Professor Kijewski
November 24, 2008 8:25 PM
Lesson 1 for Advanced Students by Professor Kijewski
"Okay everyone. Now that you are all into your advanced course of Care of Magical Creature class, we are going to be exploring the creatures that are labeled to be considered as 'dangerous' within both magical and muggle worlds." Kiva explained to them. The Mirage Chamber was reworked to resemble what looked to be a forest of some sort, thick with trees, and a bit musty in the air both in smell and thickness, while the class stood in a clearing where the grass was low with worn from the animal tracking. This scene she could use for just about anything when it came to her creatures and planned to use it again later on in the school year for some of the younger students.A loud roar echoed through the wall of trees. It was low and rumbled like thunder, creating goose bumps across Kiva's freckled skin. A roar like that one would have scared even the bravest of Wizards if they had known what they were about to face. Kiva was loathed to ever come across one ever again. She hated this creature. It was creepy to look at with its various body parts, but it was also rather vicious. Kiva could remember studying the creature in Greece. The land had been beautiful, but for a 20 year old who had dealt with all sorts of creatures, including a stint with an Ironbelly Dragon, this creature had given her nightmares for months afterword. She wasn't sure why such a creature existed in the world, but there must have been a reason for the said creation that Wizards and Witches have yet to discover.
"I want everyone to understand that the animals in this chamber are not real and can not harm you in anyway. However, this chamber creates a sense of reality and the animals, fake as they are, behave as they naturally would if they were really in their natural habitat." Kiva needed for her students to understand that, although they could not be hurt in this chamber, the creature could try to attack. She also needed them to understand that even though they cannot get hurt in here, they could still get hurt in the Real World.
“Many of Muggle fantasy comes from the Magical world. Whether it be a Witch or Wizard writing what would be considered Muggle Fantazy novels, or Muggles who think they might have seen something but are full of doubts and eventually only think them to be dreams.” Kiva explained to them. This was true for Dragons, Unicorns, and the animal they were about to encounter. “Today, you are going to meet one of the more nightmarish of those creatures you may have read about. The Chimaera.” Almost if on cue, a lion’s head appeared between the trees. Its eyes glowed ominously through the darkness as it seemed to eye the students in the clearing.
Despite her best efforts, Kiva shivered. She closed her eyes for a moment before returning her gaze to the class. “Before we take a closer look, can anyone tell me what they know about this creature? It can be something you know from reading your textbook or something you seen in a movie or read in a fantasy novel. Anyone?”
OOC: You all know the rules by now. The longer the post, the better. Be creative with the Chimaera and use the internet for lots of ideas!
Subthreads: Reporting for Duty by Briony O'Leary with Geoffrey Layne, Professor K., Allie St. Martin
Getting weirder and weirder... by Earl Valentine
Class Closed, but feel free to continue posting (nm) by Professor K.
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Professor Kijewski
Lesson 1 for Advanced Students
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Professor Kijewski
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Briony O'Leary
November 25, 2008 5:02 PM
Reporting for Duty by Briony O'Leary
Briony, for one, was glad to have Professor Kijewski back in action. It wasn’t that she had minded the other professor, it was just that one tended to become used to the person that normally taught them. They had a certain way of doing things that became comfortable after awhile and expected. So, she was really looking forward to her first year of Advanced COMC being spent with the professor that had taught her from her very first days at Sonora. She was also admittedly curious to find out what the professor had in store for them. She had heard that the creatures that they studied at this level were among the dangerous. She wondered if any of them would be dark creatures or not since dark creatures were very dangerous, a point stressed by her father.But then he stressed a lot of things. She had been learning Defense against the Dark Arts practically from the time she could walk. She knew that it was because he worried about losing her like they had lost her mother, which is why he wasn’t going to be happy to hear one of her considerations for the future. Thanks to her father, she had done extremely well on her CATS in DADA. She had also done very well in COMC and with these two scores she was putting thought into researching dark creatures. There were still undoubtedly still ones to be discovered, some of which she might be able to pick up the location of from muggles, which would put her Muggle Studies lessons to good use. They might have stories of strange occurrences or disappearances. By discovering these things, she could help save lives.
And even if she wasn’t working specifically with a dark creature, the more she knew about creatures, in general, the better equipped she would be. She followed the rest of her class in the Chamber to learn about another creature. A shiver, both of nervousness and excitement, ran down her spine upon hearing the roar. She listened carefully at what the professor said. She knew better than to ignore any warnings, especially from someone with more experience. Often, people got into trouble when they thought they knew everything. Briony was not one of these people. She was also more than glad she did when she heard what they were going to be learning about. When she had been doing research on muggles, she had run into the Chimaera in myths.
When asked if anyone could tell anything about the creature, Briony contributed what she remembered, “According to legend, it has three heads. One of a lion, another is a goat, and the third is a serpent. The goat head breathes fire. It was also said to have been kept by king Amisodarus, which suggests the Chimaera was created by humans. I don’t know how accurate that is, but it’s what some muggles believe about it.” Though, thinking about it, she wondered just how accurate it was to whether or not the creature was created. It was a scary thought. It was scarier to think that even if the Chimaera hadn’t been, there were probably creatures out there that had been and would be, because of the cruelty of people.
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Briony O'Leary
Reporting for Duty
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Geoffrey Layne
November 26, 2008 11:03 PM
Standing at Attention by Geoffrey Layne
His official reason for taking Care of Magical Creatures as an Advanced class was its potential relevance to his desire to be a Potions Master by twenty-seven, his Anne-and-Helena-only reason for taking it was because he'd made an O on his CATS exam for the class, but another part of Geoff's reason for signing on for at least another year with the professor his best friend thought was out to get them was so he could see the Mirage Chamber. He'd heard rumors about it since it had become the site of the Advanced class, and he'd thought it sounded too cool to pass up when he had the mark not to.So far, it wasn't disappointing him. They were indoors, he knew they were indoors, but he couldn't find a single flaw in the illusion of a forest. He had never been one for the Wizard Scouts, but he'd grown up in South Carolina, and he knew what outside was like. This was extrmely close to the real deal, and it pleased him to note that he could tell Anne she'd been wrong about how quickly he'd start to regret allowing curiosity to get the better of him.
He listened closely to Kijewski's opening lecture, hoping a rundown of how the room worked would come, but none did. It was disappointing, but not surprising; theory wasn't one of the usual student favorites, and the prevailing mindset was probably that nobody cared why it worked, as long as it did so. He might ask about it later, though, or find time to go to the library and do research. There were histories of the school there; one of them had to mention this.
It was a good thing, though, that the formal statement that nothing in here could hurt them came before the news of what they were going to study, though, because Geoff had an urge to reach for his wand at the very name: chimaera. A hybrid that, as far as he knew, had no point except killing and eating people. A prime example of an experiment gone as wrong as an experiment could go, if one believed the theory that chimaeras were unnatural hybrids, which Geoff did.
Briony O'Leary, the Defense professor's daughter who Geoff knew next to nothing else about, spoke up with the legends she knew about the animals. Geoff nodded as she spoke. "It might have been created as a guard animal," he added after she finished. "Like griffins and other ancient hybrids. I, uh, kind of doubt whoever made them meant for them to be - ah - as violent as they turned out, though."
The ancient hybrids were actually quite interesting, after a fashion. He supposed it was the connection between their making and Potions for him, and who only knew what for the magianthopologists and magizoologists. It was, in a nearly sick kind of way, impressive that an ancient wizard, who'd had many fewer resources available than wizards of Geoff's generation, had managed to create life; the thought of the skill involved, and the difficulty, was mind-blowing. That line of thought might not go over well in a class, though, and he had a more serious matter to attend to, anyway.
"And Professor?" he asked, eyeing the lion's head and doing his best not to strain for the shadows of the remaining two heads. "How, exactly, should we behave to prevent it from acting like it's in its natural habitat?"
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Geoffrey Layne
Standing at Attention
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Earl Valentine
December 08, 2008 1:22 AM
Getting weirder and weirder... by Earl Valentine
By his seventh year, Earl was used to walking into the Mirage Chamber, so instead of Oohhing and Ahhing with the sixth years (and some of the seventh years) he tromped in like he was bored with the whole thing. In fact, that's exactly what he was. Bored. Not with magic, because that was always new and surprising, but with school. After seven years at Sonora, he was sick and tired of it and he only realized this after seeing how excited Ethan and Elliot were. It made him feel old. At least this was his last year, unless he decided to go on to college.That was what his father wanted. Go to college, get a well rounded education...and become an accountant. Earl had almost laughed when Ed had mentioned his wishes. The highest math Earl had taken was an introduction to pre-algebra right before culminating from elementary school. There had been a long argument with Earl finally consenting to go some sort of higher education as long as math and long essays weren't involved. Ed had to agree, though Earl expected to get a plethora of letters haranguing him about this topic in the future.
Without being prompted, Earl took out his notes for the class and a pencil. He had long ago forwent the typical lined pages or scrolls that most kids used and instead started writing all his notes for COMC in a sketch book, since that was all he did in this class anyways. It hadn't failed him yet. The drawings somehow made him remember things such as defense mechanisms, eating habits, and environments. It was just enough for Earl to get a solid acceptable.
Professor K's introduction had Earl jerking his head up. If she was afraid of this creature, what could it be? Earl turned his eyes to the forest that they were standing in just as a low rumbling roar echoed around the chamber. Earl continued listening, unusually enraptured. When the lion peeked it head out of the underbrush, Earl almost laughed. It was just a lion. Lions were dangerous, sure, but they didn't deserve the introduction that Professor K gave it.
And then it came out farther from the brush and Earl automatically backed up a step with a grimace on his face. What the hell was that? In most respects, it was normal lion except it had a goat head on its back and a snake for a tail. It looked like something a six year old might put together. Earl almost dropped his sketchbook and pencil as the goat head opened it's mouth and let out a roar. Except that it wasn't a roar; it was fire. A fire-breathing goat head?
Besides random references in books or in lecture, Earl had very little facts about Chimeras. So he settled into a corner of the group and tried to draw the creature. Every once in a while he would look up to make sure he wasn't getting in trouble. It had happened before.
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Earl Valentine
Getting weirder and weirder...
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Professor K.
January 02, 2009 8:00 PM
At ease, Soldier by Professor K.
When Kiva asked for the students to give her something that they knew or heard of when it came to Chimaeras, she found herself staring at a red-haired Teppenpaw sixth year, Briony O’Leary. Briony was usually rather quiet during lessons, but Kiva liked her just the same. She was polite, well-mannered, and always did her schoolwork, traits she was sure her father had driven into her. Kiva liked Drake for reasons she wasn’t too sure of. He was never social, but he had always been nice to her and that was something Kiva appreciated in a person. Shortly after Briony answered, Geoff Layne added on.Before adding in to what her students had said, Kiva decided to answer Geoff’s question first, seeming as that seemed more important at the moment. “There is never a specific way to act to prevent a Chimaera from attacking. The best thing to do if one did attack was to use the defense spells that you’ve been learning over the years. Chimaeras are difficult creatures to kill, but all you really have to do is stun it long enough to get as far away from it as possible.” Kiva commented. It probably didn’t seem all that helpful, but with as many well placed stunners or other spells, one could at least get out alive and that’s what mattered. “I’m not going to lie to you; these creatures scare the hell out of me. If there was a boggart here, that’s what mine would turn into.”
Normally, Kiva never used profanity or admitted to something personal to her, but she felt if she voiced her own feelings about the creature behind her, they might never think Chimaeras are cool enough to try to approach on their own. “I have lived on the edge before becoming your teacher. I’ve seen a lot of things. Good things. Terrible things. Chimaeras are killers and I have seen it first hand.” She glanced back at the Chimaera. It hadn’t moved. Kiva didn’t know if the students knew her background or not. Most assumed that being a Researcher meant working with books or in labs. But her job had been studying behaviors of creatures in their natural habitats. They got personal with the creatures and that was not always a good thing. “The Chimaera won’t leave the forest in this setting and I don’t want to know how it will react if we head into the forest. So, we are just going to stay here.”
Having decided that her answer wasn’t at all helpful, but having no way of amending it, Kiva moved on to what Briony and Geoff had told everyone about Chimaeras.
“Those are all well-known legends, Briony, thank you.” Kiva said, smiling at the girl before bringing everyone’s attention to what she had actually offered the class as a whole. “A legend states that the Chimaera has three heads, this is false. A Chimaera only one head and it’s a nasty one. The lion’s head rests on a goat’s body, which would make you think they weren’t quite as harmful except for the dragon’s tail attached to it. It’s odd looking and very disproportioned, but unbelievably violent and has a thirst for blood.” Kiva paused; she felt goose bumps on her skin and knew that the Chimaera was watching them. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t real.
“How a Chimaera ended up in Myths with three heads is a mystery to me. Perhaps a Wizard wanted the Chimaera to be even more terrifying than its real appearance suggested it was. Or maybe a poor Muggle came upon one in the distance and assumed each part had a head. Either way, those are myths. Another mystery is how exactly Chimaeras came into existence. That will always be a debate. Where they creation like man or were they created by man? Maybe one day someone will find the truth.”
Honestly, Kiva was sure she cared to know the truth. Either option did not sit well with her. But, education was what they were here for and she couldn’t turn away from that. “Did anyone else have anything to add? A myth or a fact?”
OOC: I know that some of the posts already had the three heads stated in them, but the lexicon and The Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them did not mention the creature having three heads, just the various body parts. If anyone can find anything within the HP world that states otherwise, I’ll amend my post. Until then, we’ll just ignore any references of the Chimaera in their lesson as having more than one head.
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Professor K.
At ease, Soldier
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Professor K.
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Allie St. Martin
January 05, 2009 5:40 PM
*slumps* by Allie St. Martin
When Allie had announced the sixth-year courses she planned to take to the family, there had been surprise, but no real objections. Her mother, one of the three people who had not started looking at her differently since her CATS came, had seemed to want to protest, but had apparently decided she'd be overruled by her husband. Thinking about that made Allie feel guilty, as though she'd somehow cheated to get her way in the matter, but she had still stuck to her original plan when the time had come to fill out her application.She wasn't sure - Transfiguration was, after all, among the disciplines her mother considered masculine - but she had a hunch that the class her mother had wanted to object to was Care of Magical Creatures. It was not exactly ladylike, not with the being outside and the ranch trip and all, and then Sarah had apparently heard a story about Professor Kijewski that was too bad to repeat. Allie supposed she'd just found out Professor Kijewski wore pants. She, herself, didn't see what was so bad about that so long as they were lady-pants, but that was her mother.
As she stepped into the Mirage Chamber, she considered the advantages of writing to tell Sarah the Advanced class was held indoors and didn't get her dirty, but decided that it would be too complicated for her to explain the...room the class was in.
Standing a little awkwardly among the other students - one of whom, she was pleased to see, was Briony - she listened to the first part of the speech and reflexively covered up her mouth with her hand when chimaeras were mentioned. She didn't think she would ever forget Lila's hysterics when a bestiary had fallen off a shelf and fallen open to a full-color illustration of one when they were about six, and it wasn't her sister's nightmares that made her cringe at the memory. It would have been a mix to turn her stomach if it had been inanimate, and the drawing had been "eating" what had looked suspiciously like someone's arm.
This time, she was older and knew there were no Chimaeras in South Carolina, but she still flinched when the...not-Chimaera's head appeared between the trees. Though it was not real, she still thought Geoffrey Layne's question was an excellent one and listened attentively to its answer.
It was not a very encouraging answer, especially for a girl who'd never executed a proper Stunner in her life.
More than pleased with the announcement that they wouldn't enter the "forest" the Chimaera couldn't leave, she pulled her eyes away from the lion's head to hear the comments on Briony and Geoff's information. She thought she knew why a researcher - maybe that was what her mother disliked about Professor Kijewski? She was opposed to women having jobs - had never proved if a Chimaera was a natural or artificial animal. No one could get close enough to it. That made her think of something.
"Their tails," she said. "Are they...very poisonous?" Quite another thought hit her, and she mentally cursed herself as an imbecile for not going over her textbooks before time to come back. "Or is that a manticore?"
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Allie St. Martin
*slumps*
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Professor K.
January 08, 2009 7:11 PM
Class Closed, but feel free to continue posting (nm) by Professor K.
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Professor K.
Class Closed, but feel free to continue posting (nm)
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Professor K.
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