You're Being Hugged, Harry

by David Silver

26 - Proper Care and Treatment

Tilly had not expected her visit to class to go quite the way it had. She stood on a raised platform, only a few inches, but enough to bring her into easy view even for the students in the back.

"This," explained Hagrid, gesturing at her. "Is a Tsuki. I only learned about them recently, but they've become something of a fascination, as it were. This particular one is also an owl, serving a student here." Eyes turned to Ronald. They knew which student she served. "But they aren't always owls. Then again, even an owl isn't always an owl. It takes special care and special training to get an owl of any breed."

One quill raised, held by a studious looking lady in the front. "Professor, are tsuki domesticated?"

Tilly giggled at the question. "Not here."

Hagrid shook his head. "They aren't. Tamed would be a closer word fer it. If you ran into a tsuki in the wild, the odds they'd rush to handle your postage is about none at all. On the positive, they are friendly. If you treat them kind, they'll return the favor. But probably still won't deliver your letters for you."

Tilly inclined her head. "I'm doing it for my boyfriend and future husband."

Hagrid waved at that. "They can be motivated by the need for companionship and affection." He laughed, from deep in his belly. "But who can't be motivated by that at times." His students, not exactly all grown up, showed various levels of understanding of the idea being put forward. "Regardless, let's get to care. That's what you're here for, hm."

He turned to Tilly and held out a hand lower towards the platform she stood on. "Let me see a leg, kindly."

Tilly looked confused, but did raise one of her powerful legs into his grip. "Why?"

"Because this." Hagrid turned the paw up carefully to show off the toe beans underneath. "This is a tsuki's most important, and vulnerable, parts. While their legs provide the power, it's their feet that have to handle all the hard work of smashin' right up against the ground over and over again. So if you want to treat your tsuki right, you have to tend to these."

The class oooed and ahhed, leaning in for a better peek at Tilly's wriggling toes.

Ronald rubbed behind his head. "I haven't even looked down there."

Hagrid shook a finger. "Then it's past time you learned how to do it right." He released Tilly, just to grab a jar and return to her with long steps befitting his large form. "This'll do the trick." He rubbed the vaseline-like jelly on her foot and she squeaked, wriggling a little. She was a good tsuki, and didn't kick him. "This is her first time, I imagine. You can see she's surprised."

"Not a bad surprise," she assured, watching him work with wide eyes. "What is that?"

"A healing salve. You have more tiny little cuts and scuffs down here than even you know of." He worked thoroughly to get all of her beans, every last one of them. "And now they should be put to right, hm?"

The sound of tiny rocks hitting the wooden platform rained out as countless bits of gravel fell from her paw as it healed, ejecting them. "Is that all from me?" She shook her foot and lowered it back on the platform, testing her footing, bouncing from paw to paw in rocking motions. "It's... I didn't even know!" Pain she had learned to accept as life, banished.

Hagrid slapped down a jar in front of Harry and Ronald. "I expect both of you to finish what I started. I've already informed your potion making instructor to go over how to make that yourself. Feel free to use what I brought for now, but y'should be able to make your own by the time you're done. Think of it like a deadline of sorts.

But the moment she got back in reach, Tilly grabbed him. "Show me how to make that!"

"Hold it, little lady." Little was not a word that could be used to describe Tilly. "Tsuki are wonderful creatures, but potion making is not what they're built for." He gently grasped her right upper paw. "Too much fur. Yer a walkin' source of conimination. No fault of yours, but it is what it is. Mister Potter there avoids it by graspin' things with his magic."

Harry's horn glowed as he lifted the jar into view. It had no label, or really any writing. Hagrid had slapped it together on his own, or so Harry assumed. "But if they could learn how to make it themselves, they'd gladly take care of their feet, even the ones that aren't owls."

Hagrid shook his head. "This is an important lesson. While it's easy for us wizards to sit on high and decide what's best fer 'em all, they ain't wizard. They got a thin' goin', and assuming we should upend it is a mighty big assumption on our part." He patted his belly as he stood before the class. "Now, some teachers'd tell you that's a fine way to be, but that's not the class I run. The tsuki've managed this long. I'm not about to tell them they're doing it wrong."

Tilly crossed her arms and flopped to all fours a moment after that, looking pouty, but not arguing further.

"On to other things." He reached for her horn, pausing long enough to get her unspoken consent to the contact. "You might take pride in your wand, but a tsuki has two of them, and they're just as important to them. You'll want to keep them whole and mind their health." Out came another jar, but it wasn't magic. It was, in fact, just a basic nail polish. "Just like our nails, they need a little TLC to be at their best."

So Hagrid showed how to polish a horn properly. "Now, this ain't just fer tsuki. Plenty of other creatures out there with horns or long claws and they can all use this kind of care. If you plan to have one around, you should get good at it." That Tilly was enjoying it she wasn't hiding. "It's also how you get happy little friends." He waved to a mirror nearby. "Take a look at yourself."

Tilly leaned in and gawked at her shiny horns. "Amazing! I love it." She turned left and right, admiring the reflection of herself. "Is this a secret too?"

"Oh, nay on that." He pointed to Ronald. "Bet he could tell you where to get it, but I'm not sure how much'll be around where you come from."

Another student raised a hand. "Where does she come from?" This prompted others to wonder out loud about it. Where on Earth did tsuki originate from?

"They are from outside anywhere you'd call Earth," assured Hagrid, shooting down any dreams of getting a tsuki. "The two I know personally are claimed by people they happen to like, so aren't likely to be available." But there was class to do. "One other important part. Two, come to think." He pointed to Tilly's tail. "I shouldn't have to say this, but just to be clear. Do not try to pick up any rabbit, tsuki or not, by their tail. It's very painful for them, and could hurt them."

Tilly reared up to swat both hands over her tail. "I hope not! Besides, you're all small... I doubt you could do that from any part of me."

"While we're on warnings." He gently patted Tilly on the head. "While they are friendly by habit and nature, they are still magical beasts. Get on their bad side at the wrong time, and you can get hurt. They may even feel bad about it afterwards, but that won't put you back together again. Spare themselves the anguish and yerself the pain and never forget that."

"I wouldn't hurt you," assured Tilly with a bright smile and fluttering lashes. "That would be mean..."

"Unless I hugged the wrong way," countered Hagrid.

"Oh..." Tilly hummed in thought. "If you challenge-hugged me, I would win. As soon as you gave up, I'd stop, but I would win." She spread her arms out. "Did you want to try that?"

Hagrid laughed at the display of cute potential horror. "I'll pass on that for today. But there you go. If you 'challenge' a tsuki, they will want to win, and that could hurt. They won't mean to cause any real harm, but that's a lot of determined rabbit ready to squeeze you into submission."

Tilly colored sharply. "I don't want to hurt any of them." She looked out over the young students with a little smile. "They're adorable, and small... I'd feel so bad hurting any of them."

Hagrid laughed at that, swatting his belly. "That's another thing to remember. In their eyes, many magical beasts think wizards are cute, or terrifying, or tasty. Sometimes more than one. Thankfully, Tilly here falls in the cute category. But the magical beasts you may end up caring for could fall in any of those, or even all of them. Be mindful of how they see you when you're considering how to approach them." The sound of scribbling told him notes were being taken. It was nice to have their attention.

"Now, that last thing I meant to start with." He dropped to one knee heavily and took Tilly's mended paw. "They have powerful claws, to get a good grip on things. In the wild, they have more than enough things they grind them against as they jump to keep them down. But, here in Hogwarts, there's a lot less opportunity for them to handle that on their own." He tapped at a claw, unusually long and sharp for a tsuki claw. "But they'll keep right on growin'."

"To make matters worse, they don't even--"

"--That is long," admitted Tilly as if just noticing that.

"As I was saying." He patted her belly, getting a giggle out of her. "They don't even notice, at least until someone points it out. This could become a hazard if they use them on you, making a mistake even worse. So, keep them trimmed, for their health, and yours." He produced a pair of nail clippers, perfectly standard. "There's a spell for this, which I'll show you after I show you how it's done in the first place. If you don't know where you want a cut, you'll get it wrong."

So he showed the class, step by step, exactly how to find the right part of a tsuki's claw to cut, and which parts were not to be touched, 'lest the poor creature be injured. "The rear claws and the front claws are different." He displayed the difference carefully between the two. "One propels the tsuki, the other does not. Different needs, different claws. Both are important for their happiness and health."

Hagrid released Tilly's paws to her and stood up, facing the class. "Relatedly. You've heard of cats getting their claws removed, haven't ya?" Most of the class nodded. "It ain't right for them! That goes double for any tsuki."

Tilly paled and shrank at the thought of losing any of her claws. "Why would anycreature do that?!"

"It's just as beyond me," agreed Hagrid with a shake of his head. "But people do, and it's my job to tell 'em to cut it out! Keep 'em trimmed, but don't go choppin' 'em off. A tsuki without claws is barely a tsuki. They need those claws to jump, and that's half their identity. May as well finish the job and go for their horns next."

Tilly thumped to the ground, passed out at the mental imagery of losing both claws and horns.

"And that is what a cat would do, if it understood what some muggle thought was a good idea... Trim, not chop. Got me?"

Comments

[Booster Spice]

says much about Tsuki strength when even Hagrid woouldnt go against a happy one even in hugs.

Now Im wondering if Sapeint Pearwood grows in the Everfree and would it make a nice helmet or back shield sledge for Combat Tsuki?

[howard035]

I wonder if Tilly and her boyfriend will cut out the middlewizard and rub salve on each other's toe beans.

[David Silver]

11529819
A friendly game of tsuki dominance hugs(otherwise known as wrestling) is hardly appropriate for class time.

[tsaukpaetra]

Adaptive. Hagrid really is undercut in his station, but there's something to be said about being content.