Lesson Two (Second Years)

Iris nodded at Alessa's reply and didn't spoke for the discussion had already started. She thought of common dark creatures and raised her hand. "Do Boggarts count professor?" She asked shyly.

"Grindylows!" Anna exclaimed almost immediately after Iris's answer. "And do basilisks count?"

"Banshees," Nat replied calmly.

Alessa mouthed something that says 'I'll explain later' towards Alexis and smiled as she raised her hand. "Pogrebin's a dark creature, isn't it?"

"Inferi," Laedin hummed inquiringly, looking around to all the other teachers. He smiled lightly at all the other answers. They were really good.

"Red caps and ghouls." she said confidently.

Cobalt rolled his eyes and gave a long suffering sigh,

"I meant one at a time..." he commented tiredly before nodding a little, "Alright..."

He paused for a moment,

"Yes dementors, Miss Hope." he said as he wrote the creature down on the board, "Five points to slytherin."

"Boggarts do count Miss Frances." he said as he wrote the creature down on the board, "No points because you phrased it as a question."

"Grindylows are correct Miss Tshering." he said as he wrote the creature down on the board, "Five points to Ravenclaw and no, Basilisks do not count as Dark Creatures. Merely extremely dangerous magical creatures."

"Banshees are indeed dark creatures Miss Finnigan." he said as he wrote the creature down on the board, "Five points to Gryffindor."

"Pogrebins?" he glanced at the girl with a raised eyebrow, "Maybe if you're a five year old. No, most people do not consider them as such and neither does the ministry."

"Inferi..." he paused and glanced at the boy who had spoken, "Ten points to Ravenclaw if you can tell me what an Inferi actually is."

He nodded at the last girl,

"Yes Miss Bourque. Five points to Ravenclaw." he decided before stepping away from the board and glancing back at the class, "Any others?"

"Umm how about Runespoors, Acromantula, or even Werewolves?" Tobi replied.

"What about vampires, Professor?" Iris asked.

Belle frowned. She wouldn't consider a werewolf a dark creature. Well, it depended on the man within the werewolf, she supposed. She tilted her head to one side and looked through the window, and began to speculate.

Cobalt nodded and pointed at Tobias without looking away from the board,

"Correct Mr Forsyte." he nodded as he wrote all three up on the board, "All three are considered dark creatures by the Ministry of Magic. Fifteen points to hufflepuff."

He pointed to Iris,

"Correct." he commented as he wrote it down, "Five points to Gryffindor."

Cobalt spun round to face the class and pointed to the word 'Dementors',

"Give me a trait of a dementor."

Tobi thought for a few seconds before replying, "Well the most fearful aspect of a Dementor is that they can literally suck the happiness from you."

"They are covered in long, ripped black cloths," Anna answered. "They only have a mouth on their face, to, as my fellow classmate said, suck the happiness out of you. This action is known as the Dementor's Kiss."

'Actually they suck the soul out of the victim when they perform 'The Kiss'.' Alexis corrected Anna.

Iris nodded and was quite disappointed for her answer didn't result a point for their house. The battle for house points is getting tougher. "Dementors leave you without a soul and it's worse than dying. They guard Azkaban and make the prisoners mad and mental." She added confidently and sure enough, that was not a question.

"Dementors hold no true loyalty, except to whomever can provide them with the most people to feed off. They can't be destroyed completely either." Iris stated.

"They're not in Azkaban anymore," Anna corrected. "Ever since the end of the Second Wizardry War, the number of Dementors have greatly decreased because there is not much sorrow left in the world anymore."

"Another important trait of dementors is temparature drops several degrees when they are nearby." Alexis added. This class was going polar opposite to the previous class.

Iris answered back nicely and suddenly remembered that. "Oh, right. When they suck your soul you feel like there's no reason to be happy anymore. All those happiest memories - gone." She became sort of sad at the thought.

Cobalt nodded and made the note on the board beside the dementor,

"Very good Mr Forsyte." he smiled a little, "Five points to Hufflepuff for correctly identifying the aura of dispair."

He raised an eyebrow,

"I believe I only asked for a trait. Singular. But whatever." he muttered to himself before nodding, "I'll accept the clothing from you Miss Tshering but I give Slytherin Five points for Miss Hope's correction of the definition of the dementor's kiss."

Cobalt paused,

"I will give you five points to Slytherin for most of your summary Miss Frances but..." he gave her a glance, "As no one has ever experienced being souless without losing the power of speech, you are unqualified to make the assumption that it is an existence worse than death."

He nodded a little,

"True point about their loyalties. Five points to Gryffindor. It is not known if something can kill them... this doesn't make them invincible, remember that." he cautioned the Gryffindor, before rolling his eyes at the Ravenclaw's answer, "Oh please stop being so dizzyingly naive Miss Tshering. There are still dementors at Azkaban and their numbers are still as strong as ever, the world doesn't become a happy place because one war is over. Five points from Ravenclaw for uncharacteristic stupidity."

Cobalt nodded,

"Five points to Slytherin for the aura of cold being correctly identified." he paused and shrugged, "We don't know that Miss Frances. When they suck your soul we don't know what the victim feels. It is their aura, as identified by Mr Forsyte, that gives that impression."

He paused,

"Someone tell me how to fight a dementor."

"In order to fight a dementor, we have to use the Patronus Charm. But for the spell to work, we need to think of a happy memory." Iris replied. "The incantation is 'Expecto Patronum.'"

Of course! There are still dementors in Azkaban. It will always be there for the wizard criminals. Ugh. Iris thought grumpily in her head. She thanked the professor with an approving nod and a sly smile. This class is going to be rough I reckon. Anna lose enough points already today for her own house. She determined a face without showing what's actually inside it by chuckling softly at what's happening in the lesson. Girl fight? At least I got points though. There is obviously one method on defeating dementors. Iris continued to think. She then thought about the Ravenclaw girl reading minds and eventually stopped for the better. After stopping, Iris sensed that the emotion around is becoming more intense. Might as well consider some blowing up already in their insides. She kidded in her thoughts, imagining the second years drenched with terrifying looks. Oh stop it I! You're too immature! She halted herself once more, remembering she was not the only one who can freely speak of criticisms in her mind and read them by another student.

Cobalt nodded before pointing his wand straight out,

"Expecto Patronum!" he declared forcefully, a white light bursting forth from his wand tip. The light condensed into a form smaller than any of the children in the lesson. After a few seconds it condensed once again and took the shape of a kitten. Said kitten mewed happily before prancing around the room in mid-air, "My patronus. Gets meaner I can assure you."

With another pulse of white magic the kitten was immediately replaced by a giant tiger, which roared challengingly at the class before disappearing. Cobalt shrugged,

"Any other ideas on fighting a dementor?" he asked the class, "Bearing in mind their aura of cold."

At Smith's question an imposible idea came to Alex's mind. Had anyone tried incendio on their robes? But even she knew the idea was a crack, so she chose to keep silent.

Iris turned her attention on the patronus. She smiled at the thought of her pet and what her patronus might be. She kept silent for now since she had no idea what so ever of fighting a dementor except the partonus charm.