First Class of Care of Magical Creatures

((OOC: I have two characters in this class. Rather than post separately for each of them, I'm planning on combining them into one post any time I need to post in this class.  Jonah and Constance are both here.))

Jonah had made it into the classroom just before the professor closed the door. He sat down quickly in a seat in the back. He wasn't normally late for classes, but he'd had to come here from transfiguration, which was several floors above the Care of Magical Creatures room. He'd have to run to get here on time next time, he decided. The bang of the door made it clear that Professor Dearborn did not like latecomers. He hurried to get out his textbook and note-taking supplies, hoping the professor hadn't noticed him scooting in at the last minute. He made sure to scribble down what she said about what they'd be learning, just so he wouldn't look like a slacker.

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Constance had been looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures since she'd gotten back to school. She didn't like many of her classes, but this one was one of her favorites. It was also the class she'd done the best in the year before. Constance's love of animals emboldened her in this class and her normal uncertainty faded. She was uncertain today, though. She'd heard that there was a new teacher this term. She'd worried all the way to class that the new professor would be mean or that she wouldn't be as good as the old professor. Her worries faded somewhat as Professor Dearborn introduced herself. She sounded like she knew about her subject, and like she enjoyed it. Constance sat up a bit straighter in her chair and smiled at the professor, eager for class to begin in earnest. She wondered what creature they would be talking about today.

((OOC: Will do. I've gone back and added a line between the two in my previous post and will try to remember to do so in future. Sorry for any confusion!))


Constance knew this one. She'd read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them cover to cover, something she didn't do for a lot of other classes. She thought for a minute, trying to remember exactly what Mr. Scamander had said about the difference between beasts and beings.  Once she thought she had the answer she raised her hand, then realized Professor Dearborn had told the class they didn't need to and lowered it again. "A being is anything--any creature, I mean--that can understand our laws and follow them. So a centaur is a being, but a troll is a beast, because centaurs are smart enough to understand the laws but trolls aren't." She hesitated for a minute. She thought that was what the book had said, but she felt like she was missing something. "Is that right?" she asked.

Constance beamed when Professor Dearborn awarded her points, but her face fell a little as the professor then corrected her example. She bent her head over her notebook, writing down the definitions on the board and hoping no one would notice her embarrassment. She should have remembered that about centaurs. There was controversy over that and she knew it. Why had she picked centaurs? It only got worse when the professor continued.


Only half the answer? She'd been sure that was the whole definition. What else had Mr. Scamander said? She wracked her brain but couldn't seem to come up with the answer. She wondered if she could open her textbook and take a quick look to find the rest of the answer. But maybe it would be better to just let someone else answer. The other people in here were probably smarter than she was anyways...She frowned a bit, her face still warm.  This was going to bug her.  Someone else was bound to come up with the answer soon and then she would remember it.  It always happened like that for Constance.

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In the back row, Jonah copied down the text on the board into his notes and thought about what the rest of the answer might be.  He'd only had time to skim through the text book before class today, and he hadn't read the introduction at all.  He'd bought the book rather late, along with his other textbooks, because he hadn't figured out what classes he was taking until just before they started. He looked around, wondering who would end up answering. It wouldn't be him.  

Constance looked a bit down at not having given the complete answer, so Rita smiled reassuringly at her. It was a tough definition to know off the top of your head and Rita hadn’t given out points for nothing. She looked around the room, waiting to see if anyone knew the second part of the definition. It remained silent except for the scratching of quills and pencils as the students wrote down the new notes on the board.

Just when Rita thought she’d have to give the answer herself, Jilly Coppercorn spoke up.



Rita smiled, feeling proud that it was one of her own Polera students who’d known the answer.
“Indeed, Miss Coppercorn. Not only have you given the second part of the definition, which is that a being must also be able to help shape our laws, you have also pointed out an addendum that is directly related to that second part. Take five points for Polera.”

Another wave of Rita’s wand saw the extra information added to the blackboard. She then placed her wand back into her wand holster on her wrist.


“The second part of the definition, helping to shape our laws, is why a beast that is as intelligent as, say, a manticore, is still not classed as a being. Manticores are one of the intelligent beasts that can understand our laws but are so violent they will attack any human that comes near them. This means they can never be able to help shape our laws, and as such they are classed as beasts despite their intelligence.”

Rita clapped her hands together. “Now, I’m sure you’re all getting tired of this theory, but I promise you, we’re almost done and then we can get to the fun part of the lesson.”

She winked at the students and some of them laughed. Good, Rita thought. A double hours of this class was necessary to be able to have both theory and practice in the same lesson, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t difficult for the students to assimilate the theory. Still, it couldn’t be helped, especially in the first lesson of the year.

“Now, the last bit of theory on the beast versus being definitions I will be discussing takes us back to Miss Revell’s answer. Because while we have a working definition, that doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions or creatures who are problematic to categorize. Centaurs are one example. They were classified as beings under the current definition, but actually requested to be placed in the beast category. Merpeople followed a year later, but about five years ago campaigns that originated in Great-Britain convinced them to once again claim being status,” Rita lectured.

She gestured with her hands at the board. “And we see in the definition that to be a being one must be able to shape our laws. This is the part of the definition that many wizards who want to class Muggles as beasts point to, because while they may be intelligent enough to be beings, they do not know of our world and thus cannot help shape our laws. As such, they feel Muggles should fall under the beasts.” Rita shrugged her shoulders. “Make of that what you will. Both sides of that argument have valid points.”

Rita knew bringing up such a controversial point might be frowned upon by some, but she'd always believed in giving people the information and then letting them make up their own minds on the subject. She didn't see why her students couldn't form their own opinion on the matter. But, she didn’t want to end her lecture on such a controversial note. So she smiled and added, “And of course, aside from the beasts and the beings, ghosts have an entirely separate division, as they are classes as spirits. They were originally classed as beings but found it to be insulting when they were clearly ‘has-beens’ and as such they are now classed as spirits.” Rita gave a chuckle, she always found the sensitivity of ghosts about their undead yet not alive status amusing.

“Now, before I give you your homework and introduce the animal we’ll be working with in the rest of the lesson, are there any questions about any of what I just told you?” Rita asked, looking around the classroom to see if any student looked lost or like they were confused.

Constance had watched the Knarl in the magical mirror in fascination. She'd tried to sketch it in her notebook but it moved so fast once it found the food that she didn't get a really good look at it. She was pleased when Professor Dearborn led them out to the menagerie to look at real Knarls and was one of the first to move toward the pens. She found a spot where she could observe the Knarl and began sketching the small hedgehog look-a-like as it walked slowly around the grassy area in its pen. It really did look just like a hedgehog. Constance hoped it couldn't smell the small treats she kept in her pockets for owls and other pets she met around the castle. It wouldn't get upset just by smelling food, would it?

She finished her sketch and put her notebook and quill down. She checked her pockets to make sure nothing would fall out if she bent over.  Satisfied, she reached over the mesh fence and held out a finger to the creature. It approached slowly and sniffed at her finger. Apparently it did not sense danger, as it stood still and looked up at Constance with small dark eyes. Slowly, Constance reached down and brushed her fingers over its spiky back. The quills weren't as sharp as she'd expected. They were smooth and hard under her fingers.  She had the feeling that if it wanted to, the Knarl could make the quills stick out and be quite pointy indeed, but at the moment it seemed at ease.  She smiled and stroked it again.  It was really very sweet. 

((OOC: This thread will continue in August.))

“All right, class, time for your practical assignment,” Rita said, raising her voice slightly to draw everyone’s attention. “Since Knarls can be so destructive and take even the slightest crumb of food left in a garden overnight to mean they’ve been offered food, many families capture Knarls living in their garden and release them some distance outside of the garden. That’s usually enough to keep a garden Knarls free and it doesn’t harm the animal either. However,” Rita added with a grin, “if you’re not careful in handling a Knarl, it can hurt you quite badly. Their quills are sharp and have been known to pierce through a hand if they strike at the right spot.”

Rita move to one of the pens and stepped over the mesh fence. She took up a position looking out at the students, with the Knarl between her and them so everyone could see what she was doing. “Now, I’ll show you how to safely pick up a Knarl. Pay attention, because each and every one of you will have to do this before the end of the lesson today.” Rita kneeled down and place her hands palms down above the Knarl, which was calmly sitting on the grass, it’s attention on a bit of food it was eating. “Place your hands on top of the Knarl, softly and gently so it doesn’t startle and puffs up its quills so they stick out. Then place your thumbs underneath the Knarl.” Rita demonstrated. With the Knarl between her palms and thumbs, she twisted her wrists so her palms were facing up, the Knarl still held between them and her thumbs. “Then you turn your hands around so the Knarl is laying on its back. IN this position, they will rarely push their quills out in a defensive position, so your hands are safe unless you start squeezing really hard and the Knarl feels threatened. If you want, you can even cup your hands now, taking away the risk of squeezing too hard.”

Rita cupped her own hands and walked closer to the mesh fence, showing the students the Knarl that lay calmly in her palms.

Jonah had been watching one of the Knarls walk around. He'd thought about getting out his notebook and drawing it, like he saw some of the others doing, but his picture would just have looked like an oval with lines sticking out of it, so he didn't. He had written down what Professor Dearborn told them in class about the creatures, and as she explained how to safely pick one up, he wrote that down too. He wasn't too keen on the thought of picking one up--the whole pointy quills thing was kind of a turn off, even with the assurance that if you did it right, they wouldn't hurt you--but the professor had said that they had to do it before the end of the lesson. That didn't mean he was going to go first, though. He watched Keely Harper step into one of the other pens and pick up a Knarl. She seemed to have no trouble with it. As he watched, she set the Knarl down and waved at it. Jonah grinned and shook his head a bit. That was Keely for you. He decided to watch one more person and then he'd take his turn. Just as he decided that, one of the younger girls at the pen he was at stepped into the pen. Jonah watched her closely.

Constance had stopped petting the Knarl when Professor Dearborn called the class to attention. She watched carefully as the professor explained and demonstrated how to pick up one of the creatures. Once she was finished, Constance turned back to her Knarl. No one else around her pen seemed to want to go first--one of the older boys looked particularly apprehensive--so Constance stepped carefully over the fence. She knelt down and held her hands palm down over the Knarl she'd been petting.

"Hi," she whispered. "Do you wanna come for a little walk?" Gently, she placed her hands over the creature's back and got her thumbs underneath. She lifted it as carefully as she could and turned it over in her hands. It looked a bit surprised, blinking its small eyes and wiggling its nose. Constance smiled at it. "Come on, little guy," she said, walking slowly to the far end of the pen. "You sure are a cute little thing, aren't you? Maybe I'll come and visit you again later, after class." She held it just a moment longer, then knelt down and released it on the grass. It waddled away. Constance walked back to the fence and stepped over with a big smile on her face.

"Nice," the older boy said to her as she came out, giving her a thumbs up.

"Thanks," Constance said, blushing.

Jonah grinned at the younger girl. "I guess I'll go next," he said, more to make himself do it than anything else. He stepped over the low fence and found the Knarl where it was wandering, only a little way from where the girl had set it down. He crouched down and looked at it. It looked back up at him with beady eyes. Jonah held out his hands over it and waited to see if it would puff up. When it didn't, he lowered his hands to its back and tucked his thumbs underneath. He slowly picked it up and turned it over. Again he waited for it to puff up, although he figured if it was going to, it would have already. Then he carried the Knarl carefully back to the front of the pen and set it down gently. "There you go, little guy," he said. "Back where you started, no walking necessary."

He stepped out of the pen and walked away just a bit, just so other people could get over the fence. That hadn't been so bad, he decided. He wouldn't want to be a professional Knarl catcher or anything, but if by some chance one ever got into the garden at home, he could probably deal with it.

((OOC: Hope that wasn't too confusing...Jonah and Constance are at the same pen but they don't really know each other...I tried not to make the switch between their POVs too abrupt...))

Rita looked at her watch again and saw that it was time to wrap things up. “All right, class,” she said, raising her voice so she drew the attention of all the students. “Please put the Knarls down in their pens and gather around for some final announcements before class ends.”

She waited until everyone was gathered around her before continuing. “Very good work from everyone today,” she said, giving them all a smile. “Your grades for this lesson will be posted at the end of the week. Also, don’t forget your essay assignment, which has to be handed in at the start of the next lesson. That’s all, class, see you next time. Oh, Mr. Riddell, if you still want those book recommendations, I’ll be happy to give them to you.”

Rita watched as the students began to leave. Some were chatting, others were silent, but most seemed happy with the lesson. Several lingered over the Knarls, which had Rita smile. It looked like her first lesson had been a success.

((OOC: we’re wrapping this thread up so a new class can be started in September. You're welcome to posts your student's exit, though, or approach Rita if you have any questions for her after class. If you want to write the actual essay, please see this thread. Also, please take a look at the notice board for the message about changes for this class.))