Eden almost managed to jump out of her SKIN when the headmistress APPEARED OUTTA' NOWHERE. Merlin's PANTALONES. Or whatever. She sunk in her seat almost instantly. No. THAT REDHEADED FIEND WAS NOT TEACHING THE CLASS, WAS SHE?

She was.

Eden wondered if it was too hard to sneak out right NOW. Because her DETENTION with the woman last year had been enough of the headmistress for a LIFETIME. She shakily placed her wand on her desk and stayed...sunken down. Nope..no Eden McGee here.......Sophie Brown could do ALL the talking because Eden had personally lost her voice.

Gulp.

Um.

Eden supposed she had done lots of things wrong. She didn't even wanna' start COUNTING. Um. Pick ONE thing. She raised her hand timidly. "Um...well...I should have had my wand iN hand in case...you know...surprise attack. But also--isn't it against the rules to just do magic when you're in the corridor? So I guess if we were...taking the classroom setting as a REAL LIFE setting, yes, I should have had my wand in hand." She nodded.

Merlin.

Overthinking. It was a thing. She was blushing and sinking further in her seat. Or was it farther? Merlin.

The astronomer had slipped into the room only moments before the Headmistress had nearly successfully cause the suited gangly man to wet himself once again.

Yes. Again.

While it had been some time since the initial impact of the fiery woman's words had made him feel about one centimeter tall, the memory of them...returning to the castle that afternoon...and everything that followed after was still very fresh and very raw. His eyes instantly looking towards the ground as the woman spoke, looking at a random piece of lint on his shoe as though it was the most fascinating thing in the world, the man felt lucky to still have his job. All those Gryffindors involved. Gryffindors that HE was accountable for...Sweet solstice he was very lucky to still be here in the castle.

Even if he felt like dragon dung right now.

Exhaling, the Head of House looked up and observed the students. That was the primary reason he was here. To observe. And, well, if the Headmistress needed him for whatever reason - which she hopefully would not because hearing her shout his name one more time had a 99% probability of him needing new trousers - he could do that too.

But for now...he was just watching. Silently.

Everyone that entered got a grim smile and a nod. Grim because it wasn't exactly a happy occasion, now was it? A student was dead, thanks to his own stupidity of not remembering what foribben meant, but still. Definitely not a reason to be hopping around like som...........

"Holy......!" And ouch! Why was this mat suddenly a desk?! That Heather had immediately thrown herself out of and crawled behind, bumping her knee and whipping out her wand on the way. "Protego! Confundo!" The spells were out of her mouth before she realized what happened. And she had probably just angered the Headmistress more. Granted, she really hadn't expected anyone to do that. As she had thought earlier, that was just cruel considering what had happened. But apparently, the Headmistress' goal was to teach them paranoia. Message received.

She pulled herself back out of the floor and slipped back into her desk. "Sorry, Headmistress." Please don't put her in detention.....?

And now they were being asked what they had done wrong on entering the room. Heather raised her hand before speaking, not wanting to provoke the Headmistress further. "Not practicing 'constant vigilance'. Assuming the room was safe just because the only person I saw was a fellow student. Not checking for invisible people." And apparently, trusting the Headmistress to not scare the crap out of them after what happened. Sigh. Obviously not having DADA lessons all term had made them all soft.

Now she had a question. Where was Professor Romanos?

Honestly, Ruby had expected something like this. Professors thought they were so clever. She reacted to the headmistress's appearance by... not reacting.

She put her hand up.

"Honestly, I was behind other people anyway, soooo..." Human shields, just saying.

This was unlike any DADA lesson he'd ever had, and it was weird. Granted, the lesson hadn't STARTED started yet, but it was still weird. He understood WHY they were having it, but he was beginning to wonder where the acromantulas were... they'd be practicing on them, right? RIGHT?..... ....... Given what had happened....

Awkward.

And oh hey! LOOKY! SURPRISE! Headmistress!

Zeke sat quietly, his wand WAS on his desk, as was his note taking things. So all he had left to do was to think of some dragon dung answer for what he did wrong, or should have done better.

...

He raised his hand slowly.

"I should have shielded myself when I entered the room, so that like, I didn't get cursed by things I couldn't see?" Yeah. Yeah. That'd do.

Text Cut: individual replies under the cut!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buggy-Boo

Margo was a little nervous. She wasn't sure what the heck she was going to say, or even if it was something right, she was terrified of this lesson already. So raising her hand, Margo took a stab at it. "Well, when I came into the classroom and looked around I noticed there was no Professor." Margo said thinking about what she had done when she had first arrived. "But, a reveal charm could have been asked to make sure that there was no one lingering, such as yourself, in the invisible side of things." Whew....Margo was worried about the response the headmistress was going to give her. "I think that qualifies under constant vigilance."

"Correct," the Headmistress gave a solid, approving nod to the young Hufflepuff who sounded terrified of her own answer. "Do you know that spell?" she asked as a follow-up. "Or one which could have sufficed?" A finite could do remarkable things, honestly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH Vixen

"Before I entered the classroom, I looked inside to see no professor present and entered without thought. I should have had my wand at the ready and entered the classroom prepared for anything."

An answer from one of the wary ones. "That would have been a start," the Headmistress acknowledged the Ravenclaw's answer coolly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizasaurus

"Not searched the room for any dangers that might be lurking?" she asked raising her hand.

This was Tillstorm's niece or cousin or something, wasn't it? "That would have been a good start, particularly since you are one of our older students." She gave the girl a nod.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

Well the only thing he could think of was he did not greet the invisible Headmistress..Professor. Could he call her Professor or did he still have to call her Headmistress when she is being all Professory. But he could not know she was in the room being invisible and casting a revealing charm would ruin the fun of it all. And he was not that good at it. Just don't tell anyone. He was going to stay quiet because saying 'I should have greeted the Invisible Headmistress/Professor' sounded like something that would get him what happened to Adi.

What, no answer from a smart Slytherin? "Your silence tells me that you have much to learn, Mr. Barrington."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sararara

DARN it. Now she had to say things. "I didn't have my wand out in case there was something scary in here." Which there WAS, but she'd get in big trouble if she vanished the Headmistress, if she could even figure out how to do that. "But Headmistress, what does vigilance mean?"

"You should always have your wand in hand. I recommend a wrist holster," she answered the girl quickly, pointing her own wand at her own wrist to disillusion the ever-present wand holster. As for vigilance.... ooh. She inhaled sharply. "Being vigilant means being on your guard against any kind of threat or danger. Constant vigilance means exerting caution all the time, always. Expect the unexpected in the wizarding world. Magic has many possibilities."

Perhaps that had been a good question for everyone to hear the answer to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

"I didn't..." he began, not really knowing how he was going to answer yet. There was a split second of a pause, before he backtracked and started again, knowing what he wanted to say now. "I looked around when I came in, but I didn't pay much attention to what I was seeing, so I should have done that. Though I wouldn't have seen anything invisible in any case, so... I could've..." Uhhh...? "... used magic to check the room?"

"Good, Toby. By now, you should always be thinking as a wizard, and should be aware of the spells in your arsenal. Know your strengths."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Kate cast a suspicious glance around before chiming in, hand raised to answer. "Well, I just innocently assumed that just because this is a classroom inside a school I've been attending, that it was safe, and I didn't need to have my guards up," she said. "I should have been thinking along the lines of defense just in case something unexpected came up."

Ah, it was the little Ravenclaw that had helped with mapping the school. Good to see her in class. "You assumed wrong," the Headmistress replied quite coldly. "Are you aware, Miss Addison, that a student recently DIED while attending this school? Hogwarts faces threats every year, most of which pass without the knowledge of the students in attendance. Always expect the unexpected."

Quote:

Originally Posted by feeheeheeny

What HAD she done wrong then, hmm? What was Truebridge looking for that they had all done incorrectly? Soph considered this for a little while, weighing the others' answers, before finally raising a tall hand and trying not to let the woman's fierce gaze intimidate her when she was called upon, "I think it's important to be fully aware of one's surroundings, Headmistress, and be actively in the moment, not just wander into a classroom and go through the motions of sitting down and twiddling your thumbs. That's why I opened a window - 'cause no one's used this classroom for months and months and fresh air would do us all good, and, well, it's actually not super uncommon for us to arrive at a class before the professor, so that part didn't actually concern me - but I suppose it should, yes, and I should always be considering the what-ifs, yes? S'best not to get too comfortable in routine. That's dangerous in itself, 'cause anything can happen, anywhere."

She paused for a brief moment, squinting and wondering if that was too general or if the woman would scold her for not admitting enough fault, so she added quickly, "Since there was no adult supervision and anything could've happened, I think it could've been better to... I dunno, I still stand by my decision to not sit down right away, but rather than opening a window, I could've stood over there to get a clear view of the room and have my wand out and be fully aware and present and suspicious of all things? 'specially since I'm an older student, s'important for us upperclassmen to be looking out for the younger ones. Be good leaders and all that and set the example."

"You did think well, Sophie." She had been one of the ones Annie had noticed, for taking some action. However.... "And I appreciate your thoughtful reflection. Always always be present in the moment. Being vigilant is not the same as being suspicious, necessarily."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz

The Prefect raised her hand. "I was aware of the room and who was inside, and because I assumed it'd be a normal lesson I did not bring my wand out. I shouldn't have quickly dismissed the idea of threats. That just because it's a familiar room and a professor would show up soon, we were safe." She was admitting she'd be wrong, why lie, you know? The Headmistress had probably noticed she didn't have her wand out when she arrived. And the woman was probably going to go on about how Beverly didn't do her job properly and....Beverly felt defeated.

Prefect Wayne. "Correct. This familiar room all could have been an illusion." The Headmistress waved her free hand to gesture toward their surroundings. She could have created a more deceptive lesson for them, but her surprise appearance was enough for now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Janelle decided to take a whack at answering the Headmistresses question, so she raised her hand. "To me, constant vigilance means always be on the lookout for danger. Since I wasn't thinking about there being any danger in the classroom, I wasn't on the lookout for anything in particular. If you don't stay on your toes, you can be caught by surprise.........like we were when you appeared. Bad things can happen if you aren't prepared."

"Correct, I see you have learned something already." Though the girl hadn't said what she did wrong in her entry to the room...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

First question…what had they all done wrong. He even raised his hand because the woman was intimidating at the moment and he didn’t want to risk detention right now. Mostly because he really wanted to know where this *class* was going to. “I entered the room with no thought other than this being a mandatory class. It was strange but I didn’t think anything of it and just went inside without looking around. What I think I should have done when keeping vigilance in mind is to have my wand at the ready and maybe even check the surroundings……” he said.

Good, even Kevin was learning. "Excellent answer, Mr. Hirase. Thank you for your honesty..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Angel listened to what the Headmistress said and she raised her hand. "We should have used lumos to light up the room to make sure that no one was around lurking in the corners." Angel was totally scared as she spoke. "That way you are always prepared for anything that might happen, because unexpected things can happen from out of nowhere." Angel was being truthful there, having an angry Headmistress at the back of the classroom was totally unexpected.

"Lumos would not have revealed an invisible person such as myself," the Headmistress pursed her lips at the Gryffindor. "Isn't there a better spell you could have used, Angel?" Anyone? She looked around at the class.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

The first question wasn't surprising, and Lux raised her hand to answer. "I didn't consider that there might be anything dangerous in the classroom, so I didn't have my wand at the ready. I looked around enough to see that the Professor wasn't inside and I saw some of my friends, but I didn't pay attention for any dangers because I just assumed a classroom would be safe." Thinking about it, her logic was rather silly because with all the strange things that happened at Hogwarts, a threat could be lurking ANYWHERE. It wasn't just the Forbidden Forest that was dangerous.

"It is a sad thing to say that we cannot trust our own classrooms," she murmured in reply to Lux. "So what else could you have done better?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

What did he do wrong? "I trusted others." As in the fact he believed that whoever was to teach the class wasn't going to be pulling tricks like hiding under a spell of invisibility. But he wasn't going to go into the exact details aloud lest run the risk of getting in serious trouble because of his words.

Ahaha, a smart answer. And not smart in the Ravenclaw sort of way. "Yes you did. Typical Gryffindor mistake." The Headmistress said this without a trace of humor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

Penelope took her wand out and put it at the top of her desk. Now she could- Oh. There was one thing that she hadn't done yet that she usually did before class started. She hadn't gotten parchment and a quill out yet. After getting out parchment and a quill so she could take notes, Penelope raised her hand. "I didn't have parchment and a quill out before class, and I should have been ready to begin taking notes immediately when class started." Maybe that wasn't what the headmistress meant by things that everyone had done wrong. Penelope was always ready to take notes at the beginning of class, so that was one thing that stood out to her as something that she should have done. She was going to start taking notes now.

That was... not what Anastasia had been expecting as a reasonable answer. "Okay, that is technically correct but... what about being vigilant about what's going on in here? In the classroom?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

The Hufflepuff raised his hand. "Sorry about that, Headmistress,'' he said sincerely. What? It wasn't his fault he had to study, attend classes, be a social badger AND do prefect duties? But he didn't mind. He liked his schedule all full and not having to waste time. It was just that there seemed to be less hours in the day now. "I looked around the classroom as I always do, greeted to Dante and Heather before taking a seat.'' Adi paused to take a moment to will away another cough. That yellow thingy's pungent smell was still very much lingering in his nostrils. "I should have looked around better for any signs of others in the room?'' Were there telltale signs of invisibility? Were the other professors' there toooo? Or perhaps the Hogwarts ghosties?

"Apology accepted," the Headmistress replied to Adi crisply. She did like his precise answer, heh. How was his nose feeling? "You should have. As a prefect, you should have made absolutely certain that this room was clear before you allowed them to enter and sit and socialize."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabben

*Watching the headmistress Noah took in her words. He had his wand and note taking things out on the desk at the ready. He did find it odd when he first came in that there wasn't an adult around. At her question Noah looked down a little ashamed. He had known the boy who died in the forest and since then had been a little low. Raising his hand he answered one of the many possible answers to the loaded question that was just asked.*
"I did not take a proper account of my surroundings. I assumed that there was no danger."
*And why wouldn't he? It was a bloody classroom after all. But his fathers voice saying danger is everywhere rang in his ears.*

"Don't assume. It's dangerous to assume," the Headmistress warned the Slytherin. Hadn't Gregoire, Noah's housemate, assumed that he could fight off a fully-grown acromantula? Well they all saw how that had worked out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keepmeclose22

So he raised his hand and waited to be called on before answering. "Well, I walked in and sat by myself. If someone were to burst in, I'd be a first target. I should have already had my wand out in case something happened." Hopefully that was enough to calm the Headmistress. She really needed to take a chill pill.

"Good. You should have."

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

He looked at the Headmistress and didn't answer. He didn't feel the need to. Constant vigilance and checking every corner of a room in a school where they weren't expecting anything to be were two completely different things.

No answer from this one either? The Headmistress prowled past the Gryffindor's desk and gave it a small, but harmless this time, tap. "Ignorance is bliss, but in the wizarding world, ignorance and silence could cost you your life."

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

Yeah, so the hand was going up in the air. "Like the guy," Nod at Benny, "said, trust is always what gets you down. It's what got me down. I trusted that an empty classroom meant that nothing was lurking and that there might be a possibility that this class was forgotten about. Kinda goes against the constant vigilance thing and all." Shrug. "Should have looked out first. Armed myself first. Look out to see if anything's gonna jump at me and endanger me first." Because Merlin knew that this place wasn't exactly all flowers and rainbows and skipping through a field of daisies.

"Thank you for elaborating on your classmate's answer," the Headmistress drawled dryly. "At least you admit that you do know better."

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Eden supposed she had done lots of things wrong. She didn't even wanna' start COUNTING. Um. Pick ONE thing. She raised her hand timidly. "Um...well...I should have had my wand iN hand in case...you know...surprise attack. But also--isn't it against the rules to just do magic when you're in the corridor? So I guess if we were...taking the classroom setting as a REAL LIFE setting, yes, I should have had my wand in hand." She nodded.

Ah, Eden was here. Hah. "It is, but this classroom is not a corridor. A harmless homenum revelio would hardly land you a detention here at Hogwarts, or an arrest in REAL LIFE, Eden. You have my word on that."

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

"Holy......!" And ouch! Why was this mat suddenly a desk?! That Heather had immediately thrown herself out of and crawled behind, bumping her knee and whipping out her wand on the way. "Protego! Confundo!" The spells were out of her mouth before she realized what happened. And she had probably just angered the Headmistress more. Granted, she really hadn't expected anyone to do that. As she had thought earlier, that was just cruel considering what had happened. But apparently, the Headmistress' goal was to teach them paranoia. Message received.

She pulled herself back out of the floor and slipped back into her desk. "Sorry, Headmistress." Please don't put her in detention.....?

And now they were being asked what they had done wrong on entering the room. Heather raised her hand before speaking, not wanting to provoke the Headmistress further. "Not practicing 'constant vigilance'. Assuming the room was safe just because the only person I saw was a fellow student. Not checking for invisible people." And apparently, trusting the Headmistress to not scare the crap out of them after what happened. Sigh. Obviously not having DADA lessons all term had made them all soft.

Now she had a question. Where was Professor Romanos?

Goodness, Gryffindors. So idiotic. The Headmistress waved away Heather's spells with a few casual flicks of her own wand. No one was affected.

"That's certainly one way to react," she remarked to the girl, passing by her desk now. "You DO know better, though." Obviously, those spells showed that she did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

"Honestly, I was behind other people anyway, soooo..." Human shields, just saying.

"That's not an answer of what you did wrong." An answer of what she did right, maybe. So Slytherin of Banner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

"I should have shielded myself when I entered the room, so that like, I didn't get cursed by things I couldn't see?" Yeah. Yeah. That'd do.

"Good, that's a start..."

So, nearly everyone could admit that they should have checked the room before parking their bums or chit-chatting with their friends. "Always check for invisible forces in a room which seems too good, too empty, to be true. Even at Hogwarts. I shouldn't have to remind you of WHY. Unless you've laid the wards in the room yourself, then you cannot EVER be certain it is safe. Even at Hogwarts."

Perhaps she should be saying ESPECIALLY at Hogwarts. Speaking of things only at Hogwarts... she noted Flamsteed observing silently in the back. Good. She had use for him later.

"Now, please promise me that you all are going to enter an empty classroom differently in the future." That was settled, for now. "Speaking of, some of you mentioned spells you could have used to secure your surroundings. Name these spells. In fact, name off all the defensive spells at which YOU, personally, are proficient." Name ONLY the spells they could perform if she called on them.

Cilla made a vow to herself that she would be a lot more vigilant in the future. She thought about which defensive spells she could do properly and then raised her hand.

"Headmistress, I can perform the Disarming Spell and the Shield Charm. I am sorry that I can't do any more spells,"Cilla replied sadly

Being cautious at all times? What was the fun in THAT? Norah didn't object, though, 'cause the Professor wasn't doing a lot of smiling and she didn't want to be the one who explained what the word 'fun' meant. Headmistress Truebridge didn't seem to know what it meant, though, unless she thought fun meant scary. The third year recorded all the no-fun vigilance stuff on her parchment before thinking about the next question.

What could she do? Ummm. Ummmmmmm. She didn't know any of the reveal-y spells that people had been talking about, but she knew some stuff okay, it was just a matter of remembering what they were. Ooh! Norah put a hand in the air and waited to be called on, not even shaking or ANYTHING which she was pretty proud of, okay? "I can do expelliarmus! And protego AND the silver shield one." So THERE. She could blow stuff up too but that wouldn't be helpful in this situation, right? Shame, really, 'cause that one was pretty fun.

As Kace was listening to his classmates answers and he felt guilty because he didn't think to check to see if anything was lurking around or trying to do him harm. I mean he trusted the classroom setting like so many of his other classmates and didn't think there would be an invisible force. Now he would enter an empty classroom cautiously and be more aware of his surroundings. Defense Against the Dark Arts rule number one and also common sense wise if you don't wanna be killed.

Now the headmistress wanted them to name spells that could secure their surroundings and he wondered if he should list them all? Now she wanted spells he was proficient in? He nodded and listed some off in his notebook.



He raised his hand and told the teacher, "Professor I can do expelliarmus, diffindo, stupefy, impedimenta, protego, bombarda and locomotor mortis since I learned that spell in the dueling arena." Others ones he knew buttt he didn't know the wand incantation by heart. He would stick with the others for now.

Dot was not cowed in the least about her inability to check the room for bad guys or hidden boggarts or whatever. If she wasn't in the school, she'd check, but in the building... was that really her fault? Were they supposed to check everywhere? Like... like EVERYWHERE?

The hand went up. "Should we check for invisible forces under our beds? Under the table in the Great Hall? Everywhere everywhere?" Because what if she got out of her bed and went to the bathroom and came back. Would she have to check under the bed AGAIN? "Also, I know Stupefy and Petrificus Totalus. Those are defensive spells."

Phew. Detention avoided. And the Headmistress was right, she did know better. Again, paranoia would be happening from now on, mhem. Oh, hi there, Professor Flamsteed.

See, lesson working already. She'd noticed her Head of House over there.

Anyway, what spells was she proficient at? Wasn't that kind of a long list, considering she was a fifth year? Also, since the paranoia was real now, wouldn't that count as not being vigilant? Giving an opponent an advantage? But then, Heather was also kind of scared of not answering the question. Besides, it was also possible that she was asking so she could help them?

Oi. All this questioning only proved that paranoia wasn't worth it. At all. She didn't know how people in law enforcement did it. Because she'd only been in this class a few mintues and her brain, stomach and knee were already hurting. Too much thinking. And she still had to answer the question. "Protego, Confundo, Revelio, Diffindo, Expelliarmus....." And that was pretty much it. Yeah, she had been neglecting her DADA.

Was that one of of those questions where he was not suppose to answer because he could have told you that answer. He did have a lot of learn and it was not like he was a seventh year or something. He had only just turn 13 a month ago. Officially a teenager now, thank you very much.

One, his spell to check invisible forces was not very good. He had to practice. And two how do you make wards. Why would he enter a empty class room alone. He did not have a death wish. The only reason he entered this one was because their was to be/is a class in here. And wasn't it the Professor, Groundskeeper, and Headmistress' job to keep them safe at least till they graduated. At least Dante though it as. Defensive Spells. He was not good at any yet. His disarming charm was getting there. But he was not good at it, yet.

Key word.

"None. But i can cast an awesome Incendio"

He was good at making fire.

Uuuuuhhhhh... so..... Headmistress lady was basically saying it was no longer safe to even attend their classes? Really? REALLY?... Cause this was horrible news, terrible news, so bad that he hoped he wasn't going to get pulled out of school. Seriously.

Hand up, Zeke contributed by sharing his knowledge and then some.

"I know how to use protego, and bombarda, and I can shrink my opponents so they'll only have inferior magic and and... yeah. Oh and I can freeze them!" YEAH. Buuuuuuuutttttt !!!! Important stuff to ask here. "Professor?" he started, half raising his hand again. "Can you please not tell my mum that it's not safe to go to class here, cause I like Hogwarts, and I don't want to leave." So, could this be their little secret? Please? Durmstrang sounded like such a downer.

Well, she didn't think she'd done anything wrong either, so Ruby was in agreement with the headmistress there.

Hmmmm. Defensive spells? Did she need to answer actually though? She put her hand up. "Like... shield spells like Protego, Impiriano, Revertoscutum... a bunch of disillusionment spells...." She shot a little look at the headmistress at that because yeah, "The self armouring spell Loricatus.... ummm... Expelliarmus, Duro, Impedimenta, Immobulus, Petrificus Totalus... others too I guess but like, moooost of the rest that I know are offensive." Should she also mention that she pretty much didn't learn any of them here? Because that was true.

And what. Just because she couldn't read stuff from the textbook or the board, didn't mean she couldn't actually do the spells, it was just that she needed to be shown them, rather than just told to do what was on the board or whatever.

After replying to the Headmistress's question and having another cough attack (a mini one this time), Adi sat there twitching his nose. It was sort of burning him now that he was paying more attention to him. Heh. But he paused with twitching as the red head woman spoke to him. Yay! She held nothing against him.

As a prefect it was his duty? The fifth year blinked before his eyes darted to the first other prefect he saw... which happened to be Beverly. Did that mean this should have been one of their other duties? He saw no reason to check a room during his previous years at Hogwarts so it hadn't occur to him to do so now.

Anywaaaay. Defensive spells. Hand up again, Adi spoke. "Expelliaramus, most versions of Protego, Silver Shield Charm, Impedimenta, Bombarda...'' And others too since he practiced them in the Arena a lot.

Zoooommmgggg!!!! Zeke had forgotten. Forgotten how incredibly skilled he was, until Adi informed of what HE knew.

Zeke waved his hand around again. "I know the Silver Shield Charm too, Headmistress!" Did she see him? Did she care? HE KNEW MORE STUFF YO!

But then, he wondered if perhaps there were OTHERS that he'd forgotten also. Like, he probably knew way more than he was letting on. So much more. Sooooooo much more. He was a wealth of defensive knowledge and that had nothing to do with the fact that he thought the best means of defence was offence. Mmhhmm. Nothing to do with that at all.

So many options. Maybe he ought to create a list of what he knew, in case he one day forgot he knew it. That made sense.

*Yep, never assume. His father even had rhyme about assuming. He wasn't going to say it here though, it had a bad word in it and the headmistress already looked mad. No need to poke the bear.
Protection spells? He was still only a first year, so not many dueling and protection spells. Now if it came to protecting himself the muggle way then he had a whole list of ways to protect himself. But for now...*
"Protego, Miss. That's a spell that will help keep you protected."

Yep, the Headmistress was in agreement that classrooms could be dangerous too; everything could be dangerous at Hogwarts. Lux was so over this school now that Bay was gone, and the main reason she was still here was Potions class and Professor Culloden who helped her so much. She needed the knowledge and experience in order to become a potioneer.

As she was asked what else she could do better, the redhead raised her hand before replying merely out of habit. "I should have used detection spells." Yep, she was a fail on that count too. Maybe it was the trusting Hufflepuff in her (or the trusting Gryffindor as she preferred to think of it).

As another question was asked her hand shot up in the air again. "I can do Expelliarmus, Protego, the Silver Shield Spell, Immobulus, and Impedimenta." That was about it because a lot of the other spells she knew were on the more offensive side like Bombardia.

You should have? Austin felt insulted. Surely the Headmistress wasn't trying to hurt his feelings. She was probably just having a rough few days and needed to get off some steam. But that didn't mean she could make him feel terrible. Okay, they were in a classroom. No one was supposed to think there was any danger here. Maybe that was her point.

Once she finished speaking, Austin wrote down on his parchment. He added everything. From the warnings of the Headmistress to the fact that he needed to remember to enter a classroom differently. When he was done he raised his hand and waited to be called on before answering. The last thing Austin wanted was to get on her bad side. "I especially like 'Tarantallegra' or the 'Dancing feet spell'. It's not necessarily a defense spell, but it does help when someone is coming at you. It's hard for them to get a spell at you if they're dancing around." To be honest, Austin hadn't had much use for a defense spell. He had learned about them in class, and had performed most of them particularly well. But he never practiced them outside of class. The only reason he knew about this spell was because his father used it on him a few times. Witch meant Austin had to get payback with the same spell. He mastered the spell a year or so ago, and he felt that in combat, it would prove very useful. Thanks dad. You finally did something right.

Okay, so you should always check for invisible forces in empty rooms. You never knew what hidden dangers there might be until it was too late. Defensive spells. Penelope had never been very good at dueling, but she knew a few defensive spells. She thought about the defensive spells that she could perform. Immobulus, Petrificus Totalus, Depulso, Incarcerous, Expelliarmus, Protego, Impedimenta. Which ones of these was she best at? She knew how to cast these spells, but she did not practice them very often. She would not call herself proficient in all of them. Penelope raised her hand. "Petrificus Totalus, Immobulus, Impedimenta, Expelliarmus, and Protego." Maybe she would come practice in the dueling arena later.

SPOILER!!: notes

-be wary of empty rooms inside Hogwarts
-constant vigilance
-Question 1: What did we do wrong?
-always check for invisible forces in a room which seems too good, too empty, to be true
-Question 2: What defensive spells are you proficient at?

Good, she'd said GOOD. That was promising, and the Headmistress was already a little less RAWR, which had Toby a tad more at ease. He had to admit, though, all she was saying to some people about being present and in the moment... well, that was something that was so super hard for Toby, but he dared not admit it out loud. Just as he dared not bring up the fact that he very rarely thought as a wizard. But yeah, no. Not gonna point that out; didn't seem like a great idea at this point in time.

Toby nodded at the request that they make the promise to enter rooms differently, feeling compelled to respond in the most positive way because this was a scary woman and he wanted to make it clear that he understood and promised and meant it. The next question had him thinking. ALL the defensive spells he could do? Could he even remember them? It was a while before he raised his hand.

"Protego, Impedimenta, uhh... Expelliarmus." He thought about mentioning the Silver Shield one but he'd never quite got to a point where he could cast it and know it would work every time. "Incarcerous... Oh, Confringo, too." Confringo had been used quite liberally in Toby's practical DADA OWL, so he was pretty confident that that was a good one. But... what had that other spell been, at the end of that practical. "Carpe Retractum? That can be used defensively, 'cause Professor Romanos covered it. And Glacius. But also," Toby quickly added before she could move to the next kid, as he fidgeted a bit in his seat out of habit, and had to fight the urge to pick up his wand and twirl it between his fingers. Instead, he twirled his quill. "There's tons of everyday spells that can be used defensively if you know how. Dozens. Hundreds, for some people. You can, like... use your creativity, I guess. Use spells you know for sure if you need to, even if they're not conventionally defensive?"

WHICH... was going further than the question she'd asked, but he just wanted to make the point that even if you weren't so great at those 'official' defensive spells, there were still others that could help if you used them creatively. Maybe?

Excellent answer…THANK YOU?!

He didn’t hear these kind of words very often so excuse him for smirking at this moment.
While the woman was talking, he wondered what his parents would think about the whole situation. Even at Hogwarts. So the school wasn’t a safe place anymore. Wait, it had never been a safe place. Actually, he was only in his fourth year and he had seen stuff that would close the doors of Hogwarts immediately once an inspection came along.

He hoped not, despite the fact that he might not look like he cared, he did. He liked Hogwarts even with the stupid classes and stupid Professors and stupid students. It had a charm and the castle was simply beautiful. So yes, he would be more aware of his surroundings especially in empty rooms.

Which defensive spells they knew…………. Ehm…. He knew more offensive spells than defences…. When it was his turn to speak, Kevin cleared his throat. “Expelliarmus, Impedimenta, Stupefy , Tarantallegra and the revulsion jinx…. I know more offensive spells though” he frowned. And had anyone noticed how he had NOT said the protego spells? Yeah, cause he sucked at them. Maybe it was because he didn’t like defensive spellwork…attacking all the way was his style.

Cilla listened to her fellow students listing the defensive spells they were capable of performing with an ever-sinking heart. She was starting to lose confidence in herself and fast.

Angel was a bit scared and frighten now as the headmistress seemed to be telling her that she was wrong, but maybe Lumos wasn't right but she thought about what the Professor said and raised her hand. "Professor, how about Homenum Revelio?" Angel said quietly, she didn't want to be wrong again but that might help right.

Angel then listened to the rest of what the Professor said and she raised her hand again. "Expelliarmus, Protago, Stupify, Immobulus , Petrificus Totalus." Angel was good at a few more but she really needed to remember what the others spells were called because at the minute her mind was blank.

So it was like that? Jasmine had told Janelle that crazy things tended to happen at Hogwarts, but she had always felt safe. Now someone had died? Way to scare the firsties. As if the Headmistress wasn't scary enough........now Janelle would be peeking around every corner and probably suspicious of everyone and everything.

If Janelle thought she couldn't feel any worse, she was wrong. What defensive spells did she know? Very few. And as she listened to her classmates rattle off their spells, she felt very bad. Reluctantly, Janelle raised her hand to answer the question.

"I know Protego." Don't ask her how she knew it, she just did. "Diminuendo and Silencio.......because if someone doesn't know how to do nonverbal spells.......well then they can't cast on you." That was a woefully short list and they probably weren't all technically considered defensive spells, but that's what she knew so far.