Originally Posted by Destiny

While Cassia's answer wasn't entirely wrong, Vanora shook her head and gave the cage that held the Fire Crab a little turn. "They don't actually breathe fire."

How many people would laugh if she said fart?



Turning away from Cassia, the smile she was wearing instantly faded when she glanced at.. Daichi? That was his name, right? He may not have introduced himself, but she had heard Kurumi talking to him. Not that she was really listening..

"Why?" her eyebrows raised slightly, "Because that's what we're going to be working with today?" Would he rather dig for worms!?



"Well, I've never heard of a Fire Crab burning off someone's nose." But then again, she didn't know anyone who would want their nose that close to its rear.

"But it will try to defend itself." So really, whichever body part was closest would be in danger.


That was a very good question!

Vanora shifted herself on the ground more comfortably, and was just about to get into a very long winded speech to answer when another student spoke up. Actually, it was that Ravenclaw who spoke up. Who.. wasn't all that wrong. "They're actually not dumb creatures." And if she was holding the Fire Crab on her lap like she wanted to, she would have covered his ears so he wouldn't have to hear such insults.

"Their shells are heavy, so yes, it does slow them down a bit. And while they can defend themselves to some extent, it's not enough. People who hunt Fire Crabs, poachers, they don't exactly travel on their own. And even if they do travel on their own, it's not that difficult to capture," or kill, "a Fire Crab. The shells are hard and impenetrable, but the rest of the creature is not."

And she didn't know what rear-mirrors would do to help, so she didn't even mention them. She gave the Hufflepuff a smile, though. That answered the question?



Scary!?

Vanora lifted the cage of the Fire Crab and moved her face closer. How could anyone think that? They were cute! And their shells were shiny. "That's just an opinion."



"That could go either way, you know. The Fire Crabs may have adapted to the heat and the fire, but no one really knows if they like it." Fire does come out of its rear.

Did the creatures really like that? Hmm.



Err..

Okay..

Vanora blinked up at the boy, and it may have taken her a moment to think of what to say. That was.. just wrong on so many levels. "There may be something wrong with you if you are comparing the looks and temperature of a Fire Crab to the girls of Hogwarts." She was going to talk to Cece about checking that one out.



That answer seemed oddly, oddly familiar. And it only took her a second to realize why.

"Right. No one should ride them." And if the girl was thinking it.. "The fire does not make it move faster."


Vanora listened to the rest of the students give their answers, even chuckling at the couple who mentioned the Fire Crab's 'bathroom' habits. Thankfully, the creatures that she had caged had already been fed and even did their stuff beforehand. That would have been quite a mess.

Anyway..

"Right. So, as the rest of you said, Fire Crabs are native to the islands of Fiji. And as you can see." she pointed to the Fire Crab in the cage before slowly opening the door of it, so she could grab him once he made his way out. If he ever made his way out, "Despite its six legs, it has more of a resemblance to that of a turtle. The jeweled shell, which a few of you said could be fitted with either rubies, sapphires or emeralds, is highly valuable for both wizards and muggles. Wizards use the shell as a cauldron because its much harder than any material and won't burn as easily. The muggles use it for the jewels." Both selfish. "There is something that neither a crab or turtle can do, but the Fire Crab can. If the creature feels threatened, or even annoyed," as Theodore said, "they defend themselves by shooting a jet of flame from their.. well, their butts." No laughing, please. "Also, I don't know how," and she didn't want to either, "but Rubeus Hagrid somehow mated a Fire Crab and a Manticore to create the Blast-Ended Skrewts." But enough about them.

"And while there is a reserve, which I worked at before coming to Hogwarts, Fire Crab poaching is still happening and the number of creatures decrease each year." Sad, right? "They shouldn't be kept as pets." Even if the Ministry says people could. "But that is just my opinion."

Picking up the Fire Crab once he was out of the cage, Professor Newlin held it gently in her arms as she stood from the ground. She pulled out her wand, flicking it in the direction of the rest of the cages and the table by the shed, causing all the covers to come off. She may have forgotten about the jar of worms..

"As you can see, there are enough Fire Crabs for each of you." She glanced over at Daichi, if that was his name, and Kai, giving them both a small smile. "But if you'd rather work in pairs, that is fine."

"If there aren't any questions, I'd like you all to grab a bucket, a brush and a washcloth from off the table, then stand by one of the cages. Don't let the Fire Crabs out just yet. We'll have to get the water ready first."

Yup. They were going to be cleaning a Fire Crab.

Originally Posted by ♦ Peeves ♦

What was this Peeves was hearing from his nearby hiding spot? That professor lady was going to let the kiddies play with FIRE Crabs? Well now, he couldn't let an opportunity such as this one pass him by.

Zooming out from his spot in the trees he made his presence known.

"FIRE!

THE CRABS ARE ON FIRE! EVERYONE RUN! SAVE YOURSELVES!"

Flying around their heads he spotted a jar of dirt... and worms.

PERFECT!

"HAVE NO FEAR, PEEVES IS HERE! HE'LL PUT OUT THOSE FIRES!" Or maybe just feed the crabs.

Swooping down he snatched up the jar FULL of creepy crawlies and started dumping them all over the place. Worms were everywhere! On the ground, tables... on the students, in their hair, slithering down their backs...

Originally Posted by Destiny

Hehe.

Well, while she thought that a person would be fast enough to move out of the way before a Fire Crab could actually burn them, Theodore was thinking along the right path this time. At least, he wasn't talking about another part of the face getting burned. "That's more of a possibility. But let's just hope these Fire Crabs don't get that annoyed."



Oh!

Another really good question. Vanora shifted the Fire Crab she was holding to her other arm as she turned to face Kurumi. "I'm not entirely sure. But, since the Fire Crab is a protected species, even if they were to die of natural causes, I don't think they would use the gems for an hour glass." And now she was curious as to where those gems came from that were in the hourglasses. "Perhaps that is a question for the Headmistress." There could be some extra points if the Prefect did ask the woman, too. Hmm.



And finally, the question she was actually waiting for! Vanora thought that would be the question everyone would be asking. Unless, which was a huge possibility, everyone wanted to see a Fire Crab shoot its flame. It was an amazing thing to watch.

"As soon as everyone has their supplies and a Fire Crab, I'll let you know." she tossed Cassia a wink, and was just about to address the class once more when..



Peeves happened.

As if she wasn't nervous enough teaching her very first lesson, she just had to deal with the Poltergeist. Heaving a great sigh, and mumbling a few colorful words under her breath, Vanora placed the Fire Crab she had been holding back in its cage. No need to see the amazing act of Fire Crab butt flaming while there were kids being wormed on. And.. did Kurumi just push Theodore to the ground!? She did realize it was Peeves who threw the worms, right!? Dear Merlin..

"PEEVES!" she turned around so quickly that the few worms that had landed on her flew right off. And they were already digging their way into the ground. Did he know how long it took her to collect them all!? "I swear to Merlin, I will march myself right into Hogwarts, grab the Bloody Baron by the chains and drag him out here if you do not leave." Idle threat? Yes. Because everyone knew that she wouldn't be able to grab the Baron's chains. Another heaving sigh and she turned back to the students.

"They are only worms, they won't hurt you. So don't hurt them." As in, if she saw anyone try to squash them, she would take so many points away. So. Many. Points.

Originally Posted by ♦ Peeves ♦

"RUN! RUN AS FAR AWAY AS YOU..."

o_____________o



Professor NO Fun say what? She wanted to MARCH? Well Peeves could help with that. Swooping down behind the Professor he started to yell out. "ONWARD MARCH! LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT RIGHT LEFT!"

He would have continued with his drill sergeant voice but he caught sight of...



...a DEAD kid... that no one was paying attention to.

"OOOOH, SOMEONE'S IN TROUBLE. SOMEONE KILLED THAT BOY!" Zooming over to the boy laying on the ground he quickly started to shovel dirt on him.

What?

They couldn't very well leave him there like that. He would scare all the little kiddies away with his dead self.

Originally Posted by Destiny

Vanora's face was in her palm.

And if there weren't worms all over the ground now, and a crazy Peeves floating around who she had to keep her eyes on, there were Fire Crabs in the cages after all. She didn't even want to think about what he would do if he noticed them, she would have plopped herself right down on the and pouted until everything calmed down.

As it was, though, even through all the chaos, there were still questions being asked and she peeked an eye out through her fingers. She didn't want to see anything!


"Muggles have a way of only seeing what they want to see. Especially when it comes to things they don't know about. We're not exactly sure what they think they're hunting, but I'm sure they don't think it's anything like this." She used her free hand to gesture towards one of the creatures and would have said more if..

..she hadn't gone and started freaking out like the rest of the class. Really! They were only worms!

They should be more scared of the Fire Crabs. Groaning to herself, she moved her hand from her face and was just about to go and get the worms from the girl's hair, but thankfully, Sierra beat her to it. And she even put the worms in a jar! "Thank you, Sierra."



At least there were a few who were worried about her worms. Glancing around, Vanora took notice of just how many of the worms were on the ground before waving her hand dismissively in Dylan's direction.

"It's all right, you can just leave them. I'll just worry about the Gnomes if they come." Thanks a lot, Peeves.



"You can just put them back on the ground. They'll find their way back in the dirt on their own."



Something really wrong with that one.

Vanora simply gave the boy a look and decided not to say anything back to him.


O_O

Someone ATE a WORM!?

Why in the name of Merlin would they do that? Hadn't they heard her say not to hurt any of them? That was worse than squashing them! Looking past Ariana, Vanora's eyes landed on Theodore who.. was crying. Well, that could have been because Kurumi had pushed him, but knowing that that was just an accident, she figured the crying had to do with the worm. She made her way over to the pair.

"Worms are full of protein." So he could stop crying now, right? Protein was good! "And there will be no throwing up." The worm was probably already dead anyway. Best to just.. leave it.

It would come out.. eventually.


Of course Peeves would just ignore what she had said about the Bloody Baron and pick out the one word she wished she hadn't.

Flinching only a little bit as the Poltergeist started to yell from behind her, Vanora placed her hands on her hips, determined just to ignore him. Ignoring him always worked while she attended Hogwarts, and after Nigel woke up and uncovered himself from the dirt, it seemed the rest of the students started ignoring him as well.

Good. It meant that he would leave, right? And she could continue with the lesson? She was not about to bring the Fire Crabs out with him still around.

"All right." Hopefully. "Finish finding your partners if you're not working alone, and grabbing your supplies. And if you have any worms still on you, just, you know, brush them off."

Now, could she just sit and pout?