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Today the CoMC classroom paddock is host to several fire pits, complete with wood stacked nearby, ready to be arranged and lit. Around the fire pits, an ankle-high maze fills the rest of the paddock, with its walls far enough apart for student feet to walk around in without stepping on the tiny walls. And despite spending most of the morning clearing the paddock to install the maze, vines have started creeping back into the paddock and along the maze.
At the front, Professor Paszek is waiting in front of the only pre-arranged but still unlit fire pit. Gather around, class will begin soon.
ooc: Welcome! As always, SS rules apply, and please acquaint yourself with the CoMC rules if you haven't already! Class will officially begin in about 24 hours. CLASS HAS BEGUN!
Valentina slowly followed the ashwinder, watching it curl up - almost as if it was going to lay it's eggs but not quite. Why was it waiting?? She couldn't help but notice the other ashwinders already laying their eggs so why wasn't this one doing that yet? Maybe it didn't feel ready.. or.. or maybe not all ashwinders were the egg laying type.. anywaaay. She impatiently waited. "Come oooon." She muttered softly.
Fiiiiinally, the ashwinder laid its eggs. Like most of its kind, it would have preferred no audience, but its time was running short--they only lived for up to an hour, after all. It disintegrated into a pile of ash, revealing four eggs, glowing red like coals underneath their coating of dust.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nordic Witch
Trailing after her ashwinder required concentration and Bella did her best to keep on her birds tail, but still be wary of her surroundings. With so many twists and turns in the maze it was easy to loose track and stumble into something. Bella stared ahead with open-mouthed shock when it came clear that her ashwinder was on a clear collision course with Claudine's. She held her breath when the two ashwinders passed each other dreading a fight. Luckily nothing happened and Bella could exhale deeply and grin back at her friend. "Hi Claudine, I guess we have two fiesty females. I dreaded a fight more than a stare off." Waving bye to her snake mate Bella changed her hold on her jar before continuing off in the maze after her ashwinder again.
And now it was Bella's Ashwinder's turn to lay some eggs. Two, to be exact. As the newly laid eggs glowed red-hot, the Ashwinder coiled itself up as if to keep them warm, or to stay warm from them, and slowly dissolved, leaving the eggs coated with a layer of ash.
It seemed like all the ashwinders had been found, their eggs mostly collected, and class time was nearly over. Mia clapped her hands. "Okay, everyone, thanks for all your help today! Once you've collected your ashwinder eggs, you can return the jars to the front, I'll be delivering them to Professor Hernandez for potions supplies," she said. "For next class, I'd like you all to write an essay on pest prevention, for the magical household pest of your choice--and let's not consider siblings in that category for this assignment, please." She preferred not to read any essays about how to get rid of younger siblings.
"Other than that you can go, have an excellent rest of your afternoon!"
OOC: I'll leave the thread open for another 18-24 hours for anyone to finish up with the ashwinder egg collecting. You can assume any ashwinders have laid their eggs & dissolved.
~ Mrs. Steve Harrington ~ It be like that sometimes.
Claudine was quite glad that the two Ashwinders didn’t want to get into a fight. In any case, they both had an important task programmed within their minds: to lay their eggs. She trailed after her Ashwinder, watching its every move. It headed for a corner in the maze and when it stopped to curl up, the seventh year remained standing a few paces away to observe the fascinating process.
Four eggs.
Excellent.
She watched sadly as the Ashwinder disintegrated. It was indeed sad to not be able to stick around to enjoy life. Claudine stepped forward after her Ashwinder pal was gone, wand aloof. “Glacius.” The incantation utter, the eggs were frozen. They were gently picked up one by one and added to the jar with no harm done.
With another successful lesson behind her, Claudine made her way back to Paszek, avoiding any vines in her way.
The Ashwinder Violet followed took its time winding through the maze, cautiously checking around every third corner. Finally it came to a nice end in its path. Coiling itself and checking its surroundings, it laid two eggs. Then after a deliberate pause, laid a third egg and disintegrated, leaving the three eggs on a little pillow of ash.
Violet was glad her Ashwinder moved slowly so she didn't have to run very hard to keep up with it. In fact, she had to slow down and go into stealth mode in order not to frighten it off, as it seemed to be a very cautious one. Finally, hiding as best she could behind a corner of the maze, she gazed in wonder down at the end of the path and watched the little being lay its eggs. She almost ran forward after the second one, but was glad she waited, because, what do you know, there was a third one, too. And then, the Ashwinder was gone as if it had never been.
Violet thought it rather a bad deal to only get to live long enough to lay a few eggs and then, POOF! But she had no time for thinking, because there were eggs to collect. She came forward at last, pointed her wand at each of the eggs, and exclaimed, "Glacius!" "Glacius!" "Glacius!" Then, pocketing her wand, she bent down and gently picked up each of the eggs and put them in her jar. They were really cold, too! Satisfied with her accomplishment, Violet turned and started walking back out of the maze in what she hoped was the right direction.
Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
SPOILER!!: soooo much catch-up!
Heath caught Claudine’s grin and returned it with a smile of his own, and there was a little smile for Valentina too. He knew Claudine would know where this lesson was going. He’d thought of ashwinders himself - really, what else could it be with all the fires? The first question had him all but certain that ashwinders were today’s topic, but rather than go with the obvious answer, he chose to give the question a bit more thought.
As he pondered, his thoughts turned to chizpurfles. His brother’s crup had been infested with them several years ago, and it was a mess. Anything magical or electronic had stopped working. It got so bad that his mum had to call in a specialist! His hand went up, and he said, “The chizpurfle, Professor. It’s a magical parasite commonly found on crups and augureys and it feeds off of magic or electricity when magical items aren’t available.”
It came as no surprise to Heath when Professor Paszek mentioned the ashwinder, though the mention of floo powder got an intrigued blink. Did they need to add floo powder to their own fires or - Never mind. Just as that thought occurred to him, he saw the professor tossing powder onto the fires. He considered the next question carefully. Again his thoughts turned to chizpurfles. He knew their fangs and carapaces could be used as potion ingredients, but several other people had already said that - not about chizpurfles specifically but potion ingredients in general. Was there anything else he could add?
Still deep in thought, he remembered Evan’s answer to the last question, and that gave him an idea. Sure nifflers could be destructive, but their attraction to shiny things could be useful too. If he recalled correctly, cursebreakers were often assigned nifflers to help them locate treasure. He raised his hand and said, “Nifflers can be used to find treasure.”
Heath listened intently as the professor gave the directions for the next activity. Oh, that explained the maze. He’d been wondering how that was going to fit into things. He was just glad it wasn’t a human-sized maze! Ever since encountering Lucien Rosier’s hooded goons during that disastrous cockatrice lesson a couple of terms ago, he had a thing about mazes. He shook his head to distract himself from that memory. Never mind, ashwinder egg collecting time!
He retrieved a jar from the box, shivering slightly at the coldness as he touched it. His dark eyes scanned the paddock, darting from the firepits to the maze in search of any ashwinders that may have gone unattended. Just when he was starting to worry that he wouldn’t fine one, he spotted a particularly small one slither past. He followed it to the maze, watching with a strange sense of melancholy as it laid its eggs and dissolved. He rather liked that ashwinder. It reminded him of himself in a way, but now wasn’t the time for sentimentality. There was a job to do!
Tucking the jar under his left arm, Heath aimed his wand at the nearest egg and cast, “Glacius!” The egg froze, and he picked it up to place it in his jar. A thought occurred to him as he turned his attention to the next egg. Maybe he could try the spell nonverbally this time. A look of intense concentration crossed his face as he pointed his wand. Glacius, he thought. This egg also froze, but only partially. “Glacius!” he cast again to finish the job and deposited the egg into the jar with the other one. He tried again on the next egg, and this time the nonverbal Glacius worked.
When all of the eggs had been collected, Heath made his way back to the front to hand in his jar full of eggs. “Bye, Professor,” he said on his way out. “Thank you for the lesson!”
__________________
Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true...
.. but she was really sad to see the ashwinder go. Oh, well. Valentina stepped forward, noticing how the eggs literally glowed bright red. Woah. She pointed her wand at them and casted a glacius .. and they were frozen. She carefully dropped them, one by one, into the jar before heading back to where the professor was, handing it over to her.
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CoMC Lesson 2 - Ashwinders 
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