It was fairly warm for this early Friday afternoon lesson at the very end of September. Perhaps if it weren't for all the clouds in the sky it may seem brighter out. Or was it just that the forest was so dark and look g that it appeared much darker over here? There's also a slight breeze that might feel nice now but not so much as the treeline to the forest gets steadily closer, as that's where today's lesson will be taken place.

Why was today's lesson being held near the Forbidden Forest? No one really knew, well Professor Paton knew as it was her lesson but the notice board held no clues nor did the surrounding area. Only three things stood out very clearly as the students would begin to arrive.

The first was that there would be the slightest shimmer revealing that there was a barrier in place to keep the students out of the forest for the time being. A few feet in front of the forest was a large white board, however nothing was written on it as of yet. And lounging right there beneath the board, seeming sleeping (but she wasn't!) was their professor in the form of a red panda. Yes, students, Professor Paton was actually here even if not all of them would realize it.


OOC: Hello, hello! Thanks for joining us! This is NOT the students first lesson with Hady even if it is the first lesson of the term haha xD The lesson is being held at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.. I'll be moving us along in around 15-20 ish hours or so

Not even Ary, who was so close with Aunty Hady, knew what the lessons were going to be about. In a way, he was happy with this because when it came to this subject, he enjoyed being surprised when the creature was revealed. On this particular afternoon, he headed towards the Forest with his anticipation for the lesson soaring past those clouds. Whatever could they be studying today?!

The first thing Aryan noticed when he got there was that familiar red panda. Grinning, he strode towards it. “Hi, professor,’’ he said very softly, stopping a little away from her. The red panda’s keen ears surely would pick up the greeting. Only then, now that he had greeted his aunt, that he gazed around for potential hints about the lesson’s topic.

Eliza didn't really like afternoon classes. By this time of day, she was kind of ready to call it quits. Then again, she didn't exactly like morning classes either. Getting up early, as in before 10 A.M., really wasn't her thing. She was so lost in her thoughts that she'd ended up near the Forbidden Forest and at Care of Magical Creatures class before she knew it. So...why were they close to this forest? Wasn't it...forbidden?

She didn't see the shimmering barrier. She didn't even know to look for it. She just hoped whatever was in that forest decided to stay in the forest. She felt kind of silly saying hello to a panda, but seeing as the kid before her had done it, she kind of felt obligated, too. "Hello, Professor," she said. Was she asleep? Could Eliza just go to sleep, too?

Kion was intrigued by where their lesson was taking place. Sure, they were always outdoors but by the forest. He wondered if they would be going inside or just staying at the edge.

"Good day," He greeted as he arrived, was the professor sleeping? He didn't expect so but he awaited patiently for the lesson to begin.

As Regulus reached the treeline of the Forbidden Forest, he eyed the apparently sleeping 'red panda' with a slight crease in his brow, that wasn't quite deep enough to be a frown, but wasn't close to much else either. Holding back any comment or question, or indeed any form of greeting, he gained the group and stood by silently, arms folded, expression smoothed over, while he waited for the lesson to begin.

Regulus was fairly sure they would be going into the Forest. Not only the lesson location, but also the shimmering barrier in place was, perhaps paradoxically in the case of the latter, enough for him to suspect so. Plenty of magical creatures resided in wooded areas, so he supposed it was one of those they'd be learning about today.

The thought of today's lesson being close to the Forbidden Forest did not sit well with him. They weren't going inside, right?

Re-adjusting his bag hanging from his shoulders, Sohrin reached his classmates near the Forest. "Hey all" he said to the group at large before he looked over at the large whiteboard near the trees but upon realizing that nothing had been written on it, his attention got drawn to the red panda lounging underneath the board. Was that the professor? Should he say hello? But what if it was just a normal animal? He'd be laughed at for sure...

Maria headed down to CoMC class sincerely hoping that they weren't going to go inside the Forbidden forest. She had read about what creatures dwelled in there, and not many of them except for maybe unicorns were someones that she wanted to encounter. Coming down to the meeting point at the edge of the forest the sixth badgerette greeted Professor Paton, in the form of a red panda first "Good afternoon Professor Paton!" Then Maria headed over to stand next to her boyfriend, linking her fingers with his for comfort. "Hi Kion, any guesses on what creatures we might meet today?"

It may have been warmer than usual at Hogwarts but Sloane wasn’t feeling it. Wrapped up in her cloak, ear muffs securely on her head and mittens covering her hands, she made her way down towards the forest where she knew the lesson to be. The forest had always left her with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she ventured near it, as though something was about to reach out and pull her in at any moment and swallow her whole, and today was no different. Walking down, her eyes on the path so as to make sure she didn’t slip, it wasn’t until she was close by to where the lessons were being held that she really looked at the forest. She wasn’t sure whether it was just her eyes but it looked…eerie.

With a small shiver, she made her way towards the rest of the students who’d already turned up, only offering a small nod of the head to...a red panda? With a small frown, she stopped in front of the panda quizzically, watching as it slept. Gingerly, she pulled out her wand from the pocket of her robes and moved her hawthorn wand closer to the red panda. If it was asleep, it was about to get woken up.

*POKE!*

With her arm outstretched, Sloane jabbed the tip of her wand gingerly into the cheek of the panda and waited apprehensively.

Aurora had surprisingly not ventured into the Forbidden Forest of her own accord, not even with the promise of there being Unicorns within its depths. She wouldn’t say it was because she was worried about breaking the rules or getting into trouble, it was more a case of there being other things hidden that could harm her and she had so much more she wanted to do with her life that she wasn’t ready to be eaten by an Acromantula quite yet.

Her eyes kept steady on the shimmering treeline as she passed her way down from the castle, following the twisting path until she was integrated into the group standing right next to Regulus. “Do you think there’s actually something really cool and rare in there and we are actually banned because the Professors want to keep it for themselves?” The fountain of youth? Secret treasure? There was a whole world of possibilities, it couldn’t just be because of giant spiders and half-horse men.

So distracted by her new found thoughts was she that she hadn’t even noticed the Red Panda asleep in front of the white board.

The warm weather had Desiree in a chipper mood as she made her way down the path to Care of Magical Creatures. As always, she paid close attention to the attire guidelines, dressing comfortably yet fashionably. Today she was channeling Mulan in yellow trousers and a long sleeved green and blue wrap-around top.

She had to admit, the location of today’s lesson had her curiosity piqued. In all her time at Hogwarts, she’d only been in the Forbidden Forest once, and that was with several other students and professors. She wondered what creature they’d be studying. Whatever it was, she hoped it wasn’t an acromantula!

Her eyes scanned the area, noting the red panda lounging in front of the board. “Hello, Professor!” she greeted, smiling. “Hi, everybody!” Cue smile and waves for the other students as she found a place to stand. She looked around, half expecting an owl and/or a dog to appear. In her experience, where one animagus professor was, they all tended to turn up!

Brandon Fox had never been one to go into the Forbidden Forest, given that he was a rule-follower and enjoyed living (as opposed to being eaten by acromantulas). He raised his eyebrow when he realized where today's lesson was taking place, but didn't comment on it. He trusted Professor Paton... mostly. He knew that she wouldn't lead them into an acromantula trap.

Arriving at the scene, he couldn't see his professor. However, as red pandas weren't native to this area, he had a good idea of where and who she was. He offered her a nod, then stood near Desiree, Aurora, and Regulus. "Afternoon," he murmured. Ever since getting out of the mirror, he'd been a lot less talkative, especially in lessons. He didn't want professors to think of him as a disruptive student anymore, and he didn't have much to say anyways.

As Emma approached the forbidden forest, she couldn't help but feel SLIGHTLY grown even if she was still ickle. Even if she didn't have the super adorable and attractive nose candy that Anna got. One day though, she'd get herself some nose candy, but for now she'd feel somewhat important that their lesson today was going to be by the forbidden forest.

She frowned when everyone was saying 'hi professor'. She knew Professor Gert was an owl animagus, but she hadn't seen Paton in her panda form last year, so this was all new for the young blond. But she was 99% sure that Sloane poking the panda with her wand was not a smart move.

"Sloannnneee!!! That's ..... Respect the creatures!!" She instinctively sped toward her fellow second year to attempt to pull her arm back, even though it was too late.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Not even Ary, who was so close with Aunty Hady, knew what the lessons were going to be about. In a way, he was happy with this because when it came to this subject, he enjoyed being surprised when the creature was revealed. On this particular afternoon, he headed towards the Forest with his anticipation for the lesson soaring past those clouds. Whatever could they be studying today?!

The first thing Aryan noticed when he got there was that familiar red panda. Grinning, he strode towards it. “Hi, professor,’’ he said very softly, stopping a little away from her. The red panda’s keen ears surely would pick up the greeting. Only then, now that he had greeted his aunt, that he gazed around for potential hints about the lesson’s topic.

The reason for that was, she didn't want anyone knowing of her lessons beforehand. Family included. The element of surprise was much more fun when it came to which creature they would be studying. Or at least that's always how she felt back during her days at Hogwarts.

From her spot beneath the whiteboard, Aryan's soft voice did reach her ears causing them to gently flick back and forth in response. Peeking one eye open lazily, Hady gave what Aryan would know to be a smile before her eyes shut again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Eliza didn't really like afternoon classes. By this time of day, she was kind of ready to call it quits. Then again, she didn't exactly like morning classes either. Getting up early, as in before 10 A.M., really wasn't her thing. She was so lost in her thoughts that she'd ended up near the Forbidden Forest and at Care of Magical Creatures class before she knew it. So...why were they close to this forest? Wasn't it...forbidden?

She didn't see the shimmering barrier. She didn't even know to look for it. She just hoped whatever was in that forest decided to stay in the forest. She felt kind of silly saying hello to a panda, but seeing as the kid before her had done it, she kind of felt obligated, too. "Hello, Professor," she said. Was she asleep? Could Eliza just go to sleep, too?

Oh, look at that, someone else knew it was her. Paton blinked her eyes open slowly to peer at the first year, Eliza. Why, hello there. The young girl would understand that the sound she had just made was meant to be a greeting, yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Kion was intrigued by where their lesson was taking place. Sure, they were always outdoors but by the forest. He wondered if they would be going inside or just staying at the edge.

"Good day," He greeted as he arrived, was the professor sleeping? He didn't expect so but he awaited patiently for the lesson to begin.

Whether Kion’s greeting was directed at her or the other students already gathered, Hady wasn't sure but that didn't stop her from making a soft sound or two as her eyes opened to show that she was indeed awake. Good day to you too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

As Regulus reached the treeline of the Forbidden Forest, he eyed the apparently sleeping 'red panda' with a slight crease in his brow, that wasn't quite deep enough to be a frown, but wasn't close to much else either. Holding back any comment or question, or indeed any form of greeting, he gained the group and stood by silently, arms folded, expression smoothed over, while he waited for the lesson to begin.

Regulus was fairly sure they would be going into the Forest. Not only the lesson location, but also the shimmering barrier in place was, perhaps paradoxically in the case of the latter, enough for him to suspect so. Plenty of magical creatures resided in wooded areas, so he supposed it was one of those they'd be learning about today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

The thought of today's lesson being close to the Forbidden Forest did not sit well with him. They weren't going inside, right?

Re-adjusting his bag hanging from his shoulders, Sohrin reached his classmates near the Forest. "Hey all" he said to the group at large before he looked over at the large whiteboard near the trees but upon realizing that nothing had been written on it, his attention got drawn to the red panda lounging underneath the board. Was that the professor? Should he say hello? But what if it was just a normal animal? He'd be laughed at for sure...

Despite the lack of greeting from the next set of students (Regulus and Sohrin), their footsteps didn't go unnoticed at all. Hady didn't mind in the slightest that the students were quiet but as her eyes opened to acknowledge each of them in turn she also gave them a very slight incline of her head. Yes, hi, hello there to the both of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Maria headed down to CoMC class sincerely hoping that they weren't going to go inside the Forbidden forest. She had read about what creatures dwelled in there, and not many of them except for maybe unicorns were someones that she wanted to encounter. Coming down to the meeting point at the edge of the forest the sixth badgerette greeted Professor Paton, in the form of a red panda first "Good afternoon Professor Paton!" Then Maria headed over to stand next to her boyfriend, linking her fingers with his for comfort. "Hi Kion, any guesses on what creatures we might meet today?"

That very enthusiastic greeting had the red panda professor opening her eyes right away, and smiling in the only way that a creature could. It was very nice to see her as well!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Aurora had surprisingly not ventured into the Forbidden Forest of her own accord, not even with the promise of there being Unicorns within its depths. She wouldn’t say it was because she was worried about breaking the rules or getting into trouble, it was more a case of there being other things hidden that could harm her and she had so much more she wanted to do with her life that she wasn’t ready to be eaten by an Acromantula quite yet.

Her eyes kept steady on the shimmering treeline as she passed her way down from the castle, following the twisting path until she was integrated into the group standing right next to Regulus. “Do you think there’s actually something really cool and rare in there and we are actually banned because the Professors want to keep it for themselves?” The fountain of youth? Secret treasure? There was a whole world of possibilities, it couldn’t just be because of giant spiders and half-horse men.

So distracted by her new found thoughts was she that she hadn’t even noticed the Red Panda asleep in front of the white board.

As more and more students arrived, Hady’s attention to her surroundings only grew stronger. So even though Aurora hadn't noticed her, this fake sleeping red panda knew very well that another student was standing not too far from her and it was almost time for their lesson to begin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

The warm weather had Desiree in a chipper mood as she made her way down the path to Care of Magical Creatures. As always, she paid close attention to the attire guidelines, dressing comfortably yet fashionably. Today she was channeling Mulan in yellow trousers and a long sleeved green and blue wrap-around top.

She had to admit, the location of today’s lesson had her curiosity piqued. In all her time at Hogwarts, she’d only been in the Forbidden Forest once, and that was with several other students and professors. She wondered what creature they’d be studying. Whatever it was, she hoped it wasn’t an acromantula!

Her eyes scanned the area, noting the red panda lounging in front of the board. “Hello, Professor!” she greeted, smiling. “Hi, everybody!” Cue smile and waves for the other students as she found a place to stand. She looked around, half expecting an owl and/or a dog to appear. In her experience, where one animagus professor was, they all tended to turn up!

The voice she knew right away before her eyes even opened. And the character Desiree was dressed as, she knew well also. Honestly she quite looked forward to seeing what her student would come to lessons wearing, it was always entertaining. Cue some red panda chatter for the seventh year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

Brandon Fox had never been one to go into the Forbidden Forest, given that he was a rule-follower and enjoyed living (as opposed to being eaten by acromantulas). He raised his eyebrow when he realized where today's lesson was taking place, but didn't comment on it. He trusted Professor Paton... mostly. He knew that she wouldn't lead them into an acromantula trap.

Arriving at the scene, he couldn't see his professor. However, as red pandas weren't native to this area, he had a good idea of where and who she was. He offered her a nod, then stood near Desiree, Aurora, and Regulus. "Afternoon," he murmured. Ever since getting out of the mirror, he'd been a lot less talkative, especially in lessons. He didn't want professors to think of him as a disruptive student anymore, and he didn't have much to say anyways.

Brandon may not have spoken to her but the nod was more than enough. Hady understood the need for silence and to just.. try to figure things out for themselves. She was still coming to terms with things from the previous term so she could only imagine how he was feeling still. Should he have been paying attention he would have noticed that she did give the smallest nod of her own head in return.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aRogueOne

It may have been warmer than usual at Hogwarts but Sloane wasn’t feeling it. Wrapped up in her cloak, ear muffs securely on her head and mittens covering her hands, she made her way down towards the forest where she knew the lesson to be. The forest had always left her with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she ventured near it, as though something was about to reach out and pull her in at any moment and swallow her whole, and today was no different. Walking down, her eyes on the path so as to make sure she didn’t slip, it wasn’t until she was close by to where the lessons were being held that she really looked at the forest. She wasn’t sure whether it was just her eyes but it looked…eerie.

With a small shiver, she made her way towards the rest of the students who’d already turned up, only offering a small nod of the head to...a red panda? With a small frown, she stopped in front of the panda quizzically, watching as it slept. Gingerly, she pulled out her wand from the pocket of her robes and moved her hawthorn wand closer to the red panda. If it was asleep, it was about to get woken up.

*POKE!*

With her arm outstretched, Sloane jabbed the tip of her wand gingerly into the cheek of the panda and waited apprehensively.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

As Emma approached the forbidden forest, she couldn't help but feel SLIGHTLY grown even if she was still ickle. Even if she didn't have the super adorable and attractive nose candy that Anna got. One day though, she'd get herself some nose candy, but for now she'd feel somewhat important that their lesson today was going to be by the forbidden forest.

She frowned when everyone was saying 'hi professor'. She knew Professor Gert was an owl animagus, but she hadn't seen Paton in her panda form last year, so this was all new for the young blond. But she was 99% sure that Sloane poking the panda with her wand was not a smart move.

"Sloannnneee!!! That's ..... Respect the creatures!!" She instinctively sped toward her fellow second year to attempt to pull her arm back, even though it was too late.

Now this most certainly was something new! In all her days of being an animagi never before had she been ‘awoken’ in this way. Many many times she had been poked at with fingers, gently tapped, lightly shaken, picked up and carried but never before poked at with a wand. Had this been last term when she was very much not at all herself, Sloane would've gotten quite a different reaction from this red panda. However what she did get was…

…

…

Slow eyes that blinked open while a paw reached out to simultaneously bat at the young girl's wand lazily as if she were playing with it. That's why it had been stuck in her face, yes? Sloane wanted her to play with it? Don't mind her as she tried to make a grab for it as well.

Emma trying to stop Sloane didn't go unnoticed and earned a ‘nod’ from Hady. Don't worry, she was going to now use this in the very start of her lesson. Thank you so much girls.

---

After another minute or two longer when no more students joined the gathered group, Hady casually changed back into her human form that students all knew so well. Smoothing a hand over the front of her jacket, a warm smile tugged at her lips. ”Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you've all had a very nice week and I'm sure you're all looking forward to the weekend so shall we get started on today's lesson so you're all one step closer to sleeping in tomorrow morning?” Or at the very least enjoying a wonderful dinner in a few short hours time.

”I'd like to start our lesson off with a few questions. What creatures are known to live in forests? Particularly this forest right here behind us. Who knows why it's Forbidden to students without a professor or other staff member present? Hadleigh took a moment to look at each student standing there before her. Her gaze settled on Sloane and Emma for touch longer than the others before them. ”Who can tell me why it's never a good idea to poke a sleeping creature whether it's known to you or not? She may as well add this into the lesson as it was an important one to learn after all!


OOC: Heeeeeeeey! Thank you all for posting! There's still plenty of time to join in xD The first round of questions is up, feel free to have your kiddo answer any/all of them if they like or none at all! We'll be moving on in about 24 hours

While waiting for his classmates, Ary continued to survey the surroundings. It was only then that he was able to pick up on the shimmery thing. Interesting. Very interesting. Still, it didn’t really help him figure out what creature was today’s focus. He did, however, rather enjoy himself watching the new arrivals either interact or be puzzled about the red panda. Ary found himself grinning to himself as he took it all in. Greetings in the form of either a grin or a finger wiggle-waves were given to Sohrin and Desiree. But Sloane… when she poked Aunty Hady, Ary actually snickered. He already knew that his Housemate would be in no real trouble; Hady was cool as a cucumber.

See? Ary was right; his friend did not get into trouble. With the professor back to her human form and about to start the lesson, he began bouncing on the soles of his feet. Any second now he would find out about today’s creature! His hand went up though he only intended to answer two of those questions. “Thestrals. And no poking a creature, sleeping or otherwise, cos they can get mad and attack.”

By the time Aurora was arriving and taking the space beside him, Regulus was sending a curious look in the direction of that younger student who was all bundled up. Mittens and earmuffs in September? A warm September day at that. His curiosity was piqued, but then he witnessed said student poking the red panda with her wand. Still saying nothing, he closed his eyes for a half-second longer than a blink, before shooting a sideways look and half-smile at Aurora.

"If there is, that's not a very good tactic," he replied. "You know how people tend to explore things once they're told those things are forbidden." Not that he was confessing to exploring the Forbidden Forest. Regulus had no interest in that. Still. It was a thing. After a pause to more fully consider the matter, he added, "Probably students have stuff hidden in there though."

As the others arrived, Regulus greeted those who'd greeted him, or the group at large, with a nod of acknowledgement, though his eyes did linger on Brandon for just a fraction of a second longer than they might normally have, before he looked away again.

When, at last, the time came for the lesson to start, Regulus took the transformation of red panda to professor in stride, and proceeded as if this was not a remotely exceptional circumstance. Technically, it wasn't, though it was a little out of place.

He gave Aurora just the slightest nudge with his elbow when the question came, and another of his small, half-smirky smiles, because wasn't she only just talking about what made it so forbidden? Then he raised his hand, and offered one of the more standard answers he could think of. "Acromantula. Many creatures in there are territorial and can become hostile, because that's their home and they might naturally see us as trespassers." And, as for the additional question, Regulus had an answer for that too, a less serious, less standard one.

"Because it could transform into a professor and start a lecture on creature safety."

Kion smiled as he held Maria's hand, "Hey Maria.. I wonder we'll get to see a unicorn or a hippogriff even," He knew there were much dangerous creatures, but he didn't expect them to be introduced to them. But he did have his wand incase anything unexpected happen.

Once class began, he watched as the Professor transformed back into her regular self before the questions came. "There are Unicorns in the forest somewhere, but can be hard to come across," As for why they shouldn't poke a creature, "It's... it's not very nice," Waking up from a deep sleep wasn't fun at all. Though he didn't want to repeat how dangerous it could get.

Having lessons outside was always fun. Especially when it was still nice outside, like it was now. Best take advantage of the weather while they could. Alissa was excited to see what they were going to be learning about today. And so close to the forest. There were so many creatures it could be. Could it be something dangerous? She knew a professor would never have them deal with something that could hurt them (or she was pretty sure, anyway) but there were still any number of things that could be the subject of this lesson.

Alissa had arrived not long before the start of the lesson, standing near Aurora. She gave the other girl a friendly smile and a wave, but didn't have a chance to talk to her because she was very quickly distracted by their professor appearing in front of them where a red panda had been previously. Woah! Animagi were so cool. Alissa just stared for a moment before focusing on the questions being asked. She raised her hand to answer. "Professor, I read that there were centaurs in the forest."

So Sloane had....done something...to the professor, which caused Emma to get all bent out of shape and take off running. Eliza just watched, not really sure what the big deal was. So the professor got...poked? Eliza was pretty sure the professor had the skills to take up for herself--panda or person. And if she didn't? Well, she better just stick to being a person.

Eliza perked up at the mention of being one step closer to the weekend. Sleeping in sounded really good to her.

Anyway...she turned and glanced at the forest, not really sure what kind of creatures lived there. Umm...forbidden ones? That's about all she knew. She did have a few thoughts about the other questions, though. She raised her hand. "Because students are untrained or not trained enough," she said. As for that question about not poking a creature, she added, "Because you should never tickle a sleeping dragon." She gave a little amused smirk at Regulus' answer.

Brandon tried his best to be respectful and understanding of all creatures, whether they were particularly fun creatures or not. That said, he was not a huge fan of forest creatures: he liked to leave them alone, and have them leave him alone. He had heard some stories that were frankly terrifying. "I'd like to add on to Regulus' answer about acromantulas. They live in groups, and..." He had to do some mental math. "...about ten years ago, Lucien Rosier used a group of students as a bait for the acromantulas so he could go looking around the forest undisturbed. It was traumatic to the students and probably also distressing to the acromantulas, but he didn't... really care about that. That's one example of how the forest can be dangerous to students. The creatures there aren't usually friendly and don't appreciate being intruded on." He reverted back to his confident, thoughtful, normal Brandon self for a bit as he talked about the stories he had heard from his family and the reasons the forest was dangerous, but became rather distant even before he was done answering. "You know, besides the potential danger to yourself or harm to the creature, it's not okay to just touch people or creatures if they don't like it. And you can't assume that they would like it."

Having said everything that he had to say, Brandon turned his thoughts inward, obviously not paying attention or being entirely present in the class. It wasn't that he wanted to be rude- he hated being rude, and would never want his professor to think he was, but his mind had simply drifted away without him being able to control it. He would need a gentle nudge or reminder to bring him back to the present, because he was deeply stuck in the past right now.

Oops.

Maybe less 'oops' and much more a heavy sigh of disappointment as the curly haired fifth year once again found herself late to a lesson. She hadn't been as flippant with time management thus far compared to previous terms, but Anna still struggled with remembering everything on her schedule and especially locations of things. More specifically, the location of things when they changed from the usual routine. She was, mostly, confident in committing to heart and memory her routine ... probably. There was a bit of adjusting and forgetting her fourth year routine in favor of her fifth year routine and...well...anyway...Anna Walles was late to class and darting across the grounds to catch up with everyone.

Arriving just as the professor transformed out of her animagus form, Anna wiggled through the crowd until she found the familiar and (one of the) bestest face of Aurora and slinked right on up beside the Ravenclaw and Bathroom Beauty Guru Alissa. Alas, gone was the wonder and awe of seeing her professors transform from their animal form to human. Alas...now it was sort of like when you ate too many of your favorite sweets and your tongue did a sort of wibbly tingly thing because it was almost numb to the same flavor. Well, no, that was not ENTIRELY true as she did still very much maintain a certain special sliver of awestruckdom because she lacked in ability and patience to ever achieve such a high level of magical ability and talent. Red pandas were super cute too and probably not the form that her own animagus body would be IF she could ever achieve such a thing and ...

...wait...what was the question again? Alissa's kind of question quickly distracted Anna from further concern because CENTAURS!

"Oh centaurs are so majestic!" she squealed. It was a pity they had not been present for an archery because maybe THEN Anna might have stood a chance during that one History of Magic lesson. Solomon had not been a very effective teacher, unfortunately, but the Hufflepuffle was certain that a centaur would be. So were unicorns...but Anna had been swimming around in her own thoughts and missed Kion's addition to the discussion.

"A unicorn or a hippogriff, would be lovely if we got to see," Maria admitted to Kion. She like her boyfriend had her wand with her incase some dangerous creatures were going to show up to their creatures lesson. You never could know with highly rated creatures. Maria was glad when the lesson got underway, and was thankful for greeting their panda professor in a good, respectful way whereas Sloane did the unthinkable, and poked their professor with her wand. Very disrespectful, luckily for Sloane no points were taken.

"Mooncalves live in the Forbidden forest as well as werewolves." Maria said while raising her hand which wasn't holding on to Kion to answer. "We students aren't allowed to go inside the forbidden forest without a professor because many dangerous, and highly X rated creatures live in there that might attack us or worse see us as their next prey." Maria took an uneasy breath before adding. "Also like Kion said poking a sleeping creature isn't very nice plus they can wake up and get so angry that they attack you and that can end badly." She avoided the forest if it wasn't that they had to go near it because of lessons.

Aurora had learned not to question the oddities of the younger students and any strange thing they decided to do had become sort of the norm. Not that she had two legs to stand on really, the older students probably looked at her like she was crazy too. “I suppose so” she replied to Regulus. “What sort of things?” What were students able to get their hands on and how come she hadn’t been involved?!

Then along came Alissa and Brandon and both received a friendly smile from the fourteen year old in greeting.

The arrival of Anna was met with the casual linking of Aurora’s arm through hers but no words were exchanged yet as the Ravenclaw was distracted by the Professor transforming out of the Red Panda. She did however lean into her bestie’s side because everything was more fun when this pair was together.

There were so many answers she could’ve given but the other students were getting there first. Unicorns were what she was most excited about, the prospect of there being such a mythical creature within her reach sent fluttering butterflies through her stomach. Thankfully Aurora’s interest in the subject meant she was able to offer an answer that made sense rather than rambling on about something entirely unrelated. “Dugbogs! Or at least there used to be them..” She was sure they existed in the Highlands of Scotland anyway but she had never personally seen one which was probably a good thing. She was tempted to offer her explanation that the Professors were hiding something in the forest they didn’t want the students to find but the conversation seemed to move on.

Regulus’s answer to the next question was met with a slightly unladylike snort from the fourth year. “Or mean detention and house point loss.” Not that she was particularly worried about either of those scenarios but then again she would NEVER prod a poor defenceless creature anyway.

With a crinkled expression, Sloane watched as her wand was batted away playfully, a small smile spreading across her face now. Briefly, she did turn away from the panda to shoot whomever (Emma) had just tried to chastise her a look of distsain but her attention was quickly back on Professor Panda.

Having only looked away for a second, Sloane turned around just in time to catch the panda making a grab for her wand. Loath to give up her wand unless necessary, she pulled it back, wagging her finger at Professor Panda. “No, thank you,” her voice the same level of sternness that she’d use whenever her owl Circe was reluctant to give up something she shouldn’t have.

Wand clutched in her hand, Sloane took a step back as the panda moved, watching with the same small smile as it transformed into Professor Paton. “sORRY for waking you Professor. I figured you didn’t want to sleep through the whole of the lesson.” This wasn’t strictly true. She’d mainly poked the Professor because it had seemed fun and harmless, but it was always good to have an excuse.

Taking her place with the other students, she listened carefully, her expression somewhat amused as the Professor called her out for her antics in front of the class. She took in the answers of the other students, listening to how she shouldn’t go poking things because it might attack or becuase… blah blah blah. Sure, part of her knew that it wasn’t smart but an even bigger part of her needed to know what would happen if she did that thing that the others were scared of. What would happen if she poked a sleeping red panda? Besides, it wasn’t like she was actually in any danger. It was Professor Panda, not an acrom-big spider. Only partly addressing the first question, Sloane chose to focus her attention on the second part. “I’m sure I read somewhere that there were giants? Or half-giants? Can you imagine poking one of those!?!,” with a small sigh however, she continued. “I guess, like everyone else said, some creatures are dangerous and it would be stupid to poke them. Interesting to see what happens so like, if you could poke them from a distance, maybe with like a really long stick that’s you’re levitating from behind a tree, that might work. But no, you shouldn’t poke things.” tHERE! She could be serious, her eyes now drifting to where Emma was standing close by.

Zara was rubbing her hands together and bouncing on the tips of her toes, just a little, because there was SO MUCH POTENTIAL in the Forbidden Forest. If they were going in as a class, after all, was it really still Forbidden?

"Bowtruckles," she answered promptly, little hand waving around in the air. She actually had no idea if they liked Hogwarts' forbidden trees, but they did like trees, so it was a fair guess that they lived out here. As for why to never wake a sleeping creature? Besides because that was a dumb way to lose a finger or hand??? And everyone knew the Hogwarts motto, right?????

Zara raised her hand again. "You might trigger the creature's fight or flight response." And... she nodded to the one Hufflepuff in her year. "As he said, you really are supposed to get consent before touching people and things. Animals can give you cues that they're okay with being touched, like a cat brushing up against your legs. But they can't do that when they're sleeping." So it was like super rude of that girl to have gone that to the professor. Ugh.

Oh ... Panda professor was going to just play ? Emma frowned when the panda just made for a grab of Sloane's wand but then transfigured into her human self. There were an awful lot of animagi professors weren't there? Made the small blond wonder if it was some sort of prerequisite. Although now that she thought of it, there was only two, but that surely was a lot?

Listening as the Professor started off the lesson, she grinned amused at Eliza's answer. That was like the Hogwarts Motto, which was kind of funny when she first heard it but in practicality it probably made sense and was more likely to occur than she first realized.

She'd go on about the respect thing for why it was not a good idea to poke a sleeping creature, but surely everyone heard her outburst. As far as what creatures, well it seemed like a lot of them were named already. "There might be hippogriffs or fairies, although the latter probably doesn't have much to study about so that's probably not our lesson topic..." Oh wait, maybe that older boy mentioned hippogriff. See, pretty sure they were all covered. Now which one was going to be their topic for today?