Care of Magical Creatures - Lesson One (All Years)

Hogwarts. A school Odysseas hadn't had the chance to visit. Not even once in his life. Therefore, it was natural for the man to be intrigued. Before he had decided to apply for a job here, Odysseas had thought about his decision one too many times, and each time he ended up with the same result. He wanted to go there, even though working as a Profession had never been his dream. Nonetheless, it was a good opportunity, and a smart man would seize every opportunity and make the most out of it.

A letter was sent to the Headmistress during the summer, and after a few weeks of waiting, Odysseas received a reply, informing him that the school board had been glad to receive his letter, and even more glad to accept him as one of the Staff. And this was how Odysseas found himself out on the school Grounds that morning, awaiting for his students to arrive. If anyone asked him whether he was nervous, the man would have denied it. But anyone who knew him well would be able to see that Odysseas was --slightly-- on edge. It was, after all, the first time he would teach.

The lesson he had prepared for today wasn't a hard one, but it was more of an introduction to the way he would be teaching class. With that said, Odysseas decided to leave the more dangerous creatures aside, for now, until he was sure of the capabilities of his students. Plus, the first lesson had to be friendly for all the years. As the man waited for his students to arrive, he busied himself with the little Crup that would be the example for his lesson today.

"Let's give them a good first impression, darling." The man said at the hound, petting its head with a smile. His students would be arriving sure, he hoped. It shouldn't be long, now.

Dominique was excited as she was taking care of magical creatures. This year seemed like it was going to be amazing. As she knew that she had to write her uncle Jackson about this. She had no idea who was going to be in the class. Dominique hoped that Sasha or Mimosa would be in the class. Or even Mercy or Elena. There were so many people that she hoped was also taking the class. It seemed like Dominique was a popular person. But she wasn’t going to let that get to her head. As she was the same old person.

But she was going to focus on care of magical creatures. As this year she was also taking Global Citizenship. And she would also have to mention the dragon lady to her uncle. She knew that he was busy because she hadn’t gotten a letter back. Meaning she would have to send him another one.

Even though it had only been a few weeks, Mimosa felt as though she'd been back at Hogwarts for months. There was just always so much to do and so many things demanding her attention all at cone that the Slytherin found it had to keep track of time. Days simply flew by as the fun never ended, turning into weeks. Even classes were getting better now that the young witch had a better idea of which ones to take and which reading heavy ones to avoid. As a result, she had completely dropped Ancient Runes and History from her syllabus this year, leaving her free to attend cooler classes with teachers that didn't make you read stuff.

Mimosa had returned straight to the British isles from India, not having the time to go back home to America. Grandpa had been there to greet her and had promised her Clara would tag him out closer to the school year but Mimosa didn't mind. grandpa had let her run around the entire house unchecked and as a result, her final week of holidays had been spent lounging by the pool and sending letters, texts and emails to all her friends. What was even better, Clara had not arrived alone two days before September first, she had been accompanied by Jacques who had brought along with him the usual dozen boxes and packages from the palace. Of course, those two had also given her the recommended reading material for the year as determined by her educational therapists but that was a small price to pay for seeing her two favoritest people in the world!

And then it was back to school. The amazingly cheerful and noisy train (Mimosa had had a lot of fun running the length of all the carriages with Mercy, chasing the trolley witch around for sweets), the beautiful (sorting ceremony (this time, no one was forgotten and a trio of African triplets had been sorted in three different houses) and then the #EpicSleepover had happened. Amid all o this, Quidditch practices had started for the year and Squid Boy had amazingly joined the team as her fellow beater, massively beating out Ji Hyun who had also tried for the same position.

The eleven year old had no idea why two of her fellow second years had vied for the same position but they certainly now had some tension between them, made all the more obvious as they now walked on each side of her to Care of Magical creatures. Mimosa wondered if Catherine, Constance or Emily had noticed anything but the girls remained either quiet or oblivious. Behind the Slytherins a small groups of Ravenclaws followed, lead by Seema Biswas of course. Her younger brother Arman had been sorted into Ravenclaw this year too and now hid behind his sister at every moment possible. Jia En was the only one who braved the house divide, walking behind her brother in the serpent crowd. Bushrah's dark hijab bobbed as usual in he background somewhere.

"Dia!!!" the American witch yelled upon spotting her friend already there, disengaging from her green and silver entourage to go stand by her fellow American. "Oh my god, are those puppies???" the child's face lit up in the most glowing smile possible, her excitement completely making her forget to greet the teachers as she sank to her knees, making small noises at the Crups she did not recognize yet.

"Here puppy puppy," she called out, gesturing with her hands for the tiny mammal to come forward. "God puppy puppy, my puppy, come to Mimosa."

Elena was already to go for class. She had her bag with all her necessities for the day and a smile ready to go. Sometimes people said she was too positive but she didn't care, it helped her through life and that was okay with her. She walked out of Hogwarts and towards the grounds to her classroom for the day. She wondered what would be taught that day.

Elena was really hoping she didn't bust her ass like she was used to. She had a tendency of being clumsy as hell and she needed to work on that. She finally saw where class was being held and quickened her pace just a little. She seen some familiar faces and some not so familiar. She hoped this would be a good year, she needed it. Hopefully she found love and more friendship. One girl can hope right? She would remain herself that's what she did know.

A smile graced the wizard's features as he watched his students arriving, one after the other. The man wasn't sure how many children would attend his class, but the more the merrier! First, the Clement Heiress arrived and Odysseas gave her a small smile and a nod, showing her that her slip of the tongue was not something he worried much about. Habits died hard, he knew that very well, and after all, she meant no harm.

More students arrived, but unfortunately, Odysseas wasn't familiar with any of their names. There was a variety of ages, though the sex remained the same. Girls. It seemed like the male population of the school was not really interested in the Creatures of the Magical World. One of the little ones tried to get the Crup's attention, but the wizard-bred dog didn't move towards her. The reason why would be revealed later in the lesson.

Clapping his hands together, Odysseas waited for everyone  to quiet down, before he spoke. "Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures! My name is Odysseas Vinizelos, and I will be your Professor this year." A few whispers erupted, mostly because everyone was wondering what happened to their previous Professor, Odysseas believed, but the children soon quieted down, and the man was back to talking.

"Now, now. I am sure most of you know what today's lesson is going to be, but I will explain anyway." Motioning at the Crup with his hand, Odysseas began explaining. "This is Elina, my Crup. Now, does anyone know any information about them?"

The creature whose name was revealed as Elina, was very cute and precious. A crup was a great creature... for Wizards and Witches at least. When the Professor asked about what a Crup was, Elena was the first one who raised her hand. She loved school and animals so this was the perfect class for her. "A Crup is a very loyal creature to Witches and Wizards and seems to resemble a Muggle animal called a Jack Russell Terrier. Now they're loyal to us but to Muggles, not so much" Elena finished her answer and felt pretty proud of herself because she knew an answer.

She also knows so much about them because when her father brought one home it tried to attack her mother and she was stuck learning the history of all the magical creatures that the Wizarding world had to offer. She would never bring a Crup near a muggle... Thats for sure.

Sadly for Mimosa, no matter how much she coo-ed at the little creature, it would not come to her. Unsure if the animal could hear her, Mimosa looked up at the teacher and then Dia in confusion. Why was something not coming to her when she'd clearly told it to? The Crup must be hard of hearing, she decided as she rose to her feet once more, standing beside Dia and listening to the professor talk. He said the puppy's name was Elina so maybe Mimosa had to call her by her name?

When the tall wizard asked if anyone knew anything about Crups, lots of people spoke up. The best answer was given by her Elenore of course. Mimosa watched the older girl recite facts she must have read in many books about the puppies... And an idea formed in her head.

If Elenore liked Crups... and Mimosa answered a question about them, Elenore would forget the little game. She might smile at Mimosa and even praise her... She might say at least a single word to Mimosa in over a year now...

"Umm..." The young witch raised hr hand. She didn't know much about Crups and whatever was in the book had already probably been covered so the child used her eyes instead, assessing the little creature who stood not too far away. "They're fluffy, like this one!" she offered, trying to come up with something else, anything else.

"Oh and they can be taught tricks, like fetch and play dead."