BENEDICT RIVERS

Professor Benedict Rivers teaches Cryptid Studies at Neverthere Academy and is widely regarded as one of the school’s most fascinating faculty members. A senior werewolf with a voice like gravel soaked in whiskey, Rivers carries himself with a quiet intensity that commands attention. His lectures are equal parts myth, survival tactics, and unsettling first-hand accounts, making his class one of the most popular — and feared — at Nevermore.

Students whisper endlessly about his past: some say he once hunted cryptids for a secret government agency, others claim he lived feral in the Siberian wilderness for years. Rivers neither confirms nor denies the rumors, often answering with a sly smile or a low growl. Though intimidating, he is not unkind; he shows a particular fondness for outcast students and those who struggle to control their inner nature, often offering guidance through gruff wisdom and survival metaphors.

Rivers’s greatest flaw is his deep mistrust of authority, which often puts him at odds with the school administration and occasionally leads him to break protocol when he believes the rules endanger students. Interestingly — and entirely unexpectedly — he has an obsessive talent for bonsai tree cultivation. His office, dimly lit and lined with old cryptid skulls and claw marks, also houses a serene corner filled with meticulously trimmed miniature trees, each one named after a creature he’s studied... or hunted.