Lesson 1: 3rd, 4th, 5th Years

An owl had gone out telling Selwyn's biggest class to bring their pets with them today. They were going to be learning about how to care for their own magical creatures.

Okay, so one would hope that by third year, these kids would be able to care for their own pets. And certainly by fifth year. But Selwyn liked to make his classes easy. The easier it was for the students, the more quickly he could get rid of them now. And the faster he could get through his marking later.

"Before you all sit down," he said, as the first few students began to join him in the paddock, "I'm going to be running the class a bit differently today."

"I told you all to bring your pets down with you, so please organise yourselves into groups according to what kind of creature you have. Owls over there -" he pointed to one corner of the enclosure - "cats over there, toads over there, and miscellaneous things over here."

Casey had almost refused to instruction to bring her pet. Edgar was over four years old now and, even though she was certain he had been charmed to live longer, the little mouse was not wearing his age so well these days. He was thinning out, he was much jumpier, and she could see the beginnings of cataracts forming. Ilvermorny had almost killed him, honestly, and she wouldn't doubt that he probably could have lived to six or seven with the charm if it wasn't for that horrendous time.

However, she supposed she might be able to find some methods to make his life more comfortable. So she dropped Edgar into her robe pocket where he instinctively curled into a ball, and headed off for class.

She wasn't pleased with Thorfinn's tone regarding her group, and she couldn't help the small scowl that wrinkled her nose as she followed the professor's instructions, wondering if she would be alone in her corner of the enclosure.