Mitchell strolled into the classroom. Why did everyone seem to be staring at an empty desk? That was weird. He got the end of Teach's talking though. Serious lesson.

He could do serious, right?

"Hello." he greeted before taking a seat.

Quietly Nate walked into the classroom, looking as confident as can be with what's happening around here. To think he could've at least wounded her before the Time Thief disapparated from the back alley. He still remembers that day as clear as pure water. The rest of what happened that day was all just a big blur. Until he took a sip of some tea the nice Book Keeper had offered. Well, he thought she was nice. That's all he could remember from that. Next thing he knew he woke up lieing on the floor of the book shop with a massive headache. She wasn't any where to be seen. Nate thankfully needed some fresh air. So he strolled out to the back alley behind the shop and found her there. A few more Hogwarts people showed up. After what seemed like the odds were in there favor, she disapparated. Nate was just waiting for the opportune moment to use stupify. It could've changed the whole course of what had happened if he would've cast the spell a tad faster.

With that, a lot of things followed afterwards. Including her trial. Even then she got away. Now all this crazy stuff has been happening. Though he still wanted to try to be optimistic about stuff. He'd at least try to brighten the other students up. That would help, right?

Taking a seat near the center of the room Nate calmly said, "Hello Professor. How are you doing?"

Things were getting to crazy around here. The still young girl had already written several letters outlining the details to her relatives. Rockwell kept asking if she was alright. But she wasn't the one he needed to worry about. There were students who could barely walk up a flight of stairs in one go. There were students who looked older than her Grandpa.

Part of Caelen wished that she was still homeschooled. But that was silly. The girl with the braid LOVED it here with the books and stuff. She had challenging work and cool Professors. But this age thing one everyone else wasn't so fun. It was scary and creepy and dangerous. And that was just an outsiders point of view.

The tiny Ravenclaw took her seat, looking at the large prop on the Professors desk with interest. It was kind of hard to believe that classes could go on while this was happening. But maybe everyone here was an incredible optimist. Or maybe everyone here was a little bit mad in the head. Whatever. She had to talk to Nate after this.

"Hello Professor." The redhead took out her journal and a pen and got ready for class. Because at least if everyone could love out THIS year, they might not have a problem.

As her friends joined her, Lux smiled. Even if she was still feeling rather uneasy with the coffin in the room, it was nice to have people she cared for in the room.

When Alex and Bay asked what was with the coffin, she shook her head, clearly as perplexed as they were. Though when Hadley informed her it was only a prop then vanished it away, a bit of her uneasiness vanished.

Death was a very real issue, and something that everyone had to face... but she did not want to think about it now. A lot of her friends rapidly ageing was not helping matters. If this became too much for her to bear, Lux would be leaving the classroom.

Ian had heard the professor's explanation about the work the healers were doing. He sure hoped they'd be healed soon. He didn't know how he'd explain this to his family. If he lived through the summer, he wasn't sure if they'd let him return. He really, really liked being here and he was getting better, even if he was still a bit clumsy.

Benjamin limped in, his old, sore body clearly feeling the after effects of Quiddditch practice the day before. It might only be one staircase up from lunch, but it was one staircase too many today. And he was already yawning as he entered the classroom. Post-lunch classes were disastrous these days. Naps were what he needed. Lots of naps.

"Go-," YAWN, "'ternoon, Professor," he side, a hand reaching up his mouth to belatedly try and stifle another yawn. "Hope you've got-", YAWN, "-d lesson planned today." And with that he, limped over to desk, and slid awkwardly into the seat.

Justine wandered slowly into class, had usually enthusiasm gone along with her youth, she was still not as bad as some of her peers, but she no longer looked her real age of 15, but looked like a woman in her early forties, complete with a few grey hairs and crows feet.
She still had command over her most of her motor skills, but she had noticed herself tiring more quickly than usual, and having a decreased appetite for sweets (something she was very distressed about, because Justine lived for sweets).

Why was everyone staring so intently at the desk? It looked to be empty from Justine's point of view, but than maybe her eyesight had begun to give out.
"Excuse me, but why is everyone looking at zee desk?" Justine asked in general, looking to her fellow students with curiosity.

Just as Ascanius was walking into the classroom he saw his girlfriend making her way out of the door. Not that he was exactly keen himself on the idea of classes here in general, he was puzzled. Even more so when he slipped into the room and the tension in the air almost choked him. Everyone was real tense, yeah?

And he quickly figured out why. The coffin could only mean they were talking or dealing with death. And Ascanius found that it was almost disconcerting how much the topic didn't muster anything in him. Probably because he had never lost anyone to death. Probably because he had no one to lose, y'know?

So with a casual saunter, he walked over to Hadley and nodded politely, "Hello Professor. You look lovely today."

Especially in lift of the rest of his peers. They all looked kind of close to the grave. Ahem.

The further on the year went, the harder it seemed to be to get around the castle. Tobias was truly exhausted by the time he finally flopped into a seat in the Muggle Studies classroom, and he had to sacrifice greeting his head of House in favour of trying to catch his breath and stop his limbs and joints burning with pain. Ouch, ouch, ouch. This ageing thing was TOO MUCH. It was EXCESSIVE.

When he could breathe again without wheezing TOO much, Tobias looked up again and squinted around the room. Hm. Sight. Sight would be an issue. Maybe he could use that Eye Focusing charm again? Though that really wasn't meant to be used all that often.

Huh.

Well, at least he was here, and ready to learn.

Small nod toward Delilah when she took a seat near the front.

Oh ... Oh my. No. Alexa thought she was going to die and not live to see the world outside of Hogwarts. "You're not going to be in the coffin, Alexa," Hadley reassured. "Just as the governors told you that you wouldn't die, you won't. Because this ... phase or whatever is afflicting most of Hogwarts, like all the other weird things that happen here, well, it's going to pass. I know it."

Hadley caught the small nod of appreciation from the third year and she knew she'd done the right thing with the disillusionment. Clearly she'd been overly optimistic in thinking a coffin was the right prop.

Except now with the coffin gone, people who strode in later were naive as to what was happening. Whoops. Perhaps it was better that way? "Alright, thank you, Kace."

"Hello and welcome," Hadley greeted back of the gryffindor.

And another one of her graduating students. "Hello Nate. I'm alright, thank you."

"Hello there," Fina greeted politely back ...

Well someone was tired. Unable to stay awake even to say good afternoon. And was he limping? Strange. "Of course we do. Well maybe not good, but interesting we think."

And that was what she was afraid of. How did one explain to the latecomers that there used to be a coffin there but it was too uncomfortable for some so it was disillusioned before everyone could arrive?

"Fear, I suppose." Fina said quietly towards Justine mostly. "A silly prop that I thought would be beneficial for the learning experience, but apparently it was too much." And that was all she was going to say for now...

That and Ascanius walked in and completely had her flustered with his complement. Lovely? Well wasn't someone trying to butter her up?

"Why thank you, Mister Stark, but please take your seat. We'll be starting."

"Senescence. Anyone ever heard of that word before and can tell me anything about it?" Fina asked, addressing the class. Best to begin talking about death with that.

Raising his hand Nate stated "Senescence comes from the Latin word Senescere, which means to grow or become old. Another way of saying it is Biological Aging. Some beings of the Taxa group including some animals experience a chronological decrease in their mortal life. It's rarely ever seen in Humans, making what's happening here a rare occurrence." Deep breath. Nate had to keep his cool in front of the class. Thankfully he could easily achieve that. All he had to do was take deep breaths, look on the bright side of things, and just keep reminding himself they would get to the bottom of this.

This was odd of Nate to do though. Him being the first hand in the air. Now that was weird...in Muggle Studies too! Is there going to be a Blue Moon tonight or something!? What was happening here! This wouldn't end very well for Nate. Silently glancing over to Cael, he gave her a nod of his head to acknowledge her. That was the polite thing to do at least.

Sander was sitting quietly waiting for class to start and when Professor Hadley asked her first question, whether anyone had the word senescence before and what they could tell her about it, Sander thought for a moment before raising his hand hoping that his answer made sense.

"Uh Professor I heard the word senescence used once before by some medical examiner who was talking about natural death as opposed to unnatural death. He said senescence was considered a natural death because it applies to biological aging and the gradual deterioration of functional lifeforms...like us. He said the word senescence comes from the latin word, senescere meaning to grow old,"

Bay raised his hand while looking around "Professor is it the study of aging in humans?" he asked while quickly putting down his hand… this class was really starting to scare him, but Lux looked a little more than scared.. he had to be brave for her just in case she needed him..he gave her a pat on her shoulder to let her know that he was there so everything was going to be okay…. right?

She was starting to sound like the Governors now. Reassuring her she wasn't going to die...while she was perfectly in tact over there. Was this meant to make her feel better? Lex put on a small smile, if only to seem convinced before slouching forward onto her desk. Just like all the other terms, huh? If she remembered correctly, most of the school was present when a certain Grounds Keeper got his soul sucked. They could try all they wanted but if people were gonna die then they were gonna die.

Suffice to say she'd never heard that word before in her entire life so when the question was asked, her eyes rose to meet the Professor's but she offered no response, nothing outside of general blinks indicating her ingnorance of the topic.

If she had to guess, it had something to do with dying. Fun. Pity she'd lost her appetite, it could have come in handy right about now.

And so they were getting started. Adi looked up as Professor Hadley addressed everyone. Senescence? Yes, the Puffer believed he had heard the word before. Didn't it have to do with being old? He was unsure yet he raised a hand.

"I think it refers to as growing old, Professor.'' It was all he could remember right now. If the word even had anything to do with being old.

Umm, no.

Sophie's vocabulary was fresh out of that word. Whatever it was. She sort of glanced around the classroom as a few of her classmates chimed in. How did people her age even know that word? If it meant getting old, what was so wrong with just saying 'getting old'?

Sophie had never heard anybody say, "Senescence got the best of him," or "He is suffering from senescence." Whatever. She just used the saying, "old people."

No response from this Newell.

She wasn't one to repeat answers, so when her classmates began recycling the same answers about old age and Latin roots and other rubbish, Alice didn't contribute. There was no need to spout something another person had already said but just worded differently, yeah?

"It sounds like senile. And it rhymes with essence. That could be a potion name, ma'am, Senescence Essence." So creative, she was.

Who would have guessed Hufflepuffs had words that big in their vocabulary anyway, right? LOL.

Creepy lesson was creepy.

Even with the coffin gone, Lux couldn't shake the bad feelings she was getting now. What if one of her friends died? What if Bay died? Nope. Nope. Nope. That was not going to happen if she had any say in the matter.

Feeling his hand pat her shoulder, she started to feel better. He wasn't going anywhere. Raising her hand at the question, Lux ventured an answer. "Does it have something to do with growing old and...dying?" Shudder.

Not good, but interesting? Well it needed to be, if Benjy's eyes were going to stay open for any period of time in this lesson. Just look what had happened in astronomy the other night. Sure, that was at night...but this was after lunch, and it was all much of a muchness these days anyway.

Benjy's eyelids were already fluttering shut by the time Hadley reached the first question. And unluckily for the Professor he didn't know what it meant. He sat up a little straighter as the Hufflepuffs answered though, to try and stay awake. Death and aging? A groan escape his lips, and he was soon slouched back down in the seat. Just what he needed to think about right now...not. He needed distractions from this getting old thing, not discussion about the 'biological aging'. Eurgh.

Ian merely watched the other students answer the question. This was going to be a cheery class, wasn't it? Ian thought to himself. He had come to learn in what he considered his easiest class. He had after all grown up as a muggle most of his young (now looking old) life. Ian looked around. It appeared that they were less at a place of learning for young wizards and more at a nursing home for the aged and infirm. He wanted to go home, but his mum wouldn't understand this.

Ian raised his hand to ask a question. Professor. Are you trying to get us to confront our untimely deaths? He just wanted it out there. I mean, you walk into a classroom and see a coffin and now we're talking about aging and some one had mentioned death. It would probably progress the conversation some.

"Aging until you die."

Natural progression or something. Growing old until you couldn't live any more. There was a coffin here, yeah? And Ella still had that look of someone who was trying very hard not to get upset about the fact that death was way too close to her these days. She didn't even want to look around at her classmates for fear she might witness one of them keeling over or something. Nope. NOPE. She didn't like this discussion, could Hadley tell?

...The coffin did look comfy.

Vesper stared at some of her older classmates, trying to decide if they were about to collapse and die. They looked like they might...and it was making the Ravenclaw anxious. She was convinced she wouldn't be able to handle seeing that. In person. Face to face.

Gosh.

Anyway, while she eyed 'the elderly', other classmates had already answered the Professor's question...of course. They were all very smart and deserved sweets and cookies...assuming they could still eat those things. Marcus had been proud of still having all his own teeth. That suggested that many others were without them. Their real ones, anyway.

Hogwarts was more and more depressing as of late. There wasn't even any pretty people to look at anymore. Though, she'd been rather inspired...since Vesper enjoyed sketching pain and anguish. They obviously had that in abundance now...But also, it made her wonder why this disease? hadn't effected her. She hadn't aged...though, her knees still throbbed something awful.

Also, no answers from her this time...but she was listening. Mhm...and was even drawing those around her taking notes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Then she asked what wasn't fair...as if it wasn't obvious. Lex shook her head slowly, trying to dislodge the idea and convince herself she hadn't walked in on what she thought she'd walked in on. Disillusioning it didn't make her unsee it and she found herself with the same questions as everyone else. WAS she trying to tell them something? And she was just as curious as Nigel was about the WHO that might have been inside. All the questions and the Professor was asking questions of her own.

"They said we weren't going to die, they promised and now I walk in on coffins and it's just not fair I haven't done anything remarkably epic with me life before I found myself presented with one of those and I just can't accept this dying thing at this point in time because the world's too big and I've been stuck here for the past five years instead of out living and I'd rather not die before I get out there."

THAT'S what wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all and the Gryffindor was sufficiently put off of her food she'd brought to class. Lex trudged over to a seat and threw herself in it, shoving the food to the corner of her desk. So much for stuffing her face.

Despite the coffin being 'gone' she couldn't take her eyes off the desk. This was like having dementors flying around all over again.

"WAAAaaahh waaaaah wahhhhhhh, CRYBABY," Zahra mumbled under her breath. Or rather cry... old person. hahahahahaha

hahahahaha

haha

hah

ha

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

The further on the year went, the harder it seemed to be to get around the castle. Tobias was truly exhausted by the time he finally flopped into a seat in the Muggle Studies classroom, and he had to sacrifice greeting his head of House in favour of trying to catch his breath and stop his limbs and joints burning with pain. Ouch, ouch, ouch. This ageing thing was TOO MUCH. It was EXCESSIVE.

When he could breathe again without wheezing TOO much, Tobias looked up again and squinted around the room. Hm. Sight. Sight would be an issue. Maybe he could use that Eye Focusing charm again? Though that really wasn't meant to be used all that often.

Huh.

Well, at least he was here, and ready to learn.

SPEAKING OF... Zahra tried to give TOBY a HIGH FIVE on the way by? But since he was blind or whatever? HAHAH she smacked in the forehead. OOPS. HAHAHAHA

SO YEAH she was sitting with MIKEY and she nudged him and then she raised her hands after OTHER PEOPLE answered and totally stole their answers.

"YEAH like old people." BOOM baby. "Getting old, getting smacked in the head, falling down stairs. Hehe."

Ascanius found that a little residual smugness still glowed in his chest when Professor Hadley seemed unnerved by his compliment. He just was a sucker for people being affected by him and his general charm. Even Professors.

But he didn't say another word and just slipped quietly into his seat. He'd let his peers answer the questions first, yeah? Mostly because they were all bound to go deaf any day now. And because, chiefly, he didn't know the answer.

Oichi had never heard of the term but it soon became apparent that quite a few of her classmates did and it seemed to mean growing old and dying, now the coffin made sense and she could feel herself sweating as if she were in the Sahara. She totally had something to say about all this, "Professor, did you choose this sort of lesson because of the aging epidemic. are you trying to help us accept what may possibly be our fate?", Oichi asked nervously, feeling very uncomfortable, there was currently no cure and she felt it was kind of nice the professors were not simply distracting them but this sort of lesson seemed like way too much.