Lesson I: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Years on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor O'Leary

June 30, 2009 10:50 AM

Lesson I: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Years by Professor O'Leary

Before class began, Drake walked around the room with a bounce to his step, as he placed a random item on each student’s desk for the lesson he had planned. Every year, right before midterm, found Drake to be in an unusually chipper mood, which lasted until about the first week after midterm. It was mostly due to the fact that during midterm, during his vacation, he was able to go back to his roots, to his passion for ice-skating, but it was a passion that he had given up a long time ago, reserved only for certain times.

However, despite his good mood, he was still dressed in his obligatory black robes. He had a set for every single day, preferring them to any other color or styale. The ones that he owned were long and flowing, giving his gaunt frame a bit more to it than if he wore something more form fitting. The other positive, at least, a positive to him, about the robes were that they gave him a somewhat menacing appearance. Unfortunately, this only seemed to work best on the younger students, as the older ones tended not to be so impressed.

Of course, it made sense that they wouldn’t be, giving their age range. Adolescents tended not to be impressed by anything that an adult did. It was more important to be impressed by their peers and to impress their peers, which made it even more difficult to get through to them the importance of learning defense on top of the fact that many of the students thought they would never need it. When he had been their age, he had been just like them. He had been just like them for years after that until just how far someone would go to win had come into play.

Regardless of whether or not they realized just how valuable what they learned (not just in this class, but in every class) was, he would do his best to provide them with the quality of education they deserved, which meant this class would be more than just idle time to catch up on other classwork or to gossip with friends. As he placed the last item on the last desk, students began to trickle in signaling that class was about to start. Moving to the front of the room, he used his wand to place the following on the board:

Disillusionment Charms

Acclaro Prastigiae – reveal an illusion

Creo Prastigiae – create an illusion

Once this was finished, it appeared that everyone was seated and ready to begin. “Today’s lesson is going to focus on Disillusionment Charms. As the name suggests, these charms are used to create or reveal an illusion. These charms are useful for keeping an object, or if the magic is advanced enough, a person, hidden or to reveal what has been hidden. This differs from what you learned previously with Specialis Revelio, because Specialis Revelio reveals magic hidden within the object whereas Acclaro Prastigiae reveals the object itself. These charms are especially useful for anyone considering being an Auror or a similar career path.”

The charms were also useful for any teenager wishing to keep something hidden from roommates, parents, or the obnoxious sibling, but he wasn’t about to state such, even though, it was one of the things he had used the charms for when he was growing up. When his time hadn’t been dedicated to skating, he had been quite the troublemaker. If any of his former classmates saw him now, they would be shocked to learn he had become a stringent professor, but then that’s what happened with life and all its experiences. It changed you and there was no avoiding it.

“Creo Prastigiae works by casting an illusion over the object, which makes it blend in with its surroundings. To perform the charm, wave your wand, as so,” he said, as he flourished his wand towards his desk,” and state firmly Creo Prastigiae.” With this, his desk seemingly disappeared. After doing so, he did the same thing to demonstrate how to reveal the object using Acclaro Prastigiae. “To practice these charms, I want everyone to divide into groups of two. Each person will cast Creo Prastigiae on the given item. Once both people have successfully accomplished this, I want you to switch items with your partner and attempt to reveal the object using Acclaro Prastigiae. If you have questions, raise your hand and I’ll be around. Otherwise, you may begin.”

OOC: Please remember that posts should be a minimum of ten well-written sentences. Points will be rewarded based on length, detail, etc. Most importantly, be creative and have fun!

0 Professor O'Leary Lesson I: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Years 0 Professor O'Leary 1 5

Cynthia Smythe

July 03, 2009 11:50 AM

I detest paired work by Cynthia Smythe

Defense was probably Cynthia's favorite class. She didn't like the professor and she didn't especially like the subject material, but she knew a large number of the spells already from employing them at home, and it was a decent excuse to study the Dark Arts as 'research.'

Entering the classroom more or less on time, Cynthia took a seat at the back of the room and settled herself down, ready to take notes when the professor started speaking, and in the mean time she was reading ahead in her textbook. It meant she could raise her hand to answer all future questions if she wanted to, but it wasn't like her to show off.

Eventually the class got started and the professor got to the point, explaining the large, empty ink well on her desk that Cynthia had dutifully been ignoring. As usual, she knew the spells, which made the class easily achievable, but not especially useful. Also as usual, they had to work in partners. This school was simply loathsome for that beastly tradition.

Hoping she could get the whole thing over with quickly, Cynthia turned to the person unhappily seated next to her, and said, "You're my partner. Can you do this spell yet or am I going to have to wait all class for you to figure it out?" It would be useful to know from the off what she was getting herself into.

0 Cynthia Smythe I detest paired work 103 Cynthia Smythe 0 5

Grayson Wright

July 24, 2009 4:02 PM

You are not alone. by Grayson Wright

He performed acceptably in it - to do otherwise would have been un-Aladren of him, and he came from a household where to be un-Aladren was to commit high treason - but Gray had less of an aptitude for Defense Against the Dark Arts than any other subject. That was unfortunate, as he recognized, but true. He just wasn't an aggressive person, and Defense Against the Dark Arts required a measure of aggression for truly outstanding results. The studies said so, and Gray's natural inclination was to trust reputable studies.

He'd been doing a bit better than usual this year, though. It gave him a legitimate excuse to occasionally try to hex people, which he found he wanted to do more often than was normal these days. That did worry him a little, but he did his best not to think about it too much.

One way not to think about it was to dwell on other things, like why there was a hand mirror on his desk. Four years of O'Leary's classes had taught him that touching it wasn't an especially wise idea, so he confined his investigation into it to looks alone. He hadn't come to any conclusions by the time the lecture started and made the whole point moot.

After the lecture, they were made to split up. It wasn't an activity Gray found particularly gratifying; of the people in the room he actually liked, he had a problem with an arcane concept known as 'talking' in the presence of one of them, and that was kind of necessary for group work. Before he could decide which of the other two to approach, though, a Crotalus he didn't know spoke up and insulted him in one breath.

The look he gave Cynthia wasn't friendly. She came from a House known for girls who routinely lowered their already lower-than-average IQs with copious amounts of hairspray. Who did she think she was, anyway? "I'll try not to waste too much of your time," he said flatly, irritation making him coherent. "Creo Prastigiae."

It flickered, but didn't hold. His face burned. This was what losing his temper got him. That did nothing to help improve his temper. "Creo Prastigiae," he tried again, putting a little more force behind it. This time, it worked. "Your turn."

16 Grayson Wright You are not alone. 113 Grayson Wright 0 5