and the body, hind legs, and tail of a horse. Instantly Harry knew what it was, a Hippogriff.
Being a lot more docile than their progenitor, the Griffins, they were the favorite steeds of most wizards. Plus they were the prized aerial mounts of his family as they are able to fly as fast as lightning and fetch a handsome price in any place.
Swiftly realizing that one of their own has been swiped the deers when wild and broke out into all directions looking for shelter. However, the lone Hippogriff didn't seem to be the end of their nightmares as more swooped down from the sky.
It was clear this was a flight in action.
Sitting back and watching as the Hippogriff tore into the small herd with plunging dives, slashes of their claws, stomps of their back foot, and piercing becks with their beaks. Before long those that couldn't escape were laid to waste and the Hippogriff settled down to have their fest.
Suddenly banking down was a massive Hippogriff the size of an RV truck. It flapped its massive wings a few times then settled down on a perch over its brethren. Sitting there dominant a Hippogriff came to it with a whole deer then set it before it and left.
It was obvious that this was the alpha of the flight.
Seeing no reason to stay any longer, Harry turned around and kicked the Demigryph to get it moving. With that, they were off once again.
It wasn't too long before Harry made another encounter for the day.
Coming up on a wide stretch of open meadows Harry heard a loud roar that echoes in the space. Coming to a stop, Harry looked around until he spotted what produced that noise. Near the shade of a tree was a pride of reverse griffin or better know as lion-griffins. A male lion-griffin sat at the center of the pride, yawning and acting lazily with female lion-griffins serving him.
They have the head and front legs of a lion with an eagle's hindlegs, wings, and feather tail. These were beasts that were brought from the middle east by his family.
If all Griffin-like creatures were very prideful then these magical beasts are the icing on the cake. They are very difficult to control especially the males, but they serve as good special units for his family's old army and diversify things up even more.
Hearing a low growl come from near, Harry turned around and saw two female lion-griffins the sizes of large warhorses prowling underneath. Looking suspiciously at him, Harry smiled at them hopped off the big furball's back who was looking at the two female lion-griffins carefully, and unslung his bag.
Taking out a slap of meat that Tobry prepared for him to feed to the Griffins living in the Roost, Harry offered it to the creatures. Sniffing it suspiciously, Harry laughed and uttered, "Don't worry there is nothing wrong with the meat, its actually prime meat as Tobry put it."
Stepping forward was the lion-griffin on the right who took a small bite. Suddenly eyes lighting up, the reverse-griffin clamored happily and nudged its other pride member. Taking a bite as well, the first lion-griffin took the meat into her mouth and seem to be taking it off to the male lion-griffin.
"Oh, don't worry," Harry called out as he reached out and rubbed the beast's head, "I got more where that came from. Eat up, and give this one to that lazy bastard," Harry said as he took out another slab of meat.
Purring softly at him the two lion-griffins tore into the meat and Harry watched happily. His mood was only soured when his gaze turned to the lazy fucker milling about.
If ever he has a harem which he is getting to want more and more each passing day, he sure as well won't be like that asshole. A man is supposed to be a provider, that a man's pride.
It's the women who are supposed to take it easy, not the other way around.
Shaking his head, Harry got up, but felt a small nudge at his back. Turning around he saw the big furball staring at him with a pleading look in its eyes.
"Oh, you want some meat as well?" Harry asked as he quickly understood what he wanted.
Nodding its head, Harry laughed and took out another slab of meat from his pack and threw it to the big softy. "Alright, let's go," Harry said as he jumped on the Demigryph back.
As Harry was wading through a ravine he made his fourth encounter for the day as three Cynogriffin ran pass them without even looking back. Looking on in confusion, Harry wondered what had the wolf-griffin in such haste, and before long he got his answer.
Hearing the heavy beat of wings, Harry turned to look upwards and saw a sight that nearly made him drop out of his seat.
Staring down at him was the OG granddaddy himself, the beast that put griffin in griffin, a real live Griffin. The thing was as large as a fucking semi-truck with its classical parts of half lion, half eagle. Although it didn't even come close to the size of a Royal Gryphon it was still colossal and made him look like a tiny mouse before an elephant.
Landing on top of the gorge as its weight sent rocks tumbling down, the Griffin peered at him with intelligent eyes with its prey long forgotten. Then as if suddenly understanding the creature, Harry knew that it wanted him to follow it.
Watching as the magical beast took off, Harry nudged his knee to the Demigryph's ribs, and whispered, "I think he wants us to follow him, boy."
Whining softly, the Demigryph did not seem to want to even come near the giant beast, but nevertheless it proved its loyalty and did as told.
Staying on the Griffin's tail, the two of them covered long distances as they traveled through many places until they finally reached a cave opening large enough to fit a mansion.
Seeing that the Griffin flew inside, Harry kicked the Demigryph and entered as well.
The place was really dark with no natural lighting, and although Harry had no problem seeing in the dark thanks to the assimilation ritual with the basilisk, he still threw up some wizard lights.
Coming to an opening, Harry thought for a moment that the creature might just be leading them to their doom, but placed his faith in the bond that his family shared with all griffin-like creatures.
Jumping off the back of the Demigryph, Harry patted the big furball beck who was nervously prowling, and walked into the lair. Immediately when he saw what laid inside, his eyes nearly popped over.
Inside was a large cavern with gold, gems, jewels, treasures, precious stones, and other assorted items piled up in the center. Sitting on top of it all was the Griffin that they just met.
Harry knew that all Griffins were hoards like dragons, it why any sane wizard would try to hunt these monstrous creatures. PLus why they make exactly guards for rare treasures you want to hide since they zealously guard it.
It's mostly thanks to their ability really to find metal veins and dig up precious stones that they must be rich.
Yet he did not expect all this wealth. The creature was a fucking millionaire.
Clearing his throat, Harry asked, "Why did you bring me here?"
Nudging its head, the Griffin pushed some of its hoard towards him. Looking up at the creature Harry asked, "Are you giving me some of your treasures?"
Nodding its head, the Griffin spread one of its massive wings and pushed the offered gifts.
Seeing no reason to refuse a gift since it is especially very costly, Harry walked up and held out his Lordship ring. Suddenly all the treasures that the Griffin offered disappear right before everyone's eyes.
It was all thanks to the functionality of the Lorshship rings, every day he is learning something new that it can do, whether it be to detect poisons from food and drinks to the spatially folding capacity it has.
Looking up at the massive beast, Harry bowed his head to in thanks and said, "Thank you."
Nodding its massive head, Harry could somehow understand it once again as it said, "come again, little Potter chick."
Laughing at being called a baby, Harry just shook his head and made his way towards his mount.
"Alright," Harry said once he came back to the Demigryph, "let go."