Of Nifflers and Extra Credit {OPEN!}

[aliice]

DELETED CHARACTER


Silvanus Kettleburn woke bright and early on Monday morning. It was the third week of term and she had her fourth year students first thing that morning. They were a very enjoyable group of whom many showed a keen interest in the subject and were very capable students.

This morning, she was setting them off on their first big project. It would be the first project they had done because Silvy tended not to do them in third year, preferring to concentrate on improving her students skills and techniques in preparation for things like this.

It was good practice for students to do at least one extended project during their fourth / early fifth years, as a big part of their final exam was made up of them keeping their own research case study journal while looking after a magical creature of some sort, whatever the ministry decided to provide that year.

This practice she was about to set them off on, was an easy one. Nifflers. It was going to last until Christmas, then she’d cover a few more areas in detail, and depending on how good they were, she might set them a slightly harder project to last up till the summer term.

Even after teaching Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts for a good few years, she still got as excited as when she’d first began. She never tired of it or the students she met along the way.

Although classes didn’t start till 9, she was out and bustling around her ‘classroom’ from a little after half 7. She was determined to make this as exciting a year as possible for her students. That was why she’d invited some of the older students, ones who didn’t have lessons at the time, to come down and talk to her fourth year class and to get involved with the start of their project – a bit of help and guidance from other students was usually greatly appreciated.

(OOC:Any CMC students can join in here if they want to get involved!)

[notalice]

Leander was almost bursting out of her seat with excitement. This was it! They were finally about to start their project in Care of Magical creatures. She’d been waiting so long for this day to come, and the last three weeks since starting school had been maddening, knowing what was coming yet it never seeming to come quick enough.

Leander was a morning person to begin with but this particular morning she was up earlier than usual. She’d been showered and dressed in record time and down into the Great Hall ready for breakfast before anyone else had arrived or the food been served up. Luckily, she’d learnt early on in her time at the school that if there was nothing on the plates and platters then jiggling them around and moving stuff about usually kick started whoever put the food on the table into hurrying up a little. More often than not, the small area around where she was sitting would fill up and she’d be able to tuck in to whatever meal it was, and if she finished before anyone else arrived then it would disappear when she was done, leaving no trace of her being there. This morning was no exception.

The plates filled around her – sausage, bacon, eggs – scrambled and fries, toast, pumpkin jam… If there was one thing that Leander didn’t agree with, it was the girls who would only eat tiny proportions of food because they ‘didn’t want to get fat’. She thought it was ridiculous. There was no way that she would limit herself to how much she would eat – she’d just go out and do something active afterwards so that she burned it off before her next meal. She liked food, she wouldn’t lie. And breakfast at Hogwarts was perhaps her favorite meal of the day.

She loved these mornings especially, when she’d be the first there out of both the students and the professors, and she could either have the room completely to herself or watch as the first few early risers drifted in to start their day.

She piled her plate high with a little bit of everything that there was to offer and tucked in, even helping herself to a little bit more. An advantage of being so early – there was no one there to criticize her. Before long she was full and fully satisfied and ready to get to work on her Care of Magical Creatures project. She glanced at the clock above her. It wasn’t even eight yet. She had ages to kill.

Pulling her book towards her she read over the same chapter that she had read so many times before. She could practically recount the pages about niffler’s from the top of her head without skipping a beat. In fact, she could. She’d tried it once when she’d had the room to herself.

With a sigh, she pushed it shut and stared blankly at the entrance hall. Well… maybe she could go down early and help Professor Kettleburn with preparation for the lesson. Though, that was if she was up and outside already. If she wasn’t then there wasn’t much Leander could do. Still, it was better than sitting there bouncing in her seat.

As she neared the door a familiar face appeared and she stopped in her tracks. Another member of her Care of Magical Creatures class, though she still couldn’t understand why.

[tedtonks]

Ted had awoken early on that particular Monday morning. The light shone into the Hufflepuff den in which he resided, and so, without much effort, he slipped into his school robes and slung his school satchel over his shoulder and made his way out the door into the Hufflepuff Common Room, and then into the kitchen corridor.

Not too many people were up and about, and Ted deduced that it was quite early in the morning and not many people were awake. There were a few people bustling around, mainly in pairs or by themselves, either having just eaten in the Great Hall, or they were making their way there. Joining the small crowd, Ted pushed towards the food.

--

Monday morning was always easy for Ted. He had two hours off in the morning, which usually would have been used for sleeping in or catching up on the homework he hadn't done over the weekend. But, having all his work done and waking up early, Ted noticed a flyer posted up by the doors to the Great Hall as he made his way out with a full stomach.

ALL CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES STUDENTS:

Help wanted from older students to tutor 4th and 5th years about Nifflers. See Professor Kettleburn, Monday morning.

[/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

Shrugging, Ted tore his eyes away from the poster and made his way out to the grounds where Professor Kettleburn was setting up. "Professor?" he called out as the teacher bustled in the distance, setting things up for the lesson. "I'm here to help with the tutoring... thing." he finished indecisively, waving his hands around for emphasis.[/blockquote][/justify]

[quof]

Andromeda smoothed her hair nervously. She hadn’t done much, just pulled a small portion over the top while letting the rest wave loosely down her back. With a sigh she turned away from the mirror and went out into the common room. She didn’t pause to talk but rather made her wait unnoticed all the way down to the great hall. She took her seat, still without speaking, and quickly(but neatly) finished a small plate of food.

She had woken up in plenty of time this morning but had then spent longer getting ready as was now running a little bit later than she intended. She left the moment the last bite had slipped down her throat and walked swiftly from the Great hall and continued down to the grounds where the Care of Magical Creatures classes usually took place.

She was feeling a rather strange mixture of emotions. An excited, bouncy feeling that kept her walking briskly on the balls of her feet, and a light fluttery feeling in her stomach that kept her feet rooted to the ground. She could think of only one reason why she might be behaving so strangely. There was a slight chance that Ted would be there.

She liked Ted, they were friends, sort of. But it would be the first time she would be seeing him outside classes or lunch, and she wasn’t sure what to expect. But maybe he wouldn’t be there at all… As she reached Professor Kettleburn she could see that he was already there. She had not thought it was possible for a stomach to both lift and sink at the exact same time, until now. She tried to ignore this as she turned and addressed the teacher first.

“professor Kettleburn.” She nodded, speaking in the formal voice she always reserved for teachers. “Do you still require assistance with the Nifflers?” Only after she was done speaking did she looked at ted and gave him a brief, awkward smile.