Practice what you preach, Beginners. on Charms

Professor Wright

November 09, 2018 3:38 PM

Practice what you preach, Beginners. by Professor Wright

There were, Gray thought, some mornings when the air felt like it might press him flat as a pancake. Mornings when his head did not quite hurt and his stomach did not quite hurt but he still didn’t feel like getting out of bed anyway. It was the kind of day when he thought people more adventurous than himself might have run off with a band, or spent money they didn’t have, or at least gotten drunk.

Since he was not particularly adventurous, though, he had reluctantly roused himself and taken the unusual step of consuming coffee at breakfast. Unfortunately, it seemed the coffee was only half-operational – it made his proto-stomachache advance to a proper one, but did not seem to clear his head at all. He was distinctly grumpy as he went to teach his classes for the day, and though he tried not to take it out on students, he was considerably more abrupt than usual as he said, “settle down, let’s get started,” to the Beginner class.

“As you all know,” he continued, “Exams are nearly upon us. Your exams will have two parts: a written exam, where you’ll have to answer questions about incantations and magical theory, and a practical section, where you’ll be asked to perform charms. Today, you’re going to help each other study for these two parts of your exams.

“Divide into pairs and then come up here. There are two stacks of papers on my desk. Each of you will take a sheet from one stack. On each sheet is a list of charms which will appear on your exams. Take turns. One of you will perform the wand motion for one of the charms on your list, and the other will identify the charm and its incantation. Once you’ve done that, the other will perform a wand movement and the first student will identify the charm and its incantation. Write down any charms you miss for further revision.” He did not expect any of the students to get this assignment perfectly right today. “It’s a participation grade, so you’re only hurting yourself now and later if you try to lie about your results or slack off in class today,” he warned them. “Begin.”

OOC: The Harry Potter Wiki has lists of charms for first and second years at Hogwarts here: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Charms_(class)#Curriculum; use this as the basis for your lists. All posting rules apply. Tag me here or on the OOC, or catch me in Chatzy, if you have any questions. Have fun!

16 Professor Wright Practice what you preach, Beginners. 113 Professor Wright 1 5

Evelyn Stones, Pecari

November 15, 2018 9:15 PM

Happy day! by Evelyn Stones, Pecari

Evelyn might've jumped from her seat to hug Professor Wright when he announced the plan for today. If it hadn't been totally weird, she literally might've. As it was, she settled for beaming at someone who she decided might have a place as top favorite professors. It was hit or miss in a Charms class though, so she settled on being grateful for now.

Magical theory? No problem. Wand motions and identification with no need to perform actual magic?
Perfect! Evelyn was in paradise.

She breathed a happy sigh and turned to find a partner. Happy to work with anybody for an activity like this, she sort of hoped either Ness or Malikhi would be available. Ness would be a particularly helpful partner and Malikhi would be a particularly sad one, but at least he'd be willing to work with her and he could probably use the cheering up that would come from a reasonably happy Evelyn. At the same time, she'd had the pleasure of meeting more people than she'd expected to, and as she looked around at the faces of Katerina, Heinrich, Julius, and others that she knew to varying degrees, she realized she'd be pretty happy working with almost anyone.

She let fate decide for her and took a moment to pretend to dig something out of her book bag -- settling on retrieving a new pot of ink rather than actually just digging for nothing -- until a student approached her.

"Hello!" she said happily, smiling a vibrant green smile at them, lipstick courtesy of Malikhi. "I'm so relieved today is theory. Do you want to work together?"

22 Evelyn Stones, Pecari Happy day! 1422 Evelyn Stones, Pecari 0 5

Julius Astley, Crotalus

November 29, 2018 12:51 PM

You are far too excited. by Julius Astley, Crotalus

Julius was neither happy nor unhappy about the content of Professor Wright's lesson though he was quietly confident that he knew the spells that would appear on the paper. Charms and Potions were his two favourite subjects and he had made it his business to know as much as possible about each of them, even scouring his family's library for extra books. Admittedly, some of them had been too advanced for him to understand (so he had made a note to return to them once he could better understand the material) but there had been a few helpful ones that he'd brought back to school with him. They'd hopefully be extra helpful revision for the upcoming exams.

He looked around the class and found that, of all the people in his class, there were only three people he could realistically find himself working with without wanting to tear his hair out. Nathaniel, Sylvia and Evelyn. Nathaniel and Sylvia were both very proper and Pureblood which was good but he really only knew them as acquaintances and he also wasn't particularly in the mood to swap pleasantries as etiquette would dictate. That left Evelyn.

He moved to approach her though wondered if he'd made the right choice, given the vibrant shade of lipstick she'd selected for the day. It was just so green. It was quite the sight. Having said that, it was also rather refreshing. Evelyn just wasn't proper. She wasn't traditional. She was different and Julius found himself appreciating the break that she offered from the Pureblood world.

"Hello, Evelyn," he returned her greeting, with a much smaller but polite smile. "I'd like to," he nodded to her question of working together. "Shall I go get the papers?"

20 Julius Astley, Crotalus You are far too excited. 1425 Julius Astley, Crotalus 0 5

Evelyn Stones

December 05, 2018 7:16 PM

I know right?? by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn waved a hand, dismissing the offer with a smile. She was riding this happy until it fizzled (which it would) and there wasn't a chance she wasn't going to use it to her benefit. "I'll come with you," she said, standing up and accompanying Julius. "You've been so busy with the paper and with everything else, and I know I wasn't a lot of help at our first meeting," she added. "The least I can do is get the papers with you."

She wasn't actually sure why Julius would have chosen to work with her considering their track record for such things so far. Between some very odd potions, smacking him in the gut during herbology, and her utter lack of helpful ideas the rest of the time, she hadn't set herself up as a great academic mind. She supposed that's why she was Evelyn Stones, though, and not... anybody else. Still, the idea made her tummy feel warm.

"I'm glad you came over to work with me," she added in a much softer voice, knowing that her overexuberance would likely seem overbearing for someone as reserved as Julius. "I actually feel pretty good about magic theory, and it's always nice to work with you."

22 Evelyn Stones I know right?? 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Julius Astley

December 05, 2018 9:36 PM

I'm glad you know. by Julius Astley

"I would tend to disagree," Julius admitted to the girl. He had found her particularly helpful, though perhaps not in the ways she expected. Having her there, sitting beside him, had help calm his nerves and put his doubts to rest - he had worried that, given he was only a first year, that the older students who were involved in the paper wouldn't listen to him. He was pleased that that hadn't been the case and the paper had been progressing well since their first meeting.

Once they reached Professor Wright's desk, Julius reached out to pluck a sheet of paper from the left pile and curiously read through the list. His first thoughts were rather positive. At first glance, he was pretty sure that he knew most of the spells written on the sheet. This was good.

He looked up, raising an eyebrow at the girl as she said that it was nice to work with him. Nobody else had said that to him before and, indeed, nobody else particularly went of their way to work with him anyway - possibly because the other students had people that they'd much rather work with. Or maybe it was because he was Julius Astley of the Californian Astleys and the Chasseloup de Laubats of France and perhaps the others didn't want to work with someone who was practically royalty and embarrass themselves? Yes, that was also plausible.

"Thank you," he said, somewhat stiffly as he was unsure how to respond to such a comment. Then, not knowing what to do next he asked, "Would you like to go first?"

20 Julius Astley I'm glad you know. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5