Did you begin the class with a befuddlement jinx? on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Levy

April 11, 2013 1:13 AM

Intermediate DADA (3rd-5th Years) by Professor Levy

Mornings and Defense against the Dark Arts did not mix in Erika’s humble opinion, but then again, she had always been a night owl. Her mother liked to say that she was a little night star, shining brightest in the dark. Even now, it held true. It also didn’t help that now she had two little bundles at home that were full of energy and they didn’t care if you wanted or needed sleep. Thankfully, they were too cute to be mad at for it and she loved them to death. Yawning, she took a sip from the coffee in her thermos. She didn’t really like it and hid the taste with tons of sugar and milk, but the caffeine kept her awake for her Intermediate class.

“Good morning, class,” she smiled, noticing that some of them seemed about as thrilled as she was at this time of day. Getting up from her desk, she moved to the front of it and leaned against it, a much more comfortable position when addressing the class. “Today, we will begin on the chapters dealing with dark charms and counter spells. Spells that add certain properties, with an undertone of dark magic, to an object or creature are considered dark charms. Jinxes, hexes, and curses fall under the definition of dark charms. We’ll be exploring jinxes and hexes in further detail. For those that continue to Advanced DADA, we will go into curses.”

“Counter spells are used defensively to stop, remove, or reverse another spell. Anti-jinxes, counter-jinxes, counter-hexes, and counter-curses fall into this category,” she continued. “An anti-jinx will prevent a jinx, but cannot remove the effects of one. Counter-jinxes, hexes, and curses will remove the effects of a spell, depending upon the severity. You may not even be aware of it, but you have already been learning counter spells. For example, for lumos, the counter spell would be nox. The spells that we will be concentrating on are more for offensive and defensive purposes. On the board, I have listed a few of those spells.”

Third/Fourth Years/Fifth Years

Impediment Jinx – stops or slows an object or person down

Jelly-Legs Jinx – causes the target’s legs to wobble uncontrollably

Trip Jinx – trips the target

Canary Transfiguration Hex – temporarily changes someone into a giant canary, person molts back into themselves after a few moments

Twitchy Ears Hex – causes the ears of the victim to wiggle and twitch uncontrollably

Hex Deflection – stronger than the Shield Charm and used to protect against moderate-level spells

Fourth/Fifth Years Only

Revulsion Jinx – forces the target to back off from the caster; if the person is holding on to the spell caster, it forces the person to let go

Stinging Hex – causes a stinging pain in the victim, fairly low-powered

“The spells at the top, under Third-Fifth Years can be used by anyone here while the spells under Fourth-Fifth Years are to be used only by the Fourth and Fifth Years. This means that I don’t want to see a Third Year attempting the spell or anyone using those spells on a Third Year. Understood?” Erika gave them her best ‘I mean business’ look. “All right. I want everyone to break up into groups of two. The best way to probably split up for these spells would be to have third years and fifth years go with their grade level with fourth years working at the level they are comfortable with.” Of course, this was merely a suggestion, but she was hoping they would get the most out of the class.

“Okay, everyone, move the desks and go ahead and partner up. If anyone has any questions or problems, just raise your hand to get my attention and I’ll come around. Oh, and before you leave, don’t forget to pick up a copy of the homework. Due next class!” She waved a piece of paper from a stack on her desk.

OOC: The Impediment Jinx uses the incantation ‘Impedimenta’ and for Hex Deflection, you can use ‘Contego’. Since no other incantations are given, these spells and additional counter spells may be made up at the discretion of the author and count towards creativity.

Please remember that all posting rules apply. Posts should be at least ten sentences, but more is better. Points will be rewarded based on detail, grammar, creativity, etc. Most importantly, have fun!

Subthreads:

Did you begin the class with a befuddlement jinx? by Michael Grosvenor with Clara Abernathy

I want to be a hero when I grow up (tag: Valerie) by Sullivan Quincy, Pecari with Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

I like jelly beans better than jelly legs. by Waverly Canterbury - Pecari with Henny B-F-R, Aladren, Waverly

0 Professor Levy Intermediate DADA (3rd-5th Years) 0 Professor Levy 1 5

Michael Grosvenor

April 11, 2013 2:18 PM

Did you begin the class with a befuddlement jinx? by Michael Grosvenor

Michael stared at what looked like a pretty long list of jinxes and curses on the board, at the same time listening as Professor Levy rattled off something about anti this and counter that, and them not being the same thing and him needing to know all of them too. They'd done nasty spells before, and they'd had to defend themselves before. His vision of his Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL had been something like that. Someone asking him to cast a particular hex or him having to protect himself against one. Now, staring at the huge list on the board, and feeling Professor Levy's voice going into one of his ears, through his brain for just long enough to panic him, before swiftly departing out of his other ear, the vision morphed in his mind.... A large wizard, his face shrouded in a cloak would walk into the examination room and simply state 'Begin.' They would be firing curses and counter curses at each, each having to think on his feet, to defend himself and out-fox his opponent. He would just have to keep using what he knew to attack and defend until one of them conceded defeat. Maybe you were graded on how long you stayed standing...

Grimly, Michael opened his textbook. He didn't know most of the spells for these (should he by now?) and scanned the list. Anything that had 'transfiguration' and 'hex' in the name was severely off-putting. He wasn't convinced he could pronounce half of them. Without Professor Levy saying them, a lot of the words seemed big and intimidating. When he was reading, he tended to sort of skim over spell words and replace them with vague mumbling in his head. The revulsion jinx sounded ok... Both in that its spell was 'Revellerus,” which he thought he could say, and in that it wasn't as nasty as some of the others. He knew it was just for class, and they'd all be put right at the end, but he really didn't like the idea of hurting people. The only thing that intimidated him slightly about the spell was that it was supposed to be one of the harder ones but given that he had exams in a matter of months that would test him on absolutely anything covered up until fifth year (and frankly, how likely were they to choose beginners spells?) he figured it was time he grew a pair and took on the tougher assignments.

“Hey,” he said, picking out a nearby classmate. “I was thinking of trying this one,” he jabbed his finger at the revulsion charm in the book. “Do you want... erm, is that ok with you?” he asked.

13 Michael Grosvenor Did you begin the class with a befuddlement jinx? 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Clara Abernathy

April 12, 2013 1:04 PM

It's not on the list by Clara Abernathy

Clara woke up the morning of class looking forward to whatever the lesson would bring. She had enjoyed her last DADA class and couldn‘t wait to see what they would be working on that day. She showered quickly and had managed a loose braid with her usually unruly hair. She had a few curly tendrils that had fallen out around her face and instead of fighting with them, she left them where they were. She dressed quickly and headed down for class. She arrived at the DADA room and went inside. She smiled politely to Professor Levy as she found herself a seat. After greeting everyone once they had all arrived, Professor Levy began her lesson. “Today, we will begin on the chapters dealing with dark charms and counter spells. Spells that add certain properties, with an undertone of dark magic, to an object or creature are considered dark charms. Jinxes, hexes, and curses fall under the definition of dark charms. We’ll be exploring jinxes and hexes in further detail. For those that continue to Advanced DADA, we will go into curses.” Professor Levy continued her lecture.

“Counter spells are used defensively to stop, remove, or reverse another spell. Anti-jinxes, counter-jinxes, counter-hexes, and counter-curses fall into this category,” she continued. “An anti-jinx will prevent a jinx, but cannot remove the effects of one. Counter-jinxes, hexes, and curses will remove the effects of a spell, depending upon the severity. You may not even be aware of it, but you have already been learning counter spells. For example, for lumos, the counter spell would be nox. The spells that we will be concentrating on are more for offensive and defensive purposes. On the board, I have listed a few of those spells.” Clara glanced at the list on the board behind Professor Levy. Her big blue eyes widened slightly as she glanced down the list.

Third/Fourth Years/Fifth Years

Impediment Jinx – stops or slows an object or person down

Jelly-Legs Jinx – causes the target’s legs to wobble uncontrollably

Trip Jinx – trips the target

Canary Transfiguration Hex – temporarily changes someone into a giant canary, person molts back into themselves after a few moments

Twitchy Ears Hex – causes the ears of the victim to wiggle and twitch uncontrollably

Hex Deflection – stronger than the Shield Charm and used to protect against moderate-level spells

Clara couldn’t help wondering once they split into partners which of the curses she would try first. The Canary Transfiguration Hex sounded down right hilarious especially if her partner wasn’t allergic or terrified of birds. That would just make the curse outright cruel. She was silently still going through the list of spells when she heard the boy seated next to her speak.

“Hey, I was thinking of trying this one,” he jabbed his finger at the revulsion charm in the book. “Do you want... erm, is that ok with you?” he asked. She glanced at the spot in the textbook where Michael was pointing and read the words “Revulsion Charm”. After reading the description Clara didn’t see what the harm in it would be. She nodded cheerfully. “I don’t see why not,” she replied cheerfully. “As long as you don’t mind me trying out the Canary Transfiguration Hex on you,” she countered teasingly. “You aren’t allergic to or terrified of birds, are you?” she asked lightly. “If you are I could make your ears twitch instead. It’s completely up to you,” she told him encouragingly. After all it was only fair she gave him a choice. He had been kind enough to ask if she had minded with his choice.

“I’m ready when you are,” she told him, batting her blue eyes at him. “Fire away partner.” Clara readied herself for the oncoming spell. She was either extremely crazy or foolish. Either way, the plucky little Pecari was determined to enjoy herself. She gave Michael a trusting glance as she waited for him to cast the spell.

0 Clara Abernathy It's not on the list 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Michael Grosvenor

April 14, 2013 5:26 PM

She's a sneaky one by Michael Grosvenor

On closer inspection, Michael thought he might have gaffed when choosing a partner, as he was fairly sure the girl was a third year. Still, he'd been in plenty of classes where people had ignored the teachers' recommendations on how to pair up and he'd never seen anyone yet get in trouble for it. He guessed they were more guidelines than actual rules...

“I think you might need to do the stronger shieldy thing for the stronger hexes,” he advised her. “Can you... erm.. Can you?” he asked, realising it sounded a little blunt but not really being sure how to rephrase it so that it didn't. He just didn't want to be firing hexes at someone who had no shot at defending themselves. Well, he didn't really want to be firing hexes at people anyway, but it was even worse if they didn't have any hope of fending him off.

He was quite impressed that she wanted to try out the canary transfiguration hex. Maybe she was a forth year after all and he just hadn't remembered her – there were a lot of girls in the school after all, and he'd been a bit preoccupied with a certain select few the previous year.

“No,” he said managing half a grin when she asked if had any bird related issues. “No!” he said, a little more emphatically when she mentioned trying the ear one instead. “Erm, I mean, no – canary's fine,” he added, hoping she hadn't noticed his slightly odd reaction. He didn't really like people going anywhere near his ears as it would cause his hearing aids to whine with feedback. A little bit of him was curious as to whether magic would affect them, although he could be almost certain that it would – in fact, feedback would probably be the low end of the disaster scale. He really didn't want his hearing aids blowing up or something. Especially not when they were in his ears. Especially not right before his exams. Not a good thought... “Anyway,” he added, “You probably wouldn't be able to see whether you were getting it right,” he indicated his blond curls which deliberately hung long enough to hide his ears from view.

“Uh... We could practice for a bit, like... not aiming at each other... Just to get the feel of it? Or at least both practise the stronger shield first, so that we know we have some chance of blocking” he suggested. Yes, the purpose of the class was to (minorly) maim and injure small girls, so he thought he got a free pass on the moral dubiousness of that but it might take both of them a bit of practice to get their spells working properly. He would fight, if he had to, but he wanted to go into it knowing that it was at least a vaguely fair fight.

He skimmed the relevant section of the book. The wand motion only looked a little more complicated than the basic shield charm – you had to produce two circles, one in the horizontal plane, one in the vertical. The main difference seemed to be the force of will and amount of energy you had to be able to direct into it.

“Contego,” he cast, fluffing the circles slightly on his first try. He shook his head and his wand hand, refocussing himself. He traced the motion in the air. “Contego!” he tired again. He had got the stage with Protego of being able to produce a consistent, decent shield, and so it wasn't really surprising that he managed to produce something on his first go at the slightly more advanced version of the spell. The shield hung, looking much paler than his usual efforts with the basic charm. Although that could have been down to the variation, he was willing to bet that it just wasn't up to scratch yet.

“How are you getting on?” he asked Clara.

13 Michael Grosvenor She's a sneaky one 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Clara Abernathy

April 14, 2013 9:08 PM

Does that surprise you? by Clara Abernathy

Clara glanced up at Michael and found herself nodding at his suggestion. Practicing away from each other before on each other sounded reasonable. As for suggesting that she use a stronger shield charm to ward off the attacks, Clara was a tad confused. She hadn’t exactly considered the fact that they were supposed to be fending off the spells as well as casting them. She may have momentarily misunderstood the class assignment. so we’re supposed to try fending off the spells as well as casting them, huh? she wondered to herself. She nodded slightly to herself. It made sense. “That’s a really good idea,” she agreed with him. She considered his question carefully and nodded. “Yeah, I do,” she replied. “I don’t know about a stronger shield spell. I haven’t exactly tried a stronger one yet, but I’m sure the one I know should work pretty well. I seem to be freakishly good at them,” she admitted to Michael. She smiled encouragingly at him. She hoped the admission didn’t worry him too much. She really was freakishly good at shields. She always figured it might have something to do with the fact that she was slightly klutzy (okay REALLY klutzy). She figured that being good at shields was the universe’s way of balancing her out somehow. It seemed to try killing her often enough. She figured it was only fair.

Clara didn’t even need to check the book for the basic shield charm. She had practiced that one soo many times with her dad back home that she could practically do it in her sleep. She glanced over Michael's shoulder as he looked at the movements for what seemed to be a slightly stronger shield spell. She wasn’t all that certain she was at the right level to try it and have it be affective, but she was willing to give it what her dad called “the old college try”. She followed Michael’s movements as he copied them from the textbook. She figured she may as well give it a try herself. She smiled when he said that he wasn’t allergic or terrified of birds. He was apparently willing to let her try the Canary Transfiguration Hex which was awesome. He didn’t seem so keen on her messing with his ears and she respected that. She wasn’t fond of people playing with hers either. She had no idea why he would use his hair to hide his ears, but she figured there had to be a good reason for it. “Not to sound way too weird, but has anyone ever told you you have really cool hair?” she asked, looking at the golden curls hanging around his ears.

She raised her wand to attempt the shield spell as Michael had, hoping that her comment hadn’t weirded him out too much. She had a hard time judging sometimes what would or wouldn’t weird people out. She never really did pay enough attention to that sort of thing. Oh well. She’d worry about that another time. She followed the instructions the book gave for the shield spell and was mildly pleased with the results. The shield formed in front of her and while it was slightly see-through, it appeared to be holding up alright. She wasn’t sure yet how it would hold up against the Revulsion Hex when he tried it on her, but she was willing to find out. She had been soo preoccupied with concentrating on the shield that he startled her slightly when he asked her a question. “How are you getting on?” he asked. She jumped slightly when she heard him and nodded. She smiled easily. “I’m doing pretty good with this,” she assured him. “Are you ready to try the hex on me now?” She readied her wand loosely preparing herself for whatever he had to throw at her. Hopefully the shield held. If not, well class would definitely be an interesting one for her to say the least.

0 Clara Abernathy Does that surprise you? 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Michael Grosvenor

April 15, 2013 12:15 PM

Well, I would expect her to want me to be able to follow... by Michael Grosvenor

Well, she was certainly a confident little thing, Michael thought, as she seemed thoroughly undaunted at the prospect of trying the more complicated shield charm.

“Um, they might have done...” he pondered, when she asked if anyone had told him he had really cool hair before. Eris certainly seemed to like most of him. “But thanks,” he smiled. Regardless of whether he'd been told it before or not it was nice to be told it again, although a slight blush crept onto his cheeks as he'd never been very good at taking compliments. Even going into his fifth year of being generally well-liked they still felt like a new thing. Plus his hair had been one of the things he'd been teased about at his old school, seeing as people knew he was only wearing it like that to hide the other thing they teased him about.

“Yeah... ok,” he nodded, when she asked if he was ready to try the hex on her. His first attempts probably wouldn't be super strong, although he could usually get something on his first try, so if their shield charms were still works in progress it wouldn't matter – it would probably balance out ok, just so long as the shield charm had had a bit of a head start.

He double-checked the notes for the revulsion hex, practising the 'quick dashing wand movement, made away from the body as if to push back the opponent' a couple of times, chanting the word in his head.

“Revellerus,” he said, quietly to himself, just to check that it was as easy to get his tongue around in real life. Sometimes you could be saying a word fine in your head but then you found it tripped you up when you tried to say out loud. But this seemed ok.

“Ok,,” he said, straightening up to Clara, “Ready to go on three? One... Two... Three.... Revellerus!” he cast, flicking his wand sharply at his class mate. A thin, smoky sort of substance hissed from the end of it. It was tainted an unpleasant sort of sludge green colour, although only very faintly. Michael was used to most hexes deploying as beams of light and initially wondered whether he had done something wrong. However, the pale smoke was definitely guttering towards Clara fairly quickly and intently. He guessed this spell just looked kind of different....

OOC – I'm fairly sure, in this situation, it's up to the party being targeted to state how the spell affected them, based off how strongly the other person has implied it has been cast, as well as how well they defend. I'm also happy for you to move on to Clara's turn at hexing in your post.

13 Michael Grosvenor Well, I would expect her to want me to be able to follow... 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Sullivan Quincy, Pecari

April 15, 2013 4:15 PM

I want to be a hero when I grow up (tag: Valerie) by Sullivan Quincy, Pecari

DADA was downright terrifying. Creatures that wanted to eat you. Plants that wanted to eat you. Spells that wanted to harm you. There were also, of course, the defenses to these things as well, that being the point of the course, but the scary things had to be learned about as well, so they could be defended against. It was not, in short, a good subject to dwell on if one was prone to pessimism and nightmares.

Though, on the upside, Sully did find he had sufficient motivation to overcome his natural instinct to believe in his inevitable failure, and he consequently and consistently earned a surprisingly higher grade in this class than he did in the calmer subjects that did not risk him wetting his pants in terror. He was truly convinced that the most powerful magic spell he had ever cast was the stupify he had shot in fear for his life, and all of his team's lives, at the boggart during the first challenge this year.

Today's lesson was nothing so dire. Just hexing and counter-hexing. Nothing scarier to face than his fellow classmates and the effects of some moderately unpleasant spells.

It did have one terrifying aspect, though, and that was how the spells might affect some of the frailer people in the class. As fifth years, they were supposed to work on some of the harsher spells, and there were still a few months left before Valerie could drop the class. She'd been attending class more often this year, so she might be getting a little stronger now, but he doubted she was up to anybody going full strength at her. Sully's spells never reached that level even when he wanted them to, and he'd worked with her in this class on a semi-regular basis before.

Sully checked to see if she was partnered up with someone who knew to take care with her, but she didn't seem to have one yet, so he wandered over. It wasn't that they were good friends or anything, but he liked working with her, especially in the rougher lessons of this class. It kind of fed his delusions that he was some kind of chivalrous knight or something.

"Hey, Valerie," he mumbled, having never really been good at talking to other people, and girls had somehow become especially hard to communicate with over the last couple years. "Do you need a partner? And, if yes, do any of the spells look safer for you than the others?"

0 Sullivan Quincy, Pecari I want to be a hero when I grow up (tag: Valerie) 0 Sullivan Quincy, Pecari 0 5

Clara Abernathy

April 15, 2013 4:44 PM

I think we're doing okay by Clara Abernathy

Clara smiled slightly when she saw Michael blush at her compliment. Somehow she got the feeling he didn’t get them much and wasn’t certain how to take them when he did. She nodded when she saw him preparing to hex her. She raised her wand and after saying the command a couple of times to herself and mimicking the movements for it in the air she was fairly certain she was ready for him. “Ok,,” he said, straightening up to Clara, “Ready to go on three? One... Two... Three.... Revellerus!” he cast at her. A thin, smoky sort of substance hissed from the end of it. It was tainted an unpleasant sort of sludge green colour. Clara tried to cast her shield around the same time or sooner than Michael’s spell. “Contego!” she commanded, making the wand movements the book had said to, finishing her shield a split second after Michael finished saying his. The shield shimmered into place just as the green sludgy stuff seemed to drift towards her and Clara put everything she had into keeping it in place. She wasn’t sure what would happen if it got past her shield, but she was hoping the shield was strong enough that she wouldn’t have to find that out.

The green sludgy stuff hit Clara’s shield and seemed to kind-of melt into it. Clara wasn’t sure if that meant that the shield was holding it back or letting it through. She held on for a bit longer hoping that made the difference. She was almost certain she had it until a strange sort-of queasy feeling crept over her. Some of the sludgy stuff had made it past the shield and was now having a foul affect on her. It felt like she was being pushed away slightly from Michael. The push from the spell caused her to lose her concentration slightly and her shield dropped. She was decently pleased with herself. Sure her shield hadn’t kept him out completely, it did seem to minimize the amount of force used. That was something right?

Clara gave herself a moment to recover from the revulsion hex before attempting one of her own. She took a few deep breathes and let them out slowly. She raised her wand and gave Michael the three count as he had her. “Okay…my turn. Ready…One…Two…Three! Uccello Mutatio!” she commanded, flicking her wand towards her opponent as the text had instructed. She moved as quickly as possible and poured all of her concentration into the spell. She watched as a puff of yellow smoke poured from the end of her wand and drifted quickly towards Michael. If she succeeded and it hit him she should see him change into a canary for a brief time. If she missed, well than she missed. No harm no foul. This was practice after all. She waited semi-patiently to see what happened.

0 Clara Abernathy I think we're doing okay 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Waverly Canterbury - Pecari

April 22, 2013 5:32 PM

I like jelly beans better than jelly legs. by Waverly Canterbury - Pecari

DADA was one of those classes Waverly wasn't too crazy about. When she was a sixth year, she was thinking of dropping it even if that meant losing the full knowledge of one magical subject. She thought she could probably live without it. She didn't plan on fighting to the death with anyone anytime soon. Or ever.

Lately classes seemed to be a breeze. At the beginning it had been a little overwhelming with the harder classes and challenges, but she had put the Baking Club on hiatus for this year and there was no Quidditch, not that she was planning on joining again. It had been nice while it lasted, but that was all. And she had received a letter from Brandon, the first one in a very long time, and though it was short, it had made her really happy although also a little peeved. She had written him several times and he only responded once. What a boy. Anyway, she would be home soon with just one more term to go before she was a fifth-year. A fifth-year! That was a crazy thought.

Waverly sat down in class in the middle and didn't know how to feel when she heard they were going to learn how to perform jinxes and hexes. Those weren't the nicest spells ever and she didn't want to think of hurting someone else. But maybe it would be good to know for protection. It would especially be good to know counter-jinxes and such just in case. At least then she could remove a jinx or hex in case anyone shot one at her for whatever reason.

They were supposed to find partners and Waverly went to get the homework first so she didn't forget and put it into her orange backpack before looking to find someone to work with. She approached someone and smiled. She hadn't bothered to dress up too much today, but she was wearing the necklace with a tiny silver unicorn pendant Brandon had given her as a Christmas present a year ago before they had started going out. She liked to play with it when she was especially bored in class. "Hey! Do you want to be partners?"

0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari I like jelly beans better than jelly legs. 0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari 0 5

Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

April 23, 2013 12:06 AM

You're well on your way. by Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

Defense Against the Dark Arts was probably Valerie's least favorite class and the one she was most looking forward to dropping. She was quite good at the theory,in fact possibly better at that part of the subject than some of her classmates were, because she'd had a lot of practice at writing relevant essays when she couldn't do the same lesson as others because of her issues and she understood the purpose of the subject, but she just couldn't handle the physical aspect of the class. The Crotalus got worn out and tired very easily.She wasn't at all quick on her feet and capable of deflecting hexes and stuff.

She probably couldn't have taken this class after CATS anyway, she was sure to ace the written portion but she was doomed in the practical. What if that part of the DADA lesson wasn't even something that Valerie was allowed to do? In the past they'd done boggarts, Ryan had had one on his test, and she wasn't as affected by hers as he was by his. Yes, she'd freaked during that part of the first challenges and she'd rather not do it, but she'd been so super stressed about the whole situation and it was just the last straw. Whether or not her team wanted her, and what she'd have to do. Come to think of it, Valerie was anxious about this section of CATS too. What if she automatically failed because she wasn't actually allowed to do what she was required to? Were they going to have to change the test to keep her from exerting herself too much? How would that work? It wasn't fair to everyone else to deliberately make things easier on her but it was also not fair to put her health in danger.

Still, a boggart was less physically challenging than say, having hexes thrown at you. Not only could she not move fast enough for it, but they could really hurt her too. It happened more in this class than any other, though there had been the tickling charm in Charms too. Valerie hadn't been really well that day to start with and it had really aggravated the cough she'd had at the time. She probably should have just sat that one out and done an essay like she did all the time in this class.

Truthfully, she was starting to feel a bit worn out lately too. The stress of this year was starting to truly get to her. The fifth year had been feeling so much better and now she was starting not to again. What she really wanted to do right now was go take a nap for a bit. Maybe she would feel better later if she did. Either way, Valerie needed to go to bed early tonight. Of course, she didn't think she'd make it much past supper. She'd just have to get up tomorrow morning and do her homework. At least she was completely caught up on everything at the moment, unlike the previous years when she'd always been behind.

It looked like today was going to be a difficult class period for Valerie and she nearly groaned out loud except that it wasn't very proper to show emotions like that. She needed to control herself the way a lady should. One should not appear weak too much, except maybe to keep men from being insecure, though she'd never been able to help it. The Crotalus did, however, quietly sigh to herself, wondering whether or not she could manage this. She really wasn't entirely sure.

Fortunately, Sully approached her and Valerie felt rather relieved. She'd probably rather work with him than anyone else for this subject. He was rather...careful with her. She just hoped Jasper would be too, though she sincerely doubted that he would be throwing hexes at her any time. That would not make a good marriage. Even Ryan's parents hadn't done that to each other, at least as far she knew.

"Sure, I'd love to work with you." Valerie replied, she kind of wished they were closer friends as he was one of the few people she felt liked her at all. One of the few that she trusted not to mind being around her. She looked at the list of hexes. "I think I can handle the canary one, both giving and receiving." That was transfiguration, she was fairly good at it and it didn't hurt. "And probably the twitchy ears thing." As Valerie's ears were not currently bothering her. "The impediment jinx on me is probably not that necessary as I really am not that quick anyway, but I can probably handle it. The trip jinx and stinging hex are probably out, however and I think if you did jelly legs on me, I'd probably fall. I'm not really sure about the revulsion jinx either way." She hoped that this bit of honestly wouldn't scare Sully off.

11 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus You're well on your way. 204 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus 0 5

Henny B-F-R, Aladren

April 26, 2013 11:51 AM

Me too. Are they an option? by Henny B-F-R, Aladren

Defence Against the Dark Arts involved hurting other people and considering the possibility that, one day, someone would try to attack you with Dark Magic. Neither of things were particularly high on Henny's list of favourite things. In the case of the latter, it meant she thought the class to be important but she always came out of it feeling a little rattled.

She took a seat, setting out her parchment, quill and wand ready for the start of class. It was always handy to have your wand nearby, even if you thought you might be taking notes for a while in case the teachers wanted you to join in drills or something. She jotted each of the spell names down on her parchment, leaving a little space around each one to make notes, such as the incantation and wand movement, as well as her experiences of using the spell. The amount to learn in this class didn't really phase her, especially as Professor Levy had mentioned that they would be beginning those chapters of the book today, implying they would be continuing them over the next few lessons. She collected the homework and noted it in her diary before looking around for a partner. She smiled when Waverly came over to her.

“That'd be great,” she grinned, “I mean, not that I'm particularly keen to hex you. Or anyone else for that matter,” she sighed, looking at the list on the board. They sounded even more unpleasant now she had an actual person she was contemplating using them on. And a person she liked too. Not that there was really anyone Henny had a particular dislike for, and certainly not enough to hex, but Waverly was kind of her friend.

“I was thinking of just starting at the top and working my way down as far as I can get,” she added. “What about you?”

13 Henny B-F-R, Aladren Me too. Are they an option? 211 Henny B-F-R, Aladren 0 5

Waverly

April 28, 2013 12:52 PM

If I believe they're an option, maybe it'll come true by Waverly

There weren't too many friends that Waverly had made in her year. There were definitely cliques that she wasn't a part of. She had Jorge and Jade, Bri and Clara, and Eris, but those were pretty much all of her close friends here. It didn't bother Waverly all that much because her close friends were worth it, but she did envy some people like Henny who seemed to be able to join any group she wanted. She was glad she and Henny were becoming friends, though. Henny was a nice person and they were in each others' clubs, meaning they saw each other often.

Having to hex someone she wanted to get to know never did seem like a good way to start a friendship. Waverly had become aware of pureblood supremacy over her years at Sonora. Whether or not there were any purebloods here that would love to hex muggles just for fun, the thought disturbed her a little. She remembered the last time she was in COMC class with an unfriendly magical creature. It had been a little scarring. She had tried her best to look over it, but she did see that there were people who would love to hex people like her without any hesitation.

At least most of the people here weren't like that and Waverly was really glad for it. Hexes weren't nice and she wondered why anyone would want to create them, but the thought of weapons in the muggle world made Waverly think twice. Wands could be used for good and bad. That thought was a tiny bit frightening, but nothing bad had happened so far that made Waverly fear that happening.

It was apparent Henny shared her feelings about these jinxes too and she was glad. At least they weren't doing some seriously harmful jinxes, though she doubted a school would teach such things anyway. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to get through the list as quickly and painlessly as possible. "I know what you mean," she said, looking at the list as well. "Working from the top sounds like a good idea." She looked over at her partner. "You can go first if you'd like."

0 Waverly If I believe they're an option, maybe it'll come true 0 Waverly 0 5