Lesson: Flying: Broom Balance and Snowball Fight!

[PhoenixRising]

The unfortunate thing with flying was that one could never predict the weather and sometimes a blustery winter snowstorm took effect the night before that had the quidditch pitch blanketed in white. It was only the beginning of December too. The only nice thing about the white was how picturesque it was, particularly before footprints tracked through.

Standing at the edge of the quidditch pitch, Amelia was surveying the pitch with her broomstick held in right hand like a walking stick. She wondered how many would brave the cold and snow this morning, but surely being in Scotland, they were used to the climate.


ooc: hiiiii!!!! Welcome to flying! As it's IC December, this would not be the first flying lesson of the term and your students would also be familiar with Professor Adara from Potions. Also a couple other things, since flying is more of an extracurricular this term, you can bring both your student characters BUT please make sure there's a distinction which includes font color and names. If you care about this sort of thing there will be a small amount of participation points per student, but won't be to the full scale of a lesson. Any other questions/comments, please PM and we'll begin in about 20ish hours

[FearlessLeader19]

Ary was one of those students who braved the cold weather. Not that it was much of a challenge when one was bundled up adequately, and there were a few Heating Charms in place to keep him warm. He did like the way the snow covered practically everything in sight, especially the pitch. It was a pity him and his classmates would eventually scuff up that bit of beauty.

Spotting Adara, the third year gave her the usual greeting as he approached. In his hand, he held his very own broom. He still didn't care very much about owning one but his dads had insisted. In hindsight, it was a good thing to have his own since Ary knew the School brooms were not the best.

Anyway...

Where were the other students at?

[Kolyander]

Bryony would've loved to be playing out in this winter wonderland right now but instead she was dressed warmly and making her way towards the Quidditch Pitch, broom in hand. There was no skipping today due to all the snow but she was most certainly singing her little heart out.

"Hello, Professor! Isn't the snow beautiful?!" Bry chirped happily, wiggling her fingers in greeting. Spotting Ary she moved to stand at his side, gently nudging him with his elbow. "Hiya! Do ya wanna build a snow man with me later? It doesn't have to be a snowman," asks in a sing-song voice.. obviously.

[Nordic Witch]

Emmeline had bundled herself up against the winter cold pretty well before she made the walk from her common room, and out onto the pitch for flying class. A snow storm hadn't cancelled the flying lesson so Emmie wasn't going to miss a chance to learn how to fly on her broom with her auntie Amelia.

Entering the pitch Emmie waved in cheerful greeting despite the cold. "Hi auntie professor Adara!" before going over to stand beside her friends. "Hi Aryan!, Hi Bryony! Does either of you know, will it be harder to fly in the cold?" she wondered before looking around at all the white snow.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Flying was not Sydney’s thing. As much as she hated to admit it, Blakeney was the better flier of the Masters twins. Despite her shortcomings, she could see the uses in learning to fly, so she was here and ready to learn.

The snowy weather had no effect on the blonde’s usual stoic disposition. She was neither excited nor annoyed about the snow; it was just there, softly crunching under her feet as she walked. Bundled up against the winter weather in a matching red hat and gloves, she made ehr way to the quidditch pitch with a school broom in hand. “Hello, Professor,” she greeted, nodding politely.

She joined the other students, eyeing the way Professor Adara held her broom with mild curiosity. Well, that was an interesting way to hold a broomstick. If one had to hold one, might as well have fun with it. She adjusted the way she held her broom, though with her small stature, it looked more like she was holding a staff than a walking stick.

[PhoenixRising]

SPOILER!!: Hi <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Ary was one of those students who braved the cold weather. Not that it was much of a challenge when one was bundled up adequately, and there were a few Heating Charms in place to keep him warm. He did like the way the snow covered practically everything in sight, especially the pitch. It was a pity him and his classmates would eventually scuff up that bit of beauty.

Spotting Adara, the third year gave her the usual greeting as he approached. In his hand, he held his very own broom. He still didn't care very much about owning one but his dads had insisted. In hindsight, it was a good thing to have his own since Ary knew the School brooms were not the best.

Anyway...

Where were the other students at?

The cold wasn't THAT bad and considering they all had lived in this climate for awhile some longer than others if you counted professors, it should be something they're accustomed to. Besides when there was pretty white floof, it made it all the more bearable. Fortunately too for flying, they could preserve the quality of the way the snow laid on the pitch since they wouldn't be trampling all over.

Also, she was grateful for parents who insisted on getting their kids their own brooms. Although the school brooms had improved severely over the decades, sometimes owning something of your own helped with motivation for one. Finger wiggling in return at Ary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

Bryony would've loved to be playing out in this winter wonderland right now but instead she was dressed warmly and making her way towards the Quidditch Pitch, broom in hand. There was no skipping today due to all the snow but she was most certainly singing her little heart out.

"Hello, Professor! Isn't the snow beautiful?!" Bry chirped happily, wiggling her fingers in greeting. Spotting Ary she moved to stand at his side, gently nudging him with his elbow. "Hiya! Do ya wanna build a snow man with me later? It doesn't have to be a snowman," asks in a sing-song voice.. obviously.

Fortunately for Bryony, playing in the winter snow was pretty much the theme of today's flying lesson. So no, she didn't need to fret too much. "So beautiful and leaving it mostly untouched with flying too." She beamed at Professor Paton's youngest, wondering if she'd be seeing her older brother here too.

As far as her song, she did want to chime in a continuation of the classic lyrics, but decided best to not since it wasn't directed at her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Emmeline had bundled herself up against the winter cold pretty well before she made the walk from her common room, and out onto the pitch for flying class. A snow storm hadn't cancelled the flying lesson so Emmie wasn't going to miss a chance to learn how to fly on her broom with her auntie Amelia.

Entering the pitch Emmie waved in cheerful greeting despite the cold. "Hi auntie professor Adara!" before going over to stand beside her friends. "Hi Aryan!, Hi Bryony! Does either of you know, will it be harder to fly in the cold?" she wondered before looking around at all the white snow.

"Hello Emmie, welcome! Glad you could make it" she greeted the ravenclaw, ignoring her almost calling her aunt. This question she would answer, however. "Cold shouldn't make any difference, however if there was an active blizzard outside, then I'd say yes." But she wasn't insane and unless there was an important game, there would be no need for flying in such conditions. This was all for fun and educational.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Flying was not Sydney’s thing. As much as she hated to admit it, Blakeney was the better flier of the Masters twins. Despite her shortcomings, she could see the uses in learning to fly, so she was here and ready to learn.

The snowy weather had no effect on the blonde’s usual stoic disposition. She was neither excited nor annoyed about the snow; it was just there, softly crunching under her feet as she walked. Bundled up against the winter weather in a matching red hat and gloves, she made ehr way to the quidditch pitch with a school broom in hand. “Hello, Professor,” she greeted, nodding politely.

She joined the other students, eyeing the way Professor Adara held her broom with mild curiosity. Well, that was an interesting way to hold a broomstick. If one had to hold one, might as well have fun with it. She adjusted the way she held her broom, though with her small stature, it looked more like she was holding a staff than a walking stick.

No matter if one was skilled or not in flying. She did appreciate Sydney being present regardless of skill level. Also that was why they were here, to learn... "Hello Sydney. Welcome!"

"Glad you all braved the cold and I see you're all dressed warmly. Today we'll be doing some scrimmage style exercises to practice our broom balance while also having some fun with the snow we were blessed with and before Christmas!" Mounting her broom, she hovered in the air not more than three feet.

"So I trust you're all familiar and comfortable with mounting your brooms?" This was mostly at Sydney, since the others present were older and anyone above first year should be comfortable.

"I'm sure you've all had snowball fights, but if not, we'll be doing a variation of one today.... That is to say, we'll be having one on brooms! Using our wands to charm the snowballs. There are couple of spells you may want in your arsenal before we begin... Any ideas what spells you think might be useful? And we'll take a couple minutes to practice any you might need help with."

"Also, before you panic about having to fly and worry about snowballs... you won't be able to fly higher than about 10 feet, which should give plenty of room."


ooc: hi, sorry for the delay... lots of anxiety of things going on, and hoping more people would come and having to tweak things for the smaller turnout but please come play

[FearlessLeader19]

Ary poked Bry in return with his free hand. “Heya. Sure, why not? We can build a dragon or something though.” And no, he was not singing his response. “Hi, Emmie. Hmmm, I don’t think it’ll be difficult as long as we’re warm - either with Charms or clothing. But if it snows… that’s another thing.”

The Slytherin fell silent as Adara started the lesson. Lessons for balance? He liked the sound of that; it was something that would definitely come in handy sometime. As for broom mounting, that was something he considered easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Aryan raised his free hand to answer the question. “The Banishing Charm - Depulso - is a Charm that would be useful."

[Nordic Witch]

Oops she had almost called her aunt, auntie in front of the whole class. Practically everyone knew already that Professor Adara was her aunt but Emmie didn't need to greet her that way. With her cheeks blushy pink red she was glad when she was distracted by Aryan's voice. Turning her head to her friend she briefly looked up at the sky before responding. "It doesn't look like it's going to rain down snow on us so that's a plus." And it was good if they could fly without trouble from the environment. Pulling her coat closer Emmie raised her hand to answer the question "I think wingardium leviosa will be a useful spell since we'd want to lift the snowballs."

[Kolyander]

"Yesssss! That's the best part!" With them all up in the air flying about, they wouldn't be trampling through the fresh snow and ruining it. Bryony couldn't have agreed more with her Professor right now. As for her brother Logan joining them for the lesson, she didn't know but it would be awesome if he did! Annnnnnnnd had Adara joined in on this blondes song, she wouldn't have minded. In fact, Bry would've loved it and found it to be the best thing ever! Everyone deserved to sing!

Now, why Ary didn't join in she wasn't sure and it made her smile falter a smidge... But only briefly. He did just say he wanted to play out in the snow with her later. "A dragon! A hippogriff! Anything's, you want!" She nodded quickly, her smile growing bright once more.

When Emmie joined them, Bry smiled and nodded in agreement with everything Ary said. "He's right. Just make sure you're really warm and you should be alright. If it starts to snow I'm sure Professor Adara won't allow us to keep flying around." Bryony smiled at her friend.

Oooooh, they were going to have a snowball fight while flying around on their brooms?! How fun was that! The third year looked at her friends and smiles excitedly, bouncing on her toes. Raising her hand in the air she waited her turn to speak. "I don't remember what the spell is called but my older siblings like to use it... The one where you can bewitch snowballs to throw themselves?" Such an epic charm and why she hadn't learned it already.. she honestly didn't know.

[PhoenixRising]

SPOILER!!: Hi again <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Ary poked Bry in return with his free hand. “Heya. Sure, why not? We can build a dragon or something though.” And no, he was not singing his response. “Hi, Emmie. Hmmm, I don’t think it’ll be difficult as long as we’re warm - either with Charms or clothing. But if it snows… that’s another thing.”

The Slytherin fell silent as Adara started the lesson. Lessons for balance? He liked the sound of that; it was something that would definitely come in handy sometime. As for broom mounting, that was something he considered easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Aryan raised his free hand to answer the question. “The Banishing Charm - Depulso - is a Charm that would be useful."

"Ah yes, the banishing charm would be a very useful spell indeed." Professor Adara agreed

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Oops she had almost called her aunt, auntie in front of the whole class. Practically everyone knew already that Professor Adara was her aunt but Emmie didn't need to greet her that way. With her cheeks blushy pink red she was glad when she was distracted by Aryan's voice. Turning her head to her friend she briefly looked up at the sky before responding. "It doesn't look like it's going to rain down snow on us so that's a plus." And it was good if they could fly without trouble from the environment. Pulling her coat closer Emmie raised her hand to answer the question "I think wingardium leviosa will be a useful spell since we'd want to lift the snowballs."

She wouldn't be that bothered if she had, but she did always like to keep that professional balance between family and work, which was somewhat challenging. It was part of why she had taken the hiatus right before Apollo's Hogwarts journey.

"Yes, the levitation charm would be another big one to know and hopefully one that you're all familiar with by now." It was one of the more simple charms to master, after all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

"Yesssss! That's the best part!" With them all up in the air flying about, they wouldn't be trampling through the fresh snow and ruining it. Bryony couldn't have agreed more with her Professor right now. As for her brother Logan joining them for the lesson, she didn't know but it would be awesome if he did! Annnnnnnnd had Adara joined in on this blondes song, she wouldn't have minded. In fact, Bry would've loved it and found it to be the best thing ever! Everyone deserved to sing!

Now, why Ary didn't join in she wasn't sure and it made her smile falter a smidge... But only briefly. He did just say he wanted to play out in the snow with her later. "A dragon! A hippogriff! Anything's, you want!" She nodded quickly, her smile growing bright once more.

When Emmie joined them, Bry smiled and nodded in agreement with everything Ary said. "He's right. Just make sure you're really warm and you should be alright. If it starts to snow I'm sure Professor Adara won't allow us to keep flying around." Bryony smiled at her friend.

Oooooh, they were going to have a snowball fight while flying around on their brooms?! How fun was that! The third year looked at her friends and smiles excitedly, bouncing on her toes. Raising her hand in the air she waited her turn to speak. "I don't remember what the spell is called but my older siblings like to use it... The one where you can bewitch snowballs to throw themselves?" Such an epic charm and why she hadn't learned it already.. she honestly didn't know.

Encouraging snowball fights was not typical she suspected among professors, but she liked to think it was all in the name of education and it would be a much more controlled environment in this way. If they had to do a flying lesson, may as well make it enjoyable. "There isn't actually an incantation for this, but more just a focused concentration and a sweep of your wand upwards."

Okay so they had some basic spells to utilize, now came the fun part of actually getting to the activity. But first she should provide the tools to use. No blackboard outside, but utilizing her wand she 'air-wrote' in cloud formation for each of the spells. "There's at least one more that you might find useful, which is protego munio and works to cause solid particles to form a shield around you. Of course if you think of others, you're more than welcome to use them if you feel comfortable. Today's lesson is mostly focused on balance with also dealing with distractions of snowballs...."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spells might find useful

Protego Munio
A spell that causes solid particles to form a shield around you
Incantation: Protego Munio (pro-TAY-go MOO-nee-oh)
Wand movement: sweeping vertical line upwards followed by a flick at the end
Difficulty: moderate
Other: need to maintain a high level of concentration

Bewitched Snowballs
Incantation: none, just high focused concentration
Wand movement: sweep of wand upwards

Banishing Charm
Incantation: Depulso (de-PUHL-so)
Wand Movement: Wide U / Smile

Levitation Charm
Incantation: Wingardium Leviosa (wing-GAR-dee-um leh-vee-OH-sa)
Wand movement: Swish and flick

Cold Object charm
Incantation: Conglacio (con-GLAY-see-oh)
Wand Movement: Circle wand around target

"So while maintain balance on your brooms, you're to throw snowballs and also protect yourself from oncoming attacks. No other spells should be used unless it's to aid or defend against the flying snowballs. The main objective is to work on broom balance, as aforementioned, while dealing with flying objects."

"You have ... twenty minutes. Ready? Set ... Go!"


ooc: Hope this all makes sense... You can partner collaborate if you like, but given the participation, I suspect individual will work best. If you need assistance, let me know. We'll have about 48ish hours for this activity (and yes, Professor Adara says she'll participating too )

[Holmesian Feline]

Snow hadn’t been something that was gonna keep Nadia from the pitch for this latest flying lesson. It wasn’t like it was actively a blizzard and whatever activity her captain and professor had in store would more than keep them warm besides they warm clothes she and anyone else had bundled themselves in. Having slipped into class just before Adara had begun (there really were far too many steps between the towers and the pitch), she was there when the woman spoke up, revealing what fun lay before them.

Arial snowball fighting…awesome!

Choosing to listen as others, including her brother, provided spells, Nadia mentally went over the ones she knew. The fifth year reading the others out of the air as Professor Adara wrote them down for all to see and trying not to be twitchy in wait for getting up in the air. She didn’t out her balancing on a broom skills, she wouldn’t be playing quidditch if she couldn’t manage that. It was the casting…wands weren’t quaffles and beater bats and even in dueling you weren’t moving quite as much as you were flying. Thankfully the wait to begin was finally over and the Gryffindor obeyed, mounting her broom and kicking off the snow-covered ground without too much trouble, flying up to a spot for her to begin and settling in as she decided her first move spellwise.

[FearlessLeader19]

With a snow date set with Bry {who was clearly overexcited, as usual}, Ary gave her another grin for the time being before shifting his attention to Professor Adara. The woman was right: there were so many spells that could be used for today’s activity {which already sounded like an exciting one, by the way}, some of which he was already mentally running through.

As for the activity, the instructions were quite simple and in no time, the Slytherin was on his broom, kicking off from the ground and rising slowly. Using a Charm, snow was scooped up. The white powder was immediately formed into a ball. “Depulso.” Tracing out that ‘wide U’ movement, the snowball was launched and sent flying towards a - hopefully unsuspecting - target.

[MadMadamMalfoy]

Sydney nodded in reply to Professor Adara’s question. She was comfortable with mounting the broom, but actually steering it once she got into the air was another matter. Nothing she couldn’t handle on her own with enough practice, though… She listened to the activity instructions, mildly interested. Oh, a snowball fight… that sounded fun and chaotic.

Sydney saw no need to mention any spells. That could potentially give away her strategy, and she was already at a disadvantage being a younger student with limited spell knowledge and flying experience. She did, however, listen intently to the other students’ spell suggestions, paying attention as the spell information appeared in the air. She considered her options carefully. Protego Munio sounded hard, and she doubted she’d be able to maintain focus with people and objects flying around her. Likewise with the bewitched snowballs… unless there was a way to bewitch them to scratch or bite their target, what was the point when you could use other spells for that purpose? And Wingardium Leviosa? Everyone would expect that…

She decided to focus on Conglacio and Depulso, taking a few moments to practice the incantation and wand movement for each spell before mounting her broom. She liked the U-shaped movement for Depulso… it looked like a smile, and that reminded her of someone. She kicked off, gripping the broom handle in her right hand and her wand in her left. Balancing on the broom midair, she aimed her wand at the nearest patch of snow. “Conglacio! Conglacio! Conglacio!” she cast repeatedly. Her idea was to have an arsenal of snowballs ready, rather than pausing to create a new one between each throw.

While she was doing that, she spotted a snowball flying toward her and swerved to the right just in time to avoid it. She was surprised but not at all rattled by it. If the others thought she was going down that easily, that was… haha, never going to happen. She may be young, but she was smart and not one to quit without a fight. A slight smile appeared on her face and a determined look in her eye as she made the U wand movement. “Depulso!” she cast, sending one of her snowballs back in the direction the first one came from.

[FearlessLeader19]

Aryan arrived at the conclusion that having to create one snowball everytime he was ready to send it someone’s way was not the best course of action. Almost immediately he regretted not recognising this earlier but then figured there would be time to create some soon. Hopefully.

But just not at this precise moment!

Sydney had sent a snowball back!

“Protego Munio.” Ary focused with all his might as the wand movement was quickly done: a sweeping vertical line upwards followed by a flick at the end. Immediately, ice flew out from the ground to form a transparent shield around him. The snowball thudded into it. Grinning to himself, the Slytherin decided to keep the shield around him while using magic to create a great horde of ammunition a.k.a snowballs.

Maybe he would even create a couple giant ones

[PhoenixRising]

Professor Adara watched from her broomstick as the students participated on a rather mellow scale. Perhaps it was that they were friends, but surely friends liked to have a good old fashioned snowball fight? Or would they rather one that wasn't professor-sanctioned? Who really was to say these days? Some days she still felt seventeen and other days she was definitely feeling her age, particularly with some of the slang these kids were utilizing.

She was pleased too to see the Protego Munio spell be used as well, since it was likely a relatively new spell.

Whistling to call to their attention, "Unfortunately we're out of time for the lesson. If you have no lessons after this, you're welcome to hang around and freestyle fly for a little while." Or not. Whatever floated their broom, really. Did people still say that?


ooc: Just calling an official post to end the lesson. feel free to post again leaving, or not. Thanks for coming