Sub Professor Adrian Meade
January 25, 2013 5:37 PM
Cry me a river! by Sub Professor Adrian Meade
Another year teaching and Adrian had begun to like the whole sedentary life. His apartment was now half-way decorated and it had never looked better than now. He had been in constant correspondence with his team in Burma, and he had used the summer vacations to catch up with them and spent a couple of months abroad. Adrian had missed the call of the adventure, but he had come to realize that he had missed his position as teacher at Sonora. It was a rather fierce debate between these new sides of him. So, he had compromised with himself and would stay at Sonora to see what happens and do his field research during the holidays. It wasn’t the best plan, he knew, but it would do. While he was in Burma he had missed the stability Sonora gave him and when he was in Sonora he had missed the adventures his nomad life gave him. Adrian was of the idea that there was time for everything in life, and maybe, just maybe it was time to stay in place and settle down.The Magizoologist was rather content inside the four walls of his classroom that now resembled a forest. Adrian smiled at his work for the beginner’s class. The classroom looked amazing in a reduced version of an Irish forest. Today they were going to study Augureys in their “natural habitat”.
And now it was time for class to start, and for Adrian to stop smugly staring at his work. “Welcome,” Adrian greeted the first students to stumble into the newly decorated classroom. He was sure some of them would be surprised to find themselves in the middle of a forest.
The professor waited for a few more minutes for the rest of the class to start. Once it was time for it, he locked the classroom. Adrian hated unpunctuality. The students should have learned by now that he didn’t let any latecomers into the classroom once the door was closed.
“As you can see, today will not be a common class,” he said grinning, still proud of his work. “Today’s class will be all about watching the Augurey in its natural habitat, well, as natural as it can be by means of magic.”
Adrian placed himself in the middle of the classroom, “Sit on the floor,” he instructed before continuing with his lecture. Once the students found a spot on the floor and got comfortable, he continued, “The Augurey, also known as the Irish Phoenix, is a thin and mournful looking bird, somewhat like a small underfed vulture in appearance, with greenish black feathers and a sharp beak. Its diet consists of insects, fairies and flies, which it hunts for in the heavy rain. Intensely shy, the Augurey lives in a tear-shaped nest in thorn and brambles.” All around the classroom were the nests he had described. A few low cries were heard in the classroom as the Augureys called to one another.
Adrian continued to talk, “It is native to Great Britain and Ireland, but is also found in Northern Europe. It was long believed that the mournful cry of the Augurey foretold death, and wizards would go to great lengths to avoid the nest. However, further research determined that the bird merely sings when it is about to rain. When it was known that Augureys could foretell the coming rain, they were used as weather forecasters.”
A deep breath was taken by the professor before offering a smile to his students, “Now, I left food for the Augureys all around the classroom. You can feed them and observe their behavior,” he cleared his throat. “And by next class I will expect an essay on what you observed and what you read from your book about these birds. Essays are to be written in pairs. Raise your hand if you need me.”
OOC: Posting rules apply. Have fun and you may or may not end up drenched by a small rain Adrian will conjure by the end of the class so that they students can hear their cry.
Subthreads: Beginner's class (nm) by Sub. Meade
Girls aren't supposed to cry in public. by Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus with Julian Umland, Teppenpaw, Virginia Bellrose, Ginny
An Irish Phoenix? Cool by Carter Browning with Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw, Carter
Bird watching by Amity Brockert, Aladren with Effie Arbon, Crotalus
Quiet and methodical by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren
Crying is for babies. by Adam Spencer, Pecari with Willow Collins,Teppenpaw, Adam
Being Friendly. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari
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Sub Professor Adrian Meade
Cry me a river!
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Sub Professor Adrian Meade
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Carter Browning
February 01, 2013 3:37 PM
An Irish Phoenix? Cool by Carter Browning
Carter made his way from the Teppenpaw dorms to his next class, COMC. He liked the last class with the ants mostly because he got to watch his cousin Kinley squirm. He always found it slightly amusing whenever he got to see her deal with anything unpleasant. Sometimes he felt she needed to deal with stuff like that head on. It was good for her. He got to the COMC classroom and went to walk inside. He found himself suddenly standing in a forest instead of what looked like a normal classroom. He looked around quizzically and then stepped back out again to make sure he had the right room. Once he was sure he had the right room and walked back inside. He had to admit this was the coolest thing he had ever seen. He couldn't wait til he got to the class where they got to learn how to do this spell.He waved towards Professor Meade offering him a polite smile and took the direction to find a seat. He picked a grassy spot on the floor and after dropping his bag down next to himself he sat cross-legged on the floor. He waited with the Professor for the other kids to get to class and have a seat. He listened as Professor Meade told them what they would be working with for the day. “The Augurey, also known as the Irish Phoenix, is a thin and mournful looking bird, somewhat like a small underfed vulture in appearance, with greenish black feathers and a sharp beak. Its diet consists of insects, fairies and flies, which it hunts for in the heavy rain. Intensely shy, the Augurey lives in a tear-shaped nest in thorn and brambles.”
Carter looked around the room and for the first time really noticed that there were in fact nests all over the room. He found himself frowning slightly when he heard that this bird's diet consisted of fairies among other things. I really hope that the food we get to feed them doesn't contain any fairies he thought to himself. He couldn't help, but wonder if his grandparents back in Ireland ever used these birds as a weatherforecaster. He would have to ask them about it the next time he wrote to them. He usually wrote to them atleast twice a week. This was definately going in the the next letter. He found himself realizing that he really hadn't dressed for rain which is apparently what these birds predicted when they sing.
When Professor Meade finished his lecture, Carter found himself getting up off the floor to get a closer look at these strange birds. He found a small container of the food that the Professor was referring to and grabbed a small amount. He was unsure as to whether or not it contained any fairies and felt it best not to ask. He had been fortunate enough once in his life to actually see a fairy up close and the thought of anything eating them kinda made him sad. He shrugged away the thought and leaned towards his fellow classmate also over by the food container. "Professor Meade didn't exactly say so, but you don't suppose these things bite at all, do you?" He held out his hand politely and smiled. "I'm Carter," he introduced himself. "Partners?"
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Carter Browning
An Irish Phoenix? Cool
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Carter Browning
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
February 04, 2013 8:23 AM
British and Northern European too! by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
Charlie was really excited about his first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. The only animal they had at home was Father's rather arch cat, Oscar. He certainly would not have been happy at sharing the house, nor the attention of his preferred humans, with anything else. He could even be ungenerous about sharing Father with Charlie when he needed help with homework, often arranging himself across the study materials. His expression – conveying both his seniority and the fact he was a cat, goddamnit – seeming to imply that he should be exculpated in any situation. Then there was Henny and her whole being nervous of animals thing. Not that he thought that other families had large ranches of exciting animals in the back garden but it had been his best day out ever when his sister had got over her issues enough for them to go to the zoo as an adoption day treat.He bounced into the classroom, letting out a loud 'Ooh!' of undisguised and unembarrassed amazement at the room. He continued to peer up, trying to take in as much as possible before the Professor started to speak. Augureys seemed like a pretty cool assignment! Their magical abilities were interesting and they were kind of fun to look at. Maybe not super pretty but they were kooky and their feathers were just lush – they made a perfect trimming for high end gowns and he could name several collections that had featured them in this way and as decoration for accessories.
When they were dismissed, he began to make his way around the room hoping that some of the birds had shed a feather or two and that he might be allowed to keep them if they were especially fine. Sure, they were useful for potions and stuff but you could put any old battered one in and it probably wouldn't make too much of a difference. For fashion, you needed the finest ones and it would be a crime, in his eyes, to melt them down as part of some concoction.
As he was strolling about, he encountered another boy – a second year, he guessed, seeing as he hadn't been in flying lessons – who seemed to be setting about the task of feeding the birds.
“Erm... I'm not sure,” he admitted, when the boy asked whether the bird would bite. “I mean, I'm sure it wouldn't mean to but its beak does look awful sharp...” he considered, eyeing up the nearest Augurey and remembering the vultures he'd seen at the zoo. They hadn't exactly looked like the kind of bird you fed out of your hand. The keepers had mostly thrown their food in, though he thought they might have fed them one of two titbits. “If there's anything big enough to hold out, then you could try that. Otherwise, I'd just put it on the floor and see if it comes down nearer to us.” Whilst he was sure the Professor wouldn't let them get hurt he did think the birds seemed a bit wild and sharp-beaked to be getting too cosy with. He began to understand Henny's reluctance to come to this class a little more, even though he was still very far from wanting to be elsewhere. “I'm Charlie,” he smiled, shaking the boy's extended hand and nodding to his statement that they should work together, especially as they already sort of were. “Let me know if you see any feathers on the floor,” he added. After all, he'd helped Carter with his enquiry.
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
British and Northern European too!
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
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Carter
February 04, 2013 2:43 PM
I wonder what they're for by Carter
Carter studied Charlie for a moment as the two boys shook hands. He was actually glad to be meeting another boy from his own house besides Marcus. The fact that Charlie was probaby a first year didn't faze Carter at all. Carter himself was still fairly new to this strange place, both the school and the country. His irish roots came out more often than not both when he spoke and due to his appearance. His mother's family being from Dublin and his father's family being from Sussex he really couldn't hide the accent from people nor did he really try. He figured it was there and they would deal. "Its great to meet you Charlie," he told him politely.He listened to Charlie's suggestion about the food and found that he readily agreed. It was probably a better idea to put the food down for the Augurey and wait and see if it ventured out anywhere near them. "I think you might be right," he agreed with Charlie. "Its a really good idea to put the food down and just watch from there. It may not do anything, but at least we gave it a shot." Holding his notebook in one hand with his quill pen he crept closer to the nest and placed the handful of food he carried just outside it. He placed it on the "grassy" floor and backed slowly away. He took a seat not far from where he put the food and waited for Charlie to do the same. He heard Charlie ask him about the feathers and couldn't help wondering what was so special about them.
"Hey Charlie," Carter began as he watched for the Augureys to do something. "I'm willing to bet the feathers are good for potions or something, but what else are they used for?" he asked curiously, stealing a glance away from the funny vultures and towards his partner. He was sure there had to be a good reason Charlie would ask about them. "I'm happy to help out with collecting them and stuff whatever they're for," he told him. "I'm just curious what else they're used for." He turned his attention back slightly to the Augureys. He was surprised to see that one of them had actually wandered out of the nest. It was slowly pecking at the food on the floor and glancing around nervously it looked like. It bobbed its head slightly from left to right and continued to eat.
It looked directly at Carter who was busy watching it intensely and dashed back into the nest nearby. Carter blinked in surprise as he watched one of the feathers drop from the fidgetty bird as it retreated. He made a note of its behavior before gently nudging Charlie with his elbow. "Hey man, theres one of the feathers on the ground by the nest," he told him quietly. "You want me to try and snatch it for ya?" he asked, slowly putting down his notebook and pen. He slowly got up from the ground and watching the birds closely he made his way slowly towards the nest. Once he was in front of it he bent down slowly and while still watching the birds he felt around on the ground with his fingertips til he felt the feather. He slowly grabbed it with fingertips and making sure he had a better grip on it backed slowly back to where Charlie waited.
The Augureys made a noise from time to time while he retrieved the feather, but they made no moves towards him. They seemed to want nothing more than to avoid him at all costs. He held the feather out to Charlie. "As requested...one Augurey feather. At least to start with anyway," he laughed slightly, giving Charlie the feather. "Let me know if you want any more," he offered adding a few more notes to his notebook for their essay. "Did you see them do anything interesting while I was close to the nest?" he asked after making his notes. "Maybe we can use it for our essay. What do you think?" he asked.
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Carter
I wonder what they're for
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Carter
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
February 04, 2013 3:51 PM
What, Britain and Northern Europe? by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
“Fashion!” Charlie grinned brightly when Carter asked about the feathers. To his credit he managed not to add 'darling' to the end of it – a word which so naturally followed. But his voice, soft and slightly effete ordinarily, possessed these qualities in even greater amounts when he got started on such a topic. Or perhaps the context just made them that much more apparent. “I think one would look just dandy in a hat,” he drawled, “Although I can't say I've found a hat that works for me this season, but maybe one of the girls would like it for something.“Hey, it's come down!” he whispered, lowering his voice as he noticed the augurey giving his fashion choices – or perhaps just him in general – concerned looks. “Bless, I think it's more scared of us than we are of it.” He wasn't sure this was entirely reasonable on the augurey's part, seeing as it had a big sharp beak and talons but he was quite happy if it wanted to continue in that vein of thought.
He gasped with delight as the bird took off, partly at the spectacle of it launching itself back into the air but also at what had been left behind. Before he could reply to Carter, the other boy was already sneaking forward. He hoped the augureys wouldn't take offence. He doubted they would be defensive over a feather, and their previous behaviour suggested they would rather avoid a close encounter with a human but he still breathed a sigh of relief as Carter made it back ok. He was glad the other boy hadn't got hurt for him. The feather was a bonus.
“Thank you,” he smiled, as he took it, stroking his finger along its silky fronds. It was so smooth and shone so beautifully. “Look at the colour! The way it gleams!” he enthused. “But we'll have to ask Professor Meade if I can keep it. He may have promised to collect them for the Potions professor or they may be really expensive - I don't really know,” all he knew was that they weren't in his basic Potions supply. He didn't want to get into trouble by taking something that he wasn't entitled to. “It's great though,” he added, to reinforce his gratitude at Carter getting it for him.
“Hmm... Well they made a noise. Which I guess you heard. But it wasn't really a 'mournful cry,'” he said, echoing the words the Professor had used to describe the birds' call. “More a... Rrr! Rrrr!” he contemplated, trying – mostly unsuccessfully – to imitate the throaty noise the birds had made. “So we should probably write that down...” he pondered how exactly he should spell this, “I guess it might have been kind of a warning noise? So we could put 'warning noise' and that it's different to their rain noise.” He had been watching Carter more than the birds, although he had directed a couple of anxious glances upwards. He tried to play back what he had seen in his head. “And they kind of fluffed themselves up a bit,” he added.
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
What, Britain and Northern Europe?
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
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Carter
February 05, 2013 8:54 PM
Nah..I know what those are for..lol by Carter
Of all the things Charlie could have said they were for, Fashion was not one of the things that Carter would have thought of off the top of his head. He supposed it was possible that they could be good for that purpose. Honestly he wasn't much of a fashion person. He left that sort of thing up to his mother. He was pretty certain that his sister would probably take after mom in the fashion department and he was glad to leave her to it. Carter also wasn't much of a hat person, but if that was what someone was into he wasn't about to say anything about it. He nodded slightly at Charlie's comment of the Augurey's behavior. "I think you might be right," he whispered back. "I think they are more afraid of us than we are of them."He smiled back at Charlie as Charlie thanked him for the feather. "You're welcome," he told him cheerfully as he watched Charlie stroke the feather. He shrugged lightly as he heard Charlie comment about the feather's colour. He had to admit it did look pretty sweet. He nodded as Charlie commented that they may have to ask Professor Meade about keeping it. He had to admit he hadn't thought about the fact that Professor Meade may have promised the feathers to the Potions teacher or that they might be terribly expensive. "I don't think Professor Meade would mind if we asked him about your keeping the feather," he commented encouragingly. He picked up his self-inking quill and his notebook and began jotting down some notes. He also made sure to include all of the things that Charlie mentioned as well. He nodded in agreement on Charlie's observation about the bird's "mournful cry". "You're right," he began looking up from his notebook. "They did make more of a Rrr Rrr sound, didn't they?" He asked Charlie seriously. "If that is a warning cry what do you suppose its a warning for? " he couldn't help wondering aloud. "How exactly is it different from its rain cry?" He continued questioning out loud. "And finally what are they fluffing themselves up for do you suppose?" He finished his line of questioning. He wasn't really asking Charlie all those questions, but it didn't hurt to ask them anyway.
"So...how do you suppose we write this essay up?" he asked Charlie. He made final notes in his notebook as he waited for Charlie to reply.
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Carter
Nah..I know what those are for..lol
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Carter
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
February 07, 2013 1:52 PM
Go on then.... by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
Charlie was quite surprised when his comments about fashion weren't followed by Carter with something along the lines of 'Isn't that for girls?' or 'What, are you queer or something?' Whilst Henny had told him Sonora was a much more understanding place, and whilst he was ever the optimist, he'd heard comments like that so often from other boys that expecting it had just become habitual. It was why he preferred to hang out with girls. That, and they tended to have more in common. But maybe here he would find himself hanging out with Carter, or with other boys, and actually getting on ok.“It's a warning that there's a sneaky feather stealer under their nest,” Charlie grinned, when Carter questioned why the birds had made the warning noise. “Or maybe telling you to watch it and not come any nearer. I think lots of animals puff themselves up when they're being attacked – or think they are. Then they look scarier, so the predator – that's you,” he teased with a friendly smile, “will be scared and go away.
“I guess we look at the book and look at what we have and then write it....,” Charlie shrugged, feeling he hadn't done much more than state the obvious. “And we have to agree on stuff cos it's working as a pair. When they 'essay' here, do they usually mean like... just write up notes?” Carter had a year's worth of homework and feedback on this sort of thing. To him, essays had to have titles, and you were supposed to argue points and be much older and sitting exams. It seemed more like the Professor just wanted them to show what they had learnt but maybe his second year partner knew better.
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
Go on then....
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Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw
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Carter
February 19, 2013 6:21 PM
You got it by Carter
Carter grinned back at Charlie for the feather stealer comment. For all he knew Charlie was right and the warning sound was for that. He had never encountered one of these creatures before so who was he to say what the sound might be for. He found himself nodding in agreement over Charlie's observation that it might be warning them not to come any closer. He kept looking over at the creatures' beak and talons and finding himself really wishing they didn't do anything to make this thing think it was in any real danger or they would be in big trouble. He smiled back as Charlie seemed to tease him about being a predator to these extremely shy birds. "I suppose if they were to snap at us or something for messing with them I would be afraid," Carter commented off-handedly ."I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be sliced to ribbons by one of those things," Carter grimmaced at the nest and shook his head. Carter thought for a moment about Charlie's question about how they were supposed to do the essay. "We basically compare notes with eachother," he began to explain. "And then we both write an essay using the notes and our own words. Then we make sure that both of our names are on the essays so that way the professor knows who paired up with whom." He felt that was the best way he could describe it to the first year. It made sense to Carter. He only hoped it made just as much sense to Charlie. Carter pulled out his notes and his quill pen.
"Okay...so how do you think we should start the essay?" he asked, trying to include Charlie as much as possible in the writing process. "I gotta be honest I've never been very good at writing these crazy things," he confessed.
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Carter
You got it
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Carter
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