[Y1] Lesson I-Flobberworms

Selene walked into the edge of the Forbidden Forest, holding a big bucket with about dozen Flobberworms. The weather was calm and damp outside, perfect weather for the little worms. Next to her, another bucket floated. It was full of lettuce bits, and as she reached the edge of the forest, the bucket came down to the ground slowly. She stood and waited patiently for a new group of First Year students to arrive. As students showed up, more and more, she thought it was a good time to start the first lesson.

"My name is Selene Vega and I will be your professor for Care of Magical Creatures. As you all know, right now I teach only First and Second Years, and you are my only First Year class. This year, we will have another term-long project, but it will be easier." She paused for a little, "I have decided to place you in partners this year, and," she took a piece of parchment from her jean pocket, "I will now read them to you. Kathrine Silvertree and Lily Wellman. Aurelia Rosier and Jennifer Moss. Emmalynne St. Pierre, Daisee Dursley and Riley Fortescue-Black. The last one will be a group of three until another student registers and will later join Mr. Black."

Putting the parchment back in her pocket, she said, "I know you probably expected a Hippgriff on your first lesson, but remember that saying that goes something like 'Good things come to those who wait'? Well, I recommend you wait. Now, please take out your notebook, and form a line here. You will pick up a Flobberworm and some lettuce and sketch a quick drawing of it onto your notebook." She made room for the students to pick up the worms and lettuce.
"You may work in groups if you'd like, but each of you must have their own sketch of the worms. The lettuce is for feeding." She said as she walked aorund, observing the interaction between the students and the Flobberwoms.

Jennifer walked down to the Forbiddon Forest quickly, afraid she'd be late for it like she had been in her first lesson last year. She was wearing her wellies because it was damp outside and had been pretty gory weather for the last few days. They were in Scotland, though. It could only be expected. It turned out she wasn't late, but one of the first students to arrive. That had been a waste of energy, then. She looked curiously at Professor Vega, wondering what was in the buckets.

When the class started, Jen looked at the professor attentively, listening to her speak. Blah blah blah...she was the teacher...first year class...partners. Awesome. She crossed her fingers, hoping she'd be on her own or with Lily. But that would be awkward, seeing they hadn't talked fir a few years and they used to be best, best, best, best, best friends. Aurelia Rosier. She couldn't be bad, but the girl couldn't help being disappointed. She went to stand next to Aurelia, hoping it wasn't partner work that day. At least it wasn't Dear Daisee she was with...that girl was not going to live to the end of this term.

No, she wasn't expecting a Hippogriff. But that wouldn't be half bad, actually. Maybe that was second year. She did say they had to wait, not that it would never happen. That would be so cool. Jen smirked at the thought. Flobberworms, Uggh, suckish. She went to grab an ugly flobberworm and some lettuce to tease it with. Heh. Nooo, Vega, she couldn't draw. Surely the woman knew that, meanie. She picked it up, jumping a little when it tickled her hand.

Aww...it was actually kinda cute.

When Lily arrived at COMC, she beamed at the lady who she supposed was the professor. "Good morning, Professor!" she said. Then the small girl walked over to Jen and greeted her enthusiastically, even giving her a quick hug before turning her attention back to the professor, as it looked like the class was about to start by the looks of things.

Lilz focused on what the woman was saying, taking everything in. Wow! Professor Vega was so cool! Her eyes widened when she ttalked about partners and she hoped with everything she had that she'd get Jen. Then...Katherine Silvertree. Who was that? Stupid name. She looked down at the floor sadly and couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips when Jen left her to go over to that mean Aurelia girl.

Not paying much attention to what Professor Vega was saying about the lesson anymore, she shuffled her feet on the floor, looking up suddenly when she heard the word 'flobberworm'. She had one of them. Found it in her treehouse one day. It had crawled in by mistake, the sweet little thing. He was only a baby so Lily had adopted him and named him Flobberyboo. She was only five at the time. Oooh, they had to draw it! She loved drawing.

The girl pushed herself forward to pick up a worm and a generous handful of lettuce to teach him cool tricks with. She loved animals, magical or not. Aww, how cute! It tickled her hand!

First lesson of the new term. Emmalynne was unsurprisingly excited, even given the fact she’d been held back a year. Her parents had decided it would be best, especially seeing as she’d only arrived at Hogwarts halfway through the last term. She wasn’t alone, though, as she arrived at the edge of the forest to find Jen there already, along with another Slytherin girl that apparently knew the blonde. It must be a Slytherin thing, she mused to herself. She’d seen a lot of the Slytherins sticking to themselves the short time she’d been at the castle the year before, so it was a logical thought. It didn’t bother her, either, as she’d always been more one to talk to everyone instead of be exclusive. Nobody found things out by staying to themselves, after all, so she waved at the two girls before turning her attention to Professor Vega as she had opened the lesson.

There was going to be another term-long project. That excited her as well, even though last term’s had seemed to get cut short. Either that or her having come in halfway through term had just meant that she’d been slightly outside the group. She hadn’t thought so, but now she was excited to be part of a group of three. To the point she almost hoped that nobody else enrolled in the lesson, because then she’d get to talk to more people instead of working with only one. The hippogriff joke almost slipped her notice with the project excitement, even. She’d sent a bright smile toward Daisee and Riley in any case, before getting in the line to retrieve a flobberworm and a handful of lettuce. “Is this all we’ll be doing in class today, Professor Vega?,” she asked the woman, out of curiosity, before walking away to sit on the ground and see if her flobberworm was hungry. It might take her a while to sketch the cute but slimy worm, but she didn’t think it would take the whole lesson and for now her notebook stayed on the ground near her side. Besides, she kind of hoped there’d be an actual class activity, other than feeding the flobberworms.

Daisee was so excited to be taking another class besides the only two she was able to take last year, though she did like both of them. However, she was glad she had something new to learn about in this crazy, magical world.

She listened earnestly as Professor Vega started the lesson. A Term Project? It sounded interesting. She was paired with Emmalynne St. Pierre, the Hufflepuff she saw briefly at the Christmas party. She couldn't help but smile as she thought of the other Hufflepuff she met that night. Her boyfriend, Taison Delacour, who was a first-year like her. She wondered if she'd have any classes with him. She hoped so. She realized they were also paired with the Ravenclaw Riley, but it sounded like he's be temporary for them, only until another person joined the class.

She tuned back in to the lesson as the teacher introduced the flobberworms. They had to sketch them? Hopefully Professor Vega wasn't expecting artistic genius, because drawing wasn't her strong suit by any means. She looked around for Emmalynne, hoping the Hufflepuff could help her with this. Seeing her, she waved her over. It was never too soon to start getting acquainted with her term partner. While she was at it, she started looking around for Riley as well. She didn't want to make him feel left out.

When the time came for her first lesson of the year—Care of Magical Creatures, Aurelia ambled calmly towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, noticing a few first year students along the way, all of whom appeared to be nervously trying to figure out their way through the maze of ever-changing staircases and tapestries. Having seen them scattered throughout the Great Hall, she was certain that they, too, were headed towards the Care of Magical Creature lesson, though she did not acknowledge their presence, nor did she stop to converse with them, for she didn’t want to be tardy to the lesson. Despite being raised in the Wizarding world, Aurelia was still in awe of the magical world encompassing Hogwarts and its surrounding vicinity; she loved roaming around the giant castle and exploring the recesses of her new home, wandering aimlessly through the corridors to wherever her propelling legs chose to bring her to.

As she finally arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, vibrant azure orbs quickly raked over her surroundings, taking in the faces of the students who had already arrived. “Good morning, Professor Vega,” greeted the girl politely, flashing the professor a quick smile, before continuing to examine her classmates with interest. She noticed a fellow Slytherin enthusiastically hugging, what Aurelia presumed to be, her friend. A thoughtful smile curled across her lips as she watched them, before turning her attention back towards the Professor. Arching a brow at the mention of a term project and partners, and upon hearing her name, she turned to scan the crowd, searching silently for her partner—Jennifer Moss. Then, she heard a slight gasp and noticed a girl glancing at her lividly. While she wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong, Aurelia certainly hoped that she hadn’t offended the girl in any way.

Shrugging, she paid careful attention to the rest of Professor Vega’s statement, before making her way over to line up to get her Flobberworm and lettuce. As she stood in line, Aurelia offered the girl—Lily, she thought her name was—a small smile. “Hey there, what’s your name?” she asked, hoping that her friendly gesture would be returned.

As she walked around, observing the students' work, Selene noticed that some of them seemed to be aiming for incredibly detailed and artistic drawings.
"If you spend too much time on the drawing, you won't really have time to interact with the Flobberworm, and you also won't be able to enjoy a small surprise I've planned for you." She told them as she nodded towards the forest, hoping they'd get a hint. "Right now, you are only required to draw it, measure it, and label how long it is and how it respinds to you feeding it."
She walked back to the buckets and picked one of the slimy, brown worm up in her hand. As she looked at the students, she asked as she pointed to the green jelly-like substance coming out from the worn, "Does anybody know what this is and what it's used for?"

Before Emmalynne could respond to Daisee's waving, Professor Vega broke into the commotion. Daisee was excited to hear about a surprise that was in the forest. She couldn't wait to find out what it was. She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the professor caution that spending too much time on the sketch was actually a detriment to this class.

Taking that to heart, she drew a scribble that looked like a kindergartener did it, though she didn't care. She then measured hers, which was just under 10 inches, which she wrote down as well. Then taking a handful of lettuce, she fed her flobberworm, taking note on how it gulped down handful after handful, seemingly unaware on when it should stop.

As Daisee heard the question the teacher asked, she raised her hand excitedly. She wasn't taking Potions this term, so she had decided to research a little about it herself so that she would know enough to take it next year.

"It's Flobberworm Mucus, Professor!" Daisee exclaimed. It's used to thicken certain potions, isn't it?"

As she saw Miss Dursley's hand raise excitedly in the air, Selene smiled. Her answer was correct. "5 points for Gryffindor. And yes, it is mucus and it is used for the thickening of potions, the most common one being the Wiggenweld Potion. As you can see, it comes out from both sides of the worm, and both sides are identical. Now, these creatures are fairly harmless, and don't believe any claims that people have been bitten by one because they don't even have teeth." Putting the Flobberworm down she asked, "Can anyone tell me how to know if it's an adult?"

Zoran reached the where the CoMC teacher was....well, teaching. He quickly walked over to her and said, "I'm sorry I'm late professor. I got stuck with something."

He then, after listening to Prof. Vega's reply, walked over to one of the buckets and drew the diagram as told. This is what he came up with:

A few first year students were already present, and one girl answered a question the teacher asked. He thought Flobberworm mucus was just plain disgusting. Prof. Vega asked another question and Zoran hoped he knew the answer to this one. When the teacher finished asking, though, he knew the answer. In a bored voice he said, "Adult Flobberworms are ten-inches long and they, uh,....probably have teeth?"

Seeing that no one was going to answer her question, Selene thought of how she would word the answer for her students. That is, until a Gryffindor boy spoke up. His voice sounded bored and Selene couldn't help but take that to heart, although, she had to admit that Flobberworms were not the best to teach.
"Yes, Mr. Mandelino, I suppose?" She said, while remembering her class list. There was only one Gryffindor boy registered for her class.
"However, no they don't have teeth. That's why you can't believe anyone who says they've been bitten by one. Either way, 5 points for Gryffindor." she said, motioning for the students to stand up.
"Alright, leaving the Flobberworms aside, we'll now venture into the forest for your first time. Are you all ready?" she asked them as she motioned for them to follow her. Last term, the First Years had received a Centaur as their surprise, but this time Selene had not been able to get her friend to meet the students. However, she was sure they would be interested in this creature.

Looking up from her position seated on the ground, Emmalynne had noticed Daisee waving at her but had finished her poor excuse for a sketch of her newly acquired, or at least borrowed, flobberworm before she thought about getting up to move over to where the Gryffindor girl was. She’d poked a piece or two of lettuce at the worm as well, just because it looked like it was hungry, before she remembered she was supposed to measure the animal as well. “Okay,” she said quietly, measuring it carefully and noting the number down on her sketch along with a few observations about how it had eaten the lettuce before she’d looked back over at her class partner. Only to turn her attention back to Professor Vega when a question had been asked, followed by Daisee answering.

She noted down the mucus and the potion it was commonly used as a thickener for on her sketch then, sighing as the discussion continued. Flobberworms were interesting, but they really didn’t do much and she was glad once the discussion seemed to have concluded. Especially as it seemed they were going to be going into the forest now, but she raised her hand as a couple questions came to mind. “Professor Vega? Should we bring the flobberworms back to you before we go into the forest? And if they’re the same on both ends, how do we know where the mouth is to feed it?,” she asked, glancing at her flobberworm again even as she stood up as requested. Of course she was ready, but that didn’t mean she didn’t still have questions.

A Hufflepuff student, whom Selene now knew as Emmalynne, asked multiple questions in a row. Surprised at the girl's curiosity, Selene tried to answer them as best as she could.
"Yes, put the Flobberworms back in the bucket, I will collect them later." she began with her usual smile, "And, to be honest, you can feed it from the one end that appears to be the mouth. They don't have teeth at all, so it's very hard to figure that out, but you can do it from which ever side the worm prefers to eat, which will be noticeable once it gets close to the food."
As she watched the students place the Flobberworms back in the bucket, she remembered something.
"Have you guys ever had Flobberworms for lunch? They serve them here, you should try them." she said as some students groaned in disgust, causing a small smile to form on her lips.

As she walked into the deeper parts of the forest, she turned back to make sure her students were still there. As they reached a bigger space, she turned to them.
"You are about to meet one of the most beautiful creatures, and one of my favorites also." As soon as she finished the last sentence, a bird's cry was heard somewhere nearby.
A majestic bird with scarlet feathers and a golden tail flew out from the trees, making circles around the students in a playful manner, and finally settling down on a branch right above them. It was a Phoenix.

Looking up, she smiled at the bird who seemed to smile back. Turning to her students, she saw some in absolute awe as they stared up at the bird.

"This is Scarlet." She said as the bird began to make its way down to a closer branch, looking at the students curiously with its dark, shinning eyes.

Aurelia hummed to herself quietly, as she lowered her quill to the surface of her parchment and began to complete a rudimentary sketch of the flobberworm from all angles, occasionally prodding the creature, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the mechanism of the creature. It didn’t, however, respond to her incessant poking and a light frown adorned the girl’s features, as she continued to sketch the worm, along with the numerous observations she had made while feeding it snippets of lettuce. As she listened quietly to the question posed by Professor Vega and the response, the young girl quickly made note of the fact that Flobberworm mucus was most often used in the Wiggenweld potion in the left corner of her notes, before rising elegantly to her feet.

Just as Aurelia had begun to mill about her surroundings, Professor Vega announced that they would be heading into the deeper regions of the forest, where they were not allowed without a teacher’s permission. They were supposedly to view one of the most beautiful creatures, and the girl couldn’t help but feel curious as she inched forward eagerly. The sound of a bird’s cry resounded through the depths of the Forest, and as they reached a clearing and the girl’s gaze landed upon the majestic creature with a golden tail and scarlet feathers, an audible gasp escaped from her lips. “Professor, is that a phoenix?” whispered the girl, azure orbs filled with nothing but awe and curiosity. “What a beautiful creature,” she added, almost as an afterthought, noting the beautiful smile it had given Professor Vega.

Since he had been late registering for class, Emilio wasn't surprised when he didn't have a partner for the group exercise. That was okay, though; he'd prefer to work alone anyway. He grabbed a flobberworm from the bucket and almost dropped it. Eww... The slimy coating on the worm sickened Em, but he kept the worm and dropped it a few feet away. Taking the paper and pencil, he began to sketch it slowly. The picture came out nice. Too nice. Even though he liked drawing occasionally, he couldn't let anybody know that. He added a random squiggle, right over the flobberworm's head. That was better. Em dropped a couple pieces of lettuce on the ground and watched as the worm struggled to eat them. Finally, it had gorged itself and it curled up.

Em's head jerked up. Something more interesting than Flobberworms? He was game. He tagged along at the back of the group until the professor stopped. She pointed out an impressive bird. While Emilio was secretly surprised, he kept his face impassive while the rest of the class oohed and awed. It was just a bird, after all.

Glancing to Aurelia Rosier, Selene saw the amazement in her eyes. Smiling, she said, "Yes, that is a Phoenix."
"Phoenixes are very special birds, does anybody know why they're special?" she asked her students, trying to get them to think about what they already knew before giving them facts.

Phoenixes were so much more interesting than flobberworms. The colors, and just the stories that were attached to the birds meant that Scarlet got Emmalynne’s attention away from the flobberworms with the mysterious question of where their mouths were quite easily. Plus, they’d left the bucket behind anyway, so she had the forest and the phoenix to distract her. There hadn’t been any need to ask if that was what the bird was, after all. Aurelia had, and Emmalynne would have known that was what it was anyhow. She was curious if Professor Vega actually cared for Scarlet like she did her pygmy puff, but before she could ask that question, another had been posed to them and her hand shot up. She was fairly certain she knew the answer. At least, she knew an answer as to why phoenixes are so interesting.

“Phoenixes can regenerate themselves, which is why they can live practically forever. They burn up and then are reborn from the ashes to go through the cycle over and over again,” she replied. “Plus, their song can make people feel braver and stronger, and their tears have healing properties.” Maybe that was more than the professor had wanted, but she hadn’t been able to hold back. That and she sent a grin to Scarlet just to see if the bird would smile back at her like it had the professor. Probably not, but she didn’t see anything wrong with trying.

Smiling at Emmalynne for her perfect answer, Selene agreed.
"7 points to Hufflepuff." Turning to Scarlet and motioning her to come down to the large rock beside her, she said, "Phoenixes are birds that can regenerate cyclically, meaning they are practically immortal because when they burn, a new bird is born out of the dead's ashes. When they are about to burn, they don't look like Scarlet at all. They resemble a turkey with only a few feathers sticking out."
Turning to her students, she continued, "As Emmalynne said, their tears do have healing powers. There's actually an incident that happened here at Hogwarts that involved danger and a Phoenix. Any body know what it was?" She asked them, aware that most of them had already heard the stories.

Taison was glad he missed the Flobberworms, he had trailed behind and got lost in his thoughts. Eventually, he ran and caught up to his class, but most specifically Daisee. He looked up at the bird in awe. It was beautiful. He'd never seen anything like it.

Riley, like most of the other students in the class, was relieved that the Flobberworm segment of the lesson had ended. While he was certain that they were delightful creatures, in their own special way, he wasn't particularly keen on interacting with them for any amount of time. The sight before him, however, was simply breathtaking. The phoenix appeared to be the size of a swan with red and gold plumage and a golden beak and talons that complemented the scarlet color of the rest of its body. "Scarlet, hmm? A fitting name," he remarked, chuckling as he took a few steps forward to get a better view of the creature. "It would certainly make a good mascot for Gryffindor," muttered the boy, his voice soft and his tone mild, though a few of the students around him still managed to hear his words.

Daisee smiled at Emmalynne as the Hufflepuff girl came over to her. "Hey!" Daisee greeted her excitedly. "I guess we're partners, huh?"

Daisee turned her head to see several late students, most of them new. She did recognize Taison, and lit up as she gave him a wave. Then she spotted a new Slytherin, who looked like he had a bit of a badditude. Then she noticed a new Ravenclaw boy, though he looked vaguely familiar. She must have seen him around before.

She gasped in appreciation as Professor Vega brought out the beautiful scarlet phoenix, and grinned at the fitting name. She giggled at the comment that the Ravenclaw boy from before just made.

"Yeah, but phoenixes are too independent for that most of the time, aren't they?" She piped up. "I mean, the only known domesticated ones would be Sparky, the mascot of the Moutohora Macaws Quidditch team." She beamed, proud of her Quidditch knowledge. "And that Dumbledore guy's pet as well."

She hadn't gotten around to learning much about recent Hogwarts history yet, and as a Muggleborn, she couldn't have heard about Dumbledore another way.

Spencer rushed toward the class gathered near the Black Forest, cursing his tiny bladder. He barely made it through last class, which had been on the third floor. By the time he had used the bathroom and found his way here, it was already a ways into the class. But what was he supposed to do? If he had waited, he definitely wouldn't have made it, and then he would have died of humiliation.

"Sorry, Professor!" Spencer gasped, clutching a stitch in his side. "I'm here! Got stuck on one of the moving staircases!" Which was part of the truth- he HAD gotten stuck on one briefly. It just wasn't the main reason. However, he would rather die than admit where he had to go.

"6 points to Slytherin," Selene announced as Aurelia's answer was correct. "Phoenixes are too loyal, that when their master dies they fly away to mourn instead of looking for a new one. Their tears' healing powers are able to cure an injury given by a Basilisk. Now, as some of you know, a Basilisk is a giant snake with poisonous teeth. We will study those in your third year, but for now, that's all you need to know about them."

"These creatures," she motioned towards Scarlet, "are very hard to domesticate." Pausing for a second, she heard Daisee's comment: I mean, the only known domesticated ones would be Sparky, the mascot of the Moutohora Macaws Quidditch team. And that Dumbledore guy's pet as well.
"Very true, Daisee!" Selene encouraged. "5 points for you. There are only few domesticated Phoenixes, although, sadly, Fawkes is no longer with us and last time I checked, people said they think he's returned to the wild. On another note, Phoenixes are said to encourage those who are good at heart and inflict fear into those who are evil with their signing. They're very powerful, strong creatures too, as they are able to lift heavy weights with their tail. As a wand core, Phoenix feathers are very picky when it comes to choosing an owner. Fawkes, who was Dumbledor's Phoenix, gave two which ended up being the one in Harry Potter's wand, but also in Tom Riddle's. They are not only representatives of fire, but also of Death. Which is somewhat ironic considering they never really die."

A few seconds of a pause brought in a Griffindor boy whom Selene guessed was Spencer Quinn.
"Don't worry, Spencer." She tried to smile, "Now, everyone. You must include a drawing of Scarlet on your notes." She announced as she called the Phoenix to move towards the students, letting them draw it.

As Em listened, he looked with interest at his wand. Picky wand cores, huh? Guess that means I'm special. He allowed a rare smile to light up his countenance, but it soon faded. He ignored the boy who rushed in late, though he stored the fact that the professor didn't mind. Digging out his paper and pencil, he stared at the drawing of the flobberworm he had made earlier. Guiltily, he decided to erase the ugly squiggle he had made on it. As he began to draw the phoenix, which he was more interested in now, he let his mind relax and only concentrated on each gentle curve as he drew it.