The bus started to move away before Paddy was ready - she didn't feel you could ever have too long watching the Occamy, but she was pleased they got such a close-up view of it as the bus flew onto the next location. She'd never really been that keen on horses, having never come across many before, but these.... well they just looked stunning. Eagerly taking the bucket of hay she was handed, she drew and handful and held it out, hoping that one of the horses would approach her and not mind her fur.

Niamh screwed her eyes shut as the bus flew that close to the Occamy. She'd flown many times before, but she'd rather they were a bit further away from that - flying thing. As the roof lowered, she wondered what creatures they would see next, and was surprised to see a creature she kind of recognised. "They're beautiful," she said as the horses approached the bus, "we had winged horses at home, but never any that looked this stunning." Torn between trying to draw the horses and feed them, her mind was made up for her as the horse nudged her hand in the hope of getting some hay.

(OOC: I keep getting less time to post here than I really want 😊 feel free to drag either of them into conversation, and hopefully today / tomorrow I can actually reply before the bus moves on to the next stop!)

“Thanks for the info, Irwin,” Drew smiled. “I didn’t know a lot about the occamy, but you seem to know a lot. Have you ever thought of teaching Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts?”

As the bus began moving again and actually took flight this time, Drew pressed himself against one of the windows, watching the occamy and its habitat disappear. The scenery changed and Drew was already grinning as he sighted the meadow. It would be the perfect place for a ride! the boy thought to himself a second before he saw them. Giving a gasp of pure pleasure, Drew reacted without conscious thought, leaning out the window, drinking in the sight and smell of the winged horses. He was dimly aware of Irwin saying something, but his mind was too focused on the breathtaking beauty of the equines to have anything else register. He had to touch them, talk to them! Calling softly in what his mum called his gypsy voice, Drew climbed halfway out of his window, sitting on the ledge as a gleaming, golden Abraxen trotted over to him.

“Hello, beautiful,” Drew breathed softly as the horse sniffed him and then nudged his shoulder. Unaware that his eyes were shining with joy, Drew caressed the animal’s velvety nose and then went on to rub under the horse’s forelock and around its ears like Fleet enjoyed. Apparently the Abraxen liked it as well. It gave a soft nicker and rubbed its nose against Drew’s chest. Laughing with delight, the boy wrapped his arms around the soft, shining neck and buried his face in the flaxen mane, soaking in something he’d long dreamed of doing. Now the next step was to just slip out the window and onto the waiting back.

((ooc: fyi Drew is in heaven!! He's just going to stay right here. Forget the rest of the field trip! lol)

Effy had spent the past few days hours quietly observing her schoolmates and the utterly fascinating animals they'd seen so far on the trip. She put down the book she'd been reading and picked up her copy of the itinerary and smiled to herself; winged horses, what a treat! She glanced out the window, seeing the unmistakable, majestic shapes of the animals in the distance, practically dancing in the air. She sighed dreamily, wondering what it would be like to ride one and soar through the sky...

"No worries," Irwin said. He smiled. "Nope, I like my job here too much."

When Drew sat on the ledge Irwin was panicking. "No, get off, you can't ride them. Especially not the Abraxens!!!"

Magnus didn't have time to warn Drew of Mr. Cassidy's approach until it was too late. Jasper tapped Drew's shoulder. "What do you think you are doing?" He asked in a calm voice. "Get your body off that ledge this instant. I want you to park your bottom into this chair." He pointed to a new seat right beside him. "Haven't you heard what our guide said? They are not tame enough for riding. Honestly, such behaviour from a prefect." He had his wand out in case the boy didn't obey and he had to intervene. "Five points from Slytherin."

((occ: its actually only one day for this field trip, which is confusing I know since most rps are over several days. But... welcome :) !! So happy to have you here. Feel free to interact with anyone you want. My Zoe is shy but Magnus and River arent. And our librarian Mr. Cassidy is here, as is our guide Irwin. Hope that makes sense ^.^))

((I'll drag you in haha some how xD))

Drew looked around, startled at Irwin’s cry. His arms slipped from the Abraxen’s neck and the horse tossed its head before nosing Drew’s foot that was still dangling outside. Shocked and a bit puzzled at Irvin’s comments, the teen said, “I wasn’t riding one, just hugging them for now. They’re not scared of me. But you shouldn’t yell like that. That might spook ‘em.”

Turning to Mr. Cassidy, Drew said, “I’m fine where I am. You can take the points but I’ve got to be close to them! I promise I know what I’m doing. I’ve been with horses most all my life. Heck I rode a wild thestral my first term at Hogwarts! I understand them and they understand me.” His eyes were pleading as his fingers gently combed through the Abraxen’s mane, garnering soft noises of contentment from the horse.

Looking over he saw Magnus looking at him wide-eyed. “Tell ‘em, Mags,” he said beseechingly.

Rain gasped, "Oh wow, you have a thunderbird!? I'm so jealous," she laughed. "I've always wanted one, especially because I was in Thunderbird house at Ilvermorny, but our aviary just isn't equipt for a bird of that size and power. I bet a dragon sanctuary is perfect for one, though! Ooo, I've considered getting a mini griffin myself, they are so cute. I am surprised he hasn't yet, and I am surprised my mom has been so good about me getting all of those magical birds," she giggled. 'Yeah Aureus fits right in with the hummingbirds, he looks like a pudgy gold one of them, so I think they figure he's just part of the flock," she winked. Keet laughed, "yeah, I think you and Rain make up for me!"

"It's lovely!" Keet said to Millie. "It's nice that it probably reminds you of your trip, too." 'Oh dear," Rain laughed. "I can draw stick people and animals, but that's about it. Poor Emmett though, making a mess!"

"Ooo, I didn't see that Magnus had brought your sketchbook, that's good," Keet smiled. "You are more than welcome to some pages if you happen to run out. I'd be glad to compare sketches with everyone later, I really enjoy seeing everyone's take on things," she beamed.

Rain realized that the centaur girl was addressing her, and turned to respond. "Oh, of course!" she said, handing the omnioculars to Mallowsweet. "They are in that tree up there," she said, pointing to a tree with a silvery glint near the top. "The dials on the sides zoom in and out, and the ones on the top pause, slow down, or speed things up" she smiled.

Keet and Rain gasped in delight as the bus took to the sky, and they took turns looking through the omnioculars at the occamy, which was briefly much closer. As the bus landed, they looked around curiously, realizing that the bus was a single deck again. They smiled seeing the beautiful winged horses, and eagerly took their buckets from a disgruntled looking Mr. Cassidy with a polite "thank you." Keet held out some hay for one of the grey ones, and Rain stroked the mane of a chestnut one as it took some hay from her hand. "Well, they're not birds, but they are still pretty great," Rain laughed. Keet chuckled in response and took out her sketchbook to draw Rain and her new friend.

((OOC: Sorry for the delayed replies, things got a bit hectic the last day or so!))

"I'm the expert," Irwin said, "And I'd rather startle them then one kill you. Now I insist you get off the ledge now. If you don't I'll be forced to raise the windows and lower the roof. That horse could kill you. Please, get down."

"Five more points for speaking back to adults and detention. Now get off the ledge or I will be forced to pull you off with magic," Cassidy said still calmly. "Your little friends will not help you. You will obey now please."

Magnus looked between everyone and said. "It is true, what 'e says."

"As I said, I don't care," Jasper replied. "I am looking out for the saftey of everyone. Including the horses. Now please get off the ledge."

(: (OOC: Thank you so much! You're very kind! :))

Effy watches the scene in front of her between the adults and the adamant boy (whom she thought was a bit brave, honestly), and the golden horse. Erm, now may not be the best time to ask if I could move closer to sketch one of the horses, she thinks. Best not. She looks out the window and sketches a few of the other horses grazing a bit further away instead. They're lovely and the whole setting is idyllic.

((OOC: sorry I just died laughing - "in the meow" lol ))

Jona stuck his tongue out at Zoe playfully. "It's fine - and I win another round of chicken. We gotta work on this with you. Ohmygoodness!" His eyes sparkled with excitement when the winged horses came into view. Bouncing in his seat, he waited impatiently for Professor Cassidy to give him a bucket.

He was a bit pleased to see that he wasn't the only one to get into trouble with Cassidy today, though none of the students seemed to have any issues with Drew's () behavior like they had with Jona's. He shrugged it off, trying not to dwell on the negative and stuck his hands out, full of hay. Immediately two horses flew up, one to each hand, and began munching. Jona started giggling nonstop when the hay was gone and the horses kept licking his hands. "Looooook!" was all he managed to squeak out to Zoe.

The expert? Drew looked at Irwin. It was on the tip of his tongue to say that even if the man was as expert as he thought himself to be, there were still times that he could be wrong, being merely a mortal man. And just because Drew was nothing more than a kid didn’t mean that he was always wrong and the mighty adults were right. He knew that technically any horse in the meadow had the ability to kill him but he also knew with every fiber of his being that they wouldn’t choose to do it. He had a connection with equines and nothing the two men said would change that.

Drew felt his temper rising with Jasper Cassidy. How dare the conceited git tell him that his ‘little friends’ wouldn’t help him! Obviously it was because he had no friends that he didn’t understand it was what friends did. Then to take off more points when Drew had only been trying to explain why he was doing what he was? Well f- him and he could take the points and shove ‘em up with his stick. And the comment ‘As I said, I don’t care’…really what was it with the adults at Hogwarts this term?? Drew thought. They were all a bunch of arses! If Jasper didn’t care about the truth in a situation then what the hell was he doing there? The thing that pissed Drew off even more was the jab about the safety of the horses. As if he’d do anything to harm one of them! Stupid, arrogant bastard! If he didn’t love books so much he’d borrow one from Cassidy and let Dodger pee on it just for spite! But there were other ways.

His eyes were hard as flint as Drew stiffly slid down and gave Jasper a cold glare. “Fine, I’m down,” he said in a quiet, controlled tone. He immediately turned back to the window, standing there and calling softly to the horses in a sing song way, the ancient words flowing from his tongue as easily as English. A chestnut Aethonan and a grey Granian yearling joined the golden Abraxan, and Drew tried losing himself in feeding and stroking them. Inhaling deeply of the special horse scent, he allowed the equine magic to help calm him as nothing else in the world could.

"Yeah, its hard to keep them, apparently. I'm not planning on telling many people though," River said in a whisper. "I love that you have so many magical birds its really special. Maybe you can add a little griffin."

"Chicken?" Zoe asked quizzically.

Irwin took a breath of relief. He wasn't zoned for that kind of thing. And was genuinely afraid for the boy. "Thank you," he said.

Jasper was also relieved. He didn't want to have to use magic on the boy. The man was stressed too. Part of him felt bad but the crux of it was he had to look out for the entire whole and he couldn't have one student doing things against the rules. One did it, the others might too. It was not easy being in charge. Even if the kid was an expert, it wasn't a guarantee that he was free from the possible harm and today wasn't the day to find this out. He put his wand back and nodded.

Magnus watched as Mr Cassidy headed back to his chair, keeping a weathered eye on Drew. Part of Magnus felt sorry for him. the man was only doing his job. Magnus wasn't sure if he should say anything to Drew as he wasn't sure if the boy wanted comfort or to just enjoy the horses. He decided to let Drew react and see.

Jona pulled his hands free from the horses tongues and turned back to grab a few more fistfuls from his bag. "Yeah," he said to Zoe. "What we were just doing. I like to think of it as a playful game of chicken or like a game of facades. We continue to be dramatic and hyping up the situation until one of us can't amp it anymore and has to fold or apologize 'cause of something they said." He shrugged, as if the phrase "chicken" should have explained it all on its own. A third horse came; seeing that Jona didn't have a third hand full of feed, the third horse whinnied and leaned forward to chew on Jona's hair.

"Heeeey!" Jona whined, "Zoe! Help!"

"Oh, I see," Zoe said though she still wasn't quite sure on that. The horses seemed to really like Jona and one was chewing his hair. She let out a giggle as he called for help and handed the munching horse some hay so it'd let go. "Seems to like ye."

((OOC: really bad migraine, think this might be my last post of the night.))

((OOC: ok Hope you feel better! Try and get some sleep )) Jona beamed with two horses eating out of his palm, he leaned his head against the head of the third horse and said, "Well, yeah, what's not to like?" He was happy here. And it was this that reminded him of why he wanted to work with magical creatures.

Once he ran out of hay, he leaned back in his chair and kept his hand out to pet horses as they passed by. The occasional one will swoop in to sniff around in the hopes of hay, some simply wanted some extra petting, quite a few tried to eat his hair again. "Ya know," Jona said suddenly. "I've never seen a real horse in real life before. And now I've just seen a whole stampede's worth of flying ones." He let out a content sigh and looked over his shoulder at Zoe. "How strange is that?"

Mallowsweet smiled and thanked Rain for the loan of the ominiculars. "These are amazing." she said as she handed them back.
She looked up in confusion at the disturbance on the bus railing. The adult's consternation seemed unwarranted to her, as the mare the boy was hugging was showing every indication of enjoying the attention. As soon as Jasper went back to his seat she carefully got to her hooves and made her way over to where the boy was singing to the winged horses in a beautiful liquid language.
"That librarian is as grumpy as a graphorn in a troll den" she said as she folded her legs underneath herself between the chairs. Reaching out to stroke the chestnut he was feeding between the ears, she added. "That's a beautiful language. It's not Gaelic, but I feel I could almost understand it if I listened long enough."

Fade chewed his lip when Drew hugged one of the creatures. He knew Drew was fond of horses, maybe even obsessed, but Fade was a little surprised a prefect would talk back to a professor that way. Not to say that Fade didn’t admire Drew’s passion. Still, the air inside the bus felt a little awkward, so Fade stood up and stretched before making his way to the lower level and ordering himself some tea. Returning to his seat Fade sneezed into the crook of his elbow, the hay dust always gave him allergies. ( and everyone else )

Niamh stared in disbelief as the prefect spoke so aggressively. Niamh might have caused the first ever sand storm to have been in the Gryffindor Common Room, but she would never have dreamt of talking to a member of staff like that. Deciding she'd rather feed the horses to the other side of the bus, she quietly changed seats and held out a handful of hay. As a beautiful horse approached, she gently stroked its mane with her other hand. These horses were a million times better than the ones she'd seen back home.

Paddy had a feeling things were going to get a little heated quite quickly, so before Drew got a second lot of points deducted, she moved a little further down the bus. The tension in the air didn't seem to last long though, as the nearest horse started nudging her for more hay, and she started to laugh as they tickled her furry palm while eating. "Hayfever by any chance?" she asked Fade as he returned, "I wish there was some easy-to-make cure for that."

( and everyone else :P)

Drew’s anger had drained away due to the nose nudging and whinnied snorts of the horses. Their soft, gentle eyes and manners told him that they were happy and comfortable with him, regardless of what the humans on the bus might think. But he was getting hard pressed to keep all the trio around him satisfied with a bit of hay. He wished he had apples to give them for a treat like he did with Fleet.

Lost in thought and enjoying his time with the horses, Drew was a bit surprised to hear a soft voice and the sound of hooves next to him. Turning, he smiled at the young centaur he had not yet officially met. Her comment about Jasper made him grin and nod. “Glad I’m not the only one who thinks that,” he said. “I’m Drew by the way. I haven’t had a chance to officially introduce myself and welcome you to Hogwarts. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” He blushed at the comment about his singing. “Thanks. To be honest I’m not entirely sure what language it is. There are some words that Mum says are Gaelic and Celtic when she hears them, but she calls it my gypsy voice. It just seems to kinda happen. I don’t plan it, but when I get around horses it’s just natural.” He gave the grey yearling that reminded him a bit of his beloved Fleet another handful of hay and patted his neck before the young horse whinnied its thanks and took to the air. “Merlin’s beard, they are gorgeous,” Drew sighed softly. Then he turned back to his companion and said, “Sorry, I don’t mean to ignore you. How do you like Hogwarts so far?”

((hope I got everyone.))

"Well, just don't ask me to start chewing on yer hair. I like ye but still ain't licking ye," Zoe said giggling. When he said he'd never seen a normal horse before, she smiled. "Ye got a big treat then didn't ye? Maybe we can ride in the holiday. I know a thing or two about riding horses," She gave the nearest horse the last of her hay.

As Fade came back with tea, Zoe smiled at him. "Ye enjoying the field trip?" She couldn't believe she was speaking so much today.

Zoe shyly waved at Niamh and Paddy, not knowing them that well.

Drew didn't seem to need to talk so Magnus continued drawing. The pretty centaur first year had come up to speak with Drew. Magnus gave her a smile but continued to draw the mare he was looking at. Why was he feeling so shy today?