7th Years : Gryffindor & Slytherin

[debbie]

Professor Hemlock strode purposefully down the un-crowded hallways (as classes were still in session), an enjoyable perk of being a professor at times. However, after having her break down at the staff room Hemlock herself was ready to get back to her teachings.

She had found it rather difficult to find what she wished to start the year out with wanting to make sure that all her students would find it somewhat pleasurable. Of course she’d eventually found the topic of discussion for today. She felt it was a creature that posed interest to the girls as it was a remarkably gorgeous animal and would better yet hold the boys attention as it had to do with Qudditch surprisingly enough.

Conveniently it was small enough to have in her classroom without causing much disruption, so there would be no need to file her students down to the grounds today. She was half way down the corridor that her own classroom resided in when the bell rang and immediately thereafter students fluttered out into the halls. One in particular caught her attention – he had her class next.

He was a Seventh Year and sadly, still hadn’t acquired a nag for caring much about school work. Calling him from his group of friends (which, she was discouraged to see had one girl in it that couldn’t take her eyes of the Slytherin), and said “Kalib dear, would you mind coming over here?” A look of pure horror came across his face, like he couldn’t believe that his own mother would dare try to talk to him out in public.

He gruntingly came over. “You’ve got my class next, so I expect you to behave yourself, do you understand?” Professor Hemlock rattled under her breath. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t see you flaunting all over that girl.” Kalib muttered “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Off to class then,” she added speaking more clearly and in her professor stance. She caught her son rolling his eyes and fled into the classroom. She followed in and began ruffling around at her desk, hoping she wouldn’t have to give out detentions so early in the year for tardiness.

[kalib]

Kalib stared across the room, looking out the window with his eyes slightly glazed over. If he had to put up with another minute of History, he figured he might just wallow up and die. He’d never liked History of Magic. Although, considering that he had Care of Magical Creatures next, he almost wished he could stay there.

He knew the moment his mother found him she’d be all over him. Kalib had to act like “a good little boy” when in his mother presence. Of course, by now he could have given up Care of Magical Creatures, but he truly did find it interesting regrettably enough.

Sure enough the moment he was free from History and talking animatedly with Danna (another Slytherin) she caught him and called him over. Looking up with must disgust, he bid his friends goodbye and went over to his mother with heated anger rising.

“You’ve got my class next, so I expect you to behave yourself, do you understand? I’m going to pretend I didn’t see you flaunting all over that girl.” Kalib felt at this moment he loathed his mother. “Yes ma’am,” he muttered and then walked as fast as her could to class.

Slumping down into a seat farther back, he crossed his arms in a rather fed up manner and waited for the rest of his class to get here.

[bellatrix]

She believed very much that she had better things to do with her life. It was true, there were many things Bellatrix Black could be doing that had nothing to do with Care of Magical Creatures. She didn't care for the topic at all, and she was sure she wasn't alone. Thumbing through her long raven hair the girl strutted into the classroom, surveying the scene once. To her subtle surprise there were no early bird Gryffindors to torment yet, only a few Slytherins. Why anyone would want to arrive so early to the class was beyond her.

She moved like ice past the long rows of desks; emotionless her face was set in stone. Bellatrix took a seat in the back of the room, only very slightly acknowledging the other Sytherins who were there. Then she pulled out her nail filer and moved it back and forth across her nails softly. Trix needed something to do while she waited. Yes Ma'am. Bellatrix cast a look at Kalib, one that said what the hell was that? Slytherins didn't say, yes ma'am. Not unless they were trying to suck-up or were doing it with a sadistic smirk. Ah yes, but they were related weren't they. What an unfortunate circumstance.

She began to draw skull and cross bones across her parchment, considering she couldn't draw the parcticular sign she was most interested with right now, it wouldn't be safe. When would this class start? Bella often thought of what she could be doing at home right now if she weren't here, which only of course tended to make her more steamed inside. Despite this, she always kept a calm and icy exposure on the outside. Trix began to tap her fingers across the desk....rap rap rap.

[severussnape]

((Remember to keep a posting order everyone. No second posts until at least the marauders get here.))

Severus Snape let his head fall in to his hands as he made a soft moan of despair. He had been looking at his class timetable with furrowed brows, before finally announcing to his owl that this was it - he was on the train home tomorrow. Well, he had known this year was going to be the toughie - the one to decide them all - but 'Care of Magical Creatures' with the Gryffindors? First thing? What had he done to deserve this? He glared moodily at Drittie, his owl. Drittie clicked her beak and glared at him as if to say, "Well don't look at me like that - it's not my fault!"

Packing up his Care of Magical Creatures books, he strode moodily down out of his dormitory and into the main Slytherin Common Room. He had been hoping to meet Bella or Lucius down there - perhaps even Kalib if it came to that. But no, everyone had already made their way down there. He checked his watch; come to think of it he was a few minutes late, and it took a while to get to the classroom from the dungeons. So, without further ado, he made a quick mirror check and walked out through the portrait-hole.

He met few to no-one on his way - he really must have been late. In fact, the castle seemed eerily quiet. This was never a good sign, and usually meant that Peeves or some other trick of Hogwarts' was just around the corner. But, to his intense relief, he met neither. Severus managed to complete the journey down to the classroom in one piece.

He opened the door warily to find that he was not late at all. On the contrary - he was one of the first students to have got there. He quickly scanned the small group for any signs of a person he didn't despise. It didn't take him long. Making a beeline for one of the seats between Kalib and Bella, he cast a quick glance over at Professor Hemlock. No matter how much he complained, Severus had always quite enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures and wondered half-heartedly what would be in store for this lesson - the first of the last. Turning back to Bella, he grinned and muttered, "Alright Trix?"

[mariellacovas]

Mariella's steps were slow, unrushed, showing that she held no particular care for rushing to her next class. Her feeling towards this class were quite indecisive, she herself not knowing if she enjoyed the class or loathed it. It was one of her classes where the lesson decided her mood towards it. Mariella did not mind when they were studying unicorns or little nifflers, they were not only interesting but she found them to be quite cute.
She became easily disgusted in the class however when they had to look at flobberworms or fire crabs. She simply didn't see nor enjoy the educational qualities they supposedly help, despising having to touch such horrid creatures. The worst parts, even more so than the creatures, was the house they shared it with. Gryffs. What a lot of annoying, idiotic beings. They were just so...idiotic, yes, that had to be the perfect word to describe them. With this being a mandatory class however, she really couldn't avoid the positives or negatives the class presented.

Readjusting the emerald and black messenger bag on her shoulder, she sighed softly seeing the classroom drawing closer and closer. Even with her most drawn out of walks, she was there before it was time to be late. Muttering unhappily under her breath, Mariella casually strolled into the classroom, surveying the people whom she would be sharing a class with. She couldn't help but smirk as she moved further into the room, coming to the realization that she actually might be a smidgen late, seeing a good array of her friends there. She casually, as if it wasn't obvious she was late, strode over to the back, joining the small group of Slytherins forming there. Her eyes glittered mischeviously in the dark light as she took a seat beside Kalib, giving him a combination of a smile and a smirk. Well, if this lesson wasn't going to be fun, at the least she got to sit beside a cute boy.

Turning in her seat, Mariella slipped the bag off of her shoulders, a smirk having settled on her lips again. "Morning Trix, Sev, Kalib." She said, her voice soft and her natural Spanish accent over taking the English one she had acquired. This often happened when Mariella spoke quietly, really having no control over the way she sounded, really seeing no need as she loved her accents. Crossing her legs, Mariella could feel her robe gently rub against the bare skin of her lower outer thigh. Yes, he skirt had risen an inch or so up, but it still covered her in a borderline appropriate way. She could still pass the finger test if need be. Looking back to the front of the room, she merely looked to see if class had started yet. Even if it had, she'd probably take her time turning to the front and pulling her book and parchment from her bag.

[ethan]

No, there was no point in denying it, Ethan thought as he silently slipped out of his common room and flashed a flirtatious smile to the Fat Lady. I am one lazy son of a--. His thoughts though, were interrupted when his eyes landed on his next class. "Aw, bloody hell," he said to an empty corridor, grimacing. Now, Ethan didn't have anything against the Slytherins. In fact, he couldn't bring himself to care about them, but it just made things so much more difficult. He knew the Professor was just asking for trouble by getting the Slytherins and the Marauders together in one room. There was no bloody chance hexes wouldn't end up flying through the classroom. With a sigh, he stuffed his crumpled schedule into his bookbag and started on his way to his class, all the while thinking of all the possibilities a whole class with the Slytherins could mean. And just before he opened the door to the fated classroom, Ethan smiled.

It would prove to be interesting, to say the least. And with that thought in mind, he crossed the treshold and into a room full of Slytherins. Raising a quizzical eyebrow at the absence of Gryffindors in the room, he mentally shrugged and took a seat in the middle, trying to avoid immediate confrontation with a group of kids he didn't know at all. It was all about being mild, wasn't it? He didn't care enough to pick a fight. It was too much work and right now Ethan was in a lazy mood. Just wanting to get through class safely enough could prove to be a challenge if the Marauders showed up.

So with a sigh, Ethan sat back in his chair, his thumbs idly twiddling with his wand, object he always had in hand for obvious reasons. Parchment, quill and ink were already on the desktop and his eyes were soaking up his surroundings. Professor Hemlock seemed to be absorbed in her own things, as were the Slytherins, so that only meant Ethan had time to be...bored. A state he didn't allow himself to visit often, if truth be told. Being bored never brought good things for the people that were around him at the time. But he was determined to not cause a scene before it was called for.

Instead he settled for semi-sulking and tapping his wand against the wooden surface of his place, the sound echoing annoyingly over the room.

[Lily Evans]

Lily was pleased to learn that her first class of the day, and of the year in fact, was Care of Magical Creatures, but she wasn't pleased that they were having it with the Slytherins. Why the staff insisted on putting Gryffindors and Slytherins together in class, she didn't know. It was beyond her why they thought that they would be able to learn in each other's presence, when all they would be doing would be arguing and insulting and glaring and maybe even jinxing. It had happened before, and Lily wasn't surprised if Potter or Black or one of them got so worked up over something one of the Slytherin's said that they decided a fight was in order. They were so thick-headed sometimes, but she supposed it couldn't be helped.

After double and triple-checking her book bag to make sure she had everything she needed, Lily set off for Care of Magical Creatures. The first lesson would be in the classroom, which she was slightly disappointed about. She felt like a bit of fresh air would be nice, but they might not be doing much with actual creatures on the first day of term. Ah well, she could live with sitting in a desk. After all, she'd been doing it for six years. As she made her way down to the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, Lily realized that she would most likely be early, but not insanely early. She definitely wouldn't be the first one there, but she wouldn't be late either, which would be absolutely horrible. Lily had never been late for a single class in all her years at Hogwarts, and she didn't want to start now.

The redhead stepped into the classroom and, looking around, confirmed her thoughts that she would be a bit early. There were four or five Slytherins in the room, and only one Gryffindor. How depressing. Luckily, the one Gryffindor was one of her best friends in the world, Ethan Cartier. A smile coming to her lips, she made her way over to where he sat, avoiding looking at any of the Slytherins, and took the seat next to him. "Hey," she said with a grin, pulling out her Care of Magical Creatures book and putting everything else under the desk. Leaning over, she whispered, her eyes twinkling, "I think we're surrounded." She was referring to the Slytherins, of course. Hopefully some more students from their house would show up sometime soon, otherwise Lily would be feeling very intimidated indeed.

[/blockquote]

[david]

‘Trouble, that’s what it was. An inevitable askings for trouble.’ Remus Lupin thought as he walked towards The Care Of Magical Creatures classroom. He had been up half the previous night going through and reading up on his classes for the next day and because of this he let out a huge yawn, and blinked wearily. Not that he would have been able to sleep anyway, with the large quantity of snores that had emanated from the room, thanks to one of his friends. Lupin grinned at the thought of his friends as he continued to walk.

He had grown unaccustomed to the snores of Peter during their summer vacation, though he would never tell Peter that he did snore. It was just something that he, Remus would have to become re-accustomed too. His foot falls echoed through out the halls, along with the echoing sounds of other students. The sounds mingled into a sort of pleasant chaos that lulled him into thoughts. Another yawn escaped him as he came to the classroom and he put his hand upon the doors brass knob. With a turn and a slight push the door opened and Remus’s eyes glanced around quickly, taking in the occupancies of the room .

To his dismay he noticed the large quantity of Slytherin’s in the room, ’Yes, trouble it is inevitable alright.’ He thought although he was relieved to see one Gryffindor at least that he knew. Remus smiled faintly at Lily before finding a vacant seat. A seat that was closer to the two Gryffindor’s then it was to the Slytherin’s. He walked over to it and sat down, before pulling out his Care Of Magical Creatures text and stowing the rest of the stuff out of the way. While waiting for the other’s to arrive he opened up his text book and once again started to read from where he had left off the night before.

[debbie]

« Thread Started on July 12, 2007, 9:00pm »

Gryffindor:
+ James Potter – tardy
+ Sirius Black – absent
+ Remus Lupin - here
+ Lily Evans - here
+ Ethan Cartier - here

Sytherin:
+ Severus Snape - here
+ Bellatrix Black - here
+ Mariella Covas - here
+ Kalib Hemlock – here

« Class Started on July 14, 2007, 2:11pm »


As the seats started to fill in Professor Hemlock smiled. Teaching always brought her joy, she just hoped that the ever popular hatred between the two Houses wouldn’t cause that much disruption. It was a well known fact amongst the teachers to have accepted the two Houses generally started up arguments during classes. House unity – in their adolescent minds – was just not possible.

Professor Hemlock stood from her desk after rallying a few last minute papers, placing them in there correct places. Leaving her work, she waved her wand towards the door, sending it to snap shut loudly and startle the class some.

“Well then,” she said pleasantly, taken her stance at the front of the classroom before her desk. “Welcome back to anther year at Hogwarts. As you all know, N.E.W.T. years are always strenuous as I’m sure you lot found out last year,” she said with a dry laugh, “this year is no exception.

“Now,” she said waving her wand to the chalkboard, and words elegantly began to write themselves:


Ministry of Magic Classifications:
The department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures gives classification to all known beasts, beings and spirits. These offer an at-a-glance guide to the perceived dangerous of a creature. The five categories are as follows:

Ministry of Magic (M.O.M) Classification:
XXXXX - Known wizard killer/impossible to train or domesticate.
XXXX - Dangerous / requires specialist knowledge / skilled wizard may handle.
XXX - Competent wizard should cope.
XX - Harmless / may be domesticated.
X - Boring.


“You will need to write that down. I’m sure you have done so many times now, however nothing commits itself to memory on its own!” Giving the class a few minutes to write that down, she cleared the board and the writing replaced itself:


Golden Snidget: XXXX


“This will be your heading. Take as many notes as you wish or nor at all. However, let you be warned either way I will be seeing them and you will be receiving a grade.

“Now, who can tell me what a Snidget is?”

[kalib]

Kalib was rather bored at this point, until his fellow classmates began walking in. Bellatrix gave him an annoyed look and he knew perfectly well why. He gave an exasperated look and rolled his eyes: What else was I supposed to do? Stupid mother… He was going to have to put up with a lot of crap with his mother teaching here.

Although, his spirits were raised when after a few more Slytherins piled in, Mariella walked in. In his opinion, she was one of the better looking Slytherin girls. He gave her a small grin and answered “hey” casually. Sadly, he had no means of pursuing the conversation as the door snapped rather loudly against its frame.

Regrettably, he turned to face forward. It was an awkward place, watching his mother teach and actually be one of her students. Very strange indeed. Even stranger when asked to copy what had charmed itself into the blackboards. Sighing, he pulled out his parchment and began jotting it all down.

Snidget? Kalib had no idea what that was and preyed his mother wouldn’t call upon him. Luckily, she seemed to understand his awkward placement and treated him no differently now then any of the other students. He let out a relived sigh and waited to see if anyone actually knew what a Snidget was or not.

[david]

Remus’s attention quickly snapped out of the book he had been reading as the door shut with a loud audible racket. The book he had been perusing was closed quickly as the teacher began to speak and put forth words upon the board. Remus settled into copying the words upon the board, even though he already knew the information that she was having them write. Of course the reason he was writing it was because with no doubt in his mind. The rest of the Marauders would need to see his notes so as not to fall behind, if and Remus wasn’t sure…. But if they were even taking this class.

He was sure they were but they had never actually said anything about it to him. ‘Come to think of it… I haven’t seen any of them yet…’ Remus’s eyes became thoughtful as he tried to remember if he had even spoken to them this year, and he realized that no, he hadn’t. Professor Hemlock asked a question and once again Remus snapped out of his thoughts as she asked about Golden Snidget‘s. Remus knew the answer to the question but he didn’t want it to seem that he was more of a nerd then people already thought him to be.

He had learned the answer to that question in his first year of school. Lupin smiled slightly at the memory, when everything was new and positively magical to behold. He waited patiently to be sure that no one else was going to raise their hand and speak. But after a courteously glance around, he had a feeling that the answer to that was probably no. With a resignated sigh Remus raised his hand before speaking.

“The Snidget or The Golden Snidget as it is sometimes called is an extremely rare, and protected species of bird. Completely round, with a very long, thin beak and glistening, jewel like eyes that are red in color. The Golden Snidget is an extremely fast flier that is capable of changing its flight direction with impressive speed and skill. This is because of it‘s rotational joints, that are located in it‘s wings.”

After raising an eye brow in thought he continued. "It’s feathers and eyes were prized to the point of The Golden Snidget’s almost inevitable extinction. Fortunately the danger was recognized in time and they are now protected. The most notable factor being the substitution of the Golden Snitch for the Snidget in Quidditch."

With a sigh Remus put his face back down towards his parchment and wrote that down for Sirius, James and Peter just in case they needed it.

[debbie]

“Excellent,” Professor Hemlock beamed. He’d hit dead on about everything she’d wished to mention. Remus was always ready with answers and they were always correct. “Five points to Gryffindor, excellent.” She clapped her hands together and smiled briefly at the class.

“Now, as Mr. Lupin kindly stated, the Golden Snidget is a rather rare bird and among many of which as becoming dangerously close to being extinction. It is on that note that you shall be pleased to find I have been able to track one down for our lesson.”

With a wave of her wand a perch appeared from thin air with the plump little bird resting upon it. Its beady red eyes took in the students around it and gave a small squawk of pleasure. Its feathers ruffled some, making it appear even rounded then before.

“This is Twitchy, a name given to him by the kind owners nice enough to let me borrow him.

“As mentioned, Snidgets have rotational wings that allow them to fly considerably fast and change direction almost in a blink of an eye. This is because many predators find it comically to chase down the small birds and toss them about as though they were a mere play thing, much like Qudditch player back in earlier years,” she added with a brief smile. She knew there were a few Quidditch players amongst her classroom.

She raised her wand and levitated a small kernel before Twitchy. Flicking her wand she sent the kernel flying above her students and allowed Twitchy to demonstrate his remarkable skills in flying.

[dog8mihomwork]

(Tardy hehe, sorry)

He had fallen asleep. His clothes rather rugged from his night run. He was clad in his sweats, James's head limply cradled under his white pillow. Slowly his eyes began to pry open, his arms stretched out to reach for his glasses that neatly laid on the floor next to him. From underneath his lashes, his hazel eyes scanned his messy little bunk, and befell the window in front of him. The sun was up, far up. He was late. This set an alarm through his body. The young boy bolted up. "Bloody hell! Why didn't anyone wake me up?" He cursed as he tripped over the belongings piled disorderly all over the floor. For, Black and Potter were not the neatest of people. Hurriedly Potter dashed all around the little room gathering his robes, tie, shoes and toothbrush.

He zoomed out the door, his strides long and desperate. Quickly he ran into the bathroom and straight into the showers. He rinsed, soaped, and sprung out dripping wet, toweling himself with all the speed he was capable of. Teeth brushed, and clothes jammed on in a rather disorderly fashion he flung himself outside of the john and ran back into the long halls. He didn't intend this, not at all. He wanted to be on time for once. Why on earth did it have to be today? The first day? So much for first impressions, he thought to himself.

He increased his sped, zooming past classrooms already in session. His little sprint failed to go unnoticed as heads stuck out to inquire on his blurry figure. Though, he really didn't care. Quickly he approached his class: Care of Magical Creatures. Unfortunately, his progressing speed was hard to suppress. And before he knew it, he sprinted in front of his new teacher teaching, and plopped into the nearest desk, breathless.

[Lily Evans]

As she waited for class to start, Lily opened her textbook and began to thumb through it listlessly. It wasn't all that interesting, since she had already read the whole thing, and reread parts of it. Yes, when she was bored during the summer, Lily read her textbooks, not something most people did. But hey, it gave her her a head-start, and if she didn't do it she probably wouldn't have the same reputation she did today. Besides, she didn't have much else to do over the summer. Most of it was spent either visiting her family or occasionally taking vacations, but not often. And she didn't get to see her wizarding friends much during the summer, so it was really only the Muggles who lived on her street, and they didn't interest her anymore.

Lily looked up as somebody else entered the room, and was glad to see another Gryffindor, Remus Lupin in fact, one of the best friends of James Potter and Sirius Black. It was about time somebody else in their house showed up. She returned his smile and gave him a little wave. Lily had a certain respect for Remus that she definitely didn't have for any of the other Marauders. For one, he wasn't an utter idiot, and he thought before he acted, as far as she could tell. She and him were a lot alike actually, and he was obviously the brains of the group. Now that she thought about it, Lily had no idea what someone like Remus was doing hanging out with Potter and Black. Peter Pettigrew was another story; he was just sort of... there.

The beginning of class was signified when the Professor closed the door sharply. Lily sat up a little straighter and looked attentively towards the front of the room, where Professor Hemlock began to speak. She listened to every word, and copied down everything that was written on the board. This was perfectly normal behavior for Lily; she learned all she could, and she soaked everything up like a sponge. When Professor Hemlock asked if anybody knew what a Golden Snidget was, Lily's hand shot into the air. Of course she knew, since she'd already read the textbook, but Remus beat her to it. She listened to his explanation, and smiled when she realized that was almost exactly what she had been about to say. Obviously she wasn't the only one to do a bit of summer reading.

Normally Lily might be just a tiny bit jealous that somebody else answered the question so perfectly, but since she slightly admired Remus, she didn't mind. She smiled at him again, and glanced over at Ethan to see if he knew what a Golden Snidget. She had the feeling that he probably did, but maybe didn't know much about it. He wasn't dumb, after all. After she had finished copying all the notes, Lily looked up again to the front of the room. She took in a quick breath as Professor Hemlock showed them an actual Golden Snidget. It was rather cute, but she was in awe that they got to see one. Like the Professor said, they were almost extinct. Her eyes followed the bird as it flew around the room.

[Ack, I'm horrible with rambling! Sorry everyone, you don't have to read all that. ]

[/blockquote]

[ethan]

Ethan hadn't even bothered opening up his textbook and when he saw Lily enter the room, he flashed the redhead a brilliant smile. About time a friend showed up. "Hey yourself," he said, paying attention to the girl now. At least he had something to do while he waited for the class to come into session. "You bet. And I think they would look threatening if I just brought myself to care," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth in response to her statement about being surrounded. It was true, too. They had anything but friendly faces, which was why Ethan had resorted to ignore them successfully by turning his back to them. He sighed theatrically and sat up, finally letting himself rummage through his book bag in order to pull out his book. He really didn't want to dwell much on the interrogative of what was that furry ball his fingers touched as they burrowed deeply into the bag, because honestly? Ethan had learned that exploring his book bag never brought anything good for his mental health. Yes, he was an out-of-the-closet-slob...and quite proud of it too. When he finally pulled out his dog-eared copy of the book, he shot Lily a sheepish grin that wasn't exactly ashamed.

"Umm, my kid brother used it for practice," he said with a brilliant grin, trying to cover up his lame excuse, considering he had no kid brother nor any sibling, so to speak. Ethan was--thankfully--an only child, as his mother had pointed out several times, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to cope with two kids who had the same spontaneity and precociousness as Ethan had started demonstrating ever since he was able to walk. Not to mention all the trouble he had caused when his first signs of magic had started to show in him. China vases were a definite 'no' in the Cartier household. After two months of stepping in the colorful remains Andrea Brueghel had learned her lesson. And now that he was allowed to use magic outside of school? Well, it was a repetition of his infancy all over again. But instead of now being broken by spurts of uncontrolled magic, they were destroyed by Ethan's small bursts of energy as he practiced Duelling. Another point in which Andrea and Louis--his parents--had argued before they divorced. She hadn't been all that set on having Ethan start his lessons so early in life, but Louis had been set on it, not letting his wife's opinion interfere on what had to be the most stubborn decision of all.

And now that he had an isolated room just for practice, Ethan had focused instead all his energy on Quidditch. Duelling was something that now came naturally to him, and Quidditch...well, his passion for it had been discarded to second plane when he was a child, so now that he had the opportunity to fully develop his skills in that area and reread Quidditch Throught The Ages as many times as his heart desired, it was only logical for his neck to snap up at the mention of the Golden Snidget. So fast and unconscious had his reaction been, that his neck cricked and he winced. Class had started while he had been thinking, lost somewhere in his mind's ramblings, and he found that before he could even start digesting what was said or written, a couple of more students--Gryffindors, thank Merlin--had arrived. Lupin and Potter. Where was Black? Ethan didn't exactly have a tight relationship with them, seeing as he led a somewhat private and exclusive life, but they were his Housemates, and he did share a dorm with them, so it was kind of difficult to deny the fact that he, indeed, found them extremely amusing. He knew he would never be able to form part of that extremely tight-knit group, but he was...around. With a small smirk upon seeing James' hasty arrival, he shook his head, somewhat amused, and copied what was in the board.