Well of course, Professor Romanos would move on from an correct answer about being lazy. It was right, but not the point she was trying to make obviously. Nigel listened to the different answers and waited for the next question. He was actually comfortable.

Still did not know why the leaves where in here. Ah the difference. Of course that question would come up. One requires actually physics and one requires concentration. Easy enough right.

"The Seize and Pull requires physical strength and certain distance fro the spell to grab the object. The Summoning Requires just absolute concentration no matter where the object is."

That answer sounded better in The Seventh Year's head.

Erm... so Accio summoned things which was dead useful, and a spell that AJ definitely needed in her arsenal. Seize and pull, seize and pull. Hmm, AJ wanted to know the answer too. Should she blurt the first thing that came to mind? Of course, she was a Gryffindor, and that was apparently what they did.

"Maybe with accio you can summon anything, and you are restricted with the seize and pull charm." Was she close? She had no idea.

What was the difference between the Summoning Charm and the Seize and Pull Charm? Lux had thought it rather obvious, but questions wear always a good thing. Sometimes she asked questions where the answer would be obvious to others. That was a part of learning!

Raising her hand, she said, "The Seize and Pull Charm casts a magical rope of light between your wand and the object and it can be retracted." Basically in a sense a rope is wrapped against the object and it is pulled towards you or you towards it. "The Summoning Charm doesn't cast a rope and instead just brings the object over to you no matter how far away from it you are." Hopefully that was a sufficient answer.

Question from Leah. And yes, Adi had an answer. He raised his hand and looking from Leah to Professor Romanos answered, ''The Seize and Pull charm produces something like a rope that actually grabs the targeted object while Accio simply allows the caster to acquire the object without having to make any form of contact with it.''

Hmm. Both of those spells were actually quite cool though Adi liked Accio better.

The more Maddie thought about it, the more she wanted to try this whole flying kneazle of doom thing out. Y'know, test her theory and see how well it'd work against an opponent. She'd just need a test subject and the ONLY person that came to mind was one Grayson Whitlock. Surely HE'D help a sister out, yeah? Heh.

Also, SHE knew a difference between Accio and the Seize and Pull charm! She DID! "They have different incantations." HELPFUL, she was. YOU'RE WELCOME.

"Right. Accio allows the caster to summon objects from great distances through concentration vhile Carpe Retractum summons a magical rope that grabs a hold of the object and retracts it to you. Or vice versa, you are pulled tovard the object; although both distance and strength restrictions apply to the latter spell. You must have a clear line of sight on the object to use Carpe Retractum." Hopefully...that all made sense to the second year. Anymore questions were certainly welcome.

"I believe now is a good of time as any to start practicing the Seize and Pull charm before ve get into our larger activity." Turning around, she moved from one side of the room to the other, tapping four invisible items which began to slowly appear in sight as the spell dummies from the dueling arena. All four very much stuck to the ground. "Ve've gone over the vand movement, vhich is a tight vhip like motion tovards the object you're targeting, and ve know the incantation Carpe Retractum." Turning towards the class, she moved out of the way of the dummies. "For those of you who do not haff this spell mastered yet, now vould be a good time to get in the practice. For those of you who do haff it mastered, I vould like you to attempt it nonverbally."

And as an example, she demonstrated on one of the dummies. "Carpe Retractum!" The whip like motion of her wand created a purple lighted rope that looped snug around the dummy before a flick of her wand back had the rope retreating into her wand. "You'll notice that the color of the rope for this particular object should be purple. If you haff any questions, please do ask, but, other than that...feel free to begin."

OOC: We're just practicing the Carpe Retractum upon the four dummies for now. Those of you practicing this nonverbally, do play by your character's skill level. We'll be getting into our activity very soon! Feel free to be as creative as you want, but be aware, Professor Romanos is watching and any funny business upon other students will be noticed. Maybe.

Sophie watched as the spell dummies materialized before her eyes. There were only four of them, which meant the professor didn't have much hope that they'd succeed. If she did, she'd have at least one for every person here. Sophie was nowhere near non-verbal status when it came to spells, so she'd be practicing it out loud.

She positioned herself in front of the first dummy and raised her wand. "Carpe Retractum!" she called out, making a tight, whip-like motion toward the dummy. A purple rope sprung from her wand but only went a foot forward before it fizzled out into pure nothingness. Meh. Why did this always happen? It could never be on the first try alone, could it?

Alright time for the action part of the lesson! He was happy to be doing this now. He wasn't one for answering questions, he didn't learn that way. He got out from his desk and went over to the dummies. He got his wand out of his robes and was facing the dummy. He was reading to do this spell. He practiced the wand movement a bit first. It was a tight whip like motion towards the object you're targeting and the incantation is Carpe Retractum. He got that down.

He started on the whip like motion. He raised his wand and whipped it over his head. He got that. Now onto practicing the incantation, "CAR-PEH RE-TRAC-TUM!" He nodded and now onto the dummy. He pointed his wand and let all his nerves leave his body. He didn't know why he was nervous. He could do it! He whipped his wand and called out, "CARPE RETRACTUM!" and then the purple rope came out just a bit and disappeared? Hmm....he would try again!

Question and answer time had concluded at this moment as they would all be taking a couple of minutes to practice the mighty Tug of War Charm or Seize and Pull Charm- whichever delighted the fancy of the student. Simon opted for the Tug of War Charm as that helped him remember it but when it came time for an exam, he'd have to use the Seize and Pull one unfortunately.

Oh well.....

After locating a spare dummy, Simon readied his wand. Whip like motion, right? Just like a cowboy. Think cowboy, he told himself as he moved his wand around in a whip like motion just like a cowboy would do before it lassoed a runaway bull or cow or creature. Ahem. He should probably tone it down a little. So he did that.

Next he had to work on the incantation. "Car-pe Re-trac-tum!" he tried several times before putting it all together. "Carpe Retractum!"

Finally the step to put it all together. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his shoulders and gave his hands a little shake. Simon raised his wand from the back of his ear to in front of his body in a whip like motion and called out, "Carpe Retractum!" A purple rope sprung from his wand and raced towards the dummy; however, all of a sudden, it came straight back towards Simon.

"No, no," he muttered and BAM. It hit him in the forehead, leaving him with a little red mark. He narrowed his eyes, ignoring the slight tingling annoyance of pain and continued. He repositioned himself, making sure to do the whiplike motion above his head this time.

"Carpe Retractum!" he cried in tandem with his wand movement. This time the purple rope jumped out and touched the dummy's chest lightly, moving it a couple centimeters towards him. Hmmmm... He'd have to fix some movement.

Simon narrowed his blue eyes once more. He needed to try again.

Adi watched as Romanos made the dummies appear. Why were there only four? Did she not expect them to master the spell or did she expect them to play tug of war should multiple persons manage to grab onto the dummy at the same time? Now that latter one sound like an awesome idea.

The third year was sure he had already mastered the spell. Yep! He remembered he had practiced and practiced with Annabeth. So, full of confidence, Adi said, "Carpe Retractum!" Cue the whip like movement. Annnnd a whole lot of nothing happened. Meh. So much for having mastered the spell.

Words had happened, yeah?

He was almost sure of it. Romanos' lips moved and everything, but, jeez, Ascanius hadn't heard a word. He was too busy sitting in his head and thinking 'bout her earlier question. And his answer.

Smiiiiiirk.

When he did eventually tune back in, much MUCH later, they were already practicing the spell. An easy enough one for a seventh year. But he did the basics anyway. There was no point to having the spell be nonver-

Huh. Actually. Smiiiiiirk. Maybe she was onto something.

Still, he was going to practice verbally for a bit.

Cue Indiana Jones whip motion. "Carpe Retractum."

Awesome, it was time for them to do an activity. Lux really was not a huge fan of answering questions even though the review was always more than welcome. Getting to her feet, she saw as the dummies materialized. Okay, there were only four which meant that Romanos probably didn't expect them all to master the spell; otherwise she would have provided a dummy for each of them. And what if a bunch of them cast the spell at one of the dummies simultaneously? Probably a weird game of tug-of-war.

That actually might be fun.

Having mastered the spell already in her spare time, Lux didn't really need practice but she wasn't sure she could do it non-verbally. She was still a Third Year, so that was a little out of her skill level. Some more practice wouldn't be a bad thing.

Heading over to one of the dummies, she stood a bit away and moved her wand towards it in a whip-like motion. "Carpe Retractum!" Watching the magical rope wrap around the dummy and move it towards her, she beamed.

Yay!

Making note of the discussion going on about the summoning charm and Carpe Retractum, Beverly mentally parted their differences. She understood and was ready for the task. Her eyebrows slightly raised as four dummies came to view and watched intently as Professor Romanos cast the spell. Cool. Professor Romanos was cool.

Now it was her turn.

Beverly had the spell down, it was just a matter of freshening up her wand work. What really raised her interest was the non-verbal casting. She wanted a hand at that. Yes. She wanted to learn how to cast non-verbally and it was never too early to learn.

But first, to see if she still had this down.

"Carpe Retractum!" The incantation was followed by a whip-like wand movement. To great satisfaction a glowing purple light expelled from her wand toward the dummies. It hooked. Beverly tugged. It worked!

Lex perked up significantly at the mention that they'd be moving into some practical work. This would have been child's play for her, given it was something she'd already gotten the hang of i--waaaaait they could try non-verbals? Epic! Lex had been working on those in her free time (what else was there to do, huh?) and even last term, incase she'd need them for her OWLs or something. Granted she hadn't but the practice wasn't wasted, evidently not.

Most of her experience went into hexes, jinxes and curses but surely this couldn't have been much harder. just a little practice. That's all it ever really took.

For the first cast, she'd go verbal, just to get back into the hang of things but after she'd give the non-verbal a shot. Alexa stepped before one of the dummies, at a good enough distance and did the motion of one cracking a whip, like Professor Fuller had taught them, concetration, imagining the rope really will spring forward, "Carpe Retractum!"

If she'd said she was surprized it work, she would only have been lying. It was something she'd done a few times even before hog tying Mo that ones time. It'd have been shocking if she failed but there it was, the purple rope around the dummy that came hurtling toward her after--wait what??? Holy kneazle!

At the last minute she side stepped the dummy. Right. Seize and pull. Had to remember that.

Sophie knew this spell fairly well, as they'd just gone over it two terms ago when she was a wee first year. She had spent SO much time on it and tried SO hard to master it back then even though it was a bit of a complicated spell - she finally got it, though - but she was a little confused. Why were they reviewing it in Defense Against the Dark Arts class? Was it a segue into another activity, or was it actually something practical they could use for defensive purposes?

She didn't reflect on that thought very long, though, for she shrugged it off and considered Romanos' suggestion - trying it non-verbally if they had it mastered? Hm. This... was a spell she'd had in her arsenal for two years now. She was only a third year, but really, sooner or later she was going to have to TRY spells non-verbally, right? But what did she know about non-verbal casting? How different was it really from speaking it aloud - there was the same strong intent involved, right? Could she...?

With a shrug to dismiss her own thought processes, Sophie whipped at the dummy with her wand and tried to shout it in her head in a moment of bravery, Carpe Retractum!

...Nothing.

Lame.

"Carpe Retractum!" she verbalized this time, repeating the wand movement, and was unsurprised when the purple rope coiled around the dummy.

Also lame.

…. Practicing? Hadn’t this lesson drraaagged on enough already!? ‘Cause if she was planning on the Cold One attack now, this would be the most opportune time Professor. What was she waiting for!? This Gryffindor was very, very confused. What was this class even about anymore!?! …. Maybe Sophie was right. Naaaah. They still had time for an attack right?

Zander’s ears perked up as he heard, “before ve get into our larger activity” despite the weird accent HE TOTALLY KNEW WHAT THE LARGER ACTIVITY WAS! And it was hardly an activity. It was more like a death trap if you ask him. Hmph. Lies. Romanos just speaks lies. But he’d have to practice to seem like he knew nothing right? He had to blend in. She couldn’t find out that he was on to her super evil Cold One attacker plan. No. He wouldn’t screw up his chances. Not when he was so close.

Now on to the practicing. Whip like motions? Uh… Okay. Carpe Retractum. He could do that. Although it did sound kinda tough. And yeah no there was no way he was doing it nonverbally. He could hardly even handle a spell while saying it out loud. Right okay. The Gryffindor decided to actually stand up from his lying down position- which was ugh because he was trying to stay low. Anyways. Yes, up.

“Carpe Retractum!!” Whip like motion and everything… O____O Nothing. Nothing. Great. Of course. How was he supposed to defeat a whole Cold One army if he couldn’t even get a dumb spell right.

Angel looked at the Professor when she said about the spell, she wasn't sure if she wanted to practice this spell because well anything could happen and she didn't want anything to go wrong.

"Carpe Retractum!" Angel then did the whip like wand movement and waited to see if anything happened to the dummy when it didn't she looked at the Professor. "I think the dummy is broken Professor!" Angel never had trouble with spells and so she wouldn't believe it now, it was all the dummies fault.

..Time to practice..
Lucy raised her wand and she started to concentrate..
Then she closed her eyes and she pointed the wand:"Carpe retractum!"
Lucy thought she had made the correct wand movement but..nothing happened..

Leah nodded, understanding. Accio would be a better spell if she was trying to get something far far away, but Carpe Retractum needs clear sight of the object. Got it. She gave a grateful smile to the professor and everyone who answered the question for her even the cute Ravenclaw firstie girl who stated the obvious. Leah saw the dummies appearing and stood up, dusting herself. Four of them.. one for each house? Heh, not that she minded. The Hufflepuff muttered the incantation over and over again, rolling the 'r's.. practicing the whip-like movement. Well she would need about four more years of learning magic before she could get to the non-verbal part, so that was out of the question.

When Leah finished preparing to cast the spell, whips were already hurtling back and forth. Scary. She stood in front of a nearby dummy and aimed her wand at its body. "Carpe Retractum!" she said, flicking her wrist to create a whip-like motion. Nothing happened. The second year saw a weak purple beam of light near the tip of her wand, but that was probably her imagination.

It was safe to say that AJ had not mastered the spell so she would not be attempting the spell no verbally. It was super cool that non verbal spells were an option. The lion really hoped that one day she would be able to do that. The professors demonstration was wicked.

AJ looked at the four dummies and looked at the size of the class. It looked like they were going to be sharing which was totally cool with her. She just hoped that she didn't get smacked with a rope in the cross fire. The lion didn't ask much, you see.

"Carpe Retractum" Nothing. Why was it always nothing?

Oh they were getting started? BRILLIANT. THIS was more like it.

And he was thoroughly glad that they were pulling dummies towards them and not something else. The only thing that bugged him was that he was pretty sure he wasn't old enough to try the spell non-verbally. Fifteen sounded alright and all but it wasn't right up there with sixteen and seventeen and eighteen. He didn't even have this spell down and mastered in the first place! Grumble.

Next time. Maybe. When he was like sixteen or seventeen and would be told to practice spells non-verbally. He would be ALL up for that.

There was no rolling up of the sleeves this time. Just straight on eyeing the dummy in front of him as he whipped out his wand. Where should he aim for? The neck? Chest? Waist area? Probably the waist. OR right around the chest and arms, because if this was some evil creature, he didn't want it to be able to use its arms as he put it on a leash.

"Carpe Retractum!" he called, moving his wand in a whip-like motion.

And the result?

Nothing. Not even a spark. Just great.

Two out of three colors? Now Jasmine really had to think back, What was the other color rope that could be created when performing the Seize and Pull charm? Unfortunately, while she was thinking, Jasmine missed the whole Accio vs. Carpe Retractum conversation. Just as the color clicked in her mind, Professor Romanos explained the next task and answered the question for her. Purple. If Jasmine had hust been a second faster in her recall. Oh well.....

Now it was time for everyone to practice the spell on the dummies. Before Jasmine did that, she took a quick moment to review the separate parts of the spell. She repeated, "Carpe Retractum" several times. Then she tried making the whip-like motion with her wand. It was all coming back to her now.

Jasmine waited for her turn to try out the spell. When it was time, she began to concentrate and focus on the dummy in front of her. Visualizing it being pulled toward her, Jasmine felt that she was ready. She raised her wand and made a quick whip-like motion in the direction of the dummy. At the same time, she said, "Carpe Retractum". Jasmine was relieved to see the purple light that turned into a rope wrap itself around her dummy. As she "pulled", the dummy started to move in her direction. Pleased that she had been successful, Jasmine said, "Finite" and prepared to try the spell again.

AJ was pretty much the little engine that could when it came to spells. It never worked for her on the first try, and hardly ever on the second and third one either. The determined lion never gave up though. The satisfaction that she received once she actually did it right was enough to keep her trucking on.

Were people getting the spell right already? AJ wasn't really sure because she was so in the zone. She was going to rope this dummy and pull it towards her. Heh... seize and pull... geddit?

"Carpe Retractum" Something, SOMETHING was happening. Nope purple rope shot out, but something flickered at the end of her wand and it was definitely better than a big fat nothing.

Adi tried the spell a couple more times. At first he had gotten nothing but after about three tries, he managed to produce a purple rope thingy whiich vanished a second later. So much for mastering the spell.

Taking a moments break, Adi glanced around at his classmates. Some like him, were having trouble. AJ was included in this group. His memory traveled back to the first Transfiguartion lesson of the term when they had worked together, both encouraging the other and having a bit of competition to see who would make their cloud snow first.

Things had been awkward for a while but maybe that had changed? Shrugging, the Hufflepuff headed over to the Gryffindor. "Hey,'' he said. "Having trouble? I bet I could grab the dummy first.'' He grinned. Adi knew that was a great way to motivate AJ. See? No awkward. Anyway... "Carpe Retractum!" Adi did the wand movement. Another purple rope! It zoomed towards the targeted dummy. But much to the boy's disappointment, the rope decided to disappear. Ugh!

Did he mention that he did this before? Back when he was super jealous of the upper classmen back in his old school? Because he wanted to look cool and such, he asked to be taught by said older kids, and he ended up humiliating himself by thumping the head of a professor with the conjured purple lasso. Why? No clear line of sight, that’s why.

Sighing, Ethan moved to a spot wherein he could have a very clear line of sight. This time, he will do it right, and probably avenge himself from the humiliation. The boy murmured the spell first, letting it roll out of his tongue smoothly. Once he was okay with that, he got his wand, did the movement, “Carpe Retractum!”, and a purple rope came out of his wand, and coiled around the dummy’s neck. It wasn’t as snug as he expected it to be, and this made Ethan frown a bit. Yeah, maybe he did wake up on the wrong side of the bed.