Marigold was sad it was already the last class! She looked around for the professor, but she seemed to be in the barn. Then she jumped when she saw the silver stag. Who was it meant for, and what did the message mean?

BLINK. BLINK. STARE.

That... was weird.

And kind of cool too, actually. Because it was a Patronus and being able to send messages by a Patronus was quite advanced magic, yeah? And this Patronus had said something about something starting and how it shouldn't be too long now. See, that was weird. And it was a weird way to start off a lesson too.

Maybe this meant that this was going to be an interesting lesson. Shrug.

...

"Do you think he's going to be joining us, then?" he asked, taking a seat next to his curly haired teammate and letting his bag drop to the floor, "The Groundskeeper..." His eyes flicked over towards the barn and he frowned ever so slightly. He probably could have gotten himself a nice big bowl of ice cream before coming then. Would there have been enough time? Hmmmm...

Also, they didn't mind him joining them, right?

Sarah was eager for another lesson, they had covered so much that term, as usual. She wondered what they were doing next. The professor was not there.. okay, not unusual. So she went to sit down... And then looked at who she was sitting next to... it was Mo. Oh dear... she had told herself in the observatory to keep away from him, as that would hep keep her thoughts off him and now she went to sit next him. It was too late and too rude to move so she stayed where she was. She was just not going to initiate a conversation with him and stuff. Where was the teacher?

Anyway... she could not wait for the lesson to start. She was desperate to talk, yet she knew the teacher would not approve and stuff. She was not as good as West in getting out of trouble... actually she had never been in trouble before so she would never know. It was a good thing that they had house points, as that kept Sarah at her best behaviour -- well, most times that is.

It was like she could still taste the ice-cream even though it was long gone now. Man...she was really wishing she'd taken an extra bowl with her to class. Lex was getting restless just thinking about it and the bouncing on her seat only seemed to get worse.

Her attention however, was caught by a patronus, neat!--waaaaait...the accent....Alexa groaned. She knew that voice and the accent and now she wasn't all that enthused.

Luckily she was distracted by something else--someone else. "Michael!" She grinned over at him as he took his seat. "You've been awfully busy haven't you? I can't remember the last time I ran into you outside of a class."....Probably the feast when she thought about it.

Merlin, had it been that long?

Recently Cat had been borderline obsessing over creatures wearing bow ties, any sort, magical or non, they'd all do. Even bad scary ones would look better with a bow tie, right? If a dementor was planning on sucking out your soul, at least he could be formal about it. Not that she wanted that to happen.

However, those were her thoughts as she took her seat and failed to notice that the professor wasn't in sight. The Slytherin tilted her head in the direction the stag had been and grinned, was Mr. Hottie Groundskeeper going to be around? Would he say more words with his fabulous accent? She sure hoped so. Let the fun begin!

Was she late?

After readjusting her reading glasses for a bit, Beezus' eyes went to her wristwatch to note the time. She had a little of at least eight minutes more before this CoMC lesson was supposed to start but as she started off to where the lovely Professor Barlow was holding the lesson, she couldn't help but notice that her peers were somewhat crowded over something..... Unfortunately, she missed the appearance of the patronus.

She quickened her pace and arrived at the scene then. No sign of the Professor. So...."Er, guys....is everything okay?" Clueless Beezus here.

"Ummm, did you all see that?" Asher asked the students around him. He hadn't ever seen anything like that before and wondered if it was a good or bad thing. Not knowing either way, and being rather curious, he decided to just sit where he was and find out.

Dylan was confused...as to what the Groundskeeper's patronus meant. He'd started what? The Slytherin was eyeing his peers as he stepped towards the barn. There were noises...Was that Professor Barlow?

Yea, that patronus must have been for the Professor. It made absolutely no sense in other contexts. Siiiiiiiiiiigh.

Creatures, though. He liked this class. What would they be learning about today?

Maybe they could learn more about winged horses...

Oakey wasn't one for Care of Magical Creatures. He doesn't really require it for his NEWTs and he didn't take it for his OWLs. That didn't stop the class from being occasionally fun. So to the class he went and onto a bench he sat. he kept quiet for the most part until a large antlered Patronus moved around them. "A Moose!" Oakey barked not thinking. "Mr. Firth's Patronus is a Moose too!?!?"...

Never mind the accented message that was clearly meant for Professor Barlow. So it was none of their business to begin with. But he and Mr.Firth can go have a Moose Patronus party!

No wait...the Antler's were wrong, and the body was big but not as bulky...Oakey coughed "Never mind, close but no Moose"
They could still have a Antler's only party.

Oh, big glowy stag thing. Patronus, right? That was cool. It briefly made Penelope wonder when she could conjure one herself and what it would look like...but then she simply shrugged it off. What the voice from the stag was talking about was far more interesting because she had no idea what it meant. Something for the lesson though? Hopefully. Something cool.

She took a random seat to wait for the lesson to start.

Woooah... Theo had never seen a patronus before. He'd been thinking about them at the start of this term, and wondered if they were ever going to learn about it at school. The curiosity as to what his would be was a killer. The scottish accent. Hehe... Theo giggled.

But not for long.

He was busy picking bits of grass from the floor. That was much more interesting.

Peyton was inside the barn finishing up on preparing for the lesson, when a silvery stag shot through the barn and paused in front of her. A bit startled, she grew wide-eyed for a moment before relaxing and focusing on its message.

"It's started?!" she half-whispered, almost as if she was speaking to the patronus itself. She wasn't, though. She was just surprised. She hadn't quite been ready for this RIGHT NOW, but...these sort of things couldn't exactly be planned.

She directed the creature she'd already brought out back into its stall then turned to head into the classroom area. The students should be here by now...

...and they were.

"Good afternoon, everyone," she said, her eyes slightly wide with excitement. "Here's a short little lesson for you--when it comes to creatures, expect the unexpected." Yes. That was words to live by right there.

"I had an entirely different lesson planned for you today, but...the unexpected does happen, and it happened...ohh, two minutes ago, I'd say," she added. She gestured for the students to get up if they'd already taken their seat. "Hurry along now--this can't exactly wait. Follow me to an little enclosure on the side of the barn."

As you follow the professor to the side of the barn, you come upon a little enclosure that looks big enough for a few creatures and maybe a small crowd. If you look close enough, you'll see the Groundskeeper, Mr. Firth, although you can't exactly see what he's doing just yet...

==========

OOC: We're staying in the same thread, even though we've moved locations. hpluvr037 (your lovely groundskeeper) and I are doing this lesson together. Please be patient as we work around one another's schedules to make this lesson a fun and successful one. It may last a bit longer than the usual lessons, but that's simply because we're in slightly different timezones. Thanks for understanding!

Ella was busy pondering what might have started when Professor Barlow appeared. The blonde gave her a faint smile and sat up a bit straighter, ready to hear what was going on.

Oh. Something unexpected had happened? Ella was interested to hear more but it seemed they'd be relocating so she'd have to wait. The blonde picked up her bag and pulled it over her shoulder, giving Tobias a small smile. Whatever message was sent seemed to have changed up the plans for this class, it seemed.

The sixteen year old followed along to the side of the barn where the enclosure was, standing on her tippy toes where she could see Mr. Firth and...something.

What was he doing in there, anyway?

And Now the Professor shows up. Good timing. But it seemed that things were getting interesting. Just like Nigel thought.

A entire different lesson?

Wonder what it was. Nigel thought as she ushered the class over to the Groundskeeper and somethings. Great now he was going to be taught by the Groundskeeper.

What next a class taught by the Caretaker or Peeves.

Kace finally saw the Professor come down, he let out a sigh of relief. He was afraid she wasn't gonna show. Then he saw the Groundskeeper there too? Hmm....now this lesson was gonna be interesting. The professor was even changing the lesson plan around? Huh....now he was even MORE curious.

The little puff went around the barn, and then he saw the groundskeeper there. He was trying to get a closer look and stand on his tip toes. He got there just in time to get a front view. Being the the little first year he is, he needs to be in the front to see everything.

Now Kace was wondering what could the groundskeeper have to do with the lesson.

Sky was slightly startled when someone else joined in. Heck, she'd been so distracted trying to figure out what the patronus could possibly mean that she hadn't even noticed that she'd somehow ended beside the Hufflepuffs. Oh well. It wasn't like they bit unlike certain Gryffindors, so that was okay. "No idea," was her rather helpful answer. She couldn't see why he would be, though.



Expect the unexpected? Eh?

And then they were going. Sky got up and started following the professor and the rest of the class around to the side of the barn to an enclosure where Mr. Firth was...... well what was he doing? She couldn't really see from this angle. Hmmmm...... what were these two up to?

Minerva sat in the back, the very back. Not a place she was use to sitting, but she was hoping it was a place no one would notice her. She had been withdrawn and quiet since that horrid evening. She kept her eyes down and almost didn't notice the patronus until she heard Mr. Firth's voice and jumped at the sound. Frowning more towards the voice, she didn't mean to be upset with him still, but after that detention she couldn't help but be back upset about everything.

Her eyes lifted as the professor said about them moving. Sighing a bit she got up and quietly followed the rest of the class. Maybe after class she would go get some ice cream. She grimaced at the thought. Her stomach turned every time she thought of it since the plant fire, but she still wanted it, this was getting to be a very big problem in her head. She felt like she was going a bit mad with it. Oh well back to moving with the class not sure what was really going on.

Standing in the enclosure near the barn, Alistaire Firth's ears perked up. Are those...? Yes, dozens of pairs of footsteps. "She got it, alrigh'. I hear 'em coming now." He reached over and patted something concealed in shadows--for the moment. "I hope those kids behave themselves, eh?"

Marigold made her way over to stand with Kace.

"I wonder what we are doing today!" she said. The professor wasn't going with her plan, this was going to be interesting.

Plus the gamekeeper. That was going to be helping. She too strained to see what was going on.

Maybe it involved ice cream.

Field trip? They seemed to take a lot of those in this class but this time it wasn't anything planned....? Weird but okay, she wouldn't question it. Field trips were fun regardless!

Alexa hopped up and followed the others, wondering what exactly they were looking for that was so unpredictable. Changing the course of an entire class, it must have been epic, or at the very least something worth noting. Had to be or she would have ignored it, right? The Professor didn't seem like someone to waste time.

When she finally came to a stop her suspicions were confirmed. It was the Ground's Keeper. Lex groaned before she could stop herself; it was an involuntary reaction. The last she saw him, he was yelling at her and very clearly disappointed. She didn't count on running into him again so soon.

It should have been fine though. This was class. She wasn't blowing anything up. Attention, she was paying it.

Anya tilted her head to the side as what she assumed was a patronus disappeared. Patronuses. They seemed a little pointless to her. She never planned on being somewhere out of mobile phone range, meaning, she really didn't have use for such a communication process.

And it was with those thoughts filling her mind that she vaguely realized they were going somewhere else. ... oh. Right. She quickly grabbed her things and followed along.

...

Now. What was Mr. Groundskeep doing in the shadows there?

For some reason Michael found himself BEAMING at Alexa. Why, he had no idea. "Extremely busy." He said rather proudly. Although it wasn't from doing schoolwork. "I'm pretty sure that I''ve got the layout of the castle down pat now. I took on the Whomping Willow." And lost, but that was not important. "Annnnd I''ve been trying to find a garden gnome to wrestle with but no such luck yet." Bentley obviously kept a neat and tidy garden.

Oh there was the Professor and there goes the Professor, Michael raised his eyebrows. What was this about then?

He got up from where he had been sitting and glanced at Alexa. "I guess we have to go that way." Or something.

Jory followed Professor Barlow and the other students, eager to see what they would be looking at today. When he reached the enclosure, he looked around. There was Mr. Frith! But what was he doing? Jory shifted from one foot to the other, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever creature was hidden in the shadows.

... Okay, so they were moving.

Jake followed the group, looking above the flock of heads to see what he was supposed to be looking at. But... he couldn't see anything. He couldn't even see a professor. So, pursing his lips, he gave up. He'd just wait for a bit and see what happens. Care of Magical Creatures was usually exciting, so he was looking forward to whatever it was.

Beezus was going to ask someone specific - someone like Ella - what she was missing but at that moment, Professor Barlow arrived....informing them about unexpected stuff going on.

Upon the woman's directions, the Ravenclaw gathered her things yet again. It seemed as though they were moving to another location since apparently it can't wait....whatever "it" was, she didn't know and so, with an overall curious disposition, she adjusted her glasses and filed along with her peers to the side of the barn where Professor Barlow lead the group.

....So, what exactly where they here for?

.............

....That was Mr. Firth, wasn't it? What was he doing?

...He was also saying something about hearing stuff. O.o

......Footsteps. She could hear them now too....faintly but it was there.