Millie walked out from the Great Hall with a cup of hot tea to go and munching on some toast. She wasn't sure how cold it was going to be, so she bundled up.

She looked at the group forming and saw Jona (), Zoe (), Keet (), and Fade (). "Hi guys" she said with a yawn. "Sorry. I'm not a morning person". she said taking a bite of toast. "Cleo hissed at me when I got out of my bed. I guess I disturbed her". She took a drink of tea and yawned again

Jona laughed to himself, because, seriously - who would want a cat?? "When I got up this morning, Duncan wouldn't stop whining! She really wanted to come with me and I felt sooo bad that I couldn't take her. Thank goodness Sauvage is sick - er, that sounds bad - since she can take care of Duncan in my place. The pup is still learning her potty training, after all." He shrugged while thanking the heavens that he got to slough off puppy doody duty for one day. To Lysandra, he said, "Yeah. I'm really interested to see how Duncan does with other animals. So far she's only met Zoe's little zoo of animals and Duncan responded mostly with curiosity. The transforming rabbit really caught her offguard, though." He laughed at the memory.

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/388554.png[/img]"I'm glad ye had a good Christmas. Sounds like ye got a lot of good things. My favourites were my specs, and two new pals." She laughed at the zoo comment. "I do nee have a mini zoo, just a miniture bison, a flobberworm, cat, transforming rabbit, dog and raven."

She saw Millie and gave the girl the barest of waves.

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/388612.png[/img] River came up to the group slightly out of breath. She had been half way there when she realised no pets were allowed and had hurried back to the common room with the ones she had planned to bring. She noticed Rain right away and waved to the girl. "HI! How are you? are you excited? I sure am. I wonder what animals they have? Have a nice holiday?"

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/388653.png[/img] Magnus slowly sauntered out to the meeting place. It was well known he was not a morning person. He yawn heavily as he drank from his mug of hot chocolate. He gave a sleepy wave to everyone and an extra grin to Fade.

"You're right, Zoe." Jona crossed his arms and nodded his head diligently. "It's not a mini zoo. It is a moderately sized zoo filled with miniature animals. I'm just glad that I don't have to pay an entrance fee to feed one of 'em." He winked as if there was an inside joke hidden in what he said.

Jona squinted and waved to River and Magnus who came walking up about the same time. He leaned over to Zoe and whispered, "I feel like I need to grab sunglasses to wear when River is here. Everything is so bright it almost hurts my eyes" When they got closer, Jona spoke to Magnus: "Hey, er - well, truthfully, I don't remember your name, but I do like that color purple on ya. It looks good, my friend." Jona smiled innocently, hoping this guy wasn't one to get offended when someone forgets his name.

Drew pulled on his sweater and then coat and scarf as well as he stifled a yawn. He’d been up late last night and it was earlier than he liked being awake. Still he had to get going. His eyes went to the stack of papers near his bed, but he refused to think about them at the moment. He’d felt pretty blah before the holidays and the time at home had been great, but now he had a ton of assignments to catch up on. Oh well, he’d have to deal with that later. Today was the magical creatures field trip and no way was he going to miss that!!

Bounding up the stairs from the dungeons, he headed outside into the clear, cold air. He wondered just what they might see. His mind went back to his first term at Hogwarts and the foray into the Forbidden Forest. He shuddered thinking of the acromantulas but pushed the thought from his head by focusing on the centaurs, thestrals, and the beautiful unicorns they had seen. Nothing was going to be able to top those for Drew…unless it was an Abraxan. He longed to see one of the beautiful equines! And he would be thrilled with any of the other winged horses as well like Granian and Aethonan. Though a hippogriff would be cool too, Drew thought as he made his way along the path. He wondered if Magnus and Merlin would join the outing this time. He grinned at the thought of Merlin teasing him and calling him the thestral whisperer.

As he reached the gathering spot and heard the announcement that the uptight librarian would be accompanying them, Drew frowned. Apparently Pinto had flaked out. Then again what could one expect from someone who had admitted to not even being a real professor of magical creatures. Great, just great, Drew thought to himself. Instead of the old hag we get Mr. No-touchy. The teen honestly didn’t know which was worse. He also wondered why he’d never had an issue with professors until now. Could it be that he was at that age? Whatever that meant. But he’d heard his mum tell about his uncle’s rebelliousness when he was a teen, so maybe that was it.

Shrugging it off, Drew checked the group gathered around. There was Jona, ()bouncing around as usual. He smiled to see Millie ()was joining them. And Mags ()was there! And Fade ()! There were several students that Drew wasn’t acquainted with, though the girls were pretty.( ) He gave them a smile as he headed toward the group. And speaking of pretty…was that Zoe? She looked different with her hair down!

“Hey, Mags! Fade! Jumpin’ Jona!” Drew called. “Good morning, Millie and River and Zoe. I am so ready to see some fantastic animals!” He waved his copy of Fantastic Beasts, but had to be careful that the well worn cover didn’t fall off or any pages escape. Better to tuck it back into his bag for now, Drew thought, so he did and then smiled at the others.

Zoe laughed and stuck her tongue out at him playfully. She’d seen others do it. “I’m gonna start charging ye then. Two knuts per animal ye play with per visit.”

Zoe chuckled. “Aye her hair is bright but pretty.”

River waved at Jona and Zoe. “Hi guys! Excited? I am. I wonder what they’ll have. I wonder where it is?”

Magnus perked up a little when Jona said he didn’t remember his name. He laughed and replied, “Name’s Magnus. Thanks, some people say purple’s too girly, but it’s a mix of blue and red so I disagree. Then again, I’d wear pink if it suited me. Colour is genderless.”

“Ey Drew,” Magnus said waking up a little more but still yawning. “Knew you’d come.”

“Morning,” River said. “I’m really hoping we something unusual.”

“Hello,” Zoe said shyly at Drew.

Jona gasped in what sounded like genuine pain. "No!" He cried out and clutched his chest, letting one knee fall to the ground as he looked up and pleaded with Zoe. "No, Zoe, you can't! How cruel to offer kindness and fluffy cuddles and to - to - just...take them away!" Throwing his hand so the back of it met his forehead in mock horror, Jona flung himself to the ground in a faux feint. He waited there like a dead fish for a moment before pulling himself back up. At this point Magnus and River were already there to have seen the show and at some point Drew had joined them, too.

"Riiiiight. Magnus! I'm gonna remember that for next time, I swear." In fact, he pulled a marker out of his backpack right then and wrote "MAGNIS" on the back of his hand to show his dedication. Don't mind the fact that it smeared, forming a greenish blur across his skin, as he put his pen back. "And I dunno about pink being your color, but I'd say you're safe to keep working the purple." He clicked his tongue as he used his hands to make guns with his thumbs popping up and down.

He then heard River ask about the location of where we were going and he simply shrugged. "Honestly, I don't even know if they posted it or not. I just saw the words field trip and magical creatures and signed myself up."

"Heeeey!" Jona shouted in a whiney voice at Drew () when the boy had greeted him. "I was not jumping!" He then promptly clapped his hands above his head and did several jumping jacks while glaring at Drew, as if this action made the Slytherin boy the fool. "Now I'm jumping!" He stopped, pretending to be angry at Drew, though he was glad to have gotten the attention.

Zoe broke into giggles at Jona's antics. When he arrived on the ground "dead" she nudged him slightly with her shoe. "Oh what a pity, he's dead. Oh well, guess that means I can have his stuff." When he got up she ruffled his hair and said, "you nut."

Magnus laughed. "You spelled it wrong. It's Us not Is. M. a. g. n. u. s." He nodded at the comment over pink. "Yeah it probly ain't me colour. I'm pale."

"Yeah," River agreed, "I didn't really look much further myself."

Lysandra had seen some Diricawls once when she visited Mauritius for an elven meeting of the Indian Ocean tribes. She adored the big bird who was able to vanish after he loomed into a feather ball and then, whoosh, wasn´t to be seen anymore. Certainly a creature who had mastered the apparition process!

Lys loved his fluffy and soft feathers also. One precious moment back then, she was allowed to touch this very feathers which were rainbow-colored then because a naughty elven kid had enchanted them. The young Part-Fae smiled by remembering this.

The other classmates seemed to be equally exited like herself. She took a bag of bird food from sulking Jasper and looked out for Irvin. Raising her hand, she asked: „Do they come in different colors, Master Irvin? And how do you distinguish males and females from each other?“ She opened her notebook and awaited the answers, eager to learn more about the magical birds.

((Really, whoever wants to deal with mischievous lil Jona)) Jona clutched his stomach and managed to stumbled a few feet away from the group before he wretched his breakfast on the ground. Needless to say, that was his first portkey. Quietly and full of shame, he walked back to the group and got on the bus, taking the bird feed when it was offered. While Lysandra asked her question, Jona executed an experiment. He dropped a bit of feed close to the bus, then closer and closer until one of the birds took the bait and followed the trail. When the bird was near enough, Jona made a loud sound - nothing crazy or scary, but startling nonetheless - and he watched the bird appirate. "Yes!" He whispered to himself.

Keet smiled when Millie walked up, munching her toast. "Hi Millie, I see you dressed warmly, I tried to do so as well. I wonder what the weather will be like where we are going?" she said, half to Millie and half to herself. "I hope we won't get too warm in our sweaters and coats," she laughed.

"Hi River!" Rain beamed. "I'm excited too, I can't wait to see what kinds of creatures are in store for us. I'm hoping to see some feathered creatures that we don't have in the aviary," she grinned. "I had a nice holiday, thanks, how about you? And have you met my new friend Keet before?" she asked, gesturing to the girl in the starry sweater. "I think you'll like her, she's a big bird fan too, she's even got a fwooper! She does moving sketches too," Rain said, pointing to Keet's sketchbook. "Hi River, it's nice to meet you," Keet smiled a bit shyly. "I love your hair! Sometimes when I am feeling bold I charm my hair rainbow too, but most of the time I don't feel adventurous enough," she giggled.

@ leafling19 Keet and Rain both smiled as Drew approached. "You look ready to go," Rain grinned. "I can't wait to see what kind of creatures are in store for us, although Mr. Cassidy doesn't look too keen on chaperoning us, does he?" she asked, stifling a bit of a giggle.

Rain and Keet excitedly joined the group around the portkey as it was time to go, placing their hands on the steering wheel along with everyone else. When they arrived, Keet was feeling a bit nauseous from the portkey travel, and Rain handed her a peppermint to settle her stomach. "Thanks," Keet said gratefully.

The pair of them looked about at the landscape, thinking that maybe they had dressed a little too warmly for this desert-type climate. They listened eagerly to what Irwin had to say ((OOC: NICE name choice! xD )), and then climbed aboard the bus with the others. The pair of them had to stifle squeals of delight at seeing the diricawls, as neither of them had seen one in person before. They both took a bag of food from Mr. Cassidy, excited to feed and pet the plump, disappearing birds. Keet held out the food in her hand slowly, waiting for one of the birds to approach. It wasn't long before the birds took to her and Rain, and they were eating happily while the girls gently stroked their feathers. When Keet had run out of food, she began to draw the diricawls in her sketchbook, while Rain continued to feed the birds the remainder of her food.

((totally having to make this up haha ))

"You can just call me Irwin," the man said. "Most as you can see are grey in colour. Yet I have seen a few in a greyish purple and even in black. The males, like with some parrots, have sold appearing eyes. Whereas the females will have a light amber iris. An easier way though is the tail feathers. A male has longer tail than female which attracts the females."

((no real points are taken btw ;) ))

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/356434.png[/img]Niether Irwin nor Jasper looked pleased with Jona. Irwin looked aghast. Jasper simply said, "You, boy," and pointed to a chair at the front of the bus. "Sit. How would you like it if someone lured you with food only to scare you so you'd apperate out? Huh? Think its funny do you? Five points from Hufflepuff." He took the bag of feed away from Jona.

"I'm also hoping to see birds," River said. She adored birds. "It was lovely. First real Christmas I've had since I was very little. Oh hello Keet! A fwooper huh you don't say?! I got a miniature griffin. I'd love to see the pretty one some time. You'd get along well with Magnus, he does sketches as well." River smiled when Keet complimented her hair. "Aww thank you. Its a fun charm. Awww I'll help you feel bold." She giggled. "Seriously though, maybe just the tips when you aren't feeling so bold?"

River was in heaven with the birds and petting as many as she could. She was even trying to learn their sounds and taking pictures.

"Oh, I am glad that you got to have a proper Christmas!" Rain grinned. "Did you get any fun gifts?" Keet smiled, "Yes, I'd be glad to show you when we get back to the castle, since I couldn't bring him along. Ooo, I'd love to see your mini griffin sometime, too! Maybe I can sketch him or her for you," she offered, happily. "Oh yes, I know Magnus does fabulous sketches, too! He's in my house, I happen to be one of the Ravenclaw prefects this term," she said, a little embarrassed and not meaning to sound pompous or anything. "Thank you, I could use a little help with that sometimes, unlike Rain," she said, winking at her friend who grinned back cheekily. "I like the idea of just doing the tips rainbow when I'm not feeling like I want to stand out as much, thanks" she said gratefully.

Keet and Rain were quite enjoying themselves, still petting the diricawls and attempting to soothe the one that Jona had startled. Neither of them could really blame him, as it was neat watching the birds disappear and reappear at will. However, neither of them would do something like that themselves, and they felt sorry for the poor thing.

Jona's eye went wide as the professor chastised him. He looked around at his classmates, most of him were either pretend not to notice or looked with disappointment (). It wasn't like he hurt the animal! In fact, he was pretty sure he just made that bird the most well fed of all of them. After having his bag of feed taken away and humiliating his house to boot, Jona settled into his seat with his arms across his chest. He looked away and out at the animals, trying to pretend that the reprimand hadn't really bothered him - and it didn't, not really. But he felt angry that his classmates seemed to have agreed. If it continued this way, the outting was not going to be an enjoyable one.

"Thank you so much for explaining, Master Ir........ ehem, Irvin!" Lysandra beamed. "I hope to see a purple one, then. I thought I saw a light pink once. Perhaps a youngster?" she pondered, writing down all the details meticulously.

Millie finished her toast and wiped her hands on her pants. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear Sauvage () is sick. I was hoping she would join us."

She turned to Keet ( ). "I brought a t-shirt in case we go somewhere warm. I tucked it in my jacket" Millie yawned again and finished her tea before touching the portkey.

After they arrived, Millie felt sick to her stomach. "Ugh, I hate portkey travel." She took a look around and saw they were in a desert. "Glad I brought a tee shirt" she slipped her sweater off under her jacket and replaced it with the shirt. She also removed her hat and put on her new sunglasses.

They boarded the bus and Millie took a window seat on the second level The fresh air was helping her head stop spinning.

A man in khakis boarded the bus and introduced himself at Irwin. She noticed he had an Australian accent. "Oh, how cool. I've always wanted to go to Australia" she said to herself.

((OOC - Sorry for the delay. I ended up going out last night and I had a crazy day. I totally love the tour guide's name. It makes my inner child happy))

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/389299.png[/img] Poppy had slipped aboard quickly and quietly. There had been no time to lose, and she had nearly missed the Portkey to the field trip! Settled in, she found an empty seat on the top deck of the tour bus, and tried not to draw attention to herself as their guide Irwin spoke. Poppy giggled quietly as she noticed Mr. Cassidy pouting. He did not look pleased to be chaperoning a bunch of students. "Wonder how he got roped into this by Pinto?" Poppy thought, and tried to pay attention to the tour.

As Irwin spoke, the Slytherin took stock of who was there. Drew from her own house, Head Girl Zoe Parker-with a project bag of yarn no less (it gave Poppy a thrill), Magnus looking stronger than usual, little Jona being an adorable rascal, Fade looking glad and nervous all at once, Keet in a pretty outfit, and Millie in glamourous sunglasses. There were other students too, ones she didn't know very well who looked friendly and excited to be on a field trip. People like Lysandra, Ezekiel, River, and Rain who were happy to be out and enjoying the activity. It seemed like it was going to be a fun and relaxing day, free from the rigors of schoolwork and the stress of being constantly cooped up with the others.

She dutifully set her bag of bird feed on the sill and held her Omnioculars in her lap, ready to capture a creature in her field of vision. The bus lowered them right to where all the action was! [edit] You got a forum point while making a post! Check out the shop here! Lucky post! c:

(OOC: What a great set up! Please ping me once you've updated with a schedule. I'd love to plan when to pop in and participate. 😊)

(and anyone else I forgot!)

“Oh you knew huh? How’d you figure that?” Drew teased Magnus, giving him a friendly nudge. “Especially since you’re not even awake yet, mate.”

At Jona’s whine and silly antics, Drew rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean you were currently jumping, just that you’re prone to,” he explained. “But after that display, it fits you all the more.”

Turning back to Zoe and the other girls, he smiled and said, “How you ladies manage to look so nice first thing in the morning is amazing. Your hair looks good down like that, Zoe.” Then clearing his throat in embarrassment that he’d actually said that out loud, Drew said, “So, um, yeah…I’m really hoping to see some equines. They’re the best!”

When Mr. Cassidy called them all around the portkey, Drew grabbed hold, feeling himself sucked in and his stomach turned inside out. Thank Merlin he’d traveled this way a few times now and didn’t have the same reaction as Jona. He had yet to decide which was worse, portkey or apperation.

Drew smiled as Irvin introduced himself and told them about the bus, then the teen quickly scrambled to the top deck, ready to view each and every creature of the day.

Having read about diricawls, but never seeing one, Drew was interested even though he wasn’t a bird person. He had to grin as the birds waddled toward the bus. Taking the bag of food from Mr. Cassidy, he offered the closest bird some breakfast. Listening to Irvin answer questions and describe the difference in males and females, Drew studied the bird currently eating from his hand. “I think you’re a girl,” he said quietly, so as not to startle the creature. The bird looked up briefly, made a little sound, and returned to eating. Drew chuckled. “Guess that was a yes…maybe,” he said.

When the bird finished eating and wandered a bit further away from the bus, Drew turned in time to see Jona deliberately scare one of the diricawls. His eyes narrowed at the younger boy’s actions. While it seem fun in a way, it was also mean in Drew’s opinion. He was glad when Jona was corrected by the adults. Still the incident had him wondering. He raised his hand and called, “Um, Mr. Irvin? Has anyone ever tracked where a diricawl goes when it apperates? I think it would be fun to know if they go a fair distance away or try to find a safe place when they’re scared.”

"I did!" River said, "My dad sent me a toucan. It's been fun bonding with her. Named her Marley. How about you?" River was very pleased. "Oh yes, I've love to have you meet Quinn and sketch her. Oh sorry, I didn't know. I meet Magnus in the summer before we went to America. He didn't get to go though. I'll never be prefect, I get in too much trouble." She giggled. "I'd be happy to help and totally agree, Rain's got killer hair."

Zoe slid down to Jona and gave him a half hug. She wasn't gonna say anything, just be there. "Look, one's right beside ye," she said in a hushed voice. "Let's pet her."

Irwin smiled and nodded. "Any time. Yes, a pink one may have been a young one that would be purple."

River slipped over to Millie. "You need a peppermint?" she asked. "You look a little peaky."

((So glad you like it :) did post it a few moments ago, but only when the stops are cos I'm kinda wanting the surprises. But I can send you a few animals ahead of time if you want.)

Magnus waved to Poppy as she boarded.

"Cos you're you," Magnus said sticking his tongue out at Drew.

Zoe's face became tomato red. Had he just compliment her? "T-thank ye," she stammered.

Irwin good naturedly shook his head. "No mister, its my first name... and guys its Irwin, no V, its a W. Anyway, some magizologiest have tried to track them, but no, we don't really know exactly how far they will go. Apperation itself isn't something we can track. However, the closer they are to their terrain, they tend to apperate short distances.

((hope I got everyone and everything I can reply too.))