Sophie was so fascinated by the thought of making music magicaly that she didn't notice when everybody was already walking around to get the instruments. She looked down at her desk and saw a piece of sheet music there. Holding it up, she looked at the notes and lines and everything and blinked. "Wicked!" She finally said with a smile.

She quickly got up and rushed to get an instrument. She stared at the options for a few seconds, analysing which one looked easier to work with. Maybe... wind instruments were simpler? Sophie grabbed a recorder and went back to her seat.

"Ludo Totalum." She said with no wand at first. "Ludo Solus. Soluss. Solus. Ludo."

Alyssa jotted down notes as the Professor told them what the spells were used for, how to cast it and the wand movements for the spell. She then watched as he performed the spell on the instrument he has brought with him.

Now it was their turn to try the spell out. But first she needed to select an instrument. Since she hadn't brought an instrument of her own, Alyssa walked up to the front and looked at the instruments the Professor had allowed them to borrow. She bent down and picked up a pan flute because she always loved the musical sound it made. She then went over to the pile where the sheet music was and leafed through them until she found one that she liked.

She brought the pan flute and sheet music back to where she was sitting and placed it on the desk in front of of her.

"Finite," Kurumi said, giving her wand another flick and ending the spell. The recorder fell out of the air, and Kurumi's Seeker reflexes kicked it to allow her to catch it before it hit the table's top. Okay...so...that certainly had both worked and not worked. At least it hadn't played a single loud note or anything.

Still...the prefect was curious and used her handkerchief to clean the the recorder a bit before bringing the instrument to her lips. Probably should have test this FIRST to see if it would play at all before trying to do it with magic, yeah. Kurumi blew...but no sound came out. At all. Now THAT was odd.

Kurumi peered into the instrument now, trying to see what the problem was, but seeing how small the holes were and how dark they were...well...there was no easy way to see into it. So, back to blowing she went. She blew until she was red in the face, but still no sound came out. Erm...ok...this one was broken.

So...back to the box she went and picked up another one. "Sir, I'm afraid this recorder has something wrong with it," she said as she set it to the side. You know, just in case someone else tried to use it.

With a new recorder now, Kurumi returned to her seat and tried for a second time. The recorder rose into the air as it had done before and this time produced sound, but it was disjointed and off tune...way off tune. Well, at least she knew that this one was capable of producing sound, yeah.

With a small sigh, Kurumi cast Finite again and caught the recorder with her hand. Time to refocus, or something.

Sophie looked from the sheet music on her desk to the recorder. She wasn't sure if she would be able to do that, but she was excited to try!

Placing the instrument next to the paper, she stared at the sheet music. She hoped they didn't need to know how to read those... note thingies in order to produce music magically. Well, time to figure it out!

Getting her wand, Sophie pointed it first at the sheet music and concentrated. "Ludo Totalum!" Then she looked at the recorder. She made a circle with her wand. "Ludo Solus!"

She waited for a few seconds to see if it was just taking a while for the music to start. She blinked a couple of times, looking once again from the sheet music to the recorder. Nothing.

Sky took down notes on the two spells, then went to select an instrument. Seeing what was available, she chose a recorder, figuring that it would probably be the easiest to cast on. She went back to her seat to make her first attempt.

Opening the pouch containing the recorder, she set it on her desk to leaf through the music selections. She chose Mary Had A Little Lamb and placed the sheet beside the recorder. Well, here I go… "Ludo Totalum," she said with her wand pointing at the music. Then she changed her aim to the recorder and said "Ludo Solus," her wand moving in a circular movement. Nothing happened! Sky signed and prepared to try the spell again…

Ella decided it was time for a pep talk. She was getting quite frustrated with herself and the recorder in front of her. Why didn't it want to play Mary Had a Little Lamb? Honestly, everyone loves Mary Had Little Lamb! Ella shook her head, trying to refocus. "Okay, you can do this. Just concentrate on the spells and the wand movements. You'll get it this time." As an added precaution, Ella looked down at the instrument in front of her with a frown. "And you, recorder, need to step it up!" With that, she picked up her wand, ready to try again.

Ella pointed her wand at the music, concentrating hard. "Ludo Totalum!" Then, she moved her wand so that it was facing the recorder. After drawing the circle she said, "Ludo Solus!" Suddenly, Ella was able to hear faint music coming from the recorder. She put her ear up to the instrument and gasped. "It worked! It actually worked!" Saying that Ella was extremely proud of herself was an understatement, she was positively delighted. However, why was the music so soft? That was interesting. Maybe if she tried again it would be louder? She decided she'd try and figure it out.

Focus...focus....focus...

Kurumi sort of just stared at her recorder for several minutes, studying the shape of it and trying to create a clear image of it so that even if she closed her eyes she would still be able to see the object in front of her - as it were. Evening out her breathing a bit, Kurumi picked up her wand once more and decided to actually read over the sheet of music in front of her. Somehow, this seemed like it was a key step in the process. Not knowing the music to some degree and casting the spell seemed...pointless. Magic was based mostly on intent and, well, you couldn't have proper intent without knowing the material, right?

Humming to herself as she read over the music, Kurumi felt more confident than she had the previous two attempts and pointed her wand at it. "Ludo Totalum.”

Here goes nothing.

Sky aimed her wand at the sheet music and again cast "Ludo Totalum." She changed her target to the recorder and cast, "Ludo Solus," moving her wand in a circular pattern. This time, she thought she heard some air move through the instrument, but it didn't play.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again… and again…

Before performing the actual spell, Alyssa first practiced the incantations to the spells, Ludo Totalum and Ludo Solus. She made sure that she had the pronunciation of the spell down pat. "LUDO TOTALUM....LUDO TOTALUM...LUDO TOTALUM....LUDO SOLUS....LUDO SOLUS.....LUDO SOLUS..."

Then she practiced the wand movement for Ludo Totalum which was simple enough. Just Point. She picked up her wand and pointed. "Now for Ludo Solus."Alyssa said to herself. A circle movement. After practising the movement another time, Alyssa decided that she would now perform the spell.

Sophie frowned a little as she stared longer at the recorder and the sheet music. Maybe she did have to know how to read the notes... or not.

She took a deep breath and tried to concentrate more. It probably looked like she was trying to set the paper on fire with the power of her mind. Still frowning, she pointed her wand at the sheet music once again. "Ludo Totalum!" She quickly looked at the recorder and before thinking about anything else, she made the circular motion with her wand. "Ludo Solus!" Work, thing! Work!!

She was still pointing her wand at it when she heard a long and distant note. Her eyes widened and she looked around, looking for the source of the sound. Was it... did she... was that the recorder??? It was no music, but it was a start, wasn't it?? Sophie's eyes sparkled and a big smile spread across her face.

Alyssa decided that it was time for her to try out the spell for herself. She moved to where her pan flute was got ready to say the incantation. Taking out her wand, she pointed it first at the sheet of music in front of her and said "Ludo Totalum" immediately swinging over to the pan flute and waving her wand in a circular motion, said "Ludo Solus". Music immediately could be heard but it was the worst out of tune sounds that could ever be heard, coming out of the flute. "Finite" Alyssa said immediately ending the spell knowing that even though she had said the incantations correct and had the wand movements down right, she had somehow messed up on the spell.

She sat back and tried to figure out what she had done wrong. As she sat, she realized that she had made the greatest mistake in spell casting. She hadn't concentrated on the intent of the spell and what she wanted it to do. She had lost her concentration.

Hope it works this time… Sky aimed at the piece of music and said the spell again, this time thinking of the tune in her head. "Ludo Totalum!" Then transferring her aim to the recorder, again thinking of the tune in her head and moving her wand in the same circular pattern. "Ludo Solus!" The recorder let out a noise that sounded like a fart. Blushing, Sky pointed at the instrument and said, "That was the recorder, not me!"

Well that was embarrassing…

Gritting her teeth, Kurumi held her wand over the recorder and a fluid circular motion over it and took a deep, soothing, breath before she said the spell. "Ludo Solus."

She kept her eyes unblinking on the recorder as it rose into the air, wincing just slightly when she saw it tip forwards as if someone were holding it and about to play - a ghost perhaps. Best not think about that because she was going to distract herself and lose concentration. Then to her delight, it began to play. No, it wasn't perfect and there were some pauses and a note or two off here and there, but seeing as she was not well versed in this form of magic - enchanting instruments and the like - this sort of result was to be expected.

Feeling a little tired, Kurumi sat back in her seat and listened to the recorder as it played the song over and over again.

Tayla listened eagerly at everything Dr. MacNally was discussing. This seminar was so interesting!

Tayla wished she could practice the spells on a piano, but knew that it might be too difficult for her. She stood up, chose a flute, and set it on her table when she returned.

She took out her wand and decided to practice the spells without the objects first.

"Ludo Totalum. Ludo Solus," Tayla said three times.

She then pointed her wand towards sheet music for Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. "Ludo Totalum!" And then quickly pointed her wand towards the flute and made a circular movement. "Ludo Solus!"

Tayla waited for the flute to play, but what it did instead was spin in circles. "Er...definitely not it." She pointed her wand towards the odd spinning flute and said, "Finite."

After Alyssa realized her mistake and what had gone wrong with the spell, she quickly picked up the music sheet and studied the music in front of her. It's not like she read music or anything but she figured that if she studied the notes and how they ran up and down the scales, she might actually get a decent tune going this time.

So this time concentrating on the lullaby written on the music sheet, as well as, the Pan Flute and what she wanted it to do, Alyssa took out her wand and pointing it at the music sheet said, "Ludo Totalum". Once she said that she immediately turned to the pan flute and waving her wand in a circular motion over it said,"Ludo Solus"..and wished for a miracle.

From nowhere, a soft lilting lullaby could be heard. It was coming from the pan flute...and nobody was playing it. It was playing by itself. Alyssa smiled when she heard the tune. She listened as the flute played on.

Ella was determined to get her instrument to play on its on. Her last try had been pretty successful so she was hopeful she could do it again. She once again pointed her wand at the music, ready to say the incantation. "Ludo Totalum!" . Then, she made the circle with her wand and she said, "Ludo Solus!" She listened carefully to the recorder. For a moment, nothing happened. There was only silence and Ella frowned. However, suddenly the recorder began to play. The music was still soft but it could be heard without putting your ear right next to it! "Wicked!" Ella said cheerfully.

Back with her music sheet, Elise set it down before pulling out her wand. Yay! Now, onto trying out the spell! She could do this. She knew she could!

"Ludo totalus," she tried, pointing her wand at the music sheet. Now, "Ludo Solus," she pointed at the flute.

The flute simply levitated and spun around for a moment before stopping dead in midair. Well, that didn't work...

"Finite," she sighed, wrapping her hand around the flute to pull it down.

Amelia headed back to her spot now and placed both her instrument and her sheet music down. It was time for her to start practicing the incantations that she needed to perform. She remembered that when you point to the sheet music you said Ludo Totalum. She decided to go over that one first since it was the one needed first. “Ludo Totalum... Ludo Totalum... Ludo Totalum..." She repeated the spell over and over again until she was sure that she had it right, then moved on to the next one.

This was the one said when drawing a circular shape towards the instrument. It was Ludo Solus. "Ludo Solus... Ludo Solus... Ludo Solus..." As with the other spell, she practiced it until she was sure she had it perfectly.

Okay, so maybe it would play more notes if she concentrated more!? Sophie clapped her hands together before casting Finite on the recorder so the single, long note would stop.

She looked around for a few moments to see how her friends were doing. Most of them were having a hard time with the spell too. Taking a deep breath, she looked back down at the sheet music.

Trying to concentrate even harder, Sophie stared at the paper for almost a minute before pointing her wand at it. "Ludo Totalum!" Right after pronouncing those words, she looked at the recorder and made a circle with the tip of her wand. "Ludo Solus!"

Five weird sounding notes came out of the recorder and kept repeating themselves. They could be heard perfectly, but were most definitely not a song. Well, maybe a weird song. Not the one that was writen on the sheet music, though.

Phew! Sophie sure needed to keep practicing if she ever wanted to improve. She watched the recorder playing the strange notes for a while before poiting her wand at it again. "Finite."

After taming her embarrassment, Sky tried the spell again. "Ludo Totalum," she cast, her wand aiming at the music sheet. After readjusting her wand to aim at the recorder, she cast "Ludo Solus!" It worked! Sure, the instrument played a sharp note here and there, but she had done it! Sky sat and listened to the instrument play for a few minutes before growing tired of the sharp notes and casting "Finite!" The recorder let out a final note, then quit playing. Phew!

Okay, so that was enough practicing the incantations. It was not time for her to pull out her wand and attempt the spells for real.

She reached into her holster and pulled out her wand. Now she pointed it at the sheet music for Mary had a Little Lamb. "Ludo Totalum!" She then pointed it towards the recorder and moved it around in a circle. "Ludo Solis!"

She expected the recorder to start playing the song right away, but it did absolutely nothing. What had happened? She had the wand movements down because they were simple, but... she must have messed up one of the spells. It was time for her to make a second attempt.

Xavier frowned; had someone hurt one of his instruments?! Oh, it was the Gryffindor Prefect... she didn't seem the sort to break things on purpose so he stopped frowning. "Thank you, Miss Hollingberry." he said, picking up the recorder. He held it up to the light and squinted slightly. Hmmm... He detached the two pieces and used a flute mop to clean it out gently, rubbing a cloth over the outside - he preferred to do this manually, it just seemed nicer than using magic. When he slotted the pieces back together he lifted the recorder to his lips and blew experimentally. Just as he thought - it must have evaded the cleaning before he left the house. He placed it back into it's case and returned it to the chest.

Standing at the front of the classroom, Xavier observed the class finishing practicing the spell. "Marvelous!" he said, motioning for quietness. "You are all doing magnificently! Sadly, we are out of time. It has been a pleasure to teach you all." From behind the piano Xavier retried a wooden box, about the size of a shoebox. "Unfortunately, we didn't get to talk about how magical plants can influence music, however, I have a gift for each of you." He lifted the lid off the box and held up a phial. "This is Glossa Florem Sap, diluted with a thinning potion. When you use it as a varnish it will anything from scrapes and dents. I use is a lot on my instruments. It only needs to be applied every four or five years." he explained, swilling the yellow-ish liquid around in its phial. "You don't have to use it for an instrument - it can protect anything made of wood." He left the box open on an empty desk at the front of the classroom.

Straightening up again he addressed the class. "I also have some homework for you - not compulsory, but you should know that I am allowed to award points." he added with a grin before writing it on the blackboard.

"When you have finished practicing the spell you may take a phial and leave. Thank you for being such a wonderful class! If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them." he said as he sat back down behind the piano. "And if you think of them after I have left you can owl me."

The lesson will close tomorrow at some point, you can RP your character finishing the practical and leaving/asking Xavier questions until then. But if you/your character do have any questions after it's finished you can PM me - I have a lot more stuff about MMT that I didn't use in the lesson

Alyssa got up and was about to return the pan flute and sheet music to where she had borrowed it from when she realized that it might be required for their homework assignment. So she picked them up, together with her stuff and approached the Doctor. "Thank you for an interesting lesson, Doctor. Uh...Doctor could I borrow both the pan flute and music sheet a little while longer, just in case we need it for our homework assignment? I promise that I'll take good care of it and return in in good condition once I'm done with it." As Alyssa waited for the Doctor's consent, she picked a phial that the Professor was giving out to everyone.

Ella packed up her things and returned the recorder and sheet music to their rightful homes. She smiled as she grabbed a phial and headed for the door. "Thanks Dr. Mac," she said, smiling. She liked that nickname and hoped maybe he would too. "And thanks for the phial! I have a guitar that could use some of this!" With that she headed out the door, thinking that was quite a fun lesson.

Xavier blinked; he wasn't used to lending out his instruments long term. But what could really happen to it? He nodded, "Yes, of course." he said, smiling again. "Here, take the case." Xavier handed the case to the girl. "You can owl it to me with your homework, or leave it with Aurora Stewart-Quinn - she's one of my students. In Slytherin, I believe." Aurora would return it... and he would be likely to see her at some point during the holidays.

"No problem," replied Xavier... Dr Mac? That was a new one... he wasn't sure about it to be honest... but there you go. "I'm glad it will go to a good purpose."