Professor Pye
October 22, 2016 5:58 AM
Beginner's Defence by Professor Pye
From 3:00 to 5:00 pm every Monday, Wednesday, Friday Alfie taught beginners Defense Aginst the Dark Arts. Over the years he had learned to appreciate teaching although it was still not his profession of choice. At first the advanced classes were the only ones he liked as those students were the ones who had specifically chosen to be there. But he had learned to like all of the classes and apparently the classes had learned to love him—Jozua Sparks, a second year, had come to him at the beginning of the year asking if he would head a dueling club. The idea had interested Alfie greatly and he had been ashamed to think of it’s use or purpose before the twelve year old. After all, it was a dangerous world and if other families were like his family well, then, his students would need a lot more than simply Defense class training to overcome their hardships.As Alfie had set his intermediates to start dueling just earlier that semester, he figured it was about time that his beginners start to learn the basic disarming and shield spells that the third years needed to know for their first intro to dueling classes. The second years already had some practise with the spell and so, as usual, Alfie asked the second years to pair up with first years if possible so that the younger ones could learn not only just from him but also from their peers.
“Today we will work on the basic shield and disarming spells,” Alfie announced, running a hand through his messy hair. “In order to disarm an opponent in a wizarding duel, the correct spell is expelliarmus.” He waved his arm at a dueling dummy that he had brought into the classroom for this purpose. “Again, the wand movement is like so,” and he slowed down the wave of his arm so that the first years could clearly see what was expected of them.
‘To block, the spell is protego,” and again he cast to the dueling dummy which fell back a few feet. Afterwards he repeated the arm movement and again the pronunciation of each spell two or three times. “If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Otherwise, I will circulate the room to observe. Second years with more practise please find a first year or two to work with so that they may become more familiar with the spells.”
OOC: Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. This post is set a few weeks into the term so your students should already be familiar with each other’s names and basic spells. 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: Ready to get to work by Kit Reid, Aladren with Lily Spencer, Pecari
There's a lot to get used to by Isaac Song - Pecari with Kellen Mormont, Aladren
Oh boy... by Ayla Tremaine, Teppenpaw with Sébastien Évreux (Crotalus)
Ready when you are. by Florence Newell, Aladren with Juniper Brockert, Teppenpaw
Meeting new people! [Tag: Conrad Helms] by Finbar Scott (Teppenpaw) with Conrad Helms
In need of a minion, er, first year. by Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw
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Professor Pye
Beginner's Defence
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Professor Pye
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Kit Reid, Aladren
October 24, 2016 2:23 PM
Ready to get to work by Kit Reid, Aladren
Being sorted into Aladren gave Kit the freedom to actually enjoy school without the worry of the stipulations that followed being a societal Pureblood female. By being in Aladren, there was no denying that she was intelligent and thus, decided to use it to her advantage to do her best in her classes. As such, the first year had made sure to have a seat in the very front of the class in every class that she possibly could. Though, she wasn’t quite sure that she wanted one in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was a conflicting class of the fantastic and horrific. She really couldn’t decide if she actually liked the class or not. Thankfully, however, they hadn’t learned any of the scary things…yet. And today was no exception.Kit took out a quill and her sparkly turquoise notebook. She loved the color cause it was so bright and it seemed perfect for such a ‘dark’ class. On a blank page, she added the date and once the class began, she included the spells that they were learning with specific details. She drew a set of arrows in arrangement to how Professor Pye was moving his arm. She liked having as much information as possible. Later, she would add additional notes about what was in their textbook about the spells like when they were best used and if there were any instances in which they wouldn’t work.
Of course, knowledge was only part of the course. The other was being able to actually perform the spell. She mimicked the movement a few times. When she felt a little more comfortable with the movement, Kit looked for a second year to work with. She would have preferred to have worked with someone that she had already made friends with only so that they could laugh about the mistakes they were bound to make with the spells. However, there was nothing like meeting someone new. She had a general knowledge of who the older students were, but she hadn’t had much opportunity to interact with anyone yet, so it was exciting to find a new person she could become friends with, hopefully.
Not one to wait for someone to approach her, Kit stood up and brushed any wrinkles that had formed in her oversized white shirt, which was worn over a pair of black leggings. With the green robes, it looked pretty stellar in her opinion. She tended towards the philosophy that feeling good starting with looking good. Satisfied that she was at her best, she approached the nearest second year. “Hi,” Kit waved, the bracelets on her wrists jingling. Accessories were a main part of that philosophy. “Do you want to work together?”
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Kit Reid, Aladren
Ready to get to work
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Kit Reid, Aladren
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Lily Spencer, Pecari
October 27, 2016 5:26 PM
Not so ready. by Lily Spencer, Pecari
Lily was feeling ill today and didn’t want to do anything. She already didn’t enjoy sitting in lectures and feigning interest, but even practical lessons didn’t appeal to her at the moment. She’d stayed in bed the day before with Pepper-Up and Rosie by her side. She hated being ill. It made her feel weak and irritable, but she couldn’t miss another day of class if her fever had gone down. Her pride wouldn’t let her. Her pride also wouldn’t let her check in with the medic because she most certainly wasn’t ill enough for that. At least she didn’t feel like dying today, that was always a good sign.What Lily had really wanted was for Jozua to coddle her and bring her sweets and tea like her siblings normally would, but she didn’t know how he would react to such a childish request. That was the worst bit about boarding school, taking care of oneself. At home she had her house-elf and her mum. It was lonely here at times even though she had friends. It just wasn’t the same. At least she had her Puffskein here that didn’t mind being cuddled against warm cheeks and a drippy nose.
DADA was turning into one of her favourite subjects, but today she was hardly in the mood for work. It was good being out here with her classmates, though; socialising brought a bit more colour into her pale cheeks. But she didn’t look very good, she was sure of it, and was surprised when a first year approached her. Lily approved of the first year’s outfit - Kit, her name was if she remembered correctly - and she mustered up a smile. Lily’s uniform was buttoned up so no one could see her sweats and T-shirt underneath. Lucky they had uniforms at this school else she’d dress like a slob and bring shame to her dear ol’ family.
“Sure. I’m a bit ill, but I’ll try my best.” Duelling was incredibly interesting to her and Lily liked practising both protecting herself and sending spells towards others just in case she ever had to do so in the future. Luckily DADA was her best subject and this work didn’t require thinking quickly on her feet so she wasn’t worried. “I think learning how to effectively protect yourself is important, so you should begin with the defensive spell.” Lily wiped her nose with her handkerchief before readying herself. She felt blooming miserable, but she had to hold it together in front of this younger witch.
“Ready? Here I go… Expelliarmus!”
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Lily Spencer, Pecari
Not so ready.
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Lily Spencer, Pecari
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Kit
November 03, 2016 5:00 PM
It'll be okay by Kit
Kit frowned when the other girl mentioned being sick. She felt awful for the other girl, but she also hoped that she didn’t get sick herself. She absolutely detested being sick. It was the absolute pits to have to lay in bed all day, not being able to do anything, but read. She loved to read. Though, even that, lost its enjoyment when it was among the inability to breath, the sneezing, the coughing. It was misery.Replacing the frown with a smile, Kit reassured the older girl, “I’m sure that you’ll do great. You already have good advice for this class.” It was true that it wasn’t bad advice. All it took was one offensive spell to hit to take a person out. But a proper defensive spell could turn out to be a lot more useful.
Positioning herself, she waited for the other girl to go. She should have tried to defend herself, but she allowed the spell to hit. It was useful to know what to expect if that occurred. It was a good lesson to learn. Picking up her wand, she repositioned and took her turn. Mimicking the older girl, she commanded, “Expelliarmus!”
She wasn’t sure what to expect. If the spell even hit. But even if it did, there was no telling if she had actually done a good job or if it was simply because the other girl was sick. Of course, if she had been feeling better than her spells could have been more powerful. Kit wasn’t sure of her powers and limitations yet.
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Kit
It'll be okay
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Kit
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Lily
November 07, 2016 3:04 PM
I hope so... by Lily
Lily was glad Kit wasn't running away to find a more able partner. She seemed like a nice witch who even believed in Lily's capabilities. That meant a lot when most of her peers, she was sure, doubted a loud-mouthed witch who didn't find studying enjoyable. She didn't know why boisterous students were regarded as less intelligent, but perhaps that was just Jack's incredibly misguided judgement. Though Lily herself loathed academics - she would much rather play outside with her friends - Sonora wasn't all that bad and her marks were decent.She was shocked and slightly horrified when Kit simply allowed the spell to hit her. "That's not really what I meant," she said, eyes wide. The British witch was glad to see that it didn't harm her, really. It wasn't a very powerful spell anyway, seeing Lily's condition, and for once she was glad for that.
When Kit responded in turn, Lily almost let the spell hit her, but decided instead to deflect it. "Protego!" Lily was rather good at this, she thought. "Do you want another go or do you want to practise defending yourself?" she asked kindly.
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Lily
I hope so...
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Lily
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Kit
November 07, 2016 8:19 PM
We're doing good. by Kit
Kit smiled in turn at Lily’s shock expression. She knew that it must have been surprising since most people would have blocked the spell, but she wasn’t most people. She needed to know cause and effect in more sense than just a textbook definition. Not to mention by not doing what was expected, it would throw the opponent off guard. She had read about the idea of mind games in a book that she had read and it seemed applicable here. Not that she was trying to hurt Lily in any way, but it was good practice. It was how she would eventually be able to duel with the best of them.When Lily blocked her spell, she wasn’t surprised. It was completely natural to try to protect one’s self. She watched carefully for the movement the other girl performed. It was nearly an art to watch, to figure someone out. The older dueler could most likely still beat her out of experience and knowledge. But that was all right. She even hoped that they would be able to do this again when Lily was feeling better. She wanted to make this as difficult as possible so she would learn. Plus, it was oddly fun.
“I’ll go again and then I’ll take a turn at defending?” Kit thought that would work. And it might allow Lily more freedom without having to pause between the spells. “Ready?”
Once Lily was ready, Kit aimed for the same spot. She was looking for repeated patterns. She was sure that she would have some herself, but noticing them in her opponent was key. Repeated movements meant predictability. “Expelliarmus!”
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Kit
We're doing good.
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Kit
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