Jen nodded and continued writing what was being said. After a few seconds she looked up, ready for the lesson to continue.

"I agree with you, Nadia, in that this spell can be quite dangerous. Fortunately, it is a concentrated freezing, hitting only a small area of the body. You could freeze someone's entire arm to keep them from casting, or a leg to keep them from chasing, and if it was thawed fast enough, no permanent damage would be done."

ooc: Eekk I'm sorry Cassirin(ok I knew your name now I forgot it *hits her head*) I didn't really mean to say that....I had to go last night *is ashamed*

Roxanne sat at her seat taking notes. She listened to what the professor was saying and also the answers that were given by the other students.

Kelli finished writing what was being said. Then she raised her hand and said "It would affect the skin first, as its the body's first line of defense."

Interesting. A spell came to mind, though it might be the wrong spell. As she listened on, Nadia raised her hand, "The places that would be the most harmful to be hit with this spell would be all vital places, then. The head, if you can't beath. The chest, if all the functions stop working. Even the stomach. If it was possible to freeze teh whole body, it would be... equally dangerous." Nadia grimaced.

Still raising her hand and with a frown, she added, "Professor, why is it that many spells who don't exactly 'freeze' are called freezing spells and does this spell fall into the cathegory of freezing charms?"

"But then, what happens if it is not thawed fast enough? What does -- 'permanent damage' mean? What KIND of permanent damage?" Alex blurted out from the back of the classroom, without taking her eyes off her piece of parchment. She had been listening the whole time but prefered to shut up. After all, Nadia seemed to be deeply interested in this, so she would just leave it up to her to answer all the questions.

"I meant, the arm for example. Not the vitals parts because we all have a small idea what would happen then," she added, trailing off towards the end.

She glanced at Nadia when she heard her ask Professor Rae that question and then looked back at the Professor, frowning slightly. Nadia had brought up a good point, and although Alex had never thought of asking that before, there was a sudden need for her to know the answer.

"Exactly, Nadia. When casting the spell, you want to avoid any areas that could prevent bodily necessities, such as breathing and organ function. Limbs are really best. As for the freezing charms... those refer specifically to what they do to the body... they arrest motion. I would loosely catagorize the Frostbite Hex in that category. The reason I hesitate is not because the outcome is different but because most 'Freezing Charms' are accepted and normal duelling spells, and I would prefer you only perform this spell under supervision."

"That's a good question, Alex. I'm talking about loss of limb from frostbite and lack of circulation. I'm talking about possible fracture of the frozen limb if it's jarred while still frozen. And I'm talking about extreme hypothermia from the cold."

Hypotermia. Uh. That wasn't a pretty image. Knowing only a couple of things she had read from books, the descriptions had been quite freeky... wonders if the spell that as used that time on the year -- Well, no point in discussing that.

Nadia nodded and took some more notes. It was indeed to be regarded that the spell was being called Frostbitting and not solely freezing charm. What else could she know about this spell? It did ring a bell, but where was it that she had heard it it? It wasn't Fire-freezing charms lecture she had last term, no....

Finally, she raised her hand again, "Professor, out of curiousity, would this be considered a Charm-kind of spell? Or Tranfiguration because you are producing something that was not there?" Odd question, but she was doubtful.

"It would be considered to be a Charm, Nadia. It's taking the naturally occuring water in the object and freezing that, so it isn't really producing something from nothing. Although it might be too potent to simply classify it a charm." She smiled. "Are there any other questions?" She glanced at the mostly quiet class before smiling encouragingly at Nadia.

Jen hesitantly raised her hand. "Professor, you said earlier that this spell had been originally created as a freezing spell for food but was too potent. If that's the case then I'm not sure I understand. Wouldn't it be considered a highly dangerous spell and therefore be illegal in dueling?" she asked. She immediately blushed, feeling very stupid. Looking down at her notes she waited to hear what the professor's answer would be.

Alex nodded and kept writing down notes until her hand became cramped. She put her quill down for a second and stared at the Professor. But before she could say anything, Nadia was once again talking. Alex grinned on the inside and shook er head. Leave it up to Nadia to ask all the questions and make the class quiet. Hey, she was in Slytherin though, so she couldn't complain.

Upon hearing Nadia's question, she glanced at the Professor and spoke slowly. "But Professor, if we are not allowed using this without supervision, then why are you teaching it to us? I mean, I know that most of us won't use it ... but you never know," she replied and once again trailed off towards the end. She bit her lip and set her eyes on her parchment once again.

Truth was, she could think of a million reasons why the Professor would teach them that, but still, she wanted a straight answer.

"Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to question your methods. I'm just -- curious, that's all."

"That's a good question," Rae smiled at the Gryffindor girl. "The spell has proven to be too potent for its original intent, which wasn't to freeze food but to chill it. Once they knew what the spell did, they knew it could no longer be used in that way. As for whether or not it is too dangerous to be used in a duel... it depends on the setting. Most competitive dueling associations and societies don't allow spells that require a counter spell unless you are having partner-duels. They prefer a fast paced show, and there is nothing fast paced about the thawing process. It takes a bit, depending on the power of the caster and the length of time frozen. If you're in a setting like this, then it is permissable with supervision. If you're in the real world... most anything goes."

After returning to her seat, Noel wondered how Nadia had managed such a powerful silent spell. She listened intently at what Professor Rae was saying about the Frostbite Hex, writing some important characteristics down.

Nadia's eyes opened a bit, sign of attentiveness and as soon as the professor responded the question, wrote notes down like mad. Of course, of course... everything was made of water in a way, right? It made sense. Something very threatening but interesting.

She didn't think asking if this was a curse would be too interesting a question. Besides, it was more or less responded before. Yes, she did feel she was flooding with questions, but couldn't voice as many as there were running though her head. So wait, a small pause to gather her thoughts together, then she raised her hand again.

"This affects the density of the object or person, right?" she started, "So it possible the atoms on the, say, arm that was targetted would move into a thicker mass and... does it makes the arm heavier? Harder? As in, could used as a weapon as well? Or it would be risking the freezed object breaks more easily with the preassure?"

Jen nodded and smiled at the Professor. She wrote down what she had said and looked up. She was interested to hear how the Professor would answer the Slytherin girl's question.

"It would make the arm expand as the atoms in the arm do so," Rae said, never really considering it that much before. "And I suppose it might make the arm heavier. You certainly wouldn't want to use it as a weapon, as frozen limbs have been known to break on contact. The real power in this spell is the time you gain as the person is thawing back out."

Nadia wrote that down too. It goes fragile and it expands and it does indeed gets heavy. Got it. Though that was not half her list of questions, but she wouldn't be able to voice them all. "So," she readied again raising her hand, "is the freezing superficial or inner as well? And do we actually see ice around in the target or just see it freeze?"

Guess that's why she saw it as a weapon. If you arms was surrounded by ice, use your hand as a hammer and you would knock a person out. Strange mental image. If it was your arm alone... it should look like your arm when exposed to dry ice. And if heavier, indeed would slow your opponent. She wrote down a couple more more notes as she went, finally wondering about the de-frosting stage.

Jen raised her hand again. "Professor, you mentioned a spell to thaw the frozen object. Will we be learning that as well?" she asked. It seemed logical to her that if they were to learn a spell that needed to be reversed that it would only make sense to learn the counterspell.

"So, are we going to ever actually be able to practice the spell?" she snapped. Well, she hadn't meant to snap, but honestly, she was getting a bit impatient. And if Professor Rae kept encouring Nadia to ask questions, Alex could predict that the class would probably go on forever. "Under your supervision, of course," she tried to finish, sounding as polite as she could.

Her eyes scanned the classroom. It was rather quiet, a bit too quiet. Everyone seemed to be taking notes. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed her quill once again and started writing yet more notes. Well, they would be useful sooner or later, but she actually wanted to try it out.

Nadia jumped a bit on her spot at Alex's little outburst. She blushed and felt like she could... go hide behind her desk. Indeed, maybe she was the only one interested in this, the theory, and if so... well, freezing spell or now, she felt so much heat around the cheeks the ice would melt right off her.

Maybe not the best time to ask 'does the spell hurt?'...

Noel looked back and forth from Nadia to Professor Rae to the Gryffindor girl to Alex. They were all saying so much she was getting confused. Alex seemed fed up with Nadia's game of 21 questions, but she found the spell intriguing herself, Nadia had seemed to ask all her questions, except for the one about atoms, Noel's head hurt after that conversation.

ooc: Whooops. I had classes today, so I couldn't get online in time.

Just as the Stupefy spell had hit, Zekke had noticed that Laurasia was falling away from the pillow that should have been behind her. Immediately upon this notice, he hit her with a Mobilicorpus spell, which would have theoretically allowed him to move her body. Not having really practiced that spell much, the spell was rather weak, but strong enough to allow him to move her just enough so that she fell onto the pillow and not the floor.

He revived her with Ennervate, and a few moments later, Professor Rae called for the class to reconvene for the second half of the lesson and so he helped Laurasia to her seat and took his own seat.

As the class talked about the effects of the frostbite hex, he took notes, but discreetly snuck glances to Laurasia to make sure she hadn't hit her head on the floor after all...

Alex's outburst surprised him a little and his eyes narrowed a touch at the corners. Questions were good, weren't they? How was one to learn the truth in charms and hexes and spells if they didn't understand the properties and how it affected either the target or the caster?

Jake thought of a question and said. " If you do use this spell how ever..Suppose you se it on the leg. Wouldn't the clothing also your foot on the ground attach it.. So you would be actually stuck to the ground. Also wouldn't it make your leg appear to be smaller since cool makes stuff compress and heat makes it expand? " Jake said from the father section of the class room. He didn't know if he should ask this or not. But he was curious if his thought was correct.

"The arm freezes completely," Rae nodded. "There may be some signs of the freeze, especially in blue-tinged limbs, but it is generally not encased in ice unless the opponent was wet or sweating." She smiled at the Gryffindor girl's question. "And, yes, Jen... we'll be learning both the spell and the counter spell. Actually, the Thawing Charm can be used for other uses as well..."

She was cut off by an impatient outburst from Alex. "I understand that you are all eager to get the casting, but this spell isn't as safe as most that we learn. Plus, it has actual side effects. While your impatience is understandable, your rudeness will not be tolerated, neither to myself or to your classmates who are curious and have enquiring minds. Five points from Slytherin."

ooc: Be patient with me. Guh.