(OOC is Dax a barn-type owl-griffen or more of a horned owl type?

"Oooh, niice! Sam exclaimed as she entered the charmed dungeon room. Spotting Dax preening in the branches she practically bounced in excitement. "Another baby griffin? Wow!" she said, mistaking the small griffin for a juvenile creature.

Millie took a seat next to Beth, Emmy, and Aderyn and listened to what Gaia was saying. Cleo, her tortie, crawled into her lap and started purring loudly. "Cleo, you're being rude." Millie whispered only to have her cat swat her nose. It caught her so off guard, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

(OOC: Dax is a Snowy Owl-Griffin, he's mostly white with tan legs/chest/tail areas. Does your character have a baby giffin? Dax is just small because Snowy Owls are not very huge, he's a smaller breed of Gfriin. :D )

Dax perked up when he heard a() squeal aimed in his general direction. He cocked his head to the side and watched as that student entered the room. Aria looked up at Dax noticing his behavior, "Relax, you're not going to get any treats for being cute!" she said while chuckling softly.

(OOC; Not me, Italia's character Beth has a baby griffin named Mooney) "Wanna bet?" Sam laughed producing some owl treats from a pocket. "Oh hi! My name's Samantha, call me Sam. Nice t'meetcha. Is he yours? I've never seen an owl griffin before. How much bigger will he get?"

Beth greeted Aderyn (), Emmy () and Millie (). Moony slept peacefully beside her.

She waved hello to Sam ().

Aria laughed at Samantha () and Dax as he quickly pounced upon the proffered treats and devoured them. "Dax is almost fully grown now, he will get about as tall as my waist when he's done growing." Aria explained to Sam. "Owl-Griffins are pretty rare around here, which is why I had a friend get him while he was still in an egg from way up north. I've had him ever since," Aria finished with a soft happy sigh as she watched Dax curl up on his branch again. "No chasing the fairies this time!" Aria quietly reminded Dax, just as class started.

"Don't forget ta update me on the club roster with Vega an' o' course Kippers if she's not already there," Magnus said to Gaia. "'Llo ladies," he said to his friends as they arrived. His new owl perched on his shoulder. "Best be gettin' outta the way," he said, unsure why he suddenly felt shy around the new club member. Was it because she didn't know he was a werewolf? He wasn't sure but he slunk off to the other side of the dungeon and took a seat.

Paddy walked into the dungeon and gasped as the forest appeared around them. Walking over to Sam and Magnus, she noticed a new club member. Even more surprising, Magnus seemed to be nervous around the new person, so Paddy decided to take the plunge and introduce herself. "I'm Paddy," she said, offering a paw for the new girl to shake (), "as you've probably guessed from the fur, I am a werewolf, but I'm harmless outside of a full moon." She looked nervously at the new girl, waiting for her reaction - so far everyone had been really accepting, but there was always that chance. "This is my pet owl, Mouse," she added, as Mouse flew down onto her shoulder, "she's a bit confused by the indoor forest right now I think."

Aria was preoccupied watching Dax and doodling his latest pose when Magnus () came into the room and introduced himself. She straightened up, startled by his presence and offered a shy smile. "Hi Magnus," Aria pointed to the nearest empty seat, "would you care to join us? I promise Dax doesn't attack people, usually." Aria winked at Magnus and giggled as Dax ruffled up his chest feathers and looked deep into Magnus's eyes.

Aria was startled to see a werewolf () actually approach her head on, normally they tend to avoid her. Aria often wondered why werewolves avoided her but usually assumed it was her smell that made them steer clear. In either case she was glad that Paddy had introduced herself, she'd been feeling rather lonely with only Dax as a friend.

Aria smiled at Mouse and nuzzled in against her head, "Well, hello there little friend. It's nice to meet you too." cooed Aria softly. Smiling Aria looked up at Paddy, "Hi, my name is Aria." She looked around feeling very awkward for a moment before continuing, "Thank you for befriending me, usually werewolves avoid me. I don't really know why though. I do know that a long ways back in my lineage someone was a werewolf though. Do you think that could have anything to do with it, or is it because I smell funny?" Aria finished with a chuckle and gentle nudge to Paddy's arm.

() "There's so many different scents at Hogwarts, I've been trying hard to tune them out," Paddy said with a grin, "I don't know much about my distant family history, but my father and uncle are both werewolves. They both studied here too." Paddy looked at Dax and thought for a moment, "is he ok with strong creatures, or should I avoid trying to get too close?"

Aria looked at Paddy and explained, "He's a huge cuddly griff. He has an innate sense about others and is an excellent judge of character. He's only ever been mean towards people who mean to harm me or others with whom he has bonded." Aria looked over at Dax and wrinkled her nose at him and sent him silent kiss. Suddenly Aria remembered she was with other people, not just Dax, and blushed deeply red. "Uh, so you should be fine with him," Aria stammered and grinned. Showing sudden interest in her drawings, Aria waited for the blush to fade, too embarrassed to look up at Paddy().

"Hi Magnus." Millie said cheerfully. She scratched Cleo behind both her ears and waited for the lesson to begin while listening to the ongoing conversation.

Paddy's introduction of herself startled him. He was normally the outgoing type. Then feeling it rude to say no, he nodded. Something about Dax's stare made him uneasy. He shook his head, "nah you smell fine. I'm a werewolf too." He noticed she was drawing and pulled out his own sketchbook. "I draw too." He squirmed with the half griffin close to him. Why did he get on okay with the other animals only to be feeling so uneasy with a griffin? He hoped Aria wouldn't be offended he wanted to meet new people and make friends.

"Oh, so he's near full grown then" Sam said wonderingly "Sorry for calling you a baby Dax." Looking at Aria's sketches she sighed. "Magnus is really good too. Dang I wish I could draw like you two, you should see the sketch he did of my snake Chua.... Hey Magnus, Dax looks like he wants Vega's treats. I didn't bring Umbra 'cause she'd want to chase the fairys, and Chua is shedding, so he's too cranky for company." Sam waved hello to Paddy and Millie, and scooted over so Magnus and Aria could compare sketches. Obviously the pang of jealousy she felt was only because they both had such talent..., obviously.

"No, no," he said shaking his head. It was clear he was afraid of the half griffin. He hadn't met Beth's griffin either but he just realised he was afraid. It was completely irrational as he had no experience--no reason to be afraid of it but nonetheless he was. He handed Sam the book to give to Aria to look at. "Please don't move."

Dax flipped his tail in joy after being able to get treats from Sam(). Aria looked over at him and shook her head, "Sam, you have just won yourself a new best friend. He's not even the slightest bit putt off that you thought he was young!" Aria had been ignoring Dax because she could tell that he made Magnus uncomfortable. Dax was keeping his place on his branch but she turned and quickly gave him the 'back off' look. Dax moved back about 5 paces from the group and curled up again on the branch.

Aria made room for Sam and Magnus next to her. "Thank you for the compliments about my sketches. I find that we all have our own unique talents." Aria said as Sam was taking her seat.

Aria smiled warmly at Magnus () while looking at his proffered sketches. "Wow, you are really talented!" Aria exclaimed with a soft breathy sigh of amazement. Aria flipped through a couple more pages, hoping that was alright, she found many beautiful drawings. "You really are quite amazing, Magnus. Have you ever thought of pursuing art more, perhaps drawing for some of the new magic textbooks being published? I'm sure you would be great!"

Aria's enthusiasm for Magnus's art seemed to make him uncomfortable so she stopped looking at his art and handed him her page of drawings that she had created while waiting for class to start. "I really like to draw animals, especially Dax" explained Aria.

"By the way, Magnus, I'm not uncomfortable about you being a werewolf either." Aria gave him a quick side hug.

"Thanks," he said blushing, "didn't 'ave much frillies when I lived at the orphanage. Charities would give us toys and I'd give mine ta the younger kids. Kept the pencils an' paper for meself though. That an' books, love ta read. Did a lot o' drawing at Saint Mungos as well. No one ta visit me so it kept me busy. You can keep looking, I don't mind," he said, "just not really used ta praise and all." he looked at her drawings and was equally impressed. "You work is brilliant too." He patted Sam, "She's right though, everyone's got somethin' special 'bout them. You got plenty o' things that make you special. Thank you, Aria. Everyone's been really supportive about it."

"Hi, Magnus," Beth greeted him ().

Noticing the newcomer, she decided to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Beth," she told Aria ().

[img align=left]http://s26.postimg.org/id9qwuidl/Fade_HACOMC.png[/img] Fade peeked around the corner of the dungeon into the new room designated for the Care of Magical Creatures club meetings. He had been gone on an extended leave of absence for the Holiday with his family, and was only now returning to school. Sure he had loads of work to catch up on, but he missed his friends terribly. Against his better judgement he decided he would put off his book work for a while for the sake of catching up with them. There was a terrible fear inside his stomach that told him they would have all forgotten him. Even if he knew how unrealistic that was. His cat’s gentle kneading on his shoulder reminded him he was just nervous, so he swallowed his doubts and crept quietly into the back of the room.

Aria looked over the drawings that Magnus () had created while he talked to her about his upbringing. Aria pulled a sad face and almost wanted to cry but did her best to hide it. A moment later she looked up at Magnus, "I'm sorry you grew up without your parents, Magnus." She gave him a side hug and further explained why she felt so much for him. "My dad died before I was old enough to know him, and my mom went to work and I hardly ever saw her. I ended up running away from home before finally getting invited here. I can understand a bit of the emptiness you must feel at not having what so many other kids seem to have." Aria smiled at him warmly, hoping that she hadn't assumed too much.

Off in the forest Dax cooed softly that turned into a bit of purr as he settled in, watching all the students come and find their seats. Aria looked up when Beth () walked over and introduced herself. "Hello Beth, it's such a wonderful classroom setting, isn't it?!" In her excitement over the unique indoors classroom Aria almost forgot to mention her name. "Oh! I almost forgot, my name is Aria and Dax is mine too." Aria pointed over to the branch where Dax was curled up, looking more like a pile of white feathers and wings than a griffin at the moment.