Third Years Lesson One

Professor Adler was most excited about teaching her third years, if not for a slightly biased reason. She'd be able to see her sons and their friends working on the subject, although she had told herself strictly not to embarrass them or make a scene, anything really that would let other students know that she was related to a number of her pupils. Geo was sat at her desk as the third years began to enter the room, and she smiled as they took their seats, making note of the students that arrived later than others. No doubt by the time they were this age they knew who they'd like to sit next to, and whether they were the type of person to sit at the front or the back. Geo herself, back in her third year, had sat as close as she could to Professor Styx at any available opportunity.

"Welcome back to Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Geo stood from the desk, rounding it to stand at the front of the class as to address them better. "Some keen eyes in here may notice that I am not Professor Waldgrave," although there was of course nothing to stop the Metamorphmagus from not trying to resemble him, she supposed. "My name is Professor Adler and I will be teaching you for your third year," she told the class, hands clasped in front of her. It was always a precarious moment, where she was unsure about how the students would feel about that.

"This year we will be learning about something a little different." Defense Against the Dark Arts after all, wasn't only about the spells. "Can anyone tell me why we might be studying Creatures in this class, when there is already another elective, that some of you may well be taking this year, that is fully focused on Creatures?" Geo posed, giving the students a moment to think about their answers before nodding to one of the third years with their hand raised. "Very good! Ten points to you!", Professor Adler was happy to reward those that put themselves out there. "This year we'll be looking at a number of Creatures, but not those you'd likely find out on the grounds. These creatures will take advantage any way they can, some may even try to use parts of you against yourself." The Boggart could bring out the darkest parts of someone's fears. "However, as long as you're careful and you follow instruction you have nothing to worry about. We'll be training you on what to expect from these creatures as well as how to protect yourself, and believe you me I'd rather not see any one of you harmed at any point during a lesson." Whether it was a creature or from a spell, Professor Adler's role wasn't just to teach the students to defend themselves, but to ensure that they were protected while they were learning, too.

"Next week we will be discussing the topic of werewolves," Geo had befriended a werewolf while a student at school, and was more aware than most that you could be sat beside a werewolf and never know it. While she didn't like to suggest that those who were unfortunate enough to turn once a month were considered a dark creature, it would be wise to at least teach the students how to be careful. "I'd like you to bring a question about werewolves with you for the discussion next week, and we'll go into this in more detail. It also might be worth reading the chapter in your textbook about werewolves for the remainder of the lesson," Professor Adler began to head back to her seat. "And if you'd like to speak to me about anything prior to next week too, please come and see me after class."

---

To receive an O for this class
- Roleplay the lesson

For extra credit
- Answer Professor Adler's question
- Submit one question about werewolves for next week's discussion

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[Lilith Ilves]

Lilith was a bit hesitant about Defence Against The Dark Arts, though she knew it would be an important class the Professor made her little hesitant of it. She did not agree with his methods of using spells on his students, but she had also not seen him during the start of year feast, so she had little hope that maybe he wouldn't be in this year. As she walked to the classroom the first thing she did notice was a blonde woman, no Professor Waldgrave. She gave a silent sigh of relief before finding a place to sit in the second row, not too close but not too far. As the Professor introduced herself and asked a question Lilith immediately raised her hand. "There are some creatures considered dark and we learn how to properly deal with them." She smiled after her answer was done and continued listening. The thought of a creature using parts of yourself against you was nearly enough to make the third year shudder and she instinctively inched closer to Eoghan, perhaps to seek comfort for herself or confirmation that he was still there like he'd always be if she needed. As the lesson concluded Lilith gave a quick thank you and a smile to their new Professor, feeling much more comfortable with her teaching than she had with the Professor in her previous years.

Question: Have you ever encountered a werewolf? If so what was your experience(s) like?

 

[Amory Raven]

Amory sauntered to his DADA lesson, on time as promised to Professor Adler at the start of year feast, both hands in pockets of his trousers. He gave a grin to the Professor as he arrived with a quick, "Good morning Professor!" Before finding a seat to settle on. He sat down, leaning back and opening his books. As the lesson started he watched a certain Ravenclaw eagerly answer the question, Lilith kind of was like that as far as he was concerned. They'd never been best of friends but there was a mutual understanding of sorts between the two. One could say they were mutuals. He took no notes because frankly there was nothing of use being said yet or nothing he wouldn't remember later. He saluted their new Professor on his way out of the class.

 

[Susie Lagowski]

Susie was quite excited to be sharing her classes with all three other houses for once. She felt a bit like she'd upgraded to the next level of school. The fact that everybody in the class wanted to be there was bound to make the lessons a bit more fun, too - no more mopey kids wishing they were anywhere else.

She stopped dead as she entered the classroom. Huh? No Professor Waldgrave? A substitute? This lady? For the whole semester, maybe? Susie considered the desks and their proximity from the front of the classroom. That one there, centre-front, looked pretty good. She sat down. It should be illegal to have such lovely hair, she thought, as she got out her parchment and quill. Or such pretty eyes. She was vaguely aware that a question had been asked, but by the time it registered that she knew the answer, Lili had already beaten her to it. Aw. One down-side, of course, to sharing with the other houses, was that she was in more competition for extra credit.

Idly chewing her cheek, Susie took a few notes. It was nice to know she was going to be protected from the magical creatures they were working with, but she hoped the magical creatures were going to be protected from the students, too. She dog-eared a couple of pages in her textbook and headed out, already excited for the next lesson.

 

[Kanako Kurosawa]

Kanako entered the classroom, surprised to see a different professor. How interesting. She took a seat and waited to see what they'd be doing - hoping it'd be spells. It turned out not to be spells. Instead, it was a lecture. Kanako inwardly groaned but otherwise maintained her composure as the professor spoke. Werewolves at least was an interesting subject. It seemed this year would mostly be dark creatures, which made sense but wasn't as much fun as learning jinxes and hexes. Kanako supposed it couldn't always be what she wanted but shouldn't it be? She left after the lesson came to a close, a bit disappointed but a bit hopeful at the same time. It was her favourite class, after all.

 

[Primrose Kaster]

Prim was a bit excited to see that there was a new professor - she liked Waldgrave okay mostly, but wasn’t a massive fan of some of his teaching style, she wasn’t realy the kind who liked to stun her friends or other people in the class who were learning the same spells she was. She was only sort of interested in plants and how some of these spells could help her, not any of the other stuff really - enough to get her by, but she wasn’t expecting particularly good grades or anything. She already knew what she wanted to do after school and it wasn’t being an auror or anything like that. She wasn’t sure how she felt about learning about Creatures in this class though, because it was obviously going to be dark creatures or something. She looked over to Lilith when she answered the question from the professor, really not all that surprised to be honest because that was sort of Lilith’s thing. Good for her, she thought. She looked down at the textbook she’d bought for this class and flipped to the chapter about werewolves so she could think of a question to ask. She didn’t want to be the only one not to think of a question after all. Then when the class ended she packed up and headed out.​

Is Wolfsbane the only way for wolves to not lose their mind during a full moon?

 

[Alexander Blade II]

As Hogwarts classes went, Defence Against the Dark Arts had to be the worst. What was even the point? Who actually wanted to defend against the dark arts? They were obviously the much more interesting form of magic, being able to do things that were much more interesting than anything being taught at Hogwarts. He sighed inwardly as he walked into the classroom and took a seat as far away from the Professor as possible, it was exhausting just being in this classroom and he doubted his opinion on that would change in any way. He listened half-heartedly as the professor spoke, making the absolutely bare minimum of notes, and scribbling down the quickest of questions about werewolves before leaving and heading off to find something much more fun to do, having not even bothered to take down any notes on a class that he was certain that he could pass in his sleep.

Do you think werewolves would make good pets?

 

[Nox Walden-Cade]

Nobody had told Nox that his mother would be waiting for him when he got to Hogwarts, and worse still, that she would be one of his teachers. It would be one thing if it were like Dad and he wouldn’t have to deal with her for a couple of years, but no, Mum was teaching his year group! Nox didn’t meet her gaze as he swept into the classroom and took a seat. He didn't want to draw too much attention to the fact that his mother was at the front of the classroom. He loved his mother dearly, but what thirteen-year-old boy would be glad to see his mother in his classroom?

Once he got over the shock of finding her there, Nox started listening to his mom talk about defence against the dark arts, a subject he enjoyed. Mom explained that they would be learning about creatures, which seemed odd. It seemed even after deciding he wasn’t taking care of magical creatures class, there was no escaping magical creatures. The way his mom talked about the type of creatures they would be learning about sent a shiver down his spine. She had always been captivating when telling a story, he’d just never heard her use that ability to talk about dark and dangerous things before. She also had a way of making him feel relieved, and he fully trusted her when she said she would teach them what to expect from those creatures and, in some cases, maybe even fend them off.

They’d be starting strong with werewolves, which would be a really interesting lesson if not a little terrifying. Once they were dismissed Nox gathered up his notes and packed everything away and left the classroom.

 

[William Potter-Cade]

As weird as it was for him to have his aunt as his new defence against the dark arts teacher, he knew it would be even worse for Lumos and Nox to have their mother around. William could relate to how they felt; his own mother was a professor, but at least she was only a temp, although he had once thought that of his mum, and she was now very much not a temp. William to Professor Aunt Geo as she introduced herself and started talking about magical creatures, he was already taking care of magical creatures, so he was a little confused as to why it was coming up in this class too, though Geo also explained that. He made notes of the different creatures they would be covering during the year; the darker they were, the cooler they sounded, and they’d be starting with arguably the coolest of them all. Werewolves! Once the lesson was over, he gathered up the notes he’d taken and left the classroom.

 

[Forrest Kaster]

There seemed to be a lot of awkward looks and shifting from some students in the defence against the dark arts classroom when Forrest made his way inside. He wasn’t sure why, was there something about the professor that people didn’t like? Or was it another example of her being related to some of them, that seemed to be a regular occurrence at the school and Forrest wasn’t immune to it either. Professor Adler seemed engaging and fun and Forrest was looking forward to see what kind of teacher she was like over the coming semester. He wasn’t sure how long she would be around, she was for now a temp but if she stayed she wouldn’t be the first to do so.

Once everyone had settled down Professor Adler started talking about magical creatures which would be the focus of their third year. Forrest was also taking care of magical creatures that year so he wasn’t immune excited to learn about creatures from two different perspectives. Professor Adler would be focusing on darker creatures, dangerous ones. Forrest took out a roll of parchment and started taking notes about some of the creatures that the professor mentioned. Once the lesson was over Forrest packed up his notes and made his way out of the classroom once they had been dismissed.

 

[Elijah Edogawa]

Eli didn’t like professor Waldgrave very much, and he was pretty sure he’d made that pretty clear over the last two years he’d been having to deal with him in the school. So he almost both was, and wasn’t surprised when he realised there was another professor in the man’s place. As there should bt, he thought, because dealing with Waldgrave was hard. He didn’t like it. He quickly moved in to sit near his roommate Forrest as the professor introduced herself as Professor Adler and he got ready to take some notes. He hadn’t really been expecting a new professor so he was kind of glad about that if he was honest. It was all rather fascinating he thought, and he wanted to learn as much as he could from the woman, since she said she would be teaching them for their third year, which made him think this might have been a temporary posting - perhaps professor Waldgrave was ill. He hoped not, because he would never wish something like that on anyone, but he really didn’t like the man. When the class ended, he made sure he had everything he needed and then wrote down a question they could use to discuss werewolves before heading out.
​

If someone close to you became a werewolf, would there be a way to safely help them through their transformations, or is distance the only option?​

 

[Jonah Edogawa]

Jonah slipped into the classroom and paled as he saw his boyfriend's mother inside the classroom. It didn't take him more than another second to decide to skitter over to his siblings because nope, nope. It was too late though since Eli had decided to sit with another Ravenclaw and Eury had gone to sit with William. Sayuri apparently was going to sit with Rose. Which left Jonah... to just sit in the back corner and keep his head down really low. Defense was one of his worst classes. It was bad enough finding out that Lumos' dad was the Gryffindor Head of House and the Defense professor for the upper years - he was pretty sure the man hated him. Now, Lumos' mum was the lower years professor. She was going to hate Jonah. So yeah, best to just... lay low... like really, really, really low. He did perk up though when the professor mentioned they'd be learning creatures. He didn't think they'd be learning about creatures outside of Care of Magical Creatures. A class that Jonah was also taking this semester. He kept quiet when she asked questions and just watched everything happening. The creatures they'd be studying... he didn't want to think to hard on it. He wrote a note for himself to remind himself to read up on werewolves. And to prepare a question. When the class ended, Jonah hurried out of the classroom before anyone could think to stop him.​

 

[Winnie Calida]

Winnie walked into the defence against the dark arts classroom and took her usual spot in the room. She looked towards the professor and frowned a little, since this was not the professor they were used to having. She nodded as the woman introduced herself and then introduced what they would be covering within the semester. She was surprised by the subject matter but then as the professor went on to explain it, it made more sense. She took a few notes on what they would be covering and then the lesson was wrapped up with a little homework. Winnie packed up and headed out of the room.

 

[Daiki Saito]

Daiki walked into the defence against the dark arts classroom and took his usual spot in the room. He kept the spot next to him open for Kairi. He glanced at the professor at the front of the room and then nodded somewhat to what was being said. He took his quill and had it in his hand as the professor told them they’d be covering creatures, he wasn’t all that keen to face off with a boggart, and shot a glance to Kairi, sure that she would feel the same. Eventually the lesson was wrapped up and he headed out of the class.

 

[Sophie Shepherd]

Sophie didn't mind that she was back at Hogwarts. Sure, she missed her muggle friends, but she was also glad to see her friends at Hogwarts as well. The Ravenclaw had also liked her dada classes so far, and was keen to learn more if she was honest. The girl quickly packed the things she needed for the lesson and hurriedly made her way down to her dada classroom. Once she arrived, she quickly took a seat in her usual spot, took out the things she needed and placed them on the desk in front of her.

Sophie moved her attention towards the professor once the lesson had begun, and that's when Sophie had noticed that it was a whole different professor. She seemed nice, and she wondered what the professor's teaching style was like. Sophie made sure to listen closely to what the professor had said as she didn't want to miss out on anything important. She also took notes of what the professor had been saying, anything she thought was important. They were learning about different creatures this year which made Sophie excited and she couldn't wait to find out what creatures they'd be learning about. Sophie nodded her head from time to time throughout the lesson, showing the professor that she was understanding the content that was being told to them.

It wasn't long until the lesson had come to an end, and they were dismissed. Sophie made sure to take note of what to bring to next lesson. She then packed up her things and tidied up her area. Sophie then says a quick and appreciative thanks and goodbye to the professor before heading out of the classroom with her friends and the rest of her classmates

whats the most dangerous thing about a werewolf?

 

[Lumos Walden-Cade]

Lumos had been annoyed to be the only one not told his mother would be teaching this year, but he didn’t mind it so much really. He was hoping everyone go to see how cool his mother was. So when he walked into the classroom, he flicked his hand out to squeeze Jonah’s and let’s him know he has to sit at the front. Jonah squeezed his hand back and nodded and so he continued to the front, nodding to Nox - "come sit with me!" - where he sat next to Susie. He didn’t mind Susie, though he hadn’t spoken much to her. He wondered if he could get back into Tori’s good books through Susie, but he wasn’t that much of a manipulator to risk trying right now. When the class finally ended, he quickly scribbled out a question about werewolves, before heading out of the classroom.
​

Can werewolves remember what they did during the full moon, and does that make it worse for them emotionally afterward?​

GM approved

 

[Eoghan Blyth]

It was strange to Eoghan, how those in his year group seemed to be coming together. Having all the houses under one roof for a subject was a nice change, and even for someone like the Ravenclaw who didn't consider himself to be the most social person, he was glad to have everyone coming together. He'd taken a seat next to Lilith, glad to see that Professor Waldgrave seemed to have been replaced even if it was only for a short period of time. Eoghan could have sworn he still felt the pain of knees being twisted from last year. With a glance to Susie, he was vaguely aware she was looking at the professor in a similar way that Lilith had to Professor Odegard a couple of years ago, although he didn't mention anything to those around him. He took some notes about what they'd be doing in the lesson, although there was a sense around him that something else was different in this class, something he couldn't put a finger on. Susie may have been gazing at Professor Adler, but others seemed to be avoiding eye contact all together. At the end of the lesson he packed up his things, making a mental note to check out who this new professor really was.

 

[Felix Layton-King]

Felix was beyond excited for DADA, if not because it would be a chance to meet Mrs James Cade. Sure, perhaps the woman would recognise him as the boy who didn't want to be with Esme, but it wasn't like Esme was her daughter, so she shouldn't mind, right? After William had filled him in about how his Aunt was coming to school (and how he felt about his sister which Felix still wasn't sure how to process) he'd also heard from Jonah that his boyfriend's mum was joining the school. It was only when he'd stepped foot in the class to see a blonde that he'd put two and two together, remembering the twins were related to Will.

The third year glanced across the room to see Eury cozied up to William (better her than Ten), and with a glance to Jonah he spotted the Hufflepuff sat by himself, Lumos up at the front near his mum. He slipped into the seat beside him, hoping that he'd not feel as left out or sticking out for being by himself, if Felix took a seat next to him. It was still strange Tori not being here, even with so many other students in the room. As the Professor began to talk about the werewolves, Felix was pretty sure he didn't know anyone that was a werewolf, nor anyone that had ever encountered one, although his middle name was Wolf so that was something. He wrote a few notes and handed in a question for the discussion, curious to see how things would play out around him.

What's the worst thing a werewolf could do?

(OOC: Painful to write re the werewolves)

 

[Demi Zephyr]

Demi didn't overly care about the subject of the dark arts, it just wasn't something that had ever appealed to her. What did however, was spending more time with her best friends mum. Demi had of course already met Geo when she'd gone to Lumos' house over the holidays, but seeing both his dad and mum at the school was exciting, especially since she was the megatron. So far, Demi hadn't actually seen her change her form and only had Lumos' word to go by, so as she took a seat near Lumos and Susie at the front of the class, she was excitedly waiting for her to prove to them what she could do. "How do you get her to do something?" she'd been whispering to the Slytherin between notes, although Demi was only half paying attention to what it was she was writing. The third year was also making a point to blank William and Eury who were snuggled up in the corner, honestly it was pretty disgusting how close they were in public these days. She preferred to just pretend they didn't exist at all, and would only even look at the students now that were worth her time. The last two years had been rough but this year, this year would be different and she was ready to thrive for herself. She couldn't lie and say she wasn't glad to see Tori had left the school too, although unfortunately it sounded as though that would be temporary.

Can a Metamorphmagus turn into a werewolf too? If so, can you prove it?

 

[Esme Styx-Cade]

When Esme had spent the holidays at her dad’s house and saw so much of her… stepmother? She guessed that was what Geo was now, she hadn’t expected to go back to school and see the woman standing at the front of her Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Luckily, Geo had been nothing buy welcoming to her and her sister, so Esme felt at ease seeing the woman as her teacher, she just found it odd that Hogwarts seemed to hire the parents of so many students to teach there, it almost seemed like a job requirement to have kids at the school before being hired.

Professor Adler, as Geo introduced herself as, began by telling them they would be studying magical creatures for their third year. Esme had chosen not to take care of magical creatures because she had no interest in studying creatures; life was funny sometimes. She took out a roll of parchment and took a few small notes based on what Professor Adler said, but it was nothing too detailed, as it was mostly an introductory lesson. With the lesson over, Esme made a quick note of her question for the following lesson, then packed up and left the classroom.