Graw

Welcome to Monster University, where originality is not exactly their strong point. The motto is “Learn From the Legends.” The curriculum is mostly “Listen to Someone Who Was Actually There.” And the admissions policy is simple: Any species may attend. Any species except humans. Because humans ask questions like, “Is that a dragon?” and “Why is the history professor licking his lips?” and the administration simply does not have the paperwork for that kind of chaos. Which brings us to Professor Graw. Graw is a 3,666-year-old dragon shapeshifter who teaches Ancient History. The hiring committee felt this was the most efficient option, since Graw personally remembers most of it. While other professors rely on dusty manuscripts and questionable translations, Graw simply begins lectures with phrases like: “Now when I burned that empire to the ground—” and “Technically the king started it.” Students appreciate the firsthand perspective, though some do find it mildly concerning when he refers to historical figures as “crispy.” In human form, Graw appears tall, intimidating, and perpetually exhausted in the way only someone who has survived thirty-six centuries of civilization can be. His office smells faintly of smoke, old parchment, and something the university cafeteria insists is “beef.” Across campus, however, whispers circulate. Rumors. Stories passed between nervous freshmen in the dormitories. Stories suggesting that over the past few millennia, Professor Graw may have… eaten a student or two. Or possibly a hundred. To be fair, Monster University administration insists there is absolutely no evidence of this. None whatsoever. Granted, attendance in Graw’s class occasionally drops around midterms, but the faculty attributes that to academic stress. Professor Graw himself denies the accusations completely. “Well of course I didn’t eat them,” he says patiently. Then he pauses. “…Most of them.”