Lesson II-Merpeople

"Professor, I found some seashells." said Kim Frey, who also seemed to have found the tiara
"Great Job Kim." Selene said with a smile. With a wave of her wand, two more items were scratched off the list.

9. Seashells
10. Tiara


"Everyone! Listen up!" She said to the students as they stopped looking around for a minute. "You have only ten more minutes to keep looking and count up your treasures, and then we will officially begin class."

After Lucy had found the necklace, Wade congratulated her and then decided that it was best for everyone to keep looking.
"Alright." Wade said softly to himself as he walked toward the seaweeds. As he looked at them, he ran his hands through the weeds. They were slippery, as if they were really underwater.
"Wow." he said softly, glad that Professor Vega had actually taken the time to decorate the classroom as much as she had. He liked that she actually cared about her class, and her students.
Suddenly something scratched him. Confused, he stretched his arm even farther until he finally touched something. Wrapping his hand around it, he pulled it away from the weeds and out.
Poseidon's trident, he thought.
Looking over at the board, he noticed that it was an item on the list.

Trident-What does it represent? Do you know who it belongs to?

Wade thought about that. He knew who it belonged to, but not what it represents. He walked up to Professor Vega, still holding onto the trident and asked, "Professor Vega? I know it belongs to Poseidon, but how do I know what it represents? I mean, it's probably a dumb question, but I want to answer the ones on the board."

"Professor Vega?" Said Wade Malfoy, holding the trident Selene had hidden as part of the game.
"Yes Wade?" she asked softly.
"I know it belongs to Poseidon, but how do I know what it represents? I mean, it's probably a dumb question, but I want to answer the ones on the board." he informed her.
"No question is ever dumb, Wade." she said kindly, watching the boy's confused expression toward the question on the board.
"What do you think it does? Is it just for decoration? Or maybe just an accessory to Poseidon?" she asked him in return to his question, trying to make the boy think for himself a little. "And, besides, shouldn't you be asking this to your group? There's a reason I put you all in groups." she said, wondering why he had not gone to his group with this question.

Selene glanced at Shah, who held the ship she had hidden in a secret room in the classroom.
"Hmm," she said softly, glancing at the board.

1. Pearl Necklace Check the charm, what do you think it represent?
2. Glass Bottle
3. Trident-What does it represent? Do you know who it belongs to?
4. Coin- Are you familiar with a mermaid legends? If so, does this remind you of one?
5. Seaweed- Do you know what plant it is?
6. Rock- Describe it, feel it
7. Ship
8. Picture of Zeus,Hades, and Poseidon-Can you tell which one is God of the Seas?
9. Seashells
10. Tiara

There were only four items left, and about seven minutes to look for them. "You have seven minutes!" she informed them. "If all the items are not found by then, we will ignore the remaining ones and count up how many you have."

"No question is ever dumb, Wade." Professor Vega said kindly. "What do you think it does? Is it just for decoration? Or maybe just an accessory to Poseidon?" she asked him, and before Wade could answer, she added, "And, besides, shouldn't you be asking this to your group? There's a reason I put you all in groups."
Wade became quiet for a second.
"Oh," he began, "Well, I just wanted to ask for your help." He said, clearly unsure of how to answer that. He knew he was supposed to work with his group, but he had forgotten to ask them, and he didn't want to look like a bad team member.
"I guess I'll talk to Lucy and Ellie about this, then." he said, quite disappointed that he had not gotten a clear answer from Professor Vega.
While walking, he thought about her question.
Well, it's not just a decoration or accessory, I know that for sure. But, I don't think it has any magical powers like the movies say they do.....
"Hey Luc, what do you think this represents?" he asked his cousin once he finally reached her.

"I found this while I was trapped in one of those secret closets." Shah proudly declared, returning from one of the corners of the classroom. "Well done Shah" James responded with an excited smile, examining the model from all angles. Glancing at the board, he checked if there was a question attached to this particular object, but there seemed to be none. They now had found two of the hidden treasures, but there were still four remaining.

"You have seven minutes! If all the items are not found by then, we will ignore the remaining ones and count up how many you have." Professor Vega suddenly announced. "We still have time to find one more." James affirmed to his teammates. "Any ideas where the others may be?"

"You have seven minutes!" Professor Vega informed them. "If all the items are not found by then, we will ignore the remaining ones and count up how many you have." When in a panic mode, Kim's best option is to work on her own. She didn't bother on asking how her teammates are doing. She searched for the one that she knows how it looks like: rock.

She searched the whole room where there will be a possibility that the rock has been placed. She walked towards the window where random things are scattered. Kim touched all of them but the rock was nowhere to be found.

Kim went to the center of the room to be able to see the whole space in much clearer detail. Then, after five minutes, she noticed that there is a spot for grass. She approached it quickly and there, she found a medium-sized rock that was underneath the green plant. She looked at the board to see if there are any questions for that specific item, instead, she found directions. 'Describe it'. 'Well, it is a bit round and grayish in color,' she thought to herself. 'Feel it.' 'Obviously, it will be hard and rough on its surface,' she whispered.

After taking all the things needed, Kim approached her professor for an update about her searching.

"Alright everybody. Time's up! Collect your items and sit with your group." Selene announced as her students gathered their objects and crowded around in their own teams. She paced herself between the two rows of desks.

"Green team." she said quietly as she counted the items. "Ship, Poseidon and his brothers, and...that's it. Very well, all of you." She smiled at them and wrote down the number 2 next to their team name on her rooster, thinking that they still could have done better than just two items.

She then headed to the Teal team. "Okay, let's see here. You have the Pearl necklace, and the Trident. Very well team." she smiled at them and wrote down the number 2 next to their team name, a little bit disappointed as she knew they could have done much better.

"Let's check the Purple team. Mmm, you have a Rock, Seashells, and....the Tiara." She smiled. "Very nice." She glanced at Ms. Frey, convinced that she had done most of the searching, but still glad that she had put in the effort.

After counting up all the teams' points, she announced, "Purple Team, you are the winner of today's game. You have won FIFTEEN points for their house, and FIVE free extra credit points for today's homework. Congratulations."

After the Purple team had their few seconds of celebration, Selene called them to order.
"To your seats please." she said, walking toward the board and erasing the writing from the game. With her own hand, she wrote, What are merpeople?
"Does anyone know what the actual definition of merpeople is?" she asked, turning to look at her students.

"Alright everybody. Time's up! Collect your items and sit with your group." Professor Vega's soft voice filled the room. Wade gathered around with Ellie, and Lucy and waited as Professor Vega counted up the green team's items. They had only two, just like Wade's groups.

"Okay, let's see here. You have the Pearl necklace, and the Trident. Very well team." Professor Vega told them, and although she had a smile on her face, Wade was sure that he had seen a hint of disappointment in her eyes. Maybe I should have taken her game more seriously, he thought. He didn't like it when Professor Vega seemed upset. It hurt him, really. She then headed to the purple team and it was clear that they had won, but Wade acted like he didn't really care to have lost.

After, Professor Vega wrote on the board, for the firs time, with her own handwriting. It was pretty, or so Wade thought.
"Does anyone know what the actual definition of merpeople is?" she asked, turning to look at them.
Wade instantly raised his hand, and waited for her to call on him. When she did, he smiled at her, and said, "Merpeople are half fish and half human. They're supposed to be able to breathe under water and all, and I think they are also supposed to lure sailors into their deaths." He had heard about it from fairy tales, but wasn't too sure about what he said, still, he just wanted to see Professor Vega's real smile, not the one from disappointment.

Upon realizing that they won, Kim celebrated on her seat, having to win a lot of points to her house. After a while, Professor Vega continued the lesson. "Does anyone know what the actual definition of merpeople is?" she asked, turning to look at her students. Even though Kim can answer it with the use of her book, she decided to let someone answer it since she already had her moment in the game.

"Merpeople are half fish and half human. They're supposed to be able to breathe under water and all, and I think they are also supposed to lure sailors into their deaths." Wade Malfoy answered immediately.
"That's both true and false, but that was very nice Wade." she told the boy as she began pacing in front of the classroom.
"Mermaids are not humans nor half-breeds. They are neither human nor fish. They are mammals; a whole specie of their own. What's the difference, you may ask? Well, for one, fish are not supposed to be bothered by the water's temperature, where as merfolk get cold and hot depending that factor."
She stopped in front of the board, "What about the scales? Well, lizards and such other animals have them, and although these are not mammals but reptiles, it is very possible that mammals could have scales given that other species have them."

“Believe it or not, their lungs and organs functions just as well as ours. For example, a mermaid has lungs which, as Wade said already, allows them to breathe underwater. Selene brought forward a projector that was used back during her days as a student and as she turned it on a picture of a mermaid’s open chest appeared. Some student’s groaned a little, uncomfortable with the idea of seeing a creature’s chest cut open, revealing its organs.
“See? They have lungs, but theirs can also work as a gill. The lungs contract and expand, just like your lungs, but these have the ability to extract the oxygen from the water they breathe.” She looked at them and saw some of them taking notes; some of them looked at picture without any emotion at all.
“Alright, enough of biology, let’s talk about what you guys already know about merfolk.” She said, standing by the projector and waiting for some students to get active in the class.
“Any legends or myths you know of? Any subspecies? Any thoughts or questions about what you have learned so far?” She asked, but students still seemed to be out of it.
“Okay, let’s start with Shah." she announced.

The sharing activity began with Shah. Kim have read about merpeople before but she was sure that this is one of the creatures she doesn't have much interest in, comparing to dragons or basilisk, like Wade told her.

She tried to reminisce the information she learned about them. Finally, she knows what to share to the class.

Wade didn't really know anything about merpeople, so getting all of this information about them was kind of exciting, considering he thought of them as just the sort of "eh" creatures. Professor Vega had decided to begin with Shah, and although he didn't know anything about the subject, he waited kind of impatiently for his turn.
Glancing at his red-haired friend, he smiled in encouragement.

OOC: Sorry, I didn't know Shah had been inactive for a couple of days.

As Shah starred blankly at the board, clearly trying to think of something, Selene told her "It's okay, we'll come back to you."
Turning to Kim Frey, she saw the girl had her thoughts ready and decided to begin with her instead.
"Kim? Would you like to begin?" Selene asked.

Professor Vega that Shah was not ready to share her thoughts about it. After a few seconds, the professor changed her mind. "Kim? Would you like to begin?" Kim was a bit surprised to hear her name. She nodded, and slowly stood up from her chair. While doing so, she formulated the words that she is going to say. "One of its subspecies is the siren, which was discovered first. The sirens are also the ones that appear in muggles' paintings and literature. Actually, we describe them as the 'beautiful mermaids'," she answered.

After the game had concluded, Emmalynne had just returned to her seat as it came otuthat her team hadn't won. There hadn't really been anything there she should be disappointed about, since she'd gotten more distracted by everything around the room to really even look for the items that had been listed. Plus, it had been her and three Slytherins, which hadn't really been a problem for her but she'd felt liek the odd one out. It hadn't been a feeling she liked, so she'd just wandered around the room, fingers trailing amongst the seaweed and brushing against the shells and everything. She hadn't stumbled upon anything, so back to her seat it was, before she'd listened to Professor Vega continue talking about merpeople.

She'd had to take notes, only because she couldn't say she'd known that much about real merpeople having grown up half-Muggle. Merpeople weren't pygmy puffs, so she hadn't ever really thought too much about them. Although she had read the Muggle fairy tale a few times when she was younger, something told her that it wasn't going to help her too much here. Especially as yet another Slytherin had spoken about sirens, at which pointshe had scrunched up her face and started writing frantically. Notes were good. Notes would help her manage to pass the lesson, and therefore she'd feel better. Except the sea decor was still distracting her, because she wanted to collect a shell or two to keep for later.

Jennifer raced down the corridor, her robe flying behind her. Aaaaaaah. She hated being late. She was never ever ever ever ever late so this was a change. A bad change. She was gonna make a bad impression on that Care of Magical Creatures professor, too. Grr. And she was all ready to suck up to her and everything. Stupid Peeves. He'd stopped her on the way to class and almost threw her pretty-looking new school bag in the toilet in the Prefects' bathroom. Red faced and huffy, the young girl knocked on the door of the classroom, straightened her skirt and walked in.

Immediately, Jen spotted an empty seat. Very likely it was hers. She bit her lip and closed the door behind her. Was this woman a strict professor? Panting, she began to explain her bad lateness. "Professor Vega, I'm really sorry but there was Peeves and he was chasing me and he grabbed my bag and he ran - I mean, he flew away to the prefects bathroom and kept threatening to throw it in the loo and then I got all angry and he wouldn't give it back and-" Here she stopped, seeing clearly that it was stupid and unnecessary to continue her long, boring yet exciting story. "I'm sorry," she muttered quietly.

"One of its subspecies is the siren, which was discovered first. The sirens are also the ones that appear in muggles' paintings and literature. Actually, we describe them as the 'beautiful mermaids'" Kim answered Professor Vega's question. He remembered watching films with Lucy that showed these sirens, but he was never really interested in them.

Before Professor Vega could comment on Kim's answer, there was a knock on the door and a blonde girl walked in.

"Professor Vega, I'm really sorry but there was Peeves and he was chasing me and he grabbed my bag and he ran - I mean, he flew away to the prefects bathroom and kept threatening to throw it in the loo and then I got all angry and he wouldn't give it back and-" the girl stopped, and Wade couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked. "I'm sorry." the girl finished. He was startled by how fast she had spoken, and also because Professor Vega hadn't even had time to say anything. Turning his attention from the girl, he looked at Professor Vega, waiting for her to keep the lesson going as she always did.

"One of its subspecies is the siren, which was discovered first. The sirens are also the ones that appear in muggles' paintings and literature. Actually, we describe them as the 'beautiful mermaids'" Kim's answer was nicely worded and Selene liked that her life as a muggle had shaped her knowledge.
Before she could comment on her student's answer, a knock on the door startled her, and before she could ask the person to come in, a blonde Slytherin girl walked in.
"Professor Vega, I'm really sorry but there was Peeves and he was chasing me and he grabbed my bag and he ran - I mean, he flew away to the prefects bathroom and kept threatening to throw it in the loo and then I got all angry and he wouldn't give it back and-" the girl stopped as Selene tried to follow with her story. "I'm sorry." the girl finally said.
After she gathered her thoughts, Selene spoke softly to her.
"It's alright, Miss Moss, I suppose?" she said as she glanced at a letter on her desk, informing her of the two new additions to her class.
"Well, now that you're here, tell me, what do you know about merpeople?" she said.

Selene Vega wrote:

"One of its subspecies is the siren, which was discovered first. The sirens are also the ones that appear in muggles' paintings and literature. Actually, we describe them as the 'beautiful mermaids'" Kim's answer was nicely worded and Selene liked that her life as a muggle had shaped her knowledge.
Before she could comment on her student's answer, a knock on the door startled her, and before she could ask the person to come in, a blonde Slytherin girl walked in.
"Professor Vega, I'm really sorry but there was Peeves and he was chasing me and he grabbed my bag and he ran - I mean, he flew away to the prefects bathroom and kept threatening to throw it in the loo and then I got all angry and he wouldn't give it back and-" the girl stopped as Selene tried to follow with her story. "I'm sorry." the girl finally said.
After she gathered her thoughts, Selene spoke softly to her.
"It's alright, Miss Moss, I suppose?" she said as she glanced at a letter on her desk, informing her of the two new additions to her class.
"Well, now that you're here, tell me, what do you know about merpeople?" she said.

Oh. That was alright then.

"Yeah, it's fine," Jen said, nodding impatiently. Wait. Merpeople? Was she s'posed to know about merpeople? They had tails and were really ugly, that was for sure. And that was all she knew, or could remember, anyway. She had only briefly looked through Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, just having a quick look at a few that she'd never heard of before.

Suddenly a tiny bit of knowledge crept into her head. Jennifer wasn't sure whether it was correct or not, but it was worth a try as she had no other answer. "Just like the Centaurs, they refused the status of Being in favour of Beast. Which I really don't get, 'cause I'd rather be Being any day," she said, puzzling over the creatures. She knew almost nothing else. Almost.

"Plus they're kinda freaky."

Jennifer Moss seemed to be thinking about her answer, until she finally said "Just like the Centaurs, they refused the status of Being in favour of Beast. Which I really don't get, 'cause I'd rather be Being any day,"
Selene nodded, amazed that a first year would know this.
"Plus they're kinda freaky." the student added. Selene chuckled, "Yeah, well, to some people they are kinda freaky."
She motioned to a stack of papers that lay on her desk and Gretchen began passing them out to each person.
"Keep this handout, you will need it for your open-note quiz." Selene informed them.
"Now, I would like to know what all of you already know about merpeople, but we don't have time to go one by one, so I need you to write a little about two or three things you already know and turn it in at my desk by the end of the class."
After Gretchen was done handing out the papers, Selene continued the lesson.
"Alright now, let's keep going. As you may already know because of Kim's answer, Sirens are what the muggles consider "mermaids". They are said to be beautiful and posses amazing singing voices, that as Wade said, lured sailors into their deaths. Here," she paused, and with a wave of her wand a drawing of a beautiful mermaid appeared on the board. "is what is most commonly seen in muggle folklore. Beautiful but deadly. They first originated in Greece and in warm water. Selkies of Scotland and Merrows of Ireland are somewhat similar to the Sirens, but much less beautiful. On the contrary, the merfolk we know, the ones that live in the Black Lake are not as pretty." she said and shook her head slightly, and with another wave of her wand, the drawing on the board changed into that of an evil looking creature.
"These are the merfolk that live in the Black Lake. They were used as a task in the Triwizard Tournament, during the 1990s, and as you may have guessed, they are pretty rude. Their skin is a grayish color, they are really thin, and with dark green hair." she waited, looking around to see the student's reactions.
“Mermaid language is know as Mermish.” She continued, getting a few giggles from some students.
“Yes, the name sounds funny, but it makes sense if you think about it. This language sounds like a loud screech when heard above water, but under it, it’s the most magnificent sound you’ll ever hear. It’s almost hypnotic.”
The drawing on the board changed to one of Christopher Columbus, the man who discovered America.
“Christopher Columbus reported the first sighting of the merfolk when he said that a member of his crew had seen, not only one, but three of them. Muggles belive that being away from land and away from people may cause sailors to hallucinate.”
Selene walked toward her desk and glanced at her lesson plans, she still had another handout to pass out to her students.
“You may now write your paper about what you know about merfolk. It can be anything at all, even legends and the likes. I want it by the end of class, and when you turn it in, please pick up the second handout.” She told them, and sat on her desk, making a list of what she needed to pick up for the next lesson.
“Oh, you may leave after you’re done, there is only a few minutes left.”


OOC: I will post the links to the handouts after I get home, sorry :/

Yay, her answer was right! Jennifer listened silently to all the professor had to say in addition to the other students' answers. As her desk was towards the front, she was one of the first to receive the handout, able to start her paper straight away.

She hurried her answers down as quickly as they came into her head, worried that she would forget the ideas after a minute or so. Jen didn't really bother with her handwriting or presentation, anxious to suck up and finish as soon as possible.

"Here you go, Professor Vega," the young girl said (as sweet and innocently as she possibly could) after she had finished, giving the teacher one of her most charming smiles. "I tried my best, but I'm worried it won't be enough." Yeah, that would do. Jen picked up one of the handouts, glancing at it quickly before putting it quickly in her bag. Actually, that might not have been the best idea.

What with the Peeves problem and everything.

Quote :

The oldest known Merpeople are called Sirens (from Greece) and are the beautiful type that muggles portray Merpeople as. The top half of their bodies resemble those of humans and supposedly have the same skeleton as us. Legends say that Sirens lure sailors to their death with charm and beauty.

The type of Merpeople in Hogwarts’ Black Lake are very different. They have greyish skin and long, green hair. Their eyes are a disgusting yellow colour, just like their broken teeth. It is said they wear ropes of pebbles around their necks as necklaces.

Other types of Merpeople are the Selkies of Scotland and the Merrows of Ireland.

Despite their differences, all types of Merpeople share a love of music. They all speak in Mermish, their own language. In the water, it sounds deep and enchanting but out of it, it sounds like loud, pitchy squeals.

Merpeople refused the status of Being in favour of Beast which, to reasonable, sane people, is quite hard to understand as there is no known reason.

By Jennifer Moss