 Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?
Brandon tried his best to be respectful and understanding of all creatures, whether they were particularly fun creatures or not. That said, he was not a huge fan of forest creatures: he liked to leave them alone, and have them leave him alone. He had heard some stories that were frankly terrifying. "I'd like to add on to Regulus' answer about acromantulas. They live in groups, and..." He had to do some mental math. "...about ten years ago, Lucien Rosier used a group of students as a bait for the acromantulas so he could go looking around the forest undisturbed. It was traumatic to the students and probably also distressing to the acromantulas, but he didn't... really care about that. That's one example of how the forest can be dangerous to students. The creatures there aren't usually friendly and don't appreciate being intruded on." He reverted back to his confident, thoughtful, normal Brandon self for a bit as he talked about the stories he had heard from his family and the reasons the forest was dangerous, but became rather distant even before he was done answering. "You know, besides the potential danger to yourself or harm to the creature, it's not okay to just touch people or creatures if they don't like it. And you can't assume that they would like it."
Having said everything that he had to say, Brandon turned his thoughts inward, obviously not paying attention or being entirely present in the class. It wasn't that he wanted to be rude- he hated being rude, and would never want his professor to think he was, but his mind had simply drifted away without him being able to control it. He would need a gentle nudge or reminder to bring him back to the present, because he was deeply stuck in the past right now. |