Merlin's beard!! What on earth had he been thinking? Flying lessons! He hated flying! Marcus, made sure to take his time walking up to the stables, it's not that he didn't want to make Iliana wait more that he didn't want to go through with this.

He was going to blame it on the sugar for his moment of insanity. He sighed deeply, as the stables came into view and his heart rate increased and his palms became all sweaty. Was it too late to turn around and forget the whole deal? Yes. Unfortunately it was.

Marcus, cursed under his breath as he stepped up to the fence surrounding the stables and he pressed his forehead against the railing and took a few deep breaths all the while chanting in his head, I can do this, I can do this. Groaning softly as his stomach clenched uncomfortably...actually he didn't think he could do this. Maybe he could sneak away now before Ili, showed up and...

Crap!

He was stuffed!

Coming out of the stables with Trinity and Dionysus trailing close behind, Iliana spotted Marcus standing by the fence. Lovely! He was right on time. Though as she got closer... something seemed off. Marcus looked like he was going to be sick. "Marcus...?" she said hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

Raising his head from the railing, Marcus looked over to Iliana and his face paled considerably at the sight of the two Abraxans. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth but the words were stuck in his throat. "Yes" he answered and then realising that was a lie. "No" he moaned shaking his head. Gah, he couldn't do it.

He wasn't exactly scared of heights as such, he had no problems standing up on the top of the tower of the castle and looking down because he knew he was on a solid surface. It was flying that was the problem, having something underneath you and supporting your weight while in the air was just not a comforting thought.

"I don't know what I was thinking when I asked you for this favor Ili." He clearly had been out of his mind that's for sure.

Iliana looked up at Marcus with wide eyes. Oh Merlin, she had never seen him in such a state. Clearly this was a bad idea. Not everyone was as comfortable as she was on an abraxan. "Marcus, if you've changed your mind then I understand. I can go put them back in there stalls. It will only take a minute," she explained, trying to give him some comfort.

"Unless... you're still up for a ride. On the ground of course," she added hastily. Fact of the matter was, she had promised Trinity a ride. It didn't matter one way or another if that meant actually taking flight. She smiled at Marcus in a way that would project to him what she was thinking. She was far from the pushy type. And if Marcus wasn't ready, that was more than fine with her.

Groaning again, Marcus kicked the fence with his foot. Had he changed his mind? Yes. No. Gah, he didn't know. He wanted to conquer this fear but he just didn't want to die doing it. Taking a deep breath, he gave Iliana a faint smile. "It's okay Ili, you've got them out now and we wouldn't want to disappoint them." Opening the gate, he made his way into the pen and stepped up beside the Abraxans and Iliana.

"Can we...can we at least take them away some place else, where none of the students can see?" Because there was no way Marcus, wanted any student to witness this. He had the feeling his reputation would be ruined if anyone besides Iliana saw this.

"Disappoint the Abraxans?!" she shook her head and smiled. "It's not them I'm worried about," she said quietly, turning to face Marcus full on. Trinity was ridden almost everyday. A day off wouldn't kill her.

When she was satisfied that he wouldn't back out, she turned back around. With a click of her tongue, Dionysus stepped closer. Iliana brought her hand up to stroke his mane and then drew her finger down his muzzle. "Be gentle with him," she whispered as the winged horse knelt down before her.

"He's all ready for you," she said, walking over to mount her own horse. Once she was comfortably in place, she gave Marcus a smile and said, "Where we're going, no one will see us."

Watching with slight apprehension as the Abraxan knelt down, Marcus nodded at Iliana but refused to open his mouth. He had this terrible thought that he was going to puke all over the place. Taking another deep breath, he placed his leg over the Abraxan and then held his breath as it got back to its feet. This was the easy part, he had done this before it was what they were going to do later that was freaking him out.

Looking up at Iliana, he gave her a smile. "So far so good" he joked as he grabbed the reins and waited for Ili, to lead the way. "Are we going to that place we went to last term?" Marcus, hoped so because it really had been a very nice spot and well away from prying eyes.

Iliana watched quietly as Marcus climbed up onto Dionysus' back. Whether he thought so or not, he looked like a natural up there. She smiled and nodded. "I think that's the perfect spot," she said. "Ready?" Before he had time to answer, Iliana spurred her abraxan on and bent low over its neck as the castle disappeared behind them.

A chuckle escaped his lips in spite of how he was feeling. Iliana, was not one to wait around. Marcus, spurred the Abraxan on after her, "Oi woman" he yelled out to her and laughing as he tried to catch up to her. "Are you always in such a hurry?"

Ah, he had to admit that he was feeling a lot better as he rode at break neck speed across the grounds. The whole wind through the hair and having no restrictions was quite liberating. He could do this all day.

"In a hurry nothing," she scoffed. "Look who's finally relaxed," she said, giving him a knowing smile. A few moments later, they arrived at the creekside. Iliana hopped down off of her abraxan and dusted off her backside. "And besides Marcus, if you DID have an audience back there, the one thing they DIDN'T see, was a frightened Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," she said with a wink. There was always a method to her madness. He should just learn that about her now and save himself time.

Leaning up against his abraxan's side, Iliana looked up at Marcus and asked, "Do you trust me? I have an idea."

Laughing out loud as he dismounted from the Abraxan, he had to admit that he did feel more relaxed after that ride. Marcus, looked at Iliana and snorted, "If any student did happen to see me back there, I would just have to modify their memory." He gave her a wink to let her know that he was only joking...sort of.

He turned and looked out over the view and breathed deeply through his nose and exhaled slowly out through his mouth. This place was amazing and so peaceful, it was a really great spot to do some serious thinking and...flying lessons as well. Upon hearing Iliana's voice as she poke to him, Marcus turned slowly and looked at her. "I trust you" he said simply. He raised an eyebrow and small smile touched his lips, "What do you have in mind Professor Morgan?"

"Oh Merlin!" she laughed. "I just bet you would." Yeah, she'd seen what he could do with that wand of his. She stepped closer when he addressed her; unable to help the bright smile that radiated from her face. "Well Professor… I think we should go up together, this first time." Trinity was HUGE, it wasn't as if there wouldn't be room enough for the both of them. "That way you can get a feel for the way she moves underneath us. It might make it easier for when it's your turn," she said, nodding slightly.

His body sagged with relief and he placed his hands on his hips as he eyed both Iliana and the Abraxan. "I think that is a brilliant idea." Marcus, smiled sort of nervously, he just hoped that Iliana didn't mind if he happened to...you know...squeal like a girl in her ear. Taking a deep breath he walked over to her and placed his hand on the Abraxan, "Ready when you are Professor Morgan." He gave her a wink and may have leered at her but it made him feel better when he flirted because it was something he was good at.

"I thought you might," Iliana said, reaching up and drawing her finger down Trinity's muzzle once more. After climbing on, she turned to look at Marcus and patted the spot right behind her. "Climb on, Marcus," she said. "I'll take it easy on you. Cross my heart."

Dominic wasn't really sure what he was looking for, but snatching a few feathers from some of the creatures in here wouldn't be too hard, right? Besides, Professor Morgan surely wouldn't notice if one feather was missing from each creature... Hopefully not anyway.

Glancing around at the different creatures, Dominic looked back towards Arrick and then at the creatures again. "So.. Uh... which one shall we start at?" He asked, shrugging, as he scoped the ground area for feathers that might give him some clue.

"I thought you knew," Arrick said with a frown, peering at the various strange and bizzare creatures in sight from behind the Head Boy. Did that horse have wings? And was it just him, or was it really really BIG?

He took a half step back and regarded the list in his hands. "It says hippogriff here, it does. What's that one?"

He peered about some more, looking for a hippopotomus amongst the animals, and obviously, finding none.

Hands shoved deep into his pockets, Jake frowned as he entered the magical creatures sanctuary, glancing quickly around for his crup as he did so. No, there was work to be done... and some Hufflepuffs were here already. Grr.

Still frowning, Jake looked around and a confused expression made itself known on his face for a second. Wow... he hadn't been here in ages...

What was he meant to be looking for here?

As Abigail entered the magical creatures sanctuary she noticed gloves and goggles along with a verity of other things situated near the entrance. She decided to take some gloves and goggles with her, not really sure what she might need. In fact she didn’t know what some of the animals listed were, so figure shed do her best to get samples from the ones she did know.

As she moved through the sanctuary peering into the different cadges she noticed Arrick and Dominic nearby and gave them a quick wave as she walked “Hi guys.”

She had decided to look for an area where larger animals would be kept, deciding that the Hippogriff’s and Thestral’s were probably in the same area being the bigger animals.

Finally finding an area that looked like pens she approached them quietly not wanting to spook the animals that could be in there. She didn’t know if she wanted to collect the Thestral hairs that would mean telling people more than she wanted about herself. After all only the students who’d see death would be able to collect Thestral hairs...right. She decided that she didn’t want them to know that so started looking for a moulted Hippogriff feather.

Climbing up onto the Abraxan so that he was sitting right behind Iliana, Marcus hesitated for a moment unsure of what to do with his hands. He gave a sort of shrug and placed his hands on her hips and gripped her shirt tightly. Trying to keep his breathing, steady so that she could not tell how nervous he was and that at any moment he was probably going to start screaming.

So as to hide how terrified he actually was, Marcus did what he always did when he was stressed...he used his charm. "I look forward to it Professor Morgan" he murmured and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Iliana turned her head to the side and found her cheek just millimeters away from his. "Hold on tight, Professor," she said as she reached her hands down and pulled his arms around her waist. Then, with a click of her tongue, Trinity was up and running, towards the Forbidden Forest. Iliana leaned back, squeezing her heels against Trinity's side. A cool breeze whipped through her hair as the abraxan's wings began to rise and a moment later, they were in flight. Keeping their height low and their speed steady, Iliana placed her hand over Marcus' and said, "When you're ready to go higher, just lean back." They were going to take this flight at HIS pace.

Sara sped into the Magical Creatures Sancuary. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she imagined this was the place to find the different animals' hairs and maybe even some of the feathers...

There weren't too many students here yet, so, Sara began searching on her own...

Josh canged his mind about where to go at first. There should be many people there in the forest which he normally likes but this search fun was somethign different. He should be all eyes to find what he needed instead of chatting with people. So he chose the Magical Creatures Sanctuary. There was only a Hufflepuff girl and Josh could easily recognise her : Andrew's puff friend who did not seem to like him at all. That was kinda sad, Josh grinned to himself as he searched in the Sanctuary, since he thought Hufflepuff's were sympathetic.

Mina looked around, she wasn't even sure where she should start. Pulling the list from her bag, she studied it. What would she be able to find here in the sanctuary?

'Feathers and hairs,' she read. 'Just need to find the right ones.' Glancing around she looked for a sign of some sort.

Great, more people were showing up, and he still had no idea what they were looking for. Maybe he should just look for random feathers and Dominic could figure out where they came from.

Looking around, he walked over to one of the fences lining a seemingly vacant pen and climbed over it nimbly. Funny that, an empty pen. Maybe they hadn't put anything in it yet.

"Ernt anything dangerous, or the fence ernt hold it all," he mumbled to himself. Looking wary anyway (who knows, maybe what was in here was invisible or something), he wandered further into the pen.