Junia frowned and her shoulders slumped. This topic was not her favorite, did professor knight in shining armor know? The dead were gone and never coming back. Never supposed to. Anyone who thought differently, well, they were naive. She'd learned that much. Dark, too, for the reasons being mentioned by her classmates.

Something Hassan said registered and her hand went up before she knew what she was doing. Guess she was going to participate after all.

"Doing something like that is dark because the dead are-well, hopefully they're finally at peace. Disturbing that-messing with them is wrong. It's cruel to them and their families." She dropped her hand again and chewed on her lip.

"Good morning Professor," Kitty said cheerfully at the same time as everyone else, gazing curiously at the target range. Wonder what they were going to use that for?

Ugh! This lesson was already sounding wicked. Darker than usual...a little violent too... Again, ugh! Kitty wasn't very good with activities that involved physical danger, and violence always made her nervous. She would have much preferred learning about the dark arts from a book or practicing on a dummy or something. Professor Hirsch did graciously give her the opportunity to sit it out if she wanted, but she was a prefect and that might look embarrassing. She'd just to wait and see just HOW dark and violent it was.

She raised her hand. "Necromancy, sir, is one of the most evil of the dark arts possible. It is the twisting of the dead to make them into mindless zombies to serve the necromancer. Some people have described it as 'bringing back the dead' but that's incorrect, because they don't really come back with necromancy. Their body does, but it's rotten and their soul isn't in it - so they're just puppets for whoever summoned them. Voldemort was a necromancer."

There was no way they'd be practicing Necromancy here, so what was the violence that Hirsch referred to?

Tim knew an answer to this question. Her grandmother studied divination in her younger years so the blonde had read one of her books. Raising her hand, Tim answered the question. ”Necromancy is the practice of talking to the dead; whether contacting their spirit or bringing a person back to life,” Which Tim admitted would be pretty cool, yet freaky. ”People who study divination use it to see into the future, but it's dangerous and risky to perform,” Not to mention forbidden nowadays. But so were others things and she was sure some people out there still secretly performed them.

Necromancy..

Azura shivered a little bit at the name and she titled her head a little bit as she listened to other people's answers before her hand went into the air..

"The only thing I remember reading about Necromancy, is that Dumbledore himself said it was "A branch of magic that never worked."" She paused for a moment.. "Perhaps because even though you can bring back people and make them into inferi.. their souls and minds are gone.. So it works.. but it doesn't fully.. They aren't really there they are just puppets.. Like Kitty mentioned. " She said with a nod.

Necromancy.

The term alone elicited a small shiver from the Hufflepuff as she thought things over, particularly when Azura spoke and mentioned the words of the former Hogwarts Headmaster.

"It...it is my understanding that true necromancy is the raising of the dead both in soul and in body...which is not something magic has been able to accomplish...Dark or not...hence why Dumbledore said it was a branch of magic that never truly has been successful. The Resurrection Stone, for example, some could argue, is a form of necromancy as it gives a person the ability to communicate with the dead...and the Stone produces creates a person-like imprint that’s more solid and real than a ghost...but the person raised by the Stone is not truly raised..." As was told in the Tale of the Three Brothers. "...or if the definition of simply communicating with the dead considered necromancy...then we all are practitioners to a certain degree as we communicate with the House ghosts..."

So...really...perhaps not as Dark and sinister as one would first think? Depending on the proper definition that is...of which it seemed there were varied opinions among her classmates. Paige could really only pull from literature - mostly of the muggle variety - and was admittedly curious about the subject now. Would be useful for her series that was forever being written and never to the point of being good enough to present to a publisher. Maybe once she finished university it would be.

"And...we should be careful when using such terms as zombies," Paige added meekly. "They are an entirely different creature...living dead...which also includes vampires..."

Jace simply nodded at the professor’s greeting. There was nothing to talk about really, obviously clueless that the unknown man his classmates saw a couple of weeks ago was actually his father. Ignorance is bliss, according to old folks.

Snapping his book shut, Jace narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember the text he remembered from before. The Ravenclaw timidly raised his hand, and answered the moment he was called. “Necromancy is one of the branches of Dark Magic, since it disturbs the peace of the dead. Necromancers raise and animate dead beings as their puppets, and commands it to do its bidding, usually to harm people and inflict hysteria to someone; especially if said dead person being animated is a loved one.” Who wouldn’t go crazy upon seeing a friend or relative walking and shaking up things amongst the living, right?

Jace slowly slouched on his mat, and kept his head down again and imagined his mum or dad being raised from the dead. That would be…really, really awful.

YOOOO she was right? About shooting STUFF? HEYYYYY. That was good news. GOOD. Because it would be sad if Hirschy had just stuck targets and things up to taunt them and actually planned this to be a theory lesson.

"Like inferi, professor?" Char asked excitedly. WERE THEY GONNA BE SHOOTING BURNING ARROWS AT INFERI FOR SOME REASON? Who knew? Not her!

Oh yeah. Hand. Hand up.

"Necromancy can be combined with other forms of dark magic, like you could technically use a dead body and reanimate it as a golem instead of an inferi if you wanted to, depending on how much otto... aut.. ...autonomy you wanted it to have. Or umm... oh! You could use blood magic specifically to only raise the bodies of certain dead people, and also to contain any inferi or risen into a certain area by using the right mix of blood and runes and stuff in the ground!" Possibly, possibly her cheer and excitement was at odds with what it was Char had just said, but she knew some things okay? Selective listening to certain family members, you picked stuff up.

And, speaking of selective listening... she was selectively listening to the questions too. And selective answering. Cos she did. She did know of incidences of necromancy-related stuff. You heard things, with an extended fam like hers.

Text Cut: Replies!

Text Cut: Dora

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriin

Dark subjects didn't bother the Gryffindor so much. Nope. She was no stranger to them really. At least in having read about them anyway. She was not a PRACTITIONER, mind you. But whatever. Dora raised her hand slowly and took a look around at her classmates. She had HEARD of necromancy, sure. She wasn't an expert or anything, but she had an answer... and a question for him as well.

"Professor, Necromancy is a branch of magic that is used to contact the dead. It is most commonly thought of as like... reanimating a corpse. Like... bringing the dead back to life or something. But I think that it can be used to even speak to the dead... Maybe." That was probably the MOST the fifteen year old had ever said in a Defence class... maybe. Hah. But she quickly recalled that she wanted to ask him something on the subject matter! "Are inferi like... animated by Necromancy?" Because that was the first thing that came to mind for the Gryffindor really.

Bringing the dead back to life? That was.......... an interesting way of phrasing that meaning. Hirsch paused, rubbing the scruff on his chin as he took in this particular answer. "In a sense, yes," he said, nodding slowly at the Gryffindor, "Be careful on that phrasing: nothing can bring the dead back to life but 'reanimating a corpse' is an excellent, general way of describing necromancy. Well done."

As for the Inferi question, that was one that amused the man. Why? Reasons. "Yes, you're absolutely correct. Inferi are brought about by Necromancy and used to do a dark wizard's bidding. Almost like the Imperius Curse but much worse."

Text Cut: Bentley

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davvy_Wavvy

Oooh oooooh, so they were touching on the really dark stuff huh? Bentley didn't mind one bit but if he saw inferi bust in through the class door he was out. So so sooooo out and if he had to blast students and the walking dead out of his way, then so be it.

"Umm necromancy is trying to communicate with the dead, or attempting to raise the dead to do whatever creepy bidding you want them to. It's super weird. Pretty sure if you raise the actual corpse it probably stinks." The fourth year made a face.

" I suppose it's forbidden because it would be super gross having stinking corpse wandering around." He added.

This answer. This answer was one that got the man chuckling very quickly. He could have a corpse wandering around after him and the boy was worried about how much it stunk?! "I see where your priorities lie, Mr Moore." Oh, teenagers. "But that is an accurate definition. I'm very glad you mentioned communicating with the dead as well."

As for the last part, the man let an amused smile cross his face before saying, "It's forbidden because it's very similar to the Imperius Curse and it's generally used for evil deeds. It's been twisted for evil deeds. The dead are dead and they're not anyone's to control." Simple.

Text Cut: Nat

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Her eyes widened when he got started. He wanted them to do something super dark. She was interested and kind of scared at the same time. What if it was to difficult and she screwed it up? She didn't want to look stupid in front of him now. Not after trying as hard as she had this term. So she would just sit and try to pay attention extra hard today.

His next words caught her off guard though. Necromancy? Wasn't that a form of Divination? Her hand rose as she was actually ready to answer. "Sir that has something to do with the dead. Some use the form in Divination to call on the dead to communicate. It is considered super dark because people use the dead to do their evil bidding." Something that no one should be doing, because honestly in her own opinion messing with someone that is in their eternal resting place is only messing with disaster.

Oh, a Divination answer! This pleased the man a lot. "I'm very glad you mentioned divination. Well done!" There were a lot of Divination links made with this topic at hand, even if it was one that people tended to ignore. Defence and Divination was a weird mix. "You're completely right. The intent makes it dark more than the subject itself."

Text Cut: Junia

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Junia frowned and her shoulders slumped. This topic was not her favorite, did professor knight in shining armor know? The dead were gone and never coming back. Never supposed to. Anyone who thought differently, well, they were naive. She'd learned that much. Dark, too, for the reasons being mentioned by her classmates.

Something Hassan said registered and her hand went up before she knew what she was doing. Guess she was going to participate after all.

"Doing something like that is dark because the dead are-well, hopefully they're finally at peace. Disturbing that-messing with them is wrong. It's cruel to them and their families." She dropped her hand again and chewed on her lip.

Hirsch might not have noticed the frown but there was no way that the tone and the chewing had gone unnoticed when he turned his attention to the young Slytherin. She was more than welcome to sit this lesson out, did she know? He wouldn't be offended, considering.

As it was, the man was glad she had come up with an answer and tried to give her a warm smile as she did so. "Precisely." A single nod was given. "You shouldn't mess with their peace. Well done, Miss Botros."

Text Cut: Kitty

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goblinfrog

"Good morning Professor," Kitty said cheerfully at the same time as everyone else, gazing curiously at the target range. Wonder what they were going to use that for?

Ugh! This lesson was already sounding wicked. Darker than usual...a little violent too... Again, ugh! Kitty wasn't very good with activities that involved physical danger, and violence always made her nervous. She would have much preferred learning about the dark arts from a book or practicing on a dummy or something. Professor Hirsch did graciously give her the opportunity to sit it out if she wanted, but she was a prefect and that might look embarrassing. She'd just to wait and see just HOW dark and violent it was.

She raised her hand. "Necromancy, sir, is one of the most evil of the dark arts possible. It is the twisting of the dead to make them into mindless zombies to serve the necromancer. Some people have described it as 'bringing back the dead' but that's incorrect, because they don't really come back with necromancy. Their body does, but it's rotten and their soul isn't in it - so they're just puppets for whoever summoned them. Voldemort was a necromancer."

There was no way they'd be practicing Necromancy here, so what was the violence that Hirsch referred to?

This was an answer that got him smiling the most. Not only had the girl mentioned the exact meaning of necromancy, she'd also given an imagery and an example to go along with it. Needless to say, Hirsch was very proud of his prefect right now.

"That's a better answer than I could have hoped for. Excellent, Miss Valentine! Really excellent." He was practically beaming right now. "Keep the thought of puppets in mind, it's very useful and will help you understand the topic the most."

Text Cut: Tim

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star-Lord

Tim knew an answer to this question. Her grandmother studied divination in her younger years so the blonde had read one of her books. Raising her hand, Tim answered the question. ”Necromancy is the practice of talking to the dead; whether contacting their spirit or bringing a person back to life,” Which Tim admitted would be pretty cool, yet freaky. ”People who study divination use it to see into the future, but it's dangerous and risky to perform,” Not to mention forbidden nowadays. But so were others things and she was sure some people out there still secretly performed them.

And here was an elaboration on the Divination answer, which only told him how knowledgeable some of them were about this topic. Maybe this was something he needed to mention to Laurel the next opportunity he got. Huh.

As for the Gryffindor's answer, the man nodded along before saying, "Exactly. It was primarily used to see into the future and twisted for darker means. It already sounds pretty dark but it's important to remember how...... innocent it used to be. To some extent." Good.

Text Cut: Azura

Quote:

Originally Posted by FwooperOnYourLeft

Necromancy..

Azura shivered a little bit at the name and she titled her head a little bit as she listened to other people's answers before her hand went into the air..

"The only thing I remember reading about Necromancy, is that Dumbledore himself said it was "A branch of magic that never worked."" She paused for a moment.. "Perhaps because even though you can bring back people and make them into inferi.. their souls and minds are gone.. So it works.. but it doesn't fully.. They aren't really there they are just puppets.. Like Kitty mentioned. " She said with a nod.

Oh, a direct quote? This wasn't something he was expecting but it was something he was glad had been brought up.

"Very good mention of a quote from Dumbledore himself. He was completely right: it's not a branch of magic that worked as people think they would because of the reasons you've mentioned. You can't bring back the dead with their souls and minds as they used to be so yes, it never worked, even if it's been tried. Well done, Azura."

Text Cut: Paige

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Necromancy.

The term alone elicited a small shiver from the Hufflepuff as she thought things over, particularly when Azura spoke and mentioned the words of the former Hogwarts Headmaster.

"It...it is my understanding that true necromancy is the raising of the dead both in soul and in body...which is not something magic has been able to accomplish...Dark or not...hence why Dumbledore said it was a branch of magic that never truly has been successful. The Resurrection Stone, for example, some could argue, is a form of necromancy as it gives a person the ability to communicate with the dead...and the Stone produces creates a person-like imprint that’s more solid and real than a ghost...but the person raised by the Stone is not truly raised..." As was told in the Tale of the Three Brothers. "...or if the definition of simply communicating with the dead considered necromancy...then we all are practitioners to a certain degree as we communicate with the House ghosts..."

So...really...perhaps not as Dark and sinister as one would first think? Depending on the proper definition that is...of which it seemed there were varied opinions among her classmates. Paige could really only pull from literature - mostly of the muggle variety - and was admittedly curious about the subject now. Would be useful for her series that was forever being written and never to the point of being good enough to present to a publisher. Maybe once she finished university it would be.

"And...we should be careful when using such terms as zombies," Paige added meekly. "They are an entirely different creature...living dead...which also includes vampires..."

Hirsch had thought that he couldn't possibly be happier with an answer until this one came along. The man tilted his head as she answered, a curious smile spreading across his face. "That is a very clever connection, Miss Skeeter. Very clever, indeed." And one he hadn't really thought about. "The Resurrection Stone could be seen as a form of necromancy and considering who it's from, according to the tale, I'm not surprised. It's probably one of the slightly more positive uses of necromancy but it's still one all the same." Huh.

"I think it's safe to say that you've made us stop and think about whether we're practising necromancy or not. Frankly, that's a scary thought." Really. "But it's an excellent thought. Very well done, Miss Skeeter. I'm impressed!"

Text Cut: Jace

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

Jace simply nodded at the professor’s greeting. There was nothing to talk about really, obviously clueless that the unknown man his classmates saw a couple of weeks ago was actually his father. Ignorance is bliss, according to old folks.

Snapping his book shut, Jace narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember the text he remembered from before. The Ravenclaw timidly raised his hand, and answered the moment he was called. “Necromancy is one of the branches of Dark Magic, since it disturbs the peace of the dead. Necromancers raise and animate dead beings as their puppets, and commands it to do its bidding, usually to harm people and inflict hysteria to someone; especially if said dead person being animated is a loved one.” Who wouldn’t go crazy upon seeing a friend or relative walking and shaking up things amongst the living, right?

Jace slowly slouched on his mat, and kept his head down again and imagined his mum or dad being raised from the dead. That would be…really, really awful.

Another mention of puppets? Oh, how Hirsch was glad that this imagery was becoming known amongst the student body. "Keep that imagery in your head, it'll prove to be quite useful." Not just now, but for general understanding as well.

"Excellent mention of causing hysteria as well. People would use this as a manipulation tactic: a way to cause harm and pain, both physically and emotionally. Dark wizards tend to use emotions against people that they think are weak." Pause. "But you're right with this definition. Well done, Jace."

Text Cut: Char

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

YOOOO she was right? About shooting STUFF? HEYYYYY. That was good news. GOOD. Because it would be sad if Hirschy had just stuck targets and things up to taunt them and actually planned this to be a theory lesson.

"Like inferi, professor?" Char asked excitedly. WERE THEY GONNA BE SHOOTING BURNING ARROWS AT INFERI FOR SOME REASON? Who knew? Not her!

Oh yeah. Hand. Hand up.

"Necromancy can be combined with other forms of dark magic, like you could technically use a dead body and reanimate it as a golem instead of an inferi if you wanted to, depending on how much otto... aut.. ...autonomy you wanted it to have. Or umm... oh! You could use blood magic specifically to only raise the bodies of certain dead people, and also to contain any inferi or risen into a certain area by using the right mix of blood and runes and stuff in the ground!" Possibly, possibly her cheer and excitement was at odds with what it was Char had just said, but she knew some things okay? Selective listening to certain family members, you picked stuff up.

And, speaking of selective listening... she was selectively listening to the questions too. And selective answering. Cos she did. She did know of incidences of necromancy-related stuff. You heard things, with an extended fam like hers.

Another mention of Inferi? These students were practically seeing through his mysterious plans, weren't they? They still didn't know the exact message but the theme was there and, in fact, he was impressed.

"You are beyond your years, Miss Kettleburn." Unless she just happened to be interested in defence. "But that is an excellent way of combining necromancy with other types of dark magic, especially blood magic. Combining the dark practices would only help to strengthen the dark magic itself." Something they really didn't want.

"Really excellent thinking, Miss Kettleburn."

Inferi, communication and even a mention of a quote from a former Headmaster. It was safe to say that Hirsch was very proud of the answers being given, even if so much knowledge about the current topic was a slight cause for concern.

"I have to say, I'm very impressed with these answers. You all seem to know so much about the topic that it's almost pointless to go over it again." Not that he was complaining, mind you. "I hope you all have been paying close attention to your classmates's answers, particularly the ones with the imagery of a puppet, the links to other kinds of dark magic and the mention of the Resurrection Stone."

"Necromancy, as most of you have mentioned, is a form of communicating with the dead. While not being entirely innocent in the past, it was a form of magic that was primarily used for divination purposes. People thought that by communicating with the dead, they could see into the future and gain more knowledge about what is to come. In this sense, necromancy can come from shamanism, which is more linked with communicating with spirits than the dead itself."

Pause. "However, it's also a form of magic that took a dark turn because of the way it manipulates the dead. Always, always remember that the dead are at peace and they don't belong back in our world. Disturbing that peace is risky business. Necromancers use the dead for a number of twisted reasons, whether to build an army or because they think it's easier to use the dead than the living. With necromancy, please make sure to remember that the intention is what makes it so dark." Something to draw from their lesson on Golems, in fact.

"Now! I'm glad that a few of you have mentioned the Inferi because the creature we're talking about today is very similar to the Inferi themselves." Dramatic pause, anyone? "Today, I want to talk about a being called the Draugr. Does anyone know anything about it and what its purpose is? Or, if you don't know, take a guess at what they could do."He didn't really expect many people to know about this particular being so he would be very impressed if someone actually did know what they were.


OOC: My apologies on the lateness <3 Just answer the questions above (one or two or all), whether your charrie knows or not. We don't mind completely crazy, out-of-this-world guesses ^^
Lesson will continue tomorrow evening, when I get back!

Azura smiled as Professor Hirsch praised her and then she looked over at Paige and grinned as the older girl expounded on her answer. She shot a look over at Jace to make sure her friend was all right before turning back again to the Professor.

Her Raven head tilted a little as she head his question.. Draugr? Had she heard of them before? She wasn't exactly sure. So she closed her eyes for a moment to see if she could remember anything about them..

Her eyes opened and her hand went into the air.. "All I know is that they are being that somehow come back to life, and they guard treasure.. I think. "

She wasn't sure at all..

Oooooh oohhhh. Char's only real knowledge of this was related to rune stuff, which was another subject she was pretty decent at. She stuck her hand up.

"You can bind them to their graves with runestones professor!" What else did she know? Nothing really, just that, and just that it was a Norse thing, like runes themselves.

Well...it looked like this was going to be yet another class Rula was going to participate in as little as possible.

It was a little frustrating to her, since she usually liked the class most of the time. It wasn't her absolute favorite, but she still enjoyed it. And she loved dueling. But something about this year...she wasn't liking it as much.

And this topic in particular, she wasn't a fan of.

She'd glanced over at Junia to see how she was doing, and she appreciated her answer, but Rula otherwise tuned out a lot of what was said. She already knew what necromancy was. She didn't need or want to know all the specifics of what people did with it. It was horrible and wrong. End of story.

Her silence continued with the next question. Didn't know what a Draugr was, and she wasn't in the mood to offer a guess.

Surprisingly, Paige did not turn into a blushing mess at Professor Hirsch's praise. Rather she had become more curious and the gears in her head were starting to turn for some follow up questions. Or, well, they were until the man dove in to a bit of lecture and then she was scrambling for her quill and parchment to keep up with note taking. Note taking and adding little memos to herself of things to ask the man himself later or to go to the library and research herself. There were a few pieces that had been missing in her novel's story that were falling in to place - potentially at least - and the excitement could not be contained on her face.

As to the Dark creature in question...Paige once again could only pull from literature, such as the poetic works of Henrik Ibse and Aasmund Olavsson Vinje who wrote about mountain draugs. That...and in the Nynorsk translation of Tolkien's work the term was used to describe both the Nazgûl and the dead men of Dunharrow. But both of those were hardly applicable to Defense Against the Dark Arts - unless there muggles had become influenced by the wizarding world ... which would be a breach in the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy considering dates...

OH...there was also a version of these creatures in a video game her step brother had played once upon a time...but once again, not practically applicable.

This...the seventh year's hand remained on her quill as she continued to take notes on necromancy while also scribbling novel notes in the margins when they came up.

A dauger? Though he knew this couldn't posibly be the answer but hey.
"Could it be human like?" he asked. It had to be right??

Jace nodded, and scrambled for his quill to write down everything that Professor Hirsch said, including side notes that would help him further should he pursue to do an in-depth research about this topic. He wrote the word ‘Puppet’ in both English and Japanese, and underlined it to highlight the text. It was something that he needed to keep in mind if he wanted to stay sane and defeat a manipulated dead person. At least they don’t manipulate the soul, yes? But still, disturbing one’s peace is very wrong.

Jace caught Azura’s glance and the 14 year old grinned at her. Was it something he said? Was he…being obvious? Were his thoughts painted all over his face this time? The Ravenclaw cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He was…obviously failing his Kendo training. He was not supposed to show any emotion. That’s how samurais do it, whether they are in the battlefield or not.

Alright, next question.

Draugr? Jace doesn’t have the exact definition, but based on the discussion, he could somewhat make something out of it. It was a matter of putting two pieces together, hoping it would fit and make sense. Jace raised his hand again, and waited for his turn to answer. “It sounds like an undead creature from the Norse Mythology professor. Its name sounds like one…” he said pausing for a moment, and acknowledged the fact that he never fancied Norse stuff. Why? The names were ridiculous and those were hard to read and pronounce for the half-Japanese. “And since you said that they are similar to the Inferi, I suppose they feed on dark magic as well, and can only be defeated by fire.” He said as his eyes flicked towards the box of bows and arrows.

Will they be setting the tips of their arrows with fire and make the dummies go kaboom? It looked like the Gryffindors are in for a treat today.

Juno was so surprised about their topic for class today that she forgot to answer the the first question about Necromancy. It was such a dark practice, one of the darkest, but it was necessary to learn about, especially if you wanted to be an Auror one day. She really wanted to be one like her father.

Juno had done a lot of studying on everything that had to do with DADA, and of course had read a lot about Necromancy and some about the Draugr. Juno raised her hand, and when she was called on responded, "Well, the Draugr are very much like Inferi as in being a reanimated corpse, both are created through Necromancy, but there are some major differences between the two, " she paused for a moment, "Draugr can increase and decrease in size at will, they are inhumanly strong, they smell putrid, and are usually blackened and swollen. There is a lot more, but I will let other students answer." She didn't want to seem like a know it all. This subject is just so incredibly interesting and scary that she retained the information very well.

Hadleigh may not have answered the first question at all but that was due to some serious avid note taking. Yes, she was taking down notes. Quickly. Being a seventh year meant that she was not missing a thing nor taking a chance by not writing something down. So as it was there were more times often then not now that she was not answering questions. It didn't mean she didn't know the answers though.

Scribbling away at her sheet of parchment with her nice girly scrawl Hady lifted her head once when Hirsch started talking about the true lesson. Draugr. There wasn't very much she knew on this besides what had already been said. Or wait a second...um something about how to defeat them. "Isn't the only way to kill one is to cut off it's head and burn it or something like that?" Her hand was raised only lowering after the answer had been given. Sorry for the terrible wording on this but it was basically her thoughts being spoken out loud with the hope that her memories were correct. Sometimes she had a tendency to mix up things she had read if it had been to long ago. At least this time she was trying for an answer even if she continued to jot down everything that was being said.

Kimi had no idea about any answers for the questions the professor was asking so he just took down notes on what the rest of his classmates were saying

It didn't matter that the Professor was confused by his enthusiasm, the man was still the MVP here and would stay this way so long as certain conditions were met. Namely....at no point should they be asked to draw their wands. That was what the bow and arrows were FOR.

"It's a real simple wager." He whispered back to his cousin. Now that the Professor had begun the lesson, he didn't wanna be caught having another conversation....again. "So long as you're a sharp shooter you shouldn't have a problem. You in or not?" Of course Blaise was completely ignoring Bentley's protests to not being ready to sit. Class was beginning, it wasn't like he could stand for the hour. He was so welcome. As for the wager, the fourth year would explain more when the activity rolled around but right now he was looking all kinds of attentive while his quill took down the notes on necromancy.

Disturbing the peace of the dead sounded a bit dramatic to him but he bet his quill could make it worse. Actually, he was positive it would be overly dramatized by the time his quill got done with what everyone was saying. The boy himself didn't offer up a response to this but he did find the responses of his classmates to be dead interesting--and maybe that pun was intended. It depended, was it funny?

Paige was making some good points, points he didn't know. Sure, he'd heard stuff about the resurrection stone but he didn't know that it was half hatted magic. Good thing he had no interest in trying this. Let the dead lie, Merlin.

As the lesson moved on, so did his quill. Now it scribbled down all it could on this dark creature thing that was like an inferi but not an inferi.

"It sounds an awful lot like something you don't particularly wanna be stuck in a locked room with, Professor. Not unless there was some sort of invisible wall to keep us on separate sides AND I got to climb the wall and poke it with a stick to see its reactions and it's tolerance level and whether it decides I'm lunch."

Very specific criteria but yeah...his contribution to the class. It was all he had.

Duly noted. Dora nodded back at the man and jotted a few notes for herself. There was always something to learn, after all. The Gryffindor didn't pretend to know everything about everything!

In fact... it seemed her knowledge of Necromancy was limited to inferi and reanimation of corpses, actually... interesting. She listened to the others answer and crinkled her nose. Rune magic to bind corpses to their graves. Interesting indeed. Having nothing to ads, the fifteen year old just looked around a bit and jotted things down here and there.

Junia didn't know anything about the draugr that Hirsch was talking about, but she did nod solemnly as her classmates gave their answers, just so the man in charge didn't think she was completely clueless. Strong, undead, perhaps defeated by fire... totally. She wasn't even taking notes, see?

...but only because she'd find someone to copy off of later, let's be real.

Text Cut: You guys!

Text Cut: Azura

Quote:

Originally Posted by FwooperOnYourLeft

Azura smiled as Professor Hirsch praised her and then she looked over at Paige and grinned as the older girl expounded on her answer. She shot a look over at Jace to make sure her friend was all right before turning back again to the Professor.


Her Raven head tilted a little as she head his question.. Draugr? Had she heard of them before? She wasn't exactly sure. So she closed her eyes for a moment to see if she could remember anything about them..


Her eyes opened and her hand went into the air.. "All I know is that they are being that somehow come back to life, and they guard treasure.. I think. "


She wasn't sure at all..

Well, this was a pleasant surprise.


Hirsch couldn't help but smile at the girl's answer. It wasn't the full answer but it was a shot in the dark and there was a particular part that he was glad she had mentioned. "Excellent mention of guarding treasure," he said, "That's exactly it. They're a corpse, in a sense. A corpse that's made to do a dark practitioner's bidding. Well done!"

Text Cut: Char

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Oooooh oohhhh. Char's only real knowledge of this was related to rune stuff, which was another subject she was pretty decent at. She stuck her hand up.


"You can bind them to their graves with runestones professor!" What else did she know? Nothing really, just that, and just that it was a Norse thing, like runes themselves.

Runestones? Did the Toussaints hold a high regard for runes? Was it something they were taught in detail about? Hirsch had questions.


But the girl was currently answering one of his so anything he wanted to ask her would have to wait. "You can, yes. It also happens to be one of the ways to destroy them, if you're clever enough about it." In a way.

Text Cut: Rula

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

Well...it looked like this was going to be yet another class Rula was going to participate in as little as possible.


It was a little frustrating to her, since she usually liked the class most of the time. It wasn't her absolute favorite, but she still enjoyed it. And she loved dueling. But something about this year...she wasn't liking it as much.


And this topic in particular, she wasn't a fan of.


She'd glanced over at Junia to see how she was doing, and she appreciated her answer, but Rula otherwise tuned out a lot of what was said. She already knew what necromancy was. She didn't need or want to know all the specifics of what people did with it. It was horrible and wrong. End of story.


Her silence continued with the next question. Didn't know what a Draugr was, and she wasn't in the mood to offer a guess.

Something about Miss Botros's silence was unsettling to the man but he wasn't entirely sure what it was. The girl usually contributed well to his lessons but not now. Should he be concerned? Hmm.


He gave the girl a warm smile before moving onwards.

Text Cut: Paige

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Surprisingly, Paige did not turn into a blushing mess at Professor Hirsch's praise. Rather she had become more curious and the gears in her head were starting to turn for some follow up questions. Or, well, they were until the man dove in to a bit of lecture and then she was scrambling for her quill and parchment to keep up with note taking. Note taking and adding little memos to herself of things to ask the man himself later or to go to the library and research herself. There were a few pieces that had been missing in her novel's story that were falling in to place - potentially at least - and the excitement could not be contained on her face.


As to the Dark creature in question...Paige once again could only pull from literature, such as the poetic works of Henrik Ibse and Aasmund Olavsson Vinje who wrote about mountain draugs. That...and in the Nynorsk translation of Tolkien's work the term was used to describe both the Nazgûl and the dead men of Dunharrow. But both of those were hardly applicable to Defense Against the Dark Arts - unless there muggles had become influenced by the wizarding world ... which would be a breach in the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy considering dates...


OH...there was also a version of these creatures in a video game her step brother had played once upon a time...but once again, not practically applicable.


This...the seventh year's hand remained on her quill as she continued to take notes on necromancy while also scribbling novel notes in the margins when they came up.

Hirsch couldn't help but be intrigued by the girl's excessive note-taking. Sure, he'd spoken a lot more than he had intended to but had he said so much for this level of note-taking?


Shrug. As long as she was paying attention.

Text Cut: Jonas

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2111jen

A dauger? Though he knew this couldn't posibly be the answer but hey.
"Could it be human like?" he asked. It had to be right??

Could it be human-like?


This was an innocent question. Really. But it was also one that required a complicated answer. Was the boy ready for this? "Depends on what you mean by 'human-like'," he started, "They were once human but they are now living corpses that have been animated, usually to do a dark practitioner's deeds. So while they were human-like, they have a lot of differences. They can't think of their own or have a soul of any sense."

Text Cut: Jace

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

Jace nodded, and scrambled for his quill to write down everything that Professor Hirsch said, including side notes that would help him further should he pursue to do an in-depth research about this topic. He wrote the word ‘Puppet’ in both English and Japanese, and underlined it to highlight the text. It was something that he needed to keep in mind if he wanted to stay sane and defeat a manipulated dead person. At least they don’t manipulate the soul, yes? But still, disturbing one’s peace is very wrong.


Jace caught Azura’s glance and the 14 year old grinned at her. Was it something he said? Was he…being obvious? Were his thoughts painted all over his face this time? The Ravenclaw cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He was…obviously failing his Kendo training. He was not supposed to show any emotion. That’s how samurais do it, whether they are in the battlefield or not.


Alright, next question.


Draugr? Jace doesn’t have the exact definition, but based on the discussion, he could somewhat make something out of it. It was a matter of putting two pieces together, hoping it would fit and make sense. Jace raised his hand again, and waited for his turn to answer. “It sounds like an undead creature from the Norse Mythology professor. Its name sounds like one…” he said pausing for a moment, and acknowledged the fact that he never fancied Norse stuff. Why? The names were ridiculous and those were hard to read and pronounce for the half-Japanese. “And since you said that they are similar to the Inferi, I suppose they feed on dark magic as well, and can only be defeated by fire.” He said as his eyes flicked towards the box of bows and arrows.


Will they be setting the tips of their arrows with fire and make the dummies go kaboom? It looked like the Gryffindors are in for a treat today.

Here was Jacen Reed, full out Ravenclawing the man.


And Hirsch? Hirsch was more than pleased. In fact, he was two steps away from jumping for joy at this rate. Not that he would but the metaphor counted for something.


"I can't express how proud I am of this answer right now." Maybe his smile would say something instead. "You are completely correct. They're an undead creature from Norse Mythology and are very much like the Inferi. Same principles apply here, even in the case of the fire. I'll get more into that later but for now, excellent, Jace. Really excellent."

Text Cut: Juno

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

Juno was so surprised about their topic for class today that she forgot to answer the the first question about Necromancy. It was such a dark practice, one of the darkest, but it was necessary to learn about, especially if you wanted to be an Auror one day. She really wanted to be one like her father.


Juno had done a lot of studying on everything that had to do with DADA, and of course had read a lot about Necromancy and some about the Draugr. Juno raised her hand, and when she was called on responded, "Well, the Draugr are very much like Inferi as in being a reanimated corpse, both are created through Necromancy, but there are some major differences between the two, " she paused for a moment, "Draugr can increase and decrease in size at will, they are inhumanly strong, they smell putrid, and are usually blackened and swollen. There is a lot more, but I will let other students answer." She didn't want to seem like a know it all. This subject is just so incredibly interesting and scary that she retained the information very well.

Oh.


Oh.


Here was someone who knew a lot about the subject, it seemed. The smile on the man's face stayed there as he listened to her answer. "Sounds like someone's done their research." Not a bad thing, mind you. "You're completely correct, Miss Darcy. Excellent mention of the differences between them and the Inferi as well." Really.

Text Cut: Hadleigh

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

Hadleigh may not have answered the first question at all but that was due to some serious avid note taking. Yes, she was taking down notes. Quickly. Being a seventh year meant that she was not missing a thing nor taking a chance by not writing something down. So as it was there were more times often then not now that she was not answering questions. It didn't mean she didn't know the answers though.


Scribbling away at her sheet of parchment with her nice girly scrawl Hady lifted her head once when Hirsch started talking about the true lesson. Draugr. There wasn't very much she knew on this besides what had already been said. Or wait a second...um something about how to defeat them. "Isn't the only way to kill one is to cut off it's head and burn it or something like that?" Her hand was raised only lowering after the answer had been given. Sorry for the terrible wording on this but it was basically her thoughts being spoken out loud with the hope that her memories were correct. Sometimes she had a tendency to mix up things she had read if it had been to long ago. At least this time she was trying for an answer even if she continued to jot down everything that was being said.

If that answer wasn't graphic enough, he didn't know what was. "That is the best way to kill them, as violent as it sounds." Was the violent warning making sense now? He hoped it would. "I'm glad you mentioned burning it. Well done!"


And no, he didn't mind the wording.

Text Cut: Kimi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saz Hale

Kimi had no idea about any answers for the questions the professor was asking so he just took down notes on what the rest of his classmates were saying

Silent students really weren't a bad thing but it was interesting to note how many of them were making notes about the topic. Either it was fascinating or they were good at taking his word about taking notes.


Good.

Text Cut: Blaise

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

It didn't matter that the Professor was confused by his enthusiasm, the man was still the MVP here and would stay this way so long as certain conditions were met. Namely....at no point should they be asked to draw their wands. That was what the bow and arrows were FOR.


"It's a real simple wager." He whispered back to his cousin. Now that the Professor had begun the lesson, he didn't wanna be caught having another conversation....again. "So long as you're a sharp shooter you shouldn't have a problem. You in or not?" Of course Blaise was completely ignoring Bentley's protests to not being ready to sit. Class was beginning, it wasn't like he could stand for the hour. He was so welcome. As for the wager, the fourth year would explain more when the activity rolled around but right now he was looking all kinds of attentive while his quill took down the notes on necromancy.


Disturbing the peace of the dead sounded a bit dramatic to him but he bet his quill could make it worse. Actually, he was positive it would be overly dramatized by the time his quill got done with what everyone was saying. The boy himself didn't offer up a response to this but he did find the responses of his classmates to be dead interesting--and maybe that pun was intended. It depended, was it funny?


Paige was making some good points, points he didn't know. Sure, he'd heard stuff about the resurrection stone but he didn't know that it was half hatted magic. Good thing he had no interest in trying this. Let the dead lie, Merlin.


As the lesson moved on, so did his quill. Now it scribbled down all it could on this dark creature thing that was like an inferi but not an inferi.


"It sounds an awful lot like something you don't particularly wanna be stuck in a locked room with, Professor. Not unless there was some sort of invisible wall to keep us on separate sides AND I got to climb the wall and poke it with a stick to see its reactions and it's tolerance level and whether it decides I'm lunch."


Very specific criteria but yeah...his contribution to the class. It was all he had.

This. This answer right here made him laugh.


One word: Gryffindors.


"I sure hope you don't plan on poking a Draugr with a stick. It won't like that one bit." He'd even go as far as saying that they would be more than mad. "But you're right in your answer. But there is a way of defeating them so you won't have to worry about being an animated corpse's lunch."

Text Cut: Dora

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriin

Duly noted. Dora nodded back at the man and jotted a few notes for herself. There was always something to learn, after all. The Gryffindor didn't pretend to know everything about everything!


In fact... it seemed her knowledge of Necromancy was limited to inferi and reanimation of corpses, actually... interesting. She listened to the others answer and crinkled her nose. Rune magic to bind corpses to their graves. Interesting indeed. Having nothing to ads, the fifteen year old just looked around a bit and jotted things down here and there.

Another quiet student? Nothing to worry about. He watched the girl taking notes before deciding not to question it. It was a difficult topic, after all.

Text Cut: Junia

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Junia didn't know anything about the draugr that Hirsch was talking about, but she did nod solemnly as her classmates gave their answers, just so the man in charge didn't think she was completely clueless. Strong, undead, perhaps defeated by fire... totally. She wasn't even taking notes, see?


...but only because she'd find someone to copy off of later, let's be real.

Hirsch didn't think of her answers as being useless but he did wish she had spoken up about it. She usually had some excellent answers to give, it would be a shame to waste them by keeping them hidden.


As it was, he gave her a nod before moving onwards.

No more input? Okay. That meant they could move onto the more important parts.


"I have to admit: I'm surprised with the level of knowledge you all have about this subject," he said, pushing his glasses further up His nose, "Surprised and impressed, actually."

Now onto the topic at hand: "The Draugr, as many of you have mentioned, are an animated corpse that's been made to do a dark practitioner's bidding. People have often buried their treasure underground and the Draugr are used to guard that treasure but they have been known to attack people as well, especially those that once did them wrong. They act on jealousy and greed primarily. It's a cruel way of getting the last laugh, the last bit of revenge."

"Now, some traits: they're similar to an Infei but they look and smell quite different. They're darker, more blackened or grey-blue than pale blue, and they carry a strong stench of decay with them wherever they go. They can grow or shrink at will, giving them a tremendous advantage over their opponents. You don't want to be facing one of these when they're the size of a giant." Even if size wasn't a guarantee of power. "They hunt at night as well, which is a vulnerable time for humans." Unless you happened to be very brave and not afraid of the dark. "I don't need to tell you to be careful when it comes to these beings."

"However," And here was his dramatic pause. Surprise? "A few of you have taken away my next question before I could even ask it. As Mr Reed and Miss Darcy have already mentioned, fire can be used to destroy them, same as the Inferi, seeing as they're both similar types of creatures."

"So if we wander off track. When it comes to necromancy, two elements always stand out: ice and fire. They're polar opposites but both likely to cause enough damage if used in that way." Pause. "So my question is: which one's likely to cause more damage? Ice or fire? Which one is linked more with the dark arts and why do you think that is?"

Did this have anything to do with the lesson? Not that much. The man just wanted to see their way of thinking, really.


OOC: I'm so sorry for the huge chunks of text ;___; Thanks for sticking with me through this <3 This'll be the last question before we move onto the mini activity! YAY!
I'm working late tomorrow/later today so my next post will come at roughly 11pm GMT ^^

Kimi listened to what the professor had asked and after noting down everything that he had said he raised his hand and said "Well it probably is fire that will cause the most damage, i also think that fire is linked more to the dark arts as it is powerful and can give any dark wizard a sense of power" Kimi wasn't sure if that was correct but it was worth having a guess

Azura smiled as Professor Hirsch spoke and she bowed her head a little at his praise..

Sadly though at this next question she really had no idea.. Her guess would have been fire. Seeing as she really had no way to link either one of them to the Dark Arts.. she had a mild ice guess.. but seeing as she had nothing to back it up..

She stayed quiet and waited for what everyone else had to say.

Juno thought about this for a few moments. Though fire was often used in dark magic, it was also used in every day magic. Same with ice. So the only logical answer would be that they are both equally dangerous, but fire would cause more damage than ice.

With that thought, she raised her hand and wait to be called on. When she was she responded, "Well, both are used in dark and regular magic and both can be equally dangerous, but the most damaging, I think, would have to be fire. Yes, ice can freeze things, but fire disintegrates everything it touches." Yep. That was her answer. This lesson was turning out to be very interesting.

"Hmmm..." Kitty tapped her quill against her lips as she pondered the question. Was fire more destructive than ice? Fire was definitely more destructive as far as how much it could destroy quickly. If someone screamed "Fire!" in a Muggle movie theater, everyone would panic, but if someone shouted "Ice!" people would probably just get confused. She giggled as she thought this.

But at the same time...

Her hand shot into the air. "My guess is Ice. Fire is more destructive in a literal, technical way - but since we are talking about magic and specifically the undead, I think Ice is more appropriate. I don't know if this has any basis in Necromancy, but in epic tales of good and evil Ice is usually associated with the dark side. Fire often represents passion (good or bad), but if you are cruel people describe you as having a heart cold as ice. These are just expressions I know, and of course I would much rather be facing a giant icicle than an out of control fire."

She lowered her hand, wondering if that last sentence had just ruined her theory.