DADA 4.3

[wei]

Ash looked around her, for the tank that Professor Raynor was talking about. Her eyes finally landed on something rectangular in shape and inside was... She swallowed deeply and her heart began to pound at an extreme rate. She couldn't keep her eyes off of the creature and she knew exactly what it was.

It glided around the tank, swiftly, like a black ghost. She had read all about them in many of her books and text books. Ash was quite fasinated with them although seeing the real thing gave her quite a fright. She didn't bother to raise her hand and just sort of stuttered, " Lethifold... its a lethifold."

[ienzo6]

Well, it looked like the mystery of what was inside the tank was solved for the students in one smooth arm motion by Professor Raynor. The cloth had been covering a tank containing... another cloth? Pat's head failed to take the creature for what it actually was for a couple seconds, but it then hit him hardly a moment before Ash delivered her stuttering answer, confirming what he himself thought.

A Lethifold... Pat thought, gazing at the creature also known as the Living Shroud. He couldn't see the tank particularly well, but his eyes had adjusted enough to see that the Lethifold lived up to it's namesake; if it hadn't been moving, it would have looked like any other black cloak. Which was what made it deadly.

As Ash had declined from answering the second part to Raynor's question, Pat did so himself. "The Lethifold loves the dark, and hates light. That's why you had us not use our wands for light; it woulda upset the Lethifold," Pat answered, keeping his eyes on the Dark creature. It looked graceful, but it was still very dangerous...

[roarbitz]

When Jack's eyes had adjusted to the minimal light he looked around and could know see most of what was around him and in the room. He glanced at the tank that was by the Professor, taking in the creature that was in it, and immediately he knew what they were studying and why the classroom was so dark. Before he could raise his hand, which didn’t even occur to him to be pointless because of the lack of light, Ash had already answered Raynor’s question, well at least part of the question, and Pat was adding to the information. Oh well. Can’t get it every time. he thought to himself as listened to the two speaking.

[verina]

It took a moment longer for Verina's eyes to adjust to the lighting once they had she realized it hadn't been all that dark to begin with. What must have caught them all off guard was the fact that it had been so dark to begin with and the act of leaving a bright hallway.

Her eyes widened as she realized just how much closer she was was to the tank than the others. She didn't find this whole turn of events very comforting. Verina decided that she was safe and listened to what both Pat and Ash had to say about the Lethifold.

[Tamis Raynor]

"Correct! Ten points to both Miss Xin and Mr. Nollet. Though Mr. Nollet is only correct in essence. A lethifold is not hate light per say, but it is a nocturnal creature and any truly strong light will upset our friend here and we will not be able to observe him at maximum advantage. The room was darkened to get his used to these surroundings."

During the narration, the professor had reached inside the desk and pulled out a small wax paper package. For the moment, she placed it next to the tank without removing its contents.

"Lethifolds are usually found in tropical climates. The chances of any of you crossing paths with one here is highly unlikely. I crossed paths with this particular fellow during a stage of auror training in Africa. Luckily, I found sleeping on hard roots and rocks rather uncomfortable and was able to fend him off before it was too late." She had not been as awake as she claimed and it had taken the help of two of her fellow trainees, but that did not have to be added into the tale.

"Most are not as lucky. Being nocturnal, lethifolds hunt for sleeping victims as they are the must vulnerable. Its cloak like appearance allows it to slither into houses and under doorways with ease and also creates a successful cocoon for their next meal as lethifolds preferred method of eating is to wrap around their victim, suffocate them, and then absorb them into their bodies."

And that was putting it into light terms. "With that said, if all of you could move forward, I have a short demonstration for you. You will need to be close to see this." Most of the students by default had picked seats in the back of the room. Something within her tone made her question seem more like a command. For those that could see it, her arched eyebrow certainly led to believe such.

"Now, watch carefully." She stated once the majority of the class had assembled around herself and the tank. Then she unraveled the package revealing raw chicken inside. Carefully lifting a latch at the top of the tank, Raynor dropped the meat in with a loud thud. Almost immediately the lethifold swarmed it; laying over top of it. Within seconds it moved away, not even bone left behind, though it did seem somewhat thicker.

"He could do the same thing with any one else in this room," she needlessly explained. And ah, then the smirk appeared, "But, is he truly a dark creature?"

[roarbitz]

Jack listened intently to what the Professor was saying about Lethifolds. They seemed like really interesting creatures, but none of which he had any inkling to meet in a uncontrolled setting. He would just enjoy seeing it through the tank or however the teacher decided to show it to them and pray he never came across one on his own.

He was sitting pretty far away from the tank and when asked/demanded to move forward he did so. He wanted to be able to see the demonstration and from the place he was sitting he could barely make out the creatures outline let alone see it properly. But when he moved forward he could see it perfectly and watched as she threw the chicken in, cringing a bit as it devoured it.

[ienzo6]

Pat also moved forward when Raynor beckoned him to, but almost wished he hadn't when he saw the demonstration himself. It wasn't as if there was anything gory about it; he could see clearly enough that there was nothing remaining where the raw chicken had been. But the sight of it gave Pat goosebumps to some extent. The sight of it was a little eerie, and Raynor mentioning that it could do the same to any of them wasn't exactly comforting, even if he had already known it.

The last bit of Raynor's lecture posed a good question. Were Lethifolds Dark creatures? Pat's initial reaction was yes. They shied away from light, thrived in darkness, they moved so eerily, same with they way they ate, the list could go on.

But still, all those factors meant nothing on whether or not it was a Dark creature. Did it do what it had to do to live, or did it actively go around hurting and killing? Now Pat doubted his initial thoughts... and it would be just like raynor to throw a tricky question at them, with an answer they wouldn't expect. "...No?" Pat said hesitantly, still not quite sure what the answer actually was. Feeling that wasn't enough to answer, he added, "'Cause they do what they do to live?"

[Tamis Raynor]

Ah, a tricky question it was, but not in the way that Mr. Nollet was thinking. For, by proposing the question, she was forcing the class to think about it. And for having a history of being sly with these open ended questions that she seemed to favor and in doing so made most reconsider what would appear to be an obvious answer. Which was in fact just what she had wanted one of them to do whereas the initial obvious answer was actually the correct one... if for different reasons.

"Ten more points to Hufflepuff for having retained knowledge from your second year on Dark Creatures, but no, that is not the correct answer." She replied conversationally. "They do act out of instinct. They kill to eat and simply happen to be a nocturnal creature. They are not excessively aggressive creatures, if they were they would not prefer sleeping victims and shed from those that are awake. And in that respect, no, they are not dark creatures."

She let them take in that information, and no doubt had just confused the hippogriffs out of half of the fourth years with the contradiction. After a moment, she pressed on.

"However, our friend here can only be repelled one way from a victim; with a Patronus Charm. The only real known other dark creature or being with this same weakness are dementors. So, I will rephrase. Why are they dark creatures?"

[roarbitz]

Jack was a bit confused about how Pat’s answer could be wrong but at the same time he could be right in his facts. But with the next bit of information about the creatures that the Professor gave them everything clicked into place or so he thought. He thought he knew why they were dark creatures so he raise his hand and took a stab at the question. “They are dark creatures because they are afraid of the light or at least the positive energy that the Patronus Charm gives off. If they weren’t truly dark creatures then they wouldn’t fear the Patronus Charm or positive energy because it wouldn’t affect them.” he said wondering if he was making any kind of sense whatsoever, but thinking at least he had given it a shot.

[Tamis Raynor]

A rare not haunting smile spread across the Professor's lips. "Very good, Mr. Roarbitz! Ten points to Ravenclaw. Patronus' repel dementors as they are beings of pure happy thoughts and positive energy, and dementors, whom feed upon negative energy cannot stand them. We believe that lethifolds react in a similar manner. Very good indeed."

And now, the whole point behind the lesson and the closing factors of it. She crossed her arms slightly and leaned against the tank, giving it a small pat of affection.

"That said, we have -- coincidentally -- been practicing Patronus' for a good part of the year. Any one willing to try and face our friend here?"

In any other situation, that might be dangerous. But anyone who knew anything at all about Raynor knew that she never did anything that would result in putting her students in harms way. At least not intentionally.

[verina]

Verina gulped slightly from where she sat which was a mere few feet from the tank of the Lethifold. Her eyes shot away from the creature in the tank to their professor at her next words. She wasn't sure that anyone would want to be within attacking distance of the thing in that tank. Come on, Verina you can do this, she told herself her eyes returning to the lethifold.

"I'll do it Professor," Verina said as she raised her hand quite surprised at her own actions. Her nervousness and slight fear of the thing in the tank was now replaced with a quiet determination. She wasn't sure she'd do a great job but she'd give it a try.

[Anna Becket]

Anna stared at the tank as Prof. Raynor asked who wanted to be the first volunteer, or victim, depends which way you look at it. The lentifold sounded pretty scary to deal with, especially if you need to learn something as complex as a patronus to deal with it. When Varina volunteered, Anna's gaze focused from the lentifold to her. Looks like she was going to be the first volunteer for this. Anna herself wasn't ready for this because who knows how her patronus would turn out when she faced the thing.