McGonagall comforting all of the little first years when they have had a nightmare, assuring them that even brave lions depend on the pride for strength.
Sirius Black was one of these scared little lions after he was sorted into Gryffindor
He had a nightmare about returning home and McGonagall would not hear of one of her lion cubs calling himself a disappointment, assuring him that he was too “what do the muggles call it these days? I believe I have heard one of my students refer to it as Punk Rock” to be anything other than spectacular.
Sirius Black making it his mission from then on to aid every young student who had a nightmare.
He would stay up for hours telling them stories of Dumbledore and McGonagall and all of the amazing things they had accomplished and adventures they had been on while they snuggled into the little nest Sirius had built for them on the floor out of pillows and blankets.
He would act out grand tales of Godric Gryffindor slaying magnificent beasts, fantastically illustrating his death defying maneuvers with over exaggerated movements and faces.
Any child who was frightened, no matter how old they were, always knew that they could quietly rap on his door and hop on his bed for a good story and a feeling of warmth and security.
Eventually, after the first month of rapping on their bedroom door, the other marauders started to pitch in.
Peter would gather the blankets, because he was the best at fort building, and would settle all of the kids in to get ready for the story.
Remus would pass out sweet treats and hot chocolate before tucking in closer to the younger ones, because Moony’s hot chocolate is the best and no one would dare drink the stuff if anyone else made it.
James would help Sirius with his epic skits and would cast dancing shadows on the walls in the shapes of hippogriffs and lions so that the younger ones felt protected and safe inside of the haven these four boys built for them.
Eventually, because it’s Hogwarts, word spread and Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas decided that the girls needed the same type of system.
In the event of a thunderstorm, Lily and Sirius made a plan to bring all the kids downstairs to the common room where they would all sit together in a giant nest of love and comfort, until they either fell asleep again, or the bad feelings passed enough for them to climb back into their own beds.
Lily would braid hair so the little lions could have a mane when they woke up in the morning.
Dorcas would bring her guitar and sing softly when the mood required a more relaxed form of soothing
Marlene would charm night-light stars on the ceiling so that the room would never get too dark and scary.
One evening, after a very very violent storm, McGonagall decided to go up and check to see if her little lions were okay.
She found everyone curled up in the common room, in front of the fireplace with thousands of charmed stars and shadow protectors on the walls. and 7 very gangly 7th years sleeping in a circle on the outside of the little ones.
Instead of interrupting the peace, she walked to a sleeping Sirius Black, smoothed back his hair from his face and whispered “10 points to Gryffindor for finding courage and love in the heart of a storm”
ok but honestly? how does this lion not maul the fuck out of him.
Lions are huge kittens
He’s probably been with these lions for quite a while. The grunting noises the lion makes (or “chuffling” as it’s known as) are his way of saying “hello” to his human friend. Lions have pretty good memories, too, so if the lion was raised as a cub by this dude, it’s very likely he’ll remember him as an adult. And if the lion shows affection to this guy, then his pride will pretty much be like: “Ok he’s cool we’ll love him too”.
Plus, social apex predators are generally pretty mellow. It’s the solitary types and the herbivores you’ve gotta watch out for. Especially the latter – large herbivores are assholes.
This is Kevin Richardson!!
He is a badass and has worked for almost twenty years with a ton of lions like these ones. He has his own unique style of handling the lions where he spends countless man hours with the cats, often hand-rearing them from a very young age. The result is he is an “honorary lion” in several of the prides that he oversees in this park in South Africa. He will often go for walks with them like this, or take naps or be just generally cuddly with the lions to enforce the social bond.
He honestly loves these guys like they’re family, and as a result is able to use the lions in films and adverts in a way that is very low-stress for the animals due to their incredible faith in him. Currently he has a youtube channel where you can see him working with the animals and promoting wildlife conservation and awareness :D!
i remember in 6th grade public school one of my friends in the class used the word “bungalow” as often as possible and every time he needed to say “house” or “home” he swapped it for “bungalow” and me and the rest of the class thought it was so fucking funny.
so everyone in the class started using it too like saying “I brought my lunch from the bungalow today” or whatever and the teachers HATED IT.
it started getting out of hand when we were learning about the presidents and we often needed to say “the White House” so of course we would say “the White Bungalow” and the teacher was so furious and then there was a ban on the word and if anyone said it they were sent to the office and I remember the kid who started all the bullshit one time got in trouble for something petty like sharing his homework and the teacher said that she was going to call home to him mom and he just stood up and cried out “No, ms_____! Please don’t call home!”
and there was this huge silence because he just raised his voice at the teacher
and then a huge smile spread across his face and he said
misterjazzmaster 