SPOILER!!: Ary & Hope

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Ary beamed up at the Disney princess that was Desiree. He knew she wouldn’t refuse, she was that kind. He had no issue keeping up with the Hufflepuff even though he was doing his best to match her strides and not get in her way at the same time. He looked around the Forest carefully as they moved further in. “I think it’s lit well enough for now.” When the time came, with his, Bry’s and Desiree’s wands lit, no doubt they’d be able to see even better. He glanced over his shoulder. Ary had been surprised and highly disappointed that Drake hadn’t joined him. He tried not to let the daunting thought that Drake was getting bored of their friendship and wanted other friends bug him.

But it did and he was frowning more and not really concentrating on the task at hand. It was Desiree’s question that brought him back. “Er… no?” Realising he was way back in the search, the second year hurriedly trained his gaze on the flora nearby. Eventually, they came upon something stringy tangled in a bush. “What’s this?” he asked, moving over to the bush. “It’s hair,’’ he began excitedly. “It could be unicorn, the colour’s right! What do you think, Desiree? And do you have those baggies Professor Paton mentioned?” He had forgotten to grab some. Oops.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadAlice

"I do. Need a group," Hope said as she hurried up to join the pair. She had always been a bit star-struck by the older girl, but hadn't gotten up the courage to try to partner up with her before. But since she was being so nice to the younger Ary, Hope thought she would take the opportunity. Besides, she'd been daydreaming about unicorns and had nearly missed getting into a group at all.





"Oh, I have some. I got a few extras; here, you can have one--take your pick," Hope said, trying to sound nonchalant as she held out several of the colored bags.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Ary smiled gratefully at Hope. “Thanks,’’ he said, happiness ballooning up in his chest at his find. Because yes, he had stumbled onto unicorn hair, not just for him but for his group also. A closer examination had confirmed his findings. Randomly selecting a baggie, he carefully held it open to drop the hair into it. “Look, guys,’’ he said. “Our first find!” Wasn’t it exciting?! The next moment, Aunty Hady’s voice came floating towards him. “Found some hair!’’ the second year replied, a grin in place.

After that bit of show and tell, Ary followed the instructions by moving in the direction indicated. Yes, he moved cautiously with his ears pricked for any unusual sounds; his eyes were peeled for any sort of creatures they came by. After a minute of walking, he halted in his tracks. Tilting his head, he tried to focus.

Were those goofy sounds?

As in… a unicorn’s hooves?

Ary shot his groupmates a look. Were they hearing this?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadAlice

Hope couldn't help but smile back at him. Imagine someone being so happy about getting a bag! And it wasn't even as if she had provided it, it was just part of the class. Hmmm, this 'playing it cool' wasn't as easy as it looked. Hope expected it would take some practice to get good at it.

But...unicorn hair?! Yes, it must be!!

"Oh, yes, it is!!!" Hope breathed, reaching out to touch the hair softly before the bag closed over it. Then she sighed to herself and walked on with her group.



Suddenly Ary stopped dead in the path in front of her, causing Hope to nearly run into him. And then she heard it...something moving, very softly but nearby in the forest next to them. Not a bird, or a hare, or a fox, or a squirrel. Something with hooves. Like a deer, or a... or a... Hope hardly dared hope for it.

"Unicorns!" she whispered softly.

Desiree nodded at Ary, lowering her wand for now. She kept her wand in hand by her side, just in case she would need it later. As she continued ahead on the path, she overheard someone say they needed a group. She slowed her pace, and glanced back at Hope with a smile. “Of course,” she said. “The more, the merrier!” She wasn’t about to turn away anyone who needed a partner!

Oh, Ary found something? She sidled over to the younger boy, scrutinizing the hair. That was definitely the right color and texture for unicorn hair! She reached into her pocket for a bag, but Hope got to hers first. Desiree beamed at her groupmates. “Congratulations on the unicorn hair find, Ary! And good thinking with those bags, Hope!”

Desiree stopped talking, listening intently as Professor Paton spoke. Ooh, the professor heard footsteps? How exciting! She continued silently along the path, looking about for any sign of white as she went. She was so absorbed in the search that she almost bumped into her groupmates. Before she could whisper an apology, she heard it… the footsteps of a hoofed creature. A unicorn, or something else? Then she saw it, a flash of something white. “I think they’re close,” she whispered to Ary and Hope.

White tufts of hair. Check.

Soft quiet sounds. Check.

Hoof prints. Check.

There just ahead of the students and two professors were what they all had been hoping and looking for. A small herd of unicorn. Four to be exact. The oldest and clearly the leader stood several feet in front of the others, protective but also weary. Just behind him and to the left was a slightly smaller unicorn, younger but an adult. Both stood their ground making sure that no one came close to the other two behind them.

The third a fourth ones, a mother and her baby were laying nestled in the tall grass and bushes. The golden haired baby was curled up asleep against its mother, who had her eyes trained on those coming near.

Maria felt a little unsettled because of the forbidden forest around them so she was immensly happy that her boyfriend was there with her. Nodding she said to Kion "Yes, that's what Professor P said so if the hair glowes too then using Lumos might make it easier for us to spot it. Unless the light attracts bad creatures?" She added as an afterthought but probably not since they were with two professors. Maria did though think that seeing what she was looking for/facing was better than being in darkness.

Unholstering her wand Maria mumbled "Lumos!" and watched how her wand lit up the path ahead of them, and the area around them as she heard Professor P announce that they were getting close to the unicorns area. "I hope they can because I really want to see a unicorn up close. It'd be incredible if we'd get to pet one." That was a dream though Maria knew. Reaching out for what she thought was hair that turned out to be spiderweb was gross. "Thanks!" Maria said as she wiped off her spider web covered hand on Kion's robes. She hadn't beeing checking around for strands off hair for long before she heard the excitement in her boyfriends voice, and turned to look where he was pointing, and grinned at him "Yes, I think you just found unicorn hair Kion!" Reaching out to carefully take the white strands of hair down from the leaf she put them into a bag.

As they walked she heard soft quiet sounds, saw hoof prints on the ground then suddenly several meters ahead she saw the small herd of unicorns. Excited, she pulled on Kion's right arm, and pointed "Unicorns! Kion do you see them? A whole family. The unicorns does really glow." Maria stopped on the patch, and waited for instructions. She did not want to be the one that spooked the unicorns to flee.

“Thanks, Desiree!” It may have been his find but it was a win for the group; he was happy to share the credit. If he weren’t so intent on his listening, that is. The more Aryan focused on the sounds, the more certain he became that the thing he was hearing had hooves. Was it unicorns? A herd hippogriff that somehow escaped the barnyard? Centaurs? A couple of thestrals? Something else? “I think so too,’’ he whispered to the group.

It was definitely unicorns.

The Slytherin’s breath caught in his throat. There was just one word to describe the creatures before him: majestic. He wanted to go closer but at the same time he didn’t because he was afraid of startling them, and most of all, disturbing the foal who was fast asleep.

He was just content with admiring them from where he was

As Alissa walked with Zara along the forest trail she kept her eye out for unicorn parts. She was hoping that it wouldn't be too difficult to see. If unicorn hair was silvery, shouldn't it sort of glint? Maybe that wasn't how colors actually worked and that was just an effect in movies and stuff. But in her mind that was how it should have worked. Unfortunately she didn't see anything like that. "See anything?" She asked Zara. Maybe her partner was having more luck than she was.

After a few minutes of keeping her eyes peeled, she thought she saw something in the dirt on one side of the path. She thought it could maybe be some sort of prints, but maybe that was wishful thinking. Even if it was prints, could it really be from a unicorn? She kept her eye out for more as the group continued to walk forward. And then in front of them a whole four unicorns came into view. Alissa gasped and reached out to grab Zara's arm in her excitement. "Unicorns!" Even in her excitement she whispered it, not wanting to spook the unicorns away.

Although she would probably never admit this out loud, Eliza was once again grateful for Brandon. Because of him, she wasn't put in the awkward position of begging someone to work with her. Not that she would ever do that anyway. Then, as Anna and Aurora walked together, Brandon formed a two-by-two formation with her. She did manage a small smile in his direction. She saw him put some possible unicorn hairs in his bag, and since they looked like a good possibility, she put a few in her bag, too. "Maybe?" she replied. She'd never actually collected the unicorn hairs. She'd only used them once they'd been collected and brought into storage.

Oh, and he was offering flowers, too? Eliza couldn't help but blush, even though he'd given one to all of them. He was still a boy giving her a flower! "Thanks," she managed to say. She did, however, direct her attention to the other two as a means of a distraction. She knew nothing about the violin or how it even fit into this situation right now. She just kind of accepted she'd be the quiet one in their group for now.

She stiffened a bit as one of the girls asked about her musical abilities. "Uhh, I'm more of a quidditch player," was all she could think to say. They didn't expect her to start singing, did they? That was a hard no for her. She should probably try to say something else, though. Maybe? Where were the unicorns when you needed them?! "The drums sound kind of cool, though?" They kind of reminded her of being a beater in a quidditch match.

Something told Eliza she'd ended up in a group that had a completely different personality than she did. The other two girls seemed excited about everything, which didn't upset Eliza, but she just didn't know how to react to it. Just as Aurora had asked something about the color of the unicorn's hair, Eliza stopped right in her tracks. "Hey. Look!" she half-whispered. She eyed the two girls, thinking maybe they were the type to just charge on ahead and tackle the unicorns in a hug or something.

Brandon was surprised to find a few more unicorn hairs as they continued walking. He really didn't think he would find anything, and yet... there was quite a lot of it. And the sounds... he was pretty sure he heard something. "Sure you can be the singer, Anna. Remind me to play you some violin music sometime." He smiled warmly at her and Aurora. They were so... fun to be around. Brandon was more of a serious, brooding person, but his two good friends made him feel lighter and less weighed down. When Anna picked up a rock instead of a unicorn hair, he only smiled more. "You look really nice with that flower in your hair, madam. And Aurora... I personally think you could be the trumpet. Trumpets are cool." He offered her a little smile, showing her the white and gold hairs he'd found. He showed them to Anna and Eliza as well, so everybody could see. He politely pretended not to notice when Eliza blushed at him. He was much older than her and also not the kind of boy who was interested in girls, but he was very glad she liked the flowers and being included in the group. He felt responsible for making sure younger years feel welcomed, so he tried his best to be inclusive. "It's no problem at all. There are a lot of interesting flower varieties in the forest that we can look at... I've never seen some of these before." He knew a lot about flowers, so the three girls in his group would probably end up with a few more of them, along with new knowledge about their properties and symbolism. Brandon Fox... was very much his sister's brother, and could go on about flowers all day. "You can be the drums, Eliza. Or you could do some sort of flying display-" He stilled.

Unicorns. Wow. He had never seen a real unicorn before, nor had he expected to see one now. He was so insecure about being a boy right now, despite Anna's reassurances. What if the unicorns didn't like him? "Wow. You're so beautiful." Yes, he was talking to the unicorns. He stopped at a respectful distance, not wanting to aggravate or startle them in any way, and... bowed. Why? Because he was laying his eyes on powerful healing creatures and he was in awe!

The best thing about happening upon a herd of unicorns during a lesson was getting to see each student's reaction. Hady could easily admit to anyone that watching how excited some of them were right now reminded her of her own days back at Hogwarts and when she got to experience seeing some of the creatures up close for the first time. Even those she knew that had seen and interacted with unicorns before were still thoroughly delighted by their appearance.

Making sure that all of her students remained behind her for the moment, Hady stepped forward to make her presence fully known. Greeting the unicorns quietly and very calmly, she waited until she knew what was a well received returned greeting from them all. Very polite bows and inclined heads were given by all parties, human and unicorn alike.

Turning towards the class, Hady spoke softly. ”There's no need for me to tell you all that we are incredibly lucky this afternoon to have come across this herd of unicorns. You all did a fine job listening and following the track marks. For that, anyone that would like to come up one by one or in pairs you may do so.” She would give a moment for that to sink in now. They were being allowed the chance to come up and now only greet but pet a unicorn if they so wished to.

”Remember your manners. Act slowly. Greet them politely and always be gentle. We don't want to startle them and give them cause to flee.” There were four unicorns there so no one should be arguing or rushing one another or anything like that. This should be a very enjoyable experience for all of them.


OOC: The students have found a herd of unicorns! Hady has gotten the okay from the herd for them all to slowly come over and greet/pet the unicorns if they would like! XD

"Hi Alissa," Zara had repeated her partner's name so she could remember it, though she couldn't help the glum that colored her tone. It wasn't Alissa's fault, but Zara had a feeling they weren't going to see much unicorn hair (or feces, or whatever else they were supposed to be looking for) unless it glowed in the dark or something.

She kept to the path, trying not to sigh dramatically TOO often, but then felt her partner grabbing her arm, so she grabbed Alissa's back. And she let out a sharp breath as she saw them too. UNICORNS!!!!!! REAL FREAKING UNICORNS IN THE FLESH!!!!! AND THEY DID KIND OF GLOW IN THE MOONLIGHT OR WAS SHE JUST LOOKING AT THEM WITH MISTY EYES WHO CARED IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zara silently (okay, maybe not-so-silently, she might've been squeaking a little) squeed and bounced in place. "CAN WE PET THEM, PROFESSOR?" she breathlessly whisper-asked, kind of bouncing forward a little on the path, and then coming to a hesitant stop.

She seemed to have lost her voice in all the excitement, barely able to get her words out now. It was definitely a hoarse voice (heh) that greeted the horned horses. "HI THERE UNICORNS!!!!!!!!!" EEEEEEE!!!! She daintly wiggled her fingers toward them like pls let me pet you, pls pls pls pls pls pls pls.

"Nice," The light really helped them see the path better. Kion didn't cast the light charm incase anything came out to threaten them. But so far nothing bad was happening.

After Maria confirmed the unicorn hair, Kion reached out to collect the strands and tucked them into the baggie they were provided. That was when he heard that they discovered the Unicorns! "Wow," He said in awe. They were even better in person.

Turning to Maria since they were given permission to approach them. "Maybe you should go first? They'll trust you more than me," As gentle as he could be described he didn't want to make a mistake and have others miss out on interacting with the Unicorns because he spooked them. He was already happy just looking at them.

The whole musical conversation had not been something Anna had considered when she had initially mentioned them being a quartet but there was also no reason to not have gone along with Brandon's addition to things. After all, life was just like their improve activities in Drama Club and all about 'yes and'-ing things! If you didn't go along with and adapt to things, then you were going to just be stagnant and never advance or learn anything and who wanted everything to be the same day in and day out anyway? So when Eliza shared that she was less of a musician and more of a quidditch player, the Hufflepuffle's face only brightened. "Oh that's really fun. I don't have the best of balance and tend to get all clammy when I'm on a broom...so I'm quite rubbish at quidditch," she explained to the younger Slytherin. "I enjoy watching it and really admire those who play. Everyone always reminds me of birds while they dance across the sky and paint the wind with the bristles of their brooms." They could have a quidditch player in their quartet, easy peasy. "Percussion is really cool too! I'm also quite terrible at that. It's why I struggle to get into my own common room. One of my housemates bought me a raincoat for my birthday last term and I wear it to practice so I don't get saturated in vinegar all the time."It had been incredibly thoughtful of Reuben to get her such a gift and she still had not quite thought of the best gift to return his kindness. As for Aurora...she wasn't too convinced by Brandon's suggestion of a trumpet or really any gold brassy instrument for that matter. What did come to mind, however, was a but more fantastical and mystical. "Oh! Aurora, you know those little instruments that are kind of like little portable pianos only they don't look like a piano at all? Fairies and fauns carry them...um...um um um um um...OH YES! The kalimba? I heard that it is pretty easy to learn and from a long haired reliable source!" Anna beamed at Brandon and nodded eagerly because it was most certainly a date, a violin date! With any luck that seventh year Ravenclaw girl would be in the music room too and Anna could get them to play a duet.

By the time their quartet had touched upon flowers and their varieties, Anna immediately thinking about flower crowns and the mess of a daisy chain crown she had made for Cyprien and how much better she was at making them now so she ought to make him a new one soon, was the entire class stilling and all pleasant sounds of crunched leaves and snapped sticks ceased. She was about to ask what everyone was looking at when she faintly heard Professor Paton giving them instructions. Track marks? Anna certainly hadn't seen any of those and sure was feeling guilty about taking credit for something she had not done in the least...when she saw THEM and her arm immediately WOOSHED out from around Aurora's so she could cover her mouth with both of her hands to muffle the shrill squeal the MAJESTIC sight before them elicited. It actually worked relatively well, for the record. "Oh oh oh Aurora, we simply have to make them a nature crown!" she squeaked in a slightly shrill voice but, blessedly, not too loudly. "We are going to have to wait our turn anyway so we ought to make good use of our time."

SPOILER!!: lil bit of ketchup

In any case, he was focusing on the foraging while all this was transpiring. That, and answering the younger boy who spoke to him.

When the younger boy spoke to him, Regulus allowed a smile and said, "Oh, it's one of my better subjects." Not as good as History of Magic, but better than Potions, which he still achieved high grades in. Not that grades were what ultimately counted when it came to this particular practical application. "But I think it's unlikely we'll need to do much defending against the Dark Arts, if any," he added, in what he felt sure was a reassuring sort of tone. Really, though, it wasn't like he knew for sure.

True to form, Regulus pretended not to notice the second year girl slipping into the trees, despite keeping one eye on her as they moved along. He was the suspicious type not by nature but certainly by nurture, and quiet by design, so his mouth stayed shut. The barrier was up, after all, so little would come of his accidentally on purpose overlooking one of his group wandering off. It was a very big group after all. Easy to lose track of four others - as the Hufflepuff girl had joined them to make them a bunch of five. Or whatever the collective noun for students might be. A school, maybe.

Actually, it wasn't entirely true, that he'd pretended not to notice, because he'd naturally looked over at the third year in their group who dissolved into a fit of laughter and then, when the second year reappeared in the midst of the group again, Regulus greeted her with a quiet, "Welcome back. We're looking for unicorns." But otherwise, he was quiet, focused on staying alert even while essentially foraging and seeking out the creatures.

And lo and behold, there they were.

The unicorns seemed to shine in the dim faux twilight that the forest canopy provided, and Regulus found himself wishing they could have seen them during full night. It seemed unlikely that any professor would take them into the forest after hours, though, so maybe he would find some other way. Perhaps the forest surrounding his father's other house would be the place.

For the time being, Regulus stopped and remained where he was, simply watching the creatures for the time being, and the professor too. Keeping even his breathing as quiet as he could, and pocketing the bag he'd picked up for collecting purposes.

But he didn't approach. Not now, not yet. For one thing, he counted three adults, and there were a lot of students here. Even if Professor Paton had done all the proper greetings and they were willing to tolerate boys, Regulus was not confident that any one of the unicorns might not suddenly change their minds and fight (as opposed to take flight) what with their young involved. And, for another thing, Regulus could not help but wish the experience of meeting the unicorns were a more private, solitary one, though he was unable to put into words exactly why.

Desiree had barely enough time to acknowledge Ary’s whisper with a nod before she saw them. Unicorns! Four of them! Her face lit up at the sight of the two adult unicorns in front. Standing in place, she peered past them to see the mother and foal. Awww, so cute!!! It took all her self control not to squeal with delight at the sight of the baby!

Following Professor Paton’s lead, she slowly inclined her head toward the unicorns. Was she meant to bow as well? “Hello there,” she greeted the unicorns with a soft smile, keeping her voice low so as not to wake the baby. She was tempted to try to approach now, but she thought it better to let the unicorns get used to her voice and presence first. Her attention turned to the mother and baby. “What an adorable foal you have, Madame Unicorn!”

She cautiously extended a hand, though she didn’t try to move forward yet. Would they let her approach and pet them? “I won’t hurt you. Would you like some pets?”

Having a proper introduction done by Professor Paton calmed the older unicorn of the herd. He knew the woman from previous encounters and that she could be trusted. If she was here with these students then his herd shouldn't be in any danger, he would allow them to come closer. Dark eyes traveled remained locked on the humans waiting for them to come to him, it was not up to him to go to them.

The young girl (Zara) was wiggling her fingers at them. All that squealing she had been doing was thankfully reined in for not only the sake of the unicorns but herself. The younger unicorn stood his ground, head tilted and eyeing her silently waiting to see if she would come over. He would like some petting please.

When Desiree approached the mother unicorn and her young foal, immediately all eyes were on the young lady. Her quiet greeting and inclined head was met with a raised head from the mama unicorn and a soft 'hmph' sound as if she was agreeing that her baby was in fact adorable. Her head moved forward to take a sniff of the girl.

Would anyone else be coming forward to pay them all some attention like they deserved?

Ary was aware how rapidly his classmates were noticing the four unicorns. He was half afraid one of them would do something rash that would scare the creatures away. This was why he was thankful when Aunty Hady stepped in to reassure them that they could get closer to the unicorns. Ary’s mind was in a whirl. He was actually going to interact with a unicorn! Be calm, Ary, be calm. Bouncing slightly on his feet, he watched as a few classmates interacted with the unicorns first. He was just glad that none of them had caused anything chaotic.

This meant that when Ary took his turn, there were still four unicorns gathered. He moved slowly forward, keeping his eyes on them. It reminded him much like greeting Hippogriffs but without having to bow. For some reason, the second year gravitated towards the baby, the foal. But first…

“Hi. You four make a pretty little bunch.” Ary smiled cautiously. “Is it okay if I pet the baby? I promise I won’t make him up.”

When Zara bounced forward Alissa did too, keeping near her partner and keeping her eyes on the unicorns. The professor was communicating something with them, and the unicorns seemed to be okay with their presence. How tragic would it be if they all ran away because of the presence of the students? At least they still would have gotten to see them. But everything seemed fine and Professor Paton was giving them the okay to go up to them.

The unicorn that Zara had waved at seemed to be looking at her. So Alissa approached that one slowly. She held her hand out toward it too. "Hello there." She cooed. "Aren't you beautiful. We just want to come and say hi, if that's alright."

Aurora too wasn’t sure about Brandon’s assessment that she was a trumpet. Yes she could be loud and bold but not in a show off type of way, it was mostly excitement and pep and an eagerness for life that led her to not understand just how loud she was being. Also playing the trumpet seemed like it would take an awful lot of breath and the blonde was not a particularly big person, it all seemed like too much effort on her little lungs. “Are you saying I’m loud?” she asked Brandon, giggling to show that she was only teasing him. Truthfully she wasn’t sure what a Kalimba was either but the fact that they were associated with fairies immediately perked her interest. “Are they like panpipes?” she asked Anna. “If they are easy to learn then I could definitely give it a try. Although I’m not sure where I can get ahold of one. Is your long haired friend a Centaur?! Do they have one?” Yes Fauns and Centaurs were not remotely similar other than that their bottom halves were associated with an animal but still..

Poor Eliza had been roped into such a confident and bubbly group that Aurora was sure that she’d get lost within the muddled conversations but Anna seemed to be doing a great job at keeping her involved. “Do you want to be a Quidditch player? I like my feet to remain on the ground, I was terrible at flying classes in first year. Oh unless it’s on a winged horse but then it’s the horse that’s doing most of the effort and I can just hold the reins like on a wingless horse.”

If it wasn’t for Anna letting go of her hand, Aurora might have continued on with her rambling. Instead the Ravenclaw’s attention was immediately drawn to the herd of Unicorns that were congregating in the clearing. It took all of her effort to bite down on her bottom lip and prevent the impending squeal from reverberating out of her mouth. Instead she sort of quietly stomped her feet in an excited jig. “Yes, yes, yes!” The fourth year was already searching the ground for as many flowers as she could collect in her bag meant for potions ingredients. The thought of that baby unicorn wearing a flower crown was simply to die for.

As the students took their turns in greeting the unicorns and coming up to pet them, they all remained where they were. Well the mama and her baby did. The other two did come a little closer to some of the students as they got more comfortable, this being their own way of saying that it was alright for the group of students and Professors to be there for the moment.

The young boy (Aryan) was watched very curiously as he came closer. She could sense that he meant her and her sleeping foal no harm. His voice was soft and he was very calm. She lifted her head up in acknowledgement a soft huffing sound coming from her, as she continued to watch him. He was welcome to pet them both if he wanted.

See, he knew he was right all along. He was the most majestic of the bunch. There was another human coming along with the first (Alissa). If everyone else in his herd was getting attention it was only fair that he got some too, yes? Straightening up his posture he took one step and then another and another closer to the girls. They were welcome to pet him.

Professor Paton was quite proud of her class right now. Each and every single one of them, while some were very excited, none overreacted and scared the unicorns off. They all remembered what they had been taught and this was why they had such a beautiful privilege as this one today. She hoped they all understood that it was not only their own doings but them all as a group as well.

"Excellent, excellent work everyone. I'm so proud of you all for the way that you're interacting with the unicorns. This is truly a very special encounter and I thank you all for taking turns so nicely and keeping calm while you do so." She knew it wasn't always easy to wait ones turn at their ages but they were all rocking it today! "We only have a few more minutes left before it is time to head back so let's all start saying our 'byes' to our newest creature friends and returning to our groups and the pathway. For tonight's homework I want you all to write about what you learned about today." With the few minutes left to their lesson the students still had time to greet the unicorns if the hadn't. Those that were making flower crowns for the unicorns still had time for finish them too. Yes, she had noticed this and thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

When the time was up, Hady made sure that everyone was back on the pathway and escorted them all back out of the forest. Never can be too safe.


OOC:That's it for our lesson everyone! Thanks so much for joining in, you're all amazing! I'll be leaving this open until sometime tonight for anyone that still wants to post the kiddos interacting with the unicorns or heading back out of the forest with Hady.

Ary chanced a glance at the other unicorns; it couldn't be helped. He just wanted to see the two unicorns that were interacting with the other students. His attention snapped back to mama unicorn a split second later to catch her humming. He took that as a positive answer to his question. Without any hesitation. He said ‘thank you’ to the mama then reached cautiously towards the foal. He brought his hand to the nuzzle of the smaller creature, taking great care to pat it gently.

What a precious baby!

The second year was all smiles as he pulled his hand eventually to move it towards the mama. “Takes good care of yourselfs and your baby.” She too received gentle pats and he was just finishing up when Aunty Hady told them to say their goodbyes. “Maybe I’ll see you lot around again,’’ Ary added. With a smile at mama, he slipped off back towards Bry, Desiree and Hope.

Brandon was still standing by his group, and half-listening to their talks about instruments and quidditch and flowers, but he only had eyes and ears for the herd of unicorns. From the second he'd noticed them, he'd felt dwarfed. How was he supposed to be a healer, standing next to the ultimate healing creatures? Wow. He felt very lightheaded.

He approached the older unicorn of the herd, not feeling too comfortable with going near the baby. "May I pet you, please?" Sir? How did one address a unicorn. Oh, he was totally going to faint.

After his interaction with the unicorn (he would have petted him gently and reverently if allowed), Brandon returned to his group with his head in the clouds. Whatever they were saying was lost on him- he was thinking about unicorns and smiling more than he had in age.

Desiree stood still, her bright blue eyes glued to the unicorns. She could feel their eyes on her, but she wasn’t worried because she believed the unicorns would sense that she was friendly, if they hadn’t already. She smiled at the mother unicorn’s raised head and “hmph” sound, not moving an inch to allow the mother unicorn to sniff her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said softly. “You’re all so beautiful!” She was still focused on the mother and baby, but her words were directed at all the unicorns. Turning to the mother, she said, “May I pet you, please?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Desiree noticed Ary with the baby. She shot her groupmate a look to say, Isn’t this amazing? She glanced back at Hope. Did the other girl want to join too?

Desiree was having so much fun with the unicorns that she completely lost track of time. All too soon, she heard Professor Paton call time. They were done already?! It seemed as if they’d just started! Her face fell as she rejoined the group heading out of the forest. “Bye,” she said, looking back at the unicorns with a friendly wave. “I hope we see each other again someday!”