Smart little animals (TAG Professor Snughardt) on Care of Magical Creatures

Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt

September 10, 2010 10:51 PM

Aw, Crup! [First and second years!] by Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt

Roy Snughardt enjoyed being a substitute. He didn’t have to worry about the children hating him too much. If they didn’t like him, well, tough for them. Honestly, he didn’t care. This wasn’t a permanent thing, only until Sonora arranged for a permanent professor.

Until that time, Roy found himself teaching Care of Magical Creatures. Today, he was teaching first and second years, which was just ever so great, Roy sarcastically thought. Roy wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of younger children. They could be annoying and immature, and if it were up to the grey-eyed man, every human would come into this world at about twelve years old, when a human stops being a child and becomes a real human. Half of his students in this class were that age, yet for some reason, Roy still had low expectations. Though they weren’t his favorite to be around, Roy was confident that if the students behaved themselves, they could get along just fine.

Also, Roy was very glad to be substituting in Care of Magical Creatures, his best and favorite subject growing up. Plus, it gave him a chance to contact an old friend of his, Sorrell. He’d have to remember Sorrell when planning his future lessons in regards to his older students.

Soon, Roy was waiting for his students to arrive, two decent-sized cages sitting next to him with blankets over them so the creatures inside could not be seen yet. After hardly no time at all, the students poured in. Look how small they are! the nearly-fifty-years-old widower thought. They’re almost like miniature people! Oh, wait, they are.

“Good afternoon, class,” Roy said calmly, his thin, aged lips creasing. “I am your substitute professor, Professor Roy Snughardt.” Whipping off the blanket, Roy revealed the creatures of today’s lesson; Crups. “Behold! Crups!”

“Crups are very similar to Jack Russell Terriers,” Roy continued. He himself had a Jack Russell at home with Susie, his beautiful nineteen-year-old daughter, and Shiloh, his adorable two-year-old grandson. Susie was so grown up, and his family was all he really missed about home. Roy hardly remembered his life before adopting Susie about six years ago. Back then, his wife was alive…

“Unlike Jack Russells,” he said, getting back on subject in his mind, “Crups have forked tails.” Quickly unlocking one of the cages, reaching in, grabbing a Crup, pulling the barking creature out, and relocking the change in one swift movement, Roy demonstrated this. “See? Forked.”

“Also, Crups have a dislike for Muggles. No one knows why; they just do. It’s suspected, however, that Crups were bred by Purebloods to dislike Muggles purposely,” Roy explained. Giving the instructions, he added, “All right, kids! Let’s play with Crups! I think there’s half as many Crups as kids, so share, and have fun playing around! Be warned,” he added in an afterthought, “that Crups will eat almost anything, so watch your loose clothing, hair, wands, and other things with careful eyes. Now go play!”

OOC: Well, hi there, kids! Please, don’t be mean to the Crups if you can resist; I wouldn’t suggest attacking them/obliterating them/kicking them/any other bad behaviors. Standard rules, and happy posting!

Subthreads:

Would anyone notice if one went missing...? by Neal Padrig, Pecari with Renée Errant, Neal

I wish I was into dogs. by Marcus Williams (Pecari) with David Wilkes of Aladren

My sentiments exactly. by Ryan O'Malley,Crotalus with Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus

Something fishy is going on around here by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw

Smart little animals (TAG Professor Snughardt) by Nova Wynn {Aladren} with Snughardt

Inconsistancy by Autumn Collins, Crotalus with Samantha Hamilton, Aladren

0 Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt Aw, Crup! [First and second years!] 0 Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt 1 5

Neal Padrig, Pecari

September 11, 2010 11:07 PM

Would anyone notice if one went missing...? by Neal Padrig, Pecari

Another new professor? Excellent. Neal didn’t mind the new face he was quickly approaching in the least. As much as he had enjoyed Professor Dakin last year, the color-blind second year was all for changes and hadn’t really gotten to know her well enough to make any sort of strong attachment. It was the same sort of way he thought about last year’s Transfiguration professor: pleased in a bitter sort of way. The most he could do was hope that this new guy could provide a lesson as well as he was used to in this class. Based off of all the creatures he’d encountered last year, this guy had pretty large shoes to fill.

Neal nodded to the substitute – Ah, so he was only temporary then? More change to look forward to, Neal supposed. – as he introduced himself to everyone. It was then that Professor Snughardt took the blanket off of the thing Neal was curious about. It unveiled something Neal certainly was not expecting to see. Instead of some sort of dangerous looking insect or ferocious animal, it was an (there was no other word for it) adorable dog. Neal’s dad had pet allergies, so dogs were always out of the question, but it didn’t mean that Neal didn’t still really want one.

The forked tails were an awesome sight to see. It only made them even more interesting than normal dogs. Neal wondered why he’d never seen such a creature before, but he really hadn’t been to very many magical households in his life.

Any stirrings of ideas about sneaking a Crup home ended when he learned they disliked Muggles. Whelp, so much for that idea. He doubted his mom would help hide the pet from his dad if the thing hated her for no apparent reason. Things like that were a deal breaker. The stomach of steel thing would probably also become a pain to put up with eventually, too.

Still, no reason he couldn’t enjoy them now, right? Neal was one of the first to swoop down and start playing with a Crup. It didn’t seem to mind that he was a Half-blood, only growling dangerously at Neal before turning to putty in his hands as Neal scratched behind his ears. It was funny how it’s forked tail flicked around in joy. Cons aside, he’d be thrilled to wind up with one of these rascals one day.

He noticed a person beside him, and he wondered if they wanted a turn with the pet. Probably. Shifting aside a bit, keeping one hand behind the puppy’s ear to keep scratching him, Neal left the other person plenty of room to join in on the fun. “There really cool,” he said with a smile, feeling more glad than he had for a while. “I wonder if they this Crup has a name? If not, we definitely should pick one out.”

0 Neal Padrig, Pecari Would anyone notice if one went missing...? 0 Neal Padrig, Pecari 0 5

Renée Errant

September 12, 2010 4:49 PM

I'll distract them while you make your move :) by Renée Errant

Renée couldn't stop the laugh of delight she gave after the professor revealed the animal they were 'studying.' She absolutely adored all animals and this had to be one of the cutest. A small part of her was slightly disappointed that the only instructions were to play, however. Care of Magical Creatures was her favorite class (she wanted to be a Creature Healer someday, or anything that had to do with animals) and unlike other classes, she actually loved to learn about the animals. Shoving her disappointment aside, she bounded towards the adorable dog - like creatures along with the rest of the class.

She joined a boy who moved slightly to the side to make room for her. She smiled at him before cooing at the crup and bending down to his eye level. She giggled as the crup pressed his wet nose towards hers.

“They're really cool. I wonder if they this Crup has a name? If not, we definitely should pick one out.”

Renée laughed again and looked at the boy. "Maybe we can name him - hey!" She winced slightly as her head was jerked down suddenly. She gave a mock pout at the crup that had lunged at the long brown curls of her hair. "Those are mine!" The crup's eyes grew big and wide, it's forked tail drooping slightly. Try as she might, Renée couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from twitching before breaking into a wide smile. The crup continued to paw at her hair. Turning exasperatedly to the boy Renée said, "We should call him 'Tug' or something." She winced again as 'Tug' or something pulled just a bit harder on her hair. "Um, do you think," she gestured embarrassingly at her hair. "Can you pry him off, please?" She laughed.

0 Renée Errant I'll distract them while you make your move :) 0 Renée Errant 0 5

Neal

September 12, 2010 7:07 PM

Spoken like a true partner in crime by Neal

When the professor warned that Crups ate everything, he really meant that they’d eat everything. It seemed like the girl’s hair was the pup’s first choice of a snack. Neal barely held back his own chuckle of amusement at the scene. ”Those are mine,” the girl chided as the Crup held onto a mouthful of the curls of her brown hair. It didn’t take too long for her to turn to mush at the literal puppy dog eyes staring back at her, and it seemed like she gave up on trying to scold him away. Neal couldn’t help but be grateful that his ruffled mahogany hair stopped a bit above his shoulders, framing his face and well out of the puppy’s reach.

At the suggestion of Tug, Neal grinned and nodded. “Sounds more than fitting for this little guy,” he agreed. Neal liked the energy the Crup had; it was like the animal had the same sort of restless energy Neal had. It was something the Pecari could defiantly relate to. “Tug it is then.”

Neal noticed the girl wince and he looked up at her from the corner of his eye to see what was wrong. He couldn’t help but wonder straight away if she had finally noticed his bloodshot brown eyes (courtesy of his colorblindness) since that freaked out Ellie last year. Maybe it bothered her, too. Or it could be his rather wrinkled robes for all he knew.

That didn’t seem to be the case though. Tug was taking the fault for her reaction, doing his name justice as he yanked on her hair. He furrowed his brow at the pup, wondering why it was so hooked on her hair. Did her shampoo really taste so great? She seemed to be suffering from some slight humiliation as she asked him to help her get Tug off of her, laughing a bit at her situation, probably.

“Sure, let me give it a shot,” he said. He tried to gently hold the puppy up so that the animal wouldn’t be able to try and grab at any more loose strands of her hair. He rubbed Tug’s stomach for a bit then stopped abruptly, hoping that’d it react like most dogs and bark at him to continue. He smirked as Tug did just that. Neal took Tug further away from the girl’s hair as the Crup opened his mouth to woof at him. While he seemed to miss the girl’s hair, he seemed content enough when Neal resumed scratching his fur.

“This might be a good time to pull all that hair back, because something tells me he could do this all day,” the mahogany haired Welsh boy said, nodding to the pup. “Oh, and I’m Neal Padrig by the way,” he introduced. “I’m a second year in Pecari. And I’m guessing, since you don’t look too familiar, that you’re a first year? Or maybe a transfer?”

0 Neal Spoken like a true partner in crime 0 Neal 0 5

Renée Errant

September 13, 2010 4:42 PM

I think you're going to be a bad influence on me by Renée Errant

Renée stayed as still as she could be while the boy successfully pried the zealous crup away from her. Gingerly she patted down her hair, her fingers seeking traces of drool. Thankfully she found none, and the only damage seemed to be her now tussled hair.

"Thanks." She smiled at the boy. "Yeah, I guess I'd better." She followed his suggestion and pulled her hair into a messy bun with only a few stray curls falling and framing her face. She wagged her finger at Tug who was getting comfortable under the boy's attentions. "Bad, Tug. Bad." She playfully scolded. The crup whined pitifully at her and once again she found herself falling in love. "You're lucky you're so cute." She joined the boy in petting Tug's fur.

"I'm Renée Errant." She said brightly. "Yeah, I'm a first year in Crotalus." She smiled at him and continued to pet the crup. "So, um, Neal? Can I ask you something?" Her tone was shy but her eyes were filled with excitement. She had glanced over his appearance at first, but now she had noted an intriguing detail about him. "What's with your eyes? Why are they like that?" She didn't mean to be offensive, she was just genuinely curious. She wasn't a girl who danced around the subject, when she wanted to know something, she was largely unafraid of asking.

Neal's eyes were bloodshot brown. Odd and unique and so beautiful and interesting to Renée. She loved different. She lived for different. It was why she loved animals so much, because of how different they were. Her family couldn't really understand her fascination with the animal kingdom, magical and non magical. Her mother, father, and brother were all socializing junkies. They loved to mingle and get to know people. Renée would rather go off and get lost in a forest than talk. When she did make an effort to get to know a fellow human, it was because she sensed there was something special about them that set them apart from the rest.

0 Renée Errant I think you're going to be a bad influence on me 0 Renée Errant 0 5

Neal

September 14, 2010 5:48 PM

Only if you’re the impressionable type by Neal

Crotalus? That was interesting. It wouldn’t have been his first guess, but then again he didn’t really know much about Renée so his opinion was null anyways. He got to know Sam a bit last year, and he was a good guy if not a bit on the jumpy side. Neal knew of Dmitry and the rest of the Crotalus Quidditch team he faced up against last year in the school’s first game of the season. The game had been complete chaos. Between Starbuck getting knocked clean off her broom and his paranoia about having less experience than his entire team, the whole event seemed to blur into one messy memory up until they miraculously won. In fact, the whole season was complete insanity.

If he was lucky, it’d be just as much fun this year.

Neal only realized he was letting his thoughts get ahead of himself when Renée spoke up again. He really had to do something about that daydreaming habit of his before his parents tried to ‘solve’ that quirk, too. When he heard her question, his smile just widened. For as much as he noticed people catching the feature, he didn’t so much get a questioned about it too often. This was something he didn’t understand, because he asked questions about anything he was really fascinated by without a second thought. The only time he hadn’t was when Mariana touched on the subject of her family, which was something Neal really regretted now.

“I can’t see colors,” he told her candidly. “I have this form of colorblind where, instead of like a few colors mixed up or whatever, everything’s a shade of grey.” It wasn’t anything serious, and Neal didn’t really mind it at all. The only issue he had was that it made anything involving color changes (read: most Potions activities) more of a nuisance than it should be. Otherwise, he wasn’t about to complain. Besides, they didn’t look as bad as they had in the past pre insomnia-meds. But he hated those, so moving right along.

Neal’s attention left the brunette and came back around to the pup when Tug started to get bored with the petting and slipped Neal’s shoe off his foot with ease. “Well, that’s what I get for not tying it tight enough,” he admitted as the pup slobbered and gnawed away at his left shoe. He kept his shoes loose out of comfort, but obviously it proved to not be a good idea. At least he was wearing clean socks. “As much as I wanted to sneak him back to my dorm, Tug keeps giving me reasons why I shouldn’t do that,” he admitted, only half joking. “What about you? Do you have any pets with you or back home?”

0 Neal Only if you’re the impressionable type 0 Neal 0 5

Marcus Williams (Pecari)

September 14, 2010 8:40 PM

I wish I was into dogs. by Marcus Williams (Pecari)

Marcus could only really guess what Care of Magical Creatures would be about. He figured they would learn about all the things Marcus had ever read about in a fairytale. He had already learned that there were such things as flying horses. That was cool, he supposed. Like that Greek God who fell off his flying carriage with his special flying horse. Marcus didn’t remember the God’s name. He never really remembered any but the big ones like Zeus and Athena, but he could remember the stories about them. Actually, was Medusa real? Did she really exist in this world? Or better yet, was Merlin a real Wizard and Morgana a real Witch? Now that would be so weird.

He sort of thought that it was cool that they would be having lessons outside, but he wondered what happened if this place had snow. Would they still be forced to stand out here in the cold? Or would their winter be completely different than the ones in NY. Where he was from, City schools would often close because it was too cold for the kids to walk and the city was too poor to afford busing systems. Marcus was lucky because his mother had entered him into the Urban Suburban program and he was bussed to the suburbs for school. Still, he wouldn’t have wanted to stand out in the cold for too long. Let alone an entire class period.

Marcus frowned when the professor began to talk. Their first lesson and it was with a substitute? Was Sonora having the same money problem that his schools back home were? Letting all the teachers go because there wasn’t enough money to have them and then have the students learn through inadequate substitutes. At least, that was what it was like back home. Maybe the substitutes here actually knew what they were talking about.

When the Sub Professor started the lesson by flashing dogs at them from under a blanket and shouting ‘crups’!, Marcus instantly believed that the sub was not up to par on the magical world. Those were dogs. He has seen a million of them in his young life. Were dogs not a magical thing?

And then, the sub threw the big one at him. The Crups had pitchfork tails and apparently didn’t like muggles? It took Marcus a moment to understand what ‘muggles’ meant. If he was a muggleborn, that meant his mother was probably what they called ‘muggle’. So, this Crup didn’t like people like his mother. That was weird. Dogs were usually loyal to anyone who showed affection. Marcus wasn’t so sure he was enjoying the magical world. All he kept on learning was that the magical world felt that his world was inferior and now apparently their animals hated his world too.

At least this was an easy lesson. All he had to do was play with a dog. He wondered what his mother would say about that. Shrugging, Marcus took a crup and headed out of the way to allow others to grab one. If anyone wanted to share with him, they were more than welcome too. Until then, he’d grab some alone time. “So, you’re a crup eh?” Marcus mused. “You know, my Mom won’t let me have animals. She says they smell and take up too much time. But, you don’t seem too bad.”

6 Marcus Williams (Pecari) I wish I was into dogs. 180 Marcus Williams (Pecari) 0 5

Ryan O'Malley,Crotalus

September 15, 2010 4:56 AM

My sentiments exactly. by Ryan O'Malley,Crotalus

Due to the fact that he had rather severe allergies and hay fever, Ryan had never been much for the outdoors. Unfortunately for him, having COMC classes outside was a long standing practice at Sonora. Today's class found Ryan incredibly stuffed up, and sneezing every couple minutes.

Quite frankly, Ryan did not want to be in class feeling this way. He was embarassed. The other kids would laugh at him and the teacher would probably yell at him. He couldn't help sneezing, the alternative was a potion that made Ryan feel really sleepy, but he was still certain that his teacher would yell at him. His mother did, of course, do that exactly and until Ryan was completely sure that his teachers wouldn't, he'd assume the worst.

He stood in the clearing where the COMC class was to take place. His eyes were itchy and watery and Ryan feverently hoped nobody would think he was crying. He couldn't have people thinking he was a baby the way that they did. Hopefully the constant sneezing would show them that that wasn't the case.

But sneezing wasn't good either, for one thing, Ryan was worried about disrupting the class. Some people, particularly Aladrens, might get mad if they couldn't hear what the teacher was saying because he was sneezing so loud. The teacher would get mad too and punish Ryan and when he inevitably went home-he didn't have the nerve to tell his dad that he didn't want to because Ryan was afraid of hurting his dad's feelings-he'd only get in trouble worse.

Not to mention that his classmates might think he was infectious and gross and weak and not want anything to do with him ever again. Ryan didn't think he could handle that happening, being in another place where he was completely disliked.

He desperately tried to listen to the substitute teacher, Professor Snughardt, talk to them about crups. Ryan really did want to learn about them, he loved dogs. His cousin Tristan had a puppy but Tristan was only four and not very good at taking care of it but Ryan loved playing with the dog when Aunt Alice and Uncle William brought it over with Tristan or Ryan went to their house with his grandparents.

The Crotalus started to wander over to the crups but he began to sneeze again. Ryan leaned back against a tree, hoping that his sneezing fit would soon be over and he could go play with one of the crups. He had to admit, he didn't really feel up to it but Ryan would hate to miss out on this.

11 Ryan O'Malley,Crotalus My sentiments exactly. 176 Ryan O'Malley,Crotalus 0 5

Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus

September 16, 2010 2:40 PM

I'll third the motion by Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus

Nic did not want to be here. It wasn't that he disliked Care of Magical Creatures - it honestly wasn't a bad class, really, and honestly the only thing he held against it was that it was kind of an all or nothing sort of class which made getting a perfect 80% grade next to impossible but he was holding a solid B- average (which translated here to approximately a high A where A was 'Acceptable' and two letters below O which was 'Outstanding') and right where he wanted his grades to be so he didn't look either nerdy or stupid. No, it wasn't CoMC that was bothering him. It was that it was a beginner's level course filled with, well, beginners. First and Second Years.

People who were generally all significantly smaller than him after his summer's growth spurt. He felt vaguely creature like himself and he'd already had one person ask him if he was part giant. At 5'8" he was already taller than a fair percentage of adults, and the doc said he was easily going to break six feet before he was done.

Don't get him wrong - he liked being taller than everyone in his class - he just wished it wasn't by quite so large a margin. Avoiding the teacher's notice - always one of his highest goals in school - was decidedly more difficult when he stood head and shoulders above some of his shorter classmates. CoMC made this worse because the outdoor lessons tended to involve more standing than the average lecture class.

Still, he kept to the back of the class, and listened to the teacher - new guy, which meant he was going to need to establish himself all over again - and didn't take notes. Notes were for nerds. Nic did not want to be a nerd, ergo, Nic did not take notes. Nic did not want to be seen as a troublemaker, either, however, so he paid attention and committed most of it to memory.

Unfortunately, once the teacher finished talking, he was expected to go find a dog to play with. He could find a dog, that was not the hard part. He'd spent enough time bullying playground bullies in Miami (when your name was Nicodemus and your parents were fortune tellers, you learned to bark first and pick your fights) to be sure he could get any dog he wanted regardless of whether or not anyone else already had claim.

None of his classmates had done anything to deserve that kind of treatment, though, so he just collected a crup nobody else had taken a shine to yet and regarded it doubtfully.

This was the difficult part. Nic did not get on well with animals. He'd never had a pet and the animals he'd met in real life (which is to say, outside of this classroom setting) had tended to have one of two interests: they either wanted to eat him, or they wanted to eat something that belonged to him.

According to the teacher's warning about crups, this one could go either way.

Nic gave the dog thing a wary distrustful look. "I'm bigger than you," he warned. He'd read somewhere that dogs would behave if you showed them who was boss, so he narrowed his eyes and pointed at it, "And I'm watching you."

Giving it another - easier - victim would probably help, too, and maybe his 'partner' would be able to handle the 'play with it' part of the assignment, too.

Playing with terriers did not really fit into the whole tall silent and looming persona thing he liked to project.

He noticed a red-eyed red-nosed kid standing a few feet away. Perfect. Animals knew instinctively to go after the sick first. Nic approached and dragged the crup along with him by its collar. Well, he would have, but the dog seemed more than happy enough to follow along without being forced, so maybe there was something to that show-who's-boss thing after all. At least, he hoped that was what it was. He could feel reputation points falling away from him with every cheerfully eager puppy step the crup made.

Pretending he was accompanied by something somewhat more fierce-looking, he addressed the kid. "Hey, do you have a partner yet? I'm Nic."

1 Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus I'll third the motion 165 Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus 0 5

Renée Errant

September 16, 2010 10:40 PM

Well, it depends on the impression. by Renée Errant

Renée blinked slowly at Neal, her lips slightly parted. "Colorblind?" She breathed. She stared straight into his eyes, studying them in wonderment before it dawned at her that it wasn't the politest of gestures. It was weird to think that she probably looked like a shade of grey to Neal. She would much rather him see her as something more vibrant. A shocking blue, or a dashing scarlet. Neal didn't seem at all bothered by his - was it a disability? She supposed not since it didn't make him lose out on stuff. It just meant that he naturally viewed the world differnetly. She hoped, for his sake, it was just as beautiful and wondrous when dyed grey.

She turned her attention back to Tug, not fighting the smile spread wide across her cheeks. She had known Care of Magical Creatures would be her favorite class. Already they were having fun with a crup (who'd she had the honor of naming), and she had met a boy with an interesting characteristic. Not something she would want for herself, but he didn't sound like it bothered him any. A thought suddenly struck her.

"Dogs are colorblind too." She cradled Tug's face and tilted it towards her own, peering into his eyes. "I wonder if crups are the same." Asking the question out loud made her realize that this was an actual class she was supposed to be learning in. "Do we do this all the time in Care of Magical Creatures?" She asked the second year student. "Just play with the animals?" The idea was tempting, but she really did want to learn about creatures. They weren't really learning anything here but how crups reacted to tummy rubs.

Renée giggled at Tug's frantic tearing of Neal's shoe with his sharp teeth. Gingerly she touched his forked tail that was waving in her face. "Weird... here, touch this." The tail was a strange feel of something akin to rubber, and some other strange thing she just couldn't identify.

"Ah, no." Renée shook her head. "I don't have any pets at home right now, unless you count the family owl. My brother had a dog, well, it was really the family dog but he always slept in Gabriel's room." She frowned in memory. She had deeply resented the fact that Sailor had preferred her brother's company over hers. But she brightened at another recollection. "We had two cats as well, and I was the only one they let feed them. Well, and my mother. But they hissed when she pet them. Not with me." She idly scratched Tug, who was still munching on Neal's shoe, behind the ears as she tried to remember all the animals that had passed through her home in Brooklyn. "There was a squirrel whose leg was broken that we took care of and he stayed on for awhile before disappearing. My father had a parrot for maybe two weeks before my mother ordered him to throw it out. Then there were three fish... and a snake." She smiled at Neal and laughed. "That's all there was, for now at least. I just wish we had had a more magical pet." She paused and said wistfully. "My mother had a phoenix when she was young."

She tucked a curl behind her ear and looked at the crup. "Guess his shoe is tastier than my hair, eh Tug?" He ignored her.

"So, what about you, Neal? Any pets?"

0 Renée Errant Well, it depends on the impression. 0 Renée Errant 0 5

David Wilkes of Aladren

September 18, 2010 1:50 PM

You seem to get along with this one all right. by David Wilkes of Aladren

There were, as far as David could tell, really two major pluses to Care of Magical Creatures lessons. One was that the course title was nice and straightforward and completely in words that had migrated completely into English, so he didn't have to guess around at Latin the way he'd spent a month doing when it came to Transfiguration and ending up confused about religious concepts. The other was that the textbook was really short, so he'd been able to read enough to know, more or less, what to expect coming in the door.

More or less. Part of his brain was still pointing out that dragons did not exist, and that was just the way it was outside of a fantasy. His mother had done a very good job of making sure he knew that, while she allowed him to read fantasies against her better judgment, nothing was real except the kind of life they had.

That was all over, though. Magic was real, and if his book was much to go by, then so were some talking animals. They might not form complex societies, but they did talk. There were no more limits now - or at least, he hadn't learned the limits yet. His media all disagreed about what magic was and how it worked, but they were pretty consistent in agreeing that any system was going to have limits. For now, though, it was like anything was possible.

Including having a really old guy substitute as their first subject teacher, though that wasn't really what David had been thinking of. Nor had he been expecting something that looked like a dog for that first, reel-'em-in lesson, though he supposed it was better than the worm-looking creature he had also seen in the book and had marked down as a likely subject for beginners.

Hearing that these...he had to call them dogs, their proper name sounded too much like a word he wasn't allowed to say, were hostile to Muggles made him a little unsure about approaching one. That was what his parents supposedly were. Their genes, or their brains, or something had something different that made them not wizards. Might, therefore, the dogs take exception to him as well?

No one else seemed to be having immediate problems with them, though, so he approached a kid he recognized from the first year only flying lessons at random. Hearing the last remark directed to the dog, he said, with half-faked lightness, "Let's hope they all stay that way. Do you still need a partner?"

16 David Wilkes of Aladren You seem to get along with this one all right. 169 David Wilkes of Aladren 0 5

Ryan

September 19, 2010 4:20 PM

Does it pass then? by Ryan

"Ahhh-chooo!" Ryan sneezed as an extremely tall boy approached him with a crup. Honestly, the first year had been surprised to see that this boy whom he had seen around the Crotalus commons, was in the first and second year class. Ryan had assumed he was more than one year older than himself.

Of course, the younger Crotalus did not express this view. Ryan was reluctant to do so, lest the taller boy be upset by his shock. He never wanted to hurt someone's feelings because Ryan knew too much what that was like. Plus the other boy-Nic, he had said his name was-was much bigger than Ryan and would be able to easily beat him up the muggle way.

Ryan shook his head. "No, no partner." He sneezed again. Really, he wanted to just make himself stop doing so, but to take a potion would make him fall asleep and then not only would he miss class, but he'd be up all night as well and Ryan had a hard time going to sleep at night as well. It wasn't that he was an insomniac, but he was a real night person. He could sleep, but he slept better during the day and was more energized at night.

Of course, his mother did not understand this-or care, even and would call him lazy if he slept in. This lead to Ryan not getting much sleep when he was at home. Plus, he was sort of afraid to fall asleep there anyway. It was better at his grandparents then there. Which was how pretty much everything was. Sonora was better than home too, so far, but Ryan still couldn't stay up late and sleep in and going to sleep in the middle of the day because of an allergy potion was going to make that worse.

There was another problem with getting a potion now too. Ryan would have to go ask the professor and the professor was kind of scary. Besides, the first year hated to ask for anything. He didn't feel like it was ever his place to want something or need something even when it was clear that he did, like right now. Ryan was never one to speak up for that.

"Oh,I'm Ryan." He introduced himself before sneezing yet again. He really did hate the way allergies made him feel. Not only was he sneezing like crazy but his eyes itched and he was starting to get a headache. But he had to stay because he feared the consequences of not doing so. The professor might get mad at him if he asked to go to the medic and hate him for the rest of the year and his classmates would view him as weak.

11 Ryan Does it pass then? 176 Ryan 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw

September 20, 2010 4:45 AM

Something fishy is going on around here by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw

When she went to Care of Magical Creatures that day, Kirstenna was surprised to find a sub there instead of Professor Dakin. What had happened to the woman? Had she been kidnapped too? Kirstenna shuddered. People seemed to be disappearing all around her and she hated that. It seemed...sinister.

This whole thing with Professor Dakin now missing was especially suspicious. Especially considering that the COMC professor had been the Deputy Head of Sonora and the head of Teppenpaw. Now the Beetle Lady was and that just smelled fishy. Professor Dakin was probably still residing in the Teppenpaw HoH's office but now in beetle form, with all the other beetles, some of which might have once been humans. The Teppenpaw shuddered again.

Furthermore, the new COMC sub seemed rather sinister which meant he was anything but probably. Perhaps he was really a secret agent, an Auror sent here to investigate the Impostor, the Beetle Lady, and the disappearance of Brian and the others. Kirstenna sincerely hoped so. She just wanted her friend back. She missed him all the time and it was starting to affect her normal happy state.

Kirstenna listened to Professor Snughardt talk about the crups and frowned. They were adorable of course, but hearing that they didn't like muggles made her a bit uneasy. She was a halfblood for one thing but they sounded like the kind of pet her grandparents would have, if they liked animals, which Quentin assured her that they didn't.

What kind of person actually wanted a pet like that, who was prejudiced? Kirstenna would personally want a sweet pet who loved everyone. Usually animals knew who was a good person and who wasn't but it seemed like these crups were just as racist as some purebloods regardless of what a person was like.

Maybe this professor wasn't such a great person. He might even be a secret auror sent to save investigate but would he actually do anything to help the victims that weren't pureblood? Kirstenna thought Brian was muggleborn and she was personally a halfblood, would this man even care to help her?

Perhaps he wasn't even an agent, maybe he was just here to find out who was a pureblood and who wasn't and feed the muggleborns to his crups, while making the halfbloods into slaves who existed to serve the purebloods. This, quite frankly, terrified Kirstenna more than anything because of the malicious racism involved in it.

Unless, of course, Professor Snughardt wanted to do the reverse and help the non-purebloods rise up against the purebloods. But that wasn't any better. Muggleborns and halfbloods weren't morally superior to purebloods either. Besides, then he wouldn't want something that was more likely to hurt a non-pureblood than a pureblood.

Kirstenna sighed and went to go get a crup. So far it seemed pretty friendly but then she wasn't a muggle. "Will you work with me on this?" She turned to person next to her, asking the way Quentin said was more appropriate.

11 Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw Something fishy is going on around here 161 Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw 0 5

Nova Wynn {Aladren}

September 20, 2010 11:45 AM

Smart little animals (TAG Professor Snughardt) by Nova Wynn {Aladren}

Animals? Really? Euughhh! Nova mentaly hurled a little bit when she had learned she had an outdoor class, one with smelly, dirty animals to make things worse. She sulked as slowly as possible over to where the (weird looking) Professor stood with the other students.

Noba didn't really pay attention to Professor Snughartd's speech until she heard the most fantastic thing she'd ever heard a teacher say. “Also, Crups have a dislike for Muggles. No one knows why; they just do. It’s suspected, however, that Crups were bred by Purebloods to dislike Muggles purposely,” The little Pureblood laughed out loud. "So you mean these things hate mudbloods too?" She looked lovingly into the cage. "Smart little things..."

Once the Professor had left them to play with the Crups, Nova scurried over to the cage and shoved her way to the front of the line. Seeing a particularly small Crup, she squealed in delight and carefully picked up the tiny creature. Nova scratched it behind the ears and cooed, "Hey there baby, you are so cute, did you know?" The Crup licked her cheeked and woofed gently. Nova giggled and stroked the crup's silky fur. "Aww!! You are so adorable. I'm going to call you Wanigei, it means soft in Cherokee."

Hugging Wanigei to her chest, Nova wished this class would never end. She absoloutley adored the tiny crup. She never wanted to oput her baby down. But, he belonged to the school... Maybe... Nova's sad smile turned into an ear-to-ear grin. Still clutching Wanigei, Nova walked over to Professor Snughardt and said, "Excuse me, Sir, could I possibly keep this little one?"

0 Nova Wynn {Aladren} Smart little animals (TAG Professor Snughardt) 0 Nova Wynn {Aladren} 0 5

Nic

September 21, 2010 12:48 PM

We've got the teacher on our side, so I guess so by Nic

Nic's nose got that uncomfortable about-to-sneeze feeling and he involuntarily rubbed at his left eye because that suddenly itched but these symptoms, he was sure, were merely a sympathetic response to Ryan's misery and not a sign that Nic himself had become inexplicably allergic to dogs. He fought off his imminent sneeze with logic and was more than a little surprised when it actually worked.

And then he sneezed.

Clearly the victory had been declared too soon. He scowled a little at Ryan (it was his sneezing that made Nic respond in kind) and then scowled at the dog (it was the dog's fault Ryan sneezed) and then scowled at the professor (it was the professor's fault the dog was there in the first place) and then scowled at the dog again (because Nic just didn't like dogs and this one was worse than most because it (a) was too cute to be tolerated in Nic's company, and (b) wanted to eat him, Ryan, or something that they had prior claim to).

The dog seemed not to notice. It just barked cheerfully, walked around in a circle, and panted happily with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. Nic could swear it was giving what could pass as a doggy-grin.

Nic was not impressed. "No. You will not be eating my shirt or my bag or anything else that belongs to me. I am still watching you, and I am not fooled by your innocent act."

Then he realized Ryan could hear him talking to a dog like he expected it to understand him. He pretended like he wasn't embarrassed (which probably didn't work as well as he hoped it did) and muttered, "Crups are smarter and more devious than they look." He had no idea if it was true or not, but it was always safest to work under that assumption when dealing with animals that were known for eating things.

1 Nic We've got the teacher on our side, so I guess so 165 Nic 0 5

Autumn Collins, Crotalus

September 24, 2010 2:19 AM

Inconsistancy by Autumn Collins, Crotalus

Just like in Transfiguration, there was a new teacher. This teacher might have only been a sub but that didn't make Autumn any less nervous. She was always nervous about new teachers,because she never knew what they would be like. What if they were mean? What if they put too much pressure on students? Autumn couldn't deal with either.

Besides, she didn't really like change. Autumn preferred consistancy, knowing what to expect. Granted, sometimes she didn't like it, like anything high pressure and fast paced, but things could always be worse. Change scared her, not excited her. There was a reason Autumn had been sorted into Crotalus rather than Pecari.

The fact that Professor Snughardt was a substitute actually made matters worse. Even though there was something sort of creepy about him, Autumn was sure that she'd get all used to him and then the school would hire a new professor or Professor Dakin would come back.

That was another thing. Where was Professor Dakin anyway? She'd been around at the feast, why was Professor Snughardt taking over now? Autumn just hoped he stuck it out until the year ended. She didn't think she could take having more than two teachers in a single year.

It wasn't as if she ever got attached to her professors, like Lily had told her not to, but the second year was very attached to routine. Which was odd for an artist but when it came to school, Autumn needed for things to stay the same. When it came to her art, she could express herself and paint many different things, though she had her own distinct style as did most artists.

Autumn leaned back against a tree as she listened to Professor Snughardt. She looked around at the clearing and wished she could take her sketch pad out and draw her surroundings or even one of the crups, but Autumn was afraid she'd get in trouble for not paying attention.

She sighed and went up to get a crup. After she picked out one that nobody else had claimed, Autumn looked around for a partner and hoped that someone nice would join her.

11 Autumn Collins, Crotalus Inconsistancy 164 Autumn Collins, Crotalus 0 5

Ryan

September 25, 2010 2:50 AM

Oh, good. by Ryan

Ryan heard Nic sneeze as well and frowned. "Are you okay?" The first year asked the older boy between his own sneezes. He could empathize, quite obviously. Ryan was super allergic to the outdoors and felt bad for anyone else who felt the same way. Allergies could really make a person quite miserable.

Wait, was Nic scowling at him? Ryan looked down at the ground. He knew logically it couldn't possibly be his fault Nic sneeze, as allergies were not contagious but he couldn't help feeling bad anyway, like Nic was blaming him. Ryan frowned, he really didn't want the older boy to hate him. The first year didn't really want any enemies. Two was enough, especially when it one's mother and sister.

Of course, if Ryan knew his distant relatives better, he'd have known that a lot of them hated their siblings. Unfortunately, he only knew his first cousins, who all seemed to like their siblings.

And why was Nic scowling at the dog and the professor? Maybe the taller boy didn't like dogs or this class. Maybe he was mad at Professor Snughardt for the fact that he'd had to work with Ryan in the first place.

"I'm sorry, I can't help sneezing," Ryan apologized. He didn't know what else could have made Nic scowl at him that way. "I have outdoor allergies but I'm not contagious." He didn't think there was anyway he could avoid telling the much taller boy this. Ryan was sneezing every couple minutes and his eyes were itching like crazy so it was pretty obvious that something was up and it was either that or he had a cold. Ryan would prefer for Nic to know it was the former."The potion for it makes me sleepy." The first year further explained.

He would leave it at that. Ryan wasn't going to go on to tell Nic that he would have been afraid to ask Professor Snughardt if he could go to the Medic and get a potion even if it wasn't for the drowsy side effect the potion had on him. Furthermore, he was afraid to go to the Medic anyway, lest she yell at him and act like there was nothing wrong with him and his classmates think he was a wimp.

Ryan sneezed again as he heard Nic speak to the dog. He doubted the crup wanted to eat Nic, or anything that belonged to him. Crups just didn't like muggles, (which Ryan thought was awful, he didn't like when people were mean to others for any reason, especially something they couldn't help, but he wouldn't hold it against the crup anyway. Crups couldn't help it either) and Nic was clearly not a muggle.

Though he might have been a muggleborn. There had been a pureblood Sawyer family-Ryan thought his great-great-grandmother had been a Sawyer before she'd married his great-great grandpa, Theron Brockert, but that family was extinct. Great Great Grandma Gwendolyn-mouthful that was-was the last one supposedly.

Granted, Ryan could very likely be wrong on both counts. He thought about asking Nic but did not want to risk sounding like a pureblood snob. Ryan was a pureblood but he was as far away from being a snob as one could get. Snobs thought they were better than everyone else, his sister was a snob, but Ryan pretty much thought the opposite about himself.

He sneezed again, missing the thing Nic had muttered but noticing that Nic had muttered something. Ryan wanted to ask what he'd said, but was afraid it was something about him.

Of course, if it was something nasty about Ryan, he would still be stuck working for the rest of the class period with someone who disliked him. As awful as that was, Ryan was not about to cause a scene.Sneezing though class was bad enough.

11 Ryan Oh, good. 176 Ryan 0 5

Snughardt

September 26, 2010 7:02 PM

Smart little girl by Snughardt

Roy was having a grand old time just watching the kids play with the Crups he had so kindly allowed them to play with. Seriously, what kind of a class could be better than just playing with puppies? Assuming the students were all liking him, maybe he’d get offered a ~~higher paying~~ better job. People skills were necessary for nearly everything, right? Even though these kids weren’t technically people, Roy still felt their approval improved his chances greatly.

Soon, he saw a little girl of the class begin to approach him. Well, who do we have here? he puzzled while she walked. “Hello, little girl, what’s your name?” he asked brightly; Roy hadn’t taken time to learn everyone’s name because, being a substitute, by the time he got the names down to an art, he’d be replaced by a permanent professor, who’d probably get paid twice his wages. However, this girl had an interesting look to her --Native American, perhaps-- that made him wish he knew who she was.

"Excuse me, Sir, could I possibly keep this little one?" the girl asked him. She seemed so innocent, and that look on her face so reminded him of Susie, even though Susie had blonde hair and blue eyes. Roy chuckled to himself, his fat stomach bouncing with the laughter. Her request was so silly! “No,” he said after stopping his laughter, his voice filled with no joy whatsoever. Then he smiled. “And I’ll tell you why not.”

“Firstly,” Roy said seriously, “I can’t give them away because they aren’t mine. I have them on loan from a guy I know. I guess you might call him a breeder, or maybe a creature expert. He’d be awful upset with me if I gave away his creatures. That one, for instance,” he added, gesturing to the smallish Crup the girl was holding, “is going to be sold to a wealthy man named William Knight as a Christmas present for his young daughter. By the holidays, it should be a bit bigger.”

“Secondly, I simply cannot give you a Crup and not the other students,” he continued explaining. “That wouldn’t be fair. What if everyone wanted one, but I only gave one to just you and no one else? Or, so you see it from their viewpoints, what if I took Joey over there,” he paused, filling the time space with a weak gesture to a boy a little bit away, whose name was actually Ryan, not that Roy knew that, “and gave him a Crup, and only him? Would you like that?”

Roy decided to have a little fun with the girl. She was obviously a first year, and he thought it might be fun to mess with her head a little bit. Mustering up all of the seriousness he could, he added with the most serious of facial expressions, “Lastly, it is illegal for me to give you a Crup without written consent from your parents. Crups are very dangerous.” Leaning towards her to whisper, his goatee poking the top of her head, he added gravely, “The Crup could eat your soul.”

0 Snughardt Smart little girl 0 Snughardt 0 5

Samantha Hamilton, Aladren

September 28, 2010 5:48 AM

Unsure by Samantha Hamilton, Aladren

Even though she liked animals, there was something about Care of magical Creatures that Samantha didn't like. She often found herself getting nervous just before a class, and at the start of her second year she didn't feel any better. In fact she felt quite nauseous as the second year made her way to where the lesson was being held. She had a drink of water from the bottle she always carried in her bag (she changed the water twice every day to make sure it was fresh) and tied her mousy-brown hair back from her face so she could feel a breeze on her cheeks. She felt a bit better, but she would be much more comfortable just going back to the Aladren commons, instead.

Somehow, Samantha managed to make it to the class, where she sat down and tried not to be put off by the fact there was an unfamiliar professor there. Great, one more thing to be nervous about. This class really couldn't go by quickly enough. Waiting for the creature of the class to be revealled, Samantha bit her fingernails - she always tried not to but when she was nervous she just couldn't help it. Finally the professor showed them... a dog. Except he didn't call it a dog, he called it a crup. Well, that was okay. breathing a sigh of relief, Samantha thought she could deal with a small dog (if it had been a big one she wouldn't have been so calm, but small dogs were okay). Her stomach muscles began to unclench as she realized the class would simply involve petting a puppy.

Just in case there was the potential for unpleasant surprises, Samantha read what her textbook had to say about crups. It said they didn't like Muggles, which did concern her a bit, because she was Muggleborn. What if the crup couldn't tell the difference between a Muggle and a Muggleborn? Well, she would find out soon enough, she supposed, as student had already collected their animals and started to form pairs. Sucking up all the courage she had and ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, Samantha went over to a girl in her year who already had a crup.

"Hello," she said with a nervous smile. "Is is okay if work with you?" The crup made a movement towards her toes, and Samantha involuntarily jumped back a bit, eyeing the dog warily. "It won't bite me, will it?"

0 Samantha Hamilton, Aladren Unsure 0 Samantha Hamilton, Aladren 0 5

Marcus

September 28, 2010 8:47 PM

For now, but anything can happen. by Marcus

Marcus glanced up from the dog at the sound of the voice nearby. Someone had discovered him and wanted to partner with him. Thankfully, it was another guy and not a crazy girl who had everyone else by her little finger. “Yeah, I do.” Marcus commented, moving away a bit so that the boy could see the crup for himself. “It’s weird to know that this dog looks exactly like my neighbors dog except that it’s apparently magical.”

That and it isn’t as nice to people like his mother, which isn’t really all that dog like at all. He wondered if Crups were actually like Pit Bulls with bad raps. That it was really the breeder/owner of the crup who teaches it all the tricks that should be to blame and not the actual dog itself. Maybe crups did like muggles but it had been so long since they interacted that crups didn’t know any better?

“I probably shouldn’t have just gone up and grabbed one so easily. I mean, my mom’s a, er, muggle, or whatever it was that they said. Maybe this thing could have smelled her on me and attacked.” Marcus shrugged in thought. He wondered if the school would get in trouble for that or if his mom had signed some waiver before he had gone to school saying that the school wasn’t liable for anything. As far as Marcus was concerned, he had a far more likely chance to get hurt here than he did at his previous school.

“I’m Marcus, by the way.” Marcus introduced himself, running a hand over his braided cornrows. “Are you new to all this too or have you been in this world forever?”

6 Marcus For now, but anything can happen. 180 Marcus 0 5

Nic

September 30, 2010 4:53 PM

So what's the next item on the agenda? by Nic

"It's fine," Nic said when Ryan apologized for sneezing and explained he had allergies. Nic wasn't sure why he didn't just take a Claritin or some Benadryl if the potion had drowsy side-effects, but decided it wasn't really his business. He decided not to mention his own sneeze was purely psychological because (a) it wasn't Ryan's business, and (b) it felt kind of cruel to tell him than now that Nic had sneezed once and got it out of his system, he was fine for the rest of the class. Nic didn't mind his classmates thinking he was a little scary, but he didn't want to come across as mean.

Scary was so much easier to explain to teachers and parents and principals and pass off as a terrible misunderstanding.

It was also mean to mention that he teamed up with Ryan in the first place because he was sick and therefore an easier target if the dog decided to attack. So he didn't.

Besides which, the crup seemed overly cheerful and unlikely to start gnawing them to death anytime soon. Nic scowled at the dog again because if it was viciously hungry at least it wouldn't be so cute that its mere proximity continued to drain Nic of fearsome reputation points. How was he suppose to make everyone think he was dark (inasmuch as someone with medium brown hair and wearing green robes could be dark) and looming if a puppy kept wagging its tail at him?

At least Ryan seemed unwilling to comment on Nic talking to it, so maybe he wasn't completely sapped of intimidation yet.

"You think it fetches?" he asked, more because he wanted the crup to run away - if only temporarily - than because he wanted to play with it in any capacity.

1 Nic So what's the next item on the agenda? 165 Nic 0 5

Autumn

October 01, 2010 8:19 AM

I can relate by Autumn

Autumn returned the smile given to her by the other girl, Samantha, Autumn thought her name was. She seemed as nervous as the Crotalus often was and Autumn instantly empathized. She often felt nervous, especially when faced with something new.

In fact, she felt so right now. Not because of the crup. Autumn was a pureblood so it wasn't going to attack her and she actually wasn't afraid of dogs. In fact this one looked fairly happy and cute. Nor was Autumn especially afraid of doing well on the lesson, as it sounded really easy. All she had to do was play with a crup. Given that Professor Snughardt was a substitute, Autumn wasn't even sure she'd be tested on crups, though she was going to read all about them just in case.

No, she was merely worried about working with someone new. Autumn was fairly shy and always worried that people wouldn't like her. That if she screwed up the lesson, her partner would hate her forever. Or that she'd somehow say something wrong and her partner would hate her. So far, Autumn was only comfortable with Jane and Brad and in fact, normally she would go to work with one of them but Samantha had walked over and asked to be her partner.

"Sure." Autumn replied. "I mean, I'll work with you. I don't know if the crup will bite you. There shouldn't be a problem." Currently the crup was yipping enthusistically at Autumn. She knelt down to pet it. "See, it's friendly.

Maybe Samantha was afraid of dogs.She looked awfully wary of it. If that was the case than Autumn was more than empathetic. Last year in this same class, she'd had to be stung by a billywig and float up high. Not to mention flying lessons. It kind of seemed cruel to routinely make people do things they were afraid of. Autumn sort of wished that someone could do something to change all this but of course, she didn't know what.

11 Autumn I can relate 164 Autumn 0 5