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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Jul 16, 2009 21:12:17 GMT -5
[blue]"Of course Professor,"[/blue] she acquiesced with a nod as he suggested that she practice the charm wordlessly. Gracefully, she rose from her desk, watching the silent exchange between Caitlin and Sam surreptitiously for a moment as she pretended to read back through her notes before attempting the charm.
[blue]Mister Kelley, I might point out that there are those in this school who are just as capable of noting prolonged mental conversation as of monitoring meetings and words spoken aloud,[/blue] she chastised without speaking. [blue]Do at least attempt some level of discretion.[/blue]
She never looked over at Sam. Instead, she nodded as she re-read her notes before gathering her wand and returning to the area where the other students were practicing their patronuses. Keeping her lips closed as she brandished her wand and concentrated on the charm, gathering her happiest memories as fuel for the spell. The first time, she managed only a silvery wisp from the tip of her wand. Being complicated magic, a patronus charm was quite difficult to practice silently. And yet, knowing how important it was, she gathered herself again for another attempt, focusing on strengthening her efforts.
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Sam Kelley
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Elemental Master of Water
Posts: 67
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Post by Sam Kelley on Jul 18, 2009 2:28:15 GMT -5
The ticklish twitching of Sam’s ears lingered for only a few seconds before Alessandro quickly and effectively relieved him of the affliction. The sensation didn’t bother the lad, it was a popular choice for such practice due to the harmless nature of the jinx and he had seen plenty of those sessions in the past. With the feeling now gone, Sam reached to his wand and glanced between his fellow Elemental Masters. ”Very nice,” he remarked to Alessandro. It was a pretty easy task as far as wandwork went, but it was in the boy’s nature as captain of the Gyrffindor quidditch team to acknowledge good performance.
With the kelpie mane wand grasped firmly in his left hand, Sam glanced toward Alessandro and considered the selection of harmless jinxes, hexes, and curses that he was familiar with. Just as the Gryffindor settled on the jelly-legs jinx, his eyes widened suddenly in response to the sound of D’rorah’s voice echoing in his mind. It wasn’t anger that brewed within the lad at the sound of her chastising, but that familiar annoyance that at times made itself known during their daily early morning training sessions. It was an interesting dynamic between the pair that at times they could become so annoyed and frustrated with each other, but in the heat of the moment they worked together flawlessly. In fact, if one were to strip it down, Sam actually liked the older girl as a friend and had even agreed with his brother that they would take her into their clan as Kelleys tended to do, but even the siblings in the happiest of families could grate on each other at times.
Again tightening the fingers of his left hand around the grip of the wand, Sam stepped forward toward the members of his group. As he made the move, he allowed his left hand to drift back a bit and behind his hip, where he gave it a sharp flick in D’rorah’s direction in the most nonchalant motion he could manage, sending a sponge-knees curse in her direction. Casting in such a direct and limited motion manner was standard for the lad that had always used his off hand to wield his wand. It had never made much sense to himself or others why a right handed boy cast spells in such a way, but it had yet to fail him to date.
With the curse tossed silently in the older Ravenclaw’s direction, Sam raised his hand and pointed it squarely center mass at Alessandro. With sharp, practice motion, he flicked the wand at his counterpart and sent a jelly-legs jinx his way. It wasn’t exactly the same spell that he had just tossed at D’rorah in what surely had to have been an undetectable manner for most in the classroom, but he had wished to send a more firm message to his training partner beyond a bit of silly wobbling in the legs.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Jul 18, 2009 4:22:05 GMT -5
D'rorah was only one person. As such, her attention could only be in so many places at any one time. Her skills of observation were keen... they had to be, as that was one of the few things ensuring her survival in this war. However, she typically felt little need to guard against attacks from her own allies in the war. There were far more dangerous people about... and one never knew where they might turn up. Thus, the majority of D'rorah's attention was on those she did not know as she worked on casting her patronus wordlessly. It was complex magic, but she was confident she would be able to work it out silently.
Raising her wand for another go, she was completely unprepared for what happened next. It was only a moment later that her legs seemed to rebel against her. Unable to stop herself, she crumpled to the floor uselessly, her knees a limp and unsupportive as a pair of sponges. [blue]"Finite incantatem,"[/blue] she commanded tersely, waving her wand impatiently at her knees.
It took a moment for her legs to feel normal enough to stand on again. In the time she spent on the floor, she searched the other occupants of the room, looking to see who might have cast the curse. As she was looking, Sam cast a jelly legs jinx at Alessandro. She was suspicious that it was he, but unsure. Glancing around the room as she made her way to her feet, she searched for telltale signs of guilt among the occupants of the room.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Jul 18, 2009 4:55:44 GMT -5
Awaiting the call from Sam, he glanced around the classroom subtly, flicking his eyes to the other students within his line of vision to see how they were all getting on. Merely curious and finding no reason to linger on anyone in particular, he made a note of avoiding D'rorah and instead moved back to look at the Gryffindor fifth year he was working with, to see when he was perhaps ready to hex Alessandro. Noting that his wand wasn't even pointing the right way, his brow creased slightly and a second later his attention was diverted by D'rorah crashing to her knees. His eyes widened accordingly and he failed to register that Sam had even turned to cast onto Darko.
Quickly refraining himself from crying her name, he tensed his jaw angrily and flicked his wand at the boy."Morsus," he muttered, sending the Stinging Hex directly at him from a very close distance. Too concerned with Dee, who had just waved her wand in the direction of her own knees and righted the spell cast upon her, he didn't entirely notice what was happening with his dorm-mate.
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Post by Bryan Kelley on Jul 18, 2009 6:55:14 GMT -5
At the Professor’s word’s, Bryan looked up from examining his patronus. He gave a nod of his head and slight smile to acknowledge the praise he had received for casting his patronus well. Bryan dismissed the silver winged horse with a flick of his wand as the Professor instructed he and D’rorah to practice casting the spell a few more times. Bryan noticed that D’rorah smoothly took on the instructions, casting and calling forth the silver griffin numerous times. However, the Gryffindor turned his attention away from his friend and returned it to his own task at hand. Bryan would not lay that his own casting ability was as good as D’rorah’s in casting the patronus charm. However, with Sam always around, seeking to challenge Bryan, the Gryffindor lad usually ended up giving a good show of it at least. So Bryan turned his attention to calling forth his patronus a few more times. For the most part, the Winged Horse came up deep silver with each of his attempts.
However, it came up a little gray as well when his attention had waned on the spell for a moment. Bryan continued practicing the spell a few more times after this, after D’rorah had clearly retaken her seat and Professor Archer had instructed her to try the spell wordlessly. Hearing the direction, Bryan was not particularly certain he wanted to attempt that quite yet, sure that it would be his own next assignment soon enough. So the boy turned his attention back to casting his patronus one more time. Bryan had drawn up his happy memory only to dismiss it when he heard something hit the floor. He turned his head to see D’rorah on the floor. He frowned for a moment before moving over to her. “Are you alright, D’rorah?” he asked her concerned as he offered her a hand to help her back up.
Bryan was unaware of the fact that a spell had been the cause of the Ravenclaw’s fall, nor that his brother was the culprit of such a spell. He had been focusing on his spellwork.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Jul 19, 2009 20:59:53 GMT -5
In a matter of mere moments, Alessandro's firmly standing legs began to buckle.
He sent his left hand out as quickly as he could, slamming it down on a desk that had been conveniently placed to his left, and used it to stabilize himself. The sensation that his legs could not support his upper body was an awful one to say the least. It felt like all the musculature in his calves and thighs had been reduced to mush, and as his legs buckled, threatening to allow his form to come crashing down, he did his best to maintain.
He craned his neck to look behind him as people around the room seemed to have taken notice of a student that had fallen to the ground. As he saw it was D'rorah, he wondered if the Jelly-Legs Jinx had affected her too for some reason. Watching her flawless spellcraft, he turned back to Dylan, as that was something that he ought to be doing about now.
"Dylan...help me out here..." He asked, his voice wavering thanks to the wobbling his legs were doing, sending light tremors up his body as he added his other hand over to the desk to support himself.
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Sam Kelley
Gryffindor
[red]5th Year Gryffindor[/red] Elemental Master of Water
Posts: 67
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Post by Sam Kelley on Jul 20, 2009 6:27:09 GMT -5
A small, yet amused, chuckle passed Sam’s lips at the sound of D’rorah hitting the floor behind him. It wasn’t exactly a diabolical or even mean spirited response, but one that might be fitting of a younger sibling taking retribution onto an older one; that was quite the fitting metaphor for the nature of their interactions. Sam was too reckless and verbose for the older Ravenclaw’s liking and she saw no reason to make a secret of that truth. There were days when their training sessions would handily be called cruel and unusual by a spectator, due to that shared stubbornness that didn’t allow either to prevent their competitions from escalating. Sam usually came out on the bottom of these sessions due to D’rorah’s superior skill with a weapon, but the boy claimed his victories where he could and as he had just demonstrated to the watchful gaze of Dylan Cooper, he wasn’t afraid to play a bit dirty with the girl. It was just one of those ironic relationships. For as cruel as the two could push and badger each other, there was respect there.
With his spell cast at Alessandro, Sam hadn’t paid a single of iota of attention to Dylan until the boy’s voice rang out to announce the spell headed in Sam’s direction. With practice and trained reflex, the Gryffindor brought his own wand up to block the incantation. ”Prot...” The familiar sting of the stinging hex assaulted the lad’s skin and forced him to bite his tongue before the defensive utterance could be completed. Sam cringed a bit and squinted his eyes against the attack in the short few seconds it took for him to cleanse the effect. ”Finite incantatem,” he muttered as he gave the kelpie maned cored wand a hard flick. Sam wasn’t one to flourish his wand in the ways that so many others did and the style of casting that he had naturally stumbled into since he began learning magic lent itself to his tendencies toward sharp and abbreviated wand motions.
”Finite incantatem,” he again murmured, this time motioning in Alessandro’s direction. Though he had cast the cleansing spell on the master of fire, it was the master of earth that drew Sam’s attention. The Gryffindor wasn’t one given to overreaction or temper in most circumstances and even in the wake of being attacked by Dylan, it wasn't anger that surfaced. After all, he had assaulted the Ravenclaw’s house mate and ally and Sam couldn’t very much expect him to understand the nature of his interactions with D’rorah. Instead of escalating the situation with his fellow Elemental Master, Sam opted to address the situation openly in his usual direct manner. ”We square now, Dylan?” he asked curiously with a slight tilt of his head and wand still firmly in hand.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Jul 20, 2009 11:51:21 GMT -5
[blue]"Perfectly fabulous, Mister Kelley,"[/blue] she replied sarcastically as Bryan offered a hand to help her from the floor. She took the offered hand, finding the extra bit of help necessary given the lingering sensation of sponginess in her knees. [blue]"Thank you,"[/blue] she replied, taking a short breath as she finally finished righting herself. She had barely made it to her feet when she heard Dylan (on account of her keen concentration in Sam's direction), directing a stinging curse at the Gryffindor on the opposite side of the room.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to understand why Dylan would possibly be retaliating against Sam for her, but she didn't give it much thought at the moment beyond the fact that at least she had confirmed to her satisfaction the origin of the spell that had sent her rather harshly to the floor. Had she been less annoyed with Sam, she might have found the sight of Alessandro wobbling around for a moment, forgotten, to be somewhat comical. As it was, however, she was more focused on the exchange between Dylan and Sam.
[blue]Even if Mister Cooper considers your debt... squared, Mister Kelley. Rest assured that I will not accept payment from him on your behalf.[/blue] Had they not been in a classroom full of people to witness the event, she could think of several curses she might send in his direction. Considering the thorough crisping she had gotten from his patronus the other day, and the fact that she had been chastising him in an effort to impress habits that would help to keep him and Caitlin safer, she did not appreciate the spell sent her way. [blue]Perhaps next time I will not say anything... and allow you to learn the consequences should someone not sympathetic to our cause stumble across you or your partner...[/blue]
Of course, she would do no such thing. She was invested in keeping all of the Lightfighters alive. And despite this irksome behavior, she intended to continue to do everything she could to ensure their safety. If Sam wanted to treat her like an annoying older sibling, she would find a way to break him of the habit... at least in public. It was one things when she took her lumps in training, but quite another when he risked linking the two of them in public with his antics. She closed the connection between them, slamming it shut forcefully enough that he would likely have a slight headache a bit later. The pain would be about comparable to the fall she had taken, so she couldn't find it in herself to feel any guilt over it.
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Ivy Halliwell
Slytherin
[green]7th year Slytherin[/green]
Posts: 17
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Post by Ivy Halliwell on Jul 20, 2009 18:49:50 GMT -5
While staring idly out the window, Professor Archer managed to capture her attention and bring her back into reality as he had instructed her to continue to try at the patronus charm, this time making it stronger. With a quick smile and a "Certainly, Professor!" He stood right up with an eager show and flourished her wand again.
What was she to do this time? Conjuring a Patronus was tiresome work. The happiness she had used up on the first try was pretty much exhausted, so she needed a recharge. Before casting the charm, she took a quick survey of the room. The students all seemed to be absorbed in their little groups of practice. There was something going on with the group of Fifth year boys, she noticed, as she saw the Gryffindor boy hold his wand down at his waist, and the next thing that happened, D'rorah collapsed to the floor. Arching an eyebrow, she continue to watch. Subsequently, he jinxed the Ravenclaw boy with the long dark hair, then, the Ravenclaw with shorter hair sent a stinging hex at the Gryffindor. Oddly, a smile presented itself on her lips as she watched spell, after jinx, after hex get sent out. As the situation seemed to be concluding, she turned her head and began to mind her own business once more.
Silly boys...at least it was a jump start... She thought as she began to search for more happy memories. When she felt like she had adequate happiness to charge the charm, she had another go at it.
"Expecto Patronum!" She commanded. The tip of her wand glowed with a silvery light and it began to grow brighter and brighter as she continued to hold onto her happy thoughts. Streams of light began to spew forth as she reveled in the odd sort of happiness she got from seeing the boys fight. She knew they were lightfighters thanks to Caira, so it brought her joy to know that there could be trouble from within. The streaks of light began to gather together several feet from her wand, forming a brighter mass of light, but ultimately in the end, she was unsuccessful with conjuring her patronus for a second time. Feeling now completely exhausted from her mental exertion, she lowered her wand and sat down at the desk with a sigh. Instead of trying again, she withdrew a compact from her bag and opened it, next using her wand to change the tint of her lip gloss with the color-change charm.
If she couldn't conjure her patronus, she would certainly conjure the perfect shade of lip gloss.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Jul 21, 2009 1:30:05 GMT -5
He stood up straight as the jinx was lifted by the caster, his fist tightening around his wand. It had become clear to him what was happening and who the culprit was for jinxing D'rorah. He couldn't believe it. Why would Sam jinx D'rorah in class? Did they even know each other? Jutting his jaw out to the side in a not-so-amused expression, he turned from his partners. Dylan was acting funny, he seemed very detached and Alessandro thought if anyone would be happy to see him back, it would be his dorm-mate, but clearly (as he interpreted earlier) something was amiss with the fellow Ravenclaw. Now he was starting to piece together that something was definitely upset between D'rorah and Dylan, as he wouldn't really look at her, but as soon as she fell to her knees, his was the first wand raised in recompense.
The fact that Dylan was distracted was not the reason for his frustration, but the sheer fact that his partners were behaving like 3rd years. Sam's intentions were unclear to Alessandro at the moment, but the Sponge-Knees jinx wasn't anything too serious; It was no unforgivable curse, but having cast it at the right time, it was enough to bring D'rorah Philosophy, usually a fortress of strength, down to the ground.
He hoped that Professor Archer wouldn't deduct points for their little display, hopefully he hadn't even noticed, seeing as it wasn't blatantly obvious that Sam had jinxed D'rorah, unless you were paying attention. Other than that, it seemed that the boys were following orders, jinxing each other and removing the effects with Finite.
Feeling like it was pointless to practice any further, and also feeling like a team effort was beyond him today, he called to Archer.
"Professor, I feel like I may be ready for something a bit more challenging. Do you have any suggestions?" Alessandro wasn't trying to alienate himself on purpose, but he really didn't feel like getting in the middle (as he clearly was on his way to) of a dispute between Dylan and Sam.
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Post by Alexander Archer on Jul 24, 2009 17:58:26 GMT -5
Receiving a polite response from D'rorah he smiled happily at her and turned his gaze elsewhere, his eyes scanning the room for nothing in particular. His gaze didn't manage to travel far, however, before returning to her once more as she fell to the floor. Seeming to have come under a jelly-legs jinx, he began moving to her to assure she was alright, before noticing that she seemed to have it quite under control, performing the counter curse herself and getting to her feet once more with the aid of Bryan Kelley.
Recalling that his first lesson had ended rather badly when spells had started to be thrown every which way, he lost his sunny disposition somewhat and looked to find a perpetrator. Ivy was in the back of the room, now beginning to cast a very nice Patronus, and seemingly focused entirely on that. Sam, too, was casting, but at one of the Ravenclaw fifth years. The other Ravenclaw, however, was casting toward Sam.
Frowning slightly, he moved over to them all to try and identify the perpetrator. Sam removed the jinx from Alessandro and said something to Dylan which was not inaudible to Alex. "Mister Kelley, twenty points from Gryffindor. Likewise, Mister Cooper. The both of you should know better than to cast spells like that in my class, and if I see it happen again you'll both be in detention," he said seriously, disappointed in the both of them and slightly frustrated with himself.
"Miss Halliwell, please continue working, try casting it silently," he called, lacking an angry tone when he addressed her. It wasn't anyone else's fault those two had acted that way, afterall, and he didn't really think it was ever fair to take his mood out on the class. Turning away from her and back to Alessandro as he posed a question, he nodded once. Obviously, he would not leave those three to work together on their own. "Yes, Mister Darko, why not try your hand at casting your own Patronus. You two as well," he said, indicating Sam and Dylan.
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Post by Dylan Cooper on Jul 24, 2009 19:14:12 GMT -5
Not hearing Alessandro as he focused fully on Sam, he finally noted that the Gryffindor had to be the one to cast the counter-curse on his dorm-mate. Not apologising, something he could do later, he noted with satisfaction that his spell had worked. "Square?" he asked with a slightly hostile tone, though was cut off from any current response as the professor moved over to them. Clenching his jaw slightly in annoyance, he moved to protest the deduction of points from Ravenclaw, before realising that he shouldn't have retaliated; at least in Archer's eyes. Closing his mouth and failing to respond with an argument, he settled instead for an apology. "Sorry, Professor, won't happen again." As he said it, he realised that this was the second time he had been involved in a fight of sorts in Defence class, and wondered briefly what the professor thought of him before flicking his eyes toward D'rorah.
She appeared to be watching him and Sam, and he averted his eyes quickly. As the professor indicated that they should all begin to attempt Patronuses of their own, at Alessandro's question, he walked away from Sam and to the other side of the class, back nearer to his own desk. Pushing aside the thoughts that had all been running through his mind but a moment before, he flipped through his textbook to the page on Patronuses that the professor had given at the beginning of the class.
Finishing it quickly, he thought that perhaps he should give Archer an actual reason to not dislike him, and concentrated hard on finding a happy memory. Nothing sprung to mind, all of his times with D'rorah somewhat tainted by his recent actions. Nevertheless, they were his happiest, and he shrugged slightly to himself and focused hard on one in particular. Smiling lightly as he recalled one particularly fine day they spent in her Hogsmeade cottage, he directed his wand firmly at his own desk and spoke the incantation.
A tiny, dark grey wisp emerged from the tip of his wand and flitted about for only a second before disappearing again. Grimacing slightly, he didn't think the professor would be particularly impressed with that. He had tried this a few times but being such advanced magic, he had never had much success. Inhaling deeply and keeping with that particular memory, which brought another grin to his face, he set himself to cast again.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Jul 24, 2009 22:04:45 GMT -5
D'rorah pursed her lips as Dylan turned his gaze away and shook her head slightly as she heard twenty points deducted from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. As if being in class with a horde of younger, inexperienced witches and wizards wasn't enough of a hazard to one's health, with poor aim and miscast spells and the like, these two were mucking about and acting up. Oh well, at least Archer seemed in charge of the situation already. Dylan's hasty apology assured her of that much, at least.
It was then that she heard Alessandro speak up, requesting permission to practice another spell. As soon as she realized that Archer intended to have four Elemental Master casting patronuses in the classroom at the same time, D'rorah started trying to think of an excuse to leave. The memory of the thorough crisping she had received when Sam's patronus had attacked her while she was in Shadow Form was quite fresh. And, though it would hardly do the same amount of damage to her in human form, she knew that with the amount of Shadow Taint running through her veins after so many brushes with corruption, the patronuses of four Elemental Masters all at once cast in the same room with her would hardly be comfortable. Certainly, she didn't want to have to explain away any minor burns that might appear as a result.
[blue]"Professor, may I be excused for a moment?"[/blue] she asked, raising her hand and hardly waiting for an answer before carrying herself from the classroom as gracefully as she could on her unsteady legs. She found she made it not a moment too soon as she already heard Dylan casting his patronus. Any minute now, undoubtedly, Sam and Alessandro would begin, joining Bryan who had already been casting his. She traveled not far past the doorway, leaning against the corridor wall outside the classroom so that she would not be seen by anyone inside. Her knees, still feeling somewhat spongy, were helped along as she quietly used a healing chant to speed their recovery, waiting for a few moments to hear the cessation of patronus casting before she would even consider re-entering the room.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Jul 27, 2009 2:58:29 GMT -5
At Alessandro's request, Professor Archer indulged the young man and allowed him and his partners to individually practice their Patronus Charms. Alessandro's face did not light up with the usual eagerness to perform, in fact, he was hoping Archer would come up with something that wasn't already being practiced in the room at the moment. His gaze downcast, he furrowed his brow wondering if he was going to be able to successfully cast his patronus. He should be able to-- was his line of thought, for he had practiced at great length, time and time again earlier on in the year until he was able to produce his Patronus on the first try. The stallion that always galloped from the bright light produced by his wand cheered him up and protected him from the dark things that walked amongst the forest shade, but this time he was dreading it. If he remembered correctly, the last time he had cast a patronus before he had "died" the stallion did not appear, and the animal that presented itself was a Phoenix. Why it had changed so abruptly, he had no idea, but shortly thereafter, he fell off the Astronomy tower, bursting into flames, and incinerated into ash.
Naturally, Alessandro associated the two events, and was a bit apprehensive of summoning his patronal guardian.
He inhaled with his nostrils flared, and then pushed all the air out through his mouth, raising his wand. Happy happy happy happy happy happy happy hapyy... He thought to himself, bringing up those memories of his father, his happy life before the Shadow Wars, Treacle, getting O's on tests and quizzes, going on adventures and living happily after the war ended. The last one wasn't so much a memory as it was a hope and a vivid visualization, but at this point, he felt like he had enough juice to charge the spell.
Flourishing his wand in the required circular motion, with a flick, "Expecto Patronum" He incanted. The tip of his wand lit up almost instantly, welling up to an orb of swirly, shimmery light the size of a softball. Silvery light radiated from his wand as streams of it began to flow forward as his patronus began to become corporeal. As Alessandro watched carefully, supplying the memories, he was hoping that his stallion would burst forth. It wasn't until Alessandro saw two wings spread open from the swirling orb of light that had now gotten a bit larger, did he let go of his wand.
His vision flickered as flames licked at everything in his line of sight and then everything vanished, and he was again consumed in fire, its destructive roar drowning his auditory senses. The clatter and clacking of his wand hitting the stone floor pierced through the burning sound of fire, and he blinked twice as his vision and hearing returned to normal almost instantly. With a shock-stricken look and slight pallor, he knelt down to the floor looking almost as if he had been confunded, and picked up his wand.
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Post by Priscilla Plumtree on Aug 1, 2009 20:55:21 GMT -5
The sound of her stiletto heels clicking on the stone floor of Hogwarts was in syncopation with the ticking of a clock.
Priscilla Plumtree had finally arrived at Hogwarts after much delay. First off, she had broken the right heel on one of her favorite pairs of pumps, prompting her to switch to her second favorite pair that she was wearing now. Then, it seemed that she would never make it to work on time as public transport was being rather dodgy these days. Finally deciding to forego the toil, she slipped into an alley and disapparated with the location of a small alley near the ministry in mind. Unfortunately to her dismay, her calculations were slightly off, and she apparated onto the top of a neighboring building-- nearly falling over the edge. With annoyance and its irritating feeling creeping its way through her body, she managed to get safely down to the ground. Arriving into her section quite late, her superiors called her into their office for a lengthy chat-- not about her tardiness, but about her new assignment.
She was to take the next train out to Hogsmeade, and from there proceed to Hogwarts where she will conduct a lengthy investigation pending the disappearance of its students and other assorted rumors and reports.
After a brief meeting with the Headmistress, Priscilla was instructed to sit in during a couple of classes to witness the normalcy of Hogwarts. "They're just young, inquiring minds, wanting to learn how to harness their magic." Caira had said to her as innocently as she could sound. Priscilla didn't doubt that fact at all. The facts that were bothersome were a) Students disappearing and returning. b) Dementors in the Dark Wood. c) Reports of dark activity on grounds. She would indulge the Headmistress as it was her school, but she would get to the bottom of the mysteries that were swarming within the school.
As she rounded the corner and approached the doorway to the classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts, she passed a young girl leaning against the wall. A brief nod and smile was offered to the youth with an accompanied "Good day."
Entering into the classroom as patronuses were being cast, she scanned the room noting that there weren't too many students present more than a handful. Spotting the professor at the head of the class, she approached him quickly.
"Professor Archer, I presume? Priscilla Plumtree, from the Ministry. She said holding out a firm hand. "I'm here to observe your class, I'm sure Caira has informed you?" She asked, her eyebrows shooting up on her forehead as she gave him a look seeking approval.
"Do you know that young girl out there?" She gestured to the doorway. "She looks dreadful, is she alright?"
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