Class Time {All Students}

[Tabby]

Fifth Year Lesson

Tabby had set up half a dozen perches in a large semicircle on the lawn. Each perch held a single, beautiful gold and red bird the size of a swan. Each phoenix was tethered to its post, gently enough to not bother the birds, but firmly enough that they could not fly off on their own. She was waiting for her students to get here. Fifth years, currently the Slytherins and Gryffindors, she’d have the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs later in the week. She spotted them making their way down and counted them easily. Two students from Slytherin were missing, and a Gryffindor student. When they got closer she’d be able to see who exactly was missing. She waited for the students to settle on the grass in front of her.

“Alright then, now that you’re all here, let’s get started. Who can tell me what these magnificent creatures are?” She pointed to a student and listened to their answer. “Aptly put. These, as you may have noticed, are phoenix. There are six of them, four males and two females. I want you to separate, no more than four to a bird and do try to look at each bird. I want you to give them a quick grooming with your fingers and then settle down to draw them. I will be coming around asking questions as the lesson goes. Be forewarned, if you mishandle or mistreat them they will peck you and I will have nothing more to say than you deserve it. All of you have been in enough lessons to know what’s proper to do with a creature.” She watched the students get up and separate before she began to walk around. She watched them all for a time, prepared to yell at any student who got careless.

Sixth Year Lesson

Tabby walked around the pen she’d erected, making sure she could keep an eye on all of the creatures within it. They flickered in and out of visibility, but even invisible they left traces that allowed her to count them. Her sixth year students would be down for their lesson soon, all together with no house restrictions. She preferred lessons with her sixth and seventh year students because of the lack of segregation. A squeal and two of the ashy warthogs began to fight. She took a large branch she’d kept leaning on the side of the pen and shoved them apart without entering. Her students were going to be taking them out of their pens and working with them, with a great distance between each group.

She watched the thin trickle of students from the castle, spotting Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Slytherins and Gryffindors. It didn’t seem that she was missing any of these students today. She paced around the pen again, carefully shoving the tebo’s apart to prevent them from fighting. She had enough for there to be one for every two students. She smiled as her students stood in front of her.

“Hello there students. Bags against the south side of the pen if you will. Today is going to be our first day working with tebo’s. Now, who can tell me what a tebo is? She picked a student at random from the hands that went up and listened. “Indeed, a tebo is a wonderful, but dangerous creature. Now, pair up, each group take a tebo, levitate them out of the pen here. CAREFUL because some of them are invisible currently, and once you have your tebo leash it and walk it to one of the stations on the lawn. I’ll walk around and tell you what to do from there. Do be careful not to let them loose however, their quite a pain to capture again and they’d head straight for the forest. I’m sure by now all of you know that the forest is a rather dangerous place, even for experts like myself.” She watched the students and as soon as a group was in place she made her way toward them.

[Ruby Wasser]

Ruby grinned as she bounded down to where they where having Critter Class. She was glad she'd chosen it as an elective just because it was a lot more interesting then then trying to make numbers make sense. Math on it's own was bad enough, but Magical Math? God help her, it would have likely driven her to screaming insanity in minutes.

"Ooo, Phoenixes!" she breathed as soon as she spotted the red plumed goose sized birds. When tabby told them to break into groups she debated drifting over to some of the Gryffies she'd managed to convince she wasn't a bad partner with, or to stick with some of her denser house mates to hopefully stave off an act of Stupid. A little part of her brain pictured all six birds going up in flames and takeing the offender with them.

With shrug she decided to let Darwin thin the herd if it came to that and pulled out a sketch pad and colored pencils. "Good day." she said politely to the bird perched before her. "may i touch and groom you like the Professor suggested?"

[Lyall Asiah Jordan]

Lyall was walking with a group of Ravens on the way down to the CoMC class, laughing and carrying on.. Mainly making fun of the Puff that was walking in front of him.. It just so happened to be the one he'd set a silly prank on the night before. A hateful snicker followed the group of students down to the field. As they came to the clearing where pens were set up, Lyall busted out laughing... Because he saw what appeared to be vanishing pigs.

Coming closer to the pens more students joined in on what seemed to be a unanimous decision... Those things couldn't possibly be that bad. He'd started his Magical Creatures learning around dangerous sea creatures, which by the looks of things today were much more advanced than this professor expected of her students. His smart remark carried to Professor..."What are those? Little piggies? What can possibly be so hard about that?" He laughed and started reciting the rhyme "This little piggy went to the market...."

Though he thought the lesson was up to complete rubbish, he still knew he had to respect the creature, no matter how tame or silly looking it seemed... He told his group this, as they made their way over to their assigned tebo and began gently talking to it, trying to reassure it as their group levitated their pig out and quickly put the required leash on it. Though the smallest of the group, a Gryff girl, was the unfortunate one who'd had the end of the leash and was now in the process of being drug through mud face first. Lyall and the rest of the group rushed after her, and to stop the tebo jumped on top of the poor girl in a makeshift dog pile while Lyall made a grab for the leash to get her off it.

Out of breath, Lyall muttered, "Ok, so you're stronger than you look, you tiny thing." In reality the tebo was tiny, compared to some of the creatures he'd had to be around... Such as the Kracken, and wasn't quite as dangerous as a mermaid that could lure you to your death. He half walked, and half drug the tebo back towards the pens with the rest of his group, and had a heck of a time keeping it there.

[Tabby]

Fifth Year Lesson

Tabby found herself yelling at a group of Slytherins who had just pulled out three perfectly fine tail feathers from their phoenix. Luckily the bird had chosen to merely cry out and flap her wings at the offenders. Tabby’s words to the students were less than kind as she soothed the agitated avian and then left them to their work. They’d know better by now. A Gryffindor girl asked about how to tell the difference between a male and female, and Tabby politely answered that it was something best left to experts as it as invasive and quite rude to the birds if not done properly. Finally she made her way over to Ruby.

“Well at least one of the dunderheads who signed up hoping for an easy lesson seems to know how to respect a creature. Now then Miss Wasser, what is the average lifespan of a phoenix? What is their Ministry classification? Why are they valued by the wizarding communities around the world? And as a personal favor, do you know of any difference between American and European phoenixes?” Tabby smiled. She liked having students from other countries in her school and class. It gave her a chance to learn while she asked questions.

Sixth Year Lesson

Tabby sighed, one in every class and Lyall was the one in this class. Oh well, he’d learn when it got tired of being dragged around by a nitwit on a leash and tried to gore him. She watched as students struggled with the strong little mammals and twice winced as students took diggers straight into fresh and steaming piles of tebo dung. She noted three students by the time anyone got to a post that were going to need to head to the hospital wing later to have teeth either re-rooted or embedded more firmly after having been knocked out or loose by a tebo hoof. She just shook her head and made her way over to Lyall’s group, only practice keeping her face straight.

“Not such little piggies anymore are they? Now then, can any of you tell me if this tebo is a male or a female? Or perhaps someone here knows a better way to control them than just dragging them around on a leash like a badly trained dog? After I leave I expect you all to give this one a thorough scrubbing, and then get to work drawing it. Oh, and while you’re scrubbing I recommend marking one of its ears. You’ll want to try and get the same fellow next lesson.” She let her amusement at the situation drip into her voice. She wasn’t so cruel as to torture her students, but she was cruel enough to be amused by their amateur style of handling.

[Ruby Wasser]

"Actually professor, I never assumed this would be an easy class. I signed up because I like animals. My grandfather was a magical veterinarian and he used to take me on calls." Ruby said without looking away from the vain bird before her as it preened and showed off as she sketched him. Setting her pencil down she looked up at Tabby.

"Trick question on how long they live; They're virtually immortal. When they get old and worn out, they burst into flames and are reborn from the ashes. One of the school ghosts told me how a previous headmaster's Phoenix took a killing curse to protect it's friend, and was reborn. No way i can use the term Master with a bird like this. Any way from Burning day to adult hood it can take about a week, though often less. and they stay adults for a long while." Ruby paused as she sorted though the other facts she had. "They're a Quad X rating; dangerous, require special knowledge, and only trained wizards should handle them. Or endangered, like the Golden Snidge."

"As for their value..." Ruby pulled her wands and twirled them like drum sticks. "Wand cores. Two of the most famous wands had them at their hearts. Their feathers also make very good and expensive quills, which is why those idiots likely risked being burned; they wanted a pretty pen." the last was said loud enough for the feather yankers to hear. "They're tears are also have amazing healing properties, even healing basilisk venom."

"Ah... well I'm not really sure there is a difference. I know it's an imported species, I don't think they've had enough time to diverge much. I guess the American equivalent might be a Thunderbird, though they're rare as all heck now."[/list]

OOC:
Notes: Yup, Ruby pulled a Granger.

[Lyall Asiah Jordan]

Lyall and his group had finally gotten the Tebo to a post and secured tightly when Professor had come over with a highly amused look on her face and obviously trying not to laugh. He bit his tongue on a smart remark that threatened to get him in more trouble. He'd found out the hard way, or rather the little Gryff had for him, that the Tebo weren't as timid as they first looked... Rather they had a great amount of power in their small bodies.

Lyall bent his head under the scrutiny from the professor, and demurely responded.. He figured that was better than detention due to mouthing off. " No, ma'am they're not. And, judging by the bigger body structure it's a female? As far as dragging them around like a dog, no creature should be treated as such, even a dog. I was just trying to convince the others in my group of this." He sighed and continued to bite his tongue as he finished, " And, I shall stay and scrub her myself since I knew better." He turned to the rest in his group and suggested how they mark the pig-like creature's ear.

Lyall sunk to his knees beside the Tebo and suggested the rest do the same. He then began running his hands against the rough hair finding any itchy spots that were more aggravated by the muck caked on the poor thing. He barely escaped a well placed, but not ill-meaning, tusk as the Tebo tried to return the favor.

[Tabby]

Fifth Year Lesson

“Correct, and I agree with you about using the term Master, although I tend to avoid that with any and all animals when possible. In the case of the phoenix it is more a matter of endangerment then of danger. Although these birds are not easy to captivate.” She leaned over and gently stroked the slim, powerful beak on the male that sat before Ruby. “There is nothing a phoenix cannot heal, besides death itself. And it’s interesting to note that even after four hundred years they haven’t changed much, but not unexpected. If you’re curious I call this fellow Sparky. Every time he reaches burning day it’s less a quick fwoosh of fire and more like a firecracker going off… and he tends to catch things on fire in the process. He and the others actually come from a small colony that lives at the far side of the forest. I believe they’re descended from the companion of one headmaster Albus Dumbledore. … But I have no real certainty in that, they were before my time.” Tabby dipped her head. Sparky gave a single musical note of a cry and shifted on his perch, pecking very lightly at Tabby’s hand. She laughed and reached into a pouch that hung from her work belt, pulling out a small packet of raisins, which she handed to Ruby.

“Go ahead and feed him, then finish your drawing and pack up. You answered the questions correctly so no essay, but do some reading on phoenixes throughout history before the next lesson.” Tabby nodded and then loped off to the next group, yelling over her shoulder at the Slytherin students that if their bird was missing one more fine feather when she checked it later she would have them all dredging the edges of the lake without magic.

Sixth Year Lesson

She smiled, she knew when someone was dodging detention, but she let it slide. “Incorrect. Larger body structures belong to males in the world of mammals. That’s fairly universal. Reptiles and Avians have the larger structure belonging to the females, but good thinking. And there are better ways to ‘convince’ your group of such a thing, especially as sixth year students you should all know this already. It’s one of the first things I teach you. The whole group scrubs, and I expect a three foot essay on tebo’s; their magical properties, their rating, the reason for said rating, what parts of them are used and what they are used for, and their history. Due next lesson. Have fun.”

She walked away, yelling at a group of students who had accidentally let their tebo go. She took off at a gallop to help them catch it, barking out a few commands to the dogs that were at the edge of the forest. A shaggy white mongrel and an indiscriminate brown canine rushed to block it from entering the forest, and it turned and charged at the students. Tabby yanked a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin out of the way while a more brave than smart Gryffindor tried to tackle the thing. Tabby sighed. Her class probably had the record for the highest number of students sent to the infirmary per lesson. At least she knew the difference between interesting and dangerous though, unlike her predecessor.

[Ruby Wasser]

Ruby shrugged. "I can't say i care for the term much either, but some times it's about the only thing that fits the relationship between creature and human."

She nodded at Tabby's assessment of the phoenix's. "They stay out of loyalty and friendship more then anything else. And i suppose if it is true this is a descendant of a former headmaster's partner, an interest in our well being. Hmm.... you know they have to have some kind of natural predator that can bypass the rebirth thing, else we'd be neck deep in phoenixes. But then again, I don't think they reproduce that fast... I'm gonna have to sweet talk Monty into opening up so I can recheck the entry for them. "

"Thank you Professor. No report in this class means I can spend more time reworking my potions formula. Pretty sure something is mucked up with it... and i;d really rather not melt another cauldron." Ruby said as she shook the raisins out onto her palm and she held them out to sparky. "Thank you for cooperating and letting me work with you today."

[Lyall Asiah Jordan]

Lyall looked at Professor as he listened to her tell him he was wrong about almost everything. He felt heat rise, though he wasn't entirely sure if it was from embarrassment or anger.. More likely a combination of both seeing as he hated to be wrong, yet worse he hated to be called on it in public. He lowered his face as he responded.

"Yes ma'am, I'll have that written up next lesson. And, is there a bucket or something we can use to scrub the poor thing?" He asked rather too smartly before Professor turned to help the other group with their Tebo. He assumed the bucket and required stuff needed would be close to the pens so he went over to look.

He thought he'd found a bucket but it had a massive hole in the side, so he figured that wasn't it and went back to the rest of his group to wait until Professor had dealt with the run away Tebo to ask her where the stuff was. While he was waiting he used his hand and removed the worst of the mud from the male.