Flying Charm.

Huh.

That was an improvement if she ever heard one. Jessa perked up slightly in her seat, now giving the Professor far more attention than she had been just a minute ago. It wasn't inherently art related, despite the paper airplane effect that had her slightly wrinkling her nose. At the moment she didn't know what to think but would allow for some cautious optimism.

"Jarleth Hobart thought he'd finally learned to fly when he created the levitation charm." Which was a form of flying charm, "He invited a bunch of people to see and ended up with a fine for silliness because it was his clothes and not him that were flying and when he took 'em off he fell to the floor in what I assume would be undies." That was one of the more interesting points she'd come across in her readings and she tended to remember the interesting points.

Even though he hadn’t actually said anything, Stasya knew that the professor was worried about her, just like she knew Emmeline and Derf were worried about her. She just also knew she couldn’t give him a positive answer that she was okay, just like she hadn’t been able to honestly tell Professor Hirsch she was okay when she’d talked with the Defense professor at the beginning of term. She was actually feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all, but she was determined to not let it stop her from participating in lessons. She wasn’t going to give up on anything, really. She couldn’t. Not when she’d made a promise.

However, the reveal of the notepads and their usefulness sparked a memory in her, a memory from way in the past, and she’d found herself raising her hand. “Professor Marchand? Is the charm on the notepads the same as whatever spell is used on messages sent inside the Ministry?” Because she’d seen those when she’d gone with her mama to that Gobstones thing when she’d been six or so, and they were supposed to be talking about flying charms and stuff.

Not long after he'd finished speaking, Gaston saw Miss Swann's hand go up and called on her. He listened, nodding along at what she said. He had never had an occasion to use a flight charm to stack firewood, but it was a valid use nonetheless. "Very good, Miss Swann," he said. "i imagine a flight charm would come in handy for that." With a flick of his wand, he levitated a notepad onto her desk.

When Miss Fairfield's hand went up, Gaston was expecting an answer, but instead she had a question. He thought for a moment. "If you aim them carefully, they could probably go as far as Hogsmeade, but they would certainly reach anywhere on the school grounds," he replied. The girl soon came up with a different use for flight charms, and she too earned a notepad. Her answer made him imagine one day using that spell to entertain a child of his own, and the thought made him smile. "That would be a very fun use for a flight charm! Nicely done, Miss Fairfield."

And Mr. Dooley had come up with a good use for flight charms as well! Gaston nodded, smiling s he sent another notepad neatly across the room. "That sounds like a dangerous job! Thank goodness your family has flight charms to rely on," he said. "Thank you for your answer, Mr. Dooley."



Gaston knew it was only a matter of time before someone would mention brooms, and Miss Diggory offered an incredibly thorough explanation, complete with a bit of history. He beamed at her and gently levitated a notepad toward her desk. "Thank you for that eloquent response, MIss Diggory!" he said.

Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne was thinking along the same lines and added on to what Miss Diggory said. He smiled to himself as the boy mentioned flying cars - he was wondering if someone was going to bring that up - but his smile turned into a full-on beam when he very nearly guessed today's activity. "True on all counts, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne," he said, giving the boy a knowing look as he sent a notepad toward him. He didn't want to give away to much just yet!



Miss Kramer's hand was the next Gaston saw. He listened intently to her answer, nodding along in places. When she was finished, he beamed at her. "Yes! That's exactly what flight charms are," he said. "I don't think I could've worded it better myself, Miss Kramer." With a flick of his wand, another notepad sailed through the air and landed neatly on her desk.



Blink, blink. Miss McKinley's answer wasn't one Gaston was expecting, but she was thinking. He had to give her credit for that! He thought for a minute. Now how should he put this? "Yes, that's true, Miss McKinley," he said, "but Peeves doesn't use magic to fly. He can fly because he's made up of so much pent-up negative energy." Did that make sense? He hoped it did! Now should he give her a notepad yet or not? He decided to give it to her; after all, she had been thinking outside the box!



Gaston noticed that Miss Cambridge seemed to perk up a little at the mention of flight charms, which made him very glad to see. His eyes widened slightly at her answer, but this time it was the impressed kind of shocked, not the unnerved kind. He was positively beaming as he looked back at her. "Yes, that must've been quite a sight for those poor onlookers!" he said with a slight chuckle. "Thank you for giving such a detailed answer, Miss Cambridge!" A flick of his wand aimed a notepad in her direction.



Miss Morrison's hand was the next one Gaston saw in the air. He called on her, but instead of an answer, she had a question... and a very astute one at that! He beamed. "I'm afraid Accio is not considered a flight charm," he said. "Flight Charms are so grouped because the flight is the desired end result. In the case of Accio, flight is just something that happens as a means to the desired summoning. That's a logical linen of thought though, Miss Morrison; good work!" He levitated a notepad in her direction.

Gaston wasn't sure whether or not to expect Miss Dalgaard-Volkova to answer. He thought maybe her current mood would keep her silent, but he was pleased when she decided to speak up. He nodded, giving her an encouraging smile. "Indeed it is," he replied. "Well done, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova!"

The professor waited a few moments longer; then when he saw no more hands in the air, he addressed the class again," Nice job, everyone! It's clear that you already have some basic knowledge of flight charms but just to recap..." He waved his wand and the following words appeared underneath the heading on the board:

He gave the class a few minutes to copy down the the information before going on. "As you can see, there are quite a few spells that fall under the flight category, but for now, we'll only be focusing on two..."

With a wave of his wand, a thick chalk circle appeared around "Rocket Charm" and "Levitation charm". "Now before we start practicing the spells themselves, who can tell me one of the major differences between the Levitation Charm and the Rocket Charm?"

OOC: Sorry for moving on early; I had something unexpected come up to keep me from posting later! Anyway, you have ABOUT 24 HOURS (1:15 AM EDT [GMT-4]) to answer this question.

Daisy smiled in thanks as the notebook landed on her desk. At Professor Marchand's question, Daisy thought for a moment and then raised her hand. "The Rocket Charm would be more aggressive in a way because rockets have special engines known as erm...thrusters I think." she replied, softly with a shrug.

Zoryn had spent the grand majority of the lesson (so far) zoning in and out of paying attention. Honestly, couldn't they just cancel lessons for the rest of the year? It's not like anyone actually came to school to learn stuff!! Learning was only secondary to having fun and Zoryn Amari Spinnet was not here for it. She was ready to leave. Could they leave yet?

"The rocket charm sounds lots more exciting," she ventured a guess. "'Cause a levitation charm is SO predictable."

And what was worse than being bored in class? Literally nothing. What was worse than most other things? Being predictable.

Okay, could they go now?

Those notepads sounded really cool and useful and he wanted one, but he couldn't think of anything about flying charms that hadn't already been said, unfortunately. So he just took notes and hoped that he could come up with something for the next question.

Which he did. "The Levitation Charm would be more suitable to something that needs be treated with care, like a trunk, and the Rocket Charm would be more for something that you needed to go really far." Wait, did that make sense? Ronan was having trouble telling these days, thanks to the lack of sleep. It seemed like he was making sense, anyway.

Also, Skylar had been so engrossed with the start of the lesson that she hadn't even realized how oblivious Vivian was when she said she'd been proud of her. It did amuse her though how adorable her blond friend was when she was confused. Yes, she did something; she showed up for CHARMS before herself. That was a feat and definitely something to be proud of. But Sky would have to fill Vivian in later about that, as Professor Marchand was given them each feedback and everyone notepads. But she got an "eloquent response" which as a writer, she really enjoyed hearing that feedback.

Rocket charm? Uh ... wasn't that too dangerous to do INSIDE the castle? Also, she wasn't convinced with Ronan's analogy about the rocket charm being used to send something really far. Actually, despite Zoryn Spinnet giving a completely ridiculous answer - how had she made it to third year again? - her answer had some merit in that the rocket charm probably was more exciting.

"The rocket charm is actually a variation of the levitation charm. It's just, as Daisy said, very violent in its actions. But I don't think it really has to go far to use this charm. The levitation charm is like this gentle float of something aloft."

Patrick thought over the differences between the levitation and rocket charm. On the one hand the levitation charm sounded like it would just keep something in the air. But then when he thought about the rocket charm he figured it had more umph behind it since most rockets went pretty fast. He wondered seriously if it was that simple. "Is it really simple that the one is more forceful like a rocket and the other one just hangs there like levitating?" he scratched his head wondering what could possibly be the difference.

Etta looked slightly pleased when the notepad landed on her desk. She flicked through it for a moment before dropping it into her bag, listening intently to what the professor said. Rocket charm and levitation charm.. hmm. She waited until a few of her classmates had answered the question before raising a hand.

“Well, the rocket charm is basically a variation of the levitation charm but while the rocket charm is used to hold an object in place.. rather aggressively, like Daisy mentioned.. the levitation charm is used to make things fly?” Yeah? Was she right?

NOTEPAD! Derf threw Natalie a quick grin as he set it on his desk and unnecessarily smoothed the cover. Magical notepad! He sorta wanted to give it a go now...to be honest...and was half way opening it up to scribble something when class moved on.

Merlin. His attention was all over the place.

Derf continued to have a hard time focusing because of the bubbles and now he was completely thinking about popping them ... like shooting quills up to pop them ... so he was really only half paying attention to the lecture as things went on. It was even more difficult to focus thinking about the Rocket Charm and actual rockets. Little toy ones he had seen in shops not the grand giant muggle ones that went into outer space.

"Their incantations," he stated. Was that, er, too obvious? The third year took a moment to ruffle his hair.

Oh, so it wasn't fit for long distance travelling, then? Vivian nodded when Professor Marchand answered her question and smiled when he finished. She was honestly hoping it would reach far places, but she also wasn't that optimistic about it. I mean, it was a paper airplane, after all. It probably wouldn't last all those weather conditions.

But, of course, a smile grew on her face again when a notepad came levitating towards her. Vivian placed her hands in front of her and caught the notepad as it landed on her palms. These wouldn't be useful when writing to Andrei, but they could be of use for other letters and stuff. Ahem. "Thank you, sir," the prefect replied.

Vivian had heard of the levitation charm, yes, and she was a recipient of the said charm too. That was how she became Super Vivi. However, she wasn't exactly sure about the rocket charm. The blond raised her hand anyway. "I'd say the rocket charm's name speaks for itself, Professor, that it could send the object soaring like.. well, a rocket," she offered, which bothered her a little because she thought her explanation sucked and was pretty obvious. "And the levitation charm's kindly like the original one, too, where all other flying charms were derived from." Something like that, but yes.

Flying charms, coooool! Emmeline was briefly distracted from her worries about Stasya by the lesson's topic. She stayed quiet when Professor Marchand had asked the first question, though, 'cause she was kind of afraid of getting it wrong and stuff. She didn't know loads about flight charms, which was totally confirmed when the professor listed some of them on the board. The only one she knew from that list was the levitation charm...

She wasn't super confident about Professor Marchand's second question, either. Everyone had pretty much already said what she wanted to say, so now the second year had to find a new way to say it, mhm. After a few minutes of staring at the board for inspiration, she raised her hand and said, "Umm is the rocket charm like LOADS faster than the levitation charm? 'Cause the levitation charm is all slow and stuff and you have to concentrate on the object the whooole time." Which was why it had taken her so long to master that particular charm last year and stuff. She wasn't the best ever at spells that required loads of focus over a long period of time or anything. Creatures and other things tended to intrude on her concentration loads, mhm.

So Accio was not a flight charm. The professor's explanation made perfect sense. Shay was surprised that she got a prize for her wrong answer, but she was certainly not going to turn it down. Thanks professor", she said when the notepad reached her hands. As the information went up on the board, the Gryffindor carefully copied it down. When her her notes were up to date, she turned her attention back to the conversation.

The next question focused on the difference between the Levitation Charm and the Rocket Charm. After listening to a number of good answers, Shay raised her hand. She didn't have much new information to add, but she gave it a whirl. "As everyone has said, the Rocket Charm is an offshoot of the Levitation Charm. It is one of several variations of the Levitation Charm, like the Floating Charm and the Hover Charm. But the Levitation Charm was the first of its type and it is believed to be the best of the group.". Of course that was a matter of opinion.......everyone might not agree with the idea. Different situations called for different charms, she guessed. It was nice to have options.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iMurderedMalfoy

Blink, blink. Miss McKinley's answer wasn't one Gaston was expecting, but she was thinking. He had to give her credit for that! He thought for a minute. Now how should he put this? "Yes, that's true, Miss McKinley," he said, "but Peeves doesn't use magic to fly. He can fly because he's made up of so much pent-up negative energy." Did that make sense? He hoped it did! Now should he give her a notepad yet or not? He decided to give it to her; after all, she had been thinking outside the box!

The professor waited a few moments longer; then when he saw no more hands in the air, he addressed the class again," Nice job, everyone! It's clear that you already have some basic knowledge of flight charms but just to recap..." He waved his wand and the following words appeared underneath the heading on the board:



He gave the class a few minutes to copy down the the information before going on. "As you can see, there are quite a few spells that fall under the flight category, but for now, we'll only be focusing on two..."

With a wave of his wand, a thick chalk circle appeared around "Rocket Charm" and "Levitation charm". "Now before we start practicing the spells themselves, who can tell me one of the major differences between the Levitation Charm and the Rocket Charm?"

OOC: Sorry for moving on early; I had something unexpected come up to keep me from posting later! Anyway, you have ABOUT 24 HOURS (1:15 AM EDT [GMT-4]) to answer this question.

As soon as Natalie spoke, she got the viiiiiibe that she had produced a stupid answer. But she was glad that the professor didn't treat it as one and simply explained why she was incorrect. And actually, his reply fascinated her. "Really?" she asked in awe. Peeves could fly because of all his pent-up negative energy? Weeeird.

Oh, yay! She got a notebook too!

Onto actual flying charms... Natalie scribbled down some notes in her NOTE notebook and listened as the professor moved on. Rocket charms and levitation charms. Natalie wrote both of the terms down and then considered his question. "Well, I'd assume that the rocket charm would.. send something rocketing into the air." That was what the word seemed like, you know?

How was she? Well Olivia was truly shaken up by the events that she and her fellow housemates had experienced a few days ago. The dormitories all ripped up and tossed carelessly everywhere. "I'm alright I suppose... Still a little shaken up, Professor," she admitted with a weaker smile.

Before she could say much else, the class was soaring away. Get it, cause they were talking about flight charms...? I'll show myself out.

Flight Charms?

Well.... She knew a little bit about it but not too much about flight charms. She remained quiet at the beginning of the lesson as she listened to the other students speak about flying charms that they were aware of. She felt as if most of the answers that she had thought of had already been offered up as solutions. Thus she remained quiet until the Professor asked them another question. The difference between the Levitation Charm and the Rocket Charm...?

Well... Rocket meant rocket... Space shuttle engines blasting off at a great speed.... "As others have mentioned, I suppose the speed at which the charm sends an object or person would vary. The rocket charm would be more forceful and perhaps even violent. Is the wand movement associated with the rocket charm quicker and more forceful than the levitation one?" she supposed.

"And could the rocket charm work on levitating a human? The Levitation one cannot do such." She had thought that the levitation charm only worked on clothing. So perhaps the rocket charm could actually work on a human being and gather enough force to counteract gravity....?

Just... maybe?

Text Cut: Daisy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginevra

Daisy smiled in thanks as the notebook landed on her desk. At Professor Marchand's question, Daisy thought for a moment and then raised her hand. "The Rocket Charm would be more aggressive in a way because rockets have special engines known as erm...thrusters I think." she replied, softly with a shrug.

Miss Swann’s hand was the first one Gaston saw in the air. He called on the Hufflepuff and listened intently to her answer, nodding along. “That’s very true,” he said. “Nice answer, Miss Swann.”

Text Cut: Zoryn

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Zoryn had spent the grand majority of the lesson (so far) zoning in and out of paying attention. Honestly, couldn't they just cancel lessons for the rest of the year? It's not like anyone actually came to school to learn stuff!! Learning was only secondary to having fun and Zoryn Amari Spinnet was not here for it. She was ready to leave. Could they leave yet?

"The rocket charm sounds lots more exciting," she ventured a guess. "'Cause a levitation charm is SO predictable."

And what was worse than being bored in class? Literally nothing. What was worse than most other things? Being predictable.

Okay, could they go now?

Now this answer made Gaston smile! He could always count on Zoryn Spinnet to take his questions in a completely different direction than anything he could’ve expected! She deserved credit for thinking outside the box; that was for sure. “Yes, the rocket charm does sound exciting, doesn’t it?” he replied with a smile as he levitated a notepad toward her desk. “Thank you for that answer, Miss Spinnet.”

Text Cut: Ronan

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

Those notepads sounded really cool and useful and he wanted one, but he couldn't think of anything about flying charms that hadn't already been said, unfortunately. So he just took notes and hoped that he could come up with something for the next question.

Which he did. "The Levitation Charm would be more suitable to something that needs be treated with care, like a trunk, and the Rocket Charm would be more for something that you needed to go really far." Wait, did that make sense? Ronan was having trouble telling these days, thanks to the lack of sleep. It seemed like he was making sense, anyway.

The professor listened carefully to Mr. Carter’s answer, nodding slightly. “You’re on the right track, Mr. Carter,” he said. “The Levitation Charm is the more delicate and precise of the two, but the Rocket Charm is more suitable for sending objects very high very fast than sending them far. Still, that was a sensible guess; nice job!” A flick of his wand sent another notepad across the room and onto the boy’s desk.

Text Cut: Skylar

Quote:

Originally Posted by UndeadRising

Also, Skylar had been so engrossed with the start of the lesson that she hadn't even realized how oblivious Vivian was when she said she'd been proud of her. It did amuse her though how adorable her blond friend was when she was confused. Yes, she did something; she showed up for CHARMS before herself. That was a feat and definitely something to be proud of. But Sky would have to fill Vivian in later about that, as Professor Marchand was given them each feedback and everyone notepads. But she got an "eloquent response" which as a writer, she really enjoyed hearing that feedback.

Rocket charm? Uh ... wasn't that too dangerous to do INSIDE the castle? Also, she wasn't convinced with Ronan's analogy about the rocket charm being used to send something really far. Actually, despite Zoryn Spinnet giving a completely ridiculous answer - how had she made it to third year again? - her answer had some merit in that the rocket charm probably was more exciting.

"The rocket charm is actually a variation of the levitation charm. It's just, as Daisy said, very violent in its actions. But I don't think it really has to go far to use this charm. The levitation charm is like this gentle float of something aloft."

Miss Diggory’s answer elaborated on what some of the others had said but was no less accurate. The professor nodded, smiling a little. “Yes. Very good, Miss Diggory,” he replied.

[textuct=Patrick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by siriusblackliveson

Patrick thought over the differences between the levitation and rocket charm. On the one hand the levitation charm sounded like it would just keep something in the air. But then when he thought about the rocket charm he figured it had more umph behind it since most rockets went pretty fast. He wondered seriously if it was that simple. "Is it really simple that the one is more forceful like a rocket and the other one just hangs there like levitating?" he scratched his head wondering what could possibly be the difference.

[/textcut]

Judging by the head scratch, Gaston thought Mr. Dooley seemed a bit unsure of his answer. He needn’t be; he was on the right track. “Yes and no,” he replied, realizing only after he’d spoken just how confusing that probably came across. “It is true that the rocket charm is more forceful, but that isn’t the only difference between the two spells. They also differ in ways like speed, height, and distance.” But he’d elaborate more on that after he finished listening to the class’s answers.

Text Cut: Etta

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

Etta looked slightly pleased when the notepad landed on her desk. She flicked through it for a moment before dropping it into her bag, listening intently to what the professor said. Rocket charm and levitation charm.. hmm. She waited until a few of her classmates had answered the question before raising a hand.

“Well, the rocket charm is basically a variation of the levitation charm but while the rocket charm is used to hold an object in place.. rather aggressively, like Daisy mentioned.. the levitation charm is used to make things fly?” Yeah? Was she right?

Gaston pondered Miss Kramer’s answer for a moment. He wasn’t sure if that was the right way to word it, but she was definitely on to something. “That’s a good guess, Miss Kramer,” he said. “Actually, both spells make things fly; it’s the way that they make things fly that’s different. The rocket charm sends its target straight up at a great height and high speed, while the levitation charm lifts its target at a slower rate but offers more control over the direction.”

Text Cut: Derf

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetnsourpixystix

NOTEPAD! Derf threw Natalie a quick grin as he set it on his desk and unnecessarily smoothed the cover. Magical notepad! He sorta wanted to give it a go now...to be honest...and was half way opening it up to scribble something when class moved on.

Merlin. His attention was all over the place.

Derf continued to have a hard time focusing because of the bubbles and now he was completely thinking about popping them ... like shooting quills up to pop them ... so he was really only half paying attention to the lecture as things went on. It was even more difficult to focus thinking about the Rocket Charm and actual rockets. Little toy ones he had seen in shops not the grand giant muggle ones that went into outer space.

"Their incantations," he stated. Was that, er, too obvious? The third year took a moment to ruffle his hair.

Was Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne paying any attention at all? He seemed incredibly distracted, but Gaston reasoned he was probably just intrigued by the notepad. He hadn’t exactly expected him to speak up, but he was pleased when he offered an answer… granted it was a glaringly obvious one. “Yes, very good, Mr. Ashbury-Hawthorne,” he replied.

Text Cut: Vivian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kimothy

Oh, so it wasn't fit for long distance travelling, then? Vivian nodded when Professor Marchand answered her question and smiled when he finished. She was honestly hoping it would reach far places, but she also wasn't that optimistic about it. I mean, it was a paper airplane, after all. It probably wouldn't last all those weather conditions.

But, of course, a smile grew on her face again when a notepad came levitating towards her. Vivian placed her hands in front of her and caught the notepad as it landed on her palms. These wouldn't be useful when writing to Andrei, but they could be of use for other letters and stuff. Ahem. "Thank you, sir," the prefect replied.

Vivian had heard of the levitation charm, yes, and she was a recipient of the said charm too. That was how she became Super Vivi. However, she wasn't exactly sure about the rocket charm. The blond raised her hand anyway. "I'd say the rocket charm's name speaks for itself, Professor, that it could send the object soaring like.. well, a rocket," she offered, which bothered her a little because she thought her explanation sucked and was pretty obvious. "And the levitation charm's kindly like the original one, too, where all other flying charms were derived from." Something like that, but yes.

Gaston beamed when Miss Fairfield thanked him for the notepad. “You’re very welcome, Miss Fairfield,” he replied. He was glad she didn’t appear too disappointed when he told her how far the paper on the pad could fly. His smile grew a bit at her next answer. “Yes, that’s true; well done.”

Text Cut: Emmeline

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

Flying charms, coooool! Emmeline was briefly distracted from her worries about Stasya by the lesson's topic. She stayed quiet when Professor Marchand had asked the first question, though, 'cause she was kind of afraid of getting it wrong and stuff. She didn't know loads about flight charms, which was totally confirmed when the professor listed some of them on the board. The only one she knew from that list was the levitation charm...

She wasn't super confident about Professor Marchand's second question, either. Everyone had pretty much already said what she wanted to say, so now the second year had to find a new way to say it, mhm. After a few minutes of staring at the board for inspiration, she raised her hand and said, "Umm is the rocket charm like LOADS faster than the levitation charm? 'Cause the levitation charm is all slow and stuff and you have to concentrate on the object the whooole time." Which was why it had taken her so long to master that particular charm last year and stuff. She wasn't the best ever at spells that required loads of focus over a long period of time or anything. Creatures and other things tended to intrude on her concentration loads, mhm.

Miss Sparkes had kept quiet through the last question, so Gaston was pleased when she decided to speak up this time around. He smiled, nodding approvingly in reply. “That’s a very good point, Miss Sparkes,” he said, sending a notepad flying across the room to her with a flick of his wand. He had touched on this a little bit earlier, but he was impressed that she’d thought of the difference in speed herself.

Text Cut: Shay

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

So Accio was not a flight charm. The professor's explanation made perfect sense. Shay was surprised that she got a prize for her wrong answer, but she was certainly not going to turn it down. Thanks professor", she said when the notepad reached her hands. As the information went up on the board, the Gryffindor carefully copied it down. When her her notes were up to date, she turned her attention back to the conversation.

The next question focused on the difference between the Levitation Charm and the Rocket Charm. After listening to a number of good answers, Shay raised her hand. She didn't have much new information to add, but she gave it a whirl. "As everyone has said, the Rocket Charm is an offshoot of the Levitation Charm. It is one of several variations of the Levitation Charm, like the Floating Charm and the Hover Charm. But the Levitation Charm was the first of its type and it is believed to be the best of the group.". Of course that was a matter of opinion.......everyone might not agree with the idea. Different situations called for different charms, she guessed. It was nice to have options.

Gaston beamed when Miss Morrison thanked him for the notepad. He thought it was well-earned. A well-thought out wrong answer deserved just as much credit as a correct one! Her next answer went in a slightly different direction than the others but was no less accurate. “Very good; thank you, Miss Morrison,” he said.

Text Cut: Natalie

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

As soon as Natalie spoke, she got the viiiiiibe that she had produced a stupid answer. But she was glad that the professor didn't treat it as one and simply explained why she was incorrect. And actually, his reply fascinated her. "Really?" she asked in awe. Peeves could fly because of all his pent-up negative energy? Weeeird.

Oh, yay! She got a notebook too!

Onto actual flying charms... Natalie scribbled down some notes in her NOTE notebook and listened as the professor moved on. Rocket charms and levitation charms. Natalie wrote both of the terms down and then considered his question. "Well, I'd assume that the rocket charm would.. send something rocketing into the air." That was what the word seemed like, you know?

For the record, Gaston did not find Miss McKinley’s answer stupid. Not exactly relevant, but certainly not stupid! He wasn’t sure how she would react to his answer, but her awe made him smile. “Yes, poltergeists are created from the negative energy in places where a lot of chaos happens,” he said, “and this energy enables them to do things like fly or move objects.” But he digressed… “If you’re still interested in poltergeists, maybe you can find a book in the library about them?” He would’ve gladly kept answering her questions, but it wasn’t his area of expertise and they needed to stick to the subject of the lesson for now. He nodded in reply to her answer. “Indeed it does, Miss McKinley.”

Text Cut: Olivia

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

How was she? Well Olivia was truly shaken up by the events that she and her fellow housemates had experienced a few days ago. The dormitories all ripped up and tossed carelessly everywhere. "I'm alright I suppose... Still a little shaken up, Professor," she admitted with a weaker smile.

Before she could say much else, the class was soaring away. Get it, cause they were talking about flight charms...? I'll show myself out.

Flight Charms?

Well.... She knew a little bit about it but not too much about flight charms. She remained quiet at the beginning of the lesson as she listened to the other students speak about flying charms that they were aware of. She felt as if most of the answers that she had thought of had already been offered up as solutions. Thus she remained quiet until the Professor asked them another question. The difference between the Levitation Charm and the Rocket Charm...?

Well... Rocket meant rocket... Space shuttle engines blasting off at a great speed.... "As others have mentioned, I suppose the speed at which the charm sends an object or person would vary. The rocket charm would be more forceful and perhaps even violent. Is the wand movement associated with the rocket charm quicker and more forceful than the levitation one?" she supposed.

"And could the rocket charm work on levitating a human? The Levitation one cannot do such." She had thought that the levitation charm only worked on clothing. So perhaps the rocket charm could actually work on a human being and gather enough force to counteract gravity....?

Just... maybe?

Gaston returned Miss Holden’s smile with an encouraging one of his own, but his eyes betrayed the concern his felt. “I understand,” he replied. He hated seeing the effect the ransacked dorms had on his Lions; it made him even more determined than ever to find the culprit and bring them to justice!

Miss Holden brought up some excellent points with her answer, which earned her a beam from that professor and a notepad sent toward her desk. “All good points, Miss Holden,” he said. “I don’t know if we can call the wand movement for the rocket charm more forceful per se, but it is quicker. And there is a variation of the Rocket Charm that is used on humans, but for now we’ll be focusing on the charm for objects.”

When the students were done giving answers, Gaston addressed the class as a whole again. "Nice job, class; I'm very impressed with the answers you gave. You've already mentioned several differences between the rocket and levitation charms, but adding on to that..."

"The Rocket Charm, incantation Alarte Ascendare, sends an object straight up into the air but offers no control of the direction beyond that," he went on. "It lifts its target higher than the levitation charm and at a much faster speed, but the target will not stay in the air for long..." He paused a moment to give time for the information sink in. "To cast, simply point your wand and repeat the incantation - and be warned, this spell makes a loud bang!"

He pointed his wand at a spare scrap of parchment on his desk. "Alarte Ascendare!" It shot up with a BANG, bounced off the ceiling, and fell back down.

"The levitation charm, on the other hand, lifts the object at a much slower speed but keeps it in flight much longer than the rocket charm. It offers complete control of direction - you can make the object move up, down, side to side just by moving your wand. This makes it more precise and better suited to delicate work." Did that make sense so far? Good, moving on...

"Cast by making a swish and flick motion and saying the incantation 'Wingardium Leviosa'," he said. He'd already performed this spell a number of times when distributing the notepads, but one more demonstration couldn't hurt. The parchment gently rose into the air and did a loop-de-loop as he moved his wand.

He lifted the lid of the other box on his desk and removed several toy airplanes. "Today you'll be practicing the rocket and levitation charms on these..." he explained as he handed the planes out; red ones for the Gryffindors, yellow for Hufflepuff, blue for Ravenclaw, and green for Slytherin. A quick wave of his wand sent more objects flying out of the box. Several targets attached themselves to an area of the ceiling that was not occupied by the bubbles; hoops at various heights and several cones in a zig-zag pattern floated suspended midair.

"Your job is to move your plane through this little obstacle course. Use the rocket charm to hit the targets, then use the levitation charm to move your plane through the hoops and zig-zag through the cones. If you complete the course early, you may use the remaining time to come up with some flying tricks of your own. Please try to avoid the bubbles for now, but just in case, I've set up a barrier around them. You have twenty minutes starting... NOW!"

OOC: Sorry for the delay; this post took longer to write than I thought! There is no minimum post requirement for this activity, but each person must attempt both the rocket and levitation charms to get full credit. You can work alone or in groups. Gaston and I will be cheking in periodically to answer questions; just indicate in the title of your post if you have one. You have ABOUT 3 DAYS (4:30 AM EST [GMT -5] Nov. 7) to do the activity.

Was Henry ever distracted today, and even more so than usual. He did have a tendency to zone out during discussions on theory if it did not catch his attention one way or another, but he usually could keep his focus during Charms which always had the potential for practical application and fun activity.

But with the events that had happened as of late, Henry grew more distracted. As Head Boy, he felt like he should be doing more to help, or... something. He just didn't really know what to do other than what he was, but he couldn't keep his mind from wandering and being concerned in general. Plus he had several other distractions to keep him occupied.

The loud BANG created from the professor's spell startled him and his eyes snapped up. Right. Rocket charm. He supposed he should try to participate, and he got up with his yellow airplane. Interesting that Professor Marchand chose a Muggle toy for this activity though. An obstacle course might be fun though and it might help his hand-eye coordination and accuracy that he could always practice for Quidditch.

His eyes on the first target, he pointed his wand at his plane. "Alarte Ascendare!" The plane shot up into the air with a bang. Then a nonverbal Wingardium Leviosa kept the plane afloat as he began to guide it towards the first hoop.

SPOILER!!: Question we missed"

The levitation and rocket charms?

Well.....The Ravenclaw would be an absolute liar if she didn't suddenly hope her and her classmates would be given the opportunity to propel each other into the air. The fact the ceiling wasn't nearly high enough to condone such an activity was minor because this was charms class and the ceiling could easily be extended. Who's to say the ceiling wasn't already extended and simply placed under an illusion charm so as not to give away the big surprise?

Blue eyes traveled up to the ceiling, idly wondering how high up the ceiling actually went and if the floor was given a sweeping cushioning charm before they'd all entered. It just seemed like the sort of thing a Professor would be well prepared for in advance so of course it made a world of sense for the Ravenclaw.

While the others offered up their differences, Jessa found herself wondering what other conditions the man might have before letting them rocket each other so high up. Would the younger years have to use the levitation charm instead for just in case measures? Let it be known, she was a Fourth Year well into the Fifth Year curriculum and would NOT be grouped with the babies. She would rocket people up just as well as anyone else.

"The levitation charm's far less likely to break your vials when you've got your hands full and need a little help from magic." Try rocketing a vial, see how well that worked out.

The intrigue that soaked the young girls eyes only moments ago slowly faded when the activity was finally explained. So then....not rocketing or even levitating each other....just....just the paper airplanes she'd seen earlier and been hella suspicious about. She should have known such an idea was too far fetched to begin with, afterall this was the same Professor that had shot her that look of absolute horror when she'd suggested they be stitching each other up during Halloween.

In her defense, he'd mentioned Frankenstein, who'd been riddled with stitches, and asked what the things had in common. The creature hadn't been born with those stitches, you know. Someone had to have put them there.

But anyway, it seemed the class was moving on in a more lack luster way than she'd been anticipating.

Jessa regarded the blue plane she was meant to be using in the exercise. First, she would levitate because through constant use back in her own lab, she'd managed to get it down non-verbally. As she was still refusing to cast unless she'd learned the spell non-verbally, this seemed the better course of action to start with.

She focused as she drew her wand, watching the airplane slowly rise into the air. By now it didn't surprise her that the spell worked. It'd been months of practising it non-verbally and using it as such. She kept her wrist movements as fluid as possible as she did the swish and flick then began through the obstacles.

Actually Juniper wasn’t taking notes. But she was listening and watching. Not fully but enough to know what was going on. Watching as Professor Marchand demonstrated what they were going to be doing. Though she had heard the warming of the loud bang, it had still caught her off guard and made her jump a little bit. She watched the piece of paper fly up into the air, as fast as a rocket ship. No wonder why it was called the rocket charm.

The Ravenclaw could have took a little nap during the levitation spell overview, well it was a overview for her. She was just ready to see what they were going to do with whatever was in the box.

Toy airplanes that was cool…kind of. Her little brothers would probably be happy about the toy planes. So they were flying the planes through the obstacle course. This might end up being pretty fun after all.

Juni got up with her wand in hand and got a blue plane. Moving over to where she could start the obstacle course. She pointed her wand to the blue toy airplane, and said. ”Alarte Ascendare!” Watching her plane zoom up into the air. This time she wasn’t a surprised by the bang or the other bangs around her as they all sent their planes up.

”Wingardium Leviosa!” Moving her wand in a swish and flick motion at her plane. Keeping it floating in the air. She sent it through the first three hoops of the course with a few fancy spins.

Rocket and levitation charms…

Cassie was careful to write down what was being said about the rocket charm as it was new to her, double checking the info on the levitation spell just in case. Adding it after the list of flight spells she had put down previously into her notes. She definitely was more a fan of levitating anything given it gave more control. What good was rushing something if you had to waste time recalculating every time you had to change direction or restarting if something went wrong in the hasty movement of the object you were trying to move.

The Ravenclaw accepted her blue airplane as she watched the other items reacting to the professor’s manipulations. Targets and hoops joined the bubbles, their presence explained by Marchand as he continued on with what he wanted them to do for now. One magical obstacle course coming up, Cass setting the blue flying object on the desk in front of her and got up from her seat.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” she cast on the airplane, getting it up in the air and letting it hover for a little bit as she readied herself to give it all a try. Looks like she still could manage that spell at least. She concentrated, moving her wand slowly which in turn moved her airplane with little resistance. Cassie guided it till she felt it was roughly under the nearest target, biting her lip slightly as she moved onto the other spell. "Alarte Ascendare!” she said, pointing at her airplane, the object unfortunately dropping down towards the floor as the switch between spells wasn’t as smooth as she thought it had been.

Ooops.

Rocket ships? Were they going to make them fly? Well this could be fun, at least a little fun. He listened as much as Eddie always listened and kept his eyes on the Professor as he demonstrated what they were doing. Why couldn't they just blow the thing up or take it outside and let it rocket into the air as high as it could? Now that would be fun.

He glanced at the course and just got bored even looking at it. How was this going to help him in his future? Glancing around the room he wondered if he could shoot it towards anyone.

Taking the rocket and setting it at an angel he looked around once more and then did the wand movement. "”ALARTE ASCENDARE!! he might have said it louder than needed and with more force than needed, which was maybe why the rocket took off quick and straight at another student (Juni)

Whoops

or well he'd make it out as if it was a full accident at least.

Ooooh, Natalie HAD heard of the rocket charm after all. The incantation sounded familiar. But boy, this activity seemed... difficult. And she wasn't really in the MOOD for a difficult activity. She took her toy plane and SIGHed, considering the obstacle course above and the instructions that the professor was giving them. It seemed HARD. But she also wasn't in the mood to get in trouble for not participating, sooooo the obstacle course it was!

Really, she just wanted to know what the bubbles were for, but whatever.

Standing up with her plane, Natalie got out her wand and went for it. "Alarte Ascendare," she said with a half heart of effort and.. to no surprise, the plane just wiggled in its place on her palm and then lay still.

"ALARTE ASCENDARE!" she said with a bit of grumpiness to it and to her surprise, the plane shot up, smacked against the ceiling and dropped right to the floor.

Well. Apparently spells took to MOODS, too.

So this was actually really fun. Not that she was surprised.

Juni continued to guide her airplane through the course. Leading her plane into a set of zig zag cones. She moved her wand directing the plane in a few loop da loops. And in through some more of the hoops.

Finally she got close enough to a target, she was almost ready to send some rocket power to her plane. As she pointed her wand, something hit her in the back of the head. ”AH!” The last thing Juni seen before hitting the floor was her plane nose diving to the floor.

This activity sounded like a whole lot of work that Zoryn did not feel like doing. So instead of getting a head start on all the magic stuff, she chose to watch all her peers around her instead. It looked like people were having a good time and all, which was nice, but Zoryn was very bored and super ready to leave class today. It wasn't even Professor Marchand's fault. Classes were just a waste of time in general.

As for the red plane she had in her hands, Zoryn just took the liberty of throwing it to see how far she could get through the obstacle course. Wouldn't that really just qualify as the same thing as the levitation charm? Plus, she didn't even have to do much thinking to get it done!!! See, this was innovation at it's best.

Doing wand-work required too much brain energy.

Gaston's bright blue eyes swept over the classroom as the students went about their activity. Mr. Whittebrook was having quick success with the obstacles as was Miss Primeaux. "Excellent work, you two!" he said, beaming at each of them in turn.

Miss McNally was also doing very well with the spells, though her transitioning was a bit off. "Nice job, MIss McNally," he said with an encouraging smile, "though might I suggest using the spells in the reverse order? Starting with the rocket charm will buy you a bit more time to switch spells; then you won't have that downward dip."

Miss McKinley appeared to struggle with the rocket charm at first but sent her plane crashing into the ceiling on her next try. "Very good, Miss McKinley! I knew you could do it," he said. Sure her aim was a little off, but that was nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little more practice. The important thing was that she'd successfully cast the spell.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gaston saw Miss Spinnet throw her airplane in the direction of the obstacle course without even trying the spells. Why? Was she struggling? Getting frustrated? He summoned the red plane toward him and caught it in one hand. "Need some help with the spells?" he asked as he set the airplane back on her desk.

MIss Cambridge had offered an interesting answer to the last question, but her interest appeared to be waning with the activity. Gaston's heart sank. Even so, she was doing amazingly well with the spells and had even managed to cast the levitation charm nonverbally. "Excellent nonverbal spellwork, Miss Cambridge! I'm impressed," he said, beaming at her.

He looked at his watch. Merlin's beard! Was that the time? "FIVE MINUTES UNTIL-" he began but mid-sentence he saw Mr. Blaze's plane heading toward Miss Primeaux.

He raised his wand to stop it, but too late. It hit her in the head, sending her to the floor. OHNONONONO!!! He was at her side instantaneously. "Miss Primeaux?" he called her name, unsure whether or not she was still conscious.

OOC: You still have JUST OVER 24 HOURS left for the min activity!