Valentine followed her professor and peers outside to the rest of their lesson. Why were they dressed up like this? Valentine put her hand up. "Are we studying like... perhaps wizard warfar. Camoflauge was and is used in war, so perhaps we are studying past wars, and what we..." She tried to think of something to say. "How we contributed to like... perhaps muggle wars, or world wars?"

Astrid sat down in the grass and crossed her legs Indian style in front of her. She smiled at Professor Lainey but honestly had no clue as to why they would want to look like a bunch of soldiers on a convert mission. She raised her hand for a guess and said, "Ma'am, are we going to be learning about Military History of some kind? Something to do with wizarding wars of the past maybe?" She was starting to get a little excited at the thought. That would be so interesting. And not to mention, amazing if that were true considering that both of her parents were active duty military. She sighed. Thinking about them made her homesick every time.

Once he made it outside and saw the bushes, he knew exactly what they were supposed to do. He was flooded with images of G.I. Joe and commando games from his youth. I immediately plopped down onto his stomach and walked on his arms into the bush, looking for a spot that would house his long figure well. "Ah...this looks like a good spot," he said, settling in.

"Why are we dressed like this?" he asked himself, preparing to answer. "Because it's pretty attractive. I know my girlfriend's going to fangirl me when I'm dressed like this."

Becca followed Lainey like a loyal puppy. She sat down a foot or so away from the stump the woman was perched on and made herself comfortable in the grass. "Because we look fantastic?" she replied simply. It sounded good.

Ari followed her professor outside and quickly pulled up a comfy bush, after she removed the prickly parts of course - being an adult witch did have its perks after all - and settled down, trying not ot scratch the paint off her face. She giggled at the prospect of eavesdropping on people, though of course Ari didn't have time for that anymore, not with NEWTS on the way.

"Well, we're not a war so we're not going to fight, unless we're going to have a water balloon fight?" she asked, eying the professor. With her no one could ever know.

Jean Raoul followed Lainey outside and promptly sat next to a bush, barely touching it. Certainly an interesting class, he had to admit. He had never before had a teacher who would take them to sit in bushes. He raised an eyebrow at the professor's question, but was even more amused at some of the other students' answers. "It's so we blend in with the bushes, professor," he said. "So people don't see us."

"Because we are going to be sneaky and we don't want people to see us," Lucas offered with is raised hand.

"Oh Ryan," Lainey burst out laughing. "Yes, yes that is exactly it. I wanted to make your girlfriend squeal and shower you in kisses." Lainey pretended to throw up in the bush next to her.


"And, where we do look good - fantastic even - and I'm all for hiding from people... that's not why I have you all hidden away today. Actually, today is more of a practical class. But, first.. first the history part."


"As witches and wizards we are require to hide, to blend in, to camouflage our true selves from muggles. Why?"

Rapunzel strolled followed the rest of the class outside. Oh how she loved History of Magic lessons; they always got to go places.

Punz tied back her long blonde hair and popped up with the rest of the class, just in time to hear Mr. Ryan Lee make quite the bold statement. She had to bite her lip to keep from giggling if he seriously was in his right mind. Attractive? With muddish colors all over your face? Ay yi yi...

Luckily, Professor Lainey spoke up before she could, and clearly the woman was not as loony as her boyfriend was. Rapunzel rolled her eyes and then answered the professor's question.

"Er, we have to blend in because of that Statute of Secrecy thing, right? If Muggles knew we had awesome powers they'd want to misuse magic or use it to cure ordinary problems.....like boyfriends with ginormous egos."

Pssh, that would show him what's what from what.

and p.s. links are NOT working for me so....here's what she looks like I guess.

Lucas raised his hand, "Because they have been socialized to think that anything magical is evil or it has something to do with devil worshiping. So they are really afraid of us and what we can do with magic. And then if they knew about it they would be trying to get magical fixes with everything and not taking the time to learn about it they way we have and learn the limitations and rules." Lucas said. He was proud of himself for that answer.

Astrid raised her hand and sadly said, "They resent the wizards' ability to do magic and don't trust us. They call us devil worshipers and evil. Therefore we have to keep ourselves hidden to protect ourselves from unwanted and unjustifiable attacks from the Muggle population. Its better to let them believe that wizards do not exist at all."

Jillian followed Lainey outside. Still giggling at how she looked, she raised her hand to answer the professor's question. "So as not to expose the magical world to the muggles. I mean, we wouldn't want the muggles to misuse our magical capabilities." she answered. "Oh and we don't want them to get their hands on magical items too. Without proper briefing on how to use wands and stuff like that, who knows what trouble that would cause!" she added.

"Muggles would freak if they knew we were out there. There would be witch burnings all over again- and that just wouldn't be good for both. We need to protect our selves from muggles and vice versa."

Melinda raised her hand, ready to answer to the question the professor had asked. "Umm...Muggles think our world doesn't exist, so we must keep it that way, so they don't freak out and take us of the society in their world..." She said and smiled.

Anna raised her hand to answer. "Muggles have been taught to believe magic isn't real, and that all magic is just a simple trick or show of some kind. They believe that every bit of magic that exists can be explained and taught to anyone willing to learn. If they were to see that there are actual witches and wizards in the world that perform real magic, it would blow their minds. They also believe that witches and wizards are evil people who practice dark arts and are out to harm them. I think them finding out about real magic would eventually do more harm that good," she said.

"Yes...," Lainey nodded slowly to each answer. She picked up a stick and started scribbling everyone who answered down - for points - in the dirt. "All good answers, all smart answers, and all answers will get points! Great. We do it, basically, to protect ourselves and others."

Lainey stood up and got up on the stump to stand. "But what we don't do is prepare you all for the muggle world! I was having a conversation the other day with one of you," Lainey coughed and it sounded it a lot like Becca, but who could tell, "and I realized that - the ones of you that have muggle friends - probably have a hard time keeping our world a secret!"


"Does anyone have any stories they'd like to share about having to keep the fact that we are witches and wizards from your muggle friends?"

Valentine put her hand up. "Back when I lived in cuba it was really hard. There wasn't much children around me and my family that were witches or wizards. And if they were they kept their mouth shut cause we didn't know who was who. My dad... He was muggle and when my mom told him what she was he freaked."

Ari didn't answer the first question having known how hard it had been hiding her witch self from her friends. She put her hand up and said in a soft voice "I grew up believing I was Muggle professor, I had three best friends. We did everything together - until I accidentally did something to one of them." she paused, the memory of that night crossing her features. "Ever since that day I've been called a freak, someone to be feared. I was actually kicked out of Muggle grade school; that happened a few months before starting here though, but when mum told me what I was it made sense. I always knew I was special; knowing things others didn't feeling their emotions ecetera." she stopped realizing she was about to go on a rant. "Honestly though my young with life wasn't something I like discussing anymore." she finished, not looking around.

Sighing she started playing with the bush she sat on, taking a bunch off and pulling the leafs apart. That part of her life was over, along with all the other things she had long forgotten. "I guess that didn't really answer your question but it is a point for what can happen if they find out." she added slyly.

Lucas raised his hand. "Well I couldn't let my crup Prince Ali out to play when my muggle friends came over because I have a lot of muggle friends, and then when I started to play Quidditch we moved from London to Surry so we would have room to fly without getting caught." He recounted,

Anna raised her hand to answer. "I have trouble answering the question, 'So, where do you attend school at?' I usually just tell people that I attend The Dragon School, which is an actual school in North Oxford. The problem with that is, I once gave that exact answer to a muggle actually attending that very same school. You can imagine the confusion that brought on when I couldn't list not one single professor who taught at the school," she said. "Sometimes, I use the name of a make-believe school. The problem with that is I sometimes forget the school name and facts I tell people, and when they ask again, I end up giving them a completely different answer. It's really rather confusing."

Astrid smiled at the Professor and raised her hand. "Actually ma'am, until last year I went to a muggle school and had nothing BUT muggle friends. The biggest problem that I've faced is them nosing around trying to figure out where I've been for the last 2 years. Its been the hardest on my parents though because they are the ones that always have to lie all the time." She sighed and said, "So far they haven't caught on yet....I don't think." she shrugged, feeling a little paranoid.

Raising her hand, Liz replies "I have some friends that live down the street from my papa and I. They are really nice, but seem umm, prejudice against people who aren't like them."

"I don't know how they would feel about me, if they found out I was a Witch..."

Dominic followed the rest of the class out to the bushes, as per instructions, but grimaced slightly when the professor told them to sit on the bushes. Oh Canaries; this woman was seriously about the craziest woman ever! First she wanted them to paint their faces and 'dress up', but now sit on bushes? Sighing, he bent his knees slightly and just barely allowed his bottom to touch the bush. Ick.

Hearing the other students respond to the Professor's question about hiding from muggles, the fourth year kept quiet on the basis that what he would have said had already been said. But wait... did she just write in the dirt!? Oh dear; she WAS crazy. Confirmed. Certifiably insane.

Stories to share? With this lunatic? Pfft. As if.

Listening to the others share their own stories, the fourth year decided it probably wasn't so bad to share. Raising his hand, a little timidly for fear of what lunacy could do to you, he spoke. "Well, I was homeschooled up until this year. I don't really have any muggle friends," he coughed after that, not meaning to let that slip. "And as all my family is magic, then I don't have to worry about that. Though my mom is careful when going to the muggle store and she used to bring me, where she would have to make sure she didn't use magic to get the items she wanted so as to draw attention. Then the whole thing with money at the store ... "

Melinda heard the next question. She was supposed to say some personal experience about her life, outside, in the Muggle world. She raised her hand, hoping to actually not confuse the professor nor her classmates.

"I used to live...in an orphanage..." She said, gulping the last word, "When I was accepted to Hogwarts, I still spent two years...going there, and I had to keep my secret away from my best friend, who after some time, felt that I was pushing her aside because of what the director at the place said was "an institution for talented kids", and at the end, she got so mad at me and never talked to me..." She said and tried to smile, remembering the last moment she had seen her friends at that orphanage.