Laura looked at the Professor, welll Incant-what-ever, how could Laura stop the spell if she couldn't say the word, seriously this Professor was dumb, surely that would have something to do with it.

Laura looked at the Professor and smiled innocently. "Professor when you say gripping do you mean like this?" Laura walked upto the Professor and gave her a hug before calmly walking back to her seat and asking. "Or do you mean something else?"

Lewis only barely kept himself from facepalming when one of his house-mates called the professor 'Sir'. She was SO CLEARLY a woman. Very much so. How in the world could she have mistaken her for a man? Like, seriously. She even had long blonde hair.

But back to the subject.

He suppressed a groan when he heard what they'd be covering today, but was slightly amused nonetheless. "The Gripping Charm was very important in the construction and design of the Quaffle, as far as I know. The players don't need straps or the like anymore now." Lewis replied with his hand raised. He probably knew everything there was to know about Quidditch. He had had to listen to it all day long back home.

Really, Professor? A gripping charm would be good for gripping... Nate thought. But gripping what? Cautious of how he was going to answer, Nate raised his hand and spoke slowly and carefully when he chose his words. "A gripping charm, as implied by the name, would be good at holding onto something. This seems, at first thought, like a type of sticking charm, but there's a difference between gripping and sticking. What exactly will we be 'gripping'?" he asked. He needed clarification on this.

"Does it make stuff easier to hold?"

Gideon continued to take notes, taking in the information from both his classmates and Professor Schirmer on the similarities and differences about the two cancellation spells. He heard the students use of sir and unconsciously winced fearing how the woman professor would react, her points-taking not disappointing what he expected.

Oh well...

Finally the spell or type of spells they would be learning was revealed and he raised his hand to answer. "Gripping charms would serve the purpose of allowing you to have a better hold of something, like a quaffle in quidditch or say a ledge or tree branch when climbing."

Eino quickly scribbled down some notes and cringed when a Hufflepuff called Professor Schirmer a "sir," anticipating some sort of punishment accompanied by a sharp raise in her voice. Yep, there it was. He slowly reverted to his original position, up straight, as he continued to write. When the Professor Schirmer paused, Eino glanced to make sure it was safe to speak, and that no hands that shot in the air would be severed by the tension. After all, emotions could drive intent, right? When the coast was clear, his hand went up, and when he was granted permission to speak, he did so. "The Gripping Charm, as mentioned, is used to facilitate the grip on an object. I heard some wizards do this in duels to prevent them from dropping their wands in case their hands become stunned or petrified. Though I can't be certain if it would be considered cheating."

A gripping charm, this could be useful to remember for when I actually become qualified to use magic outside of school. Lily thought as she wrote down what the professor had said about counter charms. Lily wasn't sure why they were learning gripping charms, except for the fact that you could grip things with them. Somebody had already mentioned gripping things so Lily decided to just keep quiet, listen, and take notes. I bet this would help with rock-climbing though. Lily though as she waited for other responses and for the professor to speak again.

She wrote down what she hearing from the professer and the students.

Nessie smiled and shot her hand in the air eagerly. 'Thank god for studying.' This one charm had piqued her interest while she was flipping though her school books. "A Gripping Charm allows you to easily take hold of object. Professor? Could it also help to grip ideas? She asked curiously.

A Gripping Charm? They were going to learn about Gripping Charms? Sierra wondered if there was more than one version of the charm, but she didn't ask about that just yet. She guessed that was coming up soon, so she focused on the current question instead.

"Well, the most obvious answer, I think, is that they're used to help you hold onto something better," she said, her hand raised. "Being a Quidditch player, I can tell you that the charm is used lots in the game. It helps players hold onto the ball while also holding on to their broom at the same time." She lowered her hand before adding, "I think they might help in dangerous or at least tricky situations, too. Sometimes a person just has too much to manage at once, and I think the charm might come in handy then--like in dueling or high-speed flying."

Louisa raised her hand instantly, "A gripping charm is used mostly in Quidditch, professor. On the Quaffle in particular. It makes easier to hold the big ball with one hand without the need for finger holes." Not that Louisa tried grabbing the ball or anything. Eew. She wasn't into Quidditch at all. Unless it's educational of course, like this time.

"Gripping charms make it easier to hold on to things that might not be easily gripped otherwise," Alex explained, raising his hand. He tried to think of another example to give besides the Quidditch one, but he couldn't think of anything. Blehhh. Brain fart! Unable to think of anything besides the quaffle example, he just kept quiet and waited for class to continue.

Minerva raised her hand 'Professor this charm helps pick things up or hold things easier. For example if something might be a weird shaped item or maybe have nothing to grip this charm would help."

Isabelle stared as a younger girl went up and hugged the professor. Really, in the mood she was in that girl was probably losing some points, to bad little puffer. The Puff's seemed to be going down these days. Raising her hand Isabelle said calmly, "Professor, gripping charms are used to make things easier to hold onto, such as using a gripping charm on the Quaffle in Quidditch so it makes it easier to hold on to and not drop." That was the basics right?

Elliot was actually quite enjoying the lesson! Charms was just so...interesting to her! She was doing her best to keep up, and decided by the state of her horribly scribble notes that she would rewrite them later. At the next question, she smirked a bit. How fun!

She raised her hand and said, "Professor, isn't the gripping charm exactly what it sounds like, something to help you have a better grip?" She half asked, half explained. She didn't really know what else she could explain, but she did add, "my mother always says it comes in handy in the shower with bars of soap..." She thought that was a pretty good example, anyways.

A Gripping Charm! Vashti definitely knew some things about this charm. Raising her hand, she answered, "I know it's useful in Quidditch, Professor. The Charm has been cast on the Quaffle to make it easier for the players to use one hand to throw, hold, and catch it. If they got to do something Quidditch-related in this lesson...that would be so awesome.

Kurumi had been in midraise of her hand when a few students answered ahead of her and the instant the Quidditch was mentioned her hand went back down to her desk. Quidditch...Kurumi wasn't particularly excited about learning a spell that seemed to have its primary use revolving around the sport.

Instead of answering, Kurumi simply returned to her note parchment and continued to write things down. Pretty much everything had been said already, so there was no point in repeating information.

Alyssa thought for a moment and then raised her hand."Professor a gripping charm allows an object to be gripped more easily, especially if it is something slippery."

Autumn knew this one! It was the last spell she read about last night, a bit to excitidly she raised her hand, eager to share her knowledge "The gripping charm is a spell that makes the object in question, easier to hold. It was invented in 1875 to enable chasers in quidditch to hold onto the quaffle as they needed at least one spare hand to control the broom, it could also be used to grip objects that are wet or slippy easier." autumn smiled.

"That's right, Miss Stone."

"That's exactly what its for."

"Hand, Miss Stewart-Quinn." Professor Schirmer reminded the Slytherin girl. "But yes, it is."

"The gripping charm and the Quaffle, yes. And if you've ever tried to play with an old Quaffle, the kind with the straps," As she had in a flying lesson once upon a time as a student, "You'll know that even the straps could be difficult to grasp at times, particularly if the weather was difficult." Which, well, Quidditch didn't let a little thing like weather get in the way, did it?

"There is a difference yes, the gripping charm allows for release, the sticking charm does not. And what you'll be 'gripping' isn't the important part, its the practical application of the charm that is important, as it isn't dependent on a specific object." Althea answered.

"Don't forget your hand." Last warning. "But yes, it does."

"Yes its very useful for climbing." Like the muggle spiderman.

"Yes its a very useful tool in a duel. Usually it would be part of an exception list if it was not allowed to be used. It makes it somewhat easier to avoid a disarming spell too." Mr Uronen was turning into her star pupil... for the day, at least.

"Right and..." Althea paused and then smiled. A real smile. "This particular gripping charm is not suitable for the abstract, but there are plenty of charms which alter mind and thought, it would be an interesting experiment to find a combination which would work." And not... backfire dangerously? That too.

"Right, Miss Greingoth." She smiled at the Slytherin.

"Right, Miss Carter." The 'claw got a nod.

She listened and nodded slightly. Was he... finished answering? It sort of sounded as if he had more to say. But no? Alright.

"Yes, Mr. Greingoth."

"That's true, Miss Wheatborn."

"Yes that's right."

"Good example." Althea answered with a nod.

"Yes, the Quaffle."

"Ten points from Hufflepuff for leaving your seat AND invading my personal space. You will go and inform your head of house why you've managed to lose points for your house as soon as the lesson ends, or I'll be taking more points from you." And she WOULD be checking.

-----------------------

Breathe, Althea.

"The gripping charm you will learn today has the incantation 'Prehenso'. Can anyone guess how the meaning of this incantation relates to its purpose? Can you think of any related English words?"

Ira took down her notes and proceeded to think about the question.. She really had no idea about the spell incantation, so she just kept quiet and let others answer first..

Laura looked at the Professor, she was being mean today, taking off points for getting a hug, seriously loads of people would love a hug from a cute girl like herself, well anyway it was the Professor's loss and then when the Professor next spoke Laura put up her hand and said. "Professor I was just wondering could you tell me who my head of house is?" Laura hadn't actually meet that Hufflepuff Head of House and so well she would probably get lost in Hogwarts whilst looking for her.

Laura smiled as she heard the next question, raising her hand she smiled. "It kind of reminds me of Prehistoric?" Laura had no idea if she was right but she was just guessing, hopefully the Professor wouldn't mind her saying that it was seriously just a guess.

Prehenso? It sounded like prision or something like that.

Nikolas raised his hand and said "For me the incantation sounds like prision, you know like holding someone and not letting go" he shrugged. That's the only thing he could thought about the meaning. Nikolas took his quill and wrote down some of the stuff they have been discussing before listening to the other answers.

Prehenso, that sounded kinda like some other words, like apprehension without the ap- Lily though at she raised her hand to answer. "It sounds kinda like apprehension, just without the ap- . Like apprehension is to hold back, so maybe it means something like not to hold back or to hold onto." Lily wasn't quite sure what went wrong there. It had sounded a lot better in her head. Was it nerves that made me sound really weird or did I just not think it through enough. Lily wasn't quite sure but it was too late to take it back. Hopefully she wouldn't lose points though, just for not getting her words right.

Kurumi sort of wrinkled her nose when they were asked about the incantation. Latin, no doubt, but Kurumi new next to nothing about Latin and almost always looked to Selina for this sort of thing. Well, not almost always...she ALWAYS did. She could try to figure it out from the sounds and what not - she had heard pre- in many words before - but something told her that breaking things up wasn't going to help her.

Tapping her bottom lip with her finger, Kurumi timidly raised her hand. No harm in venturing a guess, right? "Is it...related to the the actual act of gripping...or grasp? I mean, it sort of gives off the feeling of being related to a verb or command."