[Intermediate] Parents, what are they? on Care of Magical Creatures

Lawrence Marsh

January 15, 2021 8:23 AM

[Intermediate] Parents, what are they? by Lawrence Marsh

Lawrence was exhausted. In the last four weeks he’d had to travel three times to his parents house. His mother had demanded his presence the first three times, and the last time was because of the lack of hearing from her prompted his travel. Thanks to flue networks, this was quick. Not for the first time he couldn’t imagine what muggles did, having to travel for hours at a time. The thought of having to ride the stage coach to his parents and back sent momentary shivers down his back.

Still, Lawrence could only stand his parents to a certain point and that point was reached in the summer. Due to their lack of communication abilities Lawrence was still trying to figure out what it was that was happening in the house. All he could tell was his mother was worried, definitely, his father was sick, maybe, and his father was being as loquacious as always, which was not much. Lawrence, wished he’d had a bit more people skills or at least could understand people better. Then maybe he could have figured out what was going on.

Sadly, he would be reminded of all of this due to the next section with the intermediates, parenting. Thankfully Lawrence didn’t teach the “how they become parents” section until later in the school year. Though the next one was on mating rituals and selection, the irony not lost on Lawrence that he was the one teaching it. This lesson though, coming at this time, was just as uncomfortable. Lawrence put his teacher's smile on as students began entering class.

“Hello dear students. In our lives, mine included, our parents typically care for us from birth to the age of 18. Can anyone tell me what parents usually provide?” This was always a tricky question, you could walk into a myriad of landmines with this one, but he took a deep breath and chose one of the students who raised their hand.

“Correct, parents provide us with food, shelter, love, and education. Parenting with magical creatures though depends somewhat on parentage, or the percentage of a species' social group that are offspring from caregivers. Some creatures parents care for their offspring for years like humans, while others simply release their little ones into the wild and hope for the best. Today, we're going to look at some examples, from the most complex creatures to some of the simplest. You will find in the front of classes three boxes. Each box is marked by year, this corresponds to your year in school.

I’d like you to team up with someone from your year and draw a card. The card will have an image of a creature, it’s name, and the average number of offspring per creature. I want you and your partner to look at the picture and number of offspring and hypothesize, remember that word?, hypothesize what parenting qualities you think the creature has. Then, once you are done writing out your hypothesis, I want you to go into your textbook and research the section on parenting. Some creatures have more information than others. For homework I’d like you to read from Magizoologies book I got you all as the secondary book for class and read pages 43-47, it will be on different Beasts and Beings and how their parenting styles differ. As always I’ll be walking around, let me know if you have any questions by raising your hand or hooting.”

Lawrence gave a smile and then a little hoot before nodding his head to let students separate themselves. He might have to talk to Killian to figure out what was happening in his parents house.

OOC: Third years can expect creatures categorized in XX and XXX
Fourth Years in XXX
Fifth Years in XXXX

For more about the classification system you can find them here: https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Creature

Subthreads:

AWESOME by Theo Spurn with Lawrence Marsh

Not something I want to think about. [4th year] by Jezebel Reed-Fischer with Dathan Fischer

Hope for the Best [5th Year] by Hilda Hexenmeister with Bridget Ferguson

Looking for a familiar face (Mab, Alexander or Esme) by Sadie-Lake Chalmers with Alexander Pierce-Beales

That question is above my capabilities (4th year) by Sapphire Brockert with Ellie Alperton

41 Lawrence Marsh [Intermediate] Parents, what are they? 1462 1 5

Theo Spurn

January 15, 2021 8:53 PM

AWESOME by Theo Spurn

Theo loved Professor Marsh. He was soft outside (probably, Theo had never actually touched him because there were stupid rules) and in, and he helped them learn to care for more soft things, and also cared about whether or not people were jerks to werewolves. Theo wondered whether he was a werewolf. It would make sense. In Theo’s experience, werewolves were soft, wonderful people who he loved, and who would prefer that you weren’t a jerk to werewolves, so Professor Marsh ticked all those boxes. He could also have just been a good person. That was also good, and Theo liked those too.

Professor Marsh seemed happy today (he was smiling) so Theo smiled back happily, waiting for the world’s best class to begin. They started off with a great question, and one which Theo was keen to answer, so he raised his hand.

“Parents stop stupid people being mean to you, and give you hugs, and chase the monsters from under your bed and do projects with you and bring you soft things,” he answered. There were lots of other things too, like food, but he felt like he’d hit the main ones. He was just wondering whether to add ‘and birthday presents and play games with you and stop you feeling lonely when Wally, Stanley and Tommy can’t come over’ but by then Professor Marsh had moved on. Theo supposed it was fair to share answering, as other people almost definitely had parents too, and might want to say stuff, even if their parents weren’t anywhere near as awesome as his own. He’d made them both certificates when he was in his previous school, for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day respectively, which said they were the World’s Best, so that was official.

The boxes, it seemed, contained paper rather than pettable creatures, and it seemed like today was going to be a talking-about-things day instead of a touching-things day which was sad, and made Theo want to sigh, but he didn’t because that was rude and he loved Professor Marsh. He was reminded of this again when Professor Marsh mentioned beings and their parenting style.

“Werewolves are beings and their parenting is like most other parents,” he contributed, even though it hadn’t exactly been a discussion point. It was a sign of progress that he remembered to raise his hand before enthusiastically throwing out this contribution, “Because for most of the month, they are just regular people. They might feel too sick or not want to be around their kids because of Shame during their sick days, even though that’s actually stupid, and if they’ve had their medication they’re perfectly safe and extra snuggly and even better than a regular parent at scaring monsters from under the bed. Most of the challenges to being a werewolf parent come from systematic discrimination against werewolves and poor access to care instead of from the condition itself.”

And then he went and got a box because that was what they had been told not to do and tried not to hoot even though he really wanted to because hooting was for questions and he didn’t have one.

He had picked up his box, and had turned around to go back to his place when he thought of a really good one, so he scurried up to Professor Marsh, hooted not-quite-in-his-face (but only cos of height difference) and when the professor indicated he could speak, asked his question.

“How are you?”

13 Theo Spurn AWESOME 1476 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

January 16, 2021 8:55 PM

Not something I want to think about. [4th year] by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel didn't mind Care of Magical Creatures on the whole, but it definitely was one where she felt a bit out of her depth and that wasn't her favorite feeling. The hard work, digging in gross stuff, and helping animals was fine - she wasn't necessarily an animal person but she didn't mind working with them and some of them were even cute - but she had a hard time understanding why a class like this was required for everyone. Were magical creatures just roaming the wizard landscape? When was she ever going to need to know the details of some of these creatures? Certainly she couldn't imagine when she'd need to know about their parenting styles. The only reason she could see it being helpful was if she went into some sort of related field which . . . accidentally didn't sound bad.

She'd been interested in healing since speaking with Jean-Loup the previous year and the thought crossed her mind as she listened to Professor Marsh' lesson that he sort of had a pretty great job when he wasn't dealing with students. If she worked with animals, she could still do healing and help others, but those 'others' didn't have to be people. She could live in a house in the middle of nowhere with no one around and just be a magic vet. Like the Incredible Dr. Pol but less of an old white guy version. And not on TV, since magic people apparently hadn't discovered the magic of binge watching yet. Not that Jezebel was allowed to do that at home either but at least she'd had some more exposure to the world outside her own bubble than a newspaper provided.

Pushing that aside, Jezebel actually really listened to the class today and even tried to decide whether she may end up interested in pursuing this sort of thing long term. She couldn't exactly see herself taking a tooth brush to a dragon's hide or something, but she was equipped with a wand now and that made a difference. She approached the box with her year on it, feeling irritated that she had to work with someone in her year (they weren't all bad, but it was a frustrating limitation to have imposed on her when the classes were not split by year) and went to put her hand in at the same time as someone else. Together, they withdrew a card with a glumbumble on it.

"Guess we're working together then?" Jezebel asked, raising one corner of her mouth into a polite smile.

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer Not something I want to think about. [4th year] 1454 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

January 20, 2021 6:33 PM

Hope for the Best [5th Year] by Hilda Hexenmeister

"Can anyone tell me what parents usually provide?" Professor Schmidt translated the Care of Magical Creatures' professor's question into German.

Hilda couldn't bite her tongue fast enough. "A criminal record and a bad name," she muttered back bitterly, also in German. Professor Schmidt, in his small frame, looked a bit startled and taken aback, but carried on translating the answers the other students began offering. As Professor Marsh picked up the thread of his lecture again, she uncharitably thought that her parents probably fell into the 'release your kids into the wild and hope for the best' camp. True, it hadn't exactly been voluntary, and Uncle Karl had turned out to be all right, but when they'd been dumped off at a stranger's snake ranch in the middle of the Utah badlands, that was kind of how it had felt.

Getting tossed off the wagon at Sonora, not speaking English at any level of proficiency, had been just as bad.

She wasn't sure she'd go so far as to say that she'd thrived, but she felt pretty confident in saying that she'd survived. Better than survived, really. She was passing all of her classes. She'd made prefect. She had friends. Each year got a little easier. 'Hope for the best' seemed to have worked in her case.

She still wouldn't recommend the method.

The lecture wrapped up and she went to the front to collect a card from the box marked for fifth years. Now she just needed a partner.

She looked at the card and startled a little bit. That was very definitely an Erkling. They lived in the forest near Sauberstadt. Her parents had been very clear on the fact that they would like very much to eat her and how to avoid that fate.

Maybe Mutter and Vater had done a little more than just hope for the best.

Someone jostled against her lightly and she jolted back to the present. Right. Care of Magical Creatures. Groups. She held the card toward another fifth year and asked, "Want you me help, find out how Erklings parent?"

1 Hilda Hexenmeister Hope for the Best [5th Year] 1433 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

January 21, 2021 8:28 AM

That is pretty accurate by Bridget Ferguson

OOC: CW-Alcoholism BIC:

Over midterm, Bridget had turned sixteen and had the requisite Sweet Sixteen party, befitting Clifford Brockert's great-great-granddaugher. Which wasn't exactly how she had wanted to celebrate. For one thing, she couldn't even have her closest non-family friend there as Jezebel wasn't a pureblood. Same thing with some of her mother's family. Grandma Cora was disowned and married to a Muggle. Her aunts were half-bloods. So, not invited.

Of course, it wasn't as if Bridget could ever have Jezebel visit her at all-and for reasons that had nothing to do with the younger girl's blood status as her parents didn't seem to care much about that. (It was Great-Great-Grandfather who insisted on the party being the way it was. )Oh, no, it was because of how her parents were. For one thing, it might be too much for Mama to have guests around and be the hostess. For another, well, Bridget didn't really want people to see what her dad was like.

She felt terribly guilty about this. Dad had always been good to her. Both her parents tried their best and couldn't help being this way. Her dad was just as sick in his own way as her mom was. Alcoholism was a disease and truth be told, Bridget seriously didn't like it when people were judgemental about it, or about drinking in general. She hated the idea that because her dad was an alcoholic, people assumed he was abusive and a terrible parent. And maybe he wasn't the ideal parent, but he was the best parent he could be.

In fact, Bridget had noticed a double standard with the types of illness's people had. People tended to have more sympathy for Mama, and her type of illness, which was asthma, chronic bronchitis and all around vulnerability to all sorts of germs, and understand why she wasn't the perfect parent and say that she was doing her best. Well, as far as Bridget was concerned, it was the same with her dad but instead he was blamed and criticized and ridiculed when the blame really lied with Grandfather Ferguson.

That did not, however, stop Bridget from feeling sort of embarrassed and afraid to have people come visit. Because they would judge her father. And they might judge her too and not like her anymore. It wasn't just Jezebel either, even though she was the friend Bridget would most want to have over. The party had brought suitors to mind.

Then again,the Teppenpaw really didn't think she'd get many. Not with her complicated background. Maybe some...newer money pureblood or one with a family tree that didn't go back as far or someone with their own complications and scandals. In that last case, Bridget felt for their children really, considering how she felt about it. Having her background and the background of someone equally complicated merging was only going to make their children utterly miserable.

And COMC was not helping her mood any, making her think about this all again. It was all Bridget could do not to sneak out of class as she was sorely tempted to do. Especially as she had to work with someone in her own year rather than Jezebel. Aside from Sophia obviously, she wasn't close with anyone in her year. Still, leaving would have been unfair, since there was an even number of students in her class and that would have left someone without a partner.

Still, the subject of parents made Bridget exceedingly uncomfortable even if it was related to animals and she couldn't help but wonder how many people felt the same way. As much as she'd always felt different and alone, after Peyton's charity last year, she'd realized that wasn't exactly the case and that lots of people had it worse. Of course, Bridget knew that logically anyway and besides, her dad had been one of those people hence why she'd selected that particular charity, but it had brought home to her how much more widespread issues with parents were than she realized and that hadn't even taken into account situations like hers where her parents weren't abusive, they just weren't ideal.

Actually, were her parents that much different from Theo's really? Bridget could deduce, both from his total lack of filter just now and the fact that he'd headed a pro-werewolf charity last year, that one of them was a werewolf. Were werewolves and alcoholics really that much different? Both were people who had a Problem with major stigma attached but that didn't mean they were bad people or couldn't be good parents, or weren't the best parents they could be.

That didn't make her feel less uncomfortable with the topic though, it just made her see werewolves a bit differently and admire the third year's lack of shame. Not that Bridget had ever really been anti-werewolf anyway since her dad had always basically said it was a disability, which given the household and culture he'd grown up in was pretty amazing. She had just never realized the similarity between it and her dad's own problems before. She doubted Dad did either, given he never really had admitted he had one with alcohol. In fact, he said he didn't have a problem with alcohol, because he quite liked it. Which was exactly the problem, but Dad was pretty incorrigible on the topic. It really wasn't worth arguing the point, either and neither Bridget nor her mother ever bothered.

Besides, it was usually more the structure of her family that embarrassed her than her parents, whom Bridget typically wanted to defend. However, if people came over, if people knew , they would be judgemental, of her dad at least. Only the very crappiest of people judged someone for having a physical health issue and/or didn't take it into account when looking at them as parents. Though, she thought it was pretty crappy to judge someone for any sort of illness.

Bridget started towards the fifth year box, still thinking about things that she really rather wouldn't think about, when she literally bumped into Hilda. "Sorry." She apologized. Then the other fifth year held the card towards her. "Sure." She replied, sort of relieved not to have to go looking for someone else. Although the Teppenpaw had minimal German, having picked up a few words here and there from her cousin, Hilda was a perfectly acceptable partner. Granted, she really didn't dislike any of her classmates, though she would be a bit wary of working with Jeremy, nor was she close to any of them, and she would feel sort of uncomfortable asking to be their partner.

11 Bridget Ferguson That is pretty accurate 1448 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

January 22, 2021 9:24 PM

Looking for a familiar face (Mab, Alexander or Esme) by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Sadie was worried about Professor Marsh. She wasn’t sure whether it was her imagination or not, but it felt like he’d been around less lately when she came to check on the animals or ask about Jack-Jack. It felt like the ‘to do’ lists she had as an assistant were longer than they had been in term one. And maybe that was just because she’d proven herself, and was being trusted with more, but she couldn’t help but notice he looked tired. She did her best to give him a sympathetic smile as she took her seat, though she wasn’t sure he noticed because… well, who noticed her? Though she thought that if anyone did, it would be Professor Marsh.

It almost certainly wouldn’t be someone else, given that she’d never so much as spoken two words to each other. Or even one. She couldn’t recall a time they’d even said a passing ‘hello’ probably because most people passed her by like she was wallpaper. It was for the best though because what would she say if someone that cute actually tried to have a conversation with her? She thought that maybe, just maybe, Care of Magical Creatures would be a good place to try. She had these daydreams where they worked together in this class and she said or did something super smart and helpful towards whatever they were doing and he was impressed with her… Those probably were just daydreams, but if they were going to come true anywhere, it would be here. Today, apparently, was not that day. Or rather, today there was a legitimate external excuse for her not putting that theory into practise, as they had to work with people from their own grade.

She made her way to the front, looking out for Mab, Alexander or Esme. It was surprising to find she had at least one safe person to turn to whatever year they were assigned to work with, and three in her own. Or at least two and a half. She wasn’t really sure if Alexander actually liked her or if he’d just put up with her helping out for Mab’s booth, but she sort of felt like he’d be friendly enough if they had to get through something like a class assignment together.

She got to the box before she’d found any of them and drew a card, finding it was Kneazles. That was good! Kneazles were rather like cats, and even though she wasn’t exactly an expert on cat behaviour it felt like she had transferable knowledge from her old life, which was pretty rare. Turning from the box, she found one of the people she’d been looking for.

“Hey,” she smiled, “I got Kneazles, if you want to work on those?” she offered. “That seems like it’d be okay?” she added, subconsciously feeling she should encourage or justify someone in their decision to be her partner.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Looking for a familiar face (Mab, Alexander or Esme) 1480 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

January 23, 2021 8:12 PM

I'm one of those. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Care of Magical Creatures was definitely one of the subjects that made Alexander feel a little bit more grounded. Magic on the whole sometimes reminded him of CGI that had somehow implanted itself into real life, and some of the magical creatures they worked with sort of did too but at least they were tangible and somehow a little more real. It was like reading a storybook and all the animals had come out, except they weren't quite like what anyone would have come up with. If people were going to be doing CGI creatures, he doubted bowtruckles would have survived the production budget cut list.

Today they were working with people in their own year, which usually meant Alexander would try to work with Mab but he did sometimes try to work with other people too. It was good to branch out. In this case, he hadn't found a partner yet when he approached the box and the girl in front of him - her long flowy hair marking her as Sadie - turned to him already prepared. "That sounds good," he said, a small smile softening his expression.

Sadie was nice to work with and she was real good at crafts and stuff from what he'd seen at the booth. She was the sort of person who was easy to be around because she made you feel a little bit less like somebody was there and a little bit more like you were just existing more comfortably than you had been without her. She was sort of the opposite of Val in that way; Val had such a big presence that you couldn't feel uncomfortable for too long because there just wasn't any room for it, and Sadie just made you feel like you didn't need to be uncomfortable anyway. Alexander, who spent a lot of time being uncomfortable, appreciated both, but Sadie was definitely the more calming presence of the two.

He looked at the picture she produced of a kneazle and tried to think about what he knew of cats' parenting styles. Since kittens were usually taken from their parents and given away to people who wanted them, he wasn't sure he'd ever actually seen a cat get to do much parenting beyond the first few weeks of a kitten's life. Of course, a few weeks of a cat's life were probably about the same as a few years in human time.

"They're smarter than regular cats, right?" he asked, not sure what else he knew about them. He cocked his head. "They're cute," he decided matter-of-factly.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I'm one of those. 1475 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

January 26, 2021 6:10 AM

Yes you are by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

“Right,” Sadie nodded, when Alexander said Kneazles were smarter than regular cats. “They can tell if people are telling the truth,” she added, this being the specific type of smartness they possessed. “Yeah, I like their ears,” she agreed with a smile when he called them cute Her eyes definitely did not flick to someone else when she thought of that word. She quickly brought them back to Alexander though, finding she was surprised that he ventured something so… soft? So unfactual? He was a Teppenpaw not an Aladren, but she’d always seen him as the sort to stick to very neutral comments.

In terms of how Kneazles parented, it was possible that they would need longer with their offspring to teach them how to recognise untrustworthy people. Although if it was instinctual, it might not need too much training much like regular cats learning to hunt – she was pretty sure their parents did teach them, but it was also sort of just a cat trait to begin with. There were probably Kneazles that were better or worse at telling untrustworthy people, just like there were Jackelopes that were better or worse at talking, but that was more likely to be passed down genetically than because their parents did a bad job of teaching them.

“I think their parents probably teach them basic survival skills but don’t keep them around forever,” she guessed, feeling like hypothesis-wise that sounded awfully like hedging her bets, though that was her preferred place to be. “Like, I think their ability to detect liars is sort of inherent, but maybe their parents help them sharpen it up. A bit like regular cats and hunting,” she added, having screened her thoughts and decided they didn’t sound completely ridiculous. “What do you think?” she asked.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Yes you are 1480 0 5

Dathan Fischer

January 28, 2021 4:47 PM

You and me both. by Dathan Fischer

It could be slightly dangerous on a weird day, and he had gathered that it would get way, way more dangerous if he went on to the Advanced version of the class the year after next, but Dathan generally liked Care of Magical Creatures in the same way he liked Herbology (except when he made a fool of himself in front of a cute girl...he still cringed at the memory of that lesson). Even though the creatures were by definition magical, and sometimes did magic things, they still seemed to operate more or less like...biology, or whatever it would be in ordinary terms. There was a lot more straightforward stuff to do than there was theory around here.

There were, however, elements of the class which involved some more abstract information - and sometimes, times when that was actually a good thing. He automatically flushed, if not to excess, when Professor Marsh started bringing up parenting. Was it possible for this topic to go in any possible direction that wouldn't be horribly uncomfortable and embarrassing for everyone in the room...?

Possibly. He was relieved, but only cautiously so. They were talking about what the animals did after they had babies now, so maybe they would not get to the part that would make everyone in the class giggle, want to die, or both. After all, in regular school, he knew that classes about Stuff were separate and had to have parental permission involved, and he had never heard of anyone studying what...was Animal Stuff. Unless one joined 4-H, which wasn't a class, it was a club, and that was not what they had here. Plus, this class had both boys and girls in it, and there was only one Professor Marsh, so...well, he guessed that they could get Professor Carter-Xavier to talk to the girls while Marsh talked to the boys, but that got back to stuff that would be a class where their parents would have to give them permission to be. Which this wasn't.

He still, upon hearing that they had to work with people in their own years, angled toward his cousin, reckoning this would be a good idea on two fronts. He couldn't imagine Jazz was going to be super-comfortable with this whole thing either, even if it was for very different reasons than he might...

Or not. He knew people like her could adopt kids and stuff, so maybe the topic was not awkward to her at all. Still, they hadn't talked in a bit, and he was already here, so he might as well.

"Works for me," he said. "Um - I don't know if I know enough to call it a hypothesis, but that looks like a bug, so I'm going to guess it's parenting style is pretty...hands off I guess?"

16 Dathan Fischer You and me both. 1457 0 5

Sapphire Brockert

January 31, 2021 2:26 PM

That question is above my capabilities (4th year) by Sapphire Brockert

Sapphire sincerely hoped that the Care of Magical Creatures lesson today was not going to be a difficult one or one that involved something scary, but she was far more worried about the former. She was terrified of looking dumb in front of her classmates and having them make fun of her for being stupid. Of course, if there was a creature that she was afraid of and she freaked out about it,she'd also potentially risk being a laughingstock. It wasn't as if Sapphire was all that popular to begin with. None of her classmates had been especially mean to her or anything but nor had they exactly shown much interest in befriending her, other than Sadie. Whom she worried would also realize how stupid and useless she was.

Still, when the lesson-or just whatever task was at hand- was an academically difficult one, rather than a physically or psychologically one-which were also awful in their own right-Sapphire's brain had a tendency to shut down from the stress and anxiety of it all. Like, if something sounded challenging and like it would take her a lot of effort to do so she assumed that she'd be incapable and not know how to even begin because she was already thinking she would fail. Same thing if Sapphire had a lot to do. She tended to be easily overwhelmed.

Professor Marsh started to talk about parents. His question sounded like a simple enough one but it really wasn't. First of all, the Crotalus tended not to think of any question as truly simple. Secondly, well....thinking about parents was a very complicated thing. Sapphire loved hers and she believed they loved her too because certainly all parents must love their children. However, hers were not...well, they hadn't even realized she was having seizures. Or the things that Topaz was up to. And in the latter case, Father at least should have been able to tell when a sibling was being horrible given what Uncle Eustace was like. Then again, her sister wasn't much like her uncle beyond being horrid. For one thing, Topaz was a lot smarter and therefore, better at manipulation.

Then again, Professor Marsh only mentioned food, love, shelter and education as things parents weren't supposed to provide. Medical care had been omitted from that list. Did that mean it was okay to not provide it to one's children? Was it included in "love"? Of course, to be fair, Sapphire had gotten it once her parents realized it was needed.

And she hadn't been about to raise her hand and mention it either since it would have just drawn attention to her condition. While it would have been to her benefit to have her parents notice, having her classmates do so could only be detrimental . It was bad enough that Sapphire was the only pureblood in her class-she was willing to make friends with non-purebloods but it still made her Different-and that she was quiet and shy which was something else people in general had a tendency to look down on, people didn't need to know she had a medical issue too!

She didn't have time to dwell on it, however, when Professor Marsh said they had to partner up with someone from her own year! Sapphire groaned inwardly, she wasn't friends with any of her yearmates and she wasn't comfortable approaching any of them. Honestly, the only people in Intermediates she felt at all comfortable with were Esme and Sadie and they were both third years. In fact, Sadie was the only non-family member in the entire school that the fourth year was comfortable with at all. In fact, she found this concept so intimidating that she almost forgot to be intimidated by the concept of hypothesizing.

Sapphire walked over to the box where the cards were and pulled something out. Before she could look at it, someone approached her. She would have been surprised by that, but she figured that she was probably the last person left available and they would prefer someone else. Or she was in the way and they were going to tell her to move. Something like that. None of them had shown interest in her before and they probably weren't going to start now.

11 Sapphire Brockert That question is above my capabilities (4th year) 1459 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

January 31, 2021 6:16 PM

I hypno- hypoz- I make guess. by Hilda Hexenmeister

"Macht nichts," Hilda replied reflexively when the other student apologized for bumping into her. In the crowd of students moving about trying to get cards and then get back to their seats, she'd have been more surprised if she'd gotten there and back without a minor collision, especially since she wasn't taking any evasive maneuvers to avoid one. Then she remembered she was supposed to speak English, and she tried again more haltingly, "No problem?" making it more of a question than she'd meant it to be, mostly because it wasn't the translation to 'doesn't matter' that she'd actually said, but she couldn't remember how to say that in English because she was pretty sure that was one that didn't translate literally, and every time she'd said 'makes nothing' people had looked at her strangely, so she'd used a different but equally appropriate phrase that she knew did translate much more easily between the languages.

The other girl - Bridget, if she remembered correctly, who was a . . . cousin, maybe? to Sophia - agreed to work with her on the Erklings research, so she smiled back and said, "Good." Of course, right here in the middle of the room wasn't the best place to do that, so she invited, "My desk?" and pointed out where it was, at the edge of the classroom and out of the main crush of students still trying to find topics and partners. Given some indication of agreement, she started walking there, leading the way and forcing her way through the crowd, hoping that Bridget could just follow in her wake without too much difficulty. Once they were clear of the worst of the press of people, she pulled another chair to sit beside her, and laid the card down between them so they could both read it. "Small," she noted aloud, pointing at the part that said this kind of creature only had 1-2 offspring at a time. "Probably long care, not hope good."

OOC: I could not find much on Erlking reproduction and child rearing, so I'm wildly guessing that they only have one or two at a time given that they can actually speak human languages and therefore probably put a lot of effort into teaching their young.

1 Hilda Hexenmeister I hypno- hypoz- I make guess. 1433 0 5

Ellie Alperton

February 02, 2021 6:19 AM

Let's start with something easier then by Ellie Alperton

OOC: Mentions of Anya and Freddie approved by their authors BIC:

Ellie was not loving the waythe current unit of COMC was rapidly careening towards heteronormative biology and social pairings. At least it was only non-human animals. Whilst there were some interesting things around biological sex variation in the animal kingdom, there wasn’t actually a concept of gender. That was a completely rubbish human construction. So, as long as Professor Marsh wasn’t too prudish or scared to say ‘sex’ when he meant biological stuff, they probably wouldn’t have an issue. If he, or anyone else, started referring to animals’ gender, she was going to… to sit there being really quietly annoyed but conflict adverse and then work out someone to complain to about it. Possibly Freddie, who might not even really get what she meant and had a very limited power to do anything about it. But maybe not. Maybe she’d talk to an actual teacher on calling it out. Also, some penguins were gay. She wasn’t entirely sure how that could come up, but if anyone started going on about animal pairs always being male and female, she was throwing gay penguins at them. Probably not literally.

When Professor Marsh asked what parents did, she drafted several answers in her head, trying to work out how she could acknowledge within her response that parents might be singular, paired, or even more, and of any combination of genders within her response without it seeming like she was going off on a tangent. She was rapidly concluding that she probably couldn’t, and was trying to think what her preferred point to make would be. She possibly would have chosen ‘defend you’ as a good example that applied to both the vicious animal kingdom and the more invisible viciousness that existed in the human world, but astonishingly, Theo actually more or less said that. She wasn’t convinced the two of them had ever shared a thought on anything before. Not that Theo didn’t seem nice, of course. It was just a tad unusual for him to actually be on the right topic, and not… incredibly esoteric about it. The rest of his answer rather demonstrated that general tendency. In the end, she didn’t volunteer any extra information. It was sort of an easy enough question that plenty of other people were happy to have a go, and then soon enough it was time to work. And yes, she did know what a hypothesis was without being reminded…

They had to work with their own year group. That didn’t actually narrow her options very much more than usual, as her two closest friends were in her year, so she tended to work mostly with them anyway. Of course, the drawback to being a trio of friends in the same year group when within year group pair work was assigned was pretty self evident to anyone with a basic grasp of numbers. Three divided into two once, with a remainder of one. Anya and Freddie seemed to already be paired up, which made her the remainder today. Which was fine. Sometimes someone else was. It wasn’t like they left her out and paired together all the time. So, it was stupid to feel a little bit jealous that they were getting to work with each other…

Still, there were plenty of other fish in the sea (platonic, work-partner fish, but animal metaphors were appropriate cos COMC), and one of them was already at the box.

“Hi,” she stated, as she approached Sapphire, trying to offer a friendly smile. ‘Friendly’ was something she and Sapphire had never really been with each other in spite of being in the same year group and Ellie wasn’t sure why. Whether they’d just ended up rolling with different crews, or whether Sapphire had like… some deep seated hatred of her that Ellie had been too dense to pick up on. It was a wide spectrum of slightly intimidating possibilities. They were in different houses, and Sapphire had a whole bunch of relatives here, judging by the roll-call, so maybe it was just that. Hopefully. “Whatcha got there?” Ellie asked, nodding towards the card in Sapphire’s hand, figuring class material was a good way to break the ice.

13 Ellie Alperton Let's start with something easier then 1456 0 5

Bridget Ferguson

February 02, 2021 7:51 PM

It seems like a good one. by Bridget Ferguson

OOC: CW-Alcoholism is alluded to. Again. BIC:

Unsurprisingly, Hilda didn't seem bothered by Bridget bumping into her. Most of the time, people didn't or didn't show that they did. She wondered if that was always genuinely the case or if people were just being polite. Or they wanted to avoid conflict. She knew that she personally was pretty conflict adverse and honestly, couldn't see why anyone would want to fight.

Yet some people always were. They always seemed angry about something, some of which were super petty things. Or they might be upset about something that was valid but would see everything as that issue that they were fighting against, even when something wasn't part of that problem. Which, in all honesty, detracted from the issue and made people like, not care about it or get defensive and in turn, look like the one in the wrong even though they weren't. Because the first person was going just a little too far in their views and tactics and framing them in such a way.

Those were situations where you just couldn't win and Bridget personally would prefer to just avoid them. Some people couldn't be reasoned with and she was not inclined to really try. She had enough insurmountable challenges in life without trying to deal with crazy people.

And Hilda probably did too. She knew very little about the Pecari's life but she was a German at an English speaking school, a whole different language and culture. That could not have been easy so someone bumping into her was no big deal. "All right. "Bridget agreed as she followed her classmate back to her desk and looked at the card that Hilda had placed between them. "Probably" Bridget agreed again. "That must be the case if they learn human languages. Do we know how that happens? I assume that the why is because they want to lure human children."

It was actually impressive. Neither of her parents had bothered to teach her that. Of course, Bridget had learned to make cocktails but that was mostly because there were books on the subject sitting around their bookshelves. Her parents hadn't taught her how to do that either, though her dad had been quite a taste tester. Still....well, they had to have taught her something, surely. It wasn't as if they'd released her into the wild to survive on her own.

Besides, there was something to be said for not making a child learn too many skills. Children who were too busy doing that had no time to play and be a kid and that too had value. Anyway, had Bridget wanted to learn to do something, she was sure her parents would have hired a tutor like Sophia's had for German.

11 Bridget Ferguson It seems like a good one. 1448 0 5

Lawrence Marsh

February 04, 2021 12:56 PM

I'm glad you feel that way by Lawrence Marsh

There was something in himself that Lawrence recognized in Theo. The boy was much more outgoing than Lawrence had ever been, but there was something about his mannerisms that still reminded him of himself. He found Theo’s description of parents to be fairly specific. And then Theo raised his hand and talked, without being called on and launched into a very coherent discussion of being a parent of a werewolf. Lawrence nodded at the end, “Thank you Theo, those are good points. Though I was talking more about actual different creatures. Still, Theo brings up another point I’d like to make, all creatures deserve our respect. Thank you Theo for the great reminder.”

Lawrence watched over the students and for the first time in a while took a long hard look at Theo. Was Theo a werewolf? Had he been so wrapped up in the deal with his parents that he’d missed a memo or meeting about this? No, he felt he’d have been informed if there was a werewolf in his classroom. Though then again, it could very well be that he had been informed, he’d just forgotten. Another thing to add to his growing list to ask Killian.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a hoot in front of him. It was Theo. Lawrence gave him a genuine smile. The boy did remind him of himself and made him feel good about his new (ish) profession.

“Yes Mr. Spurn, how can I help you?”

Lawrence was momentarily puzzled and then knelt down in front of Theo. “I’m doing well young sir. Not what I had meant by hooting, but it is very kind for you to have asked, thank you. How are you doing? No monsters that need chasing out from under your bed at the moment I hope?”

41 Lawrence Marsh I'm glad you feel that way 1462 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

February 04, 2021 1:16 PM

I'm glad about that. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

If Sadie seemed distracted by the idea of cute things, Alexander did not. Sure, there were people he thought were cute (and he was even working with one of them), but he mostly just thought that kneazles looked like they'd make great friends. Mab was a great friend and more than a little bit like a kneazle actually; the thought almost made him laugh and he resolved to never tell her about the conclusion he'd drawn. It did make him wonder how Mab would parent though, since her own parents probably weren't the best example of how kneazles parented. Although the way Sadie put it, maybe Mab's parents were more kneazle-like after all.

"That makes sense to me," he decided after a moment. "I think maybe their parents also kind of teach them tough love a little bit? Like how cats carry their kittens around by their scruffs, or lick them to keep them warm and clean but their tongues are all rough so it probably doesn't feel awesome. I wonder if kneazles lie to their kittens to help them train? Like how cats play wrestle with theirs? I don't know if kneazles can lie," he added as an afterthought, not considering that kneazles couldn't talk anyway, since he was pretty sure that the things that talked the most said the least and vice versa. He was well aware that you could lie with body language, and he wasn't about to rule out that cats and kneazles could be telepathic.

"Sorry," he said quickly, when he realized he was talking so much more than usual. "I didn't mean to go on like that." His cheeks reddened and he scratched the side of his head, confused by his own willingness to converse. He looked at Sadie a little sideways; maybe he'd found another safe person at school.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I'm glad about that. 1475 0 5

Sapphire Brockert

February 04, 2021 2:03 PM

Such as? by Sapphire Brockert

Sapphire smiled nervously at Ellie as she returned the greeting. "Hi." She had never been sure why she'd never really spoken to the other fourth year much. Or, probably more accurately, why the other fourth year had never spoken much to her . Sapphire was reluctant to initiate conversations in general because she was really shy and Ellie already had Freddie and Anya.

The latter of these relationships mystified the Crotalus. She could not work out what the two girls could possibly find in common. Ellie was super girly and Anya was as much of a Pecari stereotype as one could imagine. Sapphire had always thought that she had much more in common with Ellie than Anya did. She knew that Anya's older sister Jasmine had hit it off with Ellie when they were on the same Challenge team with Ruby but just because someone was friends with someone, it didn't mean that person would be friends with the person's siblings. That would be like...Sadie befriending Topaz , which was something Sapphire really didn't see happening. Not that Anya was a bad person like Topaz was,but that wasn't the point of the analogy, Sadie wasn't necessarily going to befriend Jasper or Amethyst either.

And while Sapphire might think that Ellie didn't like her because the other fourth year was an Aladren and she was too stupid, Anya didn't exactly strike her as a model academic either. Or she could point to the pureblood thing, if she remembered correctly, Ellie was Muggleborn and the Pecari was a halfblood, so, therefore not the same thing either. And anyway, when purebloods stuck with other purebloods, they were terrible people, yet it seemed like people thought it was okay to leave them out when they were the different ones?

Most of the time, it didn't matter to Sapphire now though. When you had another friend, what did matter that someone didn't want to hang out with you? It was just that she genuinely didn't understand what Ellie and Anya could possibly find to do or talk about together.From the impression Angelique had always given her, girly-girls and tomboys had about as much in common as pillows and porcupines and people tended to gravitate towards people they had stuff in common with. Hence why her cousin had had such a hard time making friends at school. Except that Sapphire did have stuff in common with her classmate and she was still the odd one out.

And it did hurt. It hurt to be one left over, the one someone got "stuck with". To be unwanted and rejected.It wasn't just Ellie, it was her entire year group.

But maybe things could change. Sapphire looked down at her card. "Kneazles." She replied.

11 Sapphire Brockert Such as? 1459 0 5

Theo Spurn

February 04, 2021 8:28 PM

You're awesome too. Does that mean you're a parent? by Theo Spurn

He had made good points and was a valued member of the class! He would put that in his next letter home. His parents would love him even if he was not those things but he knew that dad especially liked hearing it when Theo got positive feedback from teachers. And it had been about dad too! Except dad didn’t like Theo broadcasting his illness to everyone. But he hadn’t. He had talked about werewolves and how they parented but not said ‘dad’ so it was probably okay, so long as he could explain that clearly enough in his letter not to make dad worry. Dad was usually proud of him when he stood up for werewolf rights.

Professor Marsh was a little confusing to start with, in that he said Theo hadn’t hooted right, when he was pretty sure he’d done it quite close to how Professor Marsh had.

“How did you mean it?” he asked, trying out a few experimental hoots. “Are those better?” he asked.

“I’m interested,” Theo answered, when Professor Marsh asked how he was today. “It is better when we have soft creatures to touch, but I am still interested.” He smiled when Professor Marsh offered to chase monsters out from under his bed if need be, and gave him a quick hug. You probably weren’t meant to hug teachers or hug people without asking unless you were good friends but a) that was really hard to remember when people were just so darn huggable and b) offering to be a monster-chaser was a pretty solid level of closeness, right?

“Oh no. They went away when I was small. My daddy scared them really, really well so they wouldn’t bother me any more. He and mum also said they weren’t real and it was just kids at school saying stuff,” he added, in case Professor Marsh had never been reassured by anyone on this point. He seemed to have talked about them like they might be real. “But he growled them all away anyway, just to be sure. Do you have any under your bed?” he asked, because it was polite to ask the same thing back that you had been asked. “If you do, you can sleep on a blanket nest on the floor because then there is no under the bed for them to be,” he offered helpfully.

13 Theo Spurn You're awesome too. Does that mean you're a parent? 1476 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

February 05, 2021 6:21 AM

Me too? by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Sadie listened to Alexander carefully, finding that her brain was spinning with questions and ideas as he talked. It was a welcome change from the usual blank she found there when asked to work things out for class, or it being full but of things like whether she was about to make herself look like an idiot. Was this what it was like in smart people’s heads all the time? She actually had more things to say than she could jump in with, though Alexander came back around to some of those points himself, like whether or not kneazles could lie. She also wasn’t sure cat tongues felt gross to cats, seeing as they didn’t know any different. Not that she was about to point that out to Alexander, especially as he was already apologising for talking so much.

“Oh, no – I liked it,” she assured him, wondering whether she’d not seemed interested enough somehow. “I mean, I like talking about animals too. This is kind of my favourite class,” she added. She suspected that, given that she was not infrequently seen walking a jackelope around the school on a little red leash, that was kind of well-known. It was weird to think anything about her might be well-known, but that really was something that sort of stood out. Except it felt like… in a good way?

“Maybe they take their kittens to untrustworthy people to show them what they look or smell like?” she suggested, picking up on the thought that seemed like the most interesting, in terms of it being something small kneazles definitely needed to know, but also something they hadn’t necessarily found an explanation for yet.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Me too? 1480 0 5

Ellie Alperton

February 05, 2021 6:55 AM

Do you want to be partners? by Ellie Alperton

Hi. Kneazles.

Mmkay then. Three syllables was not really a lot to go on in terms of forming an impression, although two of them had at least done the job of letting her know what creature they’d be working on. If they partnered up. From Sapphire’s reaction, she wasn’t entirely sure whether or not that was on the cards. On the one hand, she was at least smiling at Ellie, but on the other, she didn’t exactly seem to be inviting her to stay. Was she waiting for someone else and just too polite to say so?

She searched around for something to say, both to see if someone else did jump in and “rescue” Sapphire from her, and because she felt that a lack of evidence on which to form an impression probably meant she shouldn’t try forming one.

“Kneazles are neat,” Ellie stated, trying again with the whole ice breaking, although she wondered what level of pick axe she was going to need for that job, and whether it was the kind of thing that was achievable if only one party was interested. She was pretty sure it took two to break ice. She thought she could do an okay job with kneazles. They were just cats with psychic superpowers, and she had watched enough animal shows growing up to know how big cats parented. It was mostly survival skills, and not a lot of emotional attachment.

“Did you want to work together?” she checked before she ventured anything further about kneazles, lest it seem like she was assuming. After all, she knew what they said about doing that.

13 Ellie Alperton Do you want to be partners? 1456 0 5

Sapphire Brockert

February 06, 2021 6:13 PM

Yes! by Sapphire Brockert

Oh, right . Sapphire felt like an idiot. Not that she wasn't used to that but this was the sort of socially awkward idiocy not the academic kind. Of course, she'd rather assumed that was what Ellie had been getting at in the first place given that she was the only option left. Otherwise, she doubted her classmate would have picked her even if her friends were already working with each other or other people entirely.

And anyway, why else would the other girl have approached her in a situation where people were partnering up but to do just that? Sapphire knew that she wasn't brilliant but she was sure she could figure that one out. She supposed the Aladren could have had a card she didn't want, like something that she had a visceral fear of and wanted to see what Sapphire had in order to trade. There were certainly creatures that she wouldn't want, like Acromantula. Though those were five X rated creatures and that's not what the fourth years were doing but still, they were a creature Sapphire would not want to think about.

At least Ellie wasn't a pureblood though. If that was the case, then the Crotalus acting like a socially awkward fool would be an even bigger blunder. One that could like, reflect badly on her family and affect her ability to get married. That actually didn't make Sapphire feel much better though because she didn't want to be mocked by her classmates and further isolated than she already was.

She nodded, "I'd love to." She replied, genuinely meaning it. She would love to be friends with the other fourth year but Ellie already had friends and didn't really need Sapphire. Nobody did. "And yeah, kneazles are cool. They can detect untrustworthy people." She'd always liked that, what with having a sister who was such a person and all.

11 Sapphire Brockert Yes! 1459 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

February 06, 2021 10:09 PM

Thank you for making me not alone. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel nodded, agreeing with Dathan's assessment. Then she snorted and covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Or legs off," she suggested, pointing at the glumbumble's little legs. "wings off?" she added, wondering about that instead. That was not the focus of the class though, so she shook her head to clear it.

There was a small thought in the back of her head that made her wonder simultaneously if her mom was a bug and also think for sure that she was not, because if she was then she'd be less prone to telling Jezebel exactly what to do with who she was. Or maybe who to be at all. Of course, the problem was that she also knew her mom cared, even if it wasn't the way she wanted. But sometimes it felt like her mom was hands off enough to be a bug maybe.

That was another thought she pushed aside, determined not to ever think it again. Of course, she knew it would probably come back . . . those thoughts always came back. It was just easier to blame her swirling, angry thoughts on other people instead of just acknowledging that she was the one who was the most like a bug. That wasn't a conversation she was about to launch into with her cousin though.

"If they come in eggs, do you think they ever even meet their parents?" she asked, cocking her head as she refocused on the picture of the glumbumble. "I guess I don't know if they come in eggs but I feel like bugs usually do?"

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer Thank you for making me not alone. 1454 0 5

Dathan Fischer

February 07, 2021 5:24 PM

Hey, that's what family's for, right? by Dathan Fischer

Dathan studied the picture of the bug, trying as hard as possible to keep a straight face. He didn’t totally succeed in flattening out the line of his mouth, but he thought he acquitted himself fairly well overall in pretending he was solemnly evaluating the situation. “Feet off, maybe?” he suggested. “Since if all they have is a bunch of legs, right, and they don’t have any arms, wouldn’t all the little things at the end of the legs be feet, yeah?”

He was momentarily concerned by Jezebel’s brief apparent withdrawal into her thoughts, but she got back onto the subject of buggy parents before he said anything about it. He nodded in response. “Yeah – eggs, bugs, that usually goes together – says what I can remember about fifth grade science class, anyway,” he joked. “But…these are like bees, yeah? Bees live in a big hive…but so do ants, and I’m pretty sure ants come from eggs. But don’t bees, like, only have one mom in the whole hive or something? And they store up honey for the little buglets….”

He frowned as something that he remembered about glumbumbles occurred to him. “I’m not sure if these things would eat the honey, though, because of what it does,” he observed. “Man, that would suck, if they got into regular bees – I wouldn’t know what to do if I ate Mom’s honey toast and then I got all depressed and stuff.” His mother occasionally bought some good honey at home, and would make really crispy buttered toast in the oven, and then once it came out, she’d pour the honey all over it and let it soak in and it was excellent. “Maybe their buglets eat regular honey too and that’s why they invade beehives?” he theorized.

16 Dathan Fischer Hey, that's what family's for, right? 1457 0 5

Ellie Alperton

February 10, 2021 7:13 AM

Okay! by Ellie Alperton

Ellie returned Sapphire’s smile as she seemed enthusiastic about partnering up. She also gave a basic definition of what a Kneazle was, but Ellie didn’t come back with ‘Yeah, I know’ because it seemed more like Sapphire was saying it because she thought it was interesting than because she thought Ellie might not know. Ellie hoped she didn’t think that. After all, they’d covered things like that last year, and it wasn’t like she was going to skimp on the reading or anything. Either way, she just nodded to Sapphire’s comment, as they made their way back to one of the available desks.

“So, most cats seem to be big on survival skills. Like, they teach their offspring to hunt and fight, but they aren’t exactly sentimental about them. They tend to shove them out into the world quite young. But then, Kneazles’ main skill is kind of related to emotion, or something that’s a very human value. So, do we think that means they spend more time with their young, or to them is it just a survival skill like hunting, rather than something they place emotional value on?” she mused out loud. She probably leant more towards the latter. Just because humans thought of trustworthiness being part of a moral system didn’t mean that Kneazles thought philosophically about it – they could detect it and disliked it, but it was probably in the same way that cats could smell better than humans or see in the dark. They didn’t need to be taught that, it just was how they were. She thought even regular animals could sometimes sense human emotions, like telling who was sad or who might be mean to them – it was just hyper-tuned in Kneazles.

“It seems more likely to be instinctual or sense-based, right?” she checked cheerfully with Sapphire.

13 Ellie Alperton Okay! 1456 0 5

Sapphire Brockert

February 10, 2021 4:33 PM

Great! by Sapphire Brockert

OOC: CW-Implied animal cruelty. BIC:

Ellie seemed to know an awful lot about cats in general, and Sapphire, of course, did not. She knew of course that Kneazles did not like untrustworthy people, which was why she'd kind of always wanted one. Except, well, pets in general were not a good idea when you had a sister like Topaz-she had vague memories of Ruby having a pet at one point which did not last very long-and one that would reveal the sixth year's true nature to their parents was going to be even worse off than that poor bunny.

Plus, Sapphire's cousin Miles was allergic to cats, and while she did not live with him, cat fur could get on her and then she could be around him and trigger an allergy attack. Having her own medical problem, she had a lot of empathy for her younger cousin and would not want to make him sick.

"I would definitely say that being able to detect untrustworthy people was a survival skill." Sapphire replied. Boy, would she ever! She just wouldn't say why . Well, why she knew that. It was probably common sense to realize that knowing someone was untrustworthy was in your best interests but not saying why she knew that was also a survival skill. It might not be the kind that they'd been tested on during the Challenges-which had been awful-but it was definitely one you learned when your older sister was a psychopath.

She nodded in agreement. "Probably." She was sure Ellie would know better than her as she was an Aladren and therefore, much smarter than Sapphire was. As much as she wanted to contribute and not make her classmate do all the work, she just...did not think herself capable of contributing as much and just agreeing was probably also in her best interests overall.Besides, Sapphire genuinely did agree with that assessment.

11 Sapphire Brockert Great! 1459 0 5

Ellie Alperton

February 21, 2021 5:44 AM

Cool by Ellie Alperton

OOC: Assumptions made about Ellie/Freddie/Anya's working dynamic. Happy to correct if inaccurate. BIC:

Sapphire seemed to be broadly agreeing with her, which was great, because Ellie was usually right. Ellie might've liked a little more weighing up of the options because that was the fun of hypothesising, and because Sapphire really hadn't added anything new, but at least Sapphire wasn't suggesting they write down something stupid. Ellie would definitely have not been willing.

She pulled out her parchment, heading it up neatly with the date, both their names, and the title 'Animal Parenting: Kneazles.' She supposed she could have asked Sapphire to do the writing, seeing as Ellie herself had contributed most of the ideas, but - whilst she would have liked a partner who gave a little more - she simultaneously was reluctant to relinquish any control. It was a trait that Anya and Freddie benefited from quite a lot. Not that either of them was stupid, but they were definitely unfocussed, and Ellie's tendency towards perfectionism meant sure that she was a little too willing to carry the weight of that. Sometimes. When she wasn't being annoyed by them not taking it seriously when there was, after all, a grade resting on what they did.

Hypothesis was added to her parchment.
We hypothesize that kneazle kittens stay with their parents long enough to learn basic survival skills. Their ability to tell untrustworthy people is likely to be an inherent ability which their parents help them to hone, rather than a completely taught skill/value.

Our hypothesis is based on the behavior of most cat species she drew her wand, syphoning those two words back off the page and replacing them with 'felines' which tend not to form strong emotional attachement to their young.

Additionally, kittens can be adopted as pets by humans from a fairly young age, suggesting they no longer need their parents for food and shelter, though in the case of domesticated cats/kneazles, their humans then take on some of the responsibility of providing this. Wild or feral kneazles may need to stay with their parents for longer.

The last part wasn't something she and Sapphire had discussed, but had occurred to her whilst she was writing, and seemed logical to her.

"What do you think?" she asked Sapphire, holding out the page for her to inspect. She didn't really think she would object, but it seemed polite to check.

13 Ellie Alperton Cool 1456 0 5

Sapphire Brockert

February 21, 2021 5:27 PM

Indeed by Sapphire Brockert

Sapphire sat while Ellie started writing, trying to think of something to add. The problem was that she didn't know much about kneazles or any kind of cat in general. All she knew was that they were cute and made Miles sneeze. And that kneazles detected untrustworthy people. None of which was all that useful for their assignment.

Honestly, Sapphire wished she had more to contribute. Truth be told, she was more than a little intimidated by Ellie and Aladrens in general. They made her feel stupid and small. Not that the other fourth year was necessarily trying to make her feel that way but how she always felt even more dumb next to people who were really smart. Sapphire knew that like most things, this was Topaz's fault because of how her sister had bullied her about it,but that didn't make her feel any better.

She also felt bad that Ellie was doing most of the work, but the thing was that Sapphire felt that anything she could have said would have been stupid and she definitely did not want to hurt their grades. Generally speaking, she did try to do well, even though her parents didn't seem to care that much about her grades, if for no other reason than that Topaz would torment her relentlessly if she found out Sapphire hadn't done well in school. The sixth year, like most Aladrens, prized intellectual ability above all else and tended to mock those who weren't all that smart. Although the Crotalus didn't think her classmate would necessarily do that since she tended to hang out with people who, while not stupid, didn't seem very into academics, Sapphire still didn't want to say something stupid in front of her.

Ellie handed her the paper to look over. "It looks good." She replied. She thought of something else though. "Um, do you think that having up to eight kittens at once makes them less likely to be invested in them?" Sapphire asked. "Like they don't have time to do more than teach basic survival skills." After all, Mother had never seemed to have much time for each of her six children. She had never taught any of them much of anything and what survival skills she and her siblings had were only there because they knew Topaz well enough to know to be wary. And she didn't really have any of the survival skills people had in any other situation, as was evidenced by the Challenge on just that.

She braced herself for Ellie's potential criticism but hoped none would be forthcoming.

11 Sapphire Brockert Indeed 1459 0 5