Let's get down to business. on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Taransay

April 01, 2017 8:22 AM

Time to get creative! [Beginners] by Professor Taransay

Today was, sadly, an inside day. As much as he liked to give his students experience with creatures, Rory couldn’t provide herds of animals for every single lesson, so for this lesson he’d settled on what he believed to be the next best thing.

“Good morning, everyone,” Rory said, after waiting for the class to sit down and get their belongings sorted. He’d learnt from experience not to start the lesson until the students had settled down – speaking over the noise of 30-odd students wasn’t often successful. After taking the register, he launched straight into what they would be doing.

“Today isn’t going to be a hands-on lesson, I’m sorry, but we are still going to be looking at a new creature.” He gestured to the large cage behind him, which was filled with foliage and the odd red light. “Can anyone guess what species I have here with me?”

Rory picked on those who raised their hands until he got the right answer of Clabberts, awarding house points. He hoped that his second years would get the hint from the very occasional red light that was emitted from the Clabberts, as that had been part of their reading last year.

“Ok, so for today’s task you’re going to be working in pairs. I’d like you to create an information poster on Clabberts – what they look like, their habits, where they live, and anything else you think is relevant. You can use your books for help, ask me questions, and also feel free to come up to the front for a closer observation of the Clabberts we have here. Large sheets of parchment and felt-tip pens can be found at the front. I expect these posters to be both informative and colourful!”

Lecturing was a teaching method that Rory sometimes used with his older students, but he found that it was generally easier for a class to absorb knowledge if they learnt it in a fun and active way. He’d always enjoyed making posters when he was younger, and so it seemed like the ideal way to introduce his beginners to Clabberts, and gain some room decorations at the same time! Rory had come across felt-tips at Hogwarts, thanks to a muggle-born friend, and he always made sure that he had a good collection. Even as an adult he found them useful for working, and he’d bought even more when he’d started working as a teacher.

Leaving the class to get started, Rory checked on the Clabberts once more before strolling round the classroom, ready to answer any questions and making sure that everyone was working. The Clabberts’ cage was quite large, although being in a classroom did limit the space a little. However, their owner would collect them and return them to their usual home later that day, and there were a limited number of red flashes. A small amount was always to be expected, and Rory was satisfied that the creatures were generally happy.

OOC: Normal class rules apply – no godmodding, and points are awarded for length and creativity. Tag Professor Taransay in your post if your character has any questions, and assume there is a wide variety of felt-tip colours!

Information on Clabberts can be found here: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Clabbert

Subthreads:

How could you resist? by Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw with Jennifer White

Let's get down to business. by Ryder Knight with Florence Newell [Aladren]

9 Professor Taransay Time to get creative! [Beginners] 33 Professor Taransay 1 5

Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

April 04, 2017 9:16 PM

How could you resist? by Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

Kir had been a little bit sad to leave his family, but returning to Sonora was also a lot of fun. There was the cool Cascade Hall with its huge waterfalls, there was the feast, and there was sharing a room with Sawyer, to name just a few of the awesome things about it. He’d been to visit his friend over the summer, and had a great time hanging out in and around his family’s restaurant. The place where they lived was super beautiful, and as an appreciator of nature and good food, Kir had been in his element. Sawyer’s family also seemed super nice too (unsurprising, given that they had raised someone like Sawyer) and as Kir was a polite boy, who said his pleases and thank yous, and offered to help clear plates from the table and such, there probably weren’t many reasons why he wouldn’t have made a good first impression.

He strolled into Care of Magical Creatures, noting the large cage of leaves, and wondering what was in there. There were lots of arboreal animals, most of which sounded pretty interesting and which, between the animals’ shyness and the restrictions on them being in Muggle inhabited areas, meant he’d seen relatively few in the wild. Someone near him scraped a chair particularly noisily, setting off a few red flashes in the cage, which gave him rather a strong inkling… When Professor Taransay asked what they thought was in the cage, he raised his hand.

“Clabberts,” he answered. Kir always did his reading and it mostly stuck with him fairly easily, especially when he was interested in a subject - which actually covered most of Sonora’s curriculum, he like Care of Magical Creatures because he liked animals, he liked wandwork because it formed the solid and important foundation subjects (he especially liked Transfiguration but he paid close attention to Defence Against the Dark Arts because, whilst not particularly paranoid, he was aware that life was full of things that could, and sometimes even wanted to, harm you, and enjoyed Charms on the grounds that it would be rude not to when he liked everything else, plus it was the most fun, and sometimes fun and silly were good), and he liked Potions because it made a change from the others. “Ones that think we pose a threat, by the looks of things,” he added.

He was fine with it not being a hands-on lesson. Not all creatures wanted to be touched, especially by an inexperienced group of students, so he was happy just to look quietly and write. Once they were set to working, he approached a classmate, a cheerful smile on his face.

“Hi, want to work together?” he asked, “Teppenpaw,” he added, gesturing to the emblem on his robes, “Known for our friendly co-operation. What more could you want in a poster-making partner?” He had no reason to think he needed to sell himself, as people at Sonora were generally friendly and happy to work with anyone who asked, but he hoped to raise a smile out of his potential partner.

13 Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw How could you resist? 366 Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw 0 5

Jennifer White

April 06, 2017 7:59 AM

With great effort by Jennifer White

Getting used to a routine, uniform robes, and using a wand was a lot to take in all at once. Jen had yet to form opinions about her roommate, her classes, and a thousand other new experiences in her new life at Sonora, and yes, she could admit to being a little overwhelmed from time to time. Not out loud, of course. Externally, Jen remained the epitome of disinterest, because whose business was it but her own how she was feeling?

In a relatively good mood, Jen readjusted the clips at her temples, keeping her short, choppy brown hair back from her face as she joined the other beginners for their care of magical creatures class. The clips were black, same as the rectangular frames of her glasses, same as her black jersey that she wore beneath her uniform robes, with self-worn holes in the sleeves so she could poke her thumbs through the fabric. She had noticed the caged creatures - or the red flashes they emitted, anyway. It was kind of hard to ignore - but she didn't know much about magical creatures. She knew about crups, and some types of dragons, but nothing more than that. At least she was pretty much guaranteed to learn something from this class.

The assignment sounded okay, too. Posters were lame, obviously, but The first year would rather make a poster than write an essay any day. She was about to start scoping the crowd for someone who liked like they might not annoy her too much, when another student approached her, instead. She noticed he was the guy who’d correctly answered the question at the start of class, which was a big tick in his favor. He introduced himself by his House, rather than his name, which Jen thought was odd. Then Nameless Teppenpaw added, “Known for our friendly co-operation. What more could you want in a poster-making partner?”

Jen raised one eyebrow, and the corner of her mouth twitched upwards. “Yeah I guess you'll do,” she said with a shrug, but her tone was friendlier than her words. “Aladren,” she pointed at her badge, mimicking his earlier introduction. “Known for our love of learning, apparently.” Which probably just made them great candidates for Teacher’s Pets, but probably not too objectionable as a partner for classwork.

0 Jennifer White With great effort 388 Jennifer White 0 5

Kir McLeod

April 18, 2017 8:23 AM

So why fight it? by Kir McLeod

The girl's tone was friendly enough that, even though her words were less than enthusiastic, Kir didn't really get any kind of negative vibe from her. She didn't exactly seem bubbly but people could be nice without being effusive, and he was naturally inclined to chalk any negativity up to things like homesickness or still finding her feet. He tended to give people the benefit of the doubt, and charitable nature was something that ran in the family, though in rather a more literal sense. Kir's family ran a foundation which helped Purebloods who had been rejected by, or had chosen to reject, their families. This came with involvement in lots of attendant issues, such as Muggleborn and LGBTQ rights, these being the primary sources of disagreement or fall out in such families. Having grown up around kindness and compassion, he tended to a gentle and easy going sort, though very capable of fighting a corner if he felt it necessary.

"Sounds like we make quite the team then," he smiled, when she introduced herself by her own house's qualities. "I'm Kir," he added. "K-i-r. It's Scottish," he explained. Whilst the female version, Kira, was common enough, people were often confused by his name. They also mispronounced it if they saw it written first, saying it to rhyme with 'fir' rather than 'fear' when it was meant to be the latter.

"So, I found last year that it's a good idea to include at least something about wizard interactions with creatures in things like this - what to do if you find an injured Clabbert in your garden, or conservation projects if it's something endangered. After all, it's *Care of* Magical Creatures, not just creature class. Beyond that, I don't really mind what we put in. Anything you'd like to focus on?" he asked.

13 Kir McLeod So why fight it? 366 Kir McLeod 0 5

Jen White

May 02, 2017 11:04 AM

Seems a wasted effort by Jen White

The Nameless Teppenpaw seemed easy to get along with, and he smiled when she turned his own introduction back on him. He seemed like as good a partner as anyone else in the room, based on her first impression (which was all she had to go on, so it would have to do), and apparently had a name to go with that sense of humour. She would have to give up mentally referring to him as Nameless Teppenpaw, as he then supplied her with his name. She didn;t know why he felt the need to add the origin of his name afterwards; maybe a lot of people had asked so he just did that now to pre-empt the question. Whatever, Jen wasn’t interested for now. Maybe if Kir ever became more familiar than just a class partner she might ask him why he had a Scottish name, but it didn’t seem applicable to poster creation. “Jen,” she supplied in return.

The way Kir said ‘last year’ confirmed he was in second year, although judging by his existing knowledge of Clabberts, Jen had already made that assumption. She liked the way he gave his opinion about their project in a very neutral way. The worst thing about partner work in her old school had been people always trying to make themselves heard in a variety of obnoxious ways. Kir wasn’t doing that. Jen appreciated his input, and nodded her head once to demonstrate her approval of including aspects of caring for the creatures. She wasn’t prepared to be asked for her own input so soon, and didn’t want to admit that she knew nothing about clabberts, It was perfectly reasonable for her to be ignorant, considering this was the very early part of her first year at the school, and yet implied lack of knowledge was always preferable to Jen than outright ownership of her cluelessness. “Diet, I guess,” she suggested with a shrug. “Whether they live in groups. Are they social?” The question there was more of a topic suggestion than her seeking information, but she wouldn’t object if it was provided.

“I’ll go and get the paper and pens,” Jen designated herself the first task. “When I come back maybe you can tell me why the cage,” she gestured with a directional nod of her head, “sometimes flashes red.” More accurately, the red flashes were coming from between the leaves, she supposed, as she set off to collect the requisite materials, but they were in the cage, so it was close enough.

The first year returned with a large sheet of paper and a pot full of brightly coloured felt tip pens. Poster making had been all the range at her Muggle school. While the task was familiar, she was a bit disappointed that wizards didn’t have a more magical way of presenting information. At least the subject matter was new and had potential to be interesting.

0 Jen White Seems a wasted effort 388 Jen White 0 5

Ryder Knight

May 04, 2017 11:48 PM

Let's get down to business. by Ryder Knight

Ryder practically ran into the COMC classroom because he was late. He was in the MARS sports room trying to configure a way to have a ramp and railings to use his skateboard on. He tried using materials that he found laying around, and nearly broke his neck. He was sure there was some magical way to create a skate park, but he wasn’t experienced enough for that yet.

He plopped down in an open seat and set his Van’s book bag on the ground, which tipped over and spewed all the contents onto the floor. Ryder sighed, for he was trying to remain as unnoticed as possible since he was late. He picked up all his books and set them on the table in front of him. He glanced up and noticed a red light shining abruptly from a cage in the front of the room.

Ryder didn’t know what a Clabbert was, but his interest had been peaked. He opened his book to find its description, which depicted a creature that was a cross between a monkey and frog and stated that it emits a red light when it senses danger. Apparently, the Clabbert wasn’t feeling too safe in the classroom.

After the professor explained the assignment for the day, Ryder gathered a rainbow of felt-tip colours and some parchment to begin working on a poster. He turned to the person sitting next to him and asked “Hey, do you want to work on this together?” After some consideration, Ryder continued, “Maybe we should go look at the cage to get a better look at the Clabbert.”

0 Ryder Knight Let's get down to business. 383 Ryder Knight 0 5

Florence Newell [Aladren]

May 05, 2017 1:45 AM

To defeat.... the huns? by Florence Newell [Aladren]

With a bit of a peak, Florence felt very prepared to answer the question about what the creatures were. She raised her hand, but ultimately, Kir McLeod beat her to the correct answer and consequential House points. Ah, well, she supposed Teppenpaw was a nice enough House. Although it was the only one devoid of Newell blood at the moment, Flo did feel a bit of favoritism toward it (second place, after Aladren, of course). They all just seemed so very nice, and she was inclined to believe her little sister would end up there one day. Brett was her favorite sibling, of course, but Pecaris tended to be a bit loud for her taste. Sometimes Brett was a bit loud for her tastes, too, but that was different because he was her best friend.

And speaking of her brother, whom she usually worked with in class - her roommates were also a frequent choice of hers - he was beaten to her, apparently, as a different first year boy asked if she wanted to work together. Ryder something, she thought. What a weird name.

Still, weird name or not, she wasn’t going to be rude and say no. “Sure,” she smiled. “I’m Florence Newell. You can call me Flo.” The second year thought that if she didn’t know his full name for sure, it might be good taste to introduce herself. If nothing else, even if he knew her name already, he’d be compelled to give his in return, and then she could be sure she knew it correctly.

“A closer look sounds good,” she agreed. “I think we should it in the center of our poster,” she added, already organizing in her mind as she approached the cage. “Unfortunately, though, I’m not much of an artist. Do you think you can draw it?” Flo asked idly.

12 Florence Newell [Aladren] To defeat.... the huns? 362 Florence Newell [Aladren] 0 5

Kir

May 14, 2017 12:47 AM

And being wasteful is terribly bad by Kir

“Sounds good,” Kir nodded at Jen’s suggestions. To be fair, she could have said pretty much anything and Kir would have been amicable and agreeable. Perhaps, if it had been totally off-topic or strange, he would have amicably and agreeably tried to steer her back on track, but he was generally an easy going class partner. He assumed her last question was rhetorical, was something she was interested in finding out rather than was actually asking of him, so he didn’t reply. He didn’t fully know the answer anyway - you often got multiple clabberts in the same place, he knew that much, but whether that was because they liked each other’s company or just because it was a particularly good space to inhabit, he wasn’t sure - you could find lots of earwigs under the same log, but it didn’t mean that they were being sociable with each other, in the same way that ants were. Besides his own knowledge being incomplete, as an Aladren, Jen would probably enjoy the sense of finding out more for herself.

He was glad not to have volunteered his extra information, as her next act was to ask him to expand on what he already knew about the red flashes. Had he already answered her previous question, he might have begun to feel a bit like he was taking over, for all that he was being invited to talk now.

“They have a pustule on their heads,” he explained when she returned, glad of the couple of extra moments of thinking time her quest for pens had afforded him so that he could call that word to mind, and not have to refer to it as a ‘kind of blob thing.’ “It flashes red when they sense there’s danger. I guess a classroom full of strange smells and noisy students isn’t very reassuring. Hmm, perhaps we could charm the title of our poster flash red?” he suggested.

13 Kir And being wasteful is terribly bad 366 Kir 0 5