Kurumi offered Professor Newlin a brave smile when she finally showed up. It was clear that the spark that had been there previously with the fire crab lesson was not there this time - and she was pretty sure that it wasn't because they were discussing a different creature today.

Finally taking a seat on one of the benches, Kurumi set her parchment an textbook on her lap while she reached for a quill with her other hand. Augureys. It reminded her of when her and August had tried to cheer one up while they had both been on a laughing potion of some sort. The details of the potion were a bit vague, but not how much her and her little lion brother had been laughing like hyenas.

Raising her hand, Kurumi waited for her turn before speaking. "Augureys, or Irish Phoenixes, are very shy creatures. It takes a lot of patience to lure them out of their nests, even with their favorite array of fairies and flies." She had waited patiently 3 hours once for one of them to come out, but had not been disappointed when it had.

Laura looked at Minerva and smiled as she went over to where her friend was, it wasn't fair though the Professor hadn't even answered her question, which wasn't at all nice, but well she was too busy daydreaming about things that she didn't think before answering the question. "Professor it's a fishbird that lives underwater and is huge right?"

Winter was one good season but when it comes to having lessons outside during that weather, it was just....a tad repulsive. Right now, all she wanted to do was snuggle with her puppy in front of the fireplace in their Common Room. Thankfully though, Professor Newlin had been considerate enough to have the lesson at the barn so the Ravenclaw doesn't have too much of regrets that she bounded off to attend it.

It was noticeable that only a few were there for the day's lesson. Granted, she wasn't really excited to tackle answering questions, chatter with people or just talking in general so she settled with sitting on a bench, eyeing the animals and the weird looking stand at the back of the barn until the Professor emerged, greeted them, declared the topic of today's and popped out the first question.

So. Types of birds. Not all. Only a few.

Augureys, hmm?

After digging her brain, she raised her hand, "Uhm. Augurey feathers are useless." Wait..that was a bit harsh. "I mean..when it comes to utilizing them as quill feathers because they repel inks." Yup.

His features darkened when the Lioness responded. "I really didnt want to use it either..." he mumbled back. "There should be some kind of school wide investigation, with so many birds dead in a single occurrence... inf fact shouldn't the Ministry be invo?--"




And he trailed off when the his gaze shifted to the Professor. Merlin he can have a really good idea what she's feeling. He prepped his lecture taking materials as he listened to her start her class...

Now what does he know about Augurey? "Augureys are native creatures to Great Britain and Ireland, although some colonies are found throughout Northern Europe." he offered after raising his hand.

Sarah nodded as Kurmumi spoke, she really liked those t-shirts anyway. She went to go find a different seat. By then the professor had arrived
Sarah knew about them, she had fed them once " they eat fairies, insects and flies.. I fed them once here" said Sarah. The teacher had said only one answer per question and that was what she did.
"By the way, do you have a t-shirt like that for me?" Sarah asked

As Em sat there waiting for class to start, she found herself thinking about the future. She was still all confused and undecided about what she wanted to study. She was only pulled from her thoughts when the professor began speaking. What did she know about Augureys? Em raised her hand to say the first thing that popped into her head, “ Although we now know that they foretell when its going to rain, people used to avoid them because they thought their cries foretold...” Em trailed off unable to finish. She had heard about the Jobberknoll, and hadn't meant to go anywhere near the death topic.

When things started to get underway, Sierra had the opportunity to glance around the area. Spotting the professor, she saw that the woman had on her Team Jobberknoll t-shirt..., and so did Kurumi Hollingberry, too. A year ago, Sierra would have had a fit over that, but she and Kurumi were cool now. Why would Sierra have had a fit? Well, because she was wearing her own Team Jobberknoll shirt, as well. She looked down at it briefly before turning her attention back to Newlin.

Sierra really didn't care that much for saving the Jobberknolls. She just wore the shirt so Newlin would be impressed...

...anyway. Question time. Sierra raised her hand. "It eats insects, fairies, and flies," she said, making a slight face at the very thought. "...and it hunts for them in the heavy rain." Why, though? Weird bird.

Minerva listened as the professor came in. She looked very sad, it must be over the Jobberknolls that had died. Wondering if she knew abou their last potion and how much Jobberknoll blood they had to use, would that give a clue to what happened or would it just make her more upset? Minerva decided to just let it go for now and continued to listen to the lesson. When she asked about Augureys and Minerva really had to think. She had seen that name before what did she hear about them, putting up her hand: "Professor, they are also called the Irish Phoenix." Yes, that's all she could remember at the time about those birds, but seeing one would be really neat.

Alex raised his hand. This was the only class where he actually knew stuff off the top of his head and didn't have to look at his notes in order to answer questions. "Augurey's often sing when it rains, but people used to think that meant death was coming. People were superstitious I guess," he added with a shrug.

Augurey? You mean that bird, that weird looking bird? It looked more like a defected vulture than a bird to Kat. Remembering that encounter with an augurey years ago, Kat cringed at remembering its dull face. It was so thin, like a twig. And very delicate. And... ugh.

Since everyone else had took Kat's answer, Kat dug her brain for another one. Augureys weren't that dangerous, right? "The Ministry of Magic classified it as XX," Kat said. They haven't said that, right?

Ella listened as Kurumi informed her that Professor Newlin had actually come up with the shirts, a small smile on her face. She totally understood the woman's passion towards the creatures, as she was very passionate on the subject too. The third year also totally understood the t-shirt for a cause idea, as she wanted to make and did make SAVE WILLIAMSON shirts when her favorite Professor abandoned her left for bigger and brighter opportunities. She really hoped she could help out with Newlin's cause somehow, vowing to talk to her about it after class.

Speaking of Professor Newlin, Ella really just wanted to hug her right now... But not the weird kind of hug Elijah gave her in the barn, a nice normal one. Nod. Nod. She just looked so so sad, and like she needed someone to give her a big bowl of ice cream with gummy worms on top. Ella could surely do that for her. Mhm!

Oh...and they'd be discussing birds today? Tough subject considering. As for what she knew about Augureys, the third year raised her hand. "Professor, I've read that Augurey feathers repel ink, so they can't be used for quills."

The professor didn't seem very put together at all and she wondered what that was all about and why certain people were wearing weird shirts. She would have to get with Elliot and see if she knew anything. Weird.

They would be dealing with birds today? That should be rather easy. She raised her hand. "Professor they are thin and mournful looking birds." Kinda like how the professor looked right now, but she of course kept that comment to herself.

Belle was kind of sympathetic toward the Professor, she did not look like she wanted to be here. She looked kind of sick but she gave her a lot of credit for wanting to teach a lesson.

Then she heard her question and wondered if she knew anything about the Augury's. Belle had seen them once before. Belle raised her hand and said, "Professor i know these birds Augury's is it? They appear to be mournful looking birds. They were used for weather forecasters back in the day." Belle knew that information because her grandma would talk about them a lot actually.

When Em arrived, Max sat up straighter, beamed at the girl walking toward him, and forgot all about the bird stands. He tried his best to shove the hanging scarf deeper into his pocket so his appearance was tidier, but he gave up as soon as she sat down and he hadn't succeeded. "Hey, Em," he replied softly. That was all he had time to say before Newlin entered and started class.

Frowning at her demeanor, Max did his best to give the professor encouraging smiles as she spoke. Augureys? That was a cool topic. He stuck his hand in the air after Emmaleigh and elaborated a bit, "Well, err, their name is related to the root word 'augur,' which means 'prophet' or 'to predict'? And, err, 'augury,' without the E, is the practice of... divination of some kind. So... that relates to what they said," he used his head to gesture to the few others who had mentioned something about an augurey foretelling death and/or rain. "They're avian prophets."

He thought that was funny.

Vivi studied the matching t-shirts with some interest. She'd suggested something similar in her own essay, and she'd been part of the investigation into what had happened to the poor jabberknolls, but she'd neither considered or been offered a t-shirt. Apparently only people who didn't really have a connection to the birds or the case were given them. Odd.

"They moan or sing when bad weather is about to happen, which used to be considered an excellent meteorological indicator. Except I guess it got annoying during winter months when it's just constantly bad outside, because most people don't use them in that way anymore." But there were always some devoted to their craft and to research, so Vivi supposed there were witches and wizards out there who were still interested in auguries and weather prediction.

It was upsetting to see young Professor Newlin so sad. Eliza had never met the jobberknolls and only knew they had died because of the chatter in Potions class, so her hurt wasn't too great over them. She was still sad to know they had died though. I still want to know why though! She frowned at the thought, but quickly forced a cheerier look again for the sake of their professor. It wouldn't help her keep her chin up if all the students were moping too. Then they might have a big sad-fest on their hands and while touching, it wasn't the most conducive behavior for learning.

Everyone had already said all she knew about Augreys so she didn't raise her hand, lest the call her a mockingbird, or a parrot - repeating back what she'd heard already. She took a few notes down about Augreys while she waited for what she hoped would be a meet and greet feeding time, judging by the seeds. As long as they didn't have to feed them fairies, she'd be fine.

Oh. Birds. Not as fun as monkeys. But Anya could cope. As long as she got to play with the dodo.

She watched as her classmates rattled off information about the vulture!bird.

She raised her hand. "Some people own them as pets." Or stole them. Or something. But she'd already shared that with the Professor before.

Jory raised his hand. "They would moan for long period of time during winter time and people could hardly bear it'' he said. That must be one bored bird as they had nothing else to do during winter.

Cora never thought that the one class she absolutely LOVED the most she could ever NOT want to be at. But there were too many sad memories here. Tears were in her eyes already, and Cora fought to be excited. She was excited though regardless. This was her FAVORITE. And FAVORITE PROFESSOR. EVERYTHING.

Glancing at Elliot, who looked rather upset, Cora gave a hopefully meaningful look. Then she waved at Eliza, and smiled at Ethan. No time for chat, sadly. With the mention of birds, Cora perked up. She loved them, of course, like everything else.

She knew a lot about birds, so she debated what to mention about them. "Augureys are extremely shy," like me, "and they live in tear-shaped nests." Cora liked other things that were shy. She understood them way more. She said all this a bit louder than her usual inaudible voice, with a small smile on her face.

As soon as the Professor asked the question, Bliss thought long and hard about it. Now she'd heard of Augurey birds before, as her Mother actually had a few in the families animal rescue centre, but she'd never gotten the chance to find out a lot about them she just knew a few basic facts.

So helpful, right?

Nonetheless, Bliss raised her hand and told the Professor what she knew. "Well, Professor, they're bird that are quite mournful looking," she said, then thought about what else she could say. "Um, they can often be heard singing when it's raining or just before and that's why some people thought to use them as a sort of weather forecaster," Bliss finished and smiled brightly at the Professor. She wasn't one hundred percent sure that she was right, but neeever mind.

She'd tried, at least.

So....they were learning about Augureys...ahhh. The green birds, right? With the awful sound? She was familiar with this bird, actually. Quite surprising, seeing as Elliot hadn't had much familiarity with animals at all...

She raised her hand, clearing her throat. "Weren't their cries believed to be death omens at one point?" right? She didn't know if anyone said this already, but she also didn't much care. because that was interesting. Obviously it's cry wasn't a death omen...death omens didn't even exist, did they? Or, at least, Elliot didn't believe so. The grim..it was all bluff, in her opinion. She would have said more...but...well, the Professor only wanted one thing for person.

So...whatever..

And those shirts..Elliot couldn't stop staring at them. They were weird. Did Elliot want one? Did she...care enough? She HAD been the first on the scene..so she probably look good and--wait, since WHEN did she care about looking good?!

She had a rep to contain..*nods*

So no shirt, then. Nope.

Even if she didn't really feel the subject, Louisa couldn't help but feel solemn when the professor's lip wibbled or her voice caught at some of the words. Poor professor Newlin. The Ravenclaw was kind of staring at the woman for far too long and too intently until the student next to her raised their hands and spoke.

Clearing her throat Louisa raised her hand and cleared her throat again (it was her nervous/touched/awkward reaction). "Due to their moaning, like the others said, the Augureys were refused as weather foretellers." Everyone thought it was annoying. She would too. The Ravenclaw thought she'd make that clear since everyone already gave sufficient answers.

The Professor didn't look very good today...not that she blamed her. Losing all those Jobberknolls must have been hard for her. For a moment she thought of how it would feel to find Felix dead one day but quickly shook the thought out of her mind. Felix wouldn't die; he was going to live FOREVER...just like her, duh.

Her eyes followed the woman as she went and got a couple of those funny looking stands. They were most likely for birds but Lex couldn't help but wonder if that would be such a good idea. It was a bit too soon after the poor little guys died if you asked her.

She raised her hand slowly. "Professor...those birds whine a lot don't they? Like they make sad noises often...kinda depressing really--and some people thought they only cried when they were warning about a death!!" Yeah...she knew that last part really well. It was the only reason she wanted one of those bloody things in the first place! If she got one she could make it cry then tell her step-mother she was dying; now THAT would have been funny but of course...her father said no...

Relieved that there were no creepy fire breathing creatures from where he sat, Daichi's eyes first landed on Kurumi seeing her wearing a curious looking shirt and then to Sierra when he saw that she was wearing the same. Wondering what it was for, Daichi was about to ask but class began and he kept quiet.

Wait, even the Professor was wearing that shirt! What was going on? what had he missed? HE WANTED ONE TOO NOW! hmpf! Looking at the Professor and the bird stand she dragged along, Daichi listened to her question before raising his hand.

"You can't use the feathers from an Augurey cause they repel ink, Professor" he said and lowered his hand.

Ahh.

As much as Vanora didn't want to be up there, standing in front of a bunch of students teaching them about any type of bird creature, it did put her in a better mood hearing all their answers. It seemed like they really knew their stuff. And although she didn't want to have to talk, there were just a few answers that needed to be responded to.

Take one, Ms. Laura Hyde. Where did that girl come up with the things she said? The girl was purposely ignored when asked about the whole teaching thing. Merlin only knew what she would have to say.

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, but might I suggest taking a trip to the library?" Or.. you know, opening up her text book once in a while. Perhaps even taking a class that the girl would be good at. Like Divination.

She had just nodded her head at Sarah, who she knew had fed the Augureys, and had done a good job at that, but her question was one that could not be ignored. It even put a smile on the Professor's face. "Of course I do!" Well, not at that very moment, but seeing as she wanted one, she could have one for her.

"Stay after class and I can get you one." Vanora paused, and glanced around at the rest of the students. "That goes for anyone who wants one." Would it be too much if they started a fundraiser of some kind?

She'd think more about that.

"That's right!" Another smile graced her face as she turned to Sierra, who was also wearing her Save the Jobberknoll shirt. "And do you know why they hunt only while it's raining?"

Oh, very good!

Vanora had been waiting for that to come up. And while she wasn't much of a Divination fan, some of the divining methods were just wrong on so many levels, she had to appreciate that the subjects could be connected in some way. Creatures could be used in every subject! "Right you are. Augury is Divination that interprets signs or events dealing with nature. That includes bird flying patterns!"

But if he wanted more information on that, she would send him right to Professor Elwood.

Well, at least little Anya wasn't mentioning anything about riding the creatures this time. Although, it would be just a little more realistic to ride a Fire Crab rather than an Augurey. Vanora nodded anyway. "They could be kept as pets, yes. But as your classmate said," she gestured towards Genevieve, "during the winter months, they sing so much and aren't really wanted around."

They were not annoying, though.

"Can you name someone who kept them as a pet?" She was kind of regretting that question.



The one answer she was hoping would not be said, was said. Over, and over, and over again. Of course, if things would have been different, she would have been kind of excited to hear that answer. The misconception of animals and creatures was a great thing.

But, she simply could not ignore those answers, no matter how much she wanted to. "Good job, everyone!" Except Laura. But she wasn't going to say that. "There's no way we can figure out why people thought that about the Augurey," she was not going to repeat what was said, "since those thoughts happened so long ago and people know better now, but perhaps after taking a look for yourself, up close, you'll have your own theories about it." She knew she had her own. Taking a few steps away from the congregated students, Vanora held up her arm and gave a whistle. It took just a few moments, but finally the greenish black bird emerged from the rafters and flew down to gently land on her arm.

She was not going to mention how long it took her to get him to actually do that.

"This is an Augurey!" Obviously. Professor Newlin moved back over to the bird stands she had grabbed earlier, just in case the bird wanted to.. get off her arm. She couldn't finish the lesson with him being so clingy. "He's shy, but if you want to, you can all come up, one at a time, though, to feed or pet him." Birds liked to be petted. "Their feathers are just a little bit oily, which explains why they can't be used as quills. It also explains why they are such great hunters during the rain." Yup.

And since the lesson wasn't just about the Augurey, the Augurey who had decided to perch himself on the bird stand instead of her arm and stare at everyone expectantly.. "While you all do that, who can tell me what they know about the Diricawl?"

OOC: Thank you all for being patient with meeeee! *glomps you all* If you're going to have your charrie go up and pet the Augurey or feed him, just pretend they're going up one at a time. No need to actually wait. XD