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Post by Alexander Archer on Oct 4, 2007 18:04:57 GMT -5
Nodding at Gat happily, he checked his watch and saw that two minutes had passed since class was due to start. Not wanting to waste any more time he stood up and smiled at the students that were already assembled. "Right, I know not everyone is here, but we won't punish you lot for that, so let's get started!" he said in a cheery voice. "Now, as you're probably all aware, I am not Professor Kade. My name is Professor Archer and I've been assigned as a temporary substitute for this class, though I normally teach Astronomy," he explained.
He withdrew his wand and gave it a small flick in the direction of the board. "So, today we will be learning about both Grindylows and Inferi. An odd combination, I know, but considering the wide range of ages in this classroom I thought it appropriate," he said with a small smile, having heard how frustrating it was for the older students to revise lower level topics. "I have chosen these creatures because of how they attack," he explained. "Both of these creatures have strong grips and like to attempt suffocation or bone-crushing, so to combine two classes into one, we're learning about a spell that will help you out if ever you find yourself caught by one of these," he said, only a small smile on his features.
"The Grindylow, as depicted on page twenty-five in your textbook, has extremely long fingers and a vice-like grip. The Inferi, seen on page ninety-seven, often pull their victims into a strong embrace in an attempt to crush the life out of them. For both of these instances, there's a good spell you can use to escape. On page one hundred and thirteen you can see the details of the Revulsion Jinx, something that will aid your plight greatly in these circumstances," he said with a smile. "Any questions so far?"
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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 Oct 4, 2007 18:28:47 GMT -5
Susan listened up as Professor Archer began the lesson. She eagerly flipped through her text book, looking at the featured pictures of both the Grindylows, which she'd covered a few years ago, and Inferi, a new subject. After catching up on the information on the two dark creatures, Susan made sure to turn to page one hundred and thirteen to read up on the jinx they would be practicing. The Revulsion Jinx, Susan thought, she wasn't familiar with this spell. This class, should prove interesting she decided as she looked around to see if anyone had questions.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 4, 2007 19:32:17 GMT -5
Realising immediately that D'rorah had not answered his question, he decided to drop the subject anyway. Nodding at her continuation about research, he saw Gat enter the room and his eyes flashed angrily. His eyes narrowing in intense dislike and following Gat's movements, his jaw tensed along with the rest of his body. Having half a mind to punch him to death, he saw Professor Archer stand up and begin the lesson.
Listening as Alex spoke, his attention was by no means diverted from the foul Slytherin who'd taken up residence in the back row. Flicking through to the page on Grindylows, he remembered encountering the things back in his third year. He also remembered the large bruise it had left around his neck with a rueful grimace. Reading the page, he jotted down a few notes before quickly turning to page ninety-seven. Seeing the creepy diagram of an Inferius, his eyebrow raised slightly and he began reading the double page of information, taking down key points as he went.
Flicking further and ending up on a page titled 'The Revulsion Jinx', he added a few paragraphs on the spell to his parchment before raising his head to wait for the professor to continue.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Oct 4, 2007 22:18:24 GMT -5
Alessandro perked up as Professor Archer commenced today's lesson; Grindylows, Inferi, and the Revulsion Jinx. He proceeded to head a blank piece of parchment with the words: The Revulsion Jinx. Alessandro was a little familiar with the jinx, having only practiced it successfully once before. He knew that a brilliant purple flash of light was associated with the spell whence successfully cast, and the target is immediately expelled from the nearby vicinity.
Next, he made two bullet points underneath his heading, each a separate title: Grindylows first, and second, Inferi(us). Alessandro flipped to the page on Grindylows and proceeded to document some notes on these particularly nasty breed of water-dwelling demons. He knew that there were quite a few Grindylow terrorizing the Hogwarts Lake, where he first set eyes on one.
Next he turned to the Inferius. He was well versed on these creatures as he had spent some time researching them while researching Lord Voldemort at the beginning of this year. Lord Voldemort used armies of Inferi to do his bidding and was highly skilled at creating such golems of death to do so.
He finished writing and looked up, awaiting the Professor's continuation of the subject.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Oct 6, 2007 19:22:49 GMT -5
Seeing no hands raised, he continued. "Okay, so, the grindylow, as most of you might know, is a pale green creature that dwells at the bottom of lakes. It rather likes the weed beds it finds there and can develop relatively large colonies in any one place, despite their violent nature often causing massive amounts of intra-specific competition," he said in a decently loud voice, making sure that everyone could hear him.
"Only usually found in Britain, it's a bit of a national hazard, Muggles often going for a swim and never being seen again," he explained, having heard of many instances where this had indeed been the case. Flicking his wand, a large image of a grindylow appeared on the board. "As you can clearly see, it has sharp little red horns and green teeth. It'd be a rather pleasant Christmas creature if it weren't so vicious," he said with a smile. "The grindylows on the school grounds, right down at the bottom of the lake, actually coexist in a sort of peace with the merpeople, so they aren't too much of a danger to the students of this school and can be relatively easily deterred in any case," he added.
"Inferi, on the other hand, present much harder opponents. Due to the fact that they aren't even alive, only controlled by the dark wizard that summoned them, they are difficult to beat. Normally a good, strong fire or bright light will defeat or at least slow these creatures. While the Revulsion jinx will not necessarily harm them, it will allow you a brief respite, thus allowing you a chance to either escape or cast a suitable spell." He looked around the class. "Now, who can tell me the difference between an inferius and a zombie?" he asked, searching for a student to raise their hand.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Oct 6, 2007 20:12:20 GMT -5
Alessandro poignantly put his hand in the air. He was confident that he had the answer to this question after having done some intensive research on dark magic earlier this year. He looked around the room to see that no one else had put their hand in the air, so he wondered if it was not a common knowledge.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Oct 6, 2007 22:01:33 GMT -5
D'rorah's hand went into the air along with Alessandro's. Apparently the two were the model Ravenclaw pair. Regardless of which one answered, she was pleased to see her housemate was so willing to participate in the class. It would certainly give them an edge in the event the Professor decided to award house points for participation.
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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 Oct 6, 2007 22:47:04 GMT -5
Susan listened carefully to the professor, taking in everything that he said. Susan was determined to receive at least an Acceptable in this very useful class. She quickly recalled the appearance and characteristics of Grindylows. She didn't feel, she needed to restudy this information, but she took notes on it anyway. It was when Professor Archer mentioned the Inferi that Susan began to take notes verbatim. She had never been taught on Inferi, and they sounded quite dangerous. When Professor Archer asked the question, which sounded simple,
"Now, who can tell me the difference between an inferius and a zombie?"
Susan saw, typically, that D'rorah and Alessandro had their hands raised. Ravenclaws . . . Susan thought to herself. She herself, did know the answer. She figured it through common sense. Although she knew the answer, she decided to keep to herself. She didn't want to embarrass herself by speaking out again. She figured Professor Archer wouldn't be as forgiving a second time.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Oct 7, 2007 22:44:00 GMT -5
Seeing two familiar hands in the air in quick succession, he smiled happily. Having chosen Alessandro first in Astronomy, he figured on giving D'rorah the first bite of the apple this time. "Yes, Miss Philosophy?" he said, indicating towards her. He was thoroughly put out that only two hands had risen, however, and both Ravenclaws.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Oct 7, 2007 23:12:15 GMT -5
"Zombies are undead beings driven by banal cravings, most notably the craving for ingestion of grey matter nerve cells. Inferi, however, are truly dead corpses which have been reanimated by a witch or wizard and are controlled by that individual much as a sort of puppet," replied D'rorah as she lowered her hand. She considered for a moment before clarifying. "So then, the main difference is the motivating factor to the corpses' animation. They are either animated using a spell or are truly undead creatures driven by their own hungers."
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Oct 8, 2007 3:00:47 GMT -5
Adding various sidenotes and footnotes to his pages about the creatures that made up todays topic, he raised his head but not his hand as Professor Archer posed the class a question. Seeing Alessandro and D'rorah's hands, once more, in the air, he smirked slightly. He drew a few small diagrams; one of a grindylow and one of an inferius. He was no artist, but you could easily tell what they were meant to depict.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Oct 9, 2007 2:07:02 GMT -5
Alessandro removed his hand from the air and began to scribble down what Dee had said. Her response, he noted, was short and simple, and to the point. His probably would have been a long winded explanation on the afro-carribbean spiritual beliefs in regards to voodoo and how a living person could be made into a zombie by the introduction of two powders into the bloodstream. The first of which containing Tetradotoxin, found in Japanese pufferfish, causes a variety of symptoms rendering a near-death state, the second of which, a powerful concoction of dissociatives.
He finished writing down D'rorah's response and added a bit of his own information. He put down his quill and looked up at the professor waiting for him to continue with the lesson.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Oct 9, 2007 2:19:44 GMT -5
Nodding happily as D'rorah answered his question, Alex looked around the class to see if everyone had understood. He saw a few quills begin scratching down her answer and spoke up. "Yes, well done Miss Philosophy! Five points to Ravenclaw!" he announced happily. "As she said, the inferi are animated only by the spells of other wizards or witches, doing the bidding of whomever conjured them. The zombie, on the other hand, is an undead creature, driven by its own cravings," he clarified, seeing a confused face or two at D'rorah's response.
"Now, the Revulsion jinx is a useful little thing. For the correct effect to be applied, you need to flick your wand quickly," he said demonstrating with his own wand. "Everyone retrieve your wands, please, and practice the movement." Watching as students dug into their robes or satchels, he smiled reminiscently, remembering when he'd been taught this very spell.
"Once you've gotten the hang of the movement, I'd like you all to pair up and practice. The incantation you use is 'defendo'." Swishing his wand, the word appeared on the board along with an animated diagram of the required movement.
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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 Oct 9, 2007 6:30:13 GMT -5
Susan finished writing up the notes on the Grindylow and Inferi. She also made a quick note of the incantation of the spell and the correct wand movements. With her notes complete, Susan retrieved her wand from her bag and practiced the flick of her wand, as Professor Archer had shown and the diagram on the board was currently demonstrating. After she felt she had the hang of it, she looked around to see who still needed a partner. She was friends with most everyone in the class, so she didn't mind really who would partner with her. She didn't however want to be the first person to ask, in case anyone felt tied up. Susan surreptitiously glanced around the class, waiting for someone to ask to be her partner.
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Post by Keaira O'Connell on Oct 9, 2007 6:49:06 GMT -5
Keaira made herself busy during the class, thinking about her next move. Things were ready, and she could be out of here in just a minuet. All it would take was a simple message to Dien, and D’rorah, and her plans would go quickly in to action. A small smile spread across her face as she tuned in the lesson at hand. They were going to partner up. Keaira found that she couldn’t help but turn to face Alessandro with a bit of a grin to her features. She did quite enjoy playing with him.
As Keaira went to retrieve her wand she took a glance at her notes, realizing for the first time in the lesson that she had been intermingling Latin and English through out… It would be fun trying to study with such disorganized notes. She smiled to herself as she made a small mental note to correct it all later. With her wand in hand she began working on the movement that the spell required, referencing the book, and the professors diagram, making sure that she would be able to get it correct within a few tries.
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