Term 10 - Lesson 1 - Afternoon Class

Originally, Ryland had planned for this class to be outside. However, he'd quickly remembered he wasn't on very good terms with the centaurs. Well, it would be an understatement to say his lesson plans went down the drain. Ryland was stuck inside the castle for yet another lesson, his last one for the day, and that probably the only thing keeping him sane. He really wanted food again despite the fact he'd had lunch only a few hours before. Thankfully, as soon as the older kids were out, Ryland would have the whole day to sleep and eat whenever he pleased. He'd have to reward those House Elves, too. They kept him well fed all the time. This time, he decided to write on the board...by hand. Erasing the neat writing, he replaced it with his messy and sloppy one, erasing and rewriting it again to make it seem legible. By now, his coffee was gone.

On The Board:

Agnes didn't even like animals. She didn't like being outside. She didn't like getting dirty and wet and gross and stinky. She didn't like any of this. In fact, Care of Magical Creatures was probably going to be the worst class ever. Just the thought of dirt and animals and shit like that was too much. Agnes groaned when she walked into the classroom, but then realized that this class might not be half bad if they spent all their time inside and kept their hands clean. Just because they weren't outside for today's lesson didn't meant the professor would think it a great idea to bring the damn animal inside the castle.

The first thing Agnes noticed when she walked in was the professor. And he wasn't as bad looking as she thought he would be, because yes she thought about how ugly or attractive all their professors were. She just never told them because that would lead to incredibly awkward situations for sure. This one was pretty attractive, and young too, maybe Agnes would actually pay attention in the class. She took a seat in the middle of the room, the center to be exact. She wasn't too close to the board so that she'd get called on every day and she wasn't sitting in the back with all the low-lives.

Elita strolled in, her baby bump hidden under an oversized sweater. She was the second student there. It felt like forever since she'd been in a classroom. Walking to the corner desk in the front row, she sat down and read the board.

He was here. He was a professor. Ryland. She couldn't believe he was here and that she'd see him as often as she used to. Two of her favourite things all in one class, Ryland and animals. Elita took out her notebook and prepared for class to start.

Oh, wow. Ryland liked this class. Just Elita and another girl he thought was Agnes, the French student. She looked French, anyway. He smiled at both of them and did the same thing that he did with his first years.  Ryland took a textbook with him and grabbed a desk, sitting between the two girls. Smiling at them, he opened the textbook to the Centaur chapter. “The professor before me, Vega, she used to take out the students to meet a real centaur.” He told them, “She was good with all of this planning and lessons shit. I’m not so.” Glancing at the pages, he asked them, “Would you like to start of with a small get-to-know-each-other kind of thing or just go straight to the lesson?”

Before they could answer, he made up his mind. Elita needed friends. Maybe this Agnes girl could be one. “No, let’s do that first.” He looked at both of them before saying, “I’m Ryland Malfoy, I like animals, and I have a sister who works as an Auror and a father who is a journalist.” He told them, proud that he still had Phoenix and Lucy even if he didn’t really talk to them all the time. “And a son.” He said, out of nowhere, because Lucas was now technically his. “I like the color red. I used to be a Gryffindor. And…..I like mangoes.”

He waited until the girls introduced themselves, listening attentively even though he sort of knew what Elita would say. When they were done, he continued, “Okay, well, a centaur has a human torso and a horse’s body. They are classified as Beasts, but obviously they aren’t because they can speak and learn and are actually very intelligent.” He waved his wand and the chalk came to life, working on a drawing of a centaur, resembling the one Professor Vega had given him when he was younger.

“Chalk isn’t a very good artist, but you get the point.” He said, turning back to the girls before standing up and showing them what the inside of the centaurs looked like. This had suddenly turned into an anatomy lesson, but Ryland didn’t really mind.

On the Board:

“I’ll give you a handout on this, so don’t even try to copy it or anything. You’ll have to study it because I’ll send you both a quiz.” he told them. Ryland was already thinking of giving many quizzes in Aoife’s class, just to piss her off. “You can see that most of the anatomy is the same as ours, except of course, the horse part.” Turning back to them, he wondered what he could ask that was easy enough to give them points. “Do either of you know anything about centaurs?” Yeah, that's good enough.

Darcy was late. God, why?! She was the Head Girl, for crying out loud! She was supposed to set an example! And now she was LATE! She sprinted through the hallways, bumping into someone and shouting an apology over her shoulder. She did notice the foggy expression of the guy. Oh, sometimes it was good being half a veela. She shook her head at herself and skidded to a stop. She straightened her robes and took a deep breath. Hopefully, it was a kind professor. She just heard him say that he had a sister who was an auror and a journalist father, and that he had a son. Probably a nice guy then!

She stepped in and lost the breath she was trying to catch. If she'd thought the DaDA lesson was weird... This was insane...! Three people. And one of them... Ryland. Her friend was gonna be her professor? She almost laughed and almost cried at the same time. Horrible joys! She fought the urge to run over and hug him, and then grinned sheepishly. And then it vanished. Had she heard him say... son?! Holy shit on a shitty sandwich...!

So many emotions rushed through her and she had no chance to sort them out. And then she took a step and decided it was safe to walk. She walked over to a chair and sat down next to Elita. Son...? She couldn't believe it! And then she cleared her throat. "So sorry for being late," she said softly, her voice laced with confusion. Why hadn't he told her? "Ehm, I'll do my introductions then? I'm Darcy Wilde, I'm a Gryffindor seventh year, I have a sister in fourth year," she said and didn't know what more to say. Her dad was dead and her mother had grown weak with sorrow? So she just looked over at the two other students, waiting for them to say anything.

She listened to what Ryland was saying about the previous professor and stuff. She didn't really hear it all, she was still a bit dazed by the news. She was happy for him, of course, but it was completely unexpected, and she couldn't really just stand up and ask him about it, because he was a professor and she was a student, and they both had their parts to play. But later. Oh, he would be hearing from her. She wanted to know everything! She was so curious about who the mother was. Little did she know, the mother was within an arm's distance.

"Um, they are, as you said, really intelligent and they watch the constallations to predict what's going to happen and what has happened. They're sort of all very skilled in the art of divination, I suppose. And also I know that there was a centaur who was a professor at Hogwarts a time back," she said with a smile. She wondered what that was like. Having a centaur as professor. It must've been pretty darned awesome!

Professor Ryland Malfoy. Hmm. Agnes glanced at the other girl in the room, and she immediately knew there was something off about her. Well, Agnes was most definitely not going anywhere near her. Looking away from her, Agnes focused on the professor. He had pretty nice hair, the kind of hair style that was messy but purposely enough yo make it look...not messy on purpose. Tilting her head slightly to the side as he introduced himself, Agnes couldn't help but notice the strangeness with which he revealed to them he was a father. He looked almost uncomfortable, but he was probabpy just one of those shy men who didn't feel like sharing their personal life with anyone else was a good social experience.

Another girl came in, and Agnes instantly smiled at her. This girl looked way better than the other one, much more put together. Still smiling, Agnes listened as the girl introduced herself. Darcy Wilde, Seventh year, Gryffindor. Okay, Agnes could do this. She could introduce herself. Sitting up straight on her desk, she played with her hands before speaking up. "I am Agnes Beaumont. Originally, I went to Beauxbatons but...life happens." Her thick French accent was uncomfortable, making her stand out in the middle of all the Britishness. "Um, I'm a Gryffindor in Sixth year and peaches are my favorite fruit." There, that was good enough.

She listened as Professor Malfoy went on about other things, and even paid attention to Darcy. Agnes knew nothing about centaurs, and it felt wrong to just sit there and watch other people gather all the points. If there was ever a time when she felt incredibly ignorant, it was that exact moment.

Okay, Alek was ready for this. He wanted to come here, didn't he? So, winning points for Slytherin was his goal! Arriving just a little bit late, he pulled on his new robes to make sure he looked presentable. And to his surprise, he already loved the class. All the students in there were girls. Girls. Females. With certain body parts he was rather fond of. Grinning at all of them, Alek took a seat by one a pretty Gryffindor one. One who looked his age. But just as he took his spot, he noticed Darcy. DAMN! Sliding his book open, he reached the chapter the pretty Gryffindor was reading and listened to whoever was talking. Actually, he wasn't sure who was talking until he realized it was the girl next to him. Agnes. Sweet, another foreigner!

Paying as much attention as he could, he refrained from looking straight at Darcy just yet. So much self control was needed, though. The professor caught Alek by surprise. He was too young, not that much older than Alek, really. Maybe around 20 or 22, but no professor at Koldovstoretz had been that young! Almost gawking at the professor, Alek winked a few times before turning his gaze somewhere else. Wait, they were doing introductions? No way. He had not signed up to tell a bunch of strangers about himself. However, he still couldn't get in trouble. He just....ugh. Standing up, he glanced at the girls in the room. Hmm, not bad. "I am Aleksander Krupp. Russian. Exchange student. I like beer." That seemed like a good enough introduction, especially since his accent was starting to make him feel much more insecure than he'd ever been.

Taking his seat again, he looked over at the professor and without raising his hand he attempted an answer shortly after Darcy was done. "Also very proud. They don't take shit from anyone."