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Declan had thought long and hard about what to do for the first class back from the Winter break. He had decided to torture them with a pop quiz, which most had done better on than he had expected. It had been important to him to keep up the reputation of being a firm teacher. (Just hopefully not as strict and obnoxious as he had heard students claim Professor Storm to be.) And, as a "reward" for their valiant efforts on their first pop quiz of the last half of the year, Declan had decided to plan something fun for his classes.

Since there were so few third years, he had decided to pair them up with the fifth years, changing their class times to take place during their study break. It would mean a shorter class and a longer break for the students. The fifth years would be especially grateful, it was going to extend their actual lunch period substantially.

There was a large box in front of Declan, containing heavy parkas, fur lined boots, and thick gloves. The owl he had sent to each of his students instructed them to meet him on the grounds and to dress warmly. Hopefully they would not be disappointed.

"I need everyone to take one of each and layer up, our class today is going to be fun but hard. You'll need to pair off with someone! No more than two to a group unless we've got odd numbers! Quickly everyone!" he called out.

"Line up with your partner after you've paired off, and let me know who you're working with. Then I'll give you all instructions about todays task." Declan hoped that his "yeti" was ready for the next hour. After mid-terms a few students had come forward asking for extra credit opportunities to bring up their grades, and he had eventually come up with a few ideas for the ones he thought were serious. (Translation: he gave the harder, more humiliating tasks to those who weren't Slytherins.)

The pop quiz had been tough and Sasha was skeptical about how well he'd managed to do.  With a full list of thirteen classes to catch up on five weeks of missed lectures and prepare for missed midterms, Sasha had had to pick and choose which to tackle first and which would have to wait. 

Normally, Sasha was quite capable of hunkering down to long, intensive study sessions but, so far this term, that skill was proving frustratingly illusive.  His focus was still nowhere near where it once was; his mind kept drifting off or completely shutting down at regular intervals.  Though one of his favorite classes, Care of Magical Creatures had been deemed one of the less important and it had had to wait.  And, it had shown when he sat, staring at the quiz.

Luckily, it appeared they were on to new material with this class.  His grades had been pretty solid during the last term, at least up until the suspension; he could recover from that quiz easily enough if he managed to focus from here on out. If he could just keep his focus.

Pulling a jacket from the box and a pair of boots and gloves, Sasha set to tugging them on.  Now came the hard part: finding a partner. 

Sasha scanned the group, looking for a potential partner that satisfied several criteria: they were talking to him (unlike Neely), he was comfortable talking to them (unlike Figaro) and they didn't have a serious grudge to hold because of unfortunate DADA classes (unlike Callum).  Finally, spotting a potential candidate in the group, Sasha approached them.  "Do you need a partner?"

The only plus to the sadistic and humiliating extra credit assignment was that Lou got to stay warm in the biting January winds. Really warm. Donning last Halloween’s lion costume, with a few furry modifications and a whole lot of white dye nicked from George’s suspiciously massive supply of body paints and other such physique-vandalizing tools, Emily Louise Carter sat in a tree, waiting like the prey she was.

Only, this game of hide-and-seek made her feel a little more like a predator. She kicked her legs back and forth, wondering what Edmund would say if the professor had decided to let her own year chase after the yeti-fied young Carter. Despite being an athlete, Lou knew the wintry boots would make it a bit more challenging to get a good run in. How fast could giant gorillas run, anyway? Certainly not as fast as sugar-fueled children with the incentives of raising their temperatures in the middle of the icy Scottish terrain... and earning much better semester marks than Lou was going to, with or without the professor’s ‘sympathetic’ offer of extra credit.

As she watched from her perch, Lou mentally checked off each student who floated toward the little Care of Magical Creatures clearing. The ones in heels and skirts and not nearly enough clothing for the new year forecasts she immediately wrote off. Then there were the awkward, unbalanced ones. But there were a few surprising underdogs, particularly one Ravenclaw seeker whom she knew, despite being tall, gangly, and somewhat socially inept, would be one to watch out for as she darted round the grounds. Lou was biased toward the abilities of her fellow Quidditch players, naturally. (Even those who weren't on her team, though they needn't know it, least of all Edmund.) He also had a knack for magic to his name, that Sasha Schlagenweit. She narrowed her eyes. "Come at me," she murmured, as if he could hear her, let alone see her from far above the grounds and in the snow-covered branches.

Outdoor classes were top drawer in the nicer months, but why this rash of January out-of-castle excursions? Figaro pulled his knit winter hat down harder over his ears and shoved his fingers into his arm pits as he waited his turn to grab the winter garb.  He made a point of not making any eye contact with the intimidating Professor Ó Móráin, who seemed to take points from Figaro for breathing.  But at least he hadn't failed last term! He'd squeaked by with an Acceptable so had a little bit of leeway with that nasty pop quiz last time.  Eegh. He hadn't been ready for that one.   He recalled that he'd answered flobberworm more than a couple times, and dirt once (which was probably once too many).  Oh well.

He happily donned the heavier winter garb, and looked around for a partner.   "Oi, Sasha - work with me, mate?" he asked, oblivious to Sasha's avoidance and straight up asking someone else.

Erin was generally extremely hot-natured, but by the time he'd trudged all the way down to the edge of the forest he was almost glad to see the parkas. Bloody ridiculous things, but the Scottish wind was wicked sharp this time of year. Despite the freezing weather he'd still eyed it skeptically before shrugging it on. Likewise, the boots had made him wonder what he was supposed to do with his own shoes.

Razzy had also apparently decided to skip this class, which left Erin at a distinct disadvantage when it came to partnering up; bizarre kissing or not, Razzy was still more bearable than most of his classmates, and liked him better than most of Hogwarts did. So after he'd grabbed his gear, Erin hung back, casting a critical eye over the remaining selection and waiting to see someone he could stand.

Callum hated having class with Imogen. She had told her dad on him, and regardless of what he had told her, he was now whistling a different tune. His father had sent him a howler- and the word "disinherited" had been a part of the yelling, so Callum had decided to make the best of the situation by being nice to the little wretch.

He lined up in front of the table, pulling on his own parka before finding one of the nicer, smaller ones and taking it over to Imogen. "These looked like they would fit you the best," he told her. "I suppose you and I are going to be partners, hm?" he asked. It would make her happy if he was her partner, and Callum thought that perhaps if he was nice to her for a little while, he might be able to get away with being mean now and again. Unless she tattled on him every time he did it.

"Wonder what O Morain has planned for us today," he commented to his "girlfriend". "It's bloody cold for a class outside."

To a young man that was used to spending his winter holidays out and about in the Bavarian Alps, being outdoors in January was cold but not miserable.  He tugged on the thick jacket, trying not to think too much on who'd last worn it and how thoroughly it had been clean.  He was just in the process of pulling the gloves on his hands when Figaro pipped up with his name. 

"I-" he started, glancing around trying to desperately will someone else to cut in. If he could just justify that someone else had asked him first (even if that other person being first was a bit of a lie), it would be much less awkward to say 'no.'  But, Erin wasn't the best source of rescue and ... well ... let's face it, Figaro could have framed Sasha for cheating, stealing and drowning three seventh years and Sasha would have still preferred working with him over Knight. 

"Sure," he agreed, finally.  Sufficiently bundled up with coat, gloves and a cap that was probably charging his hair with enough static electricity to light a forty-watt lightbulb, he moved towards Professor Ó Morain.  "I'm working with Sellaphix, sir," he announced.  The upside to this arrangement was Figaro was more likely than many other students to just let Sasha do the work.  There were few things worse than falling on the blade of another student's incorrect or insufficient work.

Having Care of Magical Creatures outside was not a horrible experience as long as you dressed for the weather. Peyton was well bundled up as he met up with the class and was slightly surprised to see that the normally off putting Professor had provided cold weather provisions for any of the students that hadn't thought to provide for themselves. He knew that they were having class with with the third years today but even they didn't seem to be that stupid. Was O Morain trying to be nice, or insulting?

Deciding not to incite the Professor's wrath (although the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors seemed much better suited at doing so) Peyton grabbed what was provided for him and searched the class for a partner. He spotted his brother and while he was still perturbed by Xavier's lack in retaliation to him he was still waiting for that sneak attack, convinced that Xavier wasn't going to let four years of rivalry go out the window. So Peyton found himself looking for a partner that would cause him the least amount of trouble, or rather someone that Xavier would stay away from.

He'd have to stay away from his normal partners like Allie and Sasha, he didn't think he could even get away with partnering up with someone like Sophie and while he had had a great time with her the last time they were together, working with Bella was practically a death sentence. Finally his cool grey blue eyes focused in on a petite figure that seemed to be as unphased by the weather as he was. He quickly linked his arm with the significantly shorter girl and swiftly whisked her to the front of the class, "Professor, I've got Collins."

Two weeks in and Xavier was still as disinterested in school as he had been when he first stepped off the Hogwarts Express. At least his marks hadn't suffered from his lack of interest. If anything Xavier was actually able to get his work done faster only because he wanted to get it done and over with so he could focus on other things, not that he really knew what those other things were but anything was better than slaving over his homework all day.

Bundled up enough against the cold winds Xavier had been rather prepared. Aside from living at Hogwarts Xavier had spent most of the last eight years living in Scotland so it was safe to say he was used to the weather the country had to offer him. However that didn't stop him from taking the extra jacket and boots provided for them.

The matter of partners was a little more difficult to go along with though. Callum seemed to have gained a groupie over the holidays and he had a feeling Bella was still mad at him for ignoring her the first week of school. He knew he still had feelings for her but he just didn't want to be around her, or anyone for that matter when he had first arrived back at school.

He looked around at those that had gathered for class. Not a single one of them seemed to be all that appealing as a partner. Xavier crossed his arms over his chest waiting for someone to come to him or to be left without a partner like the last time. His bandaged hands were covered with thick woolen gloves. He cut a glare to his brother, the first time he really acknowledged him since coming back to school, as the giant of a Ravenclaw snatched up the smallest hufflepuff in class. If he didn't know any better he'd think Peyton had grabbed Ayla just to get under his skin.

Ayla hadn't always hated winter. As a kid she was just like any other kid, delighting in jumping into her snow suit and making forts during recess and after school. She could even remember times when there had been piles upon piles of snow on her birthday causing all the festivities to be played inside their home. As a teenager winter had lost it's magic and had just become a miserable cold time where she'd rather be sitting by a fire sipping hot chocolate and appreciating the snow from a safe and warm distance. She was happy that since coming overseas winters weren't as bitter as they were back home, especially at Hogwarts. The average of 5 - 7°C was actually bearable especially when she was used to winter being anywhere between -1 and -10 °C and that was before the windchill was factored in. It was safe to say that Ayla wasn't really affected by what was considered cold in Scotland winter.

Her newly lengthened Raven hair was resting over her shoulders in wavy curls from under a knit cap. She was bundled up with a scarf, gloves and boots and decided to forgo the heavy parkas and clunky boots O Morain provided. She was warm enough as it was and her own outfit was a lot easier to move around in than the bulky things the Professor had laid out, especially since none of the parkas looked like they were small enough to fit her right.

With the announcement of partners Ayla's eyes automatically began to search the gaggle of students for a particular Ravenclaw. It was had become almost second nature for her to partner up with Blake. Unfortunately before she could spot her best friend - and love of her life - someone had linked arms with her and was dragging her to the front of the class.

"Professor, I've got Collins." Ayla looked up at the source of the voice that she hadn't initially recognized. She knew of Peyton but she didn't actually know him. He was a good quidditch player and she was looking forward to playing against him sometime this year but other than that she knew nothing about him and had no idea why he had suddenly decided to make her his partner, "Flattered but next time you might want to ask me."

Even though Care of Magical Creatures was a much easier class for him and less stressful, Chris didn't like it much that they had to meet up outside in the cold. Sure, he tried to dress warmly, but the cold air could still chill you, especially if you were outside for a long amount of time.

Upon arrival at the clearing site at the Forbidden Forest, Chris noticed the box with parkas to help them layer up. Taking the parka, boots, and gloves, he was able to eventually pull these extra layers over his outfit. While they did seem bulky, at least the gear would help make the class warmer in the long run.

With the announcement of partners, Chris looked around at the other students who were there. Since the third year class was combined with the fifth year class, it made the group look big. Of course, there were more fifth years around than third years, which meant it harder for him to find a partner that he actually knew. He spotted Ayla, but she looked to be taken by a fifth year already. So, he continued to look around for someone to partner off with.

"Everyone partnered up? Okay, good." Declan watched as they finished pulling on heavier winter garb. "Now we don't have a lot of time today, so I'll just spare the question and answer session and launch straight into lecture!"

"Many countries in the world are infested with Yetis. America, Canada, and most notably, Tibet. Tibet has so many muggles siting yetis that there has been a specific task force set into place to help alter memories and prevent the sitings in general. This is because Tibet is most often in violation of Clause 73 of the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy because of these sitings... Fortunately, most muggles who come into true or close contact with these creatures become a nice meal."

He cleared his throat, eyeing a couple of students who were getting fidgety and starting to misbehave. "Yetis are closely related to the troll. Like a troll, yetis fear fire. They are incredibly dangerous to all humans. They will attempt to attack and eat any human, or any other creature for that matter, that they come into close contact with. For this reason, wizards know very little about yetis apart from what can be studied from afar."

"What does this have to do with class, you may be wondering. Well, wonder no longer. Today, you all will be yeti hunting. This will teach you valuable skills in avoiding creatures in the wild. It will also give good practice for wandwork."

"There are multiple spells to create fire. Third years, you will use flagrate, it will create a firey image in the air that will last for a while. Fifth years, each of you will take a torch and practice using incendio to create a fire to scare off the yeti. Please, do not actually set fire to the yeti- I do not have the time today for the paperwork that would be involved in the yeti death of a student. And I'm certain most of you do not want to die such a horrid death. Now, to extinguish flames, use exstinguo. Please, do not set the forest aflame..."

"If you happen to spot the yeti, use your wand to send out sparks and I will come and make sure it doesn't harm you. Yetis are difficult creatures to track and hunt down. The first three teams to locate a yeti will win a prize! And I'm not just talking about house points! I'll be wandering- keeping an eye on everyone and everything. If any of you disappear to the castle or decide to take this time to camp under a tree and chat- I will find out. And you will lose ten points each for such a display. I have heard of the insubordination running rampant among the fifth years," Declan eyed a few known troublemakers. "I won't stand for it either."

For the first time since returning to school Sophie wasn’t completely freezing. She’d worn her heavy boots and her parka to ensure whatever Professor Ó Móráin wanted them to do she’d be capable. She had know idea what was floating around the professors’ tea pots but everyone seemed rightly fed up with the student population - or at the very least the fifth years. She could understand it to a degree, everyone was so angst lately. Even Sophie herself wasn’t quite as high spirited lately. Of course that might be a glad thing for the entire teaching staff, she didn’t talk as much and her notes were extremely detailed. Apparently when Sophie was unhappy she studied her butt off.

Skimming the group she looked for the people she would usually snap up as a partner - neither Fergie nor Gabby had arrived yet. That left her with some limited options. She didn’t exactly feel like playing nurse maid with one of the third years, she took CoMC fairly seriously and Professor O didn’t seem to be in the mood to be jerked around. Sucking on her bottom lip she was losing hope quick when she spotted Erin. It wasn’t ideal but it would work. After all even if they didn’t catch a Yeti he was still pretty to look at for a couple hours, “I’ve got Harper”.

Trotting over to the boy she grabbed a torch and turned back toward the professor as he went on with his lecture. She really did not want to find a Yeti. With her luck she’d end up being lunch. Of course her gut told her they wouldn’t have one just running around loose so close to campus - but given the way the week had gone…well a person just never could tell. Glancing at Erin she shook her bangs from her eyes and tilted her head toward a clumping of trees, “You don’t let me get eaten and I’ll return the favor, yeah?”

“I’ve got Harper!”

Erin's eyebrows rose. Well, that'd worked better than he'd expected. He'd thought he'd be paired with some swaggering bloke from his own House, but instead Flickwick'd snagged him, and Erin would take a girl over Tawse or Knight any day. (Well, Tawse wasn't that bad, he supposed, and Knight could be fun sometimes, but right now Tawse was standing stoic all by himself, and Knight was hovering hilariously enough over some tiny slip of a girl. It'd worked out.)

Pity she was a Gryffindor, though. That automatically made Erin a bit suspicious. If he could've, he would've wanted to go in all by himself; the forest didn't scare him. But Ó Móráin probably would have assigned him to someone if he hadn't chosen, and he could do worse than Flickwick. He didn't know her too well, but he knew enough to be pleased not to have gotten the type of girl to squeal and cling the moment the bushes rattled.

He uncrossed his arms as she trotted over with their torch, attempting to paste a non-threateningly blank look onto his face as a show of good will (opposed to, you know, the usual scowl). "Try my best," he said innocently.

He kept the innocent tone and wide blue eyes for Ó Móráin's warning glare over the class. He certainly wouldn't try anything so rash as to try and take on the Yeti or vanish into the forest without his partner... Erin, do something insubordinate like that? Oh, no. Never.

Before Peyton could give her a response O Morain had launched into what their lesson for the day would be. Nothing existed for her except his words. All of her surroundings melted away as she thought back to a memory she'd rather leave untouched. A cold dark night one summer when her family had gone even further up north for a vacation as a magical ski resort. Much like muggle children were told stories of the bogeyman Ayla had grown up with stories of Yeti, the Wendigo and Loup Garou but most children never actually met the monsters from their nightmares.

All colour drained from her face as she shook her head. She didn't even realize how tightly she was gripping onto Peyton next to her, "No." She said simply as their Professor was waiting for his students to head off into the woods in search of such horrible and foul creatures. A small rational part of her mind was telling her that there was no way that he had set real yeti loose in the forbidden forest but that was soon counter acted by how much she knew about Hogwarts, the magical school that had been home a Basilisk and an Acromantula. Was it really that far fetched that there would be Yeti there?

"No." She said more clearly and much more loudly this time, "I'm sorry Professor but there is no way you're getting me in there to go after those things." She began to unbutton her jacket sure that Declan thought she was making some stupid teenaged girl complaint about how dark the forest was or how she didn't want to work with the partner that had chosen her. Once her jacket was unbutton she lifted the hem of her shirt up to the bottom of her bra and turned to the side. Along her right side were four long jagged diagonal scars that were close to an inch thick, "I'm not going in there because I'm probably the only person here that has actually gone up against a yeti and I barley made it out with my life. I'm not going to do it again."