"Romania? Or somewhere in the North?" Anelreas took a shot at the question.

"No, you're correct, Kasandra. Five points to Ravenclaw. I was asking about the country. Banshees are, for the most part, found in Ireland. Nadia is also correct... banshees can be found in smaller numbers throughout the world, often with a different name, but they lie in large part in Ireland. The Irish have a plethora of stories and legends about the banshees, some of which are based in fact and some that are Muggle myth. What are some things that are known about banshees? Let's separate the myth from the fact."

A Dark creature with the appearance of a woman with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face. Its screams will kill.

Mithos raises his hand " Banshee most commonly visualised as a female spirit who wails in the night to foretell disaster, either to an individual family or more generally"

"In Irish folklore the Banshee is known as the Bean Sidhe (woman of the hills). In myth it is confused with the Bean Nighe. But it id wrong, that one. Though alike, the second are spirit of dead ladies, at least in folklore.

"Just to make a quick comparison, the legend of the Bean Nighe tells of it wandering near deserted streams where she washes the blood from the grave-clothes of those who are about to die. It is said that Bean Nighe are the spirits of women who died giving birth and are doomed to do this work until the day their lives would have normally ended. A mortal who is bold enough to sneak up to her while she is washing and suck her breast can claim to be her foster-child. The mortal can then gain a wish from her. Sometimes thought to have one nostril, one big protruding tooth, webbed feet and long hanging breasts."

She gasped for breath. "The Banshee, however, was never alive. It is said she visits a household and by wailing she warns them that a member of their family is about to die and when multiple Banshees wail together, it will herald the death of someone very great or holy. However, like the Augurey, that's more myth than reality. There's another myth that says that when a Banshee is caught, she is obliged to tell the name of the doomed. We do not know if they can speak to begin with. The Bean Sidhe or Banshee has long streaming hair and is dressed in a gray cloak over a green dress. Her eyes are fiery red from the constant weeping."

*Kirstie listened to Nadia spout information encyclopedia-like and wondered how she managed to fit anything else into her brain*

Anelreas gaped at how much Nadia knew. The only thing that Anelreas knew from Nadia had said was Sidhe. But that was, sadly, it. She sat down and took out a quill and a couple pieces of parchment. So much knowledge in so little time.

"Yes, that's true, Cara, but we've already talked about her physical appearance. And we know that it isn't true the wails will kill, since we discussed it already also."

"Five points to Mithos... its true that the banshee is believed to fortell the death of someone. Many people believe if you hear the banshee wailing, it means someone is soon to die. We'll discuss the truth in that belief in a moment."

"Five points to Nadia. It is in fact a myth that catching a banshee means she'll do anything more than wail at you. As for physical appearance, you've seen one first hand, so we know how true THAT belief is."

"Anything else?"

*Cara copied all of it down not knowind much more about the subject*

"Banshees are also called many other names, including Female Fairy, Angel of Death, Lady of Death, Woman of Peace, White Lady of Sorrow, Nymph of the Air, and Spirit of the air." Anelreas chirped.

Nadia was restraining from saying anything else. She knew how people hated showing offs and, believe it or not, she was actually fighting hard against that title. Not that she was helping with that last line.

She slowly and shyly raised her hand again. "The Gwrach y Rhibyn, or 'Witch Rhibyn', is the Welsh equivalent of the banshee and... she is said to warn only families of pure Welsh stock. Guess it was only a way to promote nationality rather than a true fact, as flattering as it is. I don't think Banshees have favorite victims."

She also added. "In Irish foklore when the Banshee wails and someone dies, a headless man comes down from the skies riding a coach with two black horses and picks up the spirit of the deceased. Maybe those were wizards taking the victim so that muggles didn't find out about the Banshee... or maybe it was dementors, because of the description. But then again, the only way that would fit is that the Banshees and Dementors worked along, as in with the Ministry or something."

oo this reminded me of something i think someone said part of this earlier but not all of it

a banchee can be considered A spirit or fairy that warns the family that someone is going to die. When she is caught, she must tell the name of the one that will die. She is known in Scotland as the Bean Sidhe

*Kirstie listened to more of the information coming from 'the encyclopedia' and wondered how much, if any, was stuff they needed to know. She looked to the Professor for a sign*

"Oh!" Anelreas exclaimed, remembering a bit more information than she had said before. "The Banshee's wail is depicted by her relationship to the family of the one destined to die. So, if she loves those who she calls, the wail is a soft, tender, soothing chant, intended to either give notice of death's proximity and reassure the one destined to die, or to comfort the survivors. But if the Banshee was an enemy of the family, the wail is more like a scream, a demonic howling of delight over the coming fatal agony of one of her foes."

im not sure whether nadia said it or not but the eyes supposedly are fiery red from the constant weeping

"Alright, you win. You all are very knowledgable on myths and legends. Five points each to Trixie and Nadia. Let's move on from the random facts, but I'm very impressed with all of you. We've established what's known about the banshee, although much of that is myth. For example, there is no carriage that comes and takes a soul from this world. In fact, the banshee doesn't harbring death, although she can often be found around the dying."

*cara took notes estatically she was surprissed they were studying banshees but it was a fascinating subject

*Kirstie listened to the professor and jotted down notes*

:: Ganymede shudders. But her shudders form an idea in her head. She smiles and writes some more in her notebook. ::

"Now, why do you suppose the banshee would be found near death?"

Nadia watches amazed and actually happy to hear things she didn't know. Moreover, impressed by the person who said it. Indeed, it showed that it was true: Anelreas DID like books as much as she did, it seemed. And she silently laughed at the idea, giving Anelreas the thumbs up in that great answer. Actually it would be nice to have a new friend-ryval in Hogwarts, seeing both Hufflepuffs Terry and Tremaine(sp?) were not that much around lately.

Nadia finally turned to the professor again, reminding herself to try speak less, both her hands supporting her head as she listened carefuly. She was quite amazed of having one of those there, just behind the professor... actually it was a little scary now she thought of it. Surprisingly enough, she had not been scared by the half-woman spirit at that time. How curious.

*raise hand* "Does it eat meat maybe?" she asked. "I was thinking they could eat carrion. Maybe they can smell it - blood I mean, so they know how to find the bodies."

"That's a really good suggestion, Nadia, but the banshee leaves its victims behind. It doesn't appear to those who've lost their loved one that anything has happened, since usually the victim is dying anyway. Any other ideas?"

"Could it feed on the person's soul instead? Kind of like a dementor?"

"Banshee stick around after the death of a loved one. A mourning period, one might think. Though ... that's only if the dead is of true, strong, Celtic decent." Anelreas voiced. She turned to Kirstie. "I cannot find a reason why banshee would feed on the person's soul if they loved them... maybe they do it to their enemies?"

"That's actually quite close, Kirstie. The banshee drains off life energy and is attracted to death. Unfortunately for banshees, the healthy are too strong to be drained, which is why they prey on the weak. They are similar to dementors in that they feed off of people, which is pretty much the definition of a Dark creature. We're going to practice a spell that is a good defense, but I'd like for you to consider the defense aspect first. How can you defend against a Spirit creature?"