Melanie's brow furrowed. The founders had created the lake? Melanie had just assumed it had already been there when they built the castle. Melanie raised her hand, the warm air and cool grass making her slightly more comfortable speaking out than a windowless room and rigid desk.

"Well, Hogwarts has animals," she ventured, "and then there's all the ones in the Forbidden Forest," she gestured toward the dark trees hovering ominously at the edge of the pruned grounds. "Maybe, even though they built this big castle, they still wanted to keep the natural habitat as intact as they could." Sustainability existed back then too...right? Even if it wasn't trendy like it was nowadays?

Thinking about the latter part of the question, Melanie added, "I imagine having the lake, and all of the creatures in it, is a valuable resource for educating students."

Violet raised her hand and said. "The creators included a lake because it would suit a habitat for both land and water creatures, such as the merpeople, squids and others, as well as a water supplement for land creatures to drink." Violet took a deep breath for continuing on, "Of course, it's also a good transportation route for boats and other objects for example when there was the triwizard tournament where other wizarding schools could travel to." Violet thought it was very good for her first answer at the professors question and smiled.

Hmm… why had the founders put a lake on the grounds? "Maybe so that any creatures that were housed at Hogwarts would have a water source?" Sky guessed. Like the muggles and their cow ponds... "Oh and so the students would have a place to swim…" she added off. Yep, giving the students something to do.

Nessie put one hand behind her back and raised her other hand. "Well it certainly does add to the scenery." she said looking around at her surrounds. "But it also could have been used as a water source, but it may have been used for earlier Herbology lessons because of it's underwater plant life. It also may have been used for the study of the creatures that may lurk under the water." She said staring out to the mysterious waters.

The lake? this would certainly be an interesting class. She remembered reading about it somewhere, probably Hogwarts, a History, but she never paid it much attention. And learning about the creatures that must be in it would be fun. Upon hearing the question, the puff raised her hand in confustion. "Wait, what do you mean by included? Are you saying they built the lake? or did they find a place to build the school that already had a lake?" To her, it sounded like it was built, but that would be very strange. "Anyways, maybe they included it so they could study aquatic creatures, and so they could have a place to swim. I know they used it for ice skating a couple of years ago, and I think I read something about it being involved in a flood or something a while back."

Jezzabelle raised her hand, "Well even though having magic protect us is a goo enough defense, there could have always been a impassibility that it wasn't strong enough for certain situations so a lake, and all the creature residing within it, could possibly have been a form of protection." She was going out on a limb here with this answer, but it was worth a try wasn't it? Still continuing she said, "And back in 2064, maybe 2065," she wasn't really all that good with dates, "the students actually sought out help from the Giant Squid."

Oh.

The lake. Hmm. Well, who in the name of Merlin would have thought to suggest that?! Scabior, Apparently. Williamson, too. "Well, the Slytherin Common Room," she pointed out, raising her hand, "is partway under the lake. So maybe they were thinking about concealment when they positioned the castle by the Black Lake." I mean, they were Slytherins--cunning and ambitious. They weren't just going to leave themselves wide open for intruders.

See, that was why the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were way up high in the towers--so they could be spotted easily, attacked first, and used as a means of giving the Slytherins time to get away. Or, at least, that was what Sierra had thought up. Anyway...

"That lake can also be used for many different things--we can come and go, others can come and go...and we can learn about things like water plants and creatures," she said. It was also used to ship the first years to the castle, holding them up, so that the older kids could get in first and snag all the good seats. "So, I think it's been used for all those reasons in the past." Maybe a lot more, too. That was why they were here, though--to learn those reasons.

Lily was glad to hear that the professor thought her answer was decent. Now on to the next question. She didn't know why the founders included it but she did have an idea of how it had been used. Lily raised her hand. "Since I read that Durmstrang had used it during the Triwizard Tournament back in the time of Dumbledore, I would guess that it had been used as a connection between the two magical schools." Lily replied. "I'm not really postitive though." Lily looked at the lake and then back to her notes as she began sketching the lake, while jotting some notes, trying to pick out anything odd about the lake that may lead to a better response.

Minerva wasn't really sure, but thought maybe she would take a guess "Well could the lake have already been here when the castle was built and the founders kept the lake, because of the magical creatures that lived inside of it. It probably has been used with in care of magical creatures in the past as well as the Tri Wizard Tournament that has been held here at Hogwarts."

Butterfly quietly guessed,"Because it's a well known habit that for some creatures, and it's been here for so long that some people only sees it as a place to relax and not for that surroundings."

Zhenya raised her hand, wanting to take a guess, "Well possibly at first it was a way of transportation to get to school... that is if the Lake wasn't there already," she paused to think. "But I know it has had quite a lot of significance in the past, such as Harry Potter and the Triwizard Tournament, and it also houses many different creatures which are quite important to Hogwarts. There's the Magical creatures, I mean. And of course this is a wizarding school and we are surrounded by magical things, and the creatures are just a large part of our world. And also that's how the first years get to Hogwarts, it's sort of a tradition" she said. Hopefully she was right.

Isabelle had never thought about this before. Why did the Hogwarts founders put a lake in indeed. Izzy raised her hand. "Maybe they wished there to be a place to house more magical creatures such as merpeople, grindylows, and the giant squid. That way they could study these animals close by," umm maybe this was a valid answer, but she really had no idea. "Well I know that during the Tri-wizard tournament in the trios years there was a task that involved the champions going into the depths of the lake," Izzy replied, she wouldn't want to be one of them. That would be really creepy. "It could have also been used for studying magical water creatures."

No animals? Well, this wasn't very fun. Sighing Selena nodded and raced back to place the creatures in the common room before running out again. She just hoped that no one left stuff out for Clarke to chew on... because it SO was not her fault. Honestly.

Selena listened to the questions that the History of Magic professor asked. The professor did ask very good questions... that left Selena quite stumped. Sighing, she thought hard as she wished that she had a desk for her to drum her idle fingers on. Why was the lake here? Was it not just because it looked nice?

"I think that the founders included a lake within Hogwarts so that they have more creatures to probably show for the Care of Magical Creatures classes," Selena said. Because it made sense why there were so many grindylows and merpeople and the whatnot inside the lake. "The lake also serves as a host to many different plants, one year, it was actually used against Hogwarts, when the Selkie ruler or something flooded the dungeons," Selena said. Right?

She was pretty sure she made sense.

Ohhhhh. Now that was food for thought. It trumped unicorn thoughts even.


Before too long, Aspen was quietly singing under her breath, "Which came first... the Phoenix or the egg...." no wait, "... the castle or the lake..."

Hmm.


"I don't know which came first," Aspen admitted, as if the question was asked directly to her and the Professors were waiting on her answer only. Sometimes, the 4th year Ravenclaw got caught up with the THINKING a bit much. "But I do know that the lake was used as a portal at one point." OOOoOOoOoo. Did that still work? From Durmstrang to Hogwarts?

As an after thought, she raised her hand.

"If the Founders did form the lake post-castle construction, I'd like to see the transcripts between them and the merpeople they coaxed into living next to a castle full of children." It'd be an interesting read, NO DOUBTS.

Prudence thought about it, why would there be a lake and what was it's use anyway? "Well Professor... the lake could be a safe place for creatures such as the giant squid and the mer-folk such as Hogwarts is for its occupants. Then again it was also used for one of the Tri-Wizard tournaments in the past" she said hoping for the best. She was also hoping the professor didn't notice how she had her fingers crossed behind her back!

Aissh!! It was cold out here. He shouldn't have been overconfident and brought his scarf along. Hades was busy pulling his robes together to cover his freezing neck when Scabior explained another thing that he didn't really care about. The lake was there, so it was. Why would the four founders included the lake as Hogwarts territory, he hadn't the slightest idea. He didn't even live a millennium ago! How should he knew? Furthermore, he wasn't a Hogwarts student up until this term.

Considering that Scabior was a Slytherin after all, Hades thought he should be a little more polite even if he truly hated the subject. "They used it as an obstacle during the Triwizard Tournament in 1990's," answered the boy after he lowered his hand. That was a general knowledge. Harry Potter was famous even in Durmstrang. Who in the wide wizarding world wouldn't know his name?

Arya Lovegoods was here. She was listening intently. Only she wasn't here for a history lesson, and so didn't bother participating except to draw up her quill to scribe notes. This would surely be in the homework later and maybe even be useful in other ways she didn't care to think on at the moment.

Right now she was content to let others respond as she snuck peeks at the lake. Would they be going in? Or on boats? Maybe? Professor Williamson seemed like the kind to let them go in rather than boats. And Professor Scabior... seemed like the type to watch. Heh.

Alyssa thought about what happened in the past and how the lake was used and then she thought of the reason why the Founding Fathers had a lake created in the grounds. When she thought that she had come up with a reasonable answer, Alyssa raised her hand and answered.

"Professor, I believe that the Founding Fathers included a lake in Hogwarts, so that the magical creatures who lived in our world and who lived underwater, like the Grindylows, the Merpeople and even the Giant Squid could live here in peace without having to worry about being hunted down and killed. In addition, the plants that live underwater could grow in there safely and I believe that Herbology Professors over the years have gone there to harvest them without having to do it secretly. The Black Lake has been used in the past as one of the tests in the Triwizard tournament. It was also a way for the students from Durmstrang Institute to arrive from Bulgaria for the tournament without being seen, and of course first year Hogwarts students have the privilege of sailing across the lake in the boats to get to Hogwarts, the first time they arrived on the grounds."Alyssa knew that the Black Lake had been also used for occasions in the past. But she couldn't remember them right now.

Jen looked curiously at the lake.
"Perhaps the lake was here long before Hogwarts castle was built?" Jen questioned

OOC: Class will continue tomorrow around 4:30 pm EST. Continue giving answers if you haven't had the chance to yet!

Harlow raised her hand, "Well I think they put it in the location that would give as a great platform for learning. Though we aren't allowed in the forest we do get to study some of the creatures that dwell there. So that same goes for the lake. I mean we have a giant squid and even an entire mermaid community. So we got the best of everything right here and we don't have to leave home. For lack of a better term." she explained. At least that's how she saw it.

History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures. Two subjects that she had not given much participation last term and right now she was much determined to change that. Hence, her being present in the now JOINT class of the mentioned two.

While greetings were exchanged, she kept her mouth shut and just nodded and smiled at the other students since she was trying to think of a way to catch up with the lessons. It was just the start of term, yes. But she was not that passionate with the two subjects that's why she's mostly trying her best to make herself like it more.

Then..while she was still thinking. The first question went and many students shared their answers. At this, Beatrice thought she should also share her own and so she raised her hand, "Professor, I think that today's History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures' lesson is joint because we would be facing or knowing perhaps a creature that has something to do with wizarding history.."

Pretty much, right?

Now, off to the second one. Yep, they were on the lake--no, near the lake. So why was it included in the foundation of the school? And how was it used thousands of years ago? Hmmmm.. The Ravenclaw second year scratched her chin before she raised her hand, "Errr--Professor, are you saying that the lake wasn't here all along? That it was made in fact by the Founders?" She was supposed to give her answer but she figured she's ask that first.

Then, it hit her. They were discussing things about the lake and there was one significant creature under it. The Giant Squid.

O_______O Were they going to meet the Squid perhaps?

The Lake.

Yep...certainly outside the box in way of class topics or at least no one professor had thought about using it too much. Sure Bentley had done a lesson out on the mystery boat out on the lake but Gideon didn't believe that quite counted.Trying to think of his own answer for the inclusion of the lake by the Founders he couldn't help but think Kurumi's was a good option...a way of including various ecosystems in the environment around the school. Finally he raised his hand to supply his own thoughts.

"Perhaps the founders included the lake for help in concealing the castle from Muggles," he answered before lowering his hand and continuing. " The protections do show Hogwarts as meerly rubble to those of non-magical bearing and most non-magical stone buildings would have been built around a water source seeing as muggles wouldn't have the magic to summon water to them to be used. So by including the lake, it made the Hogwarts 'ruins' look authentic."

As Violet thought of that the girl's answer and realized how the answer seemed to be right. "Is it perhaps the giant squid that we will be studying professor?" She had heard of the giant squid living in the lake being linked to one of the founders of Hogwarts. Was it Godric Gryffindor or Rowena Ravenclaw? Violet was not entirely sure, but she knew for a fact that something does lurk in the lake beside Hogwarts and it couldn't be there just by nature itself. Violet looked back at the lake and pondered about this for a minute.

Justin thought for a few moments then up went his hand. " Professor, I do know that there are Mer-people in the Black Lake and That Years ago it had been the sight of one of the events for the Tri- Wizard Championship. "