There weren't a ton of water creatures that Trinetta knew of - and sure enough, they were getting rattled off quickly. Still, she knew about a couple of other facts about the ones that had been named already, so that might help.

She raised her hand. "Kelpies also have hair that can be used in wand cores. They're not very common though," she explained. She was pretty sure because...it wasn't very good? Didn't matter to her, she had her wand and it was AWESOME.

Water a creatures - two of Felicity's favourite things. This lesson was already shaping up to be good, and she was infinitely curious as to what creature they were possibly studying that day. If she didn't get the grades in her NEWTs to continue this subject...

Well, it'd didn't bear to think about.

The seventh year listened to the answers from some other students before raising her hand. "There's the Shrake, sir. It was magically created to destroy fishing nets by a group of Wizards who wanted to get back at some no-maj - I mean, some Muggles." She lowered her hand back to her lap, listening to the rest of the answers her classmates gave.

Tristan looked down at his watch. If they were going to get to the activity they needed to hurry along. "Very good answers everyone! Of course there are many more; from the Dugbog that dwells in marshlands, to the Lobalug that lives in the North Sea, to the Ramora that lives in the Indian Ocean, and the Selma that only dwells in freshwater Norwegian lakes. Every body of water has some sort of magical beast living inside of it, and the more you know, the more prepared you will be if you come in contact with them." He paused to gather his thoughts.

It was now time to show them the creature they would be working with today. With a grin he said, "Now if you would all pay attention to the pasture behind you, our creature of the day is," he paused, and with a flick of his wand, a giant, round, glass tank almost as big and as tall as the barn appeared behind them and three fully grown Hippocampi, "the Hippocampus!" Of course the students would notice right away that there was a stair case that led to an observation deck that circled the entire enclosure. "Just as a side note, these creatures don't live in this enclosure. It's far too small. They are residents at Magical Wildlife Sanctuary of Wales and have their own lake to swim around in there, I have them on loan for this lesson and they will be returned to the safety of their lake tomorrow." He said with a wink.

"Now, before we get into the activity, I have a request of you. Please tell me one fact that you know about Hippocampi." He waited for the excitement to ensue and the answers to come pouring in.


OOC: You guys are doing great! Thank you for being so patient with me! You have roughly 22 hours to answer!

Thankful that the professor wasn't upset with her, she grinned in return and continued to listen to the other students answer. There really were a lot of water creatures and hearing about more of them only further solidified her desire to never enter the water again.

Moving along, the lesson continued. After a flick of his wand, a giant tank appeared with the hippocampi. They weren't flying seahorses, but they did look like giant sea horses, and that made her very happy. Wishing she knew more about them, she put her hand in the air to give out what she did know. "Sir, the hippocampus is kind of like a giant seahorse. I love seahorses. Can they also fly like my favorite flying seahorse?" It would be really great if they could and part of her momentarily reconsidered her no entering the water decision.

Hippocampi! No way!

The brightest smile threatened to split Daehyun's face in half as soon as he turned around and spotted the beautiful creatures. He'd never seen any outside of books, so this was beyond exciting! He barely registered the observation deck because he was too mesmerized - oh, he hoped they could get close to them!

It was difficult to pry his eyes away from the hippocampi to look at professor Wayland again when he'd asked them a question. Grinning, he raised his hand and said, "The young ones are called tadfoals," which made no sense whatsoever, but who was he to question it. "Tadfoals are born in large, semi-transparent eggs." And now he wanted to see a baby hippocampus, too.

There was a soft giggle from her at Wayland's response to her answer. "Will we get to work with them someday during a lesson, Professor?" They were a creatures she wouldn't mind getting close to in the water since they meant no harm.

Rylee's full attention was on that huge glass tank once it was revealed. Hippocampi! They were beautiful! Her bright blue eyes shone with fascination as she focused solely on the creatures, nearly missing out on what was being said. Her smile widened at hearing they would be here just for one day before returning to the lake they lived in. That was good as this tank was nice and all but it was certainly no real home for the Hippocampi inside.

Raising her hand and pulling her gaze away from the tank and back onto the professor she gave her answer, "They can have different eye colors making each one unique and unlike the others." She liked that fact honestly. Just like the color of the Hippocampus' skin. Lowering her hand she shifted her attention right back onto the tank hopeful to maybe make eye contact with one of them inside. What were they thinking being inside that tank? Were they afraid. Rylee really hoped not. Maybe they were as curious about her as she was about them.

Anna was going to mention the Giant Squid from the lake since they were now good friends - after that ONE conversation, you know, but still - but the Ravenclaw prefect beat her to it and so she just kept quiet for that particular question because she kind of couldn't be bothered to think of something else apart from normal fish.

After a moment of considering whether she'd call some types of fish "Muggle" if they weren't magical, the Gryffindor went back to paying attention to class when the professor told - and showed! - them what they were going to be looking at that day.

"Oooooooh!" She exclaimed, suddenly very interested in that massive fish tank with cool looking hippocampi in it. "They look amazing!" That was all she knew about them at the moment, actually.

Anna's eyes widened as she heard Rylee's answer about their eye colour.Those creatures were getting more interesting by the second! The Gryffindor started to inch towards the stairs that led to the observation deck as that was way more appealing than standing there just talking.

Water creatures were beginning to be a bit of a conflict in Stasya’s mind, therefore she’d found herself staying quiet as the lesson had begun. Plus, there was all the curiosity as to Ash’s actions. Yes, she’d gotten that little encouraging song from the phoenix, just as Derf had, but the statement that the bird had been kind of oddly protective was what had piqued her curiosity. Especially given the other incidents this term, namely the grindylow attack which was why she’d recently decided that not all creatures had a reason to be liked. In all honesty, she was hoping they weren’t going to be learning about grindylows at all.

Therefore, she’d been noticeably grateful when the subject of the lesson had proven to be hippocampus. At least those were relatively docile, in the way winged horses were and regular horses. Answers had already begun being offered, yet she raised her hand still. “Hippocampus are native to the Mediterranean, but they’ve been found here in Scotland too. Merpeople like domesticating them just like we domesticate horses, and they come in all sorts of colors just like other horses except hippocampus tend to be colored in water tones,” she offered. Okay, maybe that was more than one fact, but it had actually all been semi-related.

The man could offer up any sort of explanation that he wanted for the squid, it didn’t make her like the creature any more. Of course, if it was that he genuinely didn’t know and therefore couldn’t answer, circumstances would be different but that would’ve required him saying as much. He didn’t. As far as she was concerned, he did have answers and was simply unwilling to share them.

The Ravenclaw would never understand the need for selfishness with knowledge.

Rather than dwell on it and become bitter again, she turned her attention to the large tank that seemed to come out of nowhere—obviously aware that wasn’t the case.

Hippocampus. Huh. Interesting.

“They’re classified XXX by the ministry which means as long as you’ve got common sense and know what you’re doing, you won’t get yourself maimed or killed.” Competent wizards could cope. Same thing. Was this his way of saying he considered everyone in the class equally competent?.....Because she may have had a few reservations about that. None she’d say aloud but they were there all the same.

OOOOOoooooOOOO. Chloe bounced and applauded at the appearance of the hippocampi. They were just gorgeous, and Chloe would happily stand here all day and watch them just exist. They didnt have to do tricks or notice her or be engaged with her in any way. Just... being out there was perfect.

It made up for her mistake about kelpies. The professor was forgiving, at least, and Chloe wasn't going to dwell on being embarrassed for too long. "They're perfect, sir. Do they have names?"

When the last student with their hand raised finished answering, Tristan moved closer to the blackboard. There would be a few things they were going to need to write down now. As he spoke, the most important facts magically appeared on the board. "Very good answers everyone! Now, I want you to write down some of the information I am about to tell you because it may come up on your exams or if you are taking the OWL or NEWT examinations this year it may show up there." He paused to let that sink in, and to gather his thoughts.

"The Hippocampus, plural Hippocampi, are native to the Mediterranean Sea, mostly around Greece. As you can see, they have the head and forequarters of a horse and the hindquarters and tail of a fish. They can breath above and below water because they have lungs and gills similar to the Lungfish." He paused to let that small fact sink in. Not many people knew that about this interesting creatures.

Tristan quickly continued as the Blackboard caught up to him, "As Stasya said, Hippocami can vary in water tone colors from deep, dark blues to light bright greens, and their eyes can vary in color just as most humans do." He paused to take a sip of his tea, "Now, as Daehyun said, Hippocampi lay semi-transparent eggs, which means you can see the Tadfoals growing through out the entire incubation process, which is really amazing to witness." Yep. He loved these creatures.

"Now to get a little more historical...or should I say Mythological, Hippocampi are very popular in Greek and Roman Mythology. These creatures were said to be the children of Nereid Nymphs, better known as Sea Nymphs, and the Sea Gods, most famously, Poseidon. It was said his chariot was pulled by Hippocampi." And that was enough of Mythology for now.

"There is also a major section of the brain in humans and other mammals that is called the Hippocampus. This section of the brain is what controls the conscious short-term memory, which...you really don't need to write down..I just thought it was interesting." He said with a chuckle, though he was sure no student would laugh at. ANYWAY, MOVING ON.

"Alright, now I would like everyone to head over to the holding tank and carefully head up to the observation deck. Please bring your parchment and quills. You will need them for this next bit of the lesson." He shewed them with his hands and started walking towards the tanks himself.




OOC: You guys are doing awesome! Thank you again for participating. I am going to do the mini lesson in a couple stages so for this first part just have your charries head over to the holding tank and finding a spot on the observation deck. I will post again in about 20 to 22 hours. Thank you for being awesome!

HOLY FLAMING SALAMANDERS!

Derf's eyes widened in delight and complete AWE when the professor revealed the creature of the day. Forget that that was the creature Derf had mentioned - his mind often wandering back to the lake and wondering how that particular Hippocampus was - but there was an entire HERD of them RIGHT THERE. So excited - honestly, he could secrete himself - he entirely missed the professor's question about listing what they knew about the creature. Though, well, Derf had given a few impromptu lessons here and there about them - including that day in the lake when the professor had swam off to help the merpeople - so he reckoned that Professor Wayland knew he knew his share of facts about the beast.

Instead, he was gazing longingly at the tank. Were there any Tadfoal in there?!

So when Professor Wayland invited them up, this Hufflepuff had NOT needed to be told twice and he practically leaped to his feet, grabbed his quill and parchment, and then scampered as quickly as he could without actually running up over and found himself a spot riiiiiiiiiiight in front. And, well, since he was getting to be pretty tall, he sat down with his legs dangling down so people could still see over him and he could keep his prime location.

The grateful smile in response to her answer hadn’t been missed by the fifteen-year-old blonde, yet Stasya couldn’t find it in her to ask. It was just going to be another mystery to add to her quickly growing list, along with wanting to figure out what exactly Ash was looking to protect them from. As far as she knew, the grindylows couldn’t get to them on land, and she hadn’t seen any creatures venturing out from the Forbidden Forest this term (although she was still immensely curious if the unicorns were doing okay in there.)

Either way, she’d been paying attention to the lesson as it had continued enough to scribble down the notes Professor Wayland had instructed them to take. Not that she’d have minded anyhow as all information about creatures was welcome in her eyes. Especially if it was information that may or may not be in books, although she’d held off on adding the brain stuff to her notes. That didn’t seem exactly important, not when they had hippocampi to meet.

As they’d been instructed to approach the tank, she hadn’t wasted any time, slipping her notes back into her bag as she walked up to the observation deck. Long legs actually were an advantage sometimes, as she’d managed to get there pretty quickly even without really hurrying, and she’d slipped into a seated position next to Derf once she’d arrived. Close to the creatures but also not at risk of keeping any ickle first years from getting a good look either.

Daisy grabbed her notebook and quill and made her way over to the observation deck where the Hippocampi were being held in the holding tank. As she approached the deck, she smiled in fascination at the sight of the aquatic creatures. Daisy awaited further instruction from Professor Wayland.

Go see the tadfoals?! He was in!

As for taking notes, Daehyun already knew a lot of things about hippocampi, so he only scribbled the main ideas as to avoid being scolded for not writing anything down. He did, however, pay more attention to the historical part, taking a mental note to do some research on that.

He almost forgot to take his parchment and quill to the observation deck with him, as he'd nearly sprinted over there, so he had to turn back a couple of steps to fetch them. Up the stairs he went, and found a good spot from where he could finally see the beautiful beings up close. Were they going to pet them? Could he?

She'd seen the look of concern the man had sent her way but not for the life of her could she figure out why. Were she a little less tired she may have tried finding out but as he was moving forward with the lesson, it didn't seem all that important.

Jessa remained sitting as she was, despite the instructions to take notes. She had notes. Copious amounts of notes. The Ravenclaw had already finished the Hogwarts syllabus and was waiting for her lessons to catch up to that. She already had all the notes she would ever need. Attending her lessons was more a formality as she was very aware that it was bad form for a Prefect to be skipping lessons.

Hopefully the Headmistress would be able to work something out. She'd spent the last several months understimulated and it was doing terrible things to her concentration.

Silently, she rose from her hay bale and followed the others to the observation deck. She did take along a parchment and quill to humour the man, but she had no intentions of taking notes there either. What was the point of duplicate notes?

Nettie hurriedly scribbled down everrrrything she could about the Hippocami as the professor started rattling off facts about the creatures. Once she had caught up with her note taking, she jumped up eagerly and pushed her way to the front of the group so she could get the best view. Water creatures were beginning to become one of her favorite topics in this class - maybe because the last time they got to encounter water creatures, she'd found GOLD and all that.

Standing on her tip toes (and not blocking anyone's view thanks to her tiny stature) she waited patiently for the lesson to continue on.

So she wasn't exactly correct in her answer, but they still looked like seahorses and that made her happy. She flipped to a new sheet of parchment and started writing down the information as fast as her quill could go. She didn't want to miss anything important, especially if there was going to be a test over the little stuff.

Once finished, she very slowly gathered up her parchment and quill, moving at a snails pace, and hesitantly made her way over towards the holding tank. She had no desire to climb up on anything that was near the holding tank. None at all. She wanted to keep her feet firmly on the ground and away from any water. A cold chill ran down her spine as the thoughts of the last water related class flashed through her mind.

After taking a deep breath at the bottom of the stairs to the observation deck, she slowly backed away, letting the air whoosh out of her lungs as her shoulders slumped. She turned to Professor Wayland "Sir, I'm afraid to go up there. I don't want to somehow fall in the tank."

Chloe was going to lose her mind from excitement, and she bounced her way up onto the observation platform. The professor said he'd tell them the names of the beauties... and maybe they'd come close enough to study in better detail!

Chloe seated herself carefully on the other side of Derf, pausing only to give Stas a questioning look. Perhaps a hard questioning look, but better things to worry about, so it was fleeting. "Even water horses are horses. Aren't they so pretty?"

Felicity's hand flew across her parchment, trying to keep up with her note taking as Professor Wayland was speaking. She was glad she'd invested in some instant-drying ink this year - being left handed had meant she previously had to write slowly, but slow was not something she was prepared to be this year. It probably would have made sense to buy it years ago, but she wasn't exactly the most brilliant of minds.

Notes completed, Felicity allowed herself to watch the Hippocampi in awe, her footsteps slow as she made her way up to the observation deck. She'd only ever seen them in pictures before, but they were so much more majestic up close.

As soon as he made is way to the observation deck, and made himself visible to the students and Hippocampi by standing on a raised platform near a ladder that went into the tank, the Hippocampi made their presence known. They leaped through the air and made a mad dash towards Tristan. There were three different Hippocampi. The first was the darkest shade of blue you could ever imagine, with an even deeper blue eye color, and a wild mane of dark gray hair. He looked like the ocean in the middle of a storm. The second was sea-foam green, with dark gray eyes, and a silky white mane; she looked like a gentle wave in the Caribbean islands. The third was aqua blue, with green eyes, and a dark blue mane. She looked like the Ombré blue hair style of your dreams! They were all strong creatures. The male had thicker muscles than the females which caused him to look a little more stocky while the females looked more lithe, and graceful. They all had unique personalities as well which made them even more interesting. These creatures were too beautiful for words.

Tristan smiled, tossing each creature a seaweed treat. "As you can see Hippocampi love Seaweed. They also eat Algae, certain types of Coral, and any other sea plant. They also like to snack on Sea Anemones and are known to come to the surface to eat grass, weeds, and any other plant they can get to on land from the water." Hoped they would take note of that. "It's always important to know what creatures like to eat. It is the easiest way to get them to come to you." He couldn't stress that enough...in every lesson they had.

He took a moment to collect his thoughts, allowing the students to observe the creatures at a closer range. "Now, I want you to write down your observations on the differences between these three Hippocampi. The dark blue is Jupiter, the light green is Calypso, and the light blue is Astraea. Write what you think makes them unique compared to each other and what makes them similar. When you are finished, raise your hand and then share what you observed with the class. You may begin." He flicked more seaweed snacks to the creatures, and raised his right arm.

The Hippocampi caught the treats and then began swimming around the holding tank. Did their tails move more like Merpeople in an up and down motion, or did they move more like sharks in a side to side motion? Was one female bigger than the other? Did their skin have a glittery sheen to it? The harder the students looked the more details they would find.



OOC: You all are doing great! This is Stage 2 of the mini activity. You can do it in as many posts as you like. Have your charries talk with their classmates while observing and when your charries are ready have them stand and present their observations. You will have until Sunday July 8th @ 5 pm to complete this before we move on to the main activity. Have fun with it!!

Emmalyn listened to his words carefully, "nothing in that tank that will harm you." He had said almost the exact same words as she stood next to the lake that horrible day. That time he had left them alone. She wasn't going to let that happen again.

After taking another deep breath and steeling her nerves, she bolted up the stairs and next to Professor Wayland's side. To say she was in his bubble, would be an understatement. She was practically glued to his side. Her heart thundered with anxiety and she kept her body poised to bolt at a moments notice.

Nervously, she let her head turn to the side, just enough to view the hippocampi, and cringed at the sight of them bolting towards the professor and her where they stood. She was slightly put at ease by the fact the hippocampi seemed to enjoy plants, not people, and allowed herself to move her hands just enough to take some notes.





Once she had taken down some observations, she glanced around to see if anyone wanted to work with her. She really wasn’t sure what else she was supposed to write down after watching the hippocampi for only a few moments.

Chloe didn't want to take notes... she wanted to offer snacks to the hippocampi and sweet talk them and maybe draw them on her parchment. Drawing, though, was essentially related to taking notes and would help Chloe compare the three beautiful creatures in front of her.

She sketched the outline of Jupiter first, noting that his musculature was broader and more defined than the other two. Maybe that was related to gender? The colors were vivid and calming, and Chloe tried to remember them so she could add pastels later. Why hadn't she thought to bring them with her?

Tristan watched as the students observed the lovely creatures, and became increasingly aware of how close Emmalyn was standing next to him. But he wanted her to be comfortable, so if she needed to stay close he was fine with that.

At one point Jupiter came up and nickered at him obviously wanting more snacks. He grinned and walked up to the side of the tank and lifted his hand right under the creatures nose, holding a seaweed snack for him. The Hippocampus happily took it from his hand. Tristan rubbed the great beast behind the ears, before turning to Emmalyn and asking, "Would you like to feed him, Emmalyn?" He rubbed the creatures cheeks and fed him another snack while waiting for a response.

"Don't forget, whenever you are ready, to share your observations with us." He continued to rub Jupiter's cheeks and feed him snacks. That big guy had a hardy appetite.


OOC: Alright darlings! You have until 5pm tomorrow before we move one!! Have fun!

Feed him? Her entire body screamed no, but for some unknown reason her head nodded yes. "Um, I guess I could?" Her response was more of a question than a firm answer, but she was trying. Jupiter did look rather friendly, and he really seemed to like the treats. She also figured if Professor Wayland got her killed or eaten, the entire class would be witnesses and she highly doubted he wanted that. With a shaky hand, she started to reach out to take a treat from the professor, but paused part way. "Sir, maybe I can share my observations first, then try giving Jupiter the treat."

She moved ever so slightly away from Professor Wayland and cleared her throat. Public speaking felt far less scary when compared to water and sea creatures. Emmalyn lifted her parchment so she could see her notes. "Things that I have observed are Jupiter is dark blue with a dark mane. He's larger and strong looking and he doesn’t appear to be as fast as Astraea or Calypso. Oh, he also really likes treats. Calypso is light green with a white mane. She's not as bulky as the Jupiter, but still very strong looking. She seems to have a more peaceful air about her. Astraea has a light blue body, a dark blue mane that fades to light blue, and is thinner yet very agile looking. She gives off a vibe of being determined and strong willed. Overall they seem to swim more like Merpeople, appear very intelligent, eat plants and other small sea things, and look like they have an almost slimy film all over their bodies." She was unsure of what else she was supposed to be seeing since she didn't want to look much closer out of fear of falling in the water.

Once finished giving her observations, she moved back closer to Professor Wayland, making sure he hadn't left her, and said "I think I'm ready to try now, if it's still okay to give Jupiter a treat."