Welcome back, Advanced students (VI-VII Years) on Charms

Professor Wright

January 26, 2019 12:30 AM

Welcome back, Advanced students (VI-VII Years) by Professor Wright

Summer had gone relatively well. Gray had finished three-fourths, he estimated, of a draft of a novel about working as a private tutor, and had started rewriting it, only now transformed into historical fiction. He was fairly sure it was utter trash of no real literary worth, particularly since the move back in time made it even more tempting to throw in a random murder mystery for no real reason, but that probably increased his odds of selling it. One step closer to figuring out whatever it was rich people did with their time and why some of it was apparently fun.

For now, however, he was still required to work in order to do…much of anything, so he made a valiant effort at putting on a tie for the first time in two months and showed up to his Advanced class on time. For the most part, he looked the same as he had before the summer, with the exception that he had gotten new glasses frames (they were the same shape as his old ones, but the frames were thinner, and the wire dark brown instead of black). For the most part, he thought they did as well, with the exception of the combination of people in the room having changed slightly. Given the changeability of the younger years, however, this was all comfortingly familiar.

“Hello, everyone,” he said. “And welcome back.

“So, to begin – why are we here?” he asked the class, leaning back against his desk. “Anyone? What is the purpose of this class?”

For most of them, frankly, it was to obtain a certification. For him, he was just here for the paycheck. But there were forms to be observed.

“One way to describe the major goal of advanced Charms is the pursuit of quintessence,” he informed them, or rather reminded the seventh years. “Or, if you want to use more modern terminology – studying what magic is. What is magic in and of itself – Where does it come from? Is it something we generate when we cast spells, or is it something that exists outside of us? Most researchers today agree that the answer is that it does – exist on its own, but they disagree about what that looks like.

“You’re not going to answer those questions in this class,” he said bluntly. “But this is a structure we’ll use over the course of this class to think about what we’re doing, with a view toward your RATS essays.” There was no point getting too abstract here. “So we’re going to begin with the question – why can you get away with a vague visualization when using non-verbal magic, but why can you not get away with incorrect pronunciation when you cast a spell verbally?

“Your homework will be a two-foot research paper about the connections and differences between Charms visualization and Transfiguration visualization – I know not all of you are in Advanced Transfiguration, but the library has a lot of good books just about the relationship between these subjects and I’ll accept as much as you should know from passing Intermediates.” There was a difference between ‘would accept’ and ‘would give top marks to’, but this was something he expected Advanced students to know without having it spelled out to them in detail.

“For your class assignment today, we’re going to work on non-verbally changing the properties of an object – casting a concealing charm on the writing on a note. You can write what you like, then try to conceal it. I encourage you all to start practicing other small charms, too. If there aren’t any questions, you can begin.”

OOC: You should all know by now to follow site rules and posting minimums, but here’s your warning for the sake of good form. Creativity and detail are the routes to maximum points, and feel free to speculate about theory and come up with an incantation for the Concealing Charm (just not to use it out loud where Gray can hear). Tag me here or on OOC if you have any questions and have fun!

Subthreads:

Is it summer yet? by Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw with Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

Uh, thanks I guess by Natalie Atwater, Pecari with Zevalyn Ives

16 Professor Wright Welcome back, Advanced students (VI-VII Years) 113 Professor Wright 1 5

Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw

January 30, 2019 1:44 PM

Is it summer yet? by Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw

Jozua didn’t want to hold the Head Boy thing against Finn. Well, that was the easy part. He liked his roommate, they got along fine, and he was sure Finn would be a great Head Boy. Honestly, Jozua didn’t really even want the badge; it was just a lot of extra work for very little reward, and it wasn’t like Lily was the Head Girl anyway. If Lily had won instead of Zevalyn, then he might have had a real jealousy problem, but he wanted no part of being Head Students with Zevalyn Ives. She seemed the type who would make extra work for them to do. For ‘efficiency’.

So then why was he so put out with the entire Advanced class for not voting him into the position? It made no sense at all and he couldn’t figure out what his own problem was.

Maybe it was just that he felt he was a little more qualified than Finn was. Jozua was the one who started a club. Jozua was the one on the Quidditch team. Jozua was the one who was voted most involved for the yearbook. Jozua was the one dating a prefect and good friends with last year’s Head Boy. And he still hadn’t won. And what exactly were Finn’s credentials, huh? He was a butterfly?

Finn only got it because nobody forgave Jozua for being a firebug during his first four years here. Finn got it because Jozua was the one who brought the plague into Sonora, and getting the whole school quarantined wasn’t the kind of thing Head Boys did. That was why Finn got elected. And that was why Jozua was angry about it.

Because he lost it not because Finn was better but because he was worse.

He slumped unhappily into his Charms seat and just wished the year was over already. The sooner he graduated, the sooner he could get away from people who thought he was actively irresponsible, the sooner he could start studying curse breaking, and the sooner he could start the adventure of his life.

Well, he supposed first he needed to apply somewhere, get accepted, and earn the RATS required for his program. Which meant he was going to have to actually pay attention to whatever it was Professor Wright was saying.

He tuned in and decided he hadn’t missed much, if anything. Professor Wright was still talking about the purpose of taking advanced Charms, probably for the sixth years. Jozua was tempted to tune out again, but he was still feeling a bit stung that his classmates felt he wasn’t responsible enough to be the Head Boy, so to spite their opinion, he did pay attention. So there. He was super responsible. He was listening to Professor Wright talk about the purpose of Charms without nodding off or glazing over.

Soon enough, the actual practical lesson was broached, and Jozua found it both interesting and possibly even applicable to his future degree. He scrawled out his his mostly legible handwriting, “I am going to study curse breaking next year, what about you?” then used his wand to non-verbally conceal the writing.

He had actually gotten quite good at non-verbal magic since it was introduced to him last year. He thought it was fun, and it was really useful in duels because it got harder for his opponent to know what kind of defense to use if they didn’t hear the incantation. So he’d practiced it quite a bit already, and concealing charms were not really as difficult as some of the hexes and jinxes he’d already mastered non-verbally. So the words vanished away without a trace on his first try.

He passed it over to his neighbor. “You want to try revealing what I wrote?”

1 Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw Is it summer yet? 348 Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw 0 5

Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

February 01, 2019 8:32 AM

Will settle for essay writing time by Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw

Kir had pretty much aced his CATS, which wasn't really a surprise. He had always been strong, academically, and whilst he couldn't deny that having a girlfriend was sometimes a distraction, it definitely helped that she was a year older, so had already sat the same exams and had none of her own, and had a pretty serious work ethic. He had been made to stick to his revision with no kisses until he could, for example, recite the twelve uses of dragon’s blood. It was a pretty good incentive scheme. There was also wanting to be able to rub it in Winston’s face that someone who “didn’t exist” and came from a “dead” family could ace every fricking exam. He had the scores to do that, should it prove necessary, although he had refrained so far.

He couldn’t keep every subject, and he had dropped both Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, both with some regret. There were bound to be some really cool creatures and plants. But he wanted to focus on practical magics that he would use in daily life, and make room for taking his history and social studies more seriously. He had enjoyed studying with Jozua last year and was hoping that was something he could continue, and also turn into some form of actual credit towards something. He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to, long term. Well, work for his family's charity, somehow. But there were lots of elements within that. Law, campaigning, publicity, counseling... He leant more to the legal/campaign based areas. Something to do with people and systems and how they worked. Studying politics seemed like it would cover most of the right bases. And then he could change the world. Or something.

First, he had to get through advanced classes. Which were kicking off with "Why are we here?" Kir suspected that this was meant on some deeper level than "because we signed up to be" or "because it is 2.15 on a weekday." Kir was not against philosophising in general but he thought he wanted slightly more guidance of which elements of ‘we’ and ‘here’ Professor Wright was getting at before he attempted to tackle such a question. Luckily, Professor Wright promptly informed them they were pursuing quintessence. Neat. Luckily, he also explained what that meant. The questions he put to them were pretty cool, and Kir found himself looking forward to researching his essay. In fact, he began by jotting down the first few thoughts that came into his head, the very first being ‘Can’t you?’ next to incorrect pronunciation. People had accents. And ok, accents weren’t incorrect - people spoke how they spoke, but spells worked in spite of variation in pronunciation (the words ‘accents, variations - innate concept of ‘wrongness’ vs ‘rightness’ - does magic know that it is ‘right’ for an individual?’ went down on the parchment, followed by ‘muffled/speech affected by being jinxed - better to keep it in your head?’ - if you got hit with something that affected your pronunciation, were you better off trying to say the spell in your mind and getting it perfect, or getting something out of your mouth even if it was an approximation? Had this been studied? He hoped it had, because it was a) interesting and b) whilst he was sure there were plenty of people willing to cast a stinging hex on his face, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be a test subject for this).

Before that though, they had a practical. He was almost disappointed. He actually would have been quite happy going off to the library to get started on looking up some of the questions he had just formulated. Plus he was not sure that the practical would suit him. Kir was well aware that he liked to talk. He probably, according to some people, did it too much. He thought for a moment about what to write, and then scribbled ’I am pursuing quintessence’ on a spare bit of parchment, adding an afterthought with a smile, Quietly.

He had just finished this when Jozua held out is parchment, apparently already done with the concealment task and wanting to move onto the ‘and then try some other things’ part of the assignment. Well, Kir supposed he was a seventh year.

“I didn’t actually try the first part of the assignment yet,” he admitted, “I was making essay notes. I should probably start with getting rid of mine,” that was the order that Professor Wright had told them to do it in, and - if Transfiguration was anything to go by, vanishing was easier than conjuring. Though, of course, this was neither but he wondered… Still, now was not the time for that.

He concentrated hard, trying to not feel like a seventh year who had done it perfectly first time was watching and judging, and thought the spell with all his might whilst keeping his lips pressed firmly together to avoid temptation. The words remained startlingly visible. It had been a long time since he’d had absolutely nothing happen at all when he tried to cast a spell. A long, long time.

“So, that thing where going into advanced classes feels like going back to the beginning… They weren’t kidding,” he sighed.

13 Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw Will settle for essay writing time 366 Kir McLeod, Teppenpaw 0 5

Natalie Atwater, Pecari

March 20, 2019 2:26 PM

Uh, thanks I guess by Natalie Atwater, Pecari

Summer had passed in a whirl of balls and parties. Now that Kelsey was engaged, there seemed to be more focus on Natalie finding someone and what her parents wanted for her wasn't necessarily what she wanted for herself. She wanted someone fun and interesting. They wanted someone like Malcolm. And there seemed to be a lot more of what they wanted out there then what she wanted.

Class began and the Pecari actually found herself pondering a question that her professor asked. Why was she here? Natalie was not going to need Charms for a job the way some people were. She supposed she was here because it was overall the most practical subject to learn. Charms were a very important part of magic and any witch or wizard worthy of the adjective should know how to do them.

According to what Professor Wright said though, her answer was apparently wrong. Except, that it wasn't. He was the one who was actually wrong. Natalie didn't care one little bit about what exactly magic was. Or rather she already knew. Magic was an ability they all possessed while Muggles didn't. It was as much apart of one as talent in art or music. How could exist outside of them rather than within them? If it was sitting out there as an outside force that was floating around surely then Muggles would also be able to access it and thus nobody would be a Muggle.

Then he said that they weren't going to answer this question in class and that instead they were going to figure out why they could visualize something doing a non-verbal spell but couldn't mispronounce a word when doing a verbal one. Why then had he started out with the other unrelated question?

She took out a sheet of parchment and a quill and wrote out her name, then said the concealment charm in her head while picturing the words disappearing. The N and the e melted away, leaving atali . Natalie turned to her neighbor and asked. "How are you doing so far?" The lesson might go quicker if she made conversation with someone.

11 Natalie Atwater, Pecari Uh, thanks I guess 371 Natalie Atwater, Pecari 0 5

Zevalyn Ives

March 21, 2019 12:44 PM

You’re welcome! by Zevalyn Ives

Zevalyn knew why she was here. She was here at Sonora to learn magic. She was still here in Charms because (a) it was probably the single most practical field of magic that existed, and (b) Professor Wright was the single most scientific of the school’s professors. Sure, Professor Skies tried her best, and Professor Tarnasay had a strong grasp of how science and creatures intersected, but Professor Wright brought up gravity wells in his lectures, complete with diagrams, when even Zevalyn thought they were an interesting side note but not critical information to casting the spell or understanding the theory at hand.

If anyone at the school taught too much about their subject, it was definitely Professor Grayson Wright, and Zevalyn loved him for it (in a totally platonic Aladren way that Kir had no reason to be jealous of). And so dropping Charms had never even registered as a possibility last year, and that was another reason why she was here now.

She was here in this chair next to Natalie Atwater because she’d gotten held up on her way to class trying to help a first year find where they were supposed to be and didn’t have as much choice as she usually did in where to sit and the seats by her usual friends were already taken.

Not that she had anything at all against Natalie. The younger girl seemed a very nice person, but Zevalyn was a creature of habit and a small social circle, and so they just hadn’t run across each other much in the last few years. But Zev was Head Girl now, so it was important to reach out to everyone, and she’d smiled and given Natalie a warm hello as she sat down

It seemed to have paid off, as the lecture concluded some time later, and the sixth year opened up a conversation as they worked.

Zevalyn had already cast the concealing charm on her class notes. It was a full page on quintessence and the theories about it and what they were expected to write about for homework (she expected that would be paired with a fun discussion with Kir - she was so glad they were in the same classes again this year) so it was a lot of writing to conceal, and probably a bit ambitious for a first try when she hadn’t done much magic at all for the last few months, never mind non-verbal magic. (She was eighteen already, so she was allowed to do some magic at home over the summer, but it was still a muggle neighborhood with a lot of muggle gadgets around that didn’t really like magic being used nearby, so she usually just didn’t.)

So the words on her parchment faded, but didn’t disappear entirely.

She showed this result to Natalie, who was a sixth year and probably hadn’t ever tried non verbal spells before. Zev did learn nonverbal magic last year so hopefully Natalie would be encouraged by even a seventh year not getting it perfect right away rather than being dismayed that even the Head Girl was having trouble.

“I faded the ink, but it’s still legible. I’m a bit out of practice after the summer,” she admitted. “You’ve got a good start on yours,” she added. “Is this the first time you’re trying non-verbal casting?”

1 Zevalyn Ives You’re welcome! 380 Zevalyn Ives 0 5