On the contrary, Professor Khanna, it was ALWAYS a good idea to host classes outside in this Gryffindor's book. The cold could always be combated with outerwear, which was why the 15 year old had all but disappeared under her jumper and a large red and gold scarf wrapped a few times around herself and covering majority of her lower face. "Hi Professor!" She chirped, though the yarn in front of her mouth certainly left it muffled, as she skipped her way over towards one of the open logs and carefully sat down on it.

She kept her feet kicking in front of her as she waited for other students to arrive, making no move to unburrow herself from the warmth she'd created. She WAS curious though what they would be doing for the day, though looking around at the surroundings she hadn't yet noticed any guesses. Maybe something with the Willow? Was that why they were outside?

Oooooh maybe they'd play dodge branch with the tree! That was a fun game and reflexes were important, right? Even if that wasn't the lesson, she tucked the idea away to give them later.

A reasonable wizard would be fully bundled up for an outdoor class in January. A teenage boy, never really considered reasonable, would just as likely show up in shorts and flip-flops and be puzzled about being cold the entire time. Mercer was fully a teenage boy, albeit a Ravenclaw one, so he at least had closed shoes and a jacket, but his cheeks were red-apple-cold and his nose was running like a faucet.

He was having just the BEST time.

"Hi, professor! Very cool shades. Or cold shades, maybe?" Mercer laughed at himself and sat down, giving Vera a wave.

As he walked over the Grounds for his next lesson, his shoes crunched the frozen grass beneath him. He wore his Hufflepuff scarf and black gloves, which he kept hidden in his robe pocket. To keep himself warm, he drew the hood of his winter robe over his head.

Daniel took a brief look around as he approached the area and counted the tree stumps lined up before turning his head to look at the Professor standing at the chalkboard."Professor" he said in greeting as he lowered his hood to, you know, show who he was before walking over to a tree stump and taking a seat.

He set his shoulder bag beside the stump and stared into the distance, his mind wandered to the latest book he was reading. It had been a long time since a book had captivated him, and he finally found one last night.

He hoped lunchtime started soon so that he could continue to read the story.

Brandon loved going outside. The cold... he supposed... was alright... ish... (Brandon did NOT like the cold.) During the cold winter months, he was satisfied with remaining indoors where it was safe. It had never occurred to him that the professors could cast weather charms outside! He looked around the "classroom" with wide eyes, trying to make the warm temperature and the cold winter weather make sense at the same time. Professor Khanna was so cool! He chose a stump in one of the purple boxes. Were these personal space boxes? He liked the idea of that. "Hi Professor! What are your sunglasses for if it's not snowing enough to reflect lots of sunlight back into your eyes?"

Ordinarily Fynn would describe himself as being an outdoor loving type of boy. Sporty and energetic, he found solace in enjoying the fresh air and open space that the grounds would provide. An outdoor lesson on a cold day in January however didn’t sound like his ideal Defence Against the Dark Arts session. Once they would get going he was sure it would be okay as their bodies would warm up but he didn’t appreciate the walk out from the castle and over towards where todays lesson would be held.

Fynley had thankfully actually thought about what the weather would be like before stepping out into the grounds and therefore had his thicker jumper on to somewhat cover himself as his feet crunched over the frozen ground. He was relieved when he arrived at the tree stumps and the area around was instantly warmed up by some sort of enchantment. “Hey Prof” he greeted Professor Khanna with a friendly nod before picking his stump to flop down on.

Kion was normally the type to go without a jacket in the chilling winters. Partially for sharing his jacket but also from his rare stubbornness to "tough it out" every now and then since it felt bulky on his frame. But he did wear a nice thick jumper to compensate with his gloves. "Hello Professor," He smiled.

The fifteen-year old then went over to a spot to remain and chill (no pun intended) until the lesson began.

Desiree was in a pretty good mood today, despite the weather. To quote Elsa, “The cold never bothered [her] anyway.” She knew how to do warming charms and had placed one on her cloak and scarf before she left the castle. Between her spell and her winter gear, she was nice and toasty warm as she made her way to today’s DADA lesson.

“Hello, Professor Khanna,” she greeted with a wave and a cheerful smile. Her smile grew as she noticed the purple lines around the stumps. Ooh, one of her favorite colors! “Nice color choice for those lines!” She wondered what the lines were for, but she knew better than to ask. She’d been at Hogwarts long enough to know that professors generally didn’t give away lesson information right away!

Oh well, she supposed she’d find out soon enough. Still contemplating the purple lines, she took a seat on the nearest stump and waited for the lesson to begin.

The “captain’s” jacket was absolutely back, mostly because of the weather. A little bit less oversized but still giving Sable Ileana enough to wear one of her jumpers borrowed from her mum underneath, as she’d made her way out to the grounds for the next DADA lesson. The cold didn’t bother her anyway, and all. It was easy to just pretend any breezes were coming off the lake. Pirate stuff. And besides, she knew the lesson was bound to be interesting. Defense lessons usually were, even if they were just about Dark creatures. There was a reason she’d listed the subject as one of her favorites in the job consultation thing.

Gryffindor scarf half-wrapped around her head, covering her blonde hair, she’d skipped down to the meeting area and given the professor a grin. “Hey Professor Khanna. What’s going to happen today?”

Not that she actually expected an answer to her question, as she’d claimed the stump next to Vera, nudging the other girl before plopping down cross-legged on the wood. Just because she felt like it. Not because her feet were cold or anything.

Her feet could not move quickly enough today.

The problem with an excitable Anna was that she tended forget things. More so than usual anyway. Today was no exception and, well, she HAD remember a VERY important document she just HAD to pass along but not so much the fact that she probably should have bundled up considering the time of year and weather. She was in her standard robes at least...though her skirt and rainbow toe socks were not doing that well at keeping her pale skin from goosebumping. Her scarf had fallen off at some point between the castle and here, something she only realized once she arrived buuuuuuuuuut there wasn't time to go back and look for it now. Hopefully it would be there along the path once she started making her way back.

Not paying attention to where she plopped herself and ALSO making sure that she wasn't TOO obvious as she serpentined her way about the place so she could oh-so strategically drop a much more carefully folded note on to the Seraphic Princess of Joy and Beauty's lap before making her way over to her own seat tooooootally on the opposite side of the group. Sitting too close would raise SUSPICIONS! Only pity being that the actual contents of her letter, the living flesh version, was not here yet so it was going to be harder to gauge reactions.

Whistling softly, another way to make one look less suspicious, Anna stumble stepped in front of Vera and dropped the note almost just as she had planned. She actually dropped it a little prematurely and had to scramble to pick it up then take a couple more totally casual skips and pause and THEN dropped it into her lap.

SPOILER!!: THE NOTE

The third year pressed her finger to her lips and without waiting too long had skipped off to find a spot for herself. One where she was in a pretty good position to observe her idol.

Oh, almost forgot!

"Good day, professor!" she greeted with very rosy cheeks and a nose that might put some reindeer to shame. "Are your eyes sensitive to sunlight? Is that why you have sunglasses on?" See? Striking up conversation. Tooooootally casual and absolutely constantly glancing back at Vera eagerly.

Was Nadia okay with an outdoor class in January? Well for the most part. But let’s just say she made sure to bundle up from her Gryffindor scarf right down to her warm boots to keep her going in hopes that heating charms would be prevalent at their meeting place. And thankfully Professor Khanna didn’t disappoint.

“Good day Professor,” the Gryffindor greeted the defense professor, taking in the layout of the area as if it would hold clues as to what they would be learning about this lesson. The second year moving to take a stump year Vera and Anna.

SPOILER!!: Vera! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

On the contrary, Professor Khanna, it was ALWAYS a good idea to host classes outside in this Gryffindor's book. The cold could always be combated with outerwear, which was why the 15 year old had all but disappeared under her jumper and a large red and gold scarf wrapped a few times around herself and covering majority of her lower face. "Hi Professor!" She chirped, though the yarn in front of her mouth certainly left it muffled, as she skipped her way over towards one of the open logs and carefully sat down on it.

She kept her feet kicking in front of her as she waited for other students to arrive, making no move to unburrow herself from the warmth she'd created. She WAS curious though what they would be doing for the day, though looking around at the surroundings she hadn't yet noticed any guesses. Maybe something with the Willow? Was that why they were outside?

Oooooh maybe they'd play dodge branch with the tree! That was a fun game and reflexes were important, right? Even if that wasn't the lesson, she tucked the idea away to give them later.

Seeing Vera approach all wrapped snugly, Dhruv was immediately reminded that they should set up a clothes rack for students to hang their excess clothing should they get too warm. “Hello, Ms. Thanatos.’’ A clothes rack complete with hangers suddenly appeared a short distance from the board, complete with hangers. “Feel free to hang your clothing up should you get extra toasty.” That way she wouldn’t have to be sounding muffled during the entire lesson.

SPOILER!!: Mercer! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

A reasonable wizard would be fully bundled up for an outdoor class in January. A teenage boy, never really considered reasonable, would just as likely show up in shorts and flip-flops and be puzzled about being cold the entire time. Mercer was fully a teenage boy, albeit a Ravenclaw one, so he at least had closed shoes and a jacket, but his cheeks were red-apple-cold and his nose was running like a faucet.

He was having just the BEST time.

"Hi, professor! Very cool shades. Or cold shades, maybe?" Mercer laughed at himself and sat down, giving Vera a wave.

Some students clearly enjoyed the cold despite setbacks. Not the bright red cheeks but the running nose. “Mr. Branxton. Thank you.” Yes, they were laughing at the little joke there. “Before you go… here.” Quickly Dhruv conjured a handkerchief and handed it off. “For your nose.” Maybe Mercer would also find the need to pay a visit to the Healer to grab a bit of Pepperup Potion later.

SPOILER!!: Daniel! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

As he walked over the Grounds for his next lesson, his shoes crunched the frozen grass beneath him. He wore his Hufflepuff scarf and black gloves, which he kept hidden in his robe pocket. To keep himself warm, he drew the hood of his winter robe over his head.

Daniel took a brief look around as he approached the area and counted the tree stumps lined up before turning his head to look at the Professor standing at the chalkboard."Professor" he said in greeting as he lowered his hood to, you know, show who he was before walking over to a tree stump and taking a seat.

He set his shoulder bag beside the stump and stared into the distance, his mind wandered to the latest book he was reading. It had been a long time since a book had captivated him, and he finally found one last night.

He hoped lunchtime started soon so that he could continue to read the story.

One look at Daniel and anyone would think, ‘Hufflepuff Pride’. At least those words came to Dhruv’s mind immediately. “Mr. Yoon.” Seconds later, they would wonder what was occupying the seventh year’s attention that much. They hoped it was nothing stressful.

SPOILER!!: Brandox! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

Brandon loved going outside. The cold... he supposed... was alright... ish... (Brandon did NOT like the cold.) During the cold winter months, he was satisfied with remaining indoors where it was safe. It had never occurred to him that the professors could cast weather charms outside! He looked around the "classroom" with wide eyes, trying to make the warm temperature and the cold winter weather make sense at the same time. Professor Khanna was so cool! He chose a stump in one of the purple boxes. Were these personal space boxes? He liked the idea of that. "Hi Professor! What are your sunglasses for if it's not snowing enough to reflect lots of sunlight back into your eyes?"

Dhruv, in all modesty, did not think they could possibly impress Brandon even more. Apparently this was far from the truth as the awe was clearly written on the second year’s face. “Hallo, Mr. Fox.” They grinned. “Oh, you know me. I’m addicted to my shades.” They patted the right side of the frame fondly.

SPOILER!!: Fynley! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lottiepot

Ordinarily Fynn would describe himself as being an outdoor loving type of boy. Sporty and energetic, he found solace in enjoying the fresh air and open space that the grounds would provide. An outdoor lesson on a cold day in January however didn’t sound like his ideal Defence Against the Dark Arts session. Once they would get going he was sure it would be okay as their bodies would warm up but he didn’t appreciate the walk out from the castle and over towards where todays lesson would be held.

Fynley had thankfully actually thought about what the weather would be like before stepping out into the grounds and therefore had his thicker jumper on to somewhat cover himself as his feet crunched over the frozen ground. He was relieved when he arrived at the tree stumps and the area around was instantly warmed up by some sort of enchantment. “Hey Prof” he greeted Professor Khanna with a friendly nod before picking his stump to flop down on.

Fear not! Dhruv {and all the other Hogwarts professors} had the students’ best interests at heart. There was no way they would ever let one freeze. “Mr. Ellis. Hello, hello.” Bask in the warmth, young Ravenclaw!

SPOILER!!: Kion! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Kion was normally the type to go without a jacket in the chilling winters. Partially for sharing his jacket but also from his rare stubbornness to "tough it out" every now and then since it felt bulky on his frame. But he did wear a nice thick jumper to compensate with his gloves. "Hello Professor," He smiled.

The fifteen-year old then went over to a spot to remain and chill (no pun intended) until the lesson began.

“Hello to you as well, Mr. Ingebretson.” Dhruv offered Kion a smile, noting the Gryffindor was not overly dressed for the weather. Some students were like that, the sort that thrived in the cold.

SPOILER!!: Desiree! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Desiree was in a pretty good mood today, despite the weather. To quote Elsa, “The cold never bothered [her] anyway.” She knew how to do warming charms and had placed one on her cloak and scarf before she left the castle. Between her spell and her winter gear, she was nice and toasty warm as she made her way to today’s DADA lesson.

“Hello, Professor Khanna,” she greeted with a wave and a cheerful smile. Her smile grew as she noticed the purple lines around the stumps. Ooh, one of her favorite colors! “Nice color choice for those lines!” She wondered what the lines were for, but she knew better than to ask. She’d been at Hogwarts long enough to know that professors generally didn’t give away lesson information right away!

Oh well, she supposed she’d find out soon enough. Still contemplating the purple lines, she took a seat on the nearest stump and waited for the lesson to begin.

Desiree was in the sprite mood today it seemed. “Ms. Marchand, hello.” Oh! She approved of the colour. Lovely! “I’m glad you approve. They’ll be there for the duration of the lesson.” Wasn’t that a treat for her?

SPOILER!!: Sable! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

The “captain’s” jacket was absolutely back, mostly because of the weather. A little bit less oversized but still giving Sable Ileana enough to wear one of her jumpers borrowed from her mum underneath, as she’d made her way out to the grounds for the next DADA lesson. The cold didn’t bother her anyway, and all. It was easy to just pretend any breezes were coming off the lake. Pirate stuff. And besides, she knew the lesson was bound to be interesting. Defense lessons usually were, even if they were just about Dark creatures. There was a reason she’d listed the subject as one of her favorites in the job consultation thing.

Gryffindor scarf half-wrapped around her head, covering her blonde hair, she’d skipped down to the meeting area and given the professor a grin. “Hey Professor Khanna. What’s going to happen today?”

Not that she actually expected an answer to her question, as she’d claimed the stump next to Vera, nudging the other girl before plopping down cross-legged on the wood. Just because she felt like it. Not because her feet were cold or anything.

This certainly was one happy, skippy Gryffindor. Sable, in Dhruv’s opinion, would give Vera a run for her money. “Hello, Ms. Armstrong.” They returned the grin with a mysterious one of their own. “Only time will tell.”

SPOILER!!: Anna! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Her feet could not move quickly enough today.

The problem with an excitable Anna was that she tended forget things. More so than usual anyway. Today was no exception and, well, she HAD remember a VERY important document she just HAD to pass along but not so much the fact that she probably should have bundled up considering the time of year and weather. She was in her standard robes at least...though her skirt and rainbow toe socks were not doing that well at keeping her pale skin from goosebumping. Her scarf had fallen off at some point between the castle and here, something she only realized once she arrived buuuuuuuuuut there wasn't time to go back and look for it now. Hopefully it would be there along the path once she started making her way back.

Not paying attention to where she plopped herself and ALSO making sure that she wasn't TOO obvious as she serpentined her way about the place so she could oh-so strategically drop a much more carefully folded note on to the Seraphic Princess of Joy and Beauty's lap before making her way over to her own seat tooooootally on the opposite side of the group. Sitting too close would raise SUSPICIONS! Only pity being that the actual contents of her letter, the living flesh version, was not here yet so it was going to be harder to gauge reactions.

Whistling softly, another way to make one look less suspicious, Anna stumble stepped in front of Vera and dropped the note almost just as she had planned. She actually dropped it a little prematurely and had to scramble to pick it up then take a couple more totally casual skips and pause and THEN dropped it into her lap.

SPOILER!!: THE NOTE

The third year pressed her finger to her lips and without waiting too long had skipped off to find a spot for herself. One where she was in a pretty good position to observe her idol.

Oh, almost forgot!

"Good day, professor!" she greeted with very rosy cheeks and a nose that might put some reindeer to shame. "Are your eyes sensitive to sunlight? Is that why you have sunglasses on?" See? Striking up conversation. Tooooootally casual and absolutely constantly glancing back at Vera eagerly.

Oh my. Dhruv sincerely hoped that Anna had not given herself frostbite on the journey from the Castle to the outdoors. Behind their shades, he observed the upbeat Hufflepuff dropping notes off. Colour them amused and curious! But the contents of the notes were not their business, just as long as they weren't going to bring about any disruption the lesson. “Good day to you, Ms. Walles.” Dhruv peered over the shades at the Hufflepuff to toss her a wink. “It’s just a habit I’ve had since my teenage days. In case you’re wondering, that’s many, many years ago.”

SPOILER!!: Nadia! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

Was Nadia okay with an outdoor class in January? Well for the most part. But let’s just say she made sure to bundle up from her Gryffindor scarf right down to her warm boots to keep her going in hopes that heating charms would be prevalent at their meeting place. And thankfully Professor Khanna didn’t disappoint.

“Good day Professor,” the Gryffindor greeted the defense professor, taking in the layout of the area as if it would hold clues as to what they would be learning about this lesson. The second year moving to take a stump year Vera and Anna.

Another snuggly wrapped student. Dhruv must say that these teens certainly took care of themselves {as they should}. "Ms. Atreyu-Rehman. Good day." In some ways, Nadia reminded them of Adi. Speaking of which... the two old friends needed to set aside some time to catch up.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Welcome to another DADA lesson!" Did they look thrilled to be hosting another lesson? Yes, because there was nothing they loved more than teaching. "Should you get too toasty, feel free to hang your jumpers, scarves etc on the coast rack." They indicated to the rack that had been conjured when Vera got there. Let’s dive right away by getting into our mini activity. Today we’ll be giving our attention to a nifty charm. What it does exactly is something that we’ll discuss shortly but for now, we’ll take the time to practice the incantation and wand movement.” Behind them, the white chalk moved about on its own to write:

Quote:

Charm: Salvio Hexia
Pronunciation: SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh
Wand Movement: Downwards with palm of opposite hand held outward
Light: None {but there will be a haze/a shimmer of the air in the area at which the Charm is directed}

Dhruv moved towards the class, hands behind his back as they walked between the rows of stumps and students. “I would like for you to take a few minutes to make your notes and to practice the incantation and wand movement separately for now. Should you need my assistance, raise your hand to grab my attention.”

OOC: Annnd we’re off! Here’s our mini activity which will last for three days {until 15th June, 2023 at 11PM EST}. Dhruv and I will be around!

The offer from Professor Khanna was a nice one and she appreciated their thoughtfulness, but she was so warm and cozy she wasn't ready to risk it - not until they were moving around at the very least. So if it were all the same.. she stayed in her scarf bundle for the moment, eyes peeking out and roaming over the slowly gathering group while the lower half of her face remained covered.

She WAS smiling greetings at her friends and peers as they all arrived, but there was no way for them to have known that in her present state so instead she made sure to give waves of hello - starting with Mercer who got a return wave and then moving on to Sia as she made her arrival and claimed the spot next to Ve. As it should be she would point out! Besties almost always found their way next to each other! She would have nudged Sable Ileana back too but she'd already curled all her appendages up onto the stump so she was safe from that for now.

Oh and LOOK who was approaching! It was her favorite ray of sunshine! Who was acting a little more peculiarly than usual, which Vera watched with amusement. She wondered for a moment if it was just because Anna was cold, because her attire while always adorable certainly looked not appropriate for the biting air today, and she WOULD have offered her one of her extra outer wear, except she didn't really get a chance.

At first it seemed like Anna was trying very hard to NOT look her direction, and then she was walking by and dropping a piece of paper on the ground - before retrieving it and then sending it directly into Ve's own lap. She pulled down her scarf so one could see the full contents of her face, before looking back towards Anna with a slightly raised brow in question as she picked up the piece of paper. At the finger to the younger girls lips, Ve slid it a little more into her sleeve and gave the younger girl a small nod of understanding before shooting finger hearts with her free hand as her attention reverted to Professor Khanna.

She had to look like she was paying even extra attention to remain inconspicuous, right?

Except now it felt like that little note was burning a HOLE in her sleeve, she was so curious. So Nadia only got half of the enthusiastic wave she deserved before her attention once again BORE into Khanna. She was very much paying attention, Professor. Promise!

And then the lesson was beginning and much to her relief, the lecture portion was short today and then they were released to practice independently. Holding out her free hand, to make it look like she was participating, the other unfolded her note with great difficulty as she glanced down at it - mumbling under her breath as she did so in an attempt to look like she was doing the things.

At initial glance, the note made her smile because Anna's handwriting was just so Anna.

But then she actually READ the note and her face turned a BRIGHT tomato. In a moment of PANIC, she THREW the note into her mouth and began to chew. Before immediately regretting that course of action because parchment was NOT tasty (or made to be consumed. Couldn't it be like... rice paper or something?) But she also could not risk anyone seeing the contents, particularly the name mentioned or her brother so.... what had to be done had to be done!!! It's too bad it still wasn't as stealth as she wanted though, as she coughed a couple of times and had to burrow her face again to muffle it, praaaaying Professor Khanna did not notice her.

While she absolutely should have been practicing, it was far too difficult to do so over a wad of paper in her mouth, and now her head was waaaay too preoccupied with other ~things~ to be able to focus. Could they learn how to do a spell that would make her invisible instead??? Maybe this one WOULD?

Mercer twirled his wand thoughtfully. He was not thinking about the spell they were supposed to be practicing. He was thinking about spies. Hufflepuffs were generally untrustworthy, but now it appeared that Gryffindors were getting in on it. When he got back to the dorm later, he'd have to relay the VERY suspect actions he'd just witnessed - delivery of a secret document to Ms Vera Thanatos by Untrustworthy Number One Ms Anna Walles, and then the eating of the secret document.

What Would Milo Think? WWMT?

"The blind falcon flies at dawn," Mercer informed Vera very solemnly. He bopped his wand downward and wiggled the fingers of his free hand to show he was practicing. Trying to guess the secret pass phrase, but ALSO practicing. "Erm. Pachyderms golf in minidresses." He flicked his wand again (nothing happened) and SLOWLY winked at Vera.

SPOILER!!: Vera lollllll

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

The offer from Professor Khanna was a nice one and she appreciated their thoughtfulness, but she was so warm and cozy she wasn't ready to risk it - not until they were moving around at the very least. So if it were all the same.. she stayed in her scarf bundle for the moment, eyes peeking out and roaming over the slowly gathering group while the lower half of her face remained covered.

She WAS smiling greetings at her friends and peers as they all arrived, but there was no way for them to have known that in her present state so instead she made sure to give waves of hello - starting with Mercer who got a return wave and then moving on to Sia as she made her arrival and claimed the spot next to Ve. As it should be she would point out! Besties almost always found their way next to each other! She would have nudged Sable Ileana back too but she'd already curled all her appendages up onto the stump so she was safe from that for now.

Oh and LOOK who was approaching! It was her favorite ray of sunshine! Who was acting a little more peculiarly than usual, which Vera watched with amusement. She wondered for a moment if it was just because Anna was cold, because her attire while always adorable certainly looked not appropriate for the biting air today, and she WOULD have offered her one of her extra outer wear, except she didn't really get a chance.

At first it seemed like Anna was trying very hard to NOT look her direction, and then she was walking by and dropping a piece of paper on the ground - before retrieving it and then sending it directly into Ve's own lap. She pulled down her scarf so one could see the full contents of her face, before looking back towards Anna with a slightly raised brow in question as she picked up the piece of paper. At the finger to the younger girls lips, Ve slid it a little more into her sleeve and gave the younger girl a small nod of understanding before shooting finger hearts with her free hand as her attention reverted to Professor Khanna.

She had to look like she was paying even extra attention to remain inconspicuous, right?

Except now it felt like that little note was burning a HOLE in her sleeve, she was so curious. So Nadia only got half of the enthusiastic wave she deserved before her attention once again BORE into Khanna. She was very much paying attention, Professor. Promise!

And then the lesson was beginning and much to her relief, the lecture portion was short today and then they were released to practice independently. Holding out her free hand, to make it look like she was participating, the other unfolded her note with great difficulty as she glanced down at it - mumbling under her breath as she did so in an attempt to look like she was doing the things.

At initial glance, the note made her smile because Anna's handwriting was just so Anna.

But then she actually READ the note and her face turned a BRIGHT tomato. In a moment of PANIC, she THREW the note into her mouth and began to chew. Before immediately regretting that course of action because parchment was NOT tasty (or made to be consumed. Couldn't it be like... rice paper or something?) But she also could not risk anyone seeing the contents, particularly the name mentioned or her brother so.... what had to be done had to be done!!! It's too bad it still wasn't as stealth as she wanted though, as she coughed a couple of times and had to burrow her face again to muffle it, praaaaying Professor Khanna did not notice her.

While she absolutely should have been practicing, it was far too difficult to do so over a wad of paper in her mouth, and now her head was waaaay too preoccupied with other ~things~ to be able to focus. Could they learn how to do a spell that would make her invisible instead??? Maybe this one WOULD?

Behind their shades, Dhruv squinted in Vera’s direction. Oh, they could see her quite clearly. It was just that they did not want her to be distracted and if she became that way at any point, they would have to put their foot down. Speaking of which…

Dhruv sighed heavily and made his way towards the Gryffindor. “Ms. Thanatos. I may be wrong.” But they really weren’t since their eyesight was basically twenty/twenty vision. “I thought I saw you pop a piece of parchment in your mouth. Might I remind you that eating parchment is highly unhealthy?” Vera might not see it, but Dhruv was eyeing her rather sternly; though their other facial features would convey how unamused they were. “Kindly spit that out into this.” Just like that, a small wastepaper basket appeared in their hand. “Then you will stand before the class demonstrating the proper way to conduct the wand movement to today’s spell. You will also correctly remind them how to pronounce the incantation. Separately.” They felt the need to be specific about the latter bit should Vera have any other ideas. In addition to conducting the silly act of chewing on parchment, this ‘punishment’ would serve as her form of practice.

SPOILER!!: Mercer! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Mercer twirled his wand thoughtfully. He was not thinking about the spell they were supposed to be practicing. He was thinking about spies. Hufflepuffs were generally untrustworthy, but now it appeared that Gryffindors were getting in on it. When he got back to the dorm later, he'd have to relay the VERY suspect actions he'd just witnessed - delivery of a secret document to Ms Vera Thanatos by Untrustworthy Number One Ms Anna Walles, and then the eating of the secret document.

What Would Milo Think? WWMT?

"The blind falcon flies at dawn," Mercer informed Vera very solemnly. He bopped his wand downward and wiggled the fingers of his free hand to show he was practicing. Trying to guess the secret pass phrase, but ALSO practicing. "Erm. Pachyderms golf in minidresses." He flicked his wand again (nothing happened) and SLOWLY winked at Vera.

“Focus, Mr. Branxton,’’ Dhruv remarked briskly to Mercer. “On your practice, that is. There is no finger wiggling involved when it comes to this particular wand movement.” Perhaps they needed to make an amendment to the blackboard’s notes to reflect the fact. The DADA professor briefly turned from Mercer so that they could focus on magicking the chalk to make the adjustment. Once done, their attention returned to the Ravenclaw. “Please try again.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amended Note On Blackboard

Charm: Salvio Hexia
Pronunciation: SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh
Wand Movement: Downwards with palm of opposite hand held outward, fingers held straight and pointed upwards
Light: None {but there will be a haze/a shimmer of the air in the area at which the Charm is directed}

OOC: There’s still about 49 hours left for this activity, y’all!

Desiree couldn’t help but occasionally glance at the lines around her stump. So pretty and purple! She looked up, turning her attention to Professor Khanna as the lesson began. Her mood instantly brightened at the sight of the spell information on the board. Ooh, they were starting with a spell today? Fun! And a nice change of pace, too. She enjoyed practicing spells, and that one sounded useful.

“Salvo- no, Salvio Hexia,” she practiced the incantation quietly. “SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh. Salvio Hexia, Salvio Hexia…” That spell was quite a mouthful, but after several tries, she felt she was getting the hang of the pronunciation.

Now came the wand movement. She held her right palm out, making sure to keep her fingers straight, and moved her wand in a downward motion with her other hand. Was she doing this right? As she repeated the motion, a thought occurred to her. Was she holding her fingers too far apart? Too close together? After her second attempt at the wand movement, she raised her hand. “Professor, does it matter how far apart the fingers on the opposite hand are spaced as long as they’re kept straight?” she asked.

Anna was literally waiting on pins and needles for Vera to read her note. Okay, not LITERALLY because that would be pretty painful but she was SUPER eager to see her reaction. She imagined there would be wistful blushing and lovely dovey eyes made, the kind of eyes she saw mum make at dad or better yet...the eyes she had made at daddy before daddy had had to go on his top secret mission to save the world and chart the seven seas and break curses. SO she was leaaaaaaaaaaaning so far forward on her stump that she nearly toppled right off it when the professor addressed her again to explain his sunglasses and how old he was. It was okay, professor, we all knew you were old because you couldn't profess without being old...er. Older. She, unfortunately, didn't even entirely notice dear darling sweetheart Nadia had seated herself nearby and Anna missed out on giving her friend a big hug.

She did get a reaction from Vera...AND THE LIONESS WAS EATING THE PAPER????!!!! Clearly she was not the only one entirely startled by this behavior since an older Ravenclaw boy was gawking at her as well - though Anna did not notice this since she was too busy being confused. WHAT DID THIS EVEN MEAN?! There was only one thing she could do - she was just going have to pass a letter to the Faithful House Elf to the Seraphic Princess of Joy and Beauty also. Obviously.

Distracted by thoughts of what to put in this new letter, Anna entirely missed all the instructions as to what they were meant to be doing. Looking around and seeing her peers waving their wands...she decided to do that too...but rather haphazardly and still pretty blatantly staring at Vera - which meant there were sparks shooting out of her wand every now and then...which wasn't a small hazard or anything....

...uuuuuuuuuuum...

From the safety of his purple personal-space box, Brandon at cross-legged and watched what everybody else was doing. He watched Anna give Vera a note. He watched Vera get embarrassed and eat the paper(that was not very good). Then he looked back at Anna to see what she'd do when Anna aw Vera eat the note. But then Professor Khanna was telling Vera to pay attention and not eat paper, so Brandon hurried to do his own practice before he could get in trouble. First, he carefully wrote out his notes. They were neat, color-coded, and very clear and detailed (he even added a note to the margins that said 'no finger-wiggling').

Brandon figured he'd start with the wand movement. It involved two hands. He put his left hand out like the sign for STOP, and moved his wand downwards. He felt silly not saying any incantation, so he said "stop" instead. If you heard Brandon saying stopstopstopstopstop while practicing the wand movement, it was obviously because the wand movement involved holding his hand in a way that said STOP. It was useful, in his mind at least. Okay, now for the incantation. Separately. Why were they doing it separately? Did the spell do something bad if it backfired? He didn't want to break the rules and find out. He put his wand carefully in his pocket.

"SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh. Salvio... Hexia. Salviohexia. Salvio Hexia."

SPOILER!!: Desiree! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy

Desiree couldn’t help but occasionally glance at the lines around her stump. So pretty and purple! She looked up, turning her attention to Professor Khanna as the lesson began. Her mood instantly brightened at the sight of the spell information on the board. Ooh, they were starting with a spell today? Fun! And a nice change of pace, too. She enjoyed practicing spells, and that one sounded useful.

“Salvo- no, Salvio Hexia,” she practiced the incantation quietly. “SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh. Salvio Hexia, Salvio Hexia…” That spell was quite a mouthful, but after several tries, she felt she was getting the hang of the pronunciation.

Now came the wand movement. She held her right palm out, making sure to keep her fingers straight, and moved her wand in a downward motion with her other hand. Was she doing this right? As she repeated the motion, a thought occurred to her. Was she holding her fingers too far apart? Too close together? After her second attempt at the wand movement, she raised her hand. “Professor, does it matter how far apart the fingers on the opposite hand are spaced as long as they’re kept straight?” she asked.

Dhruv would not lie: yes, the incantation was a mouthful. It was why they insisted that the students get enough practice with it before everyone moved onto the main activity. Dhruv hadn't gotten to Desiree in time to determine the accuracy of her pronunciations in time but they did see her raised hand. “Excellent question, Ms. Marchand.” They appreciated questions, no matter if anyone thought them silly. “Distance between the fingers does not matter. You may even keep them together like so.” The DADA professor held up his right hand, fingers pointing to the sky but each touching the one beside it.

SPOILER!!: Anna! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Anna was literally waiting on pins and needles for Vera to read her note. Okay, not LITERALLY because that would be pretty painful but she was SUPER eager to see her reaction. She imagined there would be wistful blushing and lovely dovey eyes made, the kind of eyes she saw mum make at dad or better yet...the eyes she had made at daddy before daddy had had to go on his top secret mission to save the world and chart the seven seas and break curses. SO she was leaaaaaaaaaaaning so far forward on her stump that she nearly toppled right off it when the professor addressed her again to explain his sunglasses and how old he was. It was okay, professor, we all knew you were old because you couldn't profess without being old...er. Older. She, unfortunately, didn't even entirely notice dear darling sweetheart Nadia had seated herself nearby and Anna missed out on giving her friend a big hug.

She did get a reaction from Vera...AND THE LIONESS WAS EATING THE PAPER????!!!! Clearly she was not the only one entirely startled by this behavior since an older Ravenclaw boy was gawking at her as well - though Anna did not notice this since she was too busy being confused. WHAT DID THIS EVEN MEAN?! There was only one thing she could do - she was just going have to pass a letter to the Faithful House Elf to the Seraphic Princess of Joy and Beauty also. Obviously.

Distracted by thoughts of what to put in this new letter, Anna entirely missed all the instructions as to what they were meant to be doing. Looking around and seeing her peers waving their wands...she decided to do that too...but rather haphazardly and still pretty blatantly staring at Vera - which meant there were sparks shooting out of her wand every now and then...which wasn't a small hazard or anything....

...uuuuuuuuuuum...

Ha. Very funny, Anna. Dhruv would have laughed in jest at that thought had it been put out there verbally. They had been young once upon a time; yes, even while they had professed. It soon became evident that even Anna was fully distracted by Vera’s antics. “Ms. Walles.” Dhruv suddenly became alert when sparks started to fly. “Please lower your wand for now.” They gave her a moment to do this. “Take a deep breath to regroup yourself. The instructions are for you to practice the wand movement and incantation separately for the time being. Ms. Thanatos will demonstrate the correct way in order master both, but the information is on the board. I need you to focus, for your classmates' safety as much as yours.” No one needed to find out firsthand if those sparks were of a dangerous nature. “Perhaps you can refrain from sharing notes with your friends until after the lesson the next time you need to do so.” This all was said without hostility, the usual way in which they spoke to their students.

SPOILER!!: Brandon! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocat

From the safety of his purple personal-space box, Brandon at cross-legged and watched what everybody else was doing. He watched Anna give Vera a note. He watched Vera get embarrassed and eat the paper(that was not very good). Then he looked back at Anna to see what she'd do when Anna aw Vera eat the note. But then Professor Khanna was telling Vera to pay attention and not eat paper, so Brandon hurried to do his own practice before he could get in trouble. First, he carefully wrote out his notes. They were neat, color-coded, and very clear and detailed (he even added a note to the margins that said 'no finger-wiggling').

Brandon figured he'd start with the wand movement. It involved two hands. He put his left hand out like the sign for STOP, and moved his wand downwards. He felt silly not saying any incantation, so he said "stop" instead. If you heard Brandon saying stopstopstopstopstop while practicing the wand movement, it was obviously because the wand movement involved holding his hand in a way that said STOP. It was useful, in his mind at least. Okay, now for the incantation. Separately. Why were they doing it separately? Did the spell do something bad if it backfired? He didn't want to break the rules and find out. He put his wand carefully in his pocket.

"SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh. Salvio... Hexia. Salviohexia. Salvio Hexia."

Observant as he was, Brandon did not get distracted by the event that involved Vera. For this, Dhruv was grateful. They indeed heard the mutterings of the word ‘stop’, and at first, was bewildered by it. It eventually struck them, however. ‘Stop’ was definitely one way to interpret the action of the wand free hand, and if it helped Brandon to remember this particular movement in the future, then by all means he should continue. “Excellent work, Mr. Fox.”


OOC: I love coming home to each of these posts There’s still about 24 hours left for this activity, y’all! :3

She honestly couldn't tell if it was the paper beginning to taste better or just sheer confusion at Mercer's commentary that made the mild choking cease, as she the Gryffindor turned and slooooowly blinked at the Ravenclaw. The blind falcon flies at dawn?? Was that some type of smart speak for he'd seen the note and someone was telling the subject of it!? Or maybe he'd seen the note and meant to tell her brother which was just as bad. She was GOING to plead and try to bargain to ensure that was not going to happen but then Mercer was saying something about mini dresses and winking at her.

Um?? Why was that so slow too? "Are you okay?" She'd found herself asking her peer, which was rich coming from the girl with literal parchment in her mouth. Parchment which also made the question rather difficult to understand she imagined, as it came out a more garbled 'arf you otay?'

There was no time to continue to be concerned though, because instead she was being approached by individual number 3 for whom she'd hoping would not notice her. And in this moment, she couldn't actually decide which one would be worse. .... "It doesn't taste very good either..." She replied quietly, her face perhaps burning even brighter than it had been moments before (if that had actually been possible). Her response was still rather garbled, but her speech would be cleared momentarily as at their request to spit out the parchment into a waste basket he'd conjured, she opened her mouth over it and let the note fall into it - merely hoping her saliva had ruined it enough to make it illegible. There wasn't a spell to reverse that, right?

In the grand scheme of things too, her punishment from Khanna had to be the most mild she had received. And yet... it still had her feeling on the verge of tears perhaps because it was Khanna and they were one of two Professor's that she did not particularly want to disappoint. So when they told her they'd be getting up and demonstrating the movement for the spell, as well as proper pronunciation, she moved to do so with no additional commentary. Instead standing next to the temporary board and holding up her left hand, fingers held together and pointing up towards the sky with her palm facing the group, while her right hand moved her wand downwards.

Once that demonstration was done, it was the pronunciation. She'd been trying to listen to her peers around her and she thought she could wing it without having attempting it yet. Taking another glance at the board parallel to her, she went ahead and took a stab. "SAL-" She started but stopped, the sound coming out much quieter than she meant it too before starting again. "SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh. Salvio Hexia." Sounded right to her, but she said it twice - once nice and slow to enunciate each syllable and then one normal.

Could she go sit down now and wait for the earth to swallow her? That was something that could happen at Hogwarts, right?

Nadia briefly glanced at the coat rack as it was mentioned but right now she was just toasty enough so it was later ignored. Only to notice something was up between Anna and Vera causing the second year Gryffindor to raise her eyebrow in curiosity at the other two girls she considered friends. Whatever was going on, she had to let it go as Professor Khanna moved to begin the lesson and she forced herself to pay attention to what was being said…what spell was being taught…even as said professor sought to care of things.

Eating paper? Say wha…

No, Salvio Hexia. That was what she should be thinking on. And not Vera who had to feel weird about being called out and didn't need more attention on her. SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh. A bit of a mouthful if you asked Nadia though she doubted anyone really cared about what she thought about it. So she would just focus on the practicing of it. “Salvio Hexia… SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh…Salvio Hexia… SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh…Salvio Hexia…”

Daniel hadn't been paying attention to what the others were doing. He had been too focused on the story in his own mind and he wouldn't have looked in Vera's and Anna's direction if the Professor hadn't mentioned that they might have seen Vera pop a piece of paper in her mouth.

This naturally drew his attention because it was an unusual thing to both say and do. He glanced over to the younger girl before deciding that he had more important things to do than figure out why teenage girls could be so ridiculous in every way.

He rolled up his sleeve and took out his wand. He'd never learned the spell before and was looking forward to learning something new for a change. He kept repeating the words 'Salvio hexia'....'Salvio hexia'..... 'Salvio hexia' in his head over and over, trying to get a feel for the spell.

The Hufflepuff obviously skipped the wand movement. A simple downward movement with the opposite hand's palm held outward was just as simple as pointing a wand and he didn't see the point in practicing it.

So finger placement didn’t matter. Good to know! “Thanks, Professor!” Desiree replied with a beam, intently observing how Khanna held their hand out. With her question answered, she resumed practicing her wand movement. She tried to hold her fingers together just like the professor had done as she held her right palm out, making the downward wand movement with her opposite hand.

After a few more tries, she felt reasonably confident with the wand movement. Seeing as the lesson hadn’t moved on yet, she decided to make use of the extra time by practicing the incantation some more. “SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh,” she repeated quietly. “ SAL-vee-oh HEK-see-uh, Salvio Hexia, Salvio Hexia…”

"I'm fine," Mercer informed both Vera AND the professor, since it seemed that his secret agent skills were a bit remiss. "Fine. I'm... fiiiine." This last was more quietly to himself as he turned his attention back to the spell. It wasn't that it was hard, it was just that he would rather be a spy than learn another spell. To make his point of being FINE, Mercer demonstrated the wand motion flawlessly for the professor. See? Fine.

"Saaaaal-vio..." Was the professor moving on yet? "You shouldn't accept notes from Hufflepuffs," he managed quietly out of the side of his mouth. The front of his mouth, actually, but with his lips pressed oddly together in what he imagined made it look like he wasn't talking at all. "They're untrustworthy and tend toward poisons. Sneakiest way to die, you know? The celery stalks at midnight."

Feeling at least somewhat sure of the incantation and the flow of words from her mouth, Nadia decided to move onto practicing the wand movement to go with it. First she copied what was posted on the blackboard about it down into her notes on parchment under the incantation so she had it for future reference and all that. It took her a moment to realize that it was a spell that looked to require BOTH hands to play a part in the casting, her dominant hand the one moving while the opposite was simply raised.

She fiddled with her non-wand hand first, raising it upward like the written instructions. The Gryffindor twisting her left hand to face away from her to follow the mention of outward. There…that seemed like at least half correct. Now she picked up her wand and started at a point parallel to the top of the middle finger of her left hand before moving it downward. Glancing at her notes and repeating the downward gesture, Nadia figured that was right. She practiced it a few more times, experimenting with whether it was straight down or at some sort of angle.

She’d only know for sure when it was put all together.