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Iris tilted her head slightly, considering her own answer even as she gave it...and now that she was paying proper attention, something else itched at her thoughts. Professor Khanna’s approval of her answer sent a flicker of satisfaction through her, but it wasn’t enough to quiet her curiosity - after all, there really was only one "wrong" answer to the professor's question so odd of you simply guessing a good answer were astronomically in your favor. If the lesson was on the Impediment Jinx, why start with a question about what wouldn’t work? And why use Lethifolds as the example? It was an oddly specific choice. As Iris jotted down the notes on the Impediment Jinx, her quill moved on complete subconscious instinct, but her mind remained tangled in the odd way this lesson had begun. Lethifolds weren’t exactly a common threat - more of a terrifying what-if scenario whispered about in Magical Beasts to Avoid at All Costs kind of vibes and were so dangerous the Ministry didn’t even bother with attempts to control or domesticate them. If you were unlucky enough to encounter one, you either knew how to cast a Patronus or you disappeared forever. Those were just the facts.
Iris’s brow furrowed as she considered the approach. It was strange, wasn’t it? The question on the board hadn’t been how would you defend yourself against a Lethifold? but instead which spell would you not use? A lesson framed around what not to do. That wasn’t common in Defense Against the Dark Arts - usually, they jumped right into what to cast, what would work, what could save you. She thought back to other creatures or magical forces where certain spells were useless, or worse, humiliatingly counterproductive. If you tried to stun a Dementor, it wouldn’t even flinch. A Reducto against a Boggart? Well, you could try, but you’d probably just destroy its current hideout or send its shattered pieces reforming into twice as many fears. The Incarcerous Spell against a werewolf? That might work on the person before they transformed, but once the moon took hold, there was no stopping it with something so simple.
Maybe that was the point. The reminder that sometimes, spells failed. That it was more about figuring out when to use a spell instead of just how? After all, often spells were taught as catch-all solutions, but real magic ... the practical, life-saving magic ... was all about knowing when to pivot. You had to be able to think through the fight, not just fire off the first thing that came to mind.
She flipped back to the notes she’d already written, fighting off the urge to delve back into the sentence she had been force to leave midtranslation due to class beginning, and added a line beneath her explanation of Wingardium Leviosa: Knowing what won’t work is just as important as knowing what will.
Her curiosity far from quelled, the Ravenclaw had enough poise and patience to not question methodology at this time and relaxed a bit more into her seat to settle in for some practice. "Im-PED-i-MEN-ta," Iris murmured under her breath, shaping each syllable carefully. She repeated it again, testing the rhythm of the word on her tongue, making sure she didn’t stumble over the middle syllables in particular. Satisfied, she shifted her focus to the wand movement. With steady fingers, she traced a short diagonal line in the air—just under 13 centimeters—clean and precise, exactly as Professor Khanna had demonstrated. She repeated the motion, adjusting the angle slightly each time to ensure it was fluid and controlled. Rising and repeating, so to speak, until she was certain both the incantation and movement were committed to muscle memory.
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