Henry and AJ had finally seen eye to eye, and AJ was full of excitement at the news. She was still playing it totally cool. She had learned her lesson. Henry was a mature Hippogriff, and he wasn't going to take kindly to any nonsense. Noted.

AJ walked slowly to him and cautiously raised her hand. Slowly her hand came down on top of the creatures head and she petted him. He felt different than what she thought he would feel like. Man, she wanted to ride him. That had to happen before her time at Hogwarts was over.

"Sup Henry? I'm AJ, and I LOVE magical creatures." Did he know that? "Do you promise me that you will let me ride you someday?" At those words Henry cocked his head to the side and looked at her. AJ took that as a yes. In reality he was most likely screaming help. Too bad hippogriffs couldn't talk. AJ could have stayed here forever with her new feathery friend, but there were people waiting. With a sigh, she waved goodbye and went to the back of the line. Would she be able to have another go before the lesson was over?

Ian stood in line close to AJ and Adi. He wasn't too sure about this walking up to a Hippogriff and trying to pet it. What if the hippogriff didn't like him? he wondered to himself. Of course he couldn't imagine harming a magical creature that wasn't trying to kill him, but that didn't mean he didn't have a healthy respect for a creature that could rip his eyeballs out.

When it was his turn, he scooted closer, inch by inch, his hand extended waiting to see what would happen.

After bowing, Simon peeked up to glance at Henry. The Hippogriff had finished the bow so it must be time to go up and pat him, right? The boy hesitantly at first took a couple of steps out. He made certain to approach the creature slowly as he didn't wish to spook it out. Spooking it out would be bad. Oh so bad. He stretched his hand out and continued walking slowly. To his surprise, Henry approached him as well. Simon wondered what the magnificent creature must have been thinking with all of this going on. Was he actually thinking about the people he was meeting or was he just looking forward to the inevitable reward that would be given to him after meeting all of them? Who knew?

The Slytherin found his hand softly stroking the Hippogriff on the top of its head. WOAH. THIS WAS AWESOME! The boy could have jumped around all excitedly about this but instead he remained calm. He didn't want to scar Henry.

THEY GOT TO PET THE HIPPOGRIFF.

Even GRAYSON couldn't keep the excitement from reaching his face as he scrambled up and got into line. Pet. An actual. HIPPOGRIFF. Swear to Merlin, Care of Magical Creatures was going to become one of his favourite lessons, at this rate. Aside from Potions and Defence, of course. But just THINK about what they had done so far! Riding a winged horse and now petting a hippogriff!

The boy was conveniently going to forget the fact that de-gnoming was something that they had to do. It just didn't match up in the cool factor alongside the others. Besides, those gomes were so freaking weird with their biting and their mischievous tendencies. JEEEEEEEEEZ.

The Slytherin took a deep breath and cast his mind, instead, to how he was going to bow to the mighty Hippogriff over there. Bowing and not breaking eye contact sounded like HARD work, you know. Just thinking about it made Grayson pretty self concious about how much he was currently blinking. He even tried to stop blinking for a couple of seconds but then his eyes did the funny ol' thing of hurting and watering anddddddddddd now he looked like he was about to cry.

GET IT TOGETHER, WHITTY.

And he was still in line. Getting closer and closer to Henry the hippogriff. This was going to be hard, man.

Alright okay so he was getting pretty close now, but what was the next step??

Oh yeah. Bowing. Right. Must. Not. Blink. Must. Not. Blink.

Tears. Were those tears forming in his eyes? Was it suddenly really dry in here? Why was it hurting to see?? Oh no. He had to blink. He had to. No. No blinking. Bowing. Not blinking. The third year used every single ounce of his strength to keep from closing his eyes. It was like having a super intense blinking contest or something. Except if he blinked he died. Well okay... Not died, but it was always a risk with a Hippogriff in the room, right? The were classified with a ton of X's so dangerous...?

Anyways. The third year carefully lowered his torso, all the while still staring at the creature. Trying not to blink. Can't blink. Must not blink. Do not--

Blink.

Man. Welp. There was always the back of the line again. Gah. And with that the third year ran-yes, ran- back to the end of the line. It had taken every ounce of the patience he didn't even have to wait until his turn the first time, and now he had to wait again? Great. At least he could blink it out until he got to first again.... Sigh.

It wouldn't take a genius to know that Cassia would be both bouncing through the roof and sinking sadly at the same time. They could pet Henry but no riding? The snow was hindering them in new ways now. You think it'd realize how tired of it people were then like....shove off somewhere else or something. But anyway, Lex rose from her spot and went to join the line.

See how far back she was? No way was she going to wait through this, mess up then have to wait through it again. When she got to the front, the hippogriff better realize they were gonna be BESTFIRENDS if only in pretend. Patience wasn't her strong suit, not even when it came to potentially dangerous creatures that were easily offended.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, she finally came to the front of the line.

Was....was Henry giving her a funny look? At the last minute, she remembered not to blink....but there was something else she was missing.

Yes, there was the explanation she was waiting for. No flying was obvious, but definitely a bummer. Flying a broom was a little better in her opinion, but flying on a hippogriff was still fun and would've been nice. Stupid weather.

But anyway, Penelope waited until it was her turn, watching as Henry either bowed or didn't to other students, feeling like this shouldn't be too hard. She'd interacted with a hippogriff before so this oughta be a piece of cake. Surely Henry would like her.

Finally, she was at the front of the line for her turn. So she started taking a few slow, careful steps toward the hippogriff, trying to get him to pay attention to her.

Time to go pet Henry then.

Tag waited in line until his turn came up. In the meantime he was watchingg everyone else and seeing how well or how bad they were going at this. The instructions seemed easy enough.

So when it was the blonde's turn to go up to Henry and stood at a safe distance, from where he had been standing in line, and slowly took steps slightly closer to but jot immediately close to Henry. Tag gave the hippogriff a small smile and a nod in hopes that it would believe that Tag was nothing Henry should be suspicious of.

Sweet Merlin he WAS giving her a funny look.

For a moment Lex was completely lost as to what she might have done wrong but then it hit her, space, he might have needed some of that. Very slowly and without a blink she began backing up some. It had to be a comfortable distance and this one was clearly particular when it came to that sort of thing. No problem, but no Henry, she was not going to the back of the line to start over so we'll pretend that first offense didn't happen.

Lex didn't stop backing up until the hippogriff's features relaxed and his gaze appeared less sharp to her. Good, this was good. Okay. What next?--THE BOWING!!

Still not moving too quickly Alexa bowed and here began this waiting game. What happened when you mixed pride with impatience? Did Henry know she'd be straightening her back any minute now whether he bowed or NOT???? Were he not likely to maul her for it, she might have pointed this out too but haha no, everyone heard what happened to that Malfoy boy way back then.

She wasn't up for that.

Taking a deep breath, he continued to pet Henry softly. He was beginning to feel more comfortable around the Hippogriff so he raised his voice. "Hi Henry. I'm Simon," he began, ignoring how silly he must have sounded at this precise moment. He didn't care.

Simon grinned as he ruffled Henry's feathers. "I hope that you're staying warm in this weather. Hopefully we'll see spring soon." He took a peek over his shoulder to see that more students were waiting to meet the awesome Hippogriff. Giving Henry one last pat, Simon said his goodbyes. "See you around, Henry!" Then he made his way slowly back to where the other students were standing.

Hazel cautiously walked to the back of the line. Finally, they got to pet Henry! She watched as the people in the front of the line approached Henry. None of them seemed to be getting hurt, so Hazel felt a little better.

She reached the front of the line and kept a safe distance away. I'm here, Henry! she thought, trying to announce her arrival without startling him. He was so pretty!

Ooh. It was his turn! Ethan breathed in and out as he sloowly stepped forward onto a certain spot to get the Henry's attention.

Over here, Hippogriff!

The boy cannot help but grin juuuuuust a little bit because MERLIN it's a live Hippogriff and sdkfjd;flj;ldkfjdf.

Ethan bowed...but then blinked while doing it.

Errrrr. Right. Sorry about that, Henry.

He can try again, yeah? The blond boy slooowly got back up and went back at the end of the line.

Just how stubborn were you allowed to be before a hippogriff found you rude and chased you off. That was the question at the tip of Lex's tongue even while she waited for her bow to be accepted. Quite naturally it would be able to tell that she wasn't being as respectful as he wanted and being bent this way just left her vulnerable for if it decided to do something about it. Merlin's beard when did this all get so complicated?

He was doing it on purpose and she needed to blink. Some reflexes were hard to kick, even for the benefit of saving you from a Hippogriff so yeah...any day now.

The scrutinizing gaze gave way at last and she saw the creature bow in turn. hcavsjfesafvakvda!!! YES! Yeeessssss! No back of the line for her. BOOM. Lex straightened with a satisfied grin and approached Henry, who--if you asked her--was still looking at her kinda funny but she'd take it because his bowing meant this was okay and she could do what she was doing.

If it weren't for the fact she was on such good terms with him she might have told him it took him long enough to get them to this part.

Angel looked at Henry as she tried to figure out what she was going to do next. She then had no what she was doing next, all she knew was she was going to pet the Hippogriff.

O________________o

She walked over to the Hippogriff and started to pet it, she then smiled as she spoke to the girl. "What you been doing?" Angel beamed as she stroked the Hippogriff. "Had a good day?" Angel has a few other things she had to say but couldn't remember them at the minute.

Ian watched the Hippogriff. It didn't seem overly interested in interacting with him. It just eyed him suspiciously. He thought about inching a bit closer, but was a little nervous. He surely enjoyed all of his body parts and he'd hate to be torn apart because he approached a 'wild' animal without any caution.

Marigold was running the necessary things through her head. Bow, don't blink, et cetera. Because she wasn't in the front of the line, she closed her eyes so she wouldn't need to blink. When she opened them up again, she was startled because she was in front. Oh no. Well, might as well walk forward, now. She kept her eyes open, so she might have looked a little bug-eyed.

"You're not half bad when you're not giving me death glares, you know?" Lex asked as she petted his neck and ruffled his feathers a bit. Now he saw there was no need to be as uptight as he'd been earlier. She was far from the kind to just attack an animal and as for rude, the Gryffindor was born that way, but that didn't mean she couldn't give good neck rubs yeah? Just ask her kneazle, she was good at this kind of comfort thing.

How long were they allowed to spend with the Hippogriff before having to give someone else a chance? Lex hadn't been the last in line and especially not considering some people had to start over.

"This limited time isn't doing us any wonders I'm afraid. If you survive the rest of the winter and the snow shoves off by next time maybe the Professor will let me ask you to give me a ride then." Because in the end if would be Henry's decision.

Not even an idiot would mount a hippogriff that wasn't offering. It just wasn't a good idea...like ever....

With a final pat and a smile Lex went to take a seat and watch the others. No getting back in line for her. Nope.

Lucy came in front of the Hippogrif. .
She looked at him with a smile .. Then she waited a bit and not knowing what to do Lucy stretched out her hand to pet him..

Angel continued to stroke the Hippogriff. "I love magical creatures and I really want to fly you one day." Angel whispered to Henry, "You'll let me right, when I'm older." Angel hoped that he would.

Angel then realised that she didn't want to be seen as hogging Henry, so she gave him one last stroke and then went back to where the Professor was, she didn't want to get into serious trouble by risking attempting to fly him today because well two reasons, they were inside and outside there was a lot of snow and Angel wanted to go on a long flight with him.

So far so good.. Javy had his arms folded while sitting on the lone desk. Watching as each student was getting their turn and chance to pet him. The only part that some were messing up on was the blinking. Henry didn't understand the words the humans were saying to him, but liked the attention and hoped he would see them again as he flapped his wings a little. Feeling a slight chill, the Professor moved closer to the nest for better warmth.. and at a good timing.

As soon as this student reached out to pet without bowing, the Hippogriff squawked a little loud, flapping his wings sending a great wave of breeze chilling the nearby students in disappointment and fright. The Professor immediately waved his wand to create a small invisible wall between her and Henry.

"Whoa there, Henry. It's okay." Javy waited until its hooves and talons remain grounded again before he started stroking it. Taking a dead rat out of the near bucket, he fed it again. Now looking towards the young Gryffindor who he would hope wasn't traumitised by this, "It's alright Miss Petersfield, you can try again. Remember to bow without blinking and wait until he bows back before going up to pet him." So yes, back of the line for her. Waiting until she did so before removing the invisible barrier.

---
OOC: You guys are doing great! If you haven't started yet, you have until July 30th, 11 pm EST to finish.

I'm sorry professor I was so excited that I forgot to follow the instructions that you gave us...
I'm sorry!

It seemed like Henry seemed all right with Tag, which he gratefully let out a breath of relief. The leprechaun didn't want to get stomped on by the hippogriff. Not that Tag imagined Henry would do that, or that Thompson would allow it.

Now it was time for Tag and try to bow down to the hippogriff.

Lowering his head, slowly but surely, Tag did his best to keep eye contact with the hippogriff, not blinking. He bowed as low as he could, before he could lose eye contact with the creature. Which Tag made sure he hadn't done so.

He stayed in position, awaiting some reaction from Henry. Tag's back was hurting a bit as he waited and waited for quite some time. Maybe Henry was really assessing Tag, or he was dazzled by Tag's fantastic hair. Tag supposed it was the second one. Eventually the hippogriff slowly bowed its head in return to Tag, who let out another sigh.

Finally, Henry seemed to have noticed her. Reminding herself to maintain eye contact and not blink, Penelope bowed as low as she possibly could. Now surely he would bow back and they could move on from this part, right?

But he just kept staring...

...and staring...

...and staring...

...and staring and dear Merlin how long was this going to go on??? Surely he did not need to take THIS long to figure out whether she was acceptable or not. Because her eyes were drying out and she REALLY needed to blink-

And she did.

And Henry did NOT look pleased, so Penelope made her way quickly (and maybe a bit grumpily) to the back of the line.

Merlin's beard.

Sophie stayed right behind the person in front of her, all the while moving up as person after person took their turn with the Hippogriff. Things still seemed safe, so she was starting to relax a little as she realized there was only one person standing in between her and the Hippogriff. That meant she was next.

When the person in front of her finished, Sophie drew in a deep breath as she prepared herself to interact with the Hippogriff. She wasn't anywhere close enough, so she slowly took a few steps forward. She paused, trying to see if the Hippogriff was giving her its undivided attention.

It was, so she softly drew in another deep breath and mentally reviewed what the professor had said to do next.

So far so good. He wasn't getting any bad vibes or responses from the hippogriff like the younger lion who had needed to start over after the creature spooked. But the creature was aware of him. That meant he could move on to the next part of the instructions...right? Boy, Benny hoped so because he didn't want to offend the hippogriff, with or without the possible dangers to himself or others. He would just need to take a chance at it.

Benjamin slowly leaned forward into a polite bow. His eyes kept forward to meet and keep the hippogriffs gaze as directed by Professor Thompson. The third year was doing his best to remain calm, breathing ever so lightly in and out as he waited for a response from his creature companion.