First Charms Class: Part 2
 

The first thing you notice as you walk into the charms classroom is that the tables and chairs have been pushed into a ring around the walls, creating a large open space in the middle the room.

"Good afternoon class," a worn-looking Professor Branxton greeted he class. "Today we will continue to perfect the Diary Charm wand movement and then introduce the incantation. Please take out your wands and demonstrate the movement for me as I walk among you."

Ray took his wand, and started his wand motion, he made three circle, flicked his wand two times, than paused and finally made a final flick. He kept doing the same movement, till the movement became easy to Ray, he looked at the professor walking among the students.
"Professor can we get the incantation now?"

Professor Doyle demonstrated the wand movement once again for those who may have been absent from the last class or had forgotten.

Click here to view wand movement

Cassandra raised her hand "It's to keep your Diary secret, by password and thumbprint."

Watching as the Professor repeated the wand movement, Ali pulled his wand out of his pocket and tried to imitate what Prof. Branxton was doing.
Three circles, flick, hold, flick, he told himself, whilst repeating the movements with his wand.

He then looked towards a fellow student as she answered the question. I should've known that, he thought to himself.

Antwone nodded to the Slytherin girl who answered his question.

"Thank you," he said. A Slytherin actually being nice? Antwone found it utterly surprising.

"Not quite," he smiled encouragingly and repeated the motion while he explained. "Three turns clockwise, then two slow flicks, pause, and one long flick."

"Yes, both of those are correct. The diary can only be opened by speaking the correct password," Professor Doyle confirmed. "And only the person who cast the password charm should be able to turn the pages. A sort of double security measure. However, it should be noted that this charm can be broken so, if you have something you want to keep absolutely secret, you either need to purchase a special diary with added, unbreakable, security measures or keep those thoughts in your head. For every day use, this charm should suffice since students and most other witches and wizards would not know the counter-charms necessary to break it. So, make sure you remember the password you've chosen."

Professor Doyle wandered around the class a bit more before coming to stand in front of his desk. "Now we will learn the incantation. Clausaltus Obfirmo. It spoken during the pause between the two flicks and the long flick. Practice saying the words without your wand. Then, practice the timing of the incantation by moving your wrist but, without a wand.

"Clow-sal-tus Ob-firm-o," he enunciated.

Cassandra smirked, she liked outshining the Ravenclaws in brains... and liked being recognized for it.

She pulled her wand out and took a notebook, using the wand movement, Three turns clockwise, then two slow flicks, pause, and one long flick she thought as she said "Clow-sal-tus Ob-firm-o."

Amelia nodded at the Professor and laughed silently at her stupidity for mixing which you do twice or three times. She decided to try the motions again before practicing the incantations. Her wand hand moved clockwise three times, then she gave it two slow flicks, and paused before giving it one long flick. "Whew! I think I got it this time!"

Setting her wand down on the table nearest her, she decided to practice saying the incantation a few times first, especially given her luck this year with charms. "Clas-alt-us Ob-firm-o"

Ponessa gripped her wand lightly and thought through the movements as she performed them. Turn....turn, turn...flick flick..pause....flick! After a few moments practice she said the incantation-no wand, of course. "Clausaltus Obfirmo!"

Cassandra shook her head watching the first year Ravenclaw with his wand.

She wanted to test the notebook, but the Professor hadn't told them how to set the password... what would hers be...

Jezz took out her wand and did the motion a few times before saying, "Clausaltus Obfirmo!" She wasn't sure if she had done it right becase she had no clue what was supposed to happen. Her note book still looked the same though.

Jezz dropped her wand back into her bag. "Clausaltus obfirmo!" she said, doing the movements with no wand. She thought she had it down, but was unsure so she she kept practicing. Her headache was back though, and the bruise across her forehead was still slightly visible.

The professor's voice made Ponessa jump slightly, but then again, everything did. She continued practicing the incantation-she wanted to make sure no mistakes were made, "Clausaltus obfirmo, Clausaltus obfirmo..." She repeated softly.

After a lot of practice of the spell Agie believed that she had mastered it. She noticed that the professor look really down so she went over and asked "Is everything alright , professor?"

Pauline used her finger as a wand and did the motions while saying the spell. "Clausaltus obfirmo" she said and hoped what she was doing right, but really she wouldn't know until she got to use her wand. She would not use it though cause testing Proffesor Braxton would put her in great danger of his wrath and she preferred not to be in that direct line of path.

She continued praticing until he gave the next instructions. As she waited she noticed not many people were in this class. Maybe that was why he wasn'y saying much.

Professor Branxton looked and cleaned his glasses before putting them back on. "No, not quite but, let's concentrate on the lesson," he said and then got up. "If you think you've got the incantation down let's add the password part."

Doyle moved into the center of the room and conjured a table with a book. He began the wand movement as he started the spell. Three turns of his wrist and two flicks, the second flick tapping the very tip of his wand on the book. "Clausaltus obfirmo," incanted on the pause, a small flash of white issuing from his wand and then, he tapped the book again as he began the slow flick.

As he raised his wand slowly upwards he said, "Open sesame," and the white light which connected his wand and the book broke and seemed to be absorbed by the book.

Professor Branxton demonstrated the success of the charm by reaching over to open the book. It remained closed until he said the password; only then was he able to flip through the pages. "Timing is everything. I suggest practicing without wands or books and once you are ready, try it on something you won't mind ruining. If this spell goes wrong you can end up with anything from a vanished book to one that will never open again to any number of other possible unwanted outcomes."

Austin practiced the movement, muttering "Clausaltus Obfirmo". He watched the other students who seemed to be getting the hand of the incantation, but he still muttered because he felt foolish if he did something incorrect. He waited to see if the other students where going to try the entire spell.

'I think you're right about the number of flicks, but I'm sure that a white light came out of his wand when he tapped the book on the second downward motion and stayed through the third flick. I can't seem to get the light on the tap...so I've never followed through with the third slow flick. I don't know, maybe all of this studying is getting to me....seeing things that aren't there.' Qaz answered, looking rather sheepish.

After practicing the movements and the incantation, Austin nervously picked up his wand. He procedded to shuffle through his bag to find a very worn out wordsearch book that he hadnt used in quiet some time. He sighed and began to try the spell on his book, but to no avail. Following a few minutes of mistakes, he went back to his notes to see what he was doing wrong.

"are you talking to me?" austin said as he turned around. "well anyway if you were i dont think it had to do with the type of book its more in the timming of the movment and the incantation"

Jesse grinned modestly as he praticed saying the incantation,
in truth he had already read about it in his Charms book and although he had never tried it he knew the basic idea of it,

Jesse took a deep calming breath and then gave his wand three slow turns and two quick flicks a short puase and one final flick,
"Clausaltus Obfirmo" Jesse whispered (He felt reather silly saying it too loudly), The tip of his wand glowed for a fraction of a second and then the light went out.

He smiled slightly at his brand new diary that his auntie had gotten him and then as he was just about ready to give up but decided to try once more,

Jesse took another deep breath, gave his wand three turns and two short flicks the second flick tapping the very tip of the book a small flash of white light appeared at the tip of his wand and kind've stood there waiting for the next step, Jesse waited a second then gave one final flick and said loudly "Clausaltus Obfirmo!!"
As he said it the white light reached out toward the brand new diary untill the two were connected by the stream of white.

Jesse slowly raised his wand upward and said in a low voice so that nobody would hear him,
"Chess" as he said it the light seemed to disappear into the diary. Jesse grinned and then with nervous fingers tried to pry the book open, to his extreme pleasure it would not open no matter what he did.

Jesse grinned even more broadly and then said the password,
it finnaly opened and Jesse raised his hand and looked over to Professor Branxton who seemed very upset.

Couleia looked over at the girl who was sitting a few seats away from her. "Good job! I think you got it," she said as she continued to watch the girl's book. "I think you're the first," she added with a weak smile. Without a book, she wouldn't even begin to be able to do that.

Austin watched as one of the girls performed the spell, and the other girl smiled, but her eyes seamed to be frowning. He realized she had no book and asked "would you like to borrow a book from me?"

Couleia turned to the boy and blushed a bit. "Oh I wouldn't want to ruin your book...I'd just feel awful," she said a bit flustered.
She turned back to the Ravenclaw girl. "Couleia, Coulei for short. I think we met in the common room when I came up with that ridiculous house-elf idea. My mouth just seems to pour out ideas that are either unnecessary or impossible or...yeah," she finished softly.

Austin handed the girl a sudoku book that he had finished and said "you can use this if you want, i dont really need it anymore"

Couleia smiled at the boy. "Thank you, really, you have no idea how much you just helped," she replied as she reluctantly took the boy's book. She began to think through the motion of her wand and the incantations she was to say before acting upon the book. If she was going to use this boy's book, she was going to make sure she knew exactly what she was doing.

Jesse continued practiceing the spell, even though he had got it right he still figured that it wouldn't hurt to keep trying,

Jesse looked down the row of chairs and toward a group of three students (two girls in his year and a boy whome he had never seen) who were talking, he frowned slightly as he didn't approve of talking during classes,
one of the people in perticular had caught his attention,
it was the other girl who had almost performed the charm but had failed at the last minute, Jesse had never payed much attention to girls but somehow he couldn't help noticeing this one,

She had strawberry blond hair and when she looked toward the girl next to her he was able to see a pair of big blue eye's,

Jesse smiled nervously and slowly continued with his spell work, he silently hoped that the three of them would stop talking and get bac to work before long, if not they would proably get into trouble.

Couleia had glanced around the room to see if anyone else had gotten it and noticed a boy looking at herself, Qaz, and the boy who she had so rudely forgotten to introduce herself to. However, the boy seemed to disapprove of their chattering, and she felt herself blush again. Her introduction to the boy would have to wait until after class, she decided. She hated disapproving looks, especially during class, and the one this boy had given sent her straight back to work, concentrating harder than ever on the task in front of her.

"Clausaltus Obfirmo. Clausaltus Obfirmo." After repeating a few more times, she rummaged through her schoolbag, checking if there were any items that were useful. Suddenly, a question came popping into her thoughts. Unable to resist her curiosity, Mindy raised her hand and asked, "Professor Branxton, are there different passwords for different diaries? Do they all have to be Open Sesame?"

Couleia let out a long sigh of relief and smiled even bigger as Qaz gave her a smile and thumbs up. She gave her a thumbs up back and returned to the book in front of her, waiting patiently for Mr. Braxton to instruct them further.

"The password can be whatever you wish it to be but, be sure it is something you will remember yet difficult to guess," Professor Branxton explained. Several of the students already mastered the spell and others needed books. "I have several blank notepads here for those who need something to practice on. If you've already managed to get the charm down, please help those who may be struggling. While I don't expect everyone to master it, I do expect everyone to know the theory and the best way to learn the theory is by using it."

Ariana gulped nervously as she watched Professors Baxton and wrote a small note in her notebook before walking up to hisdesk and taking a blank notebook. That was all she needed; to ruin her notebook. Walking ack to her spot, she put down the notebook and continued practising. She found it hard to concentrate however, she knew something was bothering the professor, probably the missing children she had heard about.

Taking a deep breath to keep her emotional block up she continued to practice. "Three turns...then two short flicks..." she muttered as she moved hre hand around, trying to get the movemtns down. As she went for the pause and short flick up she felt a strange emotion, but shook it off. Getting back to work she continued doing the wand movements with her hand as she said the incantation. "Clavicularus Obfirmo" no that wasn't right... "Clausaltus Obfirmo"

"Ok, I think I got it." She said aloud as she bent down to pick up her wand. Feeling slightly nervous now she took a deep breath and started. First she turned her wand three times in her hand, and made two quick flicks as her wand tip touched the notebook and as she said the incantation during the small pause "Clausaltus Obfirmo" she watched happily as a white light seemed to emanate from the tip as she brought the wand tip down for a short flick she said her password.

Nervously she watched as the white light seemed to be absorbed by the book. Placing her wand in her pocket, she picked up the book. It still felt normal, no missing parts and no added weight. "Hey, I think I did it!" she said happily to herself as she tried to open the book without success.

She looked around and noticed Amelia was having problems. Walking over, she asked, "Need some help?" as she stopped and nodded towards her wand.

"Yes, Mr. Thomas. If you think you are ready you may attempt the charm on a practice item. If you do not have something with you that can be spared should you fail and something disastrous happens, then you may use one of these notebooks on my desk."

Ari nodded, understanding perfectly. "Yes, it's a very difficult spell isn't it?" she asked, grinning slightly. She thought for a moment on how she interpreted the spell, than said, "What you have to do is say the spell slowly, "Clow-sal-tus Ob-firm-o. The important thing is not to mess up the 'sal' part, I noticed you were saying "Clavic, so you're definitly not saying it right." she said, trying to make her feel better. "It's like Wingardium Leviosa, you have to make the 'sal' and tus' sounds correctly." she added, remembering her own troubles with the floating charm."

"You'll get it, just keep trying. It looks like you have the wand movements down." she added, encouragingly.

Lexi took a deep breath. "Clousaltus Obfirmo", she thought to herself. "Clousaltus Obfirmo", she said. She waited for the spell to work and then realized, she didn't have her wand out. She turned red as she looked over at Amelia. "Ooops", she whispered.

Lexi giggled, "I knew that of course Amelia!" She stuck her tongue out at her. "I think I got it now though. But all tips are welcome, Ari was your name?" She looked at the Ravenclaw girl when she said this last part.
Lexi rummaged through her bag for her wand and an empty notebook that she could practice with. I know I have a notebook in here, she thought to herself. She stood up and then pulled her long hair back. Ok, maybe now I can see, she teased herself. Lexi pulled out her wand and then after shifting through the rest of her mess, she pulled out an old, never used, notebook.
Clousaltus Obfirmo!, she thought to herself over and over again. When she thought she was ready, she sat the notebook down in front of her. She took a deep breath and picked up her wand. Lexi then turned her wrist once, twice, and then a third time. Then two quick flicks and she said "Clousaltus Obfirmo!" during a pause and then she said "Hufflepuff" as she started the last flick.
But there was something wrong, there had been no light. She must've gotten the timing wrong. Lexi sighed and slid down the wall to sit down and comtemplate what she had done wrong.

Lexi looked at the Ravenclaw girl and smiled back. "I'm Lexi by the way," she said.

She continued practicing the wand motions along with the incantation. Three turns of the wrist, two quick flicks, pause and say Clausaltus Obfirmo, say the password when white light emerges, and long flick. She went over this process over and over again in her head.