fight the power

Paloma walked in her Defence classroom shivering a bit. It was a cold day, and she was almost a hundred percent sure she was getting sick, with her runny nose, throbbing head, and sore throat. But, other than that, she seemed to be in a good mood.

Sitting down in a desk around the middle of the room, Paloma got her book and wand out and rested her head on her arms, in the table, trying to ignore the pain.

Rhys entered the Defense classroom, noting that there was only one other person there - one of his schoolmates from Durmstrang, actually. He didn't know Paloma all that well, though, he had had classes with her and spoken to her at least a time or two. Some contact was inevitable with them being exchange students, as well as in the same year.

The redhead made his way over to her. "Hello!" he greeted in English that was a shaped with an odd mixture of a Russian and Welsh accent. "Do y' mind 'f I sit by you?" A frown appeared on Rhys' face as he took a closer look at the girl.

"Are y' alrigh'? Rhys asked. "You do not look very vell."

Smiling, Lena came into the classroom feeling rather refreshed. She loved sleep. It seemed to brighten her mood every time she got a little bit more. She didn't remember feeling this happy for about half a year, not counting the time Kait came back.

Her smile faded when she saw a tired Paloma sleeping on the desk. "Y'alright?" she asked, realizing then there was another person in the classroom. She laughed, "Rhys - is it me or do we happen to have all the same classes?"

Angel was in a way better mood then she had been. The flu was over, so she saw everything in front of her now. Walking into the classroom, she frowned. Paloma didn't seem well. Damn flu. It was so annoying.

Shooting Paloma a symathetic look (or rather as sympathetic as it got), Angel sat down by herself at the back of the room.

"Hmm?" Paloma frowned, lifting her head to look at the other person. With a weak smile, she nodded slowly, as to not make her head hurt even more. "Yes, of course," she said, "Sit down."

She gave him a small laugh and shrugged, waving slightly at Lena was she walked in, and answered, "I'm alright, I might be coming down with something though."

Paloma half-grinned at Angel's sympathetic look and turned back to the other two, resting her head on the table once again.

Damian made his way into the Defense classroom. He much preferred learning from his mentor one-on-one or at least just himself and Iv-Popov. Rules dictated that he had to attend classes, however, so attend he did. Besides, he didn't dare to skip lessons too often, even if he hadn't gotten in trouble for it, yet. He was nowhere near stupid enough to consider skipping Asric's class.

Choosing a seat at random, Damian sat, leaning back in his chair. "Hey," he offered by way of appearing friendly. So, it wasn't exactly cordial. It was progress.

Caleb walked into class and saw the only Slytherin in the class besides himself. Caleb took the seat next to her. "Caleb List and you are" Caleb looked at her with a smirk. She was really pretty, Caleb never really noticed girls, usually he'd flirt but nothing that would take his eye. Although this girl in particular did take his eye.

"That iz not good," Rhys said with a frown, continuing in English. He needed the practice, and he was becoming much more comprehensible than he had been at the beginning of the year. "You should take care 'f yer health."

He grinned up at Lena, unsurprised that her attention first went to the person who was unwell. Loosely grabbing her wrist, he tugged her down to sit in the seat beside him. "It iz not jist you. I haff noticed, as vell. I think that you are stalking me, but I do not blame ye. I am very handsome."

Lena nodded in assent, "Yeah, Paloma. I think you should sleep earlier. Or maybe catch a nap in between classes. Or now, if you'd like." The Uchitel flashed a smile, "I'll watch the corridors for you, if you want." After all, the other girl had done so for her a couple of weeks ago, and it was about time to return the favour.

The blonde multi-national looked at the Slytherin boy in slight disdain, and rolled her eyes. "I am Lena, and that is all you need to know," she firmly replied, her tone obviously saying, 'Get the hell away from me.' She then heaved a huge sigh of relief when Rhys dragged her down to sit next to him, and burst out laughing at his remark. "Yeah, yeah," she replied, pretending to wave him off, "and it's pretty easy to stalk you, you know. I know you pretty well, in case you've forgotten." She winked playfully.

Ric walked into the classroom and flicked his wand the word werewolves appeared on the board behind him. "As you've probably guessed, today we're looking into werewolves." He said perching on the front of his desk.

"Although human they can be dangerous and one tell me why?"

"Because they have no conscious control of their wolf," Damian promptly answered the question posed by his mentor. "If they take Wolfsbane potion, it helps them keep their right mind during the change, but otherwise, they're mindless beasts. They'll kill you or turn you - and the latter is usually only because they got disturbed while attacking you."

Hades walked into the classroom and sighed when he saw the headmaster in the classroom. Why was he always late. Hades took a seat and just ran a hand threw his hair and paid attention to what he missed.

"Correct you are Damian. 10 points." He said waving his wand so a diagram of a werewolf appeared underneath the words. His eyes turned to look at the late comers in warning but otherwise he said nothing.

"As Damian correctly pointed out, werewolves have no control once the full moon hits. They would kill their best friend if they got in their way. Does anyone know how you can distinguish a werewolf?"

Paloma waved hello to the Hufflepuff boy, and smiled at Rhys and Lena, but did not have a chance to say anything because the professor chose that moment to appear.

She took notes as the boy - Damian - answered the Headmaster's question, and raised her hand. "Well, a werewolf has shorter snout than a true wolf," she said, "And I guess also the savagery would help distinguish them. Normally, wolves will not attack humans, particularly lone wolves, the exceptions would be mother wolves with cubs, starving wolves, or a very wounded human. Werewolves, on the other hand, are driven to attack other creatures because, like Damian said, they have no conscious control of their wolf. Of course, a rabid wolf might be indistinguishable from a werewolf in this instance."

Iva pried open the door to the class room, appearance overall unamused. She eyed the lesson and threw her books on to the closest desk before gingerly placing herself into the chair and crossing her legs. She didn't have a notebook or a quill, only the textbook required for the class.

She didn't bother to excuse her tardiness, only stare at the professor with an almost melancholy look. The class wasn't interrupted by her lateness and her head ached with sharp jabs, so she honestly did not care anymore. Failing would be fine.