Lesson 1 for Fifth Years on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor K.

April 20, 2008 8:04 PM

Lesson 1 for Fifth Years by Professor K.

Kiva had gone back up to the school with her morning creatures floating infront of her right after the third and fourth years had left her when the class ended. After she had dropped the animals off in their habitats, Kiva had done down the Cascade Hall for a bit of lunch. She was happy that the nausea had stopped after the first month. She had been worried that she wouldn't have been to perform her job when she was constantly having to munch on crackers or running to the lavatory to stick her head in the toilet like she had been during the summer. For the most part, her pregnancy had been relatively easy for her all things considered.

After lunch, Kiva had gone back down to her clearing and conjured up chairs for her fifth years to sit on. Today would be nothing more than a lecture. She knew that might upset the fifth years, but she hadn't adequately prepared her fifth years last year for the retreat and she was going to learn from her mistakes. So, her lessons with these new batch of fifth years was going to focus on the Winged Horses and their duties as well as prepare them for the C.A.T.S. that were going to be hitting them at the end of the year.

Kiva sat in her own chair and waited in the sun for her students to arrive. She was grateful that she had remembered to put sun block on this morning. The sun was absolutely brutal on her right now in the hot afternoon. She pulled her curls back and tied them off with a band, hoping that would help her. She wasn't sure if the heat was actually from the sun or if she was imagining it. Well, she'd find out soon enough.

The students wandered into the clearing and Kiva gave them a welcoming smile from her perch. "Afternoon everyone. Please find yourself a chair and have a seat." She waited until all the seats will filled before starting the lesson. "I hope everyone's summer was a good one and I'm happy to see you've all returned. As you are all aware, this year will be a tough year for you with the CATS coming, but I also want this year to be fun for you." Kiva admitted to them. "As some of you may be aware, my last year's Fifth years were able to go to a ranch that featured Winged Horses. This year, you guys will also be taking that same trip." Kiva announced happily to them. They may end up taking the trip a little earlier than she would like, but she would be in her final trimester come April and Kiva didn't want to have to leave them in the hands of Professors who didn't know what Kiva was expecting to be done.

"So today, we are going to be discussing Winged Horses. What do you all know of them and what are you all expecting from the trip? Once we get a better understanding of the horses, the trip might not be as difficult for you all as you may come to believe." Kiva leaned forward in her seat and looked out at her students. "So, what can you all tell me about Winged Horses?" She asked her class as a whole.

OOC: By now, I'm sure you are all aware of what I'm looking for in order to receive points. Well detailed posts at least 10 sentences in length. Be sure to at least try and pay attention to the lesson and remember to have fun.

0 Professor K. Lesson 1 for Fifth Years 0 Professor K. 1 5

Saul Pierce

April 22, 2008 9:26 AM

They eat by Saul Pierce

Saul was not particularly good at sitting still and listening to lectures, but Professor K's class was slightly different from other classes. For one thing, she didn't care if he dropped his robes off in Pecari before coming out to her clearing. Being in just a t-shirt and jeans made him feel like the class was less of a bore and he was able to muster some small measure of concentration. Being outside helped with that as well. Nothing distracted Saul more than the stuffiness of the indoors. It made him itchy and restless.

Outside, though, Saul was reminded of his lessons with his Aunt Regina and all the less regimented ways his family had of teaching. The smaller class size, with only the fifth years attending, there also helped a great deal. Perhaps the most important thing, however, was that Saul actually liked this class, so he put in just that little bit of effort.

What it all meant was that Saul actually paid attention to what Professor K was saying. He still fidgeted in his seat and didn't take any notes and dropped his wand on the ground and picked his wand up again and played with it and dropped it again and disassembled his pen and lost all the pieces so that even if he wanted to take notes he'd no longer be able to, but when she asked a question, his hand still shot up into the air.

Even in this, his very best class, Saul was still surprised whenever he knew an answer to a discussion question, and that shock always propelled him to volunteer that answer, often before his hand finished lifting into the air. Despite that Saul actually didn't know much about winged horses, today was no exception. He had worked with normal horses, and he thought that was close enough.

"They eat. And they poop. They poop a lot. Because they eat a lot, too. And the hay in their stalls has to be changed. A lot. And they need to exercise. And they can be trained to do cool stuff. I worked at a faire with a joust - well, they all had jousts - but this one was shorthanded in the stables, so I got reassigned. And it was really cool because I got to watch them rehearsing and they let me ride sometimes, too. But those weren't winged horses. They were muggle ones. I guess winged horses have some differences, though. Like, they have wings and they can fly. But I bet they still eat and poop."

1 Saul Pierce They eat 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Professor K.

May 06, 2008 8:33 PM

And they sleep by Professor K.

Saul easily caught Kiva’s attention with his enthusiasm. In a lot of ways, Saul reminded her of Simon and not merely because they were related. They had this glow about them that when a person was in their presence, they couldn’t help but shine with them. So, when Saul eagerly answered her question with an answer that Kiva never expected out of anyone, she couldn’t stop herself from grinning at him and his brilliantly glowing innocence that she could always count on from him.

Still, that didn’t prevent Kiva from being speechless after he had finished giving her his answer. They eat and the poop. Well, she couldn’t really deny him that answer. It was true. They ate excessive amounts to keep up with their muscles and vigorous routines and daily workouts. And just like with humans, they had to excrete the unnecessary products that their bodies couldn’t break down completely.

“That is definitely true, Saul.” Kiva finally said after a moment to compose herself. “Winged horses do indeed do all those things. However, all creatures need nutrition and a way to dispose of the waste that their bodies do not need. And yes, the wings definitely do assist the horses when they take flight.” She was still grinning even though it was almost necessary for her to possible scold him for giving a vague answer such as that, but Kiva was never one to be angry when they were offering her any piece of information upon her request.

“So, aside from eating loads of hay and then pooping, what else can people tell me about Winged horses? Where are they from? What are their eating habits, aside from hay? What are their differences? Can anyone tell me?”

OOC: Seriously, I think Saul's the only student who could say that and really really mean it. *laughs*

0 Professor K. And they sleep 0 Professor K. 0 5

Guenther Heindrich

May 09, 2008 11:59 PM

uhhhh.....Pegasus... by Guenther Heindrich

Guenther stifled laughter at Saul's answer. Truthfully he didn't know much more than that either. He knew how they pertained to Greek and Roman Mythology though. He decided to try telling the story. "I don't know much about how they really are, but in greek mythology there was a winged horse named Pegasus that sprang from Medusa's neck when Perseus beheaded her. It is said that everywhere that Pegasus struck his hoof down in the earth a spring would burst forth. But that's all I know."

Guenther hoped that was an intelligent answer and that it has some relevance. He had never read a book on a winged horse, though now he wished he had.

0 Guenther Heindrich uhhhh.....Pegasus... 0 Guenther Heindrich 0 5

Professor K.

June 03, 2008 8:55 PM

Pegasus was definitely a Winged-Horse by Professor K.

Kiva turned her attention to the newly announced Prefect of Aladren with a look of curiosity. "That's correct. As I'm sure by now, many of you have been able to notice that much of muggle mythology and fantasy use magical creatures that our common in our world. Pegasus was the son of Poseidon, well, at least in one version of the story, whose role it was as horse-god in Greek mythology. Some say he erupted from Medusa's head upon her death, others say that he was born from the Earth where her blood spilt." Kiva shrugged, "But, the one thing that never changed was the strength behind the stories of Pegasus and later, Pegasus and Perseus. He was a hero and the bearer of Zeus’s thunderbolts."

Kiva continued with the story as it was an easy transition into her lesson, "Later in Pegasus life he found a mate and had two ‘children’. This thus became the family of origin of the winged horses.” Kiva grinned and pulled a pouch from her pocket. “There are four specific Winged-Horse breeds that we will be studying at the ranch.” Pulling from the pouch, a chestnut colored, winged-horse model was produced. The horse trotted politely around her hand as though alive. “This is an Aethonon, found usually in Britain. And this one-” Kiva had gave the model to the closest student to hold for her and pulled out the next winged-horse that happened to be grey in color and nearly leapt from Kiva’s hand, but she was able to stop easily enough. “is a Granian, they are extremely fast both on the ground and in the air.” Kiva handed this model off to a student as well and produced a new winged-horse.

“Ah, this one is the most powerful of Winged-Horses.” Kiva explained, watching the nearly white horse parade around on her hand. Even as a model, it seemed to exude power. “These horses require a bit of force when you deal with them and have a love for single malt whisky.” Kiva looked amused at that little fact before handing off the model horse for the students to look at. “The final horse that I am going to show you is one that is rarely seen by witches and wizards. They are often considered bad omens because they are invisible until one witnesses death.” Kiva pulled the final horse from the pouch.

The Winged Horse that Kiva pulled from the bag was sinister looking. It’s black body was skeletal in appearance, with white shining eyes and dragonish facial structure. Even the wings looked sinister in their bat-like shaped. “It had taken a bit of time to locate someone who held such a rare item like this model since these horses are so unknown to most magical. This is a Thestral.” Kiva announced to them as she watched their reactions to the horse. “Other than their appearance and the fact that one can only see a living one of the person has seen death, Thestrals are given bad names because, unlike the other horses, Thestrals eat meat and are attracted to the smell of blood.” Kiva gave the model to a student to pass around.

“These horses are much harder to domestic than the others, but don’t think wrongly of them. Their abilities are the best of the bunch. Not only are they invisible, which helps them, they are unbelievably when flying. And they have an amazing sense of direction. If you give them an address, they’ll get you there no problem. I find these creatures to be the most fascinating of all the other breeds.” Kiva fell silent for a moment, a smile playing her on her lips. She was hopeful that seeing these small models would help to excite them at the prospects of seeing them in person.

“Oh, class is nearly over.” Kiva suddenly realized. “Well, before I set you all free, I have something more to discuss with all of you. The trip will happen late March or early April. I will need each of you to pay close attention. I will be slightly incapacitated and won’t be able to assist you all with some of the chores. Don’t worry though, there are many workers at the ranch and older students who’ll help where I can’t. So, I want you all to do as much studying about the Winged-horses I spoke about today to get you ready for the ranch.” Kiva felt better having told them that and hoped that wouldn’t deter anyone from wanting to be at the ranch.

“Okay, if anyone has any questions, speak now. If not, have a good rest of your day and I’ll see you guys at our next lesson.”

0 Professor K. Pegasus was definitely a Winged-Horse 0 Professor K. 0 5