Eternal frowned, her fellow kind were being hurt by this defiling man, if you could call him a man. More like Ruler. "Well, elves are taught magic when they are young. Faeries develop magic early on. So the man might be using him for his magic. Maybe to make the toys make sounds and make them faster." She stopped talking and thought of the last question.

"He can't be stopped. How can you stop a man with such power of sorcery and also have the elves magic too?" Licking her lips, she put her quill down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monkey Princess

Ariana thought for a moment, "Perhaps he uses them for their magic? I mean they're very powerful, he could use them to protect himself, have them make protective spells which surround his castle or house so no one will ever see him." She replied, thinking it sounded plausable. She jotted down a few notes on her parchment.

"You've got your thinking cap on today, Ariana. Well done! I think that is exactly how Mr. Claus uses his house elves."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willow_Kovac

"Because this person knows that they will never betray him" she said rising her hand, "and like Ari said, House elves have very porwerful magic. A good example is that they can appear inside Hogwarts. If I'm not mistaken of course" she said politely with her hand still in the air.

"Right again! You're exactly right!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by druidflower

"Some people say that the elves deliver the toys for le Pere Noel, like the alleged case of Bluetoes the elf, but moreover, it's entirely possible for le Pere Noel to use no magic at all, even to have no magic at all, so all the breaking of the statute would be done by elves, if they're making the toys, perhaps enchanting the reindeer, hiding the workshop, and cleaning up after le Pere Noel in his wake. If we want to be REAL conspiracy theorists, we could say that there IS no Pere Noel and the elves are responsible for all of it. Or as to why this is going on for so long, if Pere Noel is or was mortal, he might have left standing orders for the elves to continue his work after his death. This is all supposition, though, it still proposes an interesting theory, doesn't it Professor?" Faye had let her inquiring mind run away with her again, but the more she thought about it, the more she found the theory fascinating.

Lainey laughed. "Oh dear, Faye. I may have rubbed off too much on you. That's an excellent theory! Completely possible too..." Lainey rubbed her chin in thought again, pausing to really think about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetAussie

Agie raised her hand once more, "To clip Santa's toenails sir? Ohh that would be so mean. I heard he has really nasty toenails. Those poor elves. Ooh ohhhh Maybe he tries to steal their magic. If so, he should be put on his own naughty list." Agie said shaking her head.

"Well... that I can't be sure about. But, I wouldn't put it past him..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fateylicious

Eternal frowned, her fellow kind were being hurt by this defiling man, if you could call him a man. More like Ruler. "Well, elves are taught magic when they are young. Faeries develop magic early on. So the man might be using him for his magic. Maybe to make the toys make sounds and make them faster." She stopped talking and thought of the last question.

"He can't be stopped. How can you stop a man with such power of sorcery and also have the elves magic too?" Licking her lips, she put her quill down.

"Exactly, Eternal. Exactly. He can't be stopped. Or, I've yet to come up with a way to stop him."

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Amelia knew this was a challenging question, but she decided to tackle it anyway. She raised her and and spoke rather hesitantly, "Perhaps that this Santa guy uses his knowledge of house elves to get away with his tyranny. He knows that house elves are bound to their master, and thus he can get away with this tyranny by using the elves to help with the protection charms around the North Pole so that he cannot ever be defeated. The milk and cookies that he takes from the people's homes, he makes sure to share with the elves so that they don't dare squabble about him."

"Ah. You've summed it up so nicely, Amelia. Great work! I think you've got it exactly perfect - so 10 points to Hufflepuff! And 5 for everyone else that answered!"

"Ole Santa use his elves for his own protection, his own success, and for his own happiness. House elf magic is far beyond us - so imagine a whole army of elves devoted to him? He's untouchable!"


Lainey shook her head and again started to pace. "I'm glad you brought up the milk and cookies. We'll get to that in a second. I want us to now discuss something that baffles me a little. What do you all think about the eight flying reindeer? Reindeer? Do you think it could be something else? Or what?"

"Could they be house elves disguised as Reeinders?, you know..after taking some polyjuice potion!" she said quickly, "no wait, it cant be..polyjuice potion is only for humans.." she said feeling slightly dissapointed.

Diabolica's hand went up. "It really could be a lot of things--they could be reindeer with levitation spells put on them, they could be winged horses of some sorts--mayhaps even hippogriffs with a transfiguration charm on them" she guessed.

Amelia smiled when she had earned 10 points; that had to be a record for her in one class session. She took some brief notes on what was just said before raising her hand to answer the question about reindeer. "What about if the flying creatures who pulled santa's sleigh weren't reindeer at all, but really thestrals? Thestrals can fly, but can only be seen once you have seen death. However, if muggle children were told about thestrals, then they certainly would not believe it. So an animal is made up called 'reindeer' which sounds much more believable." She said, trying to think her way through the question as she spoke to make some sense of the whole thing.

Agie raised her hand once more. "Professor, perhaps they aren't reindeer's at all, but more centures. However i don't think they'd be willing to carry Santa around. So more likely they could even be the very thing that transports us around when we arrive off the Hogwarts express. Threstals! I mean it makes perfect sense. Santra likes to be unnoticed. And I'm sure the muggles aren't that blind. The would notice 8 big creatures flying through the air. This way, hardly anyone would notice the threstals. "

"Here's smoething to think about, what if they were transfigured objects? I mean, it's obvious this man is powerful, what with the elfs and all. What if he got eight ordinary objects, transfigured them into creatures, like riendeer and flew that way? Or he could be using an extremly powerful Oppungo spell." she mused, her confidence of answering questions rising with every minute. "Though I don't think that would work too well...um Thestrals like Amelia said would work too." she finished, frowning now. She asn't too keen on this santa thing anymore. That was why she loved history, it made you think.

Faye found what the professor had said of Faye taking after her to be a high compliment, but she didn't let it distract her. She proposed another theory.

"Moore's account was very specific about it being reindeer, and as they're an arctic and sub-arctic species of caribou, they would be easily at hand for someone not wishing to leave his lawless territory. In history and mythology there are a lot of stories of animal drawn carriages. Norse mythologists said Freya had a flying carriage drawn by enormous cats. The enchanment to levitate, fly or hover is a very simple one, and we know a house elf is more than magical enough to perform it. It's also possible that Moore didn't know what he was seeing or couldn't accept it. He may very well have seen flying horses, but didn't believe it, so he said it was reindeer, though i can't imagine why that is more plausible to Muggles. If he saw thestrals or the empty space left by one to they eyes off a person who has never witnessed a death, Reindeer MIGHT have been a more plausible explanation."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willow_Kovac

"Could they be house elves disguised as Reeinders?, you know..after taking some polyjuice potion!" she said quickly, "no wait, it cant be..polyjuice potion is only for humans.." she said feeling slightly dissapointed.

"Those poor elves. I hope you're wrong. I'm no great speaker for the rights of house elves, but surely he doesn't make the pull his sleigh like animals.." Lainey shook her head sadly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeathEater24601

Diabolica's hand went up. "It really could be a lot of things--they could be reindeer with levitation spells put on them, they could be winged horses of some sorts--mayhaps even hippogriffs with a transfiguration charm on them" she guessed.

"Oh certainly could be! Hippogriffs would be good to use for their strength. I do wonder though if he could ever get that many to bow to him... Hmm... Interesting theory, Doabolica!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Amelia smiled when she had earned 10 points; that had to be a record for her in one class session. She took some brief notes on what was just said before raising her hand to answer the question about reindeer. "What about if the flying creatures who pulled santa's sleigh weren't reindeer at all, but really thestrals? Thestrals can fly, but can only be seen once you have seen death. However, if muggle children were told about thestrals, then they certainly would not believe it. So an animal is made up called 'reindeer' which sounds much more believable." She said, trying to think her way through the question as she spoke to make some sense of the whole thing.

"I think thestrals are a likely culprit in the case of Santa's reindeer's. Very likely."

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetAussie

Agie raised her hand once more. "Professor, perhaps they aren't reindeer's at all, but more centures. However i don't think they'd be willing to carry Santa around. So more likely they could even be the very thing that transports us around when we arrive off the Hogwarts express. Threstals! I mean it makes perfect sense. Santra likes to be unnoticed. And I'm sure the muggles aren't that blind. The would notice 8 big creatures flying through the air. This way, hardly anyone would notice the threstals. "

"And that is why I think he might be using thestrals. Sure, he's breaking every secrecy law known to our kind - but using something like a thestral does make him more inconspicuous. Great thinking, Agie!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monkey Princess

"Here's smoething to think about, what if they were transfigured objects? I mean, it's obvious this man is powerful, what with the elfs and all. What if he got eight ordinary objects, transfigured them into creatures, like riendeer and flew that way? Or he could be using an extremly powerful Oppungo spell." she mused, her confidence of answering questions rising with every minute. "Though I don't think that would work too well...um Thestrals like Amelia said would work too." she finished, frowning now. She asn't too keen on this santa thing anymore. That was why she loved history, it made you think.

"He certainly has the magic and power to do it. A simple command to his elves and they'd have to make objects fly..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by druidflower

Faye found what the professor had said of Faye taking after her to be a high compliment, but she didn't let it distract her. She proposed another theory.

"Moore's account was very specific about it being reindeer, and as they're an arctic and sub-arctic species of caribou, they would be easily at hand for someone not wishing to leave his lawless territory. In history and mythology there are a lot of stories of animal drawn carriages. Norse mythologists said Freya had a flying carriage drawn by enormous cats. The enchanment to levitate, fly or hover is a very simple one, and we know a house elf is more than magical enough to perform it. It's also possible that Moore didn't know what he was seeing or couldn't accept it. He may very well have seen flying horses, but didn't believe it, so he said it was reindeer, though i can't imagine why that is more plausible to Muggles. If he saw thestrals or the empty space left by one to they eyes off a person who has never witnessed a death, Reindeer MIGHT have been a more plausible explanation."

Lainey beamed. "You know your history. I'm very proud of you. I think you have a good point about the numerous muggles accounts about it specifically being reindeer. It could be," Lainey shrugged. "But, you also have a point that the muggles certainly wouldn't believe it if they did see a thestral.. or a hippogryff." Lainey laughed. Poor muggles.


"That brings us... to yet another mystery. Can any one explain Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to me?"

Ryan raised his hand tentatively. "Do you mean you want a summary of the story?"

"They say that Rudolph had a glowing red nose, and that on Christmas Eve, St Nicholas used him at the front of the sled to guide their way though the snowstorm. His nose might have been charmed..." Diabolica smiled.

Faye blushed. Being a classic over achiever, she raised her hand again.

"Personally, I think Rudolph the red nosed reindeer is a myth. Moore was specific about it being EIGHT reigndeer. he even gave each of them names. Rudolph was not among them. Now consider that magical flight knows fewer bounds than the invention of Muggle flight. All a wizard or elf needs to find their way through a foggy night is the "Point Me" spell, plus there are any number of other spells that could get they where they need to go. But if they believe Pere Noel is a Muggle, it wouldn't occur to them that he can Apparate, or find his way in the fog without a light. Or yet, maybe he DID have a light, a lit wand tip, for instance, would resemble a glowing nose. so again, there are any number of ways Pere Noel could get through the fog, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is the way Muggles explain it. Even though it contradicts Moore's story."

"It can be something in disguise!" said Lily. If someting in disguise was flying the wrong way..." she voice trailed off, as she realized it was a crazy guess. "Or they say a 'lumos' charm on a reindeer's nose," she said, regaining courage.

Lainey laughed. "Yes, Ryan. If you know it. And then an explanation of what really happened - not what the crazy muggles think or sing about." She nodded and listened to the theories starting to come out. "Let's humor the notion that Rudolph DID exist.. and he in fact had a very shiny nose," Lainey cackled after singing a bit of the song. "Why would Santa light up a "Reindeer" nose?"

"isnt he the reeinder who supposedly pulled Saint Nicholas sleigh in one stormy night or something like that?" Willow asked uncertainly, "I think is something about Rudolph having a very shiny red nose.." Willow said trying to remember the story that she had read in a muggle magazine

Hmm. "Well," he began, "As the story goes, there was a reindeer named Rudolph. He was an outcast, for his nose glowed a bright red. All the other reindeer shunned him, thus making Rudolph the outcast. However, on one particularly foggy Christmas Eve, Santa can't make his way through the night, so he asks Rudolph to guide the sleigh with his nose. Naturally, Rudolph accepts and becomes everyone's favorite...reindeer."

He paused for a second, catching up with his thoughts. "As for what really happened, I'm not sure. I can only speculate that perhaps some Muggle who believed in Santa happened to see a wizard flying on a broom with a lighted wand on Christmas Eve, and mistook it for the glowing nose of the reindeer. Thus, the story of a outcast reindeer surfaced. Of course, the story was spruced up a bit, I'm sure, so there would be a moral for Muggle children to take away from the story."

He blinked a few times and added, "I can sing the song if you like. Well, I won't sing it, but I know it."

Faye explained her theory. "I think that Pere Noel used Lumos from the tip of his wand to light his way through a foggy night, and someone saw it, but all they saw in the fog, all the COULD see in the fog, was a glowing red light flying around, so they gave the light a name, and a mythology to explain it. They said it was Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer leading the sleigh, when it was really Pere Noel IN the sleigh. It's not like they could tell exactly what part of the sleigh was glowing. " Faye hoped she had made herself clear enough, but she wasn't sure.

"Maybe he needed a guide to fly, and he decided because the 'reindeer' fly the sleigh, he wanted to make light?" suggested Lily. "Rudolph could have had a shiny nose that other reindeer made fun of according to a song, and Santa wanted to help Rudolph avoid the teasing?"

Faye didn't want to giggle, it wouldn't have been polite, so she tried to explain why she didn't think that was the case, "Not to poke holes, Lily, but while I think animals DO have more emotional range than the average Muggle would give them credit for, I don't think reindeer tease eachother, not like that anyway. Animagi are the only animals that have the kind of emotional range you're talking about, and they're not really animals. Besides, try finding eight or nine animagi at all, let alone who just happen to turn into reindeer AND happen to be in Pere Noel's service. Also, I don't think a man who would use countless elves to do his work for him, is overly concerned with the emotional welfare of a reindeer."

"Professor, I don't mean any impertinence, but I really don't understand... Other than breaking the statute of secrecy-- which doesn't apply to his region -- is what he does really more appalling than what hundreds of other wizards do daily? I mean... Hogwarts uses house elves, and animal servants... perhaps not on the order of magnitude that Santa Claus might... but the degree of an evil doesn't negate the fact of the evil itself. If we're to condemn him for his acts, should we not condemn our own as a school?" Xana smiled. "He strikes me as an overall benign figure, inspiring joy and giving in Muggles and helping them to believe a little bit in magic... in the good of magic. What is there to condemn, if we find no harm in doing these same things ourselves?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

"Professor, I don't mean any impertinence, but I really don't understand... Other than breaking the statute of secrecy-- which doesn't apply to his region -- is what he does really more appalling than what hundreds of other wizards do daily? I mean... Hogwarts uses house elves, and animal servants... perhaps not on the order of magnitude that Santa Claus might... but the degree of an evil doesn't negate the fact of the evil itself. If we're to condemn him for his acts, should we not condemn our own as a school?" Xana smiled. "He strikes me as an overall benign figure, inspiring joy and giving in Muggles and helping them to believe a little bit in magic... in the good of magic. What is there to condemn, if we find no harm in doing these same things ourselves?"

"I think... we'll get there. We've still yet to cover the motivations of a wizard that lives alone with an army of elves delivering toys once a year. We'll get there. Don't paint him a martyr just yet." Lainey smiled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by YEllOW CAkE NiNjA

Hmm. "Well," he began, "As the story goes, there was a reindeer named Rudolph. He was an outcast, for his nose glowed a bright red. All the other reindeer shunned him, thus making Rudolph the outcast. However, on one particularly foggy Christmas Eve, Santa can't make his way through the night, so he asks Rudolph to guide the sleigh with his nose. Naturally, Rudolph accepts and becomes everyone's favorite...reindeer."

He paused for a second, catching up with his thoughts. "As for what really happened, I'm not sure. I can only speculate that perhaps some Muggle who believed in Santa happened to see a wizard flying on a broom with a lighted wand on Christmas Eve, and mistook it for the glowing nose of the reindeer. Thus, the story of a outcast reindeer surfaced. Of course, the story was spruced up a bit, I'm sure, so there would be a moral for Muggle children to take away from the story."

He blinked a few times and added, "I can sing the song if you like. Well, I won't sing it, but I know it."

"I'll give Ravenclaw 10 points if you'll stand and sing us the song, Ryan. But, you must sing it and you must stand." Lainey smiled expectantly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by druidflower

Faye explained her theory. "I think that Pere Noel used Lumos from the tip of his wand to light his way through a foggy night, and someone saw it, but all they saw in the fog, all the COULD see in the fog, was a glowing red light flying around, so they gave the light a name, and a mythology to explain it. They said it was Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer leading the sleigh, when it was really Pere Noel IN the sleigh. It's not like they could tell exactly what part of the sleigh was glowing. " Faye hoped she had made herself clear enough, but she wasn't sure.

"So... we're banking all our theories on.. that it was A.) a foggy night and B.) the light was used for direction. Let's assume that Santa, or whatever you wish to call him, took off on a clear night. And let's assume that he used his wand for directions. Now then, explain to me a red glowing light in front of a sleigh? Odd thing for someone trying to be discreet, huh?"

"Legally speaking, it doesn't matter where the person is from; it matters where the crime or crimes are committed. In the UK, what Pere Noel is doing is illegal, and he's doing it in the UK, so he's committing a crime." Faye tried to explain, she felt like she was talking too much, but this subject REALLY interested her. "We are meant to abide by the laws of the territory we happen to be in."

Okay, I really need to stop talking now.

Ugg. He had to sing in front of the class?

Well, it was for the betterment of the house.

He stood up, kind of shaking, and burst out into song (voice cracking and all).

"Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer (reindeer!)
had a very shiney nose! (like a lightbulb)
And if you ever saw it (saw it)
you would even say it glows! (like a flashlight)
All of the other reindeer (reindeer)
used to laugh and call him names! (like Pinocchio)
They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph)
join in any reindeer games! (like Monopoly)
Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say (Ho! Ho! Ho!)
'Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?'
Then how the reindeer loved him (loved him)
as they shouted out with glee! (Yippee!)
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer - (reindeer)
You'll go down in hiiiiiiiiistooooooooooooryyyyyyyyyyyyy! (like Columbus!)"

He ended, red in the face, and panting. What a fool he had just made of himself.

Faye had no idea, the only she COULD figure out was this, "Whatever it was, it would have to be something a Muggle wouldn't recognise or understand; because if it were a clear night, whoever saw 'Rudolph' would have called it what it was to them. If they had seen a flying clown with a bright red nose, it would have become Rudolph the red nosed clown. So they either saw a reindeer with a bright red glowing nose, or they saw something that looked like a reindeer with a bright red nose, OR they saw something they couldn't explain at all, and called it Rudolph." Then a thought occured to her. "Professor, the Phoenix glows and it can carry enormous weight. Could they have seen a Phoenix pulling the sleigh ahead of 8 or 9 reindeer and not known what they were seeing?"

It was a far out theory, but it struck Faye as a plausible one all the same.

Xana raised her hand. "Could I earn points for singing 'Santa Claus is coming to town?' It's a rather creepy song... "