SnitchSeeker.com - CoMC #1: Meet the Porlocks

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- Term 39: January - April 2015 (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-39-january-april-2015/)

- - CoMC #1: Meet the Porlocks (https://www.snitchseeker.com/term-39-january-april-2015/comc-1-meet-the-porlocks-99930/)

Okay, so Porlocks. Kate's parents probably went over this creature a few times, but nothing in particular jumped to the front of her mind. She tried to piece together a few things the others were saying, though, to jog her memory. Porlocks...Porlocks... Two people had said something about Porlocks not trusting humans, and that caused Kate to remember the creature and something else about it that she didn't think had been said.

She raised her hand, her eyes on the professor. "They hide when humans are around," she said. She looked out into the barnyard and wondered how many Porlocks were out there right now, hiding because all these humans suddenly standing around. She also wondered why they mistrusted humans so much. Two feet tall wasn't that much smaller than most humans. Just by a few feet or so.

Porlocks? Well THAT didn't sound that interesting...sigh. When were they ever going to learn about DRAGONS and fun stuff like that? Caleb raised his hand anyways, though, so he could contribute to the conversation. "They walk on two hooves, like horses," he explained. Made sense, being horse guardians and all...

Oh LOOK Dot was here hi Dot! Wiggling his fingers Kyroh turned his attention back on the Professor.

Alright. Porlocks. Pooorlocks.

Porlocks.

He didn't know anything about Porlocks.

Don't get it wrong, the third year knew a great deal about creatures. But there were a bunch of creatures all around the world, plus most of his creature knowledge revolved around Dragons. Still the fourteen year olds hand went up. "They are creatures sir." Which he....already said but STILL.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter (Post 11718877)

SPOILER!!: The greetings

After doing a simple cleaning charm to make sure his teeth weren't stained. Appearances were a thing to the Professor, after all. He then addressed the class. "Welcome and Welcome back everyone. Today we will be interacting with a certain creature that is rare to see, but not on the endangered creatures list." What did that mean exactly? "Porlocks to be exact. Now before we get the preparations at hand, who can share what they already know of Porlocks?"

He shrugged and the Professor had a point. Oooh something interesting they were gonna see? He was now excited. He heard the Professor move on and now what did he know about Porlocks? He thought about it and he knew that name from somewhere. Did his aunts or uncles mention them? He thought back and then he raised his hand, "Professor I know they guard houses."

Janelle loved animals, but she had grown up primarily on the muggle world. Her knowledge of magical animals was woefully lacking. She had a lot to learn ......and it was starting now. When the Professor asked the first question, Janelle drew a blank.

Porlocks? Well now that was something that Janelle did not know anything about. For a moment she was tempted to take a guess. Then so many of her classmates gave answers, she couldn't imagine what else was left to say. Soooo, now was a good time to take notes. Janelle wrote down everything she could about Porlocks. She didn't know anything about them now, but she would. In the meantime, she would still try to come up with n answer......if that was possible.

Hmmm, porlocks... Evie thought about that creature and remembered more about it as the other people answered and gave input. She had read about them a while ago when she had been at home. It was one of her dad's books. What she found... not-so entertaining were some of the students who just gave out answers like "they're creatures, sir". Obviously. They were in the Creatures class and she was fairly certain they were only talking to hear their own voice.

Anyway...

She raised her hand. "They only have eight fingers. Four on each hand." That sounded awfully inconvenient, she thought. At least it was normal to them.

She didn't know how it happened that she was surrounded by Slytherins, but Beverly had to admit it felt nice. Empowering sort of. And she had a good view from here to make sure they were all staying in line.

Thinking over the question momentarily, she raised her hand. "I haven't ever seen one personally, but Porlocks remind me of satyrs. They were small creatures who walked on two cloven hooves in Greek mythology...Not sure if they were depicted from porlocks." Her cousin wouldn't shut about them during the last family reunion, and now the mention of porlocks reminded her of that.

Porlocks, porlocks, porlocks, what did Finn know about them? Honestly, nothing, and he wasn't going to take any sort of wild guess here and make himself look dumb or something. So, instead, there he was in his own place paying attention to what everyone else was saying.

What he got out of it is that they seemed to protect horses, a few students had said that, so Finn just nodded his head whenever they answered. He was all for the quiet, active listening right now.

After continuing to listen to her classmates' answers, Janelle finally had an idea. She was going to take a guess. Porlocks were like horses so........maybe she'd be right. Raising her hand, she prepared to give her answer.

"Porlocks must eat grass or hay." At least Janelle hoped they did. Well anyway, she'd given an answer. Yay for class participation.

SPOILER!!: Responses

SPOILER!!: Correct answers

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon (Post 11718880)

Porlocks? AW YEAH. Dima knew something in a LESSON. For the first time in, like, ever.

Taking a class on creatures had clearly been a fantastic choice.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment before piping up, trying to thing of a way to answer in a short and sweet manner and still deliver some new information. After all, he wasn't the typical brainiac Ravenclaw; Dima's knowledge, though it was present, lacked some details.

Basics, though? "Porlocks are small horse guardians that don't trust humans very much." In SUMMARY.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera (Post 11718887)

Oohhhhh!!! Porlocks! That's exciting stuff.

Zeke beamed, excited about the lesson. He didn't know much about them, but he did recall seeing pictures of them in his textbook.

Hand raised, he offered his own - limited insight into porlocks.

"They walk on cloven hooves... but they only have two, unlike horses cause they have four hooves.." he said, nodding matter-of-factly. He liked that his response complimented Dima's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack (Post 11718890)

Porlocks? Zander KNEW those. Well, he knew about those. You know... All this studying was starting to pay off. Though, when it came to creatures... He really liked to read that kind of stuff for fun. Well, okay maybe not for fun. But he did enjoy reading up on them. Especially the really cool kinds. And these ones were pretty cool.

He gave Kevin a grin in excitement as he raised his hand to offer an answer of his own. "They don't trust humans, Professor... I think they might be scared." Though, he wouldn't blame them really. Some humans weren't very nice to creatures. Terrible thought really. Absolutely and positively terrible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 (Post 11718892)

"I'm good, I'm good,'' Adi said to Angel as he bounced on to soles of his feet. There was a chill and he was waiting for his fave class to begin. Things couldn't get better. "Hi, Janelle!'' A smile for his little friend. The bestie got a slap on the shoulder for no particular reason. Hehe. "Hiya, Benny.'' Annnnd more persons were joining. Lux, Bev, Puck and Norah all got waves and grins from him. Did they see how much cheerful than usual he was today? DID THEY? It was all thanks to CoMC. "Hey, you,'' the much too cheerful Puffer said to his girlfriend when she came to stand next to him. He briefly hooked his pinky with hers. What you guys looking at? Nothing to see here. Move along.
....................

Ohhh Porlocks! Adi knew about thoseee! He knew a lot, in fact... as he did for most creatures. Now which piece of information to volunteer? He had to think about that before he enthusiastically pushed a hand up. "Fully grown Porlocks reach to about two feet high.''

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra (Post 11718914)

Cilla had been reading a book about magical creatures not that long ago so the information was pretty fresh in her mind. She raised her hand.

"A Porlock is a creature native to England and Southern Ireland," Cilla answered.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah (Post 11718915)

Porlocks. Sounded like something Agatha Hapgood would try to collection in multitudes to perform her horse care for her. And then she'd probably repulse them cause she was that kinda woman. HIS kinda woman. It reminded him that he owed her a correspondence in which he disclosed the price of the Arabian he'd been checking out for her. Though, she hadn't brought it up which made Cutty think that perhaps she'd already gotten a horse.

H'mm...Where was Happygoody? And where was Wayne? This was shaping up to be their sort of class.

No matter. Cutty's hand went into the air and he offered the perspective of a kid that had been shuffled around alot due to parents living in separate households, "Yeah, they only live here." He mentioned adding to what Cilla had brought up. "But they're unique to us alone like. Yer won't, for instance, travel to Brazil and find 'em there." Or Canada or Egypt. "Their habitat needs must be pretty particular, then mustn't they, Professor Thompson? Or is it a matter of magic?" Like protective borderlines or something. Were they going to see a Porlock? Could they feed it like they did the Augurey and marvel at the power of digestion?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy (Post 11718916)

More people arrived and Lux waved at them. It was nice to be back with the creatures, and Professor Thompson seemed to be in a good mood - but then when wasn't he.

Getting comfortable, she tried to bring to mind what she knew about Porlocks. After a moment she raised her hand, she said, "Porlocks are horse guardians which can be found either in a stable or the middle of the herd they are protecting." She knew a little more about then than that, but decided to leave it there so to be fair to her classmates.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz (Post 11718919)

Yeahh Ruby's knowledge of the actual creatures might fill a thimble if she was lucky, but she had possibly picked up some associated knowledge which to be honest came from pre-snogging conversation which, while she usually pretended to listen to closely, often went in one ear and out the other, but sometimes things stuck.

She put her hand up. "There's a village in Somerset called Porlock, I don't know if the Porlock creatures are named after it or originated there or if its a coincidence or whatever." But she'd snogged a boy from there once.

He hadn't been very good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy (Post 11718921)

It seemed like everyone was arriving all at once this morning. As she was sent waves from some of her friends they got return waves right back a few others receiving a light friendly smile. Hady was well aware that she'd started off standing by herself only to have a small group of girls standing with her by the time the Professor asked his first question. Not that she minded at all...it beat being by herself.

Fiddling with the pendant on her chain around her neck Hady straighened up once the Professor started. So they would be learning about Porlocks today? Or so that's what it seemed. The second year didn't really know much about them honestly but she did remember reading a little of them. Raising her hand she answer with what she knew. "Their bodies are covered in lots of shaggy rough hair." And that was about all she remembered really other then what everyone else was saying.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju (Post 11718955)

Agatha didn't mind having the two younger Slytherins near her and Beverly. In fact, that made her feel a bit more powerful because they were in a group and, to be honest, Agatha almost trusted some of her fellow snakes.

If only she could read Cutty Mordaunt's thoughts. Those were accurate just like his words. Porlocks couldn't be found in Brazil, unfortunately, and neither could many other creatures that were not related to today's the class. That was certainly something that made Agatha frown because of parents reasons.

Whatever. There was no time for this rubbish. Professor Thompson was already asking the first question and Agatha was glad this was going to be a lesson she would enjoy. Although "They are very awkward looking, professor." was her only contribution to the conversation, because Morgana, those things were ugly. Good thing they were small.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz (Post 11718973)

PORLOCKS! Eden knew LOTS about porlocks....and good thing, too, since she saw one every ooooonce in a blue moon behind her house. Since they lived outside the village, they got aaaaalllll sorts of odd creatures. Though Eden mostly know what they looked like from pictures, since every time she tried to get close to one it flitted away, like....a spirit or something.

Sigh.

Eden just wanted to seeeeee one up close. Maybe they would today! Her hopes were VERY high. Professor BETTER not disappoint.

She raised her hand. "Professor--porlocks protect horses. At least, they try to." She said with a nod. If only they had HORSES maybe she'd see a porlock more offten...maybe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana (Post 11718974)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo (Post 11719040)

"That is correct.." More or less. "Their habitat remains amongst the other horses, whether magical or not wherever they choose to remain. They just happen to be more visible and free here."

SPOILER!!: Other answers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tazenhani (Post 11718897)

Amur caught Puck's wave and returned a small one of her own as she found a spot to take a seat. Settling herself, she shifted her attention to the Professor and the general vicinity, trying to glean what they might be learning today.

That question was quickly answered, though it wasn't an answer that immediately sparked recognition in her. Porlocks? Amur blinked. The name was vaugely familiar on two fronts. She had heard her grandparents make mention of it, both as a creature and as a place.

Her hand went up tentatively. "They look like a pulled-up shag carpet and are named after a city."

She left out the that likely sells a lot of shag carpets prediction of her grandparents. Really, she didn't know much about the city, let alone where it was, except for its name and that, well, it was a city. So adding any extra guess onto an already hesitant answer didn't seem like a good idea.

She hoped the Professor didn't ask where said city was.

"...Yes." Interesting to hear what some of these students thought.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist (Post 11718905)

So they were learning about Porlocks? Puck curiously glanced up at the Tomato eating Professor and raised her eyebrow that was interesting. She listened to what the others had said and grinned. This class was going to be interesting right?

“Professor would the Porlock be more closely related to the extant Mesohippus or middle horse? The ancestor to the mundane modern horse or Equus as both around two feet tall?” She asked as she was rather curious about this considering her grandparents affinity to horses and anthropological studies…really it was kind of creepy as her grandparents had had a collection of old dead millions of years dead bones all because they were studying them with magic.

Really.

It was weird that she wasn’t as…driven as them. Maybe it had something to do with her rebellious nature?

"It is possible, given how many creatures have close ties with horses in general in the muggle and wizarding community."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir (Post 11718911)

Thompson got a smile right back, though it was impossible to see properly behind the coat and scarf, and other kids who waved at Toby also got nods and waves back, but for the most part the Hufflepuff was quite content with his Hippogriff escape fantasy. Toby wondered how Monty was doing; not too cold, hopefully. Maybe he'd visit later, and bring the blankets from his bed as some extra warmth in case the creature needed it.

Toby was still off with his thoughts when the lesson began, and as such when he blinked his way back to reality he'd already missed most of what Professor Thompson had said, just about catching the tail end of his words.

'... share what they already know of Porlocks?'

And then people were rattling off answers but Toby was still partly in daydream land. He shook his head as though to clear it and stuck his hand in the air.

"A Porlock is not to be confused with a bunch of pixies masquerading as a small horse attempting to infiltrate a stable." He had a dead serious look on his face as he spoke, because was he WRONG? No. He was not. "Though there's some people who think that that's exactly what they are. Probably."

"..Correct." Interesting thoughts as always.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom (Post 11718977)

"Correct, though regular horses prefer to remain on all fours."

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanficfanatict (Post 11718899)

Hugh had hardly caught that the lesson was beginning. He'd been so out of things lately, yo. More than usual and that was a lot for Hughbert as he ran a monopoly on inner!thinking and contemplation. Which me at he was only ever listening with one ear open in most classes.

But today was particularly bad. Alan Turing's papers had kept him up most nights having deep inward thinking about a load of things.

So forgive the distracted Slytherin.

He did hear THAT question, though, and rose his hand, "They're Magical Creatures, Professor.". Drop the mic.

Poor Hughbert. He didn't actually mean to sound snarky or unbecoming. He was just trying to give an answer the populous had not already regurgitated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles (Post 11719010)

"Clearly.." If that was all these two boys knew.. Well, they came to the right class then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin (Post 11719012)

Either his ears were.. nah. Javier knew he wasn't that old, "They do guard horses, yes."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz (Post 11719047)

"That is a reasonable comparison. I would guess it to be the other way around given how much cleaner Satyrs are depicted appearance wise." Odd to enough, but much less hairy yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 (Post 11719094)

A small smile, "Yes.. and much more."

"Alright. So they are considerably shy creatures and don't trust us humans very much enough to remain out of sight." Except, "However, that isn't always the case when we have such an accurate and documented description to prove their existence." Now then, "As with anyone, trust requires build up. So what are ways we can get Porlocks to gain our trust?"

---
OOC: Feel free to be creative with your answers here.

Oohhhhh!!!! HE KNEW THIS ONE!

.... or well, he could hazard a guess at least.

Beaming, Zeke raised his hand to respond. "Well, Professor, since they're horse guardians, showing them that you're nice and trustworthy by being nice to horses and looking after them would be a good step... wouldn't it?"

Feed the horsey, brush the horsey, love the horsey and BAM! Befriend a Porlock!

It totally made sense to him.

Right, so that was the predicted next question, which only made sense. Kate figured they were going to discuss how this works then get out there and find some Porlock. Speaking of which, how did this work anyway? Kate thought that over then raised her hand. "Well, since they're protective of horses, maybe we should show them how gentle we can be to horses. We could ride horseback or come out walking by one," she suggested. Her first thought was to offer the Porlock some food, but since she had no idea what they ate, she scratched that idea. Also, she doubted a creature that didn't trust her would accept food from her.

Adi made some notes as his classmates gave answers and Professor Thompson confirmed them. So many fascinating stuff on Porlocks! But then again allll creatures are fascination.

Anyway, this next question required some serious thinking from the fifth year. No worries, though. He thought of something soon enough and raised a hand. "By leaving food for them. Sometime or the other they would figure out who's leaving the food and they'll start to trust them.'' Well, if anyone left him Chocolate Froggies he'd start trusting them sooner or later. Suddenly, something occurred to him. He just said FOOD O__O

"Porlocks eat grass so when I said food, I really meant grass.'' A nice big pile of fresh, green grass. Gosh, maybe it was because he had been thinking about having a scone only a few moments ago that made him say that particular four letter word..

Listening to some of the answers that were given around her Hady was able to draw a mental picture of a Porlock in her mind. The really didn't sound very cute at all but maybe in it's own way it was. Not that that was really the point here right now.

Shifting from foot to foot as a chill from the cool air ran through her she tried to keep her focus on what was being said. It made sense didn't it? Porlocks were horse guardians right? So they cared about the animal, so gaining their trust probably had something to do with that.

"Maybe we can gain their trust by being gentle with the horses they care for and getting the horse to trust us?" The small snakette replied with a hand raised up in the air.

Playing a little catch up!

Oh so they were studying Porlocks! Margo had heard of them of course, but had never actually seen one, who has really. "Porlocks are very shy, and mistrust humans." Margo stated what little she knew about the creatures.

Margo was trying to think about what she had done to gain the trust of other animals. "I would think you could gain their trust by feeding them, like with most animals. Like if you went back and fed it everyday." Margo said thinking the way to any animal, magical or other wise was through their stomach!

Margo giggled at the thought, most people's trust could earned that way to.

Porlocks seemed to be the topic of today's lesson, the fifth year topping the top of his parchment with the creature's name for any notes that he might right. The details of porlocks was something he knew but his classmates were quicker, giving answers before Benny could come up with one of his own. Oh well, he could remain quiet for this round of questions and leave it to them.

At the next he was ready and raised his hand to "Certainly be nice to the horses its caring for. A mutual respect of the creatures would provide a connection for porlocks to feel more comfortable around you." Outright trying to connect with them might be bad, especially for the more cautious creatures.

What Tia really wanted to do was see these rare creatures already. Like would they get the opportunity to ride them? Did porlocks fly? She probably should have done advanced reading except with her other classes, she had momentarily forgotten about Magical Creatures. Oh well, she listened to her peers for a few moments and then she heard a question that she could probably guess about. Raising her hand after considering her answer, "Food. They say the way to a man's heart - or well, in this case creatures, is food. Don't poison them. Feed them what they like and you'll bring out their trust."

SO. The ickle horsies were mistrustful. Guess that meant no riding them for now. Poop. Norah sniffled again as she thought about the question that followed. Trust trust trust, how do you gain one's trust. Obviously food was the bestest answer, if y'asked her, but people already SAID that so she needed to think of something else. UM. The third year raised a hand in the air without really knowing she was going to say, and waited to be called on. "Um. Oh! I bet it'd help to be really quiet so they don't get scared. But don't be too quiet, or else it seems like you're hiding something. Just don't sneeze because loud sneezes are scary." Which was UNFORTUNATE, because Norah reeeeaalllyyy felt a sneeze coming on sometime soon. SNIFF. Wait! Her hand shot in the air one more time, because another idea over here, YEP. "And I think you should ask before petting them or brushing them because it's not very nice to touch someone before they say its okay, and it'll show that you're trustworthy 'n stuff. Plus hair brushing is just mean." DIDJA HEAR THAT, MOM? SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BRUSH HER HAIR. Ickle Porlocks shouldn't have to go through that either.

It felt a little like the professor was ignoring her, and Dot scrunched up her nose as she listened to him explain about the creature. The porlock thing. The stuff she'd found in the book was exactly true, if not as creative and genius as what her classmates had said.

Maybe she was just dumb at this subject. Stubbornly, Dot raised her hand and tried again on the next question. "Professor, if the porlocks hide from humans, then maybe we should hide from them first so we don't scare them. We could disillusion ourselves, or muffle the sounds we make. I don't think that works long term, but maybe you could get them used to you over time by introducing yourself into their environment slowly."

Angel raised her hand. "Professor we could offer them cake or something like that." She had been fooled a few time by people offering her cake when she didn't want to do what they did. "It does work on people, Professor, so it might work on them."

Agatha thought that there was already way too much chit chat going on. She wanted to start the practical bit now. That was, if no spells were involved; if there was any new incantation she needed to learn for the practical bit of this lesson, then she would rather they kept talking.

So many people were saying the way to gain the trust of a Porlock was to be nice to the horses. Well, obviously, but also "You could allow the Porlock look after your horses." Because there were probably people out there who were very protecive of their animals and Agatha wouldn't blame them. "If they know you're nice enough and you trust them to look after your horses, then they can trust you back." Honestly, Agatha would only ever let anyone touch her horse if she trusted them, so that obviously should work for Porlocks too. Obviously.

"I know I'd only let Porlocks look after my horses." The Slytherin added added matter-of-factly. No one else. No one.

Okay, maybe her uncle too.

Porlocks. Interesting.

She had read about them, although had never seen them. Though now that she thought about it, could it be the cause of some horses' distrust or backing away from some people, that the Porlocks would warn them somehow? IT was definitely a question to ask to Professor Thompson.

She pondered a bit, raised her hand and cleared her throat a bit,"Well, considering they take care, guard horses, their trust should come through actions, and obviously caring and loving intentions for the horses in our part. These actions, should be like doing a constant cleaning of the stables, the correct feeding, the hair brushing, gestures like caressing and being around them. OH, and it would also help if we leave some fresh food for the Porlocks?" Because the stomach was quite a magnet for trust.

Once again, Ror had absolutely no clue what a Porlock was and by the sound of it, it sounded like those dogs that people mistake for mops sometimes. And they were very protective of horses??????? uhhh...okay...whatever floats their raggedy boat. This probably wasn't how they gained trust, but it's worth a try. Maybe. She raised a hand half-heartily, "You invite them to a sleepover and have deep conversations at three in the morning." The morning after is always weird, but a bond is definitely there.

Porlocks. Scott can't even guess what it is just by it's name, but hearing other students' answers, he figured out they guard horses and that they don't trust humans. Much like Snow when they first got him. How to gain the porlocks' trust? Scott hopes it is the same as gaining a puppy's trust. He raised his hand halfway and said "Just don't appear hostile... Uhmm... Try to pet them, if they let you..?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter (Post 11719095)

Okay Ruby couldn't decipher in that blue-eyed stare if she was right or if what she'd said was useful or anything since the professor hadn't seemed to give any sort of indication that he'd even heard her. Oh well.

But honestly.... this trust thing made her wonder... hand up...

"Professor, why do we need to make them trust us? Like what is the purpose if they hide when they see us, it isn't like we NEED to make them trust us to go hang about with the horses they guard. And besides, how are they guarding the horses at all if they don't actually do anything to protect them, if they only hide from people?" Pause. "Unless they don't hide from something that would be a predator of a horse or something like that."

Just saying. Why? She was interested to know.