Ew.

Hollingberry was here. Just Sierra's luck. All she wanted to do was come down here, fulfill her half of this duck pond bargain she'd made with the groundskeeper, and then head on her merry way. ...but nooo.

Sierra felt something push into her, and she closed her eyes and drew in a sharp breath to keep from saying something she'd regret. No sense in getting on the bad side of Headmaster Tate. Nope. None at all.

This was why she hated creatures, though. Did this hippogriff need something? Why, oh why, did she always manage to run into needy creatures? She looked at the hippogriff, eyeing it and discovering that it wasn't really acting like any hippogriff she'd ever seen.

What a Hufflepuff of a creature...

Gryffindor?!

Did Tate just claim she was acting overly Gryffindor?! Argh... The few times she'd run into this man, he'd always had something to say that made her want to roll her eyes. Authority, though. Authority, and she'd respect him.

If not, she'd be grounded until at least age forty...

She stepped out of the way and surveyed the creature from an area that made her less...well...involved.

"It came from the Forest, it seems," Tate gave the girl a sideways glance. It wasn't precisely a stupid question, since they obviously didn't have hippogriffs wandering the grounds normally, but based on the reactions of her peers, he would think it quite obvious that everyone was equally surprised to see it.

"You are welcome to visit Williamson's hut to let him know, but don't run... back away slowly. And if he isn't at his hut, return here and let me know... slowly."

"He does seem confused." Tate had worked with hippogriffs when he was a boy, although not much since, and he remembered them being a bit arrogant, if a creature could be called such. Certainly not jumpy and cowed. Ill or lost or unhappy... an animal out of sorts was worse than just encountering an animal.

"Step back from that creature, young miss. You see a professor and several prefects being cautious and keeping their distance, but you somehow believe you are better matched against such a dangerous animal? That's bold. I suggest you stand down and keep your wits about you, and if you and your mate here want to continue chatting, you shouldn't do it while facing down danger." Honestly, Williamson needed an entire class about Encountering Dangerous Animals and What Not To Do.

"So long as it isn't acting aggressive, I think we ought to wait on Williamson."

"Pardon us, Headmaster i was just trying to get her away from the Hippogriff. We'll stand back." Maxwell said pulling Violet away from the scene.

Oakey watched from the ground as Head Master Tate and the prefects handled situation the best they could without playing dead like Oakey was doing(such a genius). But playing dead was only helping himself, and not the others. Slowly...slowly he sat up, and looked at Alyssa I'll go with you if you need help he told his hufflepuff friend. Playing dead was a great idea better than all this bowing, but the COMC Professor might know what to really do.

Kurumi was still frozen in her bowing position by the lake with her sewing needles in one hand and the bag of yarn hanging off her right shoulder. Seeing that the hippogriff had moved away from her, she figured that she probably should move backwards...but that would mean falling INTO the duck pond which certainly wasn't going to help the situation.

Still...Kurumi was pretty far away from the creature and, surprisingly, the ONLY person who was bowing to the hippogriff. What was strange to the Gryffindor was that the creature hadn't responded to the bow at all. Not really anyway. No squawking or indicating that the bow was accepted or rejected...just made a direct pass towards Sierra.

Interesting...VERY interesting...Kurumi would just stay where she was...bowing...she was good at bowing...

Thank Merlin that the Headmaster was here though.

Arya watched as students seemed attracted to the dangerous creature like moths to a light, glad the headmaster was here to keep them all at bay. Didn't they know the hippogriff could kill them if frightened even more? She was gonna stay right here by Tate and the ducks, and wait for the creatures professor. Maybe after this he'd let her play with Jack again.

"Yes Headmaster. I'll go there right now."Alyssa told the Headmaster as she slowly backed away from the creature, still bowing and keeping eye contact until she had backed up enough that it was safe to straighten up. She turned and walked slowly out of the area and was preparing to sprint down to Professor Williamson's hut when she heard Oakey call out to her.



"I can manage but if you want to come along. Sure. I have no problems with that," Alyssa called out to him. "Try to keep up though because I'm not slowing down for you."she told him as she started sprinting down towards the Magical Creatures Sanctuary and Professor Williamson's hut.

Logan walked down to the Duck Pond, which was truly one of his favorite places. He had brought all his art gear so he could paint the pond...hopefully with a few ducks in it if they were in the 'shot'. He smiled and set it up and began painting it. This painting was for Ella. He smiled as he painted it, thinking of her.

Hey. Wait up then. He slowly got to his feet and back up slowly away from the duck pond and followed Alyssa to Williamson's Hut.

Violet felt her face warm up in embarrassment for not knowing what to do. She hadn't seen such a magnificent creature before and didn't know how dangerous they were. "I'm very sorry, Headmaster. It won't happen again." She muttered. "I should be leaving now." and headed back to Maxwell.


Violet brushed past Maxwell quickly. "Come on. I think I really need my head checked in the hospital wing again. How could I have not known to keep my safety first before creatures." Violet shook her head in disbelief.

Alyssa came sprinting back to where everybody was waiting. As she got nearer, she slowed down to a fast walk and then as she reached the Headmaster, she whispered to him. "We found him, Headmaster. Professor Williamson is on his way now."

And speak of the devil, there was Williamson now. He approached the duck pond with his hands tucked loosely into his pockets, clearly not as.... agitated nor excited as the children fetching him had been. He surveyed the pond slowly, his eyes taking in the scene and not noticing anything particularly odd about it all.

Sure, there was a wild hippogriff drinking out of the pond, and sure, there were a lot of ducks floating around there, but what was weird about that? Even hippogriffs had to drink to stay alive. Still, Will made his way over to the Headmaster behind Alyssa, as requested, and gave the boss man an amicable smile.

"You rang..........sir?"

Oakey followed Professor Williamson back to the pond. He seemed completely relaxed all the way over here. Guess that's why he's the COMC professor Oakey thought to himself. Oakey reached the pond and stood behind Head Master Tate and Williamson when he arrived. Best to keep the experienced Wizards in front of him and a wild Hippogriff right?

"All right i'll go with you." Maxwell said reaching for her hand and leading her to the castle.

The students were being more cautious, although he seemed to have scared a few of them off in the meantime. Still, Tate was happy to see the Care of Magical Creatures professor coming up from the grounds.

Hmm.

"Is this one of yours?"

One of his? Oh so the hippogriffs were his now, were they? Williamson would be sure to remind Tate of this fact when he eventually retired/left/was fired from Hogwarts. And he would be taking all the hippogriffs with him, as a result.

He cocked his head at the creature, peering across the pond and studying its features as best as he was able. William was looking for any remarkable features or signs of domestication, training, etc. but wasn't finding any from this distance.

"Nope. It's a wild thang, all right. Straight out of that roaming herd from the Forbidden Forest, by the looks of it."

Alyssa knew that it was rude to interrupt both the Headmaster and Professor Williamson. "Excuse me Headmaster and Professor. I know that it's rude to interrupt adults when they are talking but I just wanted to let you know that I noticed some movement in the Forbidden Forest, as I left the Sanctuary to get back here. I saw some students hanging out near there, but I know that it can't be them moving in there because we're forbidden to enter it. Could it be that there's something going on in the Forbidden Forest that's scaring these creatures and making them come out into the open?" ALyssa whispered to the both of them.

"And yet it is roaming without a herd right here at the duck pond," Tate pointed out, rather helpfully, if he did say so himself. Wasn't that curious, Mr. Animal-Behavior-Specialist? WASN'T IT CURIOUS?

Hmph. Tate shrugged. "So the students needn't be concerned?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88

Alyssa knew that it was rude to interrupt both the Headmaster and Professor Williamson. "Excuse me Headmaster and Professor. I know that it's rude to interrupt adults when they are talking but I just wanted to let you know that I noticed some movement in the Forbidden Forest, as I left the Sanctuary to get back here. I saw some students hanging out near there, but I know that it can't be them moving in there because we're forbidden to enter it. Could it be that there's something going on in the Forbidden Forest that's scaring these creatures and making them come out into the open?" ALyssa whispered to the both of them.

"So even though you know it's rude to interrupt someone's conversation when they're talking, and even though you know it's against the school rules to lurk around or in the Forbidden Forest, you choose to do these things anyway, Alyssa, and then admit them in from the Headmaster?"

Williamson turned from Tate to give the girl a LOOK that clearly pointed out how.... idiotic she was being. He shook his head, however, and pointedly did not address the 'news' she thought she was delivering.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

"And yet it is roaming without a herd right here at the duck pond," Tate pointed out, rather helpfully, if he did say so himself. Wasn't that curious, Mr. Animal-Behavior-Specialist? WASN'T IT CURIOUS?

Hmph. Tate shrugged. "So the students needn't be concerned?"

"Right." Willy turned back to the Headmaster and shrugged. "Probably not, but I still wouldn't let them near it. Obviously, it's a hippogriff, and hippogriffs have an interesting history with Hogwarts students." Tate would know what William was talking about. "I'm going to take it back to the forest anyway."

What was with all these animals trying to socialize with the students anyway? Silly creatures. They should just go to the Sanctuary if they wanted to be petted or fed a carrot or steak or whatever. William shook his head as he moved around the edge of the pond, approaching the hippogriff at a leisurely pace. He stopped with a great deal of space between him and the creature and made eye contact, staring him down before sweeping into a low bow.

And now we wait.

Oakey stepped slightly more behind Head Master Tate when Williamson (half of his current Professor shield) closed his distance between himself and the creature.

What?! Now even Williamson began to bow to the Hippogriff? had Oakey missed out on something, was this creature really that royally important that it need to be bowed to by everyone that stood a few feet away from it?

Excuse me sir? Oakey said to the Head Master trying to get his attention, who was facing the other direction. Since I showed up everybody's been bowing to the Hippogriff, including Professor Williamson just now. He jutted his finger forward pointing at the COMC Professor. I wanna know why Sir. It's not some royal prince in disguise is it?

The hippogriff watched him bow low... what was with all these bowing people... He slowly approached the man... it was scared. And it didn't know what it wanted... Maybe it was trying to lure it?

Then the boy spoke.

The hippogriff got scared. So scared infact that it pulled itself up on it's back hoofs, jumping up a couple of times, front tallons long and sharp, not caring where they were landing. It backed up back to it's hiding spot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HIPPOGRIFF!

The hippogriff watched him bow low... what was with all these bowing people... He slowly approached the man... it was scared. And it didn't know what it wanted... Maybe it was trying to lure it?

Then the boy spoke.

The hippogriff got scared. So scared infact that it pulled itself up on it's back hoofs, jumping up a couple of times, front tallons long and sharp, not caring where they were landing. It backed up back to it's hiding spot.

Judging from the confused look in the hippogriff's eye, Williamson was betting that it hadn't been taught.... anything. Not even how to bow. So now he was caught between a rock and a hard place, with the rock being the crowd of people behind him expecting him to deal with this creature, and the hard place being the hippogriff in front of him acting all.... dazed and confused.

William straightened up just as the Hufflepuff behind him spoke, spooking the hippogriff up onto its heels. He threw his hands over his head as he backed up, managing to defer any blows to his head. His arms got scratched up nicely, though, and William winced at the pain, trying not to look and see how badly they were bleeding yet.

"Whoa, whoa there, buddy, shhhhhshshhhshh," he whispered urgently, peeking out from between his arms as he continued backing. He whirled around for a moment, making ANGRY EYES at the kid, before turning back to the hippogriff....er...wherever it was.

"We're here to help you, not hurt you, all right?" He spoke in calm, soothing tones, calling out to the hiding hippa. "Are you lost, buddy? You lost?"

Arya listened to the conversation with intrest occasionally glancing back over at the large creature. What was this interesting history and could she find it in the books? Or maybe just ask.

After this was over of course, since it seemed that all voices would frighten the poor thing. Her eyes widened a bit in alarm when the hippogriff reared up, and she turned to the younger Hufflepuff, shushing him with her finger.

Didn't want the professor hurt, did we?

The hippogriff poked his head out from behind the tree he was hiding behind and make a loud squalk. Loud and angry... he was scratching at the ground.

Oakey hadn't meant to scare the Hippogriff. He thought he was quite enough for only Tate to hear his question. He took a few steps back to put some more distance between the action Covering his mouth as soon as his prefect shushed him and turning around to avoid facing anymore evil stares from Williamson. He hoped that the Professor wasn't to badly hurt.