CORE Class/Meeting One- Vital Information

[Professor Kendric Druex]

Kendric waited patiently, eager as all those who had signed up for his club had come into the all too familiar Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and had taken their seats. He had a much bigger turnout than what he had originally expected, and best of all he had student participation from all four Houses; though he couldn't help but notice Gryffindor seemed to have the most present, naturally, but the other Houses had turned out in good numbers also, which he could not have been any more proud of. Once they all were settled and all eyes were on him expectantly, Kendric addressed them, speaking clearly.

"You all know why you are here, so there is no need to dally around. In a few days time, each and every one of you will for the first time participate in and experience something that you have never seen before in your entire lives. This meeting today is to get you prepared, to teach you all you need to know for the time being. And with that, I am going to need all of you to take out a quill and parchment. There is a lot that I am going to go over today, and note taking and undivided attention is essential. I will cover six different creatures and the necessary spells to defend yourselves against each one, so if I were you, I would listen, and listen closely."

Kendric walked to the chalk board and waved his wand, clearing the board of all scribbles so that it was clean and clear. "As you all know, there is a point system in place. Every creature you face will have a different point value, some higher than others, which brings me to the very first creature you will learn about........the Fowler, worth fifteen points, which you all know is the highest amount of points you can earn in a simulation." Kendric aimed his wand at the board and "Fowler" appeared at the very top of it as notes about the creature filled the rest of the board. "Fowlers are very commonly mistaken for wolves, given it's silver fur and build, but that's a mistake you definitely do not want to make if you ever come into contact with one. They are usually five foot five inches tall, and usually weigh about one hundred and sixty pounds, all pure muscle. They have retractable claws that are about eight inches long at best, they have long sharp teeth, they are sickeningly fast and agile, and very bright and intelligent; they have the ability to analyze their victim or prey. In most cases, they will allow you to attack them first so that they can try and form some sort of pattern or determine your next move, a strategy that has given the Fowler the upper hand in many aspects. So, it is crucial that you allow the animal to strike first. Also, while their fur looks soft, it is actually as hard as metal, and they can shoot patches of fur at their victims. Think along the lines of about fifty sharp, thin needles flying at you all at once. Their fur also makes it impossible to successfully cast spells on them."

Kendric had paused, given most of the students were frantically writing. When they all finished he waved his wand and a moderately sized blue container had appeared in front of every student. "In those containers, each of you will find two white mice and a bundle of small metal spikes. Now, there are three spells essential to defeating a Fowler. Spell one.....Ablindo. A Fowlers' sight is one of its most utilized weapons, given Fowlers usually have near perfect vision. Ablindo will disable that trait, though you must hit them with the spell twice directly in the eyes. The first hit will cause everything to become rather foggy. The second hit will cause them to go completely blind, which is exactly what you want. Fowlers have a very poor sense of smell so they can not take in your scent and then sniff the air for your location, but their hearing is absolutely phenomenal. But, phenomenal hearing without phenomenal vision will help you take advantage. Take out their vision, and you can almost make the Fowler believe you are anywhere, and this will help you cast the next spell; Wicendo. Wicendo weakens the Fowlers fur so that when they do shoot patches at you, it will be to no avail. However, you must hit the creature four times in its body with this spell before it takes affect. With each hit, its fur will get weaker and softer, taking out another one of its deadliest attacks. Lastly, the next and final spell you need to defeat a Fowler is called Faliso. This will not kill the Fowler, but it will render it completely unconscious. It takes two direct hits of this spell to the Fowlers head in order for it to work properly. It is imperative that you follow those spells in that precise order. It is unreasonable to try and cast a spell at a Fowler right from the start; it will see it and dodge it, and even if it doesn't dodge it, the spell will have no affect due to its protective fur. I suppose you could try and cast Wicendo, but as stated before, the Fowler is extremely quick and agile so you will not hit it anyway. Therefore, do not forget those spells in that exact order.

"Now," Kendric said sitting on the corner of his desk. "All of you take out your wands. I want to see you all practice those three spells on the contents inside of your containers. Cast Ablindo on one of the mice first until you successfully blind it, cast Wicendo on the spikes until you weaken them to the point they feel soft and malleable, and then cast Faliso on the second mouse. I'll allow you all twenty minutes to practice."

Kendric looked around as they all had set to work. This was going to be a very long class, but he didn't mind it at all. He loved teaching, and quite frankly, there was no other way he would have liked to spend the day. Allowing himself to become lost in thought, his wand vibrated in his hand, and he realized twenty minutes were up. "Stop where you are," he said aiming his wand at the board clearing it. "If you successfully cast the spells, excellent job. To those of you with not as much success, simply practice. That is the only way that you will get better. Now, on to the next creature. This one is called a Nekane."

As before, Kendric aimed his wand at the board and "Nekane" appeared at the top of it with facts about the creature filling the rest of the board. "Nekanes are bloodsucking plants that mostly feed on animals...but, they are known to attack humans, especially if no other source of food is available to them. As far as appearance goes, think of a Bowtruckle, only instead of looking like it is made of wood, they look like they are completely made of bamboo. They are about three foot five inches in height, and weigh about fifteen pounds. They have very sharp fingers with which they use to scratch and stab their prey, and when they bite, their long, thin, skinny teeth function as suction needles and they drain their prey dry; very painful indeed. But, Nekanes are easy enough to dispose of. Simply cast Incendio and that usually does the trick. However, if you do not wish to kill the creature, Nekanes are easy enough to scare off, you just have to show your dominance over it. Stupefy or a spell of that nature will usually do the trick, however Nekanes are very proud creatures. Once they set their sights on something, they must have it and will not rest until they do. So, it is in your best interest to kill the Nekane or deal with it in some way when you have the chance unless prefer to be stalked and scouted. The defeating of a Nekane is worth five points."

Kendric once again waited for the class to finish writing before he continued. "The next creature is called a Zenus." Kendric once again cleared the board and replaced it with the necessary information. "Think along the lines of a frog, except minus the short arms, and add long strong ones with two, thick black claws at the very end of them. They are about three feet tall, and can weigh anywhere from thirty to sixty pounds. They are very temperamental creatures, and they prefer to attack from a distance. While they can do much damage unknowingly if they did want to fight or attack head on, they prefer to throw objects at their victims head; rocks, blocks of wood, anything that can potentially render their prey unconscious. If they succeed, they will then dig their claws into you and drag you under water and proceed to swallow you whole. However, if their victim manages to regain consciousness beforehand, they will still drag you into the water and utilize a very special ability. Zenuses have the ability to become transparent; think along the lines of a living, breathing, crystal clear ice sculptures, making them hard to see underwater. They will then proceed to use their claws to drag their prey under water as far as they can until it drowns, and they will then eat it.

"But, the Zenus is easy enough to defeat. They usually live near or in bodies of water. They are slimy creatures that need moisture to survive. The first thing you want to do is try and lure the creature away from its home; shrinking the chances of you being dragged into the water and drowned, and heightening the chances of your defense to work. The spell is called, Dricius. It will dry the Zenus completely out, killing it in the process. But, you must hit it with the spell twice, though hitting it once will severely handicap the creature, it will still attack. Defeating a Zenus is worth ten points." Waiving his wand again, blue trays appeared in front of each student; each one having a large, brown slimy slug in the very center of them. "Cast Dricius on the slug twice in order to dry it out. I will allow you all fifteen minutes to practice. Begin."

Once fifteen minutes were up and he had evaluated the room, he once again reiterated practice, and praised those who had successfully cast the spell. "Alright, the next creature is called a Parcifal." He once again cleared the board and replaced it with information. "Parcifals are extremely dangerous creatures. They stand at seven feet tall, weigh about two hundred pounds on average, and they have long, lean skeletal dark green bodies, sharp, crooked yellow teeth, long slimy finger nails, and their faces look like that of an insect. The have two very small scaled wings on their backs, and while this doesn't enable them to fly, it enables them to glide along the ground at incredible speed, so out running them on foot is thoroughly impossible. They have an ear splitting screech, and their bodies are poisonous. If you are bitten, scratched, or if it comes into contact with an open wound or broken skin, the effects are immediate; swelling at the injection site, shortness of breath, loss of vision, and paralysis.....ultimately leading to heart failure. Parcifals are very aggressive and brutal, they will do all in their power to kill and hurt their target even if they themselves are close to death. So, that is why one must do all that they can to defend themselves from this cruel, horrid monster. There is no spell known to completely repel or defeat the beast, so, you must be crafty and quick thinking in that particular situation....though just so you know, Parcifals are vulnerable to most spells, though you have to hit it multiple times. Parcifals are worth fifteen points."

He once again waited for the class to finish writing before clearing the board and replacing it's contents, and pressing on. "The Mensi. Mensi are brown furred, rodent like creatures. They are about two feet tall, weigh about twenty pounds, and are not very fast or intelligent, but will not hesitate to attack if you come into their territory. They have a horrible stench that constantly radiates from them with which they mark their territory. It all smells the same to us, but the Mensi can differentiate scents and sometimes even communicate this way. The have huge front teeth; as strong as diamond, and they have huge green eyes; with which they can only see properly at night; in the day, they are blind. So, Lumos is a very handy spell when dealing with Mensi. But the light from the tip of your wand will not be sufficient enough, so lighting objects in your environment, like rocks, would be highly advised. But a note of caution, this will set the Mensi on a rampage for it cannot see and it will panic, so it will start thrashing about in a violent effort to defend itself. Petrificus Totalus is efficient enough for the Mensi, and will do. Defeating this creature is worth five points."

Kendric waited until the students had finished writing, cleared and rewrote on the board for the last time, and then pressed on. "Finally, we have the Draven. The Draven is a huge black bird, standing at about four feet, weighing about eighty pounds on average. They have small bright purple eyes, long, sharp curved beaks, and even longer and sharper curved claws that serve very well as hooks. The Draven is wicked fast and accurate, so once it targets a body part, that usually means the worst. Like the Mensi, the Draven will only attack if it feels imposed upon or if you trespass onto their territory, but then again, Dravens consider wherever they go and wherever they have been as their territory, so that is not saying much. They can breathe purple flame, and beware of looking the Draven in the eyes. If you do, you become instantly paralyzed and susceptible to a brutal attack. But, Dravens hate the cold. So, freezing it is the best way to go, and it is simple with the spell Arcticus. Defeating a Draven is worth ten points." He waved his wand, and moderately sized round spheres of water appeared and floated in front of every student. "When you successfully cast Arcticus, hold the ice beam onto the spheres. I charmed them so that when it is completely frozen, they will fall onto your desks. You have twelve minutes to practice. Begin."

Twelve minutes had passed and Kendric had stopped the class. They all had performed well today, and he was excited and hopeful. He called the class to attention and settled once again onto the corner of his desk. "I hope you all commit to memory and practice what you have learned today, for you will have to put all of this to practice. In a few days time, I will take you all to the Gama Room and I will go through a simulation in order to show you all what it will be like. I expect all of you to be in attendance, of course. After, we will immediately start you all with your own simulations. So, come prepared, come learned, come ready. Class dismissed."

[Danelle Gregory H6]

Her stomach was in absolute knots as Danelle braided her hair over her left shoulder. She didn't know what to expect at this Core meeting, but she didn't want to have anything get in the way if possible – especially her hair. It had finally gotten to the point where she liked it and hadn't done anything weird to it yet. She buttoned her blazer after finishing her hair, and then grabbed her bag and her wand. This club wasn't really a club, it was somewhat like a class without a grade. Instead they were on a point system, a competition, and Danelle was intrigued by that. Very intrigued, in fact. Checking to make sure she had everything, she left her dormitory and made her way – not so leisurely, actually rather quickly – toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Seeing as DADA was one of her favourite classes, she knew that this would be – in the least – extremely fun. When she reached the classroom, she slipped inside and found an empty seat – quite ready to do this thing; though she had a feeling they wouldn't be doing anything too real this first day.

As Professor Druex spoke, Danelle took notes – one of the first times in her life that she had done so – and she took them diligently. Not wanting to mess anything up. This was something she was taking seriously, more seriously than any other actual class. She wasn't sure why, but she figured if all of the other classes were like this one – this interesting and engaging – she would be more keen to work well in those, as well. "Ablindo – blinds, two hits to eyes, must be cast first. Wicendo – weakens protective fur, four hits to torso, must be cast second. Faliso – knocks unconscious, two direct hits to the head, must be cast last. WILL NOT KILL." At the top of her notes, she scrawled in big bold letters "FOWLER!" in hopes that it would ingrain in her memory what creature needed what. She placed her quill down and looked up at the blue container in front of her, there was one for each student and the anticipation she had been feeling all week swelled inside of her and crashed all around her.

Her wand at the ready, she began to practice the spells. First, on one of the mice. It was difficult because the damn thing kept moving, and the eyes were so tiny, but after 6 unsuccessful attempts (2 of which were messed up on her end because she pronounced the spell wrong), Danelle managed to successfully blind the mouse. It began running into things. It would have been quite comical, had Danelle not been so soft hearted toward the mouse. "Poor thing," she whispered before reaching over to pet it gently. She picked it up diligently and placed it into the container, drawing out the metal spikes now. Setting the spikes in front of her, Danelle peered at her notes, pronouncing the spell over and over again until she had it perfectly. Then, she casted it on the spikes. This was much simpler, seeing as the spikes were inanimate, and after 2 attempts the spikes were almost gelatin like – softer and most definitely not threatening.

Even though she was finding these incredibly easy, Danelle knew that it would be much more difficult in the long run. Using the spells on the actual creature would be a total different story. Moving onto the final mouse, Danelle tried not to let her kind heart weaken at the idea of knocking an innocent mouse unconscious. It had to be done. And she did it. Because she had wanted it done quickly, to get it over with, to spare any pain: she finished it with one attempt. She felt slightly sick. It would be different when the more threatening creature was trying to attack her, but this mouse was so small and so tiny and so…non threatening. Why harm it?

Overwhelming. Danelle stared at the next creature as she took notes on what Druex was saying. She was going to have to study these separately or she would get them mixed up. This one was definitely easier, though. Incendio. She would have no problem burning a blood sucking plant. It was vampiric! The next creature was a Zenus. A big gloopy frog, basically. Danelle shuddered and wrote down the necessary components needed to defeat a Zenus: "Drius – dries them out and kills them, must be cast twice." Then…ugh! Slugs appeared. Danelle breathed in deeply and waited until Druex gave them the command to practice before attempting. Through her frantic state of wanting to get rid of the icky slime thing, she messed up and a simple spell was… not so easily handled. It was still wriggling in front of her when Druex moved onto the next creature. It took all of her strength not to get distracted by the hideous critter.

Parcifals. Didn't sound pleasant. She even wrote that. "Don't sound pleasant. Must fire all possible spells at them at all moments. Eck." And she quickly thought about how she hoped she wouldn't freak out as she had with the damn slugs. Mensi. Lumos. Petrificus totalus. "What's that one spell that causes sunlight? Might be useful." Danelle made a note to look it up in her DADA book. Draven. "Like basilisk. Don't look in eyes. You become paralysed! Don't like cold – articus = best bet." Then they were to practice on a sphere of water. Danelle shrugged and easily cast the spell, it was probably the easiest one they had practiced all day. No slimy creature, no innocent mice. Danelle was okay with freezing water.

The class ended. The next class sounded promising. Danelle packed up her things and hurried out of the room.

She didn't doubt she would have nightmares tonight about vampiric plants, spiky wolves, giant frogs with arms, big birds, and that terrible hideous slug that posed no threat to her today.

[Oi! SO long! ><]

[Aurora Chan]

Aurora followed Ariane into the classroom and, as expected, they were the first students there. "Was there any point in arriving this early?" Aurora asked her best friend, amused. They dropped their bags by some desks and took their seats. With nothing to do, Aurora began to chatter randomly at Ariane until their first Core class started. Ariane had been reluctant at first, but since she was actually more adept at Defence and duelling than Aurora, it suited her more and Aurora would not take no for an answer; and thus, Ariane had also joined up. Aurora knew she did not really mind, because if she did, she would have said so; Ariane would always put her foot down if she truly meant something, that was how Aurora had come to read her best friend. She was glad Ariane was accompanying too, because it would make the experience more enjoyable.

In time, the rest of the students ambled in. Aurora caught a glimpse of Theo Darke, a popular Raven kid in the year below, and sent him a friendly smile, which he returned. He was with another Sixth Year, Oscar Flynn, who was in Gryffindor. Aurora was unsurprised to see the two looking so friendly; they were both on the Quidditch teams as their respective Vices, after all. Once everyone had arrived, Professor Druex began the class, and Aurora fell silent as she listened to him intently. She didn't know the complete details about Core, so this would be an eye-opener. Her parchment was set on the desk and she was soon scrawling fast notes. Beside her, Ariane marked down a few words now and again.

Aurora wrote the first heading, 'Fowler', along with some of Professor Druex's descriptions of the creature, before looking up again to see the mice appearing on her desk. She quickly wrote 'Ablindo' down, along with 'Wicendo' and 'Faliso' and the amount of times they needed to be used, before fishing out her wand. At Professor Druex's instruction, she tried to cast Ablindo first. The spell hit the first mouse directly between the eyes, and she quickly repeated it. After that, she muttered, "Wicendo," rendering the creature weak. That took four shots in quick succession. Seeing the mouse grow still, Aurora felt sorry for it and silently apologised in her mind. Then she moved onto the second mouse, who had, as of yet, escaped her wand. Now she pointed at it and said, "Faliso." After two mutters of this, the mouse seemed to have fallen asleep, but Aurora knew she had actually rendered it unconscious. These tasks had taken her about fifteen minutes, and a quick glance to her right saw Ariane already finished and sitting boredly, staring into space. A look to Aurora's left saw Theo and Oscar sitting a little behind them, and Aurora caught a few humoured words coming from Theo's mouth: "It's only a mouse, Oscar, how can you be scared?"

After twenty minutes, Professor Druex moved on to describe the next creature, called the Nekane, and then the Zenus. The former did not need any practice of spells, but the latter did. Aurora got her wand ready again. When the slugs appeared, she recoiled immediately, but after a grimace she was ready to perform the spell. She was not afraid of slugs, but they definitely much too slimy for her liking. "Dricius," she said reluctantly twice, waving her wand. She did not want to dry the poor creature out, however much she found it distasteful. The activity was quick and Aurora and Ariane were finished in minutes.

Professor Druex finally outlined two more creatures, the Parcifals and the Mensi, before the final creature, which was called the Draven. The task required was easier than most, since their spells were directed at masses of water. Aurora quickly cast Arcticus and smiled at Ariane, who had also finished. The lesson was now over and Aurora felt accomplished; it had not been too draining, since it had required no physical activity besides casting a few spells that were not too difficult. Nodding at Professor Druex's final words, Aurora packed her notes away and then left with Ariane; she was excited about what the next class would hold.

[Julius Lionheart]

Julius made the familiar walk to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where the first meeting would be held for Professor Kendric's new creation, Core. He hoped it would be a lot like the class, which was hiw best subject, but from the Prof's hints earlier, it would consist of many of the different subject that he and his fellow classmates each studied, with many different specialties. Also from his hints, Julius had gathered that every one would be on the same terms, as if they were all first years. He wondered what this could mean, maybe it was spells they had never heard of, and therefore would be equally challenged as though he were, as he said, a first year.

He reached the door at about the same time as an little blonde Ravenclaw guy, and let him walk in first. The boy flashed a smile, and Julius recognized him as Woodrow Winchester, a chaser for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He distinctly heard the boy say a derisive comment about how the Ravenclaw team would obliterate Gryffindor again at their next meeting, as he walked into the room. A smile appeared on Julius' face, memories of his own comments torward the other teams when he had been a third year. He walked in and saw that the room was almost full of students, all of different houses and years. With some satisfaction, he noted that Gryffindors seemed to make up the majority.

Taking a seat near the front of the class, he put his bag on the floor and watched as the Prof gathered his thoughts. It appeared he had shown up just in time, as the Professor soon began to talk about Core. He listened raptly as he talked, taking everything that Kend-, the Professor had to say. He took a piece of parchment out of his bag, along with a quill and ink. Writing down everything as the Professor droned on, Julius thought that it would be pretty awesome if say that a Fowler could be tamed, or rather not tamed, more like befriended, what an amazing ally one could be.

This was however the most interesting part of the class to the tired Gryffindor. He of course took part in the use of the spells throughout the class, yet he had felt somewhat shaken by the seemingly endless notes they had taken. Perhaps he had gotten more than he had bargained for when he had signed. Still though, the extra curricular activity would be quite amazing, he was sure of that.

((Sorry for ending my post so abruptly. I had half typed it two weeks ago, and just couldn't get back into it after that passage of time, please don't smite me! I'll do better when we start the lessons, promise!))