CoMC Lesson 1 - 1993

Entering his clearing Bruce waved his wand casting a charm around the forest to not allow the creature of today to escape. The chest he had brought there earlier had yet to stop moving, which brought Bruce some doubts about whether or not he should allow a Lethifold in front of the students. Not that he wouldn't protect them, but there were some students that could easily be...impressed. Neville Longbottom being the best example.

Harry, Adrastos, Ricardo and Ron all chased after Falcon who had been teasing them since early morning. They all laughed as they stormed into the clearing, and the older boy stopped them, "Everyone, salute Professor Carrow," Falcon told them and stood up straight, placing his palm on his head. Adrastos and Ricardo mirrored his movements whilst Harry looked on with a smirk. He was happy he was getting to relax this year, and he didn't have to focus on Voldemort wanting to kill him. Last year Dobby was the one that aggravated him towards the fact Hogwarts was dangerous but this year nothing happened. Other than Arthur telling him Sirius Black was coming for him...

Ares, Darius and Kain came in soon after but of course unlike the gryffindors remained quiet, and Darius even dared to shake his head at the lions annoyed that they'd act like such children.

Atticus arrived with his brother in stride, and like usual sat with him not wishing to join his house because he had begun having doubts about the whole: I'm a proud snake thing. He felt like if he was sorted into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, he'd be much better off, though he would surely not have gained a reputation of being bold because he wouldn't have met Artemis. 

Raphael was right on their tail happy to be back to have returned to Hogwarts to be with his Mariya, and no one would take her away this time her parents couldn't do anything to keep him away from her, not that they tried, but he understood they also wanted time with their daughter, like Falcon wanted with his grandmother. Sitting beside the other Ravenclaws, his eyes fell on Malphas as he arrived.

Mal stood at the entrance of the clearing, quiet. This would be his...dad? Could he actually call him dad now? This would be Bruce's first lesson, and everything had changed in the summer, therefore Malphas couldn't wait for school to end so he could simply disappear from sight.

Danika, Faye, and Zephyr all headed down to the clearing for class together. Why not? They were all heading there anyways... Once there, each took their own seat where they wished: Danika on a bench and saving a place for Dominic, should he come, Faye taking a seat next to her cousin Darius, and Zephyr sitting a few rows behind the rest of his house. Wonder if anyone will get eatten this year. We could offer you up. Like hell you can... Shut up!

Serena and Quinn followed behind the three Slytherins and quickly fell in with the boys from their house. Quinn was trying to help Serena smile as she had been getting a little bit of flack from many students about her father escaping prison and just what a threat he was. Serena didn't want to believe what they were saying, but it still weighed on a person. The girls opted to sit next to one another, Quinn next to Falcon.

Making her way to the clearing, Lara took her normal seat with the other Hufflepuffs and readied for class. She had always enjoyed CoMC, and she was certain that this year, as always, Professor Carrow wouldn't disappoint.

Following Lara, Luna and Rowan walked slowly, heading to class. Rowan was quiet enjoying Luna's rambling over creatures and happenings that she really had no idea about, but it was something other than thinking about her brother and the school year and the whole giant mess she was in. As they reached the clearing, Rowan paused as she saw her brother sitting with the others from his house. Swallowing hard she heard Luna tell her that there were some seats open near William and his brother. Nodding, she followed her and, greeting them, sat with the others from her house. She even managed a small, timid smile for Atticus. Much to William's ammusement, as he gave him a light nudge as Rowan sat in front of them. Maybe this class would help lift her spirit and brighten her mood. She always enjoyed this class. Perhaps, this was just what she needed to get things going right again.

Mio was excited for another year of CoMC and was one of the first students to arrive along with Charlie, his fellow Gryffindor and of course his friend. "Hello Professor!" he greeted his teacher and sat down with the others, awaiting the class to start. Hopefully, they would be learning more about really dangerous creatures like last year, but as Professor Carrow was still teaching the class, that was more than just a little likely.

Thanatos entered the clearing and brushed past Azrael to go and sit down beside his cousin. "I hope we get the chance to rid us of some of the mudbloods in this class..." he said in a hushed voice. Even Thanatos would not dare to annoy Professor Carrow.
Azrael only shook his head at the younger student, not bothering to follow Cyn' demand to knock some sense into him. Instead, he took his seat as far away from the other students as possible.

Looking up as his cousin took a seat next to him, Zephyr smirked. "Would be nice, but I doubt that will happen... Unless it's by accident," he answered back softly, his head twitching slightly. Accidents DO happen, you know. Especially when working with magical creatures. Zephyr agreed with Eryx and Calix's remarks, however, he was pretty sure that no such 'accident' would befall any of the unsuspecting Mudbloods in the class. "Besides, it would be a shame to lose a professor like Carrow," he added. Zephyr wasn't gonna lie, he rather enjoyed this class. It was actually one of the few that he looked forward to attending and seemed to put the least strain on his busy mind, which was an added bonus to him.

Seeing enough students gather around the clearing, Bruce blasted the chest allowing the lethifold to hover up to the level of the leaves on the tree. It seemed harmless but Bruce knew better, and so should the students. That beast wasn't really easily kill-able. "Students, what's this?" he pointed at the beast, his wand in his hand, "A lethifold sir," Ricardo answered, which in turn made Bruce nod. "Ten points to gryffindor," he uttered and then asked, "What...is a lethifold?" he asked and Falcon's arm rose which in turn allowed him to speak, "A Lethifold is a large, flat creature somewhat resembling a cloak or blanket, and is one of the most dangerous beasts in the world," he answered and Bruce then rose a brow, "Ten points to Gryffindor, however, who can tell me, just why a Lethifold is dangerous...for fifteen points," he grinned as he began offering points like he did on many occasions.

David was excited to see what sort of crazy animal the professor was going to show them today. He was not, however, excited to crossed the grounds with the dementors so close. They brought back bad memories. or bad dreams. One in particular. the one of his father being murdered. The once active, outdoors kid now spent most of his time inside the castle, in his dorm. He only left for class, which is why he was in the forest today. He was being very quiet.

Robert truthfully hated the dementors, but dealt with them, because school was important. He now stood in the forest, saying cheerfully..as cheerfully as he could muster "Hello Professor!" He looked around, wondering if Lil would come.

Zack Smith wasn't fond of the dementors, but they did not bother him as much as everyone else. Sure, it made him feel bad, but not as bad as a lot of people described. He felt cold.. and true he felt unhappy, but he knew it would pass. So he was in higher spirits than most. When he saw the crate in the forest moving, he glared at it "That better not be dangerous.."

As class began and Professor Carrow released the creature concealed in the chest, Rowan swallowed hard at seeing the Lethifold float and hover next tot he trees. William and Luna both looked to her to see if she would answer as she was always one to offer answers to questions in class. Rowan's hand went to raise slightly to answer but then stopped and returned to her lap as she dropped her eyes from the professor and the dark creature. Wrapping her fingers around the shaft of her quill, Rowan slowly and gently wrung it in her hands.

William and Luna were both stunned... Rowan never passed up the chance to answer questions when she knew the answer. Looking at the blonde and then his brother, concern filling his dark eyes, William shot his hand into the air and answered, looking at the professor, "A Lethifold is so dangerous due to its attacks. They have a taste for human flesh and once hunted down, they will attack their prey at night while they sleep, suffocating and digesting the human of choice in their bed. The attack isn't seen coming."

"Fifteen points to Ra-..." Bruce was about to shout when suddenly, Ares lifted himself from his seat, "Yo', Black, let my sister speak asshole," the slytherin grunted and Bruce gave him a small glare before the boy continued, "I saw you cutting her off," he growled shaking his fist at the Ravenclaw.

Rowan looked up at her brother's outburst, panic flashing in her dark eyes. As William moved to stand and likely retort back, she put a hand on his arm and gave her head a small shake. Looking at Professor Carrow, she answered back timidly, "No, no... I was going to try an answer, but I realized it was wrong and that I really didn't know the answer. William didn't cut me off, Professor." It was a lie, of course. Rowan knew the answer and knew that William's answer was correct. She was going to answer, but something in her made her stop. Glancing at her brother and then Professor Carrow, she gave a small nod as confirmation of what she just said.

"You? Not knowing an answer? Sister c'mon you know I'm right," this made Bruce shake his head and go in, stopping the 'fight' before it actually began. "All of you. Shut the fuck up," he roared before clearing his throat. "Very good Mr. William, now, what is the difference between a Lethifold and a dementor?" he asked the class.

Shying away slightly as Professor Carrow roared for them to all be quiet, Rowan tightened her grip on William's arm causing him to glance down. Before he gently put his hand over hers, much like he tried to do at the opening feast, with the same result: Rowan pulled away. What is going on with her? At Professor Carrow's next question, William tipped his head to the side, looked at Rowan to see if she would answer this time. Rowan brought her dark, sad, broken eyes to her good friend and whispered, "Go ahead, Will, if you know. I don't." Picking up her quill, she began to write on her piece of parchment.

Heaving a small sigh, William, again, raised his hand and answered, "While Dementors and Lethifolds are similar, there are two differences in particular that set them apart. Dementors have a skeleton within the folds of their cloaks, unlike Lethifolds that are simply the cloak. The atmosphere also does not change when a Lethifold is nearby like it does with Dementors." Glancing back at what Rowan had been writing, William's brow furrowed as he sat back in his seat next to his brother. Rowan had written the answer to the question even before he had finished answering. So.... She did know...

Bruce nodded and then waved his wand, and the Lethifold snapped from his 'comatose' state. However it did not engage, Lethifolds were sentient to a level so they wouldn't try to capture prey when so many of them were close by. Only if Bruce allowed him to do so: "Do not provoke it, it will harm you," he warned and ordered the cloak to hover over the students. "Does anyone know the spell that can stop it?"

Adrastos finally sat down once the beast appeared not out of fear but because he was unsure if standing so close to it would provoke it, and professor Carrow had just told them to not do so. Raising his arm, he spoke, "Perhaps it is the same as the dementors...the Patronus charm," he was unsure about the answer as well but figured if those two creatures were so alike, maybe he was right.

"Correct, ten points," Bruce awarded the boy and then pointed at the beast and gave the class a lopsided insane grin, "Defend yourselves from it," he ordered the students and then, did the unthinkable: he set the creature free!

Defend yourselves from it... As gasps and some screams filled the area as the Lethifold swooped down over the class, Rowan drew her wand. She knew what to do. Mustering up some of the happiest memories she could, she pointed her wand at the quickly advancing Lethifold and said, "Expecto Patronum!" A sliver blue whisp of light began to shine from her wand tip as the creature closed in. Glancing around her to see many others doing the same, her dark eyes caught sight of her brother, and like a Dementor sucking the happiness from her soul, the memories she had stored to make her patronus work faded to the memories filled with fear and pain thanks to Ares. As soon as the feelings associted with those memories filled her, the light from her patronus faded before going out completely. Looking back at what she was doing, Rowan began to panic when she saw the unthinkable, her patronus was lost...

Bruce went around knocking students out with a chop to the back of their neck to cause fear, but Atticus wasn't going to allow him to do that to him, he was aware the professor wished to cause panic that classroom and perhaps he wouldn't care before but he did now. He was about to confront Carrow when he noticed Rowan, still far away from Bruce, letting her patronus charm go. ...God dammit Will, you have weird friends, he jumped in front of her pushing her back a tad and thought about the only thing that made him happy: the memory of his father. He had never met Regulus so his dad couldn't ruin the image Atticus had of him. A jaguar formed in front of him and quickly turned into a gigantic wave that leveled the beast which was quickly incapacitated by Bruce.

As the Lethifold closed in on Rowan, she was suddenly pushed back slightly, but enough to knock her off balance, making her tumble to the ground. Bringing her eyes up to see just who it was, she blocked the light from a powerful Patronus with her hand. Watching as the Jaguar made easy work of the creature, Rowan noticed that Atticus was the one that saved her. "Thank....thank you....Atticus," she said softly, ashamed of herself for not being able to cast her own Patronus. Would she ever get it back?

William quickly got to his feet when the Lethifold was let loose on them. Drawing his wand, he made ready to past his Patronus when he needed to. Then, everything happened so quickly. Rowan's Patronus began to work and then just went out, and Atticus stepped in front of her and cast his own Patronus to save her. Going to her side, William, keeping an eye on the creature as Professor Carrow dealt with it, whispered, "Are you alright?" The concern in his voice was unmistakable. He knew Rowan could cast a Patronus, so whatever was going on with her was enough to effect that. Rowan turned to him and nodded that she was fine. Bullshit, she's fine... Looking up at his brother, he nodded his thanks and went to go check on Luna.

Laughing at the children that were so worried about the 360 degree turn the class had taken, Bruce clapped his hands. "CLASS DISMISSED!" he roared.