Daphne was glad to enter the warm enclosure that was the nursery. Her relief was soon diminished by the overwhelming smell of dozens of animals and their by-products. After a quick cough, she got over the shock and made her way to a shelf holding the smaller animals. The larger ones had cages or pens. Daphne wished she had gotten something more interesting than a wizarding hamster, no matter how adorable it was.

This feeling is disappointment came up every now and then, but as soon as she lifted the small cage off the shelf and saw the tiny fluff ball pawing around the bedding, she forgot all about her qualms. "Why hello there!" she said, as she lifted the lid off the plastic enclosure. But her words were cut short when a disgusting odor wafted up. "Oh my!" she groaned, pinching her nose. She suppose it was time to clean out that cage. She couldn't help but feel this was a karmic revenge for her comments about the puffskein being boring.

Daphne walked over and grabbed a bin and some fresh bedding. Now she was ready to do the gross part. She reached in and allowed the tiny puffskein to climb onto her fingers. As the animal made its way up her arm, this time over her clothing for a change, the Ravenclaw plucked out the food and water bowls, and dumped the remaining contents of the cage into the bin. She expected this to alleviate the smell, but when she stuck her nose in, the smell was still there, possibly worse than before. She gagged as she held that horrid thing away from her.

This required some serious cleaning, and the tiny fur-ball needed to be somewhere safe. She found an empty cage on the shelf, and dropped Honey in. "Don't worry, you'll be back in your house soon enough," she reassured the animal, who looked displeased to be walking on plastic. Heading outside with the toxic cage, she located a large tub of water and a bucket. She happily doused her cage with the clean water and started to scrub out the interior. After a good 15 minutes of cleaning, the cage's smell was acceptable, though not the most pleasant thing for the nose to encounter.

Daphne returned and filled the clean cage with fresh bedding and replaced her food and water dishes. Then she removed the temporary enclosure from the shelf and started to transfer the puffskein into its new home. Unfortunately, as she opened the top of that cage, a disgusting odour met her nostrils. "Oh REALLY?" she exclaimed, exasperated. She quickly lifted Honey out of there and let her into her proper cage. Now Daphne needed to clean this cage. She was disgusted to see several small droppings on the floor of the plastic container. "You are disgusting," she said flatly to the creature, currently burrowing in the bedding.

Daphne quickly went back outside and cleaned this cage, but not taking nearly as much time or effort as with the other. Drying it off, she replaced it on the shelf. Before putting her own animal away, she had a gift for it. "Erm... Well I found this walking around. Figured you could use some stuff to do in there, besides eat and poo." She pulled out a stick and leaned it against the wall of the container. The puffskein was so small that this stick, which some might even call a twig, was like a log to the animal. It didn't move to investigate, as it was busy liking its paws.

She put her puffskein back on the shelf. It seemed happy, it didn't die, so that was encouraging. "Bye Honey!" Daphne said to it, waving good-bye. She gathered up her stuff and left. She needed to bathe after visiting this place.

Qaz hadn't been down to see her baby for a few days, so she really noticed how much he'd grown.

She opened the cage, put her hand in and with one finger, gently stroked his back. Feeling him wake up, she said, 'Hi Chaos, mommy's here.' and very gently picked him up. Such a cute little squeek, he had...and he'd grown, and his fur was getting a little darker...



'I think you're going to be a very handsome shade of brown when you're all grown up.' she whispered, looking into his eyes. 'Such a handsome fella. Mommy's sorry that she hasn't been here for a few days. Lots of homework to do...too bad I can't take you back with me, but even if I could, HRH HiJinx wouldn't like it one bit. He'd be such a jealous kitty, he would.'

'Oh, geez,' she thought, 'baby talk...how embarrassing'...but she couldn't help it...

Placing Chaos back into his cage and closing the door, Qaz reached into her bag and got out the tiny plastic container. Opening it up, she reached in a finger and dipped it in the yoghurt. Opening the cage door again, she reached in and put her finger close to his tiny little mouth. 'Here ya go...a treat from mommy. Some more of that yoghurt you like.'

Chaos sniffed. That smells familiar. Tastes familiar, too. Yummy.

It took several minutes for Chaos, but he ate the bit of yoghurt. 'Such a good boy. You're growing up big and strong, aren't you...and so cute!'

Squeek-squeek.

Qaz replaced Chaos, removed her hand and closed the cage door. While Chaos was still alert, she reached into her bag for her drawing materials and sketched him once more, adding a description of his coloring and size.

'I'm sorry, but I have to go now, but I'll be back soon' she said.

Squeek-squeek.

Qaz left with a smile on her face...

Abby walks into the Care of Magic Creatures Nursery. She's never been around so many different animals before. Abby can't help but look in each and every cage and pen at the animals. She keeps looking for her animal. Then Abby comes to the larger animals in the stables. She sees the abraxans. There's one with Copernicus Kettleburn. "Lucky dog, he got an abraxan. I'm begining to think I don't have a magical creature to take care of. Abby keeps walking when she sees her name of one of the other stalls. Oh boy! I've got an abraxan to take care of too. I can't believe it. Abby opens the gate and goes in. She caresses the abraxan. "Hey there, my name is Abby. What's your name? That's right. You don't have a name. I have to give you one. Let's see..." Abby thinks for a few minutes. "I know I'll call you Marmalade." Marmalade nudges Abby's arm. "You like it too then Marmalade it is." She walks around and puts her foot into some horse manure. "Your stall definitely needs cleaning, and I imagine you're ready for some food and clean water."

Abby looks around and finds a fork and a wheelbarrow. She proceeds to take the old hay out of Marmalade's stall and put it in the wheelbarrow. When it gets full, Abby wheels it over to the student's garden. Mr. Masterson uses the manure to fertize the plants. Abby constinues to fill the wheelbarrow with dirty hay and manure and take it to the student's garden until the stall is completely cleaned out. She then lays aout a new layer of hay. "There that should be better. It smell a lot fresher now. Food, I need to find you some food. I think I can handle the water part myself." Abby finds a bucket. She takes out her wand and says aguamenti. A steady stream of water come from Abby's wand filling up the bucket. Marmalade walks over and has something to drink. "That's good. You must have been dying of thirst. Now I need to find you something to eat." Abby finds a feed container. She puts a mixture of grain and hay in it. Marmalade walks over and has something to eat. While the abraxan eats, Abby get a brush out of her bag and brushes Marmalade. "I need to get you a blanket and some more feed and hay. I'm also going to need to get a hoof pick, so I can clean your hoofs out properly. I imagine I can find everything I need at the Magical Creatures shop in Hogsmead." Abby brushes Marmalades mane and tail. "That's a good girl. That should take care of you for a while. I promise I'll come back tomorrow and take you for a short walk around the grounds." Abby walks out the stall and closes the gate. She then heads back to the castle.

The nursery wasn't like a plant nursery or even a baby nursery. It was much louder, and there were students everywhere caring for their animals. It took several long minutes for Copernicus to wind his way through the crates and cages until he reached the large crates that contained the Abraxan foals. Could they possibly be happy in there? The crates were so small and tight, or so it seemed to him. He'd have to be sure to come down and let Tiberius out as often as possible.

Crouching in front of the cage, Copernicus put his fingers through the slats. "Hey, Tiberius. You want to come out and stretch your legs? We brought you a snack." He laughed when a soft nose butted against his hand. "I think that's a yes."

It was way more louder in the nursery this time than on her first visit. Twilight delighted in watching all the students caring for their pets as he walked down towards where her cage and pet was.

When she reached her pet she had already forgotten about Eveningstar as she peered into the cage. Dusk was fast asleep. O that's right she remembered hedgehogs are nocturnal animals. So she decided to cut her visit short and not wake up her sleeping dear. He would have to remember to come to visit him in the later afternoons when he was more likely to be awake. Babies needed their sleep.

S she quietly opened the cage filled his water feeder and inspected his milk feeder. She then put more leaves and hay and grass in the cage and placed the food and treats the house-elves had given her for Dusk among them. she then stoked Dusk and said softly' "I will be back later today when yu have had time to sleep Dusk."

Dusk snuggled up to her warm hand and continued to sleep. Twilight softly slipped her hand away and closed the cage. She turned and walked back out of the nursery deep in thought: She would have to add her findings on hedgehog care to her journal. She was so lost in thought that the nip at her ear made her jump. It was Eveningstar.

"You were a very good owl today", she cooed, "You behaved yourself really well. Come let us go to the garden as a treat before we go back to the common room to do homework."

Tink, his new animal best friend and was actually even better company than his own pygmy puffs. Even though he almost killed her the day before, he was sure that she would have forgotten or forgave him already. She loved dirt, liked biting people, she… she was his soul mate. And Cam fell in love with her at first sight. If only she was a human being then she would be the only girl he thought that didn’t have cooties or … girl problems. Yes he really loved liked her because she was a girl like that. He brought some sweets to see if she liked ‘em. If she did then he would cry. Cry because she was only a niffler and you couldn’t marry or be in a love relationship with one. Opening the door to the nursery he grabbed everything he needed; gloves, a bowl of water, and some toy-thingies.

He rattled his hand through all of the cages (hoping that none of the animals would bite his finger) until he met Tink’s cage, a cage which had his name neatly decorated on it and fairy spark decorations on the sign. It was better than everyone else’s cage, right?! Releasing her from the cage he put her again yet on the table and took a few steps back. Here goes! “Well, Tink, I’m suppose to be training you so let’s do some exercise, OK?” Ready position… and GO! “Heaaad, shoulders, knees, and toes, knees and toes! Head, shoulders, knees and toes! And eyes and ears and mouth and nose, head shoulders knees and toes, knees and toooooeees! And he did every movement from the song, like a graceful boy doing ballet!

Sadly the niffler wasn’t doing it, it was just scurrying around. It wasn’t even trying to touch its head OR its toes! But he still BELIEVED so it didn’t matter at all since if he didn’t BELIEVE then she would have been a lifeless animal. So he tried to read the niffler a poem, a very boring poem but it was possible she could cheer up. With his most British accent ever, he said, “Two roads diverge in a yellow wood…” Nothing. Was Tinkerbell lifeless already?! DID HE NOT BELIEVE?! Sadly that ends play-time with her. She’s such a meanie, but oh well! Or maybe she was playing hard to get. That, he wasn’t sure of. Now to move on to the observation.

The most boring part but it was required for the journal part of the assignment. Cam started to carry her and guessed if she got heavier. Not that much but it was normal. With his hands he clawed a handful of dirt from the ground and started to pour it around the baby niffler and wondered what would happen. She did nothing… EXCEPT START DESTROYING THE WOODEN TABLE! Yes the poor thing was trying to claw through the table but luckily Cam the Great got there in time! Claws; they were fine and grew a bit from yesterday. Oh right, the sweets. He almost forgot about the candy in his pocket! With a piece of chocolate, he set it on the table and waited for something to happen. Again, nothing! They probably didn’t like chocolate, so he gave up on the whole “love relationship” with his pet.

After that attempt he got the bowl of water and put it in front of Tinkerbell while taking a look how all of the other people did with their pets. When he looked back he saw the bowl of water, finished, already! Then the toys, the toy-thingies he got, he put it in front of the niffler. One of them made some sort of a squeaky sound if you squeezed it. Nothing seemed to interest the little creature though, so he took all of the toys away and just stared at the dirt around her. There was nothing to do except poke Tink and it was fun since not all of her fluffiness was there. She looked like a small naked-mole rat! Then it had the really long snout, which could have been useful in a lot of situations. Maybe she would know how an ant smelled like. If only nifflers could talk…

It was then that Cam realized how mean he’s been to this creature, not even encouraging her to do anything at the least! How horrible was he?! “Sorry I’m not the best ‘master’ Tink, but I must say that you’ve done a really good job today!” He put the toys back in front of her while taking out his horrible journal and writing down all of the observations and things he’d seen today. Even though she didn’t do anything, it was like reaaaallly fun! When he looked back at Tink she was… trying to play with the toy? But she didn’t manage to make the thing squeak. That unusual “pur” came back again and he smiled, it sounded adorable(which was very rare for him to say) . ”Don’t worry, you’ll grow big enough. I’m suuure.” Feeding tiiiime!

Tick-tock, tick-tock, he went to get the creature food that wasn’t expired and came back, happy to see her still playing with the toy. With each tiny little food he fed her until she was full. That was when Cam wondered how niffler food actually tasted like… Well if she likes everything I like, then I’m sure this’ll taste normal. He took a bite and made a confused face. Oh this kinda— the boy quickly put his hand over his mouth to not barf. It tasted like some sort of rotten cheese! He pushed the container away from him and tried to scratch his mouth to get rid of the taste. Another look came on his face and it was meant for Tinkerbell.

It was a scary risk he was going to take but he HAD to at least try! He pulled out his right hand and carried Tink, putting her on the ground. Pulling out his journal he started to study what she was doing, like a scientist except he really wasn’t. He was Cam the Risk-taker and was still scared on what would happen. She started to dig and dig, like it was her passion! Yes, she was like Michael Phelps in the Olympics and was faster than everybody else. A few seconds later though, Cam picked her up again and checked her claws again. Bleeeeeeeh. “It’s OK Tink, you’ll get the dirt soon enough!” Soon was probably like, a couple of days?

Reaching out to pet Tinkerbell she suddenly jumped on his hand, then starting to crawl all the way over to his head. Wha?! She probably liked it but if her claws were any longer they would hurt his head, a lot. Cam chuckled and then looked up to see what it was doing. ”Nice one, hehe.” This was an odd but fun time until he remembered when he had to leave. NUUUUUU, but she just got to like me! Cruel, cruel life. It’s not fair! “I’m really sorry Tink, but I have to go. Forgiveee meee. I-I’ll come back as soon as tomorrow, kay?” Begging was the ONLY thing he could do.

He slowly put her back in her cage and waved a goodbye. “You were like, awesome today Tink!” Grabbing his journal he left the nursery with an extremely sad face.

Later that afternoon Twilight returned this time without Eveningstar, who opted to sleep on her homework in her dorm room. He was really all tired out. She walked over to her cage with Dusk in it.

To her surprise her little pet was wide awake and uncurled himself immediately when she appeared. When she opened the cage it slowly waddled over to her hand sniffed it and the crawled onto it. "O you are so cute".

While she checked to see how his water level was and if he had milk, which was all in order, Dusk stayed nestled in her hand. It looked as if he had found some of the elf treats and had eaten them, which should make the elves really happy.

So then she sat down on the floor with Dusk and started to play with him. She cooed at him and kissed him and showed him her pocket. He really liked her pocket and found it fun to waddle into it, niff around, then curl up, wait and then waddle back out of it. Dusk did this numerous times, obviously enjoying himself. It was relaxing to watch Dusk play. Dusk was so easy to care for and calm when she compared him to her miniowl. Eveningstar was super hyper and a whirl of activity and noise.

After awhile Dusk went into her pocket and after curling up did not come out again. She peered inside and saw that he was trying to go to sleep. She carefully extracted her sleepy-head from the pocket and put him on her lap. Then she reached into another pocket in her cloak and pulled out a small stubby vial, which contained some mealyworm, she had gotten from the school garden this morning. She carefully took out one mealyworm and lowly fed it bit for smushed bit to Dusk, who seemed to have a dreamy look on his face as he chomped away at the squashed bits f mealyworm. When he wouldn't eat anymore, she carefully put him back into his nest in the cage and placed the vial in the container next to the cage.

She sat down and wrote in her journal. Put a picture of him inside and then closed the journal. "Good night little Dusk", she softly said. After a moment of glancing at him lovingly, she turned and headed back to the castle not even sure if she hadn't missed supper. Thank goodness she could always go to the kitchen if she needed to for food.

It was a gorgeous afternoon and William decided to go and visit Graziella. She had seemed a bit down the last time he had seen her, even though it had only been a few minutes. He meant to spend more time but homework came first in his eyes and he was going to make it up to her. On his arm was a blanket he had gotten from his mom; it's frilly texture and soft wool would be perfect for her during the long cold nights. He smiled as he walked into the nursery, heading straight for the shelves to get some supplies.

Filling a bucket with luke warm water he took a brush and comb, knowing she'd need a good brushing. Picking up another bucket, this one for the old stuff in her cage he nodded, satisfied he had everything he needed and walked over to the crup areas, looking for her cage. Spotting it he broke out into a full blown grin as he saw her already sitting up, as if she knew he was coming.

"Hey Ziella." He said happily, bending down and stroking her fur gently. She nuzzled her nose into his hand, her breath warm on his skin. Blue eyes twinkling brightly he handed her a special treat he had read about the night before. After doing some studying on the animal, he found that she ate basically anything, which meant he could give her anything and she'd eat it. "Want some lettuce?" He asked softly, pushing some into the cage as he set the other stuff aside.

Looking into the cage he saw it was dirty; knowing she'd be more happy if her cage was clean he was suddenly glad he had grabbed the extra bucket. Opening her cage he put his hand out, "Want your cage cleaned girl?" He asked, watching as she slowly edged out of her cage her eyes searching his face. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." He added gently, petting her once she was out of the cage. She seemed to know this and gave what could only be known as a smile as she curled up beside him, hands on her paws.

Edging into the cage he put on his gloves and got to work. Pulling the refuse out of cage he put it in the empty bucket, his face one of utter disgust. He never had to do this before and the smell was quite nasty. Thankfully there wasn't much of it and for that he was glad. Graziella watched him through the whole thing, her eyes never leaving his back. When the cage was clean, scrubbed down with the water from the second bucket he placed the frilly soft blanket around it, turning back to see her now standing.

"Want to take a walk around?" He asked, looking around for a leash or something he could use. The thought of leashing this beautiful creature pained him and he sighed as she nudged his knee. "Okay, just a sec." he stated smiling down at her. Bending down he looked through his bag, "Books, chocolate frogs ... no you can't have that. Quills, ink, parchment, where's that rope I keep in here?" He asked himself digging to the very bottom. "There it is!" he exclaimed, taking it out and attaching it to her collar. "I know, but I can't have you running around right?" He asked gently, bending down to pet her.

Leading her to an area which seemed empty of anything he unleashed her, sitting down on the dirt and taking out his journal. Pulling out a quill and inking it he watched as she looked around, her ears twitching as if asking permission. "It's okay girl, run around a bit. Get your legs nice a strong." he encouraged smiling happily as she finally began walking around in a circle, her ears now upright. Ziella began trotting, her forked-tail dragging on the ground slightly. Writing this down in his journal he looked up to see her now chasing her tail, a low barking sound coming out of her mouth as she tried to catch it. He couldn't help but chuckle at this as he wrote "Bring toys next time." in his log, giving him an idea.

Writing more notes into his journal he looked up to see her watching him. Quirking an eyebrow he grinned. "You wanna play?" He asked getting up and leaving his stuff on the ground. Walking up to her he moved around in a weird way, allowing him to chase him around. She gently tackled him to the ground, landing with a small "oomph." as he landed to see her jump on him and lick his face. He laughed, stroking her fur gently. Rolling around on the ground they played for a few minutes and finally stopped, her panting slightly. "Thirsty now eh?" He giggled getting up and dusting himself off before putting the leash back on and leading her back to her cage.

Watching as she went into her cage and curled up, her tongue sticking out slightly he petted her before going over and grabbing more food and water. Coming back he smiled and sat down beside her, nudging her forward a bit. She got up and stretched again before laying her head in his lap. His eye brightened as he grinned, handing her some food. Eating her share she smiled up at him, licking his hand again before he put the large bowl of water on the ground for her. Looking up at the sun he sighed as she drank, he had to be getting back soon. But he didn't want to leave her.

Getting up slowly he took the empty bowl of water away and bent down. "I got to go now. I know you want me to stay and I'd love too but I have work to do." He said gently, stroking her soft fur. "When I come back you can have a bath to get shiny clean again." He chuckled as she glared at him. Even wizarding creatures hated baths he mused, making a note to write tht down when he got in. Locking her cage up he turned pulling on his bag and waved. "I promise I'll be back Ziella!" He said cheerfully before turning and walking away.

Mackenzie was glad the day was finally over. She hurried down to the nurery to visit Rosey. She wasn't shocked when she noticed all of the grass in her pen was gone and the fact that Rosey was kind of a lilac color. She wrote down the change in size from morning to afternoon, which was more than Mackenzie thought possible, in her journal.

Mackenzie then went and found some food so Rosey could eat while she fixed up the pen. When she was all done with that, she found something that she could wipe down the Streeler's shell with. Rosey looked gorgeous by the end of this.

"Do you feel better now Rosey? Now that your all clean," Mackenzie said, knowing the Streeler couldn't answer. She looked up at the clock and it was almost dinner time.

"Sorry Rosey, but I have to go. It's time to eat my dinner."

Mackenzie smiled and waved goodbye to her Streeler that just seemed to be getting bigger and bigger everyday. She started to jog up to the castle so she would have a seat for dinner and something good to eat. She wouldn't be able to go visit Rosey until midday tomorrow, so she hoped the food she left would be enough to last.

It was later in the afternoon, and Freya again made her way to the nursery to check on her baby knarl. She fidgeted with her side bag as she walked across the chilly and slightly wet grounds.

She managed to dodge another student who had run from the left to right side of the nursery, apparently they thought rushing around was the answer to everything. Oh well. Freya approached her knarl's cage and was surprised to find the little one waddling around the cage, pushing the little ball around that Freya had left for her to play with the last time. "Aww, I'm glad you're enjoying it." Freya said calmy to the baby, then put on a pair of fitted gloves and picked the knarl up, and stroked Noor's tiny head. "Good afternoon, Noor. Let's see how you've been doing." Freya peered into the cage and found that all but half a leaf of lettuce was gone and eaten. "Good job. That means you are doing just fine. And you seem to weigh a bit more too...and look bigger." It was true. The knarl had always fit into the palm of Freya's hand before today, now Noor's body was able to take up nearly an entire hand on her own.
"Ohhhh, they grow up so fast." Freya said as she let the baby sniff her face. "You are so brave now too. I'd better watch my back." She laughed a litte bit and layed out an old blanket on the floor, where she then placed Noor on top of while the cage had to be cleaned and refilled.
Noor was content in waddling around the soft and warm blanket as Freya cleaned up her little messes. Noor started to dig into the blanket and found that it was easier just to lift up a fold and crawl her way under, making a little fort for herself while her caretaker was busy.
"Oh now don't you be that way....sulking, my word." Freya lifted up the baby and allowed the knarl to rest in the front pouch of her athletic robes. "There, is that better?" Freya asked as she looked down at Noor, who yawned and hung her adorable head out over the edge of fabric and looked around at the big world. "I sure do spoil you don't I? And you aren't even mine to keep." 'Although I wish you were.' Freya said again as she refilled the food dish with a few more worm segments and cricket midsections, then finally adding the berries that Noor enjoyed so much.

After at least fifteen minutes more of making sure the cage was cleaned to perfection, that the food was set and prepared properly, and that the shavings were plentiful enough, Freya took Noor out of the pouch and placed her back into the warm cage. The knarl sniffed around, finding the dish of food, smelled it, then headed over to her box where she kicked out a few shavings before settling down for another nap. "You're so suspicious..." Freya said quietly and made a few notes in her log. 'I'll be back later on tomorrow when I can.' She shut her book, picked up the blanket and her bag and headed off for the castle once more.

A brisk, cool breeze filled the nursery as the door opened and Becca stepped inside. Closing it behind her softly, she grabbed a brush and some food, strode over to the baby niffler cages, and came to a stop in front her little darling. "Aww, hello Daisy," she grinned, quickly re-checking herself for shiny objects before doing anything further.

"How's it going, lil buddy?" Surprisingly, her niffler made its way over to the cage door and seemed very eager to see her. "Hungry?" Becca took a small slice of apple and gently stuck it in the cage. Daisy immediately munched down on the apple, and the Ravenclaw set it down in the cage.

Observing as the niffler ate happily, Becca smiled and stood up. "I'll be back, okay? I have class. But just in case you get hungry again..." She dropped one more slice of apple into the cage and hurried off to her next class, shooting a glance back at the little baby niffler before exiting. Aw. How precious.

Ana walked happily into the nursery to see her little kneazle, Padfoot. She passed through several cages and reach her pet.

"You certainly grow up faster!" she said with a huge smile. "Did you miss me?" and the kneazle started to purr. "I'll take that as a yes" she said smiling.

She picked up the food and gave it to Padfoot. Then she changed his water and stayed there watching her pet.

She played with him and let him play like a crazy cute kneazle around the nursery.

While she looked for Padfoot she saw that his cage was a little dirty so she decide to clean it. "You made a mess here, you crazy little thing" she said. And after a few minutes it was clean "Padfoot! Come see your bright and clean cage" the kneazle jump into his bed and lay down. Ana cuddle him. "You're very intelligent, aren't you?". She continue to watch him."Take this toy!" she said and the little ball of pur started playing with.

"I have to go Padfoot, but I'll be back. Love ya and take care of you. Hope you liked your new toy. Cya ya!" she gave him a last cuddle and left closing the door.

Celandine happily followed Copernicus down to the nursery, having had stopped to grab a few bottles of butterbeer from the great hall on her way. She made her way to Copernicus and smiled brightly at the little foal he addressed as Tiberius. Now to look for her little abraxan. Cela spied her in a cage not to far away and immediately opened it to let her out, "We should take them out to the stables just outside. Get them used to open spaces." Cela suggested to Copernicus before turning to croon to the little abraxan sh had decided to call Cassiopeia.

"Hello!" Celandine slowly stretched her hand out, waiting for the abraxan to stretch out to sniff her. Cassiopeia did exactly that; but drew back almost immediately. "Oh you are a little skittish aren't you?" Celandine spoke softly to the abraxan foal and pulled one of the butterbeer bottles from her bag, "Cope? Could you open this for me?" Cela turned slightly, extending the bottle to Copernicus, "Please?"

He opened the bottle and handed it back, but his attention was on his little foal. He was darker in color than Copernicus would have expected, and the wings were very fragile looking folded back against his body like that. He pulled the latch on the cage and left the door hanging open even as he took a few steps back from the cage. "Can I have a bottle of butterbeer? I'm hoping it will draw Tiberius out of the cage."

Cela took the bottle back and nodded at his question, "Do it like this," Cela tipped some of the butterbeer into her hand and let it drip down her fingers. She passed Copernicus the still half-full bottle and slowly extended her butterbeer-covered fingers to the abraxan foal.

Slowly at first, Cassiopeia's nostrils flared at the scent of the butterbeer, and then quite suddenly, the foal lunged forward and began suckling on Celandine's fingers. Cela breathed a little sigh and giggled slightly at the sensation before slowly easing backward, the abraxan following her as she moved.

Cela's eyes widened in delight and she smiled happily at Copernicus before slowly leading Cassiopeia out to the stables, her bag bumping against her hip and the remaining bottles cheerfully clinking as she moved.

Copernicus followed her directions, letting the butterbeer drip down his hand as he tempted Tiberius from the cage. The foal wobbled out and clamped down on Copernicus's thumb, which brought a quiet yelp of pain and triumph. But mostly pain.

"Good lad," he poured a bit more on his hand and led the foal in the direction Cela had taken Cassiopea. Each step seemed a bit more confident than before, and by the time they were in the yard, Tiberius was eyeing the place curiously and butting at Copernicus for another drink. Feisty. "You're good at this," he called over his shoulder to Cela.

Mariska walked into the slightly noisy and semi-crowded Nursery, looking around any of the crates for the little baby animal she had been assigned. She walked down one row of crates and found her name on one; Looking inside, she discovered a Kneazle kitten. Or were they cubs? She couldn't remember. Now, Mari wasn't very fond of cats, but this creature was simply adorable. She had soft gray fur speckled with white throughout, and the plume of her tiny tail was tipped in white. Mari noticed the little Kneazle's eyes were green too and she reached down, letting her new little charge sniff her before she tried anything else. " Hello, pretty little girl," She said , smiling as the gray poof gave her an appraising look after sniffing her. The cat like creature seemed to think a moment before deciding that Mariska was indeed quite alright. Mari's smile widened as the kitten (or cub) rubbed against her hand. " Hmm. I think I'll name you Pandora.' All Gifts,' Indeed," She said, totally absorbed in watching the little animal play with one of her shoestrings. Mari laughed aloud as Pan began to stalk one of the shoestrings when Mari levitated it a bit, the totally serious and intense expression on Pandora's fuzzy face amusing her greatly.

Cela twisted about to open the gate to one of the stalls in the stable and led her little foal inside. She leaned out to look at Copernicus when he yelped, biting her lip in concern for a moment before realising he probably wasn't in pain, he was just happy to get Tiberius out of the cage. Cela giggled at the way his foal butted at him and turned to stroke the nose of Cassiopeia.

The little foal nickered at her as the last of the butterbeer was licked from her hands and Celandine stood and went over to a shelf, picking up a plastic bottle with a teat on it and taking it over to the stall, "I should learn a charm to get bottles open." Celandine called to Copernicus, "I'm supposed to be good at charms." She leaned half out of the stall, "Or I'll just have to keep you about every time I want to feed Cassiopeia." Celandine held up the sealed butterbeer and the empty feeding bottle.

"I am, as always, your willing servant," he took the bottle and removed the cap, his grin crooked. Too cheesy? Certainly so for his step-brother's girlfriend. He dialed back the grin and led Tiberius into the stall. There was a second bottle on the shelf, and he poured the remainder of his own bottle of butterbeer into it.

"Now, then, Tiberius, we're going to have butterbeer today, but Cela and I are going to make you something very nice for next time," Copernicus settled down in the hay and let Tiberius find his way to the bottle.

Celandine stared at Copernicus for a moment, before a tiny smile curved her lips "I'd rather you always be my friend instead." She returned his smile with a bright one of her own. She filled the feeding bottle with the butterbeer and let out a little exclamation as Cassiopeia went for the teat the moment Cela had extended the bottle.

With one hand holding the feeding bottle firmly, Cela used her wand to vanish the glass butterbeer bottle, for the safety of the little abraxans. She twisted her wand in her hair, stabbing it through the resulting messy bun and turned her attention to her abraxan. "Oh you like that huh? I like butterbeer too." Celandine spoke quietly to Cassiopeia and nodded in agreement to the words Copernicus was saying to Tiberius, "I wonder, if they will like the same mixtures?" she asked curiously, "What if one of them has a sweet too..eeep!" Celandine struggled to keep her grip on the feeding bottle as the abraxan eagerly suckled on the butterbeer. Taking a firmer grip and giggling slightly, Cela gently stroked the foal's head and wings while she drank.

Lima headed straight towards Jack's cage. She hadn't gotten the chance to visit him for a few days what with studying for her OWLs and all. So she was really happy when she saw him peeking out at her through his cage. She giggled and walked towards him, undoing the latch and opening the door.

"Hello, my baby," she said as she lifted him out and put him of his shoulder. He nestled into her and she really liked it. He was so soft and warm. She then grabbed some more Niffler food and set about giving some to him, which he took happily. After that, she set about changing his water dish while making sure that he was still securely on her shoulder.

"I'm going to have to start bringing you some toys," she then said chuckling. He seemed to like that idea, as he nuzzled into her again.

She smiled but was sad 'cause she knew that she had to leave him again and get back to her school work again.

"I'm sorry, baby, but I have to go again now. I'll come by for longer next time. I promise" She set him back in his cage, closed the door and secured the latch. She then smiled at him once again before turning away and heading back to the castle.

Set walked into the nursery. He was holding the game he brought for him and his adorable Imp, Katara, to play.Iit was an obstacle course with jumps, hoops, puzzles, and other things designed to test and inhance the intellect of an animal. They played for about an hour, then set had to get to class. he said his good-byes, fed her and left.

Freya scuffed her way down to the nursery, she was NOT feeling well in the slightest and her usually alert pale eyes had dark circles under them.

Before going into the nursery, Freya reached into her bag and took out a mask in order to cover her mouth and nose, then put on a pair of latex gloves, followed by a pair of leather gloves. She brought out a hair tie and lifted her wand up and pulled her hair into a high ponytail without using her hands. 'I must look like I'm ready to operate...suits me.' Freya finally pushed open the door and entered.

She walked over to Noor's cage and opened up the latched door. "Good afternoon, darling." Freya said as she kneeled down beside the cage. Noor gave Freya a strange look and began to shuffle her way to the back of her cage. "No no no...come here, it's me." Freya said calmy to the little animal, who suddenly didn't seem that tiny any more. "Gosh. I wonder how big you are going to get? Maybe the size of a cat, hm? I'd like that." She allowed Noor to play on the old blanket again while the cage was cleaned out and the food and water dishes were refilled.
Freya looked down at the floor, the room had started to spin and she became very tired. She picked Noor up off of the floor and placed her gently back into the cage. "I will be back later, love." Freya said to the animal, who waddled around her cage and began to roll her ball around with her nose. 'No sense getting her sick. At least I have the right equipment on...'
She stood up and made her way out of the nursery.

- Memoirs of a Phoenix -
.I.

Varius Tipps made his way down to the nursery where all the baby animals were being held. Unfortunately he hadn't had the time to come down prior to now due to his homework and investigations into the ghosts and their mysterious behaviours and reappearance's. No matter, this time was to be spent bonding with his given phoenix... which he named Frazzle.

He entered the stone building, surprised to see so many students here and dedicated to their cause! This made him feel kind of guilty for leaving Frazzle by himself for so long with no one to love... well, he was sure the Professor took care of him when he was gone, but that made him more disappointed in himself. HE wanted to be the one to help Lil' Frazzle out.

Walking along all the cages, he peered through each one, looking at the variety of animals that were available to the students (some were right uggbugs!), then he came across his little feather friend, with his little nametag on the front of his cage. "Hellllloooo cutiepie," he started cooing to the bird in the babiest baby voice ever, "How ish you, hm? How ish you?"

He opened the cage, reaching in to pick up the bird. He wasn't sure how quite to do this, but the scooping him up like ice cream technique seemed to work. "Helllllloooo," he cooed some more, pulling the gorgeous orange feathered creature closer to his face. The bird's eyes were that of a deep black, which one may find intimidating if he hadn't been a baby.

Glancing over the head of the small creature now nestled in his palms, he noticed all the poop everywhere. "Gross. You just had to go poopsy woopsy in your bed didn't you? You just couldn't wait till you were outside and saved me the hassle, hm? No? Could you not?" he tickled Frazzle's belly which resulted in the cutest and most innocent little caws.

Laughing, he placed Frazzle back in his cage before heading off to get the appropriate equipment to clean up this mess: gloves; apron; brush; rags; clean bedding. Little tyke! Making him work instead of allowing him to play!

Maddox walked into the nursery. It had been almost 24 hours since he had seen serefina. He knew she would be a bit bigger, since phoenix's matured in 5 days, but he was so excited to see her progess in action. He gently pulled the door open to the nursery, so as to not wake any of the other baby animals incase they were sleeping.


He gently closed the door back, and walked straight over to the phoenix's to find his Serefina. As soon as he saw her, he grinned. She was definatly bigger, and as glorious as ever. He bent down and opened the cage door, slipping his hand inside for her to waddle onto. Once she was onhis hand he slowly pulled her out of the cage, and walked over to the bag's of food labled 'Phoenix food.' He smiled and pulled the little one up to his face so he could see eye to eye with her. "Hungry my love?" She coo'ed a soft melody and exctiedly bounced in his hands while flapping her wings, that were to small to carry her plump little body just yet. Mads chuckled, "Alright, alright. Let me get some." He sat down on the ground, grabbed a handfull of food, and placed her gently next to it.


Maddox watched as she quickly gobbled all the food that was infront of her. Once she was finished, she waddled closer to him, and nuzzled at his calf. He grinned and scooped her up. "I guess your full then?" She coo'ed another soft, but slightly different melody, and he knew she was finished. Mads gently started rubbing her neck with his index finger. She rolled her eyes in the back of her head, and coo'ed with delight.


Then suddenly out of nowhere, the little bugger burped, and scorched mads fingers up pretty bad. He quickly took in a deep breath and quietly said, "Ouch!" He closed one eye, squinted the other, and clenched his jaw. Then suddenly the pain was gone. 'Oh....duh....Phoenix's have healing tears.' He looked down at the little phoenix, who looked a bit worried, (oddly enough), he smiled and rubbed her neck again. "Dont worry, good as new."


Maddox looked down at his watch, after endless neck rubbing, and tlking to the little baby. He had been there much longer then he expected to be. "Crap." He quickly stood up, kissed the phoenix on the top of the head, and said, "I will be back tomorrow my darling." He smiled, put her in the cage, shut the cage door, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door.

Tardyness was unacceptable.