Care of Magical Creatures OWL Level (4th and 5th years)

A slight chill was in the wind as it blew Eleonora's hair out behind her. Though it was mid-day the sun beating down onto the Hogwarts grounds had lost some of its warmth. The oncoming fall was starting to show itself in the bite of the wind and the cooler weather. It wouldn't be long before sweaters and scarves were pulled out of the bottom of trunks where they had sat unused for months. The fresh air and open space was refreshing after a morning of lesson planning in her stuffy office. She always felt better when outside, more alert and upbeat. Hopefully the good mood the weather and nature put her in would help her relax for her class.

She wanted this class to be a success, unlike her basic level class where half the students had nodded off. It was still with hesitation that she decided on this lesson for today. The creatures she was using were very delicate and could be hurt easily but promised to be more exciting than reading out of a text book.

The large grassy expanse where Eleonora was standing was clear of trees and bushes, but instead a small obstacle like course had been set up. She had arrived at the Training Grounds an hour before to prepare for her OWL level class and she had just finished with minutes to spare. Large wooden boxes and crates were piled up in a random pattern, some spaced out and others close together. They looked sturdy enough to scramble over and walk on and some were large enough to hunch over and walk through. Their spacing left many little nooks where a small creature could hide out of view. She had even got permission to borrow a couple of the school broomsticks and had them leaning up against one of the crates.

Catching her hair in the wind and tying it back in order to keep it from getting tangled, Eleonora sighed. She was getting worried she wasn't going to make a very good professor. She obviously wasn't good at sitting in front of a classroom and talking. Today was a chance to try something she thought would be better suited to her experiences and prove to herself that she could do this. Hopefully. She looked down at the cage sitting on a stool next to her. Little golden creatures were whizzing around, their tiny wings beating faster than her eyes could perceive. Every so often she would get a look at bright red eyes and sharp thin beaks before the bird would fly off to another section of the cage.

Eleonora smiled at the fat little creatures and turned back towards the school, watching for the first students to make their way across the field to where she was standing.

As Emma approached the training grounds, the first thing she noticed was the new professor, who she gave a friendly smile to before looking around the rest of the grounds. There were boxes everywhere, and once Emma spotted the brooms leaning against one of the crates, her eyes focused in on it, gleaming with anticipation.

When she grew closer to the Professor, Emma looked to her again, and now noticed the cage beside her. Would the class be chasing those little things today? If they'd be using those brooms, Emma would be more than happy to. She finally turned to the Professor and said hello. The new professor seemed nice, as far as she could tell. Emma also gave a curt nod to her fellow Gryffindor, before looking around to see if anymore students were coming.

Eleonora smiled and greeted the two girls who had arrived and were looking around at the odd set up. She wondered if either of them had an inkling of what they were going to be doing today. One of the girls eyes lingered on the brooms and Eleonora suspected that she might already know what the creatures in the cage were if she was into Qudditch and knew its history.

[I'm going to wait and see if I can get one or two more people to join in before I start the class!)

As more students filled in Eleonora became anxious to start. She was feeling bad about keeping her creatures in a cage for so long and wanted to get the class started so she could let them out. She was about to start when she caught the eye of a boy staring right at her, an odd look on his face. She felt herself blush unconsciously before turning to face the rest of the class.

“Welcome to your new year of Care of Magical Creatures,” she started, determined to make a better first impression, “I'm Professor Valenta and I'll be taking over for your old professor. I don't think any of you want to sit around and read text books on a day like this, I know I don't, so today we are going to study something that needs a lot of fresh air and space. In this cage next to me are creatures known as Snidgets. They are a very rare magical creature with many laws in place to protect them. Due to being hunted to near extinction in the 1200s they have earned their place as level four magical creatures not because they are dangerous, but because they must be protected and treated well.”

“These guys here,” she indicated to the snidgets, “have all been loaned to me from a sanctuary in Somerset. Unfortunately not all the snidgets that live there are healthy and well. These ones are all a little less rambunctious than their friends back at the sanctuary. For whatever reason, birth defects, previous injuries or malnourishment, or old age, these here are a lot slower and less skittish than most. Which is why if we are very very careful, we can let them out and learn about them.”

Eleonora opened the cage and took out one of the tiny birds, holding it gently in her palm. It buzzed around a bit before settling down. “See, normally a snidget would never let you hold it like this, but since these ones are more used to humans and less able than others, they don't mind. You must be extremely careful though. A tight grip on their little bodies and you could crush them.”

She looked back at the students, most of them actually looking over and seeming interested. So far this class was going just fine. “So does anyone have any idea why snidgets were hunted for so long?”

Kimbree raised her hand eager to answer the question with a wide smile on her face.

Immediately a hand shot into the air. It was the girl who had first arrived to her class, looking excited to have an opportunity to answer. Eleonora smiled at her enthusiasm and called over, "Go ahead, and please tell me your name as well. It may take me a few classes to learn everyone's name, I apologize in advance."

I'm Kimbree Lupin-Tonks.
Because the Golden Snidget's feathers and eyes were so highly prized it caused them to be hunted. Kimbree hoped she was right, she had only grazed that section of the book not giving much thought to the matter.

"That's right. These gold feathers used to be worth a lot to anyone who could get their greedy hands on them." Eleonora simply hated people like those who had hunted the poor birds, she couldn't stand those who had no respect for the lives of other creatures. "There is another reason that they were hunted as well, though. Is anyone a Quidditch player here and can enlighten us as to why?

Kimbree Shakely raised her hand. Professer was it because of what  Barberus Bragge did?

(In the future, could we stick to a turn-based posting order? So people don't get confused with the constant posting? Please and thank you :P)

Golden Snidget.... Why did that sound so familiar? Emma glanced over as another student approached, and smiled when she identified the student as someone she knew. When she looked back at the Professor, instead of raising her hand, like a good, polite, student, she merely blurted it out, "Golden Snidget sounds like the Golden Snitch." She smiled, not meaning any harm, but she was curious as to why.

(yea i think that would be better and a lot easier for everyone)

(sorry :/ )

(No problem! Sorry if I came off a bit rude ^-^)

(you didn't )

(I'm sorry too you guys, I wasn't sure how to run the class threads with questions/answers like that, so I will for sure make sure to wait even if there's a response to one right away. Thanks for the tip and hope it wasn't too horrible for you)

Instead of being bothered by one of the other girls outbursts Eleonora just laughed. "Yes, it does sound sound like Golden Snitch. And yes, Ms. Lupin-Tonks, it is because of what that man did. Back in 1269 he released one of these poor creatures into a Quidditch match and offered 150 Galleons to the player who caught it. This unfortunately became a trend that lasted almost a hundred years. It was vile and inhumane and will always be a black spot on the wizarding worlds humanity." Here Eleonora's voice rose a bit and gained a tone that she only had when speaking about something she felt very strongly about. "Luckily a group of wizards started a group to help preserve snidgets before they were all killed."

"I know you all see the boxes and brooms over there but don't get the wrong impression. We are not going to do what those horrible people from the past did. We are simply going to let these creatures out of their cage and follow them around as they fly. I want you all to keep close to one and pay attention to how to moves and it's features. Look closely because for homework you will need to draw a detailed diagram and explain its movements. I'll keep a close eye on you guys to make sure you're not goofing off with them, and its very important you do not touch them. At all." She said this last part slowly and firmly, making sure they understood.

"Anymore questions before I let them out?"

"What if we lose sight of it?"

As the Professor explained how barbaric the history of Quidditch was, Emma looked suddenly downtrodden. She never looked at Quidditch poorly, and to hear that there had been anything negative done on the field, it upset her more than she could help. But she shook it off, deciding to forget about it as she shown another smile.

(No don't worry, its fine! ^_^ You came up with a really cool class idea and everything!)

"If you lose sight of them, which its very possible, just try your best to find them again. Look for a golden glint, or listen for a quiet humming of wings. If you still can't find it its ok for you to team up with someone else who has a better eye. I'll collect them all at the end of class, I've worked with these creatures many times before this so I've been trained to properly handle them. Which of course is a lot of training to not hurt them, so please don't be worried," this she directed to the fidgety boy that had been staring at her in the beginning of class. He looked like he was going to spontaneously combust or run off into the woods. Eleonora wasn't sure what was bothering him and hoped that if he needed something he would come to her.

"One more time to be safe, don't touch them!" Eleonora smiled brightly and opened up the cage, happy to finally let the snidgets into the open air. Since these ones were a little less mobile than others they didn't fly too high or far off but stayed around the area she had set up, whirling around in the air and whizzing through the crates and boxes.