Lesson 1: Beast

Ariana was seated behind the desk, waiting for the students to show up; or rather, Professor Celare was waiting. She had booked an empty classroom, specifically for that lesson, and hoped that she hadn’t added another weight to their loads.

Rubbing her hands together, she glanced at the class list placed on the table before her, and smiled when she saw a familiar name there.

Now all she could wish for was a good start to the year and first Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

Essi arrived at the classroom full of enthusiasm. She was sure that care of magical creatures was going to be her favourite lesson ever, because she loved animals, loved learning about them and taking care of them. Also, she had some experience from home. She dropped down into a seat near the front of the class and smiled at the teacher. She then pulled her book and other equipment out of her bag and began reading the text book to pass the time before the other students arrived.

Thomas was determined to be the first to the Care of Magical Creatures class, his mum was teaching it after all, and it would definitely not be a good idea to be late. He strolled along the corridor, he was pretty sure he'd be there first, entering the class they were going to be in for the day, he realised he was in fact not quite right, and he was the second student to be there, Essi had beaten him to it."Hey mum!" He said cheerfully, as he slung his bag under the desk, before sitting down at the desk said bag was put under. He grinned, trying not to ask about what the class would be, he didn't want to ruin the surprise after all, even if it would just be ruined for himself, he took out his supplies for the lesson, before looking through the book, mainly just skipping boring parts and focusing on good parts, he'd learn it all in the end any way, so he might as well make sure he kept interest in the book itself, though he doubted much, if any, or Care of Magical Creatues, could be boring. After all, he knew his mum would make a great Professor, so it could hardly get difficult. Then again... Saying that.. He thought to himself. His mum would probably have to push him harder to make sure she wasn't showing favourtism, though he hardly minded, he was usually a quick worker anyway, this just gave him an excuse to do even more in the subject.

Emily walked into the class quite excited, she hoped she wouldn't be first like in history of magic. She was glad to see that Essi and a slytherin she didn't know had already arrived. She took a seat next to Essi, "hey" she smiled at her before taking out her stuff.

She couldn't wait for the class to start, she liked animals a lot and was very intresting in learning about them.

Gwen sat down so enthusiastically she missed her chair and landed next to it. Blushing like mad she scooted onto the chair and shook her head.
"Gosh Gwennie you´re SO graceful..." She mentally scolded still blushing. She got out her things and waited happily.

Pierre hurried inside the classroom, hoping he wasn't late. That would be a horrible first impression. Noting that he wasn't late nor early, he sat down near a brunette girl, as he didn't recognize any of the other students. Wondering if his cousin had the same class, he took out his book and started to flip through, curious to whether or not Terry would be sharing classes with him.

Charlotte walked into the class to see a majority of the class already there. She had a grin on her face and high hopes. She wondered what this class would entail. Probably not much. She really wondered what were some real animals that she would come across. Apparently for magic, you don't say "Abra kadavra' and everything is done. So the creatures are probable very different.
So when she walked into the class, she took a seat, not knowing what to expect.

Silver rushed in the Care of Magical Creatures classroom excitedly! This was the class she was looking forward to the most. well this and potions, which sadly she had been late to. Oh well!

Silver took a seat at the back of the classroom, which she was just prone to do. it's not that she wasn't a good student or anything, she just prefered to be in back was all.

Kyra walked into the Care of Magical Creatures slowly. She had been rushing all day and wanted to take her sweet time for once. She didn't know whether or not taking this class was a good idea. After all, she had heard of the lessons that Rubeus Hagrid taught.

She saw Pierre, her fellow Hufflepuff, and sat next to him, smiling. "Hi," she greeted him. She then looked through her textbook, looking for fire crabs and hippogriffs. When she got there, she shuddered. This is going to be a long lesson...

Ellen walked quickly to the class hoping she wouldn't be late this time. This class had defiently been easier to find. The class was pretty full when she got there she looked round for somewhere to sit and she ntoiced a slytheirn boy she didnt know sitting by himself. She decided to sit next to him and hope he didn't mind. She took a seat and lent back in her chair waiting for the lesson to begin.

Rowan walked into the Care of Magical Creatures classroom with a small grin on her face. Her last class had put her in a good mood. She was also just a little bit glad to be able to take Care of Magical Creatures. In all honesty, the subject was one of the ones she was most looking forward to. It wasn't one of her very favorite subjects, but magical creatures and beasts had always intrigued her. She used to try and catch glimpses of them in her manor's maze; she and her brother had always had good times in there. The fact that her Head of House was the professor of this class was just an added bonus.

Rowan looked around for anyone she recognized, and she did recognize a few from her previous classes. The Slytherin boy she had seen in the common room once, along with most of her other classes as well. Rowan hadn't officially met very many people so far, and she knew that she really should get a move on with that. But, she didn't know who she would get along with and who she wouldn't. She supposed it best to stick with her own house, at least for now. The two Slytherins already there, the boy from the common room and a vibrantly red-headed girl, were sitting next to each other. She walked over to them (giving them acknowledging nods) and sat down on the other side of the red-haired girl, setting her messenger bag down on the floor next to her. She took out her Care of Magical Creatures textbook and set it on the desk, also pulling out parchment and one of her gold quills. She set them all on her desk before leaning back in her chair and waiting for class to begin. She was really looking forward to it, despite the calm, uninterested expression on her face.

Haha! Jennifer thought to herself, this was the one class she had been to so far that she had gotten here before the teacher actually started, you know, teaching. She noticed the fellow Gryffindor girls that she had talked to by the fireplace before, Gwen, Emily and Silver. She would've sit by Silver, but she never really liked the very back of the room, just as long as it wasn't the very front, she didn't mind. She spotted Gwen first, so she hoped that she didn't mind her sitting beside her.

"Hey, Gwen," she greeted her, setting her things on the desk, then sliding into the chair.

Hester slipped into the classroom and sat down at a completely empty desk. She dropped her bag to the floor underneath and pulled out her book, parchment, quill and ink.

She had been looking forward to this class. She wondered how different magical creatures were to ordinary creatures.

She looked around. She wondered if any one would sit next to her, but decided that if they didn't, she wouldn't mind.

Kaoru entered the classroom. He glanced around, wondering if there was an empty desk left that he could swipe. He spotted the girl he had seen in Diagon Alley asleep against the cauldrons. He decided to sit next to her.

"I'm Kaoru," he whispered. "Did you know you fell asleep in the apothecary?"

He sat down and pulled out his book and wand. He felt pleased that he had spoken to someone, and even more pleased that perhaps by sitting next to her he would annoy her. She was in Gryffindor, after all.

He opened his book and began reading the first page, his left hand in his bag stroking his pygmy puff's small furry body. That creature needed a name.

She watched quietly as the students entered the classroom, smiling when the figure of her son took his spot before her. Ariana stood up, finally deciding to officially start the lesson. With a look at her textbook on the table, she spoke up.

"What are beasts?"

Sorry about the delay.

Kao watched the teacher stand up.

What are beasts?

He thought about the question. Well, a beast was an animal, wasn't it? He wondered if that was right, since he had to translate beast into Japanese and then back again into English.

He put up his hand anyway, because no one else had.

"A beast is an animal," he said, his accent thick.

Hester wanted to expand on the Japanese boy's answer, but 'an animal' would have been the answer she had given. She just hadn't been quick enough to get her hand up. She thought about everything she had read in her text book, but could only remember the images and none of the text. She gave up and instead wrote down the answer the boy had given.

Pierre raised his hand. This was easy. "There is no such thing as beast, but it's a label given to rather ferocious or strange animals that most do not bother understanding, like monsters. There are actually very few creatures that are true beasts." There. A simple philosophical answer. The one he had actually thought of originally was too vulgar for a first year class. Lowering his hand, he slipped it into his pocket, where Puff began nibbling on it, the feeling comforting.