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As you enter the clearing usually prepared for Care of Magical Creatures lessons with Professor Amstern, the first thing that is noticed is two small storage sheds with windows cracked open, each at opposite ends of the clearing. There’s the occasional noises coming from both, but nothing to be worried about at present and not yet distinguishable to the contents of either outhouse.
Professor Amstern is standing guard near the one of the buildings, shooing away any curious students, whilst also offering greetings. There are temporary chairs scattered about the clearing for those who so desire to have a seat, though it is welcomed for all who wish to, to remain standing. Find somewhere you are comfortable, class will begin shortly.
OOC: Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures! As a reminder, this is just the lesson we will be RPing. It is Mid December at this point, so your characters should already know Cyril and be accustomed to his classes.
Please familiar yourself with the rules, especially the newest regarding only ONE character being played per class. Please make sure to distinguish which character is attending by either putting it in the title of your first post or clearly mentioning the name within the contents. Switching characters in the middle of class is prohibited.
Thank you for coming!! First question will be up in about 24 hours.
Demons. Interesting. But also a little creepy. Valentina had been busy doodling but set her quill down when the professor spoke, looking thoughtful.. but ended up laughing when Lisa mentioned siblings. She's funny, that one. The blonde finally raised a hand.
"Um, professor.. I have read that grindylows can only be tamed by merpeople, is that true?"
Milo was a little cold. Actually, the bitter air was starting to sting and bite at his exposed skin, especially when the breeze picked up, but it was tolerable and he didn't mind it so much. There were worse things out here than the cold, things with a coldness of their own, and in some twisty roundabout logic, to freeze was to keep himself shielded from them.
Maybe. Still testing the theory, but it felt right.
As for the shoelaces, "They are untied for safety, Mr Amstern," Milo told the professor, staring right ahead at the tips of his shoes. He gave no further elaboration.
It was hard to say whether it was good fortune or bad that the focus of the lesson turned out to be something that had occupied Milo's thoughts a lot throughout the years. Several members of his extended family had even... but that wasn't the kind of thing he wanted to get into. Milo opened his mouth to instead share his theory on Umbrapaths, the humanoid shadow demons that most saw only out of the corner of their eye (named by Angelo Milano himself), but the words stalled before they could even exit his brain. He let his mouth fall closed, double-blinked hard, and sat quietly.
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Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Jude watched as the other students arrived but he really didn’t pay them much attention. He was still trying to catch a glimpse of the creatures hidden within those sheds. At least this was the case until he sensed someone standing beside -no, behind- him. Jude turned slightly, catching sight of pink fabric first. Then he saw it was little Desiree. “Hello, Desiree. Say, those are some super cute coveralls!’’ Jude truly appreciated the colour. “I like your boots too but uh… why are you hiding behind me?” Very curious indeed.
It looked like they were getting started. And were those whines? The Hufflepuff shot another look at the sheds. Gosh, he wished he knew what creature they were studying today! His curiosity was getting the best of him. Then the whiny sounds were gone. Huh? Jude eyed Amstern, figuring the man had something to do with that.
Demons? An eyebrow arched slightly. Super interesting choice for today’s lesson. Did this mean there was a creature that fell into this category in one of both of those sheds? His left hand went up. “There’s also a subcategory of demons - water demons - and so their natural habitat is of course, water,’’ he volunteered when called upon. But Jude would say no more - he was leaving that for someone else since it was the right thing to do. Everyone should have a chance to answer, after all.
Ahh, it was true. Part of the hard part of Care of Magical Creatures was trying to keep track of all the different ways to classify critters and then remember all the sub categories on TOP of that. It took a lot more memorization skills than most seemed to realize. “Correct, Mr. Anders! I believe our very own lake is even home to some inhabitants.”
SPOILER!!: Nam
Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson
Demons? They’d be focusing on demons? Oof. She felt eyes on the back of her head as if someone was watching her. An older sibling perhaps? She quickly glanced over her shoulder to see if her brother was watching her but she couldn’t spot him. Her hand immediately shot up and she asked with a teasing smile. “Do siblings count?” she asked with the widest of grins on her face before pausing and then promptly adding. “Joking of course… Uhh…” Was she though?
“Speaking of water demons like Jude said… an example of one are Grindylows! They count as demons and they have horns,” she explained as she drew to horns around her head with her finger to demonstrate.
He should have been expecting some type of smart aleck answer, but he’d forgotten the temptations to tease and was caught quite unaware by Ms. Nam’s initial response. A small surprised laugh was quickly masked by a cough. Just… a minute to clear his throat, and avoid looking at her brother who had quite the glare currently. “I’m afraid no on siblings, but you’re on the right track with Grindylows!” And she’d even remembered to be able to give proper description of them.
SPOILER!!: Guidry
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daydreamer11
Jordyn was lost in her thoughts, trying to imagine what creatures they would be learning about today. When the professor began to speak, she focused her attention on him. She didn’t have to wait long to get a hint about the day’s lesson.
Demons? Say what now? Could there seriously be some demon creatures in the sheds? Jordyn loved creatures, but she did have a limit. Trying not to let her imagination run wild, she listened to the first question that was posed. She listened to her classmates’ answers while at the same time raising her hand.
When it was her turn, the fifth year gave her response. “Another water demon is the kelpie.” Given that it was a water demon, she was pretty sure that there was not a kelpie in the shed……..although at Hogwarts one could never be sure. “It’s a shapeshifter and I think that makes it even more dangerous.”
Cyril nodded approvingly, a bright smile sent towards Ms. Guidry as she offered another option, making note that the water demons seemed easier so far for the students to remember. Just an interesting tidbit. “Excellent, Ms. Guidry. Kelpies are another. The shapeshifting is rather dangerous as it can find different ways to lure you, but you can also use it’s different shapes to your advantage to escape it.” It was all a matter of quick thinking.
SPOILER!!: Knight
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverTiger
Demons had certainly not been on his radar, considering Ryan had been passing the time analyzing the sounds from the sheds while he'd been waiting for the lesson to begin. Nor had he considered the possible confusion for the professor given he was one of four, not that Rosa entirely was identical. Their brothers were, to him, essentially. But he was the aberration. The Gryffindor in a sea of Puffs and Claws. Family wise, anyway.
He chose to add on to the train of thought Jude had begun as well, along with the others. "Kappas are another water demon, and a blood drinker. Unless you happen to have a cucumber on hand." Since Jordyn had already mentioned kelpies, which were the first to come to mind.
Another water demon answer, he noted. Though Cyril was quite pleased it was of new variety than the previous. “Good, Mr. Knight! One should always have a cucumber handy if it’s a necessity to travel into shallow waters.” The japanese water demons preferred location, making it easier to snag unsuspecting humans.
SPOILER!!: Cambridge
Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl
Edric was here, physically, somewhat??? He was looking up and down, hyperfocusing for a moment on the interesting sheds? Shed?? What was in the shed? Why was it making noises? He DID hear something from there... before the professor made it stop.... was it something to be afraid of??? Should he be worried? He was a little worried. He was CoNcErNed. But the more he thought about it, the more he became CONCERNED. VERY CONCERNED. ANd and and thennn someone's answer caught his ear and pulled him out of his head.
"Siblings." Heh. Heh. Yeah, siblings could definitely be demons.
But the demons he was thinking of were all the internal ones... ones like those his mum and dad had. Did he have demons too? Were demons inherited? Could people tell how tortured he was? Did they know? Could they tell by looking at him?!!! He swallowed the sudden big lump in his throat that came with those memories. Conceal. Don't. Feel. Conceal. Don't. Feel.
Uhhhh.... the question. Right. Was he meant to answer that? He flung a long arm up in the air, exhaled dramatically, recited, "Building off what...." uhhhh he didn't know their names, "....the others have said, we have water demons like grindylows in the Hogwarts Lake. Although they are carnivorous, they're not that dangerous. They get like two X's from the Ministry. Baby stuff. You can probably scare them off with sparks."
Yeah no, but, he still didn't want to encounter one. And that answer was enough out of him. He cleared his throat and put his arm down, going back to staring worriedly at the shed(s).
The brief pause was not noted, but the answer got a wide smile as he nodded in agreement. “Spot on, Mr. Cambridge!” Remembered to list category, touch on why it might not be less harmful and offer an option for potentially escaping? Color Cyril impressed, and pleased to see someone had been doing their reading this year. “I still would not recommend going in search of them in the Great Lake though” A little bit above baby stuff.
SPOILER!!: Marchand
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy
Desiree blinked in reply to the professor. Of course she came prepared! Why wouldn’t she? She may be dainty and princessy, but she wasn’t a dummy. There would be no getting dirty for her today, no sirree! She wasn’t completely convinced that there was nothing to be scared of yet, but she did peer out from behind Jude long enough to venture a skeptical glance at the sheds.
Truth be told, she didn’t notice who she hid behind until he spoke to her, and her face lit up at the compliment. Jude was one of the good ones like that! “Thank you!” she replied, beaming. Her expression changed slightly at the question, her eyes darting from him to the shed and back again. “I don’t want whatever’s in there to get me dirty,” she whispered, hoping the professor wouldn’t overhear.
Blink, blink. Wait, they were covering what now?! Demons sounded pretty scary to Desiree! She listened to the professor, as well as her classmates, hoping something would jump out at her - not literally, of course! She shuddered at the mention of water demons. Whatever was in that shed, she hoped it wasn’t one of those! As she thought, something the professor said jogged her memory. He said they could piggyback off each other… Piggyback, piggy… wasn’t there a kind of demon that looked like a little piggy? What was that called?
Her hand shot up, and she said, “There’s the nogtail, Professor. It looks like a piglet with black eyes, long legs, and a stubby tail.” She hoped that was what was in the shed. A demon that looked like a piggy might not be so scary!
Aha! There was the answer he’d been looking for. “Spot on, Ms. Marchand!” And while he could offer more information on the creature, he’d much rather know what they already knew, so he bit his tongue to keep from giving any more information. At present, anyways.
SPOILER!!: Branxton
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin
KELPIES! No, surely there weren't any of those water demons mentioned in those little landlocked sheds. Unless they were full of bathtubs with demony critters in them. Still not big enough for kelpies, though.
Mercer looked for Cooper, just wanting SOMEONE to know what he was thinking in the same moment he was thinking it. "LIKE THIS LOVELY LADY SAID, kelpies are demony. But like, they're not bad? I mean, yeah, they like to drown people for funsies and they are mean little boogers when they don't like you, but they're also really COOL. And they've never drowned me PERSONALLY, so I'm fine with it."
Cyril loved when students argued against creatures being inherently bad or limited to their worth by how scary they were. It was discussions like these that he could have engaged in for hours and hours, but then they’d never learn anything. So he settled for another smile, and a nod in agreement. “Well said, Mr. Branxton.” Or well.. The sentiment anyways. “I think it could be argued all creatures have their merits.” And for the time being, he’d accept ‘cool’ as the kelpies.
SPOILER!!: Prescott
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anna Banana
Delilah had just offered a short greeting to the professor and quickly taken a seat amongst the others, when the lesson got underway. Whew. That had been a close one. So far, she'd managed not to be late to any of the classes. This had been the closest she'd come to doing so, though. No way did she want that kind of attention on her, not to mention the death stares she'd get for losing house points.
The noises coming from the storage sheds hadn't yet phased her. After all, this was Care of Magical Creatures, so it was a no-brainer that there'd likely be actual creatures involved. Demons, though? Sounded intense. The first year racked her brain for any thought that might come to mind.
Some of the others had mentioned water demons, but...what were the odds of any of those being in the storage shed? "What about nogtails?" she asked, raising her hand. "They're like pigs, but they're waaaay creepier." It kind of made her uneasy to think about any sort of demon creature being in the storage sheds, but she tried not to think too hard about that.
While Nogtails had already been offered, since it was the correct response he’d been hoping for Cyril hardly cared. Another smile, and a nod in agreement. “Right you are, Ms. Prescott! The long legs can be rather unsettling.” Or creepy as she’d put it. The pig counter part was far cuter.
SPOILER!!: Nichols
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady of Light
Demons. Interesting. But also a little creepy. Valentina had been busy doodling but set her quill down when the professor spoke, looking thoughtful.. but ended up laughing when Lisa mentioned siblings. She's funny, that one. The blonde finally raised a hand.
"Um, professor.. I have read that grindylows can only be tamed by merpeople, is that true?"
A question, was it? He quite liked when students asked those, because it was still involvement in the topic even if they didn’t have facts to offer. Participation was key. “Good question, Ms. Nichols. As far as we are aware, yes. Merpeople have even been known to have Grindylows as pets.” Probably because it was just easier to tame when you preferred similar habitats. Magiczoologists could encage Grindylows, but it wasn’t quite the same thing.
SPOILER!!: Evans
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
Milo was a little cold. Actually, the bitter air was starting to sting and bite at his exposed skin, especially when the breeze picked up, but it was tolerable and he didn't mind it so much. There were worse things out here than the cold, things with a coldness of their own, and in some twisty roundabout logic, to freeze was to keep himself shielded from them.
Maybe. Still testing the theory, but it felt right.
As for the shoelaces, "They are untied for safety, Mr Amstern," Milo told the professor, staring right ahead at the tips of his shoes. He gave no further elaboration.
It was hard to say whether it was good fortune or bad that the focus of the lesson turned out to be something that had occupied Milo's thoughts a lot throughout the years. Several members of his extended family had even... but that wasn't the kind of thing he wanted to get into. Milo opened his mouth to instead share his theory on Umbrapaths, the humanoid shadow demons that most saw only out of the corner of their eye (named by Angelo Milano himself), but the words stalled before they could even exit his brain. He let his mouth fall closed, double-blinked hard, and sat quietly.
Untied for … safety? He could not begin to fathom what the boy could have meant by that, or how to respond. So Cyril blinked at him for a moment, before deciding this was a battle he could also have once the students were all up and moving around. Add that to the list of things to observe Mr. Evans on. Cold and shoelaces.
Cyril noted the boy opening his mouth as if to contribute to the conversation, but when he’d closed it again as if he’d thought better, the professor decided to move on. Maybe he’d feel more like sharing next time the thought came to him.
Cyril gave 30 seconds of silence following the last hand, just to ensure no one else had anything else to add before nodding his head once more in approval of everything the students had offered. "Thank you all for your participation! Great answers." He smiled at each in kind, before beginning to move back and forth. "As you have already guessed I'm sure, today we will be studying a demon." He paused, both in speech and movement. "Nogtails are the demon we will be discussing today, which Ms. Marchand and Ms. Prescott mentioned. Good work, ladies." More smiles to the pair, quite pleased with the first years. "On to our next question, what do you know about Nogtails specifically?" And in case they were a not well known creature, "And if you don't have a fact, feel free to ask a question." Participation is what he most valued in his classes, as he was sure they'd already gathered.
He waited for hands to start raising and called on each in turn.
OOC:
Thank you all for sticking with us so far! Question 2 is up! We will be moving on to our main activity in about 24 hours.
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Let them point and laugh at who we are, it's you and me here dancing from the start
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Whereas Lisa reminded him truly of a warrior princess {which she preferred to be called anyway}, Desiree reminded him fully of a fairy princess. Jude was glad he paid her that honest compliment because he could see from the way her face lit up, it was something that made her happy. “You’re welcome,’’ he replied then shot another look at the sheds. “Don’t worry,’’ the older Hufflepuff added, dropping his voice to a whisper. “You and I’ll try to keep those coveralls and boots as clean as possible throughout the lesson.” Jude winked. In other words, he’d be keeping an eye on Desiree should she need help at any point. Then it was time to focus fully on the lesson.
Lisa’s question about siblings had Jude snorting with soft laughter which he hastily masked with a short bout of cough. Reagan was definitely the ‘demon’ in the group that was the Anders’ siblings. But Amstern would be correct: Jude recalled that the Black Lake indeed was home to a few water demons.
Oh! Nogtails! The fourth year shot Desiree a grin. Good going for his friend! Delilah too. Since the description of a nogtail had been provided earlier, Jude tried to grab onto another nogtail fact floating around in his brain. “There’s only one way to keep a Nogtail away. That’s to chase it away with a dog… a purely black dog?” He eyed Amstern uncertainly. “I think it’s black, anyway…” Lamely, he lowered his hand.
Made of Awesome | Ern-la the Best-wa | TZ's Apogee
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Whereas Lisa reminded him truly of a warrior princess {which she preferred to be called anyway}, Desiree reminded him fully of a fairy princess. Jude was glad he paid her that honest compliment because he could see from the way her face lit up, it was something that made her happy. “You’re welcome,’’ he replied then shot another look at the sheds. “Don’t worry,’’ the older Hufflepuff added, dropping his voice to a whisper. “You and I’ll try to keep those coveralls and boots as clean as possible throughout the lesson.” Jude winked. In other words, he’d be keeping an eye on Desiree should she need help at any point. Then it was time to focus fully on the lesson.
Lisa’s question about siblings had Jude snorting with soft laughter which he hastily masked with a short bout of cough. Reagan was definitely the ‘demon’ in the group that was the Anders’ siblings. But Amstern would be correct: Jude recalled that the Black Lake indeed was home to a few water demons.
Oh! Nogtails! The fourth year shot Desiree a grin. Good going for his friend! Delilah too. Since the description of a nogtail had been provided earlier, Jude tried to grab onto another nogtail fact floating around in his brain. “There’s only one way to keep a Nogtail away. That’s to chase it away with a dog… a purely black dog?” He eyed Amstern uncertainly. “I think it’s black, anyway…” Lamely, he lowered his hand.
"No, WAIT," Mercer-who-did-not-have-an-inside-voice (but they were outside, so it was okay) shouted. "This dude is almost right! Sorry." Like, sorry he didn't know the dude's name, but Mercer was only meeting so many people a day, and he hadn't met this dude yet. "It's pure WHITE dogs, I think. And I heard that the Ministry keeps like a huge herd of pure white bloodhounds just for nogtails."
Wait. Was that right? Mercer turned slightly on the spot to see if anyone could verify that. "Do they call a group of dogs a herd? A passel? A flock? Whatever, they have a load of them. Maybe. That's what I heard."
dream until your • dreams come true ~ Human pygmy puff
Jordyn was getting kind of creeped out listening to all the talk about different demons. Knowing that there were at least two of them in the in the closed crates did not make her feel much better. Well, she would just have to deal with it and hope for the best.
When the professor announced that they would be discussing nogtails, Jordyn wasn’t sure how she felt. Trying to think of a fun fact about the demon, she slowly raised her hand. “Nogtails are pretty fast and that makes them hard to catch.” Were they going to have to try to catch one of the demon piglet creatures? Hopefully not.
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Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Salt!
Baguette | there is no D in my name | TRAITORclaw | Queenie of Narnia
Nogtails were sorta creepy, in Ivy's opinion. A creature that looked like a piglet but with unnaturally long legs? Very unsettling. But still interesting even so. It certainly made the lesson all the more intriguing.
As for a fact about them? She raised her hand. "They're native to Europe and North and South America. Oh, and Russia too. Mostly in rural areas." Which made sense. It was probably easier for them to hide and cause trouble out there than it would be in a city environment. They would stand out a lot more.
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if we fall, we will fall together; and when we rise, we will rise together__________________♥♥♥♥ together we are dangerous; together with our differences; together we are bolder, braver, stronger
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"Just a bit, professor," the seventh year chuckled in response as he gave Celyn a little wink. Very grueling work, truth be told, and worth every second of it.
Smiling and beckoning Gemma over when he saw her arrive, Cooper's attention easily shifted back to Celyn and the mutual quiet speculation. "I don't think its a baby hippogriff," he mused while rubbing his jawline with his free hand. He could not really hear something that sounded like talons scrapping against the shed or flapping of wings (though the latter would be rather remarkable to pick up from this distance anyway). "...it does sound a bit like...hooves though, doesn't it?" He glanced at her entirely now, eyes drawn away from the shed to look at the blonde.
It took approximately half a second after the word had left Professor Amstern's mouth for Cooper to immediately search out his brother's gaze and, when their eyes met, with the same enthusiasm. His thoughts easily drifted to home on the loch and all the memories associated with growing up with a kelpie quite literally at your fingertips - especially when you were a curious under five who let curiosity take over reason and encouraged you out the door on your own adventure. Cooper had come to have issue with the term 'demon' once he had learned the muggle meaning behind the words and the misrepresentation it brought to muggleborns or those among his peers who simply had not been raised in a more magically emphasized environment without certain stigma. Then again, Dark magical creature came with its own stigmas as well.
It just seemed unfair that some had this double stigma when, arguably, they were significantly less dangerous than a dementor...and those were not classified as a demon. It was a curiosity and fallacy of the classification system as far as he was concerned.
Lost enough in his thoughts regarding demons (and being enchanted by Mercer's enthusiasm) that Cooper missed the opportunity to respond to the first round...and by the time he had refocused himself to catch that today was about nogtails and NOT kelpies...he had had already somewhat transcended the question prosed by the professor and off on his own curious journey. "Got the hooves right," he laughed under his breath to Celyn with an accompanied nudge of the elbow from their looped arms and raised his hand to offer up a bit of information as well.
"They're a Dark pest of sorts for witches and wizards, Dark in that they bring a curse upon the farm that one nogtail suckles on a mundane sow. Though significant to note that they will not harm the sow or her piglets during said suckling. Still, the suckling unleashes a curse that creates a blight upon the land, which will only intensify as time passes. Hence the need for a pure white dog to scare them away or else risk complete loss of farmland and crop and the chain of events that will come from that."
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Summer was sitting there just listening to the other speaking, she had no idea what was going on or what a Nogille or Nogilla or what was the thing called. She decided that she would try and answer a question and since this was about creatures surely this was an animal right.
Summer raised her hand. "I think that it's a creature right?" That was all she knew about this.
Nogtail? Sounded a bit like dog tail didn’t it? Bonnie had never heard of them before, she was more familiar with the cute and cuddly creatures. The thought of demons and everything she’d heard of them scared her a little. She thought back to some of the descriptions other students had given of nogtails and once stuck out to her. Delilah had mentioned that they look like piglets, surely anything that looks like a piglet couldn’t be that scary. Right?
She raised her hand, "Professor, Delilah mentioned that they look a bit like piglets. Does this mean they live on farms like piglets do?" As her mother always said, if you don’t know something there are no stupid questions. She was starting to doubt this statement.
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You're happy to go with the flow and see where the Yule Ball takes you!
Whereas Lisa reminded him truly of a warrior princess {which she preferred to be called anyway}, Desiree reminded him fully of a fairy princess. Jude was glad he paid her that honest compliment because he could see from the way her face lit up, it was something that made her happy. “You’re welcome,’’ he replied then shot another look at the sheds. “Don’t worry,’’ the older Hufflepuff added, dropping his voice to a whisper. “You and I’ll try to keep those coveralls and boots as clean as possible throughout the lesson.” Jude winked. In other words, he’d be keeping an eye on Desiree should she need help at any point. Then it was time to focus fully on the lesson.
Lisa’s question about siblings had Jude snorting with soft laughter which he hastily masked with a short bout of cough. Reagan was definitely the ‘demon’ in the group that was the Anders’ siblings. But Amstern would be correct: Jude recalled that the Black Lake indeed was home to a few water demons.
Oh! Nogtails! The fourth year shot Desiree a grin. Good going for his friend! Delilah too. Since the description of a nogtail had been provided earlier, Jude tried to grab onto another nogtail fact floating around in his brain. “There’s only one way to keep a Nogtail away. That’s to chase it away with a dog… a purely black dog?” He eyed Amstern uncertainly. “I think it’s black, anyway…” Lamely, he lowered his hand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin
"No, WAIT," Mercer-who-did-not-have-an-inside-voice (but they were outside, so it was okay) shouted. "This dude is almost right! Sorry." Like, sorry he didn't know the dude's name, but Mercer was only meeting so many people a day, and he hadn't met this dude yet. "It's pure WHITE dogs, I think. And I heard that the Ministry keeps like a huge herd of pure white bloodhounds just for nogtails."
Wait. Was that right? Mercer turned slightly on the spot to see if anyone could verify that. "Do they call a group of dogs a herd? A passel? A flock? Whatever, they have a load of them. Maybe. That's what I heard."
Cyril was pleased to see Jude look for something outside of description, as that had been covered already. And he was off to a great start too, right out the gate going with the fact he’d most hoped someone would be able to remember, even if the fact was just the smallest bit off. Cyril opened his mouth to correct on the color of the animal, but the younger Mr. Branxton beat him too it. Both boys got smiles and two thumbs up. “Mr. Anders, you are on the right track! It is as Mr. Branxton said though, a pure white dog that can dispel Nogtails. Excellent work gentlemen, both of you!”
SPOILER!!: Guidry
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daydreamer11
Jordyn was getting kind of creeped out listening to all the talk about different demons. Knowing that there were at least two of them in the in the closed crates did not make her feel much better. Well, she would just have to deal with it and hope for the best.
When the professor announced that they would be discussing nogtails, Jordyn wasn’t sure how she felt. Trying to think of a fun fact about the demon, she slowly raised her hand. “Nogtails are pretty fast and that makes them hard to catch.” Were they going to have to try to catch one of the demon piglet creatures? Hopefully not.
Another approving nod towards Ms. Guidry, agreeing with her statement. “Correct. Luckily outside of studying them, there’s not much reason to catch a nogtail as it’s much easier to just chase them off.” And thankfully, that didn’t have to be done by a human either.
SPOILER!!: Grimm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl
Nogtails were sorta creepy, in Ivy's opinion. A creature that looked like a piglet but with unnaturally long legs? Very unsettling. But still interesting even so. It certainly made the lesson all the more intriguing.
As for a fact about them? She raised her hand. "They're native to Europe and North and South America. Oh, and Russia too. Mostly in rural areas." Which made sense. It was probably easier for them to hide and cause trouble out there than it would be in a city environment. They would stand out a lot more.
Ah, he wondered if someone would have mentioned where they could be located. Cyril was glad Ms. Grimm brought this up, just because it was good to know where to be able to locate certain creatures. “Correct, Ms. Grimm! Thank you!”
SPOILER!!: C. Branxton
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie
"Just a bit, professor," the seventh year chuckled in response as he gave Celyn a little wink. Very grueling work, truth be told, and worth every second of it.
Smiling and beckoning Gemma over when he saw her arrive, Cooper's attention easily shifted back to Celyn and the mutual quiet speculation. "I don't think its a baby hippogriff," he mused while rubbing his jawline with his free hand. He could not really hear something that sounded like talons scrapping against the shed or flapping of wings (though the latter would be rather remarkable to pick up from this distance anyway). "...it does sound a bit like...hooves though, doesn't it?" He glanced at her entirely now, eyes drawn away from the shed to look at the blonde.
It took approximately half a second after the word had left Professor Amstern's mouth for Cooper to immediately search out his brother's gaze and, when their eyes met, with the same enthusiasm. His thoughts easily drifted to home on the loch and all the memories associated with growing up with a kelpie quite literally at your fingertips - especially when you were a curious under five who let curiosity take over reason and encouraged you out the door on your own adventure. Cooper had come to have issue with the term 'demon' once he had learned the muggle meaning behind the words and the misrepresentation it brought to muggleborns or those among his peers who simply had not been raised in a more magically emphasized environment without certain stigma. Then again, Dark magical creature came with its own stigmas as well.
It just seemed unfair that some had this double stigma when, arguably, they were significantly less dangerous than a dementor...and those were not classified as a demon. It was a curiosity and fallacy of the classification system as far as he was concerned.
Lost enough in his thoughts regarding demons (and being enchanted by Mercer's enthusiasm) that Cooper missed the opportunity to respond to the first round...and by the time he had refocused himself to catch that today was about nogtails and NOT kelpies...he had had already somewhat transcended the question prosed by the professor and off on his own curious journey. "Got the hooves right," he laughed under his breath to Celyn with an accompanied nudge of the elbow from their looped arms and raised his hand to offer up a bit of information as well.
"They're a Dark pest of sorts for witches and wizards, Dark in that they bring a curse upon the farm that one nogtail suckles on a mundane sow. Though significant to note that they will not harm the sow or her piglets during said suckling. Still, the suckling unleashes a curse that creates a blight upon the land, which will only intensify as time passes. Hence the need for a pure white dog to scare them away or else risk complete loss of farmland and crop and the chain of events that will come from that."
Cyril especially appreciated Cooper’s use of the word ‘pest’ as opposed to demons. As even displayed with the student, the word invoked negative emotions even if it was just used for classification. While annoying, the Nogtail was not much of a physical harm as opposed to a threat to one’s livelihood or eating ability if the curse was unleashed. “Excellent answer, Mr. Branxton. Correct on all counts!”
SPOILER!!: Valentine
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weasley174
Summer was sitting there just listening to the other speaking, she had no idea what was going on or what a Nogille or Nogilla or what was the thing called. She decided that she would try and answer a question and since this was about creatures surely this was an animal right.
Summer raised her hand. "I think that it's a creature right?" That was all she knew about this.
The silence from the first year was noticed, but that was alright as she seemed to at least be paying attention to the lesson. Cyril was pleasantly surprised when she raised her hand to contribute though, and he happily called on the Gryffindor.
..Before pausing at her response in surprise. Had she remembered this was Care of Magical Creatures? Although, truthfully one could have accused him of also forgetting what the class was by their first activity of the day, though based on a different word in the title. So perhaps he had no ground in which to comment. So instead he just chose to nod, “Correct, they are a type of creature. Thank you, Ms. Valentine.”
SPOILER!!: Ness
Quote:
Originally Posted by dans_grl431
Nogtail? Sounded a bit like dog tail didn’t it? Bonnie had never heard of them before, she was more familiar with the cute and cuddly creatures. The thought of demons and everything she’d heard of them scared her a little. She thought back to some of the descriptions other students had given of nogtails and once stuck out to her. Delilah had mentioned that they look like piglets, surely anything that looks like a piglet couldn’t be that scary. Right?
She raised her hand, "Professor, Delilah mentioned that they look a bit like piglets. Does this mean they live on farms like piglets do?" As her mother always said, if you don’t know something there are no stupid questions. She was starting to doubt this statement.
Cyril moved onto the next student, which was Ms. Ness with a question. It was appreciated she was participating in the discussion and giving him the opportunity to clarify information. “Correct, Ms. Ness. Because they seek out a mundane sow, which is how the curse on the farmland is released as Mr. Branxton said, `farmland is the most common place to find them.” He’d had his own run in once or twice on his land. Nasty thing the curse was, though he was sure these kids were all too familiar with that fact.
Cyril waited another 30 seconds after Ms. Ness, and when there were no more hands, the man gave a wide grin and began to speak again. "Excellent, thank you all for your responses!" Back to pacing the Professor went, slowly making his way towards one of the outbuildings, closest to them where the whining had been previously heard. "Now, we will be getting some first hand experience with nogtails today, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now. However, before we can meet the pests there is another key partner we need prior." Now this would be the fun part, and he certainly hoped they were going to enjoy this as much as he planned to. With a wave of his wand, a fence appeared connecting to the entrance of outbuilding number one and wrapping around the small clearing, creating a small containment with the students still inside. "As Mr. Anders and Mr. Branxton mentioned, the best way to rid land of a nogtail is by being chased by a white dog.” Did they see where this was going? “Now, while the ministry uses albino hounds, I do not have albino hounds. But what we do have, which should work well enough for our activity today... is some visiting friends." He grinned at the students, before opening the door and releasing a slew of different puppies with primarily white fur. Poodles, and huskies, and great pyrenees oh my. They were quite happy to have been let out and they began to prance around the clearing and the students.
"Now, these little guys have had minimal training. But they have had some so they should understand basic commands. Sit, stay, go. The like.” One had to make do with what they could. “For our first activity today, I would like you to work on your own or in groups of two with one puppy to try to bond and get them to listen to your basic instructions. I do have bags of dog treats available to assist, you can come up and collect those from me." There wasn't much else for him to say, though he'd certainly be around to watch and assist with whoever needed. He'd made very certain these pups had been monitored for aggression issues, and only those who had been found with none were allowed with the students. For safety of students and dogs. "Now go ahead and partner up. Let me know if you have any questions." And with that, he plopped himself on the ground to sit with a puppy while he observed.
OOC:
Again, thank you all for sticking with us!! We are now on to the first activity of CoMC! For this activity, just like Cyril said either partner up with another student or work on your own and locate a puppy to interact with for this lesson! The list is below of the different breeds. **I will be posting as the dogs, so for first post please just single out a puppy and state which breed (multiple of each). If you'd rather just have a random pup approach, leave it vague and one will be selected for you! We'll be moving on to activity number 2 in about 3 days, but I'll be trying to post 1-2 times every day for doggo reactions.
I’m available by VM or PM for any questions!
SPOILER!!: dog list
Poodles
Huskies
Samoyeds
Great Pyrenees
Bichon Frise
Maltese
Miniature Bull Terrier
Border Collie
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Let them point and laugh at who we are, it's you and me here dancing from the start
Last edited by Chelliephone; 02-12-2022 at 03:05 AM.
dream until your • dreams come true ~ Human pygmy puff
Jordyn was still thinking about having to interact with nogtails when the professor explained what the first activity would be. PUPPIES!!! Overwhelmed with the sudden presence of total cuteness, she almost missed what the professor said next. Willing herself to pay attention, Jordyn listened to the instructions.
They got to play bond with the puppies. This could not get any better. Jordyn already had her eye on a certain husky who was about to become her new friend. First, she went up to the professor and got some dog treats because if all else failed, she was not opposed to bribery.
Jordyn slowly approached the cutest little husky ever and went down onto her knees. “Hi there little guy. I’m Jordyn. You want to come and play with me?” She proceeded to sit down cross cross applesauce and hoped that the puppy would come to her. “Come on little one”, she said, while extending her hand. This was going to be so much fun.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Salt!
Made of Awesome | Ern-la the Best-wa | TZ's Apogee
There was an avalanche of puppies, and Mercer had to stick his whole fist into his mouth to keep from screeching like a banshee. ALL THE CUTEST PUPPIES. MERLIN. Even with a fist in his mouth, Mercer was dancing around in circles, barely hearing a word that the professor was saying up to the moment they were allowed to claim a puppy.
"Hi. Oh, hi. Hi! Hi." Mercer greeted all the puppies as they gamboled past him, but when a fluffy marshmallow puppy with giant paws and and a little bleppy tongue paused in front of him, Mercer decided that they had claimed each other. He fell to his knees and offered both hands for inspection. "Hi, you fluffer fluffington. I'm Mercer Doyle Branxton. We're gonna be friends."
Anyone want to partner up with Delilah and a poodle?
Hiss!Roar!Growl!Caw! | Hermione's Double | The Little Three | Alecate
Delilah had really said all she knew about nogtails before, so for the next part of the lesson, she'd just sat and listened. Huh. So she needed a purely white dog to chase away a nogtail? Interesting. The only other interesting fact she really hung on to was that they'd curse a farm. Weird...in a creepy sort of way.
She listened as the professor detailed where the lesson was going. Then there were PUPPIES! Lots of them, too! Delilah's day was literally MADE. They'd had minimal training, though? Great. Sounded like the barns were going to be cursed before the day was over. Forget about that, though. It was time to bond with a puppy! Delilah bee-lined for one of the cute little poodles and began clapping and calling out to it. "Come here, girl! Come here!" she said. Could she just forget about class now and take the poodle back to her dorm and keep it forever?!
She collected some treats from the professor and dangled them in front of the puppy. "You want one? Well, how about...sit!" she commanded. She bit at her bottom lip a little as she waited to see what the puppy would do. It was super cute, but...would it help her at all when it came to the nogtail? She wiggled the treat around again, hoping to get the poodle's attention and cause it to sit.
__________________
Last edited by Anna Banana; 02-12-2022 at 03:36 AM.
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Pups with minimal training in the hands of inexperienced teenagers? This was going to be an absolute blast! Cooper was tempted to link up with Mercer for this one, but he was also working on not smothering his little brother. A little brother who would probably rather pair up with Celyn if there was to be older-younger mentoring going on. Which also brought him to the obvious desire to link up with the blonde still on his arm, who he smiled over at now with a small shrug. Was it a little egotistical to suggest that, as the more advanced in this particular field among their peers, they branch off and spread their wealth of knowledge with others who may have a harder time?
Or...maybe...since Mercer was currently trying to eat his whole FIST right now...he should smother his brother just a little.
Even if his instinct had been to head over and find himself a husky pup.
"I better keep an eye on Mercer," he murmured to his best friend with a small chuckle as he finally unraveled his arm and brushed a bit of dirt off her temple and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear while he was right there. "See you out there." And after too, yes?
Which was then when he meandered his way over to Mercer and...Fluffer Fluffington. "Hope you don't mind teach this old dog some new tricks," he mused, peak dad humor, while crouching down beside his little brother and also offered his hands for the great pyrenees to take a sniff and get better acquainted with. "Er, Cooper Emilio Branxton. Human number one's big brother." And then Mercer got a bit of a hair tossle for being such a good boy. What? If his brother had a tail it would be wagging just as much as Fluffer Fluffington's.
__________________
When you're stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born withfire and gold in our eyes
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Merlin, Mercer was LOUD. The other guy reminded him of Reagan and, as usual, whenever his sister was loud, Jude winced. It was a reflex. “Right! A WHITE dog.” Jude flashed Mercer a thumbs up and a grin in thanks. He’d better tuck that information, and the other bits being provided, in his brain for future use. IE, for exams.
Listening to Amstern after all the answers had been given, Jude couldn’t help but wonder… YES, he had been right! DOGGOS! So many! Just look at them all being happy and at peace with the world! This was the level of happiness Jude aimed to attain someday.
Already one of the doggos was approaching Desiree and him - a Miniature Bull Terrier by the looks of it. “Oh man! This little guy is the cutest!” The Hufflepuff got down to his knees, holding out a hand to the approaching doggo. “Don’t you think so, Desiree?” She wasn’t afraid of dogs, was she?
Delilah bee-lined for one of the cute little poodles and began clapping and calling out to it. "Come here, girl! Come here!" she said. Could she just forget about class now and take the poodle back to her dorm and keep it forever?!
She collected some treats from the professor and dangled them in front of the puppy. "You want one? Well, how about...sit!" she commanded. She bit at her bottom lip a little as she waited to see what the puppy would do. It was super cute, but...would it help her at all when it came to the nogtail? She wiggled the treat around again, hoping to get the poodle's attention and cause it to sit.
Violet had had in mind to snag a Great Pyrenees, but a first year (Mercer) snagged the one she had been make her way toward, and he was quickly joined by Cooper, so it looked like he had enough help.
Looking around, she noticed she was near another first year girl, Delilah, with a poodle. Violet had never been much into poodles--with their weird haircut, they always seemed a bit sissified. But...she remembered that they were supposed to be among the most intelligent of dogs, which would definitely be useful. So she walked up to the younger girl and said, "Mind if I join you?"
A path is not simply for walking, its purpose lies in moving forward and improving oneself.
Daniel had not read much about the Nogtail, so he had been quietly copying down some keywords that the other students had mentioned in his little notebook, and when the Professor resumed the lesson, he closed it and put it back in his back pocket.
His dark brown eyes were fixed on a Samoyed who was still close to the shed. He looked about at the other students, and when he was convinced that no one else was moving towards that exact one, the thirteen-year-old proceeded towards the puppy and squatted down to eye-level. Daniel held out his hand and waited for the dog to come to him without saying a word. He felt too silly to talk to it like it was a baby.
A curse?! That did not make Bonnie feel any less anxious about dealing with these demons. Her fear however was quickly forgotten due to the rush of white furballs that had just been released from the sheds. Bonnie didn’t know where to look, ‘Oh wow, look at them all! This is going to be awesome!’
They were spoiled for choice but there was one little pyrenees that stood out to her. She collected the dog treats and went to meet the little guy. Bonnie crouched down to his level `Hello you!’ She smiled and put her hand out as a greeting. The little white pup nuzzled into her hand.
__________________
AT THE HOGWARTS YULE BALL, YOU'LL BE HANGING OUT WITH....__________________ Maybe you'll dance, scour the buffet, or end up gossiping talking amongst yourselves!
You're happy to go with the flow and see where the Yule Ball takes you!
Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
SPOILER!!: Question 2 catch-up
Had Desiree known that she reminded Jude of a fairy princess, she would've been over the moon. Fairy princesses were the best kind! As such, she was content with the compliment. She studied his face for a moment, worried what he’d think of her reason for hiding. Would he think she was a ditz? The reassurance eased her mind and got a small smile in reply. What a princely thing to say!
Whoa, what? She actually got it right?! Desiree was all smiles as the professor acknowledged her. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jude’s grin and returned it with a beaming smile, but there wasn’t much time to dwell on her success before the lesson moved on. She listened carefully to the professor. The notice about wearing clothes they wouldn’t mind getting dirty made a lot more sense now! Piggies were dirty, and if a nogtail looked like one, it seemed possible that it would act like one too.
She tried to think of a fact about the nogtail to give, but she had more questions than anything else. Why was it called a nogtail? Was its tail the color of eggnog or something? What exactly did the nogtail’s curse do? Turn people into frogs? Or hideous beasts? Make them sleep for a hundred years? Why was it only black white dogs that could chase it away? And what if someone could turn themself or something else into a white dog? Her dad worked with several transfiguration professors who were animagi… none that could turn into dogs that she knew of, but the question remained. Of all her questions, that one weighed most on her mind, so that was the one she asked. “Professor, if a white dog chases away nogtails, could someone or something transfigured into a white dog do the same?” she asked after raising her hand.
Desiree wasn’t sure she wanted to face a nogtail, but at least it wasn’t a water demon! She blinked, unsure whether to be curious or worried as the fence appeared. She eyed the shed, half-expecting a mob of nogtails to burst out at any moment, but instead she saw DOGGIES!!! Asdfjkl!!! So cute!
Her face immediately brightened, and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from squealing out loud. Her blue eyes darted from Jude to the approaching Miniature Bull Terrier and back. She smiled, nodding emphatically. “You can say that again!” she replied. Nope, she wasn’t afraid of dogs! Water demons, yes; nogtails, probably, but not cute little doggies! Following Jude’s lead, she crouched, offering a hand to the dog. “Hi, doggy! I like your ears; they’re so cute and pointy!” Would it let her pet it now?
__________________
Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true...
Milo was off in his own little world, which was not exactly out of the ordinary for him in the middle of lessons. Or the middle of corridors. Or the middle of meals. It happened a lot, was the point.
It was the question that had done it, sent him off down a mental tangent that kept him more or less occupied and completely silent these last few minutes, apparently watching Mr Amstern as he spoke but totally glazed over. Still looking at where Mr Amstern had been even when he wasn't there anymore. It wasn't until he took note, on some level, of several flashes of white in the vicinity that Milo returned to the moment very abruptly.
He'd not been paying attention, had no idea the discussion had reached the topic of nogtails, did not know that puppies were being unleashed here today or what the most recent set of instructions were, yet Milo did not seem very surprised to see them suddenly all around. He blinked hard a couple of times, tucked his legs under him so that he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and watched the puppy frolicking closest to him, rather than attempting to lure it in - which seemed to be at least part of what they had all been told to do, judging by what was happening around him.
__________________
Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Jordyn was still thinking about having to interact with nogtails when the professor explained what the first activity would be. PUPPIES!!! Overwhelmed with the sudden presence of total cuteness, she almost missed what the professor said next. Willing herself to pay attention, Jordyn listened to the instructions.
They got to play bond with the puppies. This could not get any better. Jordyn already had her eye on a certain husky who was about to become her new friend. First, she went up to the professor and got some dog treats because if all else failed, she was not opposed to bribery.
Jordyn slowly approached the cutest little husky ever and went down onto her knees. “Hi there little guy. I’m Jordyn. You want to come and play with me?” She proceeded to sit down cross cross applesauce and hoped that the puppy would come to her. “Come on little one”, she said, while extending her hand. This was going to be so much fun.
How DARE the old human leave them CAGED. He’d even had the GALL to ignore the long howls of DISTRESS. Had there been toys to play with? Yes. Was there water and some kibble? Also yes. But you know what was missing? PETTING. COMPANIONSHIP. The husky puppy felt STARVED of it all.
So when the door was opened he was OUT and in the sunlight. And there were… so … many… humans. Which one to go see first!? Who looked the best for pets?!
Puppy narrowed in on a girl who’d put herself down at his level and looked to be speaking to him. Did he understand the words? Not really. Except for one key word. PLAY. With a lift of his head and an “HOOOOOOOOWL”, he was off bounding towards the girl, pouncing into her lap. If one looked closely, they might even see the collar on his neck identifying him as Tundra.
Hi new best friend.
SPOILER!!: Branxton Brothers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin
There was an avalanche of puppies, and Mercer had to stick his whole fist into his mouth to keep from screeching like a banshee. ALL THE CUTEST PUPPIES. MERLIN. Even with a fist in his mouth, Mercer was dancing around in circles, barely hearing a word that the professor was saying up to the moment they were allowed to claim a puppy.
"Hi. Oh, hi. Hi! Hi." Mercer greeted all the puppies as they gamboled past him, but when a fluffy marshmallow puppy with giant paws and and a little bleppy tongue paused in front of him, Mercer decided that they had claimed each other. He fell to his knees and offered both hands for inspection. "Hi, you fluffer fluffington. I'm Mercer Doyle Branxton. We're gonna be friends."
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie
Pups with minimal training in the hands of inexperienced teenagers? This was going to be an absolute blast! Cooper was tempted to link up with Mercer for this one, but he was also working on not smothering his little brother. A little brother who would probably rather pair up with Celyn if there was to be older-younger mentoring going on. Which also brought him to the obvious desire to link up with the blonde still on his arm, who he smiled over at now with a small shrug. Was it a little egotistical to suggest that, as the more advanced in this particular field among their peers, they branch off and spread their wealth of knowledge with others who may have a harder time?
Or...maybe...since Mercer was currently trying to eat his whole FIST right now...he should smother his brother just a little.
Even if his instinct had been to head over and find himself a husky pup.
"I better keep an eye on Mercer," he murmured to his best friend with a small chuckle as he finally unraveled his arm and brushed a bit of dirt off her temple and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear while he was right there. "See you out there." And after too, yes?
Which was then when he meandered his way over to Mercer and...Fluffer Fluffington. "Hope you don't mind teach this old dog some new tricks," he mused, peak dad humor, while crouching down beside his little brother and also offered his hands for the great pyrenees to take a sniff and get better acquainted with. "Er, Cooper Emilio Branxton. Human number one's big brother." And then Mercer got a bit of a hair tossle for being such a good boy. What? If his brother had a tail it would be wagging just as much as Fluffer Fluffington's.
Once they’d all been released from the shed, this floof stayed behind a moment to make sure all the others were OUT and into the sunlight before following along. Once he got out… ASDHGDSLGO. So. Many. Humans.
He loved humans the best. Younger humans were even BETTER because they had energy to match his own. So while he glanced around at all the young humans, ONE caught his eye and puppy was immediately CONCERNED. WAS THE TINY HUMAN CHOKING ON IT’S OWN HAND? There was a pause while it STARED at him, but then human was energetic and greetings and the pups tongue was out and trying to lick the boy SO RELIEVED he was okay. Friendship was the most happily accepted!
But… what was this? Did he get TWO HUMANS!? This was the greatest day of the pup’s life, as he tried to lick the small human again. He watched as the older then petted the younger, and Fluffer Fluffington gave a long whine because EXCUSE YOU. He forgot to also pet someone else.
SPOILER!!: Blackthorne and Prescott
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anna Banana
Delilah had really said all she knew about nogtails before, so for the next part of the lesson, she'd just sat and listened. Huh. So she needed a purely white dog to chase away a nogtail? Interesting. The only other interesting fact she really hung on to was that they'd curse a farm. Weird...in a creepy sort of way.
She listened as the professor detailed where the lesson was going. Then there were PUPPIES! Lots of them, too! Delilah's day was literally MADE. They'd had minimal training, though? Great. Sounded like the barns were going to be cursed before the day was over. Forget about that, though. It was time to bond with a puppy! Delilah bee-lined for one of the cute little poodles and began clapping and calling out to it. "Come here, girl! Come here!" she said. Could she just forget about class now and take the poodle back to her dorm and keep it forever?!
She collected some treats from the professor and dangled them in front of the puppy. "You want one? Well, how about...sit!" she commanded. She bit at her bottom lip a little as she waited to see what the puppy would do. It was super cute, but...would it help her at all when it came to the nogtail? She wiggled the treat around again, hoping to get the poodle's attention and cause it to sit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadAlice
Violet had had in mind to snag a Great Pyrenees, but a first year (Mercer) snagged the one she had been make her way toward, and he was quickly joined by Cooper, so it looked like he had enough help.
Looking around, she noticed she was near another first year girl, Delilah, with a poodle. Violet had never been much into poodles--with their weird haircut, they always seemed a bit sissified. But...she remembered that they were supposed to be among the most intelligent of dogs, which would definitely be useful. So she walked up to the younger girl and said, "Mind if I join you?"
Ah, finally, freedom! The poodle joined with the rest of the pack, prancing out from the shed with a collar dangling which one could read said Lola. The puppies running around and the children squealing was madness. And while she would like love as much as the next dog, she could wait. The dog sat for a moment, looking around the clearing before spotting a girl zoning in on her.
Oh? Was she being called? The poodle blinked a few times at the student, before standing and prancing over towards her. She could see the treat dangled and while she DID want it, and did understand the request… she was going to need love and being told what a good girl she was first. Which as another girl approached and still did not pet her, Lola gave a small bark as if admonishing them, before turning once and giving a half sit - a tease that she COULD listen.
Did they get her message?
SPOILER!!: Anders and Marchand
Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19
Merlin, Mercer was LOUD. The other guy reminded him of Reagan and, as usual, whenever his sister was loud, Jude winced. It was a reflex. “Right! A WHITE dog.” Jude flashed Mercer a thumbs up and a grin in thanks. He’d better tuck that information, and the other bits being provided, in his brain for future use. IE, for exams.
Listening to Amstern after all the answers had been given, Jude couldn’t help but wonder… YES, he had been right! DOGGOS! So many! Just look at them all being happy and at peace with the world! This was the level of happiness Jude aimed to attain someday.
Already one of the doggos was approaching Desiree and him - a Miniature Bull Terrier by the looks of it. “Oh man! This little guy is the cutest!” The Hufflepuff got down to his knees, holding out a hand to the approaching doggo. “Don’t you think so, Desiree?” She wasn’t afraid of dogs, was she?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy
Desiree wasn’t sure she wanted to face a nogtail, but at least it wasn’t a water demon! She blinked, unsure whether to be curious or worried as the fence appeared. She eyed the shed, half-expecting a mob of nogtails to burst out at any moment, but instead she saw DOGGIES!!! Asdfjkl!!! So cute!
Her face immediately brightened, and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from squealing out loud. Her blue eyes darted from Jude to the approaching Miniature Bull Terrier and back. She smiled, nodding emphatically. “You can say that again!” she replied. Nope, she wasn’t afraid of dogs! Water demons, yes; nogtails, probably, but not cute little doggies! Following Jude’s lead, she crouched, offering a hand to the dog. “Hi, doggy! I like your ears; they’re so cute and pointy!” Would it let her pet it now?
The bull terrier was one of the first out, and one of the running rampantly around the clearing, picking some groups of students to circle. She could not outrun the collier’s, but she was sure trying her hardest. After a few minutes, she found a smaller grouping of students and proceeded to circle them, getting her energy out now that she was in a larger area.
But the circling ceased when one of the students, a boy, got down on his level and reached a hand out? Bess, as her tag read, was not immediately trusting but… petting did feel good. She took a few steps forward, sniffing out the outstretched hand. Before another step closer, another sniff. Another, and another sniff.
He certainly smelled harmless. So with that decision, Bess nudged her head under the boys hand so he could properly pet her. The girl then offered a hand as well, and Bess repeated the process, forcing the outstretched hand to pet her once which was invitation that she could now proceed to do so.
Say, did either of them have treats? She sniffed for it.
SPOILER!!: Yoon
Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi
Daniel had not read much about the Nogtail, so he had been quietly copying down some keywords that the other students had mentioned in his little notebook, and when the Professor resumed the lesson, he closed it and put it back in his back pocket.
His dark brown eyes were fixed on a Samoyed who was still close to the shed. He looked about at the other students, and when he was convinced that no one else was moving towards that exact one, the thirteen-year-old proceeded towards the puppy and squatted down to eye-level. Daniel held out his hand and waited for the dog to come to him without saying a word. He felt too silly to talk to it like it was a baby.
He was taking his time selecting which student to approach, or waiting for someone to approach him. There was a lot of fellow pups running around and while the Samoyed wanted to be with ALL of them, it wasn’t feasible. So biding time was the best option, even as it’s fluffy body positively vibrated with excitement - his tail wagging wildly against the ground.
Thankfully the wait was not long, as a boy started coming towards him. The puppy gave an excited bark in greeting, before happily standing and prancing over to him. The outstretched hand was given a lick before he nudged it with his head.
Cedar, here and requesting affection please human.
SPOILER!!: Ness
Quote:
Originally Posted by dans_grl431
A curse?! That did not make Bonnie feel any less anxious about dealing with these demons. Her fear however was quickly forgotten due to the rush of white furballs that had just been released from the sheds. Bonnie didn’t know where to look, ‘Oh wow, look at them all! This is going to be awesome!’
They were spoiled for choice but there was one little pyrenees that stood out to her. She collected the dog treats and went to meet the little guy. Bonnie crouched down to his level `Hello you!’ She smiled and put her hand out as a greeting. The little white pup nuzzled into her hand.
This little guy had been one of the last of the pups out, having been trying to help his brother make sure all the others had left too. It was HARD work being a responsible pup, so he was taking a momentary rest while the others zoomed around him. Apparently this did not bother the students, as soon enough one girl approached him.
Tail wagged WILDLY as the pup flipped himself into laying position on his back, paws up in the area and head turned so his tongue could loll out of his mouth. Hi yes, hello human, He moved himself to nudge her hand with his snout, giving a small lick. But he also hoped his message was clear here.
Belly rubs please. And then he promised to be the bestest best friend ever.
SPOILER!!: Evans
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir
Milo was off in his own little world, which was not exactly out of the ordinary for him in the middle of lessons. Or the middle of corridors. Or the middle of meals. It happened a lot, was the point.
It was the question that had done it, sent him off down a mental tangent that kept him more or less occupied and completely silent these last few minutes, apparently watching Mr Amstern as he spoke but totally glazed over. Still looking at where Mr Amstern had been even when he wasn't there anymore. It wasn't until he took note, on some level, of several flashes of white in the vicinity that Milo returned to the moment very abruptly.
He'd not been paying attention, had no idea the discussion had reached the topic of nogtails, did not know that puppies were being unleashed here today or what the most recent set of instructions were, yet Milo did not seem very surprised to see them suddenly all around. He blinked hard a couple of times, tucked his legs under him so that he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and watched the puppy frolicking closest to him, rather than attempting to lure it in - which seemed to be at least part of what they had all been told to do, judging by what was happening around him.
]
Hi, hi, hi, hi. Mr. Zoomy had arrived.
The husky’s temper tantruming had left some long slivers of wood, which resembled a stick so NATURALLY the collie had picked it up and had it hanging in it’s mouth as it BOLTED from inside the confines of the shed and did a few laps around the fence of the clearing. Pesky, annoying fence keeping him from running even further.
A few laps were completed, before the pup realized there were children. Could one be convinced to throw the stick for him so he could fetch it?!? Eyes scanned the crowd of children, noting one just… sitting. And looking at him.
Well… if said child wasn’t busy… He approached the boy, dropping the stick within his reach before crouching down on the ground near it, eying him hard, eyes silently begging. Please, please, pleaseeeee throw.
If one looked at his collar, they could read Leo written there.
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Let them point and laugh at who we are, it's you and me here dancing from the start
Valentina half-listened to the instructions, immediately distracted by all the cute puppies. After a moment, she immediately gravitated towards a beautiful little husky that was looking at her curiously. Maybe she'd get to play with the puppy and not have to go near a nogtail at all. Hopefully. She sat down on her knees, grinning at the little girl.
While Celyn's first instinct was to hope that they'd be working with grindylows when it was mentioned that they'd be working with the demon class of creatures - quite the misnomer, if one were to ask her - she knew that it was unlikely that any were in the barn. She still was determined to hold one before the end of the year. But Cooper was right, it did sound like hooves in there, and... oh, nogtails! Celyn brightened at the mentioned and giggled quietly as Cooper nudged her. This was going to be a fun lesson.
Oh! Yes, she knew about the use of pure white dogs to chase out nogtails from farms, though... she hoped they weren't actually chasing them away today. But she was very excited about working with.... puppies!! Celyn quickly covered her mouth with her hand to suppress the delighted squeal as dozens of puppies tumbled out of the barn doors. The seventh year loved puppies!
"Oh.." Celyn turned to Cooper as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and suggested her work with his little brother. "Of course!" She gave him a reassuring smile very suddenly. "Yes of course that makes sense..." They didn't have to always work together, especially since they just had been working together in the greenhouses. And Mercer probably did need Cooper's guidance. She was sure she could offer the same to another younger student. "See you out there!"
Oh, Milo! She noticed the first year as she looked around... and decided that yes, he very likely could use a seventh year's guidance. Celyn walked over to where the younger Ravenclaw was sitting on the ground with a white puppy frolicking nearby and she took a seat next to him and gave him an extra friendly smile. "Hi, Milo! Would you like to work with me and..." She turned to the puppy and put her hands out in front of the dog so he could sniff and check her out to know she was a friend. "Leo!" Her eyes caught sight of the tag on the pup's collar. "I think he wants to play." And she was good at throwing sticks.
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started like a knight in a fairytale_______________________________________________
ended like a moth in flames______________________ ______________________don't you worry I'll be fine _________________________________________________you were good for the plot line
Made of Awesome | Ern-la the Best-wa | TZ's Apogee
Was Mercer hyperventilating? Maybe a little bit. When the puppy turned his big eyes up at him, Mercer was already trying to figure out how to get this puppy back up to his dorm. And when Cooper joined them, Mercer knew that he now had a dog. "Hi! Oh! Okay, so... Cooper, this is a dog... he's like a Marshmallow. Marshmallow fluffernutter dog, this is Cooper." He tried to see if the dog had a tag, like some of the other ones did, but he was a wiggly little happy pup.
"We should see if he can do the tricks, right? Sit? Can you sit? Sit?" Mercer sat, just to show what it looked like. "Lay DOWN?" And Mercer flopped over.
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CoMC Lesson 1 - Nogtails 
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