Lessons and Assignments

"Raven chill" Becca said as she looked over her one paper and started writting again.

"No, I'm not going to chill," Raven got enough of this. She got up put all her stuff in her bag and left the classroom.

"Ve are just getting started, Miss Dumbledore, but please do your best to arrive earlier in the future," Sevastyan Kaminski replied before setting his attention on one of the Slytherins in today's class. "Yes, if you vould like to do the extra credit, I vill extend the due date on that only."

His attention was once again diverted. "It is qvite alright, Mr. Hice. Yes, this is Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please take a seat, and ve vill begin the lesson shortly...”


Once the last of the students finally filed in, Sevastyan began the day's lecture. "Last lesson, ve dealt vith a Dark Creature that feeds solely on the emotion of fear - the boggart. I do hope you have all taken the lesson seriously, for the end-of-term review may just involve facing your vorst fear a second time... For those who vish to brush up on the 'Riddikulus' spell betveen then and now, there is vord that there seems to be a regular appearance of boggarts in vone of the third floor corridors.

“As you vill likely have noticed ve have a ‘guest’ of sorts vandering the room. Do not be alarmed, as it is only a mannequin vith the appearance and charmed to move like a Dementor. Vhile ve von’t be getting to practicing how to arm voneself against them today, they are to be the focus of today’s lesson. A Dementor is vone of the darkest, and foulest magical creatures to valk this earth, and have no preference in vether they attack Vizard or Muggle though it is usually the former. They do not affect animals nearly as bad as humans, so those vith animagus abilities have an advantage.

“Like the Boggart, the Dementor also feeds on an emotion. However, it does a bit more as vell. Ven a real Dementor is close, vone vill feel an icy chill in the air, and sometimes that can be as literal as it is metaphorical. Artificial light sources – such as from candles and lanterns – also tend to go out. The emotion a Dementor feeds on is happiness. Thus, ven they are near, a feeling of dread and as though vone vill never again be cheerful is ever-present...


“Miss Riddle, if you and Miss Diggory are unable to get along I recommend vone of you move to a different desk, please. There is little need for such severity," Sevastyan paused the lecture upon hearing the pair, his tone one of warning. “Mr. Hice, please sit down.”

It seemed his words had fallen upon deaf ears as Raven left the classroom. Sevastyan vaguely wondered if Amaranth Viper - the Slytherin Head of House - could be of some assistance. "Vone moment, please, class..." he asked. "Please feel free to read vhile you are vaiting for the lesson to continue."

Sevastyan walked over to his desk and composed a rather hasty message to Amaranth Viper, and sent it off in much the same fashion as the Ministry memos worked.

"Now, back to vhere ve left off...


“Vhile a Boggart is only interested in fear, and maintaining that fear, a Dementor’s motives differ in that it vants to drain every shred of positive emotion from you, and replace for a time happy memories vith your vorst. Muggles, who cannot see Dementors, often associate such an attack vith depression. However, just because vone is depressed does not alvays mean that there is a Dementor nearby.

“Up until the second fall of Lord Voldemort, Dementors vere used as guards to vatch over those in Azkaban. Some vere even employed to bestow The Dementor’s Kiss upon some of the inmates, vich is a fate vorse than death. The Dementor’s Kiss is hardly vot you vould truly call a ‘kiss’ and is not something for the faint of heart to vitness. To put it very mildly, the Dementor’s Kiss is a technique used by the creature to basically suck out vone’s soul, leaving nothing but an empty shell behind; practically physically and emotionally numb and void to the vorld...”

Sevastyan took several moments to survey the class, attempting to assess their emotional states as of now. The good thing was that the ‘scary’ part was now over and the actual defense part was forthcoming.

“There is a vay to keep a Dementor at bay, if not send it packing altogether. You may have even heard of the technique: The Patronus Charm. For those that have not heard of it, the charm is highly advanced magic but mechanics of the spell are exceedingly simple in theory. All vone must do is think of a happy memory – not just any memory but a very powverful memory... and allow the emotions experienced from this memory to permeate every fiber of your being. Some memories can even be mentally magnified if you concentrate hard enough. The incantation – ‘Ex-pec-to – Pa-tro-num – is perhaps the easiest part.

“The Patronus Charm, in its incorporeal form, acts as a shield betveen you and the Dementor; allowing the Dementor to feed on the shield, rather than you. Patronuses of the reqvired strength – or corporeal patronuses – can be used to actually send the Dementor avay. I vill provide you vith a practical demonstration, and encourage you to practice if you have not yet produced a corporeal patronus.”

Taking his eyes off the students, Sevastyan regarded the Dementor Mannequin and withdrew his wand. Eerily, it glided closer... not unlike how it would look had it been real. The Defense Professor had spent enough time around dementors to have perfected the mannequin’s locomotion into a charmed form. “Expecto Patronum!” he shouted at the dummy the moment it was mere feet away from him. A large, silvery-white bear left the tip of his wand and lumbered straight for the dementor figure at a run. The moment it hit, the fake Dementor exploded not unlike a life-size crash dummy – an arm here, and another arm there... with the hooded head rolling to a stop next to Miss Gallagher and Mr. Dalton.

“Unfortunately, the dementor vould not actually explode, as fun as I’m sure some of you must think that looked.

“The more Dementors there are, the more the Patronus must vork to keep them at bay. Needless to say, it can be taxing enough to leave vone completely spent; you do not vant to face a Dementor ven you’re tired. If anyvone is attacked by a Dementor the best thing vone can provide is, believe it or not, a hearty dose of chocolate.

“Ve vill not be practicing the Patronus Charm today, however. Instead, I vould like you all to take notice of the pool at the back of the classroom.” The wizard made a sweeping gesture in the prescribed direction. “Today’s practical lesson vill be in dealing vith vater demons, namely the Grindylow.

“Grindylows are pale green creatures that prefer to lurk in undervater veed beds, and are most commonly found in Britain. They differ greatly in appearance from the Kelpies of Scotland, and the Kappas of Japan,” Sevastyan continued, striding between the rows of students to approach the combination pool and tank. “Kelpies are often equine – horse-like – or take the form of a sea serpent. The Loch Ness Monster, vich most of you have likely heard of due to its tendency to show off for Muggles, is the vorld’s largest living Kelpie to date.

“Kappas, on the other hand, resemble a scaly monkey – some vith a turtle shell-like back – vith vebbed hands and feet. They also have several indents in the top of their heads vich contain vater. Getting them to spill this vater vill incapacitate most Kappa, but it can also kill them. As they are afraid of fire, a simple spell to create fire or sparks from vone’s vand vould suffice.

“But as you can see,” Sevastyan explained, knocking on the glass of the tank to attract the attention of the grindylows within. Almost immediately three of the five popped up out of the tank to peer curiously at the students, their long, brittle-looking hands and pointed horns and teeth plain to see from this vantage point. “... the Grindylow looks qvite different from both. There are five Grindylows in this tank. Four are domesticated by our local village of Merpeople, vhile vone is still vild.

“For today’s practical lesson, I vould like each of you to either get into the pool vith them, or stand at the archvay to simulate being undervater... either in groups or vone at a time... and try to fight off at least vone.

“But before you leave your seats, I vould like to point out a useful spell that can be used against Grindylows. The incantation is: Relashio. It comes from the Italian vord ‘rilascio’ vich means ‘to release’, ‘to relax’, or ‘to issue’. Above vater, you have probably found out that this spell sends out fiery sparks. Undervater, it issues gets of boiling vater. As vater creatures, it is only natural that they vill fear and avoid anything to do vith fire at all costs and could severely damage them. Relashio is purely defensive ven used in this manner, as it does not burn them to the extent an open flame vould.

“As before, those villing to take on the creature may line up – House-elves vill gladly fetch you your bathing suits if you prefer to change, and you vill find changing rooms to the left of the tank. If you do not vish to take on the Grindylows, please make sure you copy down the homevork before you are dismissed.”



Homework
1. Name at least one symptom that indicates a dementor is near. (1 point. Extra points of the same denomination will be awarded per additional noted affects.)

2. What emotion does a Dementor consume? What makes this different than a boggart’s abilities? (2 points)

3. Under what term do Muggles often classify some Dementor attacks? (1 point)

4. Recite the spell used to repel a Dementor. (1 point)

5. What genre of creature is a Grindylow? (1 point)

6. Name at least one difference between the Grindylow and the Kappa (1 point; extra of the same denomination awarded per additional notations.)

7. What do water creatures tend to fear and avoid at all costs? (1 point)

8. Make a list of at least 5 water-dwelling magical creatures. You may incorporate the creatures covered in this lesson, in addition to 2 other examples from your personal knowledge of the magical or mythological worlds. (2 points)

((PM me your answers; Due August 14th))


Extra Credit
Previous Lesson: Analyze Your Fears - Examine what form the boggart took or would have taken in class, and explain the reason why you believe this form frightens you. How might knowing more about your fear prepare you for future boggart attacks? (10 points) [Deadline Extended; due August 7]

Dementors: Former Guards of Azkaban Given what has been covered in class, do you approve with the former method of using Dementors to guard those incarcerated at Azkaban Prison? What about the use of the Dementor's Kiss as a punishment? Explain the reasoning behind your opinions. (5 points)

Grindylows: A portrait Sketch and label a grindylow. Include a list of possible means of defending oneself both with and without a wand. (5 points) ((Please note that you don't really need to draw this... a 150-word block of text is fine! There may be extra points in store for creativity... ^_^))

[Dementors; Grindylows Extra Credit projects due August 20... may be persuaded to extend deadline per RP-ed request the following lesson. Again, you can just PM me these, too.]

Taylor sat down quietly listening to the professor and writting down the homework. He looked at the homework and thought it was very simple, he already learned about the dementors by his father. He smiled to himself and already started on his homework.

"Yes, sir."
*Sits down, but still glaring after Raven. He then copies the homework down. He didn't want to mess up on his first assignment.*

Taylor smiled and finished his homework and turned it in, "I hope i got it all right it was kinda easy so I finished it in class," he smiled at the professor. He noticed the class had left only a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff still there.

Becca saw the new Slytherin and thought he was cute and sat next to him "Hi, I'm Becca what's your name? Did you know your so cute! Do you want to go out?" she blushed staring at him with her brown eyes.

"Um, I'm Taylor and no I don't want to go out with you I already love someone," Taylor said looking at her with a awkward look. He didn't like this Hufflepuff girl she acted strange. He looked away from her handing in his homework to the professor.

Becca gave a mad face, "Well who ever this chick you love I'm prettier," she said madley.

Taylor gave out a laugh, "You kiddin right? You just don't understand it's about whats in the inside not on the outside and to my eyes i think Raven is more beautiful then you," He was getting annoyed from Becca.

"YOU LIKE RAVEN!?" she yelled and everyone heard her but then lowered her voice, "I'm more fun then Raven!" She smiled at him.

"And more annoying" He added to her comment about being more fun, "You need to write desperate on you forehead if you want me so much! And you obviously don't know about Raven, she's the most fun person I could ever find. now leave me be!" Taylor snapped at her.

Becca got mad at him and left the classroom.

*Overhearing the conversation and then talking to the Slytherin student*
"I don't know if 'fun' is the word I would use to describe Raven...but that's your decision, not mine. My name's Leon. Nice to meet you."
*Extends his hand*

Taylor looked at the Gyffindor and replied, "You obviosly don'y know Raven also, what a pity. Taylor by the way" He shook Leon's hand and felt weird shaking hands with someone especially a gryffindor. He never shook hands with someone with out pranking them with a fake hand but Taylor didn't have a fake hand at this point of time.

"Actually, yes. I have had the, umm...pleasure of meeting her."

"Ah, I taught her well then. You just don't know the TRUE Raven," Taylor let go of his hand.

"Alright. Well, I guess it's just a matter of time, since I've almost gotten into a duel with her twice. And this is just my third day!"
*Laughs*
"Well, I'd better get going. See you around!"
*Leaves the class*

"see ya," he said as he gave in his homework to the professor.

Sevastyan smiled in kind to the Slytherin boy, accepted the homework, and gave it a quick glance. "I am sure you did vell, Mr. Taylor," he said, staying on the warm side of neutral.

'At least the conversation vith Mr. Hice vent better than the vone vith Miss Diggory...' he mused, feeling a slight headache coming on just thinking about the ordeal.

Taylor smiled at the professor and walked out of the classroom, "Good bye professor," and he went off.

((different time line as above...maybe the next day lol))

Raven walked silently into the classroom without saying a word and sat down. Knowing she was being stupid for leaving class the previous day, she wouldn't do it again. She will only ignore everyone and try to keep her cool. She took out a piece of parchment and a quill getting ready for class.

Sevastyan Kaminski looked up from the essays he was in the middle of grading as he seen from the corner of his eye more than heard someone walk in. He watched as Raven strode over to a desk and sat, also without remark. A neutral expression was in place as silvery eyes returned to the essay in an attempt to re-locate where he left off.

"You are early..." the professor trailed off in a fairly friendly tone of voice. He would've said more, but wasn't exactly sure what to say. The wizard had yet to actually form a specific teacher-to-student type relationship with any of his pupils... despite having spoken at length with one Mr. Nicolas Casillas, and the occasional question/answer session from the students during classes.

Then again, a lot of Sevastyan's off-hours time of late was spent with a certain other professor...

Raven gave an effortless smile, "I have noticed."

She felt awkward in the classroom alone with know one there but the professor. To her it felt like the walls were closing in on her from the awkwardness. She took out a book to read for the time being and hoped at least hoped someone she doesn't know or someone she doesn't hate walks in.

Taylor ran in the room unaware if he was late or not. He opened the doors and without looking around the room to see if he was late or not he yelled, "I'm here! I hope I'm not late." He said that with gasps of air coming out. He saw Raven sitting down by the table and the professor sitting at his desk and he walked towards Raven.

"What's up, Raven?" He said all cool like if nothing ever happened. He grabbed a chair sitting next to her trying to be all show-offy for her but did not succeced well when he fell off his chair. "I'm fine!" he said loudly laughing to cover up his embaressment.

I'm very stupid he thought.