Minerva smiled as she watched Ethan take his fire crab and get it in the bucket. She then giggled a bit when he had said to be careful, "I will.. I promise." Shaking her head at Sparks for making her look silly as he tooted fire. Looking at her bucket she made sure Sparks seemed comfortable and he looked more then comfortable. Leaning closer to her bucket she smiled at the creature, "Well don't you look like Mr. Relaxed." she soothed at the Fire Crab. "They look like they are really enjoying their baths." she smiled over at Ethan. Minerva then followed Ethan's lead and sat down near her bucket taking off her gloves, "Yes I'm glad you remembered them, because if I didn't see you put yours on I might have forgot." she really was grateful after the little flame came out of sparks.

Minerva then looked at the next step. "Okay so the next step is to get the soft bristled brush." Standing back up she went and got two brushes and came back over handing one to Ethan. "Here you go." she smiled then looked back at what they were to do with the brushes.

Giving the crab a little time to soak Minerva finally picked up Sparks carefully and started the circular motion with her brush on it's shell. "You seem to be liking this." she laughed a bit towards sparks. Trying to work carefully, Minerva made sure to hit all the areas that had build up and then reached around to get the crabs belly and jewels. She wanted to make sure the little guy was super clean so she carefully redid all of her cleaning of it's shell.Once she was done she checked the Fire Crab.. "Looking good little guy"

Then something caught her attention that Ethan had said. "Entertainment??" She looked up.. Cartwheels.. Shirtless... WHAT??? Please don't be a Hufflepuff.. please don't be a Hufflepuff... She couldn't help but laugh though, "Oh wow, you just never know what your going to see here." Looking over to Ethan and trying to control her giggles. "What on earth??" she just felt shocked for seeing this and she didn't think she could be shocked anymore.

Belle saw that Ella was done cleaning her fire crab and cleaned the cage for Martin. Belle smiled and asked her, "It wasn't so bad was it? I mean we conquered it together. Remember we were both scared to go near them?" Belle asked her.

Belle checked her notebook for the last step.


When Belle was done cleaning Jeremy and she knew the professor should look at his unusual discharge, she cleaned him up and he was still wet. Belle placed Jeremy in his cage. He seemed upset that Belle was leaving him. He was clawing at the cage and steaming. Belle felt sad to leave him there. Once she put the cloth to cover his cage. He seemed calmer and maybe go into a nice deep sleep after being massaged. "Bye Jeremy, i will never forget you. I will come visit sometime." Belle promised him.

When the instructions were given, Penelope tried to write them down quickly on a piece of parchment. She'd definitely forget them if she didn't. Then she pulled out her gloves and put them on, but she frowned slightly at Lily's suggestion. "I'm...not really good with spells..." she admitted. 'Cause to get the water they'd have to use that Aguamenti spell, right? "So it might be better if you did the water part, and I can get the crabs in the bucket." Unless they wanted to be stuck on the water part for the rest of the lesson, which was probably what would happen if she tried it.

Okay... so Lily had chosen a partner who wasn't good at spells. So how was this girl a second year witch if she wasn't good at one of the most basic of spells? The third year didn't complain though. Instead, she slipped her gloves off and took out her wand. "Okay... so you take out the crabs and I'll fill the buckets up with water." Just so they knew what was going to happen...

"One... Two.... Three.... GO!" She said, opening the first cage so that Penelope could reach in and get the fire crab... hopefully without burning herself. As soon as the cage was open and Lily knew that her partner could get the fire crab out, the claw was focused on the next task... filling up the buckets without spraying everyone or getting the crab upset. So Lily cleared her throat, pointed her wand into the bucket, and said "Aguamenti," just in time to see a nice stream of water starting to fill the bucket.

"Okay... go ahead and put the fire crab in."

Cassia rose to her feet and moved her arms in a circular shape because she needed to get the blood going after repeating the same moves for so long. Stretching her limbs and her torso, the second-year carried the fire crab and grinned at him. "See! you are now glowing!" Yup and thanks to her. As instructed she placed it in the cage again. Waving at it with a HUGE grin, Cassia covered the cage muttering," Bye-bye fire-fartter!"

And she did it without getting burnt.!

Yaaay.

Crouching again she reached for the brush and washcloth and started rinsing them in the water. Well, they weren't that dirty so it didn't take much time to clean them. Cassia though of drying them but she didn't know any spell. Or maybe she knew but forgot…that happens A LOT.

The snake looked around her to see what the others were doing. What was Blue doing? Most of students seemed to have almost finished …..well except for the older Hufflepuff whose hobby obviously is stripping and West's sister. Hmm….Cassia wondered what were they doing. Maybe she'd find out when they were done? Though it seemed that they were just goofing and not doing anything serious. But Cassia wasn't going to judge by the looks. What was that proverb don't judge something by its whatever? Yeah that one.

Cassia stood shifting her weigh on her feet. She had kept a mental note to ask Professor Newlin something. What was it? Mmm….. well.. a mental note to remember the previous mental note.

No wait she remembered! Cassia searched for the Professor around and shot her hand up in the air. "Professor! Can I pluck a jewel out of my fire crab as a reward 'cos I cleaned him?!" The twelve-years old asked enthusiastically, "Pretty please!" She added eyes glimmering with excitement already. Surely Professor Newlin wouldn't mind, right? The creature seemed to have plenty of jewelries. Eeeeeep. She was going to get a souvenir. Though she doesn't have an idea how is she going to pluck a jewel out but she'll figure something out.

Clearly the professor was too busy helping other students, so Eliza stopped trying to bother her.
She moved on to Step Two in the instructions.

She picked up the brush and began lightly scrubbing her crab’s shell. Little particles clouded the water as she cleaned its gorgeous fuchsia and indigo colored jewels. “It’s okay,” she said in a cute voice to her crab, “We’re going to get you all shiny and new again.” She hoped the crab appreciated all of these nice bedside manners she was trying to give it. “Are you a boy or a girl?” she asked it.

She turned the crab slightly on its side, so she could brush around the rim of the shell. “I’m going to say you’re a girl crab, because of your colors and all.” She brushed a little more. “Maybe that’s a bit narrow-minded though. What do you think?” She really didn’t mind that she was talking to the crab so much. She didn’t have a partner after all, and the crab could probably use a good conversation.

Still frowning, Penelope was at least relieved when Lily didn't decide not to be partners anymore. Because who really wanted to partner with someone who was rubbish with spells? Maybe this was something she ought to start saying before partner activities actually started, so no one would have to be stuck with her...

But anyway...

Once the cage was open, Penelope bent down and reached into the cage and carefully picked up the fire crab. Moving slowly so she wouldn't frighten it and get burned, she pulled it out of the cage, carried it over to the bucket with water, and set the fire crab gently down in it. "Good," she said softly, giving the fire crab a gentle stroke on its shell before turning to get the second one.

Bending down once more, she opened the cage and reached in carefully to pick up the crab. As she pulled it out, this one seemed to get a little agitated, so she stopped for a moment, hoping the fire crab wouldn't start shooting her with its fire. Fortunately, it appeared to decide she wasn't a threat and relaxed again. Thank Merlin. Penelope carefully carried it over to the other bucket and set it down just as gently.

"Now just give it some water too." And then they'd be almost done with the first step.

Ethan clapped again for the flaming acrobat as it seemed the show was coming to a close and turned to Miranda as she began laughing at the performance. "Unusual... but rather amusing," he said with a chuckle, feeling well entertained during the short lull of the class.

Had the fire crabs finished simmering? Ethan suddenly remembered his assignment and turned his attention back to Brûle. The little guy seemed very relaxed in his warm bath and the Ravenclaw began massaging his shell with his bare hands, removing a few bits of caked-on debris. Once finished, the boy looked up to see Miranda had brought him a brush. "Hey, thanks," he said, shooting her a grin. This working with a partner thing wasn't half bad, he thought. He didn't have to remember all the steps (which he didn't), because he had someone next to him to tell him. Not that he was lazy, exactly, but it sure made things easier.

Brush in hand, Ethan first watched Minerva scrub Sparks, then he mirrored her movements with his own fire crab, gently scrubbing in circular movements and checking the jewels on his back. The water was starting to get really dirty... should he change it? Depended on what else they needed to do, he guessed. Scrubbing done, he put down his brush, and looked over to Minerva. "So what's next?"

"Sapphire," Vivi glanced over at the boy's fire crab before turning her attention back to her own crab. She obviously preferred the blue, but Bob was being such a sport about being cleaned, even poking out his head and making little yawning faces at her. Awww... he loved being cleaned.

"Yeah, we should use Aguamenti to rinse them, and then we need to put the boys back into their cages while they're still a bit damp. Probably to avoid getting caught on fire, although I think Bob is broken. Or he's in love with me." And what fire crab wouldn't fall in love with the girl who was rubbing his belly, hmm?

She flipped her bucket and set Bob on top to avoid getting him dirty again on the ground, and from there she rinsed the fire crab thoroughly. He didn't seem to enjoy this nearly as much, tucking his head back into the shell and pulling up his legs. Adorable. She wanted one.

"Let's give you a look and see if you... are... perfect. Bob is perfect." Vivi ran her hands over the shell again, although by now she was so familiar with the surface that she was certain Bob didn't have a single imperfection. "Good boy, Bob. I wish I had a treat for you, because you've been very well behaved."

And now he could go right back in his cage, although she'd rather keep him out and chat.

SPOILER!!: Instructions

Step One:
Fill the bucket up with enough water to make sure the rear of the Fire Crab is completely covered. While letting soak for several minutes, lightly rub the shell with your fingertips to feel for any soft spots or cracks. (Soaking will allow any buildup, caused by its flames, to loosen)

Step Two:
With a soft bristled brush, gently scrub the entire shell using a light, circular motion. Pay special attention to any areas with buildup, mostly around their colored jewels and under the rim of the shell. Be careful not to brush areas covered in scales. They tend to be sensitive.

Step Three:
Gently massage the Fire Crab shell, under body, legs and tail with a soft, wet washcloth. This will loosen most soil. Don't worry if small flakes are released from the shell! This is just normal shedding. Rinse the Fire Crab to remove flakes.

Step Four:
Rinse the Fire Crab thoroughly. Closely inspect the shell for any irregularities, such as softening, excessive flaking, cracks, unusual discharge, or discolorations. Discoloration would occur on the jewels.

Step Five:
While still wet, place the Fire Crab back in the cage and cover with the cage with a dark colored cloth (the ones that covered it earlier). Rinse out supplies.

Minerva looked back at the show going on and that's when she recognized him.. "OH NO.. not again.. NO.. why a Hufflepuff.." she shook her head, they didn't need anymore points taken and he was sure to get some taken with this little show, he was the same one that had his shirt off in transfiguration. Shaking her head she tried to ignore him and hoped the professor had a good sense of humor.

Looking back at Sparks now that he was finished being brushed she tried to make sure she had done it correctly, not wanting to make a mistake. She then looked at Ethan when she heard him ask her a question, "Oh yes next step." she blushed a bit, so worried about the brushing she kind of forgot there was a next step. "Step three was to take the wash cloth and message the Fire Crab getting soil off of it and some of the flakes." She smiled at the fire crab and grabbed her wash cloth. "Well here we go" she dabbed the washcloth into the water and then started messaging Sparks. "I hope you like this little guy." she cooed at the Fire Crab trying to keep him calm as she moved around the shell. Seeing the flakes made her a bit nervous but the professor said that it was normal so she tried not to worry about it to much.

"How are you doing Ethan?" she asked making sure he didn't need help or that he was doing well. She really liked working with him, it was nice working with someone new she thought. Looking back at her Fire Crab she felt she had hit all the areas and took water from the bucket rinsing Sparks off, she saw more flakes fall off. "Well you are going to be such a handsome Fire Crab when this is all done." she joked and laughed at herself for talking to Fire Crabs.

Hmm? Ethan took his eyes off of Brûle momentarily as Minerva seemed to be expressing some sort of disdain. He looked first to the girl and then at the acrobat as she apparently recognized him. "Oh... so he's a friend of yours?" he questioned as she mentioned something about her house. "Well, he put on a good show," he added as an afterthought, though now it seemed that it wasn't entirely planned. Shrugging, he turned back to the task at hand.

Ethan nodded in confirmation as Minerva explained the next part. Reaching for his washcloth, he first watched the girl next to him and again mirrored her movements - first dipping the washcloth in the now-muddy water, then began massaging Brûle with the wet cloth... very tentatively. He wasn't entirely sure the fire crab enjoyed that part... or maybe he was just doing it wrong. "Err... is he supposed to be squirming around like this?" he asked as Minerva asked about his progress. He was going to be left with a half-clean fire crab at this rate.

Minerva was double checking Sparks when she heard Ethan ask a question. Making sure Sparks was in a comfortable position and not anywhere that he could catch her on fire if he did spark she looked over. Checking the way Brule was moving around. Hmm maybe the Fire Crab just didn't like the wash cloth. "I'm not sure it looks like your doing it right." Minerva placed sparks safely in her one hand and leaned over closer to Ethan.

Watching him she didn't see him doing anything wrong, but the little crab did seem to want away from the washcloth. "Maybe if you try to hold Brule with your hand this way" she moved her free hand under his to help show him what she meant, "and then message gently around the creases of the shell first and work your way down it's shell." It was just an idea and kind of the way she had done Sparks, so hopefully that would work. Realizing she had maybe over stepped a boundary by touching his hand she quickly moved it and felt her cheeks go red as usual.

Moving back to Sparks she tried to remember the next step. Oh what was that next step think..think.. "Okay the next step we need to just check over the clean crab to make sure there is nothing wrong with it." she managed do get out in an odd quiet voice. Clearing her throat a bit she went back to work hoping Ethan wouldn't notice her weirdness all of the sudden. Looking over sparks she couldn't find anything wrong with the front of him. Minerva moved her finger around his shell to check for any cracks or problems, but didn't find anything. She lifted him up carefully to check under the bottom of the shell. Another place that seemed all clear.

"Aquamenti" While rinsing his crab he took a good look at his shell and could not believe he forgot that the shell was Sapphire. At least it was not cyan.

Once he was finished rinsing Marvin. He checked Marvin for cracks and flaking. Whatever that is. He could not see discoloration. It still looked blue. No other colors there.

With Marvin still wet he put him in his cage. He pick up the dark covered cloth and covered Marvin with it. Maybe it was now time for Marvin to take a nap. Marvin deserved one after his nice bath. "Maybe We should have kept them nameless. Now we are don't want them to leave" Nigel said out loud not care who heard it. Well, Whatever. Nigel went to his supplies and rinsed them down. Nigel on wondered what they were going to do next. Or was class over now.

Turning back from the scene at hand, Gideon pulled himself back to work. The prefect glaced at his list for the next step and realized it included more rinsing and he had stopped the spell rather than turn his attention back to the firecrab first. Sigh...lets try that again.

"Aguamenti..." he cast once more, his attention fully on his charge this time as he rinsed the firecrab off more fully. The seventh year even chanced using his free hand to gingerly lift the creature up as he moved the spray of water around. Not too high lest the water not keep the fire-shooting at bay anymore. He wasn't stupid or careless enough to try dealing with that characteristic if he didn't have to.

"Finite," Gideon finally cast, ending the spell and its effects once he was satisfied. However now was a harder part and now he might have to take a chance. He slipped his wand back into his pocket and then used both free hands to feel around for softening and cracks, lifting the fire-crab a bit as he did so. Nothing seemed too soft or broken.

Was that jewel a little discolored or just him?

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry little guy," Kurumi squeaked as she bowed to her little fire crab that was waddling around inside the bucket turned on its side. There was next to no water left in it - seeing as it had all spilled on the ground, and Kurumi had a momentary panic attack that maybe this little spill had caused the crack in its shell to expand...but that didn't seem to be the case. Thank Merlin.

Glad that he was going awaaaaaaaaaay with his dancing pecs - they were distracting her from her fire crab! - the Gryffindor waiting until he was entirely out of her line of vision so she could dedicate her full attention to the ruby covered shell in front of her.

Gently, Kurumi picked up the creature and set him back in his cage, covering it as instructed and began casting Aguamenti again to rinse off her materials, squeezing water out of her washcloth and setting it over the rim of her bucket when she was done. Brush inside the bucket, Kurumi began to carry it over towards where she had grabbed it from when...again...Elijah caught her attention.

o__________________O


Yeah....no....someone else was going to have to help Elijah with that. She wasn't going anywhere near his nipples.

....

*blush*

Despite it all, Vickers just shook his head and tried to hide his chuckling. Thank you cards and phone numbers? Elijah doesnt seem to realize what he's getting himself into. These are Witches buddy-- you'd have their patronuses and owls stalking you if you're not too careful.

Something to tell him later perhaps. But now he gotta focus back on the firecrab!

He took the washcloth and dipped it into the water, gently wiping down the firecrab of dirt and whatever else from every nook and cranny. There was quite a bit of shedding and Vickers had to wonder just how long this particular crab was last cared for or how soon it will have a pampered treatment like this again.

He evanescoed the water and filled it up again with water as he proceeded to rinse the magical crustacean. Louisa was murmuring something, and he leaned in to listen. How was Elijah getting along with Aspen? Piercing blue eyes gazes up to look at the Ravenclaw brunette. He really had no idea, and really their rapport caught even him by surprise. But then things like these isnt picked up as easily for this Ravenclaw. He does have his limitations you know.

And he furrowed his brows when Louisa said she always gets the short end of the stick when dealing with Aspen. He remembers DADA! Although he was rather distracted in HOM he didnt hear anybody screaming fire or anything disastrous from the Head Gril's table so he thought everything was was fine and dandy.

Eh Aspen was staring Louisa down? Stalking her?

"Maybe she was practicing her stalking techniques on you to use on Elijah." he murmured back. Boy you are a dead man Elijah.

He turned his attention back to his firecrab when A BALL OF FLAME shot right past himself and Louisa. "What the--?!?" he uttered and realized that Elijah has turned himself into some kind of rotating canon. "ELIJAH KEEP STILL!" he hollered out and just when he did, another barrage of flames flew their direction.

Here we go again. Cue tackling of girlfriend to the ground.

After determining that the tiny crack wasn't that big of a deal, Kendall realized that it also meant it was time for Midir to go back into its cage. Awwwww, she thought, pouting a little. She'd been having fun bonding with her pretty, sparkly little fire crab/faerie king. But instructions were instructions, and she wasn't about to disobey Professor Newlin. Or ask her if she could keep a jewel, although the little Snake's question reminded her that she did have a question to ask. She just would wait til she'd gotten Midir all snug inside the cage. "Ready to go home little Midir?," she asked, smiling at the fire crab as it looked up at her from the bucket. "Maybe I'll be able to visit you, if Professor Newlin keeps you here." She hoped so. She really did like her little fire crab and its maybe-opal-encrusted shell. Even with the teeny tiny crack in the edge. That just gave it personality, like maybe it was so awesome it couldn't avoid getting into things that caused miniature cracks.

Either way, she carefully picked Midir up from the bucket, cradling its wet body up against her as she walked back to the cage. "Time to take a nap, or whatever you do when you're in the dark. I'll stay here for a while to protect you, even if you can't see me," she continued, gently placing the crab into the cage and closing the door before draping the black cloth over top. Now it was time to rinse her supplies, but she'd made another promise. Therefore, she stepped away long enough to drag the bucket over to the cage, putting the brush and washcloth inside after using her wand to vanish the dirty water that was inside, then returning to sit by the cage as she cast another Aguamenti charm to risne everything out. Laying it all along the edge of the black drape to dry, she raised her hand. "Professor? Can a fire crab have opals on its shell? 'Cause if they can, I think that's what Midir has." And she glanced back at the cage she was seated next to. Just so the professor would know she was talking about her fire crab.

Post 3

Now it was time for the massaging of the crab's shell. Surya has used a wet washcloth for massaging the crab's hell.Surya was worried what he has done wrong when the crab started releasing small flakes. But he has read it that it was just a part of the normal shedding. The crab was rinsed thoroughly to remove all the shedding. Surya wished he too had had a shell with jewels. People would have also massaged him. But what if anyone forcibly extracts those jewels from his shell? Oh my god that would be very painful, he thought.

Minerva wanted to make sure Sparks was completely done before she moved on to the next step. Looking at her Fire Crab she check all over his shell. "Well you look sparkling clean to me." she smiled down at the little crab. Not wanting to put him away yet she help it up to her face so they were eye to eye. She really couldn't believe how turtle like it really was, but why was that such a shock some animals did look like others. Maybe it was because had never seen on before and the fact that turtles do not shoot fire out their behinds.

Looking over at Ethan, "How's it going? Our last step is just to put them back in their cages and cover them with the blanket so it's nice and dark for them." She got up and was going to wait until Ethan was completely done as well, but that's when she realized Sparks was close to being dry. Oh no, the professor said while they were still wet. "I..I better get Sparks put away before he dries and starts shooting fire again." she said as she headed toward the cages. Placing the little guy gently in the cage and gave him one last goodbye and covered him with the blanket.

Once Sparks was safely in his cage Minerva went back over to Ethan and took her bucket pointing her wand at it, "Scourgify". Once the bucket was cleaned she also cleaned her washcloth and brush. Smiling at Ethan as he finished up she picked up his brush and cleaned it as well. She walked over and placed the items where she had found them at the beginning of the activity. Once everything was put away she went back over to where Ethan was and sat down. "Thanks for working with me, it's been fun."

That was odd. A jelly-ish part of the crab? That was scary and at the same time, cool. "Yeah, I'll go tell Professor about this," Kat said. "Maybe it might be something we don't know."

Looking for the CoMC professor, Kat tiptoed. With a pool of students around, it was hard enough to look for Professor. "Uhmmm, Professor," she called out. "My partner's crab seems to be jelly..."



Step number four. Checking her list, she found out she had to rinse the crab again. Oh lord. The crab was hot enough. Rinsing the crab again, she checked if it had a soft spot and cracks. Then she looked at the jewels for discoloration. Nothing was wrong. This crab was fine. Nothing to worry.

Occasionally, the Slytherin would check by at Tag to see his progress. "Doing well?" she asked. Maybe he was having a problem or something, right?

Elise was preoccupied trying to convince her fire crab not to fart fire into her face or onto her hands or whatever. So much so that she didn't realize that Nessie, the pretty redhead Puff captain had appeared next to her out of nowhere.

Hearing her voice, Elise jumped about a foot into the air. "Eeeeep!" she squeaked before realizing that she was probably scaring the animals. "Whoops?" she said sheepishly, picking up her fire crab gently and stroking it. Shhhh, little fire crab. Don't singe anything. Good fire crab.

"You right," she beamed. "We can! The fire crab I drew last year didn't singe me. Or my paper. So this one shouldn't either." she said, half trying to convince herself.

"It's okay," she shrugged, nudging her own bucket closer to her with her foot and pulling out her wand. "Aguamenti." she muttered, filling her bucket about three-quarters of the way so that it wouldn't overflow when the crab was put inside. And she did put the crab inside, soaking its rear. The crab seemed to shoot out hot bubbles in shock, but seemed to calm down.

Soak.

Ghosts? They were fascinating. Terry hoped that once he passed away he would come back as a ghost. He wouldn't be a scary one, he'd be a really nice one that helps people out because that was what he was like himself. "I know quite a bit" he replied. He wasn't an expert and ghosts weren't his mothers favourite creatures, in fact he recalled her telling him that they could be quite demanding sometimes. Why did Theo want to know all this anyway?

He raised his brow when Theo protested against him being scared of it. "You don't want to make much contact, they're friendly when they're under water." Well they were scared and had no flames so it made them appear friendlier.

"Don't be sick on me!" he told him, his eyes widening before he grabbed the washcloth he had dumped into the bucket and placing it on their workspace. Theo had already rinsed the creature off and Terry took this is instruction for him to check the condition of the crab. He thought they had done a good job and as he picked the crab up gently, it appeared to agree. He ran his fingers over the shell and was ever so careful in it's sensitive parts. The crab didn't protest at all. "I think he's in good condition" Terry informed him.

"Do you want to put him back in or shall I?" he asked holding the crab out towards him.

Now she was massaging the crab, which felt really strange. “I don’t like it any more than you do,” she said to it. “Just close your eyes and pretend I’m a trained professional.” She took her washcloth and cleaned the crab’s tail. “Funny, I guess I never thought of crabs having tails. Can you wag them?” she asked giggling. I guess I can see why someone might want to keep a Fire Crab. But then again, jewels don’t really trump the possibility of getting your skin scorched every now and then.

Once she felt she had washed away most of the dirt and flakes, she said “Aguamenti” again to give the crab a light rinse. “There, that’s better,” she said to the crab after inspecting her work.

She looked up to some commotion and saw some smoke in the air, ashes on the ground. What the…? She panned the room until she saw the reason why. Oh, I should’ve guessed. That Hufflepuff boy has his shirt off again. She laughed to herself when she saw the crab had attacked him. Maybe that will teach him to stop being such an attention hog. Boys are SO weird. She looked back to her crab and decided if it could talk, it would agree with her.

She didn't know what was more exciting!

The fact that, after a few months without going near a Fire Crab, she was going to be able to play with them again, or the fact that she got to watch everyone else play with them. It was a tough call, but after a few moments of thinking, she decided that she was excited about bathing the creatures herself. With a final glance at all the students, to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to be, Vanora picked up the brush, giving her Fire Crab a quick scrubbing.



But, even though she was in her own little world, she did manage to hear quite a few questions. And she had been expecting there to be questions about that. The Fire Crabs were all rescues, after all, and it would have been peculiar if there wasn't any damage to the shells.

Placing her brush down, Vanora moved onto her knees so she could get a better look at what they were all talking about. Nothing major. So far.

"Kurumi. Your Fire Crab probably has some soil that manged to get into the crack. That's why it's uncomfortable. Just make sure it is cleaned out thoroughly, and when you're done with everything, put him back in that cage and bring him to me." Because, she only wanted them to wash the Fire Crabs. She would fix up their cracks. And discharge. She glanced over at Ella, "If there is no blood in the crack, you can do the same to your Fire Crab as Kurumi will do to hers." As for the discharge.. she then turned to Bella.

"You can go and pick up another washcloth." Because she needed one. "Wherever the discharge is, you're going to want to make sure that area is clean. Most likely, there is a crack that you can't see and it may have gotten infected. You can bring yours up to me when you're finished as well." Perhaps she should do a lesson on Fire Crab first aid.

Something to think about.

"That is a very good question, Sophie!" Vanora couldn't help but BEAM over at the Hufflepuff. "Wild Fire Crabs, or any kind of turtles for that matter, don't necessarily get clean. It's usually the reason why.. at least, when we would receive rescued Fire Crabs at the reserve, they were always so dirty. So, these little guys," she gave her own Fire Crab a loving pat, pat, pat on the shell, "appeciate what you're doing for them."

Another good question!

And a much needed one. Especially with most of them naming their Fire Crabs.

Vanora picked up the creature that she had been working on cleaning and very carefully, flipped him over in her hands, so that whoever was paying attention could see the bottom shell, and most importantly, the Fire Crab's tail. "This Fire Crab is a male. You can tell by the length and the width of the tail. Males have much longer, wider tails. Females have shorter, stubbier tails."

She nodded her head at Hannah, giving her the go ahead to find out what hers was.



Still holding her Fire Crab like it was able and willing to sit on her lap, Vanora turned her attention to Kendall when she spoke up. Of course, that was something that she hadn't expected to hear, or heard of ever, and she raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Opals?" she asked, just to make sure she heard correctly. "They could just be their normal jewels, just discolored." She would have to see for herself. "If you're finished cleaning yours, you can bring it to me."



Since she was expecting all the injured Fire Crabs to be surrounding her at any minute, it was probably a good idea to put her own back in his bucket. Besides, he seemed to be getting agitated, and although it wouldn't have been the first time she was burned, it was painful. She'd rather not take a trip to see Cece over it.

Merlin knew what her friend would say.

Fire Crab in the bucket, she turned her head just in time to see Kat approach, and her eyebrows raised again. Her partner's Fire Crab was jelly? Whaaaaat?

"You mean.. its shell, right?" RIGHT, CHILD!? "That's just soft shell, as it's called." She glanced in the direction of the girl's partner, and sure enough, the Fire Crab was fine and Tag was there poking the spot. "Tell him not to poke it anymore, and to just clean around the spot. The Fire Crab is just low on calcium, and that's something the sun will fix."

And a calcium bone, but the sun was better at it.



Oh. Oh. OHHH!!

Someone DID want to be her partner, and she BEAMED up at Eliza. "Of course I don't mind." She had said they could work with her. She just didn't think anyone would.

Scooting over some, just so the Ravenclaw had enough room to get to work, Vanora once again picked up the brush and went right back to scrubbing her Fire Crab's shell, casting glances over at Eliza just to see how she was doing. And it was so far, so good.

And if she wasn't expecting anyone to work with her, she really wasn't expecting to be talked to. But it was good. Awkward silences were the worst! "I guess it was just a chance for me to come back to Hogwarts. You don't realize you miss the place until you're gone for.. a long time." She had almost mentioned how long of a time it had been. "And your Fire Crab is a girl."

She had been looking.



WHAAAAAT!?!?!

Turning away from Eliza, Vanora simply staaaaared at Cassia and her question. Not that she could actually see the question, but she heard it and that only made her stare more. Could she.. PLUCK a jewel from the Fire Crab? Because she cleaned him? And if those questions weren't bad enough, she had to go ahead and pretty her please. "No."

No. No. Nonono. "You can not just pluck a jewel from the Fire Crab." And that went to everyone who was even thinking about it. "Removing the jewels will kill the Fire Crab." Not exactly. But in a sense it did. So no.

She hoped no one else would ask.




Vanora may not have been paying much attention to the rest of the students, especially the older ones, she had a Fire Crab in front of her, after all, but there was no way she was able to miss that screaming. And the spinning. And why in the name of Merlin did that boy not have a shirt on!?

If she wasn't so concerned about her baby, her baby who was attached to the boy's chest, she probably would have thought the whole thing quite hilarious. Really, how hard could a Fire Crab bite?

How did that even happen!?

All those questions that would probably go unanswered, because she really didn't want to know, Vanora pushed herself off the ground, and making sure to place a few protective charms around the area since the Fire Crab was shooting flames, she ran over to the pair. Well, as close to the pair as she could get without the chance of getting burned. "Mr. Wilde! I suggest you stop spinning right now or you will not have anything left for that Fire Crab to bite!" Hint hint.

Stop spinning!

And Done, right? She looked up at the instructions again, All Done. She too her crabby crab and put him in his cage and covered his crabby face with the dark cloth. "there, be crabby on your own time demon." she said to him ans she moved back over to her supplies and rinsed them out thoroughly... once she was complete she began to gather her supplies to..

HOLY MOLY what is that puff doing!?

Ariana looked up with a look of bewilderment on her face to find mr. shirtless now running around in circles with his crab latched into him and spraying fire everywhere. Ariana cautiously moved her crab back a few feet then moved back behind her crab She just watched adn laughed a bit.. it was his own fault for tempting the crab.. so, why not laugh at his stupidity.. seemed fair to her