No.

No no no no no.

Lucas gaped. Was he..... was he being told off? For saying hello? But.... he was confused. He knew the rules, he did! They said no talking but this was before the start of the class, wasn’t it? It didn’t COUNT, right? And anyways, this was Prefect Abra! Like HELLO?!

He shifted uncomfortably as it only seemed to get worse from there. He found that he couldn’t..... look at the man anymore so he looked down at his feet, his tiny fists clenched and his chin trying hard not to do that wibble wobble and-

.........

Uh. Did he just say twenty-five push-ups? TWENTY-FIVE?!

He couldn’t even do TWO!

Lucas whimpered but said nothing against it. This was bad. Bad bad bad. And FIFTY push-ups would be even worse and he was sure he would die, if that happened. And then there was his mum. What would Mum say if she found out that he disobeyed rules?? ...... Yeah, it was better to start. Now. Right now.

One push-up...... two push-ups...... three......

It was tiring work but he was concentrating on the push-ups so much that he didn’t hear what the Professor man was saying to anyone else. If he had, it might have made him feel better to know that he wasn’t the only one who’d been punished but right now, all he could concentrate on were the push-ups.

....... eight....... nine...... ten........

This was getting harder and harder. Lucas was starting to find it difficult to breathe but he also didn’t want the Professor Fletcher man to think he was a wimp. Or anyone, really.

....... fifteen...... sixteen...... seventeen......

How did people do this?! He wasn’t a professional athlete! He was ELEVEN!

...... nineteen...... twenty......

Would this give him muscles? He really hoped so!

........ twenty-three......

He wanted Emma!cuddles.

......... twenty-five!

And DONE!

Lucas collapsed onto his stomach after the last push-up, breathing heavily but enjoying this moment of freedom. To him, it had lasted an eternity and he never ever ever ever EVER wanted to do that again. Sports were not his thing. EXERCISE was not his thing.

He half-wanted to cry and also wanted to run away from this class and find Emma for some cuddles but that wasn’t an option. So, Lucas got up again and decided to stay silent. No answers, nothing. Because he didn’t know. He had no stories, except that it was used in the olden times - like, probably Merlin times. And sometimes people threw rice into the fire. And sometimes they hit drums but he figured that was mostly to create tension.

But stories? He had no stories.

Bettie did not greet the professor to be rude. Some people in settings like this find it descriptive at least in the muggle world. Note to self: Professor Fletcher one of them so always greet him.
Bettie did not mind walking and she rather enjoyed to nice night by the lake and the bluebell flames where cool. So going for a walk to count 30 of the bluebell flames no problem. Off she went to count the bluebell, 1, 2, 3, and so on until she got to the 30th. Bettie then turned around head no back and then and greeted the professor with "Good evening Professor Fletcher. Sorry for not greeting you before in the muggle world some people in settings like this find it descriptive and I did not want to be rude. I will remember from now on you are not one of those people and greet you properly". With that being said Bettie went back to stand in front of her log.

Benji had followed the rules. He had come in on time, he had greeted Professor Fletcher politely, he had refrained from talking to anyone around him, he had remained standing... He could not for the life of him figure out how anyone coming in -- and there were quite a few -- could be stupid enough to break these rules. Did the rules seem a bit lame? Yes, of course they did. (Remain standing? Don't ask anyone how their day is going? What?) Did he like Professor Fletcher? Not particularly -- he seemed a bit too much in the headmaster's pocket, to be honest, and seemed very keen to mete out punishments for even minor offenses -- not that he would ever admit or show as much. As far as anyone could ever be able to tell, Benji had no negative feelings whatsoever toward the new professor or the headmaster.

What he did know was that kids were meant to respect adults. Adults could make your life very bad if they wanted to. They have all the power, after all. Why provoke them? Especially when it's so easy just to do what they say and move on. So he wasn't allowed to chitchat for one class period. So what? As soon as class was over, he could talk to anyone he wanted. There was no point in arguing or misbehaving. He would let the other professors, as adults, do the standing up for him if they so chose. He wasn't an idiot, so he would not be sassing anyone or breaking any rules, and OF COURSE he had read the rules before coming to class, apparently unlike some of the others who were now doing things like taking long walks and doing pushups. He would not be taking any chances.

Benji usually didn't like to participate verbally in class -- it made him feel a bit shy having everyone look at him when he answered -- but he felt like if there was any class for it, this was it. He certainly did not want to be on Professor Fletcher's bad side. He was kind of scary, after all, scarier than most adults were.

He raised his hand and waited until called upon to offer his opinion. "Well, Professor, I'm not sure that I think pyromancy can't be accurate, but I think user error could certainly prevent or impede its accuracy. Flames move very quickly, and I think it could be easy to mistake or misread something in them since you only see it for a fraction of a second before it moves." Benji, whose weakest subject was indeed Divination, knew that he would probably run into this struggle if they were meant to try pyromancy tonight, which made him a bit nervous. He was also a bit anxious waiting to see whether this answer was acceptable, and he bit his lower lip nervously without even realizing he was doing it.

Bettie raised hand and when she was called on she gave her answer. "Sorry professor I do not know of any story where fire was used as a means of divination. Has for this particular practice can or can't be accurate in divining the future I really can not say. The only thing I know of divination if muggle fortune tellers and they can not tell the future, only the the here and now, the things you already know deep inside yourself".

Well, shoot. This guy meant business. While Natalie stood patiently, endlessly grateful that she had remembered all of his rules and she didn't have to WORK OUT as a punishment, her big blue eyes watched all of the poor suckers who didn't follow the rules. Push ups, walking, running. Even Derf had to. She watched him, silently hoping he made it back in time so he wouldn't have to... serve detention, or whatever Fletcher was going to make them do.

She was only slightly relieved when he started class. To be honest, she was a little scared to speak because Professor Fletcher seemed like the kind of guy who would publicly humiliate those who got answers wrong, and she did not want that.

So she sat in silence, pen at the ready to take notes.

People had to do push-ups for not sitting where they were supposed to?!

Oh, okay. So with the arrival of Scrimgeour and Fletcher, they'd be going through a physical training to prepare them for the military. He'd finally figured it out!

...

As the last students arrived, Daehyun had prayed they all went to their designated seats, but a couple more still got punished.

As for pyromancy, he wasn't all too eager to have it taught by this man. What if he actually snapped and threw them into that bonfire?! He hoped even Fletcher wasn't allowed to go to such lengths to punish them for Merlin knows what else. Sometimes it came in handy to have a rich imagination, but this time, it caused him to hesitate when raising his hand. "I think a reason for which pyromancy might not be accurate is an external factor. For example, if the wind blew right now, it would alter the shape of the flames," he ended almost questioningly, since he wasn't sure where he was going with it.

Okay, time to go back to existing to a minimum. It was actually not a bad idea.

...

....

Ooooookaaaaaaayyyyy then.

Jessa just kinda stood there....blinking at the scene that unfolded. Push ups? Walks that didn't sound like people would be walking at all. Merlin's beard wasn't S.O.R.E enough? Now she had to worry about physical activity in lessons too? Well....technically she wouldn't if she did what she was meant to do but wooooow.

For her part, Jessa remained standing before her log seat, noting the student leaders had had their punishment doubled but obviously not inclined to say anything about it. In fact, she had nothing to say about any of this. Nope. No talking out of turn here, she had nothing pressing that needed to be uttered...even if she did feel bad for that one first year who'd only been trying to greet Abra. Poor thing looked terrified. This Ravenclaw was content to not have to be running laps or breaking a sweat.

She listened through his introduction, finding herself even less inclined to speak by the time he got to the question but something told her she'd only bring more attention to herself by NOT answering so tentatively she raised her hand and waited to be acknowledged. "Ancient seers back in the days of animal sacrifices used to watch the flames while the sacrifices were being done. I think......to....figure out what the gods were saying....?" She hesitated closer to the end, not being able to remember if she actually read that bit somewhere, but she knew for sure about the sacrifices.

She'd just...go quiet again.

Beth Greyvson had tried to be as respectful as possible as she had arrived at the lake-side bonfire. It had smelled nice of course, and the blonde had said a quiet almost too quiet to hear ”Good Evening Professor Fletcher” in a crisp nearly militaristic fashion as she made her way toward one of the logs and waited.

Unlike the other students though, she had simply tucked her bookbag behind the long and stayed there. Standing, almost leaning her wait into the log behind her. She had heard a lot of things of course over the years about Divinations from her mother and Laurel…so maybe she could use tonight to explain her slight experience in the topic?

Chewing her lip she remained silent as the people around her raised their hands and brought up their beliefs. Finally, when there was a still in the air and a still in the students about her she raised her hand. ”Professor, Pyromancy was commonly used in Greek Society…the virgins at the temple of Athena in Athens commonly used it as well as followers of Hephaestus” she paused for a second ”however it also depends on what you consider pyromancy to be…as technically Capnomancy or divination by smoke is a form of Pyromancy…my er favorite is Alomancy or divining through throwing salt into fire” she admitted before casting her eyes around to look to see if Salty was there.

He’d make fun of her for that for sure.

Had he just been complimented indirectly or was he over thinking the Professor's words too much? It was probably the latter because a man like him, hand picked by the Headmaster himself, well he didn't think that he'd be the type to go around and give compliments.

And compared to some students, Dorian was glad he had corrected his mistake so quickly because now he had not need to join the others doing their punishments.

As the class officially began and the reason for the fire was explained, Dorian could already hear his father's voice in his head wanting to pull him out of class immediately. His father had pyrophobia so that was understandable. Dorian however was perfectly fine with it.

As his blue eyes looked at the flames, he tried to think of an story, fictional or not before he put his hand up to answer the question.

"They think that back in ancient times that the followers of this greek god of fire" whatever his name was "Used to practice pyromancy"

Wait...what?

Derf honestly found this whole reasoning more than a bit subjective - how was he supposed to know what the man did and did not constitute as senseless chitter chatter? After all, his dad was not particularly in favor of the standard greetings due to their monotony and all that stuff. Though he gave no sign of protest - nor in the shaming he assumed was to be made about being grouped with first years who were also receiving the same form of punishment. Everyone was in this whole...whatever Hogwarts was right now together. Sooooooo he was mostly unfazed. Not like he had outright ignored the man either but lesson learned and, well, Derf was never opposed to a little running.

Though he was becoming increasing uncomfortable with this whole exercise as punishment as it, well, had super destructive potential. Exercise, quidditch, was Derf's coping mechanism...and it felt like these men were trying to strip him of that. Of ALL of them, really, since they were instead only learning to view exercise as a punishment.

At least with S.O.R.E they were given the option to take their time, technically, as long as it got done. Walking okay and all.

Still, without protest, Derf slipped his bag off and left it beside his seat. "Sure thing, Professor," he chirped, almost giddy like, and then ventured a glance over towards his 60 bluebells jogging mate. "Race ya," he grinned just before taking off out of the 'classroom' set up and down the path.

One bluebell...two bluebells...three bluebells...

Pyromancy though, which was still what he assumed the subject was, made him think about the fire salamanders he had been taking care of with Professor Wayland and made him wonder a thing or two about differences in magical flames versus the mundane sort when it came to performing readings. While slightly unrelated, he also recalled hearing Vivian talk about someone she knew at Durmstrang who had pyrokinesis...or something like that. Was that what they were going to do today? Straight up fire or like...were they going to BURN stuff?

21 bluebells...22 bluebells...23 bluebells...

Yeah, Abra was still uncertain about this whole thing, and for a few moments he had been maybe more than a little nervous that he was the only one at the bonfire with Fletcher. Because of this, he was relieved when Jessa turned up too, and he greeted her wave with a small smile of his own. Then Lucas appeared and........ oh. Oh no. He'd just... oh.

Eyes widening slightly in alarm, Abra looked towards Fletcher to see how he would react, and found that he was right to be worried. 25 push-ups for saying hello to someone that wasn't the professor? That seemed... a little extreme. He looked towards Lucas, concern and guilt etched on his face - because it had definitely been his fault that the first year had spoken to him, at least in his own mind - and bit his lip as he watched him start those push-ups, but didn't dare to say anything. Abra did, however, make a mental note to borrow a chocolate frog from Derf (he'd replace it eventually) to give to Lucas later, to try and pick his spirits up a bit.

But at least the first year hadn't been alone in those consequences; a good portion of the class were made to go walking or do push-ups for talking or not greeting the professor or for sitting straight down (Abra was relieved that he'd gone with staying standing, and in retrospect it seemed bizarre that he'd even considered the idea that the rules didn't still apply out here). All in all, Abra felt almost lucky that he had fretted so much over the class rules, because ultimately that had led to him following them so closely.

When the class got underway, Abra was a little anxious to find that he didn't know how to answer Fletcher's question. He also didn't want to risk not giving any answer, which meant having to give an opinion on the accuracy of Pyromancy. Uhhhh.

Abra raised his hand, just a touch tentatively. "Uh, well I think... it's a bit like when you look at clouds, isn't it? Different people see different shapes when they look at the same clouds, they interpret the same thing differently. So, if you're looking for shapes in flames or smoke, which move really quickly anyway, it's going to depend on the person who's doing the looking..." He did his best not to make his statement sound like a question. "So maybe it's not so accurate. But probably if someone who has the Sight tries pyromancy, it'll be more accurate for them than for someone who hasn't got it." And, no, he no longer believed that he himself was a Seer; his Bad Feelings™ were because of his anxiety and other things, and they didn't foreshadow bad stuff. That was just life happening.

Before he had time to assure Zoryn that he’d happily give her a nudge or two if she started to fall asleep……… Professor Fletcher happened.

What was this MADNESS???? Max gaped at the Professor and the ridiculous orders he was handing out. Was he really getting kids to do PUSH UPS!? And did he really have to walk all the way back to the 60th bluebell flame only to come back again!? For not greeting the dude??? He was tempted to brazenly point out that he hadn’t been spoken to yet and therefore he was simply following Fletcher’s dumb rules but he swiftly thought better of it.

With all the exasperated huffing and puffing of an even more irritable than normal teenage boy, Max set off after Derf. Not nearly as enthusiastically though. How the Hufflepuff seemed chipper at a time like this was beyond him, but there was no way he was about to race so he let the other boy go ahead.

He’d just counted the fourteenth bluebell - or was it the fifteenth??? sixteenth??? - when he was struck with a brilliant idea. He was just going to hang about here, wait for Derf to come back and then head back to the bonfire by the lake with him. Fletcher would never know.

Genius.

Despair.

This was what being humiliated and crushed felt like? No thank you. She was not a fan of this feeling. And she opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it last second. This was total rubbish, all of it! But there was no way in the world that Penny Goodman ever spoke out of turn or disrespected adults. Sometimes she wished she was that type of person, but oh well. With a nod of her head she started off back down the pathway and began counting the blue bells as she went, only realizing she needed to pick up her pace or she would be FORCED to do push ups, probably. And really, there was no upper body strength in her spaghetti noodle arms so that was no ideal.

Picking up her pace she started a brisk jog which turned into a run as she went along, being careful to count the bluebells as she went. And it was not until she got to the thirtieth that she paused to catch her breath, but she dare not stand around too long. Turning, she blinked the tears back from her eyes, tears that she had not even realized were there, and started her jog/run back. This was RUBBISH. All of it. She had never had a professor punish her for anything. Ever. Especially when she was following his rules. THE RULES HE SET. Don't speak unless spoken to, it said. And she just assumed he didn't want anyone speaking to him. Oh Merlin... this was crushing her soul.

Wiping her face and clearing her throat, she came to a stop and greeted the PROFESSOR, "Ah... Good evening Professor." She only hoped her voice didn't wobble when she had spoken. And then she, as awkward as ever, gave the man a small curtsy before rushing back to her seat... and not quite sitting down yet. SHE HAD NO IDEA IF IT WAS ALLOWED YET OR NOT!! And she had no answer to his question because she had been running down the pathway when he asked... SO she simply stood there trying not to cry.

77 bluebells...78 bluebells...

Wait, what?

So engrossed in his on thoughts about a potential connection with pyromancy and alchemy, Derf had continued to absentmindedly count bluebell flames without reeeeeally counting them. The numbers entering his brain and leaving them just as quickly. Which, er, meant he really ought to turn around and head back then. But where was Maxton?

Panic sunk in a bit, considering location and all, and the Hufflepuff was pivoting around so quickly that his foot slipped in the mud and he nearly fell in his haste. Wand out as he SPRINTED now, Derf kept a careful eye out for the Slytherin and...well...and whatever else may be out here. Because honestly, considering last term holding an evening class on the grounds near the Black Lake and leaving students unsupervised while performing counter intuitive physical punishments? Well, he could spiral about all that once he found Maxton.

And THANKFULLY he did and not all that far from the start.

Wait...what? How?

Though Derf supposed it made sense considering he had run WELL beyond where he had been expected to run - though he had still made excellent time regardless. "Hey! Thanks for waiting for me," he said with a grin as he slowed his jog to an almost walk. "Let's head back now, yeah?"

Let it be known that Lucas Choi did NOT like getting in trouble. So when he had first entered the scene and noticed they had assigned...logs? He found his immediately as he greeted the professor. So stern.

Like, reminded him of his parents stern.

So he at least knew he could handle it. It wasn't much different than being home. It just felt funny when the stern person wasn't your mum or dad...but a stranger. He found he didn't like it, and it left a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had always been lousy with the theory part of Divination, so when the professor guy asked the question...and Lucas didn't know the answer...he kept quiet, at least at first. Plus they were SO many other smart people in class. Like Jessa. She was always smart, wasn't she? And poor Maxton looked exhausted....ugh. Lucas was glad he didn't have to do any pushups or..anything. At least he knew how to do them, yeah? He shifted uncomfortably on his....log, and raised his hand. "Well, there's a bunch of different KINDS of pyromancies, I think, and that could affect the accuracy of using it. Because how can something inconsistent produce consistent results?" Wasn't there a kind that used salt...another that used plants and another that focused on the smoke...yada yada YADA. That was the best Lucas had at the moment.

These random switch arounds in his class schedule was hardly Jackson’s favorite part of a day, but what could you do? Especially with the new teachers who Jackson had only gotten a first impression off of, and he tried not to stick to first impressions. “Good evening, Professor Fletcher,” he greeted politely but curtly. He ran over the list of rules in his head when. Not overly so, and not quite on purpose, but Jackson was standing at attention hoping to not be the subject of Professor Fletcher’s wrath (if that would indeed prove to be an issue). As the professor started the lesson, Jackson had to hold back a smile because he actually found the man's rule about chit chat funny. The rule itself was fine, honestly, and Jackson understood it... but this performance was tickling Jackson's funny bone. Not that this was the time to show his teeth, you know? He looked at his classmates and told himself, See? This is why we read rules... before reminding himself that he was a Prefect and should have a better hand on the claws at least.



The next question had definitely made Jackson fall silent... silenter... more silent... the most silence



He had a feeling that an answer involving cartoon shows he liked in the Muggle world were going to suffice, so Jackson chose to answer the other question. He rose his hand and when it was his turn to speak, Jackson cleared his throat a little before prefacing. "Sir, I can't say that I have much knowledge in pyromancy, but I trust forms of Divination that I can confirm with another set of eyes. If you see this, it means that. Things we can look up and get a consistent answer of what it means. If pyromancy is looking into flames and interpreting what you see, I would say I want a second opinion because my eyes see things all the time but flames can trick you." Was that... Was that clear at all? Jackson fell silent, having decided he had nothing to add right now.

He didn’t know how long he’d been waiting, but it was long enough for him to start getting the heebie-jeebies. With every second he waited, his brilliant idea was quickly starting to feel like a NOT so brilliant idea and Max squinted anxiously up the dimly lit pathway in the direction of the castle.

And just when he was about to give up and venture further up the path, Derf made an appearance. Perfect timing. Phew.

“Uhhhh, of course… sure, no worries,” he responded when the Hufflepuff thanked him for waiting. With a nod, he set off back in the direction of the bonfire despite his feet wanting nothing more than to go in the opposite direction and take him straight to his bed.

It didn’t take long to return seeing as he hadn’t ventured very far in the first place and Derf had probably ran the entire way. Max gave his hair a quick ruffle….. y’know, trying to achieve that windswept ‘I just did a bunch of exercise’ look. Gotta keep up appearances.

Ahem.

“Good evening, Professor Fletcher,” he announced, trying his utmost keep his voice neutral and void of any sarcasm.

There. Would that suffice?

WHAT?

Józef stared at Professor Fletcher, mouth ajar, when he was instructed to walk back to the 30th bluebell flame before returning to class. After a moment, he realised what he must look like and snapped his mouth shut, swallowing hard before speaking. "Yes, sir," he managed, gritting his teeth and turning on his heel.

As he counted the bluebell frames, Jó's hands bundled to fists by his side - that was so stupid. He was probably going to miss the beginning of the lesson because of his STUPID rules and it definitely wasn't worth it. Maybe it wasn't as bad as press ups, but STILL.

He was NOT HAPPY.

And then, as he approached the 30th flame, it hit him - he hadn't had time to take his backpack off his shoulders before he'd been instructed to walk away, and therefore hadn't left it behind.

What was one empty log?

With no thought for the consequences, Józef continued along the path, with absolutely 0 plan of returning to the lesson.

Zoryn Amari Spinnet was FUMING.

Pyromancy was the perfect lesson for the night because in a few minutes Zoryn might’ve start breathing fire herself. The Gryffindor eyed him, still standing in place… As if deciding whether it was worth seeing what the consequences would be had refused to follow through with his demands. Point loss and detentions didn’t scare her. She was Zoryn Amari Spinnet for crying out loud. If anything he should have been scared of HER.

After a few wasted seconds, the Gryffindor turned on her heels. Angrily. She had half a mind to count back 30 bluebell flames and then keep counting until she was all the way back up to the castle. Might as well skip class all together seeing as their Professor was an Idiot Sandwich.

Zoryn made sure he HEARD her count too. If he was going to make her look stupid in front of everyone then she wasn’t going down quietly. “TWENTY NINE, TWENTY EIGHT…” All the way until she hit thirty. He said to count. And he never said it shouldn’t be done out loud. Merlin, did she sure hope that she was disturbing his internal peace.

When she made it back she looked him dead-in-the-eyes, and put on the most FORCED smile she could muster as if to say ‘I hate you and you are balding’.

"Hello, Professor. Lovely to see you," there was perhaps a light lacing of sarcasm in her voice. But she could have done so much worse.

The fact that his ugly face was the last one they'd see before bed tonight should have been illegal.

And then she dropped to the floor and did twenty five push-ups with impeccable form. Given the fact that she played beater, her upper body strength was incredible. However, given the early wake up calls and the late lessons, AND the fact that she was only given THREE MINUTES.. She was exhausted. But Zoryn REFUSED to let it show because if there was anything that could be said about Zoryn Spinnet, it was that she was stubborn as HECK.

As for the question, Zoryn didn’t answer. She still needed a few moments to quietly catch her breath from the three minutes she spent running and doing pushups.

Ruffling his hair as he came to a proper walk beside the Slytherin, though he did not stop moving, he grinned a bit sheepishly before speaking. "Yeah...got a bit carried away. Lost in thought, you know? Ran more than 60." Picking up the pace to a casual jog for purposes of reentry, Derf offered the Divination professor a genuine grin - they could thank endorphins or something - as he greeted him. "Good evening, Professor Fletcher."

Returning to his seat, to stand, beside Penny, and noting her obviously distraught appearance, he attempted to offer her some sort of reassuring smile but dared not do anything more than that should the man see fit to punish her further.

....that is...until they were given word to sit, which he did, and she was still standing. Then and only then did he speak more and in a hushed whisper. "Psssst. Penny," he hissed as he subtly as possible reached over to tug on her hand while the professor spoke. "You can sit down now." In fact she SHOULD sit down now. So he gave her hand another gentle but firm tug for good measure.

Natasha walked back as fast as she could, glad she could easily count the flames at a glance. When she reached flame thirty, a small part of her wanted to just keep walking, but for all of her flaws, she was not a quitter. She was only human and had made a mistake, but that she would not let it define her. She would learn from it and move forward.

She hurried back, a little winded, but getting back just before the class started. ”Good evening Professor Fletcher.” She said politely, trying to hide how shaken she was. She wanted to explain, but didn't think it was wise so she left it at the greeting and went right back to her assigned spot.

She listened carefully, taking in every word the Professor said. She felt shaken all over again when she realised she would have to give an answer in front of everyone, and feared the consequences if she gave an unfavourable answer.

She timidly raised her hand. ”Some ancient muggle cultures would use pyromancy during sacrifices. They believed the images they saw in the flames were messages from the gods. Based on what they saw, they would determine if their sacrifice was favourable or not, and what blessings or hardships the gods would be sending them. I don't know enough to know if those specific instances had any accuracy, but I believe everyone is born with a given skill set. If someone truly has the gift for pyromancy, then I believe it can be used accurately.” She explained, feeling faint again.

Welp. This was all even more embarrassing than the fact that she had tears in her eyes, really. How had she missed the man telling them to sit? And asking the first question? She had rushed to get back and was NOT late seeing as she made it before Derf and some of the others.

Perhaps it was due to the ringing in her ears and the fact that she was still emotionally distraught from the whole situation... but it wasn't until Derf tugged her hand that she sat down hard on her assigned log. She dared not to speak in return and quickly took her hand back because touching her right now was just going to make her cry for sure. What was it about someone asking 'Are you okay' or merely touching her that made her flood gates for tears open wide. Luckily she was able to take a few deep breaths and open her eyes up comically wide to keep that at bay.

For now.

And she didn't have an answer for the horrible man because, frankly, she was still not comprehending much, seeing as she was likely on the verge of hyperventilating.

Fun times.

Returning his own hand to his lap, Derf allowed his eyes to linger on his housemate for just a few more seconds before turning his attention back to the professor...or whoever it was that was speaking at the moment. Penny was trying her best to hold herself together and it would be the respectful thing to do to not draw more attention to her, you know?

Squirming just a bit on his log, Derf set his thoughts to trying to recall all the internal ramblings he had had in his head while on his brisk jog counting bluebell flames. He eventually remembered SOMETHING, and his hand was up in the air waiting until it was his turn to speak. "Since pyromancy...depending on the variation and stuff...is studying either the flame itself or the way in which some materials burn and react to flame...I think there is there a correlation between it and alchemy. Like...with that one science element. The one where you analyze a material by burning it and seeing what colors are produced."

To say the already feeling defeated Ravenclaw wasn't terrified of all these new things and new people would be an understatement. She had come in with all the other students and found herself wide-eyed and terrified looking as he made people do pushups and things. She kept her mouth quiet though and just sat where she was supposed to and did as she was told.

As people started to answer the question Chloe tried to come up with something to say so she could maybe not look so dumb. That was her biggest goal this term was to prove she was a Ravenclaw and prove she was smart enough to be here, but really she didn't know the answer and she was scared of this man and scared to say anything wrong.

She had to say something though, it had to do with something they were doing outside. Was it the fire or the stars? She looked up at the sky.

Maybe the moon?

Listening to others she decided it had to be the fire, everyone was saying fire, weren't they? Derf confirmed it as he spoke. She went to raise her hand, but quickly put it down again, everyone seemed to have answered the question, so maybe she would wait until the next one.

They were going to play with FIRE.

Anyway, that's what Luce's mind interpreted, and she wasn't going to fight it. There was fire. She was there. Professor wasn't putting out the fire.

Her mom was going to murder her. LOL.

But she wasn't here and what her mom didn't know didn't hurt her. Just as long as Lucille didn't burn herself or the entire castle down. Though, if the castle burned down with everyone in it then Luce could claim she wasn't at fault and so she wouldn't be blamed and...

Oh. Professor man was talking. Pyromancy. FIRE.

Her fingers tapped her thigh and her heart fluttered. Nah. She wasn't equipped to answer. She was a first year! First year daughter of a MUGGLE!

And she honestly didn't know much soooooooo...