Text Cut: Emmeline

Quote:

Originally Posted by NifflerFan

As Professor Hirsch came over to talk to Derf, Emmeline had reluctantly moved aside for the professor and gone to sit next to Stasya. She still had a significant amount of attention focused on her Hufflepuff friend, though, as Professor Hirsch started the lesson. But then...his first question...all thoughts fled the Gryffindor's mind as her mind went BLANK. She could feel her heart speeding up a LOT, and her palms getting all sweaty and gross. What did he mean?!

It was NEVER, EVER, EVER OKAY TO HURT A CREATURE!!!!!!! Even those runespoors in the IMPS tournament last year -- Emmeline had watched half in terror for the champions, and half for the creatures. She would've way preferred that the champions simply have to find a way to get away from the runespoors... She wasn't totally stupid; she knew that there were plenty of Dark creatures out there that could or would hurt people if they got the chance. But honestly, it wasn't the creatures' fault -- it was just in their nature or their instincts or whatever. And that was why wizards at the Ministry worked to help contain or keep people away from those creatures; it was a necessary evil, like with dragons. As much as it pained her to think about dragons being stuck on a reserve, she understood why it was necessary. But this....

Emmeline felt a tiiiiny bit better as she heard some of her classmates' answers, but she couldn't find her voice to add to theirs. And then Professor Hirsch was describing this horrible spell and the thought of it being used on a creature was just...just...

Horrible. She didn't care what the Ministry had to say about it; letting wizards have that kind of power over a creature was just WRONG. So, so wrong. Hand still shaking and sweaty, she raised it tentatively and tried to catch Professor Hirsch's eye as everyone started scattering to practice the spell: "P-professor... What's to stop someone making the vines go around the creature's NECK?" Her voice cracked A LOT as she asked this super important question; her mouth was trembling and her eyes kept darting back to the shaking box that was obviously hiding a creature for them to practice this awful spell on... And she couldn't just sit here and let that happen. She COULDN'T.

So Emmeline did something incredibly reckless, even for her; she didn't think about it, didn't consciously decide to do it... She wasn't even aware of WHAT she was doing; one second she was sitting there frozen in horror, the next she was jumping up and SPRINTING right for the box, her wand outstretched even while her hand shook and formed a wand movement from memory, as if on auto pilot. Next second, she was screaming: "Alohomora!" The only thought penetrating through the fog of panic and horror in her mind was that she had to get the creature to safety. She remembered only too well what it was like to be trapped, to be just waiting for a wizard to raise his wand and strike at you while all you could do was wait and try desperately to escape...

She couldn't let that happen.

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

Uh oh. Oh no.

That sounded like a question coming from someone who was very, very upset with the lesson's topic. "Self-restraint, intent, control and good will," he said softly, "Most vines you produce from this are only aimed for the feet to keep them grounded. No one should be aiming for the neck at any cost. You wouldn't do it with Incarcerous, so don't do it here." Simple as that. "And if it does go to the neck, the vines have a bit of elasticity to them so the creature won't suffocate. But, don't leave things to that chance." Was that helpfu-

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

What.

What?!

Hirsch watched, almost as if in slow motion, as the spell flew out of Emmeline's wand and landed on the box, making it fly open in a flourish. There was a very loud GRUNT before a small, potato-like head peeked out, clearly confused by all the bright lights.

The man let out a small sigh and cast a shield charm around it, for the students' safety mostly, before closing the lid of the box again. As for Emmeline, he put his wand away and beckoned her over. "Are you okay? Do you want to sit this part of the lesson out?" Pause. "They're only dummies, they're not the actual thing but let's keep that between the two of us, okay?"

Text Cut: Abey

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Okay, well... if Junia said that it was going to be okay, then Abey believed her. Because Junia didn't lie to him and she always always always made sure that he was safe and also was actually literally the best person ever actually.

"Okay." Abey's whispered response was accompanied by a nod, and said simply enough, but he still kept a really really really firm grip on Junia's hand.

......... Ohhhhh noooooooooo. He got a 'see me'. NOBODY EVER WANTED TO GET A 'SEE ME'. Was he going to get in trouble for sleeping before the lesson, or whispering to Junia during class, or being a bother? Or all three? Or something he didn't even know he'd done yet? Or something he was probably going to do? Ohhhhhhhh noooOOoOoOOOOoooOooooo...

Biting his lip, Abey nodded anyway and tried his very hardest to NOT think of how he might be thROWN INTO DETENTION for something or everything and to listen instead, except for also he was still thinking about tendrils and monster hands and a cold, gloomy, not-Hogwarts Hogwarts and.....

Yikes™

When the activity was started and Hirsch called Abey over to him, Abey gave Junia a nervous glance but did indeed get to his feet. He rationally realised that maybe maybe maybe he wasn't in trouble at all, purely because Hirsch was calling him by the shortened version of his name, and not 'Mr. Botros'. Teachers here always did that when they were being kind from what Abey could tell, but even so... his brain had a way of making him believe that the WORST was always coming, even when all the signs said otherwise. Probably something to do with being a Seer of DOOM and DESPAIR and DESTRUCTION, you know?

Moving really very quickly, wanting to get out of everyone's way before they started practicing in case he got hit by someone's spell - by accident OR on purpose - Abey headed right over to Hirsch. But, before he even had a chance to say aNYTHING about what he wanted, Abey quickly beat him to it.

"I'm sorry, Professor Hirsch. I didn't mean to be annoying or anything, I sWEAR," he blurted out, alternating between wringing his hands and tugging at his school tie, unintentionally pulling it tighter and tighter in the process. "I won't be anymore trouble, I promise. I literally promise."

Hirsch was glad that Abey was following his request and had not decided to run for the door the moment he asked him to come over. He was still moving very fast, sure, but it was a little reassuring to know he was cooperating. It made his life a lot easier, you know? When he arrived, Hirsch opened his mouth to say something but before he could, the boy had started talking.

..........

Blink. Er, what? Annoying? Who said anything about being annoying? Or causing trouble? And what exactly was a literal promise?

...... Nevermind.

"Careful with that tie," he said, once the boy had stopped talking, "You're not being annoying or causing any kind of trouble. No, er," He paused for a moment to push his glasses further up his nose. "I wanted to apologise, actually, for the lesson. And I wanted to give you the option of sitting this out and, possibly, practising any other spell you might want to get some extra practice on." So he wasn't wasting time sitting around during the lesson.

WHOOOOOA. This professor could TALK, couldn't he? Maddie tuned him about about halfway through, as her thoughts began to wander to mountain trolls and causing creatures to trip. It sounded kind of...fun?! Not in a bad way, though! Maddie loved creatures and wouldn't dream of hurting one unless it came down to her having to protect herself. Even then, she was positive she'd have trouble actually doing anything to harm the animal...

She tuned back in when the professor introduced the spell and instructed them to actually try it out. FUNNNN. It was a fifth year level spell, too, which earned a wide-eyed expression from the first year badger. "What do you mean move on to the rocks?" she asked, hoping anybody would hear her and come to help. She thought she needed greenery. What were the rocks for? What was she supposed to move on to after the grass? HELPPPPP.

For now, Maddie skipped out to a grassy area, wand in hand. "Irretio! IRRETIOOOOOOO!" she exclaimed. "Irretio!" She stopped calling out the incantation and decided to practice the wand movement a little, too. She whipped her wand around in a clockwise circular motion. Then she looked up, pretending there was a big bad creature in front of her. She flicked upwards toward the "creature". This was FUNNNN.

Defense against the dark arts and they were talking about ethics? Really? If it was dark arts it was Eddie's understanding that those that used dark arts didn't have a sense of ethics, nor did he if it came down to it. So he really didn't understand the issue with attacking a creature it was just a stupid animal. He sighed as he realized they were going to make vines grow instead of something cool. He knew why the ministry said this was safer because they didn't want them learning actual defense spells, they wanted them to not be able to protect themselves in order to make them vulnerable to anything that the ministry would let loose.

He didn't actually answer though he sat listening. Were they really going to do this spell now? Maybe he could just slip out the doors without being noticed. Standing once it was time he pulled his wand and started practicing the wand movements. As he did that he watched the others. Could he maybe trap one of them and say it was only a mistake?

This could actually make the class tolerable....


So he pointed his wand and said the words, "Irretio" but something happened and he just looked at his wand. Well this was stupid, how could this spell do anything anyway? He knew his concentration wasn't there because he didn't want to really do it, but he knew he had to do it so again he said the words, "Irretio".

Abey... couldn't quite help but notice exactly what was happening there with Emmeline, and the whole... box... thing. If he was completely absolutely totally totally honest, he maybe had a moment of panic about the whole thing because, for a very fleeting moment, he pictured something else - something very familiar - leaping out of the box. Of course, it didn't, and rationally Abey knew that it wouldn't, but... well... there was that whole problem with rationality again.

He looked down at his tie, confused, when Hirsch pointed it out, realising in that moment just how tight he'd pulled it. Quickly, he pulled at the knot again, loosening it and giving himself much more room to breathe before looking back at Hirsch. Again... confused. Because now HE was doing the apologising and...

... Oh. Sooo... that meant he understood. And of course he did.

Abey looked up at Hirsch with great big shiny brown eyes, full of emotion. He felt a strange mix of sadness, happiness, and relief, still with a little leftover anxiety. But mostly... gratitude.

"Can I really? Yes please. Please please please yes please." He nodded emphatically as he whispered his reply, and wrung his hands even more in an attempt to refrain from flinging his arms around Hirsch then and there and hugging him. Because that was probably not appropriate in the classroom bUT IT WAS A REAL EFFORT NOT TO, OKAY. "Thank you, sir." SooooOOOooooo much. "Any spell at all?"

Why was he still whispering? Abey didn't know, but then he also did a lot of other things without knowing wHY he did them.

Oh! It was time for the practice part already? That was fast, but Vivian was excited to start trying the Ensnarement Charm over Incarcerous, which she had already tried before. The Slytherin took out a quill and scribbled down the notes on the board onto her parchment. She was determined to be a better notes-taker this year because she knew she'd need all the notes possible for OWLs and maybe even NEWTs if she passed this one. Hopefully. She needed to pass Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Finishing up her notes, Vivian then tucked the parchment and quill inside her bag again. She was going to have to try this time, but the mention of 'fifth to seventh years' made her perk up a little. She was part of the older student squad now. Wow! The blond was half-glad she was now considered mature like the students above her level, but was a little 'aww' at it as well. It meant facing more challenging stuff, but this Slytherin was up for it... as long as it was successful. Heh.

To start off, the prefect practiced the wand movement. Clockwise, and flick. Oh, that wasn't that bad. Vivian made a few more practice attempts with the wand movement before it felt more familiar and at ease to her. "Irretio... Irretio...." At least it didn't have too many syllables. "Ee-REH-tee-oh...."

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

Fourth Year and she was still getting grouped with the babies. Yes, the young girl was aware that it was nothing personal. Yes, she realized she'd been one of those 'babies' last term. Yes, most of her friends happened to be in the year below her but that didn't make things any better. She'd been ridiculously excited entering her Fourth Year. It was the middle ground, the beginning of the transition into not having Professors insisting older students help you during lessons but here she was....casting at grass....like the First Years were doing.

How humiliating. The Ravenclaw was sure she'd have been able to grasp the spell at a level adequate enough to at least group her with the Fifth Years. Merlin's soggy beard.

Jessa drew her wand, pausing only when Emmeline seemingly lost it and cast at the rattling box. If this was anything like the Herbology lesson of the term before, the Ravenclaw was going to simply turn the other way and pretend not to notice. It tended to work out best for everyone involved when she didn't tell them they were ridiculous.

"Irretio....ee-REH-tee-oh..." Practising the incantation like the baby she was. Put out? Yeah, just a little.

Her wand turned to the grass at her feet, concentration on vines. First, she would try the circular motion. "Irretio!" Round and around the wand wand, seemingly spinning threads of vines as it went along. See? She didn't NEED to be practising on blades of grass. The humilation of it all.

Honestly? Honestly, even though this was usually one of his best classes, he'd slightly tuned out once the talk turned to Creatures. The topic wasn't one of his favorites at all, plus they already had a class on dealing with them, so Ronan didn't quite get why they weren't focusing on the dueling uses of the spell instead.

But, his attention did come back in time to catch the incantation and that Professor Hirsch wanted the fifth years and up to practice on the rocks. First, though, was practicing his pronouncement of the word. "ee-REH-tee-oh.ee-REH-tee-oh. Irretio!" Then, the wand movement. A clockwise movement over the rock, with a flick in the direction he wanted it to go. Easy peesey, lemon squeezey.

He had no answer for why the ensnarement charm was more ethical in comparison to the incarcerous charm, mostly due to the fact that he didn't exactly know a hundred percent what either of those did at first. Ropes and vines, whatever it was, it both trapped a person. Whatever. He was more interested in what was in the box and why it was making those violent shakes.

Though it was no fun one could only trap a creature rather than battle it. Stupid rules.

Looking at at the large letters forming, he speedily read through it, frowning at the fact that this was a fifth year spell. Pffft. No, he could do it. He could charm a bit of grass, no biggy! Though while his resolve said he could do it, no problem, there was that bit of doubt in the back of his head. Ryder took a moment to watch others as he stood, brushing off invisible dirt from his shirt and sleeves, and taking out his wand. That one girl already had it down pat. Didn't look too much older than he was. Noooo biggy.

"Ee-reh-TEE-oh...EE-reh-tee-OH..." Felt weird to say, but was close enough, wasn't it? "Ee-REH-tee-OH. Irretio!" He waved his wand in a counter-clockwise motion over some grass by his feet and struck his wand upwards. Guys see THAT?!

There was a whoooooole lot of nothing that just happened.

Alright. Vi tried to keep up as best she could with Professor Hirsch's lecture writing word for word but then her hand started to get tired so she began using short hand. All about strategy? That had gotten Vi's attention once more. Using the Ensnarement Charm to distract or perhaps even pull a prank. She looked forward to using such methods in the future. It'd be useful to have that trick up her sleeve.

Now was not the time to think on that. It was time to practice the charm! At first she practiced the wand movement. The movement seemed relatively straightforward. A clockwise circular motion over the area on the ground where she wanted the vines to grow out of, flick upwards towards the creature or direction she wanted the spell to go Ensnarement Charm. She focused on a patch of grass in front of her first, made a clockwise circle and then a quick flick upwards. Okay. Straightforward. Now... The incantation. "Ee-REH-tee-OH," she began and then realized that she would was mispronouncing the incantation. "Ee-REH-tee-oh. Ee-REH-tee-oh. Ee-REH-tee-oh." Turning her attention towards the patch of grass that she had originally focused on, she performed the charm. "Irretio," she spoke with the circular motion and the flick towards the right. She watched as the grass sprung from the ground and headed to the right. Now that was easy. Vi turned her attention towards the rocks.

The rocks were her target. Okay. Waving the wand in a clockwise circle near the rocks, she then flicked her wand up towards the rocks. The vines followed and covered the rocks closely hugging the edges of the rocks. Perfect.

Now how about trying the non-verbal version of the charm?

Etta tried to take down what professor Hirsch said but she somehow lost track halfway, unable to keep up. He seemed to be doing a lot of explaining so she decided to concentrate on what he was saying, her eyes still occasionally drifting towards the box. Oops.

UHM. Wait, what was he saying again? This spell required a lot of concentration, right. She could do that.. if she could only stop getting distracted by the box. UGH. Anyway. She wrote down the spell and wand movement before heading over to the rocks, deciding to practice the spell first.

"ee-REH-tee-oh.. ee-REH-tee-oh... ee-REH-tee-oh.." Etta said it loudly, making sure she was getting the pronounciation right. And what was the wand movement again? Clockwise circular motion, flick upwards. Right, simple enough. She practiced the wand movement a few times before she felt like she was ready enough to try the spell. EEK. This was exciting.

Harriet was really excited about getting to practice. She was a fifth year now. That meant she got to do the older students part of the activity. That made her excited. Though she knew it was going to be harder, but she was ready to be more challenged. Though she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to do it in an non-verbal way. She hadn't even began trying to do that. Did that mean she was behind? Maybe she needed to ask some of her fellow fifth years to see if they had also not started non-verbals yet. She made a note in her brain to ask them later.

But for now she needed to get on and practice the spell. She took out her wand and headed to the rocks. Now she told herself that she might not do it right away. And that was okay. No need to panic. Or so she hoped anyway. First she began by trying out the wand movement first. She waved her wand in a circular motion over the area of rock she wanted to grow the vines from. She then flicked her wand up. Okay. That seemed pretty easy to be honest.

Now to practice it a few more times before moving on.

Now, it was time to practice on the rocks. Ronan took aim at the nearest rock and casted "Irretio!", moving his wand in the clockwise circular movement with a flick towards the wall. Vines slowly started making their way up the indicated wall, stopping halfway up.

Okay, not quite as far as he'd wanted them to go (he'd wanted them to go all the way up the wall), but he had a bit to practice, right? Hmm. Maybe he hadn't had enough concentration behind it?

To be honest, she thought attacking creatures was wrong but there were in some circumstances that they had to. Especially when they were in a danger like the acromantula attack that happened a few years ago. But you know, hopefully after Professor Hirsch taught them this, nobody would use this charm to attack harmless creatures.

And now it's time to practice the charm. Since Ava was a seventh year so probably she should try the charm non-verbally. Standing up from her seat, the Gryffindor decided to practice at the rocky area surrounding by the grass. She practiced the incantation first. "Irretio... Irretio.. ee-REH-tee-oh..." Then she made a clockwise circular motion over the area with her wand. Taking a deep breath, she put her focus and concentration and tried casting the spell. "Irretio!"

First try? It was successful because there was a small vine grew from the rock. But she didn't think that it was enough, so Ava tried the ensnarement charm once again. "Irretio!" And this time she tried to concentrate harder until the vine grew and this time it grew longer and stronger. Ooooh, yay! Maybe after this she had to try the spell non-verbally.

Before she practiced, Noelle bent to scribble the incantation in her notes.
Now that that was done, Noelle looked up just in time to see Emm freak out and reach for the box. Noelle should have stopped her since she was close to her, but she was curious to see what was in the box since that was where Emm was heading for. Curiosity got the best of her. Noelle leaned forward to see what was in the box and tilted her head trying to get a better look. But Professor Hirsch was already closing the box.

Dang.

Watching Emm to see if she was okay, because Noelle did care for her even though she still wasn't the happiest with her she waited a few more moments to see if she would be okay before starting to practice.

She'd start on the rocks.

Noelle pulled her wand free from the holster and looked down at her notes. She tried saying the incantation a few times out loud and then when she was comfortable saying it, she tried it in her head saying it. Then she tried the wand movements. The movements were easy so a couple times of practicing them and Noelle was sure she could do it. Once that was done, she looked at the rocks and moved to stand in front of the one that she liked. Breathing in and out a few times, she cleared her mind from everything and just breathed. In and out. As Hirsch had told them many times, concentration and confidence was key. Pulling that out foremost, she also concentrated and FOCUSED on what she wanted to do.

"Irretio!" Noelle said loudly, moving her wand in the clockwise circular fashion over the rock. She grinned when a sturdy looking vine started to emerge. Still concentrating, she started to guide the vine with her wand. They were tiny but she KNEW she could do it now. That's where the confidence grew. Focusing on the vine, she made it loop round and round.

Maisie smiled, her cheeks red. She was always secretly pleased when her schoolwork went well.

She wasn't sure about the next question. Once the Professor explained about ethics, she felt like she understood it more, but her curiosity was piqued. 'Ethics' was a new word for little Maisie and she was already planning on doing some research in the library later.

As the Professor explained the first task, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Finally! Getting to do magic! Maisie had fought her mother all the way about attending Hogwarts, but she couldn't deny that learning to do magic herself wasn't appealing now. Every time she used her wand, her tummy tingled. She didn't think the novelty would ever wear off. She'd grown up watching her mother do all sorts of spells, most of them seamstress related. Now it was her turn.

"Ig... Igneeoo? Ig...natio?" She tried out the word first, keeping her wand down. "Ig- knee-schio." Maisie wasn't sure about any of her pronunciations but she was more confident with the third.

Next, she practised the wand movement, sans wand, just in case. Clockwise circles and flick up and in the direction you want.

Maisie added her wand to her movement practice a couple of times.

Finally satisfied, the Ravenclaw focussed on the grass, circled her wand, "Ignetio!", up and flick!

Nothing.

Her heart sank. Maisie bit her lip, hard, and tried again.

Text Cut: Abey

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Abey... couldn't quite help but notice exactly what was happening there with Emmeline, and the whole... box... thing. If he was completely absolutely totally totally honest, he maybe had a moment of panic about the whole thing because, for a very fleeting moment, he pictured something else - something very familiar - leaping out of the box. Of course, it didn't, and rationally Abey knew that it wouldn't, but... well... there was that whole problem with rationality again.

He looked down at his tie, confused, when Hirsch pointed it out, realising in that moment just how tight he'd pulled it. Quickly, he pulled at the knot again, loosening it and giving himself much more room to breathe before looking back at Hirsch. Again... confused. Because now HE was doing the apologising and...

... Oh. Sooo... that meant he understood. And of course he did.

Abey looked up at Hirsch with great big shiny brown eyes, full of emotion. He felt a strange mix of sadness, happiness, and relief, still with a little leftover anxiety. But mostly... gratitude.

"Can I really? Yes please. Please please please yes please." He nodded emphatically as he whispered his reply, and wrung his hands even more in an attempt to refrain from flinging his arms around Hirsch then and there and hugging him. Because that was probably not appropriate in the classroom bUT IT WAS A REAL EFFORT NOT TO, OKAY. "Thank you, sir." SooooOOOooooo much. "Any spell at all?"

Why was he still whispering? Abey didn't know, but then he also did a lot of other things without knowing wHY he did them.

If he thought that the response to his question was the last of any tugging of heartstrings that was going to happen, he was wrong. Because here he was, looking down at the third year who was looking up at him with enough emotion to melt icebergs. Students had the strangest powers, really.

"Of course," he whispered back, a smile tugging at his lips, "Any spell at all. Maybe work on something you're struggling with, get some extra practice in. Just no Unforgivables, okay?" Not that he expected the boy to be able to cast those but it had to be said.

And maybe, just maybe, if Emmeline didn't want to work on the spell, she could join Abey. Get some duel practice in.

Text Cut: Maisie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moonhare

Maisie smiled, her cheeks red. She was always secretly pleased when her schoolwork went well.

She wasn't sure about the next question. Once the Professor explained about ethics, she felt like she understood it more, but her curiosity was piqued. 'Ethics' was a new word for little Maisie and she was already planning on doing some research in the library later.

As the Professor explained the first task, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Finally! Getting to do magic! Maisie had fought her mother all the way about attending Hogwarts, but she couldn't deny that learning to do magic herself wasn't appealing now. Every time she used her wand, her tummy tingled. She didn't think the novelty would ever wear off. She'd grown up watching her mother do all sorts of spells, most of them seamstress related. Now it was her turn.

"Ig... Igneeoo? Ig...natio?" She tried out the word first, keeping her wand down. "Ig- knee-schio." Maisie wasn't sure about any of her pronunciations but she was more confident with the third.

Next, she practised the wand movement, sans wand, just in case. Clockwise circles and flick up and in the direction you want.

Maisie added her wand to her movement practice a couple of times.

Finally satisfied, the Ravenclaw focussed on the grass, circled her wand, "Ignetio!", up and flick!

Nothing.

Her heart sank. Maisie bit her lip, hard, and tried again.

Not paying attention to what the students were doing was out of the question, especially given the type of activity this was. Who knew what would happen if someone over-shot with their spell and ended up growing an entire beanstalk in this class. So, it wasn't unnatural for the man to pick up on.....

......... this.

Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, Hirsch wandered closer to the Ravenclaw and stood nearby, watching her practice. It was a difficult spell to cast, especially for a first year, but that might not be the entire reason why she hadn't gotten the spell right just yet. No no, not when the pronunciation was to be considered.

"Hey, Miss Dimple?" he asked in a small voice, bending down slightly, "The spell's Irretio: ee-REH-tee-oh. Not Ignetio. More emphasis on the 'REH'." Which might explain why the spell wasn't working. "And try saying it with a bit more confidence. Doubting yourself is never going to help you produce the best magic you can produce, and you will be able to produce great magic. So, take a deep breath and remember: Irretio!" Was that helpful? He hoped so.


As for the rest of the class, Hirsch stood up properly and glanced down at his watch. "Keep going, everyone! You have about...... five and a half minutes left!"


OOC: You guys are doing wonderfully so far!

This is just a notice to say that you have approximately 24 hours left for the mini activity before we move onto the main activity!

Keep it up ^^

Zoryn didn't actually care much for the environment. She just cared about winning. And did she accomplish this in the end? Yes, yes she did. And y'know what? She was incredibly proud of herself for it. With this in mind, she tuned out to everyone else's answers and Professor H's responses to them. 'Cause if she had already won, then they were all probably wrong anyways. Just sayin.

Zoryn was on top. MHM.

As for the next activity, Zor was SO READY!!!!! Jumping up to go find a patch of greenery all for herself, the third year stared at the ground in concentration. Sort of. "EEEEEE-Reeeeeeeh-teeeeeeeeeee-oh!" She tried right away without giving it a practice go. Dang. That incantation was such a mouthful. The wand movement was almost even MORE complicated...

And as a result, Zoryn's grass didn't do a single thing.

Man.

This would definitely be another one of those lessons where she couldn't do the spell. Happened most of the time, actually. But only 'cause concentrating was SOOOOOOOO hard. And there was SOOOOOO much going on around her!!! Like whatever Emmeline had done!!! And how come Abey had to talk to Professor H? And how come everyone else's vines were growing?

"Ee-REH-tee-oh," she said as an after thought. Again, resulting in nothing.

Sitting in the back of the classroom - which is laughable considering that it wasn't much of a classroom, let alone much of a class - was a very annoyed and very tired, Noah Kovac. He didn't remember how or when he strolled into the lesson, but he'd made it, given the Hirsch character some form of a greeting before proceeding to look around the room, frowning at everything. He'd meant to just tell Hirsch at the beginning of the lesson that there was no need for him to stay and observe because he knew exactly what he would be writing down in regards to the audit.

However... Noah had managed to find somewhere comfortable to sit and think with his eyes closed. So he'd missed all the fun™ that Hirsch had for the children - used loosely here as Noah didn't actually see them as students since they were all slow and severely behind on everything (what were they even teaching them???) - and was grateful for it because had he been watching, he would've had to write more things and he just didn't have the time for that. It wasn't the noise of the miniature idiots roaming about trying to cast that insidious spell that Hirsch had given them to practice that woke him up, but his own snoring.

Noah jolted awake, eyes barely open but the noise around him had forced the sleepiness away. Rowena be a fence. Blinking several times, the man looked around, narrowing his eyes at everyone and everything. Was the lesson still going on? With a long, cat-like yawn, he stretched his arms over his head and then proceeded to look at the blank form on his lap. He began talking to himself, murming things here and there and watched, absently, as his quill went to work, jotting down his thoughts on the margins - the man was anything but conventional - of the form. He stopped only when he witnessed one child in particular fail to enunciate the spell properly. With a long and very dramatic sigh, Noah pinched the bridge of his nose and began writing again.

SPOILER!!: some observations

1. the small children need the classwork modified for them; clearly the school values babying the "students" more than challenging them.
2. a lot of unnecessary chatter and talking - most of it coming from Hirsch.
3. zero structure. amazing.
4. clearly the school prefers to hire models™ than actual qualified professors. must speak to the HM about that.
5. the lesson has absolutely no relevance; no wonder Ilvermorny won the IMPS. shame.
6. time wasted on a pointless activity on a ridiculous spell that wouldn't help the children out in real world if they were faced with an aggressive creature.

Kitty was admittedly baffled upon learning that the Ministry preferred they use vines or other things in nature to stop dangerous creatures than ropes. Honestly, did it really matter? She nodded in agreement to Tenacius's words, trying to suppress a giggle when he mentioned being trapped by his blankets.

They were moving on to the activity, but her mind was still stuck on ropes vs. vines. Her hand shot into the air as everyone else was going to practice the spell. "Are there legal penalties, professor, for using ropes instead of the Ensnarement Charm?"

Because that would be very useful to know in her opinion. Of course the idea of going to jail for using ropes seemed highly absurd to her.

"ee-REH-tee-oh. ee-REH-tee-oh. ee-REH-tee-oh."

Dahlia practiced rolling the spell over her tongue, trying to make sure she got the right tone to the right parts, just as the professor said. She was pretty certain she had it right, but the proof would be in the pudding, as her Nanna liked to say. Well her pudding was vines growing out of the grass. And the way her spellwork had gone in the last lesson, she wasn't all that hopeful of getting this one right. But she could but try. Well, she had to try, they'd been told to.

Flexing her fingers, and grasping her wand tightly, she found herself a patch of grass away from everyone else. The last thing she wanted was to send uncontrolled vines up and capture her very own student. Clockwise circle and flick upwards to the target. Okay. That bit seemed easy enough, it was concentration part she was unsure about. Her usual confident attitude seemed to disappear when it came to doing spells. She really wished it wouldn't.

Pointing her wand at the grass, she circled it and frowned in concentration as she recited the spell and flicked up. "ee-REH-tee-oh!" For a second she didn't think anything was going to happen, then all of a sudden something began to snake out of the floor and grow upwards. All of a couple of inches. Her face fell and Dahlia dropped to her knees to lean over and peer at what she'd done. "Oh. Well, that's rubbish."

This was the exciting part of the lesson, the part when they actually got to do spells. Olly listened very carefully to the instructions because this seemed like a spell you would not want to get wrong. That could go very badly. Unfortunately this was a spell that required a lot of concentration, which was something Olly was not very good at. But all spells required concentration, it was just the ones that required a lot that took him the longest. But it was okay because he was going to practice and practice made perfect. He decided to start in the grass though, because that would be easier and he knew that if he could get it there then it would be easier to move on to the rocks.

First he said the incantation aloud to himself just to be sure he was pronouncing it correctly. "Eeee-re-tea-oh." Yeah, that sounded right. Okay, now it was time to actually perform the spell. Olly stood in front of a patch of grass and concentrated on vines. "Irretio." He moved his wand in a clockwise circle over the grass and saw little vines start to peek out. He flicked his wand upward and the vines shot up higher. Olly smiled, happy with his success. Now he was ready to move on to the more difficult rocky terrain.

Now for the part that Rhea had been dreading.

Actually performing the spell.

The spell was of a level that wasn't too difficult for her, but she'd still struggle with it more than other students of her age would. She'd definitely need to start on the grass first. It made her self-conscious, but she knew that there was no point in her working on the rocks straight away when she'd inevitably fail or, at the very least, struggle. With a sigh, Rhea took out her wand and practised the wand movement. A circular motion - clockwise - over the area she wanted vines to grow from, followed by a flick upwards toward her target. Easy enough. The incantation, too, was straight forward. She sounded it out in her head first. Then aloud, she muttered, "ee-REH-tee-oh." And again. "Irretio."

She was as ready as she'd ever be.

Rhea moved to an unoccupied area, scowling at the grass so it knew just how she felt. She then tried to clear her mind, at least of the grumpy thoughts that were floating around it, and instead focus on the outcome that she wanted to happen when she performed the spell. In her mind, she pictured vines growing from the grassy ground upwards. She did the charm's wand movement and muttered. "Irretio!" She was completely focused and, for that reason, the vines practically flew from the ground toward her intended target, but when a flicker of self-doubt entered her mind the vines drooped and retreated. A frown crossed her features. Still, she hadn't done as badly as she'd thought she would.

And time to practice the incantation before Katy took a stab at those rocks. Or even at the grass, which looked decidedly more promising than the rock. Katy raised her wand before lowering it. "Is it easier in a natural environment with grass that isn't already charmed into existence?" Not that it mattered... just curious.

She kept her wand down at her side while she felt the incantation in her mouth. He wanted them to try it non-verbally, but Katy had never yet had success with a non-verbal before mastering it verbally. Irretio. Irretio. Pretty easy. Right?

Where was there some grass? Katy spotted a particularly lush patch, and she pointed her wand at it. "Irretio", followed by a flick of her wand upward. And... was that a vine? She stooped to poke at the grass with her wand. Maybe? She'd try again, and this time she was GOING TO SEE GREEN.

Nodding. Lots and lots and lots of nodding from Abey, and smiling too, and then even some grinning at the mention of Unforgivables but INNOCENT grinning and only because it was funny to him that Hirsch even needed to say it. "Yes of course I promise!" A literal promise, actually.

For the practicing thing, Abey wanted to stay as far out of everyone else's way as possible, but doing that meant moving as close to the wall as possible. While, logically, that was the best thing especially what with being so aNXiOuS, all those thoughts about vines and tendrils and tying up meant that Abey actually wanted to stay as far away from the walls as he possibly could... which would put him in the middle of everyone else...

In the end, he decided that, actually, where he already stood would probably be best. That way he didn't have to move closer to either scary thing, and the fact that HIRSCH had chosen this spot to call him over to in order to talk to him meant that it was more than likely a reasonably safe place to stand, because Hirsch was SMART and wouldn't have a conversation in a place where he could get hit by a stray spell if he could help it... right?

So, staying where he was, Abey got his wand out, managing to shoot a glance back to Junia and smiling at her to let her know he was okay and not sad and also - if he could convey as much in a smile - that he didn't have to worry about practicing a spell that was all about trapping things and tying them up and trapping them.

SPEAKING OF SPELLS, Abey already KNEW what he wanted to practice. THE SHIELD CHARM! He knew actually that it was actually a fourth year spell, technically, and that he was only at the start of his third year, but he had REALLY wanted to learn it for duelling reasons and real life reasons, and he REALLY believed he could do it... and so had already started working on it in recent weeks. Also, he was only a year away from officially being the recommended FOURTH year age, and that was close enough, really. ALSO, Harry Potter had learned to do a Patronus Charm when HE was a third ye-gAAAAASSSSSPPPPPP. MAYBE ABEY COULD LEARN THAT TOO!

... Maybe... maybe just one thing at a time though. And maybe it was better to ask Hirsch about that in private, later.

Shield Charm then. Yes. Keeping one eye on the others in the classroom because that other spell was making him more than a little nervous - which was a strange feeling because at the same time he felt tired and drained - Abey raised his wand.

"Protego."

The spell came out as a whisper, a word spoken to himself, almost, like he was worried of calling any more attention to himself by obviously casting another spell. That, combined with his initial uncertainty, naturally meant that the spell bore no magic. Abey glanced around him, just chECKING THINGS, then focused on what he was doing and tried the spell again, a little louder and a touch more confident this time. "Protego..."

Professor Hirsch's answer to her question wouldn't have helped, really, 'cause Emmeline knew better than to rely on the self-restraint and good will of wizards. But she hadn't even heard it over the roaring in her ears, which didn't stop until the creature's head poked out and Professor Hirsch was closing it up again. The motion made the twelve-year-old girl blink in confusion; she felt kinda like she'd been watching herself run over and try to unlock the box from outside her body, which was SCARY. Or like she'd fallen asleep or something; she KNEW better than to try to let an unknown, possibly Dark creature out in a room full of people. She knew that. And she didn't understand why she had done it, not when she hadn't been aware of deciding to do it.

The Gryffindor trudged over to Professor Hirsch, her face slowly heating up in shame and embarrassment until her face probably looked like a tomato. She gulped before answering him quietly: "I--I'm okay. I'm sorry, sir. I dunno what happened. I didn't mean to." Not that she thought any adult, except maybe Cami, was likely to believe her on that. She shook her head when the professor asked if she wanted to sit part of the lesson out. She wasn't weak; she could handle learning to trip Dark creatures, which was probably a better alternative to loads of other spells that wizards could use to stop the creatures. A small smile broke over her face as she heard the last part of the professor's answer and nodded again. "Okay... Sorry again." Annnd then she was turning around and walking purposefully to an empty area of grass.

She realllly hoped that no one had noticed that whole thing, that they were too busy with their own spell practice, but she sort of thought that was probably too much to hope for. So Emmeline kept her eyes focused firmly on the ground until she'd reached a grassy area that was well away from her classmates. She didn't dare look up as she raised her wand, spun it in a circle like a clock, then flicked it up a bit and muttered, "Irretio!" Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. She never got a new spell right on the first try, but today she was still feeling all ashamed of herself and not really concentrating all that well. Which was NOT good, 'cause Professor Hirsch had said that this spell required loads of concentration. And it was a fifth year one, too. She was kinda doomed, mhm.

That didn't stop Emmeline from trying, though, even if part of her mind was still somewhere else. She sounded out the spell several times before she was ready to try it again. This time, she definitely managed to think about vines and how much she wanted to conjure them; she wanted to do okay in the rest of the lesson, since she'd botched things up so much already. She spun her wand in a clockwise circle again, flicked it up and at the last minute, and said: "Irretio!" No vines appeared, but she thought that maybe some of the grass had rustled a little bit. Maybe.

The second year repeated her attempt for another TEN times before finally, finally, some weak, insubstantial-looking vines appeared out of the grass. Emmeline loosed a breath in relief when she heard the professor's five minute warning. These vines didn't look strong enough to trip or restrain ANYTHING, but it was better than nothing. It meant she could sort of do the spell, right?