Dax Fayette H - 1
Eveline Chancelier H - 1
Ruby Flickwick H -1
Fauna Blake H - 1
Emily Carter G - 1
Grace Eddy G - 1



OOC: For those unfamiliar with my lessons, please post as if you have been present from the beginning, unless you have a valid, and pre-discussed plot reason for announcing a late arrival. PMing me is encouraged if you'd like me to be aware of something character significant for the lesson, ta. I don't deduct housepoints for non attendance, I do add them for participation, interesting, plot furthering or amusing IC reactions, and especially for balanced character abilities. If you can't join us, may be to your advantage to drop me a quick note.

9:30, second lesson of the day.

---

"Don't mind the trunk." Professor Storm told the seventh years lazily, as their attention was turned to the trunk rattling at the side of the classroom.

"Its a boggart for the third years, and its restless. Won't be letting it out now, it might wear itself out producing a mountain of exam papers."

The Hogwarts defences professor had perched on an empty desk in the front row of the class. One of the seventh year students whom normally was seated there had come down with influenza yesterday, leaving it vacant, and a good place to perch momentarily. Despite himself, he was actually beginning to enjoy teaching the seventh years. There was something a little refreshing about talking to students who were half interested, not that there weren't those in the younger classes, but there were also the riff-raff who would amount to little.

"And do ignore the peculiar smell, it will dissipate, just had the fifth years performing co-operative magic." He made a face. "Excess magic sometimes causes elemental changes to the air, and of course, fifth years are at the hormonal, still not quite at the washing every morning stage." He folded his arms and rested his boot upon the empty seat before him, lowering his head as he considered the fact he'd just attempted to crack a joke.

Idiot. They'd forgive him.

Raising his head again, but leaving his eyes staring off to one side between the rows of desks, distractedly, he explained.
"Today we need to discuss memories and magic. Something tackled for your OWLs, but not to any depth. For the NEWT, you need to critically explain consequences surrounding memory magic, and draw upon examples from your spell repertoire. Examples of spells which require memories would be...?" His eyes ran around the faces of the seventh years at their desks quills in hand, taking notes. 

Dax slouched in the back of the class, his chair tilted back and his shoulders resting against the wall. It was from this position that he pondered the trunk - he'd never faced a boggart, actually. and was somewhat curious. But since that wasn't for them, he supposed he'd better get on with it -

The teacher's question sparked movement in Dion, who sat ramrod-straight next to him. Dax, with a smug smile, raised his hand faster, and as he answered the question he was keenly aware of Dion's death glare. Dax sat up as he was called on, his elbows landing firmly on the desktop.

"The Patronus charm, sir, as well as the False Memory Charm. And the Memory Extraction Charm, the one used for Pensieves..." He said, and then paused. He couldn't think of any more than that, really. "Many potions make use of memories as well," he added, "Though that's only really via the use of the Extraction charm."

"The Patronus charm, sir, as well as the False Memory Charm. And the Memory Extraction Charm, the one used for Pensieves... Many potions make use of memories as well, though that's only really via the use of the Extraction charm."

"Good, Mr Fayette, lateral thinking to be encouraged. Those examiners may throw a question in about something not included in the required syllabus to see what you can work out from your acquired knowledge about related magic. Expecto patronum relies on positive thoughts to produce a corporeal patronus, fallax memoria requires an experienced caster to create a false thought in their head - or by manipulating a thought in a pensieve, and then submitting it to a victim's head, often through force..."

His jaw set and he paused, staring off above the Fayette twin's heads, pushing aside his own experiences with that, "and extraxi memoria too. Should you wish to know the potions, please consult with Professor Vaillancourt." Along with astronomy, potions wasn't one of Ignan's favoured subjects as a Durmstrang student decades back.

"Memories are precious to Muggles and magical people alike, they help us form our own identity. Without them, we lose that. Memory charms, obliviation being the magical attack that can force memory loss. Can anyone draw upon an example of a situation we have studied, or which has been reported in the media which involves a memory modification or loss?"

"Don't mind the trunk."

Merlin, thought Eveline. That’s like saying ignore the elephant in the room. Once your attention is called to a thing how can you ignore it? Nevertheless she was becoming used to Professor Storm and his eccentricities. He was stern, but fair.

"Its a boggart for the third years, and its restless. Won't be letting it out now, it might wear itself out producing a mountain of exam papers."

That would scare me, she admitted to herself. And I’m not even a third-year.

"And do ignore the peculiar smell, it will dissipate, just had the fifth years performing co-operative magic. Excess magic sometimes causes elemental changes to the air, and of course, fifth years are at the hormonal, still not quite at the washing every morning stage."

Yuck, she thought, wrinkling her nose.  It did smell somewhat of the Hufflepuff boys’ dorm, especially after Quidditch practice…

"Today we need to discuss memories and magic. Something tackled for your OWLs, but not to any depth. For the NEWT, you need to critically explain consequences surrounding memory magic, and draw upon examples from your spell repertoire. Examples of spells which require memories would be...?"

I can’ t remember, Evie thought, and clamped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from saying it aloud. Her tongue had got her in enough trouble recently. She’d spent every spare moment for the last three weeks polishing plaques and suits of armor, and she wasn’t done yet.

Fortunately Dax Fayette spoke up before she could be further tempted. "The Patronus charm, sir, as well as the False Memory Charm. And the Memory Extraction Charm, the one used for Pensieves...Many potions make use of memories as well. Though that's only really via the use of the Extraction charm."

Ick, thought Evie. There had to be something nasty about pulling strands of ectoplasm from one’s own temple, or somebody else’s. She couldn’t imagine actually drinking it…

"Good, Mr Fayette, lateral thinking to be encouraged. Those examiners may throw a question in about something not included in the required syllabus to see what you can work out from your acquired knowledge about related magic. Expecto patronum relies on positive thoughts to produce a corporeal patronus, fallax memoria requires an experienced caster to create a false thought in their head - or by manipulating a thought in a pensieve, and then submitting it to a victim's head, often through force..."

Professor Storm seemed faraway…perhaps even a bit sad…for a moment. But it passed quickly and he returned to his usual no-nonsense demeanor. “Should you wish to know the potions, please consult with Professor Vaillancourt."

Had Evie known Professor Storm’s thoughts about potions she would have agreed heartily. She was scarcely  better at them than Neville Longbottom had been…

"Memories are precious to Muggles and magical people alike, they help us form our own identity. Without them, we lose that. Memory charms, obliviation being the magical attack that can force memory loss. Can anyone draw upon an example of a situation we have studied, or which has been reported in the media which involves a memory modification or loss?"

Evie was not the type to wave her hand in the air and bounce up and down. But she thought for a moment and raised her hand tentatively. “Erm…isn’t that what happened to Akiva Katz, last summer?”

'Correct,' came a quiet voice from the back of the classroom. Aberdeen had opened the door almost silently, and closed it softly behind her as she gave an apologetic look to Ignan Storm. 'Sorry to interrupt, Professor Storm. I had a run in with Peeves on the way back...' She pulled a grimace. 'Apparently he's learned a new song and he wanted to, ah, share it.' Aberdeen had never met Fauna Blake, about whom the school's resident poltergeist had been singing (to the tune of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', no less), but judging by the lyrics, and the fact that Peeves had been singing it, she decided she could safely assume that Blake was definitely not a werewolf.

The former Auror waited quietly as the Defence teacher introduced her to the class[1]; Aberdeen Spencer, who, as reported by the Daily Prophet, had first-hand experience of the effects of the Memory Charm. Storm hopped off the desk he had been sitting on and moved to one side; Aberdeen took this as her cue to approach the front of the class. She faced the seventh years with a relaxed stance and an alert expression. What had happened to her memories was not something she generally liked talking about, but this was a special case. Maybe the better educated the next generation were, the better they'd be able to guard against the likes of Obliviate. She certainly wouldn't wish that special brand of amnesia on her worst enemy. (Well. Maybe her worst enemy. But no one else.)

'You're right that Miss Katz is an example of memory loss from recent news,' Aberdeen said, glancing to the blonde girl who had spoken a moment ago. 'Like Professor Storm said, I'm another example. In both cases the Memory Charm was used by a criminal to mask the identity of its caster. In my case,' she pressed on, finding it more painful to dwell on the awful things that had happened to Akiva that summer, 'it was used to keep my husband and me from realising a crime had even been committed. The Memory Charm targetted everything we knew about our son, to buy a little time, I suppose, before we realised he'd been-- taken.' Aberdeen surprised herself with the way her voice caught on the last word. No, no you don't. Don't you dare make them pity you.

'But like most spells,' Aberdeen continued levelly, hoping no one had noticed her slip, 'The Memory Charm's effectiveness relies on how well-- or not-- it's cast. I wonder if-- if anyone has any ideas about the various outcomes of a subpar Memory Charm?' She looked questioningly at the class, then, reminding herself this wasn't her territory, glanced over to Storm as if to say, Is it okay to open it up to discussion?

1.	Permission to godmode given by Kit.

uniform

Lou was making a list of who was a bigger prat at the moment. GEORGE had three points under its all-caps heading so far, and EDMUND also had three. The girl offered a dramatic mock sigh and slumped back into her chair, tapping her quill against the paper over which she'd previously been huddled. Such was life. She was really thinking about busting into the dormitories that evening and proposing to Grace or Quinn. They could run off and elope and drive all their parents mad. There'd be a contract where they could hook up with as many boys as they liked (because, woe was she, Lou still found herself liking boys, for all the disliking she'd done in the past few days)-- so long as they always did the heart-breaking, and not the other around. And there would be absolutely no rubbish from any of those XY-chromosomed creatures.

The only male Lou could put up with at the moment was, in fact, her owl.

So poor Professor Storm would have to forgive her. (Fat chance.) If she somehow managed to land her own bum in detention, she would simply crawl to the nurse crying of cramps and Lady Troubles. That ought to throw the old warlock for a loop... she wondered if he'd ever used defensive magic against a girl at that time of the month. (No, not the full moon. Fauna was not a werewolf, Merlin damnit.)

So when a female voice echoed from the back of the classroom, Lou's posture transformed faster than a registered Animagi. Her back slid into the nook of her chair, her shoulders straightened like a giant breaking free from a web of ropes, and her neck nearly snapped clean (or not so clean) as Nearly Headless Nick's. She eyed the auror with open-mouthed shock, then hair-tousling confusion, and finally knitted-brow suspicion.  Oh, so they were showing their faces around the castle before they'd found her dad's killer were they?

She couldn't imagine why Edward Pratt didn't come himself.

Oh, wait, yes she could: he was terrified of her.

With acid on her tongue and stormy clouds in her brain, Lou couldn't help but devote all of her gaze to the woman. She didn't know her too well, but the face was familiar enough to light the sparks in the Carter girl's head. Just her luck... She was paying attention.

"Yeah," the Gryffindor spoke up, not bothering to raise her hand. "Captives go blabbing about their kidnappers, and Law Enforcement can't keep framing little boys. The target has it worst, of course. It'd probably be like having dementia in the prime of your life." For example... "Your remember your Aunt Mimsy's cat's name, but you can't remember that it was three cats ago. Meanwhile the real Ogden's Old Firewhiskers was hexed by the neighbor kid who did a shoddy job of trying Obliviate you a half year back, and he's sitting stuffed over the fireplace like some horrible, demonic teddy bear with candles and... prayer beads..." A finish with flourish. Finally, her eyes moved from the auror to the Professor, whom she stared at with a practiced innocence she'd picked up from George before she'd stopped talking to him.

From her place off to the side -- far enough away from Storm that she could be hidden by others but close enough to appease her overachieving nature -- Grace actually chuckled when Storm made the dry comment about the boggart and how it might turn into exams. It was true that the good bulk of fifth and seventh years around the school were on edge about their upcoming tests. Grace was included among those ranks, but to a different degree than in the past. She still wanted to do well and particularly for the sake of her future ambitions. But now she realized that if she did not do well, even after all the effort, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Worse things could happen.

And worse things actually were happening to her.

Sometimes, the best thing to do when those things were happening was focus on something positive. So that's what Grace was doing.

She quicky ducked her head, hoping that Professor Storm had not seen her amusement. She needed to keep up the appearance that she was still upset with him for the detention in which he tried to poison her, Fauna and Chance, even though it was so long ago. The truth was, she actually liked Storm and desperately wanted to improve in his classes -- and not just because she needed the class to be a healer. She begrudgingly respected him. And she wanted him to see that she was a good, hardworking student, despite her dash from his class earlier in the semester.

She only looked back up from her notes when the talk turned to charms involving memory. She nearly threw her hand up to contribute a typical know-it-all response, but she caught herself and instead patiently listened to the contributions of the rest of her classmates.

Her previous attempt at stifling her silliness was a lost cause as soon as her friend Lou began to speak. For some reason, it all sounded funny to her and she quickly clamped her hand over her mouth to prevent the onslaught of laughter. After a few heaving silent laughs behind the hand, she composed herself.

She took a deep breath and added to Lou's narration, "Yes, a misfired memory spell could send plenty of once happy, healthy individuals to St. Mungo"s. And then it becomes the job of the healers there to clean up the mental mess."

Ruby looked at Lou, fighting to keep her lips from twitching. Lou was the biggest source of Ruby's identity conflict - with her fiery nature and silken curls. She was the first girl Ruby had ever had a crush on; scratch that, she was the first person Ruby had ever had a crush on. At first she had thought it was just envy that compelled her to want to be a part of Lou's world; wanting to be a free spirit and not so bound by moral and familial obligations. It wasn't until they were fifteen or so that Ruby realized she was more jealous of the boys kissing Lou than all the boys Lou seemed to kiss.

It was a problem; and it was distracting; and it was dreadful because Lou Carter was that unattainable girl and it was dreadful and marvelous to have classes with her. Forcing her eyes away from the forever-center of the universe she scribbled notes furiously; keeping up the details of Spencer's story; managing not to completely crack up at Lou's reply; and noting a sort of sadness to Grace's voice. In the aftermath of Sophie Meltdown 300 over breaking up with Fig; Ruby felt like she was too in tune with the emotions of those around her. She had nothing to add to this lesson. There were lots of things she would gladly have Obliterated from her brain if she could.

Aberdeen looked at the first girl to answer her with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, but her face was back to a more neutral, alert expression within seconds. Framing little boys-- was she referring to the Kyle Gibson fiasco? One of the deeply unpleasant reminders that Magical Law Enforcement did not get everything right all the time. Hell, they all knew it, it was undoubtedly a factor in Tamis Raynor's decision to call an unofficial meeting[1] of Level Two. There was something vaguely familiar about this girl, though, something in the face, perhaps? It was as though she reminded Aberdeen of someone she used to know... Now was not the time to dwell on it, however. She shifted her gaze to the second girl to speak, the brown-haired, sensible-looking one, and gave her an approving nod.

'Yes, those are definitely possible outcomes,' she affirmed. 'Well, maybe the parts about being sent to St Mungo's and the similarities to dementia moreso than the, ah, demonic teddy bear analogy...' She quirked an eyebrow at the more rebellious girl. 'Some of you might be familiar with the case of Gilderoy Lockhart if you've studied recent history; he's a good example of what happens when too much force is applied. There was no holding back, or control; no finesse to the Memory Charm that backfired on him, and the result was a man who ended up recalling nothing of his life up to that point. Thoroughly nasty business. And you're quite right, Miss-- sorry, I don't know your name,' she said to the brown-haired girl. 'It's up to the healers to try to put things back together.

'Those, of course, are the general outcomes of largely irreversible Memory Charms. The Memory Charm placed on me, well, it's started to break down in places-- pretty fortunate for me. Any thoughts on how that can happen? The way the spell was cast? Methods applied after the Oblivation?'

1.	Raynor meets with the other aurors to discuss the state of the MLE in Constant Vigilance.

Fauna, for once, didn't have a problem holding back her laughter at Lou's antics, just because the subject matter made her a little uncomfortable. Hearing mention of Akiva as an example during a lecture was a little strange, and she stayed quiet for the beginning of class, feeling sympathetic towards the Auror (not that she'd ever admit that to her friends).

But when Auror Spencer asked how a memory charm could break down, Fauna decided she might as well explain some of what Akiva had told her. She glanced at the woman and raised her hand.

"I think time has a lot to do with it. Like how quickly people realize something is wrong and how fast they try to work to fix the damage the Memory Charm caused. And then later on, the strength of the charm seems to... lessen, with time? If the charm isn't reinforced, and the person who was put under the spell gets time to recover from it, there's a chance you'll start to remember things bit by bit. Maybe not everything, but some things."

She paused. "And sometimes little details can remind you of what really happened. Because memory... is attached to senses. So you might hear something, or smell something that brings it up."

Fauna's face flushed a bit, wishing she had more to add, but that was all she could think to say at the moment.

"And sometimes little details can remind you of what really happened. Because memory... is attached to senses. So you might hear something, or smell something that brings it up." Fauna flushed as if she thought she had spoken out incorrectly.

"That is correct, Blake." He echoed from where he perched to one side at the front of the class.

"Did you find that with your memory restoration at St Mungo's Ms Spencer?" He asked Aberdeen, his tone encouraging, the auror was a level headed speaker, not too phased by the unusual responses by some of the seventh years.

Aberdeen allowed herself a smile at the blue-eyed girl who had answered; another student who knew what she was talking about. She glanced towards Storm as he spoke up, lifting her eyebrows a little in surprise as he called her 'Blake'. So this was Fauna Blake? Quite aside from the werewolf song Peeves had been singing, Blake's name was not an unfamiliar one to Aberdeen. Apart from anything else, she had been the one to find Akiva after her abduction. Blake's knowledge of certain potential after-effects of Memory Charms only served to elevate her estimation of the girl (not to mention lending credence to Aberdeen's suspicion that Akiva had kept in touch with her). But, she wasn't here to play favourites. She turned her attention to Storm's prompt.

'Yes, well, as you said, Miss Blake has it correct,' she nodded, giving him a grateful look, mostly in response to the fact that he addressed her as 'Ms' rather than 'Auror'. Though she hadn't technically resigned or been officially dismissed from duty, the fact that she had been put on indefinite leave did make the title an uncomfortable one for her. 'Of course a lot of it's down to luck, and I've been-- relatively speaking-- lucky.' It still felt a little odd to focus on the positive. How Akiva managed to be so optimistic all the time, Aberdeen would never know. 'The healers who treated me reckoned the wit-- person who cast the charm was not an expert at it. The result could have damaged my long-term memory, but it didn't. It resulted in the spell weakening over time, with help from the staff at St Mungo's, of course,' she added with a glance to the brown-haired Gryffindor who had mentioned the hospital before.

'And little details can help, in the right circumstances,' she went on, a little more emphatically. 'These days my husband and I surround ourselves with reminders. Photos of Ro-- of our son. Drawings he's made.' Aberdeen felt a surge of gratitude towards Akiva, who had been able to provide some of the crayon doodles Robin had made for her when she used to babysit him. Murphy knew the kidnapper hadn't left any of Robin's possessions in the Adani household. 'Little things other people tell us about him. Sometimes it... it's difficult to tell whether we're truly remembering, or whether our brains are just trying to fill in the gaps.' Aberdeen's eyes clouded over for a moment-- only for a moment.

'But, in some ways, recovering from a Memory Charm-- though one never can recover entirely-- can be like an exercise in retraining your mind. And there are prompts that can help with that. Photos of the forgotten person. Written accounts of the forgotten event. Sounds, smells, as you said,' she put in, nodding to Blake. 'But,' she added with a somewhat self-effacing crooked smile, 'I suspect I may be getting ahead of the issue. Did anyone have anything they'd like me to clarify-- any questions... or comments?' Aberdeen wanted to be informative, and she was comfortable with public speaking, but she didn't want to monopolise the subject. It had always been her experience in school that one long lecture was not nearly as engaging as a discussion. None the less, she glanced back to Storm once again, wondering if he had anything to add.