No need for spello-tape (Intermediate charms) on Charms

Professor Rory Taransay

April 16, 2017 6:19 PM

No need for spello-tape (Intermediate charms) by Professor Rory Taransay

It was strange, preparing to teach a class in a different classroom, and Rory couldn’t help but feel as if he’d forgotten something – some animal, or maybe just his lesson plan! He’d definitely become used to teaching Care of Magical Creatures, and it was odd to step into another teacher’s domain.

The unfortunate and sad resignation of Edward Perrault, Sonora’s resident Charms teacher, had increased Isis’s workload quite significantly, so Rory had offered to help. Through Amelle, he’d got to know Isis last year. Despite Amelle having left, he still thought of Isis as a friend, and not just a colleague, so he was more than happy to make things easier for her where he could.

Truth be told, Rory was actually a little nervous. He wasn’t an officially qualified charms teacher, and it hadn’t been his favourite subject at Hogwarts. However, you couldn’t have a successful career in the magizoology world without becoming decent at charms (some more than others), and he knew that he was more than capable of teaching an intermediate charms class. That was easier to know in theory than to believe, however, so he had decided to focus the lesson on a charm that he was fairly familiar with.

“Hello, everyone!” he greeted cheerfully, once the class had settled down. “As a one-off, I’m going to be covering today’s lesson. Now, I’ve been looking over your syllabus, and the spell that we’re going to learn today is the Mending Charm. Its use is fairly self-evident, but can anyone tell me the incantation?”

Picking on raised hands (he never liked to put people on the spot, preferring willing volunteers), he gave house points to the correct answer of Reparo, and wrote the incantation on the board. After getting everyone to repeat the correct pronunciation a few times, he moved on to the instructions for the lesson.

“Around the room we have various objects, as you can see,” he said, gesturing to the collection he’d gathered. He’d found quite a range, with the objects varying from items such as quills and parchment to teapots, glasses, and mirrors. “Fourth and fifth years, you may well have covered this spell before, so feel free to try the more complex objects. Third years, you might want to focus on quills before tackling something that will break into lots of pieces. Obviously the objects will have to be broken before you can practise the spell, so now’s your chance to take out any anger you have and smash some crockery!” He grinned at this, knowing that it was often quite satisfying to break something and then repair it.

“It might help you to work in pairs or threes, so you can give each other support and advice. But only constructive criticism, please! I’m here if you have any problems, or questions.” Rory knew the students from his CoMC class, so he was confident they wouldn’t be afraid to approach him.

OOC: Normal class rules apply. Feel free to choose any small everyday object for your student to practise on, although please remember that the spell can be hard to perform perfectly, especially if an object has liquid in. Points are given for realism! Also do tag Professor Taransay if you want to, and note that he would be there if any serious problems occurred. More information on the spell can be found here: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Mending_Charm

Subthreads:

None at all by Kira Spaulding, Crotalus

Not if I can't bring myself to break anything. by Wu Peizhi [Teppenpaw]

9 Professor Rory Taransay No need for spello-tape (Intermediate charms) 33 Professor Rory Taransay 1 5

Kira Spaulding, Crotalus

April 24, 2017 5:43 PM

None at all by Kira Spaulding, Crotalus

Kira's year was off to a...eventful start. First off, there had been the prefect announcements which was a suspenseful thing for any fifth year. She, of course, had not gotten it and truth be told, if she really thought about it on a practical basis, she didn't really want it. Leadership was one of the many things Kira was not good at and she wasn't sure if she could go about docking points from people because she was too worried about being liked.

Another part of her however, wanted to feel others believed in her, saw something positive in her. Wanted to feel that she had their approval and was good enough for a change. Especially considering Kelsey had gotten the honor last year. It was yet another way she was inferior to her cousin. Still, Kira bore no ill will towards Laila for getting the position over her.

Then there was the fact that she had a new roommate and that generally made Kira uneasy. Nothing personal against Sterling, it was just how the fifth year was. She was afraid Sterling wouldn't like her and even that, as Kira wasn't all that close to Laila in the first place, that the two of them would get super close and she would be an outsider in her own room. It was one thing not to be close to roommates and to travel in totally different circles, but it was a different thing to feel that way in her own room. In that case, Kira might even consider asking to move in with Caelia....if it wasn't for the fact Caelia shared a room with Kelsey. Still, that was why she didn't even necessarily like to hang out with people when there were people around they were closer to.

On the other hand, some people had left school this year. That happened but this year it was affecting people that Kira really cared about like Savannah and Sammy. Chuck too, actually but that was primarily because he was getting Gia Donovan's prefect badge the way Savannah had gotten Aiden's. She knew she needed to be there for both of them.

At the moment though, what Kira needed to do was forget about all that and focus on Charms. Not that she needed to focus hard to actually do the spells, but if theory was discussed she might need it for any tests that came up, not to mention CATS. She was oddly enough not that worried about it. None of her theory was perfect, but it was decent enough and hopefully on the wand-based subjects, her magical ability would be good enough that the theory wouldn't matter quite so much. As for COMC and Herbology, Kira didn't plan to continue them anyway. Potions was the only one she had to worry about at all which she was only planning to continue because of Sophie anyway and she was sure that if she wanted, Sophie would be happy to help.

Professor Tansaray entered the room and Kira tried not to frown. Not that she disliked him-her reasons for not wanting to continue COMC was based on the fact that she didn't excel at it, the fact that unlike Sophie she wasn't super close to him, and the fact that four classes was enough-just that Kira felt that a full time Charms professor was essential. Charms, after all, was someone that nearly everyone, even most Advanced students took. Kira had not felt any special affection for Professor Perrault either, but the fact that he left so abruptly kind of bothered her. Hopefully he had a really good reason.

She listened to his instructions and was pleased. The Mending charm was not new to Kira in the least and she had it pretty well mastered. Not that that meant she was going to try to challenge herself, not in public where it might look like she was showing off. Plus, well, she liked doing stuff that she knew she could do, because it made her feel like she wasn't inferior for a change.

Kira sighed to herself at the mention of having a partner or worse, a group of three. One drawback to being a fifth year was that she was lacking in friends to work with during class. Caelia, Chuck and Sammy were in advanced classes now and Winston was never going to be in her classes period. That left only Daniel or her cousin. Possibly Laila. Kira was generally the sort of person who didn't really approach anyone she didn't know well because she never knew if they were going to judge her in some way. Honestly, she was surprised she had any friends at all, let alone as many as she did have. The Crotalus was actually downright shocked by it.

Still, Professor Tansaray didn't say they had to work in partners or threes, just that it would help them. Truthfully, Kira doubted that she actually needed help though she was happy to give it. Well, sort of happy to give it, she wanted to help others and she liked not feeling stupid as well as feeling like someone actually wanted her advice and thought it was worthwhile, but on the other hand, Kira hated to sound like a know-it-all. Besides, as far as she knew, only Chuck and Fabian would ever ask for her help and the former wasn't here.

She walked over to a teapot that was sitting nearby, picked it up and after making sure nobody was close enough to be in the path of any glass shards, the fifth year picked it up and smashed it. Admittedly, destruction was more satisfying when one did it on purpose, though she really had nothing to feel angry about. More like anxious though as she was in a class she excelled at, she wasn't even feeling that now.

Kira was just about to try putting it back when someone approached. "Oh, um, hello." She greeted them.

11 Kira Spaulding, Crotalus None at all 320 Kira Spaulding, Crotalus 0 5

Wu Peizhi [Teppenpaw]

May 05, 2017 2:10 AM

Not if I can't bring myself to break anything. by Wu Peizhi [Teppenpaw]

This year was very different than other years. That was apparent from the very first day, when not all of the faces Wu knew stepped off of the wagons. Jax and Gia had not come back to Sonora this year. She decided not to ask why; Sammy most likely knew the answer, and perhaps Laila did as well, but she did not want to drudge up the bad feelings by digging into them. Wu was content to not know, anyway. It made it easier not to miss them.

In a similar parallel, Charms class had also become strange this year. Professor Perrault had resigned, and fairly abruptly, as far as the fifth year could tell, which left Professor Carter in a lurch between substituting his class as well as Muggle Studies. She appreciated the non-cancellation of the elective, even if she “technically” didn’t take it. It was interesting.

But sometimes someone else helped to teach one of the classes, and that was the case today, as Professor Taransay, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, stood before them. The lesson of the day was the Mending Charm. Reparo, an answer she knew, but Wu generally preferred not to speak up in class, so she let someone else give the answer and receive the consequential House points.

The way that Professor Taransay wanted to practice the spell, however, was what Peizhi found to be the most odd of all. The nearest item to her, which she was supposed to break herself, was a tea pot. To even chip a teapot went against every instinct in her body, not only because she wasn’t supposed to break anything but because she was learning the art of the tea ceremony at home, which hinged upon perfect control of the pot and one’s hands.

The strained confusion felt apparent on her face, as Wu quickly sensed that someone was looking at her. “Um, I’m… a little bit nervous about to break something,” she said weakly, to answer the unasked question and justify the look on her face.

12 Wu Peizhi [Teppenpaw] Not if I can't bring myself to break anything. 316 Wu Peizhi [Teppenpaw] 0 5