T7, L1: Kappas

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Have a seat and talk quietly amongst yourselves until class begins

These were the words that appeared on the board with a wave of his wand as Ash prepared for his first day as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. In his two and a half years since his days as a student here at Hogwarts, he had been the Flying teacher, Muggle Studies professor, he had worked at Queen's Apparel, worked at Club Motion, and now he was back at the castle as DADA professor.

Defence had always been one of his best classes, but he still wasn't 100% positive that he was ready to teach it. Still, he would give it his best shot and try his best to prepare his students for the very real dangers of the world. Now, the odds that some Dark creature or witch or wizard would randomly attack them, were pretty low. Or, maybe not with the way things were going lately. Either way, it never hurt to be prepared; and that was exactly what Ash planned on doing. Preparing them. Better safe than sorry.

As Ash leaned back against his desk, he thought about all the plans he had for this class. It was definitely going to be an interesting year and he couldn't wait to get started!

[Morsley Driver]

Moo-head was, as usual, quite excited for her first class of the term. Learning and books were definitely her forte so she knew that she would have an absolute ball. And that the first class was Defence made her all the more excited. While they had had numerous teachers for this subject the last few years, Moo knew the new teacher personally. He had been a few years ahead of her when he attended school but they had been in the same house and so spoke when they were in the same room.

This did raise a problem for the young Ravenclaw though. Knowing a teacher personally meant there might be some awkwardness, she imagined, never having been in this position before. The girl felt confident though that there would be no such awkwardness as the two Ravenclaws had always gotten along splendidly.

Morsley had a free before Defence so made good time in getting to the lesson. She was not at all surprised to see, as she opened the door and surveyed the room, that she was the first there. That was not strictly true, as the professor, Ashton, was there already. Moo-head gave him her biggest, warmest smile as she shut the door behind her and made for a desk in the second row. She didn't want to seem too keen so the second row was acceptable.

"Morning Ash," Moo greeted, as she dropped her bag onto the floor and the pile of books and pieces of parchment she'd been carrying onto the table. "Oh, sorry. Professor." She stressed the last word with a small giggle and a warm smile. She slipped into her chair and lent on the desk. "How you feeling for today's lesson, then?"

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash grinned as his friend and former Housemate, Morsley Driver entered the room. The girl had been about two years below him in school but they had still talked regularly and got along great. In fact, Ash considered Moo to be one of his closer friends. Not as close as say Girty, or Grace, but fairly close.

"Hey Moo-Moo." he replied with a warm smile. He'd always called her Moo-Moo as opposed to just Moo. As far as he knew, he was the only person to ever call her that. You could probably say it was his own special nickname for her.

"Yeah, I'm feeling fairly good about it. How about you?"

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie knew she couldn't get out of it. She needed to be in the this class, but she also knew that Ash was the one teaching it. Ellie just didn't get along with him. With all the pressure Ellie had be feeling lately, she was liable to have an emotional outburst at any moment. She wasn't sure she could pretend to be nice all year, let alone just one class. However, she knew that she needed to graduate and that Ash was going to be around for a long time.

Ellie stepped in the room and sighed. Of course there was no one but Morsley there yet. She could just hide in the back and have Ash start the lesson not even seeing her. She took a deep breath and walked further in the room. She chose a desk directly behind Morsley, placing her bag on the ground and slumping into the chair. She wiped her hair out of her eyes and looked around the familiar classroom. Realizing that she was being ruder than usual just ignoring everything she decided to man up and say hello.

"Hey Moo-head, Good Morning Ash." She said, not even bothering to acknowledge the fact that he was her professor. It was hard to do that, Ellie had known Ash for years as a fellow classmate. Habits die hard. "What on the menu today? I'm feeling like I could battle some dark wizards."

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

When Ellie stepped into the room, the tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Both Ash and Ellie knew that their relationship had changed somehow. They had gone from a fairly comfortable friendship, to bordering on animosity. Exactly how, Ash still couldn't figure out. But he was not going to let that small detail worry him.

Of course, the emotional and still slightly immature side of him that was angry and hurt at their loss of friendship saw position as a teacher the perfect opportunity to make Ellie's life at school hell. Just to be mean and spiteful.

Fortunately, his calm, rational, still slightly bitter side knew that that was not the way to handle things. He was not an angst-filled teenage boy anymore. He was a teacher and a young man and he needed to act like one. He needed to be professional and courteous.

Rationality won out over emotion.

And so, it was with a polite smile that he greeted her, "Good morning, Ms. Rook." Of course he couldn't help but give slight emphasis to the "Ms. Rook" part. It was his own subtle way of letting her know that no matter what personal feelings they had towards each other, he was the teacher and would act accordingly. He also expected the same from her. From any of his students really.

Ash had one basic rule when it came to teacher-student relationships: Respect. If you showed Ash respect, he would show the same to you. By that same token, respect was earned. Not just given. Both student and teacher would have to prove to the other that they were deserving of the respect.

Another small smile as she inquired as to what was "on the menu."

"You'll see in a few moments."

Of course for a 7th year like Ellie, Kappas would be old news. But knowing that the subject had had a fair few teachers, Ash wanted to do a quick review first and see where everyone was in terms of the curriculum, then he would go from there.

"Hopefully the rest of the class will be here soon, and then we can begin."

[Heavenly Laurent]

Heavenly bounded in the room with her usual burst of bouncy energy. She had heard that there was yet another new DADA teacher, but to see that it was her cousin, was the real surprise.

"Ash!" she cried out excitedly, as she launched her tiny body at him, practically tackling him to the ground. For someone so small, Heavenly was surprisingly strong.

"Woah there!" Ash said with a laugh as he regained his footing from his near trip to the floor.

Giving his little cousin a quick hug, he shooed her off to find a seat.

Heavenly beamed at the two, obviously much older girls in the room. Both of them, she recognized vaguely, but was not really familiar with. "Hiya!" she said cheerfully with a wave at the two.

Ash sighed and looked at the door, wondering where the rest of his class was. "Well, let's give them about five more minutes and if they're not here by then, we'll just go ahead and start class without them. Anyone who comes in late... well too bad for them. They just cost their house five points."

[Paige Matthews]

"Yeah yeah yeah alright already Rosa it's getting a wee bit old at this point, you don't have to keep telling me what to do I'm not some two year old, I may be younger than you but I do have my head on straight, there is no need for you to keep haranguing me about who I'm hanging out with. I swear you would give mom a run for her money in the nagging department" said Paige cheeks red as she spoke to her sister Rosalind. The two of them didn't seem to see eye to eye about the boy Paige was currently hanging out with and Rosa felt it was her duty as oldest to tell her so. Paige hated being nagged especially since her sister wasn't even that much older than her. Luckily for Paige it was about time for class. "So sorry we can't keep this little discussion going but I can't afford to be late for DADA class so if you'll excuse me" and Paige knew she would since Rosa was a stickler for school so she finally and reluctantly let her sister go for which Paige was grateful

She almost ran to the classroom, anything to get away from Rosa and her constant complaining. After a few moments of fast walking Paige made it to the classroom, it's not like she wanted to get there on time or anything (since that was so unlike her) but she needed a reason to get away from her sister so here she was with a moment or two to spare. Maybe this time around she wouldn't end up with a dirty look or detention from the professor.

Entering the room it was to find that it wasn't too packed yet, which meant that she was pretty much on time, oh well can't always have a bad track record. Doing her usual Paige took a seat somewhere near the back, it was where she liked to sit and hopefully this wouldn't be a problem. Paige took out all of her books and sat there not really talking to anyone, not really paying attention. All that was going on in her mind was the next time she would see her sister and endure yet another lecture. Boy she wished she could be back in her dorm room it was great not being in the same house, it was the only place besides her classes she could find any sanctuary.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

After about two or three more minutes had passed with Ash chatting amiably with two of the three girls in the room, another girl walked in. A fifth year Hufflepuff by the name of Paige Matthews.

"Welcome, Ms. Matthews." he said, greeting the new arrival with a polite nod and small smile.

He looked at his watch and sighed. He'd given the class enough time to get here. If they wanted to mess around and be late... oh well. That was points off from them. Not him. Didn't bother him any.

"Alright ladies, let's settle down." with a wave of his wand, the words on the board disappeared to be replaced with

Kappas

"Ok, so as you can see, today's topic is Kappas. Yes, I know this is a review for most of you, but as we all know, this position has been held by quite a few number of teachers and we all have different methods of teaching. So, for the next week or so, reviewing is exactly what we will be doing. I want to see where your knowledge level is and how accurate it is."

Ash stood from his relaxed posture leaning against his desk and began walking around the room, up and down the aisles, speaking as he did so.

"So, who can tell me... what is a Kappa? Origin, appearance, behaviors... anything to do with it."

Then as an afterthought, "Oh, and so that everyone has a chance to say something I am limiting each person to only three things about it."

[Paige Matthews]

The class had started and Paige had to try and forget her anger and annoyance with her sister because if she sat there she would simply stew in anger and then be good to no one at all. So she had to sit up straight and act like a good little girl. It seemed as if they were going to be studying Kappas, Paige couldn't really remember much if anything about them so she had to sit there and rack her brain. She wasn't the most studious person and she sucked at retaining knowledge but she knew there was something there she just had to think really hard.

Eventually something came to her and so far no one had answered her so she decided to say to hell with it, raising her hand she said "um aren't they water demons or something they look a little like monkeys and you don't want to run into them if you're in the water right" she said hopefully looking at the professor wondering if she was at all correct.

If she wasn't then oh well it wouldn't be the first time she spoke and was wrong and she was sure it wouldn't be the last.

[Lucinda Grigori]

Lucinda walked into class... late as usual... just as Professor Laurent mentioned the word Kappas. She sent a slight glare his way. She despised those monkey looking devils. They were just so ugly and of course dangerous. Luce knew a little bit about Kappas, but not enough to recieve praise. Paige answered the professor's question with what she knew. Shrugging, Lucy decided to put in her two cents.

"They strangle their victims," Lucy added as an after thought to Paige's answer.

At least she was putting some effort into class. Professor Laurent was lucky to get even that out of the gryffindor. Especially after her all night bender last night. Hence the lovely over-sized shades Lucy had over her baggy eyes this glorious day. Looking around the class, she realized it was full of girls. Where were dudes!!

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash turned towards the door as another student, a Gryffindor by the name of Lucinda Grigori came in late. Ash raised an eyebrow as she walked in as if the class's time was of no concern to her. "Ms. Grigori, you're late. Class started ten minutes ago. That will be five points from Gryffindor and please remove the sunglasses. You do not need them inside. Get seated please."

Ash turned back to the rest of the class, "Both ladies are correct to an extent. Kappas, which are Japanese water demons actually have a more humanoid form and are about the size of a small child. They do not necessarily strangle their victims but they are often blamed for drowning. Can anyone tell me how they actually get the victim into the water?"

[Lucinda Grigori]

"yeah, yeah, yeah." Lucy muttered with a flick her of wrist as she made her way to her spot. She slid into her seat and took off her glasses, making a fuss as she shoved them into her designer bag. "S'not like I'm ever punctual," she continued. Since when was there a rule about no sunglasses in class? Just what Lucinda needed, another dresscode violation.

Lucy rested her cheek on her closed fist and listened as Professor Laurent began talking about Kappas. She sighed heavily as he asked the class another question.

Who would really want to get near those ugly little things, she thought to herself.

Looking around the class, she waited for someone to come up with some sort of answer. Lucy knew for sure if she answered it would be either wrong or completely inappropriate. Turning her attention to the window by her seat, Lucy started squinting. Stupid sun was too bright for her fragile hungover eyesight. Oh why did she let those stupid 7th years talk her into staying up with them?

Switching her attention back to the students, she finally realized who she was in class with. There was the professor's little cousin, Heavenly... which Lucy thought she was everything but heavenly. A little on the annoying side in her opinion. And there was Morsley... what was her nickname again? Moo-head? Lucy made a sound between a laugh and a snort. And of course there was Ellie whom Luce had no words for. Moving on the Paige, the only semi decent person in Lucy's opinion and also the only one seeming to pay attention.

Lucy wanted to slam her forhead down on her table. This was going to be a long class period for her.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash couldn't help but let out a small sigh. Merlin help him this was going to be a long class. Especially with Lucinda Grigori in it.

"Ms. Grigori" he said again, except this time with a bit of tension in his voice, "Please keep your comments to yourself. Also, you may want to get into the habit of being punctual. Because if you are late for class again you will not be allowed in and you will not be allowed to make up the work you missed. Class is not something you do just to pass the time."

Once more, he turned his attention back to the whole class, "This goes for all of you. Let this be your first and only warning. If you come in late to this class, you will immediately be asked to leave and you will not be alllowed to make up the work you missed."

"Now," he said wandering around the room once more, "What else can you tell me about the Kappa? Don't be afraid to speak up. Even if you're wrong you still get credit for participating."

[Harrison Greg]

So Harrison was running late, like epically late but despite knowing he needed to be sitting in his Defence against the Dark Arts class like right now he still could not find the motivation to walk any faster. His Gryffindor robes hung limply off his shoulders as he dragged his bag along the stone flooring of the corridors. It just seemed such a long walk from the Gryffindor tower (and his lovely warm bed) to the cold classroom.

With a huff and blowing up his fringe out of his eyes Harrison gingerly pushed open the wooden door and that was when he heard Ashton’s little ramble about if people are late they will be asked to leave right away. Swearing under his breath Harrison tried to quickly think on his feet. He was just going to have to play it as cool as possible and give the Professor what he wanted…after all this professor was gay right? His charm should go a long way.

“Kappa’s lure their victims to the water and then wrestle them in.” Harrison grinned away at the Professor as he weaved his way through the desks making his way to the one closed to Miss Ellie Rook. “They are also blamed a lot for the ravishing of lady folk.” He shot Ellie a rather boyish grin at this point as he flopped down into his chair at the desk. Harrison pulled his belongs out his bag and placed them on his desk.

“Also sorry I am late Professor. I was helping the headmaster, you know…being head boy and stuff.”

It was a total lie but Harrison knew that Hubbles would back him up, and he hoped Ellie would too if the questioning got too intense in the class.

[Ellie Rook]

The thought of having to sit through a boring lecture only made this class more annoying to Ellie. It was the first time in a long time she had the energy to get up and actually do something, which was saying alot for the head girl who could usually be found wasping around the castle like one of the many ghosts that found solice in the stone walls. Today however, she felt alive, and what better way to prove that then find something death defying.

Kappas was a topic that Ellie noticed many new professors choose as one of thier first lessons. They were easy. but at the same time, their demenor in killing innocent people made them incredibly scary. However, Ellie knew every trick they had, and if a Kappa ever tried to entice her, she would know so much better then just waltzing into a dark body of water.

Ellie was about to answer Ash's question when a bright light of hope for an interesting class walked through the door. Harrison stepped in spewing the information that Ellie was begrudgingly going to answer. Ellie smiled as he sat next to her, obviously spilling lies to Ash. Ellie would have known if Harrison was meeting with Hubbles. Either Ellie would have been invited along, or Harrison would have mentioned it to her.

"Crap!" Ellie said in Harrison's defense. "That meeting was this morning! I completely forgot. Usually I'm the one dragging Harrison to meetings..." Ellie said, grinning at her fellow head boy. "You should give him five points just for actually meeting with the Headmaster without me bribing him to go up to the tower."

It was a long shot, but maybe Ellie could even swindle some points for Harrison in the face of his lateness.