HoM Lesson II.
 

Today, Lainey was dressed in head to toe green. She had a green headband on, green robes, green boots. She'd changed the curtains in the room to green, as well as the rug in front of her fire. She had laid out little gold wrapped chocolates on everyone's desks that were shaped like coins. Perfect.


She propped open her door and waited for her class to arrive.

Ponessa was in a 'Go-get-'em' mood today, and trotted briskly into Professor Lainey's class. "Hola Professor!" She smiled and sat, setting out her notebook and quill, picking up the gold coin.

EH?

OH! She had her usual noon epiphany--it was St. Patricks day!

...right?

She, being terrible at remembering dates, had even forgotten her own birthday last year and just chuckled at herself.

Hermy smiled as she saw Lainey's latest outfit, though raised her eyes at the total greenness of the Professor and the classroom. Hermy was very into blue herself, and it wasn't just because she was in Ravenclaw - though it certainly helped. She made her way to a desk near the middle of the room, and sat trying to work out what the purpose of all this green was.

"Hello darlings," Lainey grinned at them. "Have a seat, have a snack there - before it disappears." She cackled and did a ridiculous little dance that was supposed to be River dance - it was seriously lacking. Lainey didn't care though. "Oh, the green is all part of the lesson. All part of the lesson. And to give the rest of you a taste of what the Great Hall is going to look like if you let Slytherin win two years in a row!' Lainey laughed. Secretly, she loved her Slytherins.

Ponessa chuckled at the Professors joke and ate her chocolate. Or was it a joke? She laughed again, at herself, and at her overly inquisitive mind. She could just picture the great hall now, decked out in her favorite color.
She opened her HoM notebook to a clean page and dated the page.

Hermy watched the Professor, slightly bemused to say the least. Especially at the, well, you could describe it a sort of dance, perhaps a version of Irish dancing? Ireland would tie in the green. And then a realisation hit her - green, Irish dancing, disappearing gold snacks? She rolled her eyes. "Leprechauns!" she exclaimed under her breath.

Ellie turned her eyes to the girl that had seat next to her.
Was that really Evangeline?
When she heard the girl talking, she gave a small laugh. “I think you need to improve your orientation Evangeline.” She told to the older girl with a smile while she took her quil and her textbook out.

"My orientation if just fine, thank you Eleanor." Evangeline smirked, saying the girl's name in a very low whisper. It was such an awesome name! What was it with people hating their awesome names? Jeez.

She shrugged and picked up the golden coin on the table, realising it actually was chocolate. Bella would love this lesson. Unwrapping the chocolate-y coin, Evangeline slowly started nibbling on it. "At least I never got lost in the library."

Had Ellie ever got lost in the library? Hmm.

She turned back to the front of the class, wondering when would Professor Lainey start the class. All this green suddenly made her want to go to the Common Room.

Lainey laughed. "Something like that, Hermy darling. Something like that. Juniper, are you alright dear? If you are.. we'll get started with today's lesson.." Lainey looked over at the poor dear with great concern.

Marco looked around the classroom, he was greatly outnumbered, by both women and Ravenclaws. He just sort of hid himself in the background. No woman was going to force femanist beliefs on him today.

This where going pretty well when… Evangeline called Ellie, Eleanor.
The older girl knew pretty well how much she hated that name. “Of course that your orientation is just fine Green Apple.” She said while she rolled her eyes.

Ellie raised an eyebrow at the older girl.
She.Was.Crazy.
“I’ve never got lost in the library.. at least not yet.”
The library….
Bahh, boring place.
"And of course that you have never got lost in that quiet place. You practically live there."
No, Ellie wasn't exaggerating.

She started tapping her quill on the table and looked at Professor Lainey waiting the class to start.

Alysia walked into the classroom, trying to pass unnoticed. Luckily, there were not too many people around. Yet. She repressed a shiver and tried to remain calm. She would have lots of time during the lesson to freak out. If only she could reach one of the back seats without catching anyone's attention...

As she drifted by, she gave a look around. The entire classroom seemed to glitter in green. Even if she was in a slytherin celebration, the room couldn't possibly look greener. She rolled her eyes, for she knew the professor's good fame already. Hopefully, the class would be interesting. Though Alysia didn't exactly love the subject, she had faith that it would be captivating enough, so that no one would care about her. As far as she had seen, there were no familiar faces around. Except that Ravenclaw girl she had seen once when she was with Gavin, and she wasn't the kind of person the huffie wanted to be with.

Sitting in the back of the room, Alysia pulled her textbook out and opened it in front of her face, thus turning it into a barrier between her and the rest of the class - the only safety she could find there.

Cassandra smiled at the professor... She looked great in green. She really enjoyed this class... the professor was odd, but she was fun!

"Well.. alright then, Juniper, if you're sure...," Lainey didn't seem so sure. She eyed the garbage bin and thought about putting it near the student. But that might be rude...


"Someone had already mentioned that today's lesson is about leprechauns. They'd be correct - in a way. Let's back up though. Can anyone tell me about Saint Patrick's Day?" Lainey did the ridiculous dance again for them while she waited for their answers.

Cassandra raised her hand "It's an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on 17 March."

Hermy raised her hand. "St Patrick's day is celebrated on 17th March. It is associated with Ireland - of which St Patrick is the Patron Saint, the colours green and gold, shamrocks, luck and prosperity." She smiled, and brushed a hand through her hair.

Kate turned around in her seat to listen look at the girl who had just answered.She was a little older at her,any doubt,she smiled at her and turned back to the front

It was stupid, being the only boy in the class. He looked around at the girls. All he knew about St Patricks Day, was that alcohol was involved.

"Goodness. Saint Patty is old, right?" Lainey laughed. "Very old indeed. Does anyone else know anything about him? Perhaps... was he a wizard or a muggle?" Lainey's sly glint sparkled in her eyes.

Cassandra smiled. "Well, St. Patrick was known for banishing snakes from Ireland... so I'm guessing he was a Parseltongue, and a dark Wizard at that, to make muggles think he was a Saint."

"I reckon he was a dwarf," Marco shrugged, "Just to be different."

"Banishing the snakes from Ireland? Well, if he was a wizard. he obviously was no Slytherin..." Xana commented.

Alysia added to what had already been said "It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early part of the 17th century, and is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland" and then blushed, placing strategically the book in front of her again. She had just spoken what she had been thinking without noticing.

Cassandra looked over at Ellie. "There are 'snakes' everywhere, Bluebell," she smiled, "Whoever tell you differently is either lying or trying to sell you something. The muggles didn't want to believe the snakes were there, so they altered the legend to have the serpents symbolize the pagans, the druids... anyone non-christian."

"I definitely think so."

Lainey laughed. "That was last lesson, right, Marco?" Lainey gave him a wink and moved on.

Lainey shrugged. "I don't about the logistics of snakes, to be honest with you. But, I can tell you what my studying has uncovered. You might be surprised what the muggles do to cover up magic.."

Lainey raised an eyebrow. "Riiiiight...." Someone was off today... odd.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Xana." The mischief was back.


"Ah ha." Lainey's eyebrows went to town with wiggling. "Exccccccccellent," Lainey hissed, her best impersonation of Parseltongue she had. "Excellent indeed, Miss Cassandra."


Lainey got the shifty eyes and changed strategies. "Keep that in mind and let me switch gears for a moment here. Tell me what you all know about leprechauns?"

Ellie stopped tapping her quill on the table and turned around in her seat and looked at Cassandra while she heard what the older girl had to say.
Somehow Cassandra was right and Ellie knew it.
"You might be right Trelawney." she told her with a smile then turned her eyes to the professor.

Ellie raised her hand.. again. "In Irish mythology, a leprechaun is a type of male faerie said to inhabit the island of Ireland."

Cassandra smiled. She raised her hand again "Leprechauns are the most well-known elves of Ireland, they live in the large grassy hills, wild areas and in the forests of Co.Antrim. The leprechaun is an ugly little creature with pointed ears and is about two to three feet tall who avoids having any contact with humans or any other leprechauns or fairies. He lives alone and puts all of his energy into his passion of shoemaking as he is well known as a fairy shoemaker. Because they are a kind of faery, leprechauns are often invisible, they may pass in a swirl of dust and in times gone by men would raise their hats and woman would curtsey. Most of the time a leprechaun can be found with a shoe in one hand and a hammer in the other, he also is quite fond of a smoke from his tobacco filled foul smelling clay pipe which is never too far away from his reach.

They have a mischievous glint in their eyes and tend to hide behind bushes and hedgerows and their bodies despite their stubbiness can usually move very fast and is nearly impossible for a human to catch!

They Usually dress in grey or green colored coats red trousers, studded leather apron and a red or green wide brimmed hat. They carry two leather pouches in which he carries in one, a silver shilling and the other, a gold coin to buy his way out of a tight situation.
They have been know to be fond of a mug or two of the very strong Irish drink called poteen and can be found in an intoxicated state a lot of the time.

In the old days to keep in with them , people would leave out a dish of milk or some fresh water at night, they would also leave the dregs in their glasses when going to bed, and many other little feasts to keep them content. That so few people nowadays take the trouble this is probably the cause of endless bad luck which might otherwise be happily avoided.

Leprechauns have been known to ‘adopt’ families and move in with them, though this is now rare. When a Leprechaun has moved in the first sign is that things start to go missing, or appear again in unexpected places. Furniture may have been moved around the room, and the whiskey or milk will be found to have gone down overnight, and then to have been topped up with water ( especially the whiskey! ). If all this begins to happen the family involved will know they must start leaving out presents of food and drink and anything else to keep the little cheeky chap happy, and then with any luck, instead of doing mischief the leprechaun will go round the house and barns at night finishing off jobs that the big people have had no time to do.

It is believed that Leprechauns will drown in a light rain, float away in a breezy day and can get buried in a snowstorm.

AND they are the Mascot of the Irish Quidditch team."

"Yep it sure was Ma'am," Marco smiled, "Oh and leprechauns are green and shiny. I have seen them at quidditch games. My father takes me."

Kate raised her hand."They have alot of gold..?"she asked,with a smile.Her Mother told her that the little Irish men had a lot of gold over the rainbow,but that was when she was a little girl

Amelia listened to the long drawn out speech by Cassandra. Giving her a glare, she half wished the girl wouldn't have said so much because then it would give the others room to add something. Sighing, she looked back up to Lainey, "Uh, they're supposed to be incredibly lucky and well, do you think they could perhaps be - Gnomes?"

Claudian smiled over at Juniper...well, smiled more at her chocolate than anything. Having already put his piece of chocolate in his satchel, he eyed Juniper's with curiousity.
"Are you going to eat that?", he asked the young Ravenclaw girl.

Claudian didn't take his eye of the chocolate, but for a second as he raised his hand and gave an answer. "Their name literally means 'lucky charm', Professor."

Hermy rolled her eyes at the lecture from Trelawney. Hermy had a limited knowledge of leprechauns compared to that, but decided to add her own, smaller contribution. She leant her head on her right and hand, and said thoughtfully, "They are meant to hide gold at the end of the rainbow if I remember correctly, but the main thing about their gold is that it disappears."

Juniper glanced at the Slytherin boy. Oh, good, someone finally wanted her chocolate. Without a word, she motioned for him to take it from her desk. There was no way that she was going to touch the chocolate again.

What a pig... Cassandra thought glaring at the mountain troll sized Slytherin... Wasn't the behemoth big enough already?

Gratefully, Claudian took the unwrapped piece of chocolate and dissolved it onto his mouth. A small satisfied smile appeared on his face and he looked rather like a fat and happy kitty cat as he ate the chocolate. He gave Juniper a happy and grateful nod.

Lainey waved her wand and two quotes from Miss Trelawney's plethora of information appeared on the board behind her.

Lainey jotted down several more snippets of information that caught her ear on the board. "Amelia.. you still think gnomes?" Lainey grinned. "Tell me class.... what do leprechauns remind you of?"

Cassandra shudders. "Gnomes..."

"They remind me of little fat people," Marco smiled, "And green fat people."

She sighed and could tell that her answer was probably incorrect. "Uh sure... why not? Gnomes are annoying.."

"House elves. Oh! or ...goblins... because of treasure!" Xana said.

"I guess since they're green, they could look like a house elf?" Hermy smiled, she had learnt to use her 'lateral thinking' skills in History of Magic. "Otherwise maybe a pixie or sort of fairy?"

"Honestly?" Ian asked, raising his hand. "Gold. Money. Rainbows if you're a girl ... but money, really."

He grinned and leaned back in his chair. Money should be the answer to everything.

"Well... gnomes... yes... but gnomes are rather stupid and do not talk... Leprechauns are vegetarians, and are green... HOUSE ELVES!" She said... "It makes sense... they have the ability to speak human language, they are classified as beasts, and have remained in that category as they have never requested re-classification, although they appear to have made no political statement by this, unlike centaurs and merpeople. Just like House Elves... She continued thinking "They serve humans... give them gold when they are captured... they must be freed house elves!"

Xana started giggling silently at Claudian's pronouncements about his uncle. Oh, lawdie, she wanted to meet this particular relative!

Cassandra rolled her eyes. If she'd been talking to the beast, she'd have made a nasty comment... but she was ignoring him. And would continue to do so, until she had to stop.

"Oh yes! Yes. Fantastic!" Lainey had been taking down who was participating for points later on. Looked like the Slytherins were going to rack up again.


"In my opinion - house elf fits perfectly. Just perfectly."

"Well done, Trel! All fits perfectly doesn't? Just wait until we fit all the pieces together..."

Lainey cracked up. "You should have brought your uncle to this lesson. We could use a great visual!"


Lainey waved her wand and new chocolates appeared for everyone. "The questions are about to get harder, so everyone eat up and get those brains going good." She cleared her throat. "Now... remember what we know about Saint Patrick, remember the leprechauns.. there's one more part to this lesson, and then we'll see who can tie the three together."


"What do you all know about horcruxes?"

Rebecca looked shocked "A Horcrux is a piece of soul that is contained in an object, it could be anything, The piece of soul is broken off by killing others, and then a spell confines the soul to the object" Rebecca went red "My grandad told me" she mumbled

Cassandra looked at the professor... "Hor-Horcruxes?"

Her father told her that wasn't going to be taught at Hogwarts... he'd explained it to her... but that she shouldn't know the information...

Cassandra looked to her parchment and said "Nothing..."

Dia's hand shot up. "Horcruxes are an object in which a wizard has encased a fragment of his or her soul in, so that if they are killed, a part of their soul stys bound to Earth. It is a very Dark magic, and can only be created through the process of murder, as that is the greatest evil." she grinned widely.

Ian suddenly sat up. Horocruxes? He didn't think they'd be allowed to discuss that in class, much less in the school. He raised his hand tentatively, wondering whether or not his ears were playing a trick on him. "I only know a little ... not many people are willing to go into detail on them ... They're the result of splitting your soul, right?" he asked slowly.

"The purpose of a Horcrux is to protect the given bit of soul from anything that might happen to the body of the person to whom the soul belongs. While the Horcrux is kept safe, the person will continue to exist even if his or her body is damaged or destroyed...by definition the spell-caster must have split his or her soul into fragments, so that one fragment can be implanted within the Horcrux while the other is retained in the spell-caster's own body."

"A horcrux is when you split your soul into pieces,and is placed on an Object..Its quite painful ive heard..and its Dark Magic.."Kate shuddered at the thought

Claudian momentarily took on a worried expression when the Professor busted a gut at his reply, but any worry was soon soothed by the appearance of chocolate. Though worry can sometimes make a U-turn. 'GAH! Horcurxes!!...Don't panic.', he thought to himself. "Well, aren't they a sort of physical object which can play host to a non-physical spirit or soul?", he knew that was rather generic, but he gave it a try anyway.


Claudian smiled at the little Ravenclaw once more as the Professor replenished the supply of chocolate to the students. He wiggled his eyebrows at her as if to charm her out of her chocolate.

Was she force-feeding them chocolate? In the most normal situation Marco would've taken them. But Lainey was odd. They probably had some sort of potion in them. Maybe she was making the animal things Mia was talking about. "Horcruxes are bits of your soul that keeps you alive, were another part killed."

Cassandra hated chocolate... but she smiled at Lainey and put it in her bag.

But... Wow... a lot of students knew about Horcruxes... that was scary...

"I don't know if I should be impressed or worried that you all know so much about them." Lainey smiled though. She was impressed. She thought it was important to teach students every angle and let them grown minds of their own.

"Oh patience, patience. It'll come together." Lainey grinned.


"Yes, exactly. Perfection definition. Again, really, I must say that I'm quite impressed that most of you are familiar with the great evils known as horcruxes. Truly remarkable bits of magic - terrible, but remarkable. Points for everyone that answered!"


"Now.... let's see if we can put them together...." Lainey stared particularly back and forth between several Slytherins. "What do "Saint" Patrick, leprechauns, and horcruxes have to do with one another?"

"They are evil!"

Lainey laughed. "Perhaps! Why though?" Lainey urged her on. She could put it all together...

"Because they are green" Agie said raising her hand. "I'm not sure if they fit together, but they are both evil on their own. Obviously Horcuxes are, but the Saint Patrick leprechauns are really something. They use the word said very lightly as a cover up. Little evil men in green, running around is bound to be trouble, and maybe they fit together with horcuxes because they create them. I have no idea, but it is a scary thought."

Ian's eyes opened really wide. "St Patrick, leprechauns, and horcruxes ... What if St. Patrick tried to make a horocrux and the result was leprechauns?!" he exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. "That would be so weird!"

"And maybe it was all a dream," Marco smiled. He didn't understand the reason he was actually failing History of Magic.

Cassandra realized she'd jumped the gun on that one...

"Well, a man who can make muggles think he is a god, instead of just a wizard and exploits it... I mean, that's right up there with Sandy Claws... and I think that the freed house elves have stolen the fortune of whichever family they were released from, and that's why they have their pot of gold... see? evil... and Horcruxes by definition are evil... aren't they, professor?" Cassandra would believe the sky was green if Lainey told her so.

"Or are you thinking that the Leprechauns are house elves released by this Patrick, after he made them into horcruxes, so he can come back to life?" Cassandra's mind was working overtime.

"maybe the pot of gold is his horcrux and that's why he protects it so fervently?" Xana asked.

"No... he didn't show them how to make them... but he was the first to make one!"

"You're on the right path... I don't think Saint Patrick ever let these house elves, or leprechauns, go though. I think they were his..." Oh boy, the hints she was giving.

"OH! Aren't you just too brilliant!? Five points to you! My goodness! Yesssss," Lainey went back into her parseltongue impersonations. "Maybe the pot of "gold" was his horcrux indeed. Wonder what he made into horcruxes?" Lainey's eyebrows shot up. Someone could put it all together now...

"The gold Ma'am" Marco said, raising his hand.

Hermy was slightly confused by Lainey's trail of thought, it had to be said. No, very confused. She was a logical thinker and based things totally on facts and research - creativity and imagination were not her strongest points.

"Did he make the gold into horcruxes? And then order the house elfs to look after it? But why then would the gold disappear?" She frowned in thought.

"The cauldron... the caudron was the horcrux, not the gold."

Agie smirked at Marco, as she raised her hand, they seemed to both be bad at this class today. "Umm maybe he replicated the gold. That's why it disappears because the gold isn't real. It has just been multiplied." She shrugged, maybe she should give up now.

Lainey laughed. Bless her class, she was wearing them out. "What do you suppose... ole Patrick did with all those snakes he 'got rid of'? Hmmmm...." If that didn't give it away, she didn't know what would. She grinned in anticipation of someone... anyone... getting it right.

What the hell was this lady on? "He transfigured said snakes into gold and made them horcruxes?"

"He turned them into LEPRECHAUNS!!"

"He made a really nice leather snake Jacket!" Agie laughed. What was all this talk about snakes in all her classes. They should talk about real animals, like Lions.

"Maybe he turned them into gold?! Am I right?" James said, raising his hand. Oh...he was tired....

Jezz raised her hand, "Didn't he banish them into the sea??" she remembered hearing the story in one of her muggle schools.

Lainey shook her head. Merlin help them.


"Alright darlings.. I give up. Let me explain...," she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before starting.


"Saint Patrick, evil Patrick, had the gift of bag when it came to snakes. He didn't 'rid' Ireland of snakes - he simply gathered them up! Called them to him, used them to experiment. Just like Juniper guessed, he made the first horcrux out of a snake. Something as precious as a piece of your soul would need to be guarded, right? That's where the leprechauns, or house elf, come in. He set them to protecting 'their gold'. Remember darlings, not all gold glitters. His gold was bits of his soul, kept safe by house elves."

Lainey sighed. Pity everyone seemed so confused. She didn't know if they could make it through the very last piece of class or not...

Qaz was stunned. What would her Irish father have to say about this. Well, he's kicked her out of the house, so he'll never know. She just couldn't believe what she was hearing. Muggles adored St Patrick, but maybe it was just an excuse for the Muggles to get drunk, like New Years Eve. :hmm: