[Open] First Care of Magical Creatures class

Victoire was actually excited, she liked magical creatures. Like the stories her Uncle Charlie always told her or she heard from other members of her family. She even thought about getting into the field after graduation. But the idea of being a curse breaker seemed more exciting to her. She gave Professor Pendragon a smile, before taking a set on the wooden table. Getting her materials ready for the class. She always did like having classes outside, kept her clam and with the open space if she did forget herself and catch something on fire. At least, it wasn't inside the castle.

Madrona smiled at the students as they began to arrive, taking out books and quills and chatting quietly between one another. She had been worried that some might be a little rowdy, which would scare her friend, but it looked like everyone would be respectful.

She cleared her throat and waited for the early birds to settle down before speaking. "Hello class, my name is Madrona Pendragon, and I'll be your new Care of Magical Creatures professor during your years here at Hogwarts."

She paused, unsure what to say next. "The creatures you will see in our lessons together will range in complexity and rating as we progress, although creatures higher than the ministries XXX rating will be discussed, but not examined until in the NEWT level classes starting next year.

"While we wait for stragglers, can someone please tell me the basis behind the Ministry grading system of Magical Beasts?"

"I know the five classifications range from boring to known wizard killer. Course my uncle doesn't understand why Dragons need such a high rating because he gets on perfectly fine with them. Then he is a dragonologist so that could be it. Course even the most boring creature would be dangerous to a wizard or a witch if they didn't know what they were doing. For instance, I'm not going to just walk up to a Hippogriff, that is just asking for trouble. You have to bow first and show respect. Course Hippogriffs aren't rated boring. But for a person scared of slimy things, a Flubberworm isn't going to be a walk in the park for them." Now she had wished that she paid more attention to the 'boring' stuff Charlie talked about whenever he came home. Rather than just the exciting things.

Dmitry raised his hand. "How often are creatures reclassified? also how long has the rating system been around?" He was slightly disappointed to hear that they wouldn't be working Dragons. He had heard a lot about the ones used for the tri-wizard cup when it was hosted at this school and he was hoping that they might get to see one up close even if it was a hatching.

And again, just a tad late, Horace arrived. He was panting and he looked somewhat disheveled. In fact, he looked a bit roughed up, with his robes all wrinkled and wrung and there seemed to be a sprig of shrubbery entangled in his hair. He took a single moment to catch his breath, then straightened his robes and himself, still oblivious of the state of his hair.

"Ever so sorry miss...there was an accident with...erhm..a stranglevine. Won't happen again."

Again, he wasn't off to the best of starts. And he had hoped to make a good impression this time, especially since this was one of those rare subjects, apart from herbology, he was actually good at.

Madrona nodded at the two late arrivals, waiting patiently until they had settled in. "I'm glad you two are here, but try not to make tardiness a habit, or you'll miss a lot of important information."

"Now," she said, crossing over to the hutch still sitting innocently off to the side, "this creature is one of my favorites, so I thought it would be suitable for our first class together."

She crouches by the entrance to the basket and reaches in, pulling out a large lizard. Its body stretched the length of her forearm as she held it gently against her torso, though its tail extended several inches past her elbow. She showed the creature to the class, its brilliant pebbled skin reflecting silver and green in every direction. It seemed to flinch at the close examination, and Madrona hissed as it's large claws curled tightly into her arm. Before the class's eyes, the creature began to shrink, curling in on itself until it was only a few inches long total, tucked tightly in the crevasse between Madrona's arm and side. It's tongue flicked out and tasted the air as its eyes flickered back and forth warily.

"This is a moke, a magical creature that was first discovered in Ireland. Its main ability, as you saw, is to shrink at any sign of danger as a defense mechanism, making capturing one extremely difficult. It is quick, sneaky, and bright, subsisting on a diet of insects and the occasional fruit. Our lesson today is a bit of a practical. You will each have the chance to hold him, and try to determine his rating according to the Ministry, and be sure to list your reasoning and be prepared to discuss with the class."

Horace was all attention and wonder for the creature from the moment the Professor took it out of its' cage. He closely studied the different colours, now awed as it shrunk. At the mentioning of the opportunity to hold one, he even got more excited. He was full of questions about this beast already, his hand up in the air, patiently waiting to be acknowledged by the Professor, never taking his eyes off the beast.

'Does he eat all insects, or does he prefer certain kinds? How does he hunt? Is there a specialised technique? Is this a male or a female? And is there any difference between males and females that can be told on sight? Judging the claws, do they climb? What is their preferred habitat? How do they nest?'

He suddenly held a hand in front of his mouth, stopping the veritable waterfall of questions. 'I'm sorry, Professor.'
He always did that when he got excited.

Madrona bit back the laugh the bubbled up in her throat at the eager questions that sprung eternal from the first year's mind. It reminded her of herself during her first encounter with a strange creature. "Well, some of those I can answer, but why don't you do some research after class about the rest, and come back to us next class with the results?"

"Let's see, he hunts a lot like many non-magical lizards, using claws and tongue to grab them from their resting places, like on bark or leaves. One trick that he has sometimes used is to shrink down until he's as small as he can go to sneak up on some of the larger bugs, then grows out and attacks, catching them off guard. Marco is a male of his species, you'll find that the females are more silver than he is, and usually have a bit more of a paunch in their bellies. The answer to everything else can be found in the Hogwarts library by a determined researcher." She winked at Horace conspiratorially.

"To introduce yourself to him, hold out your banana slice as I bring him to you, and let him take it from your hand. His claws are more for clinging than gripping, so he'll likely climb onto your hand to eat the whole piece, so be sure to use your non-dominant hand so you can take notes while he eats. Who wants to go first?"

"Well alright, then," Madrona said merrily, moving over to stand by Horace's side. "Grab a banana like this, no, you'll want your fingers out of the way, he can't always see what's right under his mouth, that's right, now hold still, and breathe, try not to shake too much or he'll get frightened."

She held out her arm and let the moke peer at Horace calculatingly, slowly creeping down her sleeve to pause at the gap between her hand and his. His arm reached out and swiped at the banana, trying to tug it from Horace, but with a light reproach from Madrona, chittered softly and move over to Horace, his claws wrapping around the young boys fingers comfortably to start munching on his treat.

Watching the exchange and taking notes, Dmitry was roughing out a sketch of the creature and trying to describe it's movements. Raising his had both to be the next one and to ask a question. "Professor, is there any size difference between the genders?" He continued scratching out his notes.

'Yes, Professor', he softly answers.

Ever so slowly and carefully, and perhaps a tad reluctant, he passes the creature over to the next classmate, before starting to frantically annotate his notes with findings, observations, questions he needs to ask or research and even a little sketch, which does hold a certain likeness to Marco. Well, safe from the lopsided eye, that is.

"Besides his claws, no. Mokes are not fighters, and due to hunting both from predators and wizarding kind, these creatures spend most of their time hiding. A moke that fights back is a dead moke." Madrona smiles sadly, watching as Marco poked at Dmitry's proffered treat before digging in enthusiastically. She worried about how much food he was going to consume today and resigned herself for his tantrum when he learned that he was going on a diet for a while after this.

Ink twisted in her pocket, as if sensing the sorrow in her voice, and she reached in to soothe him, her fingers brushing along his form.

Vic took in the information that she heard as she wrote her notes. So far this was an interesting class, one of her favorites. Especially with the new information she was getting about mokes. She watched the first year volunteer to hold the creature first. She smiled at his excitement, she remembered her first year and spouting off answers. Now she usually just sat back and waited not wanting to be a know-it-all along with all the other assumptions that people made about her. She saw Dmitry go next, writing down what he asked on her note paper.