Lesson 2 (4th-7th Years)

As it was quite cold outside, Kira charmed a temporary tent on the Salem grounds for that particular lesson. The tent was bigger on the inside, but unlike other magical tents, it only had one room. There were cushions and bean bags on the floor for the students to sit on and a warming charm was keeping a nice, cosy temperature.They were talking about dragons that day and since she couldn't actually bring a dragon to the school, she figured they wouldn't need to stand outside in the snow.

The witch was waiting for her students outside of the tent, so they would know it's there for the lesson. She was holding her coat tight around her body and even though she was wearing woolen gloves and a hat, Kira was very cold.

True to their general slacker demeanor Carson and Jackson had most definitely not even thought about the Care of Magical Creatures project until the night before it was due. And after a few shots of whiskey, which was in Carson's book synonymous with study juice, he'd hit the library for some late night studying. Having been a bit tipsy at the time he couldn't tell you off the head any actual facts about the Hungarian Horntail, but he was confident in his ability to wing it.

Finding the professor stainding outside the tent, Carson gave silent thanks to the powers that be for getting him out of the cold before heading inside and flopping down on an overstuffed purple cushion across from Victoria. He gave the girl a smile as he put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes waiting for the class to start.

The Belladonna was too excited, out of all the classes that Salem had to offer, this had always been her favorite because no one actually believed that just because she was a Veela she could do a class like this. She knew that when she first told her parents they were absolutely stunned by this but supported her as they always did their children and now here she was passing the class that no one seemed to think she could do it. The blonde saw Professor Reid along with Victoria and a boy from her house. She's never really quite met him before but she had seen him around the Belladonna common room.

"Hey everyone" she greeted with a smile.

Apollo was a little tired from the previous events. He had tried so hard to get Ares to talk to him, sent him owls and even waited outside the Wormwood common room for him to come out, he even went as far as asking one of the students to go get him only to come back saying that he 'didn't want to talk' to Apollo. The Nightshade sighed and made his way to class. When he got to his destination he was glad to see that one of his siblings were there and didn't hate his guts. "Hey" he greeted to everyone, he even went to stand by his baby sis.

Mary had her part of the presentation safely in her bag as she made her way down to the grounds. It was so cold that day and the witch would have preferred to spend it inside, preferably in a bed. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw a tent and gave Professor Reid a thankful smile as she climbed into it.

She saw Victoria was already sitting there and with a grin, the Head Girl sat down next to her. "Morning" she greeted the younger girl pleasantly and gave a warm smile to Apollo. She had seen him waiting outside the Common Room and when she asked about it, people told her he was waiting for Ares. It wasn't any of her business, so she didn't pry, but she hoped the brothers would make up soon.

Henley rarely liked animals, she can tolerate them to a certain point until she gets fed up and just wants their pathetic lives to end.. hopefully miserably. The Nightshade walked towards where the class was and sighed when she saw people there, she barely talked to any of them and now here she was surrounded by them. The brunette sighed and just stood off to the side waiting for the boring class to begin.

Care of Magical Creatures wasn't really a strong suit for her but she did try and that was good enough for her. It didn't matter if Charlie sucked as something she always tried and that is why her parents were always so proud of her because of that reason. The red head got to where the classroom was to be held and saw that there was a good turn out and she happily joined the rest of the class. The Wormwood was glad that there were others there because then that would make the class much better.

Of course Diem would attend this class, it was taught by her adoptive mother and she loved that even though they only saw each other mostly for classes and then the holidays and breaks, it was a good experience for the both of them to get a sight of the other in their national born element. Kira with being a Professor and Diem being one of her students. The Nightshade made her way to the class and sent a smile to Kira before standing with the others waiting for instructions.

The outside was still very chill to Callum, so he had rugged up with mittens and a jacket, scarf and even a beanie, seeing as this class was outside. He was thankful to see that the Professor had put up a tent. He walked over to the Professor "Hi Professor, good idea for a tent," he said before he walked in and took a seat, feeling instandt relief from the cold.

"Morning, Miss Newbury!" Kira greeted the young Wormwood with a warm smile. The young witch had welcomed her to the school in such a nice manner last year and Kira was grateful. She gave a nod to Carson as he showed up and greeted Aphrodite with a cheerful smile. "Go on inside, Miss Oxton, it's warm in there."

"Hello, Mr. Oxton, Miss McNeely." She greeted the Belladonna and the Head Girl. "Miss Faye, Miss Jaymes, go on in." Kira smiled and motioned at the tent. Secretly she hoped there wouldn't be many students left, so she could go inside, where it was so blissfully warm. "Miss Diem." she greeted her daughter with a grin.

"Thank you Mr. Hunt." Kira grinned and then raised her eyebrows at Jackson. Well, it sure was an unusual idea for a presentation. "Morning, Mr. Blake."

She stood before the tent for a few more moments before she gave up and went inside. The warmth instantly put her in a better mood and she made her way to the center of the tent happily.

"Good morning, everyone. As you know, we've got presentations about dragons today. Some of you paired up, some of you made them individually and, some of you forgot about them, I expect." Kira smiled, looking at everyone.

"Who'd like to start? The floor is yours."

Mary suppressed a grin when Victoria volunteered them and instead adapted a professional look and stood up. Sure, this was just a class presentation, but it was an important one and it never hurt to take things seriously. It made a better impression and it showed you put effort into your work.

She listened to Victoria do her part of the presentation and then gave her partner a small nod, before speaking herself. "As Victoria said, the Vipertooth is very dangerous, mostly because of its poisonous fangs. They have a particular liking for humans, which caused a lot of trouble in the late nineteenth century. Their numbers had increased rather fast and the International Confederation of Wizards had to send in exterminators. Funny how we always kill other creatures if they pose any threat to us at all." Mary said pointedly. Of course, being eaten by dragons wasn't only an inconvenience, but she was sure they could have found another way. She wasn't happy with how wizards handled things and had a lot of thoughts on the matter, but this wasn't time or place. The witch cleared her throat and continued.

"Vipertooth are one of the smallest dragons, but they make up for it with their swift flight and venom. Along with humans, they feed on goats and cows. As you can see," Mary pointed to the drawing, "they have smooth scales and their horns are quite short, but venomous. So, if you ever see one, hope that it won't notice you."

The Head Girl finished the presentation and along with Victoria, put the poster down. "Our other dragon is Swedish Short-Snout." she said and held up the poster with the silvery-blue dragon on it. It was currently breathing fire from its nostrils. "As you can tell from the name, the Short-Snout is native to Sweden and they prefer to live in mountainous areas. Which is just as well, because wizards like to seek them out for their skin to make protective gloves and shields." Mary turned to Victoria to continue with the presentation. Once again, she was repulsed by the humanity, but she figured the ray of sunshine standing next to her would brighten up the mood.

Kira grinned at the two Wormwoods and then moved to the side and sat down on a pillow, so the girls could have the floor. She listened to the presentation and her quill took notes for her. When they were finished, the Professor nodded and smiled at them.

"Well done! Thank you, ladies."

Without standing up, Kira looked around the tent again. "Who'd like to go next?"

Kira stared at the puppet theater with her eyes wide open, watching in horror as the tiny dragon burned the little stick man in a very realistic way. It took a few seconds for the young Professor to gather herself and then she clapped reluctantly and smiled.

She certainly wasn't expecting this. For the boys to turn up empty handed, claiming a Niffler destroyed their dormitories, including their homework? Yes, absolutely. But this, she was not expecting. She turned to look at the Belladonna boy and he looked awfully suspiciously still and Kira wanted to say something about it, but then decided not to. He showed up, he maybe did some work for the class, it was good enough.

"Thank you, Mr. Blake. That was... quite a presentation. Anyone else?"

Jax was by far the more verbiose of the pair and Carson had no problem letting the Nightshade take the stage as he put on his little puppet show, and watched in mild amusement at the looks on his classmates and professor's face. With a grin as Professor Reid dismissed them Carson approached the woman and handed her a parchment with the research that he'd done. "Just so you know that Jax didn't do all the work."

Returning to hisseat he gave Jax a fist bump and a smirk, " Good show mate."

"Just so you know that Jax didn't do all the work."

"Oh, thanks, Mr. Harper-Conrad." Kira smiled at the Belladonna and took his paper. When nobody else stepped up, the witch stood up and smiled at the class. "Well, that's it for today. Thank you all for participating, see you next lesson. Have a nice week!" Kira waved her wand and the door to the tent flopped open to let the students out.