Declan Ó Móráin was enjoying his time at Hogwarts. Being a professor had its perks, but it also had its disadvantages. He'd been reading about common pests, and decided it might be interesting to do a class which was directly relevant to his students. They were outside all the time, especially around the lake. There were more beasties out there than the ones everyone knew about. It wasn't all mermaids, redcaps, and banshees. There were reptiles, amphibians, and bugs. Bugs were especially important to note out of those.

There were bugs that were found around bodies of water. Little beetle type bugs, who were very useful for potions, but could be very poisonous. The bugs couldn't bite, but if you accidentally swallowed one while in the water or they found their way into any orifice of your body, you could get seriously ill and die. Declan had decided to catch a few of them, and do a class about the dangers of creepy crawlies that were found in your every day life.

Sometimes his small stature could be a disadvantage. As he crawled through the weeds around the edge of the lake, this was one of those times. Anyone just passing by probably wouldn't see him there, and anyone who didn't have him in class would just assume he was some weird kid playing in the grass. Declan had a jar tucked away in his robes, and had his wand in hand as he slithered through the grass. The point was to stun the bugs, and then collect them in the jar. If he saw any other bugs that would be useful, he'd snatch those up as well. Perhaps he could even have a side project of potions in class, making some sort of useful potion out of the bugs that he caught. Assuming he could catch enough.

Declan had been hanging out in the weeds next to the lake for half an hour now, and hadn't found one of the bugs he was looking for. He scooted foward on the ground, grinning when he finally spotted one. "Ha!" he whispered to himself, prodding it quickly with his wand. It grew still, and he scooped it up into the jar. Then crawled up, kneeling on the ground, holding the jar up to the sun and inspecting the creature inside, making sure he had, indeed, captured the right thing. "You're an elusive little bugger," he said to the jar. "I wonder how many of you are creeping around through the grass? Hopefully a few more. I need you for class, after all."

Dahlia sat under one of the large trees that were scattered around the shore of the large lake on the school grounds. She found the area to be very relaxing and used it more than she did the library. Although to someone like Dahlia who treasured books over almost everything else the library was a place of wonderment but it was usually packed full with students trying to cram for an upcoming test or rush through a parchment they had forgotten to do until it was almost due. She preferred to be alone when she had to do her work, the Hufflepuff common room wasn't any better and so the lake had become her location of choice.

Although it was nearing the end of November and winter was lurking around the corner Dahlia wasn't cold. She had stopped wearing a skirt to class since the uniform slacks just made much more sense to her and was currently wrapped up in a large travelling cloak. However this was only good to keep her warm for the first little while and so Dahlia, using a technique she had learned was used by the famous Hermione Granger, was warmed by a jar of blue bonnet bell flames. The jar sat in front of her, nestled between her feet while her propped up knees held the homework she was currently working on.

Dahlia couldn't help but look up when someone not too far from her had cried out in triumph. She hadn't noticed that anyone was nearby. Then again she had been rather absorbed by her homework and so she figured whoever he was could have easily snuck into the tall grass having gone right past her and she wouldn't have noticed.

Her curiosity getting the best of her Dahlia put down her work and got to her feet carrying the jar of blue flames with her. She stood just at the edge of the lake looking at the man that was examining a bug in a jar. She had no idea who he was and due to his young features and small statue she had just assumed he was a seventh year student, "Whacha doing?"

Declan looked up as he heard a voice, blinking at the little girl. Young children always perplexed him. It wasn't, he supposed, wise to be teaching when he didn't quite understand kids. Then again, he dealt with kids who were old enough to be... little people, not babies. Probably best. Declan had a feeling his strict demeanor in class would likely make first years cry. He didn't like it when kids cried. He didn't know how to handle it.

"I am looking for specific types of magical insects and arachnids," he told her. Declan showed her the specimen jar, where the bug was trying desperately to scale the slick walls and escape. "This is a very dangerous guy. He lives around water. In the warmer months, they will mate in the lake. And if this guy gets accidentally swallowed, or gets into your body some how while you're swimming, it can kill you." The professor didn't stop to think about how being so blunt with such a young child could result in her going into hysterics. He generally didn't stop to sugar coat anything.

After showing the girl the bug, he tucked it away in his robes and pulled out another jar. "There are some others I'm searching for as well. I tend to do a class on the awareness of common pests here at Hogwarts. People seem to forget there are more creatures in this world than big, bad beasties."

With that, Declan repositioned himself on his stomach, carefully pawing through the grass and digging up little insect holes he found. "What's your name?" asked, not wanting to refer to the young girl as 'hey you' or 'kid' or anything like that. It was disrespectful, and wouldn't make him look like a responsible, caring professor. He had to be very careful with how he played this job. It was one he could not afford to lose. Since he had basically been shut out of the potions industry, the only other thing he knew was creatures. Declan knew his sister wouldn't hire him, and any of her competitors would be too afraid of how she might ruin them if they hired him. This had been the only option apart from embarassing clerk work.

Unlike other girls her age Dahlia was fascinated and even stepped closer to the Professor to try and get a better look at the bug he had captured. Her thirst for knowledge made her want to know exactly what it was about the bug that made it so dangerous. She made a mental note to ask him what the name of the bug was so she could look it up in the library later on. Perhaps the bug secreted some kind of mucus that was deadly to humans. She was dying to find out but held her tongue. He seemed to have more to stay and she was willing to wait to ask her questions.

So he was a Professor. He was definitely young looking and obviously taught one of the electives available to the older students otherwise she would have known who he was and what he taught right away. Dahlia looked back to the edges of the lake and let a small smirk cross her lips, "Remind me not to go swimming here." She chuckled softly and tilted her head to the side while he got down on his stomach.

Dahlia got down on her knees and looked into the grass where he was currently combing, "What else are you looking for? Perhaps I can help?" She started to run her fingers through the grass as well hoping to come across some cool looking bug she could catch for him, "My name's Dahlia Collins, sir. I'm a Hufflepuff." She wasn't sure why she added the last part considering she was still wearing her black and yellow scarf tightly around her neck, she supposed she was just so proud of the fact that she felt she needed to share it.

"You can swim, you just have to be aware of the dangers. It's not a very common occurrence, but if you start to feel ill after swimming it is something to look into." He peeked up from the grass when she asked if she could help, arching a brow. A little girl crawling around on the ground hunting bugs wasn't exactly... Well, it wasn't exactly proper. At least, not according to his own upbringing. But Declan was well aware those who weren't purebloods were much less strict on their children.

"Well, Miss Collins," he began, finding another small container and handing it to her, "if you would like to help, I won't turn it down." Declan figured that was the appropriate way to handle it. As a professor, he needed to be a good role model and forge good relationships with students, even if they weren't his. No matter how much his gut told him that it was just wrong to invite a little girl to dig through the dirt looking for insects. "What I'm looking for is another of these, though they might be a bit dangerous for you to try and capture."

"There's also a beetle I would like to find. It's a dark shade of red, and has blue and green markings on it, more like splotches, not necessarily polka dots. They can be useful in certain types of potions." Hopefully she would be able to find the beetle he was talking about, and not the one that could be deadly if ingested. "How are you liking Hogwarts, Miss Collins?"

Dahlia was more than happy to help and so she eagerly took the empty jar, placed her own jar filled with blue flames on the ground and got down on her knees to sift through the tall grass. Ever hungry for knowledge Dahlia saw the older man as a bottomless vase of information. He was older than her which meant he knew more and he was a Professor which meant he knew more than the average man his age. If she could, she'd pick his brain for hours just trying to learn everything he knew. For now she'd settle for finding bugs for him.

As she carefully pushed aside the grass she did her best to catch a glimpse of red spotted with green and blue. She had no idea what the beetle did and was amusing herself with trying to think of all the things it could be useful for when it came to potions. Potions was one of her favourite classes, she supposed if she had been a regular muggle like her mother she would have enjoyed chemistry as well since it was essentially the same sort of subject.

As he inquired about her liking of the school Dahlia opened her mouth and the words began to spill non stop, when she was busy with a project she was sometimes unaware of how much she talked, "It's definitely different. I'm actually really enjoying my classes, there's just so much to learn. Personally I can't wait till my third year when I can start taking elective courses although to be honest I'd probably end up taking every class I can get my hands on. Drives my brother crazy, he hates classwork, wishes every class could be like flying practice. He's a big Quidditch nut."

"I'm also just enjoying how much different this place is from home. You see my Daddy works for the Ministry, he's an ambassador working with the Department of International Magical Cooperation. We're actually from Canada although when you get down to it my Daddy's an Irish pureblood, I wouldn't be surprised if we've got a bunch of distant cousins here at Hogwarts. My sister had a harder time adjusting than I did. She was packed and ready to go to school back home when we moved and a week later she was shipped off to Hogwarts."

"She likes it now though. She's a third year, you probably teach her, something I feel sorry for you for. She's a horrible student, incredibly bright just totally unfocused. More interested in boys than getting an O on her assignments. I'm never going to be like that."

She snatched a beetle and quickly shoved it in the empty jar, "Is this it?"

Declan watched as the young girl diligently pushed through the grass, looking for the beetle he had described to her. He had assumed, because she was a Hufflepuff, that she would give up before locating the bug, or lose interest. In his experience, Hufflepuffs had a very short attention span and were far more likely to talk about doing something than to actually do it.

She seemed to open right up with details about her family. "Well, you will be much better off taking more classes than fewer. It will broaden your knowledge. Besides, there is very little future with quidditch. The chances of going pro are not exactly good for most people. If you work hard now, and keep it up, then it will make things better for you later on in school years. Developing good habits now will be the best way to ensure success later on."

He trailed off as he focused once again on looking for the insects. He listened, albeit somewhat indifferently as she talked about her father working for international magical cooperation. From Canada? She must be related to the girl in his class who had mentioned the ice gnomes. It must be difficult, to be moved around in the middle of the school year. Declan remembered being sent to live with his aunt and how hard that had been, and couldn't imagine changing schools all together.

Declan couldn't control the chuckle as she said she pitied him for teaching her. It was a shame he couldn't bad mouth his students to other students. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, and perhaps I will assign seats so that she does not get distracted by any of the boys in class." Wouldn't that ruin all of their fun, if he assigned seats? They would likely pay better attention, at the very least.

He took the jar from her, smiling. "Yes, that is exactly it." He tucked the jar away, and handed her another one. "If you can find another, I would appreciate it.. This beetle, the one you found me, is used for calming potions. It secretes a nerve affecting liquid when ground up."

Dahlia didn't bother wasting her breath in agreeing with him. If anyone needed to hear that kind of stuff it was Erik not her. She was a hard working diligent student, she always had been and she definitely planned on doing the best she could and getting everything she could out of school while she was there. She didn't really have an idea just yet about what she was going to do as an adult, she supposed it was too early to make a decision anyways. From what she had been told by her Ministry tutor it wasn't until her fifth year when she sat her OWLs that she'd have a good idea of what kind of career she was suited for. Until then she planned on just getting her work done as efficiently and properly as possible.

She chuckled softly sure that there were a few things about Ayla that he wasn't saying. She had already experienced it with her other Professor's. When she first started she had gotten a sort of response from her teachers as if to say 'Oh no not another Collins girl'. Unfortunately Ayla's lack of scholastic enthusiasm had hurt Dahlia in the beginning but she was quickly making it clear that even though she may look like her big sister, she was nothing like her.

"Ayla won't like that." She said simply. She knew how much of a social butterfly her sister was. If she was stuck with someone she didn't like, like one of the Dark sisters or even that odd Cross girl, Ayla would have a hell of a time trying to get through her classes.

She was beaming with pride when he confirmed that she had brought him the proper beetle. She eagerly took the second jar from him more than willing to capture another creepy crawly for him. Dahlia was too intrigued by the potion he spoke of to care about how gross the bug might be. She went back to sifting through the tall grass making a note to ask Professor Gunner if he knew what potion used this particular beetle. Perhaps she could get him to point it out in a text or better yet maybe she could do an extra credit project for him, learning how to brew the potion in her spare time.

"Are you good at making Potions Professor?"

Declan grinned at the little girl. "I have a feeling, Miss Collins, that your sister is not the only one who is going to dislike it. But I think it would cut down on the chatter, to seat people the way I want. And if the make friends, I'll change the seating chart." He might change the seating chart anyway. He already had a plan. Put the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors up front, so he could keep an eye on them, and let the Ravenclaws and Slytherins sit near the back. They were trust worthy.

When she asked if he was good at potions, Declan paused, knowing he had to choose his response very carefully. Children that age were inquisitive, and there were some questions that he was not going to answer. "I am. My true passion is potions. I pursued it when I originally graduated Hogwarts." Then he had gotten his potion master's daughter pregnant and been ousted from the potions community. Not that everyone knew that was the reason.

"I worked for a potions research company for a while, but I decided that it wasn't something that I enjoyed as a job. There are some things, Miss Collins, which are not as enjoyable after they become your career. It is good, to do something that you love as a job, but some things are just better as hobbies..."

"I grew up on a magical creature farm, so magical creatures are something that I have always known and worked with. They also overlap with potions, so it works well to keep involved in two spheres of knowledge that interest me most." Honest? Not exactly. He wasn't particularly interested in magical creatures, it was just something that he knew. It was his life. It had been since he was a baby. "Herbology is also a big part of it. I guess, basically, it's anything but wand work for me."

Dahlia continued to sift through the glass and nodded to the older man. It made sense, at least to her. She could understand that doing something you loved as a job was always good, it made you a happier person but there were somethings that once they became careers just became less enjoyable. She knew her uncle had that problem. He was a squib and so he worked a muggle job, he had always been good at cooking but once he got into the industry he found that after ten years it just wasn't enjoyable anymore. She had a feeling the same thing was going to happen to Erik if he ever did get a job in professional Quidditch.

"Makes sense." She said simply in response. She wasn't one to question an adult anyways. If there was something he wasn't telling her then he had every right to do so. After all she was just an eleven year old girl whom he had just met. She wouldn't expect him to give her all the answers to his personal life. She wouldn't expect anyone to do so, then again that was just Dahlia. She had a deep respect for people's personal lives, unlike her big sister who felt it was her duty to find out every like nook and cranny in people's lives.

She looked up from the grass, "There are magical farms?" The prospect had never occurred to her before. She had been to plenty of farms and zoos growing up but they had all been run by muggles. She never expected the magical community to have the same sort of thing. It made her wonder what kind of tasks were easier once you used magic to perform them, "What kind of animals are on a magic farm?" She doubted that they raised cows and horses and chicken and pigs like muggles did.

Declan was surprised at her level of interest in a magical farm, until he remembersed she was eleven. Eleven year old girls all loved unicorns and fluffy, cute, majestic animals and had fits over them. "All kinds of animals, really," he answered. "We raised a little bit of everything. We had herds of unicorns and hippogriffs. I liked the hippogriffs. My dad used to let me ride them when I was younger. He'd tether them, of course, so they didn't take off too far." He grinned remembering it. It was one of his favorite moments.

"All kinds of animals used for potions or wand wores. For a while we had some dragons. Dad got a special license to breed them." An outright lie, but when Declan was a child he thought that it was truth. "Baby dragons are incredible little creatures." He felt the urge to tell her about his first magical experience- as a toddler, he had wandered into a dragon nest. When his father had tried to rescue him, the dragon had nearly stomped him to death- and somehow he had found himself no longer in the nest but in his dad's arms without his father getting to him. A great story about a first magical experience. But not something you shared with a student in a sentimental way.

"Basically they were bred and harvested for potions ingredients." That was the nice way to put it. Some creatures died natural deaths, most did not, but it was important to have those ingredients. The unicorns weren't killed- that was a horribly curse to put on anyone. "Kind of like a farm in the muggle world that grows animals for food... Whatever wasn't used in ingredients- hippogriff feathers, hides, things of that nature were sold to be used to manufacture clothing or used for other types of goods. We rarely wasted anything." So lucrative, that business, and no one ever realized it.

He tucked a few more jars into his robes and stood up, stretching carefully. "I think I've found more than enough specimens for now. I most certainly appreciate your help in capturing a few. I think that five points for Hufflepuff are in order for your help today." He hated to say it. Hated to give courtesy points to Hufflepuff, but she had been helpful and nice, and some part of him felt like he should do it.

[Outfit]

The library had been so boring this time of day. Serenity Lee couldn't read with all the noise the fourth years were making, so she had jumped up from her table to check out a couple of books and left. They had been assigned an essay in History of Magic, but instead of actually focusing hers on the subject of goblin rebellions, as usual the 11-year-old had taken an interest to a different aspect: daily life for wizards during goblin rebellions. Researching the subject had only brought her to two books that she now carried in the poor excuse for a messenger bag that had once been Alex's.

Her dress was itchy, too, but she thought it suited her. It wasn't glamorous or attention-grabbing and it certainly wasn't fashionable. It was dull and tacky, probably the impression she gave off anyway. Her feet were freezing in her boots, though. They had holes in them and all she had on under the dress were thin, Ravenclaw-blue stockings to cover her feet. She had to make her search outside for Dahlia quick lest she catch frost-bite.

Serenity Lee knew just where to look: the lake. Dahlia always came here when the library was crowded and were it not so cold, Serenity Lee would prefer it here, too. The Ravenclaw, as curious as she was, didn't take a lot of detailed notes. She couldn't write that fast and her mind wandered off at vital points of the professor's lecture. Every once in a while, she'd get an answer in near the beginning of class when her attention was directed to the teacher, but it would slowly pan off to a more interesting perspective of the subject. That was why she needed to borrow Dahlia's notes: she scribbled everything down and if Serenity Lee was going to cross-reference her research with the goblin rebellions, she needed to rent thorough information from her best friend.

"Dahlia! Dahliiaaa!"

It came as a surprise to Serenity Lee when she saw someone much larger digging around for something and carrying on a conversation with Dahlia. When the man stood up, the first year immediately bowed her head to cover her face up with her curtain of dark brown hair so he couldn't see her face. She didn't know this teacher's name, but he held himself with enough self-respect for her to comprehend that he was important.

"G-good afternoon, professor," she said strongly. "I don't meant to interrupt."

Serenity Lee held her head up and stood in a position that gave off the impression that while she was timid and insecure, she wasn't meek. The evidence could be seen from the small bruise left over from when she had taken Mai's punch straight to the face at the Halloween Ball.

Dahlia nodded, "I've always wanted to ride a Hippogriff." Well perhaps not always but at least for the last three years. Dahlia was fascinated by the creatures, she supposed it had to do with how foreign they were to her. It was like being fascinated with Zebra's and Giraffes. Hippogriffs weren't native to Canada and so when she had found out about them during her early wizard world tutoring she was instantly hooked.

"That's very commendable of your family." She knew she probably sounded like a pratt, like she was speaking beyond her years but it was the truth. Too often were animals wasted. Throughout history mankind had been harvesting animals for their own needs but it seemed only within the last hundred years or so that they had gotten sloppy and greedy slaughtering animals both normal and magical for the littlest of things. She found it very responsible of the Professor's family to ensure as much of the animals were used as possible.

She blushed lightly when he awarded her points. She was actually used to getting points from Professors but she had never received them outside of the classroom, "It was a pleasure to help sir." It really had been a pleasure for her. She had learned a fair amount in the small bit of time they had spent together and she hoped that in return he had learned that she was nothing like her big sister.

Dahlia handed back the empty jar somewhat disappointed that she wasn't able to fill it up again for him but was soon distracted from the disappointing thought by someone calling her name. She soon recognized it to be one of her best friend's Serenity Lee. Dahlia looked from her friend to the Professor, "I believe we were just finishing up anyway Ser." She turned to her friend handing over her jaw of blue bonnet belle flames to help warm her friend up, "What do you need?"

Declan arched an eyebrow when another first year approached, glad that the young Miss Collins had explained to her friend that they were mostly finished with the impromptu lesson. "Good afternoon," he greeted her, nodding in agreement. "And yes, Miss Collins is correct- I was about to head to my office and work on some lesson plans."

"However, do not let my departure dissuade you from socializing with your friend. I was just teaching her a little about magical bugs..." He gave both of them an apologetic smile (albeit a very false looking one). "Perhaps you two can have your own little bug safari. Just be careful not to get bitten, stung, or to eat any." They were children, children ate bugs sometimes, right?

With that, he gave a dismissive nod of his head and then started back toward the castle. One first year was tolerable, two might not be. And although he did have a soft spot for Ravenclaws, ones that associated with Hufflepuffs were ones to be wary of. 


((feel free to carry on without Declan))

Aaannndd there went the Professor. What a shame because she'd like to know more about him. He seemed interesting. Interesting... Oh! Yeah! The essay! Animatedly, Serenity Lee turned around and smiled at Dahlia.

"I was in the library looking for a book. Mind, we're supposed to be doing our research over goblin rebellions, but I thought it would be better if I wrote it over the daily lives of witches and wizards who had to go through the Goblin rebellions! If you think about it, it really is a lot more interesting because at that point, goblins really were important! Didn't they do their banking back then, too? Just imagine, Dahl: the employment rate had to go up because witches and wizards could get jobs as bankers and what if they were horrible at it? I found a couple of books, see?"

She excitedly held up the only two books that she found on the subject. After giving their covers a swift look-over herself, Serenity Lee redirected her attention on her best friend. Her gaze dropped to the jar for a second before looking back up at Dahlia's face.

"Would you mind if I borrowed your notes? You write a lot faster than I do and I didn't get a load of notes to use for my essay. Please, Dahlia? I promise I'll get you a..umm..." Her friend didn't like sweets. "I'll make it up to you somehow. Pleeeaasse?"