Professor Levy
June 17, 2013 4:12 PM
Intermediate DADA (3rd-5th Years): Lesson I by Professor Levy
Intermediate Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of Erika’s more interesting classes since it housed three different age groups – third years to fifth years. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant double the work since the fifth years tended to be working on higher level material than the third years with the fourth years being somewhere in between. Thankfully, today’s lesson wouldn’t be one of those days. In fact, some of the older students might even be helpful in assisting some of the younger students with the difficult spell they would be working on, but it was one that she felt everyone should know.“Good morning, students,” she called out, as they began filing into the room. Some of them looked a little sleepy, but she could hardly blame them. Intermediate DADA was one of the earlier classes and today’s was on a Monday no less. “I hope everyone had a good weekend, but now it’s time to get back to work.” She was met with a couple groans, which she couldn’t help smiling at. She remembered being in their position. Even though, she had loved school, weekends and summers had always been better. Maybe it had something to do with the sense of freedom, the ability to do whatever one wanted. Heck, she still enjoyed them, but it was school that made those times so sweet.
After everyone was seated, Erika took a seat on her desk. Being only five feet tall, she preferred this position, because she felt that it gave her a sense of height over her students, especially now that some of them were starting to shoot up like rockets. “Today, we are going to be working on the Patronus Charm. A patronus, or spirit guardian, is produced from a positive energy force when the spell is performed.” Pointing her wand to an empty area of the room, she called, “Expecto Patronum!” There appeared a decently sized black panther, which looked almost ghostly due to the patronus’ wispy appearance. “This is my patronus. Each patronus is based on the person and can change as we change. Mine happens to be a panther.”
Brushing back some of her short dark hair from her face, Erika paused to let the students catch up in their notes, before continuing, “The patronus is the only form of protection against dementors and lethifolds. A dementor is a dark creature that feeds on human happiness. As such, the person will begin to feel depression and despair. They can go so far as to consume a person’s soul, also called a Dementor’s Kiss, which leaves the person as an empty shell. Lethifolds are also a dark creature. They attack at night when a person is asleep and suffocates and digests the person. Thus, making it hard to protect against. Thankfully, lethifolds are rare and can only be found in the tropics.”
“Besides protection, the patronus is good for communicating, because of how quickly it can travel to the intended listener. Often, they are used to deliver important messages ahead of the castor.” She waited, allowing the students a bit of time to digest everything before moving on. “When casting a patronus, the castor must be pure of heart. A dark wizard is unable to produce a patronus, because of the evilness inside of them. As stated before, a patronus is positive energy. If a dark wizard attempts to perform the spell, a negative reaction occurs.” Hopefully, none of her students were future dark wizards that ended up with such a reaction. One of the stories of a dark wizard that performed such a spell ended up with maggots that tried to consume him. The thought was rather disgusting. Her stomach churned a little at the thought and she touched it lightly, hoping it would settle. She had seen worse, but the thought of bugs just wigged her out.
“To cast the Patronus Spell, one must summon all of their happiness. Any negative thought can cause the spell to fail. With dementors around to drain one’s happiness, it makes this spell especially difficult to cast. With your happiest memory in mind, circle your wand like so.” She demonstrated drawing circles with her wand. “This increases the strength of the spell, but in an emergency, it can be discarded. After doing so, point your wand at the intended target or area and say ‘Expecto Patronum.’ The tip of the wand should light up with the beginning of the patronus. Depending on the strength of the spell, the patronus can show up as non-coporeal or corporeal. The non-coporeal is undefined and more of a vapour, but will serve to halt a dementor.”
“In the corporeal form, the patronus is clearly defined in the shape of a bright, white animal. These are stronger and are capable of repelling the dark creatures previously mentioned. Also, as stated before, a patronus can change as the person changes, often as a result of an emotional change. Love, in this case, is a very strong reflection of the patronus. A patronus can change when someone falls in love and couples often have complimentary patronus.” She thought this was the reason hers was a panther. She was a protector of sorts and she felt very protective towards Torra.
“Though, at this point, most of yours will most likely be non-coporeal, if anything. Even grown wizards and witches have trouble casting this spell; so don’t get discouraged if nothing happens. Keep trying. Feel free to work in groups. You may begin.”
OOC: Please remember that all posting rules apply. Posts should be at least ten sentences or 200 words. Points will be rewarded based on detail, grammar, creativity, etc. Have fun!
Subthreads: And, surprise! You have smoke! by Jorge Garcia with Ephanie Lucore, Jorge
No patronus just a headache by Clara Abernathy
Look ma...I made a cloud! by Carter Browning with Alexandra D'Alesandro, Carter
As sly as a fox. by Lucian D'Alesandro with Aubrielle Thornton, Lucian, Bri
Learning my animal self. by Aria Yale, Teppenpaw
Let's begin right away. by Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus
What is happiness without the sad? by Waverly Canterbury - Pecari with Jade Owen, Waverly
Horrified by Arabella Brockert,Pecari
How could this be? by Carrie O'Malley, Crotalus with Marcus Crosby [Teppenpaw]
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Professor Levy
Intermediate DADA (3rd-5th Years): Lesson I
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Professor Levy
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Carter Browning
June 19, 2013 2:28 AM
Look ma...I made a cloud! by Carter Browning
Carter was NOT a morning person if he could help it and really did not want to get out of bed that day. Even at his other school before coming to Sonora he was not a morning person. He tried to fake it for the sake of sanity, but every once and a while the façade slipped and his normally grumpy self slipped out. Today was unfortunately one of those days. Carter groaned before shoving back the covers and stepping out of bed. He grabbed his toiletry stuff and grumbled as he stumbled sleepily into the bathroom. He was hoping the hot water would improve his waking. He was half-way through his shower and still didn’t really want to be awake. He got dressed, tried to comb his hair and grabbed his book bag before heading out of the Teppenpaw dorms for breakfast before class. He made himself a plate of waffles, eggs and sausage once he reached Cascade Hall. He added a large glass of orange juice to it and sat down to eat. He was almost through with breakfast when he heard hurried footsteps enter the hall. Carter looked up from his breakfast long enough to spot Clara grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl that sat at the end of the table he was sitting at. He watched as she snatched the piece of fruit and half ran for the door. He smirked to himself at seeing her and shook his head. Nice girl, but really weird he thought to himself as he remembered her flying mishap a couple of years back when he was a first year. That had to have been embarrassing for her although by the way she behaved you wouldn’t think she cared about it at all. Again he shook his head.Carter finished his breakfast and after picking up his bag he headed out of the hall and towards his DADA class. He walked through the door and after waving politely to the professor he took a seat, placing his bag on the floor next to his seat. He pulled out a notebook and quill pen and placed those on his desk. When the professor began talking about the Patronus Charm, Carter perked up in his chair a bit. He had been hoping to be able to give this spell a shot again since last year during the challenges. He had used a different spell at that time to get rid of the Boggart they had to deal with, but had read that the Patronus Charm could also be used to get rid of those things as well as the Riddiculous spell. He had told himself he would make a note of it for later, but forgot to do it. He remembered reading about it, but never had the chance to really use it until now. He was actually looking forward to that part. He feverishly took notes as the Professor spoke and tried to pay close attention to the wand movements when she showed them to everyone. He sat upright in his chair at the sight of her patronus walking through the room. He had to admit he had never seen a white panther of any kind before. It looked awesomely cool. He couldn’t wait to see how his own patronus turned out if he could get it to go corporeal. He was fairly certain it was gonna take quite a bit of practice before he got it to work right.
He practiced the wand movements to himself a few times while he drummed up the happy thought it would take to make the charm work right. He was fairly certain he had just the right one and decided to take his stab at the spell. He conjured up an image of his sister Payton and circled the wand as they were shown to before saying in a loud clear voice, “Expecto Patronum!” He wasn’t sure how much umph he was supposed to use for the spell so he put in as much as he could without overdoing it. He watched with extreme interest as the tip of his wand started to glow a brilliant white and a funky white mist began floating out of it. The mist kind of reminded Carter of a thin, wispy cloud just hanging around near his desk. It didn’t really have any discernable shape to it, just kind of hovered there until it dissipated. “Wow…now that was awesome!” he said excitably. “I wonder what would happen if I used a different happy thought.” His mind began to wander and he was pretty sure he had come up with a really good thought to use when he suddenly lost it due to a strange tickling in his nose. He felt his face screwing up as he prepared to sneeze. However when it didn’t come when he thought he grumbled a bit and tried going back to what it was he was doing. He raised the wand again and began making circles, preparing to cast the spell once again. He managed to get the word Expecto out but not Patronum before he suddenly sneezed, losing both the spell and the thought he was going to use yet again. He had tried covering his face with his robe sleeve before he sneezed, but wasn’t certain how successful he had been. He turned towards the neighbor he had tried not to sneeze on and apologized profusely.
“I am amazingly sorry about that,” he apologized after digging a handkerchief out of his robe pocket. He wiped his nose really quickly with it and tucked it back in his pocket. He dug around in his bag for the small bottle of sanitizer/lotion stuff his mother had insisted he put in it and slathered some on his hands. “I really hope I didn’t get anything on you,” he told his neighbor trying to look as apologetic as possible. “I have another handkerchief if you need it,” he offered, holding the white piece of cloth out to them like a surrender flag.
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Carter Browning
Look ma...I made a cloud!
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Carter Browning
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Alexandra D'Alesandro
June 20, 2013 12:55 AM
*looks at sleeve* Did the cloud produce rain by chance? by Alexandra D'Alesandro
Alexandra was feeling particularly sassy as she entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She had been hoping that her brother and Clara were sitting together so she could have the opportunity to glare at them some more, but alas they were sitting in different places. She quickly sat down on the open seat next to Carter, who she seemed to keep running into lately.She hadn’t really formed an opinion of him yet, but he at least seemed to have some sense of what was considered acceptable behavior, and she figured there were worse people to sit next to. She reached into her large pink handbag that she used to carry her textbooks and supplies, and retrieved her quill and paper, and arranged them in front of her.
As Professor Levy began explaining the lesson, Alex tapped her nails on the desk. She had started to zone out a bit, but refocused her attention as the professor explained the Patronus Charm. Alex didn’t know much about the Charm, except that it was a difficult one. She was interested though, to know what animal her patronus was.
After the professor was done explaining what they had to do, Alex tried to focus on something that made her happy. She liked to go shopping and pick out cute dresses. She liked spending time at Honey’s during the summer. She liked correcting people when they did not use proper ettiquette. She sighed, for she realized none of these things would be powerful enough to produce the charm.
She thought back to when she was a little girl, and her father used to pick her up and spin her around. He used to call her “Princess” and smile as she twirled around in her sparkling dresses. She had really started to miss him after thinking back on the memories she had, though she would never admit to it. Alex knew her brother was angry with their father for leaving them during the summer, but she was just more perplexed than anything. She just wanted to know why he gave up. Realizing her thought process was probably counter productive, Alex sighed once more and tried to focus.
Carter, who appeared to have no problem finding a happy memory, was about to attempt his second try at the charm when he sneezed, startling Alex. “Bless you,” she said turning to him, and then glanced down at her dress robes. Her sleeve was damp with the aftermath of his sneeze. She looked at her sleeve with disgust as he wiped his nose and put sanitizer on his hands. She was just about to make a rude comment, when he began apologizing and offered her a clean handkerchief.
“Thank you,” she said taking the handkerchief from him, and wiped off her sleeve, “You just got me a little bit. It’s okay.” She then neatly turned the wet side of the cloth inward, and folded it into a square on her desk. Situations like this are why Alex absolutely refused to let herself sneeze in public.
“How were you able to find a strong happy memory so quickly?” she asked Carter, turning her attention back to their lesson. “All of my fondest memories seem to turn gloomy somehow.”
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Alexandra D'Alesandro
*looks at sleeve* Did the cloud produce rain by chance?
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Alexandra D'Alesandro
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Carter
June 27, 2013 3:45 PM
It's not supposed to make rain by Carter
Carter grinned sheepishly as Alex accepted his apology. He was a little sorry to hear that he had actually hit her sleeve when he sneezed, but she insisted she was okay. He simply nodded, not entirely sure how to respond to that one. “You’re welcome,” he smiled when she took the hanky that he offered her and said, “Thank you”. He was glad she didn’t seem angry about the slightly damp sleeve. He was a little surprised by her question when she asked how he got a happy memory to work from so fast. He had to think for a second how best to answer. He felt bad that she didn’t seem to have a happy thought to work from given her comment about all of hers turning gloomy. He found it a little hard to believe that she didn’t have ONE happy memory to work from. That didn’t seem possible. Thinking about Wendy, his sister or his cousin made him happy. He couldn’t imagine how she couldn’t find one to work with.“I just thought about my baby sister,” he answered her question. “She’s always doing the funniest things and she’s starting to talk now.” He couldn’t hide the pride he felt about that. Payton was only two and she was already saying three word sentences and calling his name all the time. Only when she said it instead of Carter, it comes out as Cotter. Her favorite thing to say at the moment is “No potty!” due to the fact that he and his parents were working on potty training her before he went back to school. She even stamps her little foot when she says it. “She’s learning potty training at the moment so her favorite thing to say right now is No Potty! She even stamps her little foot and screws up her face when she does it,” he laughed slightly as he told Alex about Payton. “It’s an easy memory to use.” He shrugged about it. “I’m sure that not ALL of your memories turn gloomy. There has to be at least one floating around in there that was happy right?” he asked, trying to encourage her. “Maybe you had a really good day with your family or maybe you had fun pulling a prank on your brother/sister…the teacher didn’t really specify HOW the thought was a happy one. Just that it had to be happy one somehow,” he offered, hoping that it helped her somehow.
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Carter
It's not supposed to make rain
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Carter
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Alex
June 29, 2013 10:30 PM
I will be sure to bring an umbrella next time. by Alex
Alex wished she could relate to what Carter was telling her about his baby sister, but she was the baby of her family, so to speak. She couldn’t imagine having to share the attention her parents gave her with someone younger than her. Sure, Lucian got a lot of attention since he was a male and would be taking over the family businesses, but it was a different kind of attention. It was composed of scrutiny, discipline, and expectations. Alex was quite glad she didn’t have as many demands placed on her, but still felt jealous when her parents praised her brother for his excellent grades and potion making skills.If she were to be completely honest, Alex would admit that she found the idea of potty training completely repulsive. How does teaching a child to use the potty produce joy? She was definitely glad that she didn’t have to deal with any of that mess. She wrinkled up her nose a little as Carter continued on about his baby sister, and turned her head a bit so he wouldn’t notice. She wasn’t trying to go out of her way to be rude to him after all.
Alex thought about what Carter said about family memories or playing a prank on a brother or sister. She definitely enjoyed causing any kind of mayhem in her brother’s life, but she wasn’t sure if that was powerful enough to produce a patronus. Think, Alex, think she said to herself while attempting to dig into the depths of her memories.
Alex thought back on the time when she had her first piano lesson. Her mother had gone to some Pureblood party to mingle with important people, and Lucian was up in his room reading as usual. She had been about seven years old, and practically begged her father to show her how to play. He had brought her a big bowl of cherry ice cream, and sat her down next to him on the piano seat.
“Okay Alex,” he had said to her, “An easy way to remember the notes on the lines for the right hand is by using the saying “Every Good Boy Does Fine”. Understand? The notes are E, G, B, D, and F. A good way to remember the spaces is by the saying “All Cows Eat Grass”. Those notes are A, C, E, and G…”He had then proceeded to show her the keys for the right hand, and they practiced going over them together. Alex had loved playing the piano ever since then, and couldn’t recall another time after that when she had spent time alone with her father. Of course, her mother made Lucian learn to play piano as well, but he had eventually taken a liking to the drums.
She stood up from her seat and held out her wand, determined to produce at least some kind of patronus. Alex closed her eyes, pictured the piano lesson with her father, and took a deep breath. “Expecto Patronum! she said after a moment, and watched as a small light grew at the end of her wand. It extended into light wisps a few feet in front of her, revealing what appeared to be a figure of a Ram charging forward, and vanished as quickly as it had appeared. It wasn’t anywhere near as perfect or as powerful as the Charm should be, but she was satisfied with her attempt.
Alex turned towards Carter with a smile on her face. “I think I found my happy memory.”
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Alex
I will be sure to bring an umbrella next time.
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Alex
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Carter
July 03, 2013 11:49 AM
Be a good idea, I don't think you'll need it by Carter
Carter could see that Alex wasn’t really that interested in his talking about his sister’s potty training. He had to admit it was a bit of a gross subject now that he thought about it. He really couldn’t imagine how parents were able to deal with stuff like that on a daily basis. For as cute as he thought his sister’s baby babble was, he was glad he wasn’t the one having to do the actual training. He was mostly the cheering squad which suited him just fine. He watched Alex curiously wondering what she might be thinking about that she could use to conjure up her patronus. He hoped that the advice he had given her helped at all with that issue. His eyes widened a bit when she cast the spell and the tip of her wand began to glow. She must have found something she could use he mused to himself as he watched with her while the spell did its thing. He nodded slightly impressed over the ghostly ram that bolted out of the end of her wand and disappeared. Whatever thought she used had been strong enough to make the ram, but she let go of it too soon. He was impressed. He chuckled slightly when she smiled at him.“I think I found my happy place,” she had told him still smiling. Carter clapped lightly for her, still grinning. “I told you they all couldn’t be gloomy,” he assured her. “Look what you just did with whatever thought that was. That must have been a doozy,” he commented, sounding impressed with her efforts. He sighed slightly. “I guess its my turn now,” he mused, rising out of his seat and getting his wand ready. He tried using another thought about Payton, but found this one wasn’t as powerful. He knew he was going to have to dig a bit deeper if he wanted to make the patronus actually work for him. He began trying another thought process and found his mind wandering towards his best friend Wendy. He felt the pit of his stomach grow warm and fuzzy just thinking about her. He conjured up their water fight at the pool party and how much fun they had been having. He caught himself smiling and raised his wand again ready to try the spell again. “Expecto Patronum!” he cast pointing the wand out in front of him. He held onto the memory as the tip of wand turned a bright white. A white, thick mist poured out of the end and it seemed to take the shape of a colt. The ghostly horse pranced around the area near them before vanishing like Alex’s ram did. Carter stared at the open space wide eyed. “It would appear that we both found our happy place,” he joked lightly. “Should we give it one more try?” he inquired, gently nudging her with his elbow and grinning.
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Carter
Be a good idea, I don't think you'll need it
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Carter
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