Care of Magical Creatures (Ravenclaw & Gryffindor)

[Professor Rubeus Hagrid]

Hagrid huffed and puffed out of the calm water of the Lake, dragging a gargantuan load of seaweed from the bottom of the lake. Dripping from head to toe, Hagrid shook the water off of himself. The nice September day was warm and just right for his Care of Magical Creatures classes. After depositing the heavy load of seaweed and assorted underwater plants by his idiosyncratic 'house' Hagrid took out his umbrella and headed for the lake. Today, the class would be rather preternatural, as it would be divergent from the 'typical' Care of Magical Creatures class.

Arriving at the lake, Hagrid stuck his head underwater and made piercing, screeching calls into the lake, awaiting his subjects to gather around him. They resembled an amalgamation between a fish and horse. The creatures had the head and forequarters of a horse and hind of a giant fish. One of the horses brought up a merman, who gestered to Hagrid and shook hands with him before departing. "Thanks a lot ol' feller!" Hagrid said in his gruffy voice.

After finishing that task Hagrid headed back into his cabin to await the arrival of his students.

[Harry Potter]

Harry sat in his dorm room going over Charms class homework. With a busy quill in his hand, he sat at a feww desk at the wall. Harry fell deep into thought. Dipping the tip of his quill into his ink jaw he tapped the excess ink off as Harry came out of his blank stare at his paper. Looking up Harry looked at his clock. 'Hagrid's class should be starting soon.' he thought as he rolled up his parchment and stuffed it in his bag, with his quill and ink. Pushing his bag aside Harry ran his hand thought his jet black hair and turned towards the door, and started on his way down through the tower.

A few minutes passed as he arrived at the two main oak doors. They both were open letting the nice breeze from the outside filter thought the castle. Walking down the stairs Harry crossed the grasses and walked down to Hagrid's Hut, where class was soon to begin.

Arriving at his hut, Harry saw Hagrid walk up. "Hey there Hagrid!" He said with a smile on his face. "Long time no see. So what is up for the class today?" Harry asked as he stood outside Hagrid's hut waiting for a reply from is Car of Magical creature's reply, and other students to arrive.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin exceled at magibiology, biology, genetics, biophysics, and Care of Magical Creatures. But, the one subject that compelled Jaquin the most was Care of Magical Creatures, as he was best in his year at the subject. He had an idiosyncratic affinity for the concepts of the subjects, as Jaquin had prodigious talent for them. Consequently, Jaquin ran down the sloping lawn of Hogwarts grounds straight towards Hagrid's hut. The fresh afternoon air whipped past him as he sped down to the hut. Upon arrival, he found several students already gathered at the door of the gargantuan cabin. Penumbrae splashed across Jaquin's exuberant face as the sun shifted towards the western part of the sky.

Putting down, his bag Jaquin greeted Hagrid with great enthusiasm, saying, "Nice day for Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid! So, what will we be doing today, something with a water dwelling creature?" He heard his voice amalgamate in unision with a voice that belonged to none other than Harry Potter. They would probably be doing something with an amphibious or marine creature, as it was unambiguous that Hagrid was soaked.

[AmeliaBlack]

Amelia sighed, putting her essay down and rubbed her eyes. It was already a long day. She laid her head on the back of the chair and shut her eyes momentarily. The breeze from the open window brushed against her face in a gracefull way that made Amelia look up with a smile on her pretty face. She yawned and put her finished essay away and slipped the parchment into her bag.

Someone moved and Amelia looked up to see Harry Potter leave. She looked at the clock as the Portrait door swung shut. She knew that Care of Magical Creatures was in a few minutes. She yawned again and stood, brushing her long blonde hair from her eyes. She finally gave up on her hair and just pulled it back into a pony tail.

Amelia then grabbed her bag and walked to the Portrait and pushed. She desended the staircase and soon found herself walking through the front oak doors. The cool breeze brushed against her face in that same gracefull mannor and Amelia walked across the lawn to Hagrid's hut.

She stood there waiting for students, too tired to really say anything. Harry and Jaquin both greated Hagrid at the same time and Amelia smiled as more students came up and stood around waiting.

[rosewood]

Julie Rosewood walked out of the Great Hall and onto the green gardens which were part of Hogwarts' grounds. The weather was perfect, just a mild breeze and the sun was shining brightly making the day not too hot or cold; just perfect for an outdoor class. Julie shook her mane of chestnut brown hair and smiled brightly, her face radiant with joy as she broke into a run. Julie thought she'd ask Professor Sprout if she needed any help today with some plants or herbs. It was just the day to do so and Julie planned to go to her after she finished her classes today.

They were still in their first week and it was passing by slowly. The first week always passed by slowly, and the students' work load wasn't as large as usual, and life was running pretty smoothly. Julie knew she would be early for class today, but she didn't mind. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors. Soon Julie arrived at Hagrid's hut, a little breathless and a little colour in her cheeks. To her surprise she could see two boys already there. Julie recognised the one with the broad shoulders and the blonde hair; it was Jaquin Prokenstein. Almost all the Ravenclaws knew what Jaquin looked like from the back, as he always had his nose in a book. The other boy suddenly turned around and Julie realised it was Harry Potter.

Julie was surprised for a moment. It was the first time that the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were to take Care of Magical Creatures together. They had usually taken the class with the Hufflepuffs. She hadn't looked at her schedule that morning, assuming that they would take the class with them like every year. Harry looked happy and Julie thought it had been quite some time since she had seen him look like that. Julie walked up to the two boys and greeted them happily. "Good morning you two! So the Gryffindor's are taking Care of Magical Creatures with us this ear instead of the Hufflepuffs! That's good Harry you won't have to put up with the Slytherins in this class at least," she said, giving him a bright smile.

Hagrid walked up to the students, and to Julie's astonishment he was dripping and was completely soaked. Julie ran into his hut and got Hagrid a towel from inside. It wasn't very clean but it would have to do. "Morning Hagrid," she said, offering him the towel. Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology were Julie's two favourite classes. She shook her head, her curls bouncing up and down as she looked at Hagrid not knowing whether to feel happy to see him or start worrying about what he had been up to. Julie had a good relationship with most of her teachers, but she also knew Hagrid on a personal level since she had often had questions about magical creatures and been to Hagrid for answers. Maybe she didn't know him as well as Harry and his two best friends but she liked the giant man with the big heart, who she knew to be kind and gentle despite his love for dangerous creatures. At the question from the boys behind her she looked at Hagrid with a questioning look on her face.

[Liam Angelus G5]

As Liam sat in the library reading, he thought about how great it was that Care of Magical Creatures had it's first class today. He dreamt about what kind of amazing creatures they would be studying this year. He thought about how great it would be if Hagrid showed them something rather dangerous this year. As Liam continued to day dream about all of the wonderful creatures that they might see this year, he realized that it was getting late and that he would have to hurry to get to class on time.

As Liam left the library, he ran down the long corridor, heading for them large oak doors that would take him to the grounds, and more importantly, Hagrids hut for class. Liam ran down the path towards Hagrids hut, hoping to see some signs of what they were going to study today. When Liam finally made it to the hut, he saw there were already several students waiting for class to start. Liam saw Amelia already there, and he walked over to her. "Nice day, isn't it," Liam said when he was stanfing next to her.

[versnowa]

Robin Versnowa yawned widely as he put on his robes. He still wasn't used to getting up early everyday after the summer. He grabbed a quick breakfast before leaving to go to his first class that which was Care of Magical Creatures. Robin liked the subject. Hagrid always had a surprise waiting for his students and Robin was sure he had an interesting - albeit dangerous - creature prepared for their first class that year.

Robin walked out and shielded his eyes from the sunlight as he looked at the Hogwarts grounds. Smiling a little to himself he made his way to Hagrid's hut thinking the day was perfect for flying. He hadn't played Quidditch with the team for quite some time now, and couldn't wait for the first practice. Robin stood in the middle of the group of students who had already arrived and smiled as he saw the huge man dripping water all over the place as he faced his students. Robin deduced that they were probably going to work on some kind of water-dwelling creature as it looked like Hagrid had just been in the lake.

[Professor Rubeus Hagrid]

Hagrid heard simultaneous comments from two of his favorite students as he awaited the arrival of the students. The first was none other then Harry Potter, whom Hagrid had missed, since their last encounter at the end of Harry's 5th year. Hagrid felt that Harry was very courageous to be able to stand up to You-Know-Who two times in a row. Jaquin, the second of the boys, in Hagrid's veiw one of the most talented students of the school and umambiguously excelled in Care of Magical Creatures. Jaquin greatly reminded Hagrid of Charlie Weasley. Of course there were many other talented students, not to mention Hermione, Catalina, Julie, and etc.. "Aye 'arry! Long time no see, not ter mention last year, ye know......... Well, how have ye been? Have a nice summer? Didn't let those big prunes let ye down did you?-Then turning to Jaquin.-Well, if it isn't Jaquin my boy! Right on! We're going te be studying water-dwellin' friends o' mine. Now, I'll be addressing the class!" Hagrid said in reply to both boy's comments.

As Hagrid was about to begin instructing the class, Julie, another talented student offered him a towel. "Well, thank you, Julie! I'll be needin' that," he said as he wiped his face. Then turning to the class, Hagrid said in his usual gruffy voice, "All right now, we'll be 'eadin to the lake. Come on, don't be 'fraid.-there were several students that were reticent to follow- Ye see, we'll be studyin' a special marine creature. Don't worry, it's tamed." Hagrid strode towards the lake leading the large group of student's to it's muddy banks. The sun reflected off the surface of the lake as about 20 or more black shadows headed towards the vicinity of the class. As the Cimmerian shadows under the water surfaced, the graceful bodies shone like a becon. They looked like horses, but in reality, it was something much more. Half of their body was a giant fish, while the other was that of a white horse. Hagrid announced happily, "Now, everyone gather 'round me. Can anyone tell me what these beauties are?" Hagrid waited for a hand to raise.

[Jaquin Prokenstien]

Jaquin's hand shot up like an arrow, ready to answer the Professor's question. He stated without hesitation, "It's a hippocampus. The quintessential hippocampus is the product of the amalgamation of the genes of a albino horse with the ones of a giant 'seamonster fish'. It has the head and forequarters of a horse and the hindquarters of a giant fish. The horse part is usually albino as the albino gene is a dominant allele while the other pigment genes such as brown, gray, and black are recessive alleles. Therefore, the albino trait is the common color while the others are not prevalent. Althought the species originated in the Meditteranian, it is now found in the warmer seas of the world and a blue roan specimen was caught by merpeople off the shores of Scotland in 1949, consequently the merpeople domesticated the species. The hippocampus lays large, semitransparent eggs through which the tadfoal may be seen." Jaquin finally finished and took a deep breath, as he said all that in one breath.

[RhysandKatta]

Katta McLeod looked at her watch. She fought the urge to swear and hurried down the main staircase from her perch on a bench, where she had been reading. To be late for the first days' Care of Magical Dreatures Class would be unspeakable for her. As she ran, praying she had her Monster Book Of Monsters with her, she pulled an elastic out of her bag. She tied her long hair back in one swift movement, and rushed towards Hagrid's hut, where she saw several others standing around, answering question. She cursed herself and approached slowly.

As this was her third year, Care Of Magical Creatures was new to her. The previous years had been full of the standard classes... Katta tired to smile, masking the internal hatred for herself and her tardiness.

[Professor Rubeus Hagrid]

"Thas' right Jaquin, I couldn't have said better. So, does anyone know what these creatures might feed on? Where there 'abitat is? Or' what behaviors they have, ye know?" Hagrid asked the class as he continued to pet one of the hippocampus with fondness, dragging his hand down the mane.

((You can just make the habitat stuff up, or go on google and search for hippocampus. Three people may answer. I don't have to call on you))

[Nasser Salah G6]

Nasser was up early that morning. "The early bird gets the worm," he thought to himself as he convinced himself to leave the warmth of his bed. He breakfasted quickly in the Great Hall and then went to the library. He was looking for one or two books his friend Perseus told him could help him with his OWLs, and Perseus had scored excellently on almost all of his subjects, so Nasser planned on taking all the hints and advice he had to give. He also thought he had better get his hands on the books before all the other students wanted them and look through them first. Nasser went to the library, asked Madam Pince where to find them and picked the one about Transfiguration, and began to look through it. It was indeed helpful with many diagram and tips for both the practical and theoretical exam. Nasser looked for the book for quite some time then suddenly jerked his head up and looked at the clock on the wall behind Madam Pince. He had Care of Magical Creatures in a few minutes!

Nasser ran down to the lake, thankful that he already had his book and wand with him. He could always borrow some parchment if he needed too. Already a group of students were assembled before Hagrid, and as Nasser saw the gigantic man he couldn't help but smile and stop worrying about being late. Nasser was also glad because this year they would be taking Care of Magical Creatures with the Ravenclaws, not with the Slytherins like every year. They always tried to disrupt Hagrid's classes or annoy him in anyway they could, and of course nobody had forgotten the time Malfoy had deliberately tried to get Hagrid fired.

Before Hagrid was a creature with the head and forequarters of a horse, and the tail and hindquarters of a giant fish, which Jaquin correctly identified as a Hippocampus. Hagrid asked his students if they knew anything about the species and Nasser replied after a little thought. "The hippocampus is mostly an herbivore and feeds on seaweed and other water plants found deep down below sea level, which is also where it lives. It lives in caves in which it digs small holes or tunnels, where it sleeps and also where it places its eggs," said Nasser. Nasser thought he could remember the nature of the habitat of the Hippocampus but decided to give someone else a chance to speak.

[Ginny Weasley]

Ginny walked out of the castle towards Hagrid's class. Ginny wasn't all that thrilled about this class, even though Hagrid himself was nice enough, he had a very odd sense of nice pets and usually his classes scared Ginny half to death most the time. Still she needed her OWLS and so off she was to class once more. Already there was a small group gathered about which Hagrid led towards the lake. "Hiya Harry" Ginny said as she walked over next to him and watched the lake. Soon horses came out of the lake, but knowing Hagrid there would be something about them that would make them a bit odd. Soon enough Ginny realized the horses were only partly horses, the rest of them looked like big fish. "Think we have to ride them?" Ginny asked Harry as she elbowed him to get his attention while watching a few of the horse creatures.

[Professor Rubeus Hagrid]

"Excellent explanation, Nasser! Now as Nasser jus' said, these Hippocampus are herbivores, but they must be treated with respect. You'll be surprised, because te' fins o' these beauties are very sharp when they harden their skin. Now, if you were to insult it in anyway, the Hippocampus would probably just spray you with huge amounts of water, bu' as I said before, when met' with severe danger, they will harden their scaly' skin an' use their tail fins as a weapon for defense," explained Hagrid. "Now, I'd like all of ye younger students te pair up with an' older student. We'll be'-"

Just as Hagrid was about to continue speaking, he heard a familiar voice speak up, asking if they would be riding the Hippocampus. "Thas' right, miss Weasley, we'll be ridin' them into the water, so, er.... I'll need everyone te put a bubble head charm on themselves," Hagrid said with a cheerful face, as he fumbled in his voluminous fur coat for a manual. "Got it! The spell fer a bubble 'ead charm is 'Cabezo Bulle'. Now, you'll need to pick a mount, the paired people will need to find larger ones. To mount 'em, you'll need ter show respect by bowing to em'...... a bit similar to Hippogriffs. After ye pick your mount, we'll be heading off into the lake." Hagrid looked uneasy at the mention of Hippogriffs, especially when a student was injured three years ago.

[Ginny Weasley]

Ginny’s eyes grew large and she gulped as Hagrid heard her and confirmed to her that they would all be riding the horse creatures. What made it worse was the fact that Hagrid told them they were to use a bubble head charm, something Ginny had never done before, and on top of that, Hagrid had to look the spell up I a book! With extreme apprehension, Ginny looked around the class for a younger student she was to partner up with. Her eyes fell on a younger Gryffindor, Amelia. Approaching her, Ginny took out her wand and held it trying to imagine just how she was to do a bubble head charm, she’d seen it two years ago when Cedric Diggory had done it during the Tri Wizard Tournament, but she had yet to learn it. “Would you like to partner with me?” Ginny asked Amelia as she waited for someone to pull off the charm.

[Harry Potter]

Harry listened as it seemed Hagrid and Jaquin were having a conversation as the whole class stood in awe of the hippocampus. Harry looked over the animal, as it was something he had never seen before.

A few minutes passed as Nasser answered about the hippocampus. Hagrid quickly spoke about having a partner. Harry turned around as he looked around for someone to be his partner. It seemed Hermione didnt show up for the class. Looking around everyone Harry saw Julie. With a grin Harry walked over to her. "Hey Julie. Want to be partners?" he asked as he waited for her answer.

[rosewood]

Julie scratched her head as Jaquin rattled off some information about hippocampuses she didn't know. Julie knew quite a bit about Magical Creatures but Jaquin talked about genes and amalgamation and things she wasn't too sure she knew the meaning of. She planned on walking over to him to ask when Hagrid asked another question a fifth year Gryffindor answered. Soon Hagrid proceeded to tell them what they were going to do in class that day. They had to find partners, and Julie winced as she heard the next bit of news. Hagrid wanted them to actually ride the hippocampuses. Caring for them was one thing but ride them? That didn’t sound too easy, and into the lake, well Julie didn’t really like the sound of that. Still Hagrid probably was trying to teach them something by this experience. Or at least she hoped so.

Julie started looking for a younger student to pair up with when Harry asked her to be partners with him. She noticed that most of the youngsters had already paired up with other people and anyway it would be fun to be partners with Harry. Julie smiled back at him and said playfully, "Promise to take care of me if the hippocampus does anything unpleasant?"

[AmeliaBlack]

Amelia smiled as Liam greated her. She had, had a large crush on Liam for a while now and didn't know for sure if he returned that very important feeling. She would osmetimes day dream the moment when she would ask him if he liked her. She just never got the courage.

"It's a great day!" She smiled at him and returned to waiting for more students. Soon the class began and questions were asked. A few students Amelia did not know very well answered perfectly. Envy touched Amelia for a moment as they seemed to know so much. Then Ginny, a friend of hers, asked about riding the Hippocampus'. Amelia looked at Hagrid fearfully dreading his next words. When his answer was yes, Amelia felt a need to curse, but held it back.

The Bubble Charm was one of Amelia's easiest charm to do! She loved Charms and was a wiz at it. Ginny had then walked up, when Amelia had pulle dout her wand- ready to perform the easy charm, and asked to be partners. Amelia smiled.

"Of course! I would love to be your partner!" She smiled and put the charm on herself.

[Harry Potter]

Harry waited for Julie's answer as she answered in playfull tone. Laughing a bit, Harry shook his head. "Dont worry. I Promise." he said with a smile. Noticing a few people put the bubble head spell on them already, Harry decided it would be best if they actually overcame the first obstacle, Actually mounting the hippocampus. Turning to Julie Harry said, "Lets pick one before we do the spell. Since getting a hippocampus seems a bit harder than the bubble head spell, okay." Harry said as he took Julie's hand and pulled her gently over to one creatures.

Hagrid didnt demonstrate how to get a hippocampus to accept you, all he said is that you needed to bow- so thats is what Harry did. Letting go from Julie's hand he spoke. "This one seems alright. Okay, on three bow with me alright?" Harry looked at Julie as he gave her a smile "We'll be fine." he said calmly as he turned back to the hippocampus. Harry wasnt entirely sure if they were going to be alright, but he wasnt one just to take the back seat in things. "One.. Two.... Three." Harry said as he bowed low exactly how he did to the Hippogriff in his thrid year at Hogwarts.

[Copenhagen]

Justin was frantic and hurried down to the grounds.He was late and Care of Magical Creatures was one of his faviorite classes. He ran down over the grounds and made it to class. He walked over to Hagrid and said "Sorry I'm late fell asleep in the library." he looked over at the class and asked " Professor ,what are we doing?"