Professor Levy

April 23, 2010 10:26 AM
Coming back to a new school year was hard. It meant leaving Torra behind, but it was a good career and between their careers they were able to make the best of the time they did get together. Like this summer, they had gone to the Dominica, which had been absolutely breathtaking. They had opted to stay at the Calibishie Hotel one of the most luxurious hotels available. Just waking up every morning to the smells had been like Heaven. Then, there was the entirety of what to do each and every day from festivals to diving to relaxing on the beach.

Unfortunately, in the beginning fair skin turned out to be no match for the sun and they had both ended up with sunburns. Thankfully, by the end of the trip, she was finally tanning and she was sure that the returning students were probably going to be surprised by how radiant their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor looked today. To compensate for her tanned skin, she had opted for ivory robes, which probably seemed odd on her since she normally wore black.

Of course, a change in robes and skin tone didn’t affect her stern attitude. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a class that had no room for tomfoolery. She nodded to each student coming in. She stood in front of her desk. It was a good day, because she was able to get by without her cane. Last year, she had been practically dependent on it. Now, she only needed it about half the time. She had hopes that one day she wouldn’t need it at all, but doubted she would ever be back in top form, not enough to return to being an Auror.

The lesson today would involve one of her favorite areas. Illusions. Once everyone was seated and ready to go, Erika began, “Welcome back, students. I expect this year to go just as smoothly as it did last year.” Of course, she intentionally left out any actual problems they did have. Each year was a fresh start in her mind. “As most of you know, but for those that don’t, I am Professor Levy and this is Defense Against the Dark Arts. The rules are simple. I only ask that you follow instructions so no one gets seriously injured. All right, that said, let’s begin with role call.” She picked a sheet of paper up from her desk.

“When I call your name, I want you to say ‘Here’ and then tell me something about yourself. We learned a bit about each other last year so I want to know something new like what you did over summer, what you expect to learn in this class, and the like,” she finished with a wave of her hand. She normally wouldn’t have asked the intermediate class to do this since she had asked it of them last year, but she wanted to learn about the newcomers without putting them directly on the spot. This seemed the most appropriate way to do so.

Once they finished, Erika continued on with her lesson plans, “Today, we’ll be starting off the year with Disillusionment Charms.” With a wave of the wand, the following appeared on the board.

Disillusionment Charms

Acclaro Prastigiae – reveal an illusion

Creo Prastigiae – create an illusion


“As the name obviously suggests, they are used to create or reveal illusions. For now, we’ll be working with objects, but if the magic is advanced enough, they can be used on a person as well. Sometimes, they are used to allow the person to blend into the environment, and sometimes, derivatives can be used like glamour. The spells aren’t the best to use given other options like polyjuice potion, but can be used in a pinch. All of this you will learn in more detail if you choose to go into a Defense Against the Arts field such as Auror or Investigations.” She had learned most of this at Sapienti University of Magic, which had a strong Auror program.

“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,” she said, as she flourished her wand towards her desk, “and state firmly Creo Prastigiae. With this, her desk seemingly seemed disappeared. “Now a limitation to the spell is that the object is obviously still there so even though it can’t be seen, it can still be found.” As an example, she took a book from one of her shelves and placed it on her desk. It seemed as though it were just floating in air.

“To reverse the effects, wave your wand like so,” she did another complicated wand movement, “and state firmly Acclaro Prastigiae.” With this, the desk reappeared, the book still on top. “Ta-da!” She smiled at the class. “All right, then, I want everyone to divide up 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.”

Her finger to her lip, she bit her nail. Erika felt like she was forgetting something. “Oh, yes! Before you leave, don’t forget to take the homework sheet from my desk,” she called out over the scraping of the desks as the students rearranged themselves.

OOC: Please remember that standard posting rules apply. Points will be rewarded based on detail, creativity, etc. Have fun!
Subthreads:
0 Professor Levy Lesson I: Intermediate Level (Third and Fourth Years) 0 Professor Levy 1 5


Cassy Brooks

April 29, 2010 5:58 PM
Cassy sat down in one of the desks, opting for one upfront, and grinning. She loved DADA. It was her best subject. It was thrilling and an excellent subject- one of the reasons she was considering becoming an Auror. Professor Levy called roll, and whenever Cassy's name was called, she said, "Here. I'm sixteen, and I plan to become a pro Quidditch player. Or an Auror. I really can't decide."

Professor Levy nodded to her and moved on. It didn't bother her really, there were a lot of people who wanted to play Quidditch professionally. Still, she would become a professional beater. Quidditch was her life, and she would achieve her goal.

Honestly, she was anxious to learn what they were doing for the rest of the class period. Would they be dueling? Oh, she hoped so. She wanted to show off her abilities. Out of all the classes she was in, she was only good in DADA. She had to excel in this class, even if it meant being like an Aladren, AKA Mr. Perfect, Cassy thought with a snort. Still, DADA was an excellent way to release pent up anger. Especially when one was dueling.

Soon the teacher introduced the lesson, and a wave of disappointment washed over her. Really? Disillusionment Charms? Surely she could teach something more... Exciting? Cassy sighed. She supposed not. Still, she listened to the instructions and turned to the rock that was on her desk. Her lip curled. A rock. Well, she could make it look like an egg. Or maybe even a splattered head? Or an eye. Or, she could make it look like a... Cassy shook her head. No, that wouldn't do her a lot of good. Probably wouldn't earn her brownie points with the Professor either.

She waved her hand over the rock and said "Creo Prastigiae.," in a rather bored tone. The rock looked like an egg, but when she picked it up, it still felt like the rock. She did this a few more times, revealing and creating the illusion, before she turned to the person next to her and flourished her wand, saying, "Creo Prastigiae." Their hand look like a horse's hoof. Cassy snorted in amusement.
0 Cassy Brooks Bored and really not bothering to hide it. 0 Cassy Brooks 0 5

Andrew Duell

May 02, 2010 7:01 PM
Andrew made his way to one of the desks in the front o the classroom. Last year he had gotten stuck way in the back and hadn't gotten out of the class what he thought he should have. The subject intrigued him, and he wondered how much the Dark Arts were really practiced. Sure, his mother had regaled him of stories, but they always seemed to have happened a long, long time ago. Oh well, he thought. If the school thought it was important enough to teach, he would do his best to learn it. When his name was called, he replied with, "Here. Ummm... I like watching old BBC programs when I'm at my Dad's place."

He wrote down the notes as the professor talked. Great, illusions. Definitely not his strong suit. He sighed as he looked over what he had written down and then looked at his rock. Alright, lets give this a try. He waved his wand around the rock and spoke out, "Creo Prastigiae." His wand sparked a bit and the rock seemed to shimmered, but stayed distinctly visible. Great. He glanced over at his partner's progress, Cassy was doing all sorts of stuff to that rock.

Before he could ask her how she was doing that, she turned to him and aimed her wand in his direction. The next thing he knew, his hand was now a hoof. Huh... that was... different. He could still feel his fingers, and hold his wand. "Huh, that's pretty neat, how'd you do that?"
2 Andrew Duell Interesting... 145 Andrew Duell 0 5


Cassy

May 03, 2010 9:38 PM
Cassy shrugged. "Illusion charms aren't only for making something disappear. Vanishing spells are better," she told him. "It's just like Transfiguration. Just picture what you want the object to be, and BAM!" she said loudly, clapping her hands, "There it is. You're not transfiguring it, just making it look different."

Which was true. Her dad had taught her that. He was an Auror, and he said the spell could be useful sometimes, but not always. He had taught her it a long time ago, back in first year, and she spent the entire time using his own want to make things look different. She had made her sister's hair look like snakes. She was crying for weeks. Of course, after that her father wouldn't let her try it again, but it was worth it, seeing her sister's tears. She grinned wickedly for the moment, fondly recalling the memory, before turning to the boy sitting next to her, looking down at his hand.

"I could make your head match, and your other hand too." She winked at him, purely joking. "My name's Cassy, or Caspia, but call me Cassy, or I'll kill you." She said this in her cheeriest of voices. She was still amused with his hoof-hand. "What's yours?"
0 Cassy Indeed 0 Cassy 0 5

Andrew Duell

May 05, 2010 10:05 PM
Andrew listened to her explain it, but he wasn't quite convinced. She claimed that these illusions were just like transfiguration, but they weren't, at least not in his mind. But before he got started on that subject, manners came first. "It's nice to meet you Cassy, I'm Andrew. I'd shake your hand, but..." he said with a grin while extending his hoof-hand a bit.

"Let me see if your instruction will help. Transfigurations are my strong suit, maybe that will get me in the right 'frame of mind'". Andrew closed his eyes and went through his standard transfiguration process. Nothing happened to his hoof-hand. Naturally he began talking to himself to work through the problem, "Transfiguration is all about understanding the differences between what you have and what you want. This is the same thing... hmm... except you don't change them all. Only the ones you want, appearance in this case, right?" He looked at Casey, "Transfiguration changes the object on every level, this is only affecting perception. Is the spell really on my hand, or is it in our heads?"
2 Andrew Duell Hmm... let me try this... 145 Andrew Duell 0 5


Cassy

May 06, 2010 5:49 PM
Cassy snorted in laughter, then said, "If you want to be all logical about it, sure." She leaned back in her chair, tempted to do the same thing to other people as she did with Andrew. Oh, she would get a kick out of that, seeing their reactions. She looked to her hand. Hmm... Maybe she should change her own hand? She could go walking around all day with flippers for hands and hooves for feet, and bug eyes. She threw her head back and laughed. People would look at her weird all day! It would be a good prank, especially if she did it to other people.

"I wonder," she said, twirling her wand in her hand, "Would it be possible to make it look different to other people, and not yourself? Like you said, it could be in our heads. But how would we go about it so that the person doesn't realize he looks different, but other people do. You know what I mean?"

She glanced at him, he was still trying to do what she did. "Don't think about it as transfiguration too much. Yes your changing the appearance, instead of the other layers." She paused, and tapped her chin in thought. She decided to go with a different approach.

"Illusions are in our mind. The magic is surrounding the area around your hand and it makes it look like a hoof. It's like a Mirage, you know? With a mirage there is enough heat so our eyes think we're seeing something, but we're not. Imagine what you want, let your magic flow from you to the recipient object, and shape it. Mold it into what you want." She probably didn't make sense, she realized. She has never been good with words. She couldn't explain things like other people could, she would always stumble over what she was saying. It was either that, or people just didn't get her thought process.
0 Cassy You do that. 0 Cassy 0 5

Andrew Duell

May 10, 2010 7:28 PM
Andrew thought about what she had said for a moment. "Creating a magical field around the area, does make more sense. All it's doing is altering the light waves traveling through that area." He paused and examined his hoof-hand again, "If that is true, than the counter simply removes the that magical field, it doesn't change the object at all." He took his wand and tried again, this time focusing not on his hand, but the field around it. His hand flickered a bit and changed back to normal.

"Hmm... Could we make a variable image field? We'd have to assume that the field itself is not generating the image, but the mind observing the field. If the field itself is generating it then we're out of luck, and we'd have to isolate variation in a particular person's eyes..." Andrew's rambling continued and quieted down to near unintelligible muttering as he began digging through his textbook.

A few minutes later he looked up at Cassy, "You're pretty good at this, what do you think?"
2 Andrew Duell I think I may 145 Andrew Duell 0 5