My favourite class of the day. on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Levy

December 27, 2011 6:10 PM

Beginner Level (First and Second Years): Lesson I by Professor Levy

“Pop quiz time!” Erika’s voice rang out once all the students were settled. “Please put your books and papers away.” She started passing out the papers face down. “Don’t turn your quiz over until I tell you to. If you’ve been doing your homework and paying attention in class, this quiz should be fairly easy and if you haven’t, well, good luck and don’t think about cheating. If I catch you looking at anyone else’s paper or doing anything else that constitutes cheating, you’ll not only earn yourself a zero on the quiz, but a month’s worth of detention.” Handing out the last paper, she made her way back to her desk. Taking her seat, she said, “You may turn over your quiz and begin.”

Name:
Year:
House:

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent?

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell?

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used?

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled?

7. What spell is used to unlock doors?

8. What does stupefy do?

9. What spell is used to seal a door?

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?

Once everyone had turned in the quiz in the allotted amount of time, Erika smiled at the class. “The quiz that you have just taken will not count against your grade and will count as extra credit. Happy Holidays!” Since she never gave extra credit this was certainly a rare opportunity in the class, as she was feeling very much in the Christmas spirit. “For those of you who did well, it may help to boost your grade and for those that didn’t, take this as a warning to be more prepared for this class. If you need some extra help, tutoring is available either from myself or from an older student. That said, let’s move on to today’s lesson. Please open your books to page 139 on Immobulus.”

She waited a moment to allow the students to flip through their books. Immobulus is a charm used to freeze objects where they are. It doesn’t hurt them, though, like some other defensive and offensive spells, but it does allow for what it is cast upon to stop moving completely. This can be used to slow down a falling object or person as well as to hinder something or someone on the attack.” She didn’t mean to scare them, but the entire point of taking a defense class was to learn…well…defense.

“To perform the spell, point your wand like so and then circle around like this,” she said, demonstrating the spell. At the end of her circle, she said, “Immobulus! Now, then I want everyone to come up here and get a container of spiders. Don’t worry. They aren’t poisonous. They don’t even bite. I want you to practice the Immobulus spell on them. You may work alone or in groups. If you have any questions about the material, feel free to ask. Please begin.”

OOC: Standard posting rules apply. The more detailed and creative the post equals more points earned. Have fun!

Subthreads:

My favourite class of the day. by Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus with Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus, Cepheus

This is not my day (WotW). by Alicia Bauer, Aladren

Eek! by Mellie Goodwin, Pecari

0 Professor Levy Beginner Level (First and Second Years): Lesson I 0 Professor Levy 1 5

Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus

December 28, 2011 12:08 AM

My favourite class of the day. by Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus

Cepheus was a bit late to class today because of a mishap in his room. His left shoe had gone missing, and he had to search the entire dorm room for it until he found it in his wardrobe. He had no idea how it had gotten itself in there, but there was no time to ask his, er, shoe questions. He donned on his robe and grabbed his books before rushing out of the dorm to class. He was harried by the crowds of students walking to class, and only after the bell rang did the corridors seem so much wider. It made it easier for Cepheus to run, cursing himself for being late to his favourite class. He enjoyed being early to his classes, and today did not seem to be the day for it.

Sighing irritably when he walked into class, he sat down at the first open seat he saw in the back, much to his chagrin. He liked to sit in the centre or the front, where he could actually try and pay attention. It seemed like it didn't matter today, though, because there was a pop quiz. Cepheus hated these sorts of surprises, but pulled out his quill and ink bottle anyway. When he flipped over the quiz, he was pleasantly surprised that he knew most of the answers. He leant over the paper and began to fill it out quickly, as if to make up for his tardiness.

Name: Cepheus Princeton
Year: First-year
House: Crotalus

1. Lumos

Cepheus paused at the second part of the question. He had an idea of what the word "derivatives" meant, but it wasn't clear. Frowning, he wrote down what he thought to be correct.

The spell "Lumos" comes from a Latin word that I cannot think of from the top of my head. It's similar to the English word "illuminate".

That was the best he could do. He moved on to the next question.

2. Petrificus Totalus forces the opponent's body to stand at attention and paralyses them to stay that way till the spell is cast off or wears off.

3. Expelliarmus

4. Prior Incantato

5. Point Me

6. Flitterbloom? I can honestly say that I have no idea.

7. Alohomora

8. Stupefy stuns one's opponent and renders them unconscious.

9. Colloportus

10. Protego

Cepheus, satisfied with his answers, turned his quiz in. He knew most of those spells from seeing his parents use it or one of his older cousins use it in a wizard's duel. The plant question was odd, to him, anyway, and he didn't like studying plants very much anyhow. Despite the fact that some plants were good for potions, he didn't think the herbology class necessary. Everything he needed to know he'd learn in potions class.

He was a bit let down when Professor Levy said the quiz was only extra credit, but was glad once again for the extra points. As if he really needed it. Still, he was glad to have them.

The quiz was gone now, and learning was to actually begin. He flipped to the page in his book on the Immobulus charm. As he read through the text, the professor's voice floating over his head, he smirked to himself. Now this would be a very helpful charm to keep in mind. He looked up at the professor in time to see her do the wand movement for the charm, and then slid out of his seat with the rest of the class to grab a container of spiders. He was never a fan of insects, really, and these were just disgusting.

Cepheus tried not to make a face when he looked up, and then tried to look for his roommate to be partners or make a group with. He wanted to start a competition, and who better to compete with and against than his own roommate? He knew his roommate had to be in this class, it being mandatory and all. "Gareth," he said when he reached him, "let's be partners. Want to make this stunning thing a little competition?" He smirked. He'd be more than glad to expand their competition to anyone else. The more stunning and aiming practise, the better.

0 Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus My favourite class of the day. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus 0 5

Alicia Bauer, Aladren

December 30, 2011 12:13 PM

This is not my day (WotW). by Alicia Bauer, Aladren

Hearing the words pop quiz time made Alicia’s smile flicker for a moment, and her hands tighten in front of her on the desk. She had discovered very quickly, after coming to school, that she hated pop quizzes. There was a sense of being unprepared which she thought put her just a little off-balance, made it just a little more likely that she would fail.

Which was, of course, the point, but she had studied. She knew she had studied. And paid attention in class, too. She did everything just the way she had been taught or worked out for herself, going over each day’s material that night, then again two nights later at the latest, though if she could fit it in, she went over everything every night. Lighting her wand had presented no real challenge, and she had gotten used to taking half an hour after everyone else was in bed to skim over her notes one more time before she went to sleep. Getting up a little earlier to skim them again while everyone else was still sleeping was a little harder, but she managed that sometimes, too. And she’d paid attention in class. So it should be all right.

Still, cheating sounded appealing. Not worth the trouble she’d get into if she’d get caught, there was no way she was spending a month in detention and then spending her entire life as the Aladren who couldn’t measure up anyway, but appealing anyway. Just to check her answers against someone else’s, that was all.

She turned her paper over and got to work.

Name: Alicia Bauer
Year: First
House: Aladren

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?
Lumos, lumos maxima, lumos solem

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?
Paralyzes the person you put it on – the arms and legs are locked together, and the jaw can’t be opened, either.

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent?
Expelliarmus

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell?

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used?
Point Me

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled?
Devil’s Snare. That’s the dangerous one. It doesn’t like heat and light.

7. What spell is used to unlock doors?
Alohomora

8. What does stupefy do?
It knocks the person hit with it unconscious

9. What spell is used to seal a door?

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?
Protego

When she had first run into number four and found herself looking at it without a clue, she had just shrugged and moved on, thinking she’d come back to it once she had everything else filled in. Then, though, she had reached number nine and not been sure what to do with that, either, and, after that and number four and being sure she’d misspelled something in the lumos answer, she began to feel nervous. Staring at number nine, trying to force her mind to sort out the door-sealing spell from its inclination to confuse it with levicorpus, she bit down on the knuckle of her right ring finger, not noticing until it became painful. Ugh. She could not do that kind of thing; someone might notice.

Moments passed. Quills scratched. She thought she heard a clock. Professor Levy had only given them so much time. Finally, in a panic, she wrote cortus on number nine and handed it in, putting it facedown on the stack so no one would see except the professor, at least, and then went back to her seat, her hands shaking slightly and her face, she could tell, turning red.

Leaning back into her seat, she closed her eyes and reminded herself that it was only a few more days. A few more days, and she would have to spend some time with Dad, which she didn’t like but that was something no one knew or cared about, and then she would get to go home. Back to wealth, and light, and convivial gatherings where she would be the darling of everyone. And by the time they got back, everyone would have forgotten all about this….

Her eyes snapped open when she processed a little of what Professor Levy was saying, particularly the words will not count. Her eyes stung a little, making her quickly blink so it would look like she just had a lash in her eye if anyone noticed, and she was smiling, torn between relief and wanting to scream about having been put on the spot so she forgot what she was sure she knew for no reason. And worrying, of course, that an eighty might get counted anyway and might hurt her score. But she kept the smile in place so that it looked like she was just enjoying the professor’s charity, or the laugh of it, or something. She couldn’t show a professor anything but a pleasant face.

She flipped to the page along with the rest of the class, looking over the spell as she got herself back in hand. When they were told to go to the front to get a jar of spiders, she got up along with everyone else and managed her usual bright smile for Professor Levy as she took one. The learner look. Carrying it back very carefully to her desk, since she wasn’t that fond of spiders even if she wasn’t as scared of them as she might pretend to be in front of the right person, she put it down before she sat back down and put one hand on the top of the jar before she checked and looked over to the next seat.

“You don’t think they’ll climb out, do you?” she asked the person sitting there. “I wouldn’t want to lose one.” Or get one on her clothes. Ugh, that would be terrible. She’d never be able to wear this dress again if that happened, and she did like it pretty well.

16 Alicia Bauer, Aladren This is not my day (WotW). 210 Alicia Bauer, Aladren 0 5

Mellie Goodwin, Pecari

December 30, 2011 12:52 PM

Eek! by Mellie Goodwin, Pecari

Mellie decided that the best stance to take upon hearing the words pop quiz was to resolve that if she had to go out, she was going to go out with a smile, and a graceful (well, intended-to-be-graceful; she’d heard often enough about what road was paved with good intentions, but when it came to grace, those were really all she had) bow to the pop quiz for good measure. Not much else to do, was there?

She had that thought firmly in mind when the paper came out and she began to read it over, when she discovered, in a pleasant moment of surprise, that it wasn’t that bad. There were some things she was fuzzy on, but some were pretty easy – Lumos, she knew, even though the last derivative completely slipped her mind, and Devil’s Snare versus Flitterbloom, not too hard to guess which of those was the one that would kill her if she fell into it under the wrong circumstances, and so on and so forth. Everything got at least half-answered, and she handed it in with a genuine smile of relief, feeling that she probably hadn’t done brilliantly, but also that she hadn’t failed, which was great and all she was asking for. She had long since figured out that going into Defense wasn’t going to be for her, however nice the thought of following in her parents’ footsteps might be. Maybe she could make an argument for Dad really being more of a Charms man who just happened to use his skills for the law?

Anyway, she’d passed. That was the point for today.

When the news came that the quiz wasn’t going to count against them came down, though, she clapped her hands together despite the surety that she’d passed. “Thanks, Professor Levy,” she said, thinking something that could only help her grade – not that she thought she’d done anything like that well, but whatever – was a pretty good Christmas gift, from a professor and all. Then she turned to the spell for today along with everyone else, wondering what the Immobulus was supposed to guard against. Surprisingly, to her, it was just about what it sounded like.

She had to say, this sounded like something that was pretty useful, even for non-Defense people. Sure, it might have been designed to slow down evil attacker people, but falling objects didn’t necessarily involve evil attacker people, and then there was the stopping bugs angle. She liked that angle. Mellie liked being outdoors, spent a lot of time there, but she was nevertheless not very fond of bugs, especially once they got into the house. To the point of once nearly screaming the house down over an especially weird-looking…worm-thing she still didn’t know exactly what had been, only that Dad had needed to float it out the back door because she would not get anywhere near it and Mom hadn’t wanted to, really, either and that was, as Mom would joke, the reason they bothered having a man around the house at all. However funny it might be to see him, with his long, serious face and immaculate set of moderately-priced gray suits, escorting a bug out of the house while his much tougher-looking wife stood back behind the kitchen table with Mellie.

But that wasn’t the point. Immobulus was the point. Right. Focus, Mellie, she scolded herself, and took out her wand before going to get some spiders and, upon returning with them, striking up a conversation with her neighbor.

“Cool stuff, huh?” she said. “Especially the part where we don’t have to have the test counted.” She opened the jar and pointed her wand at a spider. “Immobolus,” she said, then squeaked, yanked her wand back, and slammed the lid still in her other hand back down on the jar, all not necessarily in that order, as the spider jumped nearly to the opening instead of freezing. “Not that, though,” she added, picking back up where she’d left off a moment ago. “That wasn’t cool. Knowing my luck, I just Transfigured it to be deadly poison, too.” That was, she knew, being a little dramatic, but it was just what had come out.

16 Mellie Goodwin, Pecari Eek! 206 Mellie Goodwin, Pecari 0 5

Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus

January 03, 2012 12:21 PM

Mine as well by Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus

Gareth took his seat and got out his books, parchment and quill. A small frown marred his features as he flexed his right wrist, that last save of the game had managed to crack the bone and though it had been healed neatly there was still a bit of stiffness that needed to be worked out. It vexed him that they lost, now they’d be fighting for third of all places. Pitiful, they should have done better. I should have been able to protect our seeker better Gareth thought glumly, feeling sure that the few hits that got through had swayed the game in Aladren’s favor. There was nothing to be done about it now, except be sure to win the next game. But, in the end it really didn’t matter until next term when they could try yet again to attain the top position which should have been theirs.

“Pop quiz time!”

Gareth sighed at the declaration, he’d never been a big fan of quizzes or tests, preferring practical work over book work. His grades were acceptable, not perfect by any means, but they were good enough that his father wouldn’t be sore with him when he returned home. It wasn’t like he was an Aladren after all, so getting the top marks wasn’t something he aspired to. As long as he didn’t fail anything he was satisfied. With another small sigh he flipped over the quiz and began writing.

Name: Gareth Whitebriar
Year: 1st
House: Crotalus

1. Lumos
2. This is the full body bind, which makes it so the target is unable to move
3. Expelliarmus
4.
5. Point Me
6.
7. Alohomora
8. It knocks the target unconscious
9.
10. Protego

Gareth stared at the test feeling dissatisfied with the three blanks, and knowing that he had only managed to get half of number one correct. He knew he should know number six but for the life of him he couldn’t remember what a Flitterbloom was let alone what it resembled. This just wasn’t his week, first the game and now what was shaping up to be a poor grade on a quiz. Hopefully it wouldn’t count for much seems it was just a quiz, so he’d be able to make it up with other assignments before the end of the year.

His unhappy thoughts were broken when the Professor gave them a free pass, now the points he earned would count for extra credit and the ones he’d missed wouldn’t count against him. A bright smile flashed across his lips as he handed in the assignment. Next he opened his book to page 139 and quickly read over the information on Immobulus. A large hand swiped at his fringe, which was starting to get into his eyes I’ll need to get it cut soon as he watched the demonstration, carefully noticing the want movements and pronunciation.

Gareth stood up and went to grab one of the containers of spiders, they would be suitable for practice, but spiders weren’t really his thing. They weren’t something he was afraid of but that didn’t mean he cared to work with them either. It didn’t take him long to return to his desk and set the container down, taking care not to let it tip. If the girls in the class were anything like his sister they would completely freak out if the spiders managed to escape their enclosures.

“Gareth, let’s be partners. Want to make this sunning thing a little competition?” Cepheus’s voice brought him out of his thoughts about girls screaming and standing on desk tops, he offered a grin of his own. A competition sounded like fun, and it would make him work harder to perfect the charm to win.

“That works for me, on the count of three?” He asked.

0 Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus Mine as well 0 Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus 0 5

Cepheus

January 04, 2012 7:26 PM

On the count of three. by Cepheus

Cepheus smirked when Gareth accepted, and he was quick to set up a little arena of books. The spiders would easily escape, he was sure, but they would be stunning them to keep them in. He didn't even think that the spiders could overwhelm them. He and his roommate were capable wizards, he knew that much, and he didn't doubt himself. "All right," he said, and prepared himself to dump his spiders in. "We'll drop them into the middle and then we'll count to three with our wands and begin stunning them." He nodded at Gareth, a little excited.

Cepheus was naturally a competitive person. He wasn't sure what triggered it, but he always seemed to be competitive about everything. His best friend had once said it wasn't fun to do anything with him because he made everything a competition. Nothing could be done for the sole purpose of fun. Cepheus's father had drilled that into him, he supposed. His friends didn't have the pressure of taking over the family someday, and he didn't like to think about it. That would mean he'd have to be in charge. While he would enjoy the power, he wouldn't like to deal with all the problems his grandfather did.

His competitive streak had taken a hit during the Quidditch game as he watched his team lose, helpless. He wished right then that he had been up in the air as the Seeker. He wished that he had been there to fight Carey to the death for that Snitch. His confidence in their captain waned slightly, but she had seemed to be enough of a fighter to be respectable. Still, it was clearly nothing to write home about, their loss, and he was planning on telling his father, if he asked about the match, that they had ended on a draw. Much safer than admitting a loss. Father was even more competitive than he, and that was saying something.

"Let's let them go...now!" Cepheus forced the spiders out by shaking the jar upside down. Most of them fell out and scurried away, and Cepheus, after making sure Gareth did the same, grabbed his wand and counted to three. Just as the word passed his lips, his wand was flashing, stunning the spiders quickly. "Immobulus!" was repeated so often that he began to slur the word a bit.

0 Cepheus On the count of three. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Gareth

January 09, 2012 10:38 PM

One… by Gareth

Gareth watched as Cephus began organizing their textbooks to form a box and again the image of shrieking girls tickled his mind. A grin pulled his lips back, they’d have to perfect their casting quickly to keep the girls from causing a ruckus because their spiders escaped. Excitement flashed though him at the challenge as the last book was placed. Quickly Gareth reviewed the incantation and wand motions in his mind so that he wouldn’t mess up.

Both boys opened the spider containers and held them over the impromptu arena, Gareth’s pale gaze caught Cephus’s. When left to his own devices Gareth wasn’t an exceptionally competitive boy, but the large number of cousins in the five different families lead to a sharp degree of competiveness when someone else initiated it. Even in situations like Quidditch, where at heart he hadn’t wanted to play he couldn’t stop the spark of competitive nature that came to the fore when challenged. Now being the eldest cousin at this school it was nice to have someone draw out his competitive nature seems his older male relatives didn’t attend.

At Cephus’s command Gareth tipped his container and gave it a rough shake to dump the spiders into their new, not nearly as secure, home. Instantly he brought his wand up and yelled “Immobulus!” at an over achieving spider that had already scaled its way half way up the books, it slowed, but didn’t quite stop and it took one more shot to cause it to fall back to the ground. Again and again he cast the spell at the spiders attempting to flee their attention. One…two…three… Gareth silently counted, trying to keep track of the number of hits as he and Cephus attacked the eight legged horde.

0 Gareth One… 0 Gareth 0 5