Avalon greeted her two new group members (Nora and Jillian) with a friendly nod. Tugging her dragonhide gloves on, she glanced over at Catherine, who seemed slightly irritated at the situation and their expanding group. Perhaps she preferred working individually. Not that Avalon would blame her - sometimes she liked to work by herself, too. But the first year could at least pretend that she wasn't miserable. It seemed to Avalon that Catherine would rather eat a rotten stoat sandwich than participate in today's group work.

Her train of thought was broken as Nostredame opened the cage door. A blur of scarlet, and the bird was soaring toward the group's crate. Avalon instinctively stepped back to give it room to land. As it perched itself on the crate, looking curiously at the students surrounding it, the young Ravenclaw couldn't help but stare. She had never seen a phoenix this close before. It looked a bit disheveled, but that was to be expected as Burning Day approached. Nevertheless, the bird was still beautiful.

"Who wants to go first?" Avalon asked her group. Although she wouldn't admit it anyone, she definitely wanted to go first. But she didn't want to seem too eager.