Swinging her legs a little as she waited for everyone else to get up to the observation deck, Stasya had applied herself to watching the hippocampi swimming around below them. That and wondering if any of them would approach her, but her thoughts had been interrupted when Chloe had sat down on the other side of Derf. She’d given the Ravenclaw a smile, only to have it falter a little at the hard questioning look in her direction. Immediately, she wondered what exactly she’d done, and if it was something she didn’t even remember because honestly she didn’t understand the reasoning behind it. After a moment, though, as Professor Wayland had arrived and the activity had started, she resigned herself to the possibility she’d never find out.

“They’re gorgeous,” she’d finally said quietly, in response to Chloe’s earlier statement, agreeing with her entirely as her grey-green eyes followed the three hippocampi had swum toward the professor and acted like, well, every other kind of horse she’d ever interacted with and likely some other creatures as well. She’d immediately started taking notes on everything the professor had said, as well. Just in case she ever got the chance to interact with a hippocampus on her own. It was entirely possible in her mind.

After her general notes, she’d written down each of the three hippocampi’s names, along with notes on their coloring, before she’d begun actually trying to observe them closer. Obviously Jupiter was bigger than the two females, having more of a presence in general really by his darkness. The differences between the females was much less pronounced, and after a moment she was tempted to add that she felt the most drawn toward Astraea. Except she really didn’t know why.

Kye had taken a seat, adjusting until comfortable enough… These weren’t her favorite type of seats that was for sure. She couldn’t bring herself to complain though, because Professor Wayland was too likeable to hold it against him when they were out here. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, wishing she had brought ice water. Magical water animals? Kye had a flashback to that whole grindylow and Mr. Henry experience earlier in the year. As she was replaying the event in her head, she heard others naming the same creatures, almost in a row. When Derf mentioned the merpeople struggling with a hippocampus… Yea she had already left the party by then she guessed. Not knowing what was in Derfael’s pocket, Kye’s thoughts went to one of the souvenirs she had kept as well which was not currently on her person.

By now, Kye had lost the motivation to answer the question and waited for the ‘big reveal.’

Oh! Well perfect.

As the professor gave his disclaimer, Kye smiled a little. See? That was why she couldn’t complain about the hay bales. At his next question, well, okay she actually didn’t have anything to add to that one. Her knowledge seemed to be at the same level as Daniel’s, except she didn’t know about the egg transparency. She adjusted and began jotting down her notes. It was almost as if she could feel her stress level rise every time he said ‘exam.’ Once her notes were completed legibly enough, she headed over to the deck as instructed.

Kye’s eyes darted around looking for the hippocampi, but she didn’t have to for long. As soon as Professor Wayland had stepped up, they had appeared. Kye noted the different colors and wrote them down as she saw them, wondering when exactly the gloves were going on. What would they be doing?? She continued with her notes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notes

Jupiter: Dark blue, darker blue eyes, gray mane. Male. Athletic build.
Calypso: Light green, dark gray eyes, silky white mane. Female.
Astraea: Light blue, green eyes, dark blue mane. Female.
Love seaweed, algae, some coral, sea anemones, grass, weeds, and anything else in reach.

Raising her hand she looked back at the creatures. "The male, Jupiter, is thicker than the females in frame which is a pretty common phenomenon. They are all in the same color theme I’d say, with all of that green and blue especially. Their own color schemes are definitely unique from each other… Professor, is it likely to find color patterns with the Hippocampi or, for example, is there a chance of seeing one that’s orange?"

It was time to move on to the final activity. He hoped students would respond well to it. He stepped away from Jupiter, who still kept his head over the side of the tank waiting for more treats while Calypso and Astraea continued to swim gracefully around the tank. "Alright, now that everyone has shared their observations we are going to move on to the final activity." He paused and with a flick of his wand a pile of wet suits in various sizes and goggles appeared in a stack next to him as well as multiple buckets of all kinds of food that the Hippocampi liked to eat.

"Now you have two options. First option: You can take a ride on a Hippocampus of your choosing. I have wet suits and goggles here," he pointed, "You can change into them in the barn bathrooms and then come and ride with a partner or individually. When you are riding you should hold a bunch of hair in each hand like you would if you rode bare back on a horse. But please remember to be gentle. Don't pull too tightly on their hair. They wont dive under water unless you say the word 'dive'. To get them back to the surface, pull gently straight back towards you and they will immediately go back to the surface. When you are done with your ride give them a treat, and then go change back into your clothes. Then come back here and you can either watch your classmates or feed an unoccupied Hippocampus." He paused to remind himself of the second option.

"Second option: If you are too scared or don't want to go in the water, you may feed any of the Hippocampi when they are not occupied with a rider. I have multiple buckets here of seaweed, coral, and sea anemones. If you want to feed them the anemones, you will need to wear your dragon hide gloves because they can sting you. So, please make sure you have them or borrow a friends!" He paused and grinned at the group. With a flick of his wand his clothing changed from dirt covered jeans and a t-shirt to a wet suit.

"I will take a ride first so you can see how it's done. All you have to do is say their name and they will come to you but since Jupiter is already waiting I will just ride him.Please, pay close attention to the way I hold Jupiter's hair. You want a firm but gentle grip." Tristan climbed the steps of the ladder, and made a clicking noise with his mouth. Jupiter came over nickering, so he quickly fed the Hippocampus a seaweed treat, and then hopped onto the creatures back. He took about a couple inches of hair in each hand on each side of the creatures head. Tristan gently tapped his bare heels into the creatures sides just, making the clicking noise with his mouth, and gently pulled the left strands of hair with his left hand to get the creature away from the ladder. As soon as this happened, Jupiter took off. He looped off to the left and then quickly swam around the outer edge of the tank.

"Dive!" Tristan called out, and as soon as he held his breath he was underwater. Of course he forgot to grab a pair of goggles, but he could see well enough under water. The Hippocampus made a quick turn around the tank under the water, and then Tristan gently pulled straight back on the creatures hair. Jupiter responded immediately and pulled up, jumping out of the water, floating in mid air, before landing with a splash. Tristan chuckled and patted the great creature on the side, before guiding him back to the ladder. He grabbed hold of the ladder rails, rested one foot on a step, then swooped his other leg over onto the same step. He turned, gave Jupiter a pat, and a seaweed snack, before climbing back up the ladder and back onto the platform on the observation deck. "That's how it's done. Anyone want to try?" He said with a grin.



OOC: OK! I think the activity is pretty self explanatory. You can chose either option, which ever one you charrie is more comfortable with. You can also post as much as you would like to. Post waiting for your turn, post choosing your partner, etc. Just have fun with it! You have until 11:30 pm EST on July 10th to RP this out! Have fun! If your charrie has any questions put Professor in the title of your post, or if you have any questions about anything feel free to pm me. Remember.....HAVE FUN!

Maddie shared her own observations then looked around the area as everyone else shared what they'd noticed. She turned her attention back to the professor when it seemed like everyone had shared just about everything they'd wanted to say. So the professor was...allowing them to ride a Hippocampus? Or they got sit that one out and feed the creatures instead?

Well, DUH. Maddie was heading for the wetsuits and goggles!

"Anybody want to take a ride with me?" she asked aloud, because even though this was exciting, it was still her very first time doing this. After the third year made her announcement, she headed for the barn bathrooms to get changed. The barn's bathroom area wasn't exactly her favorite choice for a dressing room, but the only other option was out in the open, and that was a big ole bag of NOPE.

She emerged a few minutes later dressed and ready for the ride. Now all that was left to do was to wait and see if anybody wanted to partner up, and if not...well, she was flying solo.

Her eyes lit up at the praise over her observations. It was a good boost to her confidence. Then she watched Professor Wayland feed Jupiter the treat. "Oh, it's just like I used to feed my grandma's horses when I was little." She nodded with understanding.

"Okay, I can do this." She reached out and grabbed the offered piece of seaweed, placed it in the middle of her palm, and moved her opened hand towards Jupiter's mouth. "Here you go, beautiful Jupiter." The hippocampus lips were soft and they almost felt like feathers against her skin. She giggled, a little bit nervous, but mostly joyous.

After all of the students had finished, she stepped away from Professor Wayland so he could demonstrate how to ride Jupiter. She knew there was no way she would be riding one of the three, but she was willing to try and feed one again. Since she had already had the chance to give Jupiter a treat, she stepped away from the side and let some of the other students go a head of her.

Tristan watched as the students made their decisions on which option to chose. He knew there were a few that would jump on the Hippocampi right away and he knew there would be a few that would chose just to feed them, which he totally understood. It would be difficult to get anyone into the water after what happened at the beginning of term.

He watched as Emmalyn fed Jupiter the seaweed snack and gave her a thumbs up and a wink. "You can handle feeding any of them now." He said with a small smile. He moved around the observation deck watching the students preparing for the activity. He really hoped they enjoyed this on.


OOC: You all are doing great! You have until July 10th at 11:30 pm PST to complete! HAVE FUNN!!!

Apparently, nobody wanted to partner up, and everybody wanted to ride solo. So against what she had hoped would happen, Maddie decided to go ahead and take a ride by herself. She already had her wet suit and goggles on, so the third year spared a thought as to which creature she'd liked to ride on before deciding on Calypso. Why? One, because it really didn't matter to her which one she rode, and two...because she just liked the name Calypso.

"Calypso," she said, beckoning the creature toward her. The light green Hippocampus headed toward her, earning a smile from Maddie. "Awesome," she whispered to herself. She climbed the steps of the ladder and made a clicking noise with her mouth. When the creature reached her, she fed it a treat. Somewhat nervous about what was about to happen, she sighed softly before climbing onto the creature's back.

With slight hesitation, she reached forward and grabbed a bit of it's hair in each of her hands. She was surprised at how well things were going so far. She was new to this whole riding a Hippocampus thing, and she'd expected it to go way worse than this. Pleasantly surprised, she tapped her heels into the creatures side, made a second clicking noise, and then gently tugged on one side of the creature's hair.

...and off it went!

OH. OHOHOHOH. A ride? It didn't matter how long the line was likely to be, Chloe was absolutely going to be in that line. And she'd wait all day until it was her turn. She practically ran all the way to change into her wet suit, and then she raced back to get into line.

Chloe danced from one foot to the other as she waited impatiently for her turn to get to the front of the line. WHY WAS EVERYONE BEING SO SLOW AND SELFISH? Then again, if she was further in the line and it was her turn, Chloe would probably take her time as well. More than her time. She'd take everyone's time.

Finally, it was her turn, and Chloe climbed onto Jupiter's back. "Okay, big lovely boy. Let's go make a splash." She treated him like a regular horse, and other than the fact that he was wet and oddly shaped, there was a certain similarity. They took off into the water, and Chloe squealed the whole way.

Feeling a bit bad that Maddie had to ride by herself, no way she was going to ride with her, Emmalyn decided to cheer her on a bit. "Great job, Maddie! Looks like you are having a blast."

With Maddie on Calypso and Chole on Jupiter, it left Astraea free when it was her turn again. She reached down and grabbed some seaweed, no sea anemones would be touching her hands, and approached the side. "Astraea, would you like a treat? You are the most beautiful of all." her voice was a soft whisper as she held her hand out, palm flat with the seaweed on top. She held her breath as she waited for the light blue hippocampus to approach and take the treat.

She let her breath out in a soft whoosh as soon as Astraea had taken the seaweed and began to eat. She had done it twice, and that was two more time than she had expected she would. Noticing the line still behind her, Emmalyn stepped away from the side to take notes over what had happened. She wasn't any more interested in being around sea creatures, but she wasn't any more afraid than before they started. It was a win in her book.

Tristan watched as the students took their turns riding or feeding the Hippocampi. It was a pretty successful lesson if he did say so himself. It seemed as if the students were really enjoying the lesson, which made his fears and doubts melt away. He was sure he would have riots on his hands with having to go into the water, but he knew the option of just feeding the creatures would go over well.

"You have about 15 minutes," He called out to the class as he checked his watch for the time. Unfortunately, their lesson was almost over. But there would be another soon enough.


OOC: You all are doing great! You have until 11:30 pm EST to complete this activity!

There might’ve been a bit of distraction going on when it came to Stasya and her thought processes, given certain situations. Yet when it had come to the hippocampi themselves, she was entirely focused. So much so that she’d been surprised to find out they were being given the chance to ride them. Granted, it couldn’t be very fun for the hippocampi to be stuck in this tank. She knew that if she’d had a choice she’d much rather get to ride one out in the open water. Where the hippocampus could really be able to be themselves and swim wherever they wanted, although she was hesitant about swimming in the lake now. It was like the difference between getting to ride Cygnus in the paddock or getting to ride her out to the edges of the forest, not that she was really comparing the gorgeous hippocampi to the Granian she regularly visited in the barns ever since first year when she actually had been able to ride her out to the edge of the forest. The only real connection the two creatures had was the horse aspect, after all.

Plus, she wondered if hippocampi understood Mermish, not that she was anywhere close to being skilled with that language even given her lessons the past few terms. It was a question she filed away in her mind to ask Professor Wayland later, once there wasn’t the temptation of actually getting to ride the creatures. Instead, she’d gotten to her feet again and found herself following Chloe over to the wetsuits and quickly changing before heading back over to the tank and climbing back up onto the observation deck.

By the time she’d gotten there, Emmalyn was giving Astraea treats, so she waited patiently until the hippocampus was free again and softly called her over, carefully climbing onto her back only when she decided she’d gained the light blue hippocampus’ trust. It wasn’t like she was going to be reckless, Gryffindor notwithstanding. However, she leaned over the elegant neck once she was settled on her back and lightly stroked her nose. “I’m just going to let you lead,” she whispered, before gathering the mane in her hands and making the clicking noise the professor had demonstrated before lightly tapping the hippocampus’ sides with her heels and a grin broke out on her face as they began swimming.

Although she was certainly less nervous by now, Maddie still felt a bit uncomfortable riding all by herself. She remembered the instructions, though, and after seeing how well Jupiter treated the professor, she was confident that Calypso would do the same. "Dive!" she called out, and then she drew in a mouthful of air and held it. The creature dove underwater, and Maddie held tightly to the air she'd grabbed. This wasn't so difficult, was it? Nope. Not at all.

The third year swam around for a bit then gently pulled back on the creature's hair. Calypso immediately jumped out of the water and made a bit of a splash, causing a giggle from Maddie. She guided him toward the ladder then climbed out. "That was awesome!" she exclaimed. "Can we have a second try?"

Skylar was trying to focus, really, and her hand was diligently moving along as her peers shouted off answers for what they knew of hippocampi. But somehow despite her attempts, she couldn't come up with anything coherent for something unique to add to the discussion, so instead her hand continued to move, likely a faster rate than what her brain was going at that moment. At least she'd have the notes to study at a later date.

Moving methodically over to the observation deck with her parchment and quill, she made a small face at the creatures, diligently noting some of the differences along with some names too because naming creatures was super important. OKAY, SO CHANCES ARE, Wayland probably already named them but she wanted to give them her own names for them just because, WHY NOT. It might help her in her comparing and contrast, but also developing a sense of kinship to them....

Oh, they did have names. Scribbling out her own notes, she wrote the names Wayland listed off.

Quote:

Jupiter - dark blue. dark gray hair
Calypso - Sea foam green. white hair
Astraea - Aqua blue. Green eyes. dark blue hair

So their main differences seemed to be in hair color, which was easy enough to recall. They seemed to move in an up and down motion, but not like merpeople; they were themselves in the way they moved. Kind of graceful, yet not.

OOH. They got to RIDE one of the hippocampi?!? AS IF she would choose the second option when she'd been given the option to ride one of the creatures. Grabbing one of the wet suits, she quickly departed to one of the barn bathrooms, changing and heading back out in time to see Maddie stepping out and asking for a second turn??? UH, some people hadn't even had ONE turn yet. Stepping over towards where Jupiter was, Skylar dipped her toes in the water very slightly just to sort of address and say she was safe. But also to know what the temperature of the water would feel like. Slipping goggles on over her eyes, she slid onto Jupiter's back after saying his name and fed him some algae. Taking a handful of its hair into her hand, she gave it a gentle tug and with a firm 'dive', the creature dove and took off around the tank. Of course she almost wished she'd cast a bubblehead charm before because it would have made the breathing under water thing much easier instead of nearly swallowing some water from the sudden shock and pull, but alas oh well. She'd held her breath quick enough and tugging on the creatures hair, Jupiter pulled up from the water, Skylar gasping for the briefest of moments. Patting at Jupiter's side, she fed it some more algae, before sliding off it and up onto the ladder and the platform.

And if she went again, she was definitely casting the bubblehead charm on herself. If there was time for her to go again, that is.

The last fifteen minutes of the lesson sure went quick. Tristan had enjoyed watching the students have fun riding and feeding the creatures that he had lost track of time. When he checked his watch, he gave a sad sigh.

"Alright everyone! That's it! Finish up your ride, give your last treat, change clothes, and pack up. Thank you all for making this a fun class and I'll see you at our next lesson." He said with a grin and waved them out. He hoped his next lesson would be just as successful.


OOC: Thank you all for participating in this lesson! I appreciate you all so much! I will leave the thread open until sometime Wednesday evening so you can finish up. Thanks for coming!

At the announcement of class being over, Emmalyn wondered if cheering would be too much. The class hadn't been as bad as she thought it might be, but still there was water and water creatures. Neither of which she was thrilled with. After that day at the lake, she may never enter another outside body of water, ever.

After quickly putting her things away and getting her little self off the observation deck, she turned back to Professor Wayland. "Thanks for the class, sir. And, thank you for standing with me when I was scared. That was really kind of you." She grinned and spun around on her heels to head off towards the castle. A nice warm bath was to be had to get the smell of seaweed off her hands and to relax her tight, nervous muscles.