Her smile had been greeted with words. She hadn't really been expecting that and nodded her head replying quietly, "Morning Professor, I am, thank you. I hope you are as well." She meant that too. It was nice when people were having a good day.

SPOILER!!: Paulina

The Slytherin girl didn't seem too thrilled about the prospect of giving her tie to someone else, and Paulina couldn't blame her for it. Honestly she'd rather keep hers on as well, but it was in the instructions so that was that.

Taking the Slytherin tie, she wasn't exactly sure what to DO with it. Were they supposed to wear them or...? Shrugging it off as no big deal either way, Paulina put it on and made sure that it looked perfect.

"Nice to meet you, Hady. Are classes at Hogwarts usually this odd?" Because she wasn't used to this kind of thing. Astronomy definitely took the cake in her book.

"Nice to meet you too." Hady gave a small nod of her head to the girl beside her. Paulina's question though made the fourth year grin and she turned to look at her as she answered her quietly. "Pretty much. I guess you can say 'odd' is normal around here." Nothing at all wrong with odd. So far she'd take all this then huge spiders.

Glancing around before the class started Hady's gaze landed on Zeke and she spotted the smile. For just a second the tiny smile that had been on her face grow as she gave a small nod in greeting to him as well. She hadn't had much time to speak with her friend since getting off the train, she'd have to change that one of these days.

As the lesson began Hady shifted around in her seat to face the front her attention falling on the Professor. Listening silently she pulled out a sheet of parchment and her quill when they were told to do so. Ten minutes to write a paragraph about what she knew about charms and what she'd like to learn. Well um alright then she'd give it a go.

SPOILER!!: Parchment

Charms has always been one of my favorite lessons since first year and luckily for me it's also one I'm rather good at. A charm changes or adds certain properties to something else. There useful for everyday life such as cleaning or helping others. Like for myself I want to be a Healer for magical creatures so healing charms would probably help me a lot. As for which charms I'd like to learn I'm really not sure. I guess I would have to say any and all that I can learn as well as work on strengthening those I already do know.

There. Setting her quill down on her desk she sat quietly and waited.

No shade was to be thrown, no crushing of bugs, he was just a dude looking to exchange a tie and get past this rule. Of course, not knowing any of the young women's thoughts or paranoia, Damien could do nothing to shake them off or explain otherwise, no the boy wasn't even remotely working for Evangeline Shacklebolt or any other female currently at Hogwarts.

"Hey, no probs, Sophie." He sighed as he retied his tie, annoyed that he'd have to re-do the perfect windsor knot on his own after class, damn damn shame. "I'll be back for that later." He good-naturedly joked before taking his seat.




Professor Baxter was pretty and that was kind of really distracting to the seventh year as he tried his best to focus on what she was saying and not the way she was playing with her tie or the way her dark hair was so smooth and how it shone as it caught the light, it was not productive, nope, not a bit and Damien shook his head to focus on, you know, class.

Activities, she was talking about the rules and the stickers and the tie thing, yeah? What was the tie thing all about? Did it have something to do with the class? With House prejudice and expectations, maybe? He didn't really understand the positivity wall except that it had to do with energies, but that didn't pique his interest as much.



With that written out and sorted, Damien raised his hand. "Professor, This isn't a hating question or anything, but I'm hella curious about why you've had us all switch ties." The Gryffindor said, resting his head in his other hand. "Is it about House Blindness? Prejudice? What's the deal?" Because he was all in if it was an experiment on inter-house relationships or how they saw each other, but if it was just for giggles? Well... That would be kind of lame.

Zander was of course saving the seat beside him for none other than--Oh. Uh. Well a Ravenclaw, yes, but this wasn't the particular Ravenclaw he had in mind. But Zander gave her a goofy smile and nod nonetheless. Guess he'd have to work harder at saving Sophie's seat next time. Perhaps he'd set a notebook on the table or something to show that it was taken... Would that be mean? Welp. "Go ahead," not like he was saving it for anyone, oh wait. Sigh. But there was no way she could know that. "Jenelle, I'm Zander," he remembered working with her on a group task in History of Magic once, with Cutty and all... But it was a while back. So no harm in reintroducing himself.

Head Boy Adair. Still sounded weird. Just sayin'. And man. he was afraid she'd pull the 'your an example now' card. Yeah, yeah he'd encourage it. "Fair enough, Professor," and though he didn't want to give his tie away to just anyone, he took it off slowly and held it in his hands. Maybe he could swap with Soph? She definitely wouldn't steal it. And if she did, well, actually he wouldn't mind.

But it looked like he wasn't giving his tie to Soph today... Turns out he was gonna be a Slytherin. Weird. Super weird. "Uh sure... Dante, right?" he nodded, exchanging his tie for for the one in the boy's hand. Were they meant to wear these around their necks still?Because tying them sure was a pain.


Okay Professor Baxter must really like writing. First the writing for the wall. Then writing out things for their nametag. And now an ENTIRE paragraph of writing. Merlin, NO WONDER she was a Ravenclaw. He knew because of her tie. What an observer Zander Adair is, people.

He wasn't going to ask anymore questions this time, seeing as the other one only got him the 'be an example' card. So head down, the Gryffindor took out some parchment and began writing.... What did Charms mean to him anyways?

SPOILER!!: Paragraph

I like Charms 'cause it's hands on. It's not just taking notes like History or watching things happen like Astronomy. You actually get to DO stuff. Charms is all about manipulation I think. A little like transfiguration, except not as hard because you already have your object in mind and you're not trying to turn it into anything.... Just trying to get it to do something differently than it normally would. I've never been horrible at Charms, but Professor Quigley said that I need to work on the stuff going on in my head when I'm trying to cast one. So I guess I don't really have a particular charm I want to learn about, but I want to learn more about how to cast charms in general. I wanna learn how I'm supposed to actually imagine the stuff happening and really focusing in on all that... stuff.

Stuff being learning how to believe in his abilities when it came to this class, but that wasn't something he fancied putting down on parchment. And also, he hardly even knew this Professor yet. Not gonna trust her. Well, not gonna trust her yet anyways. He was still the same skeptical Zander from third year, alright?

Daxton Prince definitely did not return the smile. Not necessarily due to any ill-feeling towards the teacher (although these rules were enough to make him uneasy about the lesson in general), but because he simply was not a smiler. Especially not at the moment. And, as far as he was concerned, he was not expected to make any sign of acknowledgement in return anyway.

As the class got underway, Daxton kept his attention firmly on Professor Baxter, waiting for her to hurry up and get past the formalities; he did not care about getting full credit, all that was official rubbish that never bothered him in the slightest, he only cared about actually learning things. Thankfully, there wasn't too long to wait.

But at first, Daxton hesitated. He had no issue writing a paragraph about Charms. He had read a lot about them - already gone through his textbook cover to cover more than once - and had knowledge about them to fill much more than a paragraph. But something Professor Baxter had said made him pause. Because she wanted to get to know them.

Why?

He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that, and so, while everyone got to work around him, Daxton fixed the teacher with a dubious stare. He held it for a good few moments, considering, before making a decision. It would not be difficult to write a paragraph, but hold back on the more telling details. He would do that.

Getting out a fresh piece of parchment, then taking his regular non-magical biro from his pocket, Daxton quickly and neatly printed out a paragraph in very small handwriting.

SPOILER!!: Notes

Daxton Prince
First Year
Ravenclaw
Charms

Charms

I know a lot about charms already, more I think than I could fit into a paragraph, and I do not want to write that much. Charms are useful spells; life would be exponentially easier with the knowledge and practical skills of the charms just in the first year textbook. Charms makes more sense than Transfiguration, where the rules of physics are ignored and things can be created from nothing. I want to learn all the charms. What is the point of learning them if I do not learn them all.

He sat back and looked at his parchment, squinting slightly. Was that held back enough? Did it reveal too much about him? It was hard to gauge, but it would have to do.

'A brief advice, if you'd like to earn full credit in my class read the rules and follow them appropriately.'

Jet's intense gaze was upon their new professor and her head went one way to the other as the woman moved. As soon as new instructions were given, Jet pulled out some parchement and quill.

Text Cut: Parchment

Charms
Charms are a branch of magic spells, being part of a list that also includes Transfiguration spells, jinxes, hexes, curses, counter-spells and healing spells. It is one of the harmless of the list, although at times they can be used for different purposes. They alter the appearance of the object rather than its main structure and can prove themselves to be extremely useful. I would personally like to learn more Charms that can be related to plant care.

She didn't put her quill down when she was finished; instead, she held it in place and looked up once again to observe the teacher and she listened closely to see if there were any more instructions.

Iselin was now sporting a yellow tie as a special hufflepuff sat next to her and her sticker on her forehead. She was listening intently as she lifted her head and tipped it backward in order to see the peofessor. HI PROFESSOR BAXTER! WE SEE YOU!! She wiggled in her seat as she mentioned full participation Iselin nodded her head in agreement. Yes, she wanted full points for the day she did she did!!!

Picking up her quill she dipped it in the ink and attempted to start to write but was unable to see due to the fact that her nametag sticker was rivht between her eyes and made it difficult so she removed it. Just for the writing process and stuck it on her desk.



She grinned as she put her quill down and looked over at her partners paper. Heh. She was great. Oh wait... Sticker!Get back on the forehead. She giggled slightly before smacking it back onto her skin. HI.

OH LOOK ZANDER WAS HERE!!!!!

Blaise did everything but get out of his seat when the boy arrived, having already acknowledged the Hufflepuff (Adi was the name, right? RIGHT?) who'd instroduced himself. Having proper manners sometimes and all, Blaise was gonna introduce himself too but then he started waving at the Head Boy who would solve ALL his problems and help him keep his tie. Just LOOK at him already questioning the rule. He was so gonna get it taken back so the boy happily scribbled on the new name tag, all the needed information while his saviour handled the possibly mean lady who had a nice smile.

Feeling all kinds of confident now, Blaise even nodded to Ava who was assuring him it was only for class--which is also what the Professor said but nope. Noooope. "It's okay, Zander's gonna take care of it for me." He told her with a solemn nod but when he turned to the Head Boy again, all he heard was 'fair enough' followed by the horrendous sight of the boy removing his tie and looking to have it swapped. The battle was lost.

The problem with all this was that Blaise wasn't even 5 feet tall and his voice was all kinds of squeaky, he'd never convince the Professor on his own and his saviour had just given up without a fight.

Blaise's face fell drastically as he too slipped off his tie and put it on the desk of a Hufflepuff sitting behind him then, in turn, received their tie but this one he didn't put on, he just let it sit on his desk with his head lowered and a new piece of parchment out. It wasn't like he wanted to break rules because he was a GOOD boy and didn't think his Mum would appreciate getting any owls about him but...Hedidn'twantotbeaHufflepuff. He should have asked Kyroh to defend his Gryffindor rights instead. HE was still awesome.

For now the sad little boy focused on his paragraph the Professor required. He didn't have complaints about this much 'cause he was used to them from his Prep School.

SPOILER!!: Notes

Charms is about spells that change how things behave or what they do. My Grand Aunt says they're way different from transfiguration spells because they can't change properties of stuff or anything like that. I guess I like Charms. I don't know any except the ones Professor Culloden assumed we knew how to cast in Potions class. I guess I wanna learn the Charm that makes things move faster, I guess, I don't know."[/b]

His heart just wasn't in it.

It was either Austin thinking the same thing as him, or was simply not bothered by the tie swap. Well, whatever the case was, Ethan still didn’t let go of his tie. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel bothered about not getting full credit in class. What mattered to him more at that point was to get down to business and get as much information as possible, in preparation for his dreaded exams at the end of the term. Surely, the instructions before class were elementary, but he was no longer a child wherein he can just follow fun instructions blindly.

As the class moved on, Ethan sat back on his seat as he got out a piece of parchment from his bag, and his self-inking quill. Merlin, hopefully this class isn’t just a theoretical one.



As he finished writing his answer, the sticker on his forehead had detached itself from his skin and fell on his paper. Nope, not going to pick it up again and smack it to his forehead. It had been there once, and it would be pointless to put it back.

Janelle was happy that the Slytherin girl had agreed to swap ties with her. "Thank you", she said as she reached out to accept the tie. Taking her own Ravenclaw tie off, Janelle handed to the older girl. Then she took the green tie and put it around her neck. It was strange to be wearing the tie of another house. She was the same person she always was, but Janelle felt somehow different. Before she knew it, the girl was gone and she hadn't even told Janelle her name. She'd have to talk with her later.

So of course Janelle remembered that she had been in a group with Zander before in class. She just thought that he would not remember her. Anyway, she was hoping that he wouldn't mind her sitting next to him. Unfortunately, was a pause before he answered her request. Janelle knew that meant trouble. The light bulb went on in her head. Oh. He probably wanted to sit by Head Girl Sophie Brown. Ooops. Why had she not thought of that? It was too late to turn back now and when Zander gave her permission to sit, she did. Next time, she would think before she asked.

It was time for class to begin and Janelle realized that she had made another faux pas. She was so focused on trying to follow all of the new professor's rules that she had neglected to greet her. Things were not starting off well. Now it was time to answer the first question. Janelle picked up her quill and began to write her paragraph about Charms.

Sporting a Gryffindor tie was more than weird for Rooney, and since it had found itself on him, he kept touching it and checking it was still the same size and colour and...everything. Today was weird for him. There was a bright sticker on his forehead and he wasn't wearing his own tie - the one he had stitched his name on the inside multiple times.

SPOILER!!: Notes

Why do you like charms, Professor Baxter?

Just in case she took a peek at what he had written. Or had not written. Rooney wasn't certain what he knew about charms. Much of it was from textbooks he had read over the past year, but some of those had contradictory ideas and history. So he wasn't certain what he could believe now.

Dot had already spent quite a while waxing eloquent about Kyroh's eyebrows and Dima's hair on the yellow wall, and she had a happy yellow sticker right on her forehead, and her nametag said:

Quote:

Name: Charlotte Wojack-Gusey
House: Slytherin
Year: Fifth
Favorite Charm: Muffliato

AND NOW... they had to write a whole paragraph? Her good mood plummeted at the change from happy-feely-hooray to write-out-your-feelings, and she sulked over her quill and parchment. She hadn't even had time to trade ties with someone... who... KYROH. Dot flung her tie toward Kyroh's desk and gave him a finger wiggle before turning to her notes.

He'd know what to do.

SPOILER!!: paragraph

Charms is my very best subject, and I think that this means we ought to be very good friends. Not friends like we braid each others' hair (although yours is very pretty), but friends like I enjoy your class and work extra hard and you give me points for bringing you steak. Or maybe you don't like steak, but we'll work it out. I have to warn you that I'm not very clever and I talk too much sometimes, but I am a hard-worker and good with my wand. I know some hemming charms and color changing ones, because I like working with clothes. I particularly like Muffliato when my roommate is snoring or we're telling secrets.

After several minutes, which had been spent reading (and then rereading) everyone's inspiring messages on the huge yellow wall, Rea had finally settled on her own. Suffice it to say...she'd gushed about how welcoming and kind the Hogwartians had been, and had then went into detail about Paulina, Iselin, and Keane. Yes, Keane was a unique nugget, but she enjoyed him very much. Such an intriguing, lovely person.

Once she'd placed a cute sticker in the center of her forehead, she merged with the rest of the class. Second order of business? Switching ties! Handing her own blue one over to a precious Gryffindor girl, she went about retying the Gryffindor house colors around her neck. Hehe, LOOK AT HER. SHE WAS A LION NOW! Raaaaaawr!

Wasn't that what Gryffindors said? Rawr?

Also, she had to sit beside someone she didn't currently know, which wasn't going to be too difficult since there were still so many she had yet to meet. YES, IT WAS DISPAIRING, but she still had time! For this lesson, however, Reagan was choosing an unknown Slytherin boy [Dante]. Gliding towards the seat next to his, she made herself comfortable. "Hello." New friend? New friend.

...and she had some WRITING to do...

Quote:

Name: Reagan Laurie-Blue Penrose
House: Ravenclaw
Year: Seventh
Favorite Charm: Animalis Fidelis (Animal friendship charm)

...and a paragraph...

Quote:

Charms usually have positive undertones, and can do a lot of really lovely things for those they are cast upon (i.e. the Cheering Charm for when you're feeling down, Lumos to light your way, etc). Of course, this relies heavily on the intention of the caster. Many of the most basic charms can be harmful if performed by the wrong sort, which is just awful. Also, intention, focus, and enunciation are the three most important aspects of charm-casting!

Finishing with an exaggerated flourish, she beamed at the professor...and then towards the Slytherin she'd claimed. "...I'm Reagan, by the way."

Text Cut: Cinna!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

Phillip!

There was Phillip. Hi

The seventh year made her way over to the younger boy. She knew him because of Tornados reasons, "Phillip want to trade ties?" she started to loosen she her tie.

Yeah, it was okay that they traded, right? She could totally be a Slytherin for a day. So please Philip, let's trade house ties.

Was NO ONE going to come up to him and fall for his--

Oh CINNA. BAKERY. HEY. He knew HER. Her dad managed the team Johnny and Uncle Asher were in, after all, meaning that he'd spent some time around the older Gryffindor. Had he and Kat annoyed her all those times they met each other on the pitch? Merlin knows.

"Yeah!" he said, smiling at her and loosening his own tie as well. It was going to be WEIRD not to wear the green tie but he happily took the red tie and started tying it around his neck. "What do you think? Am I Gryffindor enough?" Johnny would be proud, no doubt.

Text Cut: Fabrizio Rizolli, though XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz

Merlin, these happy young ones got her upbeat and excited for her own lesson. They almost reminded her of her students back in Alicante. "Hellooo to you, Mister..." Oh. "You're name tag." She tapped the desk lightly. "Let's not forget that." Or his name might end up being Frabizio Rizzoli.

............ Huh?

Phillip blinked at the Professor Lady for a couple of seconds and then down at his desk -- ?? -- and then up at her again. Name....... ta....... oh. OH. Right. He was meant to have written that. He threw her an embarrassed smile before picking up the quill and....... wait. Heh. If he wrote down any name -- ANY name AT ALL -- would the Professor Lady know? Because this could be his chance to pretend to be one of his childhood heroes and pray to Merlin that Lady didn't know who he was talking about.

..................... Maybe another day. Yep.

Text Cut: Nametag

Name: Phillip Romalotti
House: Slytherin
Year: First
Favorite Charm: THE FIRE ONE

THERE. Now he was ready to take part in the less--

Ew. EW. A paragraph about what he knew about CHARMS? Uh. Lady, what if they knew NOTHING? Sure, he'd seen Mum and Johnny and Uncle Asher waving their wands around and making things happen but he hadn't TRIED many himself. Not many that actually WORKED.

There were only so many times he could wave his wand around his room only to make everything fly everywhere. ComPLETE accident, of course.

So, he sat there and tapped his quill against his parchment. THINK, Romalotti, there had to be SOMETHING.

Text Cut: Parchment

Charms are incantations that make an object do things that it wouldn't normally do, like making all the clothes in the floor of my room fly towards the cupboard and sort themselves neatly. Unnatural. My clothes don't do that.

I want to learn EPIC charms. Give me charms that do INTERESTING things, please, Professor Lady Baxter. And charms that are USEFUL as well. I don't want to waste my time.

There. Was that good enough? It was going to have to be.

They had to start off class by writing a paragraph? Already? Lame. But since she was SUCH a GOODY TWO-SHOES, Evangeline pulled out her notebook and a pen and... blankly stared at the empty page in front of her. She knew loads about Charms. She'd spent the last six plus months learning about them.

Sigh. Her brain was having a hard time coming up with words.

Finally, she managed to scribble something up. When she was finished, she put her pen down and waited for further instruction.

Text Cut: Notebook

Since I've had a wand for over six years, I know quite a bit about charms. It's one of my best subjects, practically and theoretically. Charms come very naturally to me and I'm actually working on practicing wordless magic, starting witch charms. I'm not sure I have specific charms I want to learn, but I do want to keep practicing wordlessly.

Marsha smiled at him, a kind deep smile that showed she hadn’t even thought about laughing at him when he hadn’t realised how she knew his name. Lifting her hands up to her own tie, she pulled the knot apart before sliding it out from around her neck so that she could hand it over to the Ravenclaw. Taking his tie from him, she then repeated the process, this time reknoting the blue tie before slipping the end under her jumper.

WHEEEEE. LOOK, SHE WAS A RAVENCLAW LIKE UNCLE HARRY AND AUNT PARKER. WHEEEEEEEEE.

Personally, she thought he quite suited her red tie… BUT, did she suit being a Ravenclaw? Looking around, she tried to catch Roo or Lance’s eye to see if they liked seeing her in blue. Hehe.


Turning to listen to the Professor as she started the lesson, Marsha made sure to pay attention to the first things that she said. They were usually the most important - especially for new Professors that they hadn’t been taught by before. Silently, she wondered if Professor Baxter would make them get up and run around like Professor Quiggley always did. Oh man… She shouldn’t start the year off by comparing the Professors - but she really did miss Professor Quiggley’s lessons… especially if he was in cat form. She’d even gone down to the kitchen to get some green apples before she remembered that he wasn’t her Charms Professor any more.

So now, she was here and listening and paying attention. Yup. Yes she was! So much so that she would pay attention and write her Charms paragraph and then look over Lanc-.... oh. no. She couldn’t help him as he was all the way over there. Darn. She’d help him later. Yes, yes she would.



There… done. Now, to wait for their time limit to finish so they could move on again.

How generous of the young man (Zeke). M'hm. She totally bought that. Not really. At least he wasn't rude about it or making sulky faces. She appreciated that.

Naturally Astrid wasn't used to silence, not even the soft sound of quills writing on parchment being the only sound in the background. It was too quiet. But this was a one time thing. How was she to get to know them ALL at least just a little bit? This was a way to get the ball rolling.

Text Cut: Ava

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

SPOILER!!: Owen and Blaise before class

People from Hufflepuff were nice, that's why she chose to sit with Owen and also swap her tie with him. "You're welcome." And now she got the black and yello tie while Owen got hers scarlet and gold one.

"I think it's just for the lesson purpose, Blaise. Don't worry," Ava said to her fellow housemate. If it's not for lesson's purpose, she didn't want to. She's TRULY Gryffindor and not to mention that she's the only Burton that became a Gryffindor.

Not to wait for a long time, the lesson had started. The brunette lioness need to write down the Professor's name so she wouldn't just refer her as 'Charms lady' or worse, 'Professor with pretty hazel-eyes.' And... did she just ask them to write something about charms? OH NO! This was a test, wasn't it? AND SHE HADN'T STUDY BEFORE SO IT'S A DISASTER! "Professor! Why don't you notify us before that you're gonna throw a test before class? I haven't studied yet." What if she got a bad grades and then the Professor would gonna send the result to their parents? Ava Burton would gonna be in a serious trouble with her Russian mother.

But well... Let's try first.



Done, just that

Someone sounded in distress. Her eyes scanned the room, landing on the young lioness. Oh? There was a test? "Do not fret, this is not a test. It's just a simple activity. Remember to raise your hand," she said, smiling a small kind smile. No need to interrupt her classmates while they were obviously concentrating.

Text Cut: Damien

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicole black

With that written out and sorted, Damien raised his hand. "Professor, This isn't a hating question or anything, but I'm hella curious about why you've had us all switch ties." The Gryffindor said, resting his head in his other hand. "Is it about House Blindness? Prejudice? What's the deal?" Because he was all in if it was an experiment on inter-house relationships or how they saw each other, but if it was just for giggles? Well... That would be kind of lame.

A great example of raising hands right there. It was a great question, too. She was sure they were all wondering why the funny rules. Why not? "Excellent question, thanks for bringing it up." Brave one, that one. "What is your guess as to why that is a rule, the tie exchange?" She lifted her tie, and grinned a little. "As you can see I have a Ravenclaw tie, and seeing as I am a former Gryffindor it means I have traded as well." And you didn't see her sulking about it. Really, what was wrong with that? It was just an activity, not the end of the world. "It's a great way to interact with your peers, new or familiar, on the first day of class." Would they rather do the old 'stand up and present yourself?' No. That was overly used and boring. Maybe these kids liked boring.

Now. It was time for them to concentrate. They had a few minutes left.


When the ten minutes were over, Astrid waited a bit longer as quills still moved across parchments. After that little moment was done, she returned to her post in front of the desk. "Excellent! You'll be turning those in after the lesson is over." She was quite excited to read them all.

"Moving on, we will begin the term with a charm that is designed to slow or stop a falling object." Her eyes roamed around the classroom, making eye contact, confident the older students knew what charm she was referring to. "What is this specific charm, what do you know about it?" She glanced around, meeting the gaze of a few young ones. Astrid was also confident the question would be answered in a timely manner so first years, or anyone who didn't know this charm, could answer the next question. "How can we use such charm in extreme situations, as well as in our daily lives?"

Hmm...

Kate took a few mental notes on the professor. She was pretty straightforward and didn't like to joke around. Okay. Kate could handle that. Also, she'd participated in the activity...or tried to, at least. Brooklyn still hadn't taken her up on her offer to swap ties.

Kate frowned to herself as she took a seat. Class had only just gotten started, and they were already writing paragraphs! Kate didn't like writing that much, but at least it was an easy topic. She took out her quill and a piece of parchment and began to write.

Kate Addison
3rd year Ravenclaw

A charm is cast to make changes to things that already exist. There's something we want the object to do that it doesn't already do. We can also change objects to look differently than they did before. Charms are different than transfiguration spells. Transfiguration spells change an object into something else entirely. A charm, like I said before, doesn't change the object into something else, it just changes the objects behaves or looks. I think I'd like to know more about color-changing charms, specifically the Flashing Paint Charm! I think it'd be fun to make things with flashing paint!

WHOA.

This professor moved quickly! Either that, or Kate needed to speed things up. She had literally JUST finished the last word of her paragraph, when the professor started moving on to something else. Kate put her quill away and put on her thinking cap instead.

Now, which charm was this? She raised her hand. "Arresto Momentum," she said, "and I know that once, Harry Potter was knocked off his broom by a team of dementors, and one of the professors used Arresto Momentum to basically save Harry's life." That must have been pretty terrifying...and maybe that as one of the reasons the school didn't have Quidditch anymore. Kate had never actually thought to ask.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz

"Moving on, we will begin the term with a charm that is designed to slow or stop a falling object." Her eyes roamed around the classroom, making eye contact, confident the older students knew what charm she was referring to. "What is this specific charm, what do you know about it?" She glanced around, meeting the gaze of a few young ones. Astrid was also confident the question would be answered in a timely manner so first years, or anyone who didn't know this charm, could answer the next question. "How can we use such charm in extreme situations, as well as in our daily lives?"

Well, she hoped her paragraph would be good enough, considering the professor was going to read them. Would they be graded on it too? Hm. When the professor moved on, Evie was pleased to find out that she was familiar with the charm she was referring to. The seventh year raised her hand and waited to be called on.

"That's Arresto Momentum, she said. "I think it can be used in Quidditch, in case someone falls off their broom. Someone, like the quidditch official, I guess, can use the charm on the falling player so they don't break all their bones when they hit the ground." Evie had been to a quidditch game.. once, though, so she wasn't sure if they actually did that. But it made SENSE, right?

He didn't like quiet, not in classrooms, it was too quiet... but because he was focusing on his own work, there was little that could be done about it.

As for WHY the whacky rules, he wanted to hear an answer to that, so when Professor Baxter didn't say, he was mildly disappointed. It wasn't even about the tie thing, it was about the sticker thing. THAT seemed odd. Nevertheless, he came to learn, so WHAT were they going to learn?

He knew this one, he did, it came up in his reading a couple of times, but he'd never tried the charm as of yet. Hand raised, he contributed his response, "Arresto Momentum, Professor... and it could be useful for anything from saving a glass from smashing on the ground to... saving a life from falling from a great height." Yeah, not just brooms but like, treehouses, or like rooftops, from the backs of dragons. The possibilities were endless.

They were turning that IN? Norah quickly tore off the corner of her parchment where she'd been doodling ice cream cones. It wasn't very nice for a professor to know she was doodling, right? It just didn't take ten whole minutes to write her little paragraph (if you could call it that) and just sitting and doing NOTHING was unheard of. Doing nothing, ew. What a giant waste of time when there were perfectly good drawings to be done, even if they didn't ever look much like she wanted them to.

With her Gryffindor tie on, she was all set for the bravery thing so even though she didn't know the name of the charm Professor Baxter described. She put a hand in the air right away, sitting up straight just to make sure she was seen extra well. "I'm not sure what the spell is actually called but I think it could be useful to save people a whole bunch of pain if they're falling off something big. Then they won't break their heads open or anything like that. That'd be bad." Too bad nobody had taught her this spell before she'd fallen out of that tree, or that time she knocked her mum's favorite vase off the bookshelf when she and Marcel were playing pirates, but she hadn't exactly confessed to that one yet.

Colt heard the Professor introduce herself as Professor Baxter. He noted that and she seemed pretty chill. He totally forgot to introduce himself but he was busy with the other task of finding a partner to trade with. He would introduce himself later. Now the lesson was getting started and he needed to write a paragraph on what he knew on charms and what he wanted to learn about. He shrugged and didn't really know what he wanted to learn. He kept mixing up charms and transfiguration. He had ten minutes? That seemed to be enough time. He got out his quill and began to write...

SPOILER!!: Parchment

Charms are most powerful and game-changing spells. There are some charms like the memory charm that can completely remove a person's memory. There are also what is considered dark charms like curses and hexes. Some dark charms are the unforgivable curses. You need precise hand movements for the charm to work or else some complications can happen. There are some charms that can help you in school like the anti cheating spells. It is all how you use the charm that can make it good or evil.

Woah the ten minutes are up because he heard the Professor move on. Man that was fast. He was gonna turn it in after the lesson was over so technically he still had time. He heard her explaining a charm he knew that is designed to slow or stop a falling object. He spoke out at once saying, "Arresto Momentum." What did he know about it? Well like the others have said it can be used to save someone's life but he had another idea. "We know it can help stop objects that are in motion and one example is if a quaffle is pelting right toward your right, you can stop it from getting a concusion." That seemed pretty legit to him.

Zander agreed with Ava. If they were gonna have a test, the Professor should've said something earlier. It's only common courtesy. But since it was apparently only an activity... Fine, fine. Guess that was just fine. Unless she did end up actually grading them on it.... In which case, Zander would protest. Just sayin'. Head Boy or not, he wasn't going to stand to be lied to by a Professor, okay?

As for the next question, though.. Hm. A spell used to stop or slow the fall of an object? HM. HM. He couldn't really--W A I T!! Zander KNEW this one. Zander Adair KNEW this one!! It was in his flashcards for OWLs. Man. If only Quigley knew that he still remembered that stuff he studied for his OWLs. Maybe the old charms Professor would finally be impressed with the seventh year. Sigh. "It's a good spell to know if you've got clumsy friends," Zander Adair may or may not be that friend. Ahem. Heh. "Especially if that friend trips while carrying a plate full of cookies because then you can save the cookies and won't be stuck cleaning chocolate chips off the ground." Save the cookies or the friend? Cookies always won.

... He was only kidding.

(((sort of)))

What are charms, and which ones would she like to learn this term?

Tough question. She wasn't a fan of using her wand and magic, yet. But she was hoping to get in the habit of it. That's why she was a witch! Looking down at her piece of parchment, and her inked pen, sighed and began to write.

As she finished writing, a question popped out, about a charm used to stop or fall in...slow motion. Hmm. It involved a word, she had heard before. EH. Emmm...Momen...Raising her hand, and hoping it was the right answer, "Arresto, to hold, Momentum, movement...yes, Arresto Momentum. Can be used to save a glass from breaking." Nodding, she gulped.

Why was it that every teacher in this school seemed to think everyone wanted to 'interact with their peers'? Daxton could not think of a single thing that was less appealing to him. He felt he could live out his days perfectly solitary and not mind in the slightest, and he was willing to prove it, too.

He recognised the definition of the charm that was being referred to, from his reading, and knew it to be 'Arresto Momentum'. This was confirmed when those around him raised their hands to answer, but Daxton kept still and silent, watching Professor Baxter closely. He had been hoping for a more exciting spell to learn about, actually, but that would teach him to dare to hope. Life was full of disappointments.

Those questions were easy, and Daxton was quickly getting bored. He wanted to see magic in action; it was the only reason he had showed up today.

So he waited in silence, and span his pen on the desk and watching everyone else in the meantime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz

"Moving on, we will begin the term with a charm that is designed to slow or stop a falling object." Her eyes roamed around the classroom, making eye contact, confident the older students knew what charm she was referring to. "What is this specific charm, what do you know about it?" She glanced around, meeting the gaze of a few young ones. Astrid was also confident the question would be answered in a timely manner so first years, or anyone who didn't know this charm, could answer the next question. "How can we use such charm in extreme situations, as well as in our daily lives?"

Oh, they were turning these in! Well, that was good to know, so she wouldn't accidentally take any needed notes on this parchment. Pushing it to the corner of her desk, Rea pulled a clean sheet and scribbled her name in the top, left-hand corner.

There. Potential crisis averted.

...and yes, Arresto Momentum! Reagan had hoped they'd be focusing on something more conducive to her personal interests and area of study. You know, helpful to animals and plants, but she supposed if that were the case, they'd be taught in a joint lesson with Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures. Or...well...maybe there were some practical applications...

Raising her hand in a confident manner, Rea continued to beam at Professor Baxter. She seemed like such a nice lady. "Professor, how about if an animal was in danger from falling from extreme heights? Say a bird broke a wing and couldn't get themselves to safety...and they accidentally fell? Oh, and with baby birds, too. They wouldn't have to fly or die..."

Ugh. The vicious cycle that was life. Her heart just broke for them.

Also, it wasn't the least bit alarming...to HER, that her first fear was for the animals. People fell all the time and survived...