Reuben hadn't been paying that much attention to the Professor when he entered as he was so much more curious about the forest they had entered. Which meant he'd been paying SUPER close attention to his surroundings and was therefore the perfect person to answer this question!

"The spots, sir! On the trees back there," he answered enthusiastically, once he'd been called on. With dramatic gestures, he indicated the trees in the distance. "I don't know much about trees, but it looks weird." Not as weird as the steam that was coming from the young boys ears, though.

With a grimace, Reuben slapped his hands over his ears.

Luther slipped through the door as quietly as he could but his glowing hands made it very almost impossible to be stealthy. But then, the classroom made Luther forget about his glowing hands. There was a whole forest IN the classroom. Luther has seen expanded indoors before, like the greenhouse back at home. However, this was different from anything he had seen before.

Thinking about the Professor's question Luther looked around to find something out of ordinary. Then he raised his hand to be recognized and then spoke "The air is too... I don't know how to describe it but it is almost too calm, Professor." Then added a bit quietly, "I am Luther Starriver, by the way, sir." trying to hide his glowing hands in his pockets.

Ash was probably at her best today- she was slightly distracted by the flowers but that was much better than being majorly distracted by staring at a wall and thinking about how terrible everything was. She raised her hand as soon as she thought of something to say. "Other people or animals leave tracks and signs in a forest. So you might be able to hear one nearby, or see where one of them has been walking. Much of the time it doesn't matter, but sometimes it's a sign to stay away." Or, if you were looking for danger(some people were), a sign to keep going. She fell silent, then spoke up again with a new, mostly-related idea. "I've been leaving a trail of flowers so it's obvious where I've been." She pointed at her flowers, which led from where she entered the woods to her tree stump.

She had simply smiled in form of greeting and nodded her head to the Professor when she had arrived. Lisa was still working on the bubbles and controlling them as best as she could. This meant limiting how much she spoke. At this rate, maybe she ought to learn sign language? It was something she had spent time reading in the library instead of…. revising for OWLS. She rubbed her hands together before bringing them to her mouth to blow hot air on them. She was quietly surprised to see no bubbles escape this time.

Huh. Maybe she was safe?

She raised her hand to answer the first part of the Professor’s questions. “I can’t hear anything.. Usually there’s some noises in a forest… but it’s quiet?”

Lisa was really stretching to find an answer on this one. Instead, she was more preoccupied by the bubbles escaping.

"Excellent everyone," Professor Madigan said, even those quietly observing were appreciated. Now it was time to move on. "As a number of you have noticed, the spots in the distance of the tree will be a focus for a number of you today." How so? "We will be using an Arrow shooting spell on some targets today." As for why, "As I'm sure you could picture or have experienced, casting a spell on the enemy will do well but things escalate and can be life-threatening. This arrow spell in particular is one of the many variations. Arundo. It will send an icy-blue arrow and depending on where it hits the target they will be paralyzed. Say you use Arundo aiming at another one's arm, well that arm is unable to move unless the arrow is removed. It won't leave a wound or risk or serious ailments. Think of it as using the body-binding spell Petrificus Totalus but on a smaller part of the body." That should explain the gist of it.

"Now repeat after me, Arundo... Ah-roon-doe," Pausing to hear the class repeat it, "The wand movement is a curved checkmark starting from the longer end. To avoid any accidental shots on others, let's aim at the ground in front of you. If done correctly you'll see an icy-blue arrow that will remain in the ground. It's okay if you don't get it the first time as I imagine a number of... predicaments could make this more of a challenge, the arrow may break off immediately in that case," If things didn't turn out as expected well, that bridge will have to be crossed eventually.

Professor Madigan then made the curved check mark symbol, "Arundo," At the ground almost immediately if one didn't blink could see an icy-blue arrow shoot out onto the ground sticking up from the grass. To those curious, "And yes, it is possible to send a stream of them at once, but that requires more time of practice," More than what can be covered in a single lesson, unfortunately. "Now, it's your turn to give it a try."

--
OOC: So now you can practice the Arrow-shooting spell, saying it and then performing it on the ground. You're free to partner with another if you want, but can easily do it alone if your character wishes. Class will continue in at least 48 hours, but feel free to ask Professor Madigan any questions in between.

Hooper grinned wide as the Professor agreed with his questioning! Like, he’d actually agreed with him! This was unprecedented. Well, maybe not that unprecedented but still pretty rare. With a wide small plastered across his face, the third year sat up a little straighter and listened that little bit more intently to the rest of the answers of the other children. Another even followed suit and questioned the cutting of the tress too!

Not letting his smile drop too much when it became clear that the lesson had very little to do with the actual stumps they were sitting on, Hopper sat and listened as the professor explained what the lesson was actually about. It didn’t take too much explaining for his enthusiasm to return however when he learned that they were actually going to be shooting arrows? How cool was that! With his wand already in his hand, Hooper clutched it tighter as he continued to listen, only putting it away when they were told the spell so as not to accidentally impale someone with an arrow. Instead, he chose to repeat the words under his breath so that he’d have it mastered by the time they needed to use it. “Ah-roon-doe,” he chanted, again and again until it almost became a tongue twister.

“Ah-roon-doe.”

“Ah-roooooon-doooe…ooops. No. That’s not it. Ah-roon-doe.”

After nailing the wording of the spell, pulled his wand out and turned back to Yukie. “Do you mind checking to see if my wand movement is okay?” Aiming his wand at the ground, Hooper tried his best to replicate the wand movement that the professor had shown them. “Cuuuuurved….cuuuurved…curve….,” he repeated out loud, as if willing the wand movement to be correct. His checkmark however seemed to resemble more of a weird question mark. Oops.

Spots? What spots? Aria squinted into the distance, her eyes widening at the spotted trees. OH! She had missed those completely! No matter, they were noticed now and she thought that the spots made the trees look sick; like they were diseased. But target practice sounded amazing and Aria was confident she’d be able to be decent at the activity. Even more, the effects of the spell were quite fascinating to her.

“Ah-roon-doe! Ah-roon-doe! Ah-roon-doe! Arundo!” The sixth year repeated as Madigan had instructed. That was an easy incantation in her opinion. The wand movement? Well, that seemed a little complicated to her. Nevertheless, Aria was beyond impressed at Madigan’s demonstration and could hardly wait to get started herself.

“Arundo!” Carefully, Aria tried to trace out the wand movement she had practiced seconds ago. Directing it at the ground, there was an icy blue arrow alright, but it just wasn’t a proper arrow? It hadn’t been fully formed. “Arundo!” Another unsuccessful attempt. “Arundo!’’ This time, another strong burst of wind happened. Aria was so startled that her wand fell to the ground and looking around with widened eyes, she realised that there was a tiny funnel of wind circling her feet. “No, no no! Stop! STOP!!!’’ she muttered frantically, panicking because… WHAT IF THE TORNADO GOT BIGGER??? The result of her pleas? The tornado danced about at an increased speed.

A few minutes later it was revealed that the spots on the trees was for target practice for when they practiced the icy-blue arrow spell Arundo. Getting excited for learning something new Bella sat up straighter on her tree stump and repeated loudly as she practiced the incantation even though it had some resemble to petrificus totalus. It'd be nifty in a sticky situation though. "Ah-rooooooooon-doeeeeeee. Ah-roon-doe. Ah-roooooooooooooooooon-doeeeeeeeeeeechoooo." Ooops! A butterfly had followed her over from Prof Madigan and had now landed on Bella's nose and was making her sneeze. Waving the butterfly away she tried again hoping to not sneeze and cause a new swarm of butterflies to appear on her command. "Ah-roon-doe. Ah-roon-deeee. No it's Ah-roon-doe." Feeling confident that she had got the incantation down she began practicing the wandmovement. It had looked so simple when Professor Madigan did it, but her curved checkmarks looked more like small i's. Waving and waving she finally braved testing it out aming her wand at the ground as she cast "Arundo!". Something bluish arrow-like spluttered out of the tip of her wand, and Bella started to beam with happiness. Maybe she was on the right track?

Oooooooo Shooting arrows what fun. "I used to shoot archery at home you know." Maxine added moving her arms in the bow position pretending to shoot, she was a decent shot, though Vera was better.

"Arundo" Maxine said, she was tested out the sound of the spell before actually trying it out with her wand. "Ah-roon-doe". Okay well that sounded right, and then doing the curved motion with her wand hand a couple times without saying it. Okay check and check, she was ready.

Maxine made the curved check mark symbol, and half shouted with gusto "Arundo". To her shock a ice-blue arrow came shooting of her wand straight into the ground!! Holy Moly she had done it on her first try!!! That never happens ... but was it a fluke? She prepared for another try to make sure it wasn't just beginners luck and looked over to see if anyone else had done it yet.

That's when she noticed Aria having a bit of some wind trouble and not the flatulence kind . "I don't think that's the right spell mate." She said in her direction.

Lisa would take an okay answer. She nodded in response to Professor Madigan before vowing to herself to come up with the best possible answer for the next question. Yes, she’d manage it.

Arundo, she wrote in her notebook as she listened to the explanation of what the spell could do. Pronounced: Ah-roon-doe (like doe a deer). Lifting her quill just a centimeter off of the page, Lisa listened to him speak. Will send an icy-blue arrow and depending on where it hits the target they will be paralyzed like a body-binding spell (Petrificus Totalus). Won’t leave a wound or serious ailments.

She watched him demonstrate the spell and stopped to write down the movement. Reverse check mark (left to right check mark but start right to left) motion paired with incantation.

Alright. She was ready to try.

Lisa lifted her wand and pointed it at the ground in front of her. She started from the far right at a high point. Then from that point, she took her wand down the slope diagonally (right to left) before it reached the bottom. Then she lifted her wand up on a similar slope directed right to left upwards. She practiced it thrice more just focused on the wand movements until she was satisfied.

“Ah-roon-do. No, uh-ROON-DOE. AHH-ROON-DOE. Not quite. Ah-Roon-Doe. Yes. Ah-Roon-Doe. Arundo,” she spoke. With each word, she found herself becoming more and more confident.

Now to try to pair it together. The first attempt, nothing. The second attempt, also nothing. Third and fourth was the same. However, the fifth attempt was very successful. “Arundo,” paired with the checkmark (drawing from right to left) motion aaaand the hint of a faint icy blue arrow tip appeared from her wand.

Luther cursed the poltergeist once again. It was not his fault that he was late. He was trying to dim the glowing but whenever he lost focus, the glow returned with full power. With a sigh, he said simply "Sorry Professor." and tried to let go of his indignation and cursed the poltergeist once more and then thought 'It is a fun trick at least.'

With his hands tucked in his pockets, Luther listened to Professor Madigan intently. Then he quietly mouthed the incantation slowly. After a few tries, he tried it vocally without his wand, "Ah-roon-doh. Ah-ron-dough. Ah-roon-doe. Arundo.", he did not want to harm anyone, 'Now that would be my mistake.' he thought and chuckled to himself.

When he was sure he got the incantation right, Luther took his wand out and pointed at the ground. Then without saying the incantation, he moved his wand just like the Professor described. At least that's what Luther thought he did. An idle thought ran through Luther's mind 'The glow looks good while I am casting to be honest.' In his 9th attempt, not that Luther counted, a pale almost transparent arrow shoot out from his wand. A proud smile appeared on his face. Then he noticed that his hair was falling down his face and he was playing with the ribbon in his left hand. 'I must have untied it while trying to cast the spell.' thought Luther and then he started to cast Arundo again and again where the evidence of his success stayed stuck.

Sooo the spell was pretty cool visually, but also a little scary. Imagine one of those arrows actually coming at you! Or a whole bunch of them! Lydia didn't like that mental image. A professional dueler, she would never be. Not that she didn't already know that - even after four years now in the magical world, she struggled with a lot of spells anyway. But this lesson just solidified it further in her mind.

Still...she needed to participate and stuff. At least the bare minimum so she didn't get called out for not trying. Sooo...

"Ah-roon-do. Ah-roon-doe. AH-roon-doe? Ah-ROON-doe? Ah-roon-DOE?" She practiced saying it several times, with different emphasis and even attempting the wand movement - a check mark sort of movement? - but the final syllable prompted something in the back of her mind.

"Ah-roon-doe." Doe, a deer, a female deer. Re, a drop of golden sun. Mi...

And it was hard to stop a song once it was stuck in her head. And it just distracted her with thoughts of the music room, and how she'd rather be there than in a lesson. Uggghhh.

"Arundo." Check mark. Feathers.

...Feathers??? Like....like the feathers that would go on the end of an actual arrow. But no actual arrow, icy blue or otherwise. Just...her wand had conjured a few feathers that were now floating delicately toward the ground.

Ti, a drink with jam and bread, that will bring us back to Do...

Siiiigh. Why was magic so difficult?

The Professor circled around the area to observe the students making their process. Some seemed to have picked up almost immediately, which made him proud.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aRogueOne

Hooper grinned wide as the Professor agreed with his questioning! Like, he’d actually agreed with him! This was unprecedented. Well, maybe not that unprecedented but still pretty rare. With a wide small plastered across his face, the third year sat up a little straighter and listened that little bit more intently to the rest of the answers of the other children. Another even followed suit and questioned the cutting of the tress too!

Not letting his smile drop too much when it became clear that the lesson had very little to do with the actual stumps they were sitting on, Hopper sat and listened as the professor explained what the lesson was actually about. It didn’t take too much explaining for his enthusiasm to return however when he learned that they were actually going to be shooting arrows? How cool was that! With his wand already in his hand, Hooper clutched it tighter as he continued to listen, only putting it away when they were told the spell so as not to accidentally impale someone with an arrow. Instead, he chose to repeat the words under his breath so that he’d have it mastered by the time they needed to use it. “Ah-roon-doe,” he chanted, again and again until it almost became a tongue twister.

“Ah-roon-doe.”

“Ah-roooooon-doooe…ooops. No. That’s not it. Ah-roon-doe.”

After nailing the wording of the spell, pulled his wand out and turned back to Yukie. “Do you mind checking to see if my wand movement is okay?” Aiming his wand at the ground, Hooper tried his best to replicate the wand movement that the professor had shown them. “Cuuuuurved….cuuuurved…curve….,” he repeated out loud, as if willing the wand movement to be correct. His checkmark however seemed to resemble more of a weird question mark. Oops.

Though he appeared to chosen to ask another classmate, the Professor couldn't assisting as well, "You're getting there, Master Ridley-Rush," A kind smile for the young lad, "Just a little less curve on the movement like so-" This time Madigan performed the wand movement of the curved check mark at a slower place. Once and then twice. An arrow appearing on the ground each time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Spots? What spots? Aria squinted into the distance, her eyes widening at the spotted trees. OH! She had missed those completely! No matter, they were noticed now and she thought that the spots made the trees look sick; like they were diseased. But target practice sounded amazing and Aria was confident she’d be able to be decent at the activity. Even more, the effects of the spell were quite fascinating to her.

“Ah-roon-doe! Ah-roon-doe! Ah-roon-doe! Arundo!” The sixth year repeated as Madigan had instructed. That was an easy incantation in her opinion. The wand movement? Well, that seemed a little complicated to her. Nevertheless, Aria was beyond impressed at Madigan’s demonstration and could hardly wait to get started herself.

“Arundo!” Carefully, Aria tried to trace out the wand movement she had practiced seconds ago. Directing it at the ground, there was an icy blue arrow alright, but it just wasn’t a proper arrow? It hadn’t been fully formed. “Arundo!” Another unsuccessful attempt. “Arundo!’’ This time, another strong burst of wind happened. Aria was so startled that her wand fell to the ground and looking around with widened eyes, she realised that there was a tiny funnel of wind circling her feet. “No, no no! Stop! STOP!!!’’ she muttered frantically, panicking because… WHAT IF THE TORNADO GOT BIGGER??? The result of her pleas? The tornado danced about at an increased speed.

Suddenly remembering the gust he experienced earlier, Madigan was thankful what he wore wouldn't be at risk of the wind. "Not a problem, Miss McLeod," Taking his wand to suction the wind like a vacuum. Though quite a few leaves and grass were astray from the action. He would have to keep an extra eye. "Keep at it, I know you'll get it." She had a high streak in his lessons so he knew her capabilities to keep the encouragement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

Lisa would take an okay answer. She nodded in response to Professor Madigan before vowing to herself to come up with the best possible answer for the next question. Yes, she’d manage it.

Arundo, she wrote in her notebook as she listened to the explanation of what the spell could do. Pronounced: Ah-roon-doe (like doe a deer). Lifting her quill just a centimeter off of the page, Lisa listened to him speak. Will send an icy-blue arrow and depending on where it hits the target they will be paralyzed like a body-binding spell (Petrificus Totalus). Won’t leave a wound or serious ailments.

She watched him demonstrate the spell and stopped to write down the movement. Reverse check mark (left to right check mark but start right to left) motion paired with incantation.

Alright. She was ready to try.

Lisa lifted her wand and pointed it at the ground in front of her. She started from the far right at a high point. Then from that point, she took her wand down the slope diagonally (right to left) before it reached the bottom. Then she lifted her wand up on a similar slope directed right to left upwards. She practiced it thrice more just focused on the wand movements until she was satisfied.

“Ah-roon-do. No, uh-ROON-DOE. AHH-ROON-DOE. Not quite. Ah-Roon-Doe. Yes. Ah-Roon-Doe. Arundo,” she spoke. With each word, she found herself becoming more and more confident.

Now to try to pair it together. The first attempt, nothing. The second attempt, also nothing. Third and fourth was the same. However, the fifth attempt was very successful. “Arundo,” paired with the checkmark (drawing from right to left) motion aaaand the hint of a faint icy blue arrow tip appeared from her wand.

"Excellent Miss Nam, just add a little more curve to the wand movement for a more solid appearing arrow." Nodding with a kind smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

Sooo the spell was pretty cool visually, but also a little scary. Imagine one of those arrows actually coming at you! Or a whole bunch of them! Lydia didn't like that mental image. A professional dueler, she would never be. Not that she didn't already know that - even after four years now in the magical world, she struggled with a lot of spells anyway. But this lesson just solidified it further in her mind.

Still...she needed to participate and stuff. At least the bare minimum so she didn't get called out for not trying. Sooo...

"Ah-roon-do. Ah-roon-doe. AH-roon-doe? Ah-ROON-doe? Ah-roon-DOE?" She practiced saying it several times, with different emphasis and even attempting the wand movement - a check mark sort of movement? - but the final syllable prompted something in the back of her mind.

"Ah-roon-doe." Doe, a deer, a female deer. Re, a drop of golden sun. Mi...

And it was hard to stop a song once it was stuck in her head. And it just distracted her with thoughts of the music room, and how she'd rather be there than in a lesson. Uggghhh.

"Arundo." Check mark. Feathers.

...Feathers??? Like....like the feathers that would go on the end of an actual arrow. But no actual arrow, icy blue or otherwise. Just...her wand had conjured a few feathers that were now floating delicately toward the ground.

Ti, a drink with jam and bread, that will bring us back to Do...

Siiiigh. Why was magic so difficult?

This was definitely a sight, conjuring feathers. Madigan noticed her wand movement was correct, and no mispronunciation, "Keep it up, Miss Clarke, you'll get it soon" At the very least, conjuring something was better than none. Nodding with a kind smile for encouragement.


--
OOC: Keep at it all, you're doing great! We'll be moving on tomorrow incase your character needs to catch up or practice the spell more.

Wand gripped tightly in his hand; Hooper watched carefully as the Professor came around, only acknowledging him with a nod such was his focus. “Thanks Professor,” he murmured. After taking a moment to wipe his sweaty hands on his robes, Hooper again practiced the wand movement, his wand aimed at the ground so as do avoid any accidents.

Slightly unsure if he managed to get the wand movement right, he continued with this for the longest of times which was slightly unusual in itself as he was never usually this focused. No doubt a headache would ensue after the lesson was over.

“Ah-roOoOon-do”

Nothing.

“AHh-roOoOon-dOO”

Still no sight of the blue arrow.

“Arundo!”

Finally! After what felt like an age, a blue arrow shot out of the end of his wand into the earth below his feet. “PROFESSOR! I DID IT!!!!”

"Ah-run-doe. Ahrundoe. Arundo..." Ash practiced the curved check mark in the air, then tried them both together until she was bored of shooting the arrow into a bulls-eye of flowers growing at her feet. What was the point in practicing this spell on things that couldn't normally move anyway? She was more interested in what happened when you hit a person with this spell. As she didn't dare shoot paralyzing arrows at a classmate, she turned to the most obvious practice target- her foot. According to the professor, this shouldn't leave a wound, so... "Arundo." As promised, her foot couldn't move. She tried her best to remove the arrow before the professor could notice and possibly lecture her.

“No kidding!’’ Aria snapped at Maxine. She didn’t mean to but the circumstances were so frustrating, not to mention a little terrifying to her. She was at a complete loss of how to proceed, that’s how confused she was at the moment. Maybe that was why she felt the strong urge to hug Madigan when he intervened. The man made remedying the situation look so easy; it probably was if she hadn’t lost her head completely. “Thank you, Professor. I have no clue how that tornado came about.” It was the truth,

What did she do when she was feeling this way on any normal day? “Breathe,’’ she reminded herself. “Take a break, go to my happy place.” Aria closed her eyes while inhaling deeply slowly. Her thoughts drifted to her accepting an award for being one of the most influential persons in the fashion industry. Lastly, she exhaled slowly. Already calm had been seeping through her and by the time her eyes opened again, she felt much better.

That meant it was back to practice for her. After clearing her throat, she continued doing just that. “Arundo!” The wand movement {directed at the ground before her} was made exactly as Madigan had shown them: a curved checkmark starting from the longer end. Not a thing happened. The Slytherin took another deep breath. “Arundo!” The wand movement was repeated, her focus and intent strong. Only then did the icy blue arrow materialise in the ground. Aria punched the air in triumph. Naturally there would be more practice from her because the goal was to master the spell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aRogueOne

Wand gripped tightly in his hand; Hooper watched carefully as the Professor came around, only acknowledging him with a nod such was his focus. “Thanks Professor,” he murmured. After taking a moment to wipe his sweaty hands on his robes, Hooper again practiced the wand movement, his wand aimed at the ground so as do avoid any accidents.

Slightly unsure if he managed to get the wand movement right, he continued with this for the longest of times which was slightly unusual in itself as he was never usually this focused. No doubt a headache would ensue after the lesson was over.

“Ah-roOoOon-do”

Nothing.

“AHh-roOoOon-dOO”

Still no sight of the blue arrow.

“Arundo!”

Finally! After what felt like an age, a blue arrow shot out of the end of his wand into the earth below his feet. “PROFESSOR! I DID IT!!!!”

"Excellent, Master Ridley-Rush." A proud Professor he was from seeing a student succeed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

"Ah-run-doe. Ahrundoe. Arundo..." Ash practiced the curved check mark in the air, then tried them both together until she was bored of shooting the arrow into a bulls-eye of flowers growing at her feet. What was the point in practicing this spell on things that couldn't normally move anyway? She was more interested in what happened when you hit a person with this spell. As she didn't dare shoot paralyzing arrows at a classmate, she turned to the most obvious practice target- her foot. According to the professor, this shouldn't leave a wound, so... "Arundo." As promised, her foot couldn't move. She tried her best to remove the arrow before the professor could notice and possibly lecture her.

Not that Professor Madigan didn't expect incidents to happen, given his walk around the clearing to make sure students were adapting... especially with some new abilities they were exhibiting. "Accidents happen, not to worry Miss Fox," Seeing her attempting to remove the arrow off her foot, he wordless performed a charm causing the arrow to melt and disappear. "Try to give your foot a little shake, you'll need it in the activity today," A kind sympathetic smile before he addressed the rest of the class. It didn't seem likely one would purposely practice on themselves.
--


"Alright, good work everyone. Since a good number of you have successfully made the arrows appear, I think it's time for the big task. No need to fret if you haven't managed yet, this will be another opportunity to practice." How so? More like where so? "As those markings in the distance trees are displayed, we will be doing target practice. However, those aren't the only targets available." Cue his wand movement in the general direction. Suddenly beyond the stumps but closer than the tree markings, mannequins appeared from the ground with spotted marks of their own. Each on the arms, legs, mid section, and head. "For those wanting a bit of a challenge," Cue another wand movement, two of the mannequins furthest away began to move towards a tree to seemingly hide behind. "While it is important to make your mark directly, it is valuable to be able to do so in amidst action. So you'll be aiming at the mannequins, whether stationary or moving, and if you just want to test your aim, the markings in the tree should suffice, like so," Performing the curved check ark wand movement once again, "Arundo," Sending an icy blue arrow at the furthest tree, clipping the side of a moving mannequin making it freeze in the process before it landed in the middle mark of the tree behind it.

"Now it's your turn to give it a try," Professor Madigan faced the class again to then add, "Just do your best to hit at least one target at any distance and there may be a surprise in the end," Of what though? Well, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore if he hinted. But for now, he would see how things fared out.


--
OOC: It's time for target practice! If your character needs more time getting acquainted with the spell, that's perfectly okay. You'll have at least 72 hours from now, but feel free to ask Professor Madigan any questions in between.

Hooper watched intently as everyone came to a stop and listened to the next set of instructions. Seeing all of the targets pop out, he was determined that he’d hit at least one of each type! With a little shake of excitement, Hooper straightened his robes to make sure that they were all loose and comfortable. How could one be expected to perform if one’s robes were tight and Ill-fitting?

Quickly, Hooper scanned the ground in front of his, his eyes falling on each of the targets one by one as he tried to decide which one would make the best target to start with. His mind became quickly made up though when his gaze finally settled on the target that was sat furthest away, the trees!

“I’m going for the trees!” he declared out loud confidently as he take a step away from one of the tree stumps into some space. With his wand in his left hand, Hooper extended his arm out in front of him and moved in the familiar wand movement he’d just been practicing and called out the incantation loudly, “Arundo!”

To his delight, a jet of blue light shot out of his wand and flew in the direction of the trees.

IT FLEW…

AND IT FLEW…

AND IT FLEW…

Right past all of the trees and off into the distance, never to be seen again.

“Ooops,” he mumbled. “I hope no one’s back there…”

Again and again he tried to hit the trees far off in the distance but to no avail. With a small sigh, the third year Gryffindor flopped to the floor, crossed his legs and rested his head in his hands. “I can’t do it. Stupid targets are too far away.”

They would be paralyzing targets with a spell involving arrows. Said targets now noticed by the sixth year as they were pointed out by his fellow students and confirmed by Madigan. Alright….seemed simple enough. Rajesh watched carefully as the professor demonstrated the wand movement for the spell for them all, the incantation running over and over in his head. Arundo…Arundo…Arundo. However, the thoughts of it being fairly simple enough would prove false. Famous last words.

“Arundo!” he cast, doing his best to mimic the wand movement but with no blue arrow to answer. Which was okay, because he didn’t often get it on the first try. But the second and the third, and even the fourth try and proved just as fruitless. “Arundo!” he cast once more; his movements closer to where he needed to be, but his focus was off it seemed. Or something of the sort. His wand lowering and his free hand wiping water drops from his forehead before they could fall into his line of vision only making it worse.

Was it him, or had the light rain sprinkle gotten even heavier?

Target practice!

YES, please!

Aria was practically bouncing now with excitement with the prospect of completing this challenge, especially as MAdigan made it seem easy. She wanted to get right into the midst of it all by taking on a mannequin rather than just the tree. One of the moving targets was quickly picked but she had only just about to aim her wand when water hit her squarely in the face. Puzzled, Aria rubbed at her cheek where the drops had hit, looking around as she did so. Ah! There was the culprit! “You’re making it rain, did you know?” she questioned Raj. “It’s sorta distracting.” She doubted it was his fault though, much like it wasn’t her fault with the chaos earlier. “Maybe Meteolojinx Recanto can help? If not, Professor Madigan definitely can.”

With that bit of helpful advice, Aria turned her focus to her target. “Arundo!’’ Curved check mark starting from the longer end? You can check that box! An icy blue arrow shot for the mannequin but missed its mark completely. This result had Ms. McLeod pouting even if she was ready to try again.

Rajesh bit the inside of his lip as he grew more and more determined to get it right. The action only serving to make the rain drops around him fall more often. “Arundo!” he cast again when he felt ready, smiling as he noticed the arrow finally appear. The bluish arrow however, going nowhere near what he had been aiming for but that was okay with him. He had at least gotten the spell right. He was also getting wet and then distracted as a Slytherin started talking to him.

Hmm…HE was causing it to rain?!

Was it true?

It was one thing to conjure water into a pail wandlessly but controlling weather? He frowned and looked up as if expecting a little black rain cloud that he was controlling to confirm or deny the girl’s statement but no such entity existed. Just a water droplet right in the eye that caused him to blink and shake his head as he lowered his gaze. “I didn’t know…I don’t know.” Nor did he know the spell mentioned he believed. Instead his gaze was flitting around for sight of Professor Madigan to find the man for assistance.

Could he just stop?

Summer had been paying close attention to the Professor, "Arando!" Summer practiced saying the incantation for a few moments. "Ariundo!" Summer whispered, she was still struggling with it. There was something wrong with how she was saying it she could tell.

Summer took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, trying to regain her composure before she said. "Arundo!" Summer smiled as she looked at her wand and then she picked it up.

"Arundo!" Summer did the wand movement but nothing happened, like seriously she had been sure it would work but it did nothing.

Luther looked at the targets on the tree and the mannequins then thought, 'Moving targets sound more useful but maybe I should start with the ones on the trees.' As he was moving towards a place seeing the trees clearly, a raindrop made him look to where the classroom's ceiling should be. While he was admiring the Professor's work, he heard Aria and a Ravenclaw (Rajesh) speaking. Luther was surely not interested in walking back to the Gryffindor Tower in wet clothes. Thinking 'Is his thing because of Peeves, too?' Luther stepped away from the Ravenclaw as much as he can.

Then he began casting Arundo at the targets on the trees. The first fifteen or so didn't even get close to the tree, let alone the targets. Moreover, some didn't even reach the tree. But then one got stuck on one of the upper branches of the tree. Then another, closer to the target. Then another one. Finally one was on target. Then few misses. Then another one on target. Deciding it was still too early to try on the moving targets, Luther kept shooting at the target on the tree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aRogueOne

Hooper watched intently as everyone came to a stop and listened to the next set of instructions. Seeing all of the targets pop out, he was determined that he’d hit at least one of each type! With a little shake of excitement, Hooper straightened his robes to make sure that they were all loose and comfortable. How could one be expected to perform if one’s robes were tight and Ill-fitting?

Quickly, Hooper scanned the ground in front of his, his eyes falling on each of the targets one by one as he tried to decide which one would make the best target to start with. His mind became quickly made up though when his gaze finally settled on the target that was sat furthest away, the trees!

“I’m going for the trees!” he declared out loud confidently as he take a step away from one of the tree stumps into some space. With his wand in his left hand, Hooper extended his arm out in front of him and moved in the familiar wand movement he’d just been practicing and called out the incantation loudly, “Arundo!”

To his delight, a jet of blue light shot out of his wand and flew in the direction of the trees.

IT FLEW…

AND IT FLEW…

AND IT FLEW…

Right past all of the trees and off into the distance, never to be seen again.

“Ooops,” he mumbled. “I hope no one’s back there…”

Again and again he tried to hit the trees far off in the distance but to no avail. With a small sigh, the third year Gryffindor flopped to the floor, crossed his legs and rested his head in his hands. “I can’t do it. Stupid targets are too far away.”

It wasn't an easy task for certain, just as much as watching someone try as they might and not see the expected results. Eventually, Madigan noticed the young Gryffindor fire at one before sitting in apparent frustration. He crouched to get to his level, "You alright, Master Ridley-Rush? I saw you send one quite far out, that takes a lot of strength there.." Adding on, "It looks like you just got the aim to work on if you need some pointers on that," Well, here he was. But he was going to allow the lad some time to gather himself up for it.

SPOILER!!: Raindrops keep falling on my head

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

They would be paralyzing targets with a spell involving arrows. Said targets now noticed by the sixth year as they were pointed out by his fellow students and confirmed by Madigan. Alright….seemed simple enough. Rajesh watched carefully as the professor demonstrated the wand movement for the spell for them all, the incantation running over and over in his head. Arundo…Arundo…Arundo. However, the thoughts of it being fairly simple enough would prove false. Famous last words.

“Arundo!” he cast, doing his best to mimic the wand movement but with no blue arrow to answer. Which was okay, because he didn’t often get it on the first try. But the second and the third, and even the fourth try and proved just as fruitless. “Arundo!” he cast once more; his movements closer to where he needed to be, but his focus was off it seemed. Or something of the sort. His wand lowering and his free hand wiping water drops from his forehead before they could fall into his line of vision only making it worse.

Was it him, or had the light rain sprinkle gotten even heavier?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Target practice!

YES, please!

Aria was practically bouncing now with excitement with the prospect of completing this challenge, especially as MAdigan made it seem easy. She wanted to get right into the midst of it all by taking on a mannequin rather than just the tree. One of the moving targets was quickly picked but she had only just about to aim her wand when water hit her squarely in the face. Puzzled, Aria rubbed at her cheek where the drops had hit, looking around as she did so. Ah! There was the culprit! “You’re making it rain, did you know?” she questioned Raj. “It’s sorta distracting.” She doubted it was his fault though, much like it wasn’t her fault with the chaos earlier. “Maybe Meteolojinx Recanto can help? If not, Professor Madigan definitely can.”

With that bit of helpful advice, Aria turned her focus to her target. “Arundo!’’ Curved check mark starting from the longer end? You can check that box! An icy blue arrow shot for the mannequin but missed its mark completely. This result had Ms. McLeod pouting even if she was ready to try again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

Rajesh bit the inside of his lip as he grew more and more determined to get it right. The action only serving to make the rain drops around him fall more often. “Arundo!” he cast again when he felt ready, smiling as he noticed the arrow finally appear. The bluish arrow however, going nowhere near what he had been aiming for but that was okay with him. He had at least gotten the spell right. He was also getting wet and then distracted as a Slytherin started talking to him.

Hmm…HE was causing it to rain?!

Was it true?

It was one thing to conjure water into a pail wandlessly but controlling weather? He frowned and looked up as if expecting a little black rain cloud that he was controlling to confirm or deny the girl’s statement but no such entity existed. Just a water droplet right in the eye that caused him to blink and shake his head as he lowered his gaze. “I didn’t know…I don’t know.” Nor did he know the spell mentioned he believed. Instead his gaze was flitting around for sight of Professor Madigan to find the man for assistance.

Could he just stop?

While he didn't hear quite what was going on as Madigan continued pacing and observing the students he did notice what looked like some conflict between two students. "Everything alright, Miss McLeod and Master Atreyu-Rehman?" Hmm... Strong winds and now there was a chance of rain. That wouldn't be good having these two elements mix up. Madigan looked up to see clouds appear but only in a specific spot.. Ah, yes, this would be difficult. "Say no more,"

What appeared to be some extravagant wand movement from his wrist resulted in the cloud over the Ravenclaw's head to shrink eventually disappearing. "Just in case it happens again, this should help with tolerating it," For now at least, he performed another wand movement that conjured a curved object appearing as a partial umbrella over the young man's head. Who knew when it would appear again but at least it shouldn't inhibit the Ravenclaw's concentration as much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weasley174

Summer had been paying close attention to the Professor, "Arando!" Summer practiced saying the incantation for a few moments. "Ariundo!" Summer whispered, she was still struggling with it. There was something wrong with how she was saying it she could tell.

Summer took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, trying to regain her composure before she said. "Arundo!" Summer smiled as she looked at her wand and then she picked it up.

"Arundo!" Summer did the wand movement but nothing happened, like seriously she had been sure it would work but it did nothing.

"Good wand work, Miss Valentine, keep at it and you'll get it soon," Madigan gave a nod and small smile of intended. encouragement

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freyr

Luther looked at the targets on the tree and the mannequins then thought, 'Moving targets sound more useful but maybe I should start with the ones on the trees.' As he was moving towards a place seeing the trees clearly, a raindrop made him look to where the classroom's ceiling should be. While he was admiring the Professor's work, he heard Aria and a Ravenclaw (Rajesh) speaking. Luther was surely not interested in walking back to the Gryffindor Tower in wet clothes. Thinking 'Is his thing because of Peeves, too?' Luther stepped away from the Ravenclaw as much as he can.

Then he began casting Arundo at the targets on the trees. The first fifteen or so didn't even get close to the tree, let alone the targets. Moreover, some didn't even reach the tree. But then one got stuck on one of the upper branches of the tree. Then another, closer to the target. Then another one. Finally one was on target. Then few misses. Then another one on target. Deciding it was still too early to try on the moving targets, Luther kept shooting at the target on the tree.

"Good shot, Master Starriver," Madigan commented on one that managed to land on the target, it was on par for the young lad's current level. "In due time you'll be able to handle moving targets," Giving a smile and quick nod of intended encouragement.

Wellll…

Aria would like to think that dear Rajesh was causing the rain. “There were a few drops falling when you came into the classroom,’’ she confirmed, bobbing her head in the process. “You’re the only one whom I noticed this happening to…” The girl trailed off with a shrug. This rainy situation was seemingly escalating and probably was best for Madigan to help out. Which the Professor did. Aria beamed at the man whom she thought could remedy practically any situation.

Now that she was done pouting, the Slytherin was ready to throw herself back into the action! “Arundo!’’ The appropriate wand movement was made which immediately caused the icy blue arrow to shoot in the direction the wand was aimed at. This time? This time Aria managed to hit one of the moving mannequins smack in the targeted area on the head! The mannequin froze and she whooped.

That’s how it was done!!!