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Ooh, pellets! Hope had been worried about that, because she hadn't thought to bring any. She should have known the teacher would have thought of that. She scooped up a handful and put it in her pocket for safe keeping, then started walking very slowly in a random manner about the area, humming a tune of her own devising softly under her breath. Eventually she came to a spot in an area that somehow felt like it might be near a mooncalf den--it was certainly pleasant and offered good cover. Hope seated herself on the ground, still humming, and took out some of the pellets and held them in her outstretched hand. Then she just sat there and waited. |
Ary was generally patient but he was even more patient with creatures. This was why he did not mind sitting there for as long as it took to attract a Mooncalf. Still, he would prefer that one of them hurry up because while technically he had all day {if he skived off the remaining of his classes}, CoMC unfortunately would not last for the entire day. He turned his head just a hint to either side, eager eyes ready to meet a Mooncalf’s. It was about five minutes into him sitting there as still as a statue {though admittedly his hands had begun to ache a little in their cupped position} that Ary became aware of a pair of eyes staring in his direction. His heart began to beat wildly, in anticipation even though he was careful to remain still. Slowly, the Mooncalf approached and Ary could see its features better as it drew nearer. And then… It was directly before him! The Moonclaf surveyed Ary for a moment, clearly sizing him up. All he did was give it a smile; a couple of seconds later, the creature was eating out of his palms. #MissionAccomplished |
Hadleigh smiled warmly at how quickly the students knew what they were doing. Within minutes she saw Mooncalf come wandering out of their dens into the silence that surround them in the open pastures. Some slowly seeking out the students already. It was a sight to be seen for sure, such shy creatures timidly trekking about the grassy areas, some still lingering back in the darkness of the dens hoping not to be noticed yet. "Very nice work so far everyone, if you haven't managed to get a mooncalf to come to yet go on and keep working at it. There's still plenty of time. For those of you that have managed to befriend one we will be moving on to our final activity.It was that time now to move on and the Mooncalves would hopefully enjoy this next part. "Now if you take a closer look at some of our mooncalf friends here today, they are in need of a decent grooming. This means a good bath and a brushing. Now this may seem silly but I have some little kiddy bowls and some buckets that can be used along with large sponges and different soaps, brushes and towels. Everything you all will need to clean a mooncalf. Like earlier a simple wave of her wand and a muttered incantation had all the mentioned materials appearing before them in the smaller open pasture. "I'm right here if anyone has any questions of needs any help. I'd be more than happy to demonstrate how to go about bathing and brushing a mooncalf if anyone would like to see this first... or we can all do it together." She knew that sometimes it was easier when things were shown to them first and others worked best by giving things a try on their own. "You can fill the baskets or pools with a simple Aquamenti charm so now water will need to be carried around. OOC: We've made it to the final activity! Time to groom a Mooncalf! Everything the students need to brush/bath a Mooncalf is supplied for them. |
Ary was quite aware that there were loads more Mooncalves out and about presently but he had eyes only for the adult one he had managed to attract. The thought of whether Artax would be jealous if he came across Ary tending to another Mooncalf crossed his mind; he hoped not. Artax would never have anything to worry about. In the meanwhile, Ary happily watched as the creature before him munched on the pellets. But Hady was moving on and Ary was craning his neck to get a better look at her. Groom the Mooncalf? He took a closer look at its coat and determined that his aunt was right: this sweet creature needed a bath. The Slytherin could hardly wait to get started! When the pellets in his palms had disappeared, he gave the Mooncalf a pat on the head then went to retrieve all the materials he would need. “I gives you a bath, Mr. Mooncalf,’’ Ary chattered as he returned. “Don’t worry, it’ll make you feels much better. Aguamenti.” Rather than using the bucket just yet, he began drenching the Mooncalf with small jets of water. It was always good to start with water before anything else. |
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Nothing else existed at this moment but Ary and his new friend. That’s right, he quite lost track of everything else around him; that was why he was slightly startled to find Aunty Hady so close by. Oh, she had stopped by to offer her help if needed? That was just like her! “Thank you,’’ he told her with a bright smile. “So fars, so good!” Hady knew he was capable with creatures so she knew he had this covered, fro the most parts. Mr. Mooncalf was now soaked. The Watering Charm was then used for a different purpose; soon after, the bucket was filled and Ary dunked a bar of soap in the water. He had quite the time of his life sudsing the water. When it was all foamy, a brush was dunked in and he began brushing the Mooncalf’s coat with the sudsy water. Naturally, magic could have been used but Aryan hadn’t a clue of how to accomplish this. In any case, he quite enjoyed having to brush the coat in circular motions for ample and thorough effects. “Don’t worries. This isn’t goings to hurt at any times.” All through the process, he chattered away reassurances to his friend. Head, shoulders, belly, back, rear end, legs… all of them were fully and gently scrubbed. After that, it was time for a wash down. “Augamenti.’’ Using small jets of water once more, the sudsy water was washed away. “You’re looking betters already, Mr. Mooncalf!’’ It was quite true: the creature’s coat looked so much healthier. “It’ll alls be overs soons,’’ Ary continued, now using a fluffy towel to dry the coat. The same order was repeated: head, shoulders, belly, back, rear end, legs. Two towels actually had to be used since the first got soaked pretty quickly. “Dones!’’ he announced to the Mooncalf minutes later. “You looks nicer.” With that, he threw his arms around the creature’s neck in a hug. |
catching up + she haz question! ^_^ SPOILER!!: catching up Desiree was still petting the mooncalf when she heard the next set of instructions. So they were washing the mooncalves… that explained why the class notice said they might get wet and dirty! Despite her preparedness, she still wasn’t thrilled about that idea, though she supposed it stood to reason that the mooncalf might not like being dirty either. Well, she’d soon fix that! “Wait here, I’ll be right back,” she said, giving the mooncalf a few more pellets to entice it to stay put while she retrieved the grooming equipment. Kiddy pool? Yeah no, she wasn’t doing that! More water meant more likelihood that the mooncalf would splash her - or worse, drag her into the pool with it! She’d use a bucket instead. She picked up a bucket, a sponge, a bar of soap (a nice lavender-scented one), a brush, and several towels and returned to the area where the mooncalf waited patiently. “Now let’s get you all squeaky clean!” Casting a nonverbal Aguamenti, Desiree filled the bucket with water. She swirled a hand inside to check the temperature. Not too hot, not too cold… good! She glanced at the mooncalf, contemplating the best way to go about her task.. She’d start with its head so it could see what she was doing, then work her way down and back. “Here comes the water… hold still, please!” She slowly poured the water over the mooncalf’s front half, refilling the bucket a couple of times as she went. Soon the mooncalf’s head, neck, chest and front legs were wet. She filled the bucket again, dunked the sponge inside, and rubbed it against the bar of soap. When she had a good lather going, she gently scrubbed the mooncalf’s head, working her way down its neck to its upper back, chest, and front legs. “Doesn’t this soap smell good?” she said as she worked. Desiree glanced at the mooncalf’s sudsy front half, stifling a giggle. “Good job! We’re halfway done, just hold still a little longer.” She repeated the process of wetting, lathering, and scrubbing the mooncalf’s back half. When she was finished, the creature looked like a giant mountain of suds! Refilling her bucket several more times, she rinsed off the soap. As she reached for the towels, a thought occurred to her. She raised her hand and said, “Professor, do the mooncalves prefer towels over a drying charm?” |
Hope felt like she'd sat there forever and had just fallen into a light daydreamy trance when she noticed the faint outline of something emerging from behind the bushes next to the hilly area in front of her. As it grew closer, she felt her insides jump with excitement, because it did indeed appear to be a mooncalf. She continued sitting there as it approached, not wanting to do anything to spook it, until eventually it was standing right in front of here. Hope and the mooncalf just exchanged stares with each other for a long while, and finally, as if it had reached a decision, the mooncalf bent and delicately began to eat the pellets out of Hope's hand. When it was finished, it moved over to where Hope sat and lowered itself to the ground beside her. The two of them sat companionably together for a little while, and then Hope very slowly reached over and touched the mooncalf's head with two fingers, very lightly and softly. When this didn't seem to frighten it, she began gently rubbing the top of its head. She was just noticing that this mooncalf's hair felt just a bit dirty and tangled when she heard the professor telling them as much, and that they were to bathe it as part of their assignment. Oh dear. Hope was really hoping that mooncalf's weren't as difficult to bathe as, say, farm dogs. Not wanting to disturb the mooncalf, Hope pulled out a wand and used the Accio charm to bring to her the supplies she needed to wash the calf. Then she raised herself up on her knees, trying not to make any sudden movements. The mooncalf got up itself, but then just stood there and didn't seem like it was inclined to run away or anything. "Well, I'm supposed to bathe and groom you now, and you'll pardon me, but I have to say you really need it, you know." Hope used "Aguamenti to fill the little bucket, and then began dripping water from a large soft sponge onto the mooncalf's head. The mooncalf closed its eyes and shook itself, spraying water all over the place, and all over Hope as well. "All right, I suppose it's only fair that I have to take a bath, too," she said wryly, as she continued dripping water onto the mooncalf until it was all wet. Next, she added some soap, and added a few drops of violet which she was carrying in one of her pockets, a gift from one of her sisters from her last birthday. Then she sudsed the mooncalf all over with soap, until it was covered in bubbly-foam. The mooncalf sneezed once or twice and bent to sniff itself, but it didn't seem particularly annoyed by this latest procedure, so Hope continued. Finally, she spelled more water into her bucket, and poured it in gentle streams all over the mooncalf until all the soap was gone. The mooncalf took this opportunity to give itself a good shake, and if there were any dry spots left on Hope before, there certainly weren't any after the mooncalf was through. Finally, she took up a wide-toothed comb she'd brought over and ever so gently began combing out any tangles from the mooncalf's hair. She took care to hold the hair near the roots with her other hand so she wouldn't pull the hair accidentally and hurt the mooncalf. It fidgeted and moved every once in a while, but it stayed beside Hope until she was finished. In fact, the mooncalf seemed to be quite enjoying the grooming after a while. Finally she was done, and Hope set aside her bathing equipment and reached into her pocket, where she'd luckily kept a few pellets. She brought these out and fed them to the mooncalf as a reward for its patience. Stuck to one pellet she found a left-over bit of taffy from her recent trip to Hogsmeade, so she pulled that off and fed the pellet to the mooncalf and the candy to herself. She and the mooncalf then enjoyed their treats side by side as they lazily watched the trees and grasses that surrounded them. |
catching up Maria walked a little ways off from the others with her hands full of delicious pellets. The pellets smelled okay in her opinion but hopefully it'd attract a mooncalf to come over to her. Having seated herself on the ground Maria sat still and waited, waited and waited until she suddenly was face to face with a mooncalf. Blinking she quickly held her hands out as she stared up at the beautiful creature murmuring quietly. "Here, you are! These pellets are for you!" Maria remembered to make slow movements to not spook the beautiful creature that stood next to her, and ate from her hand. When the mooncalf had eaten his/her fill of the pellets it surprised her by brushing its muzzle against her hand to be stroked. Maria quickly obliged stroking the mooncalf on its head and down over its back several times trying to hide her eagerness. She was petting a mooncalf, how often did that happen? Hearing Professor Paton's next instructions Maria left her new friend to fetch the grooming equipment. She had left the mooncalf with some more pellets and with the promise of more strokes when she got back. Moments later she was back with a water bucket, sponge, bar of soap, a brush and some towels. Giving her new friend another stroke on its muzzle she asked "Do you want to be groomed?" Now that she looked closer Maria saw that her mooncalf buddies fur wasn't exactly glistening. It needed tending. Without waiting for an answer Maria non-verbally filled up the bucket by using the agumenti spell. After pouring in the soap in the water bucket Maria soaked up the sponge and then turned to her mooncalf cooing "This is just water, and soap on a sponge. It's nothing to be afraid of, its to make your fur glisten." With no sudden movements she began to groom her mooncalf friend from muzzle to tail murmuring cooing sweet words as she worked with the water and soap covered sponge letting the mooncalf enjoy the activity. When she felt done Maria used the towels to dry the mooncalf off, realizing that she was just as wet herself since her buddy had brushed itself against her more than once but that was okay. Taking up the brush Maria began brushing the mooncalfs fur from muzzle to tail, making sure to not rush and do it right. Eventually she was done with her task, and got an affectionate muzzle brush from her mooncalf buddy as thanks. |
The way everyone had just jumped right into the task was phenomenal! No complaints about how dirty the mooncalf were or how much work it was to befriend them BEFORE they could bathe and groom them. There wasn’t even any whining about getting wet and soapy, which she saw happen to several students, her youngest daughter included in the mix. It made her heart soar with how much they were all growing leaps and bounds already as the year progressed. Such brilliant minds and hard workers they all were. ”I can see that. It looks like you’ve got everything all covered over here,” Hady flashed him another warm smile and a proper thumbs up. Aryan wasn’t having any trouble at all from what she could see. Not only did she already know that he could handle this himself, likely from living on the Reserve but he was also generally a quick learner especially when it came to handling creatures. Watching him with the mooncalf for a moment longer she then moved on to see if anyone else needed any help. Each student's approach on bathing the mooncalf made her smile. It showed her that they were truly thinking about what they were doing AND about the care of the creature they were working with. So it didn’t at all surprise her when there was finally a question being asked. ”That’s a very good question, Miss Marchard. These mooncalf that we are working with today have been bathed and groomed before so they are used to being handled somewhat. So the older ones won’t mind the use of a gentle drying charm if you choose to use one rather than a towel. As for the younger ones, they may still be a little skittish but that isn’t saying that they won’t allow it. It should also go without saying that each mooncalf is different and may react differently. Oh, Merlin’s soggy socks! Here was one that most certainly took a bath right alongside the mooncalf she was tending to. Hady gave Hope a gentle smile. ”You’re new friend felt more comfortable with you having a little shower right alongside them, hm?” It looked like the young lady didn’t mind. ”I’ve had my own fair share of creature baths, some very unexpected and others not so much. These things happen sometimes. It came with the job or as the students were learning, the class. Here was another that was using the soothing words tactic as she tended to grooming a mooncalf. It was an approach that she herself happened to use more often than not. Seeing that Maria had things under control and didn’t have any questions, Paton smiled softly watching her work for a few moments longer before continuing on to the next student. All too soon it was that time, the end of the lesson. With a gentle clap of her hands so as to draw the students attention but not loud enough to frighten the mooncalf, she looked around to ensure that everyone was close by before speaking. Alright everyone, we have about five minutes or so left. Enough time for everyone to finish up what they are doing and say bye to their new friend. If you’re already finished then you are free to go. For any of you that may be interested, our mooncalf friends here will be here until the end of the week, that is this Sunday night. You’re welcome to come by and visit them again before that. She would be leaving some rules about that on the noticeboard since these were visiting quests. ”Have a good day, everyone. OOC: Thank you all for sticking this out with me! We've reached the end of our lesson and I'll be closing the thread in about 24 hours :) |
Desiree listened intently to Professor Paton’s answer. Oh, so the older mooncalves wouldn’t mind a drying charm? That was good to know. She glanced at the freshly washed mooncalf before her. This one was clearly not a baby, but didn’t look elderly either. She wondered how it would react to her drying charm. Only one way to find out! After careful consideration, she decided that a combination of toweling and drying charms was the way to go. With a towel in one hand and her wand in the other, she smiled at the mooncalf. “I’ll have you dry in a minute,” she said. “Please don’t shake!” Seriously, don’t! She’d already showered once today! She patted the mooncalf’s head dry with the towel, gradually moving lower. When she got to its chest and back, she slowly raised her wand while still toweling with the other hand. “You’re doing great! Here comes a bit of hot air, it won’t hurt a bit…” She cast a nonverbal hot air charm, gently guiding her wand over the mooncalf’s backside. In no time at all, the mooncalf was fully dry. Now came the fun part: the brushing. “Let’s get you brushed,” Desiree said, picking up the brush. She brushed the mooncalf’s fur with gentle strokes, just as she would use to brush her own hair. She was still brushing when Professor Paton dismissed the lesson. Was class over already?! It felt like it had only just started! Time flies when one is having fun, she supposed! “Sorry, I have to go,” she said, giving the mooncalf one last pat on the head. “I’ll see if I can some back and brush you some more later.” She hurriedly returned her equipment to its proper place and packed up her bag. “Bye, Professor,” she said with a smile as she left. “Thank you for the lesson!” |
Class was over already! Hope didn't really want to leave; she felt as if she could sit here next to her new mooncalf friend all day. She leaned over and ran her head along his head one more time--yes, he was pretty dry, now (drier than she was, for certain). Picking up all her utensils, she got to her feet and gravely bowed to the mooncalf. "It was a pleasure to meet you; I hope we can see each other again." The mooncalf regarded her solemnly for a moment, and then, seeing there were no more pellets to eat or strokes to be had, ambled casually back into the shrubbery at the base of the small hill and was gone. Hope replaced her tools, then thought she'd better cast a drying charm on herself before going back out again into the cold. "Goodbye, Professor, it was a wonderful lesson!" Then she stuck her woolen hat on her head, tied her scarf, and went back to the castle. |
Emma listened intently and observed some of her peers on the task before she got started with grooming a mooncalf. Surely this couldn't be too challenging, right? Sashaying slightly over to one of the free ones remaining to be groomed, the first year had a handful of pellets and bowed at the mooncalf. "It's okay ... Steve..." She said reassuringly, deciding right then that it's name was Steve. She actually didn't know if it was a male or female mooncalf, but did it matter? Maybe it was a Stevie? Moving on though, she found the mooncalf nudging her hand and she stroked it gently. So far so good. Taking the sponge she gently soaped the mooncalf up, except that was when Professor Paton announced only five more minutes?? Had she taken too long to warm up to one of the creatures? "We got to get the suds off you, Steve..." she said quietly, rinsing her sponge off and free of the soap, she wrung it out over the mooncalf, wiping it free of the suds. Taking a towel, she towel-dried it a moment before casting the hot air charm to get it more dry. Wouldn't want it to get a chill, especially with the winter cold... "Perhaps I'll see you again before you leave," she gave a little curtsy to it, backing away. "thanks for the lesson, Professor," Emma said as she turned to head back to the castle. |
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