SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post

ArianaBlack · 02-19-2016, 07:27 AM

SPOILER!!: Ways to breathe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callie

"Fine." Haddie said sourly. She was about to say more when she caught the look from Rachel out of the corner of her eye. She closed her mouth. "Whatever."

What characteristics did the creatures that live in the lake need? Gee, let us think. "Gills... the ability to breathe underwater." There, she's participated, without snark. Was everyone happy? Why Hogwarts hire teachers that didn't even like children in the first place, Haddie would never know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojogali

Elsa was satisfied-ish with the acceptance of her answer. She would have to do better now. She took her time thinking her answer through, she even drew a Flying Seahorse, or what she hoped one looked like, and did a diagram of the characteristics she knew this animal had.

After having everything organized in her head she raised her hand, leaning forward in her bench with anticipation "Flying Seahorses are capable of flying when provoked, I suppose that means they're hybrid creatures, able to breath in the water as well as outside of it" she declared. That seemed like an obvious characteristic to her, so she continued "which also means their gills have to work as wings outside the water. Being able to fly distinguish them from other sorts of Seahorses since for that they had to develop vertebral columns to provide strength to pull theirs bodies from the water and fly" yep, most fishes' spines were soft and bendable. That was a proper answer. She knew her love for animals would pay-off sometime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goblinfrog

Kitty snapped her mirror shut in embarrassment as the Professor called her out. Thankfully her make up was pale and so her embarrassment did not show. No one saw that. Now on with the lesson.

"I don't agree about creatures in the water all being evil. The mermaids aren't evil!" She was objecting to what one of the other students had said, though who she did not know because they were sitting on different benches. But the professor had asked what they had in common, not what they didn't, so Kitty was forced to come up with something that had already been said and that was slightly obvious. "Most of them have gills for breathing underwater."

”Correct,” he nodded. ”All of the underwater creatures will have some way of breathing. As that was a very necessary thing for survival. Not all in the same way, however, it was a common tie drawn between all of the creatures. He gave them each a solid nod, even the trouble maker who seemed to simmer down for the moment being. But then again, who knew how long that’d last. James bet another five minutes. If they were fortunate.

SPOILER!!: Nutrition

Food. Another essential means for survival. ”Yes, food is an essential part of their survival,” he nodded. Maybe all they needed were a few early questions to warm up. This round was going much more smoothly. ”Seeing as we’re covering our lake in particular, their food can come from things such as plants, minerals, and yes even other creatures.” He gave a firm nod to Colt, who had seemed unsure of that last one. However, he got it right on target.

SPOILER!!: Conditions of the lake

Quote:

Originally Posted by MunchyBubbles

Azura shrank back ever so slightly as the professor responded to her. She had been so distracted with her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed Austin had said the exact same thing..

Minus ten points for Azura!!

She listened carefully and made sure no one was going to say what she was going to!

Again her hand went into the air, slower this time because well.. Embarrassed Ravenclaw Party of one.,

But she spoke up!

"They are all fresh water creatures aren't they? So they need fresh water and not salt water to survive."

Please oh please let no one have said that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Hmmmmm. Forgetting Hags and snails for a moment, Charlotte tipped her head to one side thoughtfully, getting wrapped up in the question. She let other answers wash over her (only half listening) for a moment before putting her hand up.

"They've adjusted to the um.... pH levels in the lake water. And different water might have different pH levels and be more acid or more alka... alkaline, so if you moved them into different water, or did something to change this lake, it could really harm them."

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermygirl

Sam gave a small smile at the Professor at his response to her answer. And he hadn't asked for permanent residents. She'd read enough to know that plenty of creatures migrated from season to season, so wouldn't necessarily expect them to be resident at Hogwarts all year round.

Anyways, next question. What adaptations would an aquatic animal need? Again, the obvious choices had gone, and there was really no point to repeating things. But despite Sam not entirely knowing what a pH was, Charlotte's answer had given her some inspiration.

"'ow 'bout the temperature, Sir?" she replied, raising her hand. "The creatures 'av to survive even when it freezes 'ard on the top, 'nd it's coldeh down deep too."

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Rachel watched with interest as the chalk wrote down their answers into categories. What was the spell that bewitched it to do this? She needed to find out and decided she would ask Professor Primeaux sometime soon. For now, she returned her attention back to Professor Draper as he made mention of the creature they would be studying.

The Eagle raised her hand. "They need to have a clean source of water since this is where they get their oxygen and swim around in. A dirty lake would hamper these and could harm the creatures.'' The poor creatures. This was why no one should throw harmful materials into the Lake or any body of water where they lived.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarShine

"The amount of salt, sir," she said as her hand was in the air, "what I remember from the muggle biology textbook," of course she remembered all, but shhh, "the fish living in sea have a special kidney system to return the water, and their gills excrete excess salt. It's the vice-versa for freshwater fish - the gills take in extra salt and the kidneys produce dilute urine. Now, if I remember correctly, the lake becomes more... saline, have more salt, if they have no natural outlet, or if the water evaporates quickly. Water doesn't evaporate quickly here," obviously, "but I don't know if our lake has a outlet to the open sea or another river, so I don't know if the fish here are considered saltwater or freshwater." There was no information on Hogwarts, a History... which was rather disappointing for such a book as that, which she thought contained everything. She would write to the editor. Books contained answers to every possible problem on Earth, after all.

Conditions of the water, an ”Excellent,” answer. Took some more in-depth thought and further application. He appreciated that. ”Fresh water conditions,” he nodded at the Ravenclaw, ”specific pH levels and temperatures, salt content” he gave another nod of acknowledgment to Charlotte, Sam, and Katherine, the smaller students were dominating here it seemed. ”And clean, nontoxic conditions,” he gave the younger girl a small smile. ”All important. Our lake has a series of specific conditions that fit the needs of the creatures that live within it. If the balance of these conditions is off, then we’d have a problem.”

SPOILER!!: Physical attributes of the creatures themselves

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

Hmm. Features that lake-dwelling creatures shared. Gracie knew that. She remained quiet for a few moments though, allowing her fellow peers to answer before finally raised her hand. "The creatures would need adapted eyesight" She murmured with a smile. "They would need the ability to see under the water, which is most likely going to be a dark and murky environment, much harder to see in than what we have to see in. So....yes. Adapted eyesight" So they could see where they were swimming. It made sense really. Smiling, she put her hand down, and returned to making notes on what the other students said as their answers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Ariadne's jogging came to an abrupt halt, and she looked at the professor and just blinked. Had she said something wrong? All he did was nod at her, and he seemed annoyed. Ariadne was always such a sweet-spirited girl, and she had no idea why anybody would be annoyed with her. She decided to stop jogging then, since she was just doing it for fun anyway, and took a seat.

Apparently her answer was correct, because it was up on the board with a list of other creatures. So at least she'd gotten something right, although, she still couldn't understand what she'd done to get the professor in such a mood. But anyway...characteristics of water-dwelling creatures. People were already sprouting off answers left and right. Gills? Had that been said? Water temperature? "What about survival?" she finally suggested, raising her hand. "Lots of water-dwelling creatures are hunted by either bigger creatures or humans like us. They have to figure out how to use their own bodies and their environment to survive."

Please tell her nobody had suggested that yet, and if they had, please tell her the professor was not going to eat her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ameh

Some of the people were talking about things that sounded super technical. Jaemin considered himself to be smart and everything, but holy Merlin, he didn't understand some of the stuff being said. He knew about pH and all of that, because it was the same concept with plants and soil - they needed certain conditions to survive, which animals also definitely did. But he had no idea what one girl was saying anymore, and he couldn't be sure if it was because he didn't know anything about it, or if it was because he was sick and just not understanding.

"A lot of the creatures in the lake have scales in some form," he murmured, looking around at everyone else. He didn't really know what else he could add now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

What the.......

She didn't MEAN to repeat that Slytherin boy. Perhaps he was talking in low voice so she couldn't hear it? That man reminded her of her old muggle school teacher. So grumpy. How could this man be a teacher for teen-age students? Because it seemed like he didn't like teenagers.

Whatever.

And now they're gonna talk about the flying seahorse. Hmmm....

Ava tried to participate again by answering this d-bag professor. "I think they all have fins to help them swim." She spoke loudly as she raised her hand so NOBODY could repeat her answer. Listen to that, Drape?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Lake creatures weren't as exciting as non-lake creatures. Or... exciting wasn't the problem. Cleanliness was the problem. The lake was dark and cold and muddy, and Dot wasn't dressed for it at all. Sure, she'd been swimming in it, but only on bright days where she could see her feet squelching in the mud and identify grindylows from 100 yards out.

Hopefully, they were NOT going in.

"They can swim, sir." Dot flashed a brief smile at the professor. No one had said that, right? "Or, that's to say, mobility in water is part of their physical make up."

Physical qualities. Equally as important as other components. ”Yes, Ms. Greingoth, their bodies are all built to help their survival,” he nodded. ”A way to see, whether it’s with eyes or through other means, physical adaptations, and means of movement all contribute to that,” he said acknowledging all those answers. There weren’t any horrible answers yet. Things were going well. If only this could continue. Somehow he doubted it would.

SPOILER!!: The quiet ones

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChanceCoeur

Noelle could see the strain on the professors face. She could almost tell what he was thinking because she had heard whispers about it already.she would keep her head down low though because she had learned her mouth would get her in trouble if she said what she was thinking.

Instead, more notes were being taken. Noelle steadily wrote down the animals that people were name. Some she knew and some she didn't. The giant squid, merpeople, yes she had heard all of them. But there were some that weren't familiar with her.

As for herself, Noelle tried thinking about lake animals but as soon as she had thought of one, others were blurting it out. Her head stayed down and watched her parchment then. She wondered where this lesson was going, because she surely wasn't one who wanted to go diving to see animals if that was the case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

Yoongi nodded his head at the professor as he answered his answer. The Acromantulas had caused a lot of trouble a few years ago. "They did, but the members of the rescue team and i got the people out of the forest safely. " noticed how he had said 'i' professor? Huuuh? He wasn't some delicate scared Head Child. He was a HERO ha! And he was ~~subtly~~ going to make sure Jerkface knew that side of him.

Anyways, on to the next question. Underwater creatures. What did he know about underwater creatures? Well, he knew they lived underwater...but he had the feeling that if he said that, professor Jerkface would be even more than unimpressed with him. And he needed to impress, he was a STAR! He had absolutely no idea what they all meant with PH levels and whatnot though. But he looked like he knew and nodded occasionally. He did agree with was Kitty. Not all creatures are evil. We make them evil.

Pretending that everything he had wanted to say had already been said and that he didn't want to give the same answer twice, the Gryffindor opened his notebook and began to write in it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pundantic

Chloe, in all of her infinite thirteen year old wisdom, thought this question was really, super vague. Every student was taking it a different way and the conversation had splintered off into several other conversations and Chloe was lost. Not stupid, just lost. The professor cast her net to wide with this question.

And she was going to sit there and listen for a while. Until she figured it out. And judge, as Chloe's were want to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

Hey if they were capable of declining a label then more power to them. Though if they wanted to be labeled as a beast. Well Dante guessed he was okay with that if they were. Flying Seahorses, was Draper serious. This sounded more like something he would sarcastically say was real to mess with a first year. Not that he would do something like that.

The only thing Dante had that maybe was not said yet. Who knows he was not listening to every boring answer. That was Draper's job. That some creatures appear in the windows of the slytherin common and we get a good view of them. Like the giant squid for example. But nah that was not a good enough answer.

So Dante was just going to stare and grin at Draper. Yep that sounded more fun.

James merely glanced over all the ones who chose to stay silent. He did find it amusing that a few of them happened to be those that always had something to say. Interesting. However, they’d get other chances to participate. Despite being disappointed that he didn’t get to hear another one of the Head Child’s ridiculous proposals, he turned to address another raised hand.

SPOILER!!: Coexistence/Level of harm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy

Her answer hadn't gotten more then a one word reply but that didn't mean much to the fifth year. She had given an answer and a decent one which was correct so that's all she currently cared about. As the lesson slowly progressed Hady's gaze shifted to the board where the creatures they had all listed soon appeared along with where they were located. Easy enough to understand.

And so it seemed they would be talking about Flying Seahorses. Well okay then. As some answers were already being given she once more raised her hand, "Most of them would be classified as 'Beasts'." Or well at least three out of the five would be that she knew of for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

Hold on to what? Jace blinked several times when the professor winked at him...and gave him the faintest grin he could muster. The poor Ravenclaw has no idea what to make of it. One moment he's scary...the next minute he's being appreciative? It was safe to say that Jace was clueless, and he thought it wise not to make sense of it.

...

Oh...oh, so deduction was right! There ought to be an explanation why they are out near the Lake, freezing their buttocks off. However...will they actually go and fish? And...and...and does this mean that they will be harvesting the flying seahorses for their Potions class? Lol, Potions though. If the subject isn't mandatory, he'd rather not take it after being poisoned. But even if he was given the chance not to take it, his mother will freak out.

Anyway, back to the lesson. Jace did shrink back in his scarf like an awkward turtle as his answer was acknowledged, and then tried to think of a common behaviour amongst Lake dwellers. Again, he raised his gloved hand and offered his answer, "I think most of them are harmless whenever they are in their element, as well as co-existing with their fellow water creatures. They become restless by activating their defense mechanism when someone or something intrudes their habitat, making them dangerous creatures if provoked..." he trailed off, his eyes casting a wary glance at the too still Lake surface. Jace has a hunch that that peace will soon be disturbed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Well, if Professor Draper wanted to be his usual grumpy pants self that wasn't Esme's problem. So far he hadn't said anything to HER but he had reminded someone else not to repeat answers. Was it so bad that some people - like her - mentioned something said by another classmate? People got enthusiastic about creatures that they liked.

The topic changed its focus to lake dwelling creatures and she had quite a bit to say on the matter but it seemed that some of her classmates had jumped to it before she could. Since it seemed that no one could think along the same lines as any of their classmates maybe she should stay silent on the matter.

However... something DID come to her mind. She raised her hand anyway. "I think that a lot of them live in communities among themselves. I know that the merpeople have underground cities or something..."

James looked over at Hady expectantly. She had set the bar high for herself, and again she didn’t disappoint. Good. ”Excellent observation,” he nodded. ”Though it may not be true in other bodies of water, at Hogwarts most of our lake-dwellers will not have higher classifications than ‘beast’.” He nodded, turning to Jace. ”Which solidifies your point. They tend not to be incredibly threatening, and have found ways to live in peace with other creatures of the lake.” He nodded after what Esme offered as well. All three good points and they went hand-in-hand.

SPOILER!!: Others! Responses also under the cut!

Quote:

Originally Posted by VRSCIKA

So today was going to be about lake creatures. Flying Seahorses particularly? Hmm, maybe this would be interesting. She listened closely to the gr- professors question. Easy enough. " Flying Seahorses are generally a golden yellow in color with solid black eyes. The males tend to be slightly larger than the females because, like their Mundane counterparts, the males carry the offspring. They are gregarious and take different mates every breeding season. The integrity of the plant life in their habitat is essential to their survival as it is with all members of the seahorse family. The plants are nearly as important to their survival as the water itself. " She probably could have given him an essay right then and there but she'd leave things for other students to mention so that perhaps they didn't get scolded for repetition.

And then there were the answers that just didn’t quite fit together as well as the others did. Not to say that they weren’t correct, just unique and different parts of the puzzle. ”You bring up a good point about the plants,” he nodded. Maybe James ought to drag Poncho Paul over for a joint lesson sometime? Though, that’d mean he’d have to tolerate the man for more than twenty minutes. So… Maybe not. Not soon anyways. ”Plant life does play an incredibly important part for the creatures underwater, and even for those that live on the ground as well. Not only do they help with diet, but also often provide shelter, protection, and camouflage.” There were more reasons, but this was creature class. He’d leave that to the Herbology hippy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

Yeah, Matt was excited about animals and this kind of stuff, sort of, HOWEVER, this lake talk didn't please him at all. Yeeeah, no.

He just hoped they wouldn't ave to go INTO the lake. Sailing through it on his first evening ever at Hogwarts had been enough, thaaaanks.

Anyway. "They are horrible, EVIL creatures. Mostly." The Gryffindor added the 'mostly' because he knew generalising THAT much was no good, BUT yeah, no. Water creatures, no. Nooooo. No.

No.

… Er. This one got an interesting look.

”That’s a matter of opinion Mr. Meriwether,” it did get a small chuckle out of James though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojogali

Oh ok! Elsa thought. Her answer still applied for some of them, at least the hybrid part. She heard her classmates' answers with attention, writing down now and then the Professor remarks and some valid points.

She looked at Azura as she spoke, her hand high in the winter sky "As Azura said, we can establish that all creatures living in the lake rely on fresh water to survive. So most of them feed on living-particles, plants or smaller animals found in this same ecosystem. You know, circle of life and all.." she nodded as she spoke now "Which takes me to my point."

She cleared her throat before continuing. Yep she had no problem speaking in front of others "Seeing as a Lake is an extension of still-water, every animal in it's ecosystem has a fundamental place in its' chain of food and renewal. So, iif we took one specie out of the equation, let's say the Flying Seahorses, we would probably end up killing the Lake.". There. That was the main denominator between all species, no matter how different they were they were all deeply connected and played an important part in keeping the lake alive.

"That said, a characteristic common to all of the habitants of the lake is the lake itself." she hoped she made her point clear.

”Excellent and very well thought out,” this was high praise coming from this man by the way. ”Take three points!” There were first times for everything after all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist

Melbourne looked around at all of the students and listened to what they were all saying. Raising her hand she hoped no one said her topic as she tried to answer the question about the creatures in the lake. “The creatures in the lake all have capabilities of dealing with the stratification of the lake’s water,” she answered.

“considering that lochs in the region tend to be oligotrophic we could probably assume that the lake is highly oxygenated” she paused for a moment before adding in “and may have a hypolimnion type of stratification…which is probably why the lakes waters tend to be on the cooler side” she chewed her lip slightly and hoped that well, her answer wasn’t looked at badly that is.

….. Uh.

”Right,” he nodded as if agreeing. However, he had absolutely no idea as to what she just said. Honestly sometimes he felt as if this child in particular spoke just for the purpose of speaking. He didn’t question it though. She sounded pretty secure in her answer. He’d let her have this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

A look? A thin-lipped look of recognition was all Davie was going to get this lesson? At least Haddie was losing them points... no, actually, that was NOT a good thing. Davie did take his bright eyes off the professor for a moment, so that he could have an ESPN thing with Char (he'd been reading Moxley's book about Muggles, see), and then he refocused on the professor. No need to worry about the hag anymore, the ESPN thing had said. Mostly. A Hufflepuff almost got eaten, but we'll chat later. (They had to talk about her snabies, too.) ANYWAAAY....

"Well any creature's most basic needs are those generally shared with humans: the needs for sustenance, shelter, and, arguably, reproductivity. I would be interested in learning more about the latter, sir, particularly in flying seahorses?"

Only David could pull of the innocent form of inquiry inherent in that question, although his cheeks were certainly a bit rosy as he asked it. Loudly. From the back of the group.

Again. What was this boy trying to imply here, HM?

James eyed him. For a good bit before responding, ”I’m afraid we won’t have time to go into the specifics of their reproduction. That may be a better discussion for office hours.” Or to have with his parents.

Backpack Boy Wonder, ladies and gentlemen. Never disappointed. Actually no, he always disappointed.

*******

And they were in the home stretch. Well, almost. "Alright, I know that was a mouth-full, but there's only one last question before we get into the bulk of the lesson with an activity." They were almost there. No one was falling asleep yet, yes? Speaking of which, he glanced over to look at the one Ravenclaw boy, who had brought up a good point about the seahorses earlier.

"As I briefly mentioned before, our focus for today is the Flying Seahorse. Taking Mr. Moore's lead, I want everyone to brainstorm a list of things we know about them." He paused, letting them all process this next task. "If you can't think of a fact off the top of your head, try thinking back to the answers we discussed for the previous question. They can help get you on the right track, seeing as Flying Seahorses are very plentiful inhabitants of our lake." Did they see why the last question was relevant now?

Everything was coming full circle. He had a method, okay?

OOC: This is the last question before the mini-activity! So hang on tight, we're almost there!

+ Please only mention ONE fact in your post, so as to leave some for others. Feel free to get creative! Class will be moving on in at least 12 hours from this post.

02-19-2016, 07:27 AM	#95 (permalink)
ArianaBlack Forum Manager Quibbler & Newbie Mod Ashwinder Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: #6e5f57 \|#ff5470 Posts: 13,708 Hogwarts RPG Name: Alfie Adair Hufflepuff Fourth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Laini Gracae-Ryans Slytherin Third Year x10 x1	doesn't proofread tweets \| #wrongaboutcereal \| #siriusly? \| emo to the extremo SPOILER!!: Ways to breathe Quote: Originally Posted by Callie "Fine." Haddie said sourly. She was about to say more when she caught the look from Rachel out of the corner of her eye. She closed her mouth. "Whatever." What characteristics did the creatures that live in the lake need? Gee, let us think. "Gills... the ability to breathe underwater." There, she's participated, without snark. Was everyone happy? Why Hogwarts hire teachers that didn't even like children in the first place, Haddie would never know. Quote: Originally Posted by Jojogali Elsa was satisfied-ish with the acceptance of her answer. She would have to do better now. She took her time thinking her answer through, she even drew a Flying Seahorse, or what she hoped one looked like, and did a diagram of the characteristics she knew this animal had. After having everything organized in her head she raised her hand, leaning forward in her bench with anticipation "Flying Seahorses are capable of flying when provoked, I suppose that means they're hybrid creatures, able to breath in the water as well as outside of it" she declared. That seemed like an obvious characteristic to her, so she continued "which also means their gills have to work as wings outside the water. Being able to fly distinguish them from other sorts of Seahorses since for that they had to develop vertebral columns to provide strength to pull theirs bodies from the water and fly" yep, most fishes' spines were soft and bendable. That was a proper answer. She knew her love for animals would pay-off sometime. Quote: Originally Posted by Goblinfrog Kitty snapped her mirror shut in embarrassment as the Professor called her out. Thankfully her make up was pale and so her embarrassment did not show. No one saw that. Now on with the lesson. "I don't agree about creatures in the water all being evil. The mermaids aren't evil!" She was objecting to what one of the other students had said, though who she did not know because they were sitting on different benches. But the professor had asked what they had in common, not what they didn't, so Kitty was forced to come up with something that had already been said and that was slightly obvious. "Most of them have gills for breathing underwater." ”Correct,” he nodded. ”All of the underwater creatures will have some way of breathing. As that was a very necessary thing for survival. Not all in the same way, however, it was a common tie drawn between all of the creatures. He gave them each a solid nod, even the trouble maker who seemed to simmer down for the moment being. But then again, who knew how long that’d last. James bet another five minutes. If they were fortunate. SPOILER!!: Nutrition Quote: Originally Posted by MysteriesOfFate Madge raised her hand, a bit shaky. "I suppose they'd have to very much like eating other fish and lake creatures... or underwater plants. Madge smiled to herself, a little joke, but true nonetheless. Quote: Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin Colt was impressed by that his answer was right. I mean he didn't think about lake creatures like some of his other students mentioned but I guess the professor was looking for something more broad. Kudos to him anyways. Now onto the next question, what did lake dwelling creatures have in common? Well the gills answer was obvious. Any firstie could give you that answer. He thought about something deep. He heard a seventh year give the answer about merepeople living in packs. I guess they need that to survive. He raised his hand and said, "Professor I think their diet? I mean they could eat the seaweed and I guess other fish if you are into cannibalism..." I mean they could eat their own kind. I mean sharks do it. Quote: Originally Posted by LestrangeRaven Okay, does professor Draper in a good mood? He repeat other kids answer in purpose but yet he is off the hook.. meh.. Well.. this time he need to answer it right.. he should hold himself now.. lets see.. underwater creature.. hmmh.. they live in water for sure,no need to tell that okay, lets just hope he answer it right, "they live in pack, eating algae " he's adding "or they will substitute their food with fish if they find difficult to find algae" Meh.. lets see what Professor Draper thought of this.. he did try his best to think of it Food. Another essential means for survival. ”Yes, food is an essential part of their survival,” he nodded. Maybe all they needed were a few early questions to warm up. This round was going much more smoothly. ”Seeing as we’re covering our lake in particular, their food can come from things such as plants, minerals, and yes even other creatures.” He gave a firm nod to Colt, who had seemed unsure of that last one. However, he got it right on target. SPOILER!!: Conditions of the lake Quote: Originally Posted by MunchyBubbles Azura shrank back ever so slightly as the professor responded to her. She had been so distracted with her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed Austin had said the exact same thing.. Minus ten points for Azura!! She listened carefully and made sure no one was going to say what she was going to! Again her hand went into the air, slower this time because well.. Embarrassed Ravenclaw Party of one., But she spoke up! "They are all fresh water creatures aren't they? So they need fresh water and not salt water to survive." Please oh please let no one have said that! Quote: Originally Posted by Tegz Hmmmmm. Forgetting Hags and snails for a moment, Charlotte tipped her head to one side thoughtfully, getting wrapped up in the question. She let other answers wash over her (only half listening) for a moment before putting her hand up. "They've adjusted to the um.... pH levels in the lake water. And different water might have different pH levels and be more acid or more alka... alkaline, so if you moved them into different water, or did something to change this lake, it could really harm them." Quote: Originally Posted by hermygirl Sam gave a small smile at the Professor at his response to her answer. And he hadn't asked for permanent residents. She'd read enough to know that plenty of creatures migrated from season to season, so wouldn't necessarily expect them to be resident at Hogwarts all year round. Anyways, next question. What adaptations would an aquatic animal need? Again, the obvious choices had gone, and there was really no point to repeating things. But despite Sam not entirely knowing what a pH was, Charlotte's answer had given her some inspiration. "'ow 'bout the temperature, Sir?" she replied, raising her hand. "The creatures 'av to survive even when it freezes 'ard on the top, 'nd it's coldeh down deep too." Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Rachel watched with interest as the chalk wrote down their answers into categories. What was the spell that bewitched it to do this? She needed to find out and decided she would ask Professor Primeaux sometime soon. For now, she returned her attention back to Professor Draper as he made mention of the creature they would be studying. The Eagle raised her hand. "They need to have a clean source of water since this is where they get their oxygen and swim around in. A dirty lake would hamper these and could harm the creatures.'' The poor creatures. This was why no one should throw harmful materials into the Lake or any body of water where they lived. Quote: Originally Posted by StarShine "The amount of salt, sir," she said as her hand was in the air, "what I remember from the muggle biology textbook," of course she remembered all, but shhh, "the fish living in sea have a special kidney system to return the water, and their gills excrete excess salt. It's the vice-versa for freshwater fish - the gills take in extra salt and the kidneys produce dilute urine. Now, if I remember correctly, the lake becomes more... saline, have more salt, if they have no natural outlet, or if the water evaporates quickly. Water doesn't evaporate quickly here," obviously, "but I don't know if our lake has a outlet to the open sea or another river, so I don't know if the fish here are considered saltwater or freshwater." There was no information on Hogwarts, a History... which was rather disappointing for such a book as that, which she thought contained everything. She would write to the editor. Books contained answers to every possible problem on Earth, after all. Conditions of the water, an ”Excellent,” answer. Took some more in-depth thought and further application. He appreciated that. ”Fresh water conditions,” he nodded at the Ravenclaw, ”specific pH levels and temperatures, salt content” he gave another nod of acknowledgment to Charlotte, Sam, and Katherine, the smaller students were dominating here it seemed. ”And clean, nontoxic conditions,” he gave the younger girl a small smile. ”All important. Our lake has a series of specific conditions that fit the needs of the creatures that live within it. If the balance of these conditions is off, then we’d have a problem.” SPOILER!!: Physical attributes of the creatures themselves Quote: Originally Posted by RachieRu Hmm. Features that lake-dwelling creatures shared. Gracie knew that. She remained quiet for a few moments though, allowing her fellow peers to answer before finally raised her hand. "The creatures would need adapted eyesight" She murmured with a smile. "They would need the ability to see under the water, which is most likely going to be a dark and murky environment, much harder to see in than what we have to see in. So....yes. Adapted eyesight" So they could see where they were swimming. It made sense really. Smiling, she put her hand down, and returned to making notes on what the other students said as their answers. Quote: Originally Posted by Anna Banana Ariadne's jogging came to an abrupt halt, and she looked at the professor and just blinked. Had she said something wrong? All he did was nod at her, and he seemed annoyed. Ariadne was always such a sweet-spirited girl, and she had no idea why anybody would be annoyed with her. She decided to stop jogging then, since she was just doing it for fun anyway, and took a seat. Apparently her answer was correct, because it was up on the board with a list of other creatures. So at least she'd gotten something right, although, she still couldn't understand what she'd done to get the professor in such a mood. But anyway...characteristics of water-dwelling creatures. People were already sprouting off answers left and right. Gills? Had that been said? Water temperature? "What about survival?" she finally suggested, raising her hand. "Lots of water-dwelling creatures are hunted by either bigger creatures or humans like us. They have to figure out how to use their own bodies and their environment to survive." Please tell her nobody had suggested that yet, and if they had, please tell her the professor was not going to eat her. Quote: Originally Posted by Ameh Some of the people were talking about things that sounded super technical. Jaemin considered himself to be smart and everything, but holy Merlin, he didn't understand some of the stuff being said. He knew about pH and all of that, because it was the same concept with plants and soil - they needed certain conditions to survive, which animals also definitely did. But he had no idea what one girl was saying anymore, and he couldn't be sure if it was because he didn't know anything about it, or if it was because he was sick and just not understanding. "A lot of the creatures in the lake have scales in some form," he murmured, looking around at everyone else. He didn't really know what else he could add now. Quote: Originally Posted by RandomRaven What the....... She didn't MEAN to repeat that Slytherin boy. Perhaps he was talking in low voice so she couldn't hear it? That man reminded her of her old muggle school teacher. So grumpy. How could this man be a teacher for teen-age students? Because it seemed like he didn't like teenagers. Whatever. And now they're gonna talk about the flying seahorse. Hmmm.... Ava tried to participate again by answering this d-bag professor. "I think they all have fins to help them swim." She spoke loudly as she raised her hand so NOBODY could repeat her answer. Listen to that, Drape? Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin Lake creatures weren't as exciting as non-lake creatures. Or... exciting wasn't the problem. Cleanliness was the problem. The lake was dark and cold and muddy, and Dot wasn't dressed for it at all. Sure, she'd been swimming in it, but only on bright days where she could see her feet squelching in the mud and identify grindylows from 100 yards out. Hopefully, they were NOT going in. "They can swim, sir." Dot flashed a brief smile at the professor. No one had said that, right? "Or, that's to say, mobility in water is part of their physical make up." Physical qualities. Equally as important as other components. ”Yes, Ms. Greingoth, their bodies are all built to help their survival,” he nodded. ”A way to see, whether it’s with eyes or through other means, physical adaptations, and means of movement all contribute to that,” he said acknowledging all those answers. There weren’t any horrible answers yet. Things were going well. If only this could continue. Somehow he doubted it would. SPOILER!!: The quiet ones Quote: Originally Posted by ChanceCoeur Noelle could see the strain on the professors face. She could almost tell what he was thinking because she had heard whispers about it already.she would keep her head down low though because she had learned her mouth would get her in trouble if she said what she was thinking. Instead, more notes were being taken. Noelle steadily wrote down the animals that people were name. Some she knew and some she didn't. The giant squid, merpeople, yes she had heard all of them. But there were some that weren't familiar with her. As for herself, Noelle tried thinking about lake animals but as soon as she had thought of one, others were blurting it out. Her head stayed down and watched her parchment then. She wondered where this lesson was going, because she surely wasn't one who wanted to go diving to see animals if that was the case. Quote: Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi Yoongi nodded his head at the professor as he answered his answer. The Acromantulas had caused a lot of trouble a few years ago. "They did, but the members of the rescue team and i got the people out of the forest safely. " noticed how he had said 'i' professor? Huuuh? He wasn't some delicate scared Head Child. He was a HERO ha! And he was ~~subtly~~ going to make sure Jerkface knew that side of him. Anyways, on to the next question. Underwater creatures. What did he know about underwater creatures? Well, he knew they lived underwater...but he had the feeling that if he said that, professor Jerkface would be even more than unimpressed with him. And he needed to impress, he was a STAR! He had absolutely no idea what they all meant with PH levels and whatnot though. But he looked like he knew and nodded occasionally. He did agree with was Kitty. Not all creatures are evil. We make them evil. Pretending that everything he had wanted to say had already been said and that he didn't want to give the same answer twice, the Gryffindor opened his notebook and began to write in it. Quote: Originally Posted by pundantic Chloe, in all of her infinite thirteen year old wisdom, thought this question was really, super vague. Every student was taking it a different way and the conversation had splintered off into several other conversations and Chloe was lost. Not stupid, just lost. The professor cast her net to wide with this question. And she was going to sit there and listen for a while. Until she figured it out. And judge, as Chloe's were want to do. Quote: Originally Posted by Meizzner Hey if they were capable of declining a label then more power to them. Though if they wanted to be labeled as a beast. Well Dante guessed he was okay with that if they were. Flying Seahorses, was Draper serious. This sounded more like something he would sarcastically say was real to mess with a first year. Not that he would do something like that. The only thing Dante had that maybe was not said yet. Who knows he was not listening to every boring answer. That was Draper's job. That some creatures appear in the windows of the slytherin common and we get a good view of them. Like the giant squid for example. But nah that was not a good enough answer. So Dante was just going to stare and grin at Draper. Yep that sounded more fun. James merely glanced over all the ones who chose to stay silent. He did find it amusing that a few of them happened to be those that always had something to say. Interesting. However, they’d get other chances to participate. Despite being disappointed that he didn’t get to hear another one of the Head Child’s ridiculous proposals, he turned to address another raised hand. SPOILER!!: Coexistence/Level of harm Quote: Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy Her answer hadn't gotten more then a one word reply but that didn't mean much to the fifth year. She had given an answer and a decent one which was correct so that's all she currently cared about. As the lesson slowly progressed Hady's gaze shifted to the board where the creatures they had all listed soon appeared along with where they were located. Easy enough to understand. And so it seemed they would be talking about Flying Seahorses. Well okay then. As some answers were already being given she once more raised her hand, "Most of them would be classified as 'Beasts'." Or well at least three out of the five would be that she knew of for sure. Quote: Originally Posted by Stefan Hold on to what? Jace blinked several times when the professor winked at him...and gave him the faintest grin he could muster. The poor Ravenclaw has no idea what to make of it. One moment he's scary...the next minute he's being appreciative? It was safe to say that Jace was clueless, and he thought it wise not to make sense of it. ... Oh...oh, so deduction was right! There ought to be an explanation why they are out near the Lake, freezing their buttocks off. However...will they actually go and fish? And...and...and does this mean that they will be harvesting the flying seahorses for their Potions class? Lol, Potions though. If the subject isn't mandatory, he'd rather not take it after being poisoned. But even if he was given the chance not to take it, his mother will freak out. Anyway, back to the lesson. Jace did shrink back in his scarf like an awkward turtle as his answer was acknowledged, and then tried to think of a common behaviour amongst Lake dwellers. Again, he raised his gloved hand and offered his answer, "I think most of them are harmless whenever they are in their element, as well as co-existing with their fellow water creatures. They become restless by activating their defense mechanism when someone or something intrudes their habitat, making them dangerous creatures if provoked..." he trailed off, his eyes casting a wary glance at the too still Lake surface. Jace has a hunch that that peace will soon be disturbed. Quote: Originally Posted by Squishy Well, if Professor Draper wanted to be his usual grumpy pants self that wasn't Esme's problem. So far he hadn't said anything to HER but he had reminded someone else not to repeat answers. Was it so bad that some people - like her - mentioned something said by another classmate? People got enthusiastic about creatures that they liked. The topic changed its focus to lake dwelling creatures and she had quite a bit to say on the matter but it seemed that some of her classmates had jumped to it before she could. Since it seemed that no one could think along the same lines as any of their classmates maybe she should stay silent on the matter. However... something DID come to her mind. She raised her hand anyway. "I think that a lot of them live in communities among themselves. I know that the merpeople have underground cities or something..." James looked over at Hady expectantly. She had set the bar high for herself, and again she didn’t disappoint. Good. ”Excellent observation,” he nodded. ”Though it may not be true in other bodies of water, at Hogwarts most of our lake-dwellers will not have higher classifications than ‘beast’.” He nodded, turning to Jace. ”Which solidifies your point. They tend not to be incredibly threatening, and have found ways to live in peace with other creatures of the lake.” He nodded after what Esme offered as well. All three good points and they went hand-in-hand. SPOILER!!: Others! Responses also under the cut! Quote: Originally Posted by VRSCIKA So today was going to be about lake creatures. Flying Seahorses particularly? Hmm, maybe this would be interesting. She listened closely to the gr- professors question. Easy enough. " Flying Seahorses are generally a golden yellow in color with solid black eyes. The males tend to be slightly larger than the females because, like their Mundane counterparts, the males carry the offspring. They are gregarious and take different mates every breeding season. The integrity of the plant life in their habitat is essential to their survival as it is with all members of the seahorse family. The plants are nearly as important to their survival as the water itself. " She probably could have given him an essay right then and there but she'd leave things for other students to mention so that perhaps they didn't get scolded for repetition. And then there were the answers that just didn’t quite fit together as well as the others did. Not to say that they weren’t correct, just unique and different parts of the puzzle. ”You bring up a good point about the plants,” he nodded. Maybe James ought to drag Poncho Paul over for a joint lesson sometime? Though, that’d mean he’d have to tolerate the man for more than twenty minutes. So… Maybe not. Not soon anyways. ”Plant life does play an incredibly important part for the creatures underwater, and even for those that live on the ground as well. Not only do they help with diet, but also often provide shelter, protection, and camouflage.” There were more reasons, but this was creature class. He’d leave that to the Herbology hippy. Quote: Originally Posted by Hey Ju Yeah, Matt was excited about animals and this kind of stuff, sort of, HOWEVER, this lake talk didn't please him at all. Yeeeah, no. He just hoped they wouldn't ave to go INTO the lake. Sailing through it on his first evening ever at Hogwarts had been enough, thaaaanks. Anyway. "They are horrible, EVIL creatures. Mostly." The Gryffindor added the 'mostly' because he knew generalising THAT much was no good, BUT yeah, no. Water creatures, no. Nooooo. No. No. … Er. This one got an interesting look. ”That’s a matter of opinion Mr. Meriwether,” it did get a small chuckle out of James though. Quote: Originally Posted by Jojogali Oh ok! Elsa thought. Her answer still applied for some of them, at least the hybrid part. She heard her classmates' answers with attention, writing down now and then the Professor remarks and some valid points. She looked at Azura as she spoke, her hand high in the winter sky "As Azura said, we can establish that all creatures living in the lake rely on fresh water to survive. So most of them feed on living-particles, plants or smaller animals found in this same ecosystem. You know, circle of life and all.." she nodded as she spoke now "Which takes me to my point." She cleared her throat before continuing. Yep she had no problem speaking in front of others "Seeing as a Lake is an extension of still-water, every animal in it's ecosystem has a fundamental place in its' chain of food and renewal. So, iif we took one specie out of the equation, let's say the Flying Seahorses, we would probably end up killing the Lake.". There. That was the main denominator between all species, no matter how different they were they were all deeply connected and played an important part in keeping the lake alive. "That said, a characteristic common to all of the habitants of the lake is the lake itself." she hoped she made her point clear. ”Excellent and very well thought out,” this was high praise coming from this man by the way. ”Take three points!” There were first times for everything after all. Quote: Originally Posted by Optimist Melbourne looked around at all of the students and listened to what they were all saying. Raising her hand she hoped no one said her topic as she tried to answer the question about the creatures in the lake. “The creatures in the lake all have capabilities of dealing with the stratification of the lake’s water,” she answered. “considering that lochs in the region tend to be oligotrophic we could probably assume that the lake is highly oxygenated” she paused for a moment before adding in “and may have a hypolimnion type of stratification…which is probably why the lakes waters tend to be on the cooler side” she chewed her lip slightly and hoped that well, her answer wasn’t looked at badly that is. ….. Uh. ”Right,” he nodded as if agreeing. However, he had absolutely no idea as to what she just said. Honestly sometimes he felt as if this child in particular spoke just for the purpose of speaking. He didn’t question it though. She sounded pretty secure in her answer. He’d let her have this one. Quote: Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl A look? A thin-lipped look of recognition was all Davie was going to get this lesson? At least Haddie was losing them points... no, actually, that was NOT a good thing. Davie did take his bright eyes off the professor for a moment, so that he could have an ESPN thing with Char (he'd been reading Moxley's book about Muggles, see), and then he refocused on the professor. No need to worry about the hag anymore, the ESPN thing had said. Mostly. A Hufflepuff almost got eaten, but we'll chat later. (They had to talk about her snabies, too.) ANYWAAAY.... "Well any creature's most basic needs are those generally shared with humans: the needs for sustenance, shelter, and, arguably, reproductivity. I would be interested in learning more about the latter, sir, particularly in flying seahorses?" Only David could pull of the innocent form of inquiry inherent in that question, although his cheeks were certainly a bit rosy as he asked it. Loudly. From the back of the group. Again. What was this boy trying to imply here, HM? James eyed him. For a good bit before responding, ”I’m afraid we won’t have time to go into the specifics of their reproduction. That may be a better discussion for office hours.” Or to have with his parents. Backpack Boy Wonder, ladies and gentlemen. Never disappointed. Actually no, he always disappointed. ******* And they were in the home stretch. Well, almost. "Alright, I know that was a mouth-full, but there's only one last question before we get into the bulk of the lesson with an activity." They were almost there. No one was falling asleep yet, yes? Speaking of which, he glanced over to look at the one Ravenclaw boy, who had brought up a good point about the seahorses earlier. "As I briefly mentioned before, our focus for today is the Flying Seahorse. Taking Mr. Moore's lead, I want everyone to brainstorm a list of things we know about them." He paused, letting them all process this next task. "If you can't think of a fact off the top of your head, try thinking back to the answers we discussed for the previous question. They can help get you on the right track, seeing as Flying Seahorses are very plentiful inhabitants of our lake." Did they see why the last question was relevant now? Everything was coming full circle. He had a method, okay? OOC: This is the last question before the mini-activity! So hang on tight, we're almost there! + Please only mention ONE fact in your post, so as to leave some for others. Feel free to get creative! Class will be moving on in at least 12 hours from this post. __________________ Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Lemon!