Agni? He had named the Salamander? Oh, boy. The quick attachments this young man made with creatures was astounding. He did appreciate the help, but..."You can help me care for him, Derfael, but I can't let you do it alone. Salamanders like these can be dangerous to handle even with all the precautions I have taken for this lesson." A good example was Kyle getting burned because he dropped the Salamander. "Plus you have lessons, and homework to attend to, let alone taking care of Picketta. I don't want you to get overwhelmed." He may only be a third year, but school work would only be piling up over the next few weeks with end of term Exams coming before Christmas Break.



"That is exactly what I am saying, Etta." Tristan paused, "So to asnwer you, Skylar, no you wouldn't need your wand because these Salamanders are resistant to any type of fire spell. Much like the Frost Salamanders are resistant to any type of Freezing spell. So no, Kirk and Tenacious, those spells would not work, unfortunately, which is why we have to tend their fires the muggle way." He paused with a grin, "Plus, having a bonfire is always fun." He winked and listened to the other students' answers.



Ehhhh, sure gas would work for normal fires, but...,"Gas would work for normal fires, Felicity, but it would be pretty harmful to the creatures. The fumes and chemicals and such. But yes, to coal!" He said nodding when another student spoke up. This time it was Maddie. "That is very true, Maddie. Just moving the logs around keep it going for a while." He gave the young girl a smile.

"Yes, wood of course, Shay." He gave her a grin before moving on to the next students answer. Of course Derfael would have an interesting answer. "Yes, Fire Seeds help. And I am sure Thereos could show us the way, but we wont be calling on him tonight, Derfael." Tristan said with a chuckle.

He was guessing by her answer that Cassandra had never actually maintained a fire. "Actually, Cassandra, most powders can put fires out. Chili powder, would spark and burn up instantly so it wouldn't even do anything to help the fire. Good try." He said with a wink.




Of course Jessa was going to ask questions instead of answer his. But he couldn't blame her for being curious. "Ashwinders can't be produced by Salamander fires because Salamanders live in the fire and a single magical fire cannot hold both species. It is one or the other. An untended or unchecked magical fire would be a fire produced by a wizard, that has been left to die out on it's own. So a Salamander wouldn't be able to be produced if the fire was dying, but Ashwinders can be." He really hoped that made sense. Jessa's questions were difficult to give coherent answers for sometimes.

Tristan gave Emmeline a small smile, "The type of wood for fires doesn't make a difference. Fire is fire. Some burns slower, some burns faster, but it all burns." He said with a shrug hoping that answered her question.




Tristan watched as Edward continued to not participate. If he didn't like the subject, why did he sign up for the class? He had only checked one maybe two Salamanders. Why? Tristan needed to know why. Either way, he may need to talk to Laurel about that one.

Patrick got a nod and smile from Tristan. Obviously, most of the obvious answers had be given, so it was now time to move on with the final part of the lesson.


"Alright! All great answers! But I have more to add. Leaves, pine needles, cotton balls, paper, any kind of dry dead plant, pine cones, flakes of tree bark, these are all things that help keep fires alive." He said this while ticking off the list on his fingers. "Which brings me to our next task for the evening. If you haven't noticed, some of the Salamander fires have gotten dimmer. So now we need to tend the fires. You can walk around this area and find any of the things that have been listed and add them to your Salamander fires, but only this area, do not go into the forest. You can also check the fires and see if all you need is a good jostling of the logs." He paused, and grinned. "After that, and only after you have tended your fires," he said with a pointed look, "you may get a skewer, roast marshmallows, make s'mores and have some hot chocolate." With a wave of his wand a table that no one noticed on the deck suddenly had all the fixings for s'mores on it, as well as a large cauldron full of hot chocolate.

"You may begin." He paused remembering his other detail, "Oh one more thing, I'll let everyone ask me two questions. They can be creatures related or whatever you want to ask." Oh boy. This would be interesting.


OOC: Alright! This is your Mini activity! It is pretty self explanatory as well! Remember if your character goes into the forest there will be IC consequences! You have until September 28th at 10:00 pm EST. Have fun!

Oh! So its just the regular way of stoking a fire? May have gotten too clever earlier haha. But picking up fire fuel for Salamanders and SMORES?-- oh yeah he's totally game for that!

He bounced up on his feet and went straight for the area close to the edge of the forest. Those usually had the most dried, fallen tree stuff given its proximity to the forest. Grabbing a handful, he trotted back towards where the Salamanders were.

Oh wait he had a question "Professor, will we have a chance of handling Frost Salamanders anytime soon?"

Vi had been silent throughout the past moments in class. First they had to rejuvinate the fire. Then she picked up a couple of dead leaves that were on the ground. She didn't want to venture too close to the forest so instead she focused on the dead leaves near the edge of the forest. With a handful of those leaves, she headed back towards the fire. In addition to that, she had to come up with a question or two to ask Professor Wayland.

Hmm.... She paused until... OOH Frost Salamanders sounded cool. Sign her up for that.

She opted for a more general one to start off with. "Professor, do you have a favourite magical creature?" asked Olivia.

With a wave of his wand, an empty camp chair made it's appearance and he sat down, making himself a bit more comfortable. It was a perfect evening for a campfire and he was glad to be able to do this with his students. He wanted to get to know them better. He would be at this school for the foreseeable future, so he wanted to make sure his students knew he cared about them and their interests.

There was only one problem with having a lesson on Frost Salamanders; finding them. The generally lived in area's were it was always cold and were impossible to find elsewhere. "If I can find some, possibly. But they are much more difficult to find than these little guys." He said gesturing is head towards the fire.

Tristan took a sip of his hot chocolate, which was thankfully still warm after all this time. It was so nice being out in the chilly air, sitting by the fire.

When Olivia asked her question he grinned, "Well, I figured that would have been pretty obvious." He smirked, "Though, I love all creatures, my favorite is the Phoenix. Do you have a favorite?" He asked. Then errantly wondered where Ash was right now. He had let him out before the lesson. He was sure the majestic bird would make his appearance soon enough.

Oooookay. Etta got up and started to wander about the area, trying to find the things on the list that the professor mentioned, making sure she didn’t get too close to the forest... she picked up a few leaves before walking around a bit more. She happened to find some flakes of a tree bark too. Interesting. She slowly walked back towards where the Salamanders were, carefully carrying the flakes and leaves.

Ooooh. WAIT. She paused as she listened to the professor’s response. Okay, a question. “Why are frost Salamanders difficult to find, professor?”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

Agni? He had named the Salamander? Oh, boy. The quick attachments this young man made with creatures was astounding. He did appreciate the help, but..."You can help me care for him, Derfael, but I can't let you do it alone. Salamanders like these can be dangerous to handle even with all the precautions I have taken for this lesson." A good example was Kyle getting burned because he dropped the Salamander. "Plus you have lessons, and homework to attend to, let alone taking care of Picketta. I don't want you to get overwhelmed." He may only be a third year, but school work would only be piling up over the next few weeks with end of term Exams coming before Christmas Break.

Of COURSE he had named the salamander. It was only natural when one felt a bond, you know?

Derf nodded at the professor's words and was anything but discouraged by them. Perhaps partly because the Professor Wayland had not used the third year's age as a factor as to why he could not take care of the creature on his own - THAT would have been met with much Hufflepuff angst. "Understood, professor," he nodded. Although he thought that the man maaaaaaaaaay be under estimating his ability to time manage. Granted...the blonde was a little selective with how much attention he gave each subject. But as far as the Hufflepuff was concerned there was no sense in being mediocre across the board when he could be outstanding in a few. All about priorities and Care of Magical Creatures was one of those. "And I would really really really really really really reeeeeeeeeally like to help."

So maybe they could talk after class and make up a weekly salamander handling schedule of sorts since it seemed like the man was ready to move things along.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

"Alright! All great answers! But I have more to add. Leaves, pine needles, cotton balls, paper, any kind of dry dead plant, pine cones, flakes of tree bark, these are all things that help keep fires alive." He said this while ticking off the list on his fingers. "Which brings me to our next task for the evening. If you haven't noticed, some of the Salamander fires have gotten dimmer. So now we need to tend the fires. You can walk around this area and find any of the things that have been listed and add them to your Salamander fires, but only this area, do not go into the forest. You can also check the fires and see if all you need is a good jostling of the logs." He paused, and grinned. "After that, and only after you have tended your fires," he said with a pointed look, "you may get a skewer, roast marshmallows, make s'mores and have some hot chocolate." With a wave of his wand a table that no one noticed on the deck suddenly had all the fixings for s'mores on it, as well as a large cauldron full of hot chocolate.

Which it seemed he was indeedy. Which was pretty basic enough and the first place Derf looked were his pockets for anything of use. He had a few twigs and leaves in there from when he had gone out earlier looking for woodlice for Picketta. He'd forgotten the little box he usually collected them in and instead had just snapped off branches and leaves when he had found a particular pocket of them. Soooooo...those (all dried out now) were added to the fire.

Marshmallows made him think of Vivian and while Derf did enjoy a good smore here and there...he opted not to indulge at the moment but rather went around looking for more materials. He had too many things he wanted to ask and narrowing it down to just two was too daunting....therefore stick collecting it was.

Once more, Remy took to writing down the rest of the answers that his classmates gave, before putting his own hand in the air. ”I think anything dry and natural based would work really? Old clothes, paper or leaves?” He added with a small smile as he then continued on to write the rest of the answers that the Professor gave them. Nodding in agreement, Remy looked back up to the brunette Professor as he then started to give them their next task for the class. A quick look at his watch told him that they didn’t have too much time left, but that was okay - he was enjoying the time with the Salamanders.

Ohhhhhhh-kkkaaayyyy. That was fine. Remy knew this area pretty well from all of the time he had spent around the barns and running the grounds over his years at Hogwarts. As the Professor leant backwards, the Hufflepuff leant forward to inspect the section of the pit that he had been working in. With his wand, he gave the base a bit of a jostle with a few movements of his wand. Satisfied that he had worked all of the old ash free, and that there was now more space for new fuel, Remy got to his feet.

Moving around the camp, and side-stepping his friends and fellow students, the seventh year picked up dry pine cones, sticks, leaves and even a piece of rubbish that he found -- bad student! Whomever it was that had dropped that. He would simply put the wrapper in his bag so he could put it in the bin at a later date, he didn’t want any animals to eat it that would be bad. Moving back to his seat, he put the leaves, wood and cones into the fire and smiled as the fire heated up almost instantly… and in turn the salamanders glowed brighter and brighter. Pretty.

Leaning backwards in his chair, he simply watched the fire for a few minutes as all of his Salamanders seemed to wiggly warm and happy in the fire. Then when he was satisfied he had added enough fuel to his fire, he got to his feet once more so that he could get himself a cup of cocoa… and maybe a few marshmallows. He had trained earlier on today and would likely end up back in one of the training rooms after dinner; whether it was potions, defense or the gym was yet to be seen though.

"Very good question!" Tristan said with a wink at the young Hufflepuff. "Frost Salamanders are hard to find because they need to be in constantly cold climates to live. So here, they wouldn't survive very long. But say in Antarctica or the North Pole or Siberia...they would live perfectly happy lives there because it is constantly cold." He hoped that made sense. At least it did to him!

Tristan grinned, "I am sure we can work out something after the lesson is over." He really appreciated Derfael's love for creatures. Though Tristan wasn't quite as obsessed with CoMC at his age,
he was always very knowledgeable and interested in them. He felt a sort of kinship with the young Puff. Plus, they both loved Newt Scamander...who wouldn't!

Tristan watched as the rest of the class relaxed and enjoyed their time by the fire. Winter break was coming quite quickly, and they deserved a little break before the craziness that was exam time. He hoped all his students were successful.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Remy coming back to the firepit and putting something in his bag. "What did you find there, Remy?" Hopefully it wasn't a creature. He had had too much of people trying to sneak creatures in the castle lately or attempt to steal creatures from the barn. But he wasn't going to assume the older boy would do something like that. He was just curious as to what the young man could have found that would interest him enough to keep it.



OOC: You have about 2.5 hours to get posts in!

Oh, no wand? Because they were resistant to spells? Honestly, Skylar had only suggested it because of the spell mention and spells weren't materials. Although technically speaking the wand was made of a flammable material, not that she would ever burn hers...

Not the answer looking for though and the fifth year dutifully added to the list of materials in her notes, before standing up to go find items to add to her fire. Finding some flecks of tree bark and dried fallen leaves, Skylar returned and decided to try jostling the logs first, because maybe? Well, she didn't want to be adding more fuel to the fire, if there was still plenty left to burn? Carefully, she reached out and shook the log just a little, the fire flared a brief moment before dimming. Okay, yea, it needed more fuel. Crumbling some leaves over it, the fire started grow brighter.

And she was done, which meant? Marshmallow and s'mores? Okay, did Vivian use her prefectness to make marshmallows a staple food at Hogwarts lessons? Maybe? Seriously though, marshmallows had been like THE food of their snakette dorm since first year. Sliding two marshmallows onto the end of a skewer, Skylar thoughtfully roasted it to a nice brown-black on the outside, expertly turning it.

Shay was prepared to tend to her salamander fire. When all of the instructions had been given, she got to work. Walking a wide circle around the outdoor "classroom", Shay kept her eyes peeled for materials to juice up the fire. Going with her answer of dry wood, she looked for that first. She found some rather small twigs and gathered them up. Moving on, she found some pine needles and a few pine cones. When her arms were full, Shay returned to the fire. She laid her things on the ground and used one stick to stir the fire up. That caused it to briefly grow a bit, but then it died down again. So into the fire went the wood pieces, followed by the pine needles and pine cones. Fortunately the fire roared to life.

Well ok then. Success. The little salamanders would be nice and cozy for a while. Now it was Shay's turn to enjoy the fire and enjoy it she would. She removed her gloves and cleaned her hands. Then she went over and got a skewer and a couple of marshmallows. She placed the marshmallows on the skewer and was about to stick it the fire when she had a thought.......well two thoughts really. One, she didn't want to accidentally poke any salamanders. Two, she didn't want any salamanders touching her marshmallows. Keeping those things in mind, Shay just held her skewer slightly above the flames. That would have to be good enough.

When the marshmallows were nice and crusty like she liked them, Shay removed them from the fire. Then she found graham crackers and chocolate and made her s'more. She got a cup of hot chocolate and sat down to enjoy her treats. While she ate and drank, she tried to think of questions for the professor. It was hard to concentrate when one was enjoying the gooey, chocolatey goodness. Getting her focus back, Shay finished her snack and raised her hand. "Professor, what will happen to these salamanders after we leave them?". There, that was one question and Shay had one more question to follow. "And.....I was wondering, is there any other way to treat scale rot besides using chilli powder?" Shay was just curious.

Tristan was enjoying the peacefulness of the outdoors so much that it took him a moment to realize that Shay had asked him a question. He sat up straighter in his camp chair, "Oh, well I actually borrowed this bunch from the same Sanctuary in Wales that I borrowed the Demiguise from last term. So all, with the exception of the Salamander that Derf has found to be extremely unwell, will go back." He paused, looking down, "And as soon as that little guy has healed he will go back as well." He didn't want to meet Derfael's eyes on that one. He wasn't able to allow him to keep any of these Salamanders. "As for the chilli powder, yes. It is the only known cure for scale rot in Salamanders. There is a different treatment for Dragons. The treatment for them is to rub the affected area with a mixture of salt water, tar and white spirit. So different creatures different solutions. For Dragons it's a much more potent harsh mixture, where for Salamanders it's much more simple." He hoped that cleared up everything.

He took a quick glance at his watch and realized how late it was! "Alright everyone! That will be it for this evening! Please make sure you clean up the chilli powder boxes as well as any other mess from your refreshments! Class dismissed! See you at dinner!" He said with a small grin. He hoped his students had enjoyed this lesson as much as he had.


OOC: Alright everyone! Thank you for attending and making the first CoMC lesson of term an awesome one! We appreciate you making an effort to be here! I will leave the thread open until about 5pm EST tomorrow so that you can finish up any RP'ing you may have! Thanks for being so awesome!!!