Right, horses. Yes. on Care of Magical Creatures

Holly Greer Delachene

September 17, 2022 10:05 AM

Beginner COMC: Flying Horses by Holly Greer Delachene

Holly Delachene stood outside of the Sonora school building, in the large open space between the stucco mansion and the outer walls of the labyrinth. She was a middle aged woman (not that she liked to admit that), with long brown hair tied back in a low pony tail that didn't get in the way of her pink cowboy hat. Despite the practical style, it was perfectly in place without a single strand poking out where it shouldn't be and her make-up was perfect as well. She wore cowboy boots, also pink but a few shades darker and closer to magenta than the hat, to better hide any mud or muck she stepped in. Likewise, a pink leather jacket (the weather was not yet warm enough to switch it for a vest) that did perfectly match the hat covered her embroidered blouse, and the jacket's fringe fluttered around a bit more than that the light intermittent breeze should really account for. She wore jeans that might have passed as practical and sturdy for work in a barn if they didn't shimmer with glitter.

She looked, in short, like a glamourous Hollywood version of a cowgirl rather than their guest Care of Magical Creatures teacher.

Those second years who had found her booth at the alumni fair last year, however, would recognize her, and perhaps the pale gray Granian winged horse she was walking around the clearing, as the woman offering flying horse rides around the pitch.

She smiled as the beginner class all arrived, her teeth perfect and straight. "Hello, beginners," she greeted them, thinking they looked rather tiny. Her youngest was sixteen, and she was having trouble remembering when even he had been this young, which surprised her because just this midterm she'd had an argument with him over whether or not he would be old enough this summer to take a week to visit his boyfriend in Germany without their parental supervision and she'd come down hard on the side that he was still a baby and absolutely not.

Looking at these children, she was not so sure Philippe was actually a baby after all.

"I am Holly Delechane," she introduced herself, "and I own a flying horse ranch in California. Your school asked me to come out here as a guest professor for a day to tell you a bit about flying horses. There are several different breeds, some more difficult to care for than others, and this one here," she walked the Granian back the other way so they could get a good look at her, "is Elsa. She's a Granian, which is a type of winged horse that is very fast in the air but relatively easy to look after. They are pretty placid horses, whose biggest danger is you if you get your fingers in between their teeth and their apples, so I'm going to stress that it is very important when I give you the apples to feed her, that you hold them in the palm of your hand and let her take it from there, like this," she demonstrated balancing a small apple in her palm and Elsa happily demonstrated how she would eat it without harming the person holding it. Holly smiled at the horse and petted her fondly. "Good girl."

"Elsa enjoys being flown at least once a day, preferably twice, and she will tolerate being brushed with great patience. Some Granians like being groomed very much, but Elsa isn't one of them. She mostly eats grass and hay, but she does love her apples, and she will drink about seven gallons of water a day, though some Granians will drink as little as five and others as much as fifteen, depending on their size and how prone they are to sweating. As you have probably figured out, we're going to be focusing on Granians today, as that's who I brought along, and they're within the beginner curriculum, but who know what other kinds of winged horse exist?"

She called on a few people and nodded, "Yes, there are Abraxans, which are very large - nearly the size of elephants - Aethonans, which are similar to Granians but not as fast, and tend toward a more chestnut color while Granians range from white to black though most are more of a grey color. Elsa is the lightest colored one we have at our ranch, though her sire was completely white. Thestrals are an interesting flying horse that are completely invisible to many people, and apparently look a bit terrifying to those who can see them, and they are the only equine species I know of that are carnivorous. A Pegasus," she nodded to the student who had offered this suggestion, "is not a specific breed, but it is a generic term for any winged horse."

"Are there any questions so far?" she asked.

After she had answered any that were offered, she continued, "Granians, as I said, are probably the fastest flying horse species, and if you've ever seen pegasus races, you've definitely seen Granians. They're so fast, that some potions use Granian hair to impart speed, either to the brewing process or as a part of the potion's effect." She was pretty sure of that part. She knew they sold their Granian hair trimmings for some kind of use in potions, though that wasn't really her purview so she wasn't 100% sure about it. She'd hated potions when she'd attended Sonora.

"Want to see her fly?" Holly asked, and when she didn't a consensus of 'no's she went along with her original plan and mounted up. Elsa took off and flew around the clearing, never leaving their sight, but moving quickly with fast powerful wing strokes. They landed a few minutes later, and Holly hopped down and stood in front of the group again, feeling flushed and exhilarated, like she always did after a flight. It never got old and it was the best feeling in the world. "As you saw, they do need a running start to get off the ground and need some space to land at a run as well. For those of you familiar with the vehicles in questions, flying horses are definitely more like planes than helicopters in that respect."

"Now we're going to let you all get to meet Elsa up close and personal. I've got a bucket full of apples over there to feed her so she likes you," not that Elsa was prone to disliking anybody but bribery never hurt, and she could be a bit stand-off-ish sometimes. "Like I said, balance it on your palm, don't hold it in your fingers when you offer it to her. You can pet her a little to find out what her fur and mane and wings feel like. Just be gentle and go with the fur or feathers, don't ruffle it backwards. She doesn't like that. Also, one at a time, please, don't crowd her. Everyone will get a chance, and you can talk quietly amongst yourselves while you wait. You," she pointed at a random student, "you may go first."

OOC: You can assume Holly invites each of you to take a turn and will discourage harmful behavior.

Subthreads:

You're too cool to be a mom (tag Mrs. Delachene) by Robyn Lundstrom with Holly Greer Delachene

Right, horses. Yes. by Fortune Ardovini with Lyla Holland

1 Holly Greer Delachene Beginner COMC: Flying Horses 123 1 5

Robyn Lundstrom

September 17, 2022 7:12 PM

You're too cool to be a mom (tag Mrs. Delachene) by Robyn Lundstrom

Care of Magical Creatures was a mixed bag. It was mostly pretty cool, but some of the animals were easier to love than others. Today, when Robyn walked into class and found a pink cowgirl with a winged horse, she was pretty sure it was going to be one of the good ones. In fact, it was so good that she found herself checking around that she was with the right group of people, because the beginners had never had anything as big and awesome as a winged horse before. She almost expected the pink cowgirl to be here for something entirely other than their class, and to step aside revealing that they would be working on flobberworms or something. But she didn’t. She started introducing herself and the horse and at some point Robyn realised her mouth had dropped open and she shut it again.

The woman’s name was Holly Delachene. That was the same name as one of the prefects in Robyn’s house. Was this that guy’s mom? She looked way too cool to be a mom. And she owned a flying horse ranch. It was almost like a Barbie doll had come to life and was teaching them, but in the coolest way. Because, like, real people did not wear that much pink, and owning a flying horse ranch was supposed to be a make-believe dream, but this person really did it. Robyn thought that Xavier had definitely skipped over a few things when he was griping about how terrible the wizarding world was.

The horse was called Elsa, which immediately gave Disney princess vibes to Robyn, though she assumed it was just a coincidence because magical people didn’t know about that kind of stuff (especially witches who were witchy enough to own a flying horse ranch—even if Mrs. Delachene didn’t look very witchy with all her pink and sparkles). Robyn even put up her hand when asked about winged horses, because this was something she’d read about (because who wouldn’t immediately check whether unicorns and pegasuses were real?). Though it turned out her answer was not quite right, but was a real word that was used, and Mrs. Delachene was nice enough about it that Robyn didn’t feel like she’d messed up.

Robyn watched, eyes wide as the horse really flew in front of them. Her mind was still spinning from that, so it took a moment for the other surprise to hit her… After all, comparisons to planes versus helicopters were recognisable enough that the words just slid by her… Except then she suddenly realised that she was hearing them here. That this person who was talking about flying horses seemed to know what they were. At least, enough to reference them.

As they were given their instructions, Robyn noticed that flying wasn’t mentioned, which made her heart sink a little bit, though her burning curiosity about Mrs. Delachene helped make up for it. When it was her turn, she went up, offering Elsa an apple, and petting her gently. It was easy enough to bribe Elsa, but she wasn’t the only one whose good graces Robyn was interested in getting into. She had been trying to work out how she could subtly get a ‘Let It Go’ reference in to test her theory, but hadn’t been able to think of anything good. There were a couple of other people petting Elsa at the same time as her, so it wasn’t like the whole class was staring at her, or waiting for her to be done, which made it easier. She moved over to Elsa’s wings, touching them very gently. Mrs. Delachene was nearby enough that Robyn could talk to her without raising her voice enough for the others to hear her.

“You know what a plane is?” she said quietly, then felt herself go red because that still seemed like such a ridiculous thing to say. “Is she Elsa like the princess?” she asked.

13 Robyn Lundstrom You're too cool to be a mom (tag Mrs. Delachene) 1558 0 5

Holly Greer Delachene

September 17, 2022 8:05 PM

I like to think so too by Holly Greer Delachene

After the first student offered the apple and started petting Elsa, Holly invited the next and the next, not letting it get too crowded around the horse and keeping an average of about three students next to Elsa at a time. She didn't want to hold up the class too much by forcing everyone to wait for each person to get completely individual attention with Elsa. If there was enough time at the end, she thought she might allow some rides, but she hadn't wanted to promise any if there wouldn't be an opportunity for everyone one who wanted one to get a turn.

As one of the students - the one who had asked about a Pegasus, if she recalled correctly - gently touched the wing, she addressed Holly with a question. Holly lifted a surprised eyebrow. "Of course I know what a plane is," she answered as though most of her childhood friends hadn't known exactly that. "I'm a muggleborn," she added, without shame or hesitance because this was a fact, and one that was fairly common knowledge already. "And yes, Elsa is named for the Frozen character," she confirmed. "Though I don't think she's a princess anymore? I mean, after the second movie, Anna is the Queen, not her, but if you abdicate, does that put you back to being a princess or is she like, I don't know, the Queen Sister or something?"

"But yes, most of my horses are named for Disney characters. My first one, a normal muggle horse, was named Wendy, which feels a bit portentous now, since Wendy is one of the few Disney girls who could fly."

1 Holly Greer Delachene I like to think so too 123 0 5

Robyn Lundstrom

September 18, 2022 4:20 PM

You're way too cool for me to talk to by Robyn Lundstrom

Of course the adult in front of her knew what a plane was. Robyn's face went a shade redder as she wondered whether she'd said something silly or insulting. But, so far, based on her experience, it wasn't something she was able to take for granted any more. Holly identified herself as Muggleborn, which Robyn had started to guess, but it felt different hearing her actually say it, and start talking about things Robyn recognised as if they were perfectly normal.

She just sort of nodded at the Elsa comments, her mind reeling that Mrs. Delachene not only knew about Disney but was up to date and had detailed opinions on it. Robyn realised she was staring, which was exactly the last thing she would want anyone to do after she revealed her blood status.

"Me too," she said, lest Mrs. Delachene thought Robyn was gazing at her like something in a zoo for knowing what a plane was. "I mean, I'm Muggleborn too."

Beside her, Elsa shuffled, and Robyn jumped. She had almost forgotten about the horse.

"I should let someone else have a turn but it was really nice to meet you," she said in one hurried breath. She gave Elsa a final pat and scurried back to her classmates.

OOC: Open to oarting remarks from Holly and/or having a classmate respond

13 Robyn Lundstrom You're way too cool for me to talk to 1558 0 5

Fortune Ardovini

September 19, 2022 5:40 PM

Right, horses. Yes. by Fortune Ardovini

Fortune didn't have anything against their normal Care of Magical Creatures professor. Professor Marsh was a great person. However, when he made his way out to class and got a look at their guest teacher for the day, he knew which one he'd pick without a moment's hesitation to keep having for a teacher. She was without a doubt one of the most glamorous looking witches he'd ever seen. Wait, he recognized her, she'd been here last year at the fair with the flying horses. He hadn't really paid a lot of attention to her at the time, the flying horses had been the center of attention at that point. Now though... He shook his head to clear of strange and weird thoughts and hurried to join his classmates.

Her smile at the start of class send an odd shiver down his spine, and he paid her more attention than most times in COMC. It wasn't that he normally didn't like the class, it was that they were working with kinda boring critters yet. He was learning more about them, but the professor hadn't really introduced him to anything new, exciting or exotic. This lady had brought a flying horse, which arguably wasn't really new or exotic either, but for some reason it was still much more interesting than a normal class.

Fortune's hand shot up when she asked about other types of flying horses. He knew some of these, some from reading and sometimes because the came up on his wireless adventure shows. "Abraxans!" He answered, they were big, cool flying horses. He didn't have any questions that sounded good when she asked, so remained silent. But called out a hearty "Yeah!" when Mrs. Delanche asked if they wanted to see her fly. He'd seen her fly at the fair, heck he'd ridden on one at the fair, but still it seemed polite to be enthusiastic about the class stuff that she was teaching. She flew like an angel... on a horse.

He'd heard about planes and helicopters as muggle things, apparently flying muggle things. He let the comment go as directed at some of the folk with muggle experience and payed close attention to the feeding instructions. He hung back a bit and let some of the others go on ahead, he'd get his chance. In the meantime he commented to one of the others around him, "The horse is pretty neat, isn't it? I rode on one at the fair last year. It was great."

2 Fortune Ardovini Right, horses. Yes. 1549 0 5

Lyla Holland

September 19, 2022 10:46 PM

I don't know whether to be fascinated or terrified by Lyla Holland

Care of Magical Creatures wasn't one of Lyla's favorite classes. It wasn't as nerve-wracking as Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it was definitely less interesting than pretty much any other class. At least, that's what she had thought when Professor Marsh had them taking care of flobberworms, poking shredded lettuce down their slimy gullets.

Today, Lyla couldn't believe her eyes. Not only was there a cowgirl that was pink from head to toe, there was a real live flying horse. She was standing next to Fortune when he shouted about Abraxians. A good answer, Lyla thought, writing it neatly in her purple pocket-sized notebook.

She listened intently to Ms. Delachene as she explained about the apples and watching your fingers. Elsa did look like she could take a good chomp out of someone's hand and not even notice, with her big flat teeth. Planes versus helicopters was exactly a metaphor Lyla could understand, and she could see the similarities when Elsa took a short run before leaping into the air. Lyla's heart beat faster as Elsa took flight, watching her circle the paddock with the alumni on her back. It seemed even more dangerous than flying a broom, which Lyla was not a fan of. She hoped their substitute teacher wouldn't make them ride. Lyla also hoped that she wouldn't be the only one to chicken out of a ride if offered.

Care of Magical Creatures definitely wasn't as boring as she'd first thought.

Lyla didn't go rushing forward to be the first to feed Elsa- she made sure the other students didn't get their hands bitten off first. She stood with Fortune, who then stated that he had actually ridden a flying horse last year.

"Is it as scary as it looks?" she blurted out, realizing that Fortune likely thought it wasn't scary at all, given that he'd said it was great.

"Sorry," she quickly added, "It's just, she's so big, and it's very far up. Do you think people would laugh if I didn't want to? I'm kind of scared to just feed her. Do you think that'll hurt my grade?"

Lyla bit down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself babbling. It was bad enough that she was scared of a horse that everyone else was fascinated by. She didn't need to blather on about grades, too.

64 Lyla Holland I don't know whether to be fascinated or terrified 1559 0 5

Fortune Ardovini

September 20, 2022 3:27 PM

How about excited? by Fortune Ardovini

Fortune grinned at the very slightly younger girl. "It's fine," he responded to her self-correction. "She is pretty big, and can go high. It is really fun!" He thought Lyla did look a bit unnerved by the prospect of dealing with the horse. As for her other question, he wasn't quite sure. Would not participating affect her grade? Probably. It was like any other class assignment, right?

He have Lyla a noncommittal shrug. "Probably?" He answered honestly and a bit regretfully. Then quickly added, "I mean for the grade things. I dunno about what the others might think. it's like any other class, right? If you didn't brew a potion in portions class because you were nervous it was going to explode, it'd be the same thing?" Fortune wasn't entirely sure that this would help Lyla much. "But…" he continued, trying to think of something more to say that might be helpful.

His brain raced as he watched some of the other kids interact with the horse… and guest teacher. "The potions professor wouldn't give a beginner a recipe that would be to dangerous." He wasn't entirely convinced on this point, but it sounded good. "So… they wouldn't bring a creature that was to dangerous. Just as long as we follow the direction. Right?"

He gestured towards the students near the horse. "So far everyone else is okay." That didn't sound great either after he said it. "How about we head up together? I can feed her and you can see what you think?" Maybe that was better? He really wasn't quite sure what he was doing.

2 Fortune Ardovini How about excited? 1549 0 5

Lyla Holland

October 19, 2022 12:44 AM

I'll try for calm by Lyla Holland

Fortune seemed absolutely level-headed about the whole thing, which settled the churning in Lyla's stomach. Sadly, she had figured that it would affect her grade if she opted not to participate; it just made sense. The second-year was right that everyone else was fine so far, although the so far in that sentence wasn't entirely promising. Lyla mentally ran through the procedure for approaching the Granian, bracing herself against her anxiety.

Lyla could see Robyn chatting with the teacher, the horse towering over even the adult in the group. Still, the pink cowgirl seemed to have the creature well in hand, and even surrounded by a handful of children, Elsa didn't seem bothered. Lyla gave herself all of the reasons that it would be completely fine to walk over there, but her feet stayed rooted to the spot until Fortune offered to go with her.

Buddy system, that was fine. It was kind of Fortune to offer. And if Elsa decided to eat somebody, she only had to outrun Fortune. Lyla giggled a little to think she could outpace a member of the Quidditch team when the extent of her athleticism was lifting heavy books and going for walks.

"Okay," she agreed, shaking her limbs loose where she'd tensed them this whole time, "But you walk in front."

64 Lyla Holland I'll try for calm 1559 0 5

Fortune Ardovini

October 20, 2022 5:31 PM

Calm is good by Fortune Ardovini

Fortune watched casually as he saw Lyla relaxing a bit. He was relatively certain that the slight giggle was a good sign that he must have done something right. Now he just had to not mess it up. His face lit up in a grin when she agreed to come along with him. That was good, everything would be fine, Ms. Delanche was right there with the Granian in case anything did go wrong. She would know what to do or else they wouldn't have let her come here to teach class. Right?

"Absolutely Miss Holland," Fortune responded to the girl's condition on going up to the horse. This was good a good thing, he could show her that everything was fine and if something did go wrong he would be between the horse and Lyla. He wasn't entirely sure what good that would do, but it might let him slow down the horse to let Lyla get away. That was the sort of things proper heroic folks from the stories did anyway. He could certainly do no less. He just hoped that their very pink teacher would intervene very quickly, because Lyla wasn't wrong, that horse was pretty big.

Fortune figured talking might help as well, so when he started off, he didn't head straight for the horse. "We'll need to pick out apples first," he commented as he approached the supply bucket, making sure to stay between Lyla and the Granian as they got to where they could pick out fruit. "Ladies first," He gestured at the bucket, some had already been taken, but if she was nervous maybe picking out the right apple would help. He didn't want to take the one she wanted.

2 Fortune Ardovini Calm is good 1549 0 5

Lyla Holland

October 21, 2022 11:51 AM

Interesting... by Lyla Holland

With Fortune in the lead, Lyla was finally able to make her feet move towards the subject of the lesson. The second-year seemed like what Lyla's mom would call 'a good egg'- that is, a kind person. And he'd called her 'Miss Holland', which felt very grown-up.

She was pleased to see that the apple bucket wasn't nearly empty, and Fortune let her pick first. Lyla selected a large apple-the more fruit that went into the Granian's mouth, the less room there was for fingers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered how many apples Elsa could eat in one go. Fortune seemed conscious of his promise to go in front, staying between her and the enormous equine as they moved forward.

Her heart felt like it was in her throat as she approached Elsa, but Fortune was able to feed the Granian with no issues, so Lyla stepped up. She rubbed the surface of the apple on the front of her robes before offering it up, careful to keep her palm flat and her fingers together. Elsa took it gently, lips brushing against Lyla's hand. It tickled.

"Can we pet her?" Lyla whispered to Fortune, tugging lightly on his sleeve. Now that she'd faced down the giant blocky teeth, wings were nothing, and she found herself wondering how they felt. Would they be soft or rough? Silky or fluffy?

64 Lyla Holland Interesting... 1559 0 5