Charms, Lesson One

[Headmistress Cerise Charmant]

It wasn't every lesson that Cerise Charmant found herself able to invite each year to participate in the same classroom. Although she had to move the desks out of the classroom to make space, there were seats scattered in the classroom, along with various objects of various sizes. On her desk at the front she had small feathers, candles, and glass bottles. In front of the desk, the witch earlier placed heavier objects like glass vases, and encyclopedias for older students to handle.

Today's lesson would include lifting and carrying objects with wands, and slowing them down.

The witch hummed to herself as she made last minute adjustments to the room as students of all years began to make their way in. Finally, at about two minutes after the starting time, she hopped to the front of the classroom and clasped her hands.

"Hello, hello!" she greeted everyone with a sing-song voice. "Welcome back to a fabulous school year. I know most of you," she commented as her eyes made it around the room, "but for those of you who don't know, I am Professor Charmant, who will be teaching Charms until we can find a professor to hire. Now, let's begin!" Cerise waved her hands in the air, and proceeded to draw out her wand.

"Today, we will be learning about the spells wingardium leviosa," she waved her wand, and the word spelled itself onto the chalkboard in white chalk, "and impedimenta."

Cerise drew her wand downwards, and turned to the class. "Wingardium leviosa, for those of you who do not know, makes an object fly. For those of you who have not practiced this spell before, there is a pile of feathers I would like you to practice with first. For those of you who feel more comfortable in this area, there are heavier items like, candles, bottles, vases, and encyclopedias. Do not worry about the glass," Cerise giggled and winked, "I already charmed each item to not shatter upon falling."

Cerise sat on the desk. "So, let's all together, repeat after me: win-GAR-di-um le-vi-OH-sa. Yes! Good, again!" And Cerise repeated it again with the class.

She then smiled, placing her hands on her laps before continuing to speak. "And for those of you who feel you have mastered or master the charm, the spell impedimenta makes an incoming object slow down. So, I would like you to practice impedimenta on the objects that may be flying around the classroom! Let's everyone, repeat after me: im-pe-di-men-TA!" Cerise listened. "Yes, good! Again!" And Cerise repeated it again with the class.

"Now now, let's get to it! Grab a feather, an encyclopedia, anything you like! Please be sure you put your books and bags at the back of the classroom, I wouldn't want your personal belongings flying about..."

[Lexi Knight]

Lexi hurried to Charms, excited for the day's lesson. She knew the headmistress was teaching until she could hire a Charms teacher, but part of Lexi secretly wished that Professor Charmant would continue to teach it. The old witch was her favorite teacher in all of Hogwarts, and was sort of a second mother figure for her, which she needed away from home.

The thought of her mother sent a twinge into her heart, but she had to push that aside, or she would start crying. She paused to take a deep breath outside the door to the classroom, composing herself, then stepped inside for her first Charms class of the year. As she took her seat, she noticed the feathers, along with the heavier objects placed around the room. She smiled; this was sure to be fun.

Professor Charmant started by introducing herself to the first years, and then went on to explan the two spells they would be learning, wingardium leviosa and impedimenta. She remembered learning the first spell in her first year, and how difficult it had been to master. Now she had a handle on the spell, and could probably just start with the second one. She repeated the spell in her head, before stating, "Wingardium leviosa," on a nearby candle and floating it over to her. No need to start too big.

[Austin Callahan]

Charms. What a difficult class to decipher. Not in terms of ability, or how hard the syllabus for each year was, but in how much he liked the subject. It was extremely difficult to pinpoint whether he was, on the whole, excited about the prospect of Charms as opposed to other subjects, or was unpleased to be spending more time practicing spells that he could read in the provided textbook. On several occasion, the latter was true of the Slytherin student, for he didn't see what he was getting from a class that he couldn't understand by reading a few chapters of the book at his own pace. It was far more preferable to have a greater time allowance in which he could learn than the restrictions set by the teaching staff of Hogwarts.

At last, with these thoughts cast aside, his eyes fell upon the sight of the familiar classroom at the end of the hallway. Slowly, he walked into he room, examining his company with interest, before sitting down at the edge of the room, placing his feet upon the desk as he continued to make himself comfortable before attempting the day's lesson. There was little guarantee that his actions would be admired by the Professor sanding at the front of the same room, but he wasn't prepared to sustain concentration if he wasn't permitted to sit in the manner to which he found to be highly comfortable.

Noticing that various voices around him were now repeating the same selection of words, he rolled his eyes, picking up the feather in front of him by hand, as though inspecting it for something that was invisible to everyone else. Onc3e appearing satisfied with this complete examination of the materials he'd be using for the purpose of the class, he retrieved his wand from his pocket, muttering the incantation under his breath. Sure enough, within a few seconds of his recitation, the feather hovered smoothly above his head, although invoking no excited response from the caster.

[Lexi Knight]

Lexi caught the candle when it reached her, smiling triumphantly. Wingardium leviosa was a fairly easy spell, one that was taught to the first years. However, practicing a spell she already knew couldn't do any harm. It might even help warm her up after a long holiday without magic. Being an underage witch made it hard for her to practice magic. She shrugged it off, though, because every other student at Hogwarts was going through the same thing she was.

She felt the weight of the candle in the palm of her hand, tossing it up into the air and catching it to better gauge it. "Impedimenta. Impedimenta. Impedimenta," she muttered under her breath with each toss. Readying her wand in her left hand, she threw the candle up as high as she could and called, "Impedimenta!" The candle clattered to the floor, dents appearing in the wax where it struck something solid.

Hrm. She moved from her desk to pick up the candle. Similar claterings and thuds were sounding around her, telling her that her fellow classmates were having the same issues she was. Standing this time, she threw the candle up into the air again. "Impedimenta!" This time the candle slowed down for a few brief seconds, its landing much softer than the previous one. Success!

Her eyes found Austin across the classroom, and a brilliant idea struck. Lexi picked up the candle again, and said, "Hey Callahan. Catch!" This time, instead of throwing it up in the air, she threw it at the Slytherin boy. Not hard enough to cause damage, just hard enough to test his reflexes. A split second after the candle left her hand, she said, "Impedimenta!"

[Deleted]

Making her way into the Charm classroom, Hestia couldn't help but to smile with each step she took. Charm was her second favorite class, the first being Transfiguration of course. Tucking a few loose strands behind her ear, she made sure to slow down her steps or else she would end up tripping over her own feet and possibly become late for the lesson. And she did not want that to happen at all. Walking into the room and seeing Lexi, she waved quickly and made sure to sit next to her rather than to sit alone.

Hearing Professor Charmant explain the lesson, Hestia smiled to herself as she kept a nice and firm grip on her wand. Making object fly and making them stop. Simple enough, though she was in her sixth year at Hogwarts. But it was fun to redo things that one had already learned. Once the class had erupted with their work, Hestia looked around to find what to practice on. Feathers were easy so that was a no. She wanted something just a little heavier than a feather. When her eyes landed on a vase, she smiled. "Wingardium leviosa" she said and watched as the vase flew in her direction. Once the vase got fairly close to her, she raised her wand and pointed at it. Though the Professor had reassured that the objects wouldn't shatter, she didn't want to chance anything. "Impedimenta." she said and watched it slow down to her.

Holding the vase in her hands for a moment, Hestia ducked when Lexi had thrown a candle. "Scare me why don't you?" she asked, sarcastically of course. Tossing the vase up into the air, Hestia closed one eye and pointed her wand. "Wingardium leviosa" she said and waited, figuring the rules of gravity had applied before she could even say anything. Looking up she sighed in relief. ""Impedimenta."

[Olivia Blue Hyde]

Olivia walked through the crowds of students littering around the staircase trying not to push anyone around so she could make it to her charms class on time. She loved the class from last year causing things fly around the room until she accidentally smacked a classmate in the face with a object she was trying to move. The door of the classroom was already closed meaning class had started, "Ugh..are you freaking kidding me right now? My first day back to class and I'm late due to the stupidity of my fellow classmates." she said, giving some of the students around her a evil look. Pushing open the wooden door she noticed objects flying aroun the move. "Sorry for being late headmistress. I was caught up due to some lingering students in the hallway." hoping she wouldn't get detention for being late.

She walked over to a empty desk staring at the board for the notes which she quickly scribbled down with her quill on her notebook before setting her things safely in the back of the classroom. The spell they would be learning she remembered from last year and she still had a bit of trouble getting the kinks out of it. Grabbing a two bottles off the table she set down on her desk and pulled her wand from her robes which emitted a warm sensation when she touched it. "Alright wand..don't fail me now in this lesson." she said not caring if anyone heard her talking to herself. Pointing her wand directly at the amber color bottle, "win gard ium levi osa" she pronounced with some confidence in her bones watching as the bottle lifted slowly in the air for about 10 seconds before dropping back down to the desk with a loud thumb.

[Lexi Knight]

Luckily for Austin Callahan, who obviously hadn't been paying attention, Lexi's spell worked. The candle stopped in mid-air, then clattered harmlessly to the floor when she lowered her wand to the side. A smirk crossed her face. If she hadn't been able to cast Impedimenta, surely it would have hit him square in the forehead. The Slytherin boy likely would have been quite angry with her; which probably wouldn't have ended well either. Having a conversation with him on normal terms was hit or miss; it seemed a miracle that he hadn't turned on her in anger in the years that she'd known him.

The Hufflepuff smiled apologetically at Hestia, who was near Austin. "Sorry, that was aimed at Callahan!" she exclaimed, embarrassed, and then retrieved the candle and picked up a vase and an encyclopedia to practice with on her way back. Twice on her return trip to her desk she almost dropped the vase, but she managed to keep a grip on the items. She set the vase and candle on her desk, and used Wingardium Leviosa to float the heavy book up to the ceiling.

When it brushed the top, Lexi released the spell, then said, "Impedimenta!" The encyclopedia hardly slowed down at all, and came to a crashing halt as it hit spine-first, directly on her right foot. She let out a cry of pain and plopped down on her rear, pulling the injured foot into her lap.