DADA: Lesson One (All Years -- Closed)

Subject: DADA: Lesson One (All Years -- Closed) Mon Jan 01, 2018 4:23 pm

The appointment of Head of Gryffindor had come as a surprise to the American wizard. In truth, he had believed Hogwarts would keep such positions open to the alumni of the school, and not someone like himself. When he'd read the letter, though, he'd felt quite proud of himself, it seemed that the Headmistress and the Deputy Headmaster -- Jake had had to look again upon seeing Andrei's name there too -- believed he'd been doing well in his job.

Of course, Jake's door had always been open to his students, but now it seemed he had something of a more prominent point in the students coming to him.

It had been the boost he'd needed, though, in truth. Hearing of Azalea's death, Jake had had a few days of... uncertainty flowing around him. Feelings he wasn't one hundred percent sure on. But, ultimately, he'd put it to the side, he hadn't seen the witch in over a decade. Whilst it was sad to hear she'd died, she'd obviously found someone who made her happy, someone... it seemed, who'd managed to give her something he couldn't have.

His head had been clear by the time he came back to the school, though, ready to bring the lessons to his students for the next year. Today, the classroom had once again been left devoid of any desks and chairs, signalling the fact Jake's classes would be back to normal, unlike the last lesson of the previous year.

On the chalkboard, though, the subject for this lesson read "Seize and Pull Charm" in Jake's usual only-just legible hand.

________________________________________________
~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Guest

Sasha wasn't really looking forward classes this year. DADA was one of the classes she seemed to good. Well, so good as she could. She knew she always could do better in her classes. She just should get an involved bit more.

Her summer had been quite eventful and interesting. To be honest for her it was one of her best summers for sure in her life. Even if some people might disagree with some of her decisions she made at the summer.

She soon walked into the classroom. "Hello, Jake," she said there simply and walked away from the door near the wall. She just leaned against it there now. Once again there was no desks or chairs needed in this lesson. This was something she had seen already most of the time.

She looked at the board and shrugged. She really wasn't sure if she knew today's topic. She couldn't really tell right now. Then again she had not studied advanced this year at all. So yeah everything will be just new for her. She is sure once it's spoken what they need to do she will understand.

She also waited for other students to show up there now. So they could start this class and get over with it. She would have skipped classes but she knew it wouldn't put her into the good light.

Guest

Hogwarts was... different. Whereas Dumstrang was open about Dark Arts and classes involved literally learning some spells that weren't necessarily what would be considered good, Hogwarts outright taught the opposite; Defense Against the Dark Arts was not exactly the most interesting class option, to her, but it was different and something that she was intrigued by. Many people seemed to be of the mind that to not learn something meant it couldn't be dangerous. That was flawed philosophy in its finest; sometimes learning about a particular thing taught you why it should be used or why it should be banned.

Still, it was rather interesting, learning about something from the opposite perspective.

Spells, however, she could do, and when she walked into the class, she internally rolled her eyes at the words on the board. That was a ridiculously easy spell she could do with her eyes shut if need be; she'd even practised doing it nonverbally, to some degree of success. It was tiring to do, so she didn't do it too often, but in light of showing off in her new class... It wasn't a bad option, and she hid a light smirk under a grin. Moving to the front of the room, she smiled at the man there.

"Good morning, Professor," she greeted, making sure her tone was polite and friendly; no use showing her true colours yet -- yet. The room, void of chairs, told her that it was a practical class, not that she was unused to that. "I'm Delia." Introductions were important; it showed everyone who she was, but it also helped her know who was who in this world.

Guest

Mercy rushed to get to her favourite class, half-running down the hall as she glanced at the time and realized she'd need to hurry if she didn't want to be late. She couldn't wait to see what they'd be doing today, and to say hello to Jake, who'd apparently been promoted to her Head of House.

She skidded to a halt in front of the classroom and sauntered through the door, panting slightly, but with time to spare. Seeing the usual set-up, a big open space without desks or chairs, she broke into a grin. They'd be doing some spell-casting today.

She read the lesson plan on the board, and was pleased to learn that it sounded familiar--perhaps one of the few spells she'd taken the liberty of reading about before school started. Over the summer, after getting her books, she did actually enjoy skimming through the ones that taught new spells. They were the only books she found to be actually useful.

Making sure her wand was easily accessible, she picked a spot to stand, close to the teacher's desk, and greeted Jake with a cheerful, "Hi! How was your summer?"

Guest

Knowing he wasn't late for class, Elleon took his time making his way to the third floor where the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was located. His mind was on more important matters, namely the fact that his sister had a boyfriend. He didn't quite know how he felt about that yet. The boyfriend - as Elleon had started calling him - was a decent enough guy. Polite, respectful, considerate, and an overall nice guy. He was even willing to learn sign language and had asked to spend an hour every week with Elleon to learn and practice.

But that, Elleon supposed was the inherent problem in the situation. Jelena was besotted with the boyfriend and it didn't help that he was so nice. Of course, Elleon didn't want Jelena to have an abusive, egotistical, nutcase for a boyfriend, but him being so nice meant that Jelena spent more time with him. Already he barely got to spend time with his sister. He was a year behind and they had different schedules. He missed the times they would goof around and have fun, but life went on and Elleon couldn't do anything about that. At least Jelena was happy and he wouldn't ever begrudge her that.

With a small inaudible sigh, Elleon entered the clasroom and gave Jake his usual smile and nod in greeting before putting his satchel down and standing near the front of the room where he could have a clear view of his professor. The Seize and Pull Charm was one he already knew and learned but there was no harm in practicing it and perfecting it. It was one he could do non-verbally but he didn't really mind re-learning it.

Guest

Zoey entered the classroom and looked around. It appeared to be a small class so she figured she would get some extreme lesson time as there wouldnt be too many students to cause distraction and keep them from their lesson.

She took a seat towards the front of the class but not the front row. She did not want to be labeled that kind of student that was a teachers pet and a know it all. While she did know quite alot, she was not a know it all.

She looked around and noticed a few other students but none from her house. Was she really the only Ravenclaw to sign up for Defense Against the Dark arts this period? This intrigued her as it would be up to her to gain as many points for her house as possible during this lesson. And that was exactly what she planned to do

Subject: Re: DADA: Lesson One (All Years -- Closed) Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:50 pm

As the door opened to admit the first student, Jake smiled as Sasha came in to the room. "Good morning, Sasha, welcome back from the break!" He greeted as friendly as always with his students when they arrived.

Next came a face Jake didn't recognise, but he smiled warmly as she greeted him and too in her name. "Good morning, Delia, welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts! Also, there's no need to call me 'professor', Jake works just fine." Jake explained to the witch, not being too worried with the formalities.

"Hey Mercy!" Jake replied to the young Gryffindor as she entered, genuinely feeling happy to see the bubble of energy that was Mercy Williams. "My summer was very... interesting, thank you." Jake explained, not wishing to open the can of worms of what had happened in the Cayman Islands over the summer. "I hope you had a good rest, too?" Jake asked, though the question was somewhat rhetorical because more people entered behind the young witch.

When Elleon entered, Jake gave the boy a small wave, and said hello when he was sure the boy was looking at him, before turning to the next person who entered.

Zoey didn't bother to acknowledge Jake, and instead moved to sit on the floor. An odd decision, given the class was practical, and that there were no chairs or desks to sit upon. Still, Jake decided not to comment on that, merely giving an amused look before he checked his watch.

"Okay, everyone, shall we make a start? Welcome back for another year -- I'm sure you're all bursting with enthusiasm to get on?" Jake asked, though the smile on his lips betrayed the fact Jake didn't believe anyone would truly be full to the brim with enthusiasm for classes. "Now, as you can see, we will be looking at the Sieze and Pull Charm today, a spell that you should not confused with the Summoning Charm. As I am sure you've all had a look at your books, what are the uses? The incantation? When might it be beneficial if you're... say, duelling someone? After all, this is a Defence class, we must think practically, too!"

With that, Jake opened the room to the class, hoping more than one person would choose to answer the questions.

________________________________________________
~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Guest

Zoey waited for a few moments and when no one answered she decided to give it a try herself. She cleared her throat a bit before speaking "The incantation for the spell is Carpe Retractum. Its use it to pull a target towards the witch or wizard casting the spell. Or Vice verse, pulling the witch or wizard towards the object."

She deciced to continue her answer with a bit more information that she had read on the spell. "The spell casts a Golden orange or sometimes even purple light making a retractable magical rope made of light to pull your object of choice towards you." She said before realizing she was babbling alot.

She decided to stop there and wait for someone else to continue on with the rest of Professor Newburys questions. She bit on her bottom lip as she looked around and waited for someone to speak.

Guest

Jake, she mused, an internal eyebrow raised. There were a couple or so different reasons a professor would do this. The first was he was trying to be 'hip' and 'cool', as though he was 'one of them'. It was pointless and stupid, and more often than not Delia messed with these teachers; she hated them. But the other reason was that he simply was chill and one of them, in which case Delia liked him already. Which was which, though, had yet to be seen. She would wait and watch, as always, before coming to a decision.

Based off the other students, however, it seemed to be the latter, and Delia flashed the Professor a smile. No point setting a bad reputation for herself just yet. That would come in time. For now, she just wanted to get the feel of the castle and its secrets.

"Thank you, Jake," she replied, echoing the name he told her to use. Then, slipping her hands in her pocket, she stood and waited, observing those around her. There was a lot to be said about a person by the way the interacted with others, and class was honestly one of the best places to learn hierarchy.

An eyebrow shot up at the girl who sat on the floor. "Tired, are we?" she murmured, more to herself, the words barely audible; nobody would have heard her unless their ears were right next to her mouth. Back in Dumstrang, it wouldn't have been said softly, nor phrased in that way. There would have been taunting and mocking, probably from both of them, which would end in an official duel. It was part of the fun, part of the 'learning experience', according to some of the older students. Hogwarts, Delia already knew, was different.

So instead of saying anything, she turned her attention to the Professor -- to Jake -- and waited for class to begin. The questions made her eyebrow twitch, almost in a raise. It was basic questions, easy as ... well, easy as f---ing. The girl on the floor was the first to answer, providing details that were most definitely not what was required, but once more Delia held her tongue. That was basic.

Instead, as the girl finished, Delia hid a smirk and raised a hand. She wasn't sure if that was what Jake wanted -- and, more likely than not, it wouldn't be -- but she wasn't going to follow the example of someone who'd sat on the floor in a practical class. She would wait to be told by the Professor himself the dos and don'ts of his classroom.

"There are multiple uses in a fight," she said, once called upon. "It depends on your surroundings, but it could be used to pull something down onto your opponents head, knocking them out. You could pull yourself towards something, moving out of the way of a spell or getting you to an advantageous point -- one where you can aim easily at your opponent but they can't easily reach you." She paused, wondering if it was enough, and then decided to add just one more. "If you were strong enough -- stronger than your opponent, in any case -- you could even cast it on them and pull them towards you, and use a more muggle fighting style to incapacitate them: head butting, kicking, punching..." She shrugged. "But that would be a last-means resort; there are better spells to use, and it's a risk. If they're heavier than you anticipated or stronger, they'd have the advantage. And, in any duel, to give your opponent advantage, no matter how slight, is death."

Subject: Re: DADA: Lesson One (All Years -- Closed) Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:20 pm

Jake's eyes turned to the Ravenclaw who'd decided to sit upon the floor who'd raised her hand to answer -- not something that was necessary in Jake's class, much like the use of professor, but most students struggled with his laid back approach to teaching -- he nodded to show her that she could answer, and listened.

"Very good, Zoey -- did you eat your textbook over the summer?" Jake asked, a smile showing that he was only teasing. "Though, remember, for your end of year exam, answer the question that is set, not the question you are hoping to see." He told her with a serious expression, because the additional information she'd given was not something he'd asked for. "Take four points for your answer -- I deducted one for not sticking to the question."

It was, perhaps, a little bit harsh to not award his usual five points for giving an answer in class, but Jake did have a duty to get them ready for exams, and Zoey wouldn't have gotten anything extra for those pieces of information.

Next came Delia's answer to the question, each option being very useful with this spell, and earning a nod from Jake as she explained each one.

"Very, very good, Delia! Excellent, actually. I see Durmstrang's offensive teaching methods have paid off. Though, I will agree that an attack is the best form of defence! Take five points for Gryffindor for your answer, well done!" Jake praised the witch, thoroughly impressed with her answer, and glad to see the witch was not going to sit back quietly just because she was new.

"So, today we're going to practice this spell. As we're an odd number we're going to practice on our own. Start with small items." Jake explained, taking out his wand and flicking it to reveal the hidden items of varying size around the room. "And work your way up to the bigger pieces of furniture. Do remember, though, you will be pulling things at yourself, and you will need to think about the speed, and force, so that you don't hurt yourself.

"If anyone fancies a challenge, my desk," Jake made a point of knocking on the top of the desk. "Is the heaviest item in the room, made of solid wood, and more than beautifully designed, it will give all of you a good challenge to try to get it to move even a foot. But, you can definitely try!" Jake explained, motioning for them to go and give this a go.

________________________________________________
~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

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