Introduction, actual classwork to follow in next post on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Zephyrflame

December 01, 2004 7:30 PM

Lesson 1:the Knockback Jinx by Professor Zephyrflame

Professor Zephyrflame sat at his desk, smiling as the students flowed into the classroom, some of them looking astonished to see a young blond teacher sitting at the teacher's table instead of their past professor.
Waiting till all of the students have settled down, the new professor stood up, walked tp the front of the class and began to introduce himself and today's lesson.
"Good morning students. I am Professor Alexander Tyler Zephyrflame and I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for this term.
Today’s lesson will focus on the Knockback Jinx. As first years, I am sure not many of you will have developed accurate aim for directing spells. This lesson will allow you to do that. Saying the word "Flipendo" easily performs the Knockback Jinx. Now, that is the advanced way to do it. Starting out, you may wish to direct your spell specifically at a person. Thus, you must say "Flipendo" along with the thing or person you wish to Knockback. I suppose the force of this spell is correspondent to being tackled by those big muggle sports players. I believe they are those American Feetball Players? Any Muggle-Born students, please be sure to correct me if I am wrong. In any case, you may pair up to perform this spell, or you may use the dummies."
Professor Zephyrflame pointed his wand and pointed it at the wall. There, a vast number of dummies that had twigs for wands were laid on the wall. "These dummies are bewitched to use certain basic offensive and defensive spells to face you in combat. If you are able to use the Knockback Jinx to sucessfully defeat the dummy, points will be awarded. You may begin."
After delivering this long speech,Professor Zephyrflame walked back to his desk and settled down, conjuring himself a glass of water, watching the class.
(OOC:30 points for the most creative post. 30 points for the next best creative post. 15 points the first to respond. 10 points to everyone else. Be sure to make it realistic. You are first years... they spell should NOT be easy as you've not experienced performing many spells yet. Those whose posts are completely illogical will have points deducted.)

\n\n

Subthreads:

Flipendo by Tori Evans with Professor Zephyrflame, Mia

Introduction, actual classwork to follow in next post by Zack Dill [ Aladren] with Prof. Zephyrflame, Zack

Re: Lesson 1:the Knockback Jinx by Leann Borne (Aladren) with Prof. Zephyrflame

I hear you knock-backing.... by Ash and Sorrel Craven (Pecari) with Prof. Zephyrflame

We're attacking the CoMC professor? She won't like that... by Stephen Baxter

0 Professor Zephyrflame Lesson 1:the Knockback Jinx 0 Professor Zephyrflame 1 5

Tori Evans

December 01, 2004 8:59 PM

Flipendo by Tori Evans

Tori walked nervously over to the dummy. Being a muggleborn Tori had never cast a spell before. The normally over confident girl was worried the dummy would attack back. Tori pointed her wand with a shaky hand and said F- f-flipendo d-dummy. A weak light shot out and the dummy blocked it a little to easily for Tori's liking. She tried the spell again but still nothing.
She looked at the dummy with a determined look in her eyes and geting over her nerves shouted out "FLIPENDO DUMMY." Much to Tori's astonishment the dummy flew backwards into the wall. Tori brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked at the fallen dummy in amusument. She did it! She correctly cast her very first spell.
'Maybe Sonora isn't so scary after all' Tori thought as she skiped back to her seat. 'Magic beats math anyday'\n\n

0 Tori Evans Flipendo 0 Tori Evans 0 5

Professor Zephyrflame

December 02, 2004 7:42 AM

15 points to Pecari! by Professor Zephyrflame

The professor looked up from his desk to see that one of the students have already completed the task. He walked over to Tori and said,"well done Tori.15 points to Pecari.Now, you should get started on this dummy."
Professor Zephyrflame waved his wand and a dummy appeared out of nowhere. "This dummy is more challenging than the previous one and knows more spells.If you manage to defeat this dummy, 20 points will be awarded. You may begin. Good luck!"
Saying this, he smiled and walked around the classroom watching the progress of others.
\n\n

0 Professor Zephyrflame 15 points to Pecari! 0 Professor Zephyrflame 0 5

Mia

December 03, 2004 5:42 PM

Oops! My bad by Mia

Mia watched as her friend from Jersey, Tori, knocked her dummy over. Mia knew how excited Tori must be and she, herself, was just as excited. Mia had been jumping around ever since she recieved her acceptance letter. Finally, Mia had the chance to use her wand properly.

Mia brushed her hair behind her ears and stepped up to a dummy. It might have just been nerves but she wa pretty sure people were watching her to see if she would be a success or just a mess.

'I'm no mess!' Mia declared to herself and raised her maple, 9 inch wand with its unicorn hair inside. The tip of her wand was aimed directly at the dummies chest.

"Flippendo dummy!" Mia chanted.
The dummy wobbled slightly but stood right back up as if it were mocking her abilities. Mia glared at the dummy and raised her wand again.

"Flippendo dummy!" Mia spoke again and yet again, nothing really happened. This was really starting to bug the muggle born first year. Mia could feel her temper rising.

'Uh oh, I'd better calm down. Last time I got really upset, my brother ended up flying threw the roof.' Mia reminded herself.

She took a deep breath and faced the dummy again. The light from the window behind the dummy seemed to define the determination in her bright hazel eyes. Mia smirked at the dummy.

"Mock this." she taunted "FLIPPENDO DUMMY!" Mia shouted and the dummy went flying backwards. Mia's success quickly turned to shock as she heard a crash and shatter. Her eyes widend in shock as she watched her dummy smash threw the window behind it.

Mia blinked in a stupor as the shards of window scattered across the floor. She looked around to see if her fellow classmates had been watching. Her eyes locked onto the professor and she grinned innocently.

"Oops, my bad."\n\n

0 Mia Oops! My bad 0 Mia 0 5

Zack Dill [ Aladren]

December 04, 2004 11:48 AM

Introduction, actual classwork to follow in next post by Zack Dill [ Aladren]

Defense against the Dark Arts was the class that had Zack Dill the most concerned. This was mostly because he had no idea what it was. The other subjects seemed obvious enough (if disturbingly fictional-sounding).

Charms - okay, yeah, everyone knew what a magic charm was. Anyone who ever watched saturday morning cartoons had seen Lucky Charms commercials. He hadn't spotted any leprachauns yet, but they were probably just hiding.

Transfiguration - changing stuff from something to something else. It was a basic English word. Transfigure. Her smile could transfigure her face. T R A N S F I G U R E. Transfigure. Synonyms: Transform, alter.

Potions - just as obvious as charms, but without the cereal named after it. 'Love Potion # 9' was one of mom's favourite songs.

Care of Magical Creatures - a husbandry course, obviously. This wasn't exactly the city out here.

Which left Defense against the Dark Arts. His best guess was that it was some kind of anti-rap class. He'd noticed that there were a lot fewer African Americans here than at home. (It was kind of weird not being in the minority.) He wasn't sure it was right to bust on their music, sculputures, or paintings in a formal setting, though.

"Good morning, students," the man at the front of the began, and Zack frowned at the blond man, already defensive because he did like rap. The guy said his name, but it was so long, Zack forgot it almost immediately. Mr. Flame was probably close enough until he figured out what it actually was.

"Today's lesson will focus on the Knockback Jinx."

What the heck was a knockback Jinx? A political bribe to his Head of House? Her name was Miss Jinx.

As the man continued, Zack began to realize that it was a literal knock-back that was getting delivered. The guy was teaching people how to beat him (Zack) up! As if people didn't do that enough without showing folks how to do it with magic!

Then he realized that it worked both ways. He could use it to fight back against Nick. Wouldn't his brother be surprised by that?

So was Defense against the Dark Arts a Self-Defense class then? Well, he hadn't heard about there being a gym class so maybe it was.

"Football," he corrected outloud in a 'are you really that stupid?' tone of voice when the teacher called it 'feetball'. Honestly, who didn't know what football was? Especially a phys ed teacher?

And what was a muggle, anyway? He kept hearing that word.

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1 Zack Dill [ Aladren] Introduction, actual classwork to follow in next post 40 Zack Dill [ Aladren] 0 5

Leann Borne (Aladren)

December 04, 2004 2:11 PM

Re: Lesson 1:the Knockback Jinx by Leann Borne (Aladren)

Knockback Jinx?

What was a knockback jinx? She looked up at her teacher, whose name she couldn't remember, and stared. Leann liked school, well, not actual school, but the work she was good at, and she liked that.

But this seemed totally different. The wand was totally different from a pen, and in all her classes, she never did anything that had 'knockback' in the word. This was going to take some time to get used to, but hey, she would try.\n\n

0 Leann Borne (Aladren) Re: Lesson 1:the Knockback Jinx 0 Leann Borne (Aladren) 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 04, 2004 10:14 PM

is there a problem? by Prof. Zephyrflame

Alexander noticed that there was something amiss today. Some people seemed to have problems performing the jinx. He walked up to the nearest student who seemed to be having problems with her wand and said, "Is there a problem in performing the Knockback Jinx?"\n\n

0 Prof. Zephyrflame is there a problem? 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 04, 2004 10:19 PM

ahem.... by Prof. Zephyrflame

Alexander walked towards the boy who had corrected his mistake about the whole feetball thing. "Thank you for correcting my mistake, but how about getting on with practicing the Knockback Jinx? I don't think you could stand a very good chance protecting yourself from a Dark wizard if you don't even practice."
Looking at Zack's confused face, Alexander thought that maybe he needed a demonstration on how to perform the jinx. "Do you need a demonstration on how to perform the jinx?" He asked.\n\n

0 Prof. Zephyrflame ahem.... 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5

Ash and Sorrel Craven (Pecari)

December 05, 2004 10:13 AM

I hear you knock-backing.... by Ash and Sorrel Craven (Pecari)

Alright! Defence Against the Dark Arts! Ash had been looking forward to this class most of all. It was the one where he was most likely to learn a spell that would minimise the effort involved in punching Sorrel. He dragged her to the front of the room, inspite of her near constant stream of calling him names, such as 'geek, bookworm, teacher's pet' and so on, and shoved her into the seat next to his, where he sat looking disgustingly eager.

On the plus side, from Sorrel's point of view, this was one class she could not bother with notes in, because Ash would write down everything, probably including 'Hello, my name is Professor....'. She just wished they weren't at the front of the class. She was bound to get stick for not note taking, because she was right under the teacher's nose. Well, if that happened, at least it was a good excuse to either punch her brother or embarrass him in Potions. And the jinx sounded like it might have promise...

"So, want to see who can knock their dummy down the most times?" challenged Ash, getting to his feet.

"What?" scoffed Sorrel, "Afraid of being beat up by a girl?"

"No," Ash scoffed back. He was now caught. He would either have to try and jinx his sister, or admit he actually didn't want to hurt her. They both knew the other meant no harm, that was what made it fun to scrap so much. It would break it if he admitted he was soft on her. "I just don't think you could handle me," he smirked. Perfect. It implied he had fighter's morals - no fun picking on someone more weak than you - so stopped him having to admit he cared about her, whilst still pressuring her to duck out. Not that Sorrel would take kindly to a claim like that, but it had been the best he could do.

"Bring it," she replied, wand free hand displaying the appropriate gesture.

"Don't blame me if you get hurt then," said Ash, getting ready.

"Ditto," nodded Sorrel, steeling her nerve as she aimed at her brother and best friend. She probably wouldn't be able to do it anyway, she consoled herself. There was a pause in which neither dared to actually try dark magic on their twin before they both cast at the same time.

"FLIPENDO ASH/SORREL!"

Sparks, but nothing more, emitted from each of their wands, not even dramatic enough to clash in the middle.

"Play nicely, Sorrie," sneered Ash, "Take turns and share like a good little girl."

"Flipendo Ash!" she cast, as perfect revenge for being called a little girl. Ash felt something like the force of a strong hug trying to push him back.

"Flipendo Sorrel the Weakling," he cast, both satisfied now that they weren't hurting the other. Plus they had been insulted and neither could bear to lose face. Sorrel didn't even sway, though she felt the spell pushing against her.

"Flipendo Nark!" she responded to his weakling taunt.

"Flipendo Doofus!"

"Flipendo Buthead!"

"Flipendo Wuss!"

"Flipendo GIRL!"

"Flipendo actual girl!"

They were hardly bothering to swish their wands any more, as the insults were becoming far more important. Each had been made to stagger a little before they had given up on casting properly.

"This sucks," decided Ash, "Why waste energy using a spell when you can just do.... THIS!" He ran at Sorrel. "Flipendo sis!" he cried, rugby tackling her to the ground. Except that there wasn't quite enough ground.

"Ow!" she whined, against her will, as her head smacked against the desk behind her. Ash quickly rolled off her.

"Sorry Sorrie," he said quietly, holding out a hand to help her up. Sorrel glared at it. Her pride hurt far more than her head.

"I'm fine," she sniffed, though her head really killed, and tears were in her eyes.

Ash hesitated. He wanted to help Sorrel. But Sorrel didn't want to be helped, and would be more hurt if he kept insisting she was hurt. He'd also already apologised, and didn't want to keep making people think he liked the stupid lump of a girl.

"Fine. Suit yourself," he shrugged, crossing his arms grumpily.

There was no pleasing some people. Sorrel didn't want his sympathy, but she didn't want him pretending like he didn't care. Or more to the point, like he hadn't done anything wrong. Especially as this meant he'd got the last blow in the fight. She turned enough to whip a leg across, taking his out.

"Flipendo brother," she said, narrowing her eyes. Though, as she wasn't sure she wanted to carry this on, as her head was hurting pretty badly, she held out her hand. "Quits?" she asked.

"Sure..." Ash consented, "A draw," he conceeded. After all, it hadn't been Sorrel's fault there had been a table, and she could easily be fighting back more if there hadn't been. If anything, it was his fault...

"I reckon we should take the table out," he suggested, getting up and pulling her to her feet before she could protest. "After all, it stopped our fight," he said, carefully avoiding blaming it for hurting her.

"Right," said Sorrel, sure casting a jinx would cleave her skull in two, but not about to admit such weakness.

"3.." said Ash.

"2" said Sorrel. Speaking didn't hurt so much as she'd thought. Apparantly she was used to being hit in the head.

"1"

"Flipendo DESK!" they both cast. A slightly thicker stream of light eminated from Ash's wand, and Sorrel staggered a bit, but the two shafts hit the desk together. It rocked, though didn't quite overturn. However the twins both decided that it was a resounding victory to them. \n\n

0 Ash and Sorrel Craven (Pecari) I hear you knock-backing.... 0 Ash and Sorrel Craven (Pecari) 0 5

Zack

December 05, 2004 10:32 AM

I was getting to it by Zack

Ah, so this was a self-defense class. That was good. He needed self-defense. Looking away from the teacher who had just clarified that issue, he stole glances at some of his classmates and saw they all had there wands out. So he took out his stick, too. It was a simple rod of cherry wood and he could never figure out which end was the handle and which the 'pointy' end. The only difference was that one side had a small circle carved around it, about a centimeter from its edge.

"Um," he started, looking helplessly at the wood, "showing me how to hold the wand might be a better first step." This part was never an issue in Magic: The Gathering.\n\n

0 Zack I was getting to it 0 Zack 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 06, 2004 12:23 AM

grip tightly.... by Prof. Zephyrflame

"First, grip the bottom of the wand using your four fingers. Then, use your thumb and put it above your index finger." Alexander answered.
"Alright, now let's see you try!"\n\n

0 Prof. Zephyrflame grip tightly.... 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 06, 2004 12:25 AM

30 points to Pecari! (nm) by Prof. Zephyrflame

0 Prof. Zephyrflame 30 points to Pecari! (nm) 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5

Zack

December 06, 2004 9:24 AM

yeah, that's the problem by Zack

That was decidely unhelpful. Zack held out his own wand so that the teacher could see what he was up against. Neither side was pointed, or even narrower than the other. Only the circled indenture a centimeter in marked a difference from one side against the other. This, he supposed, was his punishment for asking the wandmaker to only let him try the cheapest wands.

"Yeah, but which side is the 'bottom'?" he asked, starting to feel more than a little overwhelmed.\n\n

0 Zack yeah, that's the problem 0 Zack 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 06, 2004 9:12 PM

ummm.... by Prof. Zephyrflame

"OK, let's see...." Alexander really was having trouble with identifying the bottom of the wand. Now he knew why Zack was having difficulties with the wand.

After examining the wand over and over again, Alexander still could not identify the wandtip from the bottom. Deciding to cast a spell with a visual effect to find out where the effects of the spell came out from, for that would mean that the point where the beam, spark or whatever effect of the spell was the tip, and the other point was the bottom.

Holding the wand with his left hand, Alexander muttered a simple Shield Charm. "Protego!" He shouted, but nothing happened. Trying again and again, Alexander decided to try it out on his own wand. "Protego!" he muttered again, and a silvery shield burst out of the tip of his wand.

Coming to a conclusion, Alexander said to Zack, "Sorry to tell you this, but this is a fake wand!"\n\n

0 Prof. Zephyrflame ummm.... 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5

Zack

December 06, 2004 9:55 PM

it's <i>fake</i>?! by Zack

"That rat!" Zack exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "The dirty bastard!" (It did occur to him that the professor was right next to him and very definitely listening to him, which was why he wasn't cursing worse.) "I paid one whole galleon for that thing! That's over seven dollars!" He swore revenge, but not out loud because telling teachers you were planning something illegal was dumb even if you were mad.

Then a more urgent question came to him, and he blurted that out as well. "How the hel-ck am I supposed to do magic with a fake wand?!"\n\n

0 Zack it's <i>fake</i>?! 0 Zack 0 5

Stephen Baxter

December 11, 2004 8:27 AM

We're attacking the CoMC professor? She won't like that... by Stephen Baxter

Stephen entered the classroom loudly telling anyone who hadn't the presence of mind to stick their fingers in their ears all about how his brother Alan - the coolest brother in the known universe - was fixing up a motorbike for his Christmas present. A progress report had already made it into his hands due to a letter his father had apparently sent the day after Stephen had left for Sonora - he wasn't too sure of the details of how other than it had arrived that morning at breakfast by some kind of owl. Stephen had been dreadfully disappointed when the owl failed to stick around. He didn't really pay much attention to the teacher as he continued prattling on all the way to an empty seat.

It took a while before he settled down, as he unselfconciously continued his spiel for a couple of minutes after the rest of the students seemed to have quietened in preparation for the lesson.

Once he had manged to shut up, however, he found the lesson to be rather interesting. They were getting to battle things!! He was beaten to pointing out that the word was 'football' not 'feetball' by some small kid, but it didn't stop Stephen from yelling out a loud agreement. He considered going over and asking the kid if he wanted to be partners, but the mention that the dummies would be using offensive and defensive spells effectively distracted him.

Pulling his own wand out of his bag Stephen approached the one of the armed and dangerous dummies.

"Flipendo," he blurted out, pointing the wand at the dummy, but only remembering a second later to add, "dummy."

Something shot out of the wand and he forgot to pay attention to the spell as he lifted the wand to have a look at where the odd light had escaped. The sound of the spell ricocheting, pulled his attention back the other way in time to see his spell ineffectively hit the ceiling, the dummy surrounded by some weird (but seriously cool) glimmering forcefield type thing and a different coloured light heading right for him.

Stephen had enough time to look surprised before he was thrown off his feet.\r\n\r\n\r\n

39 Stephen Baxter We're attacking the CoMC professor? She won't like that... 49 Stephen Baxter 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 12, 2004 4:00 AM

ummm.... by Prof. Zephyrflame

"OK, now on to more pressing matters. I'll see what I can do. But now, some advice. Wands always cost more than 1 galleon. Just think, do you think you would sell a wand with a rare magical core for a mere galleon?" Alexander asked. "Next time, always check if the wand is working before purchasing it."

After some thinking, Alexander asked Zack a question. "OK, which brand of a wand would you like? I'll try to get one for you as soon as I can."\n\n

0 Prof. Zephyrflame ummm.... 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5

Zack

December 13, 2004 10:11 PM

wands have rare magical cores? by Zack

Zack did not like looking like a fool, but right now he feared he looked very much a fool. Not only had he bought a fake wand, but he was also staring at the teacher like the guy was speaking a different language. How was he supposed to know wands costed more than galleon? What the heck was a magical core? How the freak do you check if it works when you don't know any magic? And what, for God's sake, are the different wand brands?

After a moment of rapid thought and jumping to conclusions, he asked, "Does Nike make wands?" Nike wands would no doubt be hideously expensive but he was sure going with them at least wouldn't result in him repeat his current mistake.\n\n

0 Zack wands have rare magical cores? 0 Zack 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 14, 2004 1:49 AM

Halt! by Prof. Zephyrflame

Surprised at the sudden question, Alexander was dumbstruck. "Nike, from what I know, is a Muggle sports equipment company, I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong. And no, they don't make wands."

"Ollivanders' a good brand, it has been around for many centuries. Trustworthy too. of course, there's Gregorovitch. A German brand of wands. I would recommend Ollivanders as the wands cost at least 6 galleons each and actualy have magical cores. It's the core that gets the wand going. Well?"

Waiting for the boy's answer, Alexander examined Zack's current wand and found that it does contain a core. It was showing at the top of the wand. Alexander pulled the silvery strand out and looked at it closely.

"Silk?!" He exclaimed. This wandmaker was an utter disgrace to the wizarding wand industry!

\n\n

0 Prof. Zephyrflame Halt! 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5

Zack Dill

December 17, 2004 1:54 PM

hey, silk is expensive stuff by Zack Dill

Oh, well, there went that idea of buying from Nike. He'd figured that since they did indeed make sporting equipment there might be a sporting equivilent of a wand. Nike Executives knew there were sporting equivilents of just about everything else from shoes to gloves to shorts to winter jackets to wrist watches to camping gear. Really, how much different from a baseball bat was a wand anyway? They were both long rods of wood, right?

"Well, I guess Ollivanders," Zack answered dubiously, as the teacher seemed to think those were the best ones. After getting burned once, he wasn't going to risk another fake. Six galleons for a skinny little piece of wood sounded like an awful lot to him, though.

\n\n

1 Zack Dill hey, silk is expensive stuff 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Prof. Zephyrflame

December 17, 2004 9:45 PM

so now.... by Prof. Zephyrflame

Now that they had settled on a certain brand to choose from, Alexander had yet another pressing situation to deal with. How was he going to get Zack to test the wands without risking sending wands by the dozen to and fro between Sonora and London? Unless he could get approval from the headmistress to import Zack to London, there was really no way out.

"I'll tell you what. I'll try to get you "imported" to London and get somebody to accompany you to Ollivander's and get you a new working wand. But first, I'll have to seek approval from the Headmistress. I'll keep you informed. Meanwhile," Alexander gestured at the Defense Aginst the Dark Arts textbook in Zack's bag, "read pages eleven to thirteen on the proper uses of defensive and offensive spells."

Finishing the lengthy conversation, Alexander returned to his seat, observing the class from a safe place where he was unlikely to be hit by a stray jinx.\n\n

0 Prof. Zephyrflame so now.... 0 Prof. Zephyrflame 0 5