She supposed it was enough staring for now. And she wasn't kicked so better quit the staring before Henry got annoyed by her or freaked out by the staring. Better end it on her own terms than having to look down after being pecked at or something. Though, looking at the creature was one of the greatest things, he really was beautiful.

And it was time for petting at last! Exaggeratedly, Cassia rubbed her hands together in preparation for the big part.

Her hand reached out for the creature not too slowly but not to quickly either. She figured it had to be done coolly and not like it was a very big deal. Which wasn't really but she was excited about it nonetheless. It's been quite a long since she petted a Hippogriff.

As her hand touched Henry's head, a smile started spreading onto her face. So soft!

Unfortunately, she could not stay here all day petting Henry, which she would have totally liked. So after running her hand over his head a couple of times and stroking his feathers she thought it was time to allow the next person in the line to have their turn. They have been waiting for a while.

Not wanting to mess it up now that she finally succeeded, Penelope straightened up slowly and walked carefully up to the hippogriff. Didn't wanna startle him after all, yeah? And definitely didn't wanna get sent to the back of the line again.

"Hey Henry," she said, reaching up to pet his neck. "I'm Penelope. Thanks for accepting me." Finally. But she didn't add that word out loud. "You're really a nice hippogriff, aren't you?" It almost seemed like he was nodding his head. Cute.

She continued to pat and stroke his neck a few times and then, after about a minute, gave him one final pat. "Okay, well, I'm gonna go now, Henry. See you." And then she backed away so whoever was up next could take their turn.

It as a shame that they didn't get the chance to ride the Hippogriff. Shame, indeed. How brilliant would that have been? His mum would have been scared to death over this but his DAD would understand. Uh huh. And if they were outside, they probably would have gotten this chance.

Ugh. UGH. Freaking GREAT. Yet ANOTHER reason to hate this freakish weather.

But he wasn't bitter. Not NOW. Not when he was meant to be trying his hardest not to blink in front of the Hippogriff. The line shuffled forwards and Grayson took a peek at the magnificent beast over the head of some kid in front of him. Brilliant. A mental head count was happening every couple of minutes until.............

............... it was his turn.

To say that his nerves hadn't tenfolded in the couple of seconds it took for him to step forwards was a lie. It had a lot to do with the fact that he REALLY wanted to pet this creature and the LAST thing he wanted was to be constantly sent to the back of the line because the creature thought that bowing down to him wasn't something it wanted to do. If it was a human, the Slytherin wouldn't care. Not even a bit. But it was a HIPPOGRIFF.

Clearing his throat, Grayson bowed his head, all the while still maintaining eye contact wit Henry. Come oooooooon, you can't say no to this face or these eyes. These bright blue eyes that were looking in your direction, Hippogriff. It was getting harder, actually. His eyes were already starting to water much sooner than he would have liked and his neck and back were becoming sore from the way he was bowing and looking at the creature in front of him.

All for a freaking Hippogriff. He'd better appreciate it.

Lucy was worried. .Maybe Henry was angered by her wrong attempt to pet him...
She thought:"why sometimes I'm so clumsy?"
With the corner of the eye she saw that the Hippogrif finally she bowed in return and was so happy that she almost made a leap! But luckily Lucy remembered that it was better to be cautiuos with these creatures.
Then she came up to Henry and this time she raised her hand to pet him slowly slowly slowly. ...

Henry's feathers were so soft, Tobias almost had a hard time believing that such a creature could be so dangerous. Of course, it would only really be "dangerous" if it felt threatened, so really they were only ever defensive and stuff, right? And what else did Toby know about, which seemed harmless and soft but could just as easily become fiercely protective and dangerous if pushed?

That's right. Hufflepuffs. Hippogriffs were basically Hufflepuffs, that's what Toby had just decided.

He stood there in silence for a while, stroking Henry's feathers and marveling at having this opportunity, and occasionally looking up in awe at the majestic creature (who seemed to be enjoying all the attention).

Soon enough, it seemed that Toby's time was up. He'd had his own fair share of Henry-time, so the Hufflepuff gave one last pat to those soft soft feathers and looked up.

"Gotta go now, Henry. It was awesome meeting you. If you ever want to hang out again, you just let Professor T...hompson know; we're pals, see. Just ask after Toby." He knew that Hufflepuff probably didn't understand him, and definitely couldn't speak, but... y'know, it was soothing to talk like this. "See y'later, buddy."

With a smile (and one more feather pat, honestly for the last time now), Toby finally turned and headed back to the main group, and stood nearby Professor Thompson as he watched the others interact with Henry.

......................... ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

Grayson didn't know how long he had been bowing for but to him, it was a pretty long time. His eyes were watering more than ever and he had to repeat three words over and over again in his head: don't freaking BLINK. Because if he blinked now, he would end up ruining everything he had planned for. The Hippogriff would definitely not trust him after this. But it HAD to trust him. HELLO?! What's not to trust?

Don't answer that.

The longer he stood there, the more he started to become offended at the fact that Henry had decided not to trust him. When he was oh-so-excited about meeting the dude. It was like he was a filled up balloon that had all its helium let out and he was simply drifting through space and time. This was unacceptable, Henry. Unacceptable. And he'd have to start AGAIN because he didn't want to be the only one who DIDN'T get the chance to--

................ Oh?

OH?

Grayson's eyes widened as Henry, unmistakeably, bowed its head back at him. Yes. YEEEEEEEEEEEES! Of COURSE he could be trusted. Thank YOU, Henry.

The line was FINALLY moving, and Mo inched his way up until he was right there. At the head of the line. Mo!head to bird-horse-thing!head. It was definitely one of the most exciting moments of his life, made all the better by the fact that this creature was totally in his own element. Sometimes at zoos and places, all Mo felt was bad for the creature, stuck in a pen or behind a wall and looking so miserable while it waited for someone to feed it or play with it.

But Henry looked comfortable and pleased with himself.

"Hullo," Mo whispered before recalling himself. Polite. Be polite. He bowed low and stayed down, lifting his head just enough to roll his eyes toward Henry to gauge his reaction. Wait. Why wasn't he bowing back? Why... WAS HE BEING REJECTED BY THE HIPPOGRIFF? Heartbreak.

Alright it was time to see if the hippogriff would trust him. He was standing still and making eye contact with Henry. He seemed hesitant at first but then he bowed his head. He smiled and was glad he trusted him. He walked up to Henry and began to pet him. His feathers were soo soft. He seemed to like it because he nuzzled his head into his hand. Kace began to examine the feathers and saw they were the same color. It was quite cool and he looked right into his eyes and they were piercing. But it seemed to like him. "Heyyy buddy I am Kace..." he looked him in the eyes.

Henry was such a nice hippogriff, although Hazel had nothing to compare him to. She ruffled his feathers and smiled at him. It was hard to believe that a nice little creature like Henry could be harmful. Hazel's eyes fell upon Henry's razor-sharp beak and she stepped away slightly. Not wanting to use up any more of the hippogriff's time, she turned and said quickly, "See ya, Henry! Maybe I could come down and we can talk, or I can talk and you can listen, or whatever you want! Bye!" She couldn't believe she just invited herself down to talk to a hippogriff. She hoped Henry didn't understand her.

Waving goodbye to Henry, the Hufflepuff girl walked away from the hippogriff. That had been quite successful.

It was a good thing Mo was staying in top Quidditch shape, because staying bowed for long periods of time was crazy hard on the knees and back. He was starting to seriously consider whether or not this was a good moment to step out of line and slip to the back. Try again, maybe, and give it another go.

That was more painful than the ache developing in his lower back. He'd already impatiently stood through the line once, and if he had to slink off the back like a creature-feature failure... he'd be mortified. There was no shame in being rejected by a majestic creature like the hippogriff, but Mo'd gone and made a production out of having to wait.

That was what impatience got you.

Finally, as he was about to back down, Henry seemed to take pity on him, lowering his front legs and bowing his majestic head. AND MO WAS IN. JUST LIKE THAT. BOOM. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Marigold was in the front of the line again, and she had tried a different tactic - blinking over and over repeatedly. She walked forward and bowed, keeping eye contact and straining to keep her eyes open. She straightened up slowly after a moment, and waited.

Ooooh! Was that a bow?

Kace was looking Henry in the eye, well he said his name so he knew that. He still kept petting him. He still kept snuggling. He commented on him, "You are a beautiful creature aren't you?" he smiled to him. His eyes seemed soft and he snuggled closer. He smiled and said, "I hope I can get a chance to ride you one day.." he told him. He saw some students were already leaving and he figured it was time too. "I gotta go Henry.." he told him. "I will see you soon.." he nodded. Henry saw the next student and forgot about him. He didn't take it seriously.

He went back with the rest of the students and found it an interesting experience to be able to touch a hippogriff.

Don't blink...don't blink....don't bliiiiiink.

Benny had to remind himself to keep eye contact at all times with the hippogriff. It was supposed to be a show of respect, just like the bowing, and being rude, even accidentally, was not what the Gryffindor wanted to. It would mean a one way ticket to the back of the line at the very least. Yet he also didn't want to stare roughly at the creature and upset Henry that way. It was a fine line on just what you did and how it was seen by the hippogriff.

There was movement in front of him and Benny nearly flinched. Danger Benjamin Atreyu...Danger! Except as he blinked without thinking the third year registered the movement as a bow.

A bow?!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

Benny took a deep breath as he slowly straightened up. "Hello..." he said with a smile as he took the invitation and gingerly moved closer. "My name's Ben," the Gryffindor said without thinking as he tentatively raised a hand to pet the hippogriff. Only actually touching the creature when Henry responded favorably.

Apart from being able to pet it, the fact that the hippogriff had blinked meant one other little crucial fact: he could BLINK AGAIN.

FREEDOM.

Grayson was half-grinning and half-smirking as he blinked and headed over towards Henry. Slowly, at that. Couldn't startle the poor creature, could he? And if he did, he had a funny feeling that he might be asked to go through the whole process AGAIN which did NOT sound like his idea of fun. No thank you. Once was more than enough.

Nearing closer to the Hippogriff, the fifteen year old reached out a hand. Slooooowly......... sloooooooooowly.......... he inched his way forwards, right until he was petting the guy's beak. Pet pet pet. Andddddf he let out a sigh of relief. He had DONE it! This was exciting, wasn't it? And new. VERY new. He moved even closer, his hand moving over Henry's head and onto its neck.

"'Sup, Henry! Thanks for bowing to me, man." COULD he call the hippogriff a man? Because technically, it wasn't. And it wasn't one of his homies or whatever. "The name's Grayson, by the way. Grayson Whitlock. You're going to remember me, right?" Of course it was. How could it NOT? Jeez. Ask proper questions, Whitty.

"You feeling okay, man? Enjoyed that nice, dead creature or whatever it was?" See? Proper questions. And he wasn't sure whether the Hippogriff was saying yes or whether it simply liked the neck patting. "Can't be greedy an all soooooo I'm gonna go and let the others get a chance to meet you. See you later, Henry!"

Andddddd he went and stood over towards te place where Thompson and the others were standing. Brilliant. That had been BRILLIANT.

Alright. Okay. So he bowed. And the Hippogriff bowed. So this meant he passed the test right? Free to pet now? Yes? Please?

The Gryffindor looked around nervously, before taking a deep breath. Alright. He approached the creature, slowly, and held out his hand. And was that... Was the creature allowing him to pet!?

HA MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Zander felt a surge of confidence as he saw it was working. Holding his hand out carefully, he pet the top of the Hippogriffs head, going as slowly as possible. "Thanks for not killing me by the way, Henry," Was that it was that all he had to do? Looking back he noticed more people waiting behind him.

... Okay maybe it was time to give the others a chance now....

It was hard not to approach the hippogriff too eagerly now that Mo had his bow, and he had to moderate his steps as he closed the distance. One step. Two steps. Three steps. And one tentative hand out to rest on the feathered ridge above the creature's eyes.

Beautiful creature, and fearsome. This was a perfect moment.

"I'm Mo. You're fantastic, do you know? I bet you know. I'm sorry you're stuck inside, though, because it's terrible outside but it's hard to crammed all indoors. You're an outdoor guy, I can tell." He ruffled the feathers slightly and then leaned in for a very manly hug. Was this okay, Henry? Hugging was okay?

Mo stepped back and bowed again. "Thanks, mate. I'll... see you around. Hope you get out soon." Hope they alllll got out soon.

They were going to pet Henry. Most importantly, SHE was going to pet Henry the HIPPOGRIFF.

Holy fireballs. This was definitely something to cross of the bucket list.

Shrugging the blanket off Beverly quickly stood up and hurried toward the line of students. Her hands tapped the side of her thighs as she waited. Could the hurry up?! She wanted to get to pet the Hippogriff before the lesson ended. There was absolutely no she was leaving before she got her chance.

After not so patiently waiting, Beverly finally stood just meters away from the winged creature. Merlin. Okay. She could do this. Keeping eye contact as Professor Thompson instructed, Beverly approached the Hippogriff, stopping just enough to be noticed by the creature.

EEEEEP.

All right. It seemed good enough to go pet Henry.

Tag held in his breath as he slowly made his way over to the hippogriff. Very slowly. He didn't want to endanger or scare the creature away. When the blonde felt like he was close to the hippogriff he lifted his hand up and stretched it a bit. Almost as if warning the hippogriff Tag was taking his time to pet him, so that the creature would know what was up.

It bowed its head off to the side slightly and Tag relaxed more as he let his fingers glide over the hippogriffs feathers. Stroking the side of its head slowly and softly. Making sure not to agitate it.

Why had he worried so much? It hadn't been that hard.

It was like when she was told not to do something. Like when her dad would tell her not to touch a hot cauldron and her curiosity won over and she ended up touching it and burning herself. This was something close to it minus the hot cauldron. Her eyes wanted to blink but she wasn't supposed to. Not when she had the Hippogriffs' attention.

This seemed right about the perfect time to start bowing. Eyes on the creature's, she leaned forward at her waist. How low? She wasn't sure, but she'd keep going until there was a sign Henry was ready to bow.

Her face was close to touching the ground not really when the Hippogriff finally bowed. Yes, YES! This was great! She could pet him now!

Slowly, she took steps toward him.

Henry was very very very kind to Tag. Thank goodness. He probably liked the boy's hair and thought it wouldn't be very smart to endanger such a rare beauty like Tag himself.

Even more relaxed Tag ruffled the feathers on the hippogriff, giving it a warm smile all the same. It deserved some love and recognition. Though, right now, Henry the hippogriff was probably getting a lot of love. Unless he was or had dealt with a kid that had terrified him.

"You're a good boy? Aren't you?" Tag asked Henry. He knew, of course, that he wasn't going to get an answer in return. But the blonde always talked to his pets to try and make them more comfortable. "Look at you. All majestic and feathery and hippogriffy. Yeah. You're an awesome creature." He added. Giving the hippogriff some more kind, and awesome words.

The hippogriff had enough time from Tag and enough kind words, and needed to see and handle itself with other students. So, Tag gave it a quick wave and said, "Nice working with you, Henry," before turning on his heel and letting the next kid in line come face to face with the creature.

Henry didn't flinch, move or show any signs of aggression as Beverly moved closer to him, nor when she out stretched a hand toward him. When said hand was inches from his beak, the Hippogriff surprised Beverly as a it took a step toward her, nuzzling its beak against her raised hand.

*___________*

This. Was. The. Best.

She was going to write to--no. That was impossible. SIGH. She was going to tell Jeremiah ALL about it and he was going to sit through it and like it. Not that she had to demand that of him. He likes listening to her, she knew that.

Turning those thoughts off and her attention back on Henry she grinned at him. Then smiled a proper smile. Hippogriffs get smiles. Humans don't.

All right, now that Tag was done doing his task of the class he went back to the end of the line, though he stood off to the side. Had Thompson said anything about them being able to leave after they were done petting Henry or did they have to wait for the rest of the students to be done also? Tag couldn't remember, so he played it safe and stood off to the side watching everyone else.

Everyone seemed to have done well or received a good impression from Henry as he allowed most, if not all, the students to give him a good old pet. Now, what would make this class really interesting was if Henry decided to do something cool. Tag didn't know how cool a hippogriff could be within such tight space, but he had full confidence that Henry would be able to accomplish it.

Time to continue people watching.

Gaining a bit of confidence as Henry took another step toward her, Beverly raised her other hand, making sure to have him see it, and patted the side of his face down to his neck like she usually did to her horse back home. Midnight loooved that, she was sure Henry would appreciate it.

“You like that, don’t you, Henry,” she cooed, quietly enough that only the creature -- maybe even Thompson -- could hear her. She had a cool streak to keep up, you know. “I’m Beverly, hopefully we meet again.” She’d ask Thompson.

Maybe one day she’d even get to ride him. Oh! She had ideas for next term. Smiling a bit wider, she gave him a final gentle pat. “I’ll see you later, buddy.”

Bye, bye...for now.

Professor Thompson continued watching incase another mishap happened. Luckily there haven't been any others as Henry the Hippogriff was very pleased with all the ruffling and pets he's gotten throughout the lesson.. He's definitely spoiled now. As it was getting more difficult to not smile at the sight on some hugging him. The eager look on the students was nice, perhaps something like this could happen again when or if they were allowed outside again.. Ahem.

"Good job, everyone." And now all good things had to come to an end. "Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for the lesson. If you want to say your last goodbyes to Henry, feel free to otherwise class is dismissed. Your homework will be on the notice board momentarily."

OOC:Thanks for being awesome, everyone. The thread won't be locked until sometime tomorrow for the Henry lovers.

Jonas didnt get a chance to pet Henry, the students were crowding around. He shrugged. He didn't mind.
"Thank you for the lesson professor," he said.
Jonas lingered a bit wondering if something awesome was gling to happen. He then shrugged. Ge wondered where he had to go next as he walked out of the classroom.