Professor Taransay
March 18, 2017 6:40 AM
Feeling glum? by Professor Taransay
It had been a little over a year since Rory had started working at Sonora, and in that time his life had changed quite a lot. Meeting Amelle had, at the time, been one of the best things that had happened to him. Their relationship had quickly become serious, with Rory thinking it was definitely long-term, if not forever. Spending the summer mostly apart, with Rory doing research for a book in East Africa, had been hard for him. In fact, he had been planning on proposing to Amelle, when she had announced that she was leaving Sonora for another job. He wasn’t quite sure where that left them. Obviously, he was still in love with her, but how could they make a marriage work when they didn’t live together? All Rory’s dreams of a family, of a future with Amelle and their children, seemed to be more out of reach than ever, just after he had realised quite how badly he wanted it.Problems in his love life meant Rory had thrown himself into preparation for the new term with even more enthusiasm than usual. After sending out various owls, he’d managed to make arrangements to start off the academic year with a practical lesson for his intermediates class. After all, who wanted to sit in a classroom when they could have hands-on interactions with a magical creature?
“Hi all, welcome back!” he greeted his class, perhaps slightly less cheerfully than had been his standard last year. Still, Rory was capable of mostly hiding his feelings, not wanting his students to suffer a miserable lesson. They had been told to meet him outside. “Today we’re going to meet one of the creatures that we’re going to be studying: the glumbumble.” How appropriate, his brain thought, but he shut that part up for now.
“So, can anybody tell me what glumbumble treacle is used for?” he asked, not expecting the third years to know, but hoping a fourth or fifth year would remember from their extra reading the year before. He picked the first raised hand he saw, and moved on to the next question once he had the correct answer.
“And can anyone tell me the dangers of the treacle?” he asked, choosing a different person to answer this time, and awarding points for the two answers as appropriate.
“So, in each of the hutches we have here are a couple of glumbumbles. Working in pairs or threes, I’d like you to ensure that they have enough food, and to start collecting the treacle that they have produced. Remember, glumbumbles can fly, so make sure you don’t give them the chance to escape.”
The hutches were reasonably large, with small patches of wire mesh to allow a little light in. However, they were still fairly dark, so as to provide a more natural habitat for the glumbumbles. Rory had provided tools and buckets, for use in removing the treacle, and was ready in case there were any glumbumbles that decided to make a run for it. He had also prepared a large pile of nettles, for the students to feed the creatures. This would largely distract them whilst the treacle was being removed, and Rory also suspected that the animals would keep to the corners of the hutches, away from the noisy students.
“Oh, and don’t forget to wear gloves when handling the nettles!” he reminded them. Nettle stings were easily cured, but it was always easier to just wear gloves in the first place, and he didn’t trust all his students to remember.
OOC: Normal class rules apply. Anyone mistreating the animals will find Professor Taransay there immediately, as would be the case with any potential escapes. Have fun, and ask me if you have any questions (I’m usually in chatzy as Louis Valois).
Glumbumble information can be found here: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Glumbumble
Subthreads: Not really by Fabian Brockert, Pecari with Ingrid Wolseithcrafte, Pecari
I've had cheerier days. by Joe Umland, Teppenpaw with Nevaeh Reed [Aladren]
You have no idea... by Georgia Kirkly, Teppenpaw with Tess Whittaker, Pecari
Actually, no. (Tag Finn) by Juniper Brockert, Teppenpaw with Finn Scott, Teppenpaw
Not today by Artemis Leithan
On the contrary by Arthur Leithan
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Professor Taransay
Feeling glum?
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Professor Taransay
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Juniper Brockert, Teppenpaw
April 07, 2017 1:45 PM
Actually, no. (Tag Finn) by Juniper Brockert, Teppenpaw
Other than being with Finn, Care of Magical Creatures was the only thing Juniper truly loved about Sonora. However, she wasn't sure if she really preferred being home either. On the one hand, at school, she had to constantly be around people and she really wasn't any less scared of them now then she had been as a first year. Especially now that they were with students two years older than them in class, which was more than a little intimidating for Juniper, though she was glad to have Tasha in class with her again, in case a professor made them work with someone with qualifications that Finn didn't meet.On the other hand, she was getting older, Mother was pushing her to attend more events, as if trying to make up for the fact that her childhood had been fairly isolated. Small children did not attend balls, though Juniper had been made to go to a few birthday parties of other children, particularly relatives. She still had to go to the parties thrown by relatives, mostly Angelique, who in addition to having a ball over midterm, had decided to throw a summer one as well. Just like school, Juniper could only tolerate them if Tasha or Finn was there. Otherwise, she spent an awful lot of time hiding in bathrooms because the anxiety got too dreadful.However, while parties were wretched and her mother was always nagging at her-once prompting Duncan to snap at her to leave Juniper alone-at least she could go home at night. And at least she could be with her horse.
But now, at least she was in Care of Magical Creatures. This was her element and the only class that made her happy, though Transfiguration was imperative to her future dream of becoming an animagus. Hopefully a horse or pony animagus. How awesome would it be to be her favorite animal at times! Plus, it came pretty natural to Juniper and other than COMC, the one class where she constantly had an O.
Professor Taransay began the lecture on glumbumbles. Juniper had read about them-a lot of her freetime was spent learning about animals or sometimes visiting the Owlry-and knew the answer but naturally did not raise her hand to answer. She didn't know what precise sort of negative fallout could happen from answering but she really didn't want any attention drawn to her at all. There were some awfully mean people in her year and the fifth years-and Aladrens of all ages-might not like a third year Teppenpaw showing them up.
Once they were released to work, Juniper turned to Finn. He was normally her first choice anyway, but in Care of Magical Creatures, she...didn't really like to work with Tasha much. Tasha...well, loved animals but not in the same way Juniper did. The older girl preferred eating them so working with her in this class made the third year kind of uncomfortable. Even though Tasha probably wouldn't eat any of the creatures when they were brought into class and probably wouldn't eat glumbumbles anyway. "Would you like to work together?" Juniper asked her friend.
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Juniper Brockert, Teppenpaw
Actually, no. (Tag Finn)
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Juniper Brockert, Teppenpaw
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Finn Scott, Teppenpaw
April 14, 2017 11:51 AM
Me neither! by Finn Scott, Teppenpaw
Finn’s alarm hadn’t gone off that morning, for some reason, and he’d only been woken up by the sound of Jozua moving about their dormitory. Having to get ready in a bit of a rush had put him slightly on edge, and had started the day off on a wrong footing. He’d been a little bit later to breakfast than usual, meaning he’d had less time to eat, and he always liked to take his time for meals. Digestion was important, and it was messy to rush. He’d been clock-watching whilst he ate, but had been in time for his first class. Despite being a little distracted, nothing had gone too wrong in class, either. That was always a relief – Finn had heard stories about wizards who had accidentally blown people up, or worse, because of a slip in concentration.His day had taken another turn for the worse at lunchtime, when he’d realised that he’d forgotten about a piece of homework due in tomorrow. Reluctantly admitting to himself that he’d be less inclined to work in the evening, Finn had quickly wolfed down some lunch before heading off to the library. He’d got a decent amount of work done, but had lost track of time, being startled when he realised that lunchtime was over. Luckily, CoMC was outside today, meaning that he’d been able to run through the grounds and (just) make it there in time.
Being almost-late meant that Finn was a little too preoccupied to answer any of Professor Taransay’s questions, although he did know the answers. He wasn’t in the habit of putting his hand up a lot, but CoMC was his favourite class, and one where he could usually be fairly confident in his response. Somehow, learning about animals made it easier for facts to stick in his brain.
Finn was paying more attention to the glumbumbles than the fact they’d been told to work in pairs, but luckily for him, Juniper was more on the ball. “Definitely,” he replied with a smile. He was always happy to work with Juniper, but it was particularly nice to work with her in CoMC. It was a class where it was always good to have a shared love of animals. Gwen was also another fun person to work with in CoMC, although she was no longer in Finn’s class. That was a shame, as he enjoyed her company, but hadn’t seen much of her out of class so far.
“Think you can handle their bad reputations?” he asked jokingly, not actually meaning it. Glumbumble treacle might have unwanted consequences, but Finn would need more than that to think badly of a creature. After all, the treacle had its uses.
Making sure to put his gloves on first, he selected a pile of nettles, picking them up and taking them over to a hutch. “Could you open the door for me?” he asked Juniper, getting ready to shove some nettles in before any glumbumbles could escape.
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Finn Scott, Teppenpaw
Me neither!
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Finn Scott, Teppenpaw
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Juniper
April 22, 2017 12:52 PM
Glad to hear it by Juniper
Juniper grinned. The combination of animals-even something like glumbumbles-and her best friend was something that made her genuinely happy. Hopefully she could forget about everyone else being around for awhile. "Great!"She nodded. "I think so." Despite being an animal lover, Juniper did know that there were animals out there that could and would hurt her. The thing was, she still loved them... from a distance. Besides, they couldn't help it, they needed to survive. If a tiger tried to eat her for example, it wasn't done out of malice. Malice was limited to dark creatures and human beings. Not all of them, there were those like Finn and her brother who were kind and gentle nor did she consider herself malicious. Juniper might have been terrified of people but that didn't mean she wanted to hurt them, just that she was afraid of them hurting her.
None of this applied to glumbumbles though. They weren't really all that dangerous themselves and while their treacle could have negative affects, it wasn't them who had people take it. It was the person's choice. Juniper wasn't judging people who took too much glumbumble treacle, but it was definitely not the fault of the glumbumble itself when they did. It wasn't as if the creature sat on a human's mouth and deposited their by-products inside.
So basically, they were an innocent, harmless, creature and Juniper was more than happy to take care of them. Even though horses were her favorite animal, she loved most creatures and would never want to hurt one, even though she would prefer to stay away from the ones who'd like to eat her. Unless it was at the zoo or something. Juniper loved the zoo of course though she hadn't been many times. Duncan had taken her last summer though on a day when it wasn't too busy. Her brother was so much more sensitive towards what Mother called Juniper's "issues" than anyone else was and he thought she deserved something special for having to suffer through balls. He was the best big brother in the world. Juniper hoped Araceli truly appreciated him and would treat him right. Duncan deserved that.
"Of course." She did as she was asked. She always did, not ever having the will to fight back. Juniper felt that would be a pointless endeavor. Of course, in this case she didn't mind one bit. For one thing, it wasn't that big a deal generally speaking and for another, she was happy to do anything for animals and Finn. "So how's it going?" Juniper asked. While she didn't generally enjoy talking to people, it was different with her friend. Plus, she genuninely cared about how he was doing.
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Juniper
Glad to hear it
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Juniper
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