REAGAN WAS HERE...with bells on and a HUGE smile in place. All the grinning and such.

Hey, hi, HELLO!

Of course, when she arrived...to the location she'd thought the seminar was taking place, no lecturer or instructor was within sight. The only indication that this was indeed the right spot was the minimal setup. It looked like something was going to last place there. So...Reagan hoped...

Maybe someone else would arrive soon...and tell her if she was in the right place. Or...if not, Rea could just sit out here all day. It was quite peaceful.

To pass the time, she removed her journal from her bag and began jotting things down.

CENTAURSCENTUARSCENTAURS!



Charlotte HOPED VERY MUCH she could make friends with centaurs and subsequently get rides on their backs, but failing that, it was STILL EXCITING she was going to meet at least one and OH MAYBE ONE MIGHT TELL HER FUTURE never mind that her mother was a seer and probably Char could just ask her, it'd be WAY cooler to have a centaur predict things!

And....

GAAAAAAAAAAAAASP! They were going to do some ARCHERY? SHE LOVED ARCHERY!


.... MAYBE SHE COULD DO THAT FROM THE BACK OF A CENTAUR!

The only thing cool about this seminar besides the whole centaur thing is that it is on the edge of the Forbidden Forrest. No Professor...Centaur or whatever the Centaur wants to be called in site. It looked like they would be doing archery or something from looking around. Dante had never done it. So at least there was that to look froward to IF they were doing archery because who knows. So all Dante could do now was sit on one of the free uneven stones.

Did he mention they looked and actually are as uncomfortable as you think because they were.

Come On, Professor Centaur show up and tell us what we are doing.

Oliver was SO EXCITED for Care of Magical Creatures. He had been looking forward to it all year. It was the kind of class that he would love. Outdoors. Practical. Hopefully not a lot of boring talking. Reading and listening were not his strong areas. He had been very disappointed by the lack of magical creatures lessons, but now it was time.

He was there early, one of the first students in fact. That was not a position Oliver was usually in, but this was an exception. This was a class he had been looking forward to since the beginning of the term. So of course he was there bright and early, ready with a greeting for the professor.

....Professor? There wasn't one. There was supposed to be one, wasn't there? Most classes did have professors. Without one...that would not go so well. Was there a time change? Some reason why there wasn't going to be a professor right away? Oliver just shrugged - it was definitely possible that he had missed some information on account of that reading and listening issue previously mentioned. He would find out soon enough.

"Hi Charlotte," he greeted cheerfully. Oliver grinned and went to stand by the Gryffindor girl.

Charlotte was SO EXCITED about CENTAURS that she forgot to mess with remind Oliver that she had a boyfriend already. Instead she was just all bouncy smiles and waved with BOTH hands.

"Hi! Isn't this the COOLEST? Look! ARCHERY!"

She was here and she was ready.

Ready for whatever the days lesson or uh seminar was about. Hady had waited soooo long for this and knowing that it was being conducted by a Centaur had her even more enticed.

She was on time or maybe early? Where was the um professor..or uh Centaur? Instructor possibly? The brunette rubbed her arm looking around as she got closer to where she was supposed to be. Her hazel eyes looked everywhere while her and remained close to her wand. Just in case.

She wasn't taking any chances. Not after last term.

Standing a little ways back she waited silently. This was good for the time being. At least she was at one of her favorite lessons.

OH WOW OH WOW OH WOWEEEEEE.

If this wasn't going to be one of his top 5 favourite things of all years, then he was going to have to eat his hat. Figuratively, of course, because he was certain Aunt Els would have a cow (again, figuratively) if he tried to eat one of the many hats she had knitted for him. He made sure to choose a decent stone to sit on, or more decent than the others and began to watch his fellow students.

Miss Reagan...

Miss Charlotte Hannah Kettleburn...

A Slytherin...

and THE Slytherin who thought that his aspirations to be a Prefect and Minister for Magic were silly. And he knew Miss Charlotte by name.

He was probably her boyfriend then.

Roo made sure to watch out of the corner of his eye to try not draw attention to himself.

GIRLS.

First a flying lesson...

...and then FINALLY a COMC lesson for the term.

It looked like his luck was getting better and better. Making sure that he had everything he might need for the class according to their would-be professor. Which pretty much meant his robes meant for working with his gloves stuffed in his pockets, along with his wand. And a few sheets of parchment and a quill for notes. No books for this one, but then he supposed there was enough to be taught hands on.

Now there was the trek to the Forbidden Forest which wasn't something Ben was thrilled with. Sure they had been within at times with professors but that was before a student was killed and acromantulas ran amuck. As he made his way across the grounds to the edge of the forest where they were supposed to meet, the Gryffindor simply hoped there were no dangers to be had this time around. Nor spiders of any kind.

There was large rocks, woven baskets with what looked like short arrows in them, and a few students already there. "Guess its the right place..." Benny mused to himself as he moved to take a seat of his own. No professor in sight though, giving them some time to wait.

The prospect of being taught by a Centaur was TOO irresistable to miss. Add on to that the fact that Paulina liked Care of Magical Creatures, and there was NO way that she was going to miss the lesson.

Heading towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Paulina tried to spot their instructor, but he was nowhere to be seen. She did spot Benny though. "Hey," she said with a smile as she joined him. Adi probably wasn't too far behind. Honestly she was surprised that he wasn't there yet.

The arrows caught her eye, and was that a target over there? Raising her brow, Paulina contemplated learning archery. What if she accidentally shot herself in the foot? The thought made her shudder.

Okay firstly before anyone said anything about how unexcited he looked for todays lesson, he had his reasons okay?

Reason 1) Once upon a time in his Fifth Year Zander did a thing he shouldn't have and landed himself in the forbidden forrest with Henric and Aegis which okay IN HIS DEFENSE he was only trying to make sure none of them get killed!!! Which uh, didn't work. So lessons near the forbidden forrest gave him the creeps.

Which is exactly why he chose a stone AS FAR AWAY from the forrest edge as he could possibly get and sat on that one.

And also reason 2) When they were in the forrest and bad things happened, centaurs showed up and duh, they weren't happy with him. So naturally one could only assume that the centaurs talked to each other and that Professor Thereos knew all about that incident. And probably hated him for it.

So though normally Zander Adair really liked this class, this year was an exception. It made him a little... um... On edge? BUT WHO COULD BLAME HIM OKAY????

And yes he was turning back to the forrest every forty seconds or so, but JUST INCASE.

A KID HAD DIED, OKAY? DID EVERYONE FORGET THAT?

He was going to stand right next to Charlotte and Olly. Why? Because why not and it was a good idea AND friends were nice for lessons. Duh. So there he was, looking around at EVERYTHING while his quill was poised and ready to begin scribbling.

"How come he isn't here yet? D'you guys think he went to get MORE centaurs?" You know, in the forest they weren't allowed to go into. Was he the only one who found it super cool that they could be THIS close to it? If they wanted they could totally stick one foot in and forever be able to say they entered the Forbidden Forest. Did no one see how many ways his quill could spin that?? No? Just him? Sigh.

The targets didn't grab his attention, not with the forest right over there so that bit of epicness was lost on him but in all fairness, the boy could only be excited about so many things before he burst.

Priorities.

A REAL LIFE CENTAUR.

Paul couldn't HIDE his excitement--but then again, could he ever hide his excitement?!?! THE ANSWER WAS NO! He bounced into the area, his curiosity piqued, but he stayed near the back. After all, this was more for the children than for him or any of the other staff that might come down to take part.

So Paul kept his excitement quiet, and waited patiently for the........CENTAUR? to show up.

CENTAURS were mega cool, but Soph knew well enough that this whole thing was NOT going to be good for Zander, so her excitement was not what it normally would have been. No, she KNEW he was undoubtedly upset and anxious and worried and was probably having, like, WAR flashbacks from when Gregoire had died. So this whole thing was no good, she knew that, and when she joined the group, she stood right beside her sitting Head Boyfriend, giving him a gentle nudge of encouragement with her hip and a smile.

He wasn't alone, see? She wasn't going to let anything happen this time around. That's why she didn't sit - constant vigilance and all, and at least like this, with her wand in her hand ready for anything, she could act quickly. If disaster threatened to strike again and acromantulas came around or someone tried to wander, Soph was fully prepared to spring into action.

No one was dying on her watch.

Archery practice, though? Was that what they were doing? It'd be cool if they were, and Soph's interest was thoroughly piqued. Where was their instructor, though? At least Myers was there with them, looking attentive. That probably meant this wasn't a trap and no one was probably going to die. Probably.

A centaurian seminar? Okay... cool, he was up for that.

It was something he didn't think he was particularly interested in, per se, but it sounded a great deal better than most of their usual class subjects. Besides, how often did one get to hang out with a centaur? Hhhhhmmm? It was pretty neat, not that he'd admit that out loud.

Out on the grounds, he managed to follow groups that were heading toward the edge of the forest where a circle of rocks seemed to be marked out for them.

So, THIS is where they were supposed to meet, right?

Hands in pockets and rocking on the balls of his feet, Zeke waited for SOMETHING cool to happen.

CENTAAAAAUUUURRRSSSS!

Every magical thing Owen encountered so far had him enthralled, from potions to spells to moving paintings. But what he always looked forward to was the animals. The magical animals that were very far from mundane it made him wonder if they were indeed real. But of course they were real, especially the kind of magical animals they were going to meet today. Centaurs! Their instructor was also one which was SO COOL.

So hello twigs, hello baskets, hello arrows, hello people, and hello CENT-

...Where were the centaurs? Not here yet? Was he even in the right place for this lesson? Cocking his head to the side, Owen sat on a stone and looked around. They were near the Forbidden Forest. The centaurs lived there...sort of. So maybe they were grouping or something and them students PLUS one Professor were to wait.

Right. Patience is a virtue.

Norah had been looking forward to this seminar thing, oh yeah. She hadn't imagined that she'd be quite so sleepy when it finally rolled around, but she absolutely refused to let that deter from the awesomeness of centaurs. Hopefully he wouldn't mind that she yawned every now and then, which seemed to be inevitable. If there was anything fifth year had taught her, it was that.

She approached the group of students and only spent a few seconds peering between them to see if the instructor was there already before giving up and coming to a standstill in the middle of the small crowd. Was that ARCHERY stuff?

Clip clop clip clip clip clop

From the depths of the forest came the sound of hooves pounding against the ground.

He would be arriving soon.

And everyone better be seated when he did.

Not late, not late! Nope. Adi was not late. No one could blame him if he had decided to take a doze before class and had been awaken a little late, yeah? Anyway, it seemed he had made it in time. The Centaur Professor was not around yet.

PHEW!

Spotting Benny, the somewhat hassled Hufflepuff made his way over to him. "Hey, Benny,'' he said as he flopped down on the rock closest to him. Ahh, Polly was there too! "Hey, Polly cracker.'' While they waited for things to get started, he should probably just focus on getting the last bit of sleep out of his eyes. Yep.

Aaaah, there he was.

Paulina had been wondering when Adi would show up, and sent him a smile as he made his way over to them. "Hey! I figured there was no way you would miss this lesson." It would be insane for ANYONE to because they were being taught by a Centaur.

She had never seen a Centaur up close so this was exciting - and a little nerve wracking if she was being honest. What if she accidentally did something to offend him? Paulina was going to be on her BEST behavior.

And was that hoofs she could hear. Like the sound of CENTAUR hooves??

Paulina made sure that she was seated properly because she had a feeling that he was going to be joining them at any second.

Of course the woman was a bit nervous. Care of Magical Creatures was not her favourite thing in the world. Plus, creatures made her nervous. Except, of course, for her kitten Beamer. That little fluff ball couldn't scare a mouse. Unless she was hungry, of course. But even more than that, this lesson was to be taught by a Centaur himself.

But she was here. And, admittedly, excited. It would be a fantastic lesson, and she had been up to the brim with excitement. There was already a nice turnout by the time she arrived, even Professor Myers had been able to join in which was fabulous!

As she went to sit down on one of the rocks, she paused, mid-drop at the sound of hooves. A little extra buzz of nervousness ran through her before she made the second half of the drop, onto the rock. And that was where she sat waiting...

Hady's head turned towards the sound of hooves a clear knowing somehow that the sound belonged to the Centaur. Exhaling slowly she took a few small steps closer to everyone else her eyes constantly scanning the area even as she did, her fingers of her left hand resting against her right arm where her wand was in it's holster just underneath her sleeve.

There was an eerie feeling flowing through her which she was sure had to do with the close proximity to the forest. She couldn't be blamed for that though and she kept it hidden well doing her best to allow her excitement for this seminar to overpower her other feelings. Finally Hady found herself a spot to sit down which she did her eyes now trained on the area where she heard the sounds coming from.

Not everyone gets to have a centaur as a professor, so, nope, there was no way Ethan will pass up the chance to learn a thing or two from a semi-human being. Cool, isn’t it?

He didn’t bring any parchments or quills with him for the lesson, instead, he got himself a nice small notebook and a short muggle pencil in his pocket. He whistled a happy tune as he made his way down near the Forbidden Forest, and gave the professors a wave. Well, the lesson or rather, seminar looked promising already, given that two proper adults were in attendance.

He got himself a seat at the back, and waited for the seminar to start.

Careful not to disturb the branches as he emerged, Thereos trotted out from the forest with his head slightly tilted upwards so he was looking down upon the humans over his strong nose and rugged beard. His chest expanded, the centaur folded his arms across his chest and stood before the group that had gathered.

"The stars of Orion are bright tonight," he greeted while shifting his balance on all four legs as he stood. "I am Thereos and I shall be instructing you not on how to care for my kind for we do not require wizards to groom nor feed us. Instead I shall bestow upon you the rare gift of understanding some of our customs so that you may come to respect my kind."

Respect. Something that Hogwarts had lacked in recent years towards those dwelling in the Forbidden Forest and had now paid the consequences.

Thereos dark eyes swept over the students before continuing.

"To begin, what DO you know of centaurs?"

It was the distant clip clopping of hooves that first alerted Blaise to the fact their Professor Centaur Person--not a person--wait a person...? They didn't wanna be classified like beings............they were beasts technically.....did that not make them persons?

The...er...centaur, centaur was a safe noun right there so the centaur.....was a bit grumpy looking in truth and it wasn't necessarily a scowl or a twitch of the face but his features in general so Blaise didn't think he'd ask.

Nah. He'd leave that where it was.

What he WOULD do was answer the question, so his little hand shot up in the air. "Centaurs are classified as beasts by choice because they prefer not to be classified with vampires and hags. I don't think I blame you, I'd wanna be classified with sphinxes and nundus instead too." Those things were fierce! Wizards hardly had any cool people in THEIR category.