CoMC Students Only: Lesson Three

[Arri Faltskog]

As the Heads and prefects of Term 15 made sure that all the students stayed out of the forest, for the moment, everyone wondered where Professor Arri was. This was quite odd, for any Professor. It was quite exciting as well in a sense since no Professors ever let students go into the Forbidden Forest, well some have but it was rare. Ten minutes must have passed as everyone was waiting for a word from Professor Arri. Where was she? Had she forgotten about them? A crisis happened? Or perhaps she got into a dark corner with Abba. They were known to do that every now and then... oh my!

Suddenly, the sound of an owl cawing came from within the forest. What was going on? Was there an animal in distress? Should we save it? But Professor Arri said to stay put! Before anyone could move from the sound, which really did not sound like distress, a gorgeous white snowy owl came soaring out of the forest dark. It flew high into the air and soon landed on the shoulder of one of the students (the first one to post in this thread). Nuzzling against the student's head, they could all see that there was a note attached to it's leg. After the student removed the note, the owl hooted and flew away, high into the sky and towards its particular office that it came from, to feast on the special treats that its master left for him.

As the students looked at the note, it read....

I know that you all are wondering what is going on and where I may be. Follow the instructions that are below and you will be able to find me. Happy trails!

1. Enter the forest from the Gameskeeper's Hut.
2. Travel into the forest going Northeast till you find a tree that has a RED flag on it.
3. Follow the flags till you come towards a small stream.
4. Hop across on the rocks, be careful not to fall in!
5. Take notice of the YELLOW flag that is on a tree and follow the way the tip is pointing.
6. Follow them till you reach a huge boulder.
7. Sit on the boulder, take a rest, but hurry, you have to follow the blue flags to me.
8. You may need to use a charm, it gets somewhat dark.
9. Remember "Lumos" is always a great tool to have.
10. Those BLUE flags will lead you to a clearing.
11. In the middle of that clearing is a GREEN flag, stand near it and wait for me, I will be there shortly.

Despite how far away Arri was, she could feel the students gasping and looking at the reader of the note like they were insane. Was this woman mad?! Allowing them all to go into the forest alone?! WITHOUT supervision?! Help them all this woman need psychiatric help! Oh but Arri would never leave them without some help and, of course, supervision. But by golley who had she chosen to help the students walk through the dreary Forest maze?

Could it be? That handsome, suave, and debonaire french Professor Fortescue? The one that girls loved to listen to. With his thick french accent and superb dueling skills, why that man could save them from anything in their path! Or perhaps it was their Potions professor from long ago, Professor Nigellus. They had not seen hide nor hair of her since she left the school. Rumor had it that she was working on a potion and suddenly blew up! My oh they surely hoped it was not her. Or maybe, by chance, the fabulous Professor Alucard had come back! The wonderful Professor with the looks to rival Abba, in a slight way, and could teach Occlumency the best out of everyone, since we are still watching to see how Professor Harmon is doing. Oh could it be? Possibly even another? Dare we even say his name?! That... unique man whom always had a something interesting to say?!

[Styx Capricorn]

In the distance the sound of feet walked towards them. This mysterious person that would help guide them through the forest was one who may have been more crazy than Arri herself. Why, this person had LIVED in the Forbidden Forest for the past few months now, high in the trees. He must have had quite a stench on him, unless he had a bath to prepare himself. A familiar sound was heard through the air, very familiar to some, but very strange and new to others. It called out to them in that familiar rhyming tone....

"Come with me one and all,
For an adventure is our call!
Professor Arri asked for my assistance,
So lets post haste and not have intermittance.

A creature is your study today,
But please do not show any dismay.
I did truly bathe before I came,
Although I may smell like some choice game.

Let us go! Professor Arri is awaiting our presence,
I think with even a few pheasents.
A present for me is what they are,
Hurry! Before we get eaten by a centaur!"

Gasps! It was indeed the unique crazy man everyone had hoped for, or was it feared. Professor Styx Capricorn was back! And his feet were guiding him straight to the students reading out the instructions given by Arri. Smiling at them all, he went and found a large boulder that was near the forest entrance. As was customary for him, he stood on the rock, arms extended out while talking to everyone. Professor Capricorn, while smelling somewhat vial had, of course, perfectly clipped toenails as was his favorite past time to do when they were particularly long. His trusty nail clippers were in his pocket, as always as he spoke to the class, arms extended wide, armpits facing the students.

"Let us go! We must hurry. We do not want Professor Arri go get mad with fury! That woman truly scares me sometimes. Even worse than having to eat a whole lime! Let us be off!" Cried out Professor Capricorn, jumping down from the boulder and walking into the forest first before everyone. He called out to the prefects and heads that were with him. "You young authority kids. Keep watch of the young ones, we don't need them flipping their lids! Spread out amongst them, and try not to step on their hems!"

Professor Capricorn, having traveled the Forbidden Forest for those past several months, or was it years, took them through the forest. He grabbed one of the students and told them to follow the instructions that Professor Arri had given them. They traveled passed all the red flags and soon came upon the small stream, as instructed. With his bare feet, Professor Capricorn walked straight into the water, wiggling his toes on the way as he grinned at everyone. "Please do as Professor Arri said, I must put my feet in so that they do not grow red."

This professor was indeed a peculiar man as they all followed the yellow flags to a huge boulder. Jumping up easily onto it, Professor Capricorn wiggled his toes and looked for the flags. "Who sees the blue flags? And can someone please hurry the lags!"

After a student pointed out the flags, they followed them till it started to get dark. "LUMOS!" was shouted out by Capricorn, his wand sticking out infront. As the chorus of students shouting the same charm continued, they also did with their journey. Through the darkness they went but what was this? It was starting to get more light out. Could it be? They were nearing the clearing! "NOX!" shouted Capricorn again, his wand going into the back of his pants. "Hurry! We must not be late!" In a dash went Professor Capricorn, with the rest of the students hurrying behind. No one dared to want to try Professor Arri's patience did they? Of course not! She was a crazy woman sometimes... and she always blamed it on the Malfoy genes.

At last they had finally made it to the clearing. The green flag was in view as Professor Capricorn stopped his feet, looking and addressing the class. "This is where my assistance ends. Please go to where Professor Arri said and turn no more bends. I had great fun on our morning fun. But alas it is time for my breakfast bun. Toodle loo!" And with that Professor Capricorn was off, running into another part of the forest, his barefeet pounding on the ground as the students were left to wait for Professor Arri, still seeing no sign of the woman.

[Arri Faltskog]

As the students neared the flag, they noticed that there was another note attached to the flag. As someone read it aloud it said...

I see that you have come across the green flag. Thank goodness Professor Capricorn had gotten you all safely hear. We did not lose anyone did we? Because that would be a shame since this lesson is indeed very much fun. I wanted you all to have a blast while your Professor was away. Please wait for me, I shall be there shortly. But first, if someone could please blow on the whistle that is attached to the flag, I would be greatly thankful.

One of the confused students, grabbed the whistle and blew on it, hearing no sound. They blew on it several times and shrugged since it made no sound. After a few minutes a sound of flapping was heard. Everyone looked up into the sky and saw something flying in the air. It was coming for them! Oh no! They were going to get killed by something in the Forbidden Forest! They would not survive another day! Who was the genius that allowed Professor Arri to teach a Care of Magical Creatures class?! Who approved this cockamamie lesson for her to teach! Why Arri approved it, of course! She was the Director of Curriculum! But maybe the Heads needed to fire her because she was insane!

The creature in the sky flew closer and closer to them, slowly decending down onto the ground and several gasps were heard. There, on the creature that had landed was Professor Arri. She was not dressed in her attire from earlier, having changed from her professional attire and black heels to something more fit for an outdoors lesson, but still looking presentable as always. "Hello there class! I would like you all to meet a special friend of mine, Abba, and the children. This is Athena. I believe that everyone can see what she is, if you read the lesson we covered in class today. Athena is, of course, a hippogriff. And since our lesson was on hippogriffs, I thought that we should have some fun and observe her and touch her."

Smiling at them, Arri made a few clicking sounds with her mouth and Athena knealt down to let her off. Smiling at the creature, Arri tossed her a ferret to eat. After she had done so, Arri turned to the class once more. "Please everyone, form a large semi circle around Athena but do not come near her yet. I want you all to remember what must be done to greet a hippogriff before you touch them. Anyone who wishes to touch the hippogriff may do so, one at a time please. We will start from the left side, the side and move towards the right. Please be careful. Athena is a fiesty girl, but do not fear, she is extremely tame as long as you follow the customs of the hippogriff. She is quite traditional if you ask me."

Pointing her hand at the flag that was in the ground, and saying some words silently, Arri used her wandless magic to have several ferrets appear near there. "Treats for Athena if you wish to feed her after you touch her. She will love you even more if you do so but you do not have to. I did warn her that she will not get treats for every student who touches her unless they wish to give her one. Please, one at a time! There is no need to rush. We will all get back ontime. But I shall say this, there will be no flying with the creature. You must learn how to fly with them as it is sometimes difficult, especially with the wind blowing against you."

Smiling at everyone, Arri walked away from Athena and watched her starting to interact with the students, making sure that each student who wanted to pet her, or even feed her, was doing it properly and she was there incase anyone needed assistance.


Assignment:
Roleplay out the lesson. Make sure you posted in class that you are present and followed the prefects and heads out of class. If you wish, you may touch Athena and even feed her. If you do not wish to pet the hippogriff you must observe one of your classmates doing it, observing the proper steps it takes to greet and pet a hippogriff.



((I do apologize for making such a long lesson to read. I truly had very much fun creating this, and did not even expect to make it as long as it was , and making it go to another board all together. But I do hope that you enjoy this lesson that was completely spur of the moment.))

[Willow Rayne]

Willow walked into class, but there was no teacher! She read up on Hippogriffs as told, then followed the sub's instructions. She followed the prefects, who went out towards the forbidden forest, and there was some smelly guy that guided them through the woods, as told on the owls note. She hopped across the rocks in a stream, and finally made it into the clearing.

The whistle was blown, but it was silent. Perhaps a dog whistle? No! A large creature came down out of the sky. Riding it was the teacher. *gasp!* It was a Hippogriff, and she was beautiful. She remembered reading about how vain Hippogriffs were, and that you had to bow and keep eye contact. Willow was on the end, and therefore went first.

She tentatively walked forward, towards Athena. She was bravely going first. Shaking with nervous excitement, she bowed, making sure not to blink. Miraculously, Athena bowed back. She moved forward, and carefully patted Athena's beak. "You are so beautiful and majestic." She praised Athena with several more pats, then moved over to the ferrets. She grabbed one and gave it to Athena, who happily munched on it.

She backed up again, and grinned at the teacher, mouthing 'amazing!' in her direction. That had been exhilarating.

[Annalisse Childs]

As Anna made it to the edge of the forest, behind everyone else, she looked around for Miss Arri, but didn't see her anywhere. She stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to see over the older students heads, but still saw nothing. When she heard the sound of something inside of the forest she resisted the urge to scream, and instead hid behind one of the kids who was in front of her. She felt rather foolish when she heard that it was only an owl, standing on her tiptoes again as she listened to the instructions that were given. Wait, they were going into the forest? Without a teacher? Anna didn't like this at all.

When whoever was reading got near the end of the note, Anna noticed a crazy looking man creeping towards them and singing a song. Normally, this would have made her even more nervous, but it seemed that he was sent by Arri and she figured Arri knew what she was doing. Hopefully.

Anna followed the group as they began their move to wherever Arri wanted them to go, keeping her eyes out for the flags that were mentioned in the note. She was glad they were going in a group, because she had no idea which way northeast was. They followed the flags until they came to a stream, where they were instructed to hop across.. without getting wet. It was easier said than done, but Anna made it across as quickly as her clumsy little feet would carry her, because she didn't want to hold anyone up or get left behind.

They followed the yellow flags and took a short rest when they reached the boulder, but they were off again before they got much rest. Anna's feet were beginning to get tired, but fear of being left behind and eaten kept her going. When the man that was leading them asked to look for the blue flags, Anna shouted out and pointed to them along with a bunch of people. Then, it seemed that she was supposed to light up her wand. She pulled out her wand and said, "lumos!" and was pleasantly surprised when it worked.

When they followed the blue flags to the clearing with the green flag, Anna shouted a quick thank you to their guide before he ran off again, and then looked at the note that was attached to the tree. It said to blow a whistle, and as she looked around it didn't look like anyone else was thinking about blowing it, so she stepped up and took the whistle, blowing on it and becoming even more confused as no sound was emitted. Could she not even blow a whistle right? She tried again, this time blowing on it until she felt slightly lightheaded, but still got no result.

Before she got a chance to try a third time, something else seemed to catch the students attention. A flapping of something, and Anna didn't think that was very good. She supposed that they were deep in the forbidden forest by now, and the flapping could be caused by anything. She once again took refuge behind a taller, unsuspecting student until all was safe, and she found out that it was only Arri on a hippogriff. She blushed, for this was her second freak out of the lesson, and stood back up to listen to Professor Arri.

They were instructed to form a circle, so Anna backed up into the circle and waited for further instructions. This hippogriff sounded like serious business, so she made sure to listen carefully. As students began to go up and touch the hippogriff one by one, Anna watched closely and debated on whether she wanted to or not. When three or four students made it back into the circle safely, she decided that she would try and walked up slowly when it was her turn. She looked the hippogriff straight in the eye, though that was kind of hard since it was very large and intimidating, and bowed very low. She stayed in that position until she had saw the hippogriff bow in return, and walked up closer to it very slowly.

"Hellooo," she cooed softly, patting the animal nervously and smiling at it. This wasn't bad at all, it was actually very pretty and soft and.. well, still kind of scary. After petting it a little more she walked over and picked up one of the ferrets carefully, trying not to touch it too much as she took it back over Athena and handed it to her. "Byebye now!" she said in the same soft tone, patting it one more time before walking backwards back to her spot in the circle. She watched as the rest of the students went ahead and met Athena, wondering how they were going to get back out of here. Hopefully Professor Arri wouldn't make them go back all by themselves.

((Great lesson, Arri :]))

[Stanislav Novoselski]

Stanislav followed the prefects out of the classroom.They went out in the forrest.They walked alot.After they crossed the black trees they stoped in a verry sunny place.There was a Hippogriff.The professor told them it`s name.Athena was cool name for a Hippogriff.Stanislav took some notes again and wrote the looks of a Hippogriff.A branch from the big three above almoust hit him on the head good that some other bigger student destroyed it before it used the boy for a landing place.The professor told them how to make a Hippogriff like them and how to go to it`s back.Then he stayed come and watched the other student touching him.

[Jenny Bay]

As Jenny came into the forest, she gasped because there was no teacher. She hoped that Arri hadn't forgottenthem. Suddenly an owl dropped a note, and she found out that she had to go to a green flag. She followed the instructions and finally came to the green flag. Suddenly Arri came riding a Hippogriff!She watched as other students went up and pat the hippogriff, summoning as much courage as she could, she walked slowly up to it until she was a few meters away, and then bowed, she made sure that she didn't lose eye contact. After 15 seconds of awkwardness the hippogriff bowed back. Jenny's heart beat wildly, as she walked up to it and stroked it's beak. It actually let her! Then she went and picked up one of the ferrets, and watched as the hippogriff eyed it and then she threw it up, and he plucked it out of the air! She slowly walked away, glad that she had gotten to pat a hippogriff.

[123angel]

Once Caly had reached the forest, after being lead by the prefects and heads, she was in a small crowd of ... only students? Well, she couldn't see the professor. Taking a quick look round Arri was nowhere in sight. Looking ahead into the darkness of the forbidden forest a small shiver ran down her back, wondering if they were going to enter this lesson. Arri wasn't there to tell them what to do, what were they going to do anyway? Not sure what to do she paced around for a while to see if Arri had organised a small suprise for them which she probably had done.

Just as her mind began to fill with many questions Caly heard the sound of an owl. She looked upwards into the sky to see a beautiful snowy owl soar above the school before landing on Willow's shoulder. There was a note attached to it's leg. Obviously her instinct was to see what the note said so she peered over Willow's shoulder and read the note to herself carefully memorising the instructions.

Suddenly a man who seemed to be singing a song approached them, he wasnt a familiar face, probably a professor... hopefully. He seemed to be friendly enough and had told all of them to follow him. Caly followed everyone as they began to venture into the darkness of the forest. Now they needed to look for flags, she kept her eyes peeled and carefully observed the surroundings as they passed. She was guessing they were going North-east because in a while they had reached a red flag, was it red? She couldn't tell, Caly was hoping her eyes would adjust to the darkness.

They all began to follow the line of flags through the forest, when the note said stream she was expecting a small trickle of water running through, however it was larger then she had expected it to be. About a few metres wide with stepping stones cutting through. Uh oh! She was sure to fall in. After all of her thinking most of the class had already made it across, she just wasn't going to let herself stand there like a lemon while the others progressed through the forest without her. Caly hopped onto one of the stones... so far so good, she continued in this way but as she was on the fifth stone she almost lost balance. Fortunately she circled her arms round and was able to keep on the rock. Hop, her feet had made it onto the ground and she had been able to make it across.

Step step step, Caly was keeping with the rhythm of the pace of the group. Reaching a yellow flag she looked at the tip of the flag then moved her head to look in the direction it was pointing. Again with the walking, she wondered how much longer this was going to take, not that she was tired but curious of when they were going to reach the location at which Arri would meet them. The outline of the boulder was ahead of them, it was their resting place. Caly took a quick breather however it was very short and before she knew it they were of again.

The man that was leading them seemed to mention Arri's patience a lot and how not to test it and make her wait... or something along those lines. What did they need to do now? Oh yes, she listened to the professor say to look for the blue flags and follow them and so she did just that. Continuing to follow everyone else it began to get dark, she heard everyone chant the lighting charm, "Lumos," she said. A small beam of light came from the end of her wand like a torch. Caly trudged along with everyone else looking at the blue flags and following them to a clearing - so the note said.

She could make out some more light ahead, they must nearly be there. Out of the forest and into the clearing she smiled relieved that they had reached the clearing. The man seemed to have had a good sense of direction whilst they were being led round the forest. There was a whistle in the clearing, someone blew on it but there came no sound, it reminded her of dog whistle. They had blown on it, what, around seven times now she was guessing keeping a rough count.

Soon a creature came flying down and Caly could see Arri was seated on its back. Gasps could be heard, fascinated by the creature she took a couple more steps forward but stopped remembering that it might be a dangerous creature. Arri began to speak and it was at that moment that Caly's memory was sparked again, it was a hippogriff! Well, they were spoken to about them in the hut so this made sense. She had learnt that the magnificent creature's name was Athena and they were going to pet her.

Caly followed Arri's instructions and joined everyone in the semi-circle they were making around the hippogriff, not too close though. It appeared they needed to do certain actions before even making contact with the creature. Watching as each student approached the hippogriff, some feeding her with the ferrets, she took note of how the hippogriff reacted. As Arri had described to them she seemed to behave quite tamely if payed proper respects to as they were majestic creatures. The hippogriff was keeping an eye on each of the students before her being wary. After everyone else before her had had their turn she walked closer but stopped at a certain distance, she could see that Athena had risen her head and had a close eye on her.

Caly looked the hippogriff straight in the eyes and began to bow, stopping at a low level still with her eyes on the hippogriff, after a pause the hippogriff bowed in return. She slowly approached Athena making sure not to startle or alarm the creature. Once Caly was in front of the hippogriff she held out her hand and began to pet Athena. Her heart was pumping quickly but Caly tried to stay calm and not be too intimidated by the hippogriff. "Hiiiiyyaaa Athena," she said, lowering her voice to a gentle whisper. Petting her she felt the softness and ....featheriness of her, well, feathers.

After a couple minutes of stroking her Caly went over and retrieved a ferret. Returning to the hippogriff she offered the ferret to Athena who stared at it fora while before taking hold of it in her beak and gobbling it down. She petted her for a couple more minutes before whispering, "Byye." Walking away she glanced back at Athena but turned her head around again, heading back to the rest of the class.

[Cassidy Daniels]

Cassidy brought the rest of the class to the forest. where everyone seemed to wander around aimlessly......and Professor Arri was gone. Cassy blinked and walked through the students, until an owl passed overhead and dropped a letter. Cassy pondered whether to open it, but her thoughts were distracted by a voice in the distance....

The most eccentric man Cassidy had probably ever met made his way over to the class, talking all in rhyme. Cassy couldn't help but grin and and begin to follow the fellow as they made their way through a stream. Cassy giggled as the Professor walked through barefoot, and decided; why not? She slipped off her sneakers and waded through, smiling with content as the water flowed through her toes.

They then proceeded into a dark wood, where the Professor used Lumos. Cassy followed the leader and lit her wand; especially making sure no one wandered off in the dark. Cassy saw an owl fly by and smiled, but then Bam. They ended up in the clearing. "Nox." Cassy put her wand away and counted heads to make sure everyone was there, then she was gonna ask the Professor a few questions...

but alas, he was gone. He was off running in the distance. Cassy shrugged and decided to wait for Arri. Arri doesn't make people wait long. xD She swooped down on the hipporgriff and explained what they could do, and feeding her and such. Cassy smiled and approached the hippogriff cautiously. She kept eye contact with Athena and cowed courteously, never losing eye contact. When Athena bowed back at her Cassidy smiled and walked up slowly, petting her head softly. "Your so sweet..." Cassy mumbled, petting her a bit more. Cassy smiled and grabbed a ferret from where the flag was and gave it to Athena. She gobbled it up happily, giving Cassidy a little 'thank you' nuzzle. Before Cassidy made her way back to the semi circle. Such a fun class.

[Nicole Miner]

Nicole ran down to the gameskeeper's hut with the rest of the class, who were following the prefects/heads. She saw that people were whispering and she caught what a first year was saying: No teacher! We are going alone! They must be joking, they weren't going through the woods alone! The last time Nicole had been here she almost was eaten by a Acromantula...and her worst fear was spiders. Nicole was shaking slightly, standing there for about 10 minutes...waiting for any sign of what to do. She heard an owl cawing, coming from the forest. It sounded like it could be in pain. Then she looked up and saw a snowy owl flying above and it landed on Willow's shoulder. People gathered around and saw that there was a note attached to its leg. Once someone had ripped it open, Nicole read over their shoulder.

Nicole walked with Annalisse because she was one of her first year friends. Plus she had that cute new hair cut! "Do you mind if I walk with you? The forest scares me...a lot."
Nicole tried to remember what the note said. Northeast until red flag... She spotted a red flag up ahead. Nicole suddenly heard a noise...a voice...

She looked around for the owner of the voice. She saw it...him...well, it. It looked like a beast. A talking, hairy beast? No, it was a him...a man! A very odd man, one that had frizzy hair and that Tarzan feel. Like he had been living in the wild or something. Nicole was glad he was there, because this way they could ask him where to go if they got lost. And Arri asked him for assistance, so he was helping them...
She was relived.

Up ahead there was a stream. Hop across on the rocks, be careful not to fall in! Nicole hopped on the first rock, and quickly lost her balance. She jumped to the next, almost fell in, then took another jump to the one after that...
She put her arms out and wobbled around all funny to stay on the rock. She finally tip-toed over to the other end of the stream, crossing the last rock. The yellow flag on the tree that was close by had its tip pointing to a trail in the forest. Nicole ran in that direction, eager to get to the end of the exciting little hike. She stopped and took a quick rest at a large boulder, but continued on to find the blue flags.

"LUMOS!" she exclaimed. She had not learned the spell before but fortunatly she had gotten it down in her last Art class when she needed light in the cave. "LUMOS!" A bright white light came out from the tip of her wand. She followed the blue flags until she reached the green flag. There was a note attached to it, and one of the students read it aloud. Annalisse blew a whistle that was there and suddenly there was a sound above them. Something was flying: A HIPPOGRIFF! As it got closer, Nicole noticed Arri was on it. They landed and Nicole went into a circle like Arri had instructed.

She saw the beautiful creature standing there, Athena. Nicole forgot that she was scared of Hippogriffs. She wanted to pet it and feed it a ferret or two. "Nox," she whispered, and her light went out. She put her wand in her jeans pocket and listened to Arri intruct them on approaching the Hippogriff. After several students had gone, Nicole walked slowly to Athena. Not exactly to Athena, but across from her, at a distance. She bowed very low, and looked up to see if the hippogriff would do the same. After a few long tim the Hippogriff just stared at her, and then started making noises while moving around/jumping a bit.

Nicole backed off, now scared. Someone motioned for her to keep trying, so she did. She bowed again, and saw the Hippogriff moving again out of the corner of her eye. She quickly put her head up and got ready to run for it, but Nicole saw that Athena had also bowed. Nicole moved slowly to the creature, and when she reached it put out her hand. Slowly and dramaticly, Nicole moved her out-stretched arm closer and closer until she touched it. Both her and Athena jumped a little Nicole petted the Hippogriff for a few seconds, then bent over to the stack of ferrets. She tossed one in the air and Athena caught it in her mouth. "Good job," Nicole said in a soothing voice. Nicoe petted her for a bit longer, then let someone else have a go.

[Amber Black]

Amber walked to the Forbidden forest with the group or whatever. . She looked around the students and made sure they wouldn't run aimlessly into the forest or anything, of course, everybody was still waiting for Arri to come, Amber wondered what was taking so long, when suddenly she heard an owl sound, maybe an owl was coming to tell them what to do! Amber had no clue. Then an owl did arrive, with a letter, telling everybody direction to were to go. Amber thought that Arri would be crazy, why would she let kids go around by themselves into the forest, that's when a crazy looking guy arrived.

Amber followed the stinky, weird guy (atleast they had someone, just in case someone nearly dies) and eveybody arrived at the red flag. Amber remembered there was then something about a stream as the next step. She followed in the direction the flags were going and then they arrived at the stream. She sighed and went from rock to rock, trying not to fall over, she was glad when she had gotten across after all the..well...nearly falling in.

Of course, then, they noticed tha yellow flag, Amber wondered to herself what was actually happening? But, she did what everybody else was doing, still confused with Arri's...err...lesson. They arrived at a boulder....hang on....the instruction said something about a boulder...right? Suddenly everybody started sitting down and having a rest, Amber shrugged and sat down as well, so far...enjoying it actually.

Then, suddenly, after what felt like 5 second they had to leave and keep going. It got quite dark and Amber needed to do a spell, everybody seemed to be doing Lumos. Amber had already forgotten that on the paper it said that lumos would come in handy, but she took out her wand, ''Lumos!'' she said and her wand lit up. Then, they arrived at the blue flags and followed them and followed them to the clearing with the green flag.

Amber stood near the green flag, and that guy that had led them around just took off. Amber waited anxiously to see what was going to happen. Anna blew a whistle, but nothing happened, but after a while....there was something in the sky, as it came closer Amber noticed it was a hippogriff, then it came more closer and Amber noticed Arri was on it's back. They landed and Amber went into the circle.

Amber listened to the instructions and decided to go to Athena, instead of standing and doing nothing. Amber took a couple of ferrets and waited for everybody to have their turne, before she went. After Nicole had done, Amber went to stand a bit of a distance from the hippogriff and bowed low. She looked up, and after about...5 minutes, atleast what felt like that. Amber slowly went over and got closer, she slowly put out her hand and patted the creature. Amber smiled and gave it a ferret, it enjoyed it happily. After Amber was done with her, she let the next person to have a turn.

[Lara Desser]

After following the Heads and Prefects over to the Forbidden Forest, Lara noticed that she could no longer see Arri anywhere. Lara blinked. What was going on? Obviously there was something planned, but it was all very confusing.. Then, before she knew it there was a note that an owl had brought for them. Without hesitation, Lara began to read it. It was a series of instructions for them, apparently Arri could be found at the end of the trail. Assuming, that is, that they didn't get lost on the way.

Then, Lara heard a rhyming voice. He seemed like a cheery man, and claimed to be sent by Arri. So, along with the rest of her class, Lara followed him. This whole class seemed fairly complicated, but what could she say, Lara was actually enjoying this little adventure. Once they had reached a certain spot in the forest, the man left them. All they could do was wait now. As Lara looked around to the faces of her classmates, she noticed that they all had the same, confused look on their faces.

Another minute passed, and Lara heard a few people gasping. There was an unknown creature flying towards them. Lara didn't panic, for when it landed she saw Arri on it. And the creature was a hippogriff. Lara listened to Arri explain everything to them, and, when she suggested touching the creature, Lara couldn't help but smile. It was sooo cute, how could she possibly pass up the opportunity to touch it? Wellll, she couldn't, of course.

Lara tried to remember what they had just learnt in the classroom before coming to the forest, maaan, that seemed like so long ago. But still, her memory was good. Keeping eye contact with the hippogriff that was called Athena, Lara bowed before it. Seconds later, it bowed back. A little bit af excitement flooded inside her at this point. She approached it, knowing that she would be safe, and stroacked it for a while, or at least, until it was someone elses turn. Lara decided against feeding her, instead, she watched other students do this. It was soo adorable, and Lara was sad to leave at the end of the lesson. It was a good lesson indeed.

[Lisa Spencer]

As Lisa waited by the edge of the forest with the other students, she could feel her heart pounding. The potential dangers of what could happen to her in the forest raced through her mind- getting lost, getting left behind, getting attacked- all of which made her fear intensify each time she looked at the dark expanse of the forest in front of her. She took a deep breath, trying to control her nervousness and calm herself down a little.

All of a sudden, a huge snowy owl flew down from the sky, landing on the shoulder of one of the other students, who removed the note. The student read the note, which was a list of instructions left for them by Arri on how to get into the forest. As the student was telling them to take notice of the yellow flag, Lisa realized something: Arri had said that by following these directions, they would be able to find her. That meant that she was not going to be leading the students into the forest, and that they were going to have to fend for themselves. Oh god, oh god, oh god, Lisa thought to herself, nearly burying her face in her hands. She was terrified enough when she thought Arri would be leading them; how would she be able to handle going through the forest supervised only by the prefects and Heads? Not that she doubted their competency, she just felt more reassured with an adult around, due to the idea her parents had drilled in her head since she was little: that adults were all-powerful and knew everything.

The sound of approaching footsteps in the distance became evident, growing louder as they came closer, and Lisa’s heart caught in her throat. Who was it? she wondered frantically, or what? However, as the figure became visible, Lisa realized who it was and was able to sigh with relief. It was Professor Capricorn, who had substituted one time for her Muggle Studies class last term. Lisa thought he was slightly strange, but friendly, and she was glad that Arri had sent someone to lead them through the forest after all. She quickly followed Professor Capricorn and the rest of the students as they entered the forest, not wanting to risk getting separated from the rest of the group.

Lisa could feel her heart racing and the adrenaline rushing through her body at a rapid pace as they traveled through the forest. She looked up at the trees around her, realizing they were passing the red flags. As they approached the stream, Lisa hopped from one rock to another, practically pleading with her mind to focus completely on getting across the stream instead of worrying about getting swept away by the water or drowning if she was to fall in. After she had made it to the other side of the stream, Lisa looked up and saw the yellow flag above her, and followed the other students in front of her who were going in the direction of it’s tip. They walked for a little while until they came to the large boulder, which Lisa was glad to sit down and rest on for a few minutes before continuing on.

As they went deeper into the forest, it began to get darker, and Lisa was having trouble seeing Professor Capricorn and the students in front of her. Taking her wand out of her robes, Lisa waved it and said, “Lumos!” Light sprung from the tip of the wand, lighting up the area around her. She breathed a sigh of relief, now that she could clearly see the students and professor in front of her, as well as the blue flags that they were following. Finally, Lisa saw that there was light up ahead. Waving her wand again, muttering “Nox,” the light from her wand went out, and Lisa followed the other students as they approached the clearing. Once they reached it, Lisa could see the green flag that Arri’s note had said for them to wait near. It looked like there was another note attached to it, and one of the students took it and read it aloud. After the student read the part about blowing the whistle, one of the other students took it and blew on it, surprised when no sound came out. They blew on it again; still no sound. Lisa wondered for a moment if the whistle was broken, but she figured it probably worked in a different way that the students had no knowledge of.

A few minutes after the whistle had been blown, Lisa thought she heard the sound of wings flapping, and she looked up into the sky to see that Arri was sitting on top of a hippogriff, and that they were descending into the clearing. Once they landed, Professor Arri explained to them that they were going to be able to pet the hippogriff, whose name was Athena. As the students made a semi-circle around Athena, Lisa waited patiently for her turn as the students standing to her left each went up to the hippogriff to pet her, and some fed her as well.

When Lisa’s turn came, she walked up to Athena, looking her in the eye and making sure not to blink. Standing a few feet away from her, she bowed low, still maintaining eye contact, and was pleased when Athena bowed as well. Slowly walking closer to the majestic creature, Lisa softly pet her, the fact that she was able to interact with Athena filling her up with happiness and contentment. Going over to where the ferrets were, Lisa picked one up. She felt a little uncomfortable holding the small rodent, but trying not to let it phase her, she offered it to Athena. After Athena had eaten it, Lisa pet the hippogriff once again, and walked back to stand in the semi-circle with the other students as the next person went up to pet and feed her.

[Kendra Madison]

Now that they students at the forest Kendra was waiting for Arri to appear and for her to be maybe bringing a hippogriff with her, but no there was no Arri in sight. There was a slight screeching sound that Kendra was quite familiar to, an owl. Her owl Howard was terrible for this kind of screeching and it got lesson painful after a while. Kendra watched as the snowy owl swooped in and landed on one of the students shoulders. Kendra gathered round with the other students and listened as the note was red aloud. The group were required to find a red, yellow, blue and green flag and at the end Arri would be waiting for them.

Just before Kendra was about to set off to find the flags what seemed like another professor attended the group and told them to go with him quickly if they wanted to stay safe and to find Arri. Shrugging her shoulders Kendra followed him and the other students as the passed and found all the flags they need to until they reached the green flag, the destination.

Kendra watched eagerly as one of the students blew the whistle that was attached to the green flag, but there was no sound. A little confused the students waited for Arri to appear. Looking up Kendra could see the shape of a large flying creature, soon it swooped into the forest and landed. Sure enough there was Arri ridding the hippogriff that was later introduced as Athena. As the class were told to form a semi circle Kendra joined the middle of the circle and waited for further instruction.

They were told that if they liked to they were allowed to stroke Athena and then feed her a ferret as a treat afterwards. Kendra was slightly nervous but she knew that it was something she had to do, it might even be a once in a lifetime thing. When it was finally her turn Kendra slowly stepped forward a couple of paces till she was a little closer to the hippogriff. Keeping eye contact Kendra slowly bowed and stayed down, sure enough the hippogriff bowed in return and Kendra could now go and pat her. Standing up straight Kendra made her way over slowly to Athena and started to pat and stroke her neck, she was a magnificent creature and Kendra had throughly enjoyed this lesson. Taking one of the ferrets Kendra chucked it to Athena and then walked back and joined the semi circle so that the other students could have a go.

[Arri Faltskog]

"Wonderful job everyone!" Arri said happily as she watched Athena interacting with the students and being on her best behavior. The pile of ferrets was slowly going down, Athena definitely getting her fill today. "I hope you all enjoy the experience of interacting with a hippogriff. This is not something that happens on a daily basis after all. Once you complete your assignment, you may either stay and watch your other classmates taking turns meeting Athena or you may go back to the castle."

She paused for a moment and looked at some of the students near her, their eyes bulging out. There was no Capricorn and of course Arri had to stay with the rest of the students. How would they go back? Smiling at everyone, she snapped her fingers and like muggle magic, a small rock appeared in her hands. "Engorgio," Arri said after having put the rock down on the ground. Suddenly, the rock jumped up and started to grow larger, expanding till it was a large boulder. "Now then, you may touch the boulder and recite the location in which you wish to go back at school. Either your dorm, the classroom, library, lake, etc. The boulder will only allow you to be transported to school property and no where else. I hope you all enjoyed the journey and even more so with the practical part of the lesson."


((Wonderful posts everyone. Thank you for participating in the lesson, I really appreciate it )