Lesson 2 (1st-3rd Years)

There was a fire burning next to the Groundskeeper's Cabin and you could see small white things moving in it. Kira was busy getting more firewood and putting it on a pile next to the fire. It was a crisp morning, complete with a coat of snow and moving around the fire was keeping the witch warm. She hoped it wouldn't rain or snow during the lesson, they needed the fire to keep the creatures inside of it alive. There was a small table near the fire and on it were small cups, some filled with pepper and others with chili powder.

When there was quite enough firewood to keep them through the lesson, Kira stood by the fire and waited for the students.

Finally he was free of classes with his older siblings, well just for this one that is, the others not so much. It was nice to have a breath of fresh air once and a while and here it was. It was a little cold out but he didn't mind it much. When he arrived at Care of Magical Creatures he was stunned to see that he was the only student there besides the Professor. Well his parents would have a field day with this. "Hi Professor" he greeted to her.

Brayden was glad to see Ares in the class Care of Magical Creatures when he got closer to the classroom. It made it even more fun for him because he was surrounded by his friend that he thought could be like a brother to him. "Hello Professor" he greeted to the woman in front of him. "Sup Ares" Brayden greeted to his friend. The fellow second year was a great guy and Brayden loved their pranks that they do together.

The young Wormwood felt the satsifying crunch of fresh snow beneath her feet as she steadily made her way towards the Groundskeeper's cabin, taking steps that looked rather exaggerated but heaven knew that they were necessary. Rarely had the girl been light on her feet when it came to frosty weather, no matter how sturdy her shoes were. A light pink duffel coat adorned her body over the top of the girl's pristine uniform, a warming charm keeping her nice and toasty in the freezing conditions.

"Good Morning, Professor Reid," the fresh faced girl smiled, turning to her classmates; two second years, one from her own house. "How are we all today?" The enquiry was as sweet and unlike in previous situations where she had met people out in the snow, was not said through chattering teeth. "Well, I hope! If not a little chilly..."

Gathering all of her courage, Gillian walked down to the grounds towards the groundskeeper's cabin, where the class was going to be. The cold air around her didn't bother her at all, and she enjoyed the walk watching how her cloak ruffled with the wind.

With her nose and cheeks flushed because of the cold, she arrived next to the fire and nodded to her fellow classmates, wondering where they were last class when she had to deal with the big ugly chickens. It didn't matter, this time there was fire involved and that was always a good thing. She stepped closer to the fire and passed her fingers over the flames, reveling in the heat and enjoying the smell of burning logs while she waited for the class to start.

Jaden knew she was running late but she had been busy helping out Sadie and also because she had her chores to do. Her rose garden was growing every day and she knew she had to start planning to sell them soon and it was because she wanted to do something with her life and her own choice because everything else was being decide for her.

"Sorry," she said as she saw the professor and students already there. "I promise I won't be late again." 

"Morning Mr. Oxton!" Kira greeted the young Wormwood cheerily. "Hello, Mr. Count." After the Belladonna came an obviously freezing little Wormwood and Kira smiled warmly to her and cursing, in her head, that the class was held outside. "Good morning, Miss Dimonté. Come stand next to the fire, I don't want you to be cold. The same goes for you two, if you're cold." she turned to the two boys.

"Hi, Miss Arkanian." Kira smiled kindly to the young Nightshade, hoping this lesson would fit the girl more. "Morning, Miss Taylor and don't worry. You're not late at all."

After waiting a few more minutes to see if anybody else would turn up, Kira concluded they probably wouldn't and cleared her throat to get her students' attention.

"Does everyone see the fire and the little creatures in it? Who can tell me what they are? And if somebody else could tell me anything else about them, what they eat, where they normally eat, things like that. One answer per student, please."

The creatures inside the fire pit looked nothing like Gillian had seen before, but that wasn't really something too impressive seeing how before coming to Salem Gillian hadn't really seen anything remotely magical. Still, she loved fire and anything to do with it, and as soon as she found out that there was such thing as magic, the girl started looking into fire creatures.

As she poked the fire with a stick, the girl started listing under her breath the beings and creatures she knew to be related to fire. "They can't be phoenix or dragons, they're way too small for that" she said as she counted the list with the fingers of her free hand "They could be blast-ended skrewt or fie crabs" muttered the girl leaning into the fire as she waited for someone else to give an actual answer "but those sound like they might look ugly so no, maybe they're salamanders?". Gillian kept paying attention to the fire not minding her low-voiced rant and kept on waiting for an actual answer.

Isabelle smiled at the professor, pulling her little coat tighter around herself. She loved how polite all of her professors were; they all had been so nice last time and if her classes thus far was anything to go by, the trend would continue. She didn't mind that the boys hadn't responded to her, really, she assumed they thought the same as everyone else seemed to.

Weird.

"Are they ashwinders?" the Wormwood asked, her voice quiet as she shuffled a few steps closer to the fire to get a better look. No, they live in the remains of a fire, not in the fire itself she thought, humming as she took another glance at them. "What about fairies? Like, fire fairies, or something?" They were moving too quickly for her to get a proper eye, and her lips formed a tight line. Isabelle really was trying, but she just couldn't see a likeness to anything for the life of her.

Kira strained her ears to hear what the little Nightshade was saying. It didn't help that she was speaking in a low tone and that the fire was crackling around them. She could hear something about phoenixes and fire crabs and then, she heard the girl mention salamanders. Kira grinned, but before she could say anything, the young Wormwood started talking as well.

"Oh, I'd love it if they were fire fairies, Miss Dimonté." she smiled at the girl. Children had a way of making a magical world seem even more magical and it was moments like these that she was glad she chose the Professing career. "Unfortunately, I couldn't get a hold of fire fairies. Miss Arkanian was correct, actually. They're salamanders. 5 points for Nightshade." Kira explained, sending a nod to the girl.

"So, can anyone tell me anything about them?"

Ares knew the creatures looked semi familiar and when it was confirmed he knew what was coming next. Just then Professor Reid asked if anyone knew about the creatures. Ares raised his hand before speaking. "Salamanders are fire dwell lizards that feed off of flames" Ares answered the question.

Brayden knew some about Salamanders and thought it was pretty cool that Professor Reid was going to be going over Salamanders. After Ares spoke about what he knows, Brayden decided to give his answer. "Salamanders can live up to six hours off of pepper outside their flames" the Belladonna remembered reading about that and thought it was pretty cool.

"Thank you, 5 points to Belladonna and Wormwood. They can indeed survive up to 6 hours, but only if they're fed pepper and the original fire doesn't die out. Now, they can sometimes get scale rot, as these did. It's a nasty disease but easily treatable, thankfully."

Kira moved to one of the bowls, waved her wand and pointed it at a certain salamander. "Accio Salamander." One of them flew out and she caught it carefully and gently. "The way to treat it is so rub chili powder in their scales, like this." She demonstrated so that everyone could see. "While you're doing this, please remember to feed them pepper while you're doing it. Be gentle, please."