Lesson Seven CoMC Field Trip.

[Taryn Connor]

LESSON SEVEN!

Ahhh... the tranquility

Once they touched down from the transportation of the portkey, they seemed to be outside something that looked sort of like a zoo. No, they wouldn’t be going to a zoo today. But something a little bit like it. She noticed the confused faces of her students and she gave them all a smile before addressing their whereabouts.

“Today we’ll be learning about one of my top favorite magical creatures in existence, the Snidget. So we are here in front of the Modesty Rabnott Golden Snidget Reservation. This is the only Snidget reservation in the world today so we are very lucky to be here. As some of you probably know, before the use of the Golden Snitch in Quidditch, the Snidget bird was used. They changed this because during games, when the bird was caught, it was usually killed by the force of the catch.”

She looked around the students and then turned towards the entrance.

“So let’s head on in shall we? I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

Then she led the kids into the gates of the reserve. Through the gates it was like walking into a little fairy tale. Well, it was to her anyways. The trees were so beautiful and so was the water. It was a bit hard to comprehend, even for her. She had only been here once before and that was to talk to her friend so she wasn’t sightseeing. As they made their way through the courtyard, she saw a woman waving to them from across the steps. As the last few stragglers caught up, Taryn introduced her.

“So this is Cindy. She is one of the tour guides here and she is an expert on the Snidget. I’ll let her give you a little spiel and then we’ll move on.”

She said, nodding to Cindy, indicating to her that she could start. Just in case you don’t figure it out, Cindy will be speaking in a different color… do do dooo.

“So hello there! It’s nice to meet you all. Taryn asked me to let you guys in on some facts about the reserve here. The reserve, which you have most likely figured out already, was named after Modesty Rabnott. Rabnott was famous for saving a Golden Snidget during a Quidditch match in 1269. So this place has been around a while. Snidgets are very valuable because they are nothing like working with a snitch during Quidditch games. They are much faster and are a lot harder to see, which brought about a lot of curiosity about them. People love challenges, am I right?

“Anyways, this reserve is around 20 acres of green land with more than 200,000 Snidgets roaming around. You’re probably wondering how we keep all of the Snidgets around, seeing as they aren’t caged. There is an invisible forcefield around the entire 20 acres which keeps them from escaping into harm’s way. I assure you that all of the Snidgets here are safe and sound.

“Well I guess that’s all that I have for you all. I really hope that you are enjoying your time in the reserve so far!”

Taryn gave her friend Cindy a smile and a thank you before turning to address the students once again.

“So today I didn’t want to load you up with lots of work to do. I realize that I’ve been pushing you all pretty hard in the past months and you guys need a break. Today we’re just going to be spending some time walking around the park and interacting with some Snidgets. Cindy brought with her some bags of seeds that you can take and feed to the birds when they land on you. I assure you, they are very friendly.

“If you have any questions for Cindy or I, we’ll be around but otherwise, go ahead and spend a relaxing day in the reserve.”

She said and then remembered one thing again. Man, she needed to remember this.

“Oh, while you’re walking around, take some time and journal about what you did with your Niffler this month!”

So there’s only one option today. Haha. Just roleplay walking around and interacting with some Snidgets. Because there is only one option this week, I’d like you to make it at least a halfway decent RP. Put some thought and effort into it. There is a possibility of extra credit if I find your roleplay to be amazingly “off the hook.” Yeah, don’t judge me

As always, DON'T FORGET ABOUT JOURNALING. You guys are doing good so far. If you are confused when journaling for the week needs to be in by if you missed it, you can check the roster thread. I have the exact dates in there that they need to be in by.

Don't hesitate to ask questions! Either me or Cindy will be glad to answer them. And as usual, no homework except don't forget about your Niffler.

Have LOADS of fun!

[/b][/center][/color]

[Sophia Davis]

Sophia's eyes got the best of her as she took sight of the beautiful landscape and building in front of her. Taryn was right, it did look almost like they were about to enter a zoo. But a zoo for magical animals? Ha, that would be the coolest thing to open! This got Sophia's mind wandering and kept her thinking as she moved along with the rest of the students into the reserve. Her attention focused on the two women in front of them as they explained what was going on here, and explained how to Snidget reservation came to be. Well, this was quite an interesting placed for little birds, especially some that she could see flying around, apparently curious to see who the students were and what they were doing here.

After their instructions were given, Sophia set off to start looking around at the place. There were beautiful little ponds, a waterfall, some wonderful gardens, and of course, tons of trees. A small apple orchard near one corner of the whole reservation amused her, as the birds flew in and out of the trees crazily. A lot of nests must rest up in those trees, she figured. Sophia watched as they flew around, amazed by how quick they were, and how hard to see they were when they were on their little missions. A mother bird came back with some worms and fed her little baby Snidgets, who were peeping along loudly in a next placed on first branch of the closest apple tree to her. She watched, amusedly, as she heard other students walking around and talking loudly about the grounds of the reservation.

((I'll post more later.

[Annalisse Childs]

Anna opened a hesitant eye when it seemed that they had stopped moving, her mouth falling open as she glimpsed the gorgeous reservation. Listening closely as Taryn told them exactly what was contained in this vast amount of land, she was quite interested. Then another lady named Cindy started speaking, and her attention was captured even further. Not having known much about the history of quidditch, she was surprised to hear that they once used this bird as a snitch. It was pretty sad that so many poor little birdies had to die for wizards to have a bit of fun. As Taryn took over again Anna turned her attention to her, grinning as she told them what they'd be doing today. Ahh, an easy lesson, she loved those.

Taking a bag of seeds, Anna walked speedily away from the rest of the group, for it'd probably be easier to attract a Snidget if she was alone. Squinting her eyes in order to see farther off, she spotted a few zooming around in the air. Cindy wasn't kidding when she said they were fast, and that probably wasn't even the half of it. Now that she thought about it, they probably flew so fast during quidditch because they were more or less facing death if they were caught. Thankfully they were all safe in here, allowing her to study them without them being too scared. Actually they didn't seem to be scared at all, for as soon as she started shaking the bag of food two of them swooped down and landed on her hand. "Oh, hello there!" she squeaked excitedly, plunging her free hand into the bag and holding out a handful for them. They chirped happily and pecked at the food in her hand, being careful not to bite the hand that fed them. Smart little guys, they were.

When those two were full they flew off again, but not before Anna had a good long chance to watch them. Like everything they learned about in this class, the Snidget was pretty fascinating. With a smile plastered on her face, she continued to walk and keep an eye out for birds hiding in trees or flying through the air. Hearing a bit of chirping behind her, she turned around to find a bird a few feet away from her. "Hey you," she said softly, crouching down in the grass and holding out the bag of food. "You hungry?" The bird eyed the food but simply looked at her, perhaps it was a little shy. She stood back up and grabbed a handful of food, dropping it as she walked backwards. The bird followed her, pecking at the food as he reached it when she'd walked a few feet. Aww, so he was shy. How cute!

"Heyy, it's okay," she cooed, plopping down in the grass and watching as he inched closer while he ate his food. Eventually it reached the place where she was sitting, and when it looked up to find this it looked like it was about to fly away. "No, no! It's okay!" she reassured him, dropping a very large handful of food right in front if it, being sure to do so slowly as sudden movements would probably scare him off. Finally calming down, it ate a little bit of the food but was already mostly full from the amount of food it take to get to this point. It looked at her once again, staring into her eyes as if it was looking into her soul, or something, and then flew up a few feet and landed on her head. Anna tried not to move too much as she burst into a fit of giggles, but even if she had moved it wouldn't have scared the bird off. She was stuck with him now, at least until they left.

"Alright, you can stay, but you'd better not poop on me!" she warned, heaving her bag of food up and continuing her trek around the reservation. A bunch of birds had taken over the spot where she had been sitting, eating the pile of food that had been left behind. She came in contact with a few other birds, who only ever seemed to like her for her food, except Mr. Hubert here. That was the birds name for the time being, by the way, for she got tired of calling him 'birdie' or 'little guy' whenever she wanted to address him. Strangely enough, whenever she'd ask him a question he would chirp his little beak off in response, but unfortunately she didn't speak Snidget so all she could do was imagine what he was trying to tell her.

As she was making her way back to the place they had come in so she could do her journal and be on her way (not that she was in any hurry to leave Hubert), the bird started chirping nonstop. "What, what do you want? Are you hungry?" she asked, holding a handful of food up to him, but he didn't touch it. Seconds later it became clear what Hubert was trying to tell her. A giant glob of what she assumed was Snidget poop landed on her shoulder, a bit of it even splattering on her cheek. Groooooss. "Jealous ex-girlfriend?" she questioned, turning her eyes upward towards her forehead as if she'd be able to see him. Ah well, what can you do. Didn't people say it was lucky to get pooped on by birds?

Sitting her bag of food down, she summoned herself a towel and wiped most of the mess off, wrinkling her nose at the stain it had left behind on her shirt. A constant reminder of her Snidget 'friend.' Sighing heavily, she vanished the dirty towel and then plopped down in the grass where she was, lifting the bird off of her head and letting him sit on her knee. Then she pulled her journal out of her bag and flipped to the next clean page, watching Hubert as she tried to remember what her niffler had done this month.

MARCH: Last month was pretty good, Humphrey found a ring out by the lake. I actually thought I had lost him when he burrowed down into the snow in pursuit of the jewelry, but thankfully he came back. I also noticed that the cold didn't seem to bother him a lot, whether that's because he was too intent on finding something to notice the fact that it was freezing, or because nifflers are too hardcore to be affected by something as trite as the weather. Who knows, well.. Taryn probably knows. Anyways, he also helped me find some money that rolled under my bed when I knocked my purse over, although it came back a bit more worn than it had been when it went in. I think he's a little jealous of my dog because she gets to sleep on my pillow, while he's stuck in a cage. I feel kinda bad.

When she was all finished that she stuffed her things back in her bag and laid back in the grass, looking up at the sky and the occasional Snidget that crossed her path. Though she'd like nothing more to take a nap right then and there, that probably wasn't exactly appropriate, so she forced herself up and let Hubert scoot up to her shoulder while she walked the rest of the way back to the meeting place.

[Kisten Hayes]

Kisten landed on his feet with a hard thud, staggered a bit and then quickly regained his balance, he was getting the hang of this port-key business but it was still a rather unpleasant way to travel. However its usefulness seemed to outweigh the unpleasantness of it all.

Once he had recovered from the trip Kisten took a moment to look around wondering where they had come for this trip and it appeared to be some sort of bird sacntuary, well that explained the bird cage portkey he supposed. Gaterhing with the rest of the class Kist listened to their assignment for the days lesson and was quite pleased to hear that it was going to be quite a fun and relaxing lesson spent simply observing the birds and things around the reserve. That sounded good to Kisten and so after Cindy was finished explaining some interesting facts to them that he took the time to note down briefly on a roll of parchment Kist headed into the park for a wander.

He took one of the bags of bird seed with him seeing as how feeding the birds would probably be one of the main things they could do there, and the birds would land on them? Well that was quite a novel idea, not usual bird behavious but then after all these were magical creatures. Kisten had never actually seen a game of quidditch so the golden snitch comparrison was a little lost on him, but after seeing the birds he was pretty certain he'd be able to tell which ball was the snitch in a game of quidditch if he ever did see one, after all there would have to be some similartities there.

So glancing around the warm sun dreanched reserve Kisten headed off in a random direction in search of some snidgets.

[Onikah Dawn]

Wandering a little helpless Onikah Sat down in the grass and opened up her bag. opening her note book she began to doodle awaiting a Snidget. After about thirty minutes she decided that she needed to be proactive in this Snidget thing. Laying on her tummy she put a handful of food right in frount of her. A small pile, plenty of food. waiting she hummed a song to herself ' do you believe in magic... Suddenly a Snidget settled in front of her nose. Raising up to sit cross legged. She hardly took a breath. It's golden colors shined in the sun. she just watched it softly eat and reached out to try and touch it. Sucess she pet the feathers slightly and put some food on her hand.

The Snidget looked at her carefully and wary and stepped onto her hand to eat from it. She could do this, she thought. The snidget finished eating and flew off. Resting her head on her knees Onikah drifted off into a daze watching the snidgets come and go.

Walking up to her professor she received her Niffler. How thrilled I am. Henry I have decided would be the perfect name. I must go and buy him the perfect enclosure later. (OOC: THIS IS HARD NOT BEING IN THIRD PERSON!!!!) with shiney toys and pretty baby blue bedding![/b]

[Kisten Hayes]

Finding a rather nice shady glen a little way around the snidget reserve Kisten found a little bench set beneath a large beech tree and he figured that here would be a good place to sit and feed the tiny little golden birds. They were very cute and seemed more than happy in that place as they seemed to do nothing but sing all the while he was wandering around.

Falling softly onto the bench Kisten sat and opened up the bag of bird food and sprinkled a little onto the ground at his feet. Immediately half a dozen snidgets flutered down and began pecking away at the food, hoovering it all up at an alarmingly quick rate. He reached into the bag for another handful of birdfood and before he could even sprinkle it onto the ground two of the tiny snidgets had fluttered up and landed on his hand and began gently pecking the seed off of his palm. They were indeed very sweet little things, Kist wondered if they would be good to keep as a pet, although he figured that his mothers cat would probably find them very nice little bite sized morsels too and that would not be good.

As the birdfood disappeared from his hand Kist figured it was probably a good time to work on his next journal entry concerning Twoflower his niffler.

March: This month was a little easier to look after Twoflower considering that I now know what she seems to like to eat and I've not made the mistake of letting her out of her cage in my dorm room again. I have however taken her out in the grounds, I read that they like shiny things and digging for them so I found aa few old muggle chocolate coins I had forgotten about from Christmas, they're wrapped in shiny foil and rather than eat them I burried them in a patch of earth and let her have a dig about for them. She found every single one very quickly so I burried them again, we did this a few times as she seemed to enjoy it quite a lot an I figured it was a good way for her to get some exercise. I've still not had a chance to see how well she gets on with other animals yet but that shall have to be the plan for next month I think.

[Kendra Madison]

At a young age Kendra had never been fussed on portkey’s mostly because she landed rather awkwardly but as she got older she didn’t mind them so much. Landing from the portkey rather gracefully Kendra began to look around, where the heck were they? Not having a clue Kendra joined the rest of her classmates waiting for an explanation of what the class was going to be about. Snidgets truly were magnificent birds Kendra was pleased with the choice of changing to the golden snitch rather than using the birds. Following Taryn Kendra noticed somebody across the way that was waving at them. Taryn later introduced this lady as Cindy the tour guide.

Joining the rest of her classmates Kendra listened carefully to Cindy as she explained the history of the reserve. 1269? That certainly was a long time ago though it was nice to hear that the birds had been cared for that long. Kendra thanked Cindy with a smile before turning her attention back to Taryn who was going to explain what they would be doing for the lesson. Kendra was certainly looking forward to interacting with the Snidgets just like she had expressed earlier. Taking a bag of seed from Cindy Kendra wandered off into the reserve to look at the birds. There were a lot of them around so there were no doubts that she would be spoilt for choice.

Walking along Kendra looked up towards the sky where the invisible forcefield was supposed to be. Kendra had been paranoid that the birds would perhaps end up killing themselves like they often did when flying into a window or glass door. However if the force field were anything like the one on the school roof then they would just bounce off. Kendra hoped and presumed that this was the case considering there would be quite a few bird deaths either. Ducking down Kendra managed to miss a bird that was flying right in the path line of her head. Of course she didn’t want a bird to smack her in the head but then again if her fears of a bird dying when hitting something were true then flying into her head would probably have the same effect.

Finding a nice spot to sit down Kendra reached her hand into the bag of seed and held some out for the birds. Hopefully they wouldn’t all dive in at once like one hundred mini torpedoes. Kendra was relieved to find that only two were willing to come close and began eating the seat from her hands. Reaching over with her other hand Kendra managed to stroke each of the birds before they finished up the seed and flew off. Smiling Kendra watched the one of the birds as he flew off to join the others who he soon began chirping at. It was times like this that Kendra wished she could understand what animals were saying though honestly she doubted that it was nothing of interest.

Tipping out some more seed into her hand Kendra held it out once more for the birds. As a few more landed on her hand Kendra whistled gently though soon stopping to laugh as one of the birds that were sat on her hand began whistling back to her. Once that seed was finished the birds flew off once more. Getting up Kendra continued walking to find another lot of birds. Finding a bench to sit on Kendra tipped the remainder of the seed into her hand. This time three birds came over there was just about enough room on her hand for them all to perch. Giving them each a stroke Kendra watched as they all flew away. With all the seed gone Kendra decided to take the opportunity to write her Niffler journal. She would continue walking around after she had finished writing it.

March – Last month I said that Kaya was settling in well. Now she is pretty much settled in and everyone is getting on well. There have been no more mishaps with the cats and owl trying to eat her, which I am quite relieved about. I had the courage to leave them alone a few times and when I got back everyone was in one piece. I thought I had rid my room of coins but Kaya still manages to find a couple every so often. She is rather useful finding all this money that ive ended up losing. The other day however she’d taken a liking to a few pieces of my jewellery but once I distracted her with a few coins she soon allowed me to have it back. Now I make sure I keep it in my jewellery box out of the way.

[Kit Kierson]

Kit was glad that today's class was going to be held outside of the classroom. It was her favorite month of the year (besides it being her birthday month), the month when the weather was just beginning to warm up again. It was winter's dying breath and the first stirrings of spring. And today was a fairly nice day to get out of the castle and off the grounds, in a city just waking up from a long and tedious winter.

The Gryffindor was especially glad to learn upon arrival that they were going to be interacting with Snidgets today. Although she was unsure of the details, she knew vaguely that they had been used as Snitches in Quidditch games of old, and Quidditch always interested her- this particular area of Quidditch especially, seeing as how she played Seeker for the Gryffindor team. She listened carefully as the tour guide gave them some historical background information on the little birds they were going to be seeing today, absorbing as many of the facts as she could, before Taryn sent them off to go interact with the Snidgets. Wooo, fun-ness!

Kit grabbed herself a bag of birdseed before splitting off from the group and wandering about the reservation, looking into various sorts of cages as she moved along. "Hiiii, little Snidgets. Lookit you all, safe and sound. Aren't you glad you don't have a Quidditch game to go to? Can't say I feel the same..." she said a little sadly, frowning as she remembered the good old days where she looked forward to games to break the monotony of classes and homework. She hadn't played in a long time now. But enough of her self-pity about things long gone... she was just glad these little creatures didn't have to die for the sport anymore.

Kit reached into her bag of birdseed and held out a handful toward one of the little golden birds in the cage she'd approached. After pausing and watching her warily, the bird hesitantly approached, almost as if it sensed all her Seeker-ness and expected her to grab at it like a prized golden Snitch. But Kit kept her hand open, and eventually the Snidget made its way there to peck seeds out of her palm. She smiled warmly at it, letting it finish before going off to feed and talk to (like a crazy woman!) the other Snidgets. This was definitely some much-needed relaxation time.