Noel bowed her head in thanks to the house elf, only afterward she realized that it had walked off in disgust. Wondering why she listened to the conversation, she didn't have any questions in particular.

Xavier smiles and takes the hot chocolate from the house elf. He takes a sniff of it, before pulling his wand out. Using a useful charm he had recentely learned, he cooled it down a bit. Hot drinks and his throat didn't get along all the time.

Heshasa smiled and took the cup from the house elf. With a word of thanks and a bow from the house elf she took a few sips and stared at the falling snow. The hot chocolate felt nice nd warm going down her throat and it warmed up her hands quite nicley. Thank you Professor she said taking another sip.

Rae held up her hands and laughed. "Okay, let's take this one question at a time. Jaren... I suppose it is safe to say that if one is a master at Occlumens, they would be less susceptible to mind control spells such as Imperius. That doesn't mean totally and completely able to throw the spell, but the ability to guard your mind against intrusion would certainly help. It would not, however, be as useful against a potion, since that really doesn't attack in the same way. It isn't an attack of one mind against another via a spell... it is a physiological attack." She hoped that answered Zekke's question as well.

"Nadia, that's an excellent question. A poltergeist is hard to stop in that it retains some spirit and some physical properties, and it can manifest both at will. It may fly through walls, but it can also touch things. I suppose the best way to deal with a poltergeist is to appeal to their sense of survival. There are ways to completely banish a poltergeist, although it is challenging and complicated."

"Laurasia, that is an interesting theory, but it is hard to test. If all sign of human life left an area, perhaps the poltergeist would fade or move on to a new haunt, but as soon as new life and emotions returned, the poltergeist would return as well. How could we ever measure whether or not the poltergeist had gone?"

"And Alex... I believe you've received all the apparition lessons you will get for the term."

Athena sat back and listened to everyone's questions. She accepted a cup of Hot Chocolate from the House Elf and thanked him. He squeaked and bowed, then ran off to serve the others. Athena smiled and warmed her hands on the cup. She took a sip of the drink and let it warm her to her toes. Then, she listend to what Professor Rae was saying in response to the other's questions.

ooc- <.< *psss* Occlumency does work against Veritaserum... (www.jkrowling.com FAQ)


Nadia waved her hand negatively. "No, I wasn't meaning banish, only stop it. Or limit their actions. I was wondering, is it possible they could not be affected by the material world NOR the spiritual world at the same time. Which is kind of disappointing in fact. I was hoping, if they were emplying the material mode, they could be affected by spells like wadiwasi, and if they were in non-material mode, they would be affected by the wind spell."

Nadia shook her head because she was disgressing. "Is there no way to stop a poltergeist professor?" she asked, with some despair at the idea.

ooc: Psst... back off, or I'll tell everyone about you and Whomping Willow.

"Wadiwasi definitely discourages a poltergeist and would be effective against most. Any spell that can creat minor discomfort for the poltergeist might work, but it depends on the desire of the spirit to do harm. As for a wind spell or such, you can't treat the body of a poltergeist as if its the same as that of a ghost. It might annoy a poltergeist... or not really bother him or her at all."

ooc- O_o How did you know about the Whoomping Willow?! <.< Kris you traitor..

Nadia titles her head, "But isn't it alike a ghost? Or, no, let me rephrase. Isn't a poltergeist a Spirit? It sure isn't a beast or a being, and spirits in general, like banshees and dementors, aren't them able to be pushed by wind?" Nadia asked, her hand raised.

"It is a spirit, but..." Rae paused to consider how to put this. "A poltergeist isn't like a bit of smoke that you can't touch but that exists enough to be pushed around by the elements... that's what a ghost is like. A poltergeist... unfortunately, has some measure of control on how physical he or she is. So, for example, I've seen Samea float through a wall and then run into a suit of armor. Why doesn't she run into the wall or float through the armor? Because she controls it."

"And, as last question," Nadia added, so not to push it and make the class be monopolized by the subject, "can she make two parts of her body into a different density? Say, she could be material to take an object and not let go while having her head go though the wall at the same time? And how dense and physical can a poltergeist be, enough to weight like a living person?"

Finding this train of topic very interesting, Jaren listened in pensive silence, at the same time musing in his head how best to confront Samea next time. If it occured.

"Let me be frank with you... very little is known about poltergeists aside from what we've already talked about. I would assume that they can have multiple densitites based on what we've seen Samea do. Samea, as you may know, isn't the most cooperative spirit... and I've never known a poltergeist to sit through an interview."

Nadia lowered her hand and sighed. Well, maybe there hadn't been enough tests with poltergeist at the Department of Secrets, Spirit Division. Or, just maybe wasn't allowed such knowledge to public. Whatever the case, well, that had never before stopped Nadia from it and this wouldn't be the exception. Maybe she could carry out her own investigation as she had time.

With that idea on mind, Nadia smirked to herself and subcounciously her hands drew some patherns...

Erica graciously accepted the hot chocolate from the house elf and sipped at it while she continued to listen to the other students discuss the topic of poltergeists and ghosts. It was interesting, but wasn't her strong point. She didn't participate, but instead, listened intently to all the different viewpoints and analyzed each of them in her head.

Noel payed attention, the lesson was quite interesting but she wondered what this all had to do with defense against the dark arts.

Laurasia listened to the professor's answer & smiled. "Very true. Without someone being there to observe the poltergeists behavior, there really wouldn't be a way to be sure. I'm only wondering now, if they had been deproved of an emotional presence around them & were suddenly faced with a new emotional situation would they react accordingly?"

Realising how confusing that question had come out, she decided to restate it more clearly. " Basically, my cousins' poltergeist may be so nasty due to the fact that the family-life is chaotic at best. If they were to move out & the house remained empty for sometime & then a new family moved in that were very happy & peaceful, would the poltergeists behavior become more passive as well? Or are they more of an intelligent-style haunting that can decied on their own what their "attitude" will be like & they simply use the energy of the emotions around them to fuel whatever actions they decide to take?"

Suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious about her rambling, she drank some more of her hot cocoa. This was, quite obviously, a topic of great interest to her.

"I understand your question. Basically, I would hazard to say that the poltergeist is what it is... it's a nasty one. But the fact that your family provides it with negative emotional energy just feeds that. If a more peaceful family were to move in, they might cause the poltergeist to calm down a bit simply because they aren't providing it the energy it needs. A poltergeist seeks to create discord and chaos because it draws from that energy."

She finished her cocoa before adding, "Are there any more questions, or shall we move a bit closer to the house? We're not going in... today."

Heshasa who ahd been watching the questions and answers like quidditch match. Back and forth, back and forth. Looked up she couldn't wait to see what they were doing.

Are we going in later? Nadia wondered. Not to say she was curious, people could never enter at some point in time. Though Nadia pondered there should be a way, because it had been done not more than three years previous. Only because her interests were more in inspecting the place than on question, Nadia stayed quiet.

She had made some small looks in the past, but more for a cover than visit. The area of the garden was wide enough for her in those circumstances.

Rae smiled and slipped from the bench. "I guess that means we're ready to go. Now, please keep back from the house, although you are free to examine it from a few feet back. Do NOT enter it, and please stay close where I can see you."

With her eyesbrows shooting up in expectancy and bitting her lip, though by not more than axious excitement, Nadia stood from her seat, leaving most of her things behind but her wand and a notepad with quick-notes quill, and followed the professor. she must have been one the first to stand and the closer to the front, though her eyes stayed on the abandoned bulding all the time.

Xavier follows the headmistress as they head towards the house. In all of his trips to Hogsmeade he had never had the guts to actually make his way out here. The shack looked eerie. He wanted to leave, but since they were in a class he dared not walk out. Last time he had done that, he had recieved detention.

Erica hesitantly stood up and followed the Headmistress down to the building, still holding on to her cup of hot chocolate. Now that she'd spent some time out in the snow she could feel the cold starting to get to her. She had never been to this section of the town before and hung back from most of the group as they approached. Her vantage point was fine she told herself. Besides, nothing was going to happen with the Headmistress around, right?

Rosa looked at the shrieking shack. She now realised she'd heard somethng about the shrieking shack in her first year... It was a vague memory, and nobody'd really wanted to talk about those things, but still... she put her hand in her pocket to make sure her wand was in. She approached the shrieking shack and looked at it. She wouldn't want to be in that house on her own, but she was with a lot of other students.. and with professor rae... and they weren't in it, so it should be safe...

Noel gazed at the shrieking shack, it looked haunted, she would have guessed it was if she didn't already know. She followed the headmistress with the rest of the class toward the shack.