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DADA Lesson: Jump On It Making your way through the third floor, you'll notice the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom ajar. The lights were dim, but inside one can still see Professor Madigan among a series of cushions that decorated the classroom floor. Where were the desks? Not that it seemed to matter as walking across you'd feel a spring below your soles tempting you to jump. Was it safe to now? The board behind the Professor says to take a spot and attempt patience. --- Where are we at? Q1 - Greetings + First question. Q2 - Responses + Next question. How/Where can it be useful? A1 - Responses + Using Verdimillious. Time to practice. A2 - Using Verdimillious. Jump across to the End. |
Dim lights? Intriguing! Aria really liked this setting, much as she did the Divination ones when there wasn’t much candles about. “Hiii, professor!’’ the fifth year greeted brightly, a few silver rings on her fingers standing out brilliantly despite the poor light as she wiggled her fingers at the man. She happily was in the process of going to find herself a comfortable place to camp out when she noticed that there was something different about steps. Was it… bouncier than usual? Aria took a few more steps to test this and decided, yes, there was a whole lot of unexplored bounce here. Naturally the bubbly Slytherin could not resist the chance to jump a bit. It was such fun! But she finally found herself that place for the lesson. All set she was! |
Patience was never one of Apollo's strong suits. As he made his way into the dimly lit Defense Classroom, the fifth year instinctively drew his wand, noting the springiness in the floor. Weird. "Professor Madigan, hello," he greeted, after casting lumos so he could more easily see where he was going. No one said that he couldn't cast the light spell, and Apollo was nothing if not practical. Why make things difficult? He found a place near Aria, nodding to her. "Interesting class setup, don't you think?" He whispered cautiously to her. |
Mercer pounced through the door with a flourish, eager to see what was going on in the dark, mysterious, other good adjectives, classroom. And... was only slightly disappointed to find that, instead of a great mystery to solve, it was filled with the professor and some cushions. "Oh, hey... Professor. I like your... dangerous cushions. Very defensive. Dark Artsy. Are we taking a nap? Oh! Or are we going for a walk on the astrid plane? Because I'm actually really good at that." He was not. |
He wasn't even surprised anymore at most differentiated set ups for his courses. If there was one thing all Hogwarts professors did well, it was keep things interesting by switching up the classroom settings and the ways they tackled learning. It was something Evan actually appreciated a lot about them, though truthfully he didn't have any problems with the normal settings either. Making his way into the dim classroom, it was rather easy for him to resist the urge to jump as he made his way to find an unoccupied cushion. He did pause however prior to sitting in order to turn towards the Processor. "good day, Professor Madigan." Manners mattered. Giving a nod towards his peers, Evan settled himself criss cross on the ground, propping his elbow on his knee and leaning against his hand. |
Kinsay James tried her best not to look as embarrassed as she felt as she stepped foot into the dimly lit Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. But. But it was hard. It was hard because she was embarrassed. Everything was so, so embarrassing. So much so that even the extra bounce of the floor didn't appeal to her as she moved into the room and took up a spot by her littlest cousin, Mercer, who received a squish and a hair ruffle. "Hi, little jumping bean." He was the cutest. It almost helped her feel less embarrassed. Except. Except she was still embarrassed. So. So she avoided looking at Professor M when she spoke to him. "Please tell me we're having a pillow fight." Now that was something she could excel at. ... Maybe. |
”Did someone say pillow fight?” Nerina grinned as she moved into the classroom, offering the Professor a wave. ”Love what you’ve done with the place, Professor. Minimalistic and comfy.” She could be down with that and the floor? So fun to walk on. She didn’t exactly jump as she moved towards Kinsay and Mercer, but there was definitely a little extra spring in her step. ”Hello favorites.” Mercer got an annoying yet affectionate hair ruffle and Kins got an arm squeeze. |
Meh. That about summed up Atlas' feelings when it came to this particular subject and not for a lack of understanding the importance of it. There were some hard life experiences he could point to as reminders should he desire to hurt himself in that light. But, mostly, there were precisely two subjects that made him feel like an outcast and Defense Against the Dark Arts happened to be one of them. Chalk it up to his first year if you must, but it was not so simple as that. Nor was it dependent on the instructor. He simply...did not mesh with this subject and he was relieved that, as an OWL student, he could drop it after this term. Just...had to survive with his pride intact this term. Somehow. Mostly keeping to himself, his defense being rooted in omission, the Gryffindor found himself torn with regards to the chosen aesthetic of the day. On the one hand, there was an irritation for Professor Madigan's apparent theatrics. On the other, there was a calmness in the familiarity of the set up...something like mum would do with her trainings. If they were about to do some meditation and yoga, he may not be a complete brat about it. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Atlas meandered over towards a random cushion to plop himself down on while taking note of the almost trampoline-like flooring. Interesting. He offered the professor a small nod of the head before plopping down, bouncing slightly where he did, and hugged the cushion to his chest. Patience? The man might need to be more concerned about Atlas falling asleep in this position. It WAS pretty comfortable and the dim lighting did not help matters much. Nor did the fact that he might have absolutely pulled an all-nighter working on something under the covers. The evidence of said tinkering currently napping in his bag. |
SPOILER!!: Ello, ello greetings Well, it looked like it was time to begin. The small smile remaining on the Professor's face before he gestured the entire room. "Excellent, good day everyone." Not expecting any returned greetings to it. "As previously discussed, the importance of Defensive magic is preparing and learning how to face and endure a challenge. Today our focus will be on our surroundings and influencing it.. that will involve us being on and off our feet today.." Letting it sink in for a moment. "What are some of the signs that can make one suspicious of the area? Has there been a time where you walked in a room or somewhere and felt something was off?" To start it off. -- OOC: Feel free to get creative with answers. Class will continue sometime the next day. ^_^ |
It wasn’t long before she was joined by Apollo. Solemn Apollo as Aria liked to refer to her friend. She tossed a cushion lightly at him. “You can definitely say that!’’ Also, why were they whispering? Did he have secrets to share with her or something??? But any secrets might have to wait because before Aria knew it, the lesson was starting. So… manipulating their surroundings? Ms. McLeod’s eyes glinted with interest and anticipation. This was going to be a lesson she was going to enjoy to the fullest! She could feel it in her bones! After a moment of thinking, Aria raised her hand, her fingers wiggling as usual. “Just your gut instinct, professor. Sometimes your intuition just picks up on certain things which make you uneasy.” It was that plain and simple. |
Mercer was PLEASED to see his cousins, who were both his favorite and who he didn't like one over the other at all, unless one had candy or snacks, but that was a short term favoritism. He gave them both a lean!cuddle as the professor got them started. They were WALKING? But not on the astrid plane? Where were they walking? What was the professor on about? "I get nervous when the house smells like smoke, because that means Mum has to work late and Dad is cooking and he is bad at it because he gets distracted and then burns things. And then we have beans and toast and pinky promise not to tell Mum." |
As more students trickled in, Kinsay tried her very best to look as confident as she could. Except she didn't feel very confident. Not really. So. Like. Um. Yeah. But. But when Nerina joined her and Mercer, Kinsay felt so much more at ease. Not entirely, but much more than she had only moments prior. So. So Kins offered her friend a tiiiny smile, leaning onto her affectionately as the lesson began. But as Professor M began speaking, the uneasy feelings made their return full force. Were they supposed to be suspicious of the classroom? Because. Because Kinsay hadn't gotten a concerning vibe. Was she supposed to? Were they supposed to be suspicious of the place already? She looked around, already concerned. This was going terribly already, see? Even though she was trying so hard and everything. Not wanting to admit how silly she felt, she decided to keep the questions to herself and raised her hand to answer Professor M's question instead. "If it's, like, somewhere you go to a lot ... and you notice things are really different about it. That might be a sign that something's gone awry. Maybe." In all honesty, Kinsay was usually more suspicious about people than she was about places. Maybe that's why she had done so poorly on her OWL. |
Mercer’s dinner story had Nerina giggling, hand over her mouth as it expertly transformed from giggle to cough. AHEM. Gosh, he was cute. Her baby cousin. Her very, very honest little guy. Also she should probably not do anything embarrassing around him ever so she didn’t become some adorably embarrassing anecdote during a future lesson. Note taken. As for Miss Kinsay James, her answer got an approving nod from N. Look, she knew this wasn’t her best’s best subject, but she was doing GREAT. What sort of things made Nerina Moretti suspicious of an environment or person? Well.. ”I suppose when something seems too good to be true I find myself wondering when something is going to happen to disturb the perfection.” She paused, looking thoughtful. ”Oh. Also sometimes you just move into a space and you get those goosebumps, you know? Like the vibe is just off and your body just knows.” |
He was really starting to with he hadn't given up on waking Aries from his sleep. Maybe he could tap into their twin telepathy that mum and dad were always mentioning and Andromeda used to complain about. Or maybe Atlas would just flop on to his brother's bed after and recant the whole tragedy. Because things were certainly vibing in that direction. That feeling the professor was hinting at? Yeah...he was pretty familiar with it. Forget Dark anything, Atlas could walk into a supposed safe space like a classroom and feel something was off. But...that was conversation for another time and another audience. Hugging his pillow a bit more tightly, the Gryffindor re-centered himself and took a little glance towards his bad beside him before offering up a lame response. Lame response for a lame mood. "...a Sneakoscope." He had taken one of those apart before and would not mind if today's lesson were to miraculously about their construction and the enchantments required. ...just sayin'. |
Her cousin, the auror, would disagree with that statement but okay. As would her mom, the former YATI. And her great aunt.....well you get the picture. But Kalie was getting rather used to Professor Madigan's rather ~odd~ views on the field of defense and so it didn't bother her anymore. Much. "My cousin says that sometimes he just knows and he can't really explain it. But you can also tell if something in the room has been moved ever so slightly or sometimes you can feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up....." She herself had never experienced that last one, but she'd seen it in a lot of movies and tv shows. Right before the people got got by the bad guy. |
SPOILER!!: Ello, ello responses "Excellent responses, everyone." Professor Madigan said, even to those who remain quiet, their presence was excellent enough. "Since we'll be influencing our current surroundings as mentioned, today we'll be using the charm, Verdimillious." The part which he had to cover now, "While I'm sure a number of you are familiar with this spell due to its usage in the Dueling Club, we'll be using its other purpose on revealing objects and passages that are hidden with use of dark magic." Letting that settle in for a moment. "Now, before we get to practicing the charm at last, think back to the scenario you shared and consider how would Verdimillious be useful in that moment? Or perhaps there's another situation that would proof it more useful." He was curious to hear these responses. It was quite nice hearing his student's thoughts. -- OOC: Hey, feel free to get creative with answers. Using your previous answer, explain how Verdimillious would be useful there. If you didn't share a scenario beforehand you can do so here and are free to come up with another one if your previous answer wouldn't fit. Class will continue sometime the next day. ^_^ |
Serena had grown used to DADA lessons incorporating the theme of the day within the classroom, so it was no surprise that the floor felt springy under her feet. Part of her was tempted to jump, the other part had her curiosity and attention on alert. Signs that make her suspicious of an area? Abnormal things, Serena thought. Like the floor in which she stood on. At the second question the redhead remained silent. There had been plenty of times this past summer when she walked into a room and felt something was off. It mostly took place in the dungeons of her home as part of her Coming of Age Training. Her dad set up rooms with different forms of exercises Serena must practice, so she could the pass them when the time came. Some of the trainings took place in the dark…with strange creatures watching her…waiting…and then pouncing. She was always ready. Snapping back to reality, Serena blinked, catching the professor’s following question. She didn’t feel comfortable sharing the details of her training. It was a Baltazar thing. “It could be useful when your surroundings feel or seem abnormal. Something is out of place and you just don’t know why,” she said, not giving any specifics. “Also when someone gifts you something and it gives you a bad feeling.” Like that one time her family received a gift package at one of her mum’s Quidditch games and it turned out to be a cursed bottle of butterbeer. Thank Merlin her dad had been more suspicious of the package than the Aurors had been. Famous parents’ problems. |
Nerina was the most supportive friend, did she know? Kinsay quietly reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze. Just as a reminder of her love. Anyway. What were they talking about again? Suspicion or something? Or, rather, the Verdimillious charm ... Um. Kins was somewhat familiar with the spell, though it had nothing to do with Dueling Club (because she would never ever, ever willingly sign up for that particular extracurricular) and everything to do with skimming the textbook. With how poorly she had done on her OWL, she really, really, really wanted to make an effort to stay on trick this term. But. But it was just that. Everything kept blurring together and theory was so much easier than the practice and and and. So. So yeah. Um. Also? She didn't understand Professor M's next question. At all. It felt so, so similar to the first. Um. She looked around, to check to see if she was the only one confused. Despite this, she still really, really wanted to make an effort to show Professor M that she was trying her best to stay engaged. Maybe then he'd take pity on her and give her an O for her efforts. That seemed super reasonable and super, super fair. Super, super. Please? So when it came to her turn to answer, she raised her hand and attempted a pivot. aka. Her specialty. "Does Verdimillious also reveal objects that are hidden by regular magic?" Or was, like, dark magic the only thing it helped with? Because if that were to be the case, it was totally impractical... No offense. Maybe they should learn another spell instead. Like, one that would be super easy and make Kinsay look really good in front of her peers. That would be nice. That's where her vote went. |
Aria did some thinking on Madigan’s reply to her. It would make sense that intuition be inherited. But could it also be developed as one grew older? She liked to believe that it could be. The Verdimillious Charm, however… yes, this Slytherin was familiar with it. Did Madigan just say ‘passages’? EXCITING!!! Up went her hand almost immediately. “Professorrrr! If one’s intuition is correct and the spell is cast in a swift manner, then anyone lurking about will be noted. Or their outline will be at least. The same goes for hidden objects too, though I think it does not work on objects hidden by dark magic?” Aria gazed inquiringly at Madigan. |
A hand squeeze from a friend was 10/10, did Kinsay know? Nerina was all about that type of communication and she was happy to offer some support to her beauty of a bestie just like she hoped K would do for her when she found herself floundering in History of Magic. Hype ladies to the rescue always. ”I feel like it’d be great when entering an environment you’d never been in before. If you were feeling creeped out at all, you could cast the spell to reassure yourself you are safe or act on any hidden dangers.” |
The first question had been so loaded for the Ravenclaw he found himself in a torrent of his own prior Hogwarts memories and unable to offer any answer until he realized they'd already been moving on. Had he been paying enough attention and not reminiscing about things he'd rather forget, he would have offered that there were scenarios in which it was the occupants itself that could make a scenario feel suspicious. And as their school history had taught them, sometimes it was better to pay attention to that suspicion regardless and check the seemingly safe environment if there was any inclination the people in it were less than. But.. he supposed it actually wasn't too late to offer something regarding the second question though, even if he could only give a brief background as to his reasoning. If Professor Madigan knew anything about the previous terms, which Evan imagined he did, he figured it would be understood anyways. He raised his hand and waited to be called on before offering an answer. "If you're entering a room with someone untrustworthy, it can help to cast Verdimillious to confirm the individual doesn't have a surprise prepared." |
SPOILER!!: lowkey catch-up Desiree listened carefully as the professor spoke again. Verdimillious… wasn’t that the red sparks spell? It seemed like that spell would draw unnecessary attention in a suspicious situation. No, wait! That spell was Vermillious. Verdimillious created green energy… or was that Verdillious? Jiminy Crickets, this was confusing! Why were there so many spells that started with “Ver”?! Ugh, she should know this! She was the daughter of a former charms professor, for Merlin’s sake! Okay, so Verdimillious revealed hidden objects and passages. Her thoughts again turned to the weird noise scenario, and she cautiously raised her hand. “Weird noises could make someone suspicious of a particular place,” she said. “So in that case, could verdimillious reveal what’s making the noise?” She wasn’t sure, but she was determined to not stay silent and show she was making an effort! |
SPOILER!!: Ello, ello responses q.2 "Excellent," Professor Madigan said, even to those who remain quiet, their presence was excellent enough. "Now before we practice, first a little explanation. No need to take notes here." If they were like him as a student, he did not favor jotting notes, "A number of you have posed great scenarios and questions regarding Verdimillious. The charm falls under the umbrella of a number of other spells that can reveal passages, objects, beings, creatures, and other humans, alike. Revelio and Lumos share a common purpose in revealing what's hidden in the dark. Lumos, serves as only revealing anything hidden in the dark with the use of light." Cue his eyes looking towards a wise student who used it earlier upon entry in the classroom. "Revelio, focuses more on revealing invisible secrets. Perhaps you used invisible ink to carve your crushes' initials, or someone is hiding under a newly bought invisible cloak." and finally, "Verdimillious, happens to serve three purposes. Damaging your opponent in a fight, signaling your present location with green sparks, and revealing objects and passages with the presence of the dark arts and intentions." It was the perfect time for any questions to be had, given what he just spilled. Afterward it was time to finally practice. "Now, repeat after me. Verdimillious. Ver-dih-mill-ee-yus." Pausing to hear them repeat it. "To those who have prior experience or would like a bit more of a challenge, you can say Verdimillious Duo for the extra strength and duration." Then adding, "Another advantage to using Verdimillious compared to Revelio is in the difficulty range Revelio is difficult to beginner magic users. Verdimillious alone excels as one of the more user-friendly charms, while Duo is an upgrade from that. For revealing objects you will make a circular motion with your wand in your peripheral view on where you imagine the object to be hidden at, like so." Taking his wand out he lowered himself momentarily to pick up one of the cushions before standing upright again. Circling over the cushion, a coin happened to reveal. A chocolate coin in particular that appeared glued to it. "On all the cushions is a chocolate coin hidden, at the end of class they'll automatically fall from the cushions if you happen to be craving some." Just before they worried that this was the only activity today. "You're welcome to practice the charm with another person if you choose." Not on them hopefully, he would be sure to clarify if it came to that. -- OOC: So now you can practice the Verdimillious charm, saying it and then performing it on the cushions. You're free to partner with another if you want, but can easily do it alone if your character wishes. Class will continue sometime June 6th, but feel free to ask Professor Madigan any questions in between. ^_^ |
Violet was familiar with this charm of course, from other classes and activities, but she had not had the opportunity to use this particular function of it, which seemed to her to be the most useful, or at least intriguing. So she welcomed the opportunity to practice it. Sitting upright on her cushion, she practised it a few times in different directions, trying to guess where the professor might have laid the chocolate coin. "Verdimillious! Verdimillious! Verdimillious!" Ah, got it on the third try! Violet caught a glimpse of the coin to her upper right just after she'd cast the charm the last time and scooped it up with her hand, tucking it into a pocket to save to later. After class--couldn't have one's incanting voice hindered by chocolate in DADA class. Violet glanced around the room next, to see if there was anyone ready to practise with a partner, and wondered to herself just what sort of practise one might do with another person using this charm, besides duelling. |
Thank you, thank you very much, professor! Excuse Aria for being proud of herself. Her head bobbed as she took in Madigan’s explanation, clearing up all the things she had been unsure of. Just one more question. “What sort of damage, professor?’’ she asked, tilting her head and allowing her eyes to widen in just the right amount of innocent curiosity. The Slytherin rather liked the sound of this spell because of the three effects it had. As instructed, the pronunciation was done, with A LOT of gusto on her part. “Ver-dih-mill-ee-yus. Ver-dih-mill-ee-yus.” And the Duo version could be used? EXCELLENT! Aria watched all the happenings from the professor’s end already knowing this was going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy for her. Yes! She was THAT confident! Grabbing the nearest cushion {ignoring Violet like never before whom she happened to be looking around - no doubt for a partner}, she braced herself to get her practice started. “Verdimillious Duo!” Keeping her gaze on the cushion, a circle was traced over it, much like Madigan’s demonstration from moments ago. The chocolate coin appeared and sent Aria into a huge toothy beam. See? She knew she had this down. It made sense for an OWL student to be. |
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