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Post by Priscilla Plumtree on Sept 5, 2009 2:24:35 GMT -5
After several days of witnessing student behavior at it's best, Priscilla Plumtree made a rather obvious observation. The children were not getting a proper magical education. After meeting with Caira on the topic of Hogwart's diminutive staff, the two witches both agreed that the positions needed to be filled post-haste. Seeing as Charms class is a rudimentary part of every young wizard's education, Priscilla took the opportunity to act as a substitute until a proper professor could be hired. As for the rest of the gap-classes, Caira said she would see to it that the positions would be filled, whether she had to assign two classes to one professor, or teach the bloody class herself. Quick, short, steps filled the corridors with a staccato "clip-clop" of Priscilla's heels, echoing lightly off the walls as she made her way to the Charms classroom. Upon entering, she noted that it hadn't been used in quite some time-- much to her disdain and shock. With a frown on her face, she brandished her wand; Eleven inches, willow, with a vine-like design down the hilt, trailing off onto the shaft, with a Demiguise-hair core. With a simple flick, the curtains were drawn back, leaving clouds of dust to fill the air, allowing the sunlight to take on a quasi-physical form as it reflected the sunlight on each bit of dust. Another flick from the doorway of the room opened the windows allowing a gentle breeze into the room, and as the dust swirled about naturally by nature's breeze, Priscilla motioned in a circular manner with her wand and then flicking it forward, she created a magical gust, pushing all the dust and dingies out of the windows, pulling them shut at the very end. Quickly clip-clopping into the center of the stadium-esque classroom, she looked around feeling somewhat accomplished. Though the room still looked like it needed work, she had an idea.
Several mops and rags went to work, cleaning the floors and wiping down every surface possible. Feather dusters zoomed around the room getting every nook and cranny clear of cobwebs and stationary dust that was left behind. Three brooms got to work sweeping up any garbage left behind in the student rows, and Priscilla stood at the doorway once more, both hands placed on her hips, wand in right hand. Now she felt satisfied, walking over to the teachers desk (now immaculate) and pulling out a bright, shiny, red apple, taking a rather dulcet bite.
The chalkboard now read: Priscilla Plumtree Ministry of Magic Substitute for Charms Class She sat behind the desk with her hands clasped in front of her, and a smile plastered on her face, eager to greet each student that wandered into class-- on time hopefully. She took a breath and smiled even wider as the scent of wood polish, and clean floors filled her olfactory senses. The windows absolutely sparkled with the heavy, red, velvet curtains drawn back. Just as she was remarking internally about her precision with cleaning magic, her head almost snapped off her neck as she craned it so fast to see the first student opening the heavy, wooden door, and walking into (she was sure) the cleanest classroom in all of Hogwarts.
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Niobe Blakes
Ravenclaw
[blue]Fourth Year Ravenclaw[/blue] Shadow Warrior of Earth
Posts: 88
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Post by Niobe Blakes on Sept 5, 2009 21:58:46 GMT -5
(Short post is short)
Niobe was excited. Finally, a charms class! It was definitely her favorite subject, next to potions of course. The moment it had become available, she had signed up.
She found herself first in the class, which surprised her. She was sure some of the older students would have been here by now. Mentally shrugging it off, she gave the Professor a good morning, took a seat in the front and slowly began to unpack the materials needed for the class.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Sept 6, 2009 13:37:35 GMT -5
In all honesty, D'rorah was somewhat annoyed that Charms classes had resumed. She felt well-enough prepared for her impending NEWT examinations, and having to sit in class would only take away from her study time. Who knew though? Perhaps she would learn something new that she hadn't thought to cover on her own. Nevertheless, she would never allow herself to do anything as disrespectful as being late for class.
She also knew that this particular teacher had come from the Ministry... and as such, D'rorah had little intention of trusting her and was quite wary of falling underneath her gaze. Dressed in her typical, very concealing, thick robes, she finished pinning up her waist length hair, now liberally peppered with grey, into it's usual intricate coif before buttoning her collar all the way up to her throat and gathered her heavy satchel.
She was immediately struck by how... clean and precisely ordered everything was. While D'rorah herself was organized and preferred things neat, this looked like the work of someone with a compulsion for cleanliness. And that indicated to her that this professor would be the type who scrutinized and noticed everything. Sending a silent hope into the world that she wouldn't be cold enough today to do much physical shivering, she made her way to the front row, meeting the Professor's gaze as she did so. [blue]"Good day, Professor Plumtree,"[/blue] she greeted politely before settling into a desk and taking out her notes and quill to continue where she had left off in her research before coming to class.
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Post by Caitlin Collins on Oct 3, 2009 5:45:55 GMT -5
As Caitlin wondered upwards to the Charms classroom, one hand played idly with the wand in her pocket while the other hitched the heavy bag of textbooks back up onto her shoulder from where it had been slipping off. Back into the routine of schoolwork, she tried to make everything as convenient as possible – which meant carrying all her books around rather than going back up to her dorm to fetch whatever she needed when she had a break. It meant her shoulder was suffering for it, but that just gave her something to distract herself from the usual multitude of thoughts and dilemmas swirling around in her head.
As she entered the classroom she glanced up to see who was already in there – Niobe and D'rorah, if she was recognising the backs of their heads correctly, and the new professor... Plumtree, she thought. Yes, that was what the board said... along with the information that she was a ministry employee. Caitlin gave a small smile of greeting to her, eyes not moving to meet hers before going to sit in one of the chairs nearest to the door in a middle row, removing the books and paper needed.
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Benjamin Ellis
Gryffindor
[red]4th Year Gryffindor[/red]
if you don't have a smile I'll give you one of mine :)
Posts: 55
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Post by Benjamin Ellis on Oct 3, 2009 7:31:29 GMT -5
Ben carried his wand in one hand and a textbook in the other. In his pocket was a rolled up sheaf of parchment, quill and bottle of ink – which hopefully had its lid screwed on properly this time. He still hadn't got the stains out of his other pair of robes from when he had been hurrying to class one time and the lid had come loose. At least the blue ink blended in well with the black robes. His bag was somewhere in his dorm – he wasn’t sure where exactly, which was why he was just carrying what he needed.
Entering the classroom, he sent a cheery grin towards the professor. [red]"Good morning professor,"[/red] he said in an equally cheery voice, before placing himself in the front row between D'rorah and Niobe. [red]"Hi,"[/red] he greeted them both, stopping himself just in time before he sat on the bottle of ink in his pocket. Removing it and the parchment, he placed everything on the desk and checked his pockets once more before finally sitting down.
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Kerridon Paradox
Ravenclaw
[blue]6th Year Ravenclaw[/blue]
One loss locked me in the heart of misery... but you had the key to set me free
Posts: 317
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Post by Kerridon Paradox on Oct 3, 2009 9:42:31 GMT -5
Having been studying in the library, Kerridon had gotten so drawn into the book he was reading that he had almost lost track of the time. Almost. Fortunately, he checked the clock in the wall just as it was reaching the time that Charms started. Had he been a less controlled person he probably would have cursed for not being there already – he never liked being late. Firstly because it meant he might not get his usual seat at the back where he could see all that was going on in the classroom, but also because of when he was younger and had lessons at home. His grandfather had hated lateness, and had made that very well known to Kerridon and his sister.
Gathering his books together quickly but not too rushed that he might drop something, he swung his bag over one shoulder and made his way immediately towards the Charms classroom. An internal debate about what he had just been reading going on in his head, he entered and offered a polite 'good day' to the professor before sitting in the corner at the back. His eyes lingered a moment longer on D'rorah than the others as he looked to see who else was in the class, but there was no change in expression and the debate in his head was still going on. He wrote the date and 'Charms' at the top of a sheet of parchment and settled back to wait for the class to start.
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Tommy Bryce
Gryffindor
[red]1st Year Gryffindor[/red]
You bend and you bruise me while you try to control me
Posts: 104
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Post by Tommy Bryce on Oct 3, 2009 11:52:22 GMT -5
Tommy sat straight up in bed, panting hard and shaking from both fear and cold. It might be May, but the window in his dorm was open and blowing in a chilling wind that made goosebumps rise on his skin. Rolling clumsily out of bed, he turned off the magical alarm that was ringing shrilly besides his bed and hurried over to close the window. The wooden floorboards just made him feel colder. He got dressed quickly, pushing all thoughts of the dream he had just been having out of his head as he piled his books into the bag that was really too small, and travelled down the steps and out of the common room.
He pulled an orange out of his bag as he walked, peeling it and eating the segments as he made his way to Charms. This was one of his favourite subjects and so he had wanted to get as much sleep as possible in preparation – since he had been stargazing last night he had decided to just eat breakfast on the way there. Stuffing the skin into the bottom of his bag and swallowing the last segment, he stepped through the door and went for a seat in the second row, where currently no one else was sitting.
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Post by Keaira O'Connell on Oct 4, 2009 9:37:42 GMT -5
Ah classes, a necessary evil in order to achieve ones goals. That wasn’t how Keaira used to think of them, but it was swiftly becoming her attitude. If she thought she could get away without going to them and just taking the tests she surely would. Classes were just a trap set up so that she was forced to interact with the classmates that she now held so much contempt for. Every class she attended she made sure her seat, although still in the second row, was now also the one closest to the door. This made it much easier to quietly slip in at the last second, and slip out as soon as the class was dismissed.
As she reached the charms classroom, she noticed that there were already many students gathered about, but class had not started yet. The thought that she could take another lap around the corridor slipped through her mind, before she quickly dismissed it, after all it was a new professor. Entering the class she noticed immediately that the room was much cleaner than her previous time spent in it. It was a welcomed change. Keaira took her seat and noticed that there was only one other student in her row, Tommy Bryce, the young boy who was quite fond of spending time in the astronomy tower. She gave him a small smile; it was the only sign that Keaira wasn’t entirely closed off to the world that she had made in at least a week. After which she busied herself removing her supplies from her bag.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Nov 26, 2009 15:55:37 GMT -5
Alessandro was very tired today.
His body ached like it never had before and he felt slightly disoriented as he stood from his four poster bed in Ravenclaw Tower. Rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes, he turned to face the mirror between his bed and the large, arched window. He looked very unrested and as he tried to think back and remember any of his dreams, he found that he couldn't. His mind was as blank as a blackboard. Furrowing his brow, he turned from the mirror as he ran his left hand back, collecting the unkempt locks of hair and pulling them back behind his ear. Going over to his trunk located at the foot of his bed, he opened it and pulled out his Ravenclaw robes and standard issue Hogwarts uniform: Black slacks, white collar shirt, and a charcoal grey sweater. Today he opted for the button down cardigan instead of the v-neck.
Throwing on his black robes over his clothes, he straightened up, leaning left to take a glance in the mirror as he quickly ran both hands back through his hair, taming it into an acceptable look, and then reached down into his trunk to pull out his already prepared messenger bag.
Charms had been a class they had been skipping for a while. It seemed odd that one professor didn't just take it up, but then again, the professors were spread rather thin these days. He had heard-tell of a ministry employee being sent to the school for that purpose, but then again it could have been a rumor. Trudging down the hall, he leaned back into a yawn, still unable to shake sleep from his being. ---------------------------------------------------
Entering the class, it seemed he was not the first. There were already several students present and accounted for. As he paused at the door, he sent his sights over the room.
Priscilla Plumtree, Ministry of Magic. So the rumors WERE true. The only life on his face apparent was the arch of his left brow. He looked to the right at all the students and noticed immediately D'rorah, Niobe, and Kerridon from his house, then the Gryffindors Ben, and Tommy. He noted that there were only one from each house of Slytherin and Hufflepuff; Caitlin and Keaira. The sight of Keaira today made him avert his eyes as if he was looking at something forbidden. Choosing the desk where his eyes had landed-- the front row, three down from Niobe. He sat down and cocked his head to the right, hearing a slight popping noise as he greeted the professor.
"Good day Professor Plumtree." He said with a casual smile. "I'm quite eager to participate in Charms today. I'm sure I speak for us all when I say Welcome and Thank You for helping us further our education." He didn't know why he was being so cordial with this person from the Ministry...It seemed to have just been an automatic response. He suspected that she wasn't really here to be a substitute professor, but more likely to have been sent here to investigate the dark activity and claims of dementors in the forest.
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Post by Bryan Kelley on Nov 26, 2009 22:47:14 GMT -5
Bryan had not given much thought to the rumors that there would be some Ministry officials teaching a couple of classes. During his Hogwarts career, Bryan had become used to the fact that the Professors seemed to come and go and sometimes there were classes were without Professors for a little bit. He frowned at the idea that the school would have some trouble on hiring and keeping teaching staff, but there was something things that just could not be helped. The only thing Bryan saw that he could do in response to all this was just to attend the classes he was signed up for and learn to the best of his ability. This was especially more true now that he had become the Elemental Master of Wind as he felt he needed to be prepared for his role in this war. To do so, he would need to learn.
However, Bryan's common response in attending class did not change. When he entered the room, he arched a brow to note that it was cleaner than the last time he had been inside the classroom. However, he inclined his head in greeting to the woman at the desk, but he did not verbally greet the woman as some of his peers had done. Instead, Bryan had entered the room, turning an eye over his fellow students, not lingering over any of them for very long before he slid inside his seat.
While Bryan waited for the class to start, he pulled out his sketchbook, resting it on the top of his desk. He pulled the pencil out from behind his left ear and placed the tip of the pencil onto the white page as he began to sketch. At the moment, Bryan was concentrating on sketching a variety of symbols that did not really pertain to anything. Instead, he was just practicing designing some things. Bryan sketched lightly, only darkening and shading lines that he felt were finished and not likely to be changed. It was the Gryffindor's habit to bury into his sketchbook before the start of lesson. It gave him something to do rather than sit there rather stupidly. He did not really take the habit of reading his textbook while waiting, as it had never appealed to him.
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Post by Priscilla Plumtree on Dec 1, 2009 2:45:02 GMT -5
The anxious, excited feeling that now encompassed the whole of Priscilla Plumtree was almost unbearable. As the first student entered into the room, a young Ravenclaw girl, Priscilla felt slightly anticlimactic as the student barely took notice to the classroom so diligently prepared for them. She smiled back at the young girl, her left arm wrapped around her torso with her right elbow propped upon it, the arm perfectly vertical and the hand flared out in a flashy display. She maintained that same smile for the rest of the students as they began to filter in one by one. The next pupil to arrive was an older Ravenclaw, and "older" seemed to be an understatement as Priscilla momentarily lost her perfectly crafted smile to a look of confusion and reconnaissance. For a moment Priscilla was about to wave her over to ask which subject she taught here at the school, but as she quickly remembered it was the girl that seemed to have been having some sort of...episode outside of Professor Archer's classroom the day she arrived, she held her tongue.
"Gracious, child...are you alright?" She asked in a somewhat quiet tone so as not to alert the rest of the students. The girl didn't look well, surely, for a 17 year girl with graying hair and such a...dowdy appearance must have been stricken with some sort of illness. Wearing such thick and cumbersome robes clearly indicated the need to keep warm
After a few moments, a young Gryffindor boy's greeting captured her attentions now, her smile snapping back like a rubber band recoiling. "And, Good morning to you too." She said with a graceful combination of a slight bow and a nod.
Finally, all of her students seemed to be present and accounted for as the last two filtered in, a Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor. The Ravenclaw boy gave her a rather trite, and contrived welcome, to which she returned with a polite smile and minor thank you as the Gryffindor merely sat down and began to occupy himself while class was in the intermediate stages of beginning.
"Why thank you Mister...Darko." She said sounding somewhat dangerously pleasant. Her eyes seemed to flicker as she looked on at him while replying, smiling fiercely without showing teeth. In truth, she didn't really know the names of all her students. Just the ones that raised certain flags while she was perusing the student files. Excessive absences and half-explained disappearances were definitely flags. And, it also seemed that Ravenclaw House was quite popular with those flags, the girl that seemed to be taking on rather geriatric characteristics included.
Though, it was not Ravenclaw House solely, but she had also come across information on Misses Collins and O'Connell as well. She would play her cards right, though, as a Ministry Employee, she wouldn't let on about any of her concerns. After all, she was primarily here to teach...as well as investigate.
Stepping from behind her desk, scooping up her wand in her right hand, she moved into the center of the room, looking around her. "Welcome everyone, Welcome to your first Charms class in a while, it seems. I am as it says: Priscilla Plumtree, Ministry Employee, and lastly, your new Substitute Professor for Charms. I am frankly quite shocked to come to find that you students have gone on so long with out a proper professor for this course as it is part of OWLS and NEWTS," She began, sounding rather fretful, and appalled at the thought. "BUT, thankfully, I am here to help." She said with a wide smile, broadcasting her amicability in waves.
"First thing's first. I want each of you to perform for me a charm. I want to see what you've learned so far. Hmm, lets see, we'll start with the front row on this end..." She finished her sentence as she stood closest to D'rorah. "I believe it's Ms. Philosophy? Yes? Would you start us off please?" She asked kindly, beaming over her, eager to see which charm she would select.
As a quick addition to her spiel, she chimed in briefly. "Don't be afraid to show off now, I want to see the max ability that you are individually capable of." She said, her head craning to the rest of the class then focusing back on D'rorah.
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Post by D'rorah Philosophy on Dec 1, 2009 3:50:28 GMT -5
D'rorah arched an eyebrow slightly as Priscilla asked whether she was alright. She knew her odd appearance was somewhat off-putting to most people, but surely she didn't look ill. She would have to see to that at some point. But then, D'rorah had always looked odd... pale skin and grey eyes weren't the sorts of things most people were accustomed to to begin with. [blue]"Quite fine, thank you,"[/blue] she replied quietly before turning her attention to her notes. It appeared nothing would pass the scrutiny of this professor very easily. Already, D'rorah was worried the class wouldn't go well, but she kept that thought to herself as she began her reading.
She closed her book and set it aside as Priscilla stepped from behind her desk and addressed the class. She endured the introduction with a politely neutral expression on her face, already feeling well enough prepared for her NEWTs that she didn't think there would be much for her to do in the class. But certainly, this person from the Ministry was putting on quite a show of being appalled about the lack of the class at Hogwarts and being worried for their well-being.
It was going to be a long period.
D'rorah nodded in confirmation of her name as she was selected to demonstrate a charm. She wanted to choose something from her NEWT coursework, but most of those charms required an object upon which to cast... or at least some clear objective to achieve. She could use a messenger charm... but that would involve casting a Patronus charm first, and they'd just been doing that in Defense Against the Dark Arts earlier today. Memory charms didn't really work unless there was someone nearby who needed to be made to forget something; though, it was tempting to contemplate making Priscilla forget her odd appearance. She weighed her options between a disillusionment charm and a protean charm, wondering which of the two NEWT level spells would be best suited for the class. Finally, she settled on the disillusionment charm, something she had managed to perfect to the point that she had even managed to do away with the vague outline that typically surrounded those who were disillusioned.
Rising from her seat as the Professor finished her schpiel, D'rorah nodded slightly before beginning the intricate, but subtle, wand movement needed to cast the charm. Tapping her wand upon herself, she felt the familiar feeling of something rather like an egg breaking and running down over her, rendering herself invisible to the class, even the vague outline of her shape gone as well. She held the charm for several long moments before finally releasing it and resuming her seat quietly.
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Post by Priscilla Plumtree on Dec 3, 2009 3:12:42 GMT -5
Taking note of the well-controlled and quiet behavior exhibited by the almost completely covered Ravenclaw Prefect, Priscilla stood back, awaiting whatever marvel that the girl would have for them all. She was the oldest student present, and surely she retained the most precision and skill over her magic, as a 7th year, she would be closing her education with her N.E.W.T's. With eager eyes, Priscilla locked her mark in her crosshairs and watched on. Recognizing the wand movements only moments before the charm took effect, she nodded subtly as if to say "Ah, yes."
Watching the girl execute the charm flawlessly compelled Priscilla to widen her eyes. Usually, a vague outline of the witch or wizard was still present. This student had been able to completely disillusion herself including the outline rendering her utterly invisible. A small gasp was released from between Priscilla's painted lips as she completely lost sight of the girl. When the charm lifted, Priscilla gave notice where it was due.
"Boys and girls....THAT...was a perfectly executed Disillusionment Charm. I haven't known many witches or wizards to be able to render themselves completely invisible. Bravo, Ms. Philosophy. Bravo." Priscilla congratulated professionally with another small bow/head nod. "Moving right along then, you sir, Mr. Darko. Then we shall proceed to the occupants of the second row, then third, and so on and so forth." She said, her perpetual smile never faltering.
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Post by Alessandro Darko on Dec 4, 2009 18:50:44 GMT -5
Alessandro watched D'rorah accept the assignment by standing up and performing her charm. His eyebrows rose sharply as he watched his Ravenclaw mate vanish in a manner that looked like a very thick, viscous, invisible fluid was poured all over her. Not bad... He thought as he noted that the usual vague outline was not present as she was rendered completely invisible. As D'rorah maintained her charm, Alessandro began to think about which one he would perform, which grandiose display of spellcraft would he employ today. When Professor Plumtree added that she wanted to see something astounding, something that demonstrated everyone's pique ability and potential, something didn't feel quite right in Alessandro's stomach. Normally having brilliant forsight to the point where he could actually see what was going to happen in premonitions, he would just have to settle for good old fashioned intuition.
His eyes flitted down to his desk as D'rorah shimmered back into sight, and Plumtree began her raving about how marvelously executed that spell had been. His eyes darted here and there, as if he were searching for some kind of answer that was hidden in the markings on his desk surface, and then he nodded slightly coming to a conclusion that may have looked as if he was agreeing with Plumtree.
Alessandro stood up as Dee had done, and realizing his face looked rather preoccupied, he smiled and nodded at Professor Plumtree. Eying the bright, red, apple on her desk, he flourished his wand in a standard, 5th year motion and intoned "Multichromatica." finishing with his wand pointing straight at the apple. The apple trembled quickly as it began to change colors in rapid flashes of light. First an exuberantly neon green, then, a lavender purple, citrus orange, yellow, bright blue. It continued to flash several more colors until Alessandro flicked his wand which was still aimed at the apple. The apple returned to it's juicy red color and stopped trembling.
When he was done, he lowered his wand and looked around him with a weakish sort of smile on his face that said "yeah, that was my charm." The Color-Flash charm was standard practice for a 5th year student, and by choosing that charm he felt he did not show any advanced ability or knowledge on anything further than what he should know for his particular age.
He nodded at the professor with another smile and took his seat.
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Benjamin Ellis
Gryffindor
[red]4th Year Gryffindor[/red]
if you don't have a smile I'll give you one of mine :)
Posts: 55
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Post by Benjamin Ellis on Dec 7, 2009 14:28:10 GMT -5
Ben sat back in his seat, one hand's fingers lightly drumming a rhythm out on the wooden table as he waited for the rest of the students to filter in and for class to begin. He wondered what this new professor would be like – she seemed extremely neat and tidy so far, which hardly went with his appearance. His shirt was untucked, top button undone and his tie much looser and shorter than school regulations said it should be, while his robes had simply been left up in his dormitory. But it was May, it was hot. And it wasn't like he was the only one dressed like this in the school, it was just rather more noticeable sitting next to D'rorah, who was dressed as primly as ever.
He sat up a little straighter as the professor finally began speaking, turning his attention to D'rorah to see what spell she would perform even while thinking himself. A cheering charm on her was tempting, but not really a good example of what he was capable of, and he doubted she would appreciate it. He blinked in surprise as she suddenly disappeared, and apparently the professor was just as impressed, enthusing about it as she came back into view. He turned his attention to another Ravenclaw he vaguely knew as Alessandro, but nothing more, as he performed a colour flashing charm on the apple on her desk – not quite as impressive, but entertaining to watch nonetheless.
He stood, assuming it was his turn now and with a clear spell in mind. It was also standard for his year, and they had been taught it back in October, but he was fairly good at it and could summon items from quite a distance now. He raised his wand, focussing on the half-eaten bar of chocolate left on his bed from a quick snack earlier. [red]"Accio chocolate!"[/red] he said firmly, waiting a patiently until about a minute later it came speeding through the window. He reached a hand out to catch it, just managing it although he fumbled and it fell with a clatter onto the desk. But at least he had performed the magic right, he reasoned with a shrug as he sat back down and dropped the chocolate bar into his bag. Even he wasn't quite daring enough to begin eating it right in front of the teacher in class. He had been known to snack during lessons before, but he always did it a lot more surreptitiously and sat further back.
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