"Hello, everyone," she started, once everyone had taken their seats. "We're going to have a pretty laid back and different sort of class today. Kind of." She shrugged, looking at the students with her face twisting into more of a smirk. "Before we get into it though, I thought I'd briefly touch on what we started with the Labyrinth of Crete. Hopefully you'll remember who built it. Anyone?" She waited expectantly for someone to give the answer, and was somewhat relieved when they did.
"Thank you. Yes, now Daedalus didn't just build the Labyrinth. He was a very talented inventor and builder, and perhaps his most known creation is also something of a cautionary tale." Trina pushed herself up to sit on the desk, casually swinging her crossed ankles. "Daedalus had a son, Icarus. When the two of them were put into the labyrinth, Daedalus built them both wings of feathers and wax in order to fly up and out. A precursor to our brooms, perhaps. But Icarus was warned not to fly too close to the sun...and he flew higher and higher, until the sun melted the wax and he fell to earth. Nowadays, we use the phrase 'don't fly too close to the sun' to mean don't get too carried away." She noted the somewhat bored looking faces and chuckled to herself.
"Alright, I'm not actually lecturing today, promise. I do have something slightly more interesting planned. I don't know if any of you know about the Triwizard Tournament? A couple of them were held here...way before any of you were born. Don't worry if you haven't, as you'll learn about it properly with Professor Borisyuk, but to summarize, it was a dangerous test of skill, where promising young witches and wizards were put into situations that would probably raise some alarm from workplace health and safety. You know, stealing things from dragons, diving into the depths of the lake, and so on. There was quite the death toll. The most famous tournament was held in 1994, when Harry Potter competed. He was a fourth year at the time, so, imagine you had to go steal an egg from a dragon tomorrow. Wouldn't be great, would it?" She raised an eyebrow at the students, before continuing. "The final test was a maze that was filled with all sorts of traps. No minotaurs, though."
"But here's what I want you to do for the rest of the class. Normally in this lesson I'd get my fourth years to put together a general death trap filled labyrinth, and I do have some resources here from Defence and Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures for that purpose. However, since it's a special year, what I would like to do have you convert the school into a labyrinth. Hypothetically, unfortunately, we can't go setting trolls loose in the dungeons. What I would like you to do is tell me where in the school you would hide a treasure, or perhaps keep something you don't want getting out trapped. And then I'd like you to come up with some sort of trap or security measure you'd put in place. Think of the curses at Gringotts, or the carnivorous creatures that live in the lake. Allegedly. Or those delightful statues with their charming riddles. Or the far less charming poltergeist." Trina rather liked the riddles, though she knew they were divisive. Her opinion of the poltergeist was low, to say the least. "It could be something you've learned about already - maybe you'd put a boggart in a dark corner of the maze. Or something you might not have, which is why I've got these books here as inspiration - maybe Devil's Snare, if any of you are keen herbologists." Trina looked around with a grin. "So, grab some snacks, have a look through the books, chat amongst yourselves, and let's turn the school into our very own labyrinth-slash-fortress."
Homework
RP the lesson. Extra credit for completing the homework questions of 'where in the school would you hide or trap something' and 'what measure would you use to protect it' (and please do if you have the brain power and time for it, it's a special version this IC year that will be properly archived!). Extra credit to the first poster to answer the question.
"Thank you. Yes, now Daedalus didn't just build the Labyrinth. He was a very talented inventor and builder, and perhaps his most known creation is also something of a cautionary tale." Trina pushed herself up to sit on the desk, casually swinging her crossed ankles. "Daedalus had a son, Icarus. When the two of them were put into the labyrinth, Daedalus built them both wings of feathers and wax in order to fly up and out. A precursor to our brooms, perhaps. But Icarus was warned not to fly too close to the sun...and he flew higher and higher, until the sun melted the wax and he fell to earth. Nowadays, we use the phrase 'don't fly too close to the sun' to mean don't get too carried away." She noted the somewhat bored looking faces and chuckled to herself.
"Alright, I'm not actually lecturing today, promise. I do have something slightly more interesting planned. I don't know if any of you know about the Triwizard Tournament? A couple of them were held here...way before any of you were born. Don't worry if you haven't, as you'll learn about it properly with Professor Borisyuk, but to summarize, it was a dangerous test of skill, where promising young witches and wizards were put into situations that would probably raise some alarm from workplace health and safety. You know, stealing things from dragons, diving into the depths of the lake, and so on. There was quite the death toll. The most famous tournament was held in 1994, when Harry Potter competed. He was a fourth year at the time, so, imagine you had to go steal an egg from a dragon tomorrow. Wouldn't be great, would it?" She raised an eyebrow at the students, before continuing. "The final test was a maze that was filled with all sorts of traps. No minotaurs, though."
"But here's what I want you to do for the rest of the class. Normally in this lesson I'd get my fourth years to put together a general death trap filled labyrinth, and I do have some resources here from Defence and Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures for that purpose. However, since it's a special year, what I would like to do have you convert the school into a labyrinth. Hypothetically, unfortunately, we can't go setting trolls loose in the dungeons. What I would like you to do is tell me where in the school you would hide a treasure, or perhaps keep something you don't want getting out trapped. And then I'd like you to come up with some sort of trap or security measure you'd put in place. Think of the curses at Gringotts, or the carnivorous creatures that live in the lake. Allegedly. Or those delightful statues with their charming riddles. Or the far less charming poltergeist." Trina rather liked the riddles, though she knew they were divisive. Her opinion of the poltergeist was low, to say the least. "It could be something you've learned about already - maybe you'd put a boggart in a dark corner of the maze. Or something you might not have, which is why I've got these books here as inspiration - maybe Devil's Snare, if any of you are keen herbologists." Trina looked around with a grin. "So, grab some snacks, have a look through the books, chat amongst yourselves, and let's turn the school into our very own labyrinth-slash-fortress."
Homework
RP the lesson. Extra credit for completing the homework questions of 'where in the school would you hide or trap something' and 'what measure would you use to protect it' (and please do if you have the brain power and time for it, it's a special version this IC year that will be properly archived!). Extra credit to the first poster to answer the question.
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