Grayson Wright
September 21, 2023 4:14 PM
Beginner Charms - Sparkly! by Grayson Wright
The Beginners had all survived anywhere from three and a half to one and a half terms of Charms lessons, and the ratio of days in the week where fires needed extinguishing to days in the week where they did not had, more or less, tipped in the more desirable direction. Between this and how he’d somehow both cleared his in-box of annoying letters and almost caught up on grading over the weekend, Professor Wright was in a good mood as he started his class.“Welcome, everyone! I hope everyone’s ready to start a new unit.” They had taken their unit exams for the last one over the course of two days the previous week, and he’d decided to be merciful and not assign them any reading over the weekend. Hopefully, this would translate into them being slightly better-rested and more ready to learn new things than they might have been otherwise, and not to everything they’d ever learned about charms having leaked out of their heads over the course of forty-eight hours.
“Lumos, as you all know, is the light-creating spell – specifically, causing a small area of visible light to emanate from a focus point. It’s also only the first of a number of charms which involve light manipulation. We’re going to look at another one today – one which creates a small field of semi-random effects, so, more difficult. To demonstrate - “ he held up a plain sheet of paper and tapped it with his wand. “Scintillate!”
The paper began to sparkle brightly, as though it had been encrusted in sequins that threw back the light around it at angles. Examination, however, would reveal that the paper had not changed its appearance or texture; it behaved as thought it had features which should have included glittering as a property, but creating such features would have been a transfiguration. This paper retained all the qualities and properties of paper, but it nevertheless behaved as though it had additional ones, though in this case it was simply an illusion bending light waves near the paper.
“Finite incantatem,” he said after a moment, tapping the paper again to make the glittering stop. He could have performed the spell nonverbally just as easily, but liked to remind the students of that incantation before giving them new ones to attempt. It was his job to solve most of the problems that invariably arose with this age group, but it never hurt to nudge them toward doing it themselves where possible, especially with the second years. In just a few months, they would be in Intermediates and by the end of their third year, they would be casting charms on each other in class; they were, in other words, on the brink of being expected to take real responsibility for what they did with their magic. Finite incantatem was a good contender for the most useful spell taught between the first day of a student’s first year and the point in around fifth year where they started learning complex counter-charms.
“Of course, this spell...is only of limited practical value,” he admitted. “Not many applications outside of decorations. You never know when you might need something mildly decorative, though - “ he suspected there might be a brief fad among the Beginner girls for sparkly pencil cases and the like, and perhaps a few unnaturally shiny objects attached to an attendee or two at the Midsummer Ball – “and it’s a step toward more complex illusions. By the time you take your next set of tests, you should be able to make a surface into a temporary mirror without too much trouble, and by the end of the year, I hope some of you will be able to make a page full of text appear blank to anyone who doesn’t test it magically for enchantments.
“By the time you finish fifth year, you’ll be able to make it appear blank to everyone except yourself, or like it has text from a different piece of paper on it. Among other tricks. But for now – you’ll begin by doing what I just did, which is trying to make an entire sheet of paper appear to sparkle, so that I can’t really tell if there’s writing on it or not. It will probably take several tries to get more than one point of light going at once, especially for first years – experiment with it, see if tapping different areas on the paper gives you a better effect than others. Second years, if you want to challenge yourselves, you can attempt to create different-colored effects from the list of spell modifiers at the beginning of your textbook. Homework’s to read chapter eleven and write a paragraph summary in your own words. Begin.”
There was a chance this could cause fires, of course, but one of the small mercies of Beginner Charms was that students rarely had the skill to create light illusions that could act enough like mirrors for long enough to do that. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t finish grading their tests this class period, but would keep an eye on them for the most part instead. Just in case.
Subthreads: Ooh! by Ursula Arcadius with Alma Brockert
Shiny? by Edu Alamilla with Cecily Welles
Future so bright, I gotta wear shades. by Violet Calhoun with Leo Lyons
Not feeling as such by Charlotte O'Malley with Quillan Arcadius
Twinkle twinkle piece of paper. by Mathias Melcher
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Grayson Wright
Beginner Charms - Sparkly!
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5
Charlotte O'Malley
October 12, 2023 6:26 AM
Not feeling as such by Charlotte O'Malley
Charlotte was the only second year girl without a date to the Ball-and while she wasn’t devastated, she had to admit that she was pretty disappointed. Although she understood that sometimes boys her age weren’t interested in girls yet and had not expected to have a date to the Ball this time, it still was not an especially nice feeling to be different in this way.She wondered what was wrong with her. Why hadn’t Quillan asked her? Didn’t he like her? Like, at all? Was it just that he was shy? After all, not every twelve year old boy or boy of any age had that sort of confidence. Her dad hadn’t and her parents hadn’t become a couple until they were graduating. However, Mom hadn’t been the only girl in her year without a Ball date either.
Maybe Quillan didn’t want to desert his friends. Which Charlotte would have respected, as nobody should be left without anyone to hang out with and she was sure there were even others that she could talk to if the other second year didn’t ask her to the Ball. Except in the case of Quillan’s friends, Desmond and Nicholas could still hang out with each other or ask someone themselves. There were at least three respectable first year girls. (Although, she realized with some horror, that the three Aladren boys could ask those first year girls and she’d still end up alone. She really hoped that didn’t happen.)
The thing was, not only had Quillan not asked her…nobody else had either. And it was decidedly shaking Charlotte’s confidence. Like she really wondered what was so awful and unappealing about her? What did Misty and Ida have about them that made someone want to ask them to the Ball that Charlotte didn’t have? She had thought that she and Quillan were as good of friends as Misty was with Donovan or Ida was with Alexander even if nobody was seriously thinking about romance at this point. As for other boys, well the Teppenpaw supposed that she wasn’t that close to any of them, but she still couldn’t help wondering if she had some glaring flaw that she had somehow missed for the last thirteen years, something that everyone saw besides her.
It could have been worse though. At least Quillan hadn’t asked anyone else . Then Charlotte probably would have been really upset. Still, she probably would not have been upset at all if she wasn’t the only girl in the second year without a date. It had never happened to her before, but being the odd one out really was a terrible feeling. The Teppenpaw would still want to go with him but she might not have felt quite so bad if that wasn’t the case.
Professor Wright started the class and she forced herself to pay attention. Okay, making things sparkly. This could be fun. Charlotte could definitely use it as an element when crafting, which she guessed by his comment about this being limited in use, her professor did not do much. Of course, everyone had different hobbies. She liked to make things, Professor Wright seemed to like looking up obscure information and sharing that with the students, not unlike Gabriel actually.
Charlotte took out a piece of paper and grabbed her wand. “Scintillate “ ” She cast the spell, leaving sparkes scattered over half the paper. She sighed. She supposed it was pretty good, but she might have done even better had she been a bit more on. Making things sparkle seemed to be a spell one would do better when they were in a good mood.
She was just about to try again when she heard the person next to her address her.
11
Charlotte O'Malley
Not feeling as such
1573
0
5
Quillan Arcadius
October 19, 2023 7:56 AM
Oh but you are by Quillan Arcadius
According to the agreement he’d set with his roommates, Quillan had five days left to inform them whether or not he was going to the dance with Charlotte O’Malley. And he had no idea. He wanted to. Allegedly, according to Desmond, she had no reason to object to him. But whilst Desmond was an authority in a great many errors, ‘what pretty girls think about Quillan’ wasn’t really something you could read a book on, so Quillan was a little hesitant about the credibility of Desmond’s claims. He had stated that they hadn’t come from Charlotte herself, so how was he actually supposed to know whether or not she liked him?That was one barrier to asking. Another was how to actually do it, assuming that he was brave enough. He knew the etiquette of asking someone to dance at a party (make eye contact, slight bow, ask politely then lead your lady to the dance floor if she says ‘yes,’ be gracious if she says ‘no’). He knew how to invite someone else to a party he was hosting (get someone with competent spelling to write fancy invitations and pretend they were from him). This fell in a weird sort of middle ground. He wasn’t just asking her to dance, he was asking her to the whole entire ball but it wasn’t his ball.
Moreover he was, according to the infinite wisdoms of both Desmond and Nicholas, not asking her to be his girlfriend nor marry him, both of which he was pretty sure he could at least have found advice on in an etiquette book.
He wanted to do it nicely, which might mean a flower or a small gift.
The universe decided that the mental torture he was going through in trying to work out how to ask her was insufficient, and that he must also suffer some humiliation, as when he arrived to charms, the only free seats were next to her or Leo.
He almost picked Leo.
But he couldn’t quite bring himself to, and slid instead into the seat next to Charlotte, hoping that perhaps chatting with her for the lesson gave him some clue as to how to ask her out. He definitely needed a focus besides the spell which, as Professor Wright pointed out, was mostly useless.
Though maybe he could make something sparkly for her? Girls liked sparkly things, right?
He tried to think sparkly, pretty, Charlotte-related thoughts as he tapped his paper.
“That’s odd,” he said, more to himself than anyone as a slim, looping curve appeared on his paper. Which attracted Charlotte’s attention. Just as realised what most people would have realised much more immediately, which was that it was a large, cursive letter ‘C’ which was what Charlotte’s name began with however much it sounded like it didn’t.
“Nothing,” he said, flipping the paper over quickly. “Just… messy. Yours is good though.”
13
Quillan Arcadius
Oh but you are
1570
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5
Charlotte O'Malley
October 19, 2023 12:50 PM
Aw, thanks by Charlotte O'Malley
Charlotte turned her head when she heard Quillan say something. She had been very aware of his presence ever since he had sat down given how she’d been wanting him to ask her to the ball and how that had been on her mind an awful lot.. She hoped that he was sitting there because he wanted to and not because it had been one of the only seats left when he’d shown up.Of course, she’d greeted him when he sat down, because it would have been rude not to. Which would not have been the case with everyone although Charlotte did usually say hi to most people. She wanted to be friendly and helpful, especially with the first years. However, as Quillan was her friend, she certainly was not going to ignore him.
For one thing, she didn’t want him to think she was mad at him. She really wasn’t. There were logical reasons why he might not have asked her such as being shy. Although he was in activities, mainly Quidditch and Speech and Debate Club that she didn’t really associate with shyness, being that her dad and Wally were both shy and Charlotte couldn’t see them joining either, Dad being unable to get a broomstick to actually come up being beside the point.
Of course, one of Piper’s tent mates at the Bonfire, Yarielis used to play Quidditch and she wasn’t exactly the most outgoing person, so the Teppenpaw just thought it was some weird pattern in her brain that associate athletic people with being outgoing even though arguably it didn’t necessarily seem to be something that would go hand in hand with each other.
However, Speech and Debate on the other hand…well, someone had to be confident in their opinions and not be worried others were going to make fun of them for what they thought. Which was not really how her dad was. He only ever felt safe to express himself with those he was comfortable with, thanks tpuusho Biological Grandma Who Shall Not Be Mentioned. Even though Charlotte had picked up enough-mainly because some of her relatives would occasionally spill the beans when they’d been drinking.
Then again, she supposed that sharing your opinions in a club was not quite the same as interpersonal relationships. Or in certain areas or certain subjects. Her dad was quite passionate when rescuing children from bad homes and was willing to share those opinions and findings with his bosses but would probably not be comfortable discussing other controversial subjects. Or meeting new people.
The point was, Charlotte could see how someone could be involved in certain activities-or for that matter, activities in general-but still be afraid to ask someone out. It could even mean that you cared more about that person’s opinions and whether or not they’d reject you. Quillan could also be just not…at an age where he was interested in girls yet. Or he could not be interested in girls at all, that was a possibility too. Which would be fine with her albeit a bit disappointing. Or maybe he and his roommates had agreed to just hang out with each other, Though why they hadn’t included Alexander in such a pact was beyond her, unless they made it after he asked Ida.
Or Quillan could just not like her. That was also a possibility, but a very depressing one.
“Oh, that’s really not bad.” Charlotte replied. Clearly he had said something else but she wasn’t going to push the issue and embarrass him. “I mean, messy isn’t anything to worry about right now, I mean, nobody’s going to do this perfectly.” Okay,Kira might have been able to, but most people weren’t Kira. “Thank you though.” She replied, blushing a little at the compliment.
11
Charlotte O'Malley
Aw, thanks
1573
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5
Quillan Arcadius
October 20, 2023 9:55 PM
You're welcome by Quillan Arcadius
“Thanks,” he said, as she said ‘messy’ wasn’t anything to worry about. She hadn’t seen. Or, if she had, she was pretending not to have and was politely not saying anything. Quillan would take that. He would have loved to know which it was, but as there was no way of finding out without drawing further attention to it, he would just have to take it at face value.“You’re welcome,” he said. She was blushing a little. He cast a quick glance over her own paper to try and work out whether she had anything to be embarrassed about, but he didn’t see anything wrong. Her own sparkles weren’t spelling out his name or anything.
He ought to make another attempt at the spell. But he would need to banish all ball-related, Charlotte-related thoughts from his head before he risked it. Which was much harder to do when she was right there. How was he supposed to not think about how pretty she was, or how he was running out of time to ask her, when she was right next to him?
“Do you have plans for the weekend?” he asked, desperately stalling on returning to the task, lest his magic betrayed him again.
13
Quillan Arcadius
You're welcome
1570
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Charlotte O'Malley
October 21, 2023 5:18 PM
Good, that's good. by Charlotte O'Malley
Maybe it was a fairly minor compliment that Quillan paid her, saying her spellwork was good-at least that seemed to be what he’d complimented her on-but at the moment, it wasn’t as if Charlotte was feeling really great about herself so even that meant a lot. Actually it was a pretty nice compliment since being a good witch, being good at magic was important, generally speaking. She wasn’t sure it was exactly what she wanted right now, but she would take it.Especially from Quillan. Charlotte was…decidedly craving validation from him. Well, okay, she was craving a ball invite and admittedly, it wasn’t all because she wanted to go with him. Well, she did, obviously there were other boys who could have asked her, but the Aladren was definitely the person she’d prefer. Still, part of the issue was that she was still the only girl in her year without a date to the Ball and it was just not a pleasant feeling at all. She felt like she was inferior to Ida and Misty somehow and so, any compliment on anything right now, especially from Quillan, the boy she actually wanted to go to the Ball with was appreciated.
“You’re welcome too.” Charlotte replied. Honestly, arguably, she had given less of a compliment than he’d given her since basically what she’d done was just reassured him. Still, she didn’t want him to feel bad if he hadn’t done a perfect job at his spell. The Teppenpaw didn’t like for anyone to feel bad, let alone someone she considered her closest friend regardless of whether or not he felt the same way.
Not that Charlotte thought there was a correlation between that and anything having to do with the Ball, just that Quillan also was friends with his roommates and Alexander so he might have considered them closer friends than her generally speaking. Like, Desmond and Nicholas were his roommates, that tended to be a chance for more bonding than he had with her. One that Charlotte didn’t have with anyone being that she didn’t have a roommate.
Of course, it wasn’t always the case, since while Aunt Peyton and her roommate at Sonora, Jasmine were best friends, Mom hadn’t been close to hers at all and Wally’s had bonded more with Lavender than him. So, yes,roommates weren’t the be all and end all, but still Quillan was friends with his and therefore, might be closer to them than her.
Anyway, it was possible that Quillan was just appreciating that she had reassured him.And that was nice too. Charlotte was glad to have made someone feel better and she’d also really meant what she had said. She assumed that his paper was like an explosion of scattered sparkles and not as neat and tidy as he probably would have preferred since he did seem to be a neat and tidy sort of person. His other friends seemed to be the neat and tidy sorts too and maybe he was worried that they’d judge him and that Charlotte would too? Which she wouldn’t, of course.
Then Quillan asked if she had plans for the weekend. Was he hoping to do something with her? Maybe it wasn’t the Ball invite that she was hoping for but…still it would make her plenty happy if he did want to spend time with her this weekend. “Nope! No plans at all!” Charlotte hurriedly replied. Even if he wasn’t going to ask her to do something, at least he was taking interest in what she was doing and that was good, right?
11
Charlotte O'Malley
Good, that's good.
1573
0
5