Right. So, one more time would be the last time, Alex decided. He'd be able to do it successfully one more time, he was sure of it. He picked up his wand and did the Finite charm on his hand to get the feeling back, and then flexed it a couple of times. He had a feeling his hand wouldn't feel great for a day or so after this. Bleghhh.

He waved his wand in the looping motion once more and pointed at his hand. "Petrificus Digitus!" he exclaimed, and once more, his hand froze up. Completely stiff as a board. YAYYY! He was the master of making people's hands turn in to a statue. He wasn't sure when that would be useful but...whatever. He needed points.

Belle smiled. She was glad that Ethan had not given up on her. He even knew she was a hard worker. Belle had to try it one more time. Four times the charm. Belle was glad she was getting a lot of practice. Belle saw he wiggled his fingers. Belle just needed a little more force and confidence.

Belle said, "Finite!" to get his fingers and hand back to normal. Then she said the spell again. Belle knew that Ethan was looking at her hesitantly. Belle held her wand steady and said confidently "Torparticus!" and did a short jab at Ethan's hand and fingers. Belle knew that Ethan would preform better on her anyways since he saw the gist of what Belle was doing.

Ethan took a deep breath as Belle performed that spell on his fingers for the final time. As a tingly feeling began running through his fingers, a grin started to emerge on the boy's face. It was much stronger this time.. and felt really weird. "You got it," he said, chuckling, as he turned to Belle. "It's a lot stronger.. I can definitely feel it." He wiggled his fingers a bit, as the odd sensation was increasingly uncomfortable.. but not so much that it hurt. Just weird.

"Okay.. reverse the spell?" he asked as he held up his hand in front of her. "Then it's my turn," he grinned. "You can hold up your hand and I'll give the spell a try." And hopefully that would go as well as Belle's attempt did.

Right, so it was time for the second spell. It wasn't going to make him hand stiff, thank goodness, but he wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of it falling asleep either. He pointed his wand at his pinky joint.

"Torparticus!" he exclaimed. Immediately, a weird sensation took over his pinky and he knew the spell had been successful. Awesome!! Maybe this WOULD really be successful in a duel. Maybe. He still didn't foresee himself having a duel with anyone anytime soon.

Time to start the written part of her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. Since the Common Room was still locked and there was no way she could go in there and use the study tables, Sophie made her way to the library. There were same nice tables there as well.

Taking a seat, she put her bag on the table in front of her and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and an ink pot. Pushing the bag to the side, the young badger placed the parchment neatly in front of her and put the quill in the ink pot.

Hmm... maybe she could try that other spell. What was it again? Torp... something. Hm...

Sophie pulled her bag closer again and got her DADA book. After flipping some pages, she found what she was looking for. "Torp-ar-ticus." She slowly read out loud. "Torparticus." Sounded alright. And the wand movement... A jab. Oh! And that was already part of the written exercise. The girl quickly took some notes and put the quill back in the ink pot before grabbing her wand.

Her poor left hand would have to be her target again. Jab! "Torparticus!" Nothing.

Wait, what was this spell supposed to do again? Sophie took another look at the book and read the spell's description. "Modified version of the Jelly Fingers Curse." Huh. Okay then. The girl shrugged her shoulder and went to practice again. "Torparticus!"

She moved her fingers a little to see if anything had happened to them. Nope, nothing again. Weird. What was she doing wrong?? The third year went baack to the book once again and read everything it had to say about the Torparticus spell thing. Curse, whatever.

That information would be useful for the written part - which she should be working on right now, actually, ahem. - so she took more notes.

She still had to figure out what she was doing wrong...

Belle was happy she finally got the hang of the spell. She was smiling and shooting her hand up in the air. "I am so relieved i got the hang of the spell." Now Ethan asked her to do the reversal spell first, Belle said "Finite!" and it probably worked. "Alright Ethan now it is your turn. Show me what you got." she smiled as she put up her hand.

After canceling out the last spell, Alex prepared himself to start the process all over and start his spell practice again. He grabbed his wand and pointed it at his wrist. Maybe this would be more effective?

"Toparticus!" he cried, jabbing his wand at his wrist. The same sensation that had just taken over his pinky was now crawling up his wrist. He groaned and tried to shake it off but with no avail. He hated this feeling soooo much! Why did they have to practice this again???

Ethan shook his hand a little now that Belle had ended the spell. He could feel the blood rushing back to his fingers and it was starting to feel normal again. He nodded and smiled at her words. "Nice work," he said encouragingly. He knew he needed much more practice than she did to get the spell just right.

And now it was his turn to try the spell. Here, Ethan was lacking in confidence. Wandwork and spells was always a tough thing for him. It usually took aaages of practice before he got spells to work right and he hadn't even tried this one yet. So he wouldn't be surprised if this one didn't work at all. But you had to start somewhere, right?

Ethan took a deep breath as Belle held up her hand in front of him. Pulling his wand out, he jabbed it at her hand, and commanded, "Torparticus!" Lowering his wand, he looked first at her hand, then to her face. "Did it work?"

Alright, one more spell and Alex was going to call it a day. He seemed to have Toparticus down a lot faster than Petrificus Digitus. One more spell would be more than enough practice, right? Alex really was not the biggest fan of practicing. It was hard to stay focused for this long. He really needed to get checked out for that ADD thing, whatever it was.

Pointing at his pointer finger, he jabbed his wand and yelled "Toparticus!" and smiled as his finger went numb at the joint once more. Yayyyy, success! With a quick finite, he got the feeling back in to his hands and packed up his things. Time to finish the rest of his homework!

When Ethan did the spell, Belle felt her hand. She did not really feel anything. "Hmm i do not think it worked. But it is understandable." she told him. "Trust me spells are hard for me too. As a little hint of advice, i would use more confidence and less shakyness of the wand." Belle smiled at him as she took his hand and let him hold his wand steady.

Ethan watched Belle carefully as he waited to see if his spell worked. The boy pursed his lips together slightly when she said it did not.. but he wasn't surprised. Rarely did he ever get a spell to work on the first go. He nodded at her words of advice and looked down at her hand on his as she demonstrated the proper hold. "Okay.. more steady, I think I got it."

First he pointed his wand at her hand and reversed the spell. Then, trying to keep a little more steady, Ethan jabbed the wand at Belle's hand and commanded, "Torparticus!" Lowering his wand. he looked again at Belle. "What about this time?" What were the chances he'd get it to work on the second try? Probably slim..

As Ethan did the reversal spell for a precaution. Then when Belle told Ethan to hold the wand more steady, Belle trusted him this time. She held out her hand and took a deep breath and knew he could do it. When Ethan said it more confidently. Belle gasped. She felt her hand tingle and feel numb. "Yes it did work this time." She was waving her hand around and could not feel it. "You did it Ethan, i would give you a high five but my hand is numb." she grinned apologetically.

Ethan watched Belle carefully after he had cast the spell. Would it work? He wasn't too sure it would work completely.. but hopefully at least a little tingly sensation? He tilted his head as she gasped and his eyes grew a bit wider as she said it worked. "Whoa.. really? Huh.. imagine that." The boy was slightly impressed. He couldn't remember a time that he got a spell to work that well on just the second attempt. But he was quite pleased as was apparent by the grin on his face.

Chuckling at her joke, he quickly cast Reverto. "Mind if I give it one more try?" he asked. "You know.. just to make sure it wasn't a fluke." The boy lifted his wand again and jabbed it at her hand. "Torparticus!" Crossing fingers that it worked again..

When Ethan asked if he could try again, Belle did not mind at all. "Whatever helps you Ethan. I do not mind at all." When Belle felt he did the reversal spell. Belle shook her hand and did not feel any numbness. Quite honestly it felt a lot better. She hated feeling the pins and needles feeling in her hand.
Then she braced herself one more time, since he wanted to do the spell, three times the charm. Belle held her breath and wondered if it worked. I think it was stronger this time. "Oh yeah i can definitely feel it now. Yup i can." she said waving her arm and not feeling anything. "You are getting better at this. You just more confidence." she told him to get his confidence up. She hoped to see him smile again.

Ethan smiled at Belle and her kindness. Always willing to help out.. he was quite thankful to have a friend like her. He grinned a bit wider as he saw his spell worked again. He was getting better. Chuckling, he said, "Thanks, Belle. You sound just like Minnie." She had been telling him that he needed to be more confident as well. Maybe that was true.. but it was difficult sometimes when he had such a hard time with spells.

"Reverto," he said, pointing the wand at her hand to take away the numbness in her fingers. "Okay, ready for the next spell?" Yes, Ethan was going to make sure they finished their work before they did any further chatting. "Pertrificus Digitrius is the next one.."

As Ethan did the reverse spell effect on her hand. Belle was thankful he knew the counter spell. Belle loved the feeling of not having numbness on her fingers. Belle then heard Ethan saying is she ready for the next spell. "Yup i am ready to do the next spell. Petrificus Digitrius. I like the sound of the name." she giggled at herself. "Well the wand movement like you said is an upside-down U shape and makes fingers stiff and stuck together." she said reviewing her notes.
"Alright i will go first then, it is fine." she smiled at Ethan. Belle did the wand movements first. The upside down U shape. Belle did that a few times. Belle was getting prepared. Belle felt confident. Then she pointed her wand at Ethan. "Petrificus Digitrius!" she said and pointed at Ethan's hand. "Did it work?"

Ethan nodded as Belle recounted the spell info. Yes, that all sounded correct. He lifted his hand and held it up for the girl to practice the spell on. This one he sorta knew how it felt. The boy had it practiced on him in class, though they didn't practice long enough for it to work correctly.

He braced himself as Belle cast the spell on him, then glanced over at his fingers. Wow.. much like it had been in class.. but not completely correct. Smiling a little, Ethan said, "You got it really close.. but not quite. My fingers are stuck together.. but they can still bend." Sort of like being in a mitten. He bent his stuck fingers up and down to show her. "Try again.. I bet you'll get it next time."

Belle snapped her fingers. "Aww man i was so close!" But at least she got the stiffness down but he can still move his fingers. Belle concentrated harder and did the upside down U shape. Belle then pointed her wand at his hand. She concentrated on the spell and sounded more confident this time. Belle took a deep breath and said, "Petrificus Digitrius!" she said. She hoped she said the spell right. "Did it improve?" she asked the smart Ethan. She loved having him as a friend because at least he was honest with her. That is all she can ask for.

Still holding his hand up in front of Belle, Ethan sorta shrugged and nodded. She had been pretty close and he was sure it would work better the next time. The boy watched her point her wand and his eyes widened. "Wait, you didn't.." But it was too late. She had already cast the spell and his fingers were joined so tightly together and so stiff that it hurt.

"Definitely much stronger.." he grimaced. "But you didn't reverse the spell first.. so that might have something to do with it... like casting the same spell twice in a row." Made sense to him, anyway. "Okay, one more time.. but reverse the spell first. Please?" It was starting to hurt.

Belle gasped and said, "Oh my god! I totally forgot to do that!" Belle felt horrible. "Reverto!" Belle said apologetically. "So sorry Ethan!" Belle said timidly. As Belle re did the spell and waited for the effect to wear off she did it again.
"Alright Ethan since i reversed the spell and now you feel better, i am going to do it again." Belle told him comfortingly. Belle did the upside U incantation. She said the spell confidently. "Petrificus Digitrius!" and hoped it worked and Ethan was not in so much pain. "I feel so bad you were in pain." Belle said shyly. "Now it is your turn Mr.Ethan." Belle said.

Ethan chuckled a little and shook his head. "It's alright, Belle.. really. A common mistake." He was sure he had done similar things countless times. The boy wiggled his fingers a few times to get the feeling back in them.

Once back to normal, the boy raised his hand again and prepared himself for the spell. Hopefully it would work but not be quite as strong. That had been pretty uncomfortable. The boy looked at his fingers after the spell was cast. "Yep, it worked," he told her with a nod. Chuckling again, he said, "No worries.. it really wasn't that bad, just.. uncomfortable." Giving her an encouraging smile, he added, "Okay, reverse this one and then it's my turn." Hopefully he would have as much success with this one as the last.

Belle did what she was told. Belle reversed the spell and said "Reverto." Belle was glad she got the hang of the spell. Belle then said to Ethan, "Now it is your turn." She smiled and held out her hand to him.

"Thanks," Ethan said, as she reversed the spell. And now it was his turn to do the last spell. And then they could finally take a break from the homework.. it was getting too tedious. He nodded as Belle held up her hand and he pointed his wand at it. "Petrificus Digitirus," he said, waving the wand in a little upside-down U. He took a deep breath, then looked at Belle. "So.. how's your hand? Did the spell work?"

Belle could move her hand just a little bit. "Hmm you did preform it right, do not get me wrong. But try it with a little more confidence and strength and you will get it down next time." Belle encouraged him. Belle thought this homework was getting tedious too. It was draining her brain power. She was even starting to yawn. "If you reverse the spell and do it again, i think you have it."

Ethan eyed Belle's hand and nodded at her words. Confidence was often and issue with his wandwork and he knew it.. One more time? Yes, that's what he thought too.. and then study break. Reverto.

Trying to employ a little more confidence this time, Ethan waved his wand in an upside down U and commanded, "Petrificus Digitirus!" He looked at her hand, then back at Belle. "What do you think about that time? Hopefully it worked and we can take a break.. I'm getting tired of homework, what about you?" He chuckled. Okay.. maybe he wasn't the most studious of Ravenclaws, but he felt that's all he had been doing lately was study.