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Care of Magical Creatures Lesson 1: The Cockatrice
As you make your way down to the usual area where your Creatures class is held, you'll start to notice a large row of hedges running around the usual classroom space. In fact, the hedges are so high that you can't see where the classroom area used to be fenced in. Where does it start? Where does it end? Heck, you can't even see the edge of the Forbidden Forest behind these hedgerows, which have to be at least eight, nine, maybe ten feet tall.
You can see Professor (and Groundskeeper) Williamson, however, who is standing in front of the entrance to the hedge maze. Yes, it's a maze, and yes, there's a creature inside. "Come on, don't dwadle now," he says and beckons you to join him beside the entrance to the maze. There are a few wooden shipping crates beside him and every so often, the hedges give a bushy little shake like something inside the maze is eager to get out.
But don't worry. You trust Williamson to make sure nothing happens to you, right?
Class Progression:
Q1. What do you already know about hybrid creatures? What makes a magical creature 'hybrid'? How/why could these creatures be considered more dangerous than a regular creature?
Q2. Today you'll be facing a creature that does have a history with the Triwizard Tournament. What can you tell me about the cockatrice, and how do you survive one?
Mini-Activity. Suit up to go into the maze. There's padding and helmets, sunglasses, broken mirrors, and weasels on leashes for you to use. Good luck.
Main Activity. Into the maze! Don't RP for the jarveys or cockatrice(s). Just try to get to the end of the maze!
Just so you know, it's not too late to jump in! This lesson will close at/around 11:59 PM EST on 13 January 2021!
Mom says I have no sense of direction, so I packed my bags and right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl
SPOILER!!: This kills me xD
Oh Merlin, couldn't some of the Muggleborns at least TRY not to give themselves away?! William nearly facepalmed at Moose's answer. "Yes, you can breed them, good job," he replied calmly, pretending that was an answer and not a question, in case anyone was listening.
"Ah well...good." Yes, Moose obviously knew this. He knew this now. Was the facepalm really necessary? If he was going to try his best to not seem Muggleborn an assist would be nice, perhaps play him up a bit! "Thank you Professor Williamson." He mumbled under his breath.
Did Moose ever mention how much he detested your name? No offense meant, it's not your fault.
It's just how the cards were played.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl
"Today you'll be facing a creature that does have a history with the Triwizard Tournament, as Blake Ryan mentioned earlier. What can you tell me about the cockatrice, and how do you survive one?" Please, kids, show their guests that you know a thing or two.
Awhatatrice?!
And from what? The latter Moose had heard about last year, but yet again. Not focusing on the material really did him in, and this term he could rightly suffer for it. So way to go Moose! Just pay attention now, don't ask any Muggleborn questions and just pay attention!
Look pureblood!
SPOILER!!: all the questions, all the SINISTERNESS
Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl
Text Cut: greetings!
SPOILER!!: Astrocat
This kid.
"Not today, at least," Williamson grunted in reply to the first student to arrive. Ah, Fox, was it? He glanced around and then quickly winked at her so fast that it probably just looked like an eye twitch. "You don't have to consider ME a threat."
It was fine, he could say that. No one was around to hear, were they? Actually, scratch that. He had a job to do here and he couldn't go around encouraging the kids and giving them false hope.
But really, he wasn't a threat.
SPOILER!!: Alicia
"Hi Claudine," Williamson returned the fifth year's greeting. Ah, these kids. They were going to break his heart this year, weren't they? He gave her a half-smile for that comment. It was about all he could muster today.
SPOILER!!: k8
"Morning, Song," Williamson returned the Slytherin's greeting. He felt bad for the kids, all of them, but especially for the ones who had to suffer through their final years under this.... new management of theirs. The firsties might forget the trauma, but the older kids? This could be their last impression of Hogwarts.
He sighed and looked to the next student.... who was, oi oi, sidling up to Aboli, was he?
SPOILER!!: Shan
...actually, this one might be alright. "I wish I'd thought to do that," he mumbled to himself. Shoot. Was it too late to remove one of the gloves from his pocket and make it a portkey?
SPOILER!!: Kat
The not-having-prefects thing was still weird, and Williamson almost greeted Avalon with her old title. But he caught himself in time and gave her a calm nod of greeting. "Hello." He wanted to tell her to cheer up, that there was no wampus inside, but...
Well, these hedge mazes had a tendency to take on a life of their own, didn't they?
SPOILER!!: Bonana
Ah, fresh meat.
Only joking.
This Gryffindor so far seemed calmer than last year's batch of firsties. "Hello," he replied, watching carefully as she scooted away. Yep, she had a healthy fear of the unknown. He could work with that.
SPOILER!!: Taylor
This one, though... just made Willy feel worried. Malachi's kids went here and both of them were super defensive about their pops, as he'd learned on the field trip last year. He understood if Kale could only greet him with a wave. He'd seen what had happened at the feast...
So he waved back to him, just a small, short but friendly wave. It would be alright, Kale Trent. They would make it through.
Hopefully.
SPOILER!!: NiallNIP
Another firstie from the boats; he thought he recognized this one. "Hello." Hopefully, curiosity wouldn't kill the eagle before they got into the maze properly.
SPOILER!!: Lisseh
Ah, this poor kid. William had seen him get hit by some kind of spell from those Neo-Alliance goons... but the kid looked alright, so he quickly turned his face from concerned back to neutral. "Hey, Adam," he greeted him kindly. "Alright there?"
SPOILER!!: Gavin
...what had he said about curiosity killing the Ravenclaws? He let out a low little chuckle at Ingrid's questions.
"This isn't a quidditch bootcamp, kiddo, don't wory," he briefly smiled the smallest of smiles back at her. At least SOME had kept their spirits up. Maybe the Ravenclaws had already brained a way out of this mess. He wouldn't put it past them; they were ALMOST as good at surviving as his old House.
SPOILER!!: Joel
Speaking of...
"Hello, Curtis," he greeted his classmates' son. "Sure miss your dad this year. This wasn't easy to build." He thumbed over his shoulder at the hedges. William had been working ALL SUMMER on these grounds, but did anyone even notice? NOOOOOOoooooooooooooOoOOO, all they could talk about was the stupid takeover.
SPOILER!!: Jaaaaaay
"It WILL be great," he assured the young Slytherin. "Just wait. Just watch and learn." Er, maybe participate and learn. Yes. Do that.
And, "Don't sit on that." He reached down and tugged the boy off the crate by his collar alone, giving him a gentle-ish push toward the other kids. "You never know what's in an unlabeled crate. Don't do that again." Ever.
SPOILER!!: Ern-la
"How did you get ahold of my lesson planning book," Williamson mumbled back at Phoebe, half-smiling at her though his amusement didn't quite reach the laugh lines by his eyes.
Listen, he'd been through a lot in all his years at Hogwarts. This? Just another year of typical shenanigans.
Probably.
But all the same? He really missed Gaellen Tate and his 'don't die' speeches right about now.
SPOILER!!: Kristin!
"Hello," he replied to the Hufflepuff, noticing where she stood. Good. It was good that Kale had some friends here, because he'd be needing them.
SPOILER!!: AriFerrari
Like this one. Actually? She was one of the more sensible second years.
"That's..." he started to say, then paused as a few things clicked in his mind, "...something that would be frowned upon." By their new management, see? But he didn't say no, either. Instead, William did his best to hide the smile that was twitching at the corner of his mouth.
Keep thinking that way, Kinsay James. Maybe she and Nam (who'd suggested a portkey) were onto something.
SPOILER!!: Parcel Mouth
"What's up, stead?" Williamson returned the greeting, knowing full well that he'd probably used that dad joke before and honestly not caring a bit about it.
This one was one to watch, though. Nem had... great self-preservation instincts, so long as their clever mouth didn't land them in hot water first.
SPOILER!!: Josey!
"Hello," he smiled a little to the latest Hufflepuff to join the class. It was good to see some kids had chosen to return to Hogwarts after the, uh, events of the previous year. He wondered if any would be allowed back after this hostage situation (assuming it ever ended...)
Maybe he shouldn't be making such assumptions.
SPOILER!!: Lindseyyyy
"It wasn't that funny," Williamson grumbled quickly, tempted to get Minjae's name wrong on purpose. But he supposed there were enough villains in the school right now, so he didn't need to pile on. Plus Minjae was... glad to be here?
Minjae? Looking forward to Creatures class? And not carrying a goofy little umbrella or something similar? Williamson squinted at him. "Are you sure you're feeling well, Yoon?"
SPOILER!!: Lady of Light
"Hello!" Williamson returned the smile with a much dimmer one. Still, it was good to see the Gryffindor. She always did well in his class. Hopefully, she'd still be enjoying it after she made it through the maze...
SPOILER!!: Kathhhhhh
William almost took a step back into the hedge when he saw one of Airey's boys coming toward him, but thankfully, he wasn't trying to hug him again. "Hello," he returned, listening to the boy and nodding along.
Aha, so this was the twin with the spider. And... the hot er, nice cousin. Actually, he had two nice cousins whom he called aunt. Alrighty. "Well, April would probably love to see another Flamsteed. She likes all of your family for some strange reason." His mouth twitched into an almost-smile at that. "Come to my cabin later if you want to meet her yourself."
April LOVED visitors. It was a wonder she hadn't figured out a way to break out of his hut already.
SPOILER!!: Evaaaaa
Another firstie he recognized from the boat... good, good. He was hoping they wouldn't all get lost on their first day. "Hi there," he replied, his mind a total blank on her first name. Slytherin, though, he liked that Sorting for her.
SPOILER!!: Ashweee
This was unusual for Miss Summers, wasn't it? Williamson would greet her anyway, his brow knitting together as he watched her drift into class. "Hi Cece. Good to see you." And cheer up, there were creatures here! Well, not cuddly ones, but still.
SPOILER!!: Daydreamer11
And a Gryffindor firstie... the Sorting hat had evenly divvied up the kids this year, huh? "Hello," he returned her greeting. He'd get her name shortly.
SPOILER!!: DaniDaeeeemon
Yikes. The older kids looked worse than the terrified younger ones. "Alright there?" he greeted Coby, giving him a man-to-man nod of encouragement. He needed to buck up. They couldn't kick out the Cult in a day, alright? They'd... they'd survive... surely.....
SPOILER!!: Kolyander
This little baby-faced 'Claw had to be related to one of his other students; he was sure of it. He saw a family resemblance. "Hi there," he greeted her. Someone must have told her his name. Maybe they'd said some nice things too, hmm?
SPOILER!!: Einstein?
William always thought that being outside helped too. "Hello," he actually smiled back, just a small smile, to the kid. "Welcome." He might be surprised to learn they weren't studying cuddly creatures today, but... well, they'd see...
SPOILER!!: Lili!
Aww no, more PDA.... but alright. William was usually anti-students-touching-each-other but he supposed these were extenuating circumstances. He cleared his throat softly and pretended not to see the brothers comforting each other.
SPOILER!!: Daniiiii
He had other things to deal with besides PDA, like one Emmerson Cambridge...
William sighed, then glanced up to the sky and back down to the little second year. At least she was easily distracted, right? "Guess you're going to have to stick around to find out, okay?" He wasn't just going to TELL HER what was in the maze. Come on. That would ruin the work he'd spent a month on.
Plus he wanted to avoid attracting Rosier's attention at all costs, so if she could just forget about asking that... that would be grrrrrrrrrreaaaaaaaat.
SPOILER!!: 2111jen
"Hello," William returned the Slytherin's greeting flatly.
SPOILER!!: Stellaaaaaaa
Finally, some appreciation for his hard work! "Hello," he greeted the boy, a little hint of pride in his voice.
Oh, what if it WAS a sphinx, huh? Williamson should have thrown one in there just for the heck of it.
SPOILER!!: Rhi
"Hey Heath," Williamson replied with a nod as well, watching as he took up a spot next to Claudine. Now now... there wasn't going to be any hand-holding in here, was there?
SPOILER!!: Sirius Black LIVES!
Alas, what WAS normal, especially when it came to learning about Creatures? "Hello," he greeted Charlie calmly, nodding to her as she came over by Phoebe.
SPOILER!!: Jujuuuuuuu
And Williamson nodded back, because some things never changed, and he wasn't one to start DEMANDING greetings just to soothe his ego. Lookin' at the new HM on that one.
SPOILER!!: Kim
"Ding ding, we have a winner winner, chicken dinner," he muttered in reply to Blake, though he did also nod to the boy with an almost-smile. "Keep that in mind, Blake." He was, maybe, on the right track.
Right then, time to start with a queston! Only... someone had one for him first.
...could Aboli just chill for a second?! William glanced behind him at the rustling hedge, as though something was in it that could hear her question. He also made a half knock-it-off gesture at his neck, something like a karate chop motion.
"You'll be expected to attend all your lessons and do your best to learn everything a proper wizard should know, Ms. Song," he replied swiftly and loudly, almost coldly, though he didn't exactly make eye contact with her as he said this.
As for her sanity....? Well, he kinda tilted her head at her as though urging her to just... just knock it off. Because why make life more difficult for all of them by asking these things?! She was a Slytherin. Surely she'd understand the need to save herself. He shook her question off and turned to the rest of the class.
"Alright, let's get started." Williamson grunted and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket, where his dragonhide gloves comforted him somewhat. Behind him, the bushes still trembled slightly, and he wondered what else was in there besides what he'd already placed there.
Anyway. He needed to say the right things today to keep the kids on track and in decent spirits, if that were even possible. "I'm Professor..... er, and Groundskeeper Williamson for those of you who don't know me. I've taught here for a few years, worked for the Ministry, and also taught at Hogwarts for a few years before that. Uh, dragons are my specialty and favorite creature, but I really like any animal. The more dangerous, the better."
He offered them a half-hearted smile and continued. "Today we've got an XXXXX rated creature here. You'll probably quickly figure out what it is." He raised a brownish gray eyebrow. "But before you can face this fantastic beast, you need to prepare yourself. So what do you already know about hybrid creatures? What makes a magical creature 'hybrid'? How/why could these creatures be considered more dangerous than a regular creature?"
Williamson pulled one hand out from his pocket to gesture at them. "Feel free to build on each others' answers and if you're a firstie or a transfer student, tell me your name, too. I'm NOT having you fill out any stupid forms, I just want to know what I'm supposed to call you." There, see? They were in this together. He couldn't say much more, but he did have a determined glint in his brown eyes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inquisitorial Squad
There were, in fact, several people listening quite intently from behind the hedges. Without much prompting, three of them emerged from the bushes, one taking up a spot of prominence from beside the professor, and two swooping into the crowd of students. Their faces completely obscured by their hoods, they moved through, sniffing at the children's hair, flicking their wands at an untied shoe, a loosely clasped cloak, or an askew tie.
One hovered just behind the former Slytherin prefect (kayquilz), as though WAITING for her to move or say the wrong thing or ask more stupid questions.
The other stood beside the small Gryffindor (DaniDiNardo) who dared to mention Headmaster Rosier in the same breath with the term half-blood. This observer tapped a long black wand in their free hand as they watched her. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The hooded figure beside the professor unearthed a quill and parchment from their robes, beginning to scribble furiously as the children answered his question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl
Text Cut: Responses!
SPOILER!!: Bryn
The liger actually would have been a great answer, had Eden decided to share it. But the bit about... unpredictable animals was also good. "Yes and yes," he responded, "Eden. Thanks. Good answer."
SPOILER!!: Nialllll RIP
Woe was this kid, huh? Stuttering already, and he didn't even know what was in the hedge maze yet? "Quinn, no, you're right," he nodded at the Ravenclaw. "Good...."
SPOILER!!: Astrocat, who is she?
Alright, another good Ravenclaw answer. "Excellent, just what I was thinking of." Williamson nodded at Ashley. "They're also fairly rare, which makes them harder to study."
SPOILER!!: Alicia
"That's one way to think of things," he rubbed at his chin and nodded to Claudine. They DID tend to be more dangerous than their parents, really.
SPOILER!!: Josey
Everything was fine, what a great motto. "That is a great example!" he pointed to Mamie. Although... it was a rather, er, basic Muggle science answer. Surely that wouldn't matter, right? Even wizards had to know how the basic subjects worked.
SPOILER!!: Austin TX
No answer from this one? William looked at the kid, waiting for a response, because he LOOKED like he was thinking... but when he didn't say anything, he called on the next hand.
SPOILER!!: Anna Banana
"Good, Delilah. Some people would say that cross-breeding is like opening a box of chocolates... you never know what you're going to get." Though it was considerably less risky in Herbology than in Magizoology.
SPOILER!!: This kills me xD
Oh Merlin, couldn't some of the Muggleborns at least TRY not to give themselves away?! William nearly facepalmed at Moose's answer. "Yes, you can breed them, good job," he replied calmly, pretending that was an answer and not a question, in case anyone was listening.
SPOILER!!: ValenciaOranges
Well there was an original thought, well done. "I agree," he nodded to Valencia. "Though they're also pretty rare, so hybrids in general aren't so common."
SPOILER!!: AriFerrari's Nemesis
Aha, another thoughtful, original answer. "You're right. That's a common problem in pugs, for example, with their flat faces." Mmm, the point about reproducing didn't go unnoticed either, but they would come back to that (perhaps) when they realized what hybrid WWW was specifically talking about in this class.
"Even hybrid creatures have their weaknesses," he acknowledged. And that... was all he would say about that, for now.
SPOILER!!: AriFerrari my dear
What was with these kids and wanting to give out hugs the way Kitrige snapped at things?
"I... don't think you can make a hybrid from ANY creature," he replied, though he was scratching at his stubbly chin and sounding entirely unsure. THis could or could not be possible. He certainly never wanted to see a pugon. They sounded... awful, and like they'd have terrible proportions.
SPOILER!!: Lady of the Light
Okay, yes! A simple answer, but effective! Williamson smiled at the girl a little bit. "That's correct."
SPOILER!!: Lindsey!
William scratched behind his ear. Did he mean now or in general? "Now, I suppose, so, that's great." What in Merlin's beard did peachy mean? He couldn't understand the kids' slang these days.
SPOILER!!: Eva!
There it was, the textbook answer he was looking for! How odd that it was coming from a firstie. "A chimaera is a great example of a hybrid," he acknowledged. "And interestingly enough, hybrids like the chimaera tend to favor the food of whichever animal forms their head portion. So a chimaera, with a head of a lion, likes a nice rare steak."
Wasn't that just the COOLEST?!
SPOILER!!: Flammy 2.0
Atlas, Atlas Flamsteed. Definitely one of Airey's kids. "A hybrid can actually be MORE than two creatures," he stated with a nod. "But yes... technically, you COULD label centaurs as such. However, you would be quite foolish to address a centaur with that lack of respect, so please, I strongly encourage you NOT to do that, and to avoid the forest entirely, Flamsteed."
SPOILER!!: Lil Charlie
"Sorry, Charlie," and everyone else who had to hear that little rhyme, "Centaurs ARE technically a hybrid, a mammalian hybrid, in fact." He cringed a little at having to teach the kids this but, well, these things came in when talking about animals sometimes.
SPOILER!!: Ashley
"Well done," he nodded to sad Cece. "Take two points. New Scamander considered his 1965 ban on experimental breeding his greatest achievement, even if people break it all the time." He paused to see if the kids were absorbing this. "Acromantula, basilisks, blast-ended skrewts, and the creature we're studying today are all examples of bigger, badder, wizard-bred creatures." Just like she'd said.
SPOILER!!: Destiny!
So this was... not even close to being on topic, which made William rub at his temples. But. "Yes, they can kick and punch at the same time, though most would prefer shooting you with their bow first." The bow had the range, see.
SPOILER!!: Daniiiiiiiii
Okay, Cambridge. That was maybe the first sensible thing she'd said in her two years in this class. He gave the girl a small nod, though it quickly turned into a not-so-subtle shaking of the head.
"No-- I, I didn't say that," he clarified, then repeated it louder. "I made no comments about half-bloods of any kind."
He had no tolerance for Rosier or his curriculum, but he knew life would be worse for him if he added that thought out loud. So he defaulted to his standard teacher answer. "I'll... have to review your Headmaster's curriculum to see if... er, that's his intent. Let me get back to you on this one."
Or not. Perhaps she'd forget.
SPOILER!!: Kolyander
Merlin's beard, how many Donovans went to this school?! "Great answer," he nodded to her. "SOMETIMES you can tell what the outcome will be, if you've successfully bred two similar creatures before." But it was... not a great idea nonetheless.
SPOILER!!: Kat
"Well, there's always the chance of mutations when humans mate too," Williamson murmured humorously, mostly to himself. "Right though, the magic... certainly makes things more difficult." Even wizard families had squibs in them sometimes.
SPOILER!!: Joel
"Excellent," Williamson nodded to Curtis for his answer. Some kids were just more suited to his subject than others, mhmm.
SPOILER!!: Daaaaydreamer
"I'm not sure that's how the math works, Cam..." he replied to the first year gently, "but you're right. Cross-breeding can have dangerous and unexpected results."
SPOILER!!: Hey Jude, don't be afraid
No? Was that head shake directed his way or the way of her classmates? Williamson couldn't tell, but he nodded at Catherine anyway and looked to the next student.
SPOILER!!: Apollo Anton Ohno
"That's right," he nodded to... Apollo...Adara-Stark? "No relation to Tancred Adara, are ya?" he grunted at the boy. Tanc had been one of his colleagues from back in the day, stealing a promotion William had wanted, actually. No hard feelings though; the guy was well-qualified.
SPOILER!!: Heath Bar!
Heath had a thoughtful answer, as usual. "Hmm, that's true. I mean, there IS oversight, it's banned, but it does... happen, sometimes." He sighed a little. "Wizards like to tinker with animals, spells, each other. So you're not wrong." Especially about the hidebehind!
There they were. William had had a feeling he was being watched, as this entire lesson the fine hairs on the back of his neck had been standing up. He took a deep breath and nodded to the... the... what were these people called again? The Watchers? He was suddenly feeling awkward and underqualified under their (completely hidden?!) eyes. He chewed at his lip and did his best to conjure up a chalkboard, because once again, he'd forgotten to drag it over. (But to be fair, he HAD built an entire hedge maze for the lesson, so he deserved SOME credit.)
A kiddie-sized play chalkboard appeared and William had to stifle a groan as he tucked his wand away again. Great. So while everyone else was going to possibly be murdered by the Neo-Alliance, he was going to be fired for being an incompetent idiot. Well. At least then he'd get severance pay! Ha! Ha!
No, uh, this was no laughing matter. He rubbed at his forehead, wondering what the hell that bloke was writing down about him, and turned back to the kids. Behind him, a few of their correct answers appeared on the chalkboard. It was unfortunate that no one had guessed the creature(s) in the hedge, because this lesson may come as a shock to them. William took a breath and rubbed his hands together.
"Today you'll be facing a creature that does have a history with the Triwizard Tournament, as Blake Ryan mentioned earlier. What can you tell me about the cockatrice, and how do you survive one?" Please, kids, show their guests that you know a thing or two.
Aboli followed his eyes...and....was apt enough at reading body language that she simply nodded, looking away from him. "Yes sir, I understand." She crossed her arms, realizing...were they ever safe from ears anywhere? What about the common room last night? Or or...at lunch...in the treehouse?
It was only when someone - from the bushes! - came to stand very near her that she seized up. She didn't like people so close to her. Making sure her gloves were on tightly, making sure none of her skin was exposed besides her face, Aboli tried to inch herself just a CENTIMETER away. She was nervous...she did not want to risk touching them. She did not want to inflict herself with their emotions. If they had any. Her cheeks were turning so red, burning, that she found it hard to focus on W's question at hand.
"Doesn't a cockatrice egg come from a rooster? And a frog...is the one to sit atop it?" Aboli thought maybe she was getting that mixed up with a basilisk. Didn't basilisks have something to do with chickens too? "Or is that a basilisk, professor?" she was nervous. Those people...she had one so close to her. She could feel her heart beating so rapidly.
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Kizzy squeezed Emmerson's hand a little harder with the appearance of the creepy hooded figures. Very cautiously, she sidestepped and tried to pull Emm along with her. What were they writing? Could they stop that? It was making Kizzy nEEeeEEeerrRRvvVVVOooUUssS.
So nervous that she wasn't paying enough attention to Mr. Williamson's next question. Oops.
That's okay, maybe she'd stay quiet this time around. She didn't mind staying quiet when it was voluntary. It was only an issue when her mouth was all gone. THAT was something she didn't want to relive.
Exceeeeeeept her basically sister friend Cecelia's answers made Kizzy curious and the second year couldn't stop her hand from shooting into the air immediately after to tack on an extra question. "Did you know some lizards can regrow their tails?!" Facts only! "Can cockatrices do that too?"
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Professor Jawline got a winning smile from Phoebe, in spite of the fact that he'd let the hooded goons show up for his class too. Probably didn't have a choice, did he? Rude, these gents just showing up wherever they wanted. She sidled sideways to peek over the shoulder of the dude who was taking copious notes and gave him a little tap. "You don't have to take notes. It's all in the text. This is a practical course, not theoretical. You'll catch up eventually."
Another winning smile.
As for this cockatrice (heard that giggle, Kale Trent), Phoebe had done very limited reading on this particular creature. The dangerous ones were interesting but seemed less likely to show up on the syllabus... but here was a very dangerous one right off the bat. "If they resemble a rooster, are they the size of the average chicken, or just have the feathery round body of a rooster but BIGGER? Because a chicken-sized creature doesn't sound all that dangerous."
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Of course there were also creepy hooded people hanging around the lessons now.
Ivy had remained quiet for the first question, feeling like the other students had given enough good answers for that one. But now with the second question, she was trying to ignore the intruders and figure out what she knew about cockatrices that hadn't been said yet.
Then Aboli's answer caught her attention and brought something to mind. "I think that's a basilisk, yeah," she said, raising her hand. "But I remember reading somewhere that some translations of old legends about them use 'cockatrice' and 'basilisk' interchangeably, so some people might've once thought they were similar or the same." Or maybe some people weren't as good as translating as they thought. Or, maybe most likely, they just had never actually seen them both, so they didn't know either of them actually existed. Which, in that case, fair enough.
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Valencia took a few sidesteps as hooded figures appeared. Was this going to happen in every class? It was... creepy. It was unsettling. It was distracting.
She looked around again before adding "Yeah. It's a serpent rooster mix." As for destroying it...? Wasn't it something rather odd? Like a ferret? She really needed to do a better job researching things that she had no interest in. She just assumed she'd never run into one.
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There was another shuffling of the bushes, and pretty soon, more of those terrifying hooded figures emerged. Delilah instantly winced and moved around until she was closer to some of the older kids. Pretty much nowhere was safe, though, because these people, whoever they were, insisted on spreading out amongst the crowd.
At least none of them had pinpointed her yet. She had, for the most part, managed to fly under the radar, so to speak. It was her survival tactic, and she was quite content with it. She tried to focus on the professor as he gave a few remarks about her question. All she gave in return, though, was a general nod in his direction.
Okay, so, a cockatrice. Delilah tried to shuffle through the forest of her mind and remember something, anything, that she'd read over the summer. When an older student (Claudine) spoke up, Delilah made a face toward the hedges. So the professor possibly had a whole creature hidden inside the hedges...one that caused a whole tournament to be cancelled and had attacked not one, not two, but three heads of schools? Great.
"So the head of it is a rooster, and roosters can kill a basilisk with its call," she explained, raising her hand. "But someone else just said that a cockatrice is confused with a basilisk. That makes it a pretty awkward hybrid." And those thoughts were pretty much all she could add, because everything else she knew had already been said.
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Aboli's response made Noah all mushy soft. He wore the stupidest UwU smile on his face that he immediately wiped off when he thought he heard Professor W mumble something. Unfortunately the Seventh Year had not caught what he had said but if he had, he would have offered W a grateful nod and grin.
Class had not even begun when Aboli asked a question. W had replied but Noah suddenly felt a presence close to them. He noticed Aboli's posture and instinctively leaned closer to her to protect her whilst paying attention in class. He wasn't going to let any harm come to her though he was confident that she could handle any trouble that came her way. After all perhaps he was just the arm candy? He placed a hand on Aboli's arm momentarily to remind her that he was with her before being distracted by Professor W's question.
Cockatrice. He smirked. Say that three times fast, he wanted to whisper to Aboli. He refrained from doing so because mad creepy vibes from the blokes behind Aboli... So he instead focused on an answer he could offer. "Avoid direct eye contact with the creature...? Doesn't the Cockatrice have the ability to kill something just from a single look?"
Tadhg eyes sparkled with excitement seeing the cockatrice, the back part was wicked awesome, eh.... the rooster head was okay but the body is what gotten him. He heard about these from his father, bit never seen them before, they're not even in Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. Although he knew some about this creature, it wasn't a whole alot but some was better then none right? Taking a break from his notes he waited before he rasied his hand.
"I don't know if this is true or not sir, but legends says having a cockatrice look at itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it." He didn't know if that was true or just a myth guess that's why its a legend.
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Every time Minjae caught sight of the Hooded people (were they even people?!) his fight and flight senses were activated and flight usually won. The Headmaster scared him enough but this group was willingly following his orders which in some way made them far more dangerous in his opinion.
He watched as the hooded figures began to take note and a part of him, his curious side, wanted to know what they were writing down but a little voice in his head told him to not be stupid and stay away.
Minjae looked back at the Professor who continued the lesson. He wondered if he was just as anxious as he was right now.
A cockatrice.... As much as Minjae wanted to see a dangerous creature, he did not want to see this one. He didn't have to put two and two together to know that the Headmaster had probably ordered the professor to use a creature that could kill you by only looking at its eyes.
"cockatrice’s gaze will kill you instantly" he said, not even raising his hand and he stopped looking in the direction of the bushes now. "even in a reflection...do we really have to learn about them professor? They're not even in recent fantastic beast and where to find them books"
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Avoid the forest all together. Right. Atlas would likely not be doing that but he would be addressing these thoughts with the professor after class as suggested by the man himself. SO, for now he simply nodded his head and played along. Though he did cast a somewhat longing glance towards the Forbidden Forest. They were in there, somewhere, and maybe...just maybe...
The first year's attention was snapped back around at the question posed and, mostly, the blonde kept quite while he listened. Until once again he was sparked by the commentary of two of his classmates, specifically an older Ravenclaw girl [AlwaysSnapesGirl] and fellow first year Gryffindor Delilah.
"Muggles confuse the two terms because of translation conflicts in their texts...there is very little to confuse between the two creatures in reality. One is a giant serpent a the other a hybrid creature resembling a rooster and a reptile." His weary blue eyes drifted over towards the hooded figures who were starting to remind him of dementors. Couldn't see their faces and they sucked the joy out of the air. "There...really...isn't anything to...be confused between the two..in reality.." He mumbled as a bit of an afterthought before looking down as his hands and finding the hangnail there to be absolutely FASCIANTING.
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She glared at the one standing next to the Professor for a moment before her gaze drifted back towards the small board, trying her best to ignore them. Cockatrice. She vaguely remembered reading about it somewhere... uh.. “Professor, it’s a dragon with a rooster’s head... right??” She finally said, raising a hand.
Bella felt happy hearing that her answer was correct. The sight of the hooded figurers that suddenly joined their group made her feel as she had just a few moments ago; unhappy and worried. Remembering Aboli's words from the previous night the young snakette raised her head and stood a little straighter.
It was to best to be smart and answer the question as best she could. Who knew what those creepy hooded people wrote down on their parchments about all of them. Licking her lips Bella raised her hand as she answered Professor W's question. "It was a cockatrice on a rampage that ended the triwizard tournament back in 1792. It injured all four school contestants." She didn't like repeating answers about the cockatrice being a mix of a dragon, rooster and basilisk so Bella suggested instead. "Maybe casting elemental spells like ice and fire can do damage to the cockatrice?"
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Gemma had been here the entire time, but she had been pretty quiet. She was distracted, because they were on the grounds and not just in the castle, so she wanted to be laying in the grass enjoying the sun. She also was watching everything, she enjoyed watching, just watching. It wasn't until her eyes went towards the hooded people that she moved closer to Curtis and her brother. She wanted to be brave, but the third year was struggling with that at the moment. She was conflicted and confused by them all.
When the creatures name got mentioned she did start giggling, how could you not? She was a young teenager after all. Hearing someone else giggle she felt better about maybe not getting in trouble. She listened to everyone else's answer and wanted to answer, but wasn't fully sure what to say.
"Professor they are really dangerous, which is why they were most likely put in the tournament, because you have to be the best of the best to be part of the tournament. Also, if you think it is cranky before we interact you could always get mum out here to talk to it and stuff."
All this talk about cockatrices and basilisks was making Avalon confused. From what she had read about them, they shared a lot of the same qualities. But was looking a cockatrice directly in the eye as deadly as a basilisk? Were they really the same thing? Her hand went up. "Professor, what is the difference between a basilisk and a cockatrice, if any? I know people use the name interchangeably, but are they technically different species?"
And for the part about how to survive one.....her honest answer would be to just cross your fingers and hope for the best. How anyone without an intense magizoology education could survive an XXXXX creature was beyond her. "I would think that normal spells don't work too well against it, due to its sheer strength and fury. Maybe you would be better off trying to trap it or confuse it than take it on with brute force."
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This lesson was getting better and better! Well... it was. Until those hooded minions of Melty Face Headmaster Dude appeared. They gave her the creeps. And she felt herself take a small sideways step closer to Tadhg without thinking about it. The further she was from those guys, the better.
Dahlia chewed at her lip as Professor Williamson spoke. Blue eyes trained in on the mans face, refusing to look anywhere else for the time being. As soon as she heard what they would be focused on today, excitement took over. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet a tiny bit, her hand shooting up into the air. "It's believed that if you have a Cockatrice egg and don't want it to hatch into one, you have to toss it over your home and have it land on the other side. This has to be done without hitting the house or breaking the egg." Whether or not this was true, the eleven year really had no idea.
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Already, Nem was seized with a desire - for lack of a better term - to go quiet through the remainder of this lesson and focus instead on observing the situation, doing some thinking, maybe throwing in a few joke answers. But the arrival of a group that (judging by the note-taking and Walter's only-very-subtle reaction to them) were here to spy, well, that was the proverbial spanner.
All in all, though, Nem wasn't surprised. From the start of all this, they'd known it would be in their best interests to act as if there were eyes and ears everywhere, because there probably were. The most surprising part was that they were allowing themselves to be seen at all, but that wouldn't stop Nem from treating every conversation like they were hovering over their shoulder.
Deciding it best to not give the Hug-a-Hoodie Snitch Brigade even a second glance, Nem focused instead on providing an actual serious or whatever contribution to this actual serious or whatever matter. They raised a hand. "Best way to survive one is not taking one on in the first place." Which, by the way, was a not-so-subtle dig at... basically everyone in this hub of idiocy, Hogwarts. But that answer might not be enough, not today at least.
By the way, not to directly undermine their own answer or anything, but was it too much to hope that Shakespeare had a real cockatrice around here somewhere? Even just a baby one? Probably. Ugh. Grow up.
"Otherwise, if you know how to conjure up an indestructible material, which is always useful, you could encase it inside a solid cage, provided you have brains enough to lure and trap it. With the cage, you can't see in, which puts you at a disadvantage when or if you plan on letting it out again, but you also can't see its eyes, be touched by it, or feel its breath, which are all ways it's said to be able to kill. I suppose if you wanted to do away with it, there are more options once its already trapped. You could stick a bunch of weasels in there." Sure, use a mirror or whatever, but that was boring. Cage of indestructible mirrors with a deadly foe thrown in? A little less boring, Nem supposed. A little less predictable.
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One minute she was having a proper, sophisticated conversation with the professor and the next...her...blood was running cold as it flooded to her feet. Kizzy did not need to tug hard. In fact, Emmerson jumped right out of her skin and across the way dragging her bestie along with her. Anything to get them as faaaarrrr away from the imposing figure that stood over her tapping his...her....it...s....wand.
The Second Year looked over at Williamson, silently begging him to DO something. How were they going to learn under these conditions?? She could barely concentrate.
Were they talking about cockatrices or basilisks??
Why were they throwing eggs over houses?
Mirrors??????
"Professor, wait!! They took all the mirrors! We can't fight cockatrices today!! We gotta do something else!! Don't let it out!"
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Professor Jawline got a winning smile from Phoebe, in spite of the fact that he'd let the hooded goons show up for his class too. Probably didn't have a choice, did he? Rude, these gents just showing up wherever they wanted. She sidled sideways to peek over the shoulder of the dude who was taking copious notes and gave him a little tap. "You don't have to take notes. It's all in the text. This is a practical course, not theoretical. You'll catch up eventually."
Another winning smile.
As for this cockatrice (heard that giggle, Kale Trent), Phoebe had done very limited reading on this particular creature. The dangerous ones were interesting but seemed less likely to show up on the syllabus... but here was a very dangerous one right off the bat. "If they resemble a rooster, are they the size of the average chicken, or just have the feathery round body of a rooster but BIGGER? Because a chicken-sized creature doesn't sound all that dangerous."
Did the child think they were a joke?
The quill stopped its scratching as the hooded figure's hand twitched. A long white wand (ebony and hippogriff feather, 15 inches) slid into the place of the quill. This child was guilty of three crimes.
First, the proximity. Second, the tap. Then, the smile. Pureblood or not, she was adding nothing to the learning of the other children.
An explosive series of spells burst out from the wand, forceful enough to knock the blonde Gryffindor back more than a few paces from this hooded person. The index fingers on either of her hands were now crookedly bent at abnormal angles. And as for her mouth? Her smile would henceforth contain more gaps than teeth, as her mouth was now mostly gums and bloody stumps.
This ill-bred behavior WOULD end today... or tomorrow after a referral to the Headmaster's office.
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Coby and Matty didn't hang out much at school. He was very aware that Matty and Emma were closer, and that they both had many friends and he was okay with that. He also had friends. But all it took was a muggle hating neo alliance invading Hogwarts and his brother's arm around him for Coby to realise that he did, very much, want to hang out with his little brother more.
But class was starting and he certainly couldn't tell Matty any of his so he hugged him back as best as he could and tried his hardest not to cry. It was only the first week, but Coby felt it was already too late to cry about all this.
The first question about hybrids went entirely over Coby's head, too distracted to give it proper thought. Ah. A cockatrice. Funny name for a very not funny animal. Half chicken half dragon. Come to think of it, how on earth did cockatrices even happen? From what he knew of them, they weren't the most sympathetic of creatures. He was going to mention the thing with the Triwizard Tournament, but others already did. He did wonder though, if Professor Williamson had a cockatrice, why he didn't set it on the neo alliance people? He had a whole TERM's worth of dangerous creatures here, right? That seemed-
Coby was pulled from his thoughts as one Phoebe James went to talk to those hooded people. Personally, he didn't think that was a very good idea but the thought was removed from his head when her words carried. A part of his old self felt very offended at the insinuation that note taking in practical classes were useless. Yes, of course it was all in the textbook but sometimes his insights directly translated to exam questions! Honestly Phoebe, what a thing to s-
Coby wasn't normally the type to make useless sounds. Generally the fifth year was a very quiet person. It seemed this year would bring out a whole new side of him.
Shaken to his core, frozen in place, Coby opened his mouth and SCREAMED.
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The quill stopped its scratching as the hooded figure's hand twitched. A long white wand (ebony and hippogriff feather, 15 inches) slid into the place of the quill. This child was guilty of three crimes.
First, the proximity. Second, the tap. Then, the smile. Pureblood or not, she was adding nothing to the learning of the other children.
An explosive series of spells burst out from the wand, forceful enough to knock the blonde Gryffindor back more than a few paces from this hooded person. The index fingers on either of her hands were now crookedly bent at abnormal angles. And as for her mouth? Her smile would henceforth contain more gaps than teeth, as her mouth was now mostly gums and bloody stumps.
This ill-bred behavior WOULD end today... or tomorrow after a referral to the Headmaster's office.
Quinn was already jumpy from the alleged cockatrice in the bushes, but this added a whole new layer of damage to his current emotional state. Wasn't the trauma that was Defense Against the Dark Arts enough?
Quinn watched in horror as the girl who helped him after DADA, the one who gave him murtlap for his forehead, was sent flying. She was so nice, she didn't deserve this! Quinn rushed over to her on the ground, and was shocked by what he found. Her mouth... and her fingers... he couldn't bear to look at her. He wanted to help her like she helped him, but... he didn't know how.
"W-what can I... what do I do..?"
Quinn looked back. Over at the bushes. At the Professor and the students. At the hooded figures. Suddenly the cockatrice was the least of his worries.
"Hybrids are more dangerous - more unpredictable." Blake added, though he was sure someone had already said that. But he felt a little better about the fact that he was on the right track with the tri-wizard part! But that happy feeling fading quickly when he realized what they were actually doing.
A cockatrice??? Blake took a deep breath ...... whew ... what in the world did he know about them? He didn't know much.. "I think there was something about mirrors." But he wasn't sure on that, and then when those bloody hooded figures about out and scared the beejeezus out of him!! Why were they everywhere!!!
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It was in times like these that it was nice to share a singular brain with your best friend. Seeing as they both wanted to get as far away as possible from those hooded... hooded things, Kiz didn't need much dragging either. She and Emmerson could do class from over here, thanks.
Kinz did, however, look skittishly from their professor over to the hooded figures. Surely he could do something about them right? Please, professor? Please do something. Ple--Only Kizzy stopped looking back and forth when she saw her older sister inch her way over towards the hench...people. Phoebe? Kizzy gave her all sorts of worried looks. What was she doing? What was she saying to them??? Why would--
"NO, PHOEBE!" Kizzy GASPED letting go of all the restraint she was trying so hard to practice in front of the terrible people who had taken over their school. Immediately she let go of Emmerson's hand and tried to make a move for her sister. Her sister. The MOST important person in the WHOLE world. Kizzy's whole world.
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See, Emmerson Nicole Justine Cambridge had already lost her mouth for one Kinsay James. She had risked her life and gotten hexed for the sake of her friend. She had jumped in recklessly, fulfilling her quota of being a Gryffindor for the WHOLE FREAKING Y E A R!
This sudden running off thing Kizzy was trying to do?? UM. No. Phoebe was already hurt. They couldn't unhurt her by GETTING HURT THEMSELVES.
Pluck that mess someone else.
Quick as Kizzy let her go--they shared a brain, she KNEW what was coming next--Emmerson tackled Kizzy right to the ground, putting all her weight and everything she had in her into it. "Kizzy! No! We don't all three need to be toothless!!" Even now, she included herself, because if Kizzy was going to fight, she was going to fight. The only solution was to make sure Kizzy didn't fight AT ALL. "No, stop! We can't fix it, we don't have to die today!"
She wrestled with all her might to keep her friend there, too. Spells would've been easier but she was as likely to set the girl on fire as she was to successfully stupefy her.
Please just stop best friend. PLEASE.
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Cockatrice or no cockatrice, the hooded figure gave her an emptiness in her gut which made anything but her nerves impossible to focus on. She watched her friends and classmates restlessly, her fingers endlessly wringing at the tip of black and yellow tie.
She wished the figures would simply let them be. they had the castle in their grasp- what they need observing for? The Hufflepuff's eyes resolutely stayed on Professor Williamson's familiar, comforting form. Maybe this would be nothing like DADA, Yoyo hoped, maybe they'd carry on the lesson and the cloaked figure would only scribble, never a word or spell spoken.
Yoyo continued to bristle where she stood, her lips a straight line.
She edged closer to Emmerson, her palm now on her younger sister's shoulder in a gesture of solidarity and (to be quite honest) restraint. She tried to look eyes with Emms. don't. her gaze said.
But it hadn't been Emms she should have been worried about.
It had been Pb.
Pb whose beautiful smile was suddenly wrecked with bloodied gums. "Dios Mio- Phoebe!" she screamed, hurrying to the Gryffindor's side without a second thought. Yoyo had no idea what she was doing but she raced around Phoebe and tried to help her up.
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CoMC Lesson 1: The Cockatrice 
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