Davie was now gritting his teeth, so determined was he to FINALLY score in the bin. He might have even been bending his knees a bit, holding his wand out like it was a Muggle tennis racquet, although he had no idea what that was. So. Come at him, balls, come at him.

At the sight of the next blue ball, Davie sprung to and swished his wand at it like he was claiming the ball. "Arresto momentum!" he declared passionately, slowing the ball's progress and gently, precisely, guiding it into the bin. Once it was safely in its correct place, he threw both his hands up in the air and let out a jubilant shout.

HE DID IT. First charms class, and he'd just ROCKED IT. After a few failed tries.

Lalalalaaaaa. Evie was back to being in her own beautiful little world of foam balls and wordless magic. The spell was quite an easy one to begin with. Incantation was easy, finding the intent was easy, the wand movement was easy. And since Evie had been practicing wordless magic for about a year, by the time the activity was coming to an end, she pretty much had it down effortlessly.

Depulso, she said in her mind. With a sweep of her wand, the ball vanished from its place and reappeared back into blue bin. Were they winning yet?!

Angel was totally starting to get into this game. "Depulso!" Angel was totally determined to get another ball into the Gryffindor Basket, she wanted her sister to be proud of her for at least trying, normally the only sports game she would play was football because she was amazing at it.

Angel did the wand movement and then she watched as a ball went towards the basket, but it looked a bit wide, she was about to start moaning when she suddenly realise that it was heading straight into the basket. How awesome was that, she had got two in the basket and one miss so far.

Enough fooling around Winchester. This time you are gonna get a foam ball in. He hoped this prep talk to himself worked. He took a deep breath and concentrated and then he saw one ball coming flying at his face but it was being banished by another students. Bloooddy helll be careful where you banish the balls please. Even though they were soft balls you could still get a welt or something. He saw one ball coming his way and he said with a swish of his wand, "Arresto Momentum!" and it stopped in mid-air. It did stop coming at his face and he placed it into the green bin. Success! He smiled with glee and was proud he managed to get two green balls into the bin. It was better than none.

He wondered how the older students were doing with using just their mind to banish the balls. It seemed like a harder task. He wondered if they were gonna move on because there wasn't that many foam balls left.

The Professor was cheering them all on and that was encouraging. Milo pretended to himself that she was rooting for Ravenclaw to win. Why wouldn't she? They had the most awesome students. It was obviously when you looked around at them.

Look David had gotten one!!

"Arresto Momentum!" Milo cast at the closest blue ball. It missed and fell to the floor. He had tried but it hit a green ball instead. He'd gotten too distracted. But still, he would try again; 3-1 wasn't too bad.

He KNEW it! He KNEW that something great was coming to come of this and HE WAS RIGHT! He. Was. A GENIUS!

Kinda.

The first year stared in awe at the appearance of the foam balls. Nearly everything that the Professor Lady had said was missed on the boy because he was too busy staring at the foam balls. He did catch the main gist of what they had to do: slow down the balls, catch them and put them in the bin. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

And then it started raining foam balls.

Phillip SCREAMED and proceeded to cover his head as quickly as he could. SAVE HIM! HE CAN'T BE DEFEATED BY........

.......... foam balls. Right.

Straightening up again and clearing his throat -- nothing to see here, folks -- the Slytherin pointed his wand UP at the ceiling and aimed straight for an incoming green ball. Focus, Romalotti. "Arrestoooooooo momentuuuuuuuuum!" Slow down, slow down, please slow down...

WHY WASN'T IT SLOWING DOWN?!

Angel was totally happy that her last two balls had gone in the Gryffindor Basket and she was jigging about so much that she didn't realise until the last minute there was another ball heading her way. She caught sight of it with only seconds to spare.

"Depulso!" Angel gave her wand the sweeping movement and she sighed as she realised right from an early moment that the ball was going to miss the basket, she knew it was her fault as well because she hadn't seen it until the last minute.

*no*

Angel thought to herself as she realised she had to stay focused, still with a 50% accuracy right she was doing better than some of the former footballers and a certain golfer from the past who dominated but then had a sudden decline.

Again, again!

There were so many people trying to accomplish the same task that sometimes it was hard to concentrate on a single ball. A few times he'd gotten one in his sights right before somebody else had stolen it from him with their own spell. Not cool.

Olly moved on to a different one, moving quickly as soon as he'd chosen his target. Wand in the air, concentrating on his intent. "Arresto Momentum." He waved his wand sharply. The ball he'd been pointing at slowed and Olly grinned. He waited a few seconds until it got close enough for him to snatch out of the sky. As soon as he could, Olly tossed it into the Slytherin bun. Then he turned his gaze back to the falling balls, ready to do it again.

Pleased with her success with the last ball, Paulina kept her eyes peeled for any others that came falling. Her House was doing an amazing job, and she was proud of them. It didn't matter if they won or lost; the important thing was that they worked together as a team to get the job done. That was such a Hufflepuff thing to think, but she didn't care. Paulina loved her House because everyone was so friendly and welcoming to her. The other Houses had been too - of course - but none more so than her own.

Scanning the room, she spotted a yellow ball falling, but it was too far away for her to cast properly. To avoid the risk of accidentally hitting a ball belonging to a different House, she ran closer. Wand out, she made the sweeping motion when close enough, and put all her thought behind the spell as she cast it. Depulso!

And that was another ball for Hufflepuff.

A game?! Okay, cool! Kate could do this. Although, she had to admit that the very first thought that came to her mind was, 'Why am I lumped in with the first and second years like some little kid?' UGH. She wanted to at least be lumped in with the fourth and fifth years. She had no choice, though. She would have to cast Arresto Momentum with the little kids.

Mmkay, well, let's get this party started.

Kate gripped her wand a little tighter and waited for a styrofoam ball to come sailing down. When it did, she started to get a little more excited about the game, despite the fact that she was still a little annoyed at being lumped in with the little kids.

When the ball got within a good distance from her, Kate raised her wand and gave it a wave toward the ball. "Arresto Momentum!" she said.

Rory looked down at the first year and back up at the motionless ball hovering in midair. If he remembered correctly, even as a first year he was unnaturally tall... he was always tall...Ughhh... not as fun as it seems. "Yeah no problem," he mumbled not laying his eyes off the blue foam ball. He would gladly help.

The Ravenclaw stretched his arm towards the ball and with a small hop he caught it with ease. "Here you go," he said looking down at the boy, with a weak shy smile, passing the ball to him. "Why are you SO nervous!" he thought to himself, keeping an indifferent expression. He needed to feel more comfortable socialising with others, lately this small issue was getting on his nerves. He still enjoyed being alone, probably still preferred it... but STILL!

The boy, continued talking. Rory stared down at him. He felt pleased from the compliment, causing him to release another smile, this time bigger. "Th-Thanks," he replied feebly - still smiling. On the other hand, this boy was asking him for... as if an... explanation about this spell. "But Professor Baxter clearly said only fourth and fifth years to practice Depulso," -but- "Rory come on! You as a first year always wanted to know what the big kids were doing. This guy is just like you! A typical Ravenclaw!" Ughhh... dilemma. The fourth year despised dilemmas.

"Well," Rory began, "the incantation is Depulso." The professor wouldn't mind him explaining the spell to a younger student, it couldn't harm anyone, not even a fly. "And the wand movement is a simple sweep." He demonstrated the wand movement precisely as the professor did. "So together," he continued targeting his wand at a blue foam ball, he preformed the sweeping wand movement and said, "Depulso." The ball was banished straight into the bin.

Yep this charm, undoubtedly, was awesome.

Before too long, Daxton's ears were uncovered again and he was back to watching the foam balls fall from the ceiling again. For a good few minutes he had entertained himself in watching the varying degrees of success (and failure, which was undoubtedly more fun to watch) of his classmates, including a few getting smacked in the head with the brightly coloured balls. It had not been long before he had grown bored of this, and, having recovered enough from the noise, had decided to have another go.

After a few moments waiting for a blue foam ball to drop somewhere near him, Daxton suddenly came to the realisation that actually it did not matter which colour ball he went for. By focusing on the blue and waiting for one to fall near him (as Daxton was unwilling to move further into the room), he was wasting time that could be spent practicing. It was unlikely he would manage the spell anyway, and even if he did, what did he care about the competition with the bins? As soon as it all dawned on him, Daxton could have kicked himself.

So he focused on the next random ball to drop near him - a red one - and waved his wand at it. Arresto Momentum.

Again, nothing. The ball simply fell to the ground, not slowing in the slightest, and bounced slightly on impact. Daxton scooped it up, and threw it away off to the middle of the room, unconcerned with where it went.

Noelle would stop these foam things. She would stop and she would be the most amazing first year ever!!

Squaring her shoulders again, she saw one coming right at her face. Not this time foam ball!!!
Pointing her wand and swishing it as she saw the professor do, Noelle said "ARRESTO Momentum!!" And waited.

And waited...
And bop!

Got I
Hit into the face.

Evil Evie was undoubtedly a very mean girl, and Dot found that she respected Angelo a little less for ever being seen with a girl like that. Sophie-daisy was the literal queen of Dot's heart, and the nicest and most wonderful person ever, and Evie was... rotten. Who would antagonize someone just because they were obviously smarter and prettier and nicer? It was like punishing a puppy for being cute.

Dot was of a mind to send another ball, and not miss this time, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to get away with the same trick twice. It was too close a call the last time, and Dot didn't want to deal with drama. Even if mean girls really did deserve a fat lip to go with their fat heads. Fact of life.

Her sulky anger, which could not be expressed on the person who deserved it, was instead focused intently on the falling balls in her vicinity. There... a green one, conveniently falling a few feet away and between Dot and the bin. She thrust her wand and said, "Depulso." The violent middle syllable felt like a physical shove, and the ball soared right into the correct bin.

She was feeling better already.

Feeling rage she didn't often feel, Sophie ROLLED HER EYES at Evie's retort and opened her mouth to respond with more sass and snark, a pulsating vein undoubtedly visible in her neck--

But then she stopped completely as it really hit her WHO she was talking to. Evie, who had built blanket forts with her. Evie, who let her come to her house and meet her family. Evie, who'd hugged her while she cried over her boys and talked her down when things were wrong. Evie, who'd taught her things about the world and helped her feel better about herself. Evie, who Sophie had considered to be a close, if not one of her BEST friends, before this term began.

And her expression softened to sympathy. Sympathy for this person Evie had become.

"You'll always be able to count on me, Eves. Whether you want me there or not."


Taken away from her anger-turned-sadness toward Evie, Sophie smiled at the presence of Reagan. A good egg, this one was, and Sophie nodded her affirmation to the girl's wishes. "Trouble with the colors? Whaddya mean? In targeting the right foam ball?" How could Soph help?

Sabbath was really chuffed that the boy was showing him the more advanced spell. As a first year, he knew he would have little chance of getting this demonstration from the professor. Sabbath watched the boy intently copying the wand movement alongside him, practising the incantation silently in his mind. 'Yep, he was sure he had this'.

Sabbath had decided to try out the more advanced spell for himself. He was impatient to learn everything there was to learn in this new magical world and his grandmother had always said 'Great love and great achievement always involve great risks’. "So here goes..." he murmured.

He focussed intently on the blue ball above, made a sweeping movement with his wand and said with great gusto and determination.. “Depalso”… Opa! he’d said it slightly wrong! There was a pop and small fizz of smoke emerged from the end of his wand. Sabbath was startled and stumbled backwards, dropping his wand and sprawling back on the floor. He sat there a second, his eyes wide, before realising his mouth was hanging open. He snapped it shut audibly. Blimey, how embarrassing! He scrambled to his feet and quickly scanned the classroom... had the Professor noticed?

Could he go two for two?

Only one real way to find out and Ben was ready for it. Here's to Gryffindor House and the hope of it and him doing well in his friendly competition between houses. He really didn't care who won all that much...just that it didn't seem like too much of a disapintmento him. Or that a certain team mate of his wasn't singing in front of the whole class making him feel awkward and awful. Nope...she was playing along...great.

*Depulso!* he thought as he tried again after taking aim at another red ball and swishing his wand towards the basket. Swish went the wand and swish went the ball in response, the item landimg inside and cheering him slightly. That would make it two for him.

Paulina was on a roll.

With two successes, she was more than ready for a third.

Smiling, she caught sight of a yellow ball as it was falling. Quickly she made a sweeping motion towards it with her wand while thinking the incantation in her head. Her smile grew when she saw that it had been another perfect shot.

Maybe if she practiced more spells this way she would become better at the whole non-verbal thing. Focusing on the easier ones was a good start, then maybe she could progress to the ones that posed more difficulty. NEWTs were at the end of the term and Paulina wanted to get good scores on the ones she was taking. No way was she going after all 12 though; that would be insane and probably cause a mental breakdown if she tried.

Angel looked around to see how they were doing but she couldn't figure out who was winning and she know had to figure out how she was going to score another goal in the basket. She wanted to get three in the basket because that would mean she had scored more than she had missed and that would be better than the other way around though.

"Depulso!" Angel suddenly saw a ball coming her way and she really wanted to try her hardest, so she was concentrating really hard, she did the want movement and then she waited like a pro would.

Angel had a feeling her heart was in her mouth, it was like this was the shot to win the world cup with her and she was one on one with the keeper, she was waiting and waiting for what felt like an age, she then suddenly saw the ball land in the basket and she smiled, how cool was this game.

As watching others wasn't as entertaining as she thougt it'd be, Jet went back to doing her own work. As soon as she looked up, a green foam ball appeared right in front of her and she quickly swept her wand in its direction. "Depulso!" And off it went to the Slytherin bin.

She heard a kid screaming and looked in that direction. His tie didn't help her recognise his house, but his robes did. She kept an eye on him, but didn't go towards him just yet.

Eyes still trying to pick the blue balls from the green ones, a small crease formed between Reagan's eyebrows. "I seem to be having issues telling the blue and green apart..."...which was kinda confusing as she liked colors so very much, and this had never happened before. Maybe her eyes were just tired. Since getting back to Hogwarts, there was just less sleep to be had across the board; if Rea wanted to keep up with her health and fitness, as well as all the extracurriculars she'd signed up for her, studying, etc...

Basically, there just weren't enough hours in her day.

Blinking a few times, to get her eyes to do the thing, Rea spotted yet ANOTHER blue ball...or what she thought was a blue ball. Was that blue? Hmmm. "I think I'm just tired..." Note to self: take a nap during her next free period. A few extra hours of sleep wouldn't go amiss. Her usual "foraging for seaweed" date would just have to wait.

...and she really hoped this ball was blue. APOLOGIES TO HER HOUSE if it wasn't. With a dash of focus, a pinch of precision, and a whole lot of intention, Reagan swept her wand towards the slowed blue?! ball.

Depulso.

Oh, yea! When the ball disappeared and reappeared in their bin, Rea stopped to do a little happy dance! This was so fun...even if her eyesight was making her feel crazy...

The problem was that this was all starting to get a little bit boring. There was only so much practicing of a hopeless spell that Daxton was really willing to do. It was not that he really minded putting the effort in - at least not if he deemed it something worthy of his time, which was rare - and he did not even care about not being able to manage a spell, it was just that the whole endeavor was starting to become monotonous.

Catch a ball with a spell, send the ball to the bin. Why? Why? What was the point? Could they not be doing something else while they learned? The whole activity was starting to seem redundant for an easily bored boy like Daxton.

He waved his wand at the next ball that he noticed falling past his face; a green one, this time. Daxton's reactions were quicker already, which was very interesting, but he still had no luck with the spell. Arresto Momentum.

When the ball's progress towards the ground did not slow, Daxton did not bother to catch it, but found some small amount of enjoyment in sticking his foot out at just the right moment and sending it flying off in a different direction entirely.

...and Reagan's happy dancing had continued for a solid five minutes before she'd realized that she wasn't quuuuuuite finished with the activity. It just felt so nice to perform with success, even if she wasn't completely confident about ball colors. Anyway, Professor Baxter had introduced it as a House competition...Rea could just explain that she didn't recognize any one house. SHE WAS PRO HOGWARTS!...Not just it's Houses.

Activist!brain.

Also, what was that precious Daxton doing? Every time Rea glimpsed his adorable face, she just wanted to steal him away and protect him from all the horrors of the world. You know, cruel people, synthetic fertilizers, processed foods...Ugh, did he need her assistance?! She wanted to help him understand the charm. Maybe later...when she could catch him away from the crowd. Bless him. Dax didn't seem the sort, but everyone couldn't stay away from the little cutie. So precious.

Spotting another ball (that was either green or blue, but probably blue), Reagan waited for it to be slowed before pouncing on it...WITH MAGIC. Mhm, she was an excitable little person today, tired or not.

Depulso.

Had it made it in? It was hard to tell...as the room seemed MORE chaotic now than before. She'd thought she'd seen it fall into their blue bin...but with so much going on, it was hard to be sure.

Brian nodded a little sadly at Adi, wrinkling his nose a bit as the prefect ruffled his hair. Brian didn't blame him, though. He did quite like his hair. And most (if not all) Hufflepuffs he knew were very attached to their hair. Hairpuffs, they all were. But the grin on the older boy's face started getting infectious, and soon enough Brian was grinning too. Dusting off invisible shame from his nose, he straightened up. He could do this. He would do this by the end of the lesson. Yup. This Hufflepuff was DETERMINED.

One ball at a time.

His eyes focused on a particular yellow ball that was falling at 9.8m/s^2 like everything else did, and waved his wand at it. "ARRESTO MOMENTUM," he said quickly, before the ball could bonk him on the nose again. Beaming as the ball slowed down a little - not by very much, but enough for him to catch it - he plucked it out of the air as soon as it was in reach and deposited it in a bin. See? He could do this. Kinda.

He'd be better at it next time.

WHY WASN'T THE FOAM BALL STOPPING ALREADY?!

Phillip started to panic more and more as the foam ball he was aiming for drew closer. "Arresto Momentum!" Nothing. "Arresto Momeeeentuuuuuuum!" STILL nothing. "ArrESTO MoMENTUM!" STILL NOTHING?! How was that possible? He was waving his wand and saying the spell VERY loudly. Maybe there was a hint of panic in his voice but the intent was there!

.... Right?

Okay, no, it was COMING DIRECTLY FOR HIM. And there were foam balls dropping left right and centre so the only thing he COULD do was bend down and pray to Merlin that he wouldn't get hit by the ball. "Arres....... Arresto Momentum!" This was getting ANNOYING, FOAM BALL.

"ARRESTO MOMENTUM!"

.........................

IT WORKED! Merlin's soggy left sock, the ball had slowed down! Phillip, who was now crouching down on the floor, could hardly believe his eyes. He even had to grab the ball out of thin air and observe it closely just to check that it WAS a ball and he WASN'T dreaming. Merlin!

And into the Slytherin bin you go, ball.