DADA: Lesson Two - Awareness

Wednesday, 18 January 1922
1:30 pm

Things were different today; the students would find Roisin in the hallway, leaning up against the wall next to the closed classroom door. She was silent, twisting her wand in her hands.

She didn’t speak, just observed her students as they gathered. She hadn’t told them anything different would be happening today, however they’d been speaking about awareness and senses in the past week.

When she was sure everyone was there, Roisin finally spoke. “Before we go in, I’d like you to think about something.” Her blue eyes moved evenly among the faces. ”Which sense is the most important in dangerous situations?” she asked, however this was a rhetorical question.

The question hung in the air between her and her students. ”Sight. Sound. Touch. Everyone has a sense they trust more than the rest. It shows very quickly when it’s taken away.”

She waited a beat before turning to the door and placing her hand on the handle. Then she turned to them one more time.

”We’ll be moving through this lesson as a group. No running ahead. No splitting up.”

Roisin opened the door, stepping to the side so the students could go inside. The room looked normal; the desks were pushed out of the way so they’d have room to move around. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Once the last student was inside, Rose pulled the door shut behind her.

”Welcome to today’s lesson on awareness.”

---

Welcome to lesson two! I think you’ll like this one. I don’t plan on messing with the timeline for updates this time around. For this first post, just have your student react to the change – meeting in the hall, Rose being a bit less explanatory, etc. You’ll find out what’s happening in update one!

I will be updating for the first time on February 4.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of those classes that she HAD to take, but hoped it would never be needed in real life. But, after the events of the dark tower last year, she decided to take it seriously.

As she walked up to the classroom, she was surprised to see everyone congregating outside the class. “Hello Professor.” Tilly said as she took her spot amongst the group. She liked Roisin Byrne, they had gotten along well last term in the Wing. It was weird not having her peak in and check on her in the greenhouse.

“Before we go in, I’d like you to think about something. Which sense is the most important in dangerous situations?” Oh well hell. This did not bode well for their safety in today’s lesson. What exactly was waiting for them on the other side of the door?

Tilly thought about the question of the five senses, Sight and Sound seemed to be the most helpful in a high stakes danger situation. “I would say sight is most important, if you are fully aware of your surroundings, sight will help you see what’s coming before it attacks.”

The more she thought about the question though, she began to wonder. What if the person attacking was invisible, or behind a wall? What if it was foggy? In those situations sound would be superior. Which just reinforced her desire to never be in such a situation. Plants she could handle, dark evil wizards, no thank you.

She was going to say as much, but the figure that came into her field of vision cut off her words. Ever was here.

Ever wandered. Not wanting to be in class. No sleeping. Barely eating. She was a shell of her former self.

The Christmas Holiday had proved detrimental to the young Ravenclaw. She came back to Hogwarts more withdrawn and damaged. Before the break she had been connecting. Talking, even if just a few lucid words, but it was something. Now. nothing made sense.

Clover Asquith, a fellow Ravenclaw third year student, held Ever’s arm, bringing her from class to class. Walking up on the group of kids outside the class, Ever broke from Clover and skipped over to Tilly.

She knew Tilly. Her hair like a beacon in the dark.

Ever stopped right in front of her cousin and booped her on the nose. Her hand went straight to Tilly’s hair, petting it. So soft, so silky, and such a pretty red color. Tilly pulled her in for a hug, wrapping her arm around Ever, squeezing tight.

Ever felt comfort, love. Her body relaxed just a bit, resting her head on Tilly’s shoulder. Her eyes closed, hair continuing to run through the red locks. She would be no help in class today, more of a distraction than help, but since her parents refused professional help, the school had no other option than to let her wander the halls.

---

((Power Play fine for Tilly, since I am also her human))

Maevie arrived only barely on time, eyes so heavy she thought every next blink might be the last before she simply keeled over and slept where she landed.

Last night had granted her no sleep, ripped awake only shortly past midnight from the nightmares that seemed to haunt her more viciously since Christmas. And then she hadn't found back to sleep, tossing and turning but the images just kept on flaring up, demanding attention after she had supressed them for so long.

Previously, a night like that had been a rare occurrence, less intense. One way or another, she had found her way back asleep, and by morning, all lingering feelings of terror and pain had been gone.

Recently though, it was like the memories had found a way through the veil Maevie hid them behind, slithering forth and slashing through her dreams like vengeful gods.

She had been dragging herself through the day all day.

Even the nap she had chosen over lunch hadn't managed to bring her back alive.

But the determination to learn, to never miss a thing -- especially Defence Against the Dark Arts -- pushed her through the hallways nonetheless, however sluggish her brain was. Professor Byrne was asking the class something as Maevie finally joined the already gathered students.

"What was the question?", she whispered to someone close by, squeezing her eyes shut briefly to clear her blurry vision. But they were already moving on.

”We’ll be moving through this lesson as a group. No running ahead. No splitting up.”

Giving her head a shake to clear some of the mind fog, Maevie entered the classroom that looked like it always did. Something had to be different though -- they never entered like this.

”Welcome to today’s lesson on awareness.”

Ratz! On the one day she wasn't aware of her own corporal being. At least they'd be staying together, as Professor Byrne said. Alone, Maevie didn't know if she'd make it through the lesson alive.

"Wrong," Benji grinned as he came up alongside Ging, nudging her slightly with his elbow. "There's blind aurors. They rely on their perceptions. Empaths and Seers don't need sight to sense danger or where its coming from." He was teasing her of course. Her answer made perfect sense, and he didn't know what the hell he was talking about, but it sounded good enough to bug his friend who he didn't get the opportunity to annoy often enough.

His eyes shifted warily to Nutterstone that was petting Matilda's hair but he decided to mind his own business, lest she decide to try and pet him.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of those classes that interested him in theory, but he'd often found in practice it was a lot of the same stuff. Dummies, illusions, the same spells over and over that he'd already mastered. It wasn't Professor Byrne's fault. He liked her and thought she was a fine professor. But the other professors he'd had in the past had made it all feel rather monotonous.

”Sight. Sound. Touch. Everyone has a sense they trust more than the rest. It shows very quickly when it’s taken away.”

"Sound," Benji finally offered, giving his thoughts on the matter. In nearly every dangerous situation he'd been in, the boy had found himself leaning into sound more than any other. The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Shuffling behind him. The beginnings of a spell's incantation so he could anticipate and counter.

"What was the question?"

Hmm? Oh, Marge was here. "Welcome to class," he grinned at the obviously sleepy girl. "Didn't sleep well, last night?" He shifted on his feet as they were led into the classroom, forgetting Maevie's question before he could answer it.

Was it just her, or was Friday taking forever to be over? The week itself felt like it had dragged on into eternity, and now at its end, each of her classes had ground to a crawl. She needed the break. As of her return to school at the start of January, the girl who'd been procrastinating since September had decided it was time to take her studying for her OWLs seriously. She knew the scores she would need and where she...currently stood with some of her subjects.

To say it had been an uphill battle would've been an understatement, but she was pushing through. That pushing left her brain exhausted and in need of the weekend to decompress. It wasn't that she had any plans in mind, specifically. It would just be nice to not have many places she needed to be.

Rae was confused by the sight that greeted her as she approached the classroom. What was everyone doing outside? Had she missed an announcement somewhere? Was there a surprise drill for the day? The girl groaned preemptively, already bracing for the fact she may have to do more work than she'd mentally braced for.

“Before we go in, I’d like you to think about something. Which sense is the most important in dangerous situations?”

No, really, why did this sound like the beginning of a drill? It wasn't that Rae didn't think her magic would be up to the task, but she wasn't so sure her head would be.

Rather than offer up an answer of her own, she listened to the exchange Benji initiated with Tilly. He was always looking for new ways to contradict and annoy the girl, the two often squabbling like brother and sister. It was endearing in its own...exhausting way, but it was them and much preferred to what Rae used to think was going on between them. She no longer harboured such suspicions, but there had been a dark time when she thought Benji was into Matilda and vice versa. How thrilled she was to find out they truly viewed each other as nothing more than siblings. Siblings she didn't need to keep an eye on. It certainly freed her schedule up for the millions of other things she still had to do.

Rae followed the group into the room once the explanations were complete to find that...literally nothing had changed.

Huh?

Then...what was with the mini speech on sticking together? And the talk about senses?

She remained quiet, figuring whatever the professor had in mind would reveal itself soon enough. No need to fuss or fret over it before then.

For a moment, nothing happened.

An empty, hollow, weaponless suit of armor stood against one of the walls. It was unremarkable enough that it might not have been noticed at all. But it would soon become extremely important to the lesson.

She lifted her wand and the flames in the sconces on the walls dimmed. It wasn’t pitch black by the time they finished, but so dark that the shapes in the room blurred and it was hard to see who was right beside you. The room felt larger somehow, though it was still the classroom.

”You can still see, but only shadows. Is that enough?”

Sounds carried strangely – footsteps seemed closer than they were, breaths were louder than expected, and somewhere in the room something shifted with a faint scrape of metal against stone.

Rose stood to the side, her silhouette practically disappearing against one of the walls. ”There is an enemy in here that can hurt you. But it moves swiftly. It reacts to movement; the quicker the actions, the more aggressive it will get to you. You may defend yourself, or choose to attack. What will you do?”

Silence, and then another scraping sound came from the far side of the room; almost as if it had apparated from one spot to the other.

”Use what you have. Listen. Detect. Decide.” And then another tip, just to make it clear. ”Lumos will not work.”

The air in the room was a bit thick, the temperature a bit chilly. The suit of armor was alive now, wandering around the room.

Do you know where it is?

---

OOC: Hello! Welcome to update one! This is totally different from anything I’ve ever tried before, so let me know if anything doesn’t make sense.

Your student can notice the suit of armor right before the lights go out, or they may not. It’s up to you. As stated, you may use any spell that you have unlocked on your tree. If you attempt ‘lumos’, nothing will happen so feel free to RP that. Just ensure that everything is attempted. No one will get seriously hurt, just zapped if they’re touched by the armor. The armor is moving quickly, and you can hear scraping every once in a while.

Do you freeze? Do you shield? Do you physically react? I will handle the results in the next update.

You can expect an update on February 10!

Well then, things were starting to get interesting.

Rae didn't flinch when the lights went low. Her years of sitting through Defense Against the Dark Arts had taught her to expect the unexpected. Outside of the class, she'd learned the same lesson, in addition to the one that required her to remain vigilant of her surroundings. While she could certainly be taken by surprise, Rae wasn't the sort to be rattled into inaction.

”There is an enemy in here that can hurt you. But it moves swiftly. It reacts to movement; the quicker the actions, the more aggressive it will get to you. You may defend yourself, or choose to attack. What will you do?”

With only the shadowy figures of her classmates anchoring her to her position in the room, Rae listened to the explanation. An enemy, one that reacted to movement and had the ability to hurt her – them. The entire class had been engulfed in darkness, waiting for the thing that hid itself away from the light to make itself known and come at them.

To her, the answer seemed exceedingly simple.

Professor Byrne had said that the enemy reacted to movement. Motion triggered, most likely. It stood to reason then that standing still wouldn't gain its attention.

So that was what she did.

Some of her classmates may have chosen to cast, and a shield would certainly be useful, but if the thing followed anything that took action, inaction became the greatest cover. Should she, instead, choose to reach for her wand, that would already be movement. Casting would come with its own movement. She could try to be quick, but the professor hadn't said how quick this 'enemy' was, and if she moved too quickly, she might end up botching the wand movement, having the spell backfire, and then still getting attacked.

No thanks.

Her odds improved by doing nothing.

Maevie shook her head at Benji's question, entering the classroom along the rest of class. "No," she said with a tired smile, waving a dismissive hand as though it wasn't something that haunted her. "Had a...nightmare." Luckily the start of the lesson meant an end to that conversation before it could lean into directions she didn't want to venture towards.

The dimming of the light did nothing to make her more aware though. It actually made her just the more tired. Despite the overwhelming urge to sink to the floor and curl into a ball of sleep, Maevie tried to keep her eyes from drooping. The people around her were half swallowed by shadow and darkness, the light flickering against the walls doing little to illuminate the room.

It was oddly quiet, shifting sounds echoing louder than they should. A scrape of metal sounded from a corner, standing out from the mixture of background noise and raising the hairs at the back of her neck.

Awareness prickled after all, faintly but shimmering through the fatigue like an instinctual warning system. Professor Byrne's words hung in the air, further elevating Maevie's heartbeat and pushing a wave of adrenaline into her bloodstream.

She stood stockstill, ears straining as another scrape sounded, eyes darting towards the darkness it had come from.

Professor Byrne's explanation had been ominous, making it appear dangerous to move or act at all. Movement would alert this enemy, drawing it to attack. So stillness was what would keep them save, Maevie concluded, just standing where they stood without doing anything.

And for how long? Would this enemy just leave if it got bored? Or attack anyway?

Momentarily, she felt herself brought back to her nightmare and the essence of its reality. When she had frozen too, scared to act, not knowing how to act. This felt strangely similar, even if it wasn't the same at all. Maybe her exhausted mind was just spinning tales.

Not the same, not real.

Maevie repeated the mantra in her head the way she always did when the lines of reality and memory blurred. Just a lesson. Nothing to worry about.

Still, she found herself scooting closer to the person standing next to her, quietly and only a little, that feeling of being alone and stuck the worst of all.

Ugh, she hated this type of lesson.

Tilly didn’t see the armor Professor Bryne was speaking of, before the lights went out. Her eyes useless, she opened up her other senses trying to hear or feel where the danger might come from.

”There is an enemy in here that can hurt you. But it moves swiftly. It reacts to movement; the quicker the actions, the more aggressive it will get to you. You may defend yourself, or choose to attack. What will you do?”

Greaaaaaaat, that just made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Wand out, Tilly shut her eyes so that she could focus all her energy on the senses that still worked. She could hear the other students, feel the slight breeze as someone walked by or brushed her arm. She could smell the damp stone scent that was quintessential Hogwarts.

Needing to do something, she decided to protect since firing off blindly could hurt someone else or backfire. The odds of hitting the enemy were slim to none.

“Protego!”

She could hear others casting spells. Some protecting, others more offensive. Just in case, so that she wasn’t hit by a random spell, Tilly crouched close to the ground, out of the firing line.

Rose stood off to the side, assessing what everyone chose to do. Some froze, some shielded, some… barely moved an inch.

Rae’s lack of movement somewhat helped. However, the armor was still nearby. It moved right by her, almost brushing against her shoulder, pausing briefly. It didn’t strike though, and continued moving.

The armor then turned just as Maevie scooted a bit closer to someone else. As it turned, a loud metallic scraping sound came from the figure. It hesitated again. The smallest movement, born of emotion rather than control, had nearly cost her.

Matilda, on the other hand, decided a more proactive route; the moment Protego left her lips, the armor turned towards her. It rammed into her shield once, then recoiled. It stood for a moment, almost as if assessing the shield, before moving on.

A few more moments, more scraping of the metal as the armor moved around the students, then – ”Stop,” Rose said and flicked her wand. The lights immediately returned and the armor froze in place.

The armor was now standing only a few feet away from one of the other students, its gauntlet raised as if it was about to strike the student who had fallen right before the lights came on.

”You can now see, but in a moment you will not be able to hear anything. The rules are similar, but this time the armor will react to magical intensity.”

Rose flicked her wand, and the armor began moving, the familiar scraping sound echoing through the room, before she flicked her wand again and the sound was suddenly gone. It pressed in from every side, vanishing even the sounds of their own breathing.

---

OOC: I am so sorry for the delayed update. Thank you for your patience.

Good job on the last round! For this one, the rules are similar; anything goes magic-wise. But now you cannot hear. Keep in mind that being unable to hear your own voice could cause you to mispronounce spells, or maybe not speak loud enough. You can see when the armor moves, but its speed could be miscalculated. And the more intense the magic, the more it will react.

I will update on February 17.

Her breath caught when there was another scraping sound, entirely too close and pausing just as she moved. As though hesitant, thoughtful and calculating. Maevie didn't dare move, wide eyes uselessly scanning the darkness around. Only when the dull echo of ominous footsteps sounded again did she exhale, slowly and soundlessly, swallowing against the dryness in her throat.

She hated this. Not able to see, having to rely on her perception of sound and general awareness alone... It made her feel helpless all over again, the wooden stick in her hand barely any help at all.

Tilly didn't seem so apprehensive though, the only one casting into the pressing darkness. A loud clatter of metal ramming into something solid sharply rang through the room, rattling her bones and making her jump a foot in the air. There was a moment of silence, heavy with anticipation and her heartbeat that seemed to be the loudest thing in the room.

"Stop."

Professor Byrne's voice made her jump another time, heart leaping through her chest. She was more jumpy than usual and it slowly crept around her ribcage, a massive hand that squeezed the fear straight into her body.

The light flared back to life without warning, blinding her for a moment but she quickly caught sight of the suit's outstretched arm, close to another student's face. Maevie grimaced. That one seemed to not have the best awareness.

”You can now see, but in a moment you will not be able to hear anything. The rules are similar, but this time the armor will react to magical intensity.”

Not hearing didn't sound as bad as not seeing, Maevie thought, until not hearing was actually enforced.

Silence pressed in like a wall, the sensation immediately disorienting and dizzying. The suit continued its pursuit and it definitely felt safer being able to see where it went, what it did. But the lack of sound felt strangely oppressing, terrible in a whole different kind of way. Not even her heartbeat was there, no footsteps, no rustling clothes, no shift of feet.

Absolute silence.

On instinct, Maevie shifted as the suit moved about, keeping it in her sights at all times. Did she know a spell to stop the thing? Not one. She supposed her best chance was speed once again, should it try to get to her. Her magic sure as hell wouldn't be of help.

Oh thank goodness, the shield worked. There was always a first time for everything. Typically in these scenarios she didn’t pick the correct option on the first go. For a brief second she was very proud of herself, and then the professor started talking again.

”You can now see, but in a moment you will not be able to hear anything. The rules are similar, but this time the armor will react to magical intensity.”

Well hell. At least she had her eyes back. Thank heavens for small favors.

The absence of sound was worse than sight. There was nothing. No creeks of the floor, no chatter, no groans or grunts, no scrapping metal. Everything was gone, even the sound of her heartbeat in her ears.

She didn’t like it at all.

With her eyesight back, she felt more prepared to attack the armour. Pointing her wand at her target Tilly said “Depulso!”

Nothing came out. Or did it? Maybe she said it but she couldn’t hear it. Well shoot, now Tilly had no idea if she said it right. This was going from kinda bad, to probably really bad. Head on a swivel, Tilly watched as the target for any sudden moves towards her.

Rose’s blue eyes skimmed the room, watching the students as they figured out what they were going to do. While she’d been more prepared for the loss of sound, she was still discombobulated. She stood against one of the walls, in the shadows so as not to distract.

Maevie shifted slightly, but did not try anything. Watching was important, keeping the target in your sights… Good.

Matilda made her move now that she could see. Rose smiled when she saw the girl cast, and watched in silence as the spell hit the armor. It snapped towards her instantly, silently crossing the space in mere seconds, a gauntlet swinging as it prepared to fight back.

And then Rose lifted her wand, and the silence shattered. Suddenly breathing could be heard, and the suit of armor noisily froze with its arm still extended towards Matilda.

”Magic isn’t quiet. Even when you are.” Rose looked at the older girl, ”Matilda became the loudest thing in the room – magic-wise.” Then she looked at the younger one, and continued, ”And hesitating does buy you some time, however it does not solve the problem at hand.”

Rose finally stepped away from the wall once she was steady on her feet again.

”You relied on sight. Before that, you relied on sound. Each time, when I took something away, the majority of you froze because you were waiting to see what happened.” Rose’s eyes skimmed the faces of the students. [b]”That is not awareness.”

Lifting her wand again, the armor behind her shimmered.

And then vanished.

When the armor moved, the air shifted a bit.

”This time, you have your sight and you have your hearing. But now you can’t see your target at all. You may cast. You may move. You may defend,” she commented as the air shifted closer to the students. ”But it will react to hesitation. So now you must trust your instinct.”

---

OOC: Alright, this is the final update!

This time around, I want to see some more spells being cast. Feel free to cast more than one if you think you should. When the armor moves (which you may control), you will see a waviness in the air. When it is still, you see nothing.

If you stand still, it will pounce. So feel free to include hesitation and the armor’s reaction in your post.

I will update for the final time on 23 February, and then close the thread a few days after that.