"I would not say so," Xavier replies to the comment about the Bloody Baron. "Although he seems to not have led the best life ever, his ghost has not scared or done emotional harm to any of the students as of yet in the castle."

Xavier rarely saw the Bloody Baron. Perhaps he spent time with his fellow Slytherins.

Nadia raised her hand. "If we consider it, ghost have little to no effect on the mundane life. Meaning to say, even if the dark wizard became a ghost, they wouldn't be able to do any harm to the living, since they are uncorporeal. We feel as much as an uneasy feeling as a ghost touches us or walk past us. A poltergeist, on the other hand..."

"Maybe wizards that seek to harm on their afterlife would become poltergeist, but by definition it would need to be a very perturbed soul," she added. "I wouldn't be too sure if the Bloody Baron was a dark wizard, or even if the Spirits creatures have such distinction. It seems ghosts, at least generally, are considered neutral if not 'good' creatures."

"A ghost retains the personality of the person who died, so I wouldn't go so far as to classify a ghost as "good" just as I wouldn't classify all people as good, but you're right in assuming that for the most part, a ghost with bad intentions couldn't do much about them." She tightened her scarf around her neck. "Poltergeists... those are an entirely different breed of spirit. A poltergeist is not a ghost, and is not the departed spirit of a deceased person. That's an important distinction. What can a poltergeist do?"

OOC: I'm off to bed and I probably will not be back on until after 10 EST tomorrow night. I'll leave the thread open for some RPing and answering the question, but please do not converse amongst yourselves as if Rae isn't really here.

"A poltergiest is able to manipulate its surrounding area--that is, it has a semi-solid form, or is able to control its density. While a ghost cannot pick up objects, for example, a poltergiest can."

Nadia raised her hand, "While the ghosts are the imprint of past wizards, poltergeists are indestructible and somewhat solid spirits of chaotic emotions. They are not transparent either. They are described to walk between the two worlds, the living and the unliving. Enough of the living to interact with material things, and enough of the unliving to be scared of another ghost rather than of a human. For example Peeves from the Bloody Baron.

"As I have understood, poltergeist are manifestation of emotions, they most of them old enough for us no recognize no real "birth" dates - if we can talk about birth of a manifestation, but anyways. I wonder, professor -" here she raised her hand further "- is it known how poltergeist are made and who from?"

"A description of some poltergeists are that they are indestructible spirits of chaos," Xavier puts in. "They enjoy wreaking havoc and seeing people try to stop them."

Heshasa who had been taking notes nonstop looked up at the mention of Peeves and smiled.

Alex jotted notes down furiously while trying to pay attention to what Professor Rae and the students were saying. She stayed quiet most of the time -- sometimes it was just better that way. Plus, Nadia was saying everything and more than she had to say.

Not that the girl was complaning.

Laurasia's scarf came loose & fell over her parchment as she was writing down her notes. Sighing, she tied the scarf around her neck rather than leaving it simply flung over one shoulder.

She continued to write down her notes terribly interested. It was obvious that these were subjects that she enjoyed immensely. Deciding that this would be the class in which to get an answer to a certain question that bothered her, she raised her hand.

"Professor Rae, I was wondering if you could decipher something for me. One afternoon a cousin of mine was standing her kitchen making some lunch, she was alone in the house. Their house is heavily haunted by many different spirits & poltergeists, with in particular being rather nasty & controlling to the other spirits & tenants of the house. Anyway, this nasty...entity..began to slam some of the cupboards behind her in an apparent attempt to scare her out of the room. Instead it annoyed her greatly, because they have always had to "walk on eggshells" when this particular spirit was irritated. It began to become more persistant & she finally turned around & screamed that it was her house & that it should leave. Almost immediately a full-sized completely black form appeared in the middle of kitchen right in front of her. And suddenly a knife seemed to come flying out of this black mass & went right pased her head into the cupboard behind her. Then the black form disappeared. My question is does this seem more like a ghost or a poltergeist to you? I've never really been able to discern it myself, as that particaular spirit is able to control the other ghosts in the house. Are poltergeists able to interact with ghosts?"

In silence, Zekke took down notes in his composition notebook as the class discussed ghosts and poltergeists. He shivered a little and hunkered down into his long wool coat as a gust of wind howled.

The Shrieking Shack had a peculiar feel to it and it made him edgy and unable to relax. It took a lot of willpower to not shift his weight around and look nervous, but inwardly, he felt like a Kneazle on a hot tin roof.

"Exactly... a poltergeist differs from a ghost in that it can physically manifest itself. It's form typically is more solid than a ghost, sometimes showing some color, and can touch and occasionally be touched. They don't originate from the soul of a deceased Wizard, although," and Rae turned to address Nadia specifically, "we aren't sure exactly where the spirits come from. I haven't met a poltergeist cooperative enough to tell me."

She listened with interest to the story presented to her by the young Slytherin student before responding. "You know... that's an interesting story, and I have to be honest in telling you that we as a society don't know everything about spirits. You are more likely to see ghosts and/or poltergeists co-existing within a place than seeing one rule over the group, but that isn't always the case. As for whether this spirit was a ghost or a poltergeists, I would hazard that it was more like a poltergeist, although it certainly could have been a ghoul. Poltergeists tend to feed off of emotions, so your cousin's rage could have given the spirit enough energy to attack her in that way. Does that mean poltergeists are Dark?"

Nadia raised her hand, "Since poltergeist are manifestation of emotions, only they would be dark when manifestating a very violent, negative emotion maybe? Such as rage, like in the example Laurasia gave? They sure look dangerous enough." Though Nadia doubted such classification would be that simple.

There were matters to consider, like, if the emotion was what made something dark or just will and factual actions. Was it possible to think of an emotion as dark? The very same definition of dark was rather blurred. For example sadness, if the spirit tried to feed of that emotion like a pogrebin would, or jealousy. The poltergeist was dark? Could it be destroyed? Should it be not, because of a philosophy of dark and light, ying and yang, perfect balance and all that?

"I would not say that poltergeists are evil or bad," Xavier replies. "They just like to pull pranks and do stuff to annoy people."

He looks around at the other students. "I'm sure we all have students in our own houses that fit that description," he continues. "That doesn't make them evil though. Just hard to get along with."

Noel was puzzled by the professor's statement. She took some notes and thought for a moment, Are poltergists dark?. It was an interesting question, Noel would have said yes but she decided not to say.

Rosa looked around listening only half about what professor rae was telling them about ghosts. something about poltergeists that were dark. she couldn't tell. she'd never seen a poltergeist, nor a ghost. unless... she'd seen some living ghosts, yes, but no poltergeists. she'd read something about them in hogwarts, a history, though. she looked around wondering if she'd see one today.

Athena thought about the question. Deciding she didn't have a good answer, she waited to see what the other answers were, occasionally taking down notes as she listened. At a pause, she rubbed her hands together. All this writing certainly keeps my hands warm! she thought.

Heshasa listened intently to the stories then to the professor's question. She raised her hand, "Not necssarily if they choose to harm someone they could be. But would it only be attacking if it was a negative emotion like rage?

Laurasia listened as the Professor addressed her question. "Hhmm, even the professor can't answer for sure. Interesting." she thought to herself.

She pondered the professor's question & raised her hand. "I would venture to say that poltergeists themselves are not neccessarily bad or evil. I think that their actions would depend on the circumstances of their surroundings, considering that they react from the emotions around them. My cousins' household wasn't the best to grow up in & that fact is probably what caused this particular poltergeist, or spirit, to become so nasty. It was, very much though, domineering over the ghosts that resided in the house as I mentioned."

"I think we're right in assuming that poltergeists on a whole aren't Dark creatures. In fact, few are. As I'm hearing you say, some of them are more nasty than others, but most poltergeists are mischievious and intrusive rather than malicious."

Rae sighed and yawned before drawing her wand from her deep cloak pocket. She tapped it twice and house elves appeared, called from the castle. Rae looked delighted as they handed each student a cup of steaming hot chocolate. "Well, let's just relax and spend a few minutes discussing some of the questions you have about Defense topics in general."

Jaren refused to take the hot chocolate from the House Elf out of habit, even though it was offered by the Headmistress. Never hurt to be overly cautious.

"Professor, since Occlumency is basically a defense to close the mind against intrusion, would it work not only against anyone using Legillimens, but also any potion or spell that tampers with one's mind and willpower? The Imperius curse, for an example?"

Nadia did take the chocolate. It was cold out there after all. She sipped a bit on the hot chocolate and felt her ears buzz pleasantly. She quite knew the answer to that question, Nadia did, she though while hearing Jaren's question with some smug delight. But as she was, she was happy enough to give her own kind of questions here.

"Professor, how do you stop a poltergeist?" she asked, with her hands raised, remembering a previous occurrance. If only with some bitterness.

Zekke raised his hand. "In response to Jaren's question... Occlumency wouldn't work against other things that work against the mind like... love potions for example, right?

Even though Occlumency shields against a Legilimens and other mental... intrusions... I've heard that it couldn't fight off a love potion or... Veritaserum... or could it?"

Laurasia was taking notes while listening to everyone when a house elf came up & offered her a mug of hot cocoa. She gratefully took the mug in her hands & slowly sipped some of the blissfully warming drink. She felt the heat from the liquid as it traveled down her throat & into her stomach, instantly making her more comfortable.

She watched & listened to the various discussions going on amongst the students while holding the mug up near her chin, allowing the steam could further warm her. She was very interested in Nadia's question. She raised her hand. "I have to second Nadia's question. Since it seems that existing conditions around the poltergeist fuel them, would leaving the vacinity that they are within for some time cause them to essentially...dissipate? At least until a new set of circumstances begin to feed, & thusly re-activate them?"

Alex took the hot chocolate from the house-elf and placed it somewhere close to her -- she didn't want to be rude. And even if she didn't drink it, it was better than to refuse it all together, especially after they had gone through so much work.

"I've actually had an incident with the Plotergesit not too long ago. I tried sending off wind spells, but it didn't exactly work," she replied slowly. "Mind you, at the time I thought the Poltergeist was a Troll," she added, as if it these were two things that someone could easily get confused on a daily baisis.

How DO you stop a Poltergeist?

When hearing Laurasia speal, Alex raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't the Poltergeist just follow you?" Without really waiting for an answer -- it was more a rhetorical question -- she looked at the Professor.

"Professor Rae, I have a question -- but it isn't really related to defense. I am just wondering, do you know when our next Apparition Lesson will be? I have been meaning to get to Professor McAiken's office for a while now, but it seems he is always busy," she trailed off at the last part of the sentence.