Creature Care!

Harcourt spotted the group of first years and smiled. They were walking down the steps. This is gonna be fun.he thought. The first years were getting a special treat of getting an introduction into Creature Care. He stood outside the Forbidden Forest, his hands in his pockets, rocking on his toes. He was excited but he knew that this class would be a handful. They were quite mischievous. He smiled at the first years.

”Welcome! To a special Introduction to Creature Care!”he called out to them, waving. He chuckled as he thought of the reactions they would have. They were going to be amazed.

”Alright. A couple of rules. One, we stick together in a group. No wandering off. No chasing butterflies. Two, no matter how scary it gets, don’t use spells. I’m here to protect you. There’s nothing to be worried about. Three, be sure to take plenty of notes. This will be very important when you take Creature Care in your third year. But, that choice is up to you. Now, who’s ready to begin the amazing adventure into the Forbidden Forest?”he explained excitedly. He chuckled and then passed out a rope with loops in it. Each student was to hold onto a loop as they entered the forest so no one got left behind or forgotten.

Adelaine rushed down the path to the edge of the forest with the other first years. After her recent excursion in the Forbidden Forest, she wasn't keen on entering it again. Renoir had actually approached those involved in the "incident" and offered to get them out of the trip, but Adele refused. What would the other first years think?

"It's said that there are werewolves inside," she rambled on to whoever would listen. "And vampires, though I can't see why they'd live in a forest. The vampire Vlad Drakul is Duke of Wallachia."

A couple Slytherins (and shockingly, one Hufflepuff) actually shushed her as they neared the trees. Finally, they reached Professor Harcourt. He seemed very excited, indeed. Once he finished talking, the crowd got chatty again. Adele spotted her friends and grabbed a loop.

Deirdre listened intently to what the professor was saying. She silently wondered if she was the only one of her friends who wanted to see the Forbidden Forest again. After all, she hadn't been part of the incident last time, though she felt she was to blame for it. If she hadn't hit that woman and told everyone to run, none of them would have entered the forest at all.

Her excitement died down a bit and she grabbed hold of a loop. She saw Adele and smiled a little.

"Hi, Adele. I 'ope yer doin' well." She said.

Arya made her way down the path with the rest of the students. The crowd was so large that she couldn't find any of her friends, but she was almost positive she heard Adele gabbing on about something as usual. Once they reached the outskirts of the forest, she pushed and shoved her way to Adelaine and Deirdre.

"Well, this should be an adventure..." she mumbled.

The last time she'd entered the Forbidden Forest, Mitri Montgomery couldn't shut up and she had nearly had her eyes scratched out by a bowtruckle. That was surely nothing compared to what Marigold and Adele had gone through, though...

"Are you actually okay with going back in?" she asked quietly, not wishing to attract unwanted attention.

The rope with the loops finally reached her, and she stopped herself from grimacing. Loops? Ropes? Were they five years old? Grumpily, she took it from Deirdre, grabbed a loop, and passed it back to the next person.

Kolby walked down the stairs, dreading the stairs, hating the stairs, loathing the stairs. He was tempted to turn the stair into a ramp but he knew that many people would get hurt. He glanced back towards Marigold and grimaced. She was pretty beat up. If that had happened to me, uncle would've got me out of this school.he thought.

"Ugh! Do I have to be here?"he said, blowing his nose. He was a bit sick but he'll push past it.

Mira bounced along down the pathway to the forest, a grin plastered to her face. She couldn't hide her excitement - after all that she had heard about the Forbidden Forest..and the fact that it was forbidden. There was a rumor going round that a group of first years had ventured in at Hogsmeade and gotten into some serious turmoil; what she would have given to be there.

"Isn't this so incredible?" she whisper-shouted to a Ravenclaw boy, who shrugged her off.

One of Mira's best qualities was also her biggest flaw: her curiosity. She always let it get the best of her. Once, she had even followed a royal caravan for an entire day, just blending in and acting like one of the cooks, just to see what their life was like. Of course, then her parents found her and she had to stay at the town square for an extra hour selling the blankets her father wove.

Finally, they reached the edge of the forest. Mira found a spot in line behind a rather sullen looking Slytherin boy and grabbed a loop.

"Hello, there," she greeted him cheerfully, ignoring his nose-blowing. "My name is Mira."

((OOC: Madison, I'm quite sure they definitely did not say "suck" in the 15th century.))

Miriam walked down the steps in the back of the group. She was both nervous and excited to go into the Forbidden Forest. She knew it had to be forbidden for a reason and she wondered how the professor had gotten permission to take first years in there.

Finally the rope reached her and she took one tightly in her hand. She certainly didn't want to get lost! She didn't care if it made them look like the were five, she didn't want to get lost int he forest.

"I hope nothing goes wrong," she muttered to herself as the group began moving.

Boy was Jace nervous.

She could see the nerves etched into some of the other first years' faces, but in her imagination, they could never compare to her own. For a Slytherin, she thought, I sure am jumpy today!

Jace wasn't quite sure exactly why she was nervous, but she was. The Forbidden Forest had never really been her favorite place, nor, she doubted, was it any other first years'.

Why couldn't I have just skipped this class with that other Slytherin girl? She wondered, thinking back to a fifth year Slytherin girl she had seen ducking out of the halls and headed back to where she assumed to be the dungeons and the Slytherin common room. I would definitely not be facing the forest if I had gone back to the common room...

Jace, However, realized who's class this was, and shuddered to think the punishment for skipping this particular class.

Huh, she thought, it amazes me that I was even put into Slytherin. My father would be disgraced of me, she realized. She was showing no signs of a Slytherin, not even in her on mind, her own subconscious dialogue!

Even if the girl could be quite harsh and definitely quite facetious, she didn't really feel as though she was ambitious enough. Shrewd and self preserved as she may be, she still felt all too shy. Clever, resourceful, maybe even cruel, but was Jace by any means cunning? And not that the girl had much regard for the rules, she didn't seem to fancy getting into trouble.

Maybe only her bloodline was keeping her in the house that her father would be proudest of her in. Is that enough? Jace thought, still drifting in and out of what was actually going on in her class.

Maybe I should be paying attention, she thought. Jace focused more on what they were doing, but at the moment they hadn't started much. They seemed to be waiting for the rest of the first years to arrive.

Jace sighed. Not long until she could crawl up into her bed and think of more things about herself that her father would be disgraced of.    

((OOC- thought I'd get a bit of internal dialogue down. But hey, it's better than the writer's block I've been facing for the last month!))

Kolby looked over the Hufflepuff girl and quickly tucked his hankie away. He smiled a snide smile.

"I'm Kolby."he said, faking being friendly. Let's make this a little more interesting.he thought.

"Did you read your textbook? I hear that the centaurs in the forest are especially dangerous this time of year. They go hunting for animals, using their bones to make new arrows. Hopefully, they won't go hunting for us."he said, trying to sound casual and academically correct.

"Oh! I almost forgot about the werewolves. They go in here to mate then they raise their young in the woods. And after that incident in Paris.....tsk, tsk, tsk. But, you're not scared of those things, right?"he said. He smiled. Hopefully, he had gotten into the girl's mind to make her go crazy.

Mira was silent for just a moment as she processed all this information. Was he really trying to frighten her? Clearly this was a lad who thought that stereotypes held true. But it simply wasn’t in her nature to be mean, so she did what worked best for her.

“Well, centaurs are usually only quite dangerous to those who are disrespectful and don’t know how to hold their tongues,” she shot back very pleasantly with a smile. “Do you know, my father’s uncle was a werewolf? They’re only dangerous on a full moon, and the only time their young would be wolves is if they mated in wolf form on a full moon…fascinating, isn’t it?”

With a small grin to herself, she tightened her grip on the loop and looked into the forest. Her excitement was building, and there was no way anyone could ruin it.

Jace knew she shouldn't, but she let out a giggle. No louder than a whisper, surely.

She'd been listening in, quite creepily, on a conversation between another Slytherin and a Hufflepuff. It seemed quite like he'd tried to frighten the girl, and if it would've worked she surely would've laughed louder. Though, since it didn't work, she smiled prouder. She didn't need to know the girl to feel proud.

Anyone that stood up to a Slytherin deserved to feel pride. It took guts to do that based on our reputation alone.

Quickly, Jace turned back to the forest and the other students. She didn't want it to seem even slightly obvious that she's listened to someone else's conversation, so she simply observed the forest around her. It was something she tended to do. When no one bothered the girl, she liked to look at what was happening around her-- at what the other kids didn't notice, like the centaur in the distance, racing away from the class as fast as he could, or the silver strands of Unicorns' hair reflecting from a branch no more than five feet away.

"Settle down. Settle down. Now, does everyone have a loop? Good. Let's get to it then!"he said cheerfully. He held the top of the rope and it glowed yellow. It was a magically rope. If anyone let go, the rope will lock in place and won't come to life again until everyone is holding on.

Harcourt entered the woods, his ducklings of first years following. He was taking a centaur path and hoped that they were away for the holiday. He didn't want his lesson to be ruined. He smiled when they came to the first clearing.

"Form an arch and stay here."he announced, dropping the rope for a second. The rope stopped shining yellow and Harcourt stepped into the tree line. He looked back at his ducklings. He smiled at the arch they made. It's like they never saw half a circle before.he thought, unlacing a rope from a tree.

He stepped out from the tree line, his friend following him.

"Students, this is Dessa. She is a unicorn."he announced. Dessa, a beautiful gold baby unicorn, pawed at the earth. He smiled.

"She's saying hi. You may sit down and take notes. I may ramble a bit."he said, stroking Dessa's mane. He smiled at his friend and she pawed the ground again.

"I've raised Dessa since birth. Her parents are roaming around the forest and they have allowed you to see her. Yes, you may pet her later. Now, on to the facts."Harcourt said, letting Dessa eat some grass and taking the rope off of her.

"Baby unicorns are born gold in color. They turn silver when they turn two years old and their horn comes in when they turn four. They are fully grown around seven years old, where they turn a shade of pure white, like the color of the snow. Their hooves are golden for the first two years of life. Any questions?"he asked, watching as Dessa ate the grass around the students. He smiled. This would be a good lesson.

Arya felt like she was a child all over again playing follow the leader. She walked along and formed a rather messy half circle with the first years. It was more like a lightning bolt; some kids were clumping together, others wanted to be alone. She, herself, stayed with Marigold, Adele, and Deirdre. A collective gasp went up when the unicorn stepped out.

“Wow…”

Arry had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. The baby unicorn was pure gold, and it almost glittered. She didn’t want to take her eyes off of it, but she sat down and took out her parchment and quill anyhow.

unicorns:

- born gold
- two years old = silver
- four years old = horn
- seven years old = pure white

She had never been much of a note taker, so she made it short and to the point. When Harcourt stopped talking, everyone seemed to be in awe of Dessa. Arya’s curiosity gave way, though, and she raised her hand.

“Why did you raise her?” she piped up, not waiting for Harcourt to call on her. “Why did you need to if she has her parents in the forest?”

Adelaine felt a mixture of hesitation and excitement as they entered the dark forest. She wasn’t certain about this little excursion, but surely Harcourt would make sure nothing happened. Even so, she was all ears; not even a twig snapping underfoot went unnoticed as they made the short trek to the clearing.

“This is exciting…” she whispered, though her tone did not match her statement.

She sat on the ground with Arya, Deirdre, and Marigold and listened intently to the professor, scribbling notes the whole while.

Unicorns

Unicorns are born gold. At two years old they turn silver, at four they grow a horn,
at seven they are fully grown and pure white.

Adele paused and looked up curiously. She thought she’d heard a noise a bit further into forest….Just my imagination, she decided.

“Professor,” she raised her hand high. “What purpose do unicorns serve?”

Kolby laughed and rolled his eyes when Mira caught on. At least she's not ditsy.he thought. He couldn't stand ditsy people. They annoyed him. Well, in general, they annoyed everyone. But he couldn't stand them.

Kolby sat between Mira and Jace, taking out a quill and ink. He forgot parchment so he was stuck with writing on his hand.

Kolby was speechless when Dessa came out.

"That's incredible."he whispered, trying not to scare the unicorn. It walked around, eating the grass and sometimes pawing at it. It mesmerized Kolby. He almost missed the notes Harcourt gave. He jotted them down and this time, he actually had a legit question. He raised his hand.

"Professor, why are unicorns only white? Why can't they have brown or black hair?"he asked.

In disdain, Nadia looked at the rope. No doubt she'd have callouses at the end of today's journey from some of her more... eager classmates tugging at the rope. The Forbidden Forest had never really interested Nadia, uncivilized creatures and nature were not her forte. However, at news of seeing a unicorn, Nadia was intrigued. Her own father's study wall portrayed the head of a unicorn, something he liked to point out to guests. Vile, if you asked Nadia.

Nadia's eyes widened in shock as the Professor led them towards a unicorn fawn. It was the most startling gold, more majestic than any of the jewels her mother wore. Nadia unconsciously took a step forward, but the rope on her wrist pulled her out of the awe she had been enraptured in.

Jotting down some notes quickly, so she could look back to the unicorn, Nadia raised her own hand.

"Sir, isn't the white coat of the unicorn meant to symbolize the unicorn's purity?" Nadia asked, quizzically.

With great apprehension, Mitri linked her hand in the rope. With the Professor by their side nothing could go wrong, right? Mitri reminisced about her own adventure into the Forest with Arya earlier that year. Luckily, it was not near as perilous as some of her clasmates'. Arya and Mitri's friendship hadn't been the same since.

Mitri mouth opened with a plop, her lips making a comical 'O'. Dessa was the most, extravagant, stupendous, marvelous, and every other word to have ever described beauty, creature Mitri had ever seen. Seeing as her first walk in the forest was to find one of these majestic creatures, Mitri could not contain a squeal of joy. She quickly jotted down her notes, hoping they'd be legible later.

"Professor, might we, touch the unicorn?" Mitri asked eagerly, yet cautious as she did not wish to get her hopes up.

Professor Harcourt was astonished. The class had never been more vocal. He laughed. Apparently, they need more outside lessons.he thought. He snapped his fingers and Dessa came galloping back to him.

"Well, to start with the first question, Arya, I raised her because it was a twin birth. The mother could only take care of one so I raised Dessa myself. It's kinda like how a deer will have two fawns. Only one would live to maturity so I raised Dessa so we can have more unicorns in the forbidden forest. Good question. Two points to Gryffindor."he explained. With this many question, I can't give out all the points I would like to.he thought. The next question belonged to Adelaine.

"Unicorn hair is used as a core in wands, Ms. Beaumont. The hair produces the most consistent magic and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard. Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may ‘die’ and need replacing. Also, the horn, their alicorn, is a common ingredient in making potions, such as the Antidote to Common Poisons and has a runic, to symbolize the number one. Very good question. Two points to Ravenclaw."he explained, watching the student take notes. They were jumping ahead of him. I might have to end this lesson early.he thought. The next question belonged to Kolby.

"Well, Mr. Parry, your question tied in with Nadia's. She is correct. The unicorn's hair symbolizes their purity. But, why are they only only white? We're not sure. I've only seen one black unicorn and it had a color changing spell on it. Nor have I seen a melanistic unicorn. So, very good question both of you. Four points to Slytherin."he said. He smiled at Mitri's question.

"Yes, Mitri. You may touch Dessa. She is quite tame. But, that brings us to the next portion of the lesson. Touch. Unicorns prefer a woman's touch, but the young ones are more trusting and do not mind men as much. But, still. Be very careful and do not bombard her. Unicorns are so fleet-of-hoof that they can rarely be caught by humans. So, if she runs away, there's very little chance we can catch her again."he explained. He was getting tired of sitting on his knees so he transformed the trunk of a tree into a chair. Dessa was jumping around, happy to see all the new people. He smiled. The first years were learning a lot.

A smile wider than any dragon's spread across Mitri's lips. She was going to touch a unicorn, a baby unicorn for that matter! Cautiously, Mitri walked towards Dessa careful not to startle her. It broke Mitri's heart to hear Dessa's story, abandoned because she was the weaker of the two born. Mitri couldn't help but relate as she was often looked down upon for being weak. As of yet, however, it hadn't left her to be abandoned. Mitri would never know what to do without her family...

With a careful hand, Mitri let Dessa sniff her hand. As Dessa became accustomed to Mitri's scent, Mitri softly began to stroke Dessa's mane. It was like woven gold.

"Hi Dessa, I'm Mitri. I bet it's lonely having no family, but I guess you have the Professor. I'll be your friend if you'd like. But first you have to answer a question, do you like bacon?" Mitri whispered to the golden mare, in which Dessa replied by nuzzling Mitri's hand.

"I'll take that as a yes. How about I try and bring you some from the kitchens soon?"
Mitri whispered once more. Dessa simply began to jump around the students again.

Another trip to the Forbidden Forest in the near future it seems, Mitri mused to herself.

Mira watched as Mitri Montgomery took the first turn at petting the unicorn. She still couldn’t get over how beautiful it was; pure gold! She’d never even seen a color like that, it was even better than real gold. It almost sparkled. And next it would be silver…silver was Mira’s favorite color. She had only seen real silver a few times, whenever the villagers could pay with it, which wasn’t very often.

“Me next!” a rather rude Slytherin shouted, pushing her way to the front of the line the students had formed.

Dessa apparently didn’t like the snake’s tone, because she whinnied fitfully and sort of kicked at the ground. Good thing she has no horn, Mira thought, watching the little unicorn paw at the dirt. A rather sensible Ravenclaw finally nudged the Slytherin away and stepped up next. Finally, it was Mira’s turn.

“Hello there, Dessa,” she whispered, running her hands through the unicorn’s soft mane. ((OOC: I felt really awkward typing that sentence.))

Mira was too excited to speak more; she loved horses. Her father had taught her to ride when she was little, and sometimes he even let her lead the family horse into the town square on selling days. Maybe the mother unicorn would let her ride her…maybe she would have to sneak back into the forest someday and find her. After about two minutes, Mira stood back up and went to sit by a tree with the others who had already taken their turns.

Adelaine stood in the impromptu, messy line and waited for her turn. After facing the sphinx and the siren, a unicorn really shouldn’t have worried her, right? Wrong. Adele had always been a bit uncomfortable around horses. The ones in the stables at home were always a bit skittish around her, probably because they could sense her uneasiness. They were just so big and powerful, it always frightened her when she was a girl.

“Doesn’t look frightening, I suppose..” she muttered under her breath.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the Slytherin girl she stood behind (after the snake had pushed her way to the front, that is) decided it was smart to shout and cause a scene. The little unicorn was probably harmless, but it still wouldn’t go well for Harcourt if the creature knocked the girl down.

“You’re scaring her, move away,” she whispered to the girl.

Adele gave her a small push to the side. The Slytherin, who had tensed up when she realized she’d upset Dessa, took her advice and backed away. Adelaine smiled and loosened up,  kneeling down in front of the unicorn.

“You’re actually rather sweet, aren’t you?”

She happily gave Dessa a pat on the back. She was rather beautiful, Adele couldn't deny it. Not scary at all. When her turn was up, she moved to sit against the trunk of a tree.

Arya excitedly walked up to the beautiful golden baby unicorn, grinning the whole time. She loved horses; some of her fondest memories were riding trails in the forest by her village. Kneeling down in front of Dessa, she patted her cheek gently and whispered complete nonsense to her. Things like “bacon is good” and “don’t eat red leaves”. Everything was going just swimmingly until the unicorn suddenly got spooked. Pawing nervously at the ground, Dessa finally reared up and kicked Arya in the stomach before speeding into the forest.

“Ow!” she moaned, doubling over.

That was a pain she had never experienced. She was certain there would be a mark; she may have even been bleeding. The pain was blinding, though, and she couldn’t think about anything. Only the fact that, clearly, there was something out there; something potentially dangerous.