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.

Second lesson of Wednesday of the first week

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The First Years had been greeted by a firmly closed door, which had been the first test of initiative. Their timetables, shiny and not let learned had informed them of the location of the lesson, and a small dispute had begun outside as to wether they were at the correct classroom.

A few older students with a sense of humour were explaining that the Defences Classroom was actually out at  Madam Nagde's hut when the door opened and Professor Storm's tall figure blotted the light that fell through into the corridor.

A mere look at the older students and they scurried away before he could give them a detention, though he had no intention to, First years were fair game, but this morning his game.

Stepping out into the corridor, he inspected the students outside and waited silently. Some got the hint and shuffled into a line, hissing at the others to comply. Once quiet he addressed them.

"Good morning First Years," He began, his voice steady, level and low in pitch. "Take your seats in silence, from the front, filling every seat." There was a spate of whispering and shuffling as the first years got into the classroom and scrambled for seats with their newly acquired friends. When they were settled, Professor Storm took note of attendance without calling names. He had taken particular care to commit the names of the new students to memory from their arrival, and there was no need for introduction the other way since he had given them his name before the sorting.

"As you progress through the years here at Hogwarts, you will learn many hundreds of incantations and wand expressions, but none so important for the preservation of your lives, as in this very room." His eyes moved steadily from face to face, willing attention from each and their eyes to be gazing in his direction.
 
"Though, whereas you may be adept in charms relating to the tying of one's shoelaces, performing it without a moment's care, few would say they were able to respond as adequately when in mortal peril. Where, the natural, animal instinct in each and every one of us, takes over, while the rational, intelligent being within stares on, paralysed."

The corner of his mouth curled just a fraction.

"And don't think you'd be the hero, taking control of the situation, for I would guarantee every single one of you would rather cry for your mother, or worse when faced with certain death. Weakness is part of being human. Defence Against the Dark Arts is about ensuring that everything you need to know to keep yourselves and others alive, is right here, without you even having to think about it."

The wizard tapped the side of his temple.

"The first few weeks you will be gaining the necessary preliminary skills of handling your wand and pronouncing incantations in each of your lessons. Charms and transfiguration will drill you in the basic grammar, but it is here that you will learn to solve problems with those skills. At Hogwarts we expect you to take notes, turn your homework in on time, and participate in every element of lessons here. Detention is a wonderful waste of your time."

Good, the first years had settled. With any luck this would be a positive first lesson - no, that was never the case.

"I very much doubt any of you will have read the first chapter of your text book - no, well, that is your homework, and there will be a written test on Friday to check you have completed this. In the meantime, we shall see what you do know of a particular wizard who was once a student in this very school. First Years, tell me what you know of Harry Potter, and we shall see how is susceptible to believing gossip over fact. Raise your hands."

Blossom was less than pleased that his place in the line-up put him well back in the classroom.  He vastly preferred being closer to the front.  He, like so many others, had failed to read the first chapter and he made a mental not to not repeat that error for any other class.  This professor and indeed this class was literally deadly serious.  When asked about Harry Potter, he put his hand up, waiting to be acknowledged.

"Harry Potter is a former student of Hogwart's most famous for surviving two separate face to face confrontations with the dark wizard Voldemort, once as an infant and again as an adult.  In the second meeting which took place here at Hogwart's, Harry Potter defeated and killed him."  Although he hadn't intended it to, Blossom's voice dropped slightly when he said the name Voldemort.  Even with the dark wizard dead, his name still was spoken with some dread.

Annette raised her hand, and when called on came up with this,"Harry James Potter was an orphan who, on his eleventh birthday, learns he is a wizard. Thus, he attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to practice magic under the guidance of the kindly headmaster Albus Dumbledore and other school professors. Harry also discovers that he is already famous throughout the novel's magical community, and that his fate is tied with that of Lord Voldemort, the nationally feared Dark Wizard and murderer of his mother and father. He destroyed the Dark lord 10 years ago, during the Battle of Hogwarts, and that is why we celebrate remembering day." She gasped for breath and added, "Harry Potter is awesome!"

She had already read the first 2 chapters of the textbook last night.

Lucy sat there, in the back, next to some kid who she thought was named Blossom. Earlier, when she thought she had heard him say that that was his name, she had sniggered quietly to herself. He was concentrating on class. Lucy had never been the most studious of the Matthews children, as she usually sat in the back and didn't pay attention. But something was different about this class.

It was the name. Defense Against The Dark Arts. Defense had been the word that stood out to her, because to her, defense meant fighting. And fighting meant fun.

The professor in front had said something about a guy named Harry Potter. She had no clue who this dude was. A politician maybe? The founder of the school? but by the sound of her peers, he was some kid who killed some dude who was really important.

The lesson was boring her. She took out a piece of parchment and took out her quill. Lucy didn't like that this school didn't use regular pens, but she figured this would just be something she'd have to learn to deal with. Lucy pretended to be writing notes, as she was actually writing:

Hey. I'm Lucy. And you are? She pushed this parchment near the middle, far enough towards Blossom that he could see it if he wanted to. She smiled a mischievous smile.

Alice was sitting next to Annette studiously. She had not read the chapters yet, but had done her fair share of research on Harry. She raised her arm high in the air proudly. Alice had a wide smile on her face, happy for this to be a rather standard class with a stricter teacher. She always loved to follow the rules, so she really liked strict teachers because it meant more rules for her to follow and be proud to follow.

When picked to answer, she retorted, "Harry James Potter, or the Boy Who Lived, was born on July 31st, 1980 to Lily and James Potter. Voldemort had come to his house when he was a mere baby and killed both his parents. When Harry was about to be killed, the killing curse rebounded and hit the Dark Lord instead. He then was brought to his uncle and and aunt's house, both of which were muggles, and was raised there until he was 11. When at the age of 11, he came to Hogwarts in which he gained superior knowledge. When at the War in 1998, he once again faced the Dark Lord. Harry killed this Dark Lord, and rid the world of such evil."

She had done extensive research about him over the summer, purely for curiosity.

Most classes were self-explanatory, like Herbology and Potions, albeit a little puzzling, like Charms (what was the difference again between a charm and a spell, and weren´t charms – or spells – an integral part of any other class as well? So why have a separate class?) – but some others, like Defence against the Dark Arts, sounded quite anachronistic and… well, outright dangerous. This wasn´t the Middle Ages, after all, and even if they all wore robes and some even wore comical pointy hats, all in all wizards and witches weren´t so different from normal, modern people; especially the wizards and witches in Marlon´s age.

And yet, professor Storm´s little speech seemed to confirm that wizards might find themselves in mortal peril rather more often than normal people (which Marlon still refused to think of as ‘muggles’). Marlon shrank into his chair, wondering for the umpteenth time whether his decision to attend Hogwarts had really been a good one…

He remained silent when professor Storm asked them about some guy named Potter; the name was common and did not ring any bells. Needless to say that Marlon had been too busy settling in to even open his text book, let alone read any chapters in there.

As it turned out, the guy named Potter was some sort of wizard hero. All the other kids went all enthusiastic about him, and once Marlon couldn´t suppress a snort when one of the Hufflepuff girls gushed about how awesome Harry Potter was. Another Hufflepuff had even memorized his exact birth date. Marlon was waiting for her to reveal his favourite colour and football team, but apparently the girl´s research hadn´t gone quite that far.

Not one to normally speak up in class, even less when he did not know the right answer, Marlon surprised himself by piping up, “Sounds like a real Bruce Willis to me. Did he single-handedly take out this Voldymort guy, or did he have at least an assistant to hand him the gun? Er, wand, I should say.”

Because this Potter sounded just too good to be true. Such things happened in movies, but in real life, a kid who went up against an adult didn´t stand a chance – even less when this adult was a nationally feared Dark Wizard and murderer. No, they must be confusing some wizarding legend with something that really happened.

Blossom looked at the paper.  For the briefest second he considering bringing the professor's attention to it but realized that, given the man's attitude he had likely already seen and was just waiting for the correct moment to strike.  Not to warn the girl seemed a little mudblooded, however, so he reached for his quill.  Not wanting to be tarred and feathered for passing notes in class, he slid his own sheet of parchment into place and in the top corner wrote:


Blossom Rose

Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Storm
You might want to pay attention and take real notes because this subject is important.

Underneath that he began writing various details about Harry Potter that he hadn't know.

Lucy rolled her eyes with a smile and wrote down on to her paper,

Don't be so boring!
This lesson is about some dude who killed another dude.
When am I going to know this?
You work WAY to hard. This class is not a big deal. I'm telling ya.

She moved the paper back into position and looked up intently as if she were actually paying attention.

Blossom bit his lip.

Importance of Harry Potter
-student who fought an adult wizard and won --faced him ALONE
-probably learned to defend himself in defense against the dark arts by paying attention in class

Lucy was just begging to have points taken from her house or possibly even a detention.  He just hoped that he wouldn't be dragged down with her, through guilt by association.

Dilly found herself seated by two kids who appeared to be passing notes in class. Not being the sort to snitch on others she didn't really care, except that the Matthews girl was one of her house mates. But she did think if those two were actually paying so little attention to Professor Storm, they were incredibly foolish. She could already tell he was no one to mess with. And yes...she had read the assignment, not wanting to get on Storm's wrong side the very first day of class.

A Hufflepuff girl said how awesome Harry Potter was and Dilly rolled her eyes. She hoped she would never have such a pitifully obvious crush on some bloke she'd never met. And then another of her house mates, Marlon Kaminski, made a sarcastic-sounding comment comparing Harry Potter to Bruce Willis.

Did he single-handedly take out this Voldymort guy, or did he have at least an assistant to hand him the gun? Er, wand, I should say.

Dilly rolled her eyes again. "Voldemort," she said, "would have had Bruce Willis for breakfast. And Clint Eastwood for lunch."

Blossom frowned.  "Excuse me professor but who are Bruce Wallace and Clint Eastwood?"  He'd never heard of  either of those wizarding families.    There were times when he was willing to admit his ignorance and he'd already realized this was a professor who would prefer that to the pretense that he understood.  Perhaps they were mudbloods, like the girl beside him obviously was.

Lucy rolled her eyes once again, and scribbled down on the sheet of paper,

Will you relax? You are so uptight.
Anything taught in class is going to be in the book.
Let your hair down, Blossom.
And besides. I betcha this Harry Potter dude was a ninja, and busted out some amazing moves to kill the other dude.
Odds are this is all just a folks tale.

But seriously Blossom. Let your hair down!



Lucy smiled, as a thought hit her mind. Was she flirting? Like really flirting? She moved the scroll back into position.

Blossom just shook his head.  He was not going to get in trouble over a mudblood Gryffindor.  He was here to learn, not socialize.  Besides, didn't she know that she wasn't supposed to talk to people from other houses?  It was almost scandalous what the mudbloods didn't know.

Silently Lexi lectured herself for not raising her hand sooner. She had done lots of research on Harry Potter, if only to prove to her little brothers that she was the smartest in the household. All of the good facts had been taken by others and she had nothing to say. She sat in her chair and watched, looking around the room to see what was going on.

That girl from Gryffindor, the fierce one, seemed to be passing notes with Blossom. He had an annoyed look on his face, as if he wished that she would leave him alone. Then Blossom asked who Clint Eastwood was, that kid was probably a pure blood through and through. Never even dabbled in muggle studies, that's what Lexi assumed.

Alice had already given a brilliant answer, how could she not? Alice had been Lexi's research buddy while they looked at textbooks over the summer. After about thirty minutes into studying though, Lexi had gotten bored and played with her owl, stroking his soft feathers. But Alice was always the more focused one anyways, until a certain owl perched in her hair...

And Marlon, he was just generally confused, which Lexi found absolutely adorable. Confusing guns and wands, he was funny when he was trying to be serious, at least to Lexi. But she found alot of things like that funny, was it possibly because she had a little crush on him? Was that even possible?

Lexi smiled at the thought and then turned her attention to Annette, who had blurted out that Harry Potter is awesome. Well, that's Annette for ya. Puts things bluntly, so to speak.

Lexi raised her hand, in order to offer an answer to Blossom's question. "Professor, aren't Clint Eastwood and Bruce Wallace muggle actors? I don't think they're wizards."

Dessa was enjoying the conversation greatly, although the professor looked less than pleased with the sudden deviation into the Muggle world of Hollywood.
"Bruce Willis, Lex," she answered. "And yeah, they're just actors. I think I have to agree with Marlon though. The whole story does seem a little unlikely." She'd never heard of this Potter guy, but his tale sounded more like a book or movie than history.  Dessa noticed Marlon staring at Lexi, and grinned. She elbowed Lexi and jerked her head toward the boy, "Looks like you have an admirer."