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*PhoenixRising* · 06-20-2023, 01:39 AM

Today's lesson was to be held in the charms classroom per usual. The only difference (which has been the norm for lessons since December) was the customary warming charms that Professor Sayse has provided.

Waiting by the chalkboard for everyone to filter in and take their seats, the desks are arranged in pairs. Perhaps a hint for today's lesson? Likely not as you'll find the room decorated in pinks and reds in the spirit of the upcoming holiday of Valentine's Day. The decorations MAY prove more of a hint than the paired seating arrangements.

~~ooc: Hello dears!! Time for another IC Charms lesson, which of course is not your character's first charms lesson. We'll begin in about 24 hours <3~~

Lesson Progression

Q1: what charms might be useful to express love and friendship?
Mini Activity: Practice incantation / wand movement
Main Activity: Making greeting cards sing!
Q2: Possible Cantis Uses?

*PhoenixRising* · 06-24-2023, 01:31 PM

SPOILER!!: responses! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

“Hi, Vera!” Charlie waved a quill in her direction. He quite expected her to take a seat beside him {which he was sure Keighley wouldn’t mind either} but didn’t. Just excuse him while he remained bewildered for a bit; maybe they weren't friends. Desiree too got one of his quill waves plus a questioning look. She didn’t seem to be herself today. Was she okay? But then, maybe it was a good thing that Vera had opted to sit elsewhere because his girlfriend clearly wanted to sit with him. Char really hoped that Olivia didn’t get violet with a Beater’s bat and Bludger later on because of this. “Hey,’’ the seventh year replied, smiling as he briefly caught her hand. Too bad he couldn’t hold Keighley’s hand for the duration of the lesson.

Thank you kindly, Professor Sayse. Charlie needed no help in finding a match. She was very much welcome since he hadn’t planned on rioting nor did he find all of this corny. It was nice to have a day to appreciate loved ones {though one should appreciate them everyday} but when Sayse mentioned friendship, he immediately thought of Will and Den. His best buddies. Man, he loved those guys!

“The Sonorous Charm, professor,’’ Charlie supplied, grinning as he did so. It may sound silly if not realistic, and everyone who knew him knew that he could be silly at times. “I mean, it would come in handy if you wanted to shout from the Astronomy Tower expressing how much you love your other half or your buddies.” Yes, he’d do that for Will and Den even if it would embarrass them. At least he’d get a good laugh out of it. And of course, he’d do such a thing without hesitation for the lovely and fair Kaighley Morgan Anders.

The strange thing about the sonorus charm is she could definitely envision this happening. Particularly among the more extraverted humans. "Yes this could be useful, although not one for a small classroom setting." Aka not what they'd be doing today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

Desiree's wave got a finger waggle back from the Gryffindor, before she busied herself with pulling out her books and a quill in preparation for the class to start. She noticed Keigh's entrance too and smiled as the girl took her seat - glad to see no one else had snatched it either.

As each student entered, she nosily watched where they chose to sit - amused by the fact everyone seemed to be of similar mind in preferring to sit alone over with someone else. Just in case. Squid boy was the first one to break the trend, which was a surprise to her merely because Daniel seemed like the type who preferred to sit alone regardless of atmosphere or class, but she didn't have too long to contemplate it though because the familiar blonde caught her attention as he entered - though she tried to not look his direction. Busying herself with suddenly a very important doodle so as to not see where he'd chose to sit, when all of a sudden he was in the spot next to her.

Um. What?

It would have been nice to say she had no reaction to that, but considering everything recently, the minute he did she could feel her face heat again. A really unfortunate thing that just seemed to happen now around him, which was another factor in why she had been trying to avoid him more than usual. Couldn't do that now though?

Hoping she didn't look as tomato as her face felt, she figured the best way to act now was to attempt to be normal. "I think you and your stomach will remember your best friend happens to have a giant stash you can mooch from before you can follow through on a riot." She replied, attempting to give a usual smile though her face felt weird as she did so. Was that how she normally smiled?? Is that what it felt like? Why hadn't she ever paid attention to that before??

Professor Sayse in for the save though, as class began and Vera could relax the slightest bit when she revealed they were focusing on all types of relationships - friendship included. That took some pressure off but honestly .. still just also highlighted some thoughts she'd been having a hard time discerning, now that object was right to her left. Awesome.

Anyways.

Charms that could be helpful in expressing love and friendship? This required a lot of spell knowledge that she could not currently locate in her brain. Charlie's response got a soft laugh from her under her breath. Had he already done that for his girlfriend or merely in the works? It was a good creative response regardless. Considering more, she went ahead and raised her hand. "Any healing charm, like reparifors, could work. Having knowledge on how to take care of someone you care about and being able to act on it is a good way of showing they matter to you."

This was actually a sweet gesture. Acts of service and would definitely be effective on those that appreciated such love language. "Ah yes, basic healing charms are always useful and particularly among those you care about it." Still not the charm for today but it was a broad question.

Text Cut: Mercer and Maxine

Professor Sayse smiled at the way Mercer said just do flowers. And shortly after Maxine had the same idea. "Orchideous, the flower conjuring charm. Yes, you could always just do flowers. The lovely thing about flowers is that they are universal in terms of your recipient. It could be for a friend or romantic interest, so I would recommend some research as to what the particular flower means before gifting someone." But that would be a conversation for another day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivy Nienna

A giggle snort escaped Auden’s lips at the mention of the Professor’s announcement that she was not in the practice of matchmaking. Matchmaking…heheh. Maybe it was immature of her to giggle but let’s face it, relationships were the last thing on her eleven year old mind. Though obviously not for some of the older students around her. The first year tried hard to contain her mirth at their expressions.

But on to the matter at hand…because she most certainly was not here just for some giggles even though perhaps they were just an involuntary byproduct of the lesson.

A charm to express love and friendship…hmmm. Tentatively, she raised her hand.
“Maybe Engorgio?” she piped up, her youthful voice catching at the end in a squeak. Her cheeks flushed as she rushed to explain her answer.
”Because sharing is caring and maybe if say someone had a treat that they wanted to share with their friends but didn’t have enough they could, you know… enlarge it…in order to have enough to share?” She couldn’t stop the way her answer ended in a questioning lilt. As if she herself wasn’t sure if it was applicable. But well it totally was, at least to her. If she had a big group of friends, she could totally see herself celebrating Valentine’s Day by sharing some yummy treat. She just hadn’t gotten around to the whole making friends part yet.

When the enlargement charm was first mentioned, Professor Sayse did a double-take because it wasn't a charm that she would have originally thought. But hearing it from a first year made sense since the first year knowledge of charms was limited so it required more creativity. Auden didn't disappoint though as she explained her answer.

"Oh I like that use of the charm. Excellent!" Although not today's charm but still a lovely answer, particularly one this former Hufflepuff could appreciate.

Text Cut: Logan and Keighley

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoe

His textbook, a quill, and a bit of random parchment had been retrieved and placed on his desk. To keep himself from being idle, and from likely making a fool of himself by looking at a certain someone too long or paying too much attention to what she was doodling, he began twirling the quill between his fingers. That did not stop him from side-eyeing the Gryffindor beside him, ~~hoping~~ wondering if he'd catch any signs of what had been described in that note. Each time he cast a glance, the quill was nearly dropped.

Was it warm in here, or was it just him? He certainly felt his face getting a little warmer. Not to mention that he could have sworn that cheeks had changed colour slightly. He wasn't sure if it was quite 'sunshine' level, but it was definitely something. Or maybe he was just imagining things. Logan decided to chalk everything up to the professor's heating charms and redirected his attention back to fidgeting with the quill.

"True. But I can get Vasco's chocolate any time I want," he responded, still fiddling with that quill. "I just think us receiving a bit of chocolate would only be on theme."

Another sneaky look -- so he thought -- happened, this time taking in the look that was on her face. That smile somehow seemed ... Well, thankfully there wasn't much of an opportunity to dwell on that as the lesson had started.

What charms could be used to express love and friendship? Instantly the boy's mind was going in a million different directions (whether that was because of the question or the person sitting beside him is up for debate). Instantly he thought of Orchideous, though that was kind of obvious in his opinion. Then Quietus randomly popped into his brain, though he disregarded that pretty quickly. He figured that one would be more applicable for parenting than friendship and love.

Contrasting his line of thinking, he did chuckle at Charlie's response. Then the blond started to wonder if shouting one's feelings from the top of towers actually worked. Maybe he could... What was he supposed to be thinking about again? Oh, right, charms.

"How about Aparecium, professor?" he pipped up with a raised hand, perhaps slightly inspired by a certain note he had received despite the lack of hidden writing. "It'd be useful for revealing secret messages that your friend or significant other may send you."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

Keighley liked that Sayse decorated the room for each holiday, she herself was that way too. So the professor had her approval in this for sure. As for her sitting where she had, well, any chance she got to sit with her boyfriend she was going to take it. Speaking of which, that hand of his that had caught of hers was given a gentle squeeze. If she could get away with holding it the entire lesson, she surely would've.

As for the professors question well only one or two came to her mind immediately. Charlie's answer though was the one that got a real smile from her and a whispered, "By all means if you really want to, I won't stop you." Not that he needed to go and do such things for her.

The mention of flowers being given to ones friends and partner was her first thought. She loved growing her own flowers and gave them to Liv and Char all the time, she had even sent them to him when he still lived in Sweden. That had been when she had that power to grow flowers by touching things though. However this answer had already been said and she didn't want to keep repeating things.

Keighley glanced down at the blank sheet of parchment on her desk and had a thought, raising her hand. "What about a charm that lets you leave little invisible notes for those you care about?" And since Logan just mentioned the revealing charm Aparecium it worked to mention this as well. At least in her head it did.

It was lovely when one student mentioned a charm and the other said what the charm did, as was the case when Logan mentioned Aparecium and shortly after Keighley elaborated about the charm that left invisible notes. For some reason her mind drifted to that gossip rag from her Hogwarts days and she vaguely wondered if it was still around. Her boys never discussed it but then again, was there much to discuss when it was gossip and particularly not to one's parent?

Back to reality though. "Aparecium could be good particularly if, since as Keighley mentioned, it works to leave invisible notes and you don't want anyone reading your love note. But it could also work for if you don't want someone to copy your homework too." Just an alternative non-romantic use for the charm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadAlice

"You could use Scourgify to help someone clean up," Hope volunteered. Like if they got themselves or something they owned dirty. Helping someone in trouble is a good way of saying you care" Goodness knows, Hope was always glad when someone else helped her clean up, especially after preparing a meal. Why was it always so much easier and more fun to cook dinner than to clean up after yourself?

"Can you be my friend?" Professor Sayse joked when she heard Hope's charm. Which was a completely ridiculous question because while she enjoyed her students she drew the line at befriending them. "But all jokes aside, acts of service such as cleaning are another great way to show you care."

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Ed appreciated that the professor was aware many of them did NOT like this holiday AND that she wasn't going to force him to sit next to someone. He nodded back to her, feeling a little better since this first question seemed harmless, and since she'd mentioned FRIENDSHIP as a valid form of love too.

So from his slouched spot, he half-lifted his hand in a bit of a wave, or an attempt at answering the question. "Sure, flowers are a great option for a romantic interest or like if your buddy won a quidditch match, but some of your single friends might appreciate a cheering charm since this holiday also kinda sucks for us." He put his hand back down with something between a frown and a grimace on his face.

All jokes aside, Mari felt tension at the way Ed had said about the holiday sucking for the single friends and she wanted to cast the cheering charm on him right now. Except that it would be wildly inappropriate.

"A cheering charm could create some temporary joy for your single friends yes. Or just making sure they feel included is always nice too, perhaps by sharing a treat or cleaning." She wouldn't be disregarding this answer completely

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Mitsuki was neither a fan nor a 'hater' when it came to the holiday. She was, perhaps, less of a fan of this particular line of thought. Particularly those responses that involved loud volumes or other more flamboyant forms of expression. It was clear that it was a form of expression that suited their personalities, which was all fine and well and Mitsuki saw no qualms about that per say. There was a deeper imbedded dislike for such forms of expression that she would much rather not discuss at this time.

Mercer did, somewhat, elicit a small laugh from her. It was more of a wistful exhale and upwards curvature of the lips than an audible giggle, but still present as the class discussion continued. Mercer mentioning the conjuration of flowers reminded her of her Peeves bestowed ability of creating flower crowns whenever she sneezed. He had been tickled by her ability then, so it was no surprise he mentioned flowers now. It tickled her a bit as well...until he mentioned it being exhausting and her attention snapped to look at him with a scrutinizing brow. What did that mean?

Thoughts of flower crowns, ones made of daffodils specifically, pushed from her mind for the time being, Mitsuki continued to study Mercer for a couple prolonged moments while her classmates continue to share and repeat ideas with one another until she heard someone (the parchment boy) mention the Cheering Charm and she found herself voicing an opinion.

"A Cheering Charm mimics an emotional response, a magical emotional manipulation. Gray in casting and overly sour." At least to her palate it was incredibly sour.

As it seemed Mitsuki was eager to disregard this answer? She looked over with a raised eyebrow. "Yes the cheering charm is a manipulated emotion but sometimes it might be what's needed in the moment if flowers or healing aren't an option. And while it's only fleeting, it has the potential to bring more joy and positivity if properly utilized."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Valentine’s Day was admittedly not one of Fynley’s favourite holidays of the year. It wasn’t because he was terribly unromantic or because he begrudged other people being in love but it was because he thought it a little pointless. Fynn was at that point in his life completely single and therefore didn’t have a valentines to dote on anyway and he felt somewhat sorry for those that were disappointed in their own singledom and felt left out by the celebrations. His nose had wrinkled just slightly as he had headed into the classroom earlier and spotted the decorations. He had found himself a spot somewhat near to Charlie and Vera to sit.

Fynley was not usually one to answer questions in class. He found it difficult sometimes to recall facts and he hated being the one to have to search through his textbooks to come up with an answer but today he was feeling particularly confident. “What about Aberto? Girls love it when you hold doors open for them.” Right?! Nothing like a guy being gentlemanly. Didn’t have to be exclusively for girls either, he’d open a door for most people.

The fact that the first question too was particularly broad, Mari hoped would make it easier for those who don't typically answer questions in class. "Sometimes, yes. Chivalry isn't completely dead although sometimes girls just want to do something themselves. Independence. But suppose it is a case-by-case basis and a use your best judgements." Which sometimes backfired

Judging from the responses it seemed the students were big on acts of service. Not that this was a lesson on the love languages, which was why Professor Sayse didn't elaborate too much about it because they'd likely be here all day if she went off on that tangent.

"No frog choir students here?" She glanced around, uncertainly. "While these are all good suggestions of charms, the charm we'll be focused on today is the one that makes inanimate objects sing." Which she supposed the closest answer before was one that Charlie gave of sonorus charm, but she'd like to think the sing charm was more mellow.

"So the incantation is Cantis and the wand movement is a left flick and then draw your wand downward into a half spiral to the right. Let's work on practicing that movement and incantation for a few moments. Separately please." She added hoping that would be obvious since she hadn't given them any inanimate targets yet to practice on.

ooc: mini activity time of practicing the incantation and wand movement. Let me know if you're confused / need help / etc... and we'll move onto the next phase Sunday evening [s]or Monday afternoon depending on how this activity goes/s]

Chelliephone · 06-24-2023, 02:17 PM

Before she could get a response in again to Logan regarding chocolate, the lesson had been underway so Vera settled for an eyeroll his direction. Though even that felt lackluster to her. Was it just because was overthinking literally eVeRyThInG? Thankfully there was discussion to focus on.

The 4th year knew nothing of the fact there was different love languages, so Professor Sayse going on a tangent would have been incredibly interesting to her. Especially considering as she listened to the answers given she couldn't help but internally comment on how most of those wouldn't work for her. Flowers were pretty, but what did you do with them? Perhaps she was too picky, or maybe the acts of service was her love language if she had known that those existed.

One answer that did get her attention, was Logan's. But only because hearing him allude to notes at all set her on edge. Had he been there in DADA? Had he noticed the whole thing? It had her face perhOlaps even the slightest shade brighter, making it look like she WAS the orchideous casting. "Why aparecium?"N ot why was the spell useful, that was obvious, but why did HE think it? Was it a coincidence? She couldn't stop herself from whispering the question, as she also noted it looked like he was feeling a little warm too. Maybe it was just the charms on the room, though she was pretty certain for herself that wasn't the case. But... Maybe for him? ... Why else?

So... They'd all apparently been off the mark. Would they be making things sing today then? Because that certainly sounded like the smile classroom was going to get loud - perhaps louder than Charlie's singular sonorous might have been. Not that she was one who minded noise. Once they were released to work on their spell practice, Vera decided to forgo the pronunciation (seemed simple enough) and just practice wand movement, which she noticed she tended to do with either not enough gusto or far too much. "so... If this is relative to frog choir, does that mean we actually charm the frogs to sing? I thought they just... Did that." And if so, wasn't that kind of cruel to make them do something they weren't naturally wanting to do? She wasn't asking anyone in particular the question just.. voicing it.

MadAlice · 06-24-2023, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

"so... If this is relative to frog choir, does that mean we actually charm the frogs to sing? I thought they just... Did that." And if so, wasn't that kind of cruel to make them do something they weren't naturally wanting to do? She wasn't asking anyone in particular the question just.. voicing it.

Hope overheard Vera's comment and became complete distracted by the notion of charmed singing frogs, so much so that quite a number of minutes went by before she remembered that she was supposed to be practicing this charm. She started with the incantation, saying it softly several times to herself--Cantis seemed simple enough. But then came the wand movement, and Hope struggled with that for a while, not quite being able to get the left flick distinct from the downward spiral--all the movements just seemed to mush into each other.

Ivy Nienna · 06-24-2023, 09:20 PM

Auden beamed at the Professor and gave herself a mental fist bump. Aw yeah! Excellent was great praise in her book. Now she just had to keep it up.

In small even script, being extra careful not to smudge, the young witch started taking notes to study later as the Professor explained today’s lesson. Slowly, she wrote down the name of the incantation and drew a small diagram of the wand movement. Having grown up using pencils and crayons, she still wasn’t exactly well versed in using a quill so slow and steady was the name of her note taking game.

”Caaaaaaaantis. CaaAaantis. Cantiiiiiis.” Experimenting with the vowel sounds of the incantation, she rolled the word around in her mouth until it sounded like how the Professor had said it. ”Cantis. Cantis Cantis.” By the end of it, she was repeating it in a sing song voice.

To make inanimate objects sing… she printed neatly. Auden’s mind reeled with the possibilities. She could charm a flower to sing “you are my sunshine!” That would be neat! Or make her dorm mirror sing ”Just the way you are.” to hype anyone up when they were getting ready.

Humming to herself, the first year took out her wand and proceeded to practice the wand movement. Flicking her wrist to the left and then downward in a half right spiral, she repeated the motion a few times, her sleeve billowing out. Was it a quick motion like a zigzag with a curl? Or more of a sweeping spiral that happened to start out flat? Jabbing her wand in the air, she tried doing more of a swooping half spiral. Wait was that too big a half spiral? Was her initial left flick too long?

With a small growl of frustration, Auden rolled up her sleeves to attempt it some more. Maybe it was supposed to be a small movement…as if one was doing a quick squiggly signature in the air for some invisible contract?

In exaggerated movements now, she tried again. And again. And again.
Was this even right? Her wrist was getting tired. Sneaking a quick look around, she tried to examine how the more experienced student were faring.

*PhoenixRising* · 06-25-2023, 11:00 AM

She expected the wand movement to give some of them trouble. The incantation was definitely the easier part of this charm, yet Professor Sayse had zero doubts that they could manage it. Watching them get started in their practicing, she observed the lot. Not for too long though as it seemed Vera had a question very quickly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

Before she could get a response in again to Logan regarding chocolate, the lesson had been underway so Vera settled for an eyeroll his direction. Though even that felt lackluster to her. Was it just because was overthinking literally eVeRyThInG? Thankfully there was discussion to focus on.

The 4th year knew nothing of the fact there was different love languages, so Professor Sayse going on a tangent would have been incredibly interesting to her. Especially considering as she listened to the answers given she couldn't help but internally comment on how most of those wouldn't work for her. Flowers were pretty, but what did you do with them? Perhaps she was too picky, or maybe the acts of service was her love language if she had known that those existed.

One answer that did get her attention, was Logan's. But only because hearing him allude to notes at all set her on edge. Had he been there in DADA? Had he noticed the whole thing? It had her face perhOlaps even the slightest shade brighter, making it look like she WAS the orchideous casting. "Why aparecium?"N ot why was the spell useful, that was obvious, but why did HE think it? Was it a coincidence? She couldn't stop herself from whispering the question, as she also noted it looked like he was feeling a little warm too. Maybe it was just the charms on the room, though she was pretty certain for herself that wasn't the case. But... Maybe for him? ... Why else?

So... They'd all apparently been off the mark. Would they be making things sing today then? Because that certainly sounded like the smile classroom was going to get loud - perhaps louder than Charlie's singular sonorous might have been. Not that she was one who minded noise. Once they were released to work on their spell practice, Vera decided to forgo the pronunciation (seemed simple enough) and just practice wand movement, which she noticed she tended to do with either not enough gusto or far too much. "so... If this is relative to frog choir, does that mean we actually charm the frogs to sing? I thought they just... Did that." And if so, wasn't that kind of cruel to make them do something they weren't naturally wanting to do? She wasn't asking anyone in particular the question just.. voicing it.

"Oh no! I simply asked about the frog choir because of the musical element so I figured if there were musically inclined students they might have considered a song to show friendship or love." Now that she thought about it, she wasn't actually sure how the frogs sang? But she was almost positive they more croaked than sang.

Professor Sayse turned back to rest of the class. "Keep going on your practicing, you still have some time."

FearlessLeader19 · 06-25-2023, 01:49 PM

He heard that laugh, Vera and Mercer! And that chuckle, Logan! Char grinned over at her, pleased that at least he could spread some bit of joy to a few persons. Also, he did agree with Vera’s answer in particular: showing how much you cared for someone, by taking care of them with Healing Charms if needed was a huge gesture. “Someday,’’ he promised Keighley in an undertone; yes, he was now seriously considering that grand gesture.

Singing? Very interesting! Charlie nudged the lovely little lady beside her. “Jude would have loved this lesson,’’ he whispered. Wand out, he began working on the movement first since that seemed to be the most complicated aspect.

Left flick. Draw the wand downward in a half spiral to the left. Left flick. Draw the wand downward in a half spiral to the left. Left flick. Draw the wand downward in a half spiral to the left. Constant practice saw the Puff getting the hang of the wand movement.

“Cantis. Cantis.” But that incantation? Yes, it was quite easy.

love-for-HP · 06-25-2023, 04:44 PM

Makinig random objects sing? Man that wasn't what Maine had thought this day was going to be. Rather odd, I mean who would want to do that anyway? I guess maybe it could be useful. None the less she needed to practice "Cantis... Can-tis .. Cantis" Maxine said out loud a few times to get the hang of pronouncisation was everything. And then for the wand movement. She mimicked what the Professor had done, a left flick and then draw your wand downward into a half spiral to the right.

She gave that a couple tries to. Okay this time she thought she was ready.

MadMadamMalfoy · 06-25-2023, 10:32 PM

SPOILER!!: catchup

Ohhh… Desiree felt like such an idiot when she heard what today’s spell was. How had she not thought of Cantis?! She loved singing, just not so much singing with frogs! This sounded like a fun spell. Maybe she could use it to make her dolls and stuffed toys sing Disney songs - Ooh! A sudden memory stirred of an old toy tea set she had when she was little and how much it made her giggle when her dad charmed it to sing Be Our Guest. This must’ve been the spell he used! She couldn’t wait to try it herself!

She jotted the incantation and wand movement down in her notes and set to work, starting with the incantation. “Cantis,” she said clearly but quietly. “Cantis, cantis.” That incantation was pretty easy. Feeling reasonably confident in her pronunciation, she moved on to the harder part, the wand movement. Raising her wand, she made a left flick, then a downward movement and half spiral. She continued practicing, and after her third or fourth try, it occurred to her that this wand movement sort of looked like a musical note. That couldn’t be a coincidence!

*Zoe* · 06-26-2023, 10:55 PM

The professor's mention of not wanting anyone to read your love note made Logan's face change shades ever so slightly. His cheeks certainly were feeling a little warmer, regardless of the fact that he had never written one of those in his life. For a split second he wondered if he ever would send a secret love note, but then easily concluded that he probably wouldn't. So many things could have gone wrong like it being intercepted or not delivered in time. Plus he was more of the type to be loud and in-your-face about things. Mostly.

He really had to monitor his face when Sayse stated that the spell he had provided could be used to keep people from copying one's homework. The concept of that just sounded so absurd to him. Fortunately, there was an opportunity to distract himself from that comment: he heard Vera say something. Why the spell? Well, passing of notes had been on his mind recently (thanks, Anna Walles), and he thought such notes of a certain nature should have to be revealed by magic. Not that he said any of that out loud. He simply shrugged at Vera's question.

When the Frog Choir was mentioned, the blond was back to paying attention. Now that it had been brought up, it certainly did make sense that singing was a good way to express love and friendship. Music was, after all, a magic of its own. That he could indeed vouch for and would have mentioned out loud, but then he was distracted by Vera once more.

"I've never had to charm any of the toads to sing," he informed her and, indirectly, the professor. Whether or not they had been charmed before by someone else was something he couldn't provide insight into. "They just croak away when they're not trying to slurp up any flies buzzing around."

Not wanting it to seem like he was looking in a certain someone's way for too long, he looked away and picked up his wand. The incantation was muttered a few times, which he did mainly to keep himself busy as it was pretty straightforward. When it came time to practice the wand movement, he followed it as described. There was a flick to the left, followed with a downward movement, and then it ended in a half-spiral. He smoothly repeated the movement a number of times, still keeping his mind and his eyes focused on the task at hand.

sweetpinkpixie · 06-27-2023, 12:40 AM

Mitsuki's thoughts were no longer entirely on the lesson and had drifted towards a yearning for a glass of water to help with the sour taste that had overtaken her mouth. It was a taste that only seemed to intensify as she softly practiced the incantation, "Cantis." It was less lemon and more...grapefruit, perhaps. An artificial grapefruit.

Deciding rather quickly that she was done with the incantation, the Ravenclaw turned her attention to her wand and repeated the downward spiraling movement. She was no a member of frog choir but rather in orchestra and there was a certain kind of uncomfortable twitch that came with the thought of using magic to enchant something to play music with ease. This must be pride, she decided, since she had put many years and hours into piano and the violin and sometimes had even recorded herself playing songs for her performance calligraphy. Mitsuki appreciated the music box, less so for its sound and more for the construction that went into it, so things were not so bleak.

Glancing at Mercer, quite the lengthy glance actually, she briefly wondered whether or not it would be worthwhile to enchant the plaque she had gifted him for his birthday and soon found herself wondering whether or not it would be humorous to enchant his next meal to sing. After all, food was something Mercer adored and appreciated immensely. Something about humming sausages and percussion eggs occupied her thoughts for a bit...so she began to do what she often did while her thoughts wandered: she doodled.

MadAlice · 06-28-2023, 02:49 AM

Hope had gotten rather distracted at the idea of singing frogs, but she pulled herself together, focused her concentration, and finally got the hang of doing the wand movement together with the incantation. "Cantis! Cantis!" she said proudly, getting a bit to exuberant with her wand toward the end.

*Holmesian Feline* · 06-28-2023, 10:46 PM

Cantis

Nadia seemed to remember that spell name in the context of her parents. Like in getting her Papa to sing with a voice he used far less frequently than her Daddy would like. The Gryffindor wrote down both incantation and the requisite wand movement into her notes for reference before setting her quill down to practice. “Cantis…” she tried out first, wrinkling her nose slightly as it sounded a bit off from what the professor had demonstrated. “Cantis… Cantis… Cantis… Cantis” she practiced the incantation several times, feeling better about getting her pronunciation right and moving on as she slipped her wand from its pocket.

Left flick and a half spiral to the right. That sounded tricky and Nadia couldn’t help biting the inside of her cheek slightly as she focused on imagining it as she glanced at others who were already there. Finally giving it a shot herself, the first attempt was off…way off. The Gryffindor giving it a few more tries and wondering how close she was getting to how it should be done properly. Guess she’d find out when they put it all together.

*PhoenixRising* · 07-01-2023, 12:03 PM

Professor Sayse was observing the students practicing the incantation, which wasn't the most difficult part of the spell so she wasn't worried about the pronunciation. It was Mitsuki though who caught her attention and she found herself watching the ravenclaw intently as the girl doodled. There was something about the way she was working that was captivating and made Mari want to doodle herself.

"Right, good job everyone. So we're going to be making greeting cards." She didn't say Valentine's Day cards because some students were sensitive about the subject. "Just to show your appreciation for someone in your life. Could be a dormmate, a friend, a family member, a professor.... It doesn't matter much. It could even be for yourself." Self-love was arguably the most important after all.

"I have construction paper here along with various art supplies, but you're welcome to use charms to colour if you prefer. But the catch is that after you finish making your card, I want you to cast Cantis plus a lyric from a song on your greeting cards. In this way when you open the cards they'll have a musical element." Who knew that the cards in retail shops were magical, right?

ooc: eek!! Apologies for ghosting here, but uh... let's wrap this up with the main activity and call it a day. Recap on the main activity, which you'll have until roughly Monday evening / Tuesday to complete :

* create a greeting card (you can use a graphics program, or by hand IRL and take a picture, or just a detailed description of what your character drew)
* cast the incantation learned on it (Cantis + song lyric, example: Cantis I will always love you, your card will then sing "I will always love you" when you open it.
* Let me know if you have any questions and have fun!

FearlessLeader19 · 07-01-2023, 12:57 PM

Greeting cards.

Wow. This had been an activity Charlie hadn’t got himself into since he was much, much younger. This was definitely why he was keen on jumping right in. But who would he make a card for? The obvious answer was seated beside him but he also wanted to do something for Will and Den. After some debate internally, the following was decided: he’d make cards for his two besties and he’d also make one for Keighley. But Keighley’s would be made in the confines of his dorm since he’d want to keep it all a secret from her.

The older Hufflepuff grabbed various coloured construction paper, glitter, ribbons and a few other materials for him and Keighley to use then got started. He’d work on the besties cards simultaneously. Using his wand and an incantation Charlie first cut a brain-shape out of pink construction paper - this was to be for Dennis since the guy was such a factual nerd. The second cut out took a while longer since it was a bit more intricate: a blue Swedish Short Snout from of that coloured construction paper for William.

Both had been cut in such a manner that they could be flipped open and the respective outlines/shapes will be maintained. Humming happily to himself, Charlie began to do the decorating.

Chelliephone · 07-01-2023, 03:00 PM

Oh, okay good. So they weren't enchanting frogs to sing against their will. That comforted her a little bit, but considering it also hadn't been the majority of what was on her mind currently there wasn't much relief. The main thoughts were still centered around notes and why Logan would have been thinking about them as well. What if... no, Anna wouldn't pass him one too would she? Was that just a thing for her and the Hufflepuff? One could certainly hope. But then another thought popped into her mind that it was Valentine's day and what if Logan had gotten a note from someone else? She didn't much like that thought either, so was happy to dismiss it when more instructions were being given.

Until she heard the instructions that was. Make a card for someone? To show their appreciation? She .. didn't really want to do that. Mainly because she didn't know who to make a card for while in class. The most obvious answer was her father, but because she was feeling his partner's absence so acutely she was pretty certain she'd get emotional if she tried to do that. The next options were a sibling but... she didn't think she'd have time to do one for both of them in the span of a class, and she didn't want to show a favoritism. Maria? Sia? No because then she'd have to pick ONE again.. she'd make them cards later. She briefly considered making one for Logan, something similar to the way she used to be able to joke with him. A nice troll on the front?

No. That didn't feel right either.

But then someone did pop into her head and she didn't have any complicated feelings regarding the former Gryffindor so... that was decided. Standing up, she smoothed down her robes from previously sitting and went up and grabbed a handful of papers and various colored markers and a small thing of glitter. That was obviously a necessary piece. Once items were acquired, she went back to her seat and slid into it - putting all the items between herself and her desk mate. "I grabbed a ton of stuff if you want to just pick through here." She commented to him, being dicey about actually looking AT him. "What are you thinking you'll do for yours?"

Grabbing a piece of black paper, she took a white marker and started drawing out a centaur on the bottom half.

*Zoe* · 07-01-2023, 06:49 PM

Logan had been so focused on practicing that wand movement that he had lost track of time. So much so that it was now time for the application portion of the lesson. The blond blinked a few times as the instructions were given. They were going to make cards? He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had actually made a card on his own. He had to have been in ... primary school?

That, however, wasn't at the forefront of the blond's mind. The part that was causing him to sit there lost in thought was who to make a card for right this very second. Either of the parents was a safe option. The siblings ... nah, he didn't want to make one for any of his sisters. A 'thanks for being a bro' card could be made for Vasco, but a card wasn't on par with how the two showed appreciation for each other. He considered making one for Vera, which he did want to do for some reason, but what should be said he was uncertain of. He sighed. If they weren't in the middle of class where others could see what he was doing...

"Huh?" he asked when he heard his deskmate's voice. His gaze shifted slightly, not quite enough to be directly looking at her, but just enough to see her out of his peripheral. If anyone was looking, he was clearly taking in all of the supplies that had been brought over. "Oh. Thanks."

A hand reached over to grab a piece of white paper, figuring a blank canvas would be a good way to start. A few markers were collected and the cap was removed from one of them. No marks were made, though, as he literally had no clue who the intended recipient of the card would be. Vera's question only verified as much, and there was a bit of a pause before he spoke.

"I'm going to make a card for my dad." He nodded his head, more so to convince himself that was what he had in mind the entire time. "His birthday isn't too far away." That is, if one considered the end of March to be relatively close.

He then peeked a glance over at what Vera was drawing, which only made gears in his mind turn. Who was she making a card for? The centaur was an interesting choice, and he didn't know who to associate it with. "What about you?" he asked as he started outlining a cake.

Chelliephone · 07-01-2023, 11:15 PM

She was so dedicated to not looking at him herself, she didn't notice him doing the same. Not that she probably would have even thought anything of it if he did. Like she pointed out to Sia, he did call her troll which was just another reason of many she was ignoring all the things. At his thanks though, she did glance over and give a small smile and a head nod. "Sure thing." Shed already had to go anyways right?

Finishing up her centaur , which was... adequate, she set aside the white marker in favor of some metallics. Gold and silver would do the trick. Though she'd have to figure out how to smudge the silver to look milky way esque... And the gold could be the stars. Though naturally she also had to pull out her astronomy book. Anything less than accurate seemed insulting for the recipient.

She opened her book to a random constellation before trying to copy it onto her card. Choosing something she'd have to focus so intensely on was a good idea, just to hide the relief that it was going to someone else in their year or something. "That's a good idea. I'm sure he'll like it. Are you just going to do the happy birthday song in it or something else?"

At his question, she put down her gold pen for the silver in order to draw a line and used a piece of white paper to swipe to the side and smudge it on the paper. It wasn't perfection but... It was good enough. Maybe she'd redo it better later if she didn't want to send it to him. "Atlas." She had no other explanation for why because it was a whim. He was safe and she missed him and wanted to. "Though it's obviously not a Valentine's card. If this is at all fun I might make some of those in the common room later."

FearlessLeader19 · 07-02-2023, 10:35 PM

Inside Will’s card, Charlie wrote in his neat handwriting some random Quidditch trivia on the first half. There were five questions in total. On the very back, the answers were written. On the second half of the card, he added: Dear Will, I hope you have fun with these trivia questions! In the rare case that you get stumped on any of them, the answers are on the back. Love, Charlie. For the lyrics, Char knew very well which was going to be used from the very inception. “Cantis,’’ he said with confidence, as his wand went left flick, downward draw of it in a half spiral to the right. “You’ve got a friend in me.” Pleased with his work, the card was closed so that the front could be decorated. A weird order of creating the item, he knew, but that was his business, was it not? Will’s name was inscribed with bright blue glitter then silver ribbon was delicately tied around the card for dramatic effects. Plus Char wanted to see Will possibly struggle with untying the ribbon

Now for Den’s card! Charlie’s words in this were full out in Swedish since Den also spoke the language. The words translated to: Dear Den, you must be relieved that you won’t have me around waking you up at the crack of dawn for your remaining two years at Hogwarts. PS: Tomorrow, we awake an extra half an hour for practice. Love, Charlie It took Char a good while to decide which lyrics to use but when he eventually did, they too were said in Swedish. “Cantis. You're the best friend that I ever had.” The wand movement of left flick, downward draw of it in a half spiral to the right was repeated. For the finishing touches, the front of the dragon was decorated in green glitter: its eyes, a sort of twisted snout, pointy ears, a smiling mouth and sharp claws and teeth. Silver ribbon was also tied over it… just for the funsies again

*PhoenixRising* · 07-03-2023, 04:25 AM

Mari was curious to see what songs the students might choose. But she also suspected that some of them might not choose their first choice songs in the card that they were showing for credit since she doubted some would want to show their teacher those cards.

She saw that Charlie actually made two cards and nodded approvingly when she heard two friendship song lyrics sing out from his card and tilted her head curiously at the ribbon he tied around each one. Must be some sort of inside joke?

Vera and Logan seemed to get along just fine too with their decorating.

"Another 15 minutes..." She called out in warning, "But while you're working, where else do you think you might find this spell useful besides making greeting cards musical?"

ooc: you still have some time to finish up the main activity, but throwing forth another quick question while you work on POSSIBLE USES FOR THE CHARM

FearlessLeader19 · 07-03-2023, 11:25 AM

Yes, it was definitely an inside joke, Professor, those ribbons were. Charlie couldn't imagine that his friends would be pleased at first but when they saw and heard their respective cards? All the struggle with string would surely be forgotten. Now that he was all done with the cards, Char neatly stacked the unused materials for Keighley to continue using and also made a second pile of the materials that had to be tossed out such as the bits of ribbon and construction paper.

“During duels,’’ the Puff supplied, hand in the air. Indeed, thoughts of this term’s duelling assignment flashed through his mind. “It’s a great distraction to your opponent, the perfect moment when the spell hits for you to swoop in for the win. by Disarming them.”

Felixir · 07-03-2023, 01:45 PM

While not actually practicing the incantation - it was not exactly one of the more difficult ones, and so he didn't feel the overpowering necessity of repeating it more than once or twice - Regulus had nevertheless been working on the wand movement. It was a bit more involved than some of the others, which meant going through the motions, literally, to commit it to muscle memory.

Even as he flicked his wand left and half-spiralled it right, Regulus allowed his thoughts to wander, until they arrived at the inevitable destination that more convoluted wand movements were better reserved for spells like this which didn't really take precedence in a practical sense, and the simpler ones for spells like curses and counter-curses and anything necessary in emergencies, so that there was less chance of becoming muddled. Defensive spells, for example, all ought to be cast with a simple point of the wand.

But did it work like that? Probably not. There was probably a movement that yielded maximum results from the spell, rather than just assigned to it. Papa would know... though he wasn't here. Milo, then. He knew how inventing spells worked.

It wasn't until Professor Sayse spoke up again, and continued speaking, that Regulus realised he'd been staring at nothing for the past however-many minutes, his eyes glazed over as his hand automatically repeated the wand movement over and over. He blinked his eyes back into focus, lowered his wand, and turned his gaze stoically back to the front of the room.

So... a card. For a good few minutes after the activity was announced, Regulus didn't move, again seeming to have zoned out completely. But, again, he was simply lost in thought. Who to create a card for, who would be the most likely recipient, and how ought he to go about this. One person swam into his mind, and he immediately pushed the thought away, but the more Regulus tried to think of someone else, the more persistent the first became, like they were forcing their way into his mind from beyond the grave. In the end, he gave up on trying to think of anyone else, partly to appease them and partly because he was quickly starting to fall behind.

Art was not really Regulus' thing, again - it was Milo who had inherited that talent - but he did know his music, which seemed the more important aspect of this, and might give him an advantage when it came to the actual enchanting. For now, though, he collected card and paint pens and - once again - lapsed into the still silence of trying to decide exactly how to go about the next step.

As he cast his eye over the materials and tried to think back on greetings cards he'd seen in the past, Regulus raised his hand and offered an answer to the latest question. "Music helps people remember things. Even if something doesn't rhyme, it has rhythm, and some people might find it easy to remember difficult dates or definitions in their textbooks if they charm them to sing certain passages." He preferred organising facts into rhyming couplets if he really wanted to try that approach, but then, Regulus had an inclination towards the poetic and the lyrical in any case.

MadMadamMalfoy · 07-03-2023, 10:37 PM

Desiree was already enjoying this lesson, but she liked it even better when she heard what the activity was. Singing greeting cards… fun! Anything that involved art and charms was a win in her book! Now it was just a matter of who to give the card to and what kind of card to make. The first choice was easy. She’d make a card for her dad! He liked when she sent him things, and he was a former charms professor, after all. This would be a fun way to show him her progress!

What should the card look like? Desiree thought for a minute. Maybe she’d have an easier time coming up with a design if she picked a song first. She knew she wanted something Disney, but what? Her first idea was a card shaped like the rose from Beauty and the Beast (her favorite Disney movie and the one in which her dad shared a name with a character), but all of the songs sounded either too silly or too romantic. Come to think of it, most Disney songs seemed too silly or romantic for this!

She thought of the movies that focused on strong family relationships. Lilo & Stitch? Good movie, but not a musical. Tarzan? She could use a line from You’ll Be in My Heart, but she had no idea how to incorporate the jungle aesthetic! Mulan? That presented the opposite problem; she had a design in mind but not a song lyric. Frozen 2? Maybe. Encanto? Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She’d do a butterfly-shaped card - not the Encanto butterfly, but one inspired by the live-action Cinderella! The butterfly was the symbol for her dad’s old Beauxbatons house, and he kind of reminded her of Cinderella’s dad in that movie. She knew exactly what song to use!

Desiree got up to collect her materials: purple construction paper, gold glitter glue, scissors, and a few black chenille stems for the butterfly’s body. She set straight to work as soon as she returned to her seat, folding the purple paper in half and drawing the shape of a butterfly. Next she used the scissors to cut along the lines she drew. Ordinarily she would’ve tried using magic, but she had limited time and a lot of precise cuts to make. Satisfied with her work so far, she picked up a chenille stem and attached it to the center of her butterfly with a Sticking Charm. “Adhaero!” she cast. Another chenille stem wound into a tight coil made the butterfly’s head, and one folded in half and curled at the ends made its antennae. Both were likewise attached with Sticking Charms.

Now she needed to decorate the wings. “Figura half-circle,” she cast, and a small semi circle appeared on the top right section of the wings. She repeated the process until the wings were covered with tiny semi circles; then she colored in each one blue with Colorvaria. When she finished that, she used the gold glitter glue to outline each shape and the edged of the butterfly’s wing. There we go, a purple butterfly like the Papillonlisse mascot with blue and gold to match Cinderella’s color palette!

Desiree was proud of her work so far! The only thing left to do was the most important: make it sing. Okay, here goes! Taking a deep breath, she aimed her wand and made the musical note-looking wand movement, Left flick, down, and half spiral. “Cantis Lavender’s green, dilly, dilly Lavender’s blue If you love me, dilly dilly, I will love you.”

Desiree was so busy working that she almost missed the next question. She knew exactly what to say for this one! Her hand shot up and she said, “Entertaining children. You can use this spell to make their toys sing if they’re bored or need cheering up.” How did she know? Because her dad used to do that when she was little!

Chelliephone · 07-04-2023, 02:57 PM

Once she'd gotten her night sky completed on her card, which was very simple for the amount of time it took her, Ve opened the card in order to use her wand to do the actual casting. Moving her wand as directed, she said "Cantis twinkle twinkle little star".The whole card itself was pretty random, but she assumed her letter she'd slip inside of it would be as well so this was fitting. Plus, would he expect anything less?

Well ... Maybe because he probably wouldn't be expecting a singing card but besides the point.

With that done, she focused again on the next question, raising her hand to give a quick answer. "A prank. Getting someone's bed or something to sing at them would certainly have a certain jump factor." Imagine if she did it to Vasco's headphones?

*Zoe* · 07-04-2023, 10:39 PM

His outline of the cake was ... something. It looked more like a blob than anything, but Logan never was the greatest at drawing -- his artistic abilities lay in music. Nevertheless, the boy carried on, doodling a few candles before he slapped some colour onto it. The marker in his hand was set down on the desk, his eyes looking over his creation. It wasn't anything extravagant, but it would do.

"Yeah, will probably just do the birthday song," Logan responded, nodding his head again as he dabbed various colours onto the paper, attempting to make it seem like confetti was falling in the background.

Once the front of the card was complete, the blond peeked over at what Vera had been doing. Now that more of the card had been done, Atlas being the recipient made more sense. Her comment about it not being a Valentine's card did not result in a physical reaction, but he was internally relieved that she wasn't making a card for that purpose.

"It looks good," he told her, his tone genuine as what she had produced was way better than anything he could do. Then he quickly looked away, for once happy to direct his attention to the front of the room to take in and think about the question that a professor had asked.

Hand raised, the Gryffindor stated, "It could be used to make things a little more festive. For example, during Hallowe'en jack-o'-lanterns could be enchanted to sing themed songs whenever someone passes by them. Or, in a haunted house scenario, a doll could be enchanted to spook someone."

With that said, he went back to work on his greeting card. He figured that the card was decorated enough, so all he needed to do now was enchant it to sing. He opened the card and then reached for his wand, flicking to the left and following with a downward movement that ended in a half spiral. "Cantis happy birthday." After setting his wand down, he quickly closed and opened the card to test that the charm had been done correctly. The instant the card started to sing was enough for him to close it again with a satisfied look on his face.

*PhoenixRising* · 07-07-2023, 01:05 PM

SPOILER!!: final regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Yes, it was definitely an inside joke, Professor, those ribbons were. Charlie couldn't imagine that his friends would be pleased at first but when they saw and heard their respective cards? All the struggle with string would surely be forgotten. Now that he was all done with the cards, Char neatly stacked the unused materials for Keighley to continue using and also made a second pile of the materials that had to be tossed out such as the bits of ribbon and construction paper.

“During duels,’’ the Puff supplied, hand in the air. Indeed, thoughts of this term’s duelling assignment flashed through his mind. “It’s a great distraction to your opponent, the perfect moment when the spell hits for you to swoop in for the win. by Disarming them.”

Mari wasn't surprised that Charlie was the first to complete the task, but she was alarmed by the answer. "It assumes that there's some inanimate objects nearby during the duels, since alas the charm won't be effective on animate." But otherwise, yes, it would be a nice distraction.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

While not actually practicing the incantation - it was not exactly one of the more difficult ones, and so he didn't feel the overpowering necessity of repeating it more than once or twice - Regulus had nevertheless been working on the wand movement. It was a bit more involved than some of the others, which meant going through the motions, literally, to commit it to muscle memory.

Even as he flicked his wand left and half-spiralled it right, Regulus allowed his thoughts to wander, until they arrived at the inevitable destination that more convoluted wand movements were better reserved for spells like this which didn't really take precedence in a practical sense, and the simpler ones for spells like curses and counter-curses and anything necessary in emergencies, so that there was less chance of becoming muddled. Defensive spells, for example, all ought to be cast with a simple point of the wand.

But did it work like that? Probably not. There was probably a movement that yielded maximum results from the spell, rather than just assigned to it. Papa would know... though he wasn't here. Milo, then. He knew how inventing spells worked.

It wasn't until Professor Sayse spoke up again, and continued speaking, that Regulus realised he'd been staring at nothing for the past however-many minutes, his eyes glazed over as his hand automatically repeated the wand movement over and over. He blinked his eyes back into focus, lowered his wand, and turned his gaze stoically back to the front of the room.

So... a card. For a good few minutes after the activity was announced, Regulus didn't move, again seeming to have zoned out completely. But, again, he was simply lost in thought. Who to create a card for, who would be the most likely recipient, and how ought he to go about this. One person swam into his mind, and he immediately pushed the thought away, but the more Regulus tried to think of someone else, the more persistent the first became, like they were forcing their way into his mind from beyond the grave. In the end, he gave up on trying to think of anyone else, partly to appease them and partly because he was quickly starting to fall behind.

Art was not really Regulus' thing, again - it was Milo who had inherited that talent - but he did know his music, which seemed the more important aspect of this, and might give him an advantage when it came to the actual enchanting. For now, though, he collected card and paint pens and - once again - lapsed into the still silence of trying to decide exactly how to go about the next step.

As he cast his eye over the materials and tried to think back on greetings cards he'd seen in the past, Regulus raised his hand and offered an answer to the latest question. "Music helps people remember things. Even if something doesn't rhyme, it has rhythm, and some people might find it easy to remember difficult dates or definitions in their textbooks if they charm them to sing certain passages." He preferred organising facts into rhyming couplets if he really wanted to try that approach, but then, Regulus had an inclination towards the poetic and the lyrical in any case.

The interesting thing about art was that it was a broad scope and so many mediums could be considered art. Including music. So while she noticed Regulus struggling with the designing a card aspect of the activity, she had to admit the answer he gave was a brilliant use. But of course, as an avid music fan, this answer was playing to her strengths.

"I like that. Using music to study. Which doesn't need to be just listening to random wrock songs but setting the facts you're trying to memorize to a harmony or rhythm." She wondered if this might have helped Skeet more in his studies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Desiree was already enjoying this lesson, but she liked it even better when she heard what the activity was. Singing greeting cards… fun! Anything that involved art and charms was a win in her book! Now it was just a matter of who to give the card to and what kind of card to make. The first choice was easy. She’d make a card for her dad! He liked when she sent him things, and he was a former charms professor, after all. This would be a fun way to show him her progress!

What should the card look like? Desiree thought for a minute. Maybe she’d have an easier time coming up with a design if she picked a song first. She knew she wanted something Disney, but what? Her first idea was a card shaped like the rose from Beauty and the Beast (her favorite Disney movie and the one in which her dad shared a name with a character), but all of the songs sounded either too silly or too romantic. Come to think of it, most Disney songs seemed too silly or romantic for this!

She thought of the movies that focused on strong family relationships. Lilo & Stitch? Good movie, but not a musical. Tarzan? She could use a line from You’ll Be in My Heart, but she had no idea how to incorporate the jungle aesthetic! Mulan? That presented the opposite problem; she had a design in mind but not a song lyric. Frozen 2? Maybe. Encanto? Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She’d do a butterfly-shaped card - not the Encanto butterfly, but one inspired by the live-action Cinderella! The butterfly was the symbol for her dad’s old Beauxbatons house, and he kind of reminded her of Cinderella’s dad in that movie. She knew exactly what song to use!

Desiree got up to collect her materials: purple construction paper, gold glitter glue, scissors, and a few black chenille stems for the butterfly’s body. She set straight to work as soon as she returned to her seat, folding the purple paper in half and drawing the shape of a butterfly. Next she used the scissors to cut along the lines she drew. Ordinarily she would’ve tried using magic, but she had limited time and a lot of precise cuts to make. Satisfied with her work so far, she picked up a chenille stem and attached it to the center of her butterfly with a Sticking Charm. “Adhaero!” she cast. Another chenille stem wound into a tight coil made the butterfly’s head, and one folded in half and curled at the ends made its antennae. Both were likewise attached with Sticking Charms.

Now she needed to decorate the wings. “Figura half-circle,” she cast, and a small semi circle appeared on the top right section of the wings. She repeated the process until the wings were covered with tiny semi circles; then she colored in each one blue with Colorvaria. When she finished that, she used the gold glitter glue to outline each shape and the edged of the butterfly’s wing. There we go, a purple butterfly like the Papillonlisse mascot with blue and gold to match Cinderella’s color palette!

Desiree was proud of her work so far! The only thing left to do was the most important: make it sing. Okay, here goes! Taking a deep breath, she aimed her wand and made the musical note-looking wand movement, Left flick, down, and half spiral. “Cantis Lavender’s green, dilly, dilly Lavender’s blue If you love me, dilly dilly, I will love you.”

Desiree was so busy working that she almost missed the next question. She knew exactly what to say for this one! Her hand shot up and she said, “Entertaining children. You can use this spell to make their toys sing if they’re bored or need cheering up.” How did she know? Because her dad used to do that when she was little!

Mari was distracted thinking about her one son and correlation to music and studying that she nearly missed Desiree's excellent use of other charms! While technically she would have allowed muggle methods for the card decorating, the use of charms was preferred and the way the Hufflepuff ingeniously applied them was remarkable. "Excellent use of other charms, Desiree."

"Yes entertaining children. It's an ideal charm for parents and early childhood educators to master as it can be quite useful."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

Once she'd gotten her night sky completed on her card, which was very simple for the amount of time it took her, Ve opened the card in order to use her wand to do the actual casting. Moving her wand as directed, she said "Cantis twinkle twinkle little star".The whole card itself was pretty random, but she assumed her letter she'd slip inside of it would be as well so this was fitting. Plus, would he expect anything less?

Well ... Maybe because he probably wouldn't be expecting a singing card but besides the point.

With that done, she focused again on the next question, raising her hand to give a quick answer. "A prank. Getting someone's bed or something to sing at them would certainly have a certain jump factor." Imagine if she did it to Vasco's headphones?

The next answer was another she hadn't been expecting although creative nonetheless. She shook her head in amusement. "Remind me to never get on your bad side," She joked. Although as a professor, she suspected the likelihood of being victim to a student prank was drastically decreased but one could never be too careful. Especially as gullible as she was, she'd fallen victim to pranks too often in her youth. "But yes that would certainly be a use to the charm."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoe

His outline of the cake was ... something. It looked more like a blob than anything, but Logan never was the greatest at drawing -- his artistic abilities lay in music. Nevertheless, the boy carried on, doodling a few candles before he slapped some colour onto it. The marker in his hand was set down on the desk, his eyes looking over his creation. It wasn't anything extravagant, but it would do.

"Yeah, will probably just do the birthday song," Logan responded, nodding his head again as he dabbed various colours onto the paper, attempting to make it seem like confetti was falling in the background.

Once the front of the card was complete, the blond peeked over at what Vera had been doing. Now that more of the card had been done, Atlas being the recipient made more sense. Her comment about it not being a Valentine's card did not result in a physical reaction, but he was internally relieved that she wasn't making a card for that purpose.

"It looks good," he told her, his tone genuine as what she had produced was way better than anything he could do. Then he quickly looked away, for once happy to direct his attention to the front of the room to take in and think about the question that a professor had asked.

Hand raised, the Gryffindor stated, "It could be used to make things a little more festive. For example, during Hallowe'en jack-o'-lanterns could be enchanted to sing themed songs whenever someone passes by them. Or, in a haunted house scenario, a doll could be enchanted to spook someone."

With that said, he went back to work on his greeting card. He figured that the card was decorated enough, so all he needed to do now was enchant it to sing. He opened the card and then reached for his wand, flicking to the left and following with a downward movement that ended in a half spiral. "Cantis happy birthday." After setting his wand down, he quickly closed and opened the card to test that the charm had been done correctly. The instant the card started to sing was enough for him to close it again with a satisfied look on his face.

This was actually an answer that she'd been expecting all along so it surprised her no one mentioned anything of decor before. "Yes! This is actually a charm that's used annually at Halloween and Christmas time on the suits of armor." She was going to leave at that to look for some sort of recognition on their faces as they recalled hearing the suits of armor chant Christmas carols just a month ago.

"Alright you've all done tremendously well with your card decorating and I'm sure your recipients will love them. But unfortunately we're out of time." She glanced around the room. "If you don't have another class after this and you need some time to finish, you may continue working or finish at your own leisure..."

ooc: class officially dismissed and I'll close the thread this afternoon. Thanks for coming / participating! <3

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