SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Charms Lesson 1-Night Vision Charm

TakemetotheBurrow · 05-21-2021, 06:24 PM

For the kids who hadn't made it to their seats in time, Neva wasn't judging. If anything it simply showed how disorienting it could be to try and navigate through an environment where visibility was pretty much zero. Humans relied heavily on light and when it was suddenly taken away, one had to find ways to adapt. Ways that took time and practice to hone. Or, as they'd soon find out, magic.

She watched their faces as they considered her questions, glad to see that they were making connections. Or at least they were acting like they were, which was also appreciated.

SPOILER!!: Responses!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

Oh? A notice? Noah quickened his pace as he saw the red paper stuck on the door and read the professor's instructions. It did raise questions and perhaps bits of trust issues here and there, but surprisingly, the normalcy (or as normal as it could get because this was Hogwarts) of the school also brought back his confidence. Talk about growing up, finally.

When it was his turn, Noah squared his shoulders and just went for the door. He'd decided not to think about the room devoid of light and just go straight in without thinking of the obstacles. He'd have to just push and shove the things in front of him and be done with it. But, of course, the Professor didn't mean the obstacle to be easy. It was apparent that another student who went in before him had the same idea, because soon enough, a foam wedge landed on his face, hitting his left eye. "Ow!" Noah gasped at the sudden sharp sensation, putting a hand on his now irritated eye and kept his other hand feeling the obstacle.

Disoriented, the Gryffindor kept going forwards, only to realize that he'd gone back to his starting point when he felt the cold knob of the Charms' classroom door. "Oh, come on." he'd turn around again, this time going slowly. But that wasn't much of an improvement as he found himself falling down a small pit, landing on a bunch of square foams.

Well, at least he was somewhere in the middle of his destination, right? Only Merlin knows. Noah kept still as he nursed his eye, only to realize that he also bit his lip when he fell. The sting and taste of blood wasn't new to him. What he didn't like was he was blinder than blind.

Hearing the others making it to the other side, Noah turned on his belly and tuned his ears toward them, and slowly crawled his way over employing his sense of touch this time. Slowly but surely, he made it to the end as he grappled one of the chairs and stayed put to catch his breath and blink away the tears from his irritated eye.

He'd made it to his destination just in time and Neva glanced at the Gryffindor briefly, offering him the smallest of smiles before shifting her attention to his housemate and her answer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Phoebe was startled back into sense by Ivy's voice right beside her, and she grappled in the dark until she caught the girl's elbow. "Hi. I'm okay, yeah. Sorry. I just... apparently just suddenly became afraid of the dark or something. Let's go," she moved forward again, still holding onto Ivy and waving her free hand through the darkness ahead of her.

They found their seats eventually, perhaps a few bruised shins worse for wear, and Phoebe was ridiculously relieved when Peralta began to bring up the lights. Not that she was really afraid of the dark, just something in the dark. Maybe she was afraid of herself in the dark.

"I don't think my senses really kicked in to make up any difference. More like... I couldn't trust anything if I couldn't see, and I just kind of... froze up." She peeked at Ivy-who-saved-her.

"I think this reaction is only natural. Part of what is so scary about the dark is not being able to identify what is lurking within, if anything. It leaves a lot to the imagination and sometimes imagination can be unkind." The Charms Professor had been convinced there were monsters hiding under her bed for years as a kid, going as far as to construct traps to catch them. No one had to convince her of how scary the dark could be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Her eyes were squeezed shut the moment Peralta announced that the lights were going to be coming on. For this reason, said lights did not affect her. That was an extra precaution to the slowly returning lights. As she opened her eyes and the room came into focus, Claudine looked around at the path she had taken to get to this side of the room. Well, at least there didn’t seem to be injuries among anyone even though her slightly twisted ankle hurt a little It didn’t matter. Soon Claudine would forget about that.

“Listening helped me a bit,’’ the Snakette volunteered, her hand up. “Hearing those ahead helped to keep me going in the right direction. But the challenge to that was zoning out the others behind me in order to focus.”

"This was a technique I noticed a few students employing and your sense of hearing can certainly be helpful when your sight is limited. Focusing, as you said, is the part that can be a challenge and in some cases, focusing more on hearing those around you could trip you up, quite literally, as you move through a dark space."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waddles

She did finally open her eyes when Peralta said there would be light, disappointed she couldn't get a nap but otherwise please class was going to begin. She wondered how her friends ~~and non-friends~~ had done. Mamie hadn't found it that hard to do the obstacle course in the dark?? She eyed the obstacle course. Like, yes, she had to walk differently than normal, but she'd navigated in darkness before. Like, going downstairs to the kitchen at home when she wanted water at night, or going to the bathroom when her family went camping. Was she just...very athletic? Maybe that was it.

She raised her hand. "You have to go slower if you can't see," she said. "Because...because you're using different senses, like the listening or feeling, to find your way, and it takes longer to figure it out because you're not used to doing it that way."

"That's a great point, Miss Turov. Many students adjusted their pace a few times during the activity, trying to find one that worked best for them and resulted in a safer journey."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

Evan was glad for the notice lights would be going up, if not so he could adjust to the light but also to make sure he was up and dusted off his robes as best as he could before his peers could see him again. Not that it really mattered, but for some reason it did matter to him a bit. With the lights up, he eyed the obstacle course in the room that had been set or them, amused and kind of impressed at the set up. Was Professor Peralta a parent? An aunt? He imagined she'd be really fun to have as either if this was what she could put together. Who wouldn't want a giant foam obstacle course?

Even he kind of wanted to go down the slides and everything now.

Hearing the questions, and most people sounding as if they were focusing on question number two, he raised his hand to take a stab in the dark - heh - at question number one. "Darkness is often a fear people face, and even if you're not afraid of the dark the loss of use of your eyes causes so much uncertainty for some, it can make your brain think a little less rationally. For an example, I started slow and gave my other senses time to make sense of what could be happening in the room. But then the uncertainty of being unable to see my peers and if they might run into me" Which could cause much more injury than the foam obstacles "affected my decision to go faster which caused more mishaps." He should have just ignored the uncertainty and kept going slow.

Might have made it across without going down.

"Thank you for pointing this out, Mr. Nam." Neva smiled. "It's easy to second guess your decisions when you're trying to navigate in a potentially dangerous environment without the use of one of your most important senses. It'd be easy for even the most confident among us to have doubts about their choices."

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Misa was fiercely opposed to the dark and would never volunteeringly enter such conditions. She wasn't sure why anyone would.

"The difficulty is humans are not meant to be nighttime creatures. Our eyes need light to work. Some people are even afraid of the dark because our ancestors were eaten by predators in the dark." Some people like her. She was afraid of the dark. Nope. No reason for there not to be light. Genetically speaking, it was against the natural order to be anywhere dark.

"You're right, Miss Couture. Humans are certainly thought to be diurnal, or day active. We're wired that way and while there are night owls among us, for the most part we function better during the daylight hours and sleep better during the evening ones. Light is were we operate best, darkness where we rest best."

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

"Me too," Ivy admitted quietly. She might not have frozen the moment the door closed, but her heart was racing and a part of her wanted to make a run for it, even though that would likely result in her falling flat on her face.

But it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one feeling that way, and it was also nice that Phoebe kept ahold of her. Having someone else close by was reassuring.

Despite keeping her free arm outstretched, she did bump into a few things, but eventually they did reach their desks, and then, thank Merlin, Professor Peralta gave them some light. It made her feel a little silly now, seeing what the obstacle course actually looked like and confirming that it was only the students and the professor in the room, but...she wasn't going to dwell on those feelings now.

Though...maybe it tied a little bit into how she wanted to answer. "It's really overwhelming when you first go in," she said, raising her hand. "Even if you think you know what's there, you don't really know. So it helps having someone there with you to tackle it together." And she sent a small smile in Phoebe's direction.

"That's a good point, Miss Grimm. Having another person not only makes facing the unknown a little less scary, it means you've got someone to help urge you on and someone to bounce ideas off of."

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiallNIP

Quinn hadn't exactly... made it to his seat in the allotted time. He squinted as the lights came up, and noticed... he had been walking towards the wall. He wasn't too far from it, either. He quickly made his way to a seat and sat down to draw attention away from himself... if he was the only one still standing that would be the worst.

He pondered over the professor's questions for a moment before answering. "The darkness didn't only make it harder to move, it also prevented you from knowing where you were moving. Like... it was hard to know which direction you were facing, and if you were going where you wanted to go." He knew from firsthand experience. "For me touch was definitely the most helpful, but it still, um, wasn't as effective as being able to see," he said, reddening a bit. Good thing no one saw him trip... well, the professor could've seen, but Quinn decided he would believe that she didn't see. Because he didn't want her to.

Misa's answer intrigued Quinn, though. Maybe they would be learning a Charm that let them see in the dark today. Was there a Charm that worked like that?

"Yes, I imagine that was disorienting, especially after a near stumble or fall." She offered him a reassuring smile. "Touch is a sense which many of your classmates also seemed to rely on. Good."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

She covered her eyes as the lights were came back on. Lisa squinted. Gosh that was brighter than she expected but she was really glad that she had protected her eyes a little more with her hands. That was lucky!

Lisa slowly lowered her hands and blinked several times until they had become adjusted to the light once more. Then her eyes widened when she saw the AWESOME OBSTACLE COURSE! She wanted to go try it out again in the dark after getting to take a quick look at it. She liked a challenge and she thought that she could go quicker through it next time.

But first- a question and several answers. She nodded along as she listened to them. She shot her hand up to add. “I had to go slow too like Mamie!” Lisa was proud of that. “I also used touch too. I couldn’t smell anything different so I relied on touch. I also tried to tap on the obstacles that were in front of me to see if they were hollow or not... I think it worked but I think it could be bad if those obstacles were sharper...Maybe not the best method for courses...” But it helped her!

Speaking of which, genuinely curious questions “Say Professor, can we try the course again after the lesson? I think it would be interestingly to see how much we remember after seeing it in the light.”

Neva nodded her head, smiling a little because of the first year's excitement over a similar experience to Miss Turov. Cute. "Your tapping method was unique and in a situation like that, it's good to try out different strategies, though you're correct in noting you could've been injured had the objects been sharp." Or hot. Or a number of other things Neva wouldn't ever expose the kids to willingly.

"Sure, if you'd like. I can leave the course up for the rest of the day."

Quote:

Originally Posted by love-for-HP

"When you take away one of your senses usually you're others become heighten. So for me, I used my hearing and touch to try and make my way over here." Blake added as he stood up and adjusted his eyes to the light. Dusted off his clothes and got prepared for the remainder of the lesson.

"Hearing and touch seem to be the two other senses that were most useful during this exercise." She nodded. "Good strategy, Mr. Ryan."

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

Ash had just reached the desks when the lights were turned on. She had escaped without any major incidents. She had bumped into objects, but only softly. She had no problems walking through the dark, but still she was glad when the lights returned and she could see that there was nothing to be afraid of. "Obviously I couldn't see in the dark, but I could hear where other people were bumping into stuff, and I could use my sense of touch by gliding forward with my arms extended." Kinda like a zombie. "And I knew I couldn't..." ...short pause, followed by uncomfortable swallow... "... I couldn't hurt myself, because I could like, sense the obstacles and stuff." It was just darkness. Nothing to be afraid of... right?

Right?

"Your assumption about not hurting yourself was based off of an assumption that I wouldn't put anything in the classroom that might've caused you harm." Which was true in this case, but not something she should rely on in every day life. "It's good that you sensed obstacles as you got near to them, but it's also good to be cautious. Constant vigilance and all that." Headmaster Trent would like that one, she was sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wednesday

Ollie bit the inside of her lip. Oops. Had she misread the notice? She didn't realize you weren't supposed to use magic in this activity. She hoped the professor wasn't too upset with Ollie. The last thing she needed was to get in trouble or lose house points.

SHe decided it probably was best to keep quiet for this set of questions since her experience was different from her classmates.

No, not in trouble. Neva didn't miss that she'd refrained from answering and offered her a small smile of encouragement. Mistakes happened and she hoped the first year knew that such a small thing wouldn't mean she'd want the Slytherin to stop participating. It was all good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

As they'd suspected might be the case, Nem encountered very few obstacles, clearly less than the others, judging by what they heard of collisions and scuffles and the occasional muttered curse. What they did encounter seemed to be soft and squashy and easily climbed over or shoved aside; the main curiosity was that the room seemed to be taking a lot longer to traverse than usual. Even factoring in the darkness, which could affect spatial awareness and judgement of distance in a lot of people who could usually see well, it soon became clear that this was not altered perception but a case of enchantment. Just a case of moving along the wall until they found the second corner, and knew they were up at the other end.

Which is what they did. Maybe it had taken them longer than other students - they couldn't tell for sure in the darkness, once they reached the desks - but Nem felt certain that circumventing most of the obstacles had more than made up for going the 'long' way.

When the lights went up, they kept their eyes on Peralta. Some of these answers were not unexpected, but no less impossible to relate to. Overwhelming. Afraid. Thinking less rationally. That last one did make more sense, seeing as it sounded like most other kids had barrelled right through the centre of the room.

Nem provided an answer of their own in a flat voice. "Some senses heighten automatically to compensate for deprivation of another. Using touch is a more conscious decision. I put my hand on the wall and followed that to the other end of the classroom."

"I wondered if anyone would choose that route," Neva admitted with a nod. "Touch is an important sense. Many people imagine what it'd be like to lose hearing or sight, and are frightened by the idea, but touch is a sense we use constantly. Losing your sense of touch would also be life altering. Just something to think about." Not them specifically, but the class as a whole.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Remy turned to face the front, after spending some time watching students behind her stumble out of the darkness. It was a little bit amusing. She was pretty pleased about her own attempt to go through the obstacles, and her stubbed toe wasn't hurting anymore.

"I stubbed my toe on something. That was pretty difficult." Remy commented after raising her hand. She wasn't being dramatic, she was only kidding. A stubbed toe wasn't the end of the world.

"I used my hands to feel for things that could be in the way. I did it without thinking." It was a pretty good method for the activity.

"I noticed many students raising their arms out in front of them, or using their feet to feel ahead straight away." So she imagined it was simply a natural instinct. Wanting to know what was coming. Touch seemed to be the second best way after seeing. "Good and I hope your toe is feeling better."

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Heath nearly jumped out of his seat as Professor Peralta's voice in the darkness startled him, and his head turned in the direction of the sound. He was so glad when the lights came up, and he could see the obstacles, including the foam wedge he tripped over. Much longer in the dark, and he couldn't promise he wouldn't have used his wand. Apparently all that time in The Room last term gave him a thing about darkness!

Trying to push those memories out if his mind, Heath focused on Peralta's question. The first part was obvious. One if the difficulties he faced was a crippling fear of darkness, but there was no way in Hoth that he was mentioning that! He didn't want to look weak in front of his classmates, especially the younger ones. Instead, he chose to answer the second part of the question.

"As others have said, touch helped," he said after raising his hand. [b"I kept one hand out as I moved so it would touch the obstacles before the rest of me did."[/b] And it worked… sort of. "Then I sort if felt around until I couldn't feel the obstacle anymore, and that helped me know where it ended."

"Using touch to figure out how big, wide, tall an obstacle is, or where it starts and stops, is very useful. Good, Mr. Jones."

SPOILER!!: Cambridge with the nice segue

...................

Right.

"Though I'm not entirely sure Miss Cambridge's offer was appropriate, she has touched on the next thing I wanted you all to discuss in a roundabout way." She eyed the Gryffindor for a moment with raised brows and then continued on. "Navigating through the dark without a source of light or the ability to see what's around you is clearly not an easy task. There are some benefits to darkness, though. I'd like you to find yourself a partner and then think about instances where you'd want to navigate through a dark environment without using a source of light to help guide the way. Be creative, feel free to think outside the box, be appropriate, and then share one of your scenarios with the class." She eyed her watch. "You'll have about fifteen minutes to do this, so let's get to work."

OOC: Hi friends! If you're playing catch-up, that's A-Okay! The next part of the lesson requires your charrie to:
-Find a partner (Please claim an unpartnered charrie above your post when possible! This helps to keep things moving!!)
-Discuss different scenarios where you would want to move around a dark space without using a light source
-Pretend it's your pair's turn to share with the class and have them share one of their scenarios with the group
You'll have about 54 hours to complete this part of the class!

05-21-2021, 06:24 PM	#39 (permalink)
TakemetotheBurrow Grindylow Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Boston Posts: 14,485 Hogwarts RPG Name: Everleigh Evans Ravenclaw Fifth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Luca Benetti Hufflepuff Graduated x12 x7	elephant-astic•wanderlust•stay in the ninedaaays the original Taco Belle•look at the flowers✿ For the kids who hadn't made it to their seats in time, Neva wasn't judging. If anything it simply showed how disorienting it could be to try and navigate through an environment where visibility was pretty much zero. Humans relied heavily on light and when it was suddenly taken away, one had to find ways to adapt. Ways that took time and practice to hone. Or, as they'd soon find out, magic. She watched their faces as they considered her questions, glad to see that they were making connections. Or at least they were acting like they were, which was also appreciated. SPOILER!!: Responses! Quote: Originally Posted by Stefan Oh? A notice? Noah quickened his pace as he saw the red paper stuck on the door and read the professor's instructions. It did raise questions and perhaps bits of trust issues here and there, but surprisingly, the normalcy (or as normal as it could get because this was Hogwarts) of the school also brought back his confidence. Talk about growing up, finally. When it was his turn, Noah squared his shoulders and just went for the door. He'd decided not to think about the room devoid of light and just go straight in without thinking of the obstacles. He'd have to just push and shove the things in front of him and be done with it. But, of course, the Professor didn't mean the obstacle to be easy. It was apparent that another student who went in before him had the same idea, because soon enough, a foam wedge landed on his face, hitting his left eye. "Ow!" Noah gasped at the sudden sharp sensation, putting a hand on his now irritated eye and kept his other hand feeling the obstacle. Disoriented, the Gryffindor kept going forwards, only to realize that he'd gone back to his starting point when he felt the cold knob of the Charms' classroom door. "Oh, come on." he'd turn around again, this time going slowly. But that wasn't much of an improvement as he found himself falling down a small pit, landing on a bunch of square foams. Well, at least he was somewhere in the middle of his destination, right? Only Merlin knows. Noah kept still as he nursed his eye, only to realize that he also bit his lip when he fell. The sting and taste of blood wasn't new to him. What he didn't like was he was blinder than blind. Hearing the others making it to the other side, Noah turned on his belly and tuned his ears toward them, and slowly crawled his way over employing his sense of touch this time. Slowly but surely, he made it to the end as he grappled one of the chairs and stayed put to catch his breath and blink away the tears from his irritated eye. He'd made it to his destination just in time and Neva glanced at the Gryffindor briefly, offering him the smallest of smiles before shifting her attention to his housemate and her answer. Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin Phoebe was startled back into sense by Ivy's voice right beside her, and she grappled in the dark until she caught the girl's elbow. "Hi. I'm okay, yeah. Sorry. I just... apparently just suddenly became afraid of the dark or something. Let's go," she moved forward again, still holding onto Ivy and waving her free hand through the darkness ahead of her. They found their seats eventually, perhaps a few bruised shins worse for wear, and Phoebe was ridiculously relieved when Peralta began to bring up the lights. Not that she was really afraid of the dark, just something in the dark. Maybe she was afraid of herself in the dark. "I don't think my senses really kicked in to make up any difference. More like... I couldn't trust anything if I couldn't see, and I just kind of... froze up." She peeked at Ivy-who-saved-her. "I think this reaction is only natural. Part of what is so scary about the dark is not being able to identify what is lurking within, if anything. It leaves a lot to the imagination and sometimes imagination can be unkind." The Charms Professor had been convinced there were monsters hiding under her bed for years as a kid, going as far as to construct traps to catch them. No one had to convince her of how scary the dark could be. Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Her eyes were squeezed shut the moment Peralta announced that the lights were going to be coming on. For this reason, said lights did not affect her. That was an extra precaution to the slowly returning lights. As she opened her eyes and the room came into focus, Claudine looked around at the path she had taken to get to this side of the room. Well, at least there didn’t seem to be injuries among anyone even though her slightly twisted ankle hurt a little It didn’t matter. Soon Claudine would forget about that. “Listening helped me a bit,’’ the Snakette volunteered, her hand up. “Hearing those ahead helped to keep me going in the right direction. But the challenge to that was zoning out the others behind me in order to focus.” "This was a technique I noticed a few students employing and your sense of hearing can certainly be helpful when your sight is limited. Focusing, as you said, is the part that can be a challenge and in some cases, focusing more on hearing those around you could trip you up, quite literally, as you move through a dark space." Quote: Originally Posted by Waddles She did finally open her eyes when Peralta said there would be light, disappointed she couldn't get a nap but otherwise please class was going to begin. She wondered how her friends ~~and non-friends~~ had done. Mamie hadn't found it that hard to do the obstacle course in the dark?? She eyed the obstacle course. Like, yes, she had to walk differently than normal, but she'd navigated in darkness before. Like, going downstairs to the kitchen at home when she wanted water at night, or going to the bathroom when her family went camping. Was she just...very athletic? Maybe that was it. She raised her hand. "You have to go slower if you can't see," she said. "Because...because you're using different senses, like the listening or feeling, to find your way, and it takes longer to figure it out because you're not used to doing it that way." "That's a great point, Miss Turov. Many students adjusted their pace a few times during the activity, trying to find one that worked best for them and resulted in a safer journey." Quote: Originally Posted by Chelliephone Evan was glad for the notice lights would be going up, if not so he could adjust to the light but also to make sure he was up and dusted off his robes as best as he could before his peers could see him again. Not that it really mattered, but for some reason it did matter to him a bit. With the lights up, he eyed the obstacle course in the room that had been set or them, amused and kind of impressed at the set up. Was Professor Peralta a parent? An aunt? He imagined she'd be really fun to have as either if this was what she could put together. Who wouldn't want a giant foam obstacle course? Even he kind of wanted to go down the slides and everything now. Hearing the questions, and most people sounding as if they were focusing on question number two, he raised his hand to take a stab in the dark - heh - at question number one. "Darkness is often a fear people face, and even if you're not afraid of the dark the loss of use of your eyes causes so much uncertainty for some, it can make your brain think a little less rationally. For an example, I started slow and gave my other senses time to make sense of what could be happening in the room. But then the uncertainty of being unable to see my peers and if they might run into me" Which could cause much more injury than the foam obstacles "affected my decision to go faster which caused more mishaps." He should have just ignored the uncertainty and kept going slow. Might have made it across without going down. "Thank you for pointing this out, Mr. Nam." Neva smiled. "It's easy to second guess your decisions when you're trying to navigate in a potentially dangerous environment without the use of one of your most important senses. It'd be easy for even the most confident among us to have doubts about their choices." Quote: Originally Posted by LilFox06 Misa was fiercely opposed to the dark and would never volunteeringly enter such conditions. She wasn't sure why anyone would. "The difficulty is humans are not meant to be nighttime creatures. Our eyes need light to work. Some people are even afraid of the dark because our ancestors were eaten by predators in the dark." Some people like her. She was afraid of the dark. Nope. No reason for there not to be light. Genetically speaking, it was against the natural order to be anywhere dark. "You're right, Miss Couture. Humans are certainly thought to be diurnal, or day active. We're wired that way and while there are night owls among us, for the most part we function better during the daylight hours and sleep better during the evening ones. Light is were we operate best, darkness where we rest best." Quote: Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl "Me too," Ivy admitted quietly. She might not have frozen the moment the door closed, but her heart was racing and a part of her wanted to make a run for it, even though that would likely result in her falling flat on her face. But it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one feeling that way, and it was also nice that Phoebe kept ahold of her. Having someone else close by was reassuring. Despite keeping her free arm outstretched, she did bump into a few things, but eventually they did reach their desks, and then, thank Merlin, Professor Peralta gave them some light. It made her feel a little silly now, seeing what the obstacle course actually looked like and confirming that it was only the students and the professor in the room, but...she wasn't going to dwell on those feelings now. Though...maybe it tied a little bit into how she wanted to answer. "It's really overwhelming when you first go in," she said, raising her hand. *"Even if you think you know what's there, you don't really* know. So it helps having someone there with you to tackle it together." And she sent a small smile in Phoebe's direction. "That's a good point, Miss Grimm. Having another person not only makes facing the unknown a little less scary, it means you've got someone to help urge you on and someone to bounce ideas off of." Quote: Originally Posted by NiallNIP** Quinn hadn't exactly... made it to his seat in the allotted time. He squinted as the lights came up, and noticed... he had been walking towards the wall. He wasn't too far from it, either. He quickly made his way to a seat and sat down to draw attention away from himself... if he was the only one still standing that would be the worst. He pondered over the professor's questions for a moment before answering. "The darkness didn't only make it harder to move, it also prevented you from knowing where you were moving. Like... it was hard to know which direction you were facing, and if you were going where you wanted to go." He knew from firsthand experience. "For me touch was definitely the most helpful, but it still, um, wasn't as effective as being able to see," he said, reddening a bit. Good thing no one saw him trip... well, the professor could've seen, but Quinn decided he would believe that she didn't see. Because he didn't want her to. Misa's answer intrigued Quinn, though. Maybe they would be learning a Charm that let them see in the dark today. Was there a Charm that worked like that? "Yes, I imagine that was disorienting, especially after a near stumble or fall." She offered him a reassuring smile. "Touch is a sense which many of your classmates also seemed to rely on. Good." Quote: Originally Posted by Watson She covered her eyes as the lights were came back on. Lisa squinted. Gosh that was brighter than she expected but she was really glad that she had protected her eyes a little more with her hands. That was lucky! Lisa slowly lowered her hands and blinked several times until they had become adjusted to the light once more. Then her eyes widened when she saw the AWESOME OBSTACLE COURSE! She wanted to go try it out again in the dark after getting to take a quick look at it. She liked a challenge and she thought that she could go quicker through it next time. But first- a question and several answers. She nodded along as she listened to them. She shot her hand up to add. “*I had to go slow too like* Mamie!” Lisa was proud of that. “I also used touch too. I couldn’t smell anything different so I relied on touch. I also tried to tap on the obstacles that were in front of me to see if they were hollow or not... I think it worked but I think it could be bad if those obstacles were sharper...Maybe not the best method for courses...” But it helped her! Speaking of which, genuinely curious questions “Say Professor, can we try the course again after the lesson? I think it would be interestingly to see how much we remember after seeing it in the light.” Neva nodded her head, smiling a little because of the first year's excitement over a similar experience to Miss Turov. Cute. "Your tapping method was unique and in a situation like that, it's good to try out different strategies, though you're correct in noting you could've been injured had the objects been sharp." Or hot. Or a number of other things Neva wouldn't ever expose the kids to willingly. "Sure, if you'd like. I can leave the course up for the rest of the day." Quote: Originally Posted by love-for-HP "When you take away one of your senses usually you're others become heighten. So for me, I used my hearing and touch to try and make my way over here." Blake added as he stood up and adjusted his eyes to the light. Dusted off his clothes and got prepared for the remainder of the lesson. "Hearing and touch seem to be the two other senses that were most useful during this exercise." She nodded. "Good strategy, Mr. Ryan." Quote: Originally Posted by astrocat Ash had just reached the desks when the lights were turned on. She had escaped without any major incidents. She had bumped into objects, but only softly. She had no problems walking through the dark, but still she was glad when the lights returned and she could see that there was nothing to be afraid of. "Obviously I couldn't see in the dark, but I could hear where other people were bumping into stuff, and I could use my sense of touch by gliding forward with my arms extended." Kinda like a zombie. "And I knew I couldn't..." ...short pause, followed by uncomfortable swallow... "... I couldn't hurt myself, because I could like, sense the obstacles and stuff."** It was just darkness. Nothing to be afraid of... right? Right? "Your assumption about not hurting yourself was based off of an assumption that I wouldn't put anything in the classroom that might've caused you harm." Which was true in this case, but not something she should rely on in every day life. "It's good that you sensed obstacles as you got near to them, but it's also good to be cautious. Constant vigilance and all that." Headmaster Trent would like that one, she was sure. Quote: Originally Posted by wednesday Ollie bit the inside of her lip. Oops. Had she misread the notice? She didn't realize you weren't supposed to use magic in this activity. She hoped the professor wasn't too upset with Ollie. The last thing she needed was to get in trouble or lose house points. SHe decided it probably was best to keep quiet for this set of questions since her experience was different from her classmates. No, not in trouble. Neva didn't miss that she'd refrained from answering and offered her a small smile of encouragement. Mistakes happened and she hoped the first year knew that such a small thing wouldn't mean she'd want the Slytherin to stop participating. It was all good. Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir As they'd suspected might be the case, Nem encountered very few obstacles, clearly less than the others, judging by what they heard of collisions and scuffles and the occasional muttered curse. What they did encounter seemed to be soft and squashy and easily climbed over or shoved aside; the main curiosity was that the room seemed to be taking a lot longer to traverse than usual. Even factoring in the darkness, which could affect spatial awareness and judgement of distance in a lot of people who could usually see well, it soon became clear that this was not altered perception but a case of enchantment. Just a case of moving along the wall until they found the second corner, and knew they were up at the other end. Which is what they did. Maybe it had taken them longer than other students - they couldn't tell for sure in the darkness, once they reached the desks - but Nem felt certain that circumventing most of the obstacles had more than made up for going the 'long' way. When the lights went up, they kept their eyes on Peralta. Some of these answers were not unexpected, but no less impossible to relate to. Overwhelming. Afraid. Thinking less rationally. That last one did make more sense, seeing as it sounded like most other kids had barrelled right through the centre of the room. Nem provided an answer of their own in a flat voice. "Some senses heighten automatically to compensate for deprivation of another. Using touch is a more conscious decision. I put my hand on the wall and followed that to the other end of the classroom." "I wondered if anyone would choose that route," Neva admitted with a nod. "Touch is an important sense. Many people imagine what it'd be like to lose hearing or sight, and are frightened by the idea, but touch is a sense we use constantly. Losing your sense of touch would also be life altering. Just something to think about." Not them specifically, but the class as a whole. Quote: Originally Posted by Emzily Remy turned to face the front, after spending some time watching students behind her stumble out of the darkness. It was a little bit amusing. She was pretty pleased about her own attempt to go through the obstacles, and her stubbed toe wasn't hurting anymore. "I stubbed my toe on something. That was pretty difficult." Remy commented after raising her hand. She wasn't being dramatic, she was only kidding. A stubbed toe wasn't the end of the world. "I used my hands to feel for things that could be in the way. I did it without thinking." It was a pretty good method for the activity. "I noticed many students raising their arms out in front of them, or using their feet to feel ahead straight away." So she imagined it was simply a natural instinct. Wanting to know what was coming. Touch seemed to be the second best way after seeing. "Good and I hope your toe is feeling better." Quote: Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy Heath nearly jumped out of his seat as Professor Peralta's voice in the darkness startled him, and his head turned in the direction of the sound. He was so glad when the lights came up, and he could see the obstacles, including the foam wedge he tripped over. Much longer in the dark, and he couldn't promise he wouldn't have used his wand. Apparently all that time in The Room last term gave him a thing about darkness! Trying to push those memories out if his mind, Heath focused on Peralta's question. The first part was obvious. One if the difficulties he faced was a crippling fear of darkness, but there was no way in Hoth that he was mentioning that! He didn't want to look weak in front of his classmates, especially the younger ones. Instead, he chose to answer the second part of the question. "As others have said, touch helped," he said after raising his hand. [b"I kept one hand out as I moved so it would touch the obstacles before the rest of me did."[/b] And it worked… sort of. "Then I sort if felt around until I couldn't feel the obstacle anymore, and that helped me know where it ended." "Using touch to figure out how big, wide, tall an obstacle is, or where it starts and stops, is very useful. Good, Mr. Jones." SPOILER!!: Cambridge with the nice segue Quote: Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo To make it clear, Emmerson did NOT appreciate having to find her seat in the dark. Fact was, she could sometimes hardly find her seat in the light, usually meandering toward one of her friends instead. Dark? Forget about it. It wasn’t until the lights began coming on (as she hadn’t moved after tripping) that Emm got up and made her way over to her spot. They could all agree it was better when the room was lit. “I didn’t know where anything was then I tripped and nearly broke my neck.” She offered, a certain disgrace to her Head Auror mother if she ever knew. There was no anything else kicking in, no feeling like she was suddenly super powerful in another way or like anything else was getting more useful—unless tasting the slide she went down counted...but she had a feeling it didn’t. “You know, Professor, if you wanted to know all the things that can go wrong in the dark, I could always make you a list. I’ve got a TON of examples, some even you’d find useful—unless you don’t have a boyfriend, then maybe only half would be—unless you don’t have enemies either. Were you the mean girl or the victim?” It was important to knowing what list was just right. ................... Right. *"Though I'm not entirely* sure Miss Cambridge's offer was appropriate, she has touched on the next thing I wanted you all to discuss in a roundabout way."** She eyed the Gryffindor for a moment with raised brows and then continued on. "Navigating through the dark without a source of light or the ability to see what's around you is clearly not an easy task. There are some benefits to darkness, though. I'd like you to find yourself a partner and then think about instances where you'd want to navigate through a dark environment without using a source of light to help guide the way. Be creative, feel free to think outside the box, be appropriate, and then share one of your scenarios with the class." She eyed her watch. "You'll have about fifteen minutes to do this, so let's get to work." OOC: Hi friends! If you're playing catch-up, that's A-Okay! The next part of the lesson requires your charrie to: -Find a partner (Please claim an unpartnered charrie above your post when possible! This helps to keep things moving!!) -Discuss different scenarios where you would want to move around a dark space without using a light source -Pretend it's your pair's turn to share with the class and have them share one of their scenarios with the group You'll have about 54 hours to complete this part of the class! __________________