Wist sat in her chair and didn't offer an answer to the professor's question at first. She sat still and waited for the others to start giving answers, so as to mold her's after their's. She had a notebook with her on which she wrote a few notes and things that the other students were saying. Of COURSE she knew what a charm was, but this was a good first chance to write notes for when things got harder later.

She looked down at her notebook and then looked back at the professor. "I think, professor, professor, that a charm is a spell that alters an object, even if only for a short time."





And it seemed that most of the others were talking about transfiguration too. Wist didn't say anything untill she heard one of the students say something she didn't agree with. "Yeah, transfiguration changes the nature of an object but it can't produce something from nothing. That is impossible for magic. It might be able to change something into something else, but then it is useing that material and not nothing."

Vlimia sat in the classroom, watching hands fly up and the students they belonged to answer in very specific ways. Vlim decided not to raise her hand, even though she knew the answer. She was very shy around adults, but not so much students, especially when she was angry. But she wasn't angry - no, she was feeling a bit like she wanted to sink into the floor, actually. Maybe it would be better in the first DADA class, because she knew all about the Unforgivables and how to defend against them. Or maybe they weren't learning that in first year...
Aaand she was daydreaming.
Jolting herself back into reality, Vlim began to take notes on what Charms could do and basic stuff like that.

Hannah listened to all of the other students answer around her and thought about the question herself. It seemed like everybody had already answered the question, but she didn't want to seem like a slacker so she raised her hand and said "Professor I think a charm is a magical enchantment that you put on an object. I also think that we should know the seriousness of casting spells. Even a simple charm spell could go wrong." This much she knew to be true. Any magic casted could go wrong. Everybody should know the right and wrong way of casting a spell.

Arabella-Marie took notes down on what her fellow classmates were saying and listened to what the professor was saying

Hmmm, what did Alex think students should know about charms? He tried to think back to his first year, and tried to think about what he'd wished someone had told HIM before he walked into the Charms classroom, and after a few minutes of thinking he had an answer. He raised his hand and cleared his throat.

"Well, I think first years should know that, just because some of these spells may look easy, like Alohomora or Lumos, that doesn't mean charms is an easy subject you can just skate by in. It requires discipline and concentration, just like any other branch of magic," he said with a nod. Yes. Pay attention and get good grades, firsties! "Always pay attention to what you're doing too, or else you might end up blasting your eyebrows off or something," he added. When things went wrong in charms...they usually went REALLY wrong.

As Professor Schrimer greeted the class, Auggie took a second to look over his shoulder at the rows of desks behind him. Wow, the class really was filling up. The usually did happen for the first lessons of the term.

Ooh first question.

The Gryffindor was almost disappointed to hear that the question was just for first year but then was pleased to hear that the older kids would get a part too. He thought about the question for a second and then rose his hand to answer.

"Professor I think that it is important for students to see that Charms is not a fluff subject and shouldn't be taken lightly. Charms vary in strength, intensity, and variety and it takes a skilled with or wizard to master them." He ended his answer with a nod.

Oakey Rose his hand while simultaneously answering the question meant for his age group. Professor he started I think that the new students should know that charms can be cast on more than just objects but on living things as well. for instance a cheering charm can make anyone go from grouchy to pleasant in an instant .

Quietly sitting in the back of the class, Lily pondered the question asked by the professor. Thinking back to what she had read, Lily raised her hand, and timidly answered "Charms is the study of motions of a wand and incantations used to change an object's location, impact of gravity, feelings, in objects that have feelings like humans, but not change their matter states, like from an apple to an orange."
Thinking back on her answer, Lily felt like she was very scientific and felt like she had answered a question asked in her muggle science class or something similar to that, not an answer in a magical class. Think Lily, Think. I can't just answer everything like I used to do. I'm a witch now and taking magical classes. she thought to herself continuing to take notes of what the other's were saying.

Ariella raised her hand, a stray piece of her ponytail coming loose as she did so. "I think the most important thing for the first years to know is the difference between charms and transfiguration, since people often confuse them. A charm is a spell that simply changes the properties of the object it is cast upon, while transfiguration changes the actual object into something different."

She paused for a minute, brushing her hair back off my face. "I also think they should know that not all charms are simple. There are several that are quite complex. It's important to know that without full concentration, even the simplest of charms could backfire." She gave a slight nod of her head to finish off her answer, grabbing her quill and jotting down a few of the things onto her parchment that her classmates were discussing.

As Zhenya looked around and noticed that others were answering more, she decided to try to put more information in. She raised her hand, "Professor, maybe it's silly, but it could be helpful for students to know that not every spell is classified as a charm, like I once thought! There are many other kinds of spells - seven. They are used in every day magic, and possibly - well I think probably, used more than the other kinds, especially Transfiguration. And I think people get a Charm and Transfiguration spells confused, but Transfiguration alters the object itself, whereas Charms alter the properties - what it does," she explained.

Melanie was furiously writing down all of the answers that were offered in response to the professors question. She started when she heard a familiar voice near her respond. She looked up to see Autumn, one of her fellow Ravenclaw first-years that she had made sure to sit by (along with Alex, Silvia, and Morgan), speaking.

Wish I was that brave, Melanie thought as she looked around the room at all of the raised hands. It would take awhile before Melanie was comfortable enough to offer up any information without it throwing her into a panic attack. She was new to this magic stuff, after all.

autumn, got her new parchment and a quill out, she was new to using quills, always using pens as a muggle-born. She noticed Melanie her fellow first year, she smiled. Autumn could tell melanie was worried, she wanted to give her a few words of advice but didn't want to loose points on her first lesson!

Autumn was writing people's answers down taking advice from older students, wishing she knew all this.

Melanie smiled back at Autumn, feeling better after that friendly gesture. She returned to her notes, only to smear the ink with her hand as she moved to start a new line. This whole parchment, ink, quill thing was going to take some getting used to. Hopefully she'd eventually learn a charm that could clean her skin and sleeves.

Elliot had her notebook out and was quietly writing away. She had always been a big time note taker last year...she just liked to write EVERYTHING down and then study it in her own words later. She actually enjoyed charms a lot, and was immediately glad when Professor Schirmer asked a question so quickly. She liked raising her hand, asking questions. She raised her hand confidently.
"I think that the new students should definitely NOT get transfiguration and charms mixed up...they are completely different..." she said knowingly. She was thinking back to last year, when she had overheard some people saying they didn't know the difference between the two. Sigh. Ignorance. Elliot couldn't stand it.

Conrad raised his hand and offered an answer of his own. "People should understand that Charms cannot create or conjure things, only alter what existing objects do." Looking across Autumn and Melanie, who he was sitting next to, Conrad felt the need to show off. "Furthermore, Charms don't alter object's appearance, only their functions."

Conrad smiled smugly, sure he had helped other first-years with his knowledge. Charms had been his mother's best subject; she was something of a proficient. He felt grateful now for all of those boring tidbits of information she had recited to him. Apparently, some of it had sunk in after all.

Nate started to jot down what Oakey said. He also was jotting down what other people were saying. He was learning some new stuff about charms then what his sister taught him. He couldn't wait to send her an owl about how his first chrams class went

ooc: remember to refresh next time if you see me in the thread

"They do often have longevity, depending on the skill of the charmer and the nature of the charm."

ooc: remember to refresh next time if you see me in the thread

Althea listened. Not the clearest answer but apparently she was in a patient mood thusfar this morning.

"Charms changes the behaviour of a thing. You got that part right." Ish. The rest was less clear.

"Behaviour versus inherent nature. Right, Mr Uronen."

"Actually, Mr Vaughn, Along with behaviour, Charms CAN change the superficial appearance of a thing, just not what the thing fundamentally is." She assumed that was what he was trying to say, but to be clear.

"Just a clarification there, Charms can also change appearances on a superficial level. Think of the colour-changing charm, or the flashing paint charm, or perhaps the group of Quantitative charms which effects size .

"Yes, that is true of every spell and every aspect of magic." Including potions... runes.... divination.... alchemy... But still. Anyone who didn't pay attention in her class while trying to learn a charm would regret it for certain. She smiled quickly and moved on.

Blink.

Enthusiastic, wasn't she? Althea herself did not believe in relying on magic for the majority of day to day things, but she couldn't argue that many day to day spells were charms.

"Charms are, by nature, helpful spells, yes."

...

"And were you going to share your understanding of those differences?" Sigh. Some students were SO literal minded. That answer wasn't helpful at all except to say that there were differences.

A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. "I'd say that particular crucial element can be rather tangible, really. But yes, intent and concentration are important."

"Absolutely right, Miss Riddle."

Oh look who ACTUALLY answered a question. Althea was surprised. She looked at the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain as she spoke and nodded once. "At least initially, all three are equally important and in fact feed into each other. Good."

"It is important to know what you're casting and use the correct incantation and wand movement for the spell in question, yes."

"Good example!" Well it WAS.

Yes well, thank you for sharing THAT. Really. Not at all helpful. Still, Althea tried to remain patient.

"So please share what YOUR understanding is."

"That is true, they can be very powerful."

"That's right." A good answer! Professor Schirmer smiled, pleased and relieved.

"Ah yes, the 'seven kinds of spells' definition. You girls are not wrong but please be aware that there are different classifications of such things depending on who wrote the textbook in question. For instance, the 'healing spells' classification, well they can all be split under the charms or transfiguration category, and some texts go further and add conjuration as a separate specific category, and dark magic is often listed separately from curses. But you're right that charms changes behaviour rather than nature." A longer response, but it was something worth saying.

"Those are two of the things some charms do, but not an explanation of charms in general." Just to be clear in case someone copied that down and decided that was the be all and end all.

So lay them out. What you know is what I want to hear." Be specific in other words. Sigh. How many more would be so literal and not actually give any information?

"Yes they can be. I can tell you now, and warn those of you who think so, its folly to consider charms 'soft' or at all easy. You won't coast through in this class, but I do hope you'll have fun all the same."

For someone his age, that was a TERRIBLE answer. Really. Though the wand part was a good point... apparently sometimes students did lack common sense after all.

"And why do you think it is compulsory until 5th year?" She asked, trying to encourage a bit more involvement.

She considered this question. "Not always, but it most cases yes. The simplest spells can be reversed with finite incantatem or finite, while more complex spells -charms or otherwise- often have a matching counter. However as charms are not inherently harmful, even if you are stuck with the effects of a backfired spell or a particularly strong charm, it won't actually hurt you."

Might be a bit embarrassing though.

"Yes, please practice a lot." Althea actually smiled again. You couldn't coast in charms, no matter what some people apparently thought.

"Yes, the incantation, which is the word used to invoke a specific spell, is very important to get right, particularly during the learning stages."

The professor? Did not laugh.

Althea Schirmer wasn't usually the laughy type.

"Learners do need wands and to be able to speak clearly." She... totally just gave the kid the benefit of the doubt.

Miss Gardiner was one of her best students. Althea had seen the OWL result the girl had achieved and not been surprised. Unlike her year and housemate, Ellie Stone, Stella Gardiner had actually put in the time and effort in her lessons the previous term and it had showed.

"I agree with that." She found it much better to not depend on magic herself. It was a tool like any other, but shouldn't be a crutch.

She nodded once. "That depends on the properties. The behaviours yes, the inherent nature though, that would be transfiguration." Just to clarify for anyone else who was listening.

"Its Professor Schirmer." She corrected gently and then listened. "That's actually good logic." Muggleborn? "As the year goes on you'll have to tell me if you think that does apply, in your experience." She smiled at the little girl and moved on.

"Yes those ARE charms, but why are they charms? There are a lot of things to think about when we talk about charms." She said, trying to be encouraging.

... what?

"Can you repeat that, I'm not sure what you're trying to say." Like her thoughts and her words had gotten jumbled up and something nonsensical had popped out.

Sigh.

"If you're going to answer, please don't parrot the introduction from a textbook at me. Try to put things in your own words in the future. I won't warn you again." No she'd take points if she did it again.

"The requirements of every spell, yes." More detail would have been nice, since she KNEW Miss Carter knew what she was talking about, but it would do.

"That is important. All charms are different, they all have different purposes, and learning to differentiate when a particular spell is appropriate is a very useful skill."

Hmmmmm.

"Many every day spells are charms, but be careful not to generalise." Sigh. It would have been nice if he'd elaborated on his examples a little more.

"That is true, but non-verbal magic is more advanced and the incantation still must be known and concentrated on while learning to do it." But yay for mentioning it.

"Right." And a good answer. Nice and simple but correct. "Charms are positive, and when you choose the right one for the situation at hand, it is a strong and valuable tool for your magical arsenal."

"Thats right. Complexity varies. And its behaviour and some superficial appearance that charms changes, without changing the inherent nature as transfigurations do." Althea nodded.

First years.

You could tell, without the uniform sometimes when a firstie wasn't a Ravenclaw, based on how much their answer was a non-answer.

"Yes a charm is a type of spell." See how nice she was. She smiled a bit.

"I'd disagree with you, miss Kieren. Charms aren't always simple at all and you'd do well not to underestimate them. By nature they ARE practical magic, and can in fact be used both offensively and defensively when dueling. In fact you could win a duel by using only charms if you applied them intelligently and creatively." And hopefully the Ravenclaw would learn that.

Well it was a good attempt. Althea listened carefully.

"I think what you're pointing out is that charms change the behaviour of a thing?" Based on the example. "That is right."

"The more you practice the better you'll get." In other words.

"Charms aren't always simple. Some are very complex, but they do form the basis for much of your magical education."

"That's true." Althea agreed simply.

"Absolutely right."

"Yes, bewitched objects ARE bewitched by charms. That is what makes them do things they would not do if they were mundane rather than magical." So. Yes, correct.

She eyed the new Hufflepuff Quidditch captain and the boy got a smile too. The hand thing was weird but he was still a pleasure to have in class.

"It definitely CAN be fun." Always was for her. "Practical and fun."

"Well, no they don't. Right. Human transformation is a branch of Transfiguration. However there IS a charm to reverse transformations, though it is usually taught in Transfiguration lessons if at all, since it is a reversal spell aimed at transfiguration magic. Its fairly complex." So probably not one any younger student would ever manage on a large scale.

"Good explanation." But Althea paused and added, "I happen to believe its always fun."

Life's work and all.

"Yes they change behaviour." She nodded.

"Yes those would have been charms. Charms have many practical uses. We're lucky that we can use them as tools to do things, but likewise we should never use them as a crutch."

"Right." It seemed most students thought the differentiation between charms and transfigurations were very important. Althea agreed with that.

"Yes, but an example or two would be nice." She said, quite nicely really. Not an overview of the curriculum.

"I agree. Working hard and participating are very important. Practice is necessary and more fun if you relax and know that its okay and normal that you won't master things immediately."

"You're late." Althea pointed out. Sigh. She had been hoping not to have to take points this term. "5 points from you for lateness. Do NOT come to my lessons late again."

ooc: don't be scared! Take a look at the Charms Code of Conduct. The policy on lateness is clear, but losing points is part of the fun TOO.

"Incantations and wand movements yes." As for what they should know spell wise, well they'd learn that in the year.

"Absolutely." Althea said after listening closely. "Charms are more flexible than most people first think. Creativity is very important when it comes to both learning and applying charmwork, as long as you follow the rules and pay attention so that you don't risk hurting yourself or others."

When the girl DID come back, Althea eyed her and then nodded. Okay. Now she could sit down and participate. The footwear thing would be especially important in this lesson.

ooc: All good XD I hoped it was something you were having fun with. *has fun with too*

"The wand movements. Yes." And Althea had covered a lot of information about that the previous term, so hopefully some students would share that with the new first years at some point.

"Wingardium Leviosa you mean? Well, THAT charm is meant to move, or rather to levitate things. Other charms do different things." She answered.

"That's right. Charms effect behaviour."

"Absolutely." And Althea was relieved she wasn't the only one who believed so. Merlin help the children who thought that Charms would be the easy, free ride and never looked outside the box at how useful they were in other avenues.

"Yes, charms tend to have longevity."

"That's right. Good answer."

ooc: Oh I lol'd. Kudos to the 'empty cauldron' quip there.

Althea actually did smile in return. "Well you'll learn that not all charms are simple, though they do form the foundations for much other magic, and many are relatively easy to master."

"Practice makes perfect, so to speak." Althea nodded at the girl.

"Good answer." Althea thought it rather important herself.

"Hexes, Jinxes and Curses are not Charms -the intent is different- but they are spells. By nature charms are NOT dark. However you're absolutely right about the practical uses and the sheer variety of spells which are charms."

"Yes, the what and why is very important." Althea nodded her approval.

"Yes I agree the practising is very important, but the theory is JUST as important as the execution. Good."

"Good answer!" She agreed very much with the dueling thing.

"Yes they can effect people as well." Finally a somewhat substantial answer from the Head Boy.

She didn't notice all the smirks and specific looks and whatnot. Petty student dramas did not concern her unless they interrupted her lesson.

"Charms do alter objects yes."

She paused as the girl continued.

"Actually the branch of Transfiguration known as Conjuration DOES produce something from nothing. Except in the case of those things which can NOT be produced, as covered by Gamp's Law which you will learn in your Transfiguration class." Just to be clear.

"Yes right." Charms were enchantments, and could be put on an object. She nodded in agreement at the 'serious' point too.

She nodded at the Hufflepuff. Yes! Summed up her thinking exactly. Good answer.

August got a LOOK from the professor that had nothing to do with his answer and everything to do with reminding him there were CERTAIN THINGS he should keep his mouth shut about.

JUST A REMINDER.

"Absolutely. Good answer." She sounded oh so calm.

"Yes there are mood altering charms. Good."

She got a nod. "Its a question of behaviour versus inherent nature."

"Good answer. And backfiring charms is never a good thing." Or pleasant. Which was why following the rules was so important.

ooc: I'm just addressing the part of your answer I didn't respond to earlier

"What it does, yes."

"They are very different yes. "

"You're mostly right, however a charm CAN alter appearance in a superficial way, it just won't change something at a fundamental level."

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

"A point that many of you mentioned, that is very important and relevant is that a Transfiguration changes what something fundamentally is, while a Charm leaves the base object and gives it properties or changes its behaviour."

She added that first point to the board with a flick of her wand, the chalk writing as she spoke.

"Several of you mentioned the 'seven classifications of spells'. It isn't precisely wrong but neither is it a particularly useful or clean cut definition of spell types. You'll find different classifications depending on who wrote the textbook, and many of the classifications are arbitrary."

Sooo to the next main point.

"The three main components of a spell are wand movement, incantation and intent. This means you have to get the wand movement right, focus on what you are trying to do, and pronounce the incantation correctly, all of which feed into your focus and intent. The intent is the most important of the three because eventually some will be able to cast their spells non-verbally, or in some rare cases, wandlessly."

They could move on quickly from this intro stuff, she hoped.

"First years, you'll find more information about particular wand movement types on page 47 of Quintessence a Quest. You can revise this later with an older student if you need help understanding these, and I do suggest you practice with a buddy later."

Because she wasn't going over it in detail right now.

One more bit before they could move on to something a little more substantial.

"We're going to touch briefly on incantations. What is an incantation? What kinds of words are used as incantations? What kind of words are not used as incantations? What is the relationship between an incantation and a spell? How are incantations chosen? You can answer any of these questions, I'm trying to get you all thinking a bit. Just share what you know about incantations." Some of it she'd touched on the previous year after all, so it wasn't as if most of them wouldn't know something.

ooc: Firsties and new students! You'll find 'page 47 of Quintessence a Quest' in this post.

You don't have to and aren't expected to answer ALL the incantation-y questions, just what you think your character would know/want to answer. Just share what you know .

Gideon listened to the discussion as both new students and older students alike answered Professor Schirmer's question and started a discussion on the nature of charms and what they were. He kept quiet, opting not to speak up at the current time but meerly taking notes on anything he wanted to remember that wasn't already something he knew well enough. At the next question, however he raised his hand deciding to do his part to participate.

"Well an incantation is the words that sort of initates the spell and the magic. They are usually in Latin," he answered, supplying an answer that wasn't too simple or too detailed.

Sammy listened as the professor talked. He wrote down as much as he could of what she was saying. He made a mental note to check that page of the book later. He WAS going to do good in Charms.

When she asked the next round of questions, Sammy tried to think about what Wally had told him about Charms. He raised his hand, ready to answer one of the questions. "Well, don't most incantations have something to do with what the spell does? And aren't most of them in Latin?" At least that's what he thought. He could always be wrong. Nothing wrong with being wrong. Right?

Taylor raised her hand, "Well a incantation is a charm that is created using words. It comes from the latin word "Incantare" which means to chant upon. If i'm not mistaken, inchantations are usually short and rhyming." That was basically all that Taylor knew about incantation.... she didn't really pay much attention to Charms class at Beauxbatons.....

Minerva raised her hand she remembered reading about these questions in a book at the library as well as her text last year. "Professor an incantation is a charm or spell using words. So it is the words part of the spell you are using. Words that are used in incantation can be Frigidus or Humidus." she wasn't sure about the words not used she knew she read it, but could not remember. "The relationship between an incantation and a spell would be that the incantation is the word that you say during a spell the action or magic comes from the wand movements that you do with the incantation." Minerva stopped and made sure she was ready to write down the answers to the non incantation words and how incantations are chosen.

Butterfly sat while still taking the notes, her head was spinning from all the info she was hearing from others and seeing the teacher write. She shook her head and kept writing.

Jezzabelle's hand shot up in the air, "An incantation,which can also be known as an enchantment, is basically a spell or charm created by words." It was such a simple definition and it was the only thing she knew when it came to incantations.

Incantations? Selina knew very well what an incantation was. She had been taking charms since her first year and would have gotten a "t" by now if she did not know what an incantation was. In fact, she was certain that more than just one class used incantations. They were sort of crucial to the whole magic thing.

She rose her hand and replied, "An incantation is the words used to create a specific spell or charm. Also they are typically formed in some sort of mangled Latin with some English words thrown in." To a Latin speaker, sometimes listening to spells made her cringe. It was like listening to someone speak awful English but truly believe that they were supreme speakers. Not only that but incantations typically ruined the diction of certain words... however she NEEDED them to perform spells so it was a non-issue really.

August got a look.

O___o

He looked around to see if the person behind him had done something to deserve such an icey stare but saw nothing out of the oridinary. No, that look was reserved for him, and he thought he knew what it was about.

Okies so no talking about the Professor Schrimer/Professor Scabior stuff when she was in the room.

Next question. August quickly jotted down notes about the points being written up on the board. Her magic writing was pretty fast so his notes were a bit scrambled but at least it was beginner's stuff sort of. He could always look back at last term's stuff he had saved.

Oh that was actually a LOT of questions. The Gryffindor decided to write them all down and then left a space by each one to write down answers as they were given, to study later.

"Professor Schrimer," he started as he raised his hand again. "An incantation is the word or words that a caster must speak in order for the spell, be it a charm, jinx, hex, or curse, to be casted." He paused to read anothe of the questions. "And from what I've learned in my limited time at Hogwarts, many incantations use Latin bases as their contruction." he nodded.

That was all he would answer. Others needed a chance, and he wasn't a hundred percent sure he would get them all right, anyways.