Professor Taylor
October 08, 2007 6:08 AM
Charms Lesson I, Years 3-5 by Professor Taylor
Although she most certainly was not planning on doing this normally, Lorraine had decided, against her best judgment, to combine her third, fourth, and fifth years for their first lesson. As with her first and second year lesson, Lorraine waited until the clock hit exactly the time that the lesson started, then snapped the door shut. Unlike in the first and second year class, it seemed as though most of the students were socializing too much to notice. A pity. So she quickly recruited one of the students to pass out syllabuses, then recruited another one to pass out information sheets on electromagnets, the approximate subject of their class today.As with her previous class, the syllabus essentially covered her educational background (seven years study at Sonora Academy as an Aladren, magical college in California, then several years of work as a magical engineer in Nevada), the materials required for class, what could be expected for homework, and a few rules:
1. There will be no tolerance for name calling based on race, religion, ethnicity, 'purity' of blood, ability to perform in this class, etc.
2. There will be no tolerance for dangerous behaviour (running around, dramatic or careless use of wands, etc)
3. There will be no food or drink of any type in the classroom.
Refusal to comply with these rules may result in detentions, loss of House points, or meetings with your Head of House.
At the bottom, there was a space for student signatures.
She clapped her hands to get attention, and when that didn't work, Lorraine flicked her wand in irritation, causing the lights to flicker. That was effective, and when the students were seated in the neat rows of desks and quiet, the woman began her lesson.
"Good morning class," she began, washed-out blue eyes darting around the room in a very no-nonsense fashion as she assessed the classroom full of students. "I am Professor Taylor, and I will be your Charms instructor. If you will please read your syllabuses and then pass them to the front of your row, that would be appreciated. Now, if you would pay brief attention to the handouts you have received? Today's class will be on Summoning Charms, Banishing Charms, and Levitation Charms. They all essentially work in the same manner.
"As is detailed on your handout, an electromagnet is a Muggle invention, as is electricity. Electromagnets work by sending a charge of electricity through a coiled metal, thereby increasing the strength of the magnet. These magnets are not permanent; in most cases they will cease to attract items when the charge is turned off.
"Your wand works in a similar way. You all know about the core of your wand, yes? Be it phoenix feather or dragon heartstring, it is essentially the coil of an electromagnet. When activated by an intention, word, or movement, it will perform a set task. As with an electromagnet, if the charge (that would be the word, movement, or intention) is not strong enough, the end result will not be as expected.
"Therefore, the principles of an electromagnet should apply exactly to the previously detailed spells, as they all involve attracting or repelling an object. I would like you all to read your handouts, then try the spells listed at the bottom. Third years, this may be difficult for you; it is acceptable if you cannot master the Summoning and Banishing Charms. Fourth years, you should be able to at least master Summoning this session. Fifth years, this should be review, but it will aide you in the future to know the reason why your magic works.
"Items to be used for levitating, summoning, or banishing are available in these bins," the same bins she had used for her first year class, this time filled with soft toys instead of random objects. "If you have any questions, please direct them towards myself or your peers. If there are fires, please put them out immediately and summon me. Begin."
Lorraine stepped to the side as students hesitantly began to come up to get their items, then walked along the front of each row, picking up the syllabuses.
OOC: Standard rules apply; follow all site rules, play nicely, each post a bare minimum of ten sentences, more will earn more house points, etc. Sixth years, if you want to help out here or in the first year class, just post and it will be duly accredited for house points. You may respond to professor tags if it's just a question or minor issue. Have fun, all!
Subthreads: Electromagnets = dead fish (EEs) by Saul Pierce with Echo Elms, Elly Eriksson, Elly
Old news. by Dalila Bastet
Re: Charms Lesson I, Years 3-5 by Earl and Eavan Valentine
Oh no..(Wotw) by Adam Brockert
Class Closed (nm) by Professor Taylor
0
Professor Taylor
Charms Lesson I, Years 3-5
0
Professor Taylor
1
5
Saul Pierce
October 16, 2007 6:45 PM
Electromagnets = dead fish (EEs) by Saul Pierce
Saul was telling the EEs and whoever else was willing to listen all about his Astronomy class earlier that day. Specifically, he was explaining the dangers of wishing for pizza. How it would turn you fat and put you in the hospital, but at least Briony would be there so, even though she was fat and sick, too, she was still very pretty and they'd been fortunate to prevent any of the pizza from going bad. It had been very good pizza, with the very bestest pepperoni, sorry, Elly, but you're missing out by going vegetarian, because pepperoni is the greatest thing ever . . . and the lights flickered.Confused, Saul broke off his narration and realized the professor was trying to get their attention. He promised to continue telling them all about it later as the lady - and where was Professor McKindy? - started handing out papers.
Saul glanced over the words of the syllabus, taking in the shape of the paragraphs rather than even the vaguest gist of their content, and just signed at the bottom. He figured it was all the same old stuff. He was completely unaware that the caches of food in his pockets and bag (he was a growing teen aged boy in constant danger of starvation) were in any way putting him in danger of detention, loss of house points, or meetings with Professor Connell.
What he was aware of was Briony. And Pepper. But mostly Briony at the moment. He was staring at her and wondering if maybe she'd like to eat pepperoni pizza with him for real sometime. The lights flickered again. Oh, the professor wanted their attention again. There was a distinct possibility that with all the light flickering going on, he might even be able to pay attention to this class.
He passed his already-signed syllabus forward when she instructed them to then turned his attention to the other handout. He read the word "Electromagnet" and immediately lost interest. He knew it was a muggle science thing but beyond that he was as ignorant as any fourteen year old wizard about what that was.
He suspected his family protested against them (his family protested against most things) but he couldn't recall anything specifically bad about electromagnets. They probably killed fish. A lot of things killed fish. He drew dead fish on his handout. He made it obvious they were dead by making x's instead of o's for their eyes. They were also supposed to be belly-up, but they were pretty symmetrical so he wasn't sure that came across very well. He wondered if fish had tongues and made one of the dead fish have its tongue sticking out. He decided that looked like it had a horn. If anyone asked, that one was a dead swordfish. He gave another one whiskers and pointy ears - a dead cat fish.
He looked up from his artwork when people started standing up and going to the front of the room. Great. Apparently, the light flickering had just been false hope. He had no idea what was going on.
Saul got up and followed the others to the front and collected a squishy ball from the bin of toys everyone was taking something from and returned to his seat. Leaning toward Elly and Echo, he whispered, "What are we supposed to be doing?" He showed them his hand out. "I was drawing dead fish."
\r\n\r\n
1
Saul Pierce
Electromagnets = dead fish (EEs)
82
Saul Pierce
0
5
Echo Elms
October 17, 2007 10:00 PM
dead fish are smelly (EEs away!) by Echo Elms
Echo sat on his desk, laughing at Saul's ruminations on his Astronomy class. One of the other students came by and handed him a syllabus before the new teacher flicked the lights, and Echo slid down into his desk. He didn't read the whole thing, but he skimmed it. Echo already knew how to behave in class, so he wasn't worried. He'd never gotten a detention at Sonora, and wouldn't his elementary teachers be surprised? Echo signed off on the sheet and handed it forward with the rest of them.The lesson was about electromagnets, which was cool. Echo knew a little about magnets from his homeschooling projects before coming to Sonora, but not enough to really follow the abbreviated review of a lecture. Luckily, the packet cleared things up. Apparently, electromagnets were similar to wands. Echo underlined some of the meaty bits of the reading and eyed the crowd forming up by the trunk.
"Hey, Elly?" he asked, stopping her as she was getting up. "Could--? Could you grab me one too?" One what, he wasn't sure. Whatever it was people were getting up there. Elly returned with a plush monkey for him. It looked sort of like a slightly more simian pink panther, if you ignored that it was blue.
"Thanks," he said, picking it up somewhat doubtfully. Saul slid back into his desk with his gains from the bin and confessed to not knowing what was going on. His excuse had something to do with dead fish. Echo didn't ask because he was sure that if he did, Saul would tell him.
"Summoning spell," Echo explained in the short phrases that when you used them sparingly, Saul usually didn't tune out what you said in favor of Briony, or pizza, or pizza with Briony, or Pepper, or Briony and Pepper, or pepperoni. Today was easy because it was all in the packet, but trying to keep Saul on task in potions was always interesting. Echo flipped to the back page of his packet and pointed to the bottom where the three spells were listed. "Here. And then we do this one, and then this one."
[OOC: Hope I didn't step on your toes, but I didn't think Elly would refuse the request].
21
Echo Elms
dead fish are smelly (EEs away!)
93
Echo Elms
0
5
Elly Eriksson
October 21, 2007 3:19 PM
live fish are quite smelly, too (EEs forever!) by Elly Eriksson
Elly trouped into class along with the other third years… and fourth years… and fifth years too, it seemed, and found a seat by Echo, who had Saul on his other side. She was enjoying listening to Saul’s stories about Briony and pepperoni pizza, and wonder if she should mention to him about what had happened in transfiguration, and how she was pretty sure that Briony fancied him, too, when the teacher signalled it was time for them to settle down. The new charms professor looked strict and stuffy. She even had them sign bits of paper to say they wouldn’t misbehave in class – Elly surreptitiously removed the gum she’d been chewing and stuck it to the bottom of her desk.Elly was pleased to realise she wouldn’t be penalised in the class for not being able to successfully perform the spells – never had she managed a spell successfully first time round, often not within the lesson. At least she knew she could accomplish the levitation charm without hassle. She had to repress a giggle when the professor instructed students to summon her in the event of a fire – Elly didn’t think she meant by using the summoning charm but it made for a most amusing mental image.
When they were instructed to begin, Elly gave the class notes another glance over before heading to the front of the class. As she stood, she opened her mouth to ask Echo if she could bring his item for him, as she knew how being in the crowd beginning to form round the bins at the front of the class was bound to make him uncomfortable, when he spoke instead. “Hey Elly? Could you grab me one too?”
“Of course I can,” she replied easily, flashing a quick smile before striding to the front of the class. Not worried about which item in particular she would be unsuccessfully charming, Elly grabbed the two soft toys nearest the top of the bin and headed back to her seat, tossing one onto Echo’s desk as she reached it. She sat down and admired her own toy – a bushy-tailed creature that most resembled a squirrel – before suppressing another giggle as Saul confessed he didn’t know the lesson plan. Admittedly, Elly often got distracted during introductory lectures herself, but when the instructions were right there in front of him it was quite impressive that Saul still managed to lose a handle on things. As Echo explained, Elly scootched her chair closer to his, so that they could talk quietly during the lesson, hopefully without being apprehended.
“Go on Saul,” she said, in a voice tainted with playful mockery, “you’re the older student. Show us how it’s done,” she grinned.
OOC: No toes squished here - Elly would have offered anyway if I'd posted first :-)
0
Elly Eriksson
live fish are quite smelly, too (EEs forever!)
92
Elly Eriksson
0
5
Saul
October 23, 2007 6:57 PM
cooked fish smell pretty good though (exactly: EE+EE=4ever) by Saul
Saul nodded as Echo explained in short comprehensible sentences and pointed out the relevant bit in the hand out. He still had no idea what electromagnets and fish (it did not occur to Saul that he was the one who introduced fish into the equation) had to do with the lesson, but summoning was cool. He even done it before (sometimes it was great having Simon around to show him the really useful spells early and anybody who'd had even a passing moment of laziness understood the usefulness of a summoning charm), which made him grin brightly at Elly when she tried to tease him into making a fool of himself."Now, young ones," he teased right back. "This is a very tricky spell and you may have trouble with it." It would make Saul feel better about the two hours it took him to get the knack of it if they did have trouble with the spell, but he wasn't about to wish bad luck on them. "But you watch Ole Saul and learn from his wisdom and you'll do just fine."
He took out his wand and threw his toy across the room. "The first thing is to be specific about the thing you're summoning," Saul told them, nodding with the wisdom of the ages. Or, at least, the wisdom of having once said 'accio shirt' and pointed his wand at a pile of dirty laundry. Saul had nearly died of Simon-elf-dirt-and-whatever-other-horrible-things-Simon-gets-on-his -clothes fumes before his cousin was able to stop laughing and dig him free.
"Do not, for example, point your wand at an open kitchen door and say 'accio food.'" This was what had really driven home the 'be specific' rule for him. Simon's clothes had been smelly and unpleasant, but cooking food was really really hot and frozen food lying out to thaw was really really cold and hard and that amount of food pelting at you was just frightening. "If you cast it strongly enough, it'll even chase you down and the muggles in the hotel will have to be obliviated and you'll get in huge trouble and you'll be really lucky that your older cousin took the blame so you don't get expelled for underage magic use."
He realized his story had gotten away from him and he was still supposed to be telling them how to do the spell. "Anyway, you hold your wand like this," he showed them the proper hold. "Let's see it, children, hold up your wands. Not too tight there, good. Now, point it at your object," he pointed his toward his ball, which had rolled up under the teacher's desk, "and cast the spell: accio blue squishy ball!"
The ball wiggled a bit, lodged as it was under the edge of the desk, before it broke free and flew back toward him. Saul caught it, flourished it grandly, and took a gracious bow. "And there you have it, the summoning charm. Now, you kiddies give it a try and I will imprint my knowledge if you do it wrong."
1
Saul
cooked fish smell pretty good though (exactly: EE+EE=4ever)
82
Saul
0
5
Echo Elms
October 24, 2007 9:11 PM
You're a cooked fish! (EE^2+SP=?) by Echo Elms
Echo loosened his grip on his wand as Saul instructed and watched carefully as he demonstrated the summoning charm. He involuntarily held up a hand to protect himself from the blue squishy ball when it came pelting their way, but it predictably went right to Saul, like it was supposed to.Echo hesitated to see if Elly was going to jump on trying it, but he must have twitched first because he found himself tossing his blue monkey-panther to the back of the room and raising his wand.
"Accio blue monkey-panther!" he tried and imitated Saul's wand work. It was a no-go. Panther-Monkey turned over and that was about it. Not bad for a first try, though. He opted to try a slightly different name.
"Accio Panther-Monkey!"
This time Panther-Monkey sailed across the room at a reasonable pace until it dropped a yard short of Echo's chair. Reaching out with his foot, Echo slid it the rest of the way back and picked up his Elly-given plush to deposit back on his desk. His spell needed some more work, but it could wait until Elly got her chance.
21
Echo Elms
You're a cooked fish! (EE^2+SP=?)
93
Echo Elms
0
5
Elly
October 27, 2007 4:33 PM
... Huh? by Elly
Elly laughed so much at Saul’s anecdote of ‘being specific’ that it made her sides hurt. Her brown eyes were wet with laughter as she watched him successfully cast the spell, which she applauded. Echo’s description of his soft toy as monkey-panther did nothing at all to calm Elly’s giggles, though she applauded him, too. By the time her go came around, she could scarcely breathe, let alone contemplate casting a spell.“Stop making me laugh!” she managed to squeak out in between breaths. Her freckled cheeks were pink with merriment, and now her jaw was starting to ache from laughing, too. “Monkey-panther,” she repeated quietly, shaking her head in bemusement.
A few deep breaths later, Elly managed to compose herself enough to raise her wand and hold it steady. She lobbed her squirrel-like thing across the room. She brandished her wand, holding it as close to the way Saul had instructed as she could manage, and cast her spell. “Accio soft brown squirrel-thing!”
The soft brown squirrel thing did a funny sort of flip on the floor, which to Elly (why was she in such a giggly mood?) was just the most hilarious thing ever. Her laughter started afresh, and she had to cover her hands with her mouth to not draw attention to herself and get their group into trouble. “I’m sorry,” she managed to choke out to the boys. Honestly, why was she so weird sometimes? And why was it just not possible to stop laughing?
0
Elly
... Huh?
0
Elly
0
5
Saul Pierce
October 29, 2007 3:47 PM
Echo, man, you need to work on your compliments by Saul Pierce
OOC: Echo, since Saul hasn't been explicitly told about your phobia anywhere IC yet, I'm making stuff up for your mother and assuming he was given some variation of the news. If you object, virtually smack me or something. BIC:"Good tries, both of you," Saul applauded, and only just barely managed to restrain himself from slapping Echo on the back in congratulations (Echo's mom had taken him aside and told him that Echo preferred a less violent form of appreciation when Saul had stayed at their house at the end of the summer - it was difficult, but Saul was doing his best to remember that).
"Elly," he added, since hers hadn't actually moved much while Echo's had made it a good couple of feet and he felt that he ought to give her some kind of advice. Well, there was the obvious bit.
His eyes sparkled as he tried to keep a straight face, but her own laughter was somewhat contagious and the corners of his mouth twitched in spite of his best acting skills. He was however, mostly successful in using a serious dour voice as he shook his finger at her and lectured, "It is easier to cast magic spells when you are not doubled over laughing, young lady."
The last part was too much, though, and the remains of his solemn demeanor cracked and he started laughing as much as she had been.
1
Saul Pierce
Echo, man, you need to work on your compliments
82
Saul Pierce
0
5
Dalila Bastet
October 30, 2007 12:41 AM
Old news. by Dalila Bastet
Dalila didn't really like the new teacher. She was strict, no nonsense, and didn't smile once. Plus she was asking everone to sign the syllabus. Did she think that they were going to sit here and insult people in front of her? Rolling her eyes, Dalila signed the paper and passed in forward.It was strange how Professor Taylor kept on mentioning that they needed to think about how their wand was like electricity. It was just plain weird to think of magical things in a muggle way, even though she had grown up in both environments.
Dalila skipped most of the handout and instead focused on the spells that they were supposed to work on. As a fifth year, she had already learned most of the spells, but there were one or two that she had little practice on. She figured she'd start with banishing charms, since when did she really used them? Summoning and levitation charms were so convenient in life that Dalila had mastered them in no time, but banishing was a bit more difficult.
Since she was sitting in the front, Dalila had no need to summon anything and instead leaned over her desk, to the point were it was tipping and grabbed a toy from the top of the bin. A teddy bear.
She said the incantation and waved her wand. The bear scooted across the desk. Tihs was going to take a while.
0
Dalila Bastet
Old news.
60
Dalila Bastet
0
5
Earl and Eavan Valentine
October 30, 2007 2:24 AM
Re: Charms Lesson I, Years 3-5 by Earl and Eavan Valentine
'Isn't this great, Earl! We never have classes together!" Eavan's excitement over sharing a class with her brother bubbled over. Earl looked rather indifferent to Eavan's glee except for a very small smirk that happened to appear on his lips as they reached the classroom. It was funny watching her get into a frenzy like this. They took seats right next to each other, with Eavan whispering to Earl until the lights began to flicker and she quickly brought herself to attention.This new teacher was an unknown, so both Valentines stared at her apprehensively until she began to speak. Both their faces went from the same apprehensive face to a equally similar face of disappointment. She seemed too strict to make this class any fun. Eavan leaned over and whispered softly, "Remember Professor Mckindy's bubble hat?" Earl grinned and passed her the sheet of paper they were supposed to sign. He signed it without looking at it and handed it up. Eavan took more time to consider it, but signed it and returned it quickly.
Neither of them paid any attention to the speech made about electromagnetism, but Eavan perked up when she mentioned the list of spells they were to be practicing. If Earl already knew how to do these spells, then he could help her. She tapped Ear on the shoulder with the feather tip of her quill. He turned around, an eyebrow raised.
"Partners?" Eavan asked, though she knew she didn't have to. Earl looked away, across the room for a second before turning back and nodding.
"Course, I will." Eavan grinned, mentally storing the wistful look her brother had had on his face as looked towards the other side of the room. Nonchalantly, Earl raised his wand and two of the soft toys emerged from the bin and after hovering for a second, zoomed across the room and landed neatly on his desk. Eavan clapped appreciatively as Earl held up the two toys and asked her which she wanted. Eavan chose the bright yellow duck over the foam flower, which Earl took reluctantly.
Eavan, having already been doing quite well with levitating charms, began to start with summoning charms, and while Earl helped her with her wand movement, they each felt a shadow cross over them.
Earl turned around, and raise an eyebrow. "Yeah?" he asked, as though the person had interrupted something very important. Eavan smacked him on the arm with a playfully hurt "Earl!" before turning to the shadow caster with a grin.
"Hi!"
0
Earl and Eavan Valentine
Re: Charms Lesson I, Years 3-5
0
Earl and Eavan Valentine
0
5
Adam Brockert
October 30, 2007 5:55 PM
Oh no..(Wotw) by Adam Brockert
The moment Adam walked into Charms, he cringed. Being with his own year was bad enough (though he felt lucky to be in the year with the smallest amount of students), being with third or fifth years was worse and being with both was unbelivably nerve-wracking.He sat off to one side but his usual seat in the back was taken which only served to increase his sense of discomfort. The people behind him would be staring at the back of his head, therefore he would not be able to hide from
Adam wasn't sure what to think of the new teacher either. The fact that she put three classes together was not a good sign of course and then she had put a whole paper together. Even though the first rule was about not calling people names, it did not make ease Adam's fears at all. They seemed to be completely insatiable in this situation, with people and the fact that the teacher seemed strict wasn't helping either. She seemed like someone not to mess around with, not that Adam really messed around in the way some did. He was very quiet and kept mostly to himself. However, what if the teacher had little patience for his general phobia of his classmates? Not that Adam ever told any of his teachers about how he felt.
The lesson began. The thing about electromagnetics didn't really make much sense to him, as he didn't really know what they were and didn't get why she had to bring them up in relation to their wands. However, Adam could discern that what she wanted was them to work on the Summoning and Banishing charms. Well, he was going to start by summoning his object. Adam could see an orange frog sitting off to one side of the bin. " Accio frog." He said quietly. The frog moved but landed on the desk next to his. Adam turned beet red and grabbed it before the desk's owner could return from getting their own animal.
11
Adam Brockert
Oh no..(Wotw)
78
Adam Brockert
0
5