DADA Lesson: Kappas It’s a fine albeit cold Monday afternoon in December. You need not worry about freezing your bum off, however! With every step you take towards the DADA classroom on the third floor, you feel the welcoming warmth radiating off your skin. Professor Khanna has charmed a fair bit of the corridor and the classroom in its entirety for the comfort of every living thing involved. That’s right. Humans aren’t only what was in Dhruv’s care today. Upon entering the room, you’ll encounter a huge large transparent water tank at the front. It’s comfortable enough to have a curious creature splashing around: it seemed to be a scaly monkey-like one with webbed hands. Its head was an odd shape at the top - it seemed to have a depression. All the while, the creature is making cheeky faces in your direction as you walk through the door. Professor Dhruv is leaning casually against their desk, arms folded. Don’t let this posture deter you from greeting them; they were mainly trying to keep their hands from reaching for the sunglasses tucked in their pocket and slapping it on. Instructions are given verbally: “Please take a seat, write your name and what you think this creature may be on a slip of parchment. Once done, fold the parchment, leaving it on your desk for now. In other words, DO NOT blurt out or otherwise make known the creature’s name. Those who answer correctly via the parchment will receive a prize. A hefty twenty point loss goes to each student who does not comply.” The classroom seating is arranged as per norm: rows of comfortable desk and chairs to accommodate all. Lesson Progression: * Greetings + First round of questions * Responses to questions + Mini Activity instructions * Responses to Mini Activity * More responses to Mini Activity + New question * Responses + Main Activity * Responses to Main Activity - Part 1 * Responses to Main Activity - Part 2 * Responses to Main Activity - Part 3 * Responses to Main Activity - Part 3 + Class dismissal |
DADA time was the BEST time if one was to ask her. This class and flying were probably some of her favorites, though she liked CoMC too... And Charms most of the time. Actually, maybe she secretly liked all the classes - except History of Magic which was always a snoooooooze fest to her. Anyways, as Vera Thanatos skipped onto the room, shedding her scarf as she did so, eyes immediately went to the tank and the creature within making funny faces. Which naturally meant, she had to make funny faces right back at it. Until she realized anyways she probably needed to get to her seat and there would be ample opportunity to interact with the creature later. Attention turned to Professor Khanna to chirp a quick, "Hello, Professor!" Before making her way towards her seat. Hearing the instructions, she slipped some paper out of her bag and a pen and scrawled a quick "SEA MONKEY" on her piece of paper before folding it as instructed and laying it down on her desk. Were sea monkeys real? She had no idea, but that was the first thing she thought of when she saw the contents of the aquarium so she was sticking with it. |
Mercer had to tear himself away from standing right in front of the tank and making faces back at the creature inside. He knew that the professor had given clear directions to sit down and get right to work, but LOOK AT THE SILLY FACES! The fourth year stuck his tongue out one last time before scurrying to his seat. He was good with creatures, so this one didn't even require him to look through his text for any answers. Mercer's father (and brother) did animal photography, and Marcus Orion Branxton's first published book had a photo of one of these, caught right at the moment the water was spilling from the indentation on its head. It was a sort of famous photo, honestly, at least to Mercer's mind. He drew several silly faces on his parchment before writing "Kappa". |
DADA was a good class in Apollo's mind because it typically didn't involve much sitting around. Any class that got him active was good. Except the start of the lesson when they were being instructed to sit down and identify the creature at the front of the room. It was definitely a water-dwelling creature, that much was obvious. But that still was about half a dozen choices that the seventh year knew of ? He probably should have known this creature without a second glance, but for some reason he was struggling to recall. Was this a glimpse of what his NEWTs were going to be like in the coming months? If so then he was definitely doomed. Good thing he didn't need NEWTs for professional quidditch, but he still wanted to pass for the nagging what if he didn't make the team? And there were those doomsday thoughts again, distracting him from the task at hand. He finally scribbled down the first creature to pop into his head: Grindylow. Although just as quickly as he finished writing it, realized it wasn't correct. |
Haven pulled off her jumper as she walked into the classroom, quietly grumbling about the excessive heat. She'd only just started applying her own heating charms to her clothes, but with the Professor's additional spells she felt it was far, far too warm. Offering Khanna a short nod, she slung the jumper over her shoulder and found her customary seat in the middle of the room. The sixth year pulled out a small piece of parchment from her bag, along with her quill and ink. She wrote 'kappa' in small, neat letters and folded the piece as instructed. Looking around, she took note of the other students present. No one interesting. Haven settled in her seat, eyes towards the door, and waited for more of her people to show up. |
As the days crept by into the month of December and the weather grew chiller, Keighley had started to dress warmer. She also made very good use of heating charms whenever possible. However this wasn't necessary as she neared the DADA room this afternoon. Right away she felt the warmth radiating from within and a smile spread across her face. "Good afternoon, Professor Khanna," she greeted softly, making her way directly towards her desk and taking a seat. Bright blue eyes went directly towards the large tank at the front of the room, smiling and making a face back at the creature inside. The professors instructions had her taking out a small slip of parchment and a quill from her bag. First she signed her name on it 'Keighley' and then underneath that she wrote 'Kappa'. Thank you magical creatures studies and having a family that knows about creatures of all kinds. |
Sailor had been finding himself lately fixated in DADA information. Something about creatures that were apparently dark was appealing to him. It also didn't help that most of them looked interesting, with weird features and quirks that were horrifyingly pleasing in his opinion. That horrifying part was exactly what the Ravenclaw most intriguing. Sometimes the names were laughable too. Who named hinkypunks hinkypunks? Justice for hinkypunks or whatever the other youth say these days. After nodding at the professor as acknowledgment, he gave one look at the creature in the water tank up front and, if anyone really looked at him intently, he had amazement all over his face. For one second, that is, because Sailor quickly went back to his usual face. The one that would make anyone think he'd rather be somewhere else. Sailor spotted his sister easily in the group, thanks to her pink hair sticking out like a sore thumb which he likened to a bubble gum mop head (affectionate). The Ravenclaw made his way there and slipped onto a seat beside her silently, before jotting down on a slip of parchment: Kappa. Fondly, water alien. |
The warmth of the classroom was very much welcomed. Outside had been extra nippy and Maya had found that even jogging (or speed walking) to classes had not been of much help. Upon entering the classroom, her eyes were immediately drawn to the water tank in the classroom with the scaly creature splashing around. Was this a joint class with Care of Magical Creatures? She turned her gaze from the creature and smiled at the professor. ”Good afternoon, Professor,” she said before finding a seat in front. On a slip of parchment, Maya wrote down her name in neat letters before scribbling under it ‘Kappa’. Then she folded it once in half, and then again in the opposite direction, leaving it right in the middle of her desk. She wondered if the prize for getting the right answer would be as many as 20 points since failing to comply would’ve made them lose that amount. |
Mitsuki almost did not make it to class today. The dredges in her morning tea had been particularly ominous and she still was not quite sure how she manages to avoid calamity. Perhaps it was only postponed...but in any event she had added some additional salt to her pockets and now she was arriving in class with a bit more hurriedness to her steps. Offering the professor a quick but polite bow at the waist, the Ravenclaw made her way towards her usual seat near Mercer, offered him a tiny hint of a smile for a greeting, and, for once, began following the instructions presented without too much thought. However, as Mitsukis tended to do, she became distracted the moment her quill dipped into the inkwell. The answer was clear as day, just like the weather had been on the day her and Mercer had wandered down to the lake by Himitsumahou and had their encounter with the kappa. But rather than begin to sketch the kappa almost drowning them, Mitsuki recalled explaining kappamaki to the professor towards the beginning of the term and thus she drew a couple of those. But, as always, her quill did not stop there and soon she was (internally) giggling at the irony of a kappa holding an umbrella in the rain and then added a cucumber beside that. But then the cucumber reminded her of shoryoma she sometimes laid out around the Hogwarts grounds (like she had been doing when she had first met Luca but that was all in the past now) and thus she added the stick legs and one of her signature ghosts riding it. Technically, her piece of parchment was in the middle of her desk and she had written her answer upon it. It certainly was not folded in half, however, because the raven haired Ravenclaw continued to further her ink embellishments as her peers kept filtering into the classroom and finding their own seats. |
Brandon stepped into the classroom, and noticed two things: there was a tank with a creature in it, and also they'd lose 20 points if they said the creature's name. 20? That seemed like a lot. Brandon was glad he didn't know what was in the tank, because he was immediately scared about getting in trouble for saying it. Not that Brandon struggled to keep his mouth shut. But the idea of getting in trouble always put him on his guard. "Hello, Professor Dhruv," Brandon said politely. They intimidated him, especially when they had their arms crossed. Also this class intimidated him. Brandon was easily intimidated. He took his seat and started taking notes on the creature in the tank. Brandon loved creatures, and could easily pick out the features of this one. But being relatively new to the wizarding world, he had barely learned about these, and didn't know what they were called. So he used a different reasoning. This was DADA class. And that was a water tank. He wrote down Water demon. Then he drew a grindylow and a kelpie, and crossed them out. not these ones. That was the best he could do, alright. The name escaped him. |
Desiree was kind of hmm about Defense Against the Dark Arts. She liked the learning new spells part, but not so much the scary monsters and getting messy part. While it wasn’t one of her better subjects, it was one she felt was important to know. Anything could happen at Hogwarts - just look at what happened to her dad and what happened to her last term! Whatever came her way next, she wanted to be prepared! She was cautiously optimistic about today’s lesson as she stepped into the classroom. Immediately she noticed two things. One was the warmth in the room compared to the hallways, which was greatly appreciated. The other was the funny-looking water monkey in the tank at the front. She eyed the creature with a mixture of intrigue and hesitation. The silly faces made her stifle a giggle, but Merlin, she hoped they wouldn’t have to get into a tank or pool full of those things later! Yuck! Note to self: cast Impervius on yourself if you have to go near it, she thought. “Hello, Professor Khanna,” she greeted with a polite smile before making her way to a seat. Hmm, she wondered what activity was in store today. Whatever it was, it must be super important if saying the creature’s name would ruin it badly enough to cost twenty house points! Pulling out a quill and parchment, she wrote her name in her usual fancy script; underneath that she wrote kappa. |
"Hello Professor" Maxine said and she smiled and made her way to her seat. She liked Defence Against the Dark Arts - it made her happy. And this room was nice and toasty - she could almost find herself taking a nap .. almost ..except she would never fall asleep during class. Taking a good long look at the creature in the take before it, she took out a parchment - she nearly shouted what she wanted .. but the threat of losing 20 points was rather looming. So taking out her Parchment she wrote in elegant script: Maxine Bixby 4th Year Gryffindor 'Kappa" now fingers crossed she had the write creature ... it did kind of look like a sea monkey to ... but that seemed less magical. |
SPOILER!!: Replies are under here! The time had arrived now to get the lesson started, a lesson that Dhruv was quite looking forward to teaching. They headed for the classroom’s entrance to take a quick peek for any stragglers. Seeing none, the door was closed. As they walked back to the students, the shades were re-tucked into the pocket of their shirt. Next time they’d try harder to leave it behind in the office. “Welcome to another DADA lesson!’’ Here, the gathering was given a warm smile. “By now, you’ve each met our friend here.” A gesture was made to the tank, to the creature who was now staring at all the students a little hungrily in Dhruv’s opinion. “Before we proceed, let me just take a look at the answers you provided.” They leaned against the front of the desk, and at the same time, made a few hand gestures. The slips of parchment rose in unison then gathered in a neat line to head in their direction. Dhruv hoped that one day they could inspire more students to practice wandless magic or nonverbal magic or in his case, the combination of both. As each parchment arrived before him, they automatically opened. This enabled Dhruv to read what was written as they paused before his eyes one at a time. “Kappa, Kappa, Sea monkey, Kappa, Kappa, Grindylow, Kappa, Kappa, Water Demon, Kappa, Kappa,’ they read the answers out loud. All those doodles, they saw them. Each was appreciated. Were those kappamaki on Mitsuki’s sketch? As the parchments were read, they stacked neatly on his desk. “Great try, all of you! Today we will indeed be focusing on Kappas, also called ‘sea demons’." The professor moved to the whiteboard and they did so, a black uncapped marker positioned itself ready to take notes. “What else can you tell me of the sly creatures? What do you think is the creature mostly known for or how is it a danger to humans? Where is it native to? What is its Ministry classification? You may answer one of those or provide another piece of information.” As if proud to be the topic of today’s lesson, the kappa dove to the base of the tank, quickly rose to the surface then bobbed its head from side to side. These were expressions of excitement, perhaps? OOC: I really enjoyed reading those posts, guys! <3 Class has officially begun so this means no announcing late arrivals. We shall continue in about 24 hours! |
Ah, a Kappa? Sea monkey, sea demon... It all sounded synonymous to her so she was going to count herself as correct She figured Mercer and Mitsuki would have more info though. She was pretty sure they mentioned nearly dying by one too. |
Brandon watched with wide, fascinated eyes as the professor did wandless magic. This only cemented how The poor professor was added to Brandon's list and he'd likely be peppering them with wandless and nonverbal magic questions as soon as he'd worked up the courage. First it was the healer, the DADA professor was next. So they were working on kappas. Technically they were also called 'sea demons'. However, Brandon guessed with disappointment that 'water demon that isn't a grindylow or kelpie' wasn't a good enough answer for a prize. It was fine. "Kappas strangle people and drink their..." He looked at his paper, not much liking the word. "...their blood." Brandon really didn't like blood, and he doubted that he'd like kappas even if they didn't drink the stuff. They killed people! He liked most creatures, but NOT this kind. At least it was in a tank. And besides, he had the professor to protect him, and Brandon bet they'd be good at it. Because they were powerful and nice and their whole job was defense against the dark arts. So he didn't have to be SO scared. He relaxed a little, and worked on his notes. |
Defense Against the Dark Arts was quickly becoming one of Nancy's favorite subjects for a few reasons. She absolutely LOVED the whole dark creatures aspect of it. It was so exciting to learn about all the creepy things out there in the world! From the comfort and safety of a classroom, of course. Did she ever want to encounter one of these things in the WILD? Absolutely not! She raised her hand, eager to answer the question about Kappas. She actually knew a bit about these just from reading about them growing up. "Can't you prevent them from attacking someone if you carve their name in a cucumber and throw it at them?" she answered. Why did THAT, of all things, convince the Kappas to back off? What did they have against cucumbers? Would a pickle also suffice? Nancy had MANY questions. |
Bella was glad for the extra warmth in Professor Khanna's classroom since it was pretty chilly in the castle corridors, but it was almost too warm. In her rolled up parchment still placed on her chosen desk, Bella had scribbled 'Isabella', 'Slytherin', '7th year', 'water demon', and 'kappa' before folding it up since the creature in the tank up front more looked like a kappa than a grindylow. DADA class was usually fun so she waited eagerly for things to start. When Professor Khanna got the class started and revealed that the creature in the tank indeed was a kappa, their focus for today Bella smiled. Raising her hand after Nancy she answered "The ministry rating for kappas is XXXX and the water filled depression on it's head is the source of their strength. |
Oh. Kappas. He was completely off with that guess but it was a good effort, wasn't it? Except he wouldn't get a prize for effort, nor would effort give him a passing mark on his NEWT. He did know a thing or two about kappas, so perhaps redemption was in order and could still scrape by with an acceptable. He paused a moment to see what others had to say, wincing at what that first year hufflepuff Brandon said about drinking blood. "The drinking blood and attacking people is more of a defense mechanism, isn't it? Like if you don't bother it, it's not randomly going to seek you out... but if you trespass it's territory..." Apollo trailed off, which made him wonder too, how did Professor Dhruv get close enough to train this kappa? Because it didn't seem to exhibit any of the textbook kappa traits? |
YES!!!!!!! She was right - Boom! Also she was super glad that none of that actually came out of her mouth .. or did it?? She took a quick side glace around the room and no one was looking at her funny so she assumed it had not. Okay ... so now onto actually learning about Kappas. "They are native to Japan - and they drink human blood - the are the vampire of the sea" Okay the vampire of the sea part was probably not necessary, but it sounded way cooler than Kappa. |
Desiree’s bright blue eyes widened in amazement at Professor Khanna’s display of wandless magic. Asdfjkl! That was so cool!!! The only other person she’d seen do wandless magic was her dad, and it was a rarity for him. She wished she could do that, but she was only just learning nonverbal magic. Maybe someday… Well, what do you know? She actually guessed the creature correctly! Desiree couldn’t help but feel a little pleased with herself for that, as DADA was definitely not her strong suit. She wondered what the prize the professor mentioned was… she hoped it was candy! Whatever it was, there was no time to think about it now. They were moving on! She had noooo idea what to say about kappas! All she knew about them was that they were native to Japan… and wasn’t that the creature that injured Professor DeVries’s hand? No surprise that both of those things were mentioned early on! She listened to her classmates’ answers as she tried to recall details from her textbook, a task made a lot harder by the kappa bobbing along in the background. She could barely look at it and not giggle! Brandon’s answer… yikes! Hearing that, Desiree wasn’t sure she wanted to go anywhere near that kappa. Though maybe it was secretly good inside like the Beast, she hoped! If what that younger girl (Nancy) said was true, she was going to give it allll the cucumbers! Maybe it would like them better than blood - because eww! - and they could be friends. It was finally Bella’s answer that jogged Desiree’s memory, and she raised her hand. “I think you can weaken a kappa if you trick it into bowing,” she said. She hoped… she didn’t know! |
Daniel, who was seated somewhere in the middle of the classroom, looked at the creature splashing around in the large water tank at the front. He recognized the creature right away because he had learned about it for his O.W.L. studies last year, but he kept quiet. He didn't want to waste any House Points. He watched as the papers were magically gathered and flown to the front of the room, and he waited with a bored expression on his face as the Professor looked over the answers. He was unsurprised that his answer on the card had been correct. Daniel placed his elbow on the table and his chin in the palm of his hand as the next question was asked. While his classmates raised their hands and gave their answers, the Hufflepuff focused on the Kappa diving to the bottom of the tank before it rose to the surface. The sixth year didn't raise his hand, not because he didn't know any of the answers, his Outstanding on his exam should have proven that he knows more than enough, but he wasn't in the mood to speak. Instead, he kept his dark brown eyes on the creature bobbing around in the water tank. It looked far uglier than what was pictured in the books. |
Hope had stopped dead just after entering DADA class, mesmerized by the creature in the glass tank. She was so preoccupied that she nearly forgot to say hello to Professor Kamma, and just managed to blurt out a greeting and rush to her seat before class started. So--not a sea monkey (which had been her guess as well), but a Kappa? Hope had never heard of that creature--it apparently wasn't one that lived anywhere near where she'd ever been. It's webbed feet looked like it could grab someone and drag them down, though. Quote:
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Mercer was being a very attentive (boy)friend and watching Mitsuki draw over her shoulder, occasionally giving her doodle a little poke when he approved or disapproved of something. It was a very emotive poke, because it somehow communicated a variety of feelings. When the professor started speaking, Mercer gave them all his attention... or 87%, since the kappa was being interesting and all. He really did know about kappas, and he really did want to do well in this class, but when he raised his hand, he forgot his interesting fact and, instead, said, "Does it have a name? Do you ever feed it anything other than blood? Like maybe it has an favorite snacky? Does it live in that tank all the time, or will you put it back when the lesson is over?" |
SPOILER!!: Responses to Questions! “Well done, all of you.” Was there a hint of pride etched on their facial features? Yes, there was. “For the next aspect of our lesson, we will be practicing one aspect of guarding ourselves against Kappas.” Right on cue, as though the creature in the tank was against this, it made a webbed fist and shook it in the students’ direction, its face contorted unpleasantly. It was a most menacing action. “Our friend here clearly is against this but persevere we shall.” Kappas just may prefer blood over a certain vegetable. Dhruv headed to his desk where from under it a food storage container and a tray were pulled out. They were set atop the desk. “I have here some cucumbers.’’ They indicated to fresh, deep green cucumbers in the storage container. “And some knives.” They pointed to the tray of silver knives, which were identical to the ones used in Potions for chopping ingredients. “Ms. Schultz made the point of inscribing one’s name a cucumber and throwing it to the Kappa in order to appease it. For now, we will be working on inscribing our name which can be done either by magic or by the mundane way. Should you choose to go the magical route, simply use your wand to graft your name after saying the incantation Scribere, pronounced Scry-bear.” Cucumber and wand in hand, Dhruv provided a demonstration. “Scribere.” Holding one side of the cucumber towards the class, Dhruv proceeded to trace out his entire name. Each letter emerged in a mixture of red and yellow, the colours of a merry flame. Soon DHRUV VIHAAN KHANNA was etched, still in the red and yellow mix. “I prefer to use my full name; this way, it singles me out as the one who needs the protection as opposed to someone else who shares my first name. When etching, your wand need not touch the cucumber; moving it about an inch from the surface will be enough. “So come on up, grab a cucumber or two as there are plenty if you are not satisfied with the way you’ve etched your name, and a knife if you choose. The incantation is already on the board.” This was true as the marker had taken care of that. “But should you require assistance, let me know. Older students, I would be grateful if you would help me in keeping an eye on your younger peers.” Whether it be with the knives or to give the young ones a hand in perfecting the spell. OOC: thanks for sticking with Dhruv and I so far, lovelies! For this mini activity, you will have forty eight hours to complete the steps listed above. You may choose to do this in as many or as little posts as you like! Also taking this moment to give everyone the reminder that catch-up posts are allowed! <3 |
It really was peculiar that a cucumber was enough of a distraction for the creature to keep it from attacking, like... Why? Vegetables, even for someone who was opposed to eating them, was pretty non-threatening. And a cucumber could even be kind of a delicious snack. Or at least a really good natural way of flavoring ones water. Which according to her books also had health properties but that was not the point for today's lesson. Listening to the instructions, she decided immediately to go with the magical way (it was unlikely she'd ever have a knife on her person, but a wand for sure!). Grabbing a cucumber, she practiced saying "scry-bear" a few times to make sure she had decent enough pronunciation before she got distracted enough to ask a quick quick. "Professor Khanna?You said you use your full name to make sure you're the one being protected, but would the cucumber work to protect multiple people? Like... If I just put 'Thanatos' does that mean my family would be in the clear too if we were all together?" Or perhaps it was one person per veggie. She decided to start with her last name regardless of the answer. And maaaaaybe she'd add Vera, if she felt the need. "Scribere!" She said softly, using her wand to then write out Thanatos carefully into the green food. |
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