Excellent, 3 points to Patrick and 1 to Nadia for the venomous fangs.

Next we will talk briefly about the Manticore, then we will move on to other famous mythical creatures...

The Manticore is native to Greece. It has the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion. It is as dangerous as the Chimaera, and as rare, the manticcore is reputed to croon softly as it devours it prey. Its skin repels almost all known charms and its stings causes instant death.

That's right, 3 points. But does anyone know the mythology behind the Manticore. Just a brief summary will be perfect.

The Manticore is another example of a creature that Muggles believe to be fake, that actually does exist.

the manticore is capable of inteligible speech, but was not classified due to very violent tendencies.

Like its cousin, the Sphinx, it would often challenge its prey with riddles before killing.

Kalaya, interested by the change of animal perked up. Unfourtunatly, everything she knew had already been said.

Laurasia raised her hand. "The Manticore stalks through the forests in search of humans, it attacks first by using poison to render the victim immobile so that it then can devour the bones, clothes, possessions the lot, so the Manticore leaves no trace of the victim. There are other descriptions of Manticore that don't fit the above patterns and that is that Manticore move around in prides and they kill for the sake of killing and leave there pray behind to be found."

Shuddering at the thought of being one of the Manticore's victoms Kalaya thought: I hope I never run into one... Having already taken notes on the Manticore Kalaya then gazed around the room, fighting the urge to daydream. She didn't want to miss anything.

Noel jotted down the dragon names and their characteristics, sadly enough, she didn't know a lot about the Manticore.

Xavier raises his hand. "The Manticore has the head of a man, the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. It is highly dangerous and also impervious to most magic. Its sting kills instantly."

Nadia raised her hand, "Pardon I disagree. Only the sphinx will use riddles. The manticore -" here she smirked, seemly enjoying of a personal joke "- won't give you a second chance before it tries to eat you. It appears to sing while it devours its pray.

"Though it's true that in looks both the sphinx and manticure looks alike, the manticore has one deadly tail of a scorpion, poisonous and which causes an immediate death. The skin of a manticore repells almost every known spells and magic, hence why it makes the prime substance to many protective desvises such as armours - even more than the dragon hide."

Peony raised her hand.

"The Manticore is supposed to be a monstrous creature which inhabits the forests in Asia, especially in Indonesia, Malaysia and India. The manticore, considered to be the most dangerous predator in these regions, has the body of a lion and a head with human resemblance. The mouth is filled with three rows of razor-sharp teeth and the scaled tail ends in a ball with poisonous darts. The monster stalks through the forest in search of humans. Upon an encounter with a human, the manticore fires a volley of darts at the victim, who dies immediately. This unfortunate person is devoured completely, even the bones and clothing, as well as the possessions this person carried, vanish. When a villager has completely disappeared, this is considered proof of the presence of a manticore.

"The earliest accounts seem to be from Persian legend. The name itself is from the Old Persian martikhoras meaning 'man-eater'. The earliest accounts of the existence of the manticore come from the Persian courts in the fifth century B.C., documented by Ctesias, a Greek physician at the Persian court. Greek and Roman authors (Aristotle, Pliny) described the beast the same way the Persians had."

As people added to the discription of the Manticore Kalaya jotted down information. Twisting her hair around her finger-she was getting bored- Kalaya thought Does no one notice they are all saying pretty much the same thing?

jessica raised her hand "The Manticore was a creature with the torso of a lion, the hindquarters of a scorpion and a head with human resemblance. It was typically blamed for the mysterious disappearance of a person, since it was well known that it fed only on human flesh and ate even the clothing and possessions of its victim. While there are no tales that describe one, it was generally considered to have three rows of razor-sharp teeth and its scorpion like tail allowed it to fire poisonous darts. When a villager has completely disappeared, this is considered proof of the presence of a manticore."

Outstanding! 5 points!

Now another vary famous mythological creature, the Centaur. Who can tell me the Ministry of Magic classification for a centaur, and why they received such a rating?

centaurs are rated xxxxx. it is rated this highly because although it is considered a beast, it is highly inteligent and so therefore can not be trained. however it avoids any contact with wizards or muggles

"The Centaurs have themselves chosen to be considered Beasts by the Ministry and do not take part in governing at all," Drusilla adds.

"The centaur has a XXXX rating because," Nadia started with her hand raised, "not because it's agressive - though they are known to become so at times - but because it should be treated with much respect, the same as the unicorn and the merpeople.

"As already mentioned, it was upon request that the centaur is considered a beast, as they refused to be considered in the same label as the harpies and other such intelligent but, well, unpopular creatures. The centaurs have their own culture separate from the human, wizarding or muggle, and intends on having the less possible interaction with us."

Professor McAiken stuck his head in the door and when he saw that Professor Dainsie was in the middle of a lesson, he pulled it back then closed the door. He hoped no one saw him. He thought to himself, "Really silly move old man. Just announce it to the whole school why not." He gave his head a shake then continued his thinking. "You went there to see if she could check out your owl, the students won't even know anything else." McAiken was just about to release Nobel to fly to the owlery when he remember he needed to send a package. He and the owl returned to his study.

Jaren looked up in time to see a fleeting glimpse of Professor McAiken hastily closing the door.

With a mental shrug, he went back to note-taking.

As Nadia was finishing her explanation and lowering her hand, the door opened and Nadia turned mechanically to see. The door was closing just as she got a glimpace of the Transfiguration professor. A small part of herself peeked up attentively and curious, but it was soon put second wave of emotion that clashed with the first. Oh what do I care, said the voice in her head.

Nadia raised her hand again, "Adding to that, Centaurs were said to be the followers of the wine god Dionysus and are well known for drunkenness and carrying off helpless young maidens. They inhabited Mount Pelion in Thessaly, northern Greece. According to one myth, they are the offspring of Ixion, the king of Lapithae (Thessaly), and a cloud. He had arranged a tryst with Hera, but Zeus got wind of it and fashioned a cloud into Hera's shape. Therefore, the Centaurs are sometimes called Ixionidae."

Noel saw Professor McAiken poke his head inside the classroom and then leave, she wondered why and couldn't help thinking that was a little strange, he should have at least apologized for interupting the lesson.

luna frowned at where professor McAiken had been, there was somethng wrong with him she thaught before going back to listening to the teacher

3 points!

2 points! And 5 points to Nadia.

She noticed Professor McAiken holding his owl quickly before he shut the door. Knowing he probably just wanted her to look at Nobel and it was nothing urgent, she continued on with the lesson.

The ways of the centaur are shrouded in mystery as they go out of their way to avoid any contact with humans, especially Muggles. They live in herds that vary in size, but usually between 10 and 50.

We may have only had rare glimpses into to their ways, but we do know that they are exceptionally intelligent, though they are usually rather cryptic. Being a very proud race, this is not only a way to not share much information, but also to display their intelligence.

They excel particularly in Divination, Astronomy and magical healing, and are very skilled in archery. A creature very much deserving of our upmost respect.

As are the next ones we shall be talking about; Merpeople.

Can anyone tell me any other names that they are known by?

"Sirens and Silkies," Jaren said after raising his hand, wondering if he had got the latter correct.