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Old 09-23-2019, 03:07 AM   #24 (permalink)
Mathys de Nostredame
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Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 91
Default we have rearranged just a little to include like answers
the sky is always there for me ☀ ☁ heavy hearts like heavy clouds

SPOILER!!: étudiants
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Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl View Post
Oooh, she knew, she knew! Per usual, Bernadette's hand popped into the air before she had fully formulated an answer in her mind.

"Wereeeewolvessss," she breathed in awe, seriously HOPING that they'd get to talk about WEREWOLVES finally. She'd been trying to bring up werewolves in nearly every class, but no one had bitten.

Get it? Bitten? Heh.

"Werewolves um, phase, and shape-shift from human to wolf at the full-moon phase of the... the lunar cycle?" And they were SO COOL and scary, right?!
While Mathys had been in a pleasant mood just moments earlier thanks in part to the enthusiasm displayed by Mademoiselle Summers...until the first hand was honored and he heard the words coming from Mademoiselle Grantham's deceptively innocent lips. While certain that no malicious intent was meant behind her words, it was important to make a lasting first impression.

"A deduction of 5 points will be taken from your house for ze dehumahneezation of zose affleected by Lycanthropy," he declared with a swift wave of his hand. "Ze world haz cruelly estahbleeshed a prejudice against zese indiveeduals for far too long. Zey are people and shall be regarded as people een my lessons. Not as creatures nor as beasts. Remembair, it is because of ze oppression and deescreemination zat some elected to join forces with one of ze most powerful Dark weezards of ze last century. And zat oppression and deescreeminahtion begis with ze words we choose to use when speaking of zem." He was not particularly keen on her tone either, but that was an entirely other matter. "Come speak with me aftair class if you wish to earn zose 5 points back."

He could easily find a task for her to accomplish that would do the trick.

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Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 View Post
Claudine had been paying little attention to those arriving as she worked on her sketch, occasionally looking up so that she could capture Dorian as best as she could. Sketching humans and animals was still something she needed to drastically improve on. Not even de Nostredame’s stiff greeting had bothered her. When he began the lesson, however, Claudine promptly put away her sketchpad and pencil. She would finish her artwork from memory later.

Now why did this sound familiar to her? Shapeshifting creature in France? Claudine frowned as she heard Eivan’s voice in her head (was it Eivan or another Blaze?) back at the Mansion. If she recalled correctly, she had been eavesdropping on the older folks’ conversation as she often did at home.

Boggarts were initially the first thing to come to mind but that topic would be covered in DADA if she knew right. One of her hands went up. “There’s…’’ Claudine paused as she tried to recall what Eivan (or whomever) had said the name was. “Mathogs? They resemble black cats.’’

That was as much as she could remember.
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Originally Posted by SneakySeverusSnape View Post
Analiese sat down a wicker chair and looked up at Professor de Notresdame. Shape shifting creatures? There were only two in the world, weren't there? The Hidebehind and the Matagot. The Matagot was the only one native to France, as the Hidebehind was native to the Massachusetts in America. The Hidebehind dated back to the 17th Century, but dates of the Matagot aren't known. Yes, she had bothered to read her textbooks over the summer. She raised her hand and uttered an answer. "Matagots are the only shape shifting creatures native to France, sir. A Matagot is a spirit in French folklore that tends to take the form of a black cat. Most Matagots are evil, but 'wealth-bringing' Matagots will bring its owner a solid gold coin every day if allowed to eat and drink first at every meal. They are often used by the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France for handiwork, such as the security of certain departments." , she answered.
His mood only soured a bit further, though this time he remained a bit more collected and reminded himself that first years tended not to know any better. Though Mademoiselle Anderson soon chimed in with her own response and the correct term - even if her response was a bit of a muddied one and Mathys found himself taking a small breath collect himself as well as remind himself that not all were brought up with the pureblood upbringing such as himself, thus melding Non–magique lore with wizarding fact.

"As Mademoiselle Anderson offered, Mademoiselle Blaze, ze you are zinking of is ze Matagot," he correctly with just a slight twitch of a smirk to his lips. "But to clarify a bit. It is true zat ze Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France uses zese creatures as security and zey resemble more speceefically a black Sphynx cat. While ze oral trahdeetion in France among ze Non–magique is zat othair forms such as a rat, fox, dog or cow exeest...ziss is untrue in our reality. Zere is only ze feline form and zey do not shape shift but rathair have ze ability to duplicate zemselves when struck by offensive magic."

On the positive, however, he was pleased that both had selected a creature native to France to mention. That had been the focus of his lessons thus far in order to assist Hogwarts in taking advantage of its abroad educational experience.

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Originally Posted by Felixir View Post
Tempted as Kaiser was to just sit there, all the way at the back, and chill say nothing at all, he actually kind of did have an answer for this, even if it wasn't quite the detailed response de Nostredame was probably looking for. He raised his hand about halfway into the air before speaking.

"Kelpies usually become horses. They, uh..." Lure? Luuuuure? Kaiser trailed off for about three beats, trying to remember the word in English. Nope, it was gone. "... they draw people in and pull them underwater and eat them." He left out the part about the entrails.

So the takeaway here was not to trust a random horse just casually kneeling in a river like it wanted you to ride it. Easy enough to remember.
Thus far, Hogwarts was zero for two when it came to answers and Mathys had honestly expected better from them. So it was with suppressed reluctance that he called upon Monsieur Kaiser.

"Oui, a fine example of a creature who can change its shape at will," he commended as he pulled his wand from his basilisk hide trousers and cast a nonverbal Flagrate to make the word 'Kelpie' appear in the air.

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Originally Posted by Ginevra View Post
A thought instantly popped into Fiona's head as soon as the question was asked which surprised her so she raised her hand. "A Veela is a shape-shifting creature. When angered they turn into....er...harpies, I believe."
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Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom View Post
Nettie paused for a moment, thinking her answer over VERY carefully before raising her hand. She had to have the PERFECT answer for the VERY handsome respected professor, you know?

Putting her hand in the air, she cleared her throat before rattling off her answer. "Would veela count Professor? Full bloodied ones, I mean..." she added for clarification, because she herself could definitely NOT do what she was about to describe. "When they get angry they basically become ravenous harpies. It's scary," she said, suddenly doubting what she was saying and blushing a bit. That was probably a silly answer. GAHHHH.
And where there had been home, now returned the darkness.

"Zat will be 5 points from your house as well, Mademoiselle Jenovick and Mademoiselle Gladin," he sighed while straightening his posture. "Even by Ministry classeefications, Veela are not regarded as creatures nor beasts and would be insulted for you to call zem zus. And since zey are a very irascible race, I would suggest you let your comments now be ze last zat you do so."

Or else he hoped that the Hogwarts Healer was immaculately efficient in treating third degree burns. Their rash and menacing tempers surely came from their barbaric Bulgarian origins.

"You two may see me aftair class with Mademoiselle Grantham."

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Originally Posted by Nordic Witch View Post
Cole sat in his wicker chair in the rose garden and looked ahead at Professor Nostredame that he had greeted earlier. Their new CoMC professor seemed very moody and not someone you wanted to cross. As the lesson began Cole sat up straighter in his chair and raised his hand to answer after Fiona. "I've heard of Dukuwaqas professor, that shapeshift from being a man to a shark and back." It seemed like a cool transformation to see, but he kept that thought to himself. CoMC was one of his favourite lessons so Cole really hoped that this lesson was going to be fun.
"Oui, ze Fijian National Quidditch Team mascot," Mathys nodded with some degree of relief as he performed another Flagrate to list the creature below Kelpie on their hovering list. "Now, before any of you begin spewing complaints about fairness, like ze merpeople decided among zemselves, so too hahve ze Dukuwaqa zat zey wish to be classeefied as beasts rathair zan beings due to zeir preferred state being zat of a shark over zeir human form."

Really, this was not up for debate and doing so would only take away from the true purpose of this evening's lesson. A purpose that would be doing a great service to Beauxbatons and help these Hogwarts students gain some favor with his headmistress.

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Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow View Post
Shape shifting creatures?! COOL! Cecelia sat up some, excited about the idea of maybe SEEING a shape shifting creature up close. As for what she knew about them, well her initial answer had been taken by Bernadette, so she offered her second. "I'm wondering if boggarts count? They can change into the form of whatever scares you most, and you can transform them into something more funny using a spell. Mum told me all about it!" She wondered what HER boggart would be, unable to imagine anything TOO scary in the moment. What DID scare her most?

Hmm...
"Oui, but zey are a bit of a grey area for us in zat zey are spirits. Specifically non-beings," he nodded with another flick of his wand as 'Boggart' appeared as the third creature on their humble list though with a small star considering there was a bit of a tangible exception to boggarts. "Spirit studies is a bit of a complex branch of magizoology with zose falling undair ziss category more often zan not covered more in your Defense Against ze Dark Arts lessons. But an understandeeng of zeir nature goes hand in hand with ze study of ze Care of Magical Creatures." After all, their appearance was often a call for Creature Control and not the Bureau des Aurors. "Another fine example of somezing zat can change its form at will and very complex in nature. We do not have ze time to go into detail today, however."

And if the rumors he was hearing from his connections was true, a far too triggering a topic for the fragile hearts of these Hogwarts youths.

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Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy View Post
As the class officially started, Tina focused all her attention on Professor de Nostredame, hanging on to his every word. Her mood instantly brightened upon hearing the first question. So they were covering creatures indigenous to France, and de Nostredame asked for a shapeshifting creature… If this lesson went in the direction she thought it was going, they were in for a lot of fun!

The moment she heard the question, her mind immediately went to her favorite magical creature, the matagot - the black cat-like creatures that guard the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France and shapeshift into black cats upon leaving the wizarding world - but that answer was already said… sort of. A mathog? Seriously?! That sounded like a pig that could calculate equations… either that or the one nerdy kid in every arithmetic class who just had to answer all of the teacher's questions.*

It took every bit of restraint Tina had not to raise her hand and give the correct name of the creature. She was 99% sure the matagot was the answer de Nostredame was looking for, and she knew all about them! But at the same time, that answer could come across as condescending and rude. Either way she chose, it had the potential to reflect badly upon her, and she was not having that! She'd worked too hard to act like a perfect Beauxbatons student! So what would a perfect Beauxbatons student do?

If her four years' experience at this school was anything to go by, manners were just as important as knowledge, if not more so. That settled it; she was going to go for a different answer. Tina raised her hand and after being called on, she said, "What about the hidebehind, Professor? It's a beast created by the accidental breeding of a group and a demiguise, and as the name suggests, it can shapeshift and turn invisible to hide behind any object." Did that count?*

Tina was not at all confident in that answer, not so much in that her information was incorrect but that the creature, like the boggart, counted more as a DADA subject, but it was better than nothing… and hopefully better than correcting a first year in front of everyone.
"Oui, ze hidebehind is anothair fine example," he nodded with a wave of his wand. "A trageec beast zat serves as a remindair to wizarding kind ze dangers of disrespecting creatures. Because of ze arrogance of Phineas Fletchair, zere exeests in ziss world a beast born of wizahrding folly zat will destroy ze life of a witch or wizard without remorse and s a formidable foe in zat it can shape shift as well as turn invisible."

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Originally Posted by lazykitty View Post
"There's el Cucuy, a shapeshifter who hides under beds and in closets and eats children," Dalia chimed in. Of course, it wasn't French in origin, but Professor de Nostradame had meant in general, right? Surely so. If not, well, most of the class was in trouble there anyway, so....

Then again, it was also possible she had mixed her legends with her actual creatures again. If so, then oops.
Ah, a very unique answer and one that had Mathys' nodding his head approvingly as it too joined the growing list of approved shape shifting creatures. "Native to Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, we here in France have our own subspecies colloquially referred to as ze le croque-mitaine or ze Croquemitaine. Zey all fall under ze genus Bogey. Anothair zat you may encounter in your Defense Against ze Dark Arts training."

Quote:
Originally Posted by hermionesclone View Post
Lucas would’ve been glad to sit there on his own. At least no one would feel him almost radiating heat from blushing too much, right? But he was glad that the person who did come to sit down next to him was a familiar face. It was because of this that he gave Fiona a relieved smile. Hey! Thanks. Really.

When it was time to start, he turned his attention back towards de Nostredame. The man’s face made it hard to concentrate but that voice? The accent? That only made it harder. How many times had he heard the man talk? And how much of it did he really remember?? Very little.

Was he radiating heat, yet?

But he was talking about....... shapeshifting? Yeah. That was it. Shapeshifting creatures that he knew enough about. Well, as much as he wanted to answer and show de Nostredame that he had something beneath that curly hair of his, he........ didn’t know any other examples. Apart from the human examples like an Animagi, but that wasn’t a shapeshifting creature, was it?

So, he stayed silent. And listening. Or trying to.
It would have served Monsieur Dakest well to have spoken his thoughts aloud, perhaps helped to rectify some of the confusion and animosity that the professor had brewed in his lashing out against students and their innocent wording. But Professor de Nostredame was firm in such matters, punishing Beauxbatons students in the same manner without a second thought. Particularly after a rather nasty incident in which one student had called another of Veela decent a beast and...how did the Hogwarts motto go again? Tickle the sleeping dragon? Mathys had nearly sent the student to the hospital wing in a matchbox by the time he had been able to both stun and pry the fully transformed Veela student off the other.

Never again. Never.

For now, he simply bowed his head to the young man in appreciation for his attentive listening.

Pacing slightly, taking care to step widely around the floating letters, Mathys gave the whickered couches another look over for any lingering hands (even those half raised) before concluding it was time to move along. Though he would be lying if he said he was not disappointed.

"I zank you for your effahrts, but I do find it interesting zat you all chose to focus on only ze shape shifting creatures and all but ignored ze secand part of my inquiry - ze phase shifting creatures. Shape shifting refers to zose creatures who change zeir physeecal shape, one solid form to anothair, such as ze Kelpie. Phase shifting refers to zose creatures who are able to change zeir forms from interchange zemselves between entirely different genetic compositions from zeir own natural states. One of ze best examples of zis we see in ze boggart zat Mademoiselle Summers mentioned. Ze ability of invisibility falls undair ziss catergory as well, like ze demeeguise as zey are capable of literally phasing zemselves in and out of a physical representation. It iz not a perfect analogy but, sink of it as being similar to how watair can became ice or a gas. Zose...phase changes. I will admit zat ziss can be a bit of a confusing subject to grasp. Especially since ze term shape shifting has been used interchangeably with all zese. Ze creature zat we will be working with today falls undair the phase shifting classification."

He was sure that this would elicit more than a few follow up questions and he would be more than willing to field those.

Mathys took a moment to glance upwards at the castle's walls and studied it curiously for a time before his piercing blues drifted back to the horizon. Shouldn't be too long now.

"Ze majority of your responses are for zose creatures who use zere abilities to lure their prey and consume them." Making the majority of them Dark creatures by definition, which was not something that he was particularly fussed with but encouraged. It would be naive to separate all branches of magical study into their own pigeon holes. "But can you zink of no othair evolutionary advantage to zis ability? I am certain you can. Zere are already some examples in the answers previously given. Or if zis question does not interest you, perhaps you can tell me ways to distinguish between a creature zat is a a shape shifter or phase shifter to a creature a creature zat has been transfigured by spellwork?"
OOC: You all are just so so SO fantastic These are the final questions of the lesson before we get into some one-on-one time with the creature of the moment! (and we apologize for Mr. Grumpy Gills at some of you!)

If you are just joining us now please do not hesitate to jump right in from this question only or play a bit of catch up (it is always welcome!) We will continue in approximately 24 hours.
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