[CoMC] T5: Lesson 2: Hippogriffs

[Prof Brianna O'Donnell]

Lesson 2:
Hippogriffs

Standing on the edge of the Forbidden forest, Brianna stood, head held high, arms across her chest, elbows in her hands, she stood alone watching and waiting for the class to assemble. It was a lovely afternoon for February, the sun was actually shining; she really had chosen the best day to have this class. There was still a thick layer of snow on the ground but it would not matter once they entered the forest, there snow melted quickly she had discovered and the clearing she had chosen she had cleared of any snow.

With the creatures that waited for them in mind Bree smiled to herself, staring at the flakes of snow that had latched onto her shoes. It promised to be an interesting lesson: Bree did enjoy the company of the hippogriffs and from the head-bowing she got she assumed they liked her too. There was the possibility of danger, Brianna knew that and would have been a fool to discredit it. She only hoped that the students would understand it too.

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[[ class is now in session ]]

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Points:
Gryffindor- 12
Hufflepuff- 163
Ravenclaw- 84
Slytherin- 138[/font][/size]

[Ellie Rook]

A new day, a new Care of Magical Creatures class. Ellie was this close to actually skipping the class. True, she had gotten better at controlling her fears of animals, but it was also true that she could never control the animals themselves. Considering it usually wasn't totally Ellie's fault when something happened, it still left a reasonable large slice of doubt to the lesson.

Walking down to the spot where the lesson would be taking place for the day, Ellie took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Finally, Ellie could see Professor O'Donnell waiting by the edge of the forest. Ellie sighed and tugged at her Hufflepuff scarf, annoyed with the fact that she was the first person to class.

"Morning Professor." Ellie said, sounding less than enthusiastic about the lesson. Ellie hoped, sincerely hoped, that the lesson wouldn't be incredibly dangerous, or in that case, she hope, really hoped, that Bradyn would should up to comfort her when she burst into tears.

[Jason Walker]

This should be a fun lesson, Jason thought to himself as he walked down to the designated area near the forest where the class would be held. Magical creatures always had intrigued him for more than one reason. They're wild, unpredictable and not so tame. In other words; dangerous.

Brushing past the trembling fifth year hufflepuff, Jason stopped once reaching within two feet of the Professor and stood there watching the flock of Hippogriffs. He knew not to stand too close to them, and did just that. Turning to the Professor, he smiled. "Excellent afternoon to hold this class, Professor. I'm sure it will be a joy." [/color]

[Polaris Stormwrath]

"Such a beautiful afternoon!" Were the first words that came out of Polaris' mouth as she approached the forest and the area where the class was suppose to be held. Finally coming into site, three figures stood by the edge of the forest and a flock of hippogryphs. Such beautiful creatures. Luckily, Polaris was in tune with animals, being a sort of one herself, that she had no problem with most.

Walking up to the group, she offered a smile to Ellie, which she could feel her uncomfort. Going a bit further past her, Polaris stood on the other side of the Professor, opposite of Jason. "Hippogryphs today huh, Professor? Good choice!" [/color]

[Alexis Heart]

Alexis Cane was having a horrowing morning. Most of it had been spent looking for her cat who snuck out when her dorm mate left the door to their room wide open. Alexis didn't really like her cat wandering because she had a penchance for getting into trouble. She looked all around the dorm rooms of all the girls, checked ever nook and cranny of the common room, nothing. After an hour she gave it up as a bad job and she started crying. She adored her cat and would simply hate it if anything happened to it. Then finally she heard scratching at the door Snowy had returned because she was hungry. Alexis was simply too pleased to care, but in all the hoopla of the day she realized she had a class to get to.

Putting some food in a bowl Alexis wastched Snowy begin to eat before throwing one strap of her rucksack over her shoulder and leaving the room making sure the door was closed. Now it was time for Care of Magical creatures and if memory served her correct this class was to be a good one, so now she walked from the security of Ravenclaw's common room, out the great oak front doors and toward the care takers hut. Instead of seeing he professor right out front she caught a glimpse of her by the edge of the forest. So she made her way over seeing that Ellie was there as well as Polaris and another boy a Slytherin if she wasn't mistaken Alexis greeted the girls before saying good morning to the professor.

Afer her morning she hoped a good Care of Magical Creatures lesson would put her in a better mood.

[Prof Brianna O'Donnell]

[[ the hippogriffs are in the forest dears, you can't see them yet ]]

Bree watched as the first few students tricked to where she was standing. The first, and most surprising, to arrive was the ever enjoyable Ms Rook. Bree could not hide her surprise and was sure she didn't want to. She smiled at the nervous girl as a Slytherin pushed past her. "Morning, Miss Rook," Bree said, still gawking at the Hufflepuff. "I am surprised to see you here ... again."

"Walker," she smiled and nodded to the Slythering and as the two Ravenclaws joined them she greeted them in turn too, "Stormwrath, Cane."

She could never decide objectively how she felt about Ravenclaws, most were self righteous know-it-alls but she was generalising and that would not work to figure out what she thought about them as a whole group. Her much jaded point of view certainly made this a difficult decision but she put it back in the box in her mind that it came out of and left such contemplation for another day.

Smiling broadly at the four students gathered, Bree took a step forward, dropping her hands to her sides. "So, are we all looking forward to this lesson or is there something better you'd rather be doing?" Prof O'Donnell asked, genuinely curious. She knew the answer from Ms Rook would be yes, she has something better to do, anything but animals and she could not wait to hear exactly what the Puffball had to say on the matter.

[[ points updated ]]

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie shifted. She thought of saying 'Yeah, well, I need a credit.' But she thought it sounded a little to harsh. Ellie didn't totally hate the class. She enjoyed the chance to get out of the castle, though she guessed she could get outside on her break each day. Ellie also really like Professor O'Donnell, it wasn't her fault that she taught a lesson Ellie loathed. So, Ellie guessed that there was at least one upside to Care of Magical Creatures. "I never give up, Professor." She settled with a smile.

Ellie felt someone brush past her and she stumbled a bit on the uneven ground near the forest. "Watch it." She said under her breath, seeing it was a Slytherin. Ellie sighed. She hoped that someone else would show up soon. And someone did. Not anyone that Ellie was particularly friendly with, but still it was someone. Ellie smiled in greeting Polaris, and then Said her hellos as Alexis walked down as well.

Ellie automatically got ten ideas of things she would rather be doing right now, the list included eating brussel sprouts, doing Charms homework, being hung upside down, and running a mile. Ellie smiled. "Oh, well, you know, the usual." Ellie said, smirking at her thoughts.

[Felicity Locke]

This morning hadn't started out very good. First off, she fell out of her bed when one of her dorm mates shoved her. Second, she was practically assaulted by several students late to class. And Thirdly, her socks didn't match. Today just felt like it was going to be at least a strange day. Sigh, she never had a normal one.

Felicity made her way outside, her books tucked securely under one arm as she trudged down the lawns. Some students were already there. Oh well, she wasn't as early as she thought. With a small shrug on her end, she closed the gap between her and the small group in a matter of moments.

The first person Fay saw was Ellie, and a large grin spread across her face. She skipped over and slung her arm over the girl's shoulders. "Hey Ellie!" Her gaze turned to the professor, and a grin was also shot over to her. "And hello Professor. What shenanigans are we going to get into today?"

[Via Thorn]

What a beautiful day. There was a slight warm breeze, only just enough to move Via's hair slightly, and warm enough so that she wasn't freezing in her grey and yellow Hufflepuff school jumper, or hot enough so she was pulling the sleeves up. Walking down, clutching onto her shoulder bag containing everything and anything, she was glad Professor Hubbles had charmed her bag so it could contain anything she wanted and also not have the weight with it. He had seen her once or twice struggling to take everything with her, and took pity on her. Via could not be more thankful.

Walking down the hill to the Forest's entrance in which there were a few students already, she was pleased to see Polaris and Ellie there. They hadn't spoken much but she liked them both, and so she positioned herself between the pair and flashed them both a smile before greeting the professor.

[Prof Brianna O'Donnell]

Brianna looked down at her watched and saw that there were fiver more minutes ((ooc: one more post)) before the class was scheduled to start. It was a fleeting glance at her watch and when she looked up there were already more students coming over the rise before the drop to the forest. It was yet another Claw, bring the question back to the professor's mind but the sight of another Puff pushed it out of her mind.

Looking back to Ellie, Bree smiled and held her elbows in her hands again. It was an interesting response but upon farther thought Bree became certain that it was actually an unfair question. The more she thought about it the more Bree began to smile. Her gaze had fallen to the ground and she was laughing quietly to herself, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. When a voice broke through Bree's thought she looked up and smiled when she was greeted by the Ravenclaw.

"Afternoon, Miss Locke," Bree said, her arms falling to her sides again. The Hufflepuff came to the small group just as Bree smiled and lifted her hand to her nose, tapping it lightly with her index finger. "You shall soon see," she said mysteriously. Her dark eyes flicked to the Hufflepuff who joined them and she smiled. "Afternoon Thorn."

[ivyyy]

A swift wind blew at Ivy's hair as she walked down the hill toward the forest. She was coming from the greenhouses after helping her mother tend to a rather thriving plot of plants. Ivy suspect the four foot tall pumpkins in the middle of winter might have something to do with her mother's wand, but she wasn't complaining.

She was actually hiding out.

Ivy had found it much easier to walk down to her mother's office or the greenhouses then assert herself into any social situations. Life at Hogwarts just wasn't working for the first year. She had contemplated asked her mother to back home to grandma and grandpa, but Ivy knew that her being at Hogwarts, and close to her mother meant so much to Jane. She couldn't hurt her like that. However, a friend would be useful.

The small girl, shy to top it all off, joined the group of older students. She stood awkwardly in the back. Deep down, Ivy was bursting with excitement. The start to Care of Magical Creatures had finally come. Ivy had been anticipating this for weeks. Her mother must be sick of all her questions about the class. However, standing alone in the back of the group, Ivy thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea taking this class. Hugging herself, she rocked from side to side, hoping that the lesson would start sooner than later.

[Alice Simmons]

Care of Magical creatures was becoming one of Alice’s favourite subjects; it was different from sitting in a classroom hearing the professors ramble on about this or that. In this lesson they got to go outside and actually see the real thing which was always exciting.
Carefully making her way across the snow covered lawns the second year Hufflepuff saw a gathering of students down by the forest…

She froze on the spot. That had to mean they were going into the forest, unless there were conveniently placed creatures for them to look at without actually needed to enter it. Patting her pocket just to make sure her wand was still there Alice took a deep breath and began to walk forwards to class once more.

As she got closer she stopped a few other Hufflepuff’s, Via towering above them all but then she was a seventh year. With a small smile Alice was about to make her way over to the older Hufflepuff when she spied someone else, it was a smaller Hufflepuff standing at the back of the group looking slightly out of place. Seeing as she would only be doing the same thing only a few meters away Alice made the decision and went to stand next to her fellow housemate.

“Hi.” Alice mumbled although not really looking at the girl, her attention was merely on the fact that due to all these stupidly tall older students she could not see the Professor. Humming to herself as she toyed with the idea Alice looked through the crowd and saw a possible path for them to slip through to make their way to the front. Finally Alice turned to look at her fellow Hufflepuff and offered her a toothy smile. “Come on we can see nothing from back here.”

With a small laugh Alice put her best foot forward (which was in fact her right) and began to slalom through the other students to the very front of the class.

[Marcus Conway]

Marcus had not seen Alice that whole day. He wasn't sure why but they just hadn't met up at all. He was sure that she had been there so perhaps it was just that at every moment Marcus had, his head was down and his eyes fixed on his work. The night before he had not done his homework because as soon as he had the chance he went up to his room and flopped onto his bed. He didn't wake up till the next morning, that morning.

They had Care together though, that was a good thing because Marcus enjoyed having Alice in his classes, they didn't seem so class-like with her around. He had forgotten something in his previous class and so was running towards the meeting place for the class when he saw Alice standing with a small girl dressed in their house colours. Slowly his pace to catch his breath, Marc pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at the other students. They all seemed to be much older then them so he knew he would be sticking with Alice for the lesson.

The second year had only just decided this when Alice moved through the older students. Not wanting to lose sight of her Marcus began to run again and soon was weaving through the students till Alice's wavy hair was in sight. Taking deep breaths, Marcus readjusted his pile of books under his arm and smiled shyly at the professor.

Turning to Alice, Marcus gave the girl who was with her tentative glances. "Hi Allie," Marc said softly then coughed. He spoke more confidently now, "how ... how are you?" He pushed his glasses up his nose and focused completely on his friend, not wanting to know who else was staring at his red hair or his glasses.

[Alice Simmons]

Alice watched Professor O’Donnell for a while just waiting for her to start the lesson when she best thought she should make sure that the other Hufflepuff had followed her…but it was another Hufflepuff next to her. Alice had to do a double take to make sure she was not imagining it, it was Marcus. With a small smile at her housemate rearranging his books under his arm, she had often told him that having a bag was much easier then carrying them around like that and she had heard that Professor Hubbles had to a lot of charms on students bags recently to help them carry more stuff.

Shrugging his thought off she offered him a small hello back at his greeting and waited for the small boy to get his breath back before continuing. She knew Marcus well enough now after a year and a half that it would take a few seconds for him to find the confidence before asking how she was.

“I ain’t to bad thanks for askin. How bout you? Not seen you all day.”

Alice gave Marcus a very toothy smile before slowly shifting her attention back the Professor for a moment. She seemed to still be waiting for the last students to make there was from the castle before starting and as they stood in the shade of the very tall and spooky looking trees Alice could not help but wonder out loud.

“What do you think we are goin to do today? We best not go in the forest…me brother Dax was attacked in there the other week.”

[Marcus Conway]

Marcus smiled back when Alice smiled at him, even though his smile was smaller, more concervitive then hers. Alice always more willing to talk to people then Marcus, but then again it didn't take much to be so. In a way the two friends, plus Sam, balanced each other out nicely. Marcus was certain Sam would come soon but didn't worry about him. He was a tough guy and so didn't need worrying about.

His friend had noticed too that they had not seen one another and nodded. "I haven't been too bad either," he said in his small voice. With another nervous glance at the other Hufflepuff, Marcus pushed his glasses up his nose and added, "I've been very busy today," he explained vaguely.

The professor stood with the students but seemed to be waiting for something. That was fine by Marcus, he didn't mind waiting, patience is a virtue after all. Alice's voice came to Marc's ears and he looked at her with a slightly bewildered look on his face. As soon as comprehension had set in, Marcus shrugged, moving the large textbook for Arithmancy that was poking into his side. "I'm not sure," he said, and looked around at the older students, "and I don't think we're the only ones who don't know."

Marcus's bespectacled eyes grew wide when Alice told him that her step brother had been attacked. "What?" he squeaked. "That's terrible, is he ok? What ... what attacked him?" Even though he was almost 100% sure he didn't want to know he asked anyway. The horrible stories he had heard, mainly from his sister, still sent a chill down his spine.