Do I really have to think of a title? on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Kijewski

December 10, 2006 10:33 PM

Lesson 1, Year 5 by Professor Kijewski

The third and fourth year lesson had been an entertaining lesson to say the least. She was glad that she had chosen to do nifflers this year as a start of term lesson because she believed that a lesson like that would have gotten them excited for future lessons. At least, that how she hoped the nifflers affected her students. Of course, not all the students would be like that. She wasn't naive to think that everyone would love the creatures, but she could dream. After the third and fourth years left, Kiva had time to bring both the puffskeins and the nifflers back up to her office, grab a bit of food, before heading back down to get ready for her lesson with the fifth years.

This lesson was going to be a bit tricky to pull off, but her fifth years were fairly responsible. Well...possibly minus the Cravens, though they've been very good these last couple of years, and Stephen when he wasn't paying all that close attention. She would definitely have to explain to them that this lesson was a potentially dangerous one if they didn't pay close attention to what she was telling them. She didn't want any chance of a problem to stir, so she had to be absolutely clear and precise as she spoke with them. "Good Afternoon all, I'm glad to see you've returned healthy from your summer holidays." Kiva greeted once everyone had settled into their spots. "Today's lesson is a potentially dangerous lesson, so I need all of you to listen to me." Kiva said, her voice firm. "We will be discussing Hippogriffs today. I was lucky enough to have a friend who tames them and was willing to lend one to me." Kiva's previous job gave her many connections that would help her in her lessons with the students.

"I'm going to discuss the creatures first before bringing one out. This way, you'll have the necessary knowledge to be able to handle one." Kiva said, usually she liked to have the creatures out in front of everyone to give them a sort of basis, but because Hippogriffs were difficult and there were certain rules to follow, Kiva wanted them to have a basic understanding of them first. "Hippogriffs are native to Europe, but like many other creatures, they have been exported and are now found in relatively all parts of the globe. They eat anything from insects to small mammels. They build large nests and lay only one large and fragile egg. These eggs hatch after twenty-four hours. They are ready to fly after about a week, but it does take a few months before they can fly long distances." There, she had gotten the boring background out of the way, now onto the rules of handling the creatures.

"This is the part where you all give me your undivided attention because if you don't, some of you may be going up to the Hospital Wing in a lot of pain." Kiva warned them, eyeing them each to make sure they were all listening. She didn't move on until she knew she had each of their undivided attention. "There are many rules when approaching and handling Hippogriffs. First off, eye contact. They like eye contact because it shows that you consider them your equal. Next, you must bow to show good intentions. If a Hippogriff returns the bow, then you are free to go and pet them or ride them. If they do not return the gesture, then back away." Kiva said, her soft voice serious and without faulter. "The most important rule is to never insult the Hippogriffs." Kiva put as much emphasis on this rule as she could. "They are proud creatures and if you insult them, they will get offended and they will strike out against you. I cannot emphasize how important it is to not insult these creatures." Kiva commented, looking fiercely at the students around her.

"So remember, eye-contact, bow, and never insult." Kiva repeated. She moved around the students and into one of the surrounding paths. She emerged a moment later with a robe held tightly between her hands. The first thing that emerged of the creature was it's giant Eagle like head. Soon it's horse-like body followed. Hippogriffs were magnificant creatures. Large and beautiful with so much personality. "I would like to introduce Hera." Kiva stated when she finally brought the Hippogriff to the center of the clearing. "Would anyone like to volunteer the proper way to greet her?"

OOC: Okay everyone, I'm looking for how well you write your reponses (make sure they are at least 2 paragraphs, 5 sentences each), grammar, and how well you develop your character. Take your time and have fun! \n\n

Subthreads:

A craven behind the Cravens by Zack Dill

Not so bad by Jenna Howard with Professor K

Do I really have to think of a title? by Lily Collins

Nope, not titling this one either... by Kaylie Brockert

0 Professor Kijewski Lesson 1, Year 5 0 Professor Kijewski 1 5

Zack Dill

December 12, 2006 6:13 PM

A craven behind the Cravens by Zack Dill

Zack had been dreading this class all day. When he walked in and spotted Professor Kijewski, he felt guilty for that, but it didn't lessen his apprehension at all. Her very first sentence (discounting the greeting) only intensified his anxiety. "Potentially dangerous" she said. Zack had liked the class much better when all they had to deal with were the Tribbles (aka Puffskiens).

Last year had introduced the Jarvey, a creature Zack had taken an instant dislike to. He'd heard rumour that the new medic had one in the Hospital Wing which meant that even after he'd gotten sick after the Quidditch game last year, he just waited out the cold instead of going for medicine. The rest of the previous year had gone marginally better, but it looked like it was going to take another turn for the worse now.

Still, he took meticulous notes onto the piece of looseleaf he'd pulled out and braced against the binder in his lap. Eye contact was going to be tough. Making the creature think he thought they were equals would be just about impossible. Equals meant they were on even footing, and they weren't. Not at all. He wondered what the reaction would be if the Hippogriff knew he was scared of it.

Unwilling to ask that question in front of the rest of the class, he said nothing before Professor Kijewski brought out the creature.

At least the other two rules were easier to comply with, especially the last and 'most important' one. Insulting had never been his thing, especially not when he was afraid of something. As for rule two, he hadn't really had occassion to ever bow before, but he thought he could probably manage that without too much difficulty.

As Hera emerged from the robe, Zack's eyes widened at the strange mix of eagle and horse. Oh, yeah, this thing could eat Zack for breakfast, he had no question about that. He gave a small, hurried bow, then moved so that he was hiding a little bit behind the Cravens. (This was more because he figured the Hippogriff would prefer to eat the Cravens over him than because he thought they had any intention of protecting him.)\n\n

1 Zack Dill A craven behind the Cravens 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Jenna Howard

December 17, 2006 6:52 PM

Not so bad by Jenna Howard

Jenna arrived at the afternoon lesson a little paler and a bit skinnier than she usually was, due to her sickness when she had first arrived at Sonora. But the fifth year was mostly better now, besides the whole need to gain the weight back and everything. She hadn’t been skinny since she was twelve, and she wasn’t a stick now, but it was normal for her to be a bit curvier than she was currently. So it really wasn’t any surprise that her blue “Banshee Beach” t-shirt was a little baggier than usual.

The brunette couldn’t help but laugh a bit when Professor K said she was “glad to see
you've returned healthy from your summer holidays.” That was a joke, she’d been sick as a dog when she’d come back to Sonora.

She perked up a bit when Professor K mentioned that today’s lesson would be potentially dangerous. Creatures that were dangerous always had the most interesting properties in potions- at least that’s what she thought. Maybe she’d pluck a banshee hair! Or get some spit from a leprechaun. Oh, she wished she had a vial on her!

All that excitement died when the professor mentioned the animal in question was a hippogriff. If you thought about it, and Jenna did, hippogriffs really had attitudes that were identical to those of certain people in her family. Alright, most people in her family. And she knew how to placate them when need be. Therefore, hippogriffs would be a cinch. But she was disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to collect anything from it. The most common part of the hippogriff used in potions was its talons (which usually had to be grinded or chopped up before hand) and she wouldn’t be able to manage to get a talon off a live one.

Again the teacher made remarks about ill health when she talked about giving attention! A wave of paranoia came over the gray-eyed girl, was the teacher trying to mock her or something? She shook her pale head, as if to shake off the paranoia as well. No, that couldn’t be it.

The rules for dealing with hippogriffs really were part of common decency, which Jenna could do when she felt like it. She wondered offhandedly how hippogriffs understood insults in the English language. Or maybe they recognized the tone of voice. She’d definitely have to look up on the intelligence of the species after class.

Feeling fairly confident in her abilities, Jenna made a move unprecedented in any class other than potions- she volunteered for something.

“I’ll give it a shot,” she said, raising her hand.\n\n

0 Jenna Howard Not so bad 46 Jenna Howard 0 5

Lily Collins

December 22, 2006 7:20 PM

Do I really have to think of a title? by Lily Collins

Care of Magical Creatures was just a "bleh" class in Lily's mind. Not that it was necessarily boring, it was just that she truly didn't have any strong feelings about it. It was just that it wasn't something that particularily interested her, though she thought the Jarvey would have been lots of fun and she greatly enjoyed throwing gnomes at people.

She hung near the back of the group, never being one to want to be thought a show off or a suck-up or a goodie-goodie. In Lily's opinion, these were among the worst things to be. She didn't want that kind of attention.

Lily perked up a bit as she listened to the lecture. Hippogriffs, huh? Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. This was at least a creature that could be dangerous, which made it more interesting. Lily may not have had much interest in caring for creatures (after all, she wasn't the kind, soft-hearted, nurturing type) but she was intrigued by dark or dangerous ones.

However, she made no move to go greet the creature. Volunteering answers was simply not Lily's style, except perhaps in Defense. Besides, just because she found dangerous creatures interesting, didn't mean she necessarily wanted to get real up close and personal with one. After all, Professor K had said not to insult them and Lily was way too good at being insulting. She'd rather let someone else offend the creature and be mauled or trampled.\n\n

11 Lily Collins Do I really have to think of a title? 45 Lily Collins 0 5

Professor K

January 08, 2007 9:06 PM

Hippogriffs are fun by Professor K

Kiva thought that this lesson would be potentially interesting for her fifth years. They were out of the small, cute, and cuddley creatures and into the big, scary, and potentially dangerous creatures.

She was sure that this would perk at least some interest. But, perhaps she had been wrong by the look of things. Of course, it might also be the fact that Hippogriffs were dangerous which was why some of the students might not be liking this lesson after all. She couldn't win them all.

When the brunette whose sister had given Kiva a bit of a hard time last year, spoke up, Kiva couldn't prevent the grin from spreading over her face. At least someone had some nerve. Hippogriffs weren't so bad. Hera, especially, was one of the more easy-going Hippogriffs. "Thank you, Jenna." Kiva gave Hera a pat of comfort before leaving her to stand beside Jenna. "I want everyone to watch carefully." Kiva told the class as a whole before giving her full attention to Jenna.

"Now Jenna, I want you to make eye contact first. As soon as you establish it, take a bow. If Hera bows back, then you may approach her. This is important, if she doesn't bow back, I want you to back away slowly and we'll try again later. Okay?" Kiva asked, before giving Jenna the go-ahead.

OOC: You can have the hippogriff respond any way you like. Whether its good or bad. We'll proceed after your response.\n\n

0 Professor K Hippogriffs are fun 0 Professor K 0 5

Kaylie Brockert

January 09, 2007 5:34 AM

Nope, not titling this one either... by Kaylie Brockert

After pumping herself full of anti-allergy potion, the one potion she made fairly well, at least well enough that would last through Care of Magical Creatures, Kaylie came upon the clearing where class was held. She realized that the lesson was just her own year, the way Charms had been.

A pang of regret struck Kaylie as she realized she wasn't all that close with any of her own classmates after five years,even Tally or Jake. She wasn't an outcast per se. It wasn't as if people didn't like her. It was just that Kaylie really had no good friends other than Chris and her brother.She did feel like kind of an outsider, even Lily seemed to have closer friends than she did.

She gave a small sigh. Perhaps there was still time to make friends with her classmates before they graduated. For now, though Kaylie snapped to attention as Professor K. started the lesson. She smiled to herself as she heard they would be doing hippogriffs. Hippogriffs were beautiful, majestic creatures. Her grandpa had a few on his ranch. She'd never been allowed to get to close to them though because her mother wouldn't let her. Kaylie's mother was a bit of a worrier and didn't like for her children to do anything dangerous. She even worried about Kaylie playing quidditch. After hearing about last year's championship, Isabella Brockert had been like "Oh thank Merlin that Lexi Stafford is on your team and not another one."

Kaylie looked uncertainly at the creature. She'd love to go up and try it, really, even if her mother would probably faint if she heard. Before she could volunteer, Jenna Howard decided to, so Kaylie stood back and watched, anticipating what would happen.\n\n

11 Kaylie Brockert Nope, not titling this one either... 43 Kaylie Brockert 0 5

Jenna Howard

January 09, 2007 6:50 PM

“Try and fail, but don't fail to try.” by Jenna Howard

Jenna's stomach dropped. For a brief moment where she had lacked common sense, she had forgotten that volunteering for things meant that everyone's eyes were on you. Worst of all, during this brief lapse of judgment, she had volunteered to a staring contest with possibly the most dangerous creature she'd ever come in contact with.

It was still possible to back out, she supposed, but the attention was already focused on her and there was nothing she could do but go through with what could possibly be her funeral. Sure she'd dealt with superiority complexes throughout her life, but this was different! The hippogriff didn't know it could face punishment for physically injuring her in any way. Or maybe it did, and in its arrogance, it just didn't care. Whatever the case, the fifth year chewed on her lip as second thoughts came rolling forward.

But what would her cousin and his girlfriend think? All this summer, they had spent trying to make her open to new opportunities, would that be for nothing? Would she disappoint them? Could she stand to disappoint them? Besides, how was she supposed to be a great alchemist if she couldn't learn how to collect her own ingredients? She had to do this, and more importantly, she felt like she could do this, so long as she didn't let her fears get the best of herself.

Inhaling, she went over the plan in her head. Make eye contact, bow, keep eye contact, pray to the powers that be that the hippogriff didn't try to maul her. Right.

Taking a half step forward she stared at the eagle-headed creature's face, waiting for the hippogriff- Hera, was her name?- to acknowledge her presence. When cautious eyes met a pair of proud ones, she felt like she was back at home being evaluated yet again. Except this time it was a pair of orange orbs instead of stone gray like her own. Arms at her sides and back straight as she bowed down low, Jenna held the position for a few seconds in order to try and get the idea across that she was bowing and not just doing some weird bob, before standing up straight again. She kept eye contact as the hippogriff made her decision. Trying hard not to blink, she couldn’t help but what was going through its head. Was it the same things that went through her parents' minds when they looked at her? Did Hera too think that Jenna was too socially awkward, too bookish? Did the hippogriff doubt her the way she was so used to people doing?

Keeping eye contact as the seconds dragged on for what seemed to be hours, she wondered when she had began caring so much about other people’s opinions of her. Being labeled as awkward was something she was supposed to be used to, right? So what did it matter if people thought of her that way! Or mere creatures, for that matter?

Maybe the bow wasn't done right, or maybe the hippogriff had seen the uncertainty in her eyes. But when about three minutes had gone by, and the animal began to ruffle her wings, Jenna knew it was time to back away. Maybe people were right in doubting her, in thinking that maybe she couldn’t do all those things she set out to do. Maybe she wasn’t ready just yet to dare to reach all her goals, no matter what the cost. But she had put herself out there, and she had tried. That was something, and nobody could take that away from her. Her cousin Isaiah, and Lenny couldn’t be disappointed in her. And for now that, well, that was enough for the girl who recalled being so shy she’d never even think of daring to try anything like this when she arrived at Sonora for the very first time.

“Sorry professor,” she said quietly as she backed off, “I didn’t mean to, didn’t mean for that to happen. Do you think she'll mind if I stay in the class, or should I go?”
\n\n

0 Jenna Howard “Try and fail, but don't fail to try.” 46 Jenna Howard 0 5