Expected Students:
  Ayla Collins       Hufflepuff :: 2
  Blake Knight       Ravenclaw :: 2 :: (+5)
  Cait Morrigan       Ravenclaw
  Roxanne Cross       Hufflepuff  :: 1 :: (+5)

NB: Please write as if your character is already in the lesson by the time Ignan begins. If your character has a plot reason for being late, then by all means write their arrival as an interruption, with the house point loss accompaniment... Thanks.

After the basic, yet informative lesson with the first years, Ignan now turned his attention to the third years. He brought the desks back into their rows and brought out a box full of items no larger than the thick text book each of the students were reading for the year. They ranged from bells, pens, mirrors, glasses and other assorted items that rather resembled the caretaker's lost property box, than anything particularly offensive.

He placed the box on top of his desk and looked over it at the third years assembled, before calling a short roll call. Unlike the first years, he wanted to have some idea of the names of these students, given the task in hand. When each of the students had responded to his call of their name, he stood straight.

"You will need chapter seven in your text books, for reference and advice. Please open them now," He heard the sound of books rustling out of bags and the covers opening, pages flapping, "Especially if you haven't opened the book yet this term," He added, drawing his wand from his long academic robes, and levitating the box from the desk.

"You will each receive an item, which I strongly recommend you do not handle until you have grasped the potential dangers. These are perfectly ordinary items," He began to explain, setting an item from the box down before each of the students. "that have been cursed with the intention of causing harm to the recipient. It is your task in this lesson to correctly identify and remove the curse without triggering it first."

He paused, examining the mirror slightly before setting it down before one of the students.
"I trust you all know where the infirmary is, should you need it." The corner of his mouth tugged up in a smirk for a moment, and then dropped again.

"There should be no questions, because you must have all read the chapter for your previous Professor I'm sure. Do begin." There was an edge of sarcasm to that, as he lowered the box and a few remaining items to his desk, and then began to patrol up and down the lines of desks with an intent, and rather intimidating curiosity.

(OOC: You can make up your item, as long as its a text book size or smaller - bell that rung induces sleep, or paper that's as sharp as razor blades, or something equally perilous that you could trigger on yourself or classmates. Have fun with it.)

Ayla had a received a note from her sister passing in the halls after the younger Collins' had their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with the new Professor. Much like her little sister Ayla had been apprehensive about yet another new teacher, not to mention one that was replacing her Head of House. She had no idea whether this new Professor would be the new head of Hufflepuff or if that job was going to be passed on to one of the other Professors already at the school. Thankfully the note had been one of praise, apparently Dahlia and Erik had really enjoyed the lesson.

Sitting in front of Professor Storm Ayla could see why Dahlia had liked him so much. He seemed like a wizened old wizard that was very by the book, something Dahlia absolutely loved. She never understood why her little sister was so into books while her and Erik were pretty much loose cannons. Then again she was glad that he got to witness the most studious of the Collins' kids first, at least her own academic foul ups wouldn't be pushed onto Dahlia like they were with many of their other Professors.

Ayla had her text opened to chapter seven and smirked having never read a single word of it. She was really bad at remembering to read something for class. She usually did really well when it came to testing or doing anything practical but sitting in the common room or library just reading was definitely not her favourite past time. She looked up at the Professor with a smile as he placed a very pretty mirror in front of her. She had almost reached out to touch it, had even raised her hands to do so when she remembered that the object was cursed and could very well send her or someone else around her to the Hospital Hut.

She took out her wand and started to scan over the words on the first page of chapter seven trying to find something that would pop out at her. There had to be some sort of charm or spell that would reveal hidden magic right?

Blake was eager to meet their new DADA  professor. The previous one had been nice enough and to date, one of his favorite lessons had been the one where they had battled boggarts. The third year knew that there was much to learn still in their magical journey and this new professor was going to be instrumental in that.

After the roll call, he dutifully opened the text to the page Storm had indicated. At the professor's dry humor about those who had not opened the text all term, Blake smirked and flashed looks at his two brothers, also in the class. That assessment fit the them to a T and Blake just hoped that Professor Storm would not lump him in with the rest of the Knights.

With book opened, Blake folded his arms upon it and intently listened and watched his elder with reverence. Any thoughts of his brothers quickly fell away as his item, a pen, was set before him. His blue hued orbs were wide with curiosity and his mind was already buzzing with the possibilities.

Once Storm gave them the go-ahead, Blake took a deep breath and prepared to go to work. He cast a glance over to Ayla to see what her reaction was to the task at hand, but he didn't glean any reassurance from her expression.

Blake quietly turned back to the pen before him and pushed himself up from his book so that he could glance over the words of the chapter. His eyes darted back and forth between them and the sleekness of the pen, tempting the Ravenclaw to foolishly reach out to touch it.

After what seemed like an eternity of deep contemplation indicative of his house and one of the top students in his year, Blake extracted his birch wand. With some amount of apprehension regarding if what he was about to do was the correct course of action, Blake pointed it at the pen and said in a clear, purposeful voice, "Specialis Revelio!"

Then he sat back and waited to see what would happen. His eyes widened even more than before and he drew in a sharp breath at what was eventually revealed.

First impressions were key to the students as much as to the professor. Perhaps that was why Roxanne rarely came across as a good student? The first, and several times thereafter, impression that she gave off was that of a lazy girl who simply flopped down in the middle of the classroom with a bored look on her horse face. It probably had something to do with the way she sunk into her chair with an "I could care less" attitude or maybe it was because her shoes were untied, her robes were hanging off one shoulder, her shirt was only halfway tucked in, and her skirt had wrinkles in them. Her blond hair was haphazardly kept locked in a bun with her wand, stray hairs sticking out all over the place or falling here and there. At least the girl had enough sense to completely tie her tie which showed that she put forth a little bit of effort.

The new professor, however, reminded her of the portrait of her grandfather. He'd worked for the ministry, went by the book, and was a rotten, foul git who needed a taste of his own medicine. Therefore, this stern professor didn't exactly seem like the kind of man who would get along with Roxanne. In fact, they would probably be on the worst-student/worst-teacher's list all year if their personalities really got to clashing. As he began his own orientation, Roxanne sat up to hunch over her desk and dig around in her bag. More than likely, nothing had changed: they'd still be reading this stupid book.

"You will need chapter seven in your text books, for reference and advice. Please open them now."

Wait. Did he say reference and advice? The third year must have heard wrong. She lifted her head to look up at him just in time to see him handing out items explaining that each one had a curse. Her own sarcastic smirk appeared on her lips as she leaned back in her seat again, pushing the book aside a few inches to stare at the bells she was given.

"It is your task in this lesson to correctly identify and remove the curse without triggering it first."

Without triggering the curse first? The girl actually started to use her brain when Blake Knight, the sly devil, managed to use the Specialis Revelio spell to reveal the enchantment. How clever. Roxanne redirected her attention to the bell and blocked out the rest of the class. She wasn't gifted, but being a Cross sometimes had its advantages. Cursed items, for instance, were common around her house. Vladimir and her mother had what Roxanne considered to be an addiction to cursed objects and it was hard for her to touch anything in the house without knowing whether or not it was cursed and how to disarm it.

Putting forth effort to figure out things was way too much work for her. She really didn't enjoy it at all, but since the man would probably be a git and take points off if she refused to do the work at which point someone in her house would start yapping at her, the third year finally reached up to remove the wand from her hair. This caused the long strands to fall all around her shoulders and partially frame her face on one side. A bit more concentration was required before Roxanne's wand flicked at the bell.

"Wingardium leviosa," she whispered.

Guided by her wand, the bell lifted upwards in the air. She looked underneath it to closely inspect the clapper while being careful not to allow it to clang against the surrounding dome. She examined it for a long while, sometimes checking the book for reference, before setting it down extremely gently and raising her hand. When she was called upon, Roxanne blurted her answer out.

"The curse on the bell is an illusion curse. When the bell rings, a spell enters through the ear and affects the brain causing an illusion. If the book's right, it's a hearing illusion meaning that someone will hear the illusion like a banshee screaming or loved ones crying out in pain. It's not something you'd be able to see with your eyes or touch."

She considered disarming the bell, but the professor only instructed them to identify it. Roxanne didn't feel like getting points taken away from Hufflepuff after doing all that work.

Ah now, Ayla Collins. Enthusiastic looking student, with relatives in the class he'd previously taught. News travelled quickly perhaps? He wondered what the verdict had been. Let her not be so vain as to gaze into the mirror, he hoped as he observerd Ayla's face vanish behind her book. Like most of her classmates, they didn't keep up with their reading. When youth was a time to be spent exploring and adventuring, he could hardly blame them, but this would be something to change, today, for these tardy youngsters.

Nearby, Blake Knight was already on his way to identifying and studying the curse placed upon his pen. It brought a whole new meaning to poison pen that one, Ignan thought with a smirk, almost wishing the young man might have triggered the curse just to see the reaction. Wishing ill on his students before he even knew them wasn't an altogether good sign, and Ignan wiped the smirk from his face as quickly as is appeared, narrowing his eyes and hoping young Mr Knight found the reaction from the pen... enlightening, if not surprising.

His eyes drifted between the heads dotting between objects and books, and landed on a scruffy looking girl. Roxanne Cross. Not the brightest spark in the class from the marks left by the previous professor, and clearly quite eccentric. He made his way slowly between the desks, and saw her levitate her bells into the air. Ignan's step faultered ever so slightly, wondering if she might make them ring, but instead, she seemed to be onto something, a rather determined expression had crossed her face all of a sudden.

He watched Roxanne consult her books and then lower the bells down without a sound, and raise her hand.
"Miss Cross?" He asked, reaching her desk, and peering down his nose at her.

"The curse on the bell is an illusion curse. When the bell rings, a spell enters through the ear and affects the brain causing an illusion. If the book's right, it's a hearing illusion meaning that someone will hear  the illusion like a banshee screaming or loved ones crying out in pain. It's not something you'd be able to see with your eyes or touch."

Her answer came out with such speed that he had a job to catch her words at first. He paused, letting her words settle and then gave her a rare and genuine smile.
"Very good Miss Cross. Five points for Hufflepuff." He hoped that was a reasonably generous amount, not quite used to the addition of points at Hogwarts yet.
"Curious you should mention if the book is right, although we may learn much from them about Defences, nothing quite beats actual practical implementation, do you agree? Splendid, do proceed to disarm, and let me know when you succeed."

He gave her a nod, and turned to the rest of the class.
"Are there any more observations to be shared, or should I consider Miss Cross a lucky fluke amongst you all?" He asked, walking behind Blake, and looking down over the young man's shoulder.

Blake could feel the apt attention of the professor on his actions and those of the rest of the class. He expected it. And generally he did well to perform under pressure. Regardless, though Blake was considered a smarty pants by many, he wasn't a show off. And he hardly carried himself like a know-it-all  (at least he didn't think so). He just went about his work in a focused and diligent manner.

Blake didn't even look up as Roxanne identified the curse on her own object. But when Professor Storm wondered if any of the rest of them would succeed, Blake became more determined that his classmate would not be the only successful one. He didn't dislike Roxanne, but she clearly was not as affable as Ayla and so he did not go out of his way to interact with her.

The Specialis Revelio spell showed Blake that the pen was cursed by poison. Blake's brow shot up as immediately he began to think back to his readings and also previous coursework for how he might fix his problem. He knew that Bezoars were capable of saving a person from most poisons, but that wasn't something he carried in his bag on the off chance that he might need it like today. Blake also knew that there were potions that were capable of reversing the effects of a poison. But this was not potions class.

Thus, the Ravenclaw was perplexed for a moment as to how he should continue. He was tempted to set off the curse and deal with the effects that way, but he considered that would mean he failed his task. And Blake was not about to let that happen.

He sat in silence for a bit longer, his elbows propped up on the desk and his chin resting on the shelf that was created by placing the palms of his hands together. His blue hued eyes did not move from the object that sat less than a few feet from him. Even as he had a feeling that someone else was looking at him, he did not flinch.

Finally, after patiently searching his brain for a possible solution, Blake picked up his wand again, and with a flick towards the pen, he called, "Delitrius!"

He looked up at the professor and quietly offered, "The erasing spell, sir." He looked at the pen for a moment before he reached out and picked it up, no longer worried about what it might do to him. "It erases the effects of a spell." Blake held the pen out to Professor Storm. "And in this case, it was a curse to poison this pen."

Ayla was only slightly distracted when both Roxanne and Blake were able to discover what their objects had been cursed with, Blake had even been able to disarm his. She gave them both a small smile and turned back to her book scanning the words as she hastily flipped through the pages. Her green gold eyes hovered over the revealing spell completely oblivious to the fact that Blake had already used it on his own cursed object.

Ayla looked at the mirror and picked up her maple wand. Chewing on her lower lip she tried to concentrate on the task at hand before swishing her wand at the object, "Specialis Revelio." She hadn't said it very loud but apparently the mirror had heard. A ghostly image rose from the mirror depicting a very distorted vision of Ayla, her face completely covered in horrible boils and sores. Ayla let out a soft gasp and waved her hand through the ghost image until it dissipated, "Ooookay." She chewed on her lip again trying to figure it out, "So it looks like some kind of twisted Furnunculus hex." She said to no one in particular. For once her attention was actually on the task at hand.

"How do you get rid of a Furnunculus hex?" She asked herself while going back to her book and flipping through the pages again trying to find something that would help her in figuring out how to disarm the curse on her mirror.

Ignan watched Blake consider the reaction to the spell for a while. This was a positive move, given that it was the first time the group had performed this exercise. Roxanne was disarming her bells with a similar thoughtful expression. Ayla also had a furrowed brow. He was sure the third years were normally not so quiet - this one had them captivated, which was good to see.

Ah, Blake had found his answer.
"The erasing spell, Sir." he reached out to pick it up, "It erases the effects of a spell, and in this case, it was a curse to poison this pen."

"Very good Knight, a thoughtful deduction and disarming, five points also to Ravenclaw."

"How do you get rid of a Furnuculus hex?" Ayla muttered at her desk, still very much involved in her work.

"Another object?" He asked the two students who had completed, levitating the box back towards them.
"Then, when everyone has had sufficient time, we shall try a different approach, to a rather larger object." He told Blake and Roxanne, offering the box for them both to peer inside.

(Edit)

When the class had taken a suitable length of time to complete the object disarmament by themselves, Ignan drew the desks back and assembled the third years in the middle of the room, before drawing their attention the back of the room. Here, at the back, was a tall dresser, which up until now had been covered by a disillusionment charm, ensuring the students didn't notice it during the lesson. Removing the charm, and revealing it to them all, the students could see a wide bottom part, made up of two double door cupboards, and above that a line of four drawers, to about adult waist height. Then, on top of this, a set of four shelves, containing a set of lurid pink crockery.

"Imagine, if you will, that you are now employees of the British Ministry. You have been sent to search the home of a suspected criminal, and have so far met resistance in their wards on the house, and also to enter this room. Here, stands a seemingly uninteresting dresser, which you will have to search for potentially dangerous items. Working as a team, you need to break any wards, curses or hexes protecting, and retrieve any items from within which you perceive to be potentially dangerous, or incriminating. You have until the end of the lesson. Begin."