Agie raised her hand once more. "That would be completely different then. You wouldn't want to fight back with a relative and risk hurting them. I personally would try anything I could to defend myself without hurting them, and trying to make them see reason."

Kerry's face contorted as she was asked the question. "I guess the first reaction is to want to talk sense into the form. I mean that would be mine. Like if they just heard my voice they would react. But in reality I know it makes no difference. They're not really them. It's just the outter shell we're seeing. Not that it makes it any easier. Attacking them would be the most heartwrenching experience. I'd almost have to close my eyes to do it. Not to mention the nightmares I'd probably have for years to come after that. I just can't imagine having to be put in that situation. But when it comes to survival, I'd have to do it all the same. I just wouldn't be the same afterwords, that's for sure."

"I'd most likely hesitate," Gwen said. "Caught off guard and all. I'd probably look for spells that would impede them rather than hurt them, to give me time to get away."

Though there wasn't much more input to add, Issy raised her hand and adressed the Professor.

"It makes it hard," she explained. "Not everyone can attack them, especially if it's a former relative or person close to them. Whether or not they're dead and attacking you, it's hard to hold those close to you in bad light. Therefore, it's a good weapon. As humans, we're very hesitant to attack those we care about - it's just our nature. And even if our life is at risk, that selfless, loving part of ourselves has to fight to bring ourselves to harm them."

It was hard to harm people loved by one, Issy knew well. She always felt shameful and guilty if she hit Matti too hard and he began to cry. There was no way she could imagine having to tear apart an inferi of him, or Fredreich. The very idea made her shiver and she bit her lip hard, peeking over at Juni.

Amelia was now quite certain she knew what Rae was getting at, but well, she couldn't imagine it be true. Why would the form attacking them be a relative or good friend? Unless... oh this must be true.

"Professor?" she started, raising her hand slowly. "May I ask why a good friend would be attacking us in another form? Unless they're under some sort of outside control... like the imperius curse, of sorts." As much as she wanted to bring the topic up, she didn't dare do it. Not here at least, in class.

"But the point is that we realize that sometimes our emotions can cloud our judgement. YOu all just told me that an Inferi is just a shell and can't be stopped by anything, but when I suggested it was someone you care about, you wanted to try to talk to them... you hesitated. You can't hesitate, because the one you love isn't in that shell of a body anymore, and the body will hurt you." She sighed. "So let's talk about how to tell the difference between a person attacking and an Inferi."

"Well aren't the Inferi like really white and their eyes are dead...basically they're lifeless. Wouldn't they move differently too?" Kayla asked.

Rapunzel raised her hand hesitantly. "An inferi wouldn't be able to use a wand against you, would it?" She squinted, still a little confused about the things, which sounded more like zombies than anything.

"Inferi can't do magic, can they?" Gwen said. "Can't use a wand or say any incantations."

"Inferi don't talk, but well, I suppose an actual person attacking could not talk either and use non-verbal spells," Amelia said thoughtfully. "Although inferi, I don't think would make any sounds at all. Not even breathing."

Saylie frowned, not really liking the idea of Inferi, but raised her hand, "Wouldn't their body movements be different from live humans? Maybe less aware of their surroundings?" She shivered a bit thinking of those creatures.

Juniper raised her hand. "Inferi can't think for themselves, so they probably wouldn't surprise you. Except by their numbers or if you don't know anything about them," she said. "And while Inferi are hard to hurt, their weakness is heat and light, I think," she said. "But if it's a person attacking you, you don't necessarily know the person's strengths and weaknesses."

Again, Issy raised her hand, releasing her lower lip of the hold her teeth had on it.

"Inferi don't like fire, so it's seemed. So, maybe you could conjure up some flames and hold it against them? And if they're driven away, as opposed to reacting and trying to attack, then you can bet that they're an inferius. Don't they also like water? So they'll probably be in or hanging around water, I'd assume." As she wrote, Issy scribbled things on her parchment with her quill, tucking her hair back with a loose hand. "Heat and light are greatly disliked by them, so a simple Lumos and their reaction could give you an idea."

"Great, so we have physical indicators such as the tone of the skin, blankness of the eyes or white eyes, and sometimes there is some decomposition. The way the Inferi moves is also a good indictor. They don't move naturally, sometimes being very jerky, dragging a step, and if the magic is good enough, sometimes they seem almost to float."

She looked at the board, where the students suggestions were listed as they spoke. "You also picked up on the fact that an Inferi cannot speak or do magic. They rely on purely physical means to overcome their victims. They also are mindless in their attack and will not be stopped by something in their way, especially not water."

"So how can you overcome an Inferi? What spells do we already know?"

Juniper raised her hand. "Incendio, which makes fire," she said. "Or Lumos, as Issy said. Inferi don't like warmth and light, so you could use fire or just plain old light to repel them."

"Well they don't like the light or warmth, so we can use Incendio to create fire" Kayla said with her hand raised. "Professor could you use a Patronus against the Inferi, I know that it wouldn't stop them but could it slow them down?"

"Largescale fires or lighting spells," replied Issy. "It's easier the fewer you have advancing towards you. If it was only one, Lumos might help you for a bit. However, fire summoning spells would be of dire use. You could try Incendio or Lacarnum Inflammare. These will only drive them away or hold them off, though. Anything involving pain though, is null and void, because they cannot feel pain and it is therefore unhindered."

Amelia nodded as her classmates mentioned a few of the spells she would have initially thought of. But there was one more advanced spell that she personally never tried, but read about. It was highly dangerous to use, because of its difficulty to control. "Would Fiendfyre be effective, Professor?" she asked, raising her hand again.

"Good, so our top choices are Incendio and Lacarnum Inflammare and Lumos. I suspect that the Patronus spell would definitely help with keeping the Inferi back temporarily. None of these spells will STOP an Inferi, though. They'll just slow them down. Now, before we practice lighting things on fire, I'd like to know how to put OUT a fire."

Juniper raised her hand. "Water," she said. "So...the Aguamenti spell."

"No, absolutely not," she shook her head. "YOu must NEVER cast that incantation. That fire is Dark magic, and it can't be stopped until it is fed."

"Very good. So the spells we ARE going to practice are Incendio and Lacarnum Inflammare, as well as Aguamenti. I expect most of you already know Lumos." She levitated a box from the back of the room to reveal a stack of poorly made pillows. "You can practice on these, but once your pillow is gone, you're done practicing. I suggest you make good use of the water spell." She smiled.

"Professor, how is an Inferi created?" Gwen asked. "I only ask because maybe you could use Finite Incantatem, to reverse the animation of the corpse."

"Dark dark magic is used to create an Inferi, and they are controlled solely by the creator. Just as you can't stop an Unforgivable without stopping the source, so you can't stop an Inferi."

Kayla walked up to the front of the class and retrieved a pillow and brought it back to her desk. She placed the pillow on the table and pointed her wand at it and said the incantation, "Incendio" the pillow was alight with flames in a second. Kayla quickly pointed her wand at the pillow again and said, "Aguamenti" and she watched as water flew out of her wand and doused the flames on the pillow. She looked up pleased with herself and watched as the others practiced.