Lesson 1: Hippogriffs (All Years)

The dark forest? Why was this teacher bringing her to the dark forest? It was strictly forbidden! The headmaster had said so at the opening feast! Why was a teacher bringing her to the dark forest!? MAYBE she was the alien queen and she was taking them to have their brains experimented on! It was all part of her evil plan to corrupt them and perform alien like experiments! Hailey stood at the edge. But she had to go. Why did she sign up for Care of Magical Creatures? She didn't like this class. Maybe she could make up some excuse and pass out right there? Na. The people who were with her in diagon Alley were there, and knew that she acted out frequently. Hailey didn't mean too... She just... people didn't understand...

They were led a little bit more into the forest, and the teacher showed them a hippogriff. She had known about them, so knew they weren't an alien creature. Hailey looked around. She could see why this place was forbidden. It was scary. Like an alien could pop out at any moment and kidnap her. And she would be gone forever. The professor started talking about her hippogriff and how he was nice and she asked questions about how to approach a hippogriff. Hailey knew all the answers but for some reason couldn't find the courage to speak up and say what they were. She was just too frozen and terrified to speak!

She blinked and jumped a little bit when a bird flew out of the tree. It was just a bird she said to herself. Just a bird but the fact that they were in the forbidden forest didn't help her nerves one last bit. She looked around. Was that a shadow? Was it coming to get her? Was it... Hailey leaned on a boulder that was in front of her to steady herself. She hoped she didn't pass out. That would be embarrassing. Especially since it was the first day of class.

Proud of Finley for speaking out in class, Naomi leaned her shoulder against his in support and whispered, "Good job!"

When Professor Valentine announced they could pet her hippogriff if they wanted, Naomi would have shot forward if she hadn't know that it would startle Tank and probably end with her arm being clawed off. Instead, she forced herself to walk forwards slowly, bowing and maintaining eye contact when she was close enough. Tank studied her for long enough to make her nervous before bowing back.

Ecstatic, Naomi closed the gap between them, running her hand over Tank's soft feathers. "You're quite beautiful, you know," she whispered to the hippogriff. "And quite a lot nicer than some people I've met. Would you allow me to ride you?" Tank considered her for another long moment, then sank to his knees.

Repressing a squeal, Naomi swung one leg over Tank's back, holding on to his neck tightly. "Up, please," she requested, quivering with excitement. Tank took a few loping steps, flapping his wings and taking off. Naomi laughed in delight as they circled the clearing, then touched back down. She got off with a huge grin and legs that were shaking from adrenaline and bowed to Tank again. "Thank you," she said before retreating into the crowd of students to Finley's side. "That was amazing," she whispered. "You have to try it!"

Alberi was glad that he had gotten a correct answer. After all, the teacher would see with in a good light and that was always a privilege. Sometimes there was times when that helped him keeping his straight-A student reputation. Of course, that did make other students to grow a dislike towards him. But like he often said, it wasn't his fault they were being idiots which didn't want to learn. It was their choice. And that was his.

Alberi listened carefully to what the teacher said, actually hearing things that weren't in the subject book. He could see she, or they, really, were good in what they did. And he was pretty glad with that, as he hated teachers which had no idea what to teach and basically just read the book. Though he would have preferred it hadn't happened in the forest. It was good enough to be in a classroom. Plus, this place had to be forbidden for a reason... And he preferred not to find out the reason, really.

Something the teacher said grabbed his attention afterwards. She was kidding with that, right? They weren't actually going to bow down to that thing... And who the hell would fly it? They had to be crazy... The boy was so fed up with that fact he didn't even notice that the teacher said it was for those who wanted to do it and not for every single kid there. He watched as kids bowed down to it, walked towards it and petted it, some people even flying on it. He just couldn't believe it.

At one point he just began to walk backwards a step put something stopped him and pushed him forwards. If it was a branch or a students hand, he didn't know but it was enough for him to be near enough to be next. And the creature itself was looking at him, so he really had no choice. Walking closer, trembling slightly, he bowed down and stood up. There was at first no reaction from the hippogriff. Which Alberi quickly took as a cue to start walking backwards. Just at that time it roared or whatever sound it makes and stood on it's hind legs. As he walked, the boy tripped, likely on a tree root, and fell hard. His eyes closed slowly as he watched someone stop some creature from attacking him. His brain began to lock itself out from the outside world. Somewhere in the distance he thought he heard laughs, some gasps and other noises as well. But Alberi thought it better to close his eyes and going into a half - slumber. Well, he couldn't really think. He last remembered feeling something on his head before finally closing his eyes and losing his own consciousnesses.

It took a couple minutes before any of the students made a move, but the she heard a cheerful voice announce that they would go first. The girl who stepped forward was easily recognisable as the Head Girl, and Aimee gave her a small smile. She watched as the older girl bowed to Tank and he bowed back, almost instantly. Aimee glanced out at the class, then back to the girl as she pet the Hippogriff. She was glad to see such a great first reaction, and hoped the Hippogriff would have the same reaction to the rest of the students.

The younger Ravenclaw girl did equally as well with Tank. The most exciting part for Aimee was the fact that she even was granted the opportunity to ride him. She was followed by a Ravenclaw boy, who had, probably one of the cutest experiences with the Hippogriff. The boy seemed to have frozen in what Aimee guessed was fear or anxiousness and Tanks walked towards him, which put both Aimee and Dylan on guard until they watched him knock his head against the Ravenclaw's in affection. Aimee stifled a giggle as the boy pet him once before scampering back off into the class.

The next encounter was a rather unpleasant one, something Aimee had hoped she wouldn't have to deal with. A younger Gryffindor boy,first year was her guess, had stepped forward. His mistake was the quick bow with no eye contact. He should have stayed bowed until Tank made a move, but he didn't and it resulted in chaos. As the boy began to reverse, the Hippogriff roared and stood up on his back legs, scaring even Aimee, who had never seen him act like this. When the boy tripped, Aimee ran to him as Dylan harnessed Tank and held him steady. The boys head collided with the ground and she instinctively cradled it in her hands, willing him back to consciousness but failing.

Her first instinct would have been to pick him up and carry him to the hospital wing, but she was too far pregnant to do anything of the sort. However, she remembered Dylan was there and she had turned to him, just in time to see him settle Tank back down, as he was before. She moved away from the boy and towards the Hippogriff, bowing to him and allowing him to bow back before she grabbed the rope holding him while stroking his feathers. Dylan moved without her saying anything, swooping the boys into his arms and carrying him off.

Once they were out of sight, Aimee unharnessed Tank and continued the lesson. "You're classmate will be fine, " she replied. His ego may be a little bruised but he'd be fine. Worst case scenario was he had a concussion from the fall but the Hippogriff hadn't touched him. It had only scared him. She continued her class, Dylan returning about twenty minutes later. "Was there anyone else who wanted to go?" She reiterated the importance of allowing the Hippogriff to make the first move and explained what the Gryffindor boy had done wrong. She didn't want her students to be scared of a Hippogriff so much as she wanted them to see the difference between allowing a Hippogriff the first move and not.

While the incident with the other Gryffindor was a little off-putting, Nilla was still determined to at least pet the beast. With careful steps, she approached Tank with her chin held high. Carefully, she lowered herself into a bow but kept her eyes on his and waited. It felt like ages, though it was probably only a few seconds before Tank lowered into a bow of his own. Nilla let out a relieved sigh as she rose and slowly approached; she held out her hand, palm up, because she knew some animals liked to sniff before being pet. Tank didn't seem to be that sort, so she laid her hand on his head where the hard beak met the feathers.

He really seemed a gentle creature if approached properly, and Nilla drew her hand down his head a few times before slowly moving towards his side. She was sure to move slowly for both her benefit and his; she didn't want to limp in front of the whole class and she wanted to be sure he knew what she was doing. When he didn't stop her or make a move in protest, though he watched her carefully, she ran her other hand down his back gently.

Once at his side, she nodded her head in a brief bow of respect and swung up. She let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding when he remained as he was and she wrapped her arms around his neck so as not to pull feathers. "May we fly?" she asked gently into his ear, her voice soft.

The lift off was exhilarating, and she breathed in sharply; when he paused just above the trees, she sat up carefully and gazed down at her classmates. With an excited giggle, she wrapped her arms about his neck once more and held on tight as he flew off.

This. This would power her dreams for years to come, she just knew it. Her legs were shaky as she dismounted, and she took a moment to slow her racing heart once they landed. "Best. Day. Ever." Each word was a sigh as she made her way back to the group.

Thank you to those who have posted in this class - unfortunately the professor cannot finish up the class, so an admin will close it. Points will be given as follows:

10 points for attendance
5 points for any question being answered
Up to 15 points for participation

Thank you for your participation - this will still count as one of your three classes.

If you have any questions in regards to the points being handed out (either as a student or professor) please contact myself or another admin via PM to discuss them.

House Points
Alberi Woodston = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer + 15 points for participation = 30 points.
Phillip Brennham = 10 points for attendance
Vanilla Thompson = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer +15 points for participation = 30 points.
Bennett Fox = 10 points for attendance
Daniel Gjerstad = 10 points for attendance
Victoria Newbury = 10 points for attendance + 10 for participation = 20 points.
Caelan Brennham = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer = 15 points.
Finley Allen = 10 points for attendance + 5 for answer + 15 for participation = 30 points.
Naomi O'Hare = 10 points for attendance + 5 points for answer + 15 points for participation = 30 points.
Alexander Cavendish = 10 points for attendance
Hailey Cavanaugh = 10 points for attendance
Jacques Clement = 10 points for attendance +15 points for participation = 25 points.
Kirsten Dahl = 10 points for attendance

TOTAL:
Gryffindor: 70
Hufflepuff: 40
Ravenclaw: 75
Slytherin: 55