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Post by Alexander Archer on Nov 24, 2007 2:59:15 GMT -5
((OoC: Students are expected to post in class before 5:30pm November the 27th in GMT + 12 time zone (currently GMT + 13 due to daylight savings). The equivalent in the GMT – 5 time zone (Eastern time) is 11:30pm November the 26th, I believe. Any questions, PM Dylan [dylan23]. NOTE: Dates have changed from initial posting.))
Alex found himself hoping against hope that this class would go better than the previous one. Of all the subjects in the school… Well, he supposed Defence Against the Dark Arts did involve the use of jinxes and curses, but for defensive purposes only. A dark spell being cast within his class, one that was not even his own, had set his teeth right on edge and he would not tolerate any misconduct this lesson. Enough of late students, and certainly no fights, Alex blamed his slightly jolly attitude toward his teaching for his ineptitude to react fast enough. Things could have equally turned out differently; Alessandro could have certainly been hurt, as well as Gat, and there wasn’t a thing he could have done about it. Empty threats were the only thing he felt like he could offer in such a disciplinary situation. It had been a significant relief that Caira had not blamed him, however, and had quite agreed with the stricter punishment he himself had stored in his mind.
Entering the assigned class on the third floor, he looked around to make sure everything was in order within it before striding to his own desk. Placing his notes in the prime position of the desk, he turned to write upon the board. He was sure that not many professors would bother doing so by hand, and normally he was in tune with that concept, but there was still a bit of time left before class was due to start and it wouldn’t harm him to do some manual writing, afterall. Writing upon the blackboard, the end result was a very neatly written ‘Giants’ and, for the slightly older students, ‘Acromantula’. When his other topics and subtopics of the day come up, he would add them to the board accordingly, and with that, he took his seat and waited for the students to arrive.
Some might think that perhaps they had mistaken their Care of Magical Creatures class for Defence Against the Dark Arts, the way he was going, but he always liked to start by teaching students about certain dangerous or dark creatures and then expanding on how to defeat them to any purpose with the correct spells. Using spells in context, he found, ensured a far more efficient use of them when it came to a battle. One did usually not have time to contemplate which spell would be most effective, and so being able to readily associate an opponent with a spell was incredibly useful. Not only that, but information on anything trying to harm you aided your cause perhaps more than anything else.
Settling himself into the chair before his temporary desk, he wondered briefly when Caira might find a replacement. Despite the highly disastrous ending to the last lesson, it had begun very well, in his opinion. And he could not fail to admit that he enjoyed both preparing and conducting the lessons, so far. Hoping that perhaps she might designate it prudent to keep him on in both positions, he checked his watch and noted there was still just under ten minutes remaining until class was due to begin.
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Post by cazmond on Nov 24, 2007 3:12:17 GMT -5
Caz walked through the door to the defense against arts class. He was shocked when he open the door. He was the first one into the classroom. "Morning Professor Archer!" Caz said with a slight smirk. He couldn't believe he was the first one to class, he wasn't usually one to be an early bird. The sun shone through brightly from the high window, it made Caz's golden complexing seem to glow.
He took a seat second from the front. The sun felt warm on his skin. He noticed that 'Giant' and 'Acromantula' were written on the black board. He went in his bag and pulled out his scroll and and his ink and wrote both on each side of the scroll. He began to make lines from the word 'Giant' with everything he knew about them. Since he had learned about them in his previous year.
Acromantulas on the other hand wasn't a topic Caz was fond of. While he wasn't petrified of them, they definatly weren't some thing he liked. All spiders freaked Caz out. They gave him the creeps, he shivered at the thought of them.
He noticed that the latter was a dark creature. If this lesson was gave an opportunity to talk about dark creatures, Caz couldn't wait to ask questions. Especially with that dark cloud thing that attacked him in the hallway. Something else that gave him chills. He rubbed is arms and focused on the warmth of the sun. He didn't care though, he was going to absorb everything possible from this lesson like a sponge.
How could I ask about a dark cloud, without sounding like I encountered one Caz thought. He began to turn the his grandfather's ring that he wore in circles. The blue green stone glistened brightly in the sun. He thoughts began to shift to the ring. What is this ring's hidden power? Caz wondered. He still hadn't made any successful progress on the heirlooms mysteries.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Nov 24, 2007 3:51:20 GMT -5
Hearing the door form sounds that clearly indicated it was on the verge of opening, Alex’s attention was diverted; previously, he’d been staring out of the windows to the rear of the classroom, admiring the glorious day outside and wishing he was better at subjects that could be taught in the grounds. Then again, he knew they would have been largely hustled about due to the recent ban and restrictions of student and professor entry alike into the extensive outdoor locations of Hogwarts. Seeing a boy who had not attended his previous class, he noted a recent sign up. If he was not mistaken, and it was highly unusual for him to be, it was Cazmond, a Gryffindor.
His class seemed to be comprised mainly of more advanced students, but he was determined to not disregard the dwindling younger years, anyway. It would not do for him to only teach Defence of a seventh year level; afterall, the average year-level for this particular class was fifth. He had recognised in the previous lesson several rather advanced students; D’rorah and Dylan, as well as Keaira and Alessandro. All in all, performances had not been low, at the very least. This had allowed him to advance the younger-year topic of today slightly; he’d outright dismissed the notion of covering boggarts upon discovering the contents of his class the previous lesson, and had re-arranged his plans completely to delve into the topic of giants, instead. It was slightly more advanced, usually taught in the fifth year, but he assumed anyone lower than that could handle them. Giants were not all that difficult, afterall, and they managed to tie in nicely with the acromantula species.
“Good morning, Mister Briggs,” he replied, his tone happy despite the events of the previous lesson. He was still hopeful; being absolutely notorious amongst the staff for his optimism did have some reasoning behind it, afterall. Noticing the slight smirk on the boys face, he wondered at it for a moment but came to no conclusion as to why it might be there. Noticing him take a seat relatively close to the front, in the second row, and promptly pull out some parchment upon which his quill pounced, Alex found himself slightly impressed with the boy already. Hoping this meant another hand to be raised in future, he set his slight wish for more enthusiasm from his students for the moment. Deciding to make small talk, he searched for a topic. It didn’t take him long to find something suitable. “If you’re wishing to catch up on the previous lesson, we covered Inferi and the Revulsion Jinx,” he commented in a relatively happy tone. “We also studied Grindylows, in depth, but perhaps you’re a bit beyond that,” he added, remembering the year in which the boy was currently situated and discreetly wondering about the shining light being twirled within his hands.
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Post by cazmond on Nov 24, 2007 4:16:27 GMT -5
Caz's thoughts were pirced by Professor Archer. "Oh right. Back in the states we had just covered Inferi before I left. Inferi are corpses controlled through a Dark wizard's spells. An Inferius is not alive, but a dead body that has been bewitched into acting like a puppet for the witch or wizard. It is apparent that Inferi cannot think for themselves: they are created to perform a specific duty assigned by the Dark wizard who commands them, and remain idle until their task can be performed. Inferi are difficult to harm by magic; however, they can be repelled by fire or any other forms of heat or light. When defeated they return to their idle state." Afterwards he realized that he sounded like a book of some sort. He hoped he didn't come off as trying to win brownie points, that wasn't his intentions at all. When it came to dark creates as of late, Caz had been jogging his memory to try to make a connection to a black vortex that a cloud emerges from. In all his recent research he hadn't been able to have any luck.
"Now the Revulsion Jinx, I'm not that familar with. Does it emmit a purple flash of light when cast?" Caz was remebered that was his rivial schools spell and color back in the states. Back home they rivial other schools, and those schools were known to have signature spells. Had he joined the dualing team back home, he might be a little more up to par on that. He had decided to night try out for the team, even though all his friends wanted him to, he just wasn't the competitive type.
Caz continued to twist the ring around, not even realizing that he was still doing it.
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Post by gatsoldier on Nov 24, 2007 4:19:18 GMT -5
Gat walked slowly into the room. His hands were in the pockets of his robes. On his cheek was a diagonally crossed scar. Gat hated that scar, as it reminded him that he was not immortal and could be hurt. To Gat it made him seem more human. It was an imperfection and therefore should be removed. Though it could not be removed because of the dark magic that had placed it there. In truth, it had made him look slightly older and more refined. He walked as though nothing had happened in the last Defense against the Dark Arts lesson. Though he didn't realy care for it anyway. His detentions were cut short by the Gamekeeper having to rush off some where. Gat was curious to as why he left but he had not pressed the subject.
"Good day Professor." He greeted as he normally did as he passed Professor Archer. As in his system he strode to the back left corner of the room to take a seat. He took no notice whatsoever of the Gryffindor. He sat at his desk and awaited the beginning of the class. He did not even bother to read the blackboard but closed his eyes and relaxed. Though he now felt an anger toward Alessandro and would get his revenge eventually. As with Dylan aswell. His wand was in his sleeve so it was easily withdrawable. His hair had been straightened to help cover the aquired scar though it was not doing a very good job. Under his eyelids his eyes glowed green, barely visible but seeable from around him.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Nov 24, 2007 4:53:13 GMT -5
Listening to the explanation of Inferi that he’d obviously, unwittingly provoked, Alex resisted the strong urge to raise an eyebrow. He had made a small comment so that the boy did not fall behind, and received the pages of his numerous textbooks all thrust together to compile information that he, as the professor, already knew. As far as he was concerned, the boy was showing off, but he looked pleased as the boy concluded, simply glad that he’d stopped talking. “Yes, very good,” he commented easily, offering up a small smile. Glad for a slight distraction from the entrancing effects of the sparkling light coming from what he now recognised to be a small piece of metal, perhaps jewellery, he was significantly less pleased at who entered. Choosing to respond to Cazmond before speaking with Gat, he appeared thoughtful before finally producing a small shake of the head. “I do believe it’s an oddity, in that it emits no colour, actually,” he disagreed lightly.
“Good morning, Mister Soldier.” His tone took only a slightly harsher tone, albeit one that was barely evident to the casual listener. “Good choice of seating. The Headmistress has allowed you to continue to attend these classes, but you are to remain in that seat for the rest of the year,” he commented, intending to keep him quite separated from the rest of the class. No, it wasn’t much, but it showed a distinction between him and everyone else, anyway. Despite the fact that Gat would have almost certainly remained there anyway, he wanted to simply get it out on the table instead of choosing to risk encountering problems at a later date. “Headmistress LaPointe has requested an audience with you tonight, straight after your last class,” he added pointedly. “I wouldn’t keep her waiting, either.” He withdrew his wand from an easily accessible pocket. “Oh, and you will also give me your wand for the course of the lesson, or until I see fit to return it to you,” he added lightly, casting the disarming spell.
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Post by gatsoldier on Nov 24, 2007 5:22:36 GMT -5
Gat ignored the conversation between what Gat simply called "The Gryffindor Boy" and the Professor. In fact his mind was distant as he recalled events from the past task he had been on. He had encountered the one that he swore to murder all those years ago. His long trail of memories came to an abrupt stop as a voice interupted them.
[glow=red,2,300]“Good morning, Mister Soldier. Good choice of seating. The Headmistress has allowed you to continue to attend these classes, but you are to remain in that seat for the rest of the year,"[/glow] 'Once again a pointless punishment.' Gat thought to himself. He had no care for this petty string of pointless punishments and once again closed his eyes. But when Headmistress LaPointe's name was mentioned, his eyes shot straight open again. He knew who the Headmistress truly was. She would torture him most likely, though he had no care for himself.
[glow=red,2,300]“Headmistress LaPointe has requested an audience with you tonight, straight after your last class,” “I wouldn’t keep her waiting, either.” [/glow]
'Great, just great. So thats who he is. One of those nark people who go off and nark on everyone. There were far worse spells I could have done.' Gat thought with distaste. He hated rats and thats what this Professor had become. Another name on an imagenary list of revenge targets. Gat noticed the Professor drawing his wand. He flicked his wand half out so it wouldn't scrape against his wrist when he wsa disarmed.
[glow=red,2,300]“Oh, and you will also give me your wand for the course of the lesson, or until I see fit to return it to you,”[/glow] Gat knew it. The man was that type of person. But Gat had to keep a close eye on the Professor. As Gat knew of the spell that revealed the spells his wand had done. If need be he would return it to him for safe keeping. He felt his wand half in his sleeve dart out toward the wizard.
"Is that all then Professor?" Gat asked with a slight smirk on his face. He had a bottle of water ready for when he needed it beside him for when it was needed. A genious muggle invention no doubt.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Nov 24, 2007 14:13:05 GMT -5
D'rorah strode into the classroom purposefully. Her satchel, burgeoning with heavy books as always, rested at her side. She suppressed the urge to glare at Gat as she passed him, instead making her way to a desk at the front of the classroom. "Good day, Professor," she greeted formally, offering a polite smile. Typically, she wouldn't have bothered with smiling at a professor, but she rather liked Professor Archer. She recalled their conversation in the Astronomy tower some weeks ago as a pleasant experience.
As she settled into her desk and set out her notebook and quill, she couldn't help but think of Dylan, still in the infirmary recovering form the injuries he had sustained during an attack the night before the Masquerade. She looked today much as she would look on any other day; though perhaps she appeared to be more tired. Of course, she had foregone sleep the nights she had used her telepathy to barrier the nightmares Dylan had been having following his attack. And though she had tried to sleep since, she hadn't had anything akin to success in the endeavor.
She did not begin immediately flipping through her notes and textbooks once she was settled. She glanced up at the board, noting the topics for the day and simply sat in her desk, allowing her mind to rest so that she might perhaps be coherent for whatever it was she would be expected to learn in the coming hour.
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
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Post by Susan Matthews on Nov 24, 2007 16:28:33 GMT -5
Susan briskly entered the classroom. Checking the clock on the wall, she saw that she was not at all as late as she assumed she would be. The clock in the common room must be ahead, Susan thought, making a note to have it fixed. She quickly glanced around the room. She caught sight of Caz, she wasn't sure if she wanted to sit by him. Their last encounter had been rather interesting. Susan wasn't sure what kind of terms they were on, she let her eyes move on to the others in the room.
Susan's eyes fell on D'rorah. While they weren't exactly enemies, Susan had no desire to choose a seat next to her. From what Susan could tell, D'rorah was advanced in practically every subject. Before taking a seat in the middle of the room, she got a glimpse of Gat in the back corner. Revulsion seared through her being at the sight of the Slytherin boy. Involuntarily, a look of disgust fell all over Susan's face. She found it hard to believe that Soldier would be allowed back in the school, let alone the classroom. Susan felt a small sense of anticipation as to what Alessandro's reaction to Gat's presence in class would be.
Since last class, Susan had lost all sense of respect for Gat. She had met him once before then, and he seemed to be a nice boy, even poetic? Lies. Susan didn't waste anymore of her thought process on Gat, and continued in taking her seat. She quietly unpacked her things before glancing at the board. A smile formed at the corners of her mouth as Susan noticed the imperfections in the writing "Giants" and "Acromantulas". The two words were obviously hand-written. Susan headed her parchment with the same two words, silently hoping the majority of the class would be spent on the latter of the two.
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Post by jacques on Nov 24, 2007 16:55:52 GMT -5
Jacques packed his backpack, filling it with everything he would need. Looking into the mirror, he groaned under his breath, desprately shaking his head. No good, but at least the spikes had fallen flat. Dyed bright blue from the trip to Zonko's, most of it was still in, now flecked with black. Head down, he set off quickly down the hall, avoiding students and walking in the shadow's. After a few mintutes, he found the classroom, and went inside, head down, and walked up to the teacher. "I'm sorry I missed the first two classes, got here late." He said in a calm, quiet voice, meeting the teachers gaze for a second with bright golden eyes.
Quite a few students had already arrived, he reconized the girl from Ollivander's, Caz, and Susan. Another Slytherin boy was sitting to the side of the room. Hesitating for a second, he sat in the row next to Susan, and waved hello to Cazmond. Unpacking his bag, he tried to hide his hair under a book as unnoticable as he could. Not that it made much of a difference, being tall he would look strange holding a book to his head, so he put it on desk. "Hujambo Susan." He said, giving her a smile. "How are you?"
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Post by Caitlin Collins on Nov 24, 2007 17:36:29 GMT -5
Caitlin packed her bag carefully for the day, not wanting to forget anything. It was not unknown for her to forget vital items for certain lessons. It had been commented in the past that she would forget her head if it wasn't screwed on. Several times. Having triple-checked everything, Caitlin left the Hufflepuff common room, still with the niggling feeling she'd forgotten something.
Entering the classroom, she saw a fair few people she already knew; Caz and D'rorah she had both met once, and the boy at the back of the classroom she had never seen before, but Jacques (still with blue hair) and Susan she knew better. Slipping into a seat alongside the two Gryffindors, she murmured a greeting and began to unpack her things. Textbook, quill, ink, catch-up notes from the lessons she had missed... Digging into the bottom of her bag, she realised with a groan what she had forgotten. Parchment. How on earth had she managed to forget to bring something to write on? She could even visualise where it was; in a messy pile on her bedside table.
She turned to Jacques and Susan. "I don't suppose either of you happen to have any spare parchment I could borrow, do you?" she asked miserably. "I've somehow managed to forget mine."
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Susan Matthews
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Shadow Warrior of Earth
goddess, nymph, divine.
Posts: 505
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Post by Susan Matthews on Nov 24, 2007 18:34:28 GMT -5
Susan managed suppress the urge to burst into a fit of giggles when Jacques entered the classroom. Upon his entrance, she quickly dropped her quill and covered her mouth, as if it would help to keep the laughter inside of her. At the ball, Jacques had warned her that the blue spikes would still be intact until well after Monday, but she hadn't really expected it to. Although the spikes were long gone, the blueish hue still remained.
"Hey Jacq," Susan replied as he took a seat next to her. Susan watched amusedly as he made an attempt to cover his head with his book. Susan let out a few small giggles and managed to answer his question, "I'm fine. How are you?"
She glanced up in time to see Caitlin enter the classroom on time as well. Susan was pleased to see that she chose a seat by Jacques and herself. Susan smiled in spite of herself. She knew she would have no problems with finding a partner to work with this session.
Thinking of partners, Susan's thoughts touched briefly on Dylan. It wasn't like him to be late. Her thoughts drifted to the patronus from the ball. Susan found her eyes resting on D'rorah. Last time she'd spoken to Dylan, he'd seemed well, almost like he was getting better. Susan decided she'd make an attempt to talk with D'rorah after class, she had a feeling D'rorah would be the first to know if something was wrong.
"I don't suppose either of you happen to have any spare parchment I could borrow, do you?" she asked miserably. "I've somehow managed to forget mine."
Susan glanced up, letting the words sink it. It took a moment for the words to register, but soon she found herself reaching into her own bag and pulling out a sufficient role of parchment. She passed the paper to Caitlin. "Here," she said amicably, her thoughts returning to the present, "Don't you hate it when that happens?"
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Post by jacques on Nov 24, 2007 18:58:26 GMT -5
Groaning good naturedly when he saw Susan a start to giggle at his neon blue hair, he crossed his arms on the desk and burried his head into it. He peeked out when he heard someone sit down next to them, and gave a faint, sheepish smile at Caitlin through a crack in his arms. Half of his whisker like scars could be seen through the dark blue shirt, which matched with his speckled black and blue hair. "As good ever." He responded.
"Hujambo Caity, how are you?" He asked, slightly muffled by his arms. Seeing that Susan had brought out an amble supply of paper for her to use, he nodded in agreement, sprinkling blue dust on his arms and the desk around them. "Happens all the time." He remorsefully, shrugging.
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Post by Keaira O'Connell on Nov 25, 2007 0:18:23 GMT -5
((So I guess that means I¡¦m back just in time. ƒº ))
Keaira was mot feeling up to par. Things seemed to weigh on her more than they normally did, her mind, and body each distracted by different problems. The school term which seemed to only have just started was already drawing closer to the end. November underway and December just around the corner, it seemed as if every teacher intended on having their students drown beneath pools and floods of work.
Keaira had found that between playing catch up with her other classes, and trying to keep things collected for her other work, she had so limited free time. Her mind wandered to recent events. Trying to decipher whether or not they were caused by her own negative reactions. Her meditation had been taking a back seat, making more time for homework.
As she trudged up the stairs to find her way to the defense class room she wondered if thing during this class would be even remotely as hazardous as they were during the previous one. With the events playing across her mind she opened the door, pushing it aside and crossing the threshold. A weak smile was forced on to her face as she greeted the professor with a simple good afternoon. Her eyes drifted to the gathered students, falling upon one of them in particular.
Noticing the students Keaira took a very unusual position in the back right of the class room, she wasn¡¦t in the mood to have a spell flung at her back today, and had already decided that this was the best location to prevent such an occurrence. Her seat chosen Keaira soon moved to set up her desk like every class. Her multicolored inks, her parchment, her quills, and her wand all were laid out in easy reach.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Nov 27, 2007 0:37:40 GMT -5
“Yes, Mister Soldier, that will be all for now,” he replied in a voice that he knew would carry to the back of the room. Seeing D’rorah was the next to arrive, he opted to ignore Gat’s expression in light of the decidedly friendlier one offered by the prefect. “Good morning, Miss Philosophy,” he greeted cheerily, recalling well the added portions of the conversation he had discussed with Caira; about keeping an eye on her and, most particularly, Dylan. He noted the two did not enter together, but then again, they had not the previous lesson either. Noticing Susan enter minus a greeting, he wondered at it for a moment before finally providing one of his own. “Good day, Miss Matthews,” he said audibly as she seated herself down with a contemptuous look toward Gat. His attention slightly diverted, he soon noticed the newest entrant. “Quite alright, Mister Broken, I received the owl about your late entrance to the school year,” he returned happily, glad that the boy had thought to explain so himself. Noting that a pleasing amount of students were entering well before class was due to begin, Alex’s mood improved slightly. Another girl entered without any notice of him and he checked the clock above the blackboard. With one minute still to go, Alex made up his mind to begin the class. "Good day, Miss O'Connell!" After providing Keaira with a happy response, he rose from his chair. Deciding to make a visible mention of who was not yet here, he flicked his wand a few times to create a colour-coded table upon the board, to the side of both initial titles: ‘Giants’ and ‘Acromantula’. A few more flicks and several of the names were coloured green, each according to the presence of the named students present. 3rd, 4th and 5th | 6th and 7th | Dylan Cooper | D’rorah Philosophy | Alessandro Darko | Sebastien Bellefleur | Susan Matthews | Aiden Christian | Aimee Miller | Caitlin Collins | Keaira O’Connell | Blaire Paisley | Jason Cruz | Gat Soldier | Ally Rubuckle | Cazmond Briggs | -- | Zane Bishop | -- | Wysteria Edwin | -- | Jacques Broken | -- | Syllar Death |
Clearing his throat to indicate that the lesson was about to begin, he smiled at all of the students present. Admittedly, it was a low turnout, but those that were here should not suffer for the faults of those who had not bothered to show up yet, or in fact were not going to at all. “As you can see, today we will be covering both Giants and Acromantula. Once more, I have included lower and higher level creatures so that everyone gets what they need for the year.” He indicated to each of the titles upon the board as he said this. “These creatures are both large in their own right, larger than anything even remotely similar to each of them,” he said, his tone implying he was quite happy that people weren’t trying to kill each other during his class. “Because of the difficulty in aiming an effective spell at them, due to the tough skin of Giants and the hard shell of the Acromantula, I have grouped them together for this lesson,” he stated happily. “Now, if you’ll all flick to page forty-two, you can read the double page on Giants. As you will notice, one of their only weak spots is their eyes. The Acromantula, depicted on page ninety-three, is vulnerable in both the eyes and on their underbelly. So, given the common factor, if you then turn to page one hundred and twenty, you can find the Conjunctivitis Curse, useful in both instances.” As he spoke, he talked to everyone in the class, surveying the reactions and movements of every student. Deciding to hand over something to the students, he stopped to check that everyone was alright so far. “Any questions?”
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