If this is beginners, I don't want to grow up! on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Pye

June 07, 2016 11:30 AM

Beginner's Defense (Years I & II) by Professor Pye

“Right, so…red caps…” Alfie clapped his hands together and looked about the room distractedly. As the year wore on, his bright eyes had lost some of their shine and, more often than not, he forgot to shave. At the beginning of his time at Sonora, the bedraggled, unshaven look had been on purpose but now it was due to lack of sleep and too many thoughts on his mind. It wasn’t just his father and his business that wore heavily on Alfie now. It seemed that the longer he stayed at Sonora the worse things became. At the start he had just been a bit of a spoiled brat, angry at everyone for the position he had been in. Now, however… Well, a lot could change in four years.

He was still strict though he had eased up a little—spending time with his fellow professors had helped him to realise that teaching eleven-year-olds vigilance over everything was perhaps not the best way to be popular with the younger years. Popularity wasn’t something was was particularly concerned with, but he could see how it could help the students to pay more attention—to care more about his subject, if he made class time appealing. But mostly it had been to the increasing number of things that were appearing on his plate. Over the past summer he and Cecily had started up again—she was still engaged to that piece of lint, and normally that wasn’t something that would bother him but…things were different now. He hadn’t stopped his affair with Isis, finding his (dare he call her…) friend someone who was stimulating both in conversation and in bed, but that was mainly because Cecily remained so determined to stay engaged to Jake. The thought made him want to tear his hair out. He would never do so, of course, because he knew how wonderful his hair was and he would never purposely compromise his appearance.

Barnaby, too, was further cause for concern. His creep of a little brother was parading around with the blind Aladren beginner trailing behind him like her guide dog followed her, and if his and Cecily’s intelligence had informed them of anything over the summer, Barnaby had begun his initiation. Which did not bode well…for anyone. Alfie wasn’t too concerned since Barnaby wasn’t Of Age yet and therefore wasn’t of much use to their father, but Alfie worried that Barnaby would soon be dragged along to meetings as Alfie, too had been. In fuzzy, distant memories that were only just starting to come back, that was. So Alfie had a lot on his mind what with his father’s investigation, his brother’s innocence, and his romantic life at stake while he made lesson plans and did his best to be just another average school professor who Absolutely Had Not been skillfully obliviated at some point in his life and was just beginning to regain those lost moments.

“Red caps are native to Northern Europe but especially the English and Scottish borderline and inhabit old castles or battlefields or simply holes in the ground. Named for the bright red caps that they wear, these creatures must constantly kill to survive as the colouring of their caps comes from the blood of their victims and should the blood dry out, they’ll die. Red caps can be quite dangerous to the lone traveller, however they can be defeated by witches or wizards with a variety of charms and hexes—and even the Beautification Potion. They’re absolutely not to be confused with the brownie-like Kabouter of Holland, who enjoys helping out in the house but will punish those who spy on them.

“The red cap has an average height of about three to four feet and are near impossible to outrun, therefore today we’ll go over a couple of hexes and charms that can be used against them. By now the second years should have mastered Immobulus and the first years should have a pretty good handle on it. This spell, as I said at the beginning of the year, can be used to freeze—literally and figuratively any living target so can, of course, be used on the red cap. Also useful is Bombarda which would cause an explosion, Glacius and it’s two variations Glacius Duo and Glacius Trio for freezing them (this is less effective than Immobulus however since the Glacius charms do eventually wear off), a Stinging Hex, or perhaps Engorgio Skullus for a slightly more comic effect since if used in enough succession, the red cap would become top-heavy, fall over, and be less able to run.

“And, as I stated earlier, if you happen to have a Beautification Potion on hand, you can definitely pour it on a red cap to distract it while you get to somewhere safe. This is not the most advisable method of dealing with red caps, however, since it is rare that a traveller would be carrying this on hand and therefore is not the most reliable way to deal with an attack by one or more red caps for obvious reasons. If your issue is that you’re having a hard time stomaching the look of these ugly things then you could also likely hit them with a Beauty Charm to more or less the same effect of the Beautification Potion.

“Our exercise today, will be to defeat the red caps I have invited into the classroom. You may use any variation of spells that you have learned so far in your time here, but keep in mind that some will be more effective than others. Having paid attention to the spells I listed out for you earlier, do some critical thinking and try to come up with other spells that might work too. You may try and see how those spells do. Do experiment since your quiz this week—” Alfie rarely gave hints as to what the weekly quiz would be on. “—will be to compare the various spells that you tried on the red caps and which were the most effective and why you think that is. Now, please gather your wands and, if you line up against the wall, I’ll move the desks and release the demons.”

Once Alfie had determined that all the students had their wands and were safely out of the way, he banished the desks and bags to the adjoining room and summoned the enchanted dueling dummies that had been shrunk and charmed to behave and react like red caps. They would not try and kill the students, in any case, but they wouldn’t hesitate to give a slight shove if a student allowed it to get too close so that later Alfie could collect the data and see which students had been touched the most by the dummies and therefore needed the most improvement. As he let the students get to work, he reflected on how he really ought to ask for another classroom so he wasn’t moving desks around every lesson.

OOC: Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Like your other classes, posts are graded on realism and creativity. In addition to these two things, posts are also marked on length and abiding to the site rules. Tag me in the subject line if your character has any questions or is having difficulties.

Subthreads:

If this is beginners, I don't want to grow up! by Nevaeh Reed [Aladren] with Tasha DuBois, Aladren

I'm okay by Arianna Valenti [Aladren] with Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw

No time for dolls by Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw] with Camden Miller (Pecari)

10 Professor Pye Beginner's Defense (Years I & II) 30 Professor Pye 1 5

Nevaeh Reed [Aladren]

June 09, 2016 4:45 PM

If this is beginners, I don't want to grow up! by Nevaeh Reed [Aladren]

Despite a decent fondness for Professor Pye, Nevaeh had found over her first year and a quarter of magical schooling that she kinda hated Defense Against the Dark Arts. She recognized that everything they were learning was important, but she just hated the necessity of it. Obviously ignorance wasn’t going to get anyone very far, but learning about all these awful creatures (and sometimes people--that was the worst) that wanted to hurt or kill them just made the whole world feel so much… darker. And as someone who treasured what light she could, Nevaeh felt deeply troubled by this notion.

As the professor spoke about today’s dark creature, the second year’s hand nervously slid beneath the desk, seeking her service animal as a source of comfort in this cruel, cruel world. Scout could tell--he always could--and raised his head to meet her palm. Nevaeh scratched his head, finding the flicker of a smile as a result of his quiet panting. It was nice to have free hands during lecture; attempting written notes would have been quite ineffective for her, so her school quills were enchanted to write down what was said. Isis even found a way to charm them to only respond to Nevaeh and the professors’ voices, so that any class chatter would not interrupt her notes. That was nice.

She was horrified (but not terribly surprised) to hear that Professor Pye had actually invited red caps into the classroom. Certainly, he brought worse to meet the older classes, but these guys already seemed pretty nasty. She could hardly imagine what Advanced Defense had to contend with. But maybe her Head of House was just exaggerating their danger for dramatic effect.

Or maybe he was just a lunatic with a powerful death wish and the uncontrollable urge to share.

Nevaeh moved toward the wall, Scout’s harness in one hand and her wand in the other, both gripped tightly and only getting tighter, adrenaline spurred on as she heard the clanking of banished desks. So the room was open now, and these little monsters were coming.

“I can’t believe this,” Nevaeh said to no one in particular, remaining in her place on the wall. “If these things are so dangerous, why would Professor Pye bring them here?” And also how might have been a good question; how could he acquire these things without getting harmed himself? Of course, in reality, he was only sending some short animated dummies after them, but for what little sight Nevaeh had to work with, and without an actual statement of just kidding, these are fake, she had no way to know this. And she was terrified.

12 Nevaeh Reed [Aladren] If this is beginners, I don't want to grow up! 325 Nevaeh Reed [Aladren] 0 5

Tasha DuBois, Aladren

June 12, 2016 3:47 AM

It's okay. by Tasha DuBois, Aladren

Some days Beginners DADA was right after lunch and some it was right before dinner. Today was the latter and Tasha walked into class thinking about what she was going to eat tonight. She wasn't necessarily super hungry or anything and didn't actually eat any more than any other girl her age but she enjoyed food. Different things from around the world. Last summer, she'd gone to Dubai with her parents. They'd stayed in an amazing hotel and the Aladren had gotten to try camel. It was delicious.

Unfortunately, Sonora didn't really serve camel. They had foreign food, to varying degrees of authenticity, but that was considered a bit exotic. Most people didn't want to eat what was considered bizarre food because they thought it was gross. These being people who routinely drank all sorts of things that might seem disgusting when they got sick or otherwise needed a potion for something.

So Tasha would take what she could get. She was thinking sushi. Eel maybe if it was available. It had been before a few times. If not, they usually had shrimp or tuna. Less interesting, but still tasty.

With that to look forward to, Tasha settled in for a Defense lesson. Having travelled a lot and having no intention of stopping once she got older, she definitely appreciated the uses of the subject in relation to herself and her future plans, whether future meant as an adult or over Midterm. Of course, she had been learning about dangerous creatures her entire life so thus knew about red caps already, but she'd obviously never been able to practice defending against them due to being underage. Mostly what she'd gotten were lessons about how she shouldn't venture off by herself because of all the nasty creatures that could kill her. Today, however, apparently Tasha was going to get to practice a whole bunch of spells that would come in handy if she came across one of these beasts ever.

As the desks were banished and they prepared to practice destroying red caps, Tasha spotted her roommate, Nevaeh looking less than thrilled. She decided to go make sure the other second year was all right. As she approached, she heard Nevaeh say,

“If these things are so dangerous, why would Professor Pye bring them here?”

Oh! Of course! Nevaeh wasn't able to see that the red caps were just dummies. "They aren't real." Tasha reassured her. She actually wondered how this would work with the other Aladren's disability. How would she spot the dummies in the first place? "Is Scout trained to spot dark creatures so you know they're there?" She asked, hoping it wasn't rude to ask. Maybe Nevaeh just wasn't able to go places that could be dangerous. There was nothing wrong with that. There never really was a need to do so on purpose. "Or to see the dummies we use in this class?"

11 Tasha DuBois, Aladren It's okay. 323 Tasha DuBois, Aladren 0 5

Arianna Valenti [Aladren]

June 17, 2016 1:13 AM

I'm okay by Arianna Valenti [Aladren]

In a rare turn of events, today was a day that Arianna Valenti thought her school mandated robes were useful for something more that being a Potions smock. This had everything to do with the bright purple bruise she was currently sporting on her right leg, the result of a slow reaction to a Bludger at Quidditch practice. Beyond being a physical display of her failure, it was really weird looking. Failure and ugliness were things with which the first year would never be willingly associated.

She got there early and sat towards the front of the class, so as to hide any trace of a small limp from her classmates. Hair in a side fishtail braid, and nails neatly filed after practice, she was determined to project composure, unlike the professor, apparently. Setting up her notebook and pen on her desk, Arianna wondered casually if there was any sort of dress code for adults that the professor was breaking right now. There had been a dress code for teachers at her old school. She knew this because her father was a vice principal there, and often had the unfortunate job of reminding his colleagues about it. Occasionally, on their train rides home together, Arianna would give him additional notes on teachers who had committed various fashion crimes. Her father paid little attention to this.

Of course at her old school, the subject matter had never been about bloodthirsty creatures who would chase you down and kill you. Oh, there was talk about Mr. Baker, but those were only rumors, probably. You could never really believe anything Maddie said. If this was the sort of thing they learned about in first year, imagine what sorts of terrible and gross creatures they would be learning about by fifth year? Luckily, Arianna was more confident in her wandwork than her flying ability, and noted the relevant spells. It was wonderfully empowering to be able to say a few strange words, wave a wand and get what you wanted. Well, if she practiced, anyway. Weary of being labeled a nerd, Arianna often honed her wandwork in unoccupied classrooms.

And then the professor mentioned red caps in the classroom. What? Was that really a thing he could do? Arianna wasn't afraid, of course. It just seemed a very strange thing for school policy to allow. On the other hand, she had just come from practicing a sport in which enchanted balls had been hit at her while flying in mid air, to a class where students were encouraged to practice magic on each other. So nothing was off limits.

She finished her notes on the upcoming quiz, but allowed other students to get up around her, before moving herself. Normally, she wouldn't hesitate in the face of any challenge, not even a fast, blood-thirsty monster when she had a bad leg. But she didn't want to draw any attention to herself, and so grabbed her wand and stood up only when there was a crowd. Taking small steps, she got in line with the rest of her classmates. Any hint of pain was hidden behind a carefully confident closed-mouth smile.

Their desks and things were banished (it always felt strange to have her things magicked) and were soon replaced by, well, Not Red Caps. So that relieved some earlier concerns about the relative sanity of the professor. But she still needed to be proactive about guarding herself, seeing as she would not be very agile today. She could not be amongst the failures.

Holding her walnut wand, she locked in on the Not Red Cap closest to her, dark eyes narrowed as she focused in on her prey. What spell to choose? Her flair for the dramatic had her leaning towards fire, but that probably wasn’t a very good idea in a crowded room. Plus, she hadn’t really mastered any fire spells, yet.

"Flipendo!” she exclaimed, aiming a simple knockback jinx at the closest Not Red Cap. But as she did, it seemed another student was aiming at her Not Red Cap as well. While she couldn’t know the success of her spell on its own, the combination of her spell and theirs pushed the thing back much further than she would have thought, knocking it back into another dummy.

Her head whipped around, braid following close behind, to identify her accomplice.

0 Arianna Valenti [Aladren] I'm okay 343 Arianna Valenti [Aladren] 0 5

Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]

June 17, 2016 2:45 AM

No time for dolls by Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]

Red Caps? Here, in their classroom?

Gabe, who had previously been entirely focused on a very involved but messy doodle of a dragon battling a group of trolls (because how cool would that be!) looked up from his paper. Sometimes these lecture classes could go on and on forever. He couldn’t stand it. His notebook was filled with perfectly mediocre doodles that were proof of this. Gabe would have included Red Caps in his scrawling, to go along with today’s theme, but he didn’t really know what they looked like. Maybe after today’s class, they could become a regular part of the second year’s notes.

Life, as usual, was going pretty good. He was on the Quidditch team, he was happy with his friends, and his cousin was here with him, which meant his homesickness wasn’t quite as bad as it had been last year. It was potentially going to be an issue that he had missed out on the professor going over the spells, but he was sure he would think of something. Worst case scenario, his wand always seemed to get explosive whenever danger was near, or toothpicks, or anything really. The difficult part would be trying to restrain it.

Kicking his backpack under the desk (he’d left his Care of Magical Creatures textbook in the dorms today, meaning his back was way more peaceful than usual) he grabbed his trusty(-ish) alder wand and popped out of his seat. He was so excited to finally be facing a magical fiend more dangerous than flobberworms. The chubby boy was a second year now, for Pete’s sake. He knew some spells. It was about time.

As he followed the other kids to the wall, he thought about what kind of cool spells he would use in the imminent battle. He would love to do something really epic and exciting. It would be pretty awesome to levitate a Red Cap, but Gabe wasn’t sure he had enough control for something that large. This might have to be a gametime decision.

Their things were disappeared now, and he raised his wand at the ready. This was about the most exciting thing that had happened since his last Quidditch practice. Matt and Emma were never going to believe this. His parents were never going to hear about this. Sure, they were okay with large high schoolers trying to tackle Mattie in football, but this was different. His older siblings were going to be so impressed when they learned of how he fended off real danger. Gabe would be the baby of the family no more.

His pulse was racing, he could hear them coming, and then… nothing. There was absolutely no danger whatsoever. Just a bunch of dummies. Gabe lowered his wand in total disappointment. Now his Red Caps doodles would remain tiny stickmen with silly hats forever. His dragon doodles would tear them to pieces.

“Lame, huh?” he commiserated with the nearest student, body still facing towards the dummies. Gabe was totally uninspired to think of a spell now. He didn’t want to play with dolls, like his littlest cousin, Elisa might. He was twelve years-old now, after all, practically a teenager!

0 Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw] No time for dolls 330 Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw] 0 5

Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw

June 20, 2016 6:10 PM

Me, too. by Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw

Red Cap, wrote Joe in his notes as Professor Pye started class. Below that note, he added,

- 3-4 ft (think that is about a foot shorter than me?) Joe knew the metric system best, but he was familiar enough with the imperial system to hazard a guess there.

- very fast

- dyes hat with blood.

Joe looked at this list, thought carefully, and then nodded, his mind made up. If his family ever ended up on holiday in Scotland and Mom and John wanted to go tour old battlefields, he was going to provide the distraction while Julian Confunded them from behind so they’d think they had already been or something and were content to just to go have tea for the sixth or seventh time that day. John would have way too much fun saving Mom and Julian from a horde of Gollums for his or anyone else’s own good, particularly Joe’s since Joe knew he would be expected to be the cavalry and would have to do it, even though he had always, for as long as he could remember, thought that adventures seemed like they wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if they weren’t pretend and that the proper thing to do if one ever seemed likely to happen to him in real life would be to call the authorities.

Defense Against the Arts had done nothing in the past year and change to convince Joe that his suspicions about adventure had been wrong. Red Caps were supposed to be in Europe, but Joe was sure some idiot had brought a few to this continent at some point and that parts of it were probably lousy with the things by now. Actually, since they could live in old castles, he wondered if any of them had adapted to their environments, taken up residence in abandoned buildings in places with, like, gang wars or stuff…

He noted down the spells and potion (as Professor Pye predicted, he had no Beautification Potion on him at the moment, so that one was no good, but he noted it anyway) that were supposed to be effective against Red-Hatted Gollums, though he didn’t know why he’d vary from Immobulus and maybe, if John really did drag him into the middle of a horde of them at some point and he had to take on lots at once, the exploding spell. Maybe Glacius was easier for the first years who were a little behind on Immobulus; he knew just enough about the structure of water and ice to think that maybe freezing spells were related to locomotion spells, which first years learned, since the former’s purpose was presumably to slow the little…he couldn’t remember if he was looking for the word ‘molecules’ or ‘atoms,’ but whatever…down until they formed the crystal structure. He wondered if Engorgio skullus could be used on a real one until its head burst, but that probably wasn’t the most efficient way to handle it, so he didn't think he'd try that.

He worried for a moment about Pye saying he’d invited red caps into the room, but they turned out to be modified dueling dummies. He didn’t know if that meant they were any slower than the real things, though. He wanted his desk back so he could get on top of it – if outrunning them wasn’t a possibility, getting above them, where he could see each one coming and rain down spells from a distance, sounded like a swell idea to him even though he didn’t know enough magic to materialize a moat full of spikes in front of them right before they got to his desk yet – but as he Immobilized one, he guessed it was too much to ask.

He aimed at another and started to cast a spell before he realized one of the first years was aiming a Knockback Jinx at the same one. Both spells hit at once and she turned her head to look at him. Gabe’s cousin, he thought; he’d noticed her after John had pointed her out as Aladren’s new Chaser and mentioned her last name. “Nice shot,” he said, aiming at the one their dummy had fallen into to stop it while it was distracted. He went with the freezing charm to make sure he remembered the ‘use variety’ part of the assignment. "That was almost two birds with one stone."

16 Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw Me, too. 329 Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw 0 5

Camden Miller (Pecari)

June 23, 2016 12:38 PM

Eh sure... No dolls by Camden Miller (Pecari)

Camden had been having a relatively better time at Sonora this time around, and he was really glad for it. After the initial shock of his first year at the magical school, the Muggleborn felt a bit more at ease controlling and learning about something that actually made him special. He was a wizard… a real wizard. Not one of those charlatans that made doves “appear” from handkerchiefs or top hats. No, Camden would be able to do that for real in the future. He smiled as he entered the DADA classroom.

The change in demeanor in him was very apparent as the young boy was slowly going back to his former cheerful self. Camden was beginning to open up to his fellow Sonorans. The Pecari second-year was now even part of the Quidditch team - a reserve, but part of the team! - The brown-haired boy had started practicing to become better, but with his tutoring sessions it was kind of hard to practice as much as he required. The Pecari had gotten on a broom for the first time last year and hadn't been in one since since that Flying class, but he hadn't sucked at it. It had taken a lot of time to convince his parents that it was safe to fly, and that he should have a broom. A few days after the try-outs, Camden had been able to order it! He was excited to feel part of something at the school.

The brown-haired Pecari sat down on his customary seat at the far-end of the classroom and got out his things as quickly as he could since the Professor started the class a few seconds later after he entered the place. His attention quickly shifted to Red Caps - they sounded cool! - and began taking notes as best as he could, but like always, he got distracted a few minutes into the lecture and got completely and utterly lost. Camden groaned to himself in annoyance. It was ALWAYS the same problem with him. His attention span was too short. However, Camden got a hold of himself and listened to the lecture. There wasn't anything he could do at this point.

The second-year took notes here and there trying to catch up on the lecture, but it was a futile mission. There were some things that escaped his attention. Camden suddenly realized that everyone was moving towards the walls and dutifully followed them with his wand drawn. He could feel the excitement building inside of the classroom as he looked around and experienced something new inside the class. He had no idea what was happening, but he let the general feel of the room get the best of him. A huge grin appeared on his boyish face, adrenaline surged through his body giving him an alertness that he only had during sporting events…

And some dummies appeared and Camden was startled. The brown haired boy jumped backwards in an attempt get away from the impending seudo danger to be addressed by an older boy. The Pecari blinked in his direction, “Kind of,” he responded not sure of what else to say. He had been startled, but the other boy seemed to find it boring.

0 Camden Miller (Pecari) Eh sure... No dolls 0 Camden Miller (Pecari) 0 5

Arianna

June 25, 2016 10:39 AM

Some might even say great by Arianna

Arianna gave a small nod at her classmate, always welcoming of approval, "Thanks." She was felt certain Gabe had pointed him out as Joe Umland, one of his roommates, when the cousins were having dinner together the other night. This also made her classmate the brother, or some other type of relative of Arianna's teammate, John. It was a small school.

Small or not, she hadn't really talked to any Teppenpaws yet. She assumed that they were all fairly dorky, like her cousin. Gabe got excited about just about everything, and liked just about everyone, and it was weird. Still he seemed to have plenty of friends around this school; she always spotted him chatting people up in class. And both Head Students this year were Teppenpaws. So perhaps Teppenpaws were doing something right.

She watched as Joe switched to the freezing charm, disabling the second dummy with ease. Arianna longed for the day when she too would have a full arsenal of spells under her wing. How wonderful it would be to have so many options to choose from! Wandwork was not impossible for Arianna, but she certainly wasn't mastering it as quickly as she could theory, which seemed most similar to the style of lessons at her old school. In her spare time, she could often be found on her own in some empty classroom or a secluded area of the gardens, practicing her magic. The first year was in no rush to advertise that she actually enjoyed some of her schoolwork (Potions was still gross, one day she would become wealthy enough to just purchase her own). And it wasn't like there were many people to miss her, anyway. Just the Quidditch boys, if she was late to practice, or Gabe if she was late to a meal. A classmate unexpectedly brushed past her bruised leg as they attacked a dummy, and Arianna winced from the pain.

"D'you think you can combine spells to get new effects?" she asked the older student, weaving around another student to stand next to him. She was starting to see the benefits of teamwork. She limped, slightly, and the idea of new power was a welcome distraction from the pain. Joe seemed to be at least competent in spellcasting, and therefore useful in her impromptu experiment.

Back against the wall, she knew there was no hope of being agile today. That had been made clear enough during her failure at practice. She would just have to be quick with her wand, instead.

0 Arianna Some might even say great 343 Arianna 0 5

Joe

June 28, 2016 4:20 PM

Would any go as far as fantastic? by Joe

Joe saw Arianna wince and limp. Something was wrong with either her leg or foot – bad enough anytime, but really something he doubted was going to do her any favors in this lesson. She put her back to the wall, which he thought was smart. It limited the number of directions she could run in - not noticing that was how John often lost at chess; he backed himself into corners - but it also limited the number of angles she could be attacked from. He thought that sounded more important when one was up against opponents which couldn’t be outrun even on a good leg. Joe nodded at her question about combining spells.

“Yeah,” he said. “Sometimes, anyway – “ he had to pause to deal with a dummy; he wondered if they could tell which students were distracted by something – “sorry – but yeah, sometimes you get different effects, but I don’t think you’re going to get anything that would help them.”

It probably wasn’t impossible for spells combining to do something beneficial for their target, but he thought it was probably kind of like what John said about genetic mutation. His brother compared that to hitting one’s watch with a rock to try to improve its accuracy. One time in a million, some little gear would get pushed just so and the machine would begin to work better, but usually, it either had no discernible result (though it might contribute to the watch dying earlier than it should have later anyway) or it just shattered something. It wasn’t impossible that trying to hex someone twice would give that person lightning-bolt-shooting tentacles the person could consciously control and use against his or her attacker, but it was pretty unlikely.

“We might do better against these things if we work together,” he suggested, seeing as she seemed friendly enough and like she had good aim. “Cover each other’s blind spots, you know.” Professor Pye hadn’t actually said they could do that sort of thing, but he hadn’t said they couldn’t, either. Wording was important.

16 Joe Would any go as far as fantastic? 329 Joe 0 5

Arianna

July 01, 2016 6:23 PM

Naturally by Arianna

The boy she was 90% certain was Joe Umland was certainly not what she expected a Teppenpaw to be. Arianna had imagined them all to be the same as her cousin... bouncy, was the best word she could think of to describe him. This was probably an unfair assumption, considering how different she knew she was from her own roommates. Arianna might not own the world's - or even Sonora's - finest wardrobe. But some of Farrah's shirts were just plain weird.

But Joe seemed totally in control of his wandwork as he casually stopped to immobilize another dummy. She liked the idea of working with someone like that today. As far as she was concerned, wandwork was the most interesting part of being a witch, and anyone who was good at it was someone worth befriending.

"Let's do it," she agreed, eyes already scanning the dummies for her latest prey. She noticed three of the dummies close by and grouped together. If their spell was strong enough, was it possible to immobilize the whole group at once?

"Think we can freeze that whole group in one shot?" the first year asked, so excited for the challenge that before her partner could even respond, she exclaimed, "Glacius Trio!"

She had stayed on with Quidditch because she found flying (other than the kick off) to be relaxing, but thinking of new ways to attack the dummies might just be the most fun she'd had in months. Arianna wondered if it was possible to come back after class and keep practicing her dueling.

0 Arianna Naturally 343 Arianna 0 5

Joe

July 04, 2016 3:56 PM

Very good. by Joe

If he’d had time, Joe’s response to Arianna’s question about taking out three dummies at once would have been doubt it. Though he acknowledged there was every chance he was wrong, especially once one got into the higher-level magics the older students learned, he thought the usual rule was one spell, one hit – it might ricochet and hit something other than the intended target, and the affected party might affect someone else by crashing into them unexpectedly, but basically, casting the same spell on two things at once wasn’t something he had tried before and wasn’t sure how he would go about trying at all.

Arianna, though, was more confident than he, and went ahead without giving him time to get in a word edgewise, so he said, “Guess we’ll find out,” instead and repeated her spell, aiming, he thought, at a dummy in the trio that wasn’t the one she’d aimed at. Two out of three wouldn’t be bad, and they might both hit the other hard enough to knock it over….

One of the many problems with this lesson, though, was that the targets were moving. Joe’s spell went where the dummy had been, leaving a large splat of ice on the floor with nothing to show for it. Thinking quickly, he moved sideways and threw the first spell he thought of – which happened to the Knockback Jinx Arianna had used on the first one – at the rapidly approaching dummy.

It wouldn’t stay down, of course, but at least it was far enough away from him that maybe it would go after someone else, or even get stopped by someone else, instead of focusing on him. While he was at it, he devoutly hoped that nobody forgot what Professor Pye had said about their speed and tried to run and slipped on the rather large-looking patch of ice he had inadvertently introduced to the floor. That would…not be good. Joe doubted he would be punished for it, people took worse injuries in classes here pretty regularly, but he didn’t want to be the one who sent someone sprawling and got them mobbed by the Gollum figurines.

“There’s one thing you can say for this class,” he said to his partner, “I think it’s hard to get bored in.”

16 Joe Very good. 329 Joe 0 5