"Well, I would hate to call a hippogriff an 'opponent' per se. I almost think the biggest opponent in this situation would be ourselves! But, if I must consider the hippogriff as an opponent, recalling how to approach one is the firt piece of key information. Remembering how to bow and what to do if it is returned. How not to insult the hippogriff and anger it in anyway. By using the right tactics, the hippogriff could go from an opponent to an aid, perhap by flying you out of the forest." Kennedy suggested.

Molly frantically flipped through her notes for an answer. She couldn’t believe that she was doing so poorly.

Kerry raised her hand, "We need to remember that our opponent is a creature.. not a human. Creatures can be unpredictable and we need to be prepared for it. We should know a little about the creature, too. Like you must slowly approach it and bow to it, if it does not bow back, back away and don't bother with the creature or it will attack. Only go up to the creature if it allows you to. Having respect for a creature or opponent like this and not underestimating it's power is key."

"Very nice... I can tell you all know your creatures. A hippogryff is not an opponent in the sense that it might try to hurt you for fun or for food, but in the sense that your own actions could lead you to offending the very sensitive animal and causing yourself harm. Understanding this is possibly the most important part of dealing with a hippogryff."

"Let's lump A and R together in this situation. What is in that bag of tricks that can help you deal with a hippogryff? Crazy answers are as welcome as factual ones."

Evan shot a quick glance at Molly, who was flipping through her notes like she was possessed, then slowly raised his hand. "We shouldn't forget that Hippogriffs can fly, which is a huge advantage for them as they can attack from above, and that using a broomstick to try and fly away from the creature wouldn't be a good idea at all. They have really sharp claws and a powerful beak, therefore I would suggest using a spell that would make their beak stay closed, or a Binding charm to restrain their legs. Since they have the body of a horse, I can only assume that they run pretty fast too, so the Impedimenta spell could be used to slow them down. "

"Previous Care of Magical Creatures training is a useful resource or ability. Hippogriff are extremely carnivorous, so having a spare dead animal, like a rat or a ferret might not be such a bad thing, although it may be unlikely."

Kerry raised her hand, thinking about abilities and resources, "Well your abilities against this animal would include using your cleverness to figure out it's weaknesses...perhaps you can find a small stray animal to feed it, the hippogriff would love that, especially ferretts. Umm, your abilities also include your range of spells that you could use on the beast to calm it, trick it, or somehow make it submissive. As for resources, again food can be used as one. Your wand is a huge resource, as is your mind."

Molly painfully listened to Evans winded answer "You could always try being nice" she said with a giant grin in her face.

Torie's hand shot up. "You could use the spell Incarcerous to bind the Hippogriff so that it wouldn't be able to attack you. However, I would suggest trying to use more friendly actions first, like feeding it a ferret, as Kennedy suggested."

Kassie raised her hand, "Well hippogryffs are really strong so if it attacks you, you should pick up a rock and throw it as hard as you can. Or you can just try to make it lke you."

Kassie looked down at her desk, blushing. She felt like an idiot. She hoped she didnt sound stupid.

"How about Evanesco? Problem solved." Jasmine giggled.

"I like suggestions that started with not assuming that the hippogryff was coming right at you. An attempt to be polite, offer it a meal, make friends... these are all good ideas. I heard some good spells named: Impedimenta, Incarcerous, a calming or cheering charm, and so on. Keep these spells in your arsenal. There was one option in dealing with the creature that I didn't hear from anyone... any guesses?"

Torie yelled happily "Run AWAY!!!!!"

"Throw someone else in front if it. Like your quidditch captain." Molly said as she glanced over at Evan.

Amelia timidly raised her hand after being quiet the whole class so far, "Uh Professor, what about using your judgement to figure out if the creature is a friend or foe?"

"Exactly, Torie," she smiled fondly. "Never be ashamed to judge your opponent as overly qualified and then run for all you're worth."

"Let's go ahead and do the same analysis on the boggart. Assume you encountered it in the closet of your house. What can we deduce using SOAR?"

"Well, knowing what a boggart is and how it operates is most important. Knowing that it feeds off on the emotion of fear and knowing that what it is portraying is NOT reality are the most important things. Of course, having your wand is paramount so that one can use the 'Ridikulus' spell to fight the boggart." Kennedy answered

Evan smirked at Molly's comment but stopped himself from replying. Instead, he raised his hand and said: "It'll transform into what you fear most. Knowing what your biggest fear is will make it easier to deal with the Boggart once it has changed into something scary. Also, if there are several people in the room, then the Boggart'll get confused because it won't know what to change into, and that way you can defeat it."

Molly raised her hand “Well, if it’s in your house, you should know your surroundings fairly well. The biggest thing would be if you were in the room alone or with others. If you are alone, then you would probably have an idea of what it will turn into and you could deal with that. If you were with others, then you wouldn’t know what it would be.”

"Well, the boggart's abilities can make it shift into anyones worst fear, but, it could be changed by saying the charm 'Riddikulus'. Also, no one knows the real form of it either, since it changes right when it sees you. It is also weakened by laughter." Cassandra said, her hand raised, "it is also rated a 4, for Dangerous / requires specialist knowledge / skilled wizard may handle."

Kerry raised her hand, "Well know your surroundings and what will help you and hinder you. Be prepared to face your biggest fear when it comes to this opponent as this is what it will turn into. The only thing we should fear is fear itself.. and if we can get over that and keep a level head then we can move onto our abilities and resources, the greatest of which is our minds again. We need to think of something to outwit this creature. In this case laughter is it's downfall. If you can get over your fear and picture the funniest possible situation you would like to see your boggart in, you will be successful.

OOC: I hate to do this, but I'm leaving the class open for answers and discussion and I'm going to go pass out in my bed after an extremely long and hard day. No chatting, but discuss if you need to.

Aurora had done a lot research on boggarts at her last school, and they used a slightly different spell but maybe her information would be useful. She pulled out her old purple and gold notebook and looked it up, then raised her hand and spoke.
"Professor, A boggart is a shape-shifter that takes on the form of whatever a person fears the most. It generally likes to hide in dark, enclosed places, such as in cupboards, under beds, or in hollow trees. Due to its tendency to hide in relatively small spaces, it is likely that a boggart's natural form is fairly small, about the size of a feret. However, no concrete reference has yet been made regarding its true appearance or size. Furthermore, to overcome a Boggart it's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. With two or more people areound, he becomes confused.
But the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. By casting the charm (preposterous- from her old school)Riddikulus, the boggart will be repelled or destroyed. The charm is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You need to force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. The charm forces the Boggart to assume the shape of what you are imagining; if you have the force of mind to keep the ridiculous image in your mind in the face of what you most fear, the Boggart will become laughable, and laughing at it will destroy it.
Aurora was hoping that she wouldnt pull a boggart out today. She didnt want the whole class seeing her biggest fear........nope dont even think about it, Aurora she thought to herself.

Ariana raised her hand, "Well, as for the Boggart, it is a classed 4 X's, which means it has to be handled by a specially trained witch/wizard. It can sense your deepest darkest fear. But I have one question about that...what if YOU yourself doesn't know what the fear is? What if you fear multiple things the same? I mean, let's say you fear death, hate, and pain at all the same mulititude, would it get confused, or would it know which one you fear more so than others?" she thought it sounded like a good question, but went on,

"As for SOAR: If you're in an area you know well, then you shouldn't have a problem with running or hiding. But if you're in an area you dont know well then you should quickly look around to see if there are any places to run or hide to. The opponent, in this case Bogggart, well it doesn't have any clothes or anything which you would easily be able to spot, just the being itself, we don't know what a Boggart really looks like when its hiding, waiting for its next victim. If you don't know what a Boggart is before encountering one, then you would have a problem but if you've been in school and know that the only way to repel a Boggart is by laughter than you should be fine if you don't freak out and scream when seeing your worst fear." she paused than gathering her thoughts,

"Abilities: Well, if you're a first year you'd be in trouble, unless someone has taught you the Riddikulus spell to repel the Boggart, the only thing you can really do is try to run as fast as possible. If you do know the spell and have been practising then you should be able to handle it. You should know your opponents abilities too; in this case its abilitiy is to show you your worst fear and make you terrified beyond belief. You should know what your fear is, how you can make it funny looking and say the spell correctly." she took another breath and finished,

"As for resources, like I said before the only resource you should really have at your disposal is a place to run if you can't fight the Boggart, your wand which should be in good shape, and your mind. Your mind is your greatest resource in this instance, as well with all instances as it has the spell and imagination you need to win. Your opponents reources are the fact it can sense your greatest fear and goes on to terrify you into submission. Oh, and make sure you have people with you; if there's a lot of people around the Boggart, it'll become confused and make it easier for you to defeat it.

"In closing I would say you should really think about what your greatest fear is now, when you don't have the chance to fight to know how you ould make it funny to beat it. I don't think any of us could beat a Boggart singlehandedly, it would take a great deal of laughter to finish it off." she finished proud of her answer. She thought it had been a good idea for her mother to show her a book about creatures before coming to school, she knew quite a bit about boggarts. Writing everything down, Ariana waited for the pracitcal part of the lesson; she only hoped it wouldn't be a Boggart.

Kassie raised her hand, "Well you know boggarts can easily be confused so if you think there might be a boggart anywhere in your houe you should have a couple friends go with you to check it out. Also you could use Ridikulus on it. If that doesnt work though you could always think of something really funny and force yourself to start laughing at it."

Kassie had been looking down at her desk while she spoke and now looked around to see the reactions people had to her words.