Ooo the Professor had a phoenix. Théo was impressed. He had never seen one before and wanted to make the most of it because who knows when he will never see one again. He was still trying to get comfortable on his hay to really think of an answer because everything was already said.

And to tell you the truth the only thing he knew for sure was a phoenix feather was in wands and yeah that was about it.

Théo just stared at the phoenix in awe.

Of course anything that involved fire sounded like an interesting subject. But when the professor whistled for his phoenix, Henry couldn't help but gape at the bird a little as it flew to the man's arm.

He had never seen one up close before. In fact, he hadn't even known one was here, or he probably would have stopped in to visit Professor Wayland right at the beginning of the term. And even though he had never seen one, Henry thought he knew plenty about them.

Perhaps he had stared at the bird too long, especially when it started singing, because by the time he raised his hand, people were already offering the things that he knew. He'd lower his hand, then raise it when he thought of something else, then lower it again when that was offered too. He probably looked ridiculous, raising and lowering his hand several times, or at least really hesitant.

He really wasn't sure he could think of another fact about phoenixes that hadn't already been said, but he did wonder about something that he thought of when answers started pouring in. Raising his hand, he asked, "Professor, once phoenixes have their burning day and after they've risen from their ashes, do the ashes themselves have magical properties?" He couldn't remember ever learning about that specific detail, but it would make sense to him considering so much else about the phoenix did have magical properties. And essentially, the ashes did consist of the bird's previous body.

Olivia gave the Professor a grin and responded to his question with a perhaps too enthusiastic 'great'. Before she could say anything else, class had begun. She tried her best not to fidget but the caffeine wasn't helping her in that aspect. Biting her lip, she glanced down at her hands and then to Ace, hoping that perhaps he would have a solution. However, her attention was soon drawn away from her fellow housemate when the Professor revealed the purpose of their lesson today. A Phoenix? Her eyes widened in pure shock. She had never seen one in the flesh before. She had seen them in various textbooks but one... ONE IN REAL LIFE?! This was AWESOME! "WOW!" she whispered a little too loudly. When the phoenix began singing, Olivia felt the affects of the several caffeinated beverages drift away. Huh. How intriguing. She all of the sudden felt very content. Her fidgeting ceased.

After hearing several responses, she offered one that she had remembered reading in a book. "I've heard that phoenix tear's have great healing powers. The tears can help someone who is badly injured."

At the mention of fire the fifth year smirked. Because seriously, what Gryffindor in existence doesn't like fire? It was awesome,
and you could do all sorts of things with it. And also, be burnt to a crisp by those dragons the professor just mentioned. The fire crabs sounded cool though, and made her think of a creature from that muggle show. She raised an eyebrow at the word majestic. Please, what was more majestic than a crab that could shoot fire balls at people? Nothing, thats what.

She was however, quite surprised at the gold and red bird that landed on the professor's shoulder. That was a phoenix. Just wow. But it didn't resemble the type her sister had back at their lakeside home. Sam couldn't help but let out a small giggle when she heard its name. Ash? Seriously? First of all,
that was kind of a lame name, almost like calling a dalmatian Spot.and secondly, Ash AND a fire crab? this was totally that show. She raised her hand, not to answer the question posed to them, because anything she'd have said was already said by others, and it'd be silly to just repeat them. Nope, instead she had her own questions to ask. "Um, so why is the Augurey called the Irish Phoenix? They don't really look alike, besides both being birds, are they related in anyway? And, I know Phoenixes are really difficult to domesticate. Thats why they have such a high ministry rating, right? So then, how did you get Ash?" There had to be some story there.

Katy smiled apologetically at the professor when she realized she'd failed to acknowledge him before taking her (itchy) seat. Hopefully she could make it up to him by being a super brilliant Creatures scholar. It could happen. She knew stuff.

Her chagrin was quickly overtaken by the appearance of Ash the phoenix. A real. Life. Phoenix. In the flesh. In the FEATHERS, even. She applauded as it landed, and then her hand was immediately in the air.

Speaking of feathers... "Oh! Professor! Sir!" She grinned at him, all eagerness to share her thoughts. "Some of my classmates are right in saying that phoenix feathers make a strong and consistent wand core, but the important bit is that the feathers have to be willingly given. Like, you can't just pluck a feather and walk away. They're rarely given, I imagine, which makes it all the more special." So. Ash. Want to give us a feather for experimenting?

Elora went quiet while the professor whistled a tune before a silence filled the air. She looked around the semi-circle curiously to see the how the other students were reacting. However, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the majestic bird in the distance. She could but only stare in awe as the Phoenix landed on her professor's arm gracefully.

'I can't believe it. That's...a real Phoenix!' The images in the books that she's read are nowhere near beautiful as the one in front of her. Although Elora listened to her classmates as they spoke. Her thoughts were so fixated on Ash's alluring song, that she almost forgot to answer the professors' question.

Subconsciously, she raised her hand before speaking. "I read that some of the most powerful wands come from a Phoenix's feather. For example, like Harry Potter's? As well as when they're towards the end of their life, they turn to ash before being reborn."

Melbourne had quietly been sitting on a lone bale of hay near the back of the barn – it wasn’t that she didn’t want to participate. She did, she always wanted to participate – it was simply that the short Gryffindor girl had tried to save a seat for a certain friend that seemed to not have gotten the message of hey I have a seat for you if you want it…still, maybe that was because of how off she was today? The normally bubbly girl was yet again silent for the most part. Her eyes transfixed on the Phoenix ahead of her.

Rather than answer the question, Mel just watched the majestic creature with a keep eye. It was beautiful, and fierce like she always dreamed of being. Something, that as of today she didn’t exactly feel, not here on a lone haybale.

Mel grinned when she heard Elora bring up the phoenix feathers, that little Puffer had done her research. It was so majestic looking – really, Mel just wanted to ask Professor Wayland if she could possibly see if the Phoenix wanted a treat or would mind being held one time or well…not held, but if it would like to rest on her finger the way bird handlers often did…after all, it was a creatures lovers dream to hold and behold a majestic phoenix.

While yes, Olivia had expected Rooney to take a seat with her, she hadn't at all anticipated the whispered affirmations of love. Rooney-dearest, pls. She didn't require material things, as she might once have. No, that was a different Liv, from a time before... Affection and kindness were really all she required these days.

After responding in whispers, because the Professor was giving Rooney an odd thumbs up, and it had suddenly made her extremely self conscious...the blonde fished a notebook from her bag. The one with Care of Magical Creatures scrawled neatly across its cover. Olivia had been practicing her calligraphy...

Oh, and they were getting started.

Flipping the notebook to a fresh page, Liv struggled with balancing it in her lap and jotting down whatever important information would be shared. These hay bales really weren't that comfortable, and she suspecting her her bum and posture might suffer from lack of proper cushioning. A massage would be required later on in the day. Yes, luckily their new Groundskeeper had imported a hot spring onto the grounds. The Gryffindor would most definitely be paying it a visit... Maybe not today, but this coming weekend for sure...

WAS THAT A PHOENIX?!

Forgetting her previous thought-train, Olivia stood in surprise; her notebook and quill tumbling to the ground without her lap to keep in place. She'd never seen one in person before, and had to shamelessly admit that it was probably the most beautiful thing she'd ever laid eyes on. With it's vibrant reds and golds, Liv idly wondered what one went for; price-wise. It was truly magnificent...

Yeah, she'd forgotten to offer and answer... What was the question again? Oh, right...Magical abilities. "It's not really an ability, but they can be a person's patronus. So, I suppose they can be looked at kinda like guardians."

Althea did her best to not smile too hard at Bentley (she was perpetually disgusted with how giddy she got around him.) And her conversation with Bentley had barely progressed when her lovely older brother decided to interrupt - literally - and sit in between them. What a beautiful coincidence. She rolled her eyes, leaned behind Declan to mouth an apology to Bentley for her brother's obvious attempts to embarrass her, before greeting Declan. "So nice of you to show up to class," she said with a smile - though, it wasn't genuine at all. Katy and Oliver seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and she flashed both of them a smile before staring pointedly at Oliver for intentionally ignoring both Bentley and Declan. How odd.

She turned her attention back to her brother who seemed to be very interested in showing her his cards, which prompted a story about what happened in the great hall and she did her best to whisper back quietly, making sure to nudge him whenever he was getting too loud. The professor had brought out a phoenix, and it caught her attention. She mulled over for a while, thinking of answers that hadn't been said. Raising her hand, she added: "Phoenixes can also leave behind messages by bursting into flames and reappearing elsewhere." She was pretty sure she'd read that somewhere. "Oh, they leave behind a golden tail feather when they do." Yeah, she was pretty sure that was right; and if it wasn't, well, she didn't really care. Without missing a beat, she turned back to Declan to continue her story about Amias' recent disappearance.

Oh. So the professor had remembered his name. Very cool, Professor. Very cool. There were a ton of students here at Hogwarts. Brent figured the professor was doing pretty good to already know names. His eyebrows raised in wonder as some of the hay suddenly disappeared and literally put itself neatly away. Duuuuude. Magic was so cool!

Brent hung on to every word until a really awesome, majestic looking creature decided to join them. Oh, look--it was a phoenix! DUDE...COOL! Brent had always thought phoenixes were really awesome animals. Brent was so amazed by the creature that by the time he figured out something to share, pretty much everything had already been said.

Finally, he came up with something to add. Somebody else may have already said it, but if they did, Brent hadn't heard. He raised his hand. "I used to go to Ilvermorny, and one of our houses was named after a creature called the Thunderbird," he said. "The Phoenix is related to the Thunderbird."

Seeing a phoenix up close was so neat! It really was a beautiful, majestic bird, and Rula briefly imagined what it would be like to own one of her own. Pretty cool, right? But then again, probably not something she'd actually want as a pet. She was pretty content with her cat already, so no need to go to all that trouble.

Probably needed to focus on giving an answer...but it sounded like every ability a phoenix had that she could think of had already been said. So maybe she'd answer the next question and just listen for now.

With a flick of his wand, all of those answers appeared on the blackboard. Ash was starting to get heavy on his shoulder; Big birds weigh a lot. He whistled a different little tune, and Ash took flight, circling around all of the students with his beautiful golden tail. Showing off was more like it. Tristan chuckled as the great bird landed next to Melbourne on her hay bale, and took a seat as if he wanted to be a student too! "As you can see, despite being independent, they don't mind being around people, especially when they are domesticated. They are actually very gentle creatures." He paused for thought, "You all gave really great answers. One thing I would like to add on. If you notice, Ash is sitting on a bale of hay...and it hasn't caught fire. From some intensive study and research, we Magizoologists believe that Phoenixes can control the temperature of their feathers, which is why when you rub him or hold on tight to his tail feathers, yes they are warm, but they will not burn you...unless of course he wants it to." He said with a grin.

"Now getting into the basics, because you need to know this as well; Phoenixes are native to Egypt, India, and China. And as you already know, their plumage is scarlet, they have a golden tail, black eyes, and a golden beak and talons." He paused and walked around for a moment, "But now I would like to focus on the Burning day. I know we touched on it a little but I would like to know what you know." He paused, pacing a little to get his mind to regroup. "My questions for you are: What do Phoenixes look like on a Burning Day? What happens on a Burning Day and what do Phoenixes look like just after they burn? Could this mean that Phoenixes are immortal creatures?" He paused again, "Now you don't have to answer all of them, and that last question is more of....a matter of opinion." Which meant there was no correct answer to that one. Now he awaited all the answers that would surely rain down on him.

OOC: Alright...WOW! I am amazed at all your great answers!! Thank you for participating so well! As stated, you can answer all of the questions, or just one. Whatever you would like to do.

We will be moving on in about 18-20 hours.

Kyle watched as the phoenix flew around then landed next to another student. Lucky, he thought. He raised his hand. "Phoenixes are generally haggard and have lost most of their feathers by burning day. On burning day, they burst into flames and burn into a pile of ashes, if I'm remembering correctly. And then a small baby phoenix winds up coming out of the ashes." He thought about it, but wasn't entirely sure on his answers.

Kimi thought long and hard about the professor's question and raised his hand and said "Phoenix's on a burning day look old and have lost their feathers look haggered and have lost the brilliant shining colours that they usually have"

Etta watched in awe was the Phoenix flew about, wondering if the professor would let her interact with the bird later. She would have to ask him once class was over. She continued with the staring when once again she realised that the professor was speaking. Goodness, she really needed to concentrate.

Right. Questions. She chewed her lip in thought for a few moments, trying to formulate an answer before raising a hand. "Professor.. as the bird approaches the burning day, their feathers start to fall out? They become more weak, I think? And on the day, like people mentioned earlier, they burst into flames.. only to rise from the ashes. And professor, I don't think they are immortal.. they just live for a very long time." Etta answered, still frowning in thought.

Dora was mesmerized by the calming tune the Phoenix sang. A small smile stretched her lips as she kept her eyes mostly on the majestic bird. That was, until Professor Wayland began to speak again.

Sighs.

He was amazing, he was.

"I think there is evidence to support the idea of Phoenixes being immortal, sir. They die and are immediately reborn over and over again." She put her hand down after speaking and smoothed her curls a bit. "Has there ever been a report of a phoenix dying? " she asked as she filtered though information in her brain... she couldn't recall an account in anything she had ever read. Perhaps Professor Hot Stuff could enlighten her.

Burning day discussions were fine and all, but the second year was sufficiently distracted by OTHER thoughts. Besides, he really would only be repeating what Jessa had said in response to the previous question anyway - with a few additional bells and whistles because that was what Derf's did.

...believe that Phoenixes can control the temperature of their feathers, which is why when you rub him or hold on tight to his tail feathers, yes they are warm, but they will not burn you...unless of course he wants it to...

Derf's hand SHOT up and he kind-of-sort-of entirely ignored the question altogether and instead propsed one of his own.

"Profes-s-sor...you reckon Ash would let me touch his tail feathers-s?" Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top? He could even attempt to enlarge the cherry with magic!

Although chances were he would only manage to blow it up...but it was the thought that counted, right?

Ah, he'd already burned. That sucked. Merlin knew how long she'd have to wait for the thing to bite the dust again. Perhaps she could go in search of one one day or....was there a way of accelerating the process? She'd have to read up on it a little more. See if the Professor would let her try it on Ash after. It probably wouldn't hurt him. Aging potions didn't do much harm.

Jessa sat forward on her bale of her, propping her elbow onto her knee and cupping at her chin as her eyes followed the bird. Her mind wasn't entirely here. Occasionally it took little trips into the 'what if' and soon she could almost see the phoenix burning there before her

The question brought her back briefly, but as she'd already explained what they look like on their burning day while answering the last question, she opted not to repeat it again as everyone else had. The immortality question she would take a whack at. "I think I agree with Etta, Professor. Rising from the ashes is likely another bodily function. After a while those tend to come to a stop naturally. I suspect one day it'll burn and just never rise again." Like sometimes the very old went to sleep and just didn't wake up again.

Extra points for those who mentioned about phoenix tears as antidote to basilisk venom... Hey, that was her! It was nice to know that Professor Wayland rewarded her answer with extra points.

Ava listened to the Professor's explanation about phoenix. She had her hand raised as he asked another question. "Well... I think when the burning day si coming, the phoenix might look like it has been sick?" It's worth a guess, she thought. "And I do think that phoenix is immortal due to its rebirthing ability."

Noelle watched the beautiful bird fly from the professors shoulder over to Mel. She wanted to scoot over and touch the bird, but she stayed where she was at. Just look at those colors. Maybe Noelle could get Olly to paint her a picture of a phoenix. She'd hang it up.

The professor was speaking again and Noelle smiled to herself as her eyes found him again. She needed to be taking notes, not swooning internally. Pulling parchment out, she begin taking notes on Burning Day.

"Its the end and the beginning per say. Ending of a life but being reborn through the flames. The phoenixes burst into flame and out of the ashes, are reborn." Had others said that? She hadn't heard.. she was a little distracted.

Well, Kirk could see everyone already knew what the Burning Day was, he didn't feel like sitting back quietly though. "I would say a burning day is guessing day on when they're meant to die and burn before being reborn. I think it has to be it's a natural cause instead of an accident for it to be one." Another question though..

As for their immortality? Kirk couldn't help but stare at those who assumed they were. Sure, Phoenixes never stopped coming back, but that was the keyword. At least a few did see it otherwise, "I have to agree with the others Professor on Phoenixes not being immortal, they just have infinite lives. To be immortal you wouldn't be able to die or get in a state of dying. Phoenixes do end up dying when they burst into flames and they are reborn right after as a sort of restart on their new life." That was how he saw it.

Kyle gave the Ravenclaw some thought. What was the definition of immortality? And what was death? "That kinda sparks the question for me... Do they have partial immortality, then? Because it's true that an immortal being never dies, but a phoenix does on a regular basis. But they have the memories and soul of who they are, don't they? So that part about them is undying."

The appearance of the phoenix was far more interesting than the discussion at hand, at least initially, and Junia found herself staring at the creature in awe. The feathers in particular had caught her eye and she tapped her fingers against her knee, fingers that itched to draw what she was seeing before her. Really, only the mention of Egypt was enough to pull her back into the present and the fourth year smiled some, giving Abey a nudge. She wondered if he got the same warm feeling inside when the mention of that place was heard.

What were they supposed to be doing now, again? The Slytherin tore her gaze away from the bird briefly, listening to her classmates. Hm. Immortality was a big subject to tackle, wasn't it? So big that it sent her mind wandering all over again...

"Professsor? I know it's said that a phoenix is, if I recall correctly, one of the only naturally immortal creatures. But if that's the case, why a death day in the first place? And why do they grow old and worn? It seems to me, that like others have said, eventually the phoenix wouldn't be able to be born again. Like, well, the process obviously takes a toll on the creature as seen in the way it looks right before it's death day. Do their cycles get shorter each time around, do you know? Has there been a study on it?" Because maybe one day far, far into the future, the time between cycles is just so short that they aren't able to be reborn any longer. Maybe.

...Did that make any sense?

Olly's eyes remained fixed on the bird even as the professor spoke again. Even as the phoenix flew closer and landed on the hay among the students. He shifted just the slightest bit closer, even if he still remained mostly in his original seat a fair distance away. And the lesson was still happening. What were they talking about now? Burning day? Olly dragged his gaze away from the bird and now landed on Junia as she spoke. She had a fair point. Did the cycles get shorter over time? Was it like...half life? He glanced at the professor now and raised his hand.

"Well Phoenixes can die, can't they? I mean, if someone were to cut off their head or something?" As morbid and terrible as that sounded, he was trying to understand things. "It is possible for them to die, right? But when they do, what form do they take? Do they become ash?"

She had gotten both her answers correct!! BOOM!!!! Sully was feeling on her game today that's for sure!! Normally she did so poorly in Care of Magical Creatures, but she felt a connection to the phoenix, he was beautiful! And after all she had a phoenix feather in her wand as well. That made her feel pretty good about herself!!

"They look awful on a burning day. She was trying to remember what she had seen in books. "Their feather are molting and they don't look pretty at all." Okay maybe that was a little to harsh for the bird, it wasn't their fault after all that they burned. "I think they can live a long time, but no I'm not sure they are immortal." Sully added about the last question. "Professor ... can a phoenix chose to not be reborn?"

Sully was trying to think, if they went through too much hear ache could the bird decide when it burned that it wouldn't be reborn? Who knew!