DADA: Lesson Three (Years 1-4)

Holding her books close to her chest Riley walked into the class. It made her smile to see the Professor perched on a desk. It was so casual and always put her right as ease. Setting her books down on the ground She looked up at the board...Banishing Charm...interesting.

"Good Morning Professor Newbury."

She said brightly with a happy smile. Taking her wand from from her robes she practiced her movements wanting to impress the other students and Professor Newbury. She was a bit heavy handed with her wand work and knew slowing down a bit might help.

Rushing was something Riley was good at and not to her benefit. What had Papa said...oh yes instant gratification. Apparently Riley's lack of patience had a name at least among her family. She was trying very hard to get better at waiting but it just wasn't fun.

Mercy bounced down the stairs two at a time. She was in no danger of being late, but she didn't see a point in taking her time when she was excited to get to her destination. She was excited for a lot of things, actually. For one, the Hufflepuff game was coming up--her days were consumed by quidditch practice as the match approached. She was extremely confident in her team's abilities. They hadn't played an actual match since the Slytherin game at the beginning of the year, but they'd only been getting better since then (she was still disappointed in their loss, but she herself had done a spectacular job in that game, and it only made her more excited to compete again).

For another, she'd just checked the house standings the other day, and Gryffindor was in the lead. The end of the year was approaching, and she was determined to win the house cup this year. Even if it looked like the quidditch cup would go to Ravenclaw, the house cup was the one that really mattered, and Gryffindor was in a promising position. She was going to earn as many points as she could to secure their standing.

She swung around the corner and burst into the Defense classroom, her unquenchable cheer back to it's peak. She hadn't been able to participate as well in the last class due to her condition, but she'd recovered fully since then, and was ready to make up for it.

"Hi, Jake!" she waved energetically before looking at the board. The banishing charm! If possible, her excitement levels soared even further--this was her kind of spell. They were going to spend the class blasting things away from them! Could this day get any better?

She glanced at the room's other occupant and smiled in greeting. "Hey, Riley!"

It seemed that all Gryffindors were doomed to be cheeful. Gaspard lagged behind the two lions bemoaning that because the two houses were in towers meant that generally went the same directions for their classes. There was a different reason however that the boy was following behind a certain Gryffindor this time aside from attending the same class. He just hadn't come to the right way in his mind to approach said girl. It didn't help that a different lion was with her. Sighing, the Ravenclaw lagged further and further behind as he pondered.

Once he realized he was in class, he paused at the door with a frown and peered inside. Mouth tugging down more not seeing whom he wanted, he gave a quick nod of acknowledgement to his professor. Instinct wanted him to avoid everyone especially chipper girls. Stealing himself, he walked over to Mercy and gave her more of a wince then a smile as a greeting.

Bannishing Charms. Lovely. Since they were using it in Defense class rather than Charms, it was bound to be interesting. Gaspard just hoped it wouldn't leave bruises like the last class. While Mimosa's aim started out atrcious, the classroom wasn't very large. It had nothing to do with him not wanting the girl to not feel bad about not hitting him once.

Sterling yawned and stretched, checking his watch and blinking sleep out of his eyes after his much-deserved nap. He had been doing lots of studying lately, not as much as the older student's he was sure, but a lot. Of course, now that he checked the time his little nap had turned into a big nap, and he would have t rush to make it to his next class on time.

He grabbed his books and his backpack, running a comb through his hair quickly before rushing out the door. He ran through the halls, knowing he would get there with plenty of time, but still running because he also knew the adrenaline would wake him up some. He burst into the room a few minutes later, panting only slightly.

He looked around, seeing mostly kids in younger years, but went to stand between Chauncey and a couple of his friends. He didn't care that he was still breathing slightly heavy, he had made it to the class, wasn't late, and that's what mattered.

Gaspard had nodded at Mimosa's greeting and didn't object when she planted herself between himself and Mercy. It was her spot. That was where she belonged. While he never felt over inclined to protect anything, the Slytherin had this way to bend even the unimaginable into being. The Ravenclaw had accepted this and allowed himself to be lost to the undertow rather than fighting it.

Listening to their professor since it would help not only himself, but the other two he was associating with more and more, Gaspard didn't have to think long. Raising his hand he answered after he was acknowledged. "The banishing charm, despite its name, doesn't actually banish anything. It repels whatever your wand is aimed at. Accuracy is much more important with this charm."

The twelve year old knew that if you overpowered this charm, you were in for a world of hurt. He supposed it could be reckoned to a recoil of a firearm.

“Hey Mercy. Ready for class?”

She said brightly to her fellow housemate as they settled into place. Riley liked Mercy for her upbeat attitude and sunny smile. When the professor started to speak Riley put her wand down to listen to him. She had been about to answer the professor question Gaspard spoke up. She looked over to him as he gave an answer nodding as he spoke. When he was done she quickly held up her hand.

“It’s also a counter-charm to the Summoning Charm.”

She added excitedly remembering something her mother had taught her. Riley was surprised she had pulled that fact from her head. She was so happy with herself she beamed. Lifting her wand she got ready to actually cast the spell once the rest of the class had a chance to answer the professors question about the spell.