There was no denying it, Evangeline was scared. Freaking, bloody scared and ready to wake up of this horrific nightmare. How could stupid little Alessia Lupa just take her arm off?! It wasn't her fault that the woman was far too old to date Clifford!! And it wasnt her fault either that Clifford didnt seem to fancy the dinosaur. BLEH.

She wondered whether or not to answer the next question, but no matter how scared she was

But take her arm off? Infront of the entire class? Claiming it was for teaching purposes only? GAH!! And then threatened to take points away? As if Evangeline had the nerve enough to purposely lose points.

Once this class was done, she'd so complain of her unprofessional behaviour.

"Of course, .... Professor. I ... apologise." The sixth year sniffled pathetically, setting back onto her seat, the empty sleeve of her robes laying across her chest. The woman's last words made her wince and she faced Lupa, cheeks getting warmer because of her teary eyes. Ack. So much for her reputation. "Yes, lucky. Maybe you could try still? I have one arm left, so you might aswell." The Prefect whispered, her eyes narrowed at the woman. Okay. That maybe wasnt so ... wise.

Oh, but how she HATED Alessia Lupa!

After a few moments pondering whether or not try and answer to the last question, Evangeline finally raised the one hand she had left, coughing a bit to steady her voice. "Odin was the chief god of Norse mythology. He's associated with a lot of things, from wisdom and war to hunt and victory."

The Mighty Odin...The Mighty Odin... Anna knew she'd heard of this man at some point and time, but who was he? What did he do? Her mind seemed to have gone completely blank for the time being. Wasn't he...oh, yes! Anna raised her hand and then said, "He was the God of battle, magic, inspiration, and the dead. I've also read that he was one-eyed, although I'm not quite sure how that came out," she said. "He was also known as the 'oldest of the Gods'. As a matter of fact, it's been said that his fellow Gods served him not unlike the manner in which a young child serves his or her own father."

Willow, who had been a little bit distracted throughout the entire class, was snapped back to reality as soon as. . . Professor Lupa dissapeared Evangeline's arm. Granted, the fifth year was sure that the woman would be able to return Evangeline her arm, but that did not mean the entire situation was less insane.

Never had Willow been more glad that she had been distracted during a class, for the girl was certain that had she been paying full attention, she would have volunteered, too, and who knew if Lupa would have taken off her arm, as well?

Or perhaps not. The young Ravenclaw couldn't be SURE, but judging by the looks Professor Lupa was giving Evangeline, the woman did not seem to like the Slytherin female prefect that much. Actually, she did not seem to like her at all.

Huh. Well, whether Alessia Lupa liked Evangeline Green or not, was none of her business. Which meant that Willow could not care less; it wasn't like she was friends with the girl, or anything. Not to mention that if Evangeline ended up losing it, Lupa might end up taking points from Slytherin. . .

. . . And Willow would not mind that at all. Sure that Slytherin was in last place already, but if they ended up a few points -a few meaning a LOT, of course- it wouldnt really hurt.

Upon hearing the professor's question, the girl's head tilted to one side, her teeth gnawing on her rosy bottom lip as she pondered it over. "Well, I believe he is usually, um, connected? with prophecy, war, death, poetry. . . " With her hand in the air, Willow trailed off for a second before continuing, "Also, the Vikings thought that the runes were magical because according to them, they were presents from the Mighty Odin. Naturally, they treated them with respect, and venerated them as well. I think."

Paris made a face she wanted to be Thor. He was the God of Thunder and he had an awesome hammer, and even a comic book hero modeled after him. She did giggle however that she got to be Frigg. She looked at her cloud and smiled. "Thank you professor." She said as she stood next Abby.

She looked as Abby floated in the air. She held on to the girl's hand just in case Professor Lupa got a bit carried away. She raised her other hand to answer the question. "Well he is the father of all the other gods. But he is a filthy little cheat because he sometimes cheated on his wife with mortal women. He is the god of war and death. His warriors who die in death are granted a seat at the table in Valhalla. But his throne in the shelf of the slain." She couldn't remember the name of the throne. "He likes to keep animals around him as friends. Like his two ravens and his two wolves. Oh yeah he only has one eye too and he is a bit of a drunk, because he traded his other eye for a drink from the Well of Wisdom." She said thinking she had said everything that she could remember.

Abby could just die. Bald head and a white beard. She hadn't had a beard since she was five years old. How was she suppose to know she shouldn't put her father's hair growing potion on her face. Since she's floating in front of the class, she sees no reason to raise her hand. Not to meniton she's afraid she might break the ceiling if she did.

"Professor Lupa, Odin is the chief god of divinity in Norse Mythology. He is the son of Bor and Bestla. He is called Alfadir, all father, because Odin is indeed the father of the gods. With Frigg, Odin fathered Balder, Hod, and Hermod. Godess Jord had Odin's son,Thor, and Odin fathered the giant, Vidor, with giantess, Grid. This guy really got around. Oden was a real stud master.

Odin is god of war and death as well as god of poetry and wisdom. He hung for nine days, pierced by his own spear, on the world tree. He learned nine powerful songs and eighteen runes. Professor, you aren't going to recreate that, are you?" Considering the mood she's in, Abby afraid that's what Professor Lupa has in mind. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to volunteer. Okay back to the topic. "His hall is in Asgard is Valaskjalf (the shell of the slain) where his throne Hlidskjalf is located. Odin also resides in Valhalla, where the slain warriors are taken.

Odin's attributes are the spear Gungnir, which never misses its target, the ring Draupnir, from which every ninth night eight new rings appear and his eight foot steed, Sleipnir. He accompanied by wolves Freki and Geri, to whom he gives his food because Odin consumes nothing but wine. Odin has only one eye, which blazes like the sun." Abby looks over at Evangeline and her missing left arm. Sorry I pointed that out. "His other eye he traded for a drink from the Well of Wisdom, and gained immense knowledge. On the day of the final battle Odin will be killed by the wolf Fenrir.

Oden is also called Othinn, Wodan, and Wotan. Some of the aliases he uses to travel icognito among mortals are Vak, and Valtam. Wednesday is named after him (Wodan)."

Wow, a lot of good information had been shared. Copernicus raised his hand, hoping to add SOMETHING new. "Professor, I believe Odin was also known for his shape-shifting, often preferring to change into animal form. I actually found some very beautiful poetry regarding Odin, among others, when I was doing research for my last Runes assignment."

Eek. Did he really just tell everyone he liked Nordic poetry? He glanced at the girl the Professor had called Prefect Green. So THAT was who he had to duel. He raised his wand and bowed his head in greeting of an opponent.

Raiden raised his hand tentatively. He kinda hoped that she wouldn't... take his arm, as she'd taken Evangeline Green's... he stared at the spot where said limb should be for a moment before remembering that he was to be answering a question.

"Odin was the son of Bor and Bestla... He had two wolves, and they ate all his food because all he ever consumed was wine. Personally I'd rather chocolate milk... Oh, but he's the king of Asgard, and he's full of wisdom because of the Well thing, with Mimir, who's supposed to still have his eye that he traded... And he has an eight-legged horse. But apparently he's not easy to recognise because he can change his appearance. He's also got a whole load of family. And I read somewhere that his father was the son of an ice cube, but it's possible that whoever wrote that was just being silly..."

"Two points," she said rolling her eyes.

"Two points," she said yawning.

"Five points." She told him and winked.

"Wolves are the best pets..." She said smiling. "And sweety, he wasn't a vegetarian... but still five points, lovie."

Cale looked like an old man... ewwww he was oooooooooold. "Five points."

"Very good..." she said nodding. "Five points."

"You are pushing it Green... five points." She told her.

"Five points..." She said.

"Five points to you..."

"Five points."

"Five points Miss Wright." She said

"Very good Mr. Kettleburn... Five points."

"Five points to you as well..." She let Abby down easily and said "Thank you for volunteering. Go back to your desk." She told her. She took Paris with her want and performed the same spell... she levitated Paris to the middle of the class and spun her around as well.

"What can you students tell me about Freya." She asked the class.

Copernicus was hesitant to raise his hand again, but he hadn't read much poetry on Freya and was therefore unlikely to embarrass himself. "Freya is one of the principal goddesses of Norse mythology, professor, and she is considered to be quite beautiful. I believe that in many depictions she has the traditional Scandinavian looks, with blond hair and blue eyes. My favorite depictions of her also include her having an ornate gold and amber necklace called Brísingamen, a cloak made of falcon feathers, and best of all... a chariot drawn by cats." He grinned at the mental image of these all combined provided him, especially the cat carriage. It was certainly an unusual mode of transportation.

Oh good. He still had his arm. He raised his hand again, a little more confident about keeping it now.

"Freya was the Goddess of love and fertility," he said softly. "She and Odin used to split the warriors who were killed, and half would go to her hall while the others went to his... all the girls went to her place too. She had a chariot that was pulled by two black cats. There's a legend what says that the black cats, after seven years, got to be turned into witches that could disguise themselves as kitties when they needed to...She had a necklace that she was really fond of, and she had a feather coat thing that could help her fly between worlds. I also read that she likes elves, does that mean house elves?"

He imagined how many house elves it would take to clean up after Freya and her slain warriors... and shuddered with horror for the poor creatures.

Lyra raised her hand as she knew the answer to this one. "Freya is the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility," she said while swinging her hair behind her. "She was blonde haired and blue eyed but green eyes are far more beautiful." This time she mumbled to herself as her nose continued in the air.

Nova raised her hand.

"She is a Norse goddess, professor," she began quietly. "Of love and fertility, like everyone else has just told. She's said to be fond of music and fairies. And springtime, too." Then she added, almost as an afterthought,

"The mistletoe is linked with her, and it's believed it brings peace and fertility. That's why people kiss underneath the mistletoe."

Oh, five points! Awesome! Anna enjoyed Professor Lupa's classes. The Ancient Runes professor never failed to give the students many opportunities to prove themselves and earn house points. Raising her hand, Anna said, "Freya, described as the fairest of all goddesses, is the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. It's said that people prayed to Freya for happiness in love and good seasons, and called on her to help with childbirth."

There was still so much more to say about Freya, though, and Anna figured she'd be better off trying to state all she could remember. "She's also associated with war, battle, death, magic, prophecy, and wealth. She, along with Frigg, is one of the two main goddesses in the Norse religion. She's considered one of the highest goddesses, as she's honored quite favorably, and her worship seems to be important."

Abby is relieved to have her feet back on the ground. She still looks like a poor imitation of Albus Dumbledore, but she can stand it for a little while longer. Abby walks back to her desk and sit down. Then raises her hand. "Freya is the goddess of love and fertility. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of senuality and was called upon in matters of love. Freya loves music, spring and flowers, and is particularly fond of elves (fairies).

Tobi was a little confused, The Professor had first said, Frigg, and then said Freya, so he raised his hand and tried to cater to both sides, “There are differing opinions on Freya. Some people say that Freya and Frigg are the same goddess, while others are more picky. It could merely be a matter of better press. Freya was more popular in Norse Mythology than Frigg, but their attributes can get mixed in with each other, it’s possible that Freya and Frigg are names used interchangeably to refer to the Norse Goddess chiefly associated with Love. Assuming that’s the case, it was by no means her only association. While she did seem to have great ties with love, fertility and beauty, she also presdided over death, and war magic and prophecy, just as Odin did, and also wealth. Offerings to Freya, particularly done on a Friday, once known as Frigg’s Day, were said to bring incur her favour and bring prosperity on he who offered. She was strongly associated with cats, she had a chariot drawn by enormous cats” Tobi shuddered at the thought, “and Mistletoe was another.”

Dominic would have to converse with Raiden later, as the lesson had started. For which it seemed to be just fly by, judging from how volunteers were called. And for once, the fifth year was grateful he had not been paying attention since Merlin only knew what body part would have disappeared if he had. Oh wait, perhaps Lupa was jealous over Evangeline Green? Yes, judging from the way she had been eying her boyfriend and flirting, he was sure of it now.

But wait then, was she also jealous of him for sitting near Cel-an-dine? Yes, for the love of runes, she certainly seemed to have been considering she had definitely winked at him. Oh dear this was not good at all. Especially since all the winking and flirtation and jealous had completely distracted him from the whole point of the lesson. And caused him to miss opportunities that he would not otherwise have missed. Well he didn't miss having his arm disappear, but other stuff.

And why in the name of Moaning Myrtle had Paris thought to lean her head on HIS shoulder like a pillow? Eying her wearily, he gently moved it off and scooted a bit away from her, brushing his shoulder haphazardly. Ugh. Females.

Oh right. Freya.

Raising his hand, at last, the Hufflepuff drew a deep breath before speaking, "Freya was a major goddess in Norse Mythology. She was the goddess of love--" cough "--and fertility. It was also said that she was one of the most beautiful and propitious, as well." But he didn't really think so, even though he never saw her. Especially if she really did stand for LOVE and fertility...

Lyra cheated slightly but going thru a book she had on runes. She was not the best at Runes but Fabian had taught her some. "Professor Lupa, it says here that some believe that the day of the week, Friday, might possibly be named after her? Is that true?"

Hearing a Gryffindor girl mention mistletoe, Cela blushed and shot a sweet little smile at Plymouth before transfering her smile to Professor Lupa and raising her hand to answer, "The relationship between mistletoe and Frigg is because she loved her son Balder so much that she made all things promise not to hurt him, but mistletoe was all tricksy and wouldn't make the promise. Then Loki threw mistletoe at Balder and it killed him and after that Frigg's tears became the berries of mistletoe and she made mistletoe represent love. Frigg had the power of prophecy as well as being a goddess of fertility, love, household management and domestic arts and being presented in the role of wife and mother."

Celandine focused on the question and not on peppermint frogs, "But anyway, about Freya, she was born, or created or whatever way gods come about, as a member of the Vanir, who were the older pantheon of gods that were eventually overcome and assimilated by the Æsir. It is generally held that Freya married into the Æsir pantheon when she married Odr who is sometimes thought to be Odin. So yeah, she was the goddess of love and fertility and she and Frigg are sometimes considered the same personality, Freya's brother Freyr partially replaces her in these instances. And the thing with the cats and the cloak that makes her a bird and the necklace she got from... dwarves, like people already said. But... its a bit confusing that Freya and Frigg are sometimes the same and sometimes not. But either way the easiest way to look at it is that Frigg is the highest goddess of the Æsir, while Freya is the highest goddess of the Vanir and it has been suggested that they might be part of a trifecta of godesses and represent different stages of womankind, since occassionally they appear in the same text."

Like Tobi, Cela thought it worth mentioning both since Paris had been singled out as Frigg and then held up when Professor Lupa asked about Freya.

Hmmmm. It was confusing though.

Cedric raised his hand,"Freya was a major goddess in Norse paganism and a subset in German paganism.Freya is portrayed as a goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Blonde, blue-eyed,and beautiful, Freya is described as the fairest of all goddesses, and people prayed to her for happiness in love. She was also called on to assist childbirths and prayed to for good seasons."

Taking a deep breath, Evangeline decided to avoid thinking and looking down at the place where her limb should be. This, she realised, made the tears clinging to her long eyelashes subside and allowed her to think better about what she was doing.

And whatever she did, she could not lose points. That was just out of question. Slytherin couldn't take it.

So no more comments. Only answers. Simply answers.

Taking another deep breath, Evangeline raised her hand ... the one she had left, anyway. "Freya is considered to be the goddess of love and fertility in Norse mythology. Just like Venus in Greek mythology, Freya is supposed the most beautiful of all the goddesses." Yeah, right. The goddesses of love always revealed to be rather obnoxious. Eh. "Linked to being the symbol of fertility, of course, she is the patron goddess of crops and birth. Oh, and when her husband - Od - disappeared, her mourning tears turned into gold. That part was kinda cool.

Evangeline wondered if she had both arms.

Miles folded his arms in annoyance as the professor rolled her eyes. Excuse me!? He was NOT boring, he had an answer, and he got points for it! Atleast he wasn't shut up at the back of the class room, where no one could see him. Hmpf.

Reluctantly, Miles put his hand up again, still a bit annoyed. "Freya was the major goddess in Norse Paganism, and was also the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility."

"But ... she was linked with death too. She recieved half of the lost in battle, and Odin was given the other half." He added, and folded his arms again.

Clifford was surprised he had any lower lip left.. he'd been chewing on it so much.. shooting anxious glances in the direction of Evangeline. Professor Lupa ... GRRRRR!!!

Composing himself with a deep breath, Clifford slowly raised his hand. "Freya. The godess of love and beauty, right? I think she sometimes joined the Valkyrs in battle.. was her job to collect all the dead bodies." Nice.. "She carried her own weapons and armour, but wore girly clothes from the waist down." What was the point in that? "Erm.. The Thor dude gave her a loada kittens too, right? And Freya used to let 'em all follow her around."

"Very good five points." She said and winked at her 'knight.'

"Very good." she said ruffling the boy's hair. "Five points."

"Course she was blonde... all pretty girls are blonde!" She said to Lyra. "Five points."

"Very good!" she said clapping. "Five points."

"Very good Anna..." she said and nodded, "Five points."

"Five points to you too." She said dancing around the room.

"Remember, I asked about Freya... not Frigg... I brought Paris up to test you to see if you were paying attention." She laughed and twirled. "Five points. Paris may be Frigg, but I am Freya!"

He'd said that cause he heard her say she was Freya... "Why thank you, Five points."

"Yes Lyra." she said nodding. "Friday is derived by Freya's name."

"Actually some people think the mistletoe story is related to Freya and not Frigg... this is because some accounts say that Freya and Frigg are possibly the same goddess." She said nodding, "Five points."

"Two points." She said rolling her eyes.

ooc: Just because it isn't all cut and pasted, it is still cutting and pasting.

"Blahblahblah... Five points." She HAD to give her points...

"Good Miles." She said nodding. "Five points."

"Alright... Now that we talked about ME. Tell me about Paris- I mean Frigg." She giggled.

Professor Lupa was pretending to be Freya.. and Paris was Frigg. Frigg. What a funny name. "Okay, so Frigg was the wife of Odin and mother of Balder, Ma'am." Clifford stated, raising his hand in the air again. "She appears as like, the wife and mother figure in norse mythology, me thinks. She was called up by woman to help assist the births." EURGH! Gross. "OOH! And he can do this cool thing where she knows everyone's destiny or something.. but she never tells anyone."

Hand shooting up, Raiden's mouth fell open and words started tumbling out faster than he could think about them. Norse mythology was fun to learn about!

"Frigg's also known as Frigga, or Beloved," he said happily. "She was responsible for making clouds and sunshine and stuff... and she was supposed to be responsible for spinning the Fates, too I think. Or weaving them, or something... she could see the future, but she couldn't change it." That wouldn't be very fun, he thought. Knowing stuff but being unable to change it... "It's said that she's the one who first made runes to use for divination. And she's the goddess associated with the New Year." He glanced at his book and frowned. "That story about the mistletoe... is it true that the legend says that Loki made Baldur's brother throw the dart? Hodor was the God of Darkness, so he couldn't see what he was doing, and Loki pretended to be nice and got him to throw the dart at Baldur." His frown disappeared, though, when he remembered something he'd thought was silly. "Her sacred animal was the goose." Raiden didn't like geese. He thought they were evil creatures, running around honking and snapping their beaks at people... "Geese aren't very nice, so I don't know why she would pick them..."