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(1/2/04 8:19 pm) Reply
Defense Against the Dark Arts, First Class
The classroom was mostly full when Professor Batzri entered. The moment he entered the room the excited babble dimmed and then cut off altogether - whatever else they had learned in the years he had taught, he thought with satisfaction, they knew that he was not a teacher to trifle with.
"Please open Creatures of the Dark to page four," he said sharply as soon as he had reached the front of the room. There was a low buzz of conversation and the sound of many books being opened and their pages turned before the classroom resumed its usual stony silence.
"Thank you," Batzri said dryly. "A dark creature is any beast that lives to inspire fear, hatred, or other negative feelings in a human." It was always his way, to start without any sort of introduction whatsoever. Many teachers spent a long time on introductions and preliminaries - Batzri found it all to be a waste of time. He waited a moment until the scratching of quills had subsided, and then continued. "There are many beasts which live in relative peace or harmony with humans. Some, that live to cause mayhem or confusion." Allowing a small smile to touch his lips, Batzri added - "These are not Dark creatures."
A few laughs broke out, then silence once more. "In the first classes," Batzri went on - stern and businesslike now, all traces of humor gone - "We will begin to learn the habits and habitats of some of these creatures. When possible, we will study them firsthand.
"A particular species of Scottish elf," Batzri said, launching into his lecture without any indication (if the students were too dim not to take notes, that was their problem), "Which inhabits Lowland, generally in castles with a history of violence - although they have been occasionally found in fortified houses. Described as short elves with grey hair and the appearance of great age, they earn their names from their most unusual headcovering: a small red cap which they dye with human blood."
Batzri paused, gave a dry smile at the assortment of shudders, and plunged on. "Red Caps will ambush travelers from their towers, throwing heavy boulders on them and catching the blood in their caps. Once the blood has dried and the color faded, it is time for them to find new victims. Red Caps also forewarn of disaster by making a loud noise like the beating of flax.
"Are there any questions?"
(OOC NOTE: Students should not post until Monday, February 2nd!)
Proud Resident
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(2/2/04 11:22 am) Reply
Re: Defence Against the Dark Arts, First Class.
Batzri's eyes glinted in satsifaction. "Cross-handled swords or crosses of wood or iron worn on one's person have been effectively proven to safeguard one from an attack of Red Caps," he informed the class, adding dryly - "In fact, Lowland wizarding giftshops have made a fortune selling jewelry that has the dual benefit of looking ornamental and keeping its wearer safe from the more devilish Lowland elfs."
bookworm Head Girl/Boy
Posts: 126
(2/2/04 7:20 pm) Reply
Rose
Rose looked down at her notes and then rose her hand. She instantly blushed as the professor looked at her, but asked her question anyway.
"You said that Redcaps inhabit Lowland, but could you tell us what general parts of the world?" bookworm
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(2/2/04 7:24 pm) Reply
Lowland
"Lowland, Scotland," Batzri said dryly, his lips twitching. "A place of old castles and roads that bring many travelers. Red Caps rarely settle anywhere else, being almost exclusively native to Lowland, although there have been a few scattered reports here and there over the years."
Edited by: YouKnowEmma at: 2/2/04 7:25 pm
Ali
"Ok. So, these Red Caps, they just will attack anyone? Anyone that gets to close, even without realizing their presence, is a potential target for these Red Caps?" Ali asked.
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(3/2/04 2:15 pm) Reply
Lowland roads
"Any human person who walks in range of the Red Caps' boulders is, indeed, a target. They will not harm other creatures, although they have been known to feed on small animals at times, as they believe human blood to be of the brightest color." Batzri's lips twitched at the revulsion on many of the students' faces. "Because Red Caps inhabit castles that are generally termed abandoned, it is difficult to know when and where they might lay in wait for unwary travelers. Also, as there are not many who have returned from an ambush alive to tell the tale, it is hard to label some castles as Red Cap territory. Does that answer your question, Miss Trenton?"
bookworm Head Girl/Boy
Posts: 135
(3/2/04 8:53 pm) Reply
Rosalee
Rose accidentally blotted her notes slightly and had to quicklt repair the damage w/ her wand. She wished that the Prof. would dlow down, she was a pretty slow writer. She then got and Idea. She took her quill, tapped it with her wand and placed the tip above her parchment. It hung there, waiting for the teachers next comment. bookworm
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(4/2/04 7:00 pm) Reply
Remus
"Mr. Lupin," Batzri said, inclining his head toward Remus. "You had a question?"
"Sir - you said that you'd be bringing some creatures to display in class," Remus said. "Do you have a Red Cap?"
The ghost of an ironic smile passed over Batzri's face. "No," he said dryly, "I did not think a Red Cap was a good visitor to host, as they are gifted with incredible strength and have a knack for breaking glass."
Carmondy
Carmondy, who had been standing outside the door listening, suddenly appeared, talking as though she'd been sitting attentively behind a desk the entire time,
"The Red Caps sound an aweful to like Narcissa Black. Oh--" she caught a glimpse of Narcissa fixing her with a death stare in the back of the room, "Sorry, didn't see you there...."
She smiled at the teacher and walked over to him, proudly revealing her knee-high black leather boots,
"Sorry I'm late, Professor. I was on my way over here early when I realized that I'd left my wand in my dormitory. I ran back up it, but couldn't find it where i thought for sure I'd left it. So I had to crawl on my hands and knees across the entire common room when I realized that it'd been in my robe pocket the entire time! Isn't that funny? So anyway, I rushed down here as quickly as I could but accidentally crashed into Longbottom--who crashed into a suit of armer, which got caught in some drapes, which scared someone's pet cat, which ran to hide underneath a table, which also came down, shattering a vase along the way. But after I cleaned all of that up---I came straight here."
Trent
Trent, now thoroughly disgusted with Carmondy, said, "Is it just me or do your excuses just seem to get worse?" He sneered at Carmondy. "Won't you eventually run out of them? Then what would you do? Stay out of detention like the rest of us?" Trent was able to say this quite easily, since, eventhough he has his evil times, he still took his grades seriously. After all, you can't be an accomplished wizard (good or bad), without learning some things. Besides, Carmondy had set herself up for this one, and up till now Trent had kept his silence.
However, he was surprised at his own self control, since his first instinct was to cast a spell on her shoes to make them slick so she would fall flat on her face. So, his attack with words, was, in his mind, a nice gesture.
bookworm Head Girl/Boy
Posts: 144
(5/2/04 5:07 pm) Reply
Rosalee
Rose shook her head. Carmondy. She was so........she couldn't think of a good word. She was her best friend. That fit. bookworm
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Posts: 327
(5/2/04 7:47 pm) Reply
Re: Rosalee
"Detention, Miss Cunningham," Batzri said shortly. "I do not allow for tardiness or dishonesty in my classroom. You will have detention for two days with me. You may come to my office after classes are over for the day. Also, I will have deduct five points from Gryffindor for your tardiness, another five for your atrocious and very obviously false excuse, and a third five for your slander of another student." He gave a small, humorless smile. "I hope that the attitude of your fellow Housemates when they realize you have cost them fifteen points will change your desire to so utterly disregard the rules. I assure you that if you continue such actions in the future, the punishment will only become more severe.
"Please turn to the section of your texts on Red Caps. You have ten minutes to study the chapter, after which we will move on to a short discussion of Pogrebins. Textbooks, now."
~*~
OOC: Watch it, WW, Batzri is NOT a teacher to be messed with. And yes, she will have him for detention for 14 days (2 ISS days), even on the week where he's not teaching.
Penny
Penny smiled satisfactorily. She loved strict teachers--mushy ones were so frustrating. And that girl--what had Batzri said?--Cunningham? She deserved what she got.
Carmondy
"Excuse me, sir," said Carmondy sweetly, "I have just had points deducted for slamming a fellow student--but Trent hasn't seemed to have any taken and isn't that what he just did too? Not that it matters. Just though I should mention it for sake of fairness. But oh well! My apologies, sir."
With that, Carmondy turned on her heel and took a seat promptly next to Rose.
OCC: aw, Rose, your Carmondy best friend too :-D LOL
bookworm
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