Closed Helping With Horklumps

[Lysander Summers]

After pulling horklumps out of the Wild Patch the evening before, Lysander had wondered just how difficult it would be to take care of one himself. What was one more animal in his dormitory-come-menagerie? All the mushroomy-animals needed were some earthworms and they were set, and if he only had one, he wouldn't have to worry about them multiplying and destroying gardens. Elliot had said the ones they were pulling up to be spared the streeler venom would be given to the Care of Magical Creatures professors, and Lysander had decided to at least ask if he could keep one to care for. He'd headed out to the grounds to find Professor Cullen, spotting her just as she was disappearing beyond the treeline of the Forbidden Forest. He had to break into a sprint to try and reach her in time, but she was already gone by the time he was standing in the spot he'd last seen her. He gave a cursory glance over his shoulder to check if anyone else was around, and, figuring that it would be fine for him to enter the forest if he were supervised by a professor, decided to follow after her. He marched purposefully past the treelines, as if he were totally allowed to be there. Asking could have waited until she'd returned, but he wasn't sure when the horklumps would be sent off, nor did he want to miss an excuse to enter the forest wherever he could. There were magical creatures abound, and if he didn't run into Cullen, he at least hoped to spot something else instead.

"Professor Cullen?" Lysander called out, stepping cautiously over a raised root. "Professor Briar?" He tried again, still unsure which of the three names he should have been using. She'd said they were interchangeable, but it was still confusing. Less so than having two Professor Styx's in the school, he supposed. He definitely wouldn't have followed either of them into the forest, but Cullen had been a "cool" professor so far, and he had to imagine she'd be fine with him wandering into the forest after her. If not, he was already busy formulating a handful of excuses.​

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was coming to the end of her time at the school. again. It was making her think of what would haoen after schistmas. She was looking forward to getting back to her proper job. as weird that it was. it wasn't that she missed the paperwork. she had always hated paperwork. but she missed the bussle of the office and the spontenuity of what the day would bring would she spend the day chasing after an escaped krump or would it be a dragon that needs to be covered up.or would it just be a pile of paperwork. it wasn't that she disliked teaching. she enjoyed introducing the different animals to the students. but she didn't ave the passion for it like some of the professors did. some of them, had been her teachers and she would tell they loved teaching. she didn't
Butthere would be some things at the school that she would miss. most notably aspen. She hadn't seen her sister for twenty years before takin the post. and now with limited time left she was spending any free time that she could with her, and she knew aspen enjoyed the company. right now she had a few hours free. she had finished teaching for the day and there was a few hours left before she needed to pick Ivy up from daycare. she slipped into the shadow of the trees their cool shade making her relax.
It didnt take her long to find her sister. they had organised the meeting up last time she had been here but what she was. She had just reached the clearing where she and aspen were going to meet up when she heard a rissle behind She looked to checkit it was the imminent arrival of aslen or someone else. she was a little suprksed to see a student. "Lysander. what brings you out here?" she asked. greatful that she knew who it was and twice with that she taught him. and he was a friend of lin's.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander had explored the forbidden forest, both during classes and in his own time, but he was sure he'd never come this particular way before. His watch snagged on a shrub, and he had to stop to disentangle it, before quickly jogging onward to try and catch up with the professor. So far he'd been walking at an intentionally slow pace, wanting to get as far in as he could get away with, but he didn't want to lose track of where he was going. He came upon a clearing he didn't recognise - which wasn't saying much, as most of the forest looked very much the same - and realised he'd caught up with the professor. "Hi." He started, holding his hand above his brows to peer around the clearing in the hopes of spotting a rare magical creature that Briar had been coming in to care for. Disappointed at how empty it was, he'd almost completely forgotten she'd asked him a question, and continued after a beat, lowering his hand back down. "Oh, yeah, well. I wanted to ask you about a magical creature, actually. Is that why you're here? For magical creatures?" He asked. They'd had a lesson on thestrals, which were creatures he hadn't been able to see, so he wondered if perhaps the clearing wasn't so empty after all.​

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar sat down on a fallen log as the boy entered the clearing.she started poking at it, absentmindedly extracting collecting woodlice from under the bark. she knew some creatures who would love to eat them and that included lin's new rescuee. it wasn't what she came intothe forest to do. or even what she was focusing on but it was a fidget action and compared to most other fidgets it was somewhat productive.
she was not surprised that Lysander wanted to ask her something about a creature. he, she knew, had a collection of pets that rivalled her son's and she had heard all about them from hopsprocket the frog and Rembrandt the rat. "what do you want to know about creatures" she asked. curious as to what he wanted to know. wondering which creature was missing from the curriculum. or maybe more accurately which creature needed to be added to the curriculum as it would be near impossible to cover all. in just a few short years of classes. and then she realised that she would not add any creatures to her classes as she wouldn't have many more classes left and the ones that were left were rather full. "Yes and no" she answered to his question about if she was in for a creature "remember my sister aspen who accompanied us In the thestral lesson. I was trying to make the most of the time I can see her before i leave the school again" she said. telling things as they were. she had her secrets more than most people. but from them, she knew that lies for the sake of lies were pointless. which is why she was open with what she was and why she didn't skirt around things with her kids just like how she had never been protected from life as a kid.