Jackalopes Lions and Tigers and... Unicorns? Errand

Banner by Kim Sato

the hufflepuff's shoes made a soft tap as he made his way through the halls and out and on to the grounds. he was going to a place, well if he could find the place, that he normally wouldn't be in a normal day. He was on his way to the care of magical creatures classroom area. If he remembered correctly he would be able to take the class in his third year.

For now and today, he would be getting a sample of sorts of what would come. The professor of the class was hosting an errand were anyone could come an meet up with a creature! André had made his way through the grounds and found the fenced off area with the Jackalopes. "Awww there so cute!" he said when he caught a glance at them.

He made sure to pay close attention to the professor when she told the group about the rules. That he would never dream of disobeying. With a deal breath and burying of his nerves the boy stepped into the enclosure were one of the Jackalopes hopped right up to him.

"What a cute little guy you are! And friendly!" he told the creature. He had heard of them but never been able to see one this close! It was definitely worth his afternoon.

Banner created by the wonderful sienna lenoir

I had heard whispers of an event happening, and from what I had heard was there were three different animals that you could visit, but you could only pick one. That was difficult. The poster had said that there were three animals, Unicorns Auguries, and Jackalopes.

After a quick search through a book on animal that I had found in the library, I had come to a conclusion. First off, I had no idea what the heck an Augurey was, so of course I found a book, and the first picture I saw… I was out. Not going to spend an hour hanging out with an interesting looking bird. I knew what unicorns looked like, so I didn’t really need to find a book on them, but I did it anyway. A solid option. But way too sparkly. So I was going to spend time with some Jackalopes. Of course I found a book on them, and read up on them, but before long I was super bored.

I pondered on the fact my first instinct had became going to the library and looking for a book. Old Charlie would have gone to the big clunky muggle computer and typed in Augurey. Of course, they was no muggle computer at Hogwarts, or any other electronic device for that matter. But I didn’t have to turn to a book right away either, I could have gone around and asked people if they knew anything about an Augurey. But for some reason I had turned to a book.

I somehow ended up back in the Ravenclaw dorm, hanging out with my cat Zara, trying to pass the time I had before I had to go. It was from three to four pm, and I had a while before it was time to go. I ended up out in the common room, playing with cats that were scurrying around.

✰ ✰ ✰

When it was 2:50, I gathered my things. I was wearing my classic grey sweatpants, black hoodie, and black vans. I headed down the stairs, which of course took forever. When I finally arrived, there was one boy already there. The care of magical creatures teacher and of course, the Jackalopes.

After a little bit of waiting, The teacher got us started. I had no idea that Jackalopes normally lived in the United States, despite my tiny bit of research. She explained some basic rules, and since I owned a cat, I knew them. The rules were pretty much common sense, but there for a good reason.

She let us in to the enclosure, which was actually a pretty big on. There were Jackalopes everywhere, and for a while I just stood there, watching them run around. Of course they were everywhere, and I could have easily immediately approached one, but for some reason I just wanted to get a sense of the area. I did this because I wanted to know how the Jackalopes were felling, and if they wanted to be touched… or not.

After a little bit, I decided to squat down and try and pet one of the Jackalopes. After a minute or so, one of came to my and I began petting it. It was really cute, and actually surprisingly soft. I was happy, and it was happy to see me, so I continued petting it. It looked at me with its cute eyes. “What?” I asked it. “What do you want? Some food?” I asked softly. I think he’s hungry. I thought. I stood up while the Jackalope followed behind me. I walked over to where the care of magical creatures teacher was standing. “Hello, I was wondering if I would be able to feed this little Jackalope here? He keeps looking at me like he’s hungry,” I told the professor. “If not, that is alright.” I told her.

Jackalopes. The muggleborn student had never seen one in person, of course, but they peeked his interest at the very beginning. He had first saw them in a book about mythic creatures, but it was likely that it wasn’t very accurate. It was a muggle book, after all. Stuff like this is something you don’t expect to be correct when portrayed by muggles. It was fantasy to them, so most just assumed what would make sense. But still, they were cool! They looked more like rabbits than he expected them to, but what else was he expecting? A whole deer in the enclosure?

No, not really, but it was funny to think about as he walked into the enclosure. The Gryffindor honestly didn’t know what to do. Sit there and wait was a good option, but the group only had an hour to interact. He didn’t think you could just pick them up though, so he was going with his first idea. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he patiently waited. For what, exactly, he didn’t know. Maybe one would come up to him. That’s what he hoped, anyways. He didn’t know the animals all that much, so he didn’t know what they would do.

After about ten minutes of sitting and watching the strange creatures jump around, one smaller Jackalope hopped up to him. Jay chuckled at the curious nature of the animal, and gave it a little ruffle on the top of its head. The Jackalope, instead of sitting there and watching him, jumped on top of him. Then after startling the young boy half dead, laid down on his lap. The first year was surprised. He expected it to be a bit before getting to this, but perhaps the one that came up as just very trusting? Not that he was complaining.

Petting the small animal in his lap, he laughed a bit. It looked extremely peaceful just laying there. It seemed like the two had developed a bond almost immediately. Jay looked around at the others trying to figure out how to play and pet the Jackalopes. The enclosure looked like chaos, outside the little bubble the two had. The sleeping Jackalope got heavy after a while, but he honestly didn’t care. It was animal code that if an animal falls asleep on your legs you cannot move until they wake up. At least, that was his code.

Well, what was he to do now? Sure, the little dude was cute, but it was sleeping. “Come on little man. My legs are starting to hurt.” He mumbled with a small grin on his face. Jay shakes the Jackalope a tiny bit, waking it up enough for it to lift its head to stare at the young Gryffindor. “Hello there, buddy. Good morning to you.” Jay boops its nose, causing the furry animal to sneeze once. Awh man, he didn’t mean to do that. But seriously, what could he do? He expected a little more. Maybe playing with the Jackalopes?

And on that thought, another one hopped up. At this rate, he’ll just be bombarded with sleeping Jackalopes. The one he woke up decided to walk away, and so he stood up and stretched. He was sitting there for a good half hour, waiting for the creature to wake up. The newer one stared jumping around him, and so he picks it up. The two stared into the others eyes, blankly watching. Jay tested the waters by sticking out his tongue. The smaller did the same, copying him. Soon, Jay was just making faces to see if the Jackalope could replicate it.

It was funny, to be honest. Setting the little guy down, it starts doing something that Nay can only see as dancing. Grinning like a child with candy, he starts dancing. Him and the Jackalope were just dancing to no music, and Jay was having the time of his life. But nothing last forever as the time as up. They had spent an hour in the enclosure, and so Jay had to leave. Crouching down to give the creature an eskimo kiss and booping its nose, he stood up and stretched. That was more fun than he thought it would be. And that’s saying a lot.

[710 words]

@N/A

All week long there had been talk of one thing, which was the errand whose students could participate and meet some animals. Hades, an intern of the class that offered this errand, did not hesitate to join. In addition to being present, he came up with the idea of bringing the camera and capturing the moment, so he would have something nice to share in the club for the next meeting. Hades thought this might be one of the few experiences they could have, so why not do it through the

x

images? Another excuse to bring the camera was to take picture of the animals. While remembered Hades, at 4 p.m. in the afternoon there would be a meeting where students could have the nice opportunity to interact with some creatures called Jackalopes. He had to look for a most fitting outfit for the month they were in and not end up with a cold. Let’s hope not.

As soon as he arrived, Hades' attention was focused on the professor, whom he admired most “Good afternoon, Miss Blumenthal.” he greeted, while waving his hand slightly. He waited a couple of minutes, trying to remember what he had read in the books about the creatures he was going to interact with. Hades would have chosen unicorns, but assuming they were the most popular animals, there would be more people in that group. The Augureys wouldn’t be that popular either, but to be honest... He had a little fear for dealing with these kinds of birds. He had not yet forgotten the fright he had when an augurey began to cry, and Hades believed that someone was going to die ― when in reality there would only be a rainfall. And the bullying that the badger had to deal with since that day... NOPE! It would not happen again. Promised!

Professor Bumenthal began to speak, giving instructions on what they could do today and what it was advisable to do, but above all pay attention to body language from the jackalopes. Hades imagined himself, a vivid image of himself making that military gesture. His lips formed a smile. But the smile was removed when the professor mentioned that they could poop, which he found a little unpleasant. But what did it matter? Thanks to magic, surely Hades could get rid of the excrement quickly. Still, it would be an ambiguous experience. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. The boy needed to focus on this and enjoy this day. He entered the enclosure where the creatures were, and instead of pursuing as most students would have done, Hades ― thanks to his little experience as an intern, sat on the floor, with the camera hanging by his neck.

He was taking a couple of pictures with the camera, until he noticed that one of the jackalopes approached him, hearing the soft noise of their nose sniffing. The boy took advantage of this moment to take the photo, and then left the camera to one side. The creature seemed to look at him curiously, observing everything Hades did. He stood still, arms folded but above his knees. Until the creature came closer, with the little paws pressing against his leg. He slid his hand slowly until it reached the little animal. He began stroking his head, until the jackalope gained confidence, allowing Hades to hold it and began scratching his head, watching the animal close their eyes “You are a very pretty creature.” whispered Hades, keeping his voice moderate so as not to frighten them. He stood there, still scratching the head of the little creature that seemed to enjoy it.

Cautiously, after Meris had listened to the teacher, she approached the colony of penned up Jackalopes. She was careful not to step on one of the small rabbit-like creatures when she went into the enclosure. She didn’t touch them. Instead, she carefully made her way across the enclosure to the back corner on the far side.

After sitting down and watching their behavior for some time Meris pulled a sketchbook out of her back pocket and dug around her satchel for her ink and quill. Before long the likeness of the jackalope appeared on her paper. Though the actual drawing was well done her skill with the quill lacked greatly. Blotches of ink marred her paper and the small animal seemed to be trying to eat one of them as if it were food. Her forehead furrowed at the untidy mess of ink and blotting paper before her.

“Why in the world would a magical community rely on quills for goodness’ sake?!” she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, the actual jackalopes seemed to be noticing the crumpled bits of blotting paper. They grew curious and started hopping into them, sniffing them and batting them into their air with there antlers. Meris reached over and tenderly stroked the boldest one which had been trying to nibble on the end of her quill. Eventually she stowed her drawing book, quill and ink in her bag. Then she rolled over onto her back and looked at the sky. She examined the clouds overhead and let the jackalopes climb and hop on her.

The deep blue tones of the sky were swirled with puffy white clouds. Meris imagined them turning into the jackalopes and hopping across the sky.

“Do you see that one,” she said to the soft brown one that had decided that her robes would be the perfect place to use the bathroom (which of course, she hadn’t yet noticed), “see how soft it is, and how magnificent the antlers are. I wonder if these people hunt things and frame them over their mantles like muggles do. Seems kind of barbaric now that I think of it. I’m glad my parents never framed dead animals in our home.”

She grew quiet. Tears started to leak out of the sides of her eyes. She should have never thought of Tad and Mam. Now she missed them, and she missed John and Kyra and Lyra and Nesta and Owena and little Cade. What would they think of these odd little rabbit-like creatures? John would glance and then go listen to his music. It was always to loud. Kyra and Lyra would say it was nice but then they would both be texting their friends. They wouldn’t really care. Neither were animal people. Nesta and Owena would want to play with them and keep them as pets. Meris kinda wanted one as a pet too. They were so adorable. Cade would just try to pull on their tails or antlers. He’d probably end up hurting one or getting hurt himself. He was really good at getting into things.

Meris sat back up and started to draw one again only to notice the jackalope nuggets roll off her robes and onto the ground. She grimaced, “ewe,” she groaned and shook her robes to make sure no more turds of poop had gotten onto or into her clothing. Well, what’s done was done, she’d have to get her robes laundered by one of those- um- elfy things. That’s what they called them anyway. They didn’t look a bit like an elf to her. Santa’s elves always looked like small children or shrunken adults. Wizard elves looked nothing like that.

Her thoughts continued to wander until she noticed the lack of light in the sky. The sun had started to go down without any permission from her. She glared at the sky as if to blame it for ending her day to early.

Finally, she gave one last effort to stroke the jackalopes, some of whom had been trying to curl up and sleep in her robes. Gently, she coaxed them out of her robes and pushed herself to her feet. Another day was gone. Ah, well… time to head back to the Gryffindor Common Room. She let herself out of the enclosure and took off at a slow jog toward the castle entrance. She waved at the teacher as she ran by.

Date: February 12th, 2023

If there was anything in this magical world that still amazed and horrified Adlai, it was the creatures that she once thought we mythological. Dragons, mermaids, unicorns! Everything she had read in fairytale books had suddenly come to life over night. Nonetheless, she knew that she could not stay afraid of that reality forever, thus when she heard that Professor Blumenthal was holding a lovely "meet and greet" between students and the mystical creatures themselves, she thought it would be a nice way to dip her toes into something a little more shocking than moving stair cases, talking paintings and corridor ghosts.

However, she knew better than to push herself too far. As much as she would have liked to see a unicorn or an augurey she decided it would be best for her to visit the itsy-bitsy jackalope. After all, how horrible could that be? At home her family had been raising a pygmy rabbit, whom they had named Dexter, so how different could observing a jackalope be?

Shuffling her way through the crowd of students, who all eventually branched off into their own groups to view and interact with their own respective species of interest - Adlai found herself with her own group. It was much smaller than the other two groups but she didn't mind. In the end that just meant more of an opportunity to interact with a jackalope!

After listening to Professor Blumenthal's instructions, to which Adlai nodded along too, the students were welcomed into the Jackalope enclosure. From left to right there were rabbits with elaborate horns hopping about. At one point Adlai could have sworn that she had seen two of them bump into one another from the corner of her eye. This isn't so bad - she thought.

Kneeling down, not afraid to get her clothes dirty, Adlai held the back of her hand out to the nearest jackalope that seemed to have the slightest bit of interest in her. The holding out of the hand was a habit she had to developed thanks to her month. When her family lived in Iceland, the only animals they had to worry about where sheep and dogs, however most of the dogs were herding dogs and welled trained. But when the Rod family moved to Wales on behalf of her Great Aunt Margret-Viktoria's request, her mother become anxious of the stray dogs that roamed about the neighborhood and town streets.

"No matter what, you always ask the dog for permission to pet it. You never just do. Understand?" Her mother had lectured. Nevertheless, it worked for Adlai since no dog she held her hand out to had denied her the request of a good petting. It didn't seem to work with jackalope's though as the small creature took one sniff and turned its head away from her before hopping off.

"Hey..." She coos as she tries her best to approach another jackalope, who also abandons her. Standing up Adlai places her hands on her hips and heaving a sigh she rethinks her approach. Jackalope's aren't dog so they aren't likely to respond in the same way does would. So how do you get a jackalope's attention? What is one thing all animals know and like?

After pondering for a moment or two Adlai was hit by a stroke of genius. Food! All animals like food! However, there didn't seem to be any readily available jackalope friendly treats on hand so that idea had to be thrown out the window. She ponders the idea before being hit once again by another stroke of genius.

Animals tend to be more interested in people who ignore them. Which is how Adlai ended up pretending to not care about the jackalope's for about five minutes and failing to stick to her plan when a jackalope with unique antlers cross her path.

word count: 639/200
total word count: 639/600
mentions:
@Kim Sato
interactions:
@André Lebedev

Bailey finished up her studies, and returned to her dorm. Putting her books away, Bailey noticed the note she had left herself on her bed - reminding her of the errand that was to happen at 3 PM that day - which was half an hour away! Bailey was right to assume that her study group with a few fellow ravenclaws would run over, and was happy she had left this note for herself - otherwise she was sure to have forgotten.
This errand was being hosted by Professor @Sabine Blumenthal, the new professor of care of magical creatures. Bailey had previously met the professor when Professor @Caradoc Browne had returned to be the professor of History of Magic, and a bunch of the new professors had been there. Bailey had dragged Kim along, and had introduced herself.
This group for the errand was the third and last group - the one focusing on Jackalopes. Bailey had read up a little on Jackalopes while studying, and she was quite excited.
Dressed in a neutral outfit, black pants, white shirt and cardigan, cream sweatshirt, white boots and some gold jewelry, Bailey made her way down to where the errand was taking place. Over her shoulder bailey had her bag, which contained her wand, her water bottle, some miscelaneous treats and snacks, and her notebooks - one for journaling, one for cake and pastry design, and one for general school notes.
Arriving at the enclosure, Bailey entered it when Professor Blumenthal said they could, after listening to the instructions the professor told them.
Bailey looked around, looking to see if she recognized anyone. She spotted Andre, a hufflepuff first year that she had had an.. interesting confrontation with in the previous months.
Bailey smiled at Andre, which he would see if he turned to see her.
Bailey also spotted one of her fellow ravenclaws and one of her dorm mates, @Charlie Jacobsen. The girl was also a first year, and Bailey wondered if she was going to see any elder years. She would, as Bailey discovered when she spotted @Hades Schweighöfer and @Adlai Rod, a pair of hufflepuff fourth years. Bailey knew both of them, but not well.
Turning to the adorable jackalopes, Bailey smiled at one, and crouched down.
"awwww aren't you adorable!!!" Bailey cooed, sticking her hand out for it to smell. This was something she had learned in the many summers she spend in the wild lands of Poland, with the native animals and the farm animals of her family who still lived there in Poland.
The jackalope bailey had smiled at did not seem interested, and neither did the others around her.
what would interest them.... if i were a jackalope, what would i want.... ohh food!! food's a great way to make friends - maybe this will work with animals too Bailey thought, and then she realized - sure her bag had food in it, but there were two problems. The bag was outside, and the food was human food. well there goes a great idea out the window she thought, resorting to kindness, and patience.
Patience was something bailey was working on, and would continue to work on forever. Her best friend Kim would also help work on her patience... even though he did not realize it. *wink wink*
Bailey settled onto the ground, watching the Jackalopes walk around. Then one approached her - it was smaller by a little compared to the others, but seemed to what it was lacking it size with it's attitude. Bailey smiled as it came up to her, laughing a little as it bumped her with it's antlers. She let it smell her hand, and then when it didn't move away or seem frightened, she reached her hand out and petted it on its head, right between it's ears and antlers.

As soon as Mahlioz had heard about the event going on, she knew she'd be going. She wasn't much of an outdoorsy person, nor did she care more than the average person about animals, but this sounded all too interesting. She'd seen both unicorns and augureys multiple times before, thanks to her mother, but jackalopes? Never. They came from America, not Scotland. And according to her books, they were the cutest animals in the whole world. So being able to not only see them but also cuddle them sounded like the absolute best way to end a Friday.
At 2:55, dressed in a sage green turtleneck, some loose blue pants and her backpack, she raced down the stairs and outside to the grounds. In two years she'd be spending a lot more time here, but she didn't have Care of Magical Creatures just yet, so it was the first time she'd been to this part of the grounds. A few people were already there - not as many as she'd been expecting, but still a decent amount - and Mahlioz listened carefully as the professor explained the rules. Then she walked into the enclosure.

It was hard to stop herself from just kneeling down and hugging them all like a giant ball of floof. She knew they would definitely not appreciate that, but man, was it tempting. Instead, though, she sat down against the fence that closed off their pen, took her sketchbook out of her bag, and started drawing. She wasn't great at it (and the jackalopes would not stop jumping around everywhere, which didn't help), but she was happy enough with the result. She'd spent fifteen minutes here just drawing, though, which was not the reason she'd come, and she only had 45 minutes left. So, putting her sketchbook back into her bag, she tried to approach the tiny furballs.
At first she couldn't seem to catch any of them - they wouldn't quit jumping all over the place and she barely even had the time to pet them before suddenly they were on the other side of the enclosure! On the other hand, it was immensely entertaining to watch them bump into each other in mid-air. Mahlioz wondered what they were useful for in the wizarding world. It seemed to her the only thing they could do was be adorable!
A random thought suddenly crossed her mind - what were jackalopes called in French? She really wanted to tell her dad about them, but she needed the proper name. Maybe she'd ask the professor... but why would she know? I guess I'll just have to search through the French part of the library again... It didn't matter, really. She just knew that her father would adore these little guys, and she wanted to be able to describe them to him.

She heard someone nearby in the enclosure talking to one of the jackalopes. The guy - supposedly a first year like her - seemed to be having more luck than her with the tiny animals. One had hopped right up to him! No fair, she thought, moving closer to be able to see the jackalope clearly. "How'd you get him to come to you?" she asked the boy quietly, worried she would scare off the fluff ball. Maybe he'd give her the secret, and she'd finally be able to cuddle a jackalope! They all seemed to have better things to do than let her pet them, but she'd come here for a reason. And she wasn't leaving until she got to give one of them - if not all - a hug.

february 12, 2023.

Surveying the students as they interacted with creatures they otherwise had no access to was the best part of her day. Without a doubt, Sabine thought that she enjoyed seeing these students learn about the creatures and life around them more than anything else. Even with her lack of formal experience in teaching, this solidified her passion for it. She looked around at the students, hands clasped together. Look at them go, learning about the wildlife around them, those that inhabited the space between wizardkind and animalkind.

The voice of a young girl startled her from her daydream. "Ah, yes, hello," she greeted, a tad bit startled by the sudden intrusion. "You're free to feed the Jackalopes a little bit," Sabine explained, gesturing to the pen of Jackalopes. "Though I would stay away from feeding it too much. You might give them a stomachache or worse, keep them up all night for me to handle," the professor laughed, just slight. "I'm only joking. Please go ahead--there's some vegetables in that little pail there next to the table for you to choose from."

Content with the information given and the seemingly endless passion of her students (whether they took the course or not), Sabine turned back to the other students, overlooking the hopping Jackalopes.

@Charlie Jacobsen

RECAP: This serves as a 'mod post' of sorts to answer IC questions students have had for Professor Blumenthal. I will likely not post here again due to my OOC workload.