Malachi starts making the ribbon slither around the ground, honestly just having fun with the way it changes when suddenly there’s a snag. Malachi looks up a little further to see Li mei had pounced on the ribbon, his smile widens as she looks at him and suddenly comes over to sniff him, he plays with her for a minute before she’s off to the other students.

She was a beautiful creature and even though Chloe hadn't gotten her attention yet, she could see from everyone else's reaction that she was stunning. Maybe Chloe could move closer? No, the professor said she had to come to them so moving her little jingle toy more she hoped it would be enough.

As the creature began to move closer Chloe felt her excitement rise. She was going to get to touch it, she had to before class was over. This was going to be an awesome moment.

"Here kitty Kitty" Eyes widening as the beautiful Zouwo come over near her. Though it was still not next to her it was at least close enough to make Chloe happy. She could see it up close and notice how soft her fur was without touching it.

This was amazing!

Where was that kitty..?

He had taken his eyes off her for a second and now she had disappeared out of his sight. He glanced around to see where she had got to, spotting her on the opposite side to where he was stood playing with a toy that another student was waving about. He couldn’t help but watch her. He was used to muggle animals, the family owned a pair of Border Collies and his Ma had a few different animals on their smallholding like goats and chickens but he had never come across a creature as fascinating (or as big) as this kitty was. And they were SO close to her! It would be like going to the zoo and getting to pet a lion. It just wouldn’t happen ordinarily.

He wafted and waved the toy about hoping that eventually he would get her attention. It took a few minutes but along she came bounding on her huge pads. He braced himself for an impact, she looked like she would skid into him and that was an awful lot of weight to come to a sudden stop. But she stopped just short of his feet and the sixteen year old grinned up at the big cat. “Hello!” he greeted her because y’know, cats could definitely speak English and everything.. not.

Li Mei pounced on the feathers and he felt the pure weight of her as he tried to pull them out from underneath her. She kept playing, batting and swatting at the feathers with her huge paws. It was just like watching a kitten. She played for a couple of minutes until she got distracted by another student and their all new shiny toy that hadn’t been pawed to death. It was cool whilst it lasted.

There wasn’t even the smallest sense of disappointment when Professor Wayland had confirmed that they weren’t going to be riding this Zouwu, seeing as Stasya was finding herself much more interested in the idea of actually getting to take care of one. Nearly to the point of wondering if she could adopt one, if that was even a possibility. Plus, seeing as when the young Zouwu had made her appearance, she had come from the barns, she had a second of hoping Li Mei hadn’t thought Dobby was a cat toy. Her squirrel looked a lot like most of the toys people were finding under their hay bales, and he was getting older.

Except, she trusted Professor Wayland. He wouldn’t let any of the creatures hurt the others in the barns. And, as she watched Li Mei interacting with the other students, she was entirely too charmed by the graceful feline to truly worry about her hurting her own pets. She was like a really large, spectacularly colored kitten, and the thoughts of finding out if she could adopt one came back full force. That and she finally looked under her hay bale for the toy, a fluffy ball (which kind of looked like a brilliant snidget if she squinted her eyes) dangling from a silk cord attached to a stick.

Except she almost didn’t want to wave it around to entice the Zouwu. She more wanted to just stand and watch her move, although she left the toy dangling from one fist. She decided she’d let Li Mei come to her, or maybe just visit her later if she was staying for any length of time.

It probably would be a good idea to take notes, but honestly that was the furthest thing from Madison's mind since we was about to meet a big cat. She had never interacted with one before, only dealing with the more domestic kind, and the experience was sure to be memorable.

Smiling, she reached under her hay bale and extracted the cat toy that Professor Wayland had provided. Now she just needed to wait. Patiently. Hhonestly she wasn't feeling that much right now. The Gryfindor was all about action, and she wanted to have her turn distracting the Zouwu. Would the feathered bird toy that she was currently dangling manage to entice the cat? Or should she beckon her over as well?

"Here, Li Mei." More swinging of the bird, and the big cat decided to make her way over. About time. Hehe. Li Mei was absolutely stunning and Madison pouted when the cat got bored and moved on. Oh well, it was only fair that everyone got a turn, but the cat was just so awe inspiring.

Tina jumped slightly at the loud purr coming from behind the door. Outwardly she kept a neutral expression plastered on her face, but inwardly she was panicking. Despite the comparisons to a giant cat, the zouwu was just that - a giant; it could hurt them without even trying. What if it accidentally knocked someone down? Or swatted someone? What if it got spooked and attacked? So much could go wrong! She folded her hands in her lap and took a few deep breaths, hoping that would be enough to calm her quickening heartbeat. Get a hold of yourself,Tina! She told herself sternly, dropping her gaze to hide any panic that may be reflected in her eyes. She didn’t want anyone to laugh at her fear - or worse, pity her!

The dark-haired Ravenclaw paid careful attention to Professor Wayland, even more so than she normally did to a professor’s lecture. Not only was the information on the exam- which she would be taking in her fifth year instead of her sixth. The joys of being a Beauxbatons transfer… but she hoped that the more she learned about the zouwu, the less chances there were of something unexpected happening. Knowing the zouwu behind that door came from a sanctuary and had been around humans before eased Tina’s mind a bit, but she was still keeping her guard up until she saw it.

Tina was copying the information in her notebook when a sudden noise caused her head to jerk up. She half-expected the zouwu to break down the barn door, but luckily that didn’t happen. She tucked her arms and legs in, trying to make as much space as possible for the zouwu. Her dark eyes were glued to the oversized feline that bounded out of the barn. For now, she was just going to observe the creature’s interactions with the other students so she could get a better feel for what to expect. For a moment, she couldn’t even breathe as her eyes followed the zouwu to the Slytherin prefect (Natalie). What was it going to do to her? She couldn’t help but smile as she watched it sniffing and purring. Tina had her doubts at first, but this zouwu really was like a giant kitten! The more she saw, the moreLi Mei reminded her of her own Nemesis… if Nem was about a hundred times bigger!

Finally plucking up her courage, Tina reached under her hay bale for the toy hidden there. It was a long wand made of bendy pink plastic with a bunch of fluffy, yellow feathers attached to one end. When she picked it up, it made a faint tinkling sound, and upon closer examination, Tina found a small bell hidden amid the feathers. She smiled to herself; it looked a lot like Nem’s favorite feather wand! Taking care not to make too much noise and scare the poor zouwu, she gave the cat toy a firm giggle. “Li Mei…” she called. “Here, kitty, kitty…” Merlin, it felt weird to call something that huge a “kitty”! Jiggle, jiggle. Was she even paying attention or was she distracted by another student?

Tina’s eyes scanned the area, and a big pair of eyes met hers. Li Mei was looking right at her! “That’s it, good kitty. Come get the bird…” She jiggled the toy again, and in the blink of an eye, the zouwu was right in front of her. Tina froze, her eyes going wide as the zouwu batted at the “bird” at the end of the stick. Then she remembered the professor’s instructions and jarred herself into motion. She reached out a shaking hand for the creature to sniff. “Nice kitty…” Please don’t bite me! She thought. I’m not going to hurt you. She felt Li Mei’s warm breath on her hand, and she was almost sure she heard a purr! Tina smiled.This wasn’t as scary as she’d expected! For one wild moment, she thought Li Mei mightlet her pet her, but all too soon, she got distracted by something else and bounded away.

Right. Yes. Of course. He needed to get the zouwu's attention, that was the whole point of this little activity.

Jolted out of his inactivity by Professor Wayland's remarks about the creature, Abra cast a quick look around himself to see if anyone had noticed just how mesmerised he'd been by Li Mei - all those colours - before holding out the cat toy.

He knew how to get a cat's attention, and with a toy it was a piece of cake, so hopefully it would be a similar experience with a zouwu. The trick was to totally and completely demean yourself in a bid for them to notice you, shed all dignity and act like a total fool, and that usually did the trick.

"Li Mei," Abra called out when the zouwu seemed to be about ready to be distracted again. He shook the feathery cat toy to imitate a bird, all the while making embarrassing kissy noises, and patting his leg to try and get her attention. "Hey, Li Mei, what's this? What's this?"

Abra doubted he really needed to do all the kissy noises, because as soon as she'd heard his voice and turned to him and noticed the toy, Li Mei was captivated by it. Abra's heart positively leapt as she approached him, and for a moment he mentally got himself into a bit of a flap over what he was supposed to do next. But then it came to him, and he put down the cat toy and held still while she sniffed at him, resisting the (very strong) urge to make a fuss over her like he did with Squigs. Because this wasn't Squigs, or even a very big cat, this was a zouwu. Best to just do exactly what Wayland had told them to do, and let the creature investigate his scent before moving on.

Torii had zoned out on answering the questioning about attracting a Zouwu. Truth be told, she didn't want to attract a Zouwu. Just the thought alone creeped her out. Regardless, she listened to what her classmates said, because she had a feeling she'd be needing this information later.

She did cast a glance toward Nettie, who'd just asked if she was allergic to hay. Huh? Her? Allergic? She then looked down at her arm, where she'd scratched a few dark red lines into her arm. Ugh. She looked back and Nettie and shrugged. Maybe she was allergic to hay?

She jumped to attention at the sound of a loud purr. A thousand miles in one day?! Holy Merlin, that thing would be impossible to catch! As she listened to the professor go on and on about the Zouwu, she reached under her hay bale and found the cat toy. She still didn't want to attract this Zouwu...

Yet Li mei was out and about now, and Torii found herself closing her eyes tightly at first. When she dared to take a peek, the creature was somewhat nearby, so she gently shook the cat toy a little. Her heart was racing, even though the professor had assured them things would be okay.

Tristan heard Hanna's questions before he noticed she had moved closer to him. She seemed a little nervous about the Zouwu which was perfectly normal. He wouldn't expect anyone not to be scared of them. "Well, look at her Hanna. Who wouldn't be scared or intimidated by her? She is a huge, unpredictable creature. Humans, wizards and muggles alike, are scared of what they can't explain. So instead of being kind and patient with a creature like Li Mei, some people lead with their fear of the unknown and harm these creatures instead of treating them with respect. Some people just love the thrill of the hunt and well...she would be a particularly thrilling hunt with how fast she is and how large." He said with a sad smile. "But luckily most, if not all, magical creatures are protected now. Though we should still be worried about hunters...they are out there." He had met a few...lets just say they weren't hunters anymore.


Tristan quickly checked his watch. They absolutely had to move on. "Alright everyone! It's time to move on to our next activity." He paused and with a flick of his wand a table appeared behind him with all sorts of grooming supplies. Nail trimmers, Nail files, scissors, brushes, you name it, it was on that table!

Tristan picked up his own cat toy that had light blue feathers on the end of a black stick with a bell on the end, and gave it a good shake. It took a couple tries, but eventually he got Li Mei's attention and she came quickly over to him, rubbing her face on his head and purring. "Such a good girl." He said as he rubbed her mane and fed her a couple treats. She laid down next to him with a great plop that made the ground shake a little, and he chuckled a little before continuing. "Our next activity is to, as a team, groom this lovely little lady. As you can see, she is in major need of a little pampering. There are nail trimmers and files, scissors to trim any matted hair, brushes and whatever else you may need for grooming on the table behind me. You can chose whichever grooming option you would like." He said with a nod.

"But first things first...a little catnip snack to keep Li Mei calm." He said with a grin. He pulled out what looked like a piece of paper sized clump of cat nip from his pocket and put it in front of the Zouwu. When she sniffed it her eyes got as round as a kittens and she quickly licked it right out of his hands. "Alright! Lets get started!" Tristan grabbed a brush and a pair of scissor, and wen't straight for her scraggly mane.




OOC: You guys are awesome! Alright you have until 6pm on the 30th to complete the Main activity! Have fun with it! Be as creative as you can be! You can do it in as many posts as you want! Good luck!

They were playing with cats today, and it was quite possibly the best day of Faith's entire term. Which was probably not really saying much, considering it was only November, but cats were her real weakness. Qitty had been the best gift she'd ever received, and that was four years ago. The fluffy monster still loved playing fetch and chase and accounted for approximately half the reason that Faith ran down corridors bar that one month she was grounded by the headmaster and had to get someone else to play with her cat.

"Heeeeeere, kitty kitty." Making little meowing sounds and little clicking noises, and wiggling her feathery cat toy around, it was only a matter of time until the beautiful creature came over. And when it did, Faith couldn't help but stroke her soft head and give some giant scritches and press a huge kiss to whichever part of the Zouwu was most smoochable. Oh, cats.

And the cat was quickly again distracted (as cats often are) by someone else promising scritches, and Faith let her go a little reluctantly, but continued to stare after her with the biggest heart eyes known to man. She almost didn't hear Professor Wayland announce that they were doing some pampering, she was so transfixed on the cat (and its predictably adorable reaction to catnip).

And then she noticed the claws. Oh fudgesticks. That would need doing -- and probably wouldn't be as popular as brushing, so she picked up a file and approached the big cat, greeting her with a giant smooch and whispering softly what she planned to do, and got to work. Right in the danger zone with the claws, blissfully oblivious to the fact that this cat could probably kill her.

Skyler was disappointed that she could not distract the giant magical cat, as everyone else was doing a good job, so she opt for taking a brush instead. She clicked her tongue to get her attention.
"Hey Li Mai," She said.
Mai turned around. Skyler walked closer to her and started to brush a part of her mane.
"You're a beautiful creature, yes you are," She mused.

Professor Wayland’s words in response to Hanna’s question had lit up the spark inside of Stasya that usually led her to do things like guarding the barns during the inferi attack. Namely, she didn’t understand why anyone would be afraid of such a gorgeous creature, and she felt the need to defend Li Mei and all the others from such injustice. Just as she’d been concerned over the elderly Zouwu at the carnival. I’m sure the creatures are just as scared of what we can do to them and that’s why they lash out, she thought to herself, trusting that the professor wouldn’t appreciate her going off on possibly her favorite subject to argue about in the middle of a lesson. No matter how incensed she was by the very idea that anyone would be stupid enough to try and hunt Li Mei into extinction, and she sort of believed he would agree with her anyhow.

Besides, he wasn’t suggesting that he approved of the concept at all, and she’d been quickly distracted by the knowledge that she’d get to help groom the Zouwu. Not only that, but the very actions of the giant feline reminded her so much of Raisa when her mama’s kitty was being particularly affectionate and it had put a smile on her face, softening the steel in her eyes from her earlier outrage. Between the professor and Skyler it looked like her mane was being groomed well enough, and Faith had tackled her claws. Therefore, it seemed like a better idea to work elsewhere, so she’d approached the Zouwu as silently as possible after collecting a brush and comb. Time to tackle any mats on her side, and she began brushing as gently as possible before finding a troublesome spot. Murmuring as comfortingly as possible, she switched for the mat comb and started loosening the mat up before she could brush it away as painlessly as possible.

In a way it reminded her of grooming Cygnus, too. Or Caelus when she’d been helping take care of Henry’s Granian. Although obviously Li Mei wasn't anything like a horse.

While Li Mei hadn't exactly paid all that much mind to her or the toy she had been hold, that was perfectly alright. Really who could blame the Zouwu when there was so many students sitting around with brightly colored feathered toys that jingled. She most certainly couldn't. Not when it was enough to distract her as well! Sure she had wanted nothing more in this moment than to pet and cuddle the very large creature but just having Li Mei come over and sniff at her and the toy on her lap was more than enough to have Rylee smiling brightly.

As if that hadn't been a treat all in itself they were being told that they would be grooming her! How cool was that?! Extremely cool, that's how cool!

Rylee listened as intently as possibly taking in all the instructions Wayland was giving them. Bright shining blue-gray eyes locked on the gorgeous creature standing before her she smiled. Just look at that mane! A creature such as this should have a nice soft tended to mane. That's where she was going to start.

Selecting a brush from the table, Ry made her way over to the Li Mei's very large head. Whispering soft words of comfort and quietly explaining what she was about to do the lioness got to work. Taking her time and being as gentle as one possibly could she worked on the mane and the fur around her neck as best as she could.

So... far she had no luck luring the beautiful cat in front of her towards her, but there was so many toys it was probably hard for her to pick. With her toy in front of her with a bell and Gryffindor colored feathers she jiggled in front of her. " Hey Li Mei, what a beautiful kitty you are!" She was being to lose hope that the beautiful Li Mei wouldn't come towards her, until she heard Stella's soft voice and came towards her which made Stella smile brightly. As Li Mei nuzzled her she giggled and ran her hands through her mane petting her. "Such a beautiful and good girl yes you are." After a couple of seconds of love abd petting Li Mei licked her before running off.


She gotten Li Mei to come towards her, she was so happy that she was bouncing in her seat. Listening to Professor wayland she nodded happily, glad to be touching the beautiful Li Mei again, it was clear she loved animals so much. Getting up she reached the table and grabbed a brush, walking besides Rylee she smiled at her gently brushing her mane by her neck but it was more like her chest cause she was so short. "Such a beautiful kitty, yes you are. she said softly as she gently brushed Li Mei's mane.

Abra could see those nail trimmers, but he was fairly certain he wasn't going to risk it. Li Mei might be cute and adorable and cute and also CUTE and fairly used to human contact, but so was Squigs and he hated when Abra went anywhere near his paws. And the zouwu's claws were, like, extra big, so... as much as he already trusted her (how could you NOT trust her, she was amazing) it didn't really seem worth the risk.

So Abra opted first for a brush, and then - as an afterthought - picked up some scissors too, just as Professor Wayland had done. At least by following suit, he knew he was doing the right thing.

Abra approached Li Mei and gave her a quick rub on the neck, all the while employing all his willpower to not just throw his arms around the creature and give it a big squishy hug. Because that was not what they were meant to be doing, you know. Instead, carefully at first, very carefully, he began to brush out Li Mei's scraggly mane. To start with he was very gentle, so gentle that he was barely doing any brushing at all, but then - when it was clear that the zouwu didn't mind at all, he made more of an effort with brushing out the knots, though still very carefully, using the scissors to trim only when he absolutely needed to.

Malachi looks though the supplies that the professor had laid out for them to use, Malachi had a cat of his own so he was fairly used to these tool and just hoped to high heaven that this big cat has the same signs as his loittle cat soot. First he grabs the nail tremors and walks over to the big cat, after making sure that she’s calm he slowly picks up her paw, knowing that most cats hate it when you start messing with their paws. However Li Mei didn’t make any move to say that she was uncomfortable so he continued. He held the paw up a little so he could see where the nerve and blood gains ended then cut a little ways away from it. After doing that with each nail he grabs the file and smooths out any sharp edges the clippers had left. After he finishes that he grabs the brush and starts brushing the big cat, her purring as he does.

Tristan was so engrossed by the task in front of him he had forgotten to check the time. Li Mei had so many mats in her mane he was having a difficult time brushing through it. He was having to use the scissors a lot more than he thought he would. He was definitely going to have to have a talk with the sanctuary about this.

Soon he realized he was still in the midst of a lesson. He paused for a few minutes to check on the students, walking around to each of them and assessing their work. They were all doing very well. Soon enough he was making his way back to the spot he had claimed. "You all are doing an excellent job! We have about 10 more minutes!" He said with a grin before getting back into the thick fur around her neck.


OOC: You all are doing fantastic! Keep it up! You have until about 6 pm EST on the 30th!!! (aka tomorrow )

Nettie was actually SUPER excited for this part of the lesson. Even though Rudy was a short haired cat, she'd gotten really good at taking good care of his grooming needs. She was practically a cat nail trimming NINJA. She could get it down without Rudy even noticing she was doing it half the time.

"Hellooooo pretty kitty!" she called out to Li Mei. When the Zouwu came up to her, she smiled and pet the little kitty between the ears, gaining her trust first before she got started with the grooming.

First she had to do the nails. That way, in case she irritated her in any way - well, she couldn't use them as weapons against her. She grabbed the clippers and started with the back paws first, curling them slightly towards her so they weren't bent in a weird way to hurt the little girl, but so the nails were at the perfect angle. SNIP SNIP SNIP. She trimmed them with ease, little shards of kitty nail flying.

She then got the front paws, and even though Li Mei struggled just a bit, she got them trimmed relatively quickly. Alright. Now on to the brushing!

It was kind of entrancing watching the Zouwu playing with the other students and clearly enjoying itself. It wasn’t nice sometimes to see animals in captivity but it was obvious that this one was well looked after and despite not being a cat person he couldn’t help but to smile. The Professor was talking to another student about how the Zouwu’s were persecuted for doing what they would naturally do and the smile turned into a small frown. He just didn’t get it. How was it possible that anyone could hurt any creature let alone something as magnificent as this?

The lesson moved on once the Zouwu’s attention was back onto Professor Wayland and Caolan listened to the next instructions they were given all whilst still watching what the giant cat was doing. Perhaps he should’ve been paying attention a little more so he wouldn’t have been so surprised by what came next.

Grooming? Wait.. What??

If there was one thing for certain it was that Caolan was going absolutely nowhere near those claws. No matter how friendly Li Mei was and how distracted she was by the catnip, those claws looked like they could do some major damage and he actually liked his face the way that it was. It seemed like none of the other students were interested in doing it either. He decided to pick up the scissors and trim at her matted fur. It was less popular than the brushing and he was less likely to get mauled by her huge mouth. He cut at a piece of matted fur just above her front leg that seemed to have tangled up into a tight ball making sure that he was being as gentle as possible as he did so. She didn’t seem to mind too much, she was far too engrossed in her catnip treat and for that he was grateful.

Why couldn’t have Biology been this fun and easy?

As much as Abra was enjoying brushing out Li Mei's mane, and as much as he could tell that it still needed plenty more work, it seemed that the mane was a pretty popular place to be, popular enough that he was sort of struggling by way of elbow room. So, because he didn't want to accidentally elbow anyone in the face, Abra carefully extricated himself from the general group and moved away to a different area.

The tail. The glorious looking tail. Yes, Abra didn't even mind dealing with a risky back end because even the zouwu's tail was beautiful. Especially so. Again, he got to work brushing out the knots - gently at first, and then more firmly but still careful enough to not cause discomfort - and occasionally snipping at the clumps of not-quite-salvageable matted fur in order to brush it out more easily.

It was really very relaxing, when Abra thought about it. Grooming animals, that was. Squigs always spent about a zillion hours a day cleaning, so he never needed Abra's help and probably wouldn't take too kindly to receiving it. Feo often needed a brush and claw-trim though, of course, and though Abra was used to doing that for him, it wasn't quite the same as dealing with Li Mei's glorious coat and claws (the latter of which Abra was kindly leaving for someone else to deal with, sharing being caring and all).

Chloe was still jingling her little bells, but she was starting to think the creature wouldn't come near her. She was trying her best though and she hoped the professor was going to notice. "Here kitty kitty"

Hopefully, it would come to see her soon.

Her own thoughts started to distract her and she wondered what owning one would be like. She knew they didn't have owners typically, but she was allowed to think about it and wondered. As she continued to jingle her bell, but her mind drifted she was brought back into reality when she was nudged almost off her seat. Her eyes blinked and she looked straight at Li Mei standing next to her.

She was beautiful and Chloe couldn't wait to touch her fur, but she was cautious and careful as she reached up and pet the creature. Getting nudged a few more times she pet her and quietly told her that she was beautiful.

Just as quick as she came to Chloe she had left for someone else, but that was totally worth it.

Li Mei was probably in HEAVEN right now getting all this attention. After she made a few more rounds, Nettie rang her bell and tried to get her to come to her again. Nettie grinned at her as she came to her, head butting her hand as she got there, demanding pets. She scratched her head a bit and then got the the brush out.

"Let's get those tangles out," she said in a soft voice. Her "cat voice" as Royland called it. She apparently had a cat voice. Yup. Taking the brush, she slowly ran it over her, being sure to take caution around the mats. She didn't want to pull on her hair and hurt her. She worked a little bit on the tangles, getting a few of the nasty ones out with the hard bristles of the brush.

That was apparently enough for the Zouwu, who got up and moved away from her after that. She could see now why it took Wayland forever to groom the poor thing...

Tina's eyes followed Li Mei as she darted away, lured by someone else's cat toy. So far, so good. No one had been scratched or bitten yet. She felt a little more at ease around the zouwu now, but she was glad they weren't going to ride her. *She preferred a safe, predictable broom ride, thank you very much! Though she was curious what they would be doing for the rest of the class if they weren't riding the animal.

Luckily she didn't have to wait long to find out. Tina smiled a little as Li Mei started rubbing on Professor Wayland and purring… though the plop the zouwu made when she laid down startled her. She had to admit, Li Mei was pretty cute for a big deadly creature! She listened carefully as Professor Wayland explained the next activity. Okay, grooming… that sounded doable. She knew how to brush a cat. She had a lot of experience grooming Nem… although the little black cat was a lot smaller than Li Mei and had short hair that didn't mat easily. But this shouldn't be too different, right?

Tina was feeling fairly confident about this activity until.. whoa, wait a minute! Did Wayland just say they were working as a team? Did that mean they were going to have to divide into groups and each group groom a different area? Just the thought gave Tina a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She approached the table, half-expecting to see people pairing off, but it looked like everybody was grabbing supplies and choosing an area to work on their own. Phew, thank Merlin! Tina hated having to depend on anyone other than herself for a good grade!

She carefully examined the available supplies on the table, debating which she should use. If Li Mei was anything like Nemesis, she probably didn't like having her paws touched. Tina decided not to risk trimming the zouwu's nails. She wasn't panicking anymore, but that didn't mean she was going to throw all caution out the window. She didn't want to be attacked by a giant cat today - or ever, come to think of it! She opted for a brush and dematting comb, nice safe options, unless…

A thought suddenly occurred to Tina. What if Li Mei, like her own Nemesis, thought the brush was a toy and tried to attack it? Her dark eyes darted apprehensively to the zouwu, who she was relieved to see seemed sufficiently distracted by the catnip Professor Wayland had given her. Tina was immediately drawn to the zouwu's tail - less people working on that area, and the allure of the colors was too much to resist. The colorful fur was like art. It almost reminded Tina of a painting… a very long, *wiggly painting. “Hey, Li Mei,” Tina whispered, gently stroking the giant cat's tail to get her used to the motion before she started brushing, “Let's get your pretty tail fixed up. This won't hurt…”

She picked up her brush, but before she could run it through Li Mei's fur, she started swishing her tail back and forth. Tina giggled - the first time she'd laughed at anything since she left Beauxbatons. “Can you hold still. please?” She was just going to… wait until Li Mei got the wiggles out of her tail to begin. “Good kitty,” she said when the zouwu's tail eventually stopped moving. She gently moved the brush through Li Mei's tail, starting at the tip and gradually moving closer in. Periodically, she came across a tangle too big to handle with a regular brush, and she switched to a dematting comb, patiently working through the tangles from the bottom up. Soon she was so absorbed in brushing that she completely blocked out everyone else around her. This was the kind of slow, precise work Tina excelled in; it was calming for her. She hoped Li Mei found the experience as relaxing as she did!

Alright, one last thing before the lesson came to a close. The last time the Zouwu had been near, Nettie had looked in her ears and they had been DIRTY. Gross and waxy. Yuck. When Li Mei came around again, she made kissy noises and got the kitty to come to her again. She smiled and gave her a few more head scratches before grabbing a cotton ball from the grooming supplies and casually wiping out her ears.

"There, that's got to feel better, yes?" she said with a smile. The Zouwu turned her head in to the cleaning, giving a little purr as she did it. She then took a cotton ball and cleaned out the other one. Thankfully it didn't look like the ears were infected or anything - just waxy. Thankfully, the Zouwu had stayed still for the cleaning but that was all she had the tolerance for. She was starting to look really sharp as she headed away to the next person.

Tristan finished the last bit of mane that was in his section and took a step back. Li Mei was looking absolutely lovely now...not that it would last that long. But at least she was groomed for today.

"Great job everyone. Time to, clean up, pack up and head back to the castle. Thank you for your participation and the wonderful grooming job." He said with a smirk before moving back towards the great feline and rubbing her right ear. A great purr emanated from her throat. It was her favorite spot for rubbings.


OOC: Great job everyone! I'll leave the thread open until about 6 pm tomorrow for anyone that wants to finish up or say goodbye to the professor! Thank you all so much for participating!! You make our lessons <3