DADA Lesson Two
 

Defense Against the Dark Arts Lesson Two

Regardless of the chilly weather during the winter season and the cool stone colored tones of the room, the dueling arena was comfortably warm. The arena itself would perhaps look different to some of the older students if they were able to get a look at it in the past. The dueling platform, target dummies, and even the stands were moved around in different locations, pushed to the side mostly, leaving a nice big empty space in the middle of the room. In that space were the familiar deep purple colored mats from the previous lesson lined up accordingly, including the deep red colored mat up at the front in-between the stands where Professor Romanos was currently seated, and in front of each purple mat was something that looked like a miniature tray. There won't be any food during the lesson unfortunately, but these trays will be acting as your desks. Unlike the last lesson, the room is illuminated and practically glowing from the winter sunlight streaming through the windows, giving the area a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Perhaps even make a few sleepy, but never fear. There will be no time to sleep during this class. And do ignore the added doorway in the back of the room. As strange as it's placement is, no one is allowed back there.

OOC: Please come in and take a seat on one of the mats [and be familiar with the rules and expectations]. The lesson will begin in about 12 18 hours or so.

Class has officially begun! Please don't post arriving late. Jump in as if your character has been here the entire time. ;)

Final Task
Use of the Disarming and Shield Charms ONLY.

1st - 4th Years = No sense of SOUND
5th - 7th Years = No sense of SIGHT. You are all blindfolded.

It is alright to be disoriented and not get things right on the first couple of tries. Perhaps your aim is off or you can't say the spell correctly because you can't hear yourself speak. No one is perfect. It is okay. The Professor will be keeping a close eye on things, so please, no fatal injuries. And perhaps no drastic damage to the arena either. It's rather sturdy.

I'll give you a few days to RP, and we'll come to a close on things around the 13th.

Ella entered the classroom and smiled. It was warm and cozy in the room and though the dummies and dueling platform were a little intimidating, Ella was excited. She greeted the Professor with a cheery "Hello!" before taking a seat on one of the purple mats. She eyed the little tray suspiciously, thinking of the one her mother had used to feed her when she was sick and bed. Surely they wouldn't be eating chicken soup during the lesson. Ella drummed her fingers on the mat anxiously as she waited for the lesson to start.

Jordan made his way into the Duelling Arena, ready for the DADA lesson. His heart fell slightly when he saw the purple mats from last time, Please no yoga! he begged no one in particular. He was pleasently surprised to find he was one of the first to arrive as well. "Hello Professor?" he smile cheerfully, taking a seat on one of the mats.

Cardigan walked into the Dueling Arena,feeling rather excited.They were gonna learn to duel!!!!!!!!That made her all giddy and want to do a backflip,but here was not the best place to do it.Before scoping the room for any familiars,she said to the professor,"Hello Professor Romanos!"She hten scaned the room for anyone that look familar.In a matter of minutes,she saw Ella!With a hyper grin,Cardigan sat down on the mat next to Ella`s and said,"Hey!",softly before turning her attention to her robe which she was "fiddling" with.When in boredom,fiddle with your Hogwarts robe.It makeseverything better.....

Lily was having a good day. She was excited for another DADA class, even though she didn't exactly like the yoga from the last class. As she walked into the class, she noticed a big difference, it was light in the room. After spotting the professor, Lily entered the room. "Hello, Professor. How are you today?" She greeted the professor before finding a seat on one of the mats.

Ella smiled when she saw Cardigan sit down next to her. She returned her greeting and whispered, "Hi!" She felt weird talking in a voice any louder than a whisper as there weren't too many students in the class yet and she had a tendency to speak loudly when she was excited. Plus, the Professor was sitting in front of them on a mat and she didn't want to get into trouble. Ella smirked a little when she saw Cardigan fiddling with her robe and she began her own finger drumming again, creating a nice little beat on her mat-a quiet one of course!

Minerva walked into class and looked around. "Hello Professor, will we be doing more Yoga today?" she found an empty mat and sat down waiting for class to begin.

Nate walked into the room and said "Hello professor."

Sophie walked into the room and saw the dueling arena. She didn't know if she was scared of excited about it. Dueling never sounded like a good thing in her mind, but she had a lot of fun using spells and whatnot. Just as she thought in their last class, it was Hogwarts, so there was nothing for her to fear hopefully. They wouldn't hurt one another, would they?

"Good day, Professor Romanos." She said politely as she went to sit on one of the purple mats.

As Kennedy entered the classroom he was surprised by yet another change in scenery. The professors at Hogwarts sure liked to re-decorate for every lesson, huh. Liking this bright atmosphere, he went to sit at one of the mats in the front row.

"Good day, Professor Romanos," he greeted with a grin.

Autumn walked in and looked around... mats... everyone else knew what was going on she didn't!
She decided to sit on one of the mats she chose one slightly to the left of the middle and sat down looking for any of her friends.

It was time for Olivia's favorite class, Defence Against the Dark Arts. She waved hello to the professer and chose a mat near the middle, right of the room, somewhat twards the back. The bench things beside that mats reminded Olivia of Kung Foo chopping blocks, Maybe they were going to tie Marshel Arts in with yoga in this Defence against the dark Arts class.

Zhenya made her way to Defence against the Dark Arts lesson and walked in to the room. She looked around worried that they would be doing more yoga whilst answering questions. Not that it was bad, she just had difficulty doing it.

She walked in and said "Hello Professor, enjoying the cold weather?" and took a seat. She looked at the tray and felt like she would like some biscuits.

Oakey came into class very excited. This one was taking place in the dueling arena and Oakey had found a new passion in dueling thanks to the small fair that they had the previous month. He lost the two duels he partook in but it was the greatest thrill Oakey ever experienced.
Hiya Professor Romanos. He gleefully greeted the DADA professor.
Taking up one of the empty mats Oakey sat with his legs crossed and slide his bag underneath the small tray that was raised next to him.

Right. It was time for yoga Defense Against the Dark Arts. The last time she had come to this class she had ended up in all sorts of positions that only pretzels could transform themselves into. In all honesty her entire body was sore the next day. Selina was going to stick to Quidditch if she had a choice in exercise.

As she walked into the room she smiled at her Professor and said, "Good morning Professor Romanos.". Then she took a seat at one of the mats. O Merlin, were they going to do yoga again.

Sadly this was Angelina's first DADA class and she wondered what she would be learning today. Walking into the Duelling Arena she took a seat on one of the purple mates read for class. Smiling she looked over and said, "Hello Professor."

Alyssa walked into the DADA classroom and greeted the Professor,"Hello Professor Romanos. I'm looking forward to our class today." She then noticed some of the students sitting down on the mats and spotted Oakey."Hi Oakey, is it okay if I sit next to you."Alyssa asked her friend.

Sky was uncertain about this lesson being in the dueling arena. Did this mean they were going to be dueling? But as she walked in, she saw that the mats from the last lesson were set up. And what were those trays all about? Were they about to have tea or something? Shaking off the slight confusion, Sky found herself a mat and plopped herself down on it, crossing her legs. "Hello, professor."

Kurumi had been a little surprised when she had seen the notice go up on the DADA announcement board in regards to the lesson. The Dueling Arena? Kurumi had been expecting another theoretical lesson in the classroom on, hopefully, dark creatures and not what she assumed was going to be a very VERY hands on lesson.

Bag slung over her shoulder, Kurumi entered the arena and noticed the changes - namely the mats on the floor and...benches? Tables? What were those things? Kurumi walked all the way towards the front where the professor was and set her things down. "Good day, professor," Kurumi said with a small smile as she took a seat on her yoga mat and took another careful glance around the room.

Constant vigilance! Right, Headmaster?

Again, Arya Lovegoods?

They would seriously have to have a serious TALK after class today. About the freedom of choice, and respecting others' decisions. For now, the Prefect will just be getting the silent treatment. Because once again, Ellie was brought here against her will. She was especially against this lesson since they were in the Duelling Arena. And Ellie hated duelling.

Only, she came in to see the mats and she definitely heard a kid shout something about doing yoga. "Are we?!" Hope could be heard in her voice. She promised she would actually DO the yoga if she didn't have to duel.

PROMISE!

"Oh, and hi, Romanos." Lookit! She survived her broomstick joyride after all.

Arya was SO SURE that this was the lesson that would have Ellie hooked on defense. It was in the dueling arena! Though admittedly it had been harder to get to Ellie than before. The captain had been prepaired this time.

But not enough to stop the Hufflepuff.

"Hey, Professor!" The woman got a wide smile as she tugged Ellie to the very front of class, no middle this time, and sat them in the center. Treyen could join Ellie on the other side this lesson if he wanted. The prefect wouldn't mind so long as he didn't distract Ellie from her learning. Hehe.

Tossing her bag to the side she leaned over and whispered cheerfully to Ellie, "I don't think we're doing more yoga."

Beezus stepped into the Dueling Arena where they were having their second Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She had never been there before, unlike the other students who joined the Dueling Club last term. Speaking of which, she wondered where the instructor on the club was. She didn't know him personally but they say he was one of a kind.

As she entered the room however, she was greeted with sunlight, in contrast to the ambiance they had last lesson wherein it was very dark. She took the light as a good sign. Surely, they would have a great time at this lesson. So..without any hesitation, she walked to the center where the purple mats where placed. "Good day Professor Romanos," she greeted her as she passed. Then she removed her backpack's strap on her shoulder, placed it on her side and took a seat on her mat.

Silvia walked into the room. She wasn't sure what to expect from this class, seeing as it was taking place in the dueling room. She didn't know any spells that would be good for dueling, and she didn't know if it was something she would be good at.

"Hello Professor," she said as she took a seat on a mat in the second row and waited for class to start.

Ariana Walked into the classroom and saw JORDAN! after saying hello & Good morning to the professor she took a seat next to him

After a strenuous Quidditch practice, Keefer wasn't sure he was ready for academics. But as he walked into the room, he was relieved to see the mats once more. Alright, a chance to stretch! His muscles were sore and tense.

"Hullo, Professor," he said as he walked past, wending his way toward a mat on the far right side. He sat down and immediately began to practice some of the poses they had learned in the previous lesson. The more practice the merrier, right?

Harvey entered the classroom.. and he saw that the classroom was different from last time.. he also saw that the professor was in attendence.. "Hello Professor, how are you today?" he greeted the professor before sitting down and waiting for the lesson to start.. he got out a parchment and quill.. all ready now..

Justin walked into class quickly and greeted the professor, " Hello, Professor Romanos. Good to see you again. " he said with a smile. then he found a seat next to Minerva. He looked over at her and grinned as he pulled his text book out along with a piece of parchement and his quill and ink well.

Hiya, Alyssa, No problem go ahead and grab a mat. He replied to his her and a friendly manner. So am I, I came extra prepared for the class as well see he pointed to the Quidditch goggles which lay around his neck. They're another one of my lucky charms. he said with a big grin on his face They used to belong to my Foster Father when he played professionally in America So far since he began wearing them a week ago nothing unlucky had happened to him.

Ever since he told Alyssa his secret about his bad luck he felt a lot better. Not very many things happened save a small slip here and there. Maybe having a friend who could keep his secrete with him helped a little.

Alex entered the dueling arena and looked around the room. There were dummies, the purple yoga mats and something that looked like muggle breakfast-in-bed trays. "This should be interesting", she said to herself. "Hello Professor", Alex said as she made her way to an empty mat. She sat down, got comfortable and waited for the lesson to begin.

Kimalia walked in for the lesson, should be interesting to see how this will turn out. "Good day, Professor." Smiling kindly, she then took a seat on one of the mats next to her housemates.

Alice walked into the Dueling Arena, excited for the latest DADA lesson. To the second year's surprise, light was streaming in through the windows. As her pupils adjusted to the brightness, the girl took a seat on an empty mat and greeted the Professor. "Good day, Professor Romanos," she said pleasantly while pulling her bag off of her shoulder and setting it beside her. Crossing her legs together, she remained quiet, waiting for the lesson to begin.

Vlimia walked into the Dueling Arena, squinting a little as a beam of sunlight hit her eyes. This proffesor was odd; she had to either have an eerily pitch black room or a blindingly sunlit room. After her eyes had adjusted to the overall brightness of the place, she noticed that there were familiar mats on the ground, this time with trays upon them. Vlim wondered if they were going to be getting food and having to check it for poison, but she doubted that - why would they be doing that in the Dueling Arena. It was pretty clear that they were going to be duelling. "Good morning, proffesor!" Vlimia said to Prof. Romanos. And now... we wait. She thought to herself.

Amethyst walked into the classroom and smiled. She had missed the first lesson due to her emotional issues, but couldn't miss the second. After seeing the professor, she went and nodded respectfully to her. "Good Morning, Professor. I hope all is well with you."

Tennessee made her way through the dueling arena for their second defense against the dark arts class. The brunette seemed to be excited to what are they gonna learn today. She was pretty wondering what happened to the stuffs inside the room however she looked around and found what she was looking for. The things were stuffed at the sides. She walked towards one of the mats, "good day Professor," she greeted as she passed by. The she continued to one of the empty mats near the front. She plopped herself and soon she was comfortably seated.

Raven walked to the DADA classroom, she was slightly familiar with this room.

Is it duelling arena? Cool!

She loved duelling, perhaps the Professor wanted to make a duelling club again?

"Good day Professor." She greeted the Professor calm. She saw Zhenya was there. Raven was smiled and sat next to her.

Medea was sitting quite comfortably on her mat, just waiting for the students to file in. Thankfully she did have to wait THAT long. "Hello, Miss Bishop."



"Good day, Mister Macey!" she greeted.



"Good morning, Miss Johansson."



"Good day, Miss Potter." she greeted with a smile. "I'm good, thank you."



Alas, the question about yoga. She'd been preparing for it. "You'll just have to wait and see." Shifty!



"Hello, Mister Jones." she smiled.



"Good morning, Miss Campbell." she greeted with a smile and nod.



"Hello, Miss McIntyre."



Oh! It was the boy with the cool pin. "Good day, Mister Escalante." she greeted in return.



Oh Merlin...

She was surprised by that yell alone hadn't caused a few of the students to get up and leave. Perhaps the yoga was finally growing on them. "Good morning, Mister Greingoth." she chuckled softly.



Oh, a student that wasn't present in her previous lesson? Medea didn't recognize her. Better late than never!



Medea smiled and waved back.



"Good day, Miss Burton." she smiled, amused by the question. "Vell, I can't say that I hate it." Reminded her of home actually.



Uh oh. Gloomy face alert. "Good morning." Miss Last Name We Don't Know Yet.



"Good morning, Mister Gunter!" she greeted with enthusiasm.



"Good day, Miss Skylar." she smiled and nodded to the girl.



Seems like a little handful of students hadn't made it to her first lesson. "Good morning." she greeted.



"Good day, Miss Potter." she smiled and nodded to the girl. Good, someone who actually looked forward to the lesson.



"Hello, Miss Carter-Hope."



"Hello, Miss Hollingberry." she smiled.



Oh, another cool pin that a student had. Seriously, what were those things for? "Good day, Miss Greenwell."



What was this?

Ellie Stone walking into her lesson?

Eyebrows raised in amusement, seeing the situation was quite similar to the previous lesson, Medea chuckled quietly, side-glancing to Mister Greingoth. "You'll just have to wait and see...Miss Stone."



She'd have to reward Miss Lovegoods somehow for achieving what could be the impossible. Quite frankly, she wasn't expecting the redhead to be in her class. "Good morning, Miss Lovegoods!"



"Hello, Miss Castell." she smiled and nodded to the girl.



"Good morning, Miss Talbot."



Medea smiled and nodded to the girl in greeting.



"Good morning, Mister Gert." she greeted happily as she adjusted her position on the mat. Foot was falling asleep.



"Good day." she smiled and nodded towards the young man. Another newcomer to her lesson.



"Good morning, Mister Marius." she smiled and greeted cheerfully.



"Good day, Mister Kim." she smiled, stretching her toes a little to get that prickly feeling to go away. Probably shouldn't sit on her foot before the lesson anymore.



"Hello, Mister Watson." she smiled. "I'm fine, thank you."



"It's nice to see you again as vell, Miss Wellheart." she smiled.



"Hello, Miss Delaine." she greeted.



"Good day, Miss Fanster."



"Good day, Miss Fischer." she greeted.



"Good Morning, Miss Maze." she greeted just as happily.



"Good Morning." she greeted warmly. Another new student in her class. "I'm doing fine, thank you."



"Good day." she smiled and nodded to the girl as she passed by.



"Hello, Miss Charlotte."



"Good morning, Miss Reinhart." Medea smiled. "I'm fine, thank you."

Vickers made his way down for his next class. As he turned the corner towards the DADA corridor he remembered the last lesson they had and was hoping this time they would have tables and chairs.

He crossed the threshold to the classroom and slowed a bit as he took it in.

The mats are still there. And not a chair in sight.

Siiigh.

But theres something that looks to be a breakfast tray. The Ravenclaw took that as a bit of consolation. He was looking forward for something to nibble at class.

"Good Morning Professor..." he greeted, nodding his head politely as he walked by and selected a mat by the front near the windows.

Alyssa smiled back at Oakey. Since the Professor had started her greeting she wasn't sure whether they were still allowed to chat, so she gave Oakey a two thumbs up gesture to indicate that she was glad that his luck was holding up. He still hadn't told her why he thought bad luck followed him, but just as long as he thought that the good luck charm was working, she was going to encourage him to continue using it.

Daisy walked into the classroom, looking round and seeing the familiar purple mats. A smile on her face, she was thankful the aching from the previous lesson only lasted a day. Otherwise, she may have thought twice about this lesson.
'Hello Professor,'she grinned, taking a seat near some Hufflepuffs. She was really looking forward to today's lesson. Hopefully it would be more pratical than the previous one.

Walking into the arena.. LuLu just took a peek before she went in in case the lesson had started since it was kinda late! There were no yoga moves going on yet she was okay! No, no yoga moves! ''Hello Proffeser Romanos,'' she greeted, normally, looking around for mats, yoga mats.

Laura walked into the classroom, seriously she was hoping the Professor was in a better mood than last time. "Good day Professor." Laura smiled. "How are you today?"

Daichi was a little reluctant to go to the second DADA lesson. He was afraid that the candles were present in the room again so that was why he dragged his feet towards the dueling arena.

Arriving at the arena, Daichi opened the door and peeked inside the room. The room was BIIIIG and seeing no scary fire candle lights he sighed in relief. His personality immediately changed from nervous to .... normal for him and he entered the room.

"Hello Professor Romanos~!" he said cheerfully, completely different from how he had been in the first lesson. He smiled brightly at the woman before finding a place to sit on a purple mat.

Louisa, with a new determination to nail this subject, half-skipped into the arena. And stopped at the door taking in the new arrangements. Hmm. Niiiice. What with this professor and purple mats, though? And little trays that had no food on? Turning her head, she spotted the woman standing there as lovely-looking as ever.

The fifteen years old went on further into the room and gave the foregin professor a formal small smile, "Good day professor.." Louisa just had to work on her last name. Was it Romanos or Ramonas? Where were the 'o's and where were the 'a's? Ignoring the awkward silence, she just pretended that nothing was about to come out and found herself a place to sit on. A place as in a mat.

"Hello, professor!" Janice said happily as she strode into the classroom. For a DADA class, yoga-ing isn't that much of a Defense lesson. Perhaps that was why deep, deep down inside Janice isn't that much of looking forward to the lesson like the first proper class (well, at least she thought that it is a proper class) since Borr rose to power.

"Hello, Professor,'' Jory said as he walked into the DADA classroom. He took in the surroundings with interest, recognizing the purple mats. He headed off to take a seat on one of them. He wondered what they were going to use the trays for. "Ah well,'' he thought "We'll soon find out.''

"Good morning, Mister Vanderbilt." Medea greeted with a smile.



Hmmm, of course. Medea had seen the girl in her previous lesson. "Good morning." she greeted in return with a warm smile, nodding ever so slightly at the girl's request. Though whether she'd go through with it was a mystery. "Of course, Miss Lecium. I'm doing fine, thank you."



"Hello, Miss Gardiner." she smiled before glancing at her watch. Almost time.



"Good day, Miss Tucker."



"Good morning, Miss Kieren."



Miss Stubborn had arrived. "Good morning, Miss Hyde." she smiled with her greeting. "I'm doing fine, thank you."



Seeing that young Mister Katharos seemed to be doing better this lesson, Medea smiled and nodded to the boy. "Good morning, Mister Katharos." she greeted just as cheerfully.



It almost looked as if the girl was going to say something else, which was why Medea was hesitant to greet the girl back. Yet after a moment, she smiled. "Good morning, Miss Carter."



"Good day, Miss Trewhella." she smiled, glancing at her watch once again. Right. Almost time.



"Good day, Mister Stonewall." she greeted, shifting around a little.



Though, looking around the area to see how many students were there, Medea stood up and cleared her throat. "Alright, ve're going to wait a few more minutes for any stragglers but in the meantime, for those who are here, good news for you. Ve von't be doing any yoga today. However, if you vont to get up and stretch...now is the time to do so." she said, starting to stretch herself by reaching up and stretching her back. "And I highly recommend doing so."

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/z...es/stretch.png

Tayla arrived for the next D.A.D.A. lesson just in time. "Good morning, Professor Romanos!" Tayla smiled. She liked the atmosphere of the room very much. She took a seat on one of the mats and started to stretch. It felt really good.

No yoga?

That's nice but at the same time Jonathan will be missing the yoga posses from last time. It was really good to have some exercise. Oh well~~. Jonathan stood up because Professor Romanos wanted them to do some stretching before the lecture will start.

He stretched his hands up like what the professor had said.

‘Hello Professor’, Gwendolyn said while entering the classroom. She still tried to regain her breath after running like crazy to arrive in time for this class. She had never been late and this wasn’t the time to start. Wait- I arrived in time, right? Riiight?, the third year asked herself as she looked around. Oh come ooon- no more yoga!, she thought. The classroom seemed a bit different from the last time, and yet, the purple mats were still there.

Oh goodie! No yoga!, Gwen heard the Proffessor say. Phew… that’s good to hear, she told herself and waited eagerly for class to start.

Zhenya was relieved to see that they weren't going to be doing Yoga and answer questions. Not that she didn't enjoy yoga, she just had trouble speaking through some of the poses.

She stood up and got down into Downward facing Dog to stretch her arms and shoulders and legs. It felt goooooooooooooooooood. Then she came up and stretched her while body up.

Vlimia smiled when she heard they didn't have to do any yoga, but they could if they wanted. She might as well, it wasn't like there was anything better to do but wait. Vlim stood up, drawing herself to her full height, and lifted her arms over her head like the proffesor showed them. She tried to stretch herself up to the sky, like a giant. Who said yoga couldn't be fun?

Messer was running to the DADA classroom from the common room. He hoped he's not late for the second DADA lesson. He entered the classroom breathless. When he entered the class, he saw that they're doing some stretching. "Hello, Professor. I'm not late am I?" Messer greeted the Professor after he catch his breath. He went to one of the empty mats and put his back before he went to stretch his back like the others.

Alyssa did as Professor Romanos instructed and got up from her sitting position and did some stretching. She stretched her arms way above her head and then she bent her torso from the waist first to the front and then to the back. She then twisted her torso and lastly she stretched her legs, bending them at the knees and leaning forward. Now that she was all stretched out, she waited for further instructions.

Minerva got up from her mat and put her arms above her head and put her feet apart. Stretching up above her head it felt good to feel the stretch. After yesterday's bludger to the shoulder Minerva was feeling a bit stiff. She stretched and waited for class to begin.

Alice stood up and started to stretch, as her Professor had instructed them to do so. After sitting cross-legged on the mat for quite a while, it felt nice to move her muscles. Her legs had been starting to stiffen. She sighed as the Professor announced that they wouldn't be doing any yoga. She had quite liked it...

Louisa settled down on the mat, sliding her should bag over her head and setting it on the ground and against the tray's leg. She listened to the professor and was a tad disappointed about the non-yoga class, it meant they were going to actually focus of defense against dark arts.... which was the point of this subject, actually.

Internal sigh.

Standing on her feet, Louisa stretched her arms slowly and as high as they went. Aaaaaah, it felt so good. The girl closed her eyes and stayed standing like this.

No Yoga? Really? She thought looking down at the purple mats. Then what were the purple mats for? She shrugged it off and stood up to stretch. She lifted her arms up over her head, and stretched her back. A large sigh slid out of her mouth, and she suddenly felt better than before. She sat back down and waited patiently for the lesson to begin.

Taylor smiled and got up from the mat she was on and started stretching. She was a little sad that they werent doing any yoga this lesson but she already did some yoga that morning so she was fine and happy just being in this class.

No yoga? Kurumi wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not with this idea. After all, she had been told to keep in mind how doing yoga helped them focus among other things by the professor herself. And now...no yoga? WAIT! This clearly meant that they were going to do some meditation...molding chakra and then using it to duel with each other. But wait! Stretching was good for improving athletic performance and decreasing the risk of activity-based injuries...so, maybe they weren't going to be molding chakra this lesson either.

Sprints around the dueling arena?

Standing up now, Kurumi mimicked the professor's movements, breathing in nice and slow and deep as she stretched her limbs.

Ella stood up and raised her arms above her head, reaching for the sky. She didn't mind stretching as she did it before she went for runs. It was something she was familiar with-not like that yoga stuff-that stuff was hard.

Olivia sat with her legs outstreached on the mat, and tried to touch her toes. She managed to grab hold of her big toe this feels so painful but yet so good Olivia thought. We weren't doing yoga, so that must mean we diddnt have to do yoga streaches.

Class has officially started!
 

She was right about there being a few more stragglers. "Good morning, Miss Barnhill." she smiled.



"Good day, Miss Greene." she smiled with a little nod.



Letting her arms drop to her sides, Medea looked at her watch for the last time before seeing just who was the last to enter. "Good morning, Mister Messer. You're right on time."



Stretching her arms, she looked back out to the crowd of students, taking note of who was stretching and who wasn't. She'd give the ones who were a few more minutes to do so, and the ones who weren't...a few minutes to start doing so if they so wished. "I think ve'll start now." Any more stragglers will have to do push ups. "Last class, I had you all do a few yoga positions. Any thoughts on why?" There was indeed a reason.

Lets see how many students were paying attention to each-other's answers and could actually remember them from the previous lesson.

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/stretch2.png

Alyssa thought for awhile before raising her hand."Professor was it partly for relaxation but mainly to help us limber up and learn to be more flexible in our body positions?"

Keefer went into the first pose of the lesson. I wonder if we'll be doing poses all class long again. He didn't mind. He rather liked it, actually. As to why they were doing it, though, he couldn't be sure. He had a guess, but that's all.

He attempted a hand raise, but it was difficult when you were stretching your arms. "Well, I've been wondering about that, actually. I think part of the reason is because it helps with our balance and flexibility, which can be essential in a duel." Not that he had any experience with such matters, but it made sense to him.

"But also I noticed that I was struggling to focus on the lesson while still contorting my body. As the class progressed, however, I was able to be attune to my surroundings and think critically while still doing physical activity. I think that would be invaluable in encounters with Dark magic of some sort."

Zhenya wasn't sure but she raised her hand and said, "Professor, could it be to keep our minds focused when our bodies might be doing something Physical? Although my initial thought was to help us relax, but I wasn't sure why we were relaxing. We need to keep our defence up!" she said.

Alyssa decided to add to what she had already answered, so she raised her hand again,"Professor I know that I've already answered but I also wanted to add that maybe you were trying to get us to learn to concentrate better? Like Keefer said, it was hard to keep our balance and try to think of the answers at the same time, but we managed to do it. I know that when it comes to casting spells, concentration is very important because we want to make sure that the spell we cast actually works."

As Professor Romanos announced that thre'd be no yoga today, Beezus wondered why. But she was too engrossed with drawing the Dueling Arena on one of her parchments that she did not have the leisure to think why. And also the very reason why she was late in doing the first activity which was stretching their backs. However, when she was finish though it still needed more detail, she stood up and webbed her fingers together, then she pulled her arms upwards and stretched her limbs as she breathed slowly.

And off to the first question. Hmmm... why exactly did they do yoga?

Before answering, Beezus followed the Professor's movement first, standing with feet apart, then placing over one outstretched arm over another and folding the latter.

She raised, well..tried to. But because of her set up, she couldn't. So she removed her tangled arms first and raised her hand properly and gave her answer, "Professor, I believe you made us do yoga last lesson to improve our concentration and flexibility.." Just that simple answer would do right? "Concentration, in the sense that we need to still focus on giving out answers to your questions amidst what we are doing. And flexibility where we were able to stretch out our bones and muscles much to their own extents." Those two were very important in working against the Dark Arts. Yeap, they were. After giving out her own idea, she resumed her stretching position.

Selina was thrilled that the first position she had to do was a simple cross of her arms over her shoulder. The redhead could do that. She stretched her arm out with the rest of class and grinned- easy. When Professor Romanos posed the first question she flapped her arm that was now crossed over her chest to get her attention, "Because we don't any form of physical education and exercise is important. That anf maybe we need to be in our bodies to do spells actively and well."

Autumn stood up and started stretching. Before she found out she was a witch she competed in gymnastics and was used to all this stretching! And she was very flexible.
She hadn't been there last lesson so she listened carefully.

Why, oh why, oh why did they have to exercise during this class?! Couldn't they just sit like flobberworms until it was time to get up and hex somebody into next Saturday? Now that'd be fun! Stretching? Not so much so. At least Sierra was in shape, though. Thank you, Quidditch.

She started stretching here and there, if nothing else than to avoid the push-ups. ...and then--there was a question! About exercising, nonetheless. BAHHHH. "Well, of course we need exercise to stay in shape," Sierra said, pausing in her stretching to raise her hand, "but I think it also has something to do with the fact that we'll be twisting and turning all sorts of ways during a duel. If your opponent somehow gets you down, or if you're forced to get into an odd position to dodge a spell, you need to be able to twist and turn your way back to a normal dueling position in order to cast properly. Either that, or you have to learn how to cast from that odd position."

...and then she went back to stretching.

Messer crossed his arms over his shoulder. The first position wasn't that hard. Its very simple actually. Then the Professor asked them the first question. Messer tried to raise his hand but its kinda difficult to do that with this position so he removed his tangled arm and raised his hand "Well, like Keefer already said that Yoga helps our balance and flexibility that will help us in a duel. But beside that I think Yoga is an excellent toning of the muscles." he said. "We need a strong muscles to do a duel, Professor." If their muscles were weak or flaccid they couldn't held their wand properly.

Silvia began stretching. She didn't really know why they did yoga last class, but she raised her hand anyway and guessed. "Maybe for exercise?" she said. "Maybe exercise and being in shape is important for dueling somehow." When she finished with this answer, she went back to stretching.

Lily was glad that there wouldn't be much yoga this class. She had found it somewhat distracting with everyone nearly falling and losing their balance. But she got up and started stretching because it sounded like they were going to be doing something physical, and she didn't want to need to return to the healer for something that could be prevented.

As the professor started class, there was a question to answer. Why had they done yoga in the last lesson. Lily thought for a while before raising her hand and answering. "I think we did yoga to get our brains working, and trying to multitask like you might need to do if you got into a fight." Lily wasn't exactly sure but it was better to guess than to not answer.

Ella raised her hand, agreeing with some of her classmates. "Professor, I also think it has to do with concentration. I mean when I was trying some of those yoga poses I had to really focus so I didn't fall over...I suppose you need the same focus when dueling."

Angelina began stretching when she realized other where as well. That may be a smart idea. She really hasn't done anything like this, so it's a new challenge for her see if she and concentrate and keep her balance.*

Even though she wasn't present for the first lesson of DADA she had a small idea of why they learned yoga last. Raising her hand she said, "Could it be to help you concentrate on your body more. Couldn't it also be were you do some of the potions like you could when dueling? So yoga could help you keep that better and be easier for you?

Moving to the next position LuLu smiled well kind of... these ones were easy and there was no blood rushing to her head! Um.. Maybe concentration but she really did not see how a weird position with your body would help?

''... well for general exercise I guess... and for flexibility for dueling, since you need to be ready,'' and so you won't cramp up?

Daichi stood up from the purple mat he had been seated when the class begun. He looked with his dark brown eyes to the front with an curious expression but then had to go against himself not to roll his eyes when they were going to do stretching...again. It seemed like a ritual in DADA this term.

But..as the good student he was ahem He too followed the instructions and tried to do the same excersize the Professor was doing while holding up one arm. "Professor? I think that, because we are in the Dueling Arena now" Yes, he knew what room this was..pretty good huh? "We will learn how to dodge spells if we can't come up with a spell quick enough in a duel or..when we are simply wandless." that would be horrible though...even for Daichi who was not so good at using magic.

"That or having inner peace with your mind and become more flexible..but that would be weird right?" he laughed.

Tay continued to stretch a little. She raised her hand, "We did yoga so that we can focus our mind on the questions you were asking and also so we can stretched and become more flexible, right?" She smiled.

Amethyst smiled as she saw that she was allowed to stretch. She bent over, like a rag doll, and slowly rolled back up letting each spinal column stack on top of each other.

She was disappointed she missed last class. They did yoga! She raised her hand, taking a shot at the answer. "Well, I wasn't here last class, but when I do yoga, I do if because I want to relax and connect with my inner self."

Annabelle got up and started stretching. She never realized how tense her muscles were. This was sort of relaxing. She was starting to really enjoy this as she bent down and stretched out her legs.

"Professor isn't doing some yoga poses help reduce stress?" Annabelle asked as she answered her question.

Justin got up and began to stretch his back and arms before sitting back down. Then raised his hands and said," Professor, yoga is good for teaching the body how to move correctly with proper body mechanics. It also keeps muscles lean and ready for action."

Ah, stretching that was fun.. Well, it was something every person doing physical activity, aka playing Quidditch needed to do. Kimalia did a little dance as she rose her arms up to answer, "Well, Stretching gets the blood flowing, making it easier to think more clearer in tight situations and of course not get ourselves twisted up."

Harvey got up and did the stretching while they were waiting for the rest of the class to appear.. he reached up stretching his arms high.. it felt good to stretch out his muscles as he did this.. he made a note to stretch a little more often.



Harvey then went onto the next stretching postion stretching his arms the way they were supposed to.. the rest of the class had given lots of answers so her decided to just listen and to write the answers down when the professor said them.. this felt soo good to stretch like this..

Cardigan slightly grinned as she stretched some more.Ahhhh.It felt soooo good to stretch.How relaxing it was!The bestway to exercise throughout the day!Besides Quidditch,that is.But streching could be done anywhere.She soon knew the answer to Professor Romano`s question."Professor,"she started after she raised her hand."Yoga is one of the many forms of relaxation.It keeps the blood flowing through your body which enables easier thinking and less agitation."There.That was most likely right.

Stretching her arms over her head, Sky thought about that for a second. "Yoga is supposed to help a person be more flexible, which would help in a duel. Also, it's supposed to make concentration easier." She continued stretching, hoping that had been the answer the professor was looking for.

First doing the stretch the proffesor showed them, Vlimia mused over the question. Well... Vlim took a break from stretching to put her hand up "I think we were doing yoga to practise discipline and inner peace. When we are defending ourselves, it is usually best not to get too worked up or the opponent will have an advantage. And also some spells require a lot of focus and discipline." She said. Not exactly the case while using unforgivables; then you had to be really worked up. Vlimia shivered just thinking about the Unforgivables. It brought her back to the dark, damp dungeons she learned the curses in. Days she would spend in there, sorrowfully causing pain to helpless little creatures. Each mouse she put to death, Vlimia had had a secret burial for. There were seven little graves in the backyard, each marked with a pebble.

Alex stretched, practicing some of the positions the class had worked on previously. She thought about the Professor's question and slowly raised her hand. "Professor, yoga can help us in several ways", Alex said. "It's good exercise to keep us fit and flexible, but yoga is also about breathing, focus and control. All of those things would be important if we had to defend ourselves."