"Familiars"

The following morning five of the six boys made it to the base of the fountain in front of the school before class. They sat around the base waiting for the last newly made friend to make it- but it was almost time for class before they started to worry.

"Where could Yoongi be? His housing isn't far from here so he should be here by now." Jungkook questions.

"I'm not sure- maybe he slept through his alarm?" Hoseok tries to guess.

"Well, whatever the reason- we can't be late for class. He'll make it when he can. For now though, we need to get to class." Namjoon says, looking up at the big clock over the school.

"He's right- if Yoongi doesn't show up we can go and check on him." Jin says, catching everyone's eyes.

The other three boys nod in agreement. It sounded reasonable, they didn't want to be late for their second day of classes.

Once inside the boys go to their respective home room classes. Namjoon, and Jin happened to be in one class while Jungkook, Hoseok, and Jimin were in another together. Namjoons and Jin's first teacher is professor Cragore, the same man that showed them around the housing places. The other three had a teacher they haven't met yet: Professor Ransom.

The professor enters the classroom and stands behind the podium. Professor Ransom looks to be quite tall, with black hair pulled back in a small ponytail, red eyes, fair skin, and a sharp jawline. He has a book chained to his belt that can be barely seen under his cloak, but the students take notice of it anyways, as their homeroom teacher hadn't mentioned him. Every student is always interested in learning more about what species there are, what creatures inhabit this realm. Unfortunately it seems that Professor Ransom isn't about to elaborate about his being.

"Hello class. I'm Professor Gideon Ransom, you may call me Professor Ransom in front of other teachers but please- just call me Professor or teach within the class, I don't mind the informality." He says as he writes today's topic on the board.

Familiars.

That makes the students perk up. They all know what familiars are, and never thought the school would allow them to have one. The teacher turned around and looked toward the doorway as two students entered timidly, afraid they'd interrupted class.

"Uh, we've been transferred to this class by Headmaster Lupin." the first student says and hands him a slip of parchment, the other student does the same.

Professor Ransom takes the slips and reads it over and looks at the two boys. "Ah, Headmaster Lupin, always changing his mind at the last minute." He sighs.

"Nevertheless, welcome, I'll be sure to hand this to the homeroom teacher at the end of class. Please take your seats- uhh- Kims? Kim Namjoon, and Kim Seokjin- interesting." he says, he tilts his head a bit at the end but smiles a warm and friendly smile.

He pulls a scroll from inside the podium and scribbles something down on it. He looks up just to do a double take at the scroll. "Looks like we're still missing some students-" He says.

Just as he finished the sentence two more boys rush into class. One with a familiar head of black hair and shorter height, as he doubles over panting to catch his breath. The other unfamiliar, with light brown hair, and significantly taller height than the boy next to him. He seems unfazed by the running and instead is looking at the shorter one in surprise.

"S-sorry we're late-" Yoongi manages to say.

"It was my fault. I was late getting to school, I just arrived and have no idea where anything is. So Yoongi had to help me find my room and class." The new students says.

"Thanks for the unasked explanation– uh- Kim Taehyung, but please take your seat, and take your dying friend with you." Professor Ransom says, still with a smile.

Taehyung nods and pulls Yoongi with him. Hoseok motions Taehyung over since he had Yoongi with him. They take their seats next to the group of five, their friend group completed with the addition of Taehyung.

The professor nods as they take their seats and then gestures to the chalk board where he wrote "Familiars".

"Today's topic- familiars. Does anyone know what a familiar is?" He questions.

A student raises his hand and the teacher calls on him. "Ah, as I expected, Seokjin, enlighten us about familiars."

"Familiars are animals that serve witches, but as of late they've been able to serve those that can create a bond with them, even if they're not magic users; some say they're animal shaped spirits, or just animals in general. They can be used to spy, and aid those they serve. Our late Council of Representative: Raven, had two ravens as her familiars. They recorded, and delivered the slaughter of Lucifer's son to the higher ups within the council and thus we know what happened back then." Seokjin answers.

The professor nods happily at the explanation. "Thank you Seokjin! Yes, familiars are animals that aid us in whatever endeavors we partake in. They're not just slaves though, they don't serve us because they have to-" the professor stops and holds up his right arm. In a matter of seconds a raven flies in through the window, cawing happily and lands on the teacher's arm.

He strokes the raven's wings as he continues. "They serve us, because we've created a bond. They aid us, because they trust us, as we must trust them. Creating a bond with a familiar isn't easy, you have to find the right one. And in all honesty, we don't pick them, they pick us."

Professor Ransom smiles and looks out at the class. "I know many of you would want something majestic or fearsome as your familiar, but it never works that way. I knew a man who tried to make a Hippogriff as his familiar. Because they're big and strong and can carry him far, to any destination he desires. The Hippogriff didn't choose him though, never wanted a bond with the man. So it tried to kill him, because the man was persistent."

The professor stops for a minute to think- "You know, I never got to find out the end of that story. Just know he tried and then it tried to kill him. Don't know what happened after that-" The professor says.

"The hippogriff may not have chosen him, but if his will is strong enough, the hippogriff will bend to his will." A student says out of turn.

The professor looked at all the students, and stopped on one. "And what makes you so sure- Taehyung?"

"It's how life works. If your will is strong enough, you can do anything." Taehyung answers.

"Ah, but you see, Mr.Kim-" He pauses, shakes his head then continues. "Not everything will bend with pure, strong will- its something more than that. If you don't have it- then nothing will ever go your way." The professor finishes, staring Taehyung down.

The professor claps his hands, startling Taehyung. "But no matter- we will be going on a fieldtrip!"

"What- now?!" Namjoon asks.

"Of course now. We're going to get you familiars. Now the school already has animals here, waiting to make a bond- but that's boring. No real adventure there. BUT going out and finding your true familiar is more exciting than looking at ones the school has already chosen." The teacher says, rubbing his hands together with an amused grin on his face.

He pulls out a crystal from somewhere in his cloak and sets it down onto the ground. He mutters something and stands up, then the crystal glows, and light shoots up. Within the light they can see a forest waiting for them to enter.

"B-but professor- has the school even allowed this trip? Don't we need permission slips?" Namjoon then questions.

"You're at a magic school- if your parents expect permission slips then they're going to be terribly disappointed." He says as he pulls out the scroll from behind the podium and places it inside his cloak.

"As for the school allowing this trip- don't tell your teachers." He says as he ushers everyone in through the light.

Before Namjoon steps in he stops and looks at the teacher. "You do know a lot of things can go wrong- right?"

The teacher gives a smile wide enough to close his eyes. "You're right, something could go wrong. You go first then let me know!" Then pushes Namjoon through. Seeing as he's the last one, the teacher steps through the light with his raven in tow.

(Unedited 02/17/2022)

A/N

Sorry for the long wait for an update! I got a bit busy and stressed and depressed and everything in between. So I had to put off writing so my writing style isn't plagued by my mood. But I finally got it out and I had a bit of fun writing this chapter because of Professor Ransom. I'll have to make a character design for him so you can see what he looks like. It's actually a character my boyfriend came up with for his story he's writing and let me add him here as a sort of cameo. ^-^

Thank you for reading! Please let me know your thoughts!