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-   Term 67: May - August 2024 (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-67-may-august-2024/)
-   -   Lesson: CoMC: TBA (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-67-may-august-2024/comc-tba-119726/)

Lottiepot 05-12-2024 04:47 PM

Having literally written two answers down on her parchment paper and spent the rest of the time tickling the tip of her nose with her quill, the fifth year was slightly alarmed when she was snapped back into reality and it dawned on her that perhaps they would be swapping parchments for grading. Care of Magical Creatures was supposed to be one of her best subjects and yet the most she could achieve would be a mortifying 20%.

A wave of relief washed over her as they were allowed to mark their own work, eyes scanning between the posters and the answers as if she would remember any of this in her later exams. How she wished to have a photographic memory but she’d have fun creating flashcards later complete with (not so great) drawings of each of the dragons.

The two that she had managed to identify in the timescale had already been mentioned and the others she had not managed to give much thought over and therefore couldn’t answer the proposed question. She could however come up with something for the other, a surprisingly intelligent answer for a ditsy blonde.

“I suppose it depends on whether we are studying the actual skeleton or just a picture but don’t teeth survive well? As in we could determine a creatures diet just by examining their teeth.’ Carnivore, herbivore, omnivore.. Although she was surprised that Dragons even had teeth after breathing fire daily. How was it possible that they didn’t burn their own mouths?

MadMadamMalfoy 05-12-2024 04:59 PM

Sydney returned to her seat as Professor Paton moved on. Her eyes darted from the board to her notes, cross-referencing her answers with the correct ones. Shifting her quill from her right hand to her left, she prepared to correct her mistakes… but she got them all right. She was mildly surprised, not because she doubted her intelligence but because some of the skeletons were indistinct in their features.

She didn’t have to think too hard to come up with an answer to the professor’s question. Her hand shot up, and she said when called on, “The Antipodean Opaleye was definitely the hardest to identify. All of the other skeletons had some distinctive feature… their spikes, horns, or size. The Antipodean Opaleye’s distinctive features are its scales and its eyes, which don’t show up on its skeleton…” It would be cool if they did, though!

Suddenly inspired, Sydney turned her attention back to her notes, drawing a skeleton-like creature that resembled the Anitpodean Opaleye with multicolored, pupilless eyes.

sweetpinkpixie 05-13-2024 03:10 AM

been here all along *arises from the ashes of illness* *elmo fire meme*
 
Sage's interest in creatures big and small, mundane and not was a profound one, which would make one assume that she would always be well prepared and eager for lessons. Typically, she was. Sage found her head of house pleasant enough and compounded with the subject it really was a winning combination. But today...there was just SOMETHING about the way the beanbag chairs were reminding her of the obnoxiously loud breakfast cereal being consumed by one of her peers across the Slytherin table in the most obnoxious lip smacking milk spluttering manner that had the sixth year feeling a bit like a sleeping dragon that had been poked.

Wouldn't the crups just love to have a go at them all and tear them to absolute shreds? Gosh, sure would be a shame if such a fate befell the colorful traps... Needless to say, Sage had settled on a mat for the start of the lesson and was left wondering for a hot minute why Professor Paton had decided to alter the texture of said mat. She preferred stroking Aspen and thus only gave her mat a callous pat when prompted to do so.

While she hated to admit it, the reveal of dragons did elicit a twinkle to her eye - though she had often been more concerned with the study of their heartstrings over skeletons. Still, she had collected bones from the kitchen (mostly chicken) after one of her dads had finished cooking to reconstruct the skeleton of an Antipodean Opaleye during her primary school days as part of a school project. Despite not sitting in one of the beanbag traps, Sage still did not feel inclined to get up and move and this elected to perform a quick Bestiar Charm on herself for a temporary swap of her own eyes for that of a falcon's so she could see the details of the posters from where she sat. Scribbling down in her notes a bit until Professor Paton moved things along, Sage ran her tongue over the spot on the inside of her lip she had positively CHOMPED down on this morning while glowering at the cereal eater - lot of good it had done her because now her lip and tongue were suffering...which made it rather difficult to keep up the techniques the Transfiguration professor had bestowed upon her. But she was so close...soooooooo close to meeting the next milestone and no sturdy jawed and handsome peer of hers was going to set her back!

Straightening, and oh la la some fluttering eyelashes towards you Mr. Kion Ingebretson for the unknowing compliment and subsequently everyone else who said the Antipodean Opaleye was the hardest to identify, Sage raised her hand to add her two knuts to the discussion - after removing her falcon eyes with a quick Finite, of course.

"One could make a case that any and all are rather difficult to identify by image alone, especially since you cannot really see the wingspan based on these posters which is often another ease go to for identifying a dragon species outside of horns and teeth," she began while twirling one of her braids around her index finger. "I tend to find that examining the mouth and jawbone shapes a good indicator as well as the bones around the eye. For example, the Swedish Short-Snout is going to have, as the name indicates a smaller skull in which the naris and mandible are closer to the orbit and brain case. The Romanian Longhorn may edge on a shorter length skull as well, but it will be wider than other breeds. The Antipodean Opaleye will be both long and narrow...more of a rounded diamond shape orbit compared to the more spherical ones seen in other breeds and simply look the most majestic."

Sure would be great if an Antipodean Opaleye were in the cards for her but...even Sage's wild aspirations were tamed by healthy helpings of realism.

There was something to add about how skeletons could provide evidence of age and whether or not the particular dragon was an egg laying dragon or not...but Sage was currently distracted by a thought. Were these portraits simply enchanted objects and those actual skeletons would soon be out of the frames and in front of them for them to explore first hand?! Granted, Sage had absolutely zero aspirations for being a dragonologist, but being able to get up close and personal with even just one dragon skeleton would be pretty amazing. The Slytherin may even be leaning over, elbows to knees, in eager anticipation now.

Kolyander 05-14-2024 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter (Post 12563831)
Waiting until it was his turn to speak, "I thought the Hungarian Horntail was the easiest, it had a lot of spikes on his head.. or horns, whatever it's called. I wasn't familiar with Antipodean Opaleye, but mainly because it's not talked about as much as the other breeds. I guess it being extinct has something to do with that," Kion said. He hoped that sufficed, but he did listen to hear what others thought.

"Antipodean Opaleye is a difficult one, isn't it? It can be very tricky to identify them all by only a blank skeleton form without really knowing what to look for." Hadleigh smiled softly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 (Post 12563833)
The instant Aunty Hady’s questions were asked, his hand shot up. He knew a few answers on how to identify the skeletons. “The Common Welsh Green has two spiked horns at the top of its head.” Ary made sure to empahise the word ‘spiked’ because while other breeds of dragons had horns on their heads as well, said horns were not necessarily spiked.

Hadleigh nodded. "Yes, they do. The spikes on top of their heads help them stand out among the others." That and some other features she was sure would be mentioned shortly by some of the other students.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone (Post 12563837)
At the question of what was easiest to identify, Ve's hand raised in the air. "The Peruvian Vipertooth was one of the easiest for me. They're known for being one of the smallest breeds of dragons, so finding the smallest looking skeleton made it easy to match."

"Very good. The Peruvian Vipertooth are the smallest dragon but that doesn't mean they should ever been underestimated. Small, mighty and fierce." That sounded like quite a few people she knew, yes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch (Post 12563843)
Next minute Professor Paton moved the lesson onwards and Maria thoughtfully considered the skeletons she had matched with dragon breeds on her parchment. Awaiting her turn she then raised her hand to say "The easist skeleton for me to identify was the Romanian Longhorn with its three distinct horns that looks like they shoot out like bulls from the head. The hardest to identify was a tie between the Common Welsh Green, and the Antipodean Opaleye because their skeletons looked to me to be very similiar in appearance. Also the Antipodean Opaleye isn't a breed you can come come across in any reserve like Kion said so I'm not very familiar with it." After a short considering pause she added "Maybe we can learn where the dragon breeds have lived, and what they've eaten from studying their skeletons?" Hopefully that sufficed as answers to the questions.

Nod nod. "That is a very distinctive feature and hard to miss when identifying the Romanian Longhorn. The Antipodean Opaleye is a beautiful dragon and it's sad they are so difficult to come across, however with their looks it's most certainly for the best." Those dragons needed would be hunted if they were easy to come across for sure. "Now that is a wonderful question! How do you think we could tell what a dragon might eat or where it might live simply by studying its skeleton?" They would get to that soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot (Post 12563857)
“I suppose it depends on whether we are studying the actual skeleton or just a picture but don’t teeth survive well? As in we could determine a creatures diet just by examining their teeth.’ Carnivore, herbivore, omnivore.. Although she was surprised that Dragons even had teeth after breathing fire daily. How was it possible that they didn’t burn their own mouths?

Paton smiled. "That would make a great difference but should we have been studying actual skeletal bones, then yes, we would be able to tell their diet by their teeth.. and you are correct. Their teeth are very strong and survive very well." Wonderful answer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy (Post 12563858)

She didn’t have to think too hard to come up with an answer to the professor’s question. Her hand shot up, and she said when called on, “The Antipodean Opaleye was definitely the hardest to identify. All of the other skeletons had some distinctive feature… their spikes, horns, or size. The Antipodean Opaleye’s distinctive features are its scales and its eyes, which don’t show up on its skeleton…” It would be cool if they did, though!

Ah, another who thought the Antipodean Opaleye was tough to sort out. "They really don't want to easily recognized. Every dragon does have its own way to identify it from all the others though just like with other creatures." It was all a matter of learning what those were.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 12563918)

"One could make a case that any and all are rather difficult to identify by image alone, especially since you cannot really see the wingspan based on these posters which is often another ease go to for identifying a dragon species outside of horns and teeth," she began while twirling one of her braids around her index finger. "I tend to find that examining the mouth and jawbone shapes a good indicator as well as the bones around the eye. For example, the Swedish Short-Snout is going to have, as the name indicates a smaller skull in which the naris and mandible are closer to the orbit and brain case. The Romanian Longhorn may edge on a shorter length skull as well, but it will be wider than other breeds. The Antipodean Opaleye will be both long and narrow...more of a rounded diamond shape orbit compared to the more spherical ones seen in other breeds and simply look the most majestic."

Did she smile a little bit more at the depth of this reply? Perhaps. Hady couldn't help herself. She loved answers such as this. Honestly she loved all answers, simply having the students paying attention was everything. "Very good. I didn't want it to be too easy should the posters have shown each of the wingspans. Being able to study the jawbone, or the skull size and the shape of the eyes would tell us a lot more easily which dragon we were looking at." Good investigative work.

Taking a quick look around to ensure that no one else had their hands raised, it was time to move the lesson along. "Before we move on to the main activity I have another question for you all. Let's think about each dragon species as a whole. What's one thing that really makes each dragon stand out? Something about that dragon that if someone mentioned it, you would know immediately know which dragon they were speaking of right away? It makes that dragon unique and not like the others." It was time to really think now.

FearlessLeader19 05-14-2024 01:23 AM

Ary wasn’t sure if he should make notes. He did know fairly a lot about dragons but he didn’t know everything. But as the answers continued flowing, he decided that notes would be good because he had forgotten some of the features that were being mentioned. Not to mention these notes would be helpful when OWLs came around.

The Slytherin’s left hand went up again, his quill still clutched at. “The way the dragon blows their fire. For example, the Chinese Fireball got its name because of the mushroom shaped flame it can emit from its nostrils and mouth.” Despite himself, there was a bit of enthusiasm lining his words. How could he not love a lesson on dragons?

Chelliephone 05-14-2024 04:57 AM

Small, mighty and fierce could certainly describe plenty of people Professor P knew. In fact, as someone fun sized herself she was certainly not one to underestimate how dangerous something could be because it was smaller. Plus, she WAS a reptile enthusiast and snakes while often much smaller than the dragons, could be just as dangerous.

And thinking of their other similarities, and the latest question, Vera's hand shot into the air. "Scale color. While some are more obvious than others like the Chinese fireball or the Antipodean Opal Eye, if someone were to mention a dragon with black scales you could still use power of deduction to narrow down what breed they're talking about." Like, a Hebridean Black, Hungarian Horntail or a Norwegian Ridgeback.

Lottiepot 05-14-2024 09:25 AM

Thinking about skeletons wasn’t exactly something that the Ravenclaw enjoyed doing anyway. In order for it to be skeletal, the dragon would have to be dead and she’d much rather it not. That wasn’t to say she’d enjoy being faced with a live dragon either, maybe from a safe distance.

The second question was similar to the first in that a lot of the answers she could come up with were mentioned previously. One thing the fifth year was good at was thinking outside the box.. far FAR outside of the box to the point of obscurity and yet somehow being relevant. “It’s not about how they look physically because looks don’t always matter.” A little touch of therapy for everyone in CoMC. “But if you’re lucky enough to hear a dragon, they all have distinct roars. Like the Welsh Green sounds musical.” A personal favourite for obvious reasons and quite frankly the only one she was sure of. It reminded her of Elliot in Pete’s Dragon, big and green and enjoyed singing. Maybe she would like to meet one.

MadMadamMalfoy 05-14-2024 08:49 PM

Oh, so there was a way to distinguish the Antipodean Opaleye’s skeleton from the others. How did she not think to look closer at the orbits and jawbones? Between the professor’s correction and one of her older housemates’ (Saige) overly detailed answer, Sydney felt… stupid. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and she didn’t like it! Not that she let it show in her ever-stoic expression, however. One must never show weakness or doubt!

She was only half listening to the next question. She’d completely lost enthusiasm for this lesson. She was no longer interested in dragons and certainly no longer interested in looking stupid! Besides. She’d kind of answered that question twice already, once with her answer to the last question and once with her Franken-dragon sketch. Speaking of which, she turned her attention back to her sketch, now drawing a burning village for her Franken-dragon to attack.

While she was drawing, she raised her free hand and said when called on, “Their horns. The Romainian Longhorn has horns that protrude outward. The Hungarian Horntail’s are bronze. The Peruvian Vipertooth’s are short, and the Welsh Green has two spiked horns.” While she didn’t care about the question, she would still answer it. If she didn’t, one might think she was either too weak to voice her thoughts or too dumb to come up with any, and she was going to prove to everyone here that she was not some weak, dumb little firstie!

sweetpinkpixie 05-15-2024 12:21 AM

Sage was forever waiting on baited breath for elaboration with Professor Paton and she would simply have to take a side quest to the library later to find such fulfillment.

Continuing to twirl and twist a braid around her index finger, Sage's thoughts drifted to wondering just what sort of enchantment would be required to get those skeletal forms to leap out from the posters. She really just wanted to compare the height of a first year to the femur of any of the dragon breeds and perhaps later tonight she would conduct a bit of experimentation in her dorm using her either her Witch Weekly or Teen Witch magazines.

Signing a bit, the Slytherin considered other options to help with identification and uniqueness for each dragon - though a lot had already been covered between the two parallel questions already - and finally settled on something not immediately visible but was also a mild call back to an earlier thought she had had. "Dragon eggs are incredibly unique among each species and it is quite literally impossible to confuse one egg for another," she offered with puckered lips. "Whether that be the vibrant red resembling a large dragon fruit of a Chinese Fireball or the lustrous and smooth ebony color of a Norwegian Ridgeback or the turquoise gemstone-like quality of the Peruvian Vipertooth, dragon eggs are incredibly distinct and should you happen upon a nest in the wild...you will know precisely what sort of mother will come and BBQ you if you don't get out of there ASAP."

Kolyander 05-15-2024 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 (Post 12563956)
The Slytherin’s left hand went up again, his quill still clutched at. “The way the dragon blows their fire. For example, the Chinese Fireball got its name because of the mushroom shaped flame it can emit from its nostrils and mouth.” Despite himself, there was a bit of enthusiasm lining his words. How could he not love a lesson on dragons?

"That is correct, very good. The Chinese Fireball does have a very distinct shaped flame." Hady smiled softly, giving a nod of her head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone (Post 12563961)
And thinking of their other similarities, and the latest question, Vera's hand shot into the air. "Scale color. While some are more obvious than others like the Chinese fireball or the Antipodean Opal Eye, if someone were to mention a dragon with black scales you could still use power of deduction to narrow down what breed they're talking about." Like, a Hebridean Black, Hungarian Horntail or a Norwegian Ridgeback.

Mhmm, yes. Nod nod. "Narrowing it down to the color of their scales would be helpful for sure." Especially if they had said white. Just like going by a dragons eye color could be useful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot (Post 12563964)
The second question was similar to the first in that a lot of the answers she could come up with were mentioned previously. One thing the fifth year was good at was thinking outside the box.. far FAR outside of the box to the point of obscurity and yet somehow being relevant. “It’s not about how they look physically because looks don’t always matter.” A little touch of therapy for everyone in CoMC. “But if you’re lucky enough to hear a dragon, they all have distinct roars. Like the Welsh Green sounds musical.” A personal favourite for obvious reasons and quite frankly the only one she was sure of. It reminded her of Elliot in Pete’s Dragon, big and green and enjoyed singing. Maybe she would like to meet one.

There was one of the answers she had been waiting for. "Absolutely, very good. Not only is their musical roar unique to them but it is amazing beautiful as well." Dragons were fascinating.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy (Post 12563968)

While she was drawing, she raised her free hand and said when called on, “Their horns. The Romainian Longhorn has horns that protrude outward. The Hungarian Horntail’s are bronze. The Peruvian Vipertooth’s are short, and the Welsh Green has two spiked horns.” While she didn’t care about the question, she would still answer it. If she didn’t, one might think she was either too weak to voice her thoughts or too dumb to come up with any, and she was going to prove to everyone here that she was not some weak, dumb little firstie!

Hady had noticed that she had been sketching but she was paying attention and actively participating in answering questions so, for now she wasn't going to comment on it. "Yes, indeed! While those three all may have horns, each one has a different look, texture and size." Another great answer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 12563976)

Signing a bit, the Slytherin considered other options to help with identification and uniqueness for each dragon - though a lot had already been covered between the two parallel questions already - and finally settled on something not immediately visible but was also a mild call back to an earlier thought she had had. "Dragon eggs are incredibly unique among each species and it is quite literally impossible to confuse one egg for another," she offered with puckered lips. "Whether that be the vibrant red resembling a large dragon fruit of a Chinese Fireball or the lustrous and smooth ebony color of a Norwegian Ridgeback or the turquoise gemstone-like quality of the Peruvian Vipertooth, dragon eggs are incredibly distinct and should you happen upon a nest in the wild...you will know precisely what sort of mother will come and BBQ you if you don't get out of there ASAP."

"Dragon mothers are fiercely protective of their eggs and it would be in your best interest to keep far away from a nest should you ever happen upon one. Right you are!" Paton smiled, nodding her head at the indepth answer. She was always happy to chat about creatures if a student was interested.

With no more hands in the air, Paton smiled and rose to her feet. "Wonderful answers everyone. As we can all see, each dragon is different. It could be it's horns, tail, scale color or musical roar." They had complied quite the list from their previous questions. "It is now time to move with our lesson so let's all get to our feet please and follow me, we will be taking a short walk where you will all get to go digging for dragon bones to reconstruct your own dragon skeleton!" Were they all excited?!

"Now before any of you ask, these are not real dragon bones, they are replicas and on a much smaller scale.. otherwise I wouldn't have enough for you all and for the very obvious reason that giving everyone dragon bones to create a skeleton just isn't likely." Sorry to disappoint. This would be fun though anyhow. "This way now. Come along." Hady gestured for them all to follow her out further into the pasture where there were more trees and some plants as well as little hills.

When she came to a stop there was a box at her feet with gloves and another box of 'tools' used for digging and cleaning off the bones when found. "You are welcome to use the items in the boxes here or magic if like, as long as you're careful." She didn't want anyone getting hurt. "Keep in mind these dragon bones aren't huge but you shouldn't have too much of a hard time in finding them. Feel free to work alone or in small groups of you like." This was a learning experience but also meant to be fun.



OOC: Heeeeey! Thanks for sticking with us! We made it to the main activity! The students get to dig us 'dragon' bones to recreate their own dragon skeletons. There will be about 36 hours for this part. Hady will be checking in and is around if anyone needs help/has questions :)

FearlessLeader19 05-15-2024 01:06 AM

They would get to piece together their own dragon skeleton?

Ary couldn’t have loved Aunty Hady more in that moment! Not to mention this activity would be exactly the distraction he needed for his overly active mind. He followed the group, taking care to continue sticking around at the back. Even if they didn’t get to work with real dragon bones, he was impatient for them to get to the designated spot.

When they finally did, his gaze travelled over the boxes. The tools would be useful, which is what he’d use to start things off. Well, maybe he’d use a trowel only and use magic to clean the dirt from the bones. Yes, that sounded like a plan. Grabbing the first trowel he caught sight off, the Slytherin selected a spot and got to work.

Lottiepot 05-15-2024 08:19 PM

Oh.

This wasn’t at all the lesson that Aurora had expected. She was sure that there were others out there that had a keen interest in paleontology, if that could be applied to Dragons, but she just wasn’t one of them. She much preferred the idea of working with live creatures, of learning how to care for them and nurture them and be the mother of creatures she had always dreamed of becoming. She’d seen fossils before, had even been to the Natural History Museum where huge displays of skeletons were held and they had always made her feel a little uncomfortable.

She followed, albeit a little hesitantly and on the lookout for a friend to converse with whilst they accomplished the task at hand. At least they weren’t real bones they’d be looking for, the Ravenclaw would spend the rest of the lesson saddened over the thought of the poor creature perishing and wondering whether anything could have been done to prevent it.

She found a spot and knelt down, opting to at least use this opportunity to practice some of her magic instead of using the tools.

PhoenixRising 05-15-2024 11:30 PM

Did Emma know any of the dragons by the posters? Definitely not. But she was able to pick out the Peruvian Vipertooth, which was recognizable to the blond by its small size. Which as Vera mentioned was the easiest for her, it was likewise easiest for Emma.

Something that made each dragon stand out?? Emma frowned. How was one able to tell by its ROAR??? She was definitely not attune enough to recognize dragons by its roar? Or perhaps it was simply that she hadn't studied dragons enough to know the difference, but still impressive that some of her peers knew that you could recognize a dragon by its roar. Scales actually she knew - not well enough to know which was which, but she did know that scales differed among the different dragons.

Oh they were moving onto assembling dragon bones into a dragon?? This reminded her of one of those 3D puzzles, which made her somewhat curious about something... "Professor? Will the bones not fit together if it's incorrect?" She hoped that question made sense, because looking at a pile of bones seemed rather daunting.

FearlessLeader19 05-15-2024 11:32 PM

Ary took his time digging with the trowel. He knew that the buried bones weren’t real yet he could not help but be careful in ensuring the tool did not damage them. On occasions, he would stop using the tool and he instead used his hand to check to see if the digging had brought him closer to the prizes. In most cases it had. Each piece was retrieved, magic used to clean the dirt away before it was set on the ground beside him.

Once there were enough pieces, the third year decided that an attempt could be made to piece the puzzle together. By the looks of the one he had dug up, they were facial bones. Interesting. Ary thought this worked in his favour as he just might be able to identify the dragon should there be spikes within the structure.

Like a jigsaw puzzle, it was thought to best start with the outer bones. These were pieced together before Ary worked inward. By no means was this process a smooth one. Indeed he shifted bones around a few times because he thought the shape of the face seemed all wrong. Eventually, he was satisfied that he was on the right track. Ary noted that the nose bone seemed rather short which made him think that there was a possibility that this was a Chinese Fireball - since said dragon was snub faced. This thought was further strengthened when he added bones that would have been spikes around the face.

Chelliephone 05-16-2024 01:59 AM

Restructuring a dragon from it's bones? Vera wasn't entirely positive this activity was going to be something she could accomplish, but she was certainly excited to try. With some pep in her step she followed along after Professor P to the dig site. After hearing the instructions, she glanced around to see if anyone was looking to work in pairs and yet.. it looked like everyone had already started on their own archeological journey, so she supposed she would be embarking on this one solo as well.

Collecting some of the tools Professor Paton had prepared for them, Vera found herself a section of dirt and kneeled down in it - slowly using a small shovel to poke around here and there to see what dirt gave more wiggle room than other areas. She encountered a couple of harder spots, and on those she used more gentle tools to slowly clear away the dirty from the top of what she could now see to be bones. Once the dirt was fully cleared away, she used her gloved hands to carefully extract fully from the earth and place them to the side of her little self proclaimed work area.

After a small collection of bones was unearthed, she sat and tried to arrange them to anything that might have made sense.

Which... was not going well. Were these extra spikes???

Nordic Witch 05-16-2024 05:01 AM

catching up....
 
Maria's answer was responded to by Professor Paton with a question. Thoughtfully she replied unsure of her answer. "Maybe the state of a dragons teeth can give us clues to what they have eaten during their lifespan like if they have mostly eaten hay vs eating sheep will have more impact on the teeth." Maria really felt like she was out on this ice with that answer, but she felt like she had to say something.

Next Professor Paton wondered what they think of that would aid in identifying the right dragon right away. Her peers mentioned the ones that Maria also immediatly had thought of like colour, tails, horns, scales, musical roar and how their fires are shaped which she also jotted down in her notes. Raising her hand she added a suggestion to the mix. "Isn't size also an identifiable marker of breed since we have the Peruvian Vipertooth that is the smallest of all breeds, and the Ukrainian Ironbelly that is the biggest?"

Then they all got orderd up on their feet, and Maria followed along with the others to another part of the pasture where they were going to be digging up dragon bones to reconstruct their own dragon skeletons.

Retrieving some tools for herself Maria chose a digging spot next to Vera since being close to her bestie could be useful if she ran into trouble of any sort. Using the shovel she carefully begain clearing away the dirt. When the shovel connected with something hard she knew it had to be bones. Getting down on her knees she used her gloved hands to carefully unearth the dragon bones without damaging them. When she got all the dragon bone pieces up on the earth she began trying to assembling them like a puzzle, but i wasn't exactly easy since she had no defined frame pieces like in a usual puzzle so what to do? Just try and fit the pieces together and hope some would match?

MadMadamMalfoy 05-16-2024 01:22 PM

Sydney was still sort of… meh about the lesson, but at least she didn't get another answer wrong. Packing her notebook and pen back into her bag, she silently followed the rest of the group. She was mildly disappointed, though not at all surprised to learn that they wouldn't be using actual dragon bones to build a skeleton, but as long as she didn't have to interact with anyone, she'd play along.

While she would've loved to dig with magic, she hadn't been at Hogwarts long enough to learn the proper spells, so she opted for tools instead. She retrieved a trowel, brush, and gloves from the box and stalked off to a spot away from the other students where she wouldn't be distracted. Kneeling down, she set to work digging out the “dragon bones” and carefully dusting off each one with her brush.

Sydney found several vertebrae, some claws and ribs, a couple of leg bones… As she amassed a collection of “bones”, she decided the best strategy was to gather all of the bones first then put the skeleton together when she had all the pieces. She sorted the “bones” she found into neat little piles: one for the vertebrae, one for claws, one for ribs, and so on.

As she continued to dig, she uncovered something big and somewhat rounded. It was a “skull”! She dug it out and gently brushed it off, intently studying its shape to try and figure out what kind of dragon it was. Snub snot, large eye sockets… probably a Chinese Fireball. Sydney set the “skull” in a pile she'd set aside for the bigger “bones” and got back to work uncovering the rest of the skeleton.

Kolyander 05-16-2024 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch (Post 12564015)
Maria's answer was responded to by Professor Paton with a question. Thoughtfully she replied unsure of her answer. "Maybe the state of a dragons teeth can give us clues to what they have eaten during their lifespan like if they have mostly eaten hay vs eating sheep will have more impact on the teeth." Maria really felt like she was out on this ice with that answer, but she felt like she had to say something.

Next Professor Paton wondered what they think of that would aid in identifying the right dragon right away. Her peers mentioned the ones that Maria also immediatly had thought of like colour, tails, horns, scales, musical roar and how their fires are shaped which she also jotted down in her notes. Raising her hand she added a suggestion to the mix. "Isn't size also an identifiable marker of breed since we have the Peruvian Vipertooth that is the smallest of all breeds, and the Ukrainian Ironbelly that is the biggest?"

Then they all got orderd up on their feet, and Maria followed along with the others to another part of the pasture where they were going to be digging up dragon bones to reconstruct their own dragon skeletons.

Retrieving some tools for herself Maria chose a digging spot next to Vera since being close to her bestie could be useful if she ran into trouble of any sort. Using the shovel she carefully begain clearing away the dirt. When the shovel connected with something hard she knew it had to be bones. Getting down on her knees she used her gloved hands to carefully unearth the dragon bones without damaging them. When she got all the dragon bone pieces up on the earth she began trying to assembling them like a puzzle, but i wasn't exactly easy since she had no defined frame pieces like in a usual puzzle so what to do? Just try and fit the pieces together and hope some would match?

"A dragons teeth would certainly tell us a great deal about its diet and the way that dragon may live it's life. It's size can also help us to narrow down a breed of dragon much more quickly as well. Very good." Hadleigh nodded head in agreement to both answers that had been given.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising (Post 12563999)
Did Emma know any of the dragons by the posters? Definitely not. But she was able to pick out the Peruvian Vipertooth, which was recognizable to the blond by its small size. Which as Vera mentioned was the easiest for her, it was likewise easiest for Emma.

Something that made each dragon stand out?? Emma frowned. How was one able to tell by its ROAR??? She was definitely not attune enough to recognize dragons by its roar? Or perhaps it was simply that she hadn't studied dragons enough to know the difference, but still impressive that some of her peers knew that you could recognize a dragon by its roar. Scales actually she knew - not well enough to know which was which, but she did know that scales differed among the different dragons.

Oh they were moving onto assembling dragon bones into a dragon?? This reminded her of one of those 3D puzzles, which made her somewhat curious about something... "Professor? Will the bones not fit together if it's incorrect?" She hoped that question made sense, because looking at a pile of bones seemed rather daunting.

Ah, now here was a very good question. One she was surprised no one had considered earlier. "That's a very good question. Listen up everyone for just a minute. Should you really find yourself struggling, you are welcome to get your textbooks and I do have some parchments here of the skeletal forms. However, yes, just give the bone you are trying to figure out where it goes a little tap with your wand and it will glow briefly along with the bones it belongs aligned with." Now she hadn't told them this earlier because she wanted to see how they would go about reconstructing the skeletons on their own.

OOC: Great work so far everyone! There's still about 30 hours left for the activity but I'll be checking in again later tonight xD

FearlessLeader19 05-16-2024 11:07 PM

Oh.

It turned out there was a much easier way to put the skeleton together. Now that Ary knew this, he figured he would definitely have better luck putting together the rest of the bones. But with the construction of the face bones already out of the way, he needed to go back to excavating.

Ary did exactly that. Trowel in hand, he dug. As he came across a bone, it was set down next to his dragon’s head. After a few had joined the pile, magic was used to clean the dirt. Then, using the trick the professor had told them about, he began tapping on the bones to arrange them in their rightful places.

Chelliephone 05-17-2024 02:59 AM

When Maria found a spot to work in close to Vera, she offered her friend a giant grin, relieved a sounding board was right beside her when she inevitably got stuck on the arrangement of the bones. Which.. was actually already, honestly. She considered bothering Maria now in her own work, but before she opened her mouth to do so, she decided to hunt for a few more bones to see if it made things any clearer first. Small shovel in hand again, Ve went back to digging, quickly locating two more spots and... not so quickly removing them from the dirt, taking extra care to make sure neither were harmed in the process. With the added pieces, the shape looked like it was making a little more sense to her, and she began to arrange again.

Until she stopped when she heard Professor P answering questions. And giving further direction to the rest of the class. The girls mouth nearly dropped in shock when it was revealed they could use MAGIC to piece together the puzzle she'd hardly started. And while it made sense to reveal that later, Vera was absolutely going to just use that for the get go now. Attention turning to her bones again, she tapped the pieces and began to fit them together, before she tapped a fourth bone and it did.... nothing. She was pretty certain that meant she'd ended up with something that did not belong to her dragon (who she'd wait to name until she figured out which type he was).

Leaning over to Maria with the incorrect bone in hand, Ve offered it towards her friend. "This one doesn't fit my dragon. Want to try it on yours?"

sweetpinkpixie 05-17-2024 11:07 AM

Sage still stood by the opinion that the skeletal forms stepping right out of the poster would be a whole lot more interesting than an pseudo archaeozoology activity but the Slytherin also admit that putting together a skeletal puzzle was a lot more interesting (not to mention accurate) than utilizing chickenbones. She also had never considered this particular branch of magizoology so her interest was tickled a bit more than she was willing to admit. Professor Paton providing a failsafe with this bones was a bit of a disappointment and Sage's pride would certainly get in the way of her utilizing her wand for solutions.

So...guess it was time to search for some 150 bones.

"Revelio," Sage mumbled to herself while waving her wand over the ground immediately in front of her. Using magic to solve the puzzle, that was off limits. Never thought anything about finding the dragon bone puzzle pieces! Little ripples of light akin to someone dropping a pebble into the lake appeared here and there on the ground and Sage shuffled her feet towards the closest one before kneeing down. She had opted to use tools this go around, though she had never used these kinds of things before for this purpose so she wasn't entirely sure what all she was doing, and began her digging with a scope and chisel to dig out what were clearly rib bones. It was difficult to distinguish what dragon she had uncovered based on rib bones alone, but the pieces were wider than they were narrow which made her think this may be a Romanian Longhorn...though confirmation would come once she unearthed the skull. Five rib bones unearthed....something like 20 more to go.

This was going to be tedious.

Casting Revelio again and taking note of the ripples, Sage turned to look at the rest of her classmates. "Oi, anyone fancy consolidating efforts and want to come play archaeozoologist with me?"

MadMadamMalfoy 05-17-2024 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie (Post 12564038)
Sage still stood by the opinion that the skeletal forms stepping right out of the poster would be a whole lot more interesting than an pseudo archaeozoology activity but the Slytherin also admit that putting together a skeletal puzzle was a lot more interesting (not to mention accurate) than utilizing chickenbones. She also had never considered this particular branch of magizoology so her interest was tickled a bit more than she was willing to admit. Professor Paton providing a failsafe with this bones was a bit of a disappointment and Sage's pride would certainly get in the way of her utilizing her wand for solutions.

So...guess it was time to search for some 150 bones.

"Revelio," Sage mumbled to herself while waving her wand over the ground immediately in front of her. Using magic to solve the puzzle, that was off limits. Never thought anything about finding the dragon bone puzzle pieces! Little ripples of light akin to someone dropping a pebble into the lake appeared here and there on the ground and Sage shuffled her feet towards the closest one before kneeing down. She had opted to use tools this go around, though she had never used these kinds of things before for this purpose so she wasn't entirely sure what all she was doing, and began her digging with a scope and chisel to dig out what were clearly rib bones. It was difficult to distinguish what dragon she had uncovered based on rib bones alone, but the pieces were wider than they were narrow which made her think this may be a Romanian Longhorn...though confirmation would come once she unearthed the skull. Five rib bones unearthed....something like 20 more to go.

This was going to be tedious.

Casting Revelio again and taking note of the ripples, Sage turned to look at the rest of her classmates. "Oi, anyone fancy consolidating efforts and want to come play archaeozoologist with me?"

Sydney finished uncovering the rest of her Chinese Fireball skeleton, sorting the “bones'' into the appropriate piles. She started to assemble the bones, starting with the vertebrae. It was a little difficult to put the pieces in the correct order, but nothing she couldn’t manage. As she worked, she overheard an older student’s open invitation to partner up. She considered the offer for a moment… to team up or to finish the job herself? On the one hand, she’d come pretty far on her own and didn’t really fancy digging “bones” all over again. On the other hand, she could do a lot worse as far as partners went. That girl clearly knew her stuff!

She looked up, studying her older housemate for any signs of an ulterior motive. “Possibly,” she replied. “I don’t fancy digging again, but I have an uncovered Chinese Fireball skeleton over here. If you’d like to help me put it together, that would cut out the digging step entirely for you.” She did say she wanted to consolidate effort...

Kolyander 05-17-2024 11:27 PM

While the students worked hard at digging up the dragon bones, each in their own unique way, Hadleigh walked around keeping an eye on how they were all doing. From what she could see, most of them were doing fantastic. None of them seemed to be struggling and several were even offering to work together. Others had figured out their own methods of unearthing the dragon bones and reconstructing the skeletons.

As wonderful as it was to see most of them enjoying the lesson and making great progress with their skeletons, time was quickly ticking by. Unfortunately that meant their lesson was steadily coming to a close. "Alright everyone," Hady clapped her hands to get their attention. "We have about fifteen minutes left until the end of our lesson. So take the rest of this time to finish collecting the bones that you need for your skeleton. If you have them all already, keep working on completing your skeletons. Don't worry if you don't get to finish, you can take your findings with you. The skeletons are yours to keep if you want them." If they chose not to keep them, Paton would gladly keep them in her cabin/office or around the Reptile Room.

"If you're already finished or finish before time is up, you're free to gather your things and go. I won't hold you here longer than necessary." They were all working so well and staying focused so she felt no need to make them wait around when they complete their skeletons. "There is no homework tonight unless you take your dragon bones with you and chose to complete them later." Which she didn't consider to be homework just finishing up a project.


OOC: We are at the closing stretch here! The students still have some time to finish working on their skeletons. If they finish them, they are welcome to leave. I'll be closing up the lesson in about 16 hours :)

Nordic Witch 05-18-2024 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone (Post 12564034)
When Maria found a spot to work in close to Vera, she offered her friend a giant grin, relieved a sounding board was right beside her when she inevitably got stuck on the arrangement of the bones. Which.. was actually already, honestly. She considered bothering Maria now in her own work, but before she opened her mouth to do so, she decided to hunt for a few more bones to see if it made things any clearer first. Small shovel in hand again, Ve went back to digging, quickly locating two more spots and... not so quickly removing them from the dirt, taking extra care to make sure neither were harmed in the process. With the added pieces, the shape looked like it was making a little more sense to her, and she began to arrange again.

Until she stopped when she heard Professor P answering questions. And giving further direction to the rest of the class. The girls mouth nearly dropped in shock when it was revealed they could use MAGIC to piece together the puzzle she'd hardly started. And while it made sense to reveal that later, Vera was absolutely going to just use that for the get go now. Attention turning to her bones again, she tapped the pieces and began to fit them together, before she tapped a fourth bone and it did.... nothing. She was pretty certain that meant she'd ended up with something that did not belong to her dragon (who she'd wait to name until she figured out which type he was).

Leaning over to Maria with the incorrect bone in hand, Ve offered it towards her friend. "This one doesn't fit my dragon. Want to try it on yours?"

Maria returned Vera's giant grin with one of her own amidst digging for dragon bones, and pushing curly strands of hair out of her face. She used the shovel to dig in two more places wondering vividly of Professor Paton even had mentioned how many dragon bones they'd need to find to complete their skeleton? Had Maria missed it while concentrating on uncovering and not damaging the fragile pieces? She considered asking Ve but thought against since she didn't want to bother her bestie who seemed to be fully into her work.

Pausing to push away some damp strands of hair out of her face Maria heard what Professor Paton was saying. They were allowed to use magic to piece together the puzzle. Mouth now slightly open in surprise mixed with a little irritation Maria unholstered her wand and gently tapped the first bone. The bone lit up in the same colour as another piece, so that meant they'd fit together? Testing and seeing it work she got a little happier. She contiued to tap each bone getting more happy and excited as it looked more and more like she was assembling the bones of a Ukrainian Ironbelly.

When she was almost done, just missing one piece Vera the angel offered her a bone that didn't fit with her dragon. Accepting it Maria beamed "Thanks Vee, I'll see if it fits my dragon skeleton." Holding her breath she tapped the new bone with her wand, and then did a little dance on the spot when it was infact the last piece of her puzzle. Assembled the skeleton of the Ukrainian Ironbelly looked beautiful. Turning to her bestie Maria offered "Do you need any help Vee? My skeleton puzzle is complete." It was then she heard Professor Paton wrapping up the lesson. She wasn't leaving without Vera so if her bestie wanted to finish her skeleton then she'd assist and after they could leave for food together.

sweetpinkpixie 05-18-2024 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy (Post 12564041)


Sydney finished uncovering the rest of her Chinese Fireball skeleton, sorting the “bones'' into the appropriate piles. She started to assemble the bones, starting with the vertebrae. It was a little difficult to put the pieces in the correct order, but nothing she couldn’t manage. As she worked, she overheard an older student’s open invitation to partner up. She considered the offer for a moment… to team up or to finish the job herself? On the one hand, she’d come pretty far on her own and didn’t really fancy digging “bones” all over again. On the other hand, she could do a lot worse as far as partners went. That girl clearly knew her stuff!

She looked up, studying her older housemate for any signs of an ulterior motive. “Possibly,” she replied. “I don’t fancy digging again, but I have an uncovered Chinese Fireball skeleton over here. If you’d like to help me put it together, that would cut out the digging step entirely for you.” She did say she wanted to consolidate effort...

While giving up mid task was incredibly uncharacteristic of her, Sage would much rather spend her effort sorting out the skeletal structure of a dragon than going on an extended scavenger hunt. Worker smarter, not harder and the only ulterior motive here would be precisely that which her younger housemate had already offered freely.

"That works for me, she nodded upon setting the rib bones aside entirely and moving over to where her housemate was working. "Excellent job on the vertebrae thus far," she nodded approvingly - finally someone she could work with and wasn't a project themselves. It was a relief coming off of tutoring and pulling teeth Reuben for a whole term with the most humiliating of results. Now if only she could get herself to give up on the tantalizing thought that he was a project worth fixing - a problem for future Sage at a future date. "I'll see to getting these legs together so they can attach to what you've finished," she nodded while shifting on to her knees and pulling the a ilium, ischium, and femur out from the pile and sliding them into place to start on one of the hind legs. She was honestly super eager to start fitting together the phalanges - she found that part of any and all skeletons to be absolutely fascinating.


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