[Y1 and Y2] Lesson I-Leprachauns

Selene placed a small gift box on each desk, leaving room for handouts she would later pass out to the class. The room was brightly lit, and a small projector which Professor Clark usually used was stationed next to her desk.
Patiently, she waited until the first and second years arrived and took a seat.

Evan was slightly disappointed when he discovered about CoMC class taking place inside the Hogwarts castle. That meant no big forest creatures like hippogriffs and unicorns. But then he entered a classroom and saw that  there was a gift box on every desk and no other students. Good news. I can take my favorite seat in the center and I also have a gift box. Really cool. Evan greeted professor Vega and took a seat.

Kynan entered the class, feeling interested for this lesson. He realized that he and another student were the only ones here, so he sat down in his usual spot- in the middle of the class. The boy had already taken the seat, so he sat down next to the boy. Looking closely, he realized that the boy was the same one he had met in the Owlery- Sullivan. Of course, Kynan still hasn't learnt what Evan's proper name was. "Hello," he greeted the boy. Even though he had hated the boy when they were in the Owlery- he was trying to make it up to the boy as Aylee had told him that Darcy was a Veela after he had told his sister what had happened.

For the first time, Kynan noticed the gift boxes on the table. Are we allowed to open them? he wondered, looking up and seeing the Professor.

Kynan, the boy whom Evan met in the Owlery, entered the classroom, sat near and said, "Hello." Ah. That guy. Evan didn't like him much at their first meeting and was sure that this feeling was mutual. "Hello," Evan muttered, opening his sketchbook and beginning to doodle. It usually kept him from unwanted conversations. This guy could take any seat, why has he set right near me? Evan drew some stars and spirals, not looking at the boy. I hope this doesn't mean that we have to work together in case of group tasks.

Deirdre walked in the classroom, a little less enthusiastic about this lesson, seeing as how usually CoMC was an outdoor class. Once she entered, she greeted the Professor and looked around herself. It was a nice room, and it appeared there were some gifts left for the students, put on the tables.

There were already two boys seated. One of them she recognized by face from her Flying lessons, but didn't know the name of, and the other was Evan, whom she'd only seen in previous CoMC lessons. Deirdre felt some tension between both, so, deciding not to interrupt whatever they were maybe going to say to each other, she just walked past their table and found a nice seat behind them, from which she could clearly see her teacher.

Maya made her way down grudgingly to a classroom for her first Care of Magical Creatures class. She hadn't had the opportunity of venturing outside and exploring the grounds yet and was disheartened when their class was being held indoors. Maya loved Care of Magical Creatures for the outdoor opportunities it provided and second year was proving busy thus far so outdoor excursions were limited. The weather didn't help improve Maya's mood as the rain lashed against the windows, tormenting her, plummeting her into a deeper foul mood.

When she arrived for class, her curiosity got the better of her bad mood as she took a seat next to Deirdre and began inspecting her box. She chose the seat beside her as Evan and Kynan were beside each other and she didn't want the girl to be alone. She greeted Evan with a nod and smiled at the other students. "Hey Kynan, hey Deirdre!"

Evan saw two girls came into the classroom and set behind him and Kynan. He saw both of them during different classes, and he met the girl, who came second, in the Owlery, just as he met Kynan. Deirdre and Maya, if I'm not mistaken. Now I have some more people I can work with, not just Kynan. Evan couldn't say why exactly he disliked Kynan, there was nothing wrong with the boy now. It was some kind of inertia thing.

Meanwhile Maya greeted Kynan and Deirdre by calling their names and nodded to Evan. It's like I'm worse than those two. Or she doesn't even remember my name. Nevertheless, Evan returned the nod, as he always thought that being offended is not an excuse for not being polite. He looked at the gift box again and his spirit rose a little. At least I have this cute little thing. I'm looking forward to opening it.



((( OOC: Evan isn't always like this, he's just in a bad mood. )))

Two girls came into the class- one which Kynan recognized from the party for first years which was held last year and the other one was Maya, one of Kynan's friends. Then Maya greeted them both, calling out the Hufflepuff girl's name, which was apparently Deirdre. Deirdre. Never heard of it, he thought, shrugging. "Hey Maya," Kynan replied, smiling at her, then turning around to sit down properly in his seat.

((OOC: Short post.))

Deirdre saw Maya, a friend of hers, come in the room, and smiled. Maya apparently knew all of the students seated, because she nodded at Evan, then greeted both her and the Gryffindor boy, whose name was obviously Kynan. Interesting name, she thought.

"Hey, Maya." Deirdre said to the newcomer, who sat next to her." How've you been?" It wasn't really that long since they'd last seen each other, but a lot could've happened in the meantime. And besides, maybe a conversation would brighten their moods about being in a room for CoMC.

Deirdre played with the small gift box in her hands while she waited for the answer.

Darcy walked into the CoMC classroom to the students talking to each other. She smiled; at least she hadn't been late. And then she noticed the small packages and she blinked. This was getting interesting. She walked forward and stopped by the two girls. Deirdre, which she had only met very briefly, and Maya. She sat down beside the Hufflepuff.

"Hey guys," she said to all four of them, smiling happily, "How are you?"

Maya was glad of the warm welcome she had received from Deidre, the night at the lake replaying in her mind. "I'm good. You?" She said, though not feeling very good at all. She didn't feel, or think, now was a good time to elaborate on her feelings. "Odd that Professor Vega left boxes on our desks, wonder what they are?" She said, curious, as Deirdre started playing with her own.

Maya looked away from the enchanting gift box when another student walked in, Darcy. She always appeared to grab the attention's room with her appearance. Maya gave her a welcoming smile. "I'm good, you? I didn't realise you took this class." Maya stated conversationally, glad that there was a good attendance.

"Settle down," Selene ordered politely, " and open the packages in front of you." As soon as they all did, Selene continued to talk. "The vials contain Felix Felicis. Does anyone know anything about this potion?"

"The reason I've decided to give them to you is because you may or may not need it later on. That, and we're studying leprechauns, which we all know are associated with good luck." she said, as she glanced around the room. "Now, please partner up. Quickly. And not with someone in your house."

As the girls behind him continued chatting, Kynan was debating on wether or not to open the boxes on the tables. Suddenly, Professor Vega spoke and told them to open the packages. He didn't hesitate- he opened the package and discovered a tiny vial with orang-y liquid. Eh? he thought, looking up at the Professor who said something about 'Felix Felicis'. At the word potion, his mouth formed a large 'O'. He had read something about some luck potion in one of his potion textbooks, although it was only a small paragraph. Although he didn't remember much he raised his hand, "It's a luck potion professor. If you drink the whole vial, it should give you at least 24 hours of good luck. Although I heard that you cannot drink the potion on important events." Then the Professor announced that they were going to be studying leprechauns.

Hesitantly, Kynan put the Felix Felicis in his robes so he could look at it later. Leprechauns? he thought. He didn't know much about leprechauns, only that they were some kind of bearded dwarves, dressed in green, danced and had some kind of pot of gold. His family didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Then, the students were told to partner up. Kynan's first choice was Maya but he decided that she probably wanted to partner with Darcy. So, he turned to Evan and asked, "Want to be partners?"

((OOC: Evan, can we say that this lesson happened before Charms?))

Professor Vega told students about the gift boxes at last, and Evan opened his immediately and found a vial of golden liquid. Seconds later Kynan explained what's in these vials exactly. The luck potion. Really interesting and probably really useful. Actually, Evan didn't believe in such thing as luck, but hadn't believes in magic either until he got his letter. I need to keep it safe. He tore a sheet from his sketchbook, on which he was drawing at that time, crumpled it, and wrap it around the potion, before putting it in his pocket. Now it's a little more resistant to impact. I can't lose a luck potion because of some bad luck.

Then Professor Vega announced that lesson's topic was leprechauns and that students were supposed to work in pairs and couldn't pair up with someone from their house. As the only Ravenclaw here, I can chose whoever I want as my partner. After this thought he turned his head and looked at Darcy, who was sitting behind him. Darcy? Hm. No. I think I made her feel a little uncomfortable in the library some time ago, maybe it's not the best time to ask her to work together. Nevertheless, seconds later Evan was ready to talk to her and even opened his mouth, when suddenly he heard Kynan asking him to be his partner. Evan couldn't say whether he was glad to hear it or not, but he turned to Kynan and answered, "Sure."


((( OOC: Kynan, yes, of course. )))

As Professor Vega announced that they could now open the boxes, Deirdre quickly did, unwrapping it carefully to assure that even if there was something fragile in there, it wouldn't brake. A small glass vial, filled with an amber colored liquid, appeared from the package, and the girl was quite sure it was a potion. It seemed so, as their teacher told them it was and Kynan explained its function by raising his hand. Oh, Deirdre thought. She remembered hearing of Felix Felicis before, and also a brief mentioning that it was a good luck potion.

The Professor told them the topic of the lesson and that they'd have to pick a partner, along with the forbidding to choose a person from your own house. As a Hufflepuff, Deirdre didn't have to worry much for the last one. Kynan and Evan seemed to have paired up, so the girl turned her attention to choosing a person, too. She thought it over for a moment and turned to Maya," Would you like to be partners?"

Maya immediately fell silent when Professor Vega called for it. The sound of ripping paper filled the room when the professor allowed them to open their boxes. She quickly teared the paper off her own box, eager to behold what it contained. Maya lifted the small vial and stared the the golden liquid, intrigued. She reognised the name Felix Felicis, but didn't know what it was until Kynan elaborated on it. Sweet, she thought, excitement coursing through her veins. She knew the vial she was holding in her hand was very rare and hard to come by. She wondered if Professor Vega had concocted the potion herself, she must be a really talented witch if she had.

Leprechauns? Maya's bad mood which was caused by having Care of Magical Creatures inside dispersed at the mention of leprechauns. Being Irish she knew a lot about the mystical creatures, she had even been called one on a few occasions. All in jest of course, as her features of red hair, pale complexion and being Irish matched the perception of a leprechaun. Maya looked over to Deirdre when she asked her to be partners. "Of course." Maya smiled at the girl. She looked over at Darcy and realised that Evan and Kynan were partnering up. "Want to join us Darcy?" She asked her, not knowing if anyone else was going to join the class and create even numbers. Anyway, they were all in different houses so she presumed Professor Vega wouldn't mind.

"Very well, Kynan. 5 points to Gryffindor. And I won't explain much about the potion since that should be something your potions professor will most likely talk about in your later years." she mentioned, wondering where Wade was. She had asked him to show up for this lesson to fulfill his job as her assistant, yet he was nowhere to be found.

"Okay, now that you're all in very small groups, please come and take a piece of parchment." she motioned towards the papers lying on her desk. "You won't write anything, not yet. But you will draw. Various words will come up on the board, and I want you to make a small drawing for each. Divide your parchment into 3 segments on either side. Draw the first thing that comes to mind when you read each word."

One by one, words began to appear on the board, almost as if handwritten by Selene herself. "When you are done, simply bring it to my desk."

Gold

Clover

Ireland

Red

Water Spirits

Greed

OOC: Sorry, forgot I had to show up for this lesson.


Wade rushed towards the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, trying to put his robe on, as he had just woken up for the day. The night before had been spent dwelling on possible explanations on how to talk to Shah, and how to make up with Lucy, that he had barely slept at all. He soon found himself entering the classroom, and apologetic look in his eyes as he looked at Professor Vega.

He didn't bother in apologizing verbally as he had already interrupted enough by entering. He waited for any instruction and kept to the side of the room, behind her desk.

Deirdre smiled at her partners, glad no one was left alone. She listened carefully to her teacher's explanation, and though not sure why they were supposed to be drawing, she decided no to ask. As soon as the Professor was done speaking, the students were ready to go and take their papers and so was she, going first to do so. When everyone was done picking the parchments, and then, when back at their seats, dividing them to three on the sides, words started to appear on the board. Deirdre noticed they were connected to the main topic of the lesson, the Leprechauns. She readied her self to draw the first one, Gold.

The door opened quickly, and a boy in loosely put robe entered the classroom. The Hufflepuff recognized Wade, a guy she'd only briefly met at a first-years party. He looked apologetically at the Professor. Deirdre continued sketching, deciding that maybe stares would make him uncomfortable.

As he heard the instructions, Kynan didn't even bother to divide the paper into three segments as he thought that it would be unnecessary. He wasn't very good at drawing either. For gold, he drew a treasure chest, a really bad illustration of it. For clover, he drew a four-leafed clover. When he saw Ireland, the first thing that really came into his mind was Maya, since the girl came from Ireland, and he was actually about to draw her before he decided on a really bad drawing of a short dude with hat and beard to represent a leprechaun. By that time, he was really starting to grow lazy and frustrated by drawing, so for red, it was a drawing of a cup with red liquid inside it- blood orange juice. It was one of his favourite drinks. He didn't want to draw blood, really, it seemed too... weird. For water spirits, he drew a lousy picture of mermaids and for greed, he drew nothing at all.

So when he was done with the drawing, he was one of the first to take his parchment to the desk, not bothering with the fact that he had just made the most horrible mess ever with his drawings.

Three segments? That would definitely ruin a composition. I'd better have three paper sheets. Excuse me, professor. Evan opened his sketchbook once more and started drawing. After three minutes or so all sketches were finished and and followed by text explanations. Heh, my new time record, perhaps. Evan wanted to tell Kynan about his new standards of fastness, but he realized that Kynan wasn't on his seat. Oh,  this guy draws fast. I'm not sure he draws good though. He doesn't look like a talented guy. Evan stood up and took his drawings to professor Vega's desk.

Drawings:

Maya left her desk and grabbed a sheet of paper. She hated drawing with a passion, she was never good at it and just didn't have the patience for it. She deliberated with a pencil in her hand for some time. She knew what she associated with the colours, she just didn't know how to draw them. Well, best get started she thought to herself as she glanced up at Kynan and Evan finishing their sketches.

For gold she drew pieces of gold, that could be found at the end of a rainbow from a leprechaun as the saying went. Then she drew a four leaf clover, this wasn't too bad as she had one at home which was supposed to bring her luck. Next she just sketched the Irish flag for Ireland and then for red she drew a glass of red wine. She had actually thought of blood, but didn't know how to portray it or didn't think it as very appropriate. For water spirits she thought that was easy as most people knew about the merpeople that inhibited the lake. Greed was tougher and she thought about that one for a while, eventually settling on a picture of two lions, one clearly more dominant than the other, which was the "king". From Maya's experience the king was usually greedy and demanded the most food and best services and always believed they were better than who they ruled. Maya drew the other one looking enviously over its shoulder. That lion was his brother who was jealous of the fact that the "king" was stronger and ruled the animal kingdom. She also added colours of red and green, which she associated with greed and envy. She had gotten the idea from a muggle movie, The Lion King.

Maya set down her pencils and admired her work, she had actually enjoyed the assignment and her sketches weren't atrocious as a result.

Darcy smiled at Maya and Deirdre. "I'd love to join you," she said happily. She scooted closer and went to get a piece of parchment. She grabbed her quill and started drawing. It really wasn't what she was best at, but she wasn't hopeless either. And she enjoyed drawing. She drew a stack of gold and a few clovers. She snorted a bit at one of her clovers, it looked more like a poop than a clover. She grinned at herself and continued. With Ireland, she drew the flag, having never been there or knowing much about the country.

At red, a crude image filled her mind, and, not having the patience to find something else, she drew blood. She didn't like it, it freaked her out, but it was what she associated it with, unfortunately. For water spirits, she drew a small pond with white wisps in it, adding touches of glitter. And with greed. She drew a hand, clutching a handful of gold and gems. At the end of it, she was rather pleased, and gave a sigh, glad that she was done.

When she looked up, she noticed a new person sitting in the classroom. He looked older than her by far, so she didn't understand what he was doing in this class, but didn't question it. That wasn't her business. However, she wondered if she ought to join him, or not...

YES

Other people in the room may not know what the vial they'd been given was, but Selwyn Thorfinn was a mad keen Quidditch fan.  Felix was at the heart of many a doping scandal on the professional quidditch circuit. So he swore to himself that no matter what happened during this lesson, he would not use it.  A little liquid luck could come in handy for a mere first year.

Then, before he could marvel at the paradox of being lucky enough to have been given liquid luck... he was being asked to draw pictures like some muggle kindergartner.  Still, it was better than real work.

Carelessly, Selwyn drew some lines down his parchment, dividing it unevenly into threes and then jotted down the words from the board.  The first few were easy.  Gold was yellow, everyone knew what clover looked like, Ireland... well the sausage shaped outline Selwyn drew was supposed to be Ireland, okay?  Red, another colour.  

Then you got to water sprites.  UGH.  Probably there was some special type of creature that was technically a water sprite.  Maybe he'd even learn about it in Magical Creatures.  But when you told a Scottish person water sprite, that could mean anything from a mermaid to a selkie.  Selwyn just drew some waves and hoped that would work.  It was symbolic.

And then finally, there was greed.  How the hell did you draw greed? Maybe someone rolling in money? But Selwyn wasn't that good an artist.

"Very well, ten points for everyone." Selene smiled. "Now, let's go over how these words relate to Leprachauns." the words on the board were suddenly "But first let's go over what a Leprachaun is. A Leprachaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore who enjoys partaking in mischief. Their relation to gold is of course, the old myth of the pot of gold at the end of the tunnel. I'm certain you must have all heard of it before. It is said that Leprachauns obtain their gold by simply finding and digging up old-war treasures. Next it's clover, which I'm certain most of you have also hear of. The myth says that if you were able to find a four-leaf clover you'd be lucky for your entire life. However, I think Felix Felicis is much more effective. Ireland is because, well, the legend began in Ireland. Red is because Leprachauns were originally said to wear red clothing, the green came later as advertising and popularized images of them became famous as legends. They were also thought to have started out as water spirits. The Luchorpán, as these spirits are called, eventually merged with a mischievous household fairy said to haunt cellars and drink heavily to form what we now know as a Leprachaun. And lastly, the Leprachaun is also a symbol for greed."

As she was finished, she handed Wade a pile of papers. "Hand one to each student and teach them how to do the spell I taught you last week." with that, she turned to her desk and began to fully look at the students assignments. Whenever Wade was done, she'd be back to teach them something else and explain the origins and uses of the potion she had just given them.