Carlton was BEAMING. The professor had called his suggestion creative. Creative. It wasn't the spell the professor was looking for, but it was creative which was almost as good. If not better.

But before he had the time to bask in his creative ideas they were already moving along. The Banishing Charm. Well OK then. He didn't know that one. But Rooney was still teaching him Accio so he still had a lot to learn. Speaking of Accio, it seemed like the spell all the students said now. Carlton bounced a little. He almost knew that spell! He was so proud.

Maybe the encouraging comment from professor Marchand had gotten to his head because his hand was soon in the air again, even though everyone else had already said Accio, which was probably the correct one. But Carlton was creative, according to the professor, so he had to say something. "What about levitating it towards you, professor? OR, if you did transform it into a dog, you can call on it and give it dog treats." Because his dog always came when he had treats.

Was this also a creative answer, professor Marchand?! BEAM.

Oeh, she knew the answer to that question too! But just when she wanted to raise her hand she dropped it again because others were answering with the same thing as she had wanted to, bleh! Why where those others quicker than she?! Hmm… But when more of the other students were agreeing on it she decided to do it too because, well… It was the only spell she could think about right now! So she spoke slowly, hating the fact that she was repeating the words of some of the other kids, “I too would use the summoning charm” she told the teacher and after that she quickly started making notes for all the spells she learned from listening to some of the other answers…

Her answer was the same as most of her classmates answers. She raised her hand. "The correct answer is probably Accio, or another of the summoning charms. I imagine that dualism might be effective in a battle." Although at Hogwarts, the only ones who she thought might throw a trunk at them were Miffy, Peeves, and Storm. Come to think of it, that seemed like exactly the kind of wicked prank they might pull.

Kane LIKED this professor. He was so...happy! Kane was always a fan of someone being enthusiastic, especially when it came to the subject they taught. Kane always liked charms, but he had a feeling he would like it even MORE after studying with this dude.

OOH OOOH! And Kane knew the answer to this question! At least, he was pretty sure he did.

"Well, if Depulso sends objects AWAY from you, wouldn't Accio be the opposite? Since it summons things to you?" he asked with his hand raised. Yes, he was quite sure that was the gist of what the professor was getting at...

Colt nodded at the Professor's comments. He seemed uneasy when he mentioned about exploding the trunk into pieces. Well the head boy got a game plan for that and he would repair it of course. He continued to doodle and he semi heard others answers. He was luckily enough paying enough attention to hear the question. He heard the Professor mention, "You'll be practicing on the objects inside the trunk, but first we have another charm to get to. Can anyone guess what it is? Think of spells that would complement or counteract the banishing charm." That was a good point. The head boy began to think long and hard.

He knew the banishing charm was Depulso. He had to think of charms that could complement or counteract it. His first mention of Reducto was effective. He heard others mention Bombarda which was right. He thought of another one he learned and said, "Professor to get things out of the trunk, could you use Carpe Retractum? Also another charm that could complement Depulso it would be Confrigo.." There all set. He inputted more than he would have in other classes.

Banishing charm. DUH. Skylar was almost cursing herself for not realizing that was the charm that the professor was looking for if a large object was coming towards her... Though she guessed the knockback jinx might also be effective, as well as many others that were mentioned by her classmates. Jotting them all down, Sky starred the banishing charm one as that was they would be focusing on mastering today.

As far as what worked to counteract or complement the banishing charm, well the summoning charm was pretty obvious as one to counteract the banishing charm, which was already reverberated around the room several times. As far as a spell to complement the banishing charm, several maybe. But which would the professor have them work to learn is the question? Carpe retractum or confrigo as Colt stated were good choices. "To counter the banishing charm, I agree with Colt that carpe retractum would work. Perhaps if you're looking for a charm to complement the banishing charm, maybe the shield charm? Or knockback jinx?"

Leon grinned as Juno nudged him back and he ran a hand through his hair as he listened to her answer. Apparating out of the way was a good answer! He liked her out of the box thinking. Maybe she could help him with his Auror training?

Ohh! She was asking about what he was going to say earlier.. Leon didn't want to get into trouble so instead he pulled out some parchment and paper and under the guise of taking notes.. he started to write down something..

Would you like to go running soon with me? And maybe get coffee or something? The boy angled his parchment towards her and nudged her arm gently as he listened to the Professor speak..

Opposite of a banishing spell? Well a summoning spell.. but half the class had guessed that. So what could compliment a banishing spell? He honestly had no idea..

But he raised his hand anywaysz "I agree with the others Professor. Accio would seem to be a good choice.. Though maybe a disillusionment spell would compliment the banishing one? "

Yeah it was a shot in the dark. But he was trying to be a good student even if inside he was a nervous wreck.

Oh, points! Katy did a bounce!wiggle in her seat to celebrate. She was never too proud to gloat, not when it was well earned. As for the next question, it came as no surprise that was a follow up, and she nodded along as her classmates suggested Accio. Obvs.

More importantly, though, she wanted to know what was in the trunk. Not a creature, obviously, because it would be terribly cruel to use a banishment charm on a living creature. Although that was her first guess... a bat. A raccoon. A... nest of spiders?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

A part of Gaston had been hoping the card inside would be the one Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne wanted, but another part of him was glad it wasn't because it meant he got to keep the card, didn't it? He looked back at the boy, giving him a warm, grateful smile when he said he could keep it. "Thank you, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne," he said. "I'm awarding five points to Hufflepuff for your kindness."

The look on the little Hufflepuff's face when Miss Umbridge smacked his cocoa out of his hand broke the professor's heart, and he was at the boy's side in an instant. He was going to offer him another cocoa and candy cane, but he was distracted by the little one using his robes to try to clean up the mess. "You don't have to do that, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne," he said, and with a quick wave of his wand, the mess went away.

Professor Marchand's blue eyes blinked in surprise at Miss Umbridge's reply. At first he thought it might be a genuine apology, but then again there was something he didn't like about that tone. He'd tried to be kind and give the girl a second chance, but now he saw that was a mistake. She was really trying his patience! "You know exactly what I meant, Miss Umbridge," he said. "Ten points from Gryffindor, five for smacking another student's hand-" He added that to underscore that it wasn't the "sound advice" that was the problem. "-and five for disrespecting a professor." His voice dropped so that only the girl could hear as he added, "I'm sorry if you're having an off day, I really am, but this attitude needs to stop."

He sighed sadly. He didn't like having to dock house points; he wanted his students to like him! But Miss Umbridge had crossed a line. He gave Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne another cocoa and candy cane and shot the girl a look warning her not to even try knocking this one out of his hand as he took his place at the front of the class.

The professor gave an approving nod when Miss Umbridge offered her answer to the question. "Very good, Miss Umbridge," he said. Probably best not to say much else to her today, lest it set one (or both) of them off again.

Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne's answer made him smile. It was such a sweet thing to say that he didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't the kind of answer he was looking for. "That's a nice thought, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erindipity

So that's what it felt like. Losing points. Interesting. Definitely didn't feel as BAD as she thought it was going to. And while the Charms professor spoke she merely looked at a spot on the wall and nodded. Whatever. He didn't know how SHE felt about the situation, he only cared about what he THOUGHT was an issue. She adored Derf and was ONLY doing him a favor. So, whatever. "Okay, professor, " she said with a slight shrug.

Could they move on then?

Apparently so.

And seeing as she didn't know the answer she merely sat there... and reached over to pat Derf on the hand gently. She'd explain after class.

Derf sort of felt BAD because it hadn't been kindness that had been motivating his actions so much...but that didn't stop him from grinning at the professor regardless. "Fanks, professor!" he beamed. And it was a little too late about his robes, although he had only really managed to mop up half of the spilled hot cocoa before the professor was using a nifty little cleaning charm to do the rest. Derf really needed to learn these spells himself...learn AND execute them.

And then the first year's eyes went all BUG EYED when Dora was being punished AND docked points..BECAUSE OF HIM! "I'm not ups-s-set, profes-ssor!" he squeaked, shooting Dora apologetic looks of his own. "Pleas-se don't be cros-ss-ss wiff her!" Although it WAS a little too late for that plea, but clearly she had some motivation behind the gesture. "Dora wouldn't cry wolf!"

He DID accept the new cocoa and candy cane, but felt bad about it...so he idly stirred the confection in the hot liquid and focused on enjoying the smell for now. Temptation to actually drink it was strong though...and he decided he would owl Alexa later asking about this food thing because she was an Auror and knew LOADS.

Nice thought? Well, yes..it was...but Derf knew what that meant. Mum and dad had used it all the time when he had proposed ideas for how to turn various things - like the coffee pot - into animal sanctuaries. It was an adult's way of saying 'nope.'

And then he was sipping his hot cocoa before he realized he was. SORRY DORA! IT JUST SMELLED SO GOOD!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

"You'll have a chance to practice in a few minutes - and don't worry, you won't be dodging trunks today! That was only a hypothetical question," he added; he couldn't help but notice how nervous some of the students seemed when he'd mentioned flying trunks earlier. "You'll be practicing on the objects inside the trunk, but first we have another charm to get to. Can anyone guess what it is? Think of spells that would complement or counteract the banishing charm."

This charm...had a 's' in it...and the first year was already sinking into his seat a bit more feeling defeated already. Defeated....but still determined because he had to get something right eventually, right?

So...rather than answer the question - which in terms of playing games of opposites it seemed rather obvious that the opposite of banish was summon or bring forth...so a Summoning Charm, naturally - he was already practicing the incantation under his breath.

"Depuls-s-so...Depuls-so...Depulsssssssssssssssso..."


FOCUSING OVER HERE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by potterobsessionist

Maybe the encouraging comment from professor Marchand had gotten to his head because his hand was soon in the air again, even though everyone else had already said Accio, which was probably the correct one. But Carlton was creative, according to the professor, so he had to say something. "What about levitating it towards you, professor? OR, if you did transform it into a dog, you can call on it and give it dog treats." Because his dog always came when he had treats.

DOG?!

That momentarily caught the Hufflepuff's attention, enough so that he now felt the urge to point something out. "But trans-s-sformation is trans-sfiguration...not charms-s-s work," he said nonchalantly with his wand in hand - because still low key working on that whole Banishing Charm while the discussion was still going on.

Juno smiled a little when the professor said that her answer was original. She always tried to think out of the box and of every possible option in any situation. Her father taught her to think that way. Plus if she was going to be an Auror like him she had to think of every possible option to every situation so she could think fast on her feet.

Juno noticed Leon was writing something on a piece of parchment. She thought it was just notes until he nudged her and moved it in her direction. She read what it said and grinned. She took her quill and putting her arm under his to write, answered. 'Either or both, even, would be great.' She moved her arm from under his, brushing her quill feather accidentally against his arm as she did. Happy 'accidental' flirting.

Of course his answer was perfect. She agreed with him and the rest of the class. Juno raised her hand and when called on answered, "Professor, I agree. Summoning charms and Disillusionment charms would be the best opposition or compliment for a banishment charm." She gave Leon a soft nudge, grinning, as a compliment for his answer.

Hand. Right. The hand thing. Abey could do that. He kept forgetting because actually it was pretty difficult to get used to doing whenever he wanted to speak but yes he would remember he would he would.

Maybe.

Anyway, he wasn't even said about being corrected or anything, because Professor Man was smiling all the same so he probably wasn't even angry at all. No point getting upset about it, was there? Abey just smiled back and nodded to say that he'd try to remember and then paid attention to the next part of the class.

Naturally, loads and loads and loads of people managed to chime in their answers before he could manage to think of anything to say, but Abey wasn't dissuaded.

"Is there-" he started to speak, before remembering about raising his HAND. He quickly raised it up into the air - his free hand, not his cocoa hand - and continued. "Is there a spell that like sucks EVERYTHING towards you?" Abey asked, tilting his head slightly and lowering his hand. And then sticking it back up in the air again as he went on speaking. "Not like Accio, that's too neat and tidy actually, but I mean like something that makes more mess and chaos, like something you could use in a duel to be all confusing. Like a BIG gust of air that blows stuff back towards you. That's not my answer I don't think actually or anything, unless it's right actually, then it's my answer. But I'm just wondering because it could be fun or useful." Pausepausepause. "Especially in a duel because you can confuse people and it would help you win."

Listen. Duelling was something Abey was eager to get to try. It didn't matter that he was in Charms class, he had a ONE TRACK MIND today.

She'd.....guessed right?! Doing a small little fist pump with her free hand (the other still clenched up around her mug, thank you), Olivia added it to the top of her notes. The alternative guess had really just been in a move to be different and not copy anyone else's answers. See?! Being an individual paid off!

Thank you, Gaston.

"Many people have already mentioned Accio, but I imagine it could work with any number of spells that force objects to fly towards you.... Carpe Retractum is a good example." And the only reason Liv knew anything about that spell was thanks to Rooney. Her boyfriend was brilliant and helpful. She was lucky to have him. .....And to be honest, she was pleased they were practicing this bit of magic today. Her banishing charm needed work.

Also, Liv was making eyes at this smol Gryffindor boy (Abey Botros). Actually, the answer made her smile. She'd been exactly like him when she'd been that age. Bless him.

Every professor at Hogwarts were nice. He likes it here. He wouldn't mine staying at Hogwarts through the end term break, although it was very unlikely permissible.

So, the spell Professor Marchand was looking for was the Banishing Charm. This would go into Nero's notes. Before he managed to finish writing, the teacher shot with another question. What spells would complement or counter the Banishing Charm? Hmm... "I also think the Summoning Charm could counter the Banishing Charm, sir," he answered, agreeing with his classmates on Accio. "As for a spell that would complement it, Bombarda might work, I guess?" What else can you do when something huge like a trunk were flying towards you?

Gaston was expecting Miss Umbridge to sass him again, but to his surprise that didn't happen. Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne's pleas for him not to dock points from the girl tore at his heart, but it was too late to take it back now. He knew she was trying to help, but he still thought that was the wrong way to go about it. He gave the boy a small sad smile as he shook his head. "I know, but I'm afraid I can't allow smacking in my class, no matter what the circumstances," he said. He wasn't cross, at least not now; he might've been at the time. He was just sad and conflicted. Had he made the wrong choice in docking points?



Gaston blinked when Mr. Ballarat spoke up. Had he forgotten to call on him? Nice going, he inwardly berated himself for ignoring a student. He nodded at the boy. "Both excellent ideas, Mr. Ballarat," he said. The little Slytherin's answer to his other question was no less brilliant. He raised an eyebrow. Bombarda? That was a spell he wouldn't have considered. "Very good. I suppose bombarda would be a suitable complement."



Here was another spell the professor wasn't expecting anyone to mention! He was impressed; this was exactly the type of out-of-the-box answer he liked to hear. "Interesting thought, Mr. Salander!" he said, smiling in the prefect's direction. "Thank you for your answer."



Professor Marchand listened to what Miss Holden had to say. He had an idea what she was going for, and if his thought was correct, this was a very astute answer. "You mean to slow down the object at which the banishing charm was aimed?" he said. "Now that would be a good complement indeed!" Not quite what he was thinking when he asked the question, but he still thought it was a great answer!



This answer made Gaston laugh out loud! He hoped he hadn't hurt the boy's feelings; that certainly wasn't his intention! Just the idea of turning a trunk into a dog and giving it treats to get it to come to you was amusing to think about. "Now that would be a fun - and very original - solution, Mr Lewis!" he said, still smiling. He nodded when Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne pointed out that this was a transfiguration spell. "But I'm afraid Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne is right; turning trunks into dogs involves transfiguration. Perhaps you can ask Professor Stewart to teach you how to do it?" He would gladly have taught the boy himself, but it was her area of expertise, after all.



Miss Diggory offered not one but three spells. Now here was someone who was full of ideas! Professor Marchand smiled at her and gave an approving nod. "All excellent ideas, Miss Diggory," he replied. "Any of them would work nicely!"



This time Mr. Botros remembered to raise his hand before speaking... well, sort of. The professor blinked, slightly taken aback by what his student had to say, but it made him smile. The hat definitely made the right choice when it but this boy in Gryffindor! Sorry, Mr. Botros. "Not exactly, Mr. Botros, but there is a magnetizing charm that makes objects stick to you like a magnet," he replied. "And there have been some experiments with a black hole charm what would in theory suck things toward you - but I don't advise trying it. It's quite dangerous!"



The Head Boy was on the right track when he guessed Carpe Retractum. Gaston smiled at him, but his expression changed slightly when he mentioned Confringo. It was safe to say they wouldn't be learning that spell today, or probably ever! This was the man with an overwhelming fear of fire, remember? "That is a very good guess, Mr. Winchester," he said.

It seemed Miss Phillips had the same good guess, which earned her a smile and an approving nod from the professor. "Excellent answer, Miss Phillips," he replied.



Professor Marchand listened to Mr. Kennedy's answer. The disillusionment charm as a complement to the banishing charm? Now that was a creative idea! Not exactly what he was thinking, but he'd keep that in mind for a future lesson. "Interesting idea, Mr. Kennedy!" he replied. "Good job!"

And the Hufflepuff prefect agreed with Mr. Kennedy apparently. "Indeed they would; very good, Miss Darcy!" the professor replied with a nod toward the girl.



Gaston was a bit surprised when Miss Kettleburn didn't offer an answer. That didn't seem like her! She usually had something to say, and the things she said were intelligent.

Miss Carden also remained silent, though the professor did notice her nodding along with Miss Paton's answer, He assumed that meant she agreed and didn't think the answer needed repeating.

He smiled when Miss Summers said she was great; that was the kind of postive attitude he liked! "Glad to hear it, Miss Summers!" he said. The Gryffindor prefect also had no answer to his question. Oh well, maybe she didn't know - or someone already said what she was thinking.

The professor noticed Miss Toussaint sort of bouncing in her seat and smiled a little. Apparently she was happy about the house points! The girl said nothing in reply to the new question but nodded along with some of her classmates' answers. Well, that was one way of asnwering!



Miss Holmes was the first to guess the spell Professor Marchand had in mind, and he gave her a nod and a smile. "Yes! Excellent answer, Miss Holmes," he replied.

It seemed Miss Paton had the same idea; she too earned a smile and nod from the professor. "It makes perfect sense indeed," he said. "Good job, Miss Paton!"

And Miss Dance seemed to agree with the others. Another nod in her direction. "Very good, Miss Dance," the professor said. "Thank you for your answer!"

And here was another student with the correct answer! It made Gaston proud to see so many students on the right track. "That would be an excellent spell to use, Miss Griffel!" he replied.

He nodded to Miss Valentine as she echoed the answer. "Indeed it is the correct answer, Miss Valentine," he replied. He thought about the next thing she said for a moment; he wasn't exactly sure how it would work in battle - he was useless at dueling! - but it was an interesting observation. "Good point!"

Mr. Westwood also guessed the right spell. "Exactly right, Mr. Westwood," Professor Marchand said. "The banishing and summoning charms are opposites."


The professor cleared his throat and addressed the class as a whole again. "Excellent answers, everyone! As most of you correctly guessed, the other spell we'll be learning today is the Summoning charm. The incantation for this spell is Accio; its wand movement is an upside-down U shape." He gave the students a moment to process the new information before going on, "When casting this charm, it's important to know the general location of the thing you want to summon. If the object is too far away, the spell won't pick it up. Too vague a location, and it could pick up the wrong thing."

He drew his wand. "To cast the spell, make the upside-down U, point your wand in the direction of your target, and say the incantation. Like so..." He did the wand movement and pointed his wand at the scrap of parchment he'd used earlier. "Accio." The parchment flew across the room into his awaiting hand.

"Now you'll have the chance to practice both of the spells we learned today, but just for reference..." He pointed his wand at the blackboard, and the following words appeared:
The professor turned and aimed his wand at the trunk. The lid opened to reveal the inside full of snowballs. Well, not real snowballs but cotton balls with an engorgement charm placed on the to make them about the size of a softball. "For this exercise, you'll use the summoning charm to make the balls come to you, then use the banishing charm to send them back into the trunk. Repeat this process a few times until you feel comfortable with both spells, and don't worry if your aim is a little off. Just try to get as close to the trunk as possible. Let's get started then!"

OOC: There is no minimum post requirement for this mini activity. YOu have 24-36 HOURS to complete it. If you have questions, please indicate in the title of your post; I'll be checking back periodically to answer.

Zelena smiled to herself as she was informed that she had indeed said the correct answer. It certainly took a load off her mind. She knew how to perform the Summoning Charm but decided to write down the information anyway. She retrieved the parchment next to her which contained the information on the Banishing Charm that she had written and her quill and wrote underneath.

"Accio (Summoning Charm) - Wand motion: Upside down U-shape".

She placed her parchment and quill back down next to her and picked up her wand. She decided to practice saying the incantation to the Banishment Charm. "Depulso, Depulso, Depulso..."Zelena chanted in her mind, ensuring she got the pronunciation right. She then practised the sweeping of the wand movement that made certain of the Banishment Charm's success. After a few attempts, Zelena felt ready to perform the two spells.

She got up and made her way to a spot that was not too close nor too far and aimed her wand at the "snowballs". Inhaling and concentrating, Zelena drew an upside-down "U" with her wand and clearly said, "Accio" as she exhaled. A huge "snowball" came hurtling towards her at a considerable speed. Her eyes widened slightly at she quickly "swept" her wand and said with a slight tremor in her voice, "Depulso."

Zelena felt quite frustrated with herself and was determined to do this properly. She exhaled and aimed her wand at the trunk once again. "Accio!" She said clearly and firmly as she made the correct wand movement (upside-down "U"), concentrating on the object easing its way to her. Much to her glee, the "snowball" slowly made its journey towards her. Zelena returned the "snowball" with a sweep of her wand and a "Depulso!"

Zelena felt very pleased with herself at achieving the two charms.

Carlton looked over at Derf and blushed looking down at his shoes. Right. Tranformation, not charms. "I... Yes." He murmured, glancing up at the professor. He LIKED charms. He just wasn't sure when it was charms or transfiguration. It was a lot to keep track on at Hogwarts for a muggleborn 11-year old.

But the professor had laughed it off. PHEW! Carlton dared to smile, he wasn't only creative now. He was also original. He still felt a bit embarrassed and scraped his shoe on the floor. "I'll ask professor Stewart about that, sir." He murmured.




But for now, CHARMS.

Carlton was nervous about the banishing spell, but he'd almost mastered the summoning one. Almost. He kept summoning the wrong thing but maybe he'd learn it properly in this class.

Before he started banishing and summoning cotton balls left and right he practiced the pronunciation of the banishing charm. "De-pul-SO." He beamed, not knowing if it was correct or not. He hoped so.

Then his hand shot in the air, waving it around to get the professor's attention even though the students started practising the charms. "Professor Marchand? Can you accio a person, sir?" Because in his experience, even though he aimed his wand at the object he wanted to summon, it always brought him something else that was next to it. He didn't want to summon a person. Or worse, banish another student to the other side of the room. Was that possible? "Is it just inanimate objects? Or can you summon animals?" Because YES.

Carl wrote down notes about both the Banishing Charm and the Summoning Charm onto his parchment. He thought both wand movements were pretty cool - a sweeep of the wand and an upside-down U shape.

The boy then gathered his parchment and quill and put them aside so that he could practice the spells. "Accio, AK-key-oh, Accio." He muttered, practicing the incantation. When he had made sure his pronunciation was similar to that of Professor Marchand's, he pulled out his wand and did the upside-down U shape. It wasn't all that difficult. Now to put the two together.

He stood up and aimed his wand at the trunk of balls. "Accio snowball!" Carl said, but messed up on the wand movement. He tightened his grip on his wand and concentrated. "Accio snowball, Accio snowball... Accio snowball!" At the last attempt with correct wand movement, a ball came flying at him. He caught it before it bounced out of his hand. Success!

Having noted down everything the Professor told them, Sinead set her things aside so she didn't knock everything over (she really did not need ink spilled all over her notes) and readied herself for practice. She didn't want to mess this up and embarrass herself in front of everybody- so instead of trying to cast the spell at first, she opted for rehearsing the wand movement and pronunciation separately, watching the other students who had succeeded around her out of the corner of her eye. Any little difference in the angle you held your wand or the emphasis of the word could change the spell massively, she found- and it was easiest to let other people make those mistakes for you first.

When she thought she had the basics of it down, she aimed carefully towards the chest and moved her wand in the required arc with a crisp,
"Accio!"
The entire trunk shifted about half a centimetre in her direction. Right. Intention, not just aim. Good thing her spell didn't have enough power behind it to actually move the trunk; that would be horrifying. Steeling herself mentally, she focused on one of the snowballs to the exclusion of everything else and prepared herself to cast again. Second time lucky, wasn't it?

Harvey stared hard at the snowballs, mentally convincing himself he could do this.

He made a sweeping motion with his wand. "Accio!"

The snoballs flew towards the far wall and splattered on a lamp which happened to be in its way, showering everything and everyone below it with snow.

"Ooops..." he muttered, blushing. "Sorry!" he weakly called out, not really wanting to draw attention to himself.

Again.

"Accio!" he called out, making a perfect horseshoe with his wasnd. He was envisioning the horse show. It was the roundest prettiest 'U' ever. He made sure of that. No more accidents.

And - yes! The snowball was flying towards him! It worked!!!

Oh, wait, hang on - if it continued it would splatter right across his face! Not good!

"Depulso!!!" Harvey cried, slightly panicked now, sweeping his wand as he had the first time round he attempted spells that day.

The snowball stopped for a second, hovered, and then began to sial back in the direction it had come from. Harvey waited for it to settle back in its place before allowing himself a rather out-of-place loud "YES!!".

Oeh, time for action! This was going to be fun! With a big smile she pulled her want out of her holster and held it ready to start practicing. She of course wasn’t sure how well she was going to do it but… That was why they needed to practice first right? Nobody could do everything immediately at once! And when it was time to start she stepped forward, closer toward the trunk and spoke the first spell; “ak-key-oh! She said with a clear voice while making the right want movement and… Whoehoo! One of the snowballs flew toward her but… Sadly, in midair the snowball slowed down and… Dropped to the ground! Looking slightly irritated she spoke the spell a second time and this time the snowball flew all the way toward her! Now she only hoped that the next spell was going to work because she didn’t wanted to be hit by the fake snowball, no matter if the ball would be soft or not, she just… Didn’t wanted to make a fool of herself! “de-PUL-so! She said when the snowball was close enough and she made a sweeping movement with her want, right at the snowball and… It flew back! YEEEES!

YES! Daisy could've fist-bumped the air when Professor Marchand told them that they would indeed be practising the Summoning Charm as well as the Banishing Charm. You see, she was quiiiite good at the first one. Her Dad had told her all about it, introducing it as "the most useful charm you would learn". Basically for summoning food when you were too lazy to go and get it yourself.

She had never tried the Banishing one but hey - the principle ought to be the same.

Daisy set her mug carefully on the floor behind her legs and grabbed hold of her maple wand. With the setting of the room and the theme of the lesson, she sort of had an idea of where this was going and she REALLY wanted that hot chocolate mug to be safe.

AAAAWW, LOOK! SNOWBALLS! Fake ones, even!

"Accio!" She firmly said, hand pointed at the trunk filled with enlarged snowballs and doing the upside-down U movement. One of the fake snowballs come floating towards her and she bit her lip in concentration as she pointed the wand at it again. "Depulso!" "Sweep.

Okay, that definitely didn't work because she was hit in the nose by a ball of cotton.

Again.

The Slytherin held the ball on the palm of her hand in front of her and swept the wand, pointing forwards. "Depulso!" This time the ball went flying back towards the trunk but completely missed it and landed somewhere on the floor around the trunk.

Well, close enough!

They got to practice the charms now, and to Hattie that was the best bit! She adored theory, and learning new things, but practicals were the best. She actually had tried these two charms before, but a little practice never hurt. Practice did make perfect after all, and Hattie liked being perfect. She found herself her own little space, and then got her wand out. Time to practice. Hopefully she wouldn't get smacked in the face by the balls though, because that would just not be good at all. She did not need to get hurt, because it really would not help at all.

She began by doing the wand movement for the summoning charm, a nice upside down U movement, whilst saying "Accio!" And then she watched as the balls came towards her. Her aim was a little off, and she needed to step to the side before quickly moving her wand in a sweeping motion, and saying "Depulso!" And a few of the balls flew back towards the trunk. Clearly she needed to have more faith, so that the rest of them would get towards the trunk.

Deciding she needed a little more practice, Hattie repeated the process, making sure she had a little more faith, and saying the words louder. Clearly saying things louder would make them work better.

Grinning now even wider she was excited to try it again because, why not? There was still plenty of time left and… She wanted to be good in this! Knowing how to use spells was a very useful thing and… Well… She wanted to be good at this! So again she pointed her want at the trunk and called; “ak-key-oh!” for the second time during this lesson and, again, one of the snowballs flew toward her but… Oeh, had she done something wrong? The snowball was flying REALLY fast at her! Raising her want again to cast the next spell she became stressed, would she be fast enough? “ de-PUL-so!!!” She called but she made de wrong movement with her want and… BAM! The fake snowball landed right in her face and hit her forehead! Cursing out loud she grabbed the snowball and threw it a little too hard back at the trunk because of her frustration… Had somebody seen her? She hoped not…

There were balls flying everywhere.

Noelle giggled as she watched them start flying back and forth from the trunk. Sinead had even made the trunk move a little. That girl was a force waiting to happen.

Noelle giggled as she watched a boy (Harvey) almost get the snowballs into his face. She jotted down the notes though she was very familiar with the Summoning charm. It was quite handy. Especially at night when you were studying with books all around you and you needed one just out of your reach.

"Accio Snowball!" Noelle said doing the U sweep and pointing at a snowball that had fallen out of the trunk. She grinned as she caught it and realized that it was cotton instead of snow. Throwing it up in the air, she pointed her wand at it. "Depulso!" She said. The snowball twirled in mid air before dropping on the floor in front of her.

Blink

What hadn't she done right?
Noelle looked at the board again. Oh right. The sweep.

Colt heard the Professor mention his answer and he look slightly concerned again. Well it was a good guess after all. Least he gave him that. He heard the spells they would learn which would be Accio and Depulso. He saw the wand movements and they were written down as follows...

SPOILER!!: Notes

Depulso (Banishing Charm): Pronounced de-PUL-so; wand movement - sweep of the wand

Accio (Summoning Charm): Pronounced Ak-key-oh; wand movement - upside-down U shape

He was gonna practice accio first. He remembered learning it in durmstrang and knew it kind of well but he could be rusty. He got his wand out and cleared his mind first of all. He held it up and then said, "ACCIO!" and did an upside down shaped U and saw the snowball come halfway. Whaaa? That was weird. He would try again. He held his wand steady and aimed at the snowball and said, "ACCIO!" and did the upside down U shaped and the snowball zoomed right at him. Success in the making.