Excited about the opportunity to get to care for and work with a baby magical creature, Anna happily entered the new Magical Creatures Nursery. She'd been assigned to work with a Phoenix, which she'd named Blaze, and to say that she was "delighted" would definitely be an understatement. To begin with, Anna absolutely adored cuddly magical creatures, but she'd never really had the opportunity to be around them too often. You'd think with her being a pureblood witch she'd have had many encounters with magical creatures. That wasn't the case, though. Outside of owning Charlotte, her snowy white owl, and Piccadilly, her new baby crup, Anna hadn't really had too many magical creature encounters.

Today, all of that would change. She'd been excited about meeting Blaze ever since Professor Morgan had told the class of their assignment. She imagined that she and Blaze would soon become the best of friends, and she hoped that Professor Morgan might consider letting her have Blaze when she graduated from Hogwarts. The Magical Creatures Nursery was certainly a busy place. Students from all years and houses were packed inside, each caring for their own little creature. Anna smiled at a few she knew then continued on throughout the nursery, constantly on the lookout for Blaze. It didn't take her long to locate the beautiful bird.

Blaze was inside a cage, looking as if he desperately needed to get out and about and spread those gorgeous wings of his. Anna hesitated briefly, debating on whether or not she should just open up the cage and set Blaze free, or take a few moments to introduce herself and make sure Blaze knew she meant no harm. Deciding to go with Plan B, Anna knelt down beside the cage and slowly held her right hand out towards Blaze. "Erm, hiii," she said, edging her hand closer and closer. "I'm Anna. Anna Greingoth. I've come to play with you...and feed you...and make sure you have the happiest life possible. I'm not sure if you know this or not, but I've named you Blaze, because of your unique ability to burst into flames and turn to a pile of ashes. I can't imagine what that's like for you, because I suppose you all look forward to it. You know, with it giving you the chance to restart your life and all."

As she spoke, Anna carefully studied Blaze's appearance. He was about the size of a swan and was covered in crimson feathers and had a long, golden tail. How odd that Anna's creature turns out to be Gryffindor-colored! She had a sinking feeling that she and Blaze would get along just fine! Anna watched the tail of the Phoenix, thinking about how pretty it was, but at the same time how hot it must be. She'd read that a Phoenix had an extremely hot tail! Anna's eyes traveled to Blaze's claws and beak, which were black in color. Anna just had to admit it---Blaze had style! Anna closed in the gap between her hand and Blaze's head of feathers. Within seconds, she was stroking his beatiful, crimson feathers. They were soft, but otherwise weren't too different from any other bird feathers. As Anna pet the beautiful bird, she spoke softly to it, assuring it over and over that she was here to befriend it and not harm it. She was pretty sure Blaze understood that, too. Meeting number one---"getting to know you"---had been a success!