Defence Against the Dark Arts Lesson One (First - Fourth Years)

The new term had kicked in and Jake was back in the very familiar classroom that had been his own for just under two years now. The young man was quite pleased with the whole set up, and once more, there were no desks or chairs in the room. Jake liked the more practical approach to lessons, and he didn't think today would be much different.

Flicking his wand, the words Tickling Charm presented themselves on the board behind Jake. He'd decided that the younger years should start off with something light, after all, for some it would be their first taste of magic, and for others, it would be a recap.

They would look at different magic throughout the year, of course, but this was a good starting point. Sitting on top of his desk, Jake wondered how many students would be in the lesson this morning, and how widely the skills of each individual would vary. But what Jake wanted most, was for them to enjoy themselves.

Now to wait.

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

Guest

Now, Defence Against the Dark Arts was not a good subject for Finley. It was the most wand based class he'd ever seen. Professor Newbury seemed to like practical learning, and for Finley, it was his worst nightmare. Of course, that wasn't the professors fault, not in the slightest, but it made Finley all the more nervous when he attended the class.

Pushing open the door, Finley noted the professor in the room, but there didn't seem to be anyone else here yet. Great, Finley thought to himself as he moved in to the room. There were no tables or chairs, which simply insisted this was going to be practical.

Looking to the board, Finley noted that it was, at least, a nicer spell to be working on. Looking to the professor, Finley managed a soft "g-good morning, s-sir" to the older man before he moved to the side of the room to put his bag down, wondering who else was going to turn up.

Guest

Violet's first day of the term was off to a good start. She managed to wake up on time, despite being used to the summer sleep-ins, and get to breakfast. And then, her first class of the day was actually bearable. That was as good as it was going to get for Violet. Bearable.

Her common room was close to the kitchen, so naturally, Vi never was bothered to sit in the Great Hall for breakfast. Although she rather liked the anonymity the Great Hall provided, it was much easier to get her food directly from the source, and simply walk straight to class, eating. Today, she'd grabbed a piece of buttered toast and an apple, and was on her way to class.

She waltzed into the classroom, having finished her toast and munching on her apple, bag slung lazily over her shoulder. She noticed a Ravenclaw already in the room. With a slight nod to the Professor, seated on his desk, Vi dropped her bag to the ground, leaning against the wall while she finished off her apple. 'Tickling charm', she thought to herself 'basic'.

Jake had waited until the very last moment to start the class, hoping that a few other students might join them, but it seemed he wasn't going to have such luck. Never mind, he thought to himself, smiling to the two students that had decided to come to his class. "Morning, Finley." Jake replied to the boy with a small, reassuring smile just before Violet had joined them.

"Good morning, Violet." Jake greeted the witch, not wishing to leave anyone out. "Well, it seemed it's just the three of us today then. Shall we begin?" Jake asked, looking between the two of them. Though, in honesty, it didn't matter if they agreed, they were going to be starting now, anyway.

"So, today, as you might have seen, we will be going through the tickling charm. Can either of you tell me anything about this spell? Anything at all that you can come up with will be useful." Jake asked them, wondering which of them would give an answer first.

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

Guest

Brooke was running very, very late. While she had woken up on time and had breakfast, she had suddenly found herself lost on her way up to the third floor. It wasn't because she didn't know the way - she already had mapped out exactly where her classrooms were - but rather, because the stairs had decided to change direction halfway while she was on it.

Finding herself on either the 4th or the 5th floor, and with no other stairs around her, she had wandered around for a good 20 or so minutes until she finally bumped into an older prefect who kindly showed her the way back down. Racing around the corner, she narrowly missed running into another student, shouting an apology over her shoulder.

And then, she ran past the door. At the speed she was going, she couldn't slow down and instead grabbed a pillar and skidded to an abrupt stop. Turning sharply around, she ran back to the entrance and practically threw herself into the room.

"I'm so so so sorry Professor Newbury!" she said, panting from her mad dash to get there. "I got lost because one of the stairs decided to move when I was on it, and then didn't go back down and I had to find my way down, but I got lost, but it's okay because someone helped me and then I ran past the door and..-" she trailed off, only then noticing the words on the board. "... and oooo is that what we're learning? I read about that before. Aren't there two types? R.. something.. and the titilandus one right? That one is easy to remember..." Stopping to take a deep breath, she realized she had been ranting and a blush crossed her features. "I'm sorry, I'm excited. Please don't give me detention for being late I don't think it will happen again!"

Guest

It was to be her first class, and despite being late, she quite honestly did not care. Melody was sick, and although Maddie originally wanted to stay back with her, she had decided that she would go after all, so she could come back and report to her sister. So, walking casually along the hallway as though she had all the time in the world, she made her way up to the third floor.

Stopping outside the closed door, she took a deep breath and held it. In the meantime, she pinched her cheeks a couple of times each to give it a rosy red look, and then ruffled her hair slightly. When she was sure she was going to pass out if she waited a split second later, she let out the breath and pushed open the doors.

If there was one thing Madison was good at, it was pretending. Getting in the good books of teachers - or in this case Professors - and prefects, and basically anyone who held any sort of power was essential to the twins' survival. That way, if any student dared to bring up complaints about them, they would be brushed aside, because nobody would suspect the two 'angels' were actually devils in disguise. This tactic had worked many times before, and she wasn't going to let it fail her now.

Moving towards the front, she offered the man there the sweetest smile she could manage without gagging and said, "I am so sorry Professor. I didn't mean to be late. I was taking care of my twin - she's sick. She sends her apologies for not being able to make it." Tilting her head slightly to the side and widening her eyes, she smiled again. This was always too easy.

Guest

Finley had been quite surprised by the small class, but also, highly relieved. A smaller class meant that there were fewer people who could make fun of him for not being able to do magic to a higher ability, which made it a lot less stressful for the Ravenclaw than it usually was.

The question from the professor was one that Finley thought about for a moment, wondering which one the professor was focusing on. He didn't have paper to write an answer down on, which meant he was going to have to talk in front of people, which, of course, made Finley very nervous.

He'd just about been ready to supply something of an answer when the door burst open, and with it, Brooke in her usual excited manner. Talking incredibly fast, but Finley got every single word. "T-the other one i-is Rictumsempra." The boy managed quietly, but loud enough for the professor to hear him, that was for sure.

The boy jumped though as the door opened again, looking to see another student come in to the room and head straight towards the professor. A shy smile touched the boy's features, though he didn't know the witch, before he looked back to the professor.

Jake smiled at the entry of two more witches, one with a very enthusiastic outlook, and an answer already on her lips. The other less enthusiastic, but seemingly genuine about her apology. "It's perfectly okay, you haven't missed much." Jake told the Slytherin with a small smile. Which it was, as long as they apologised for lateness, Jake didn't get angry.

Turning back to the topic at hand, however, Jake continued. "Both of you are correct in your answers. It is indeed two different spells that could have been the answer. However, today we will be focusing on the application of Rictumsempra today. Now as it's been stated the spell is used to tickle your opponent. Today you will be trying this spell, and only this spell, on one another." Jake explained, looking over the four faces before him.

"Violet, please partner up with Brooke, and Finley partner up with Madison. Take it in turns to try the spell, and remember you need to attempt the shape of a feather when casting the spell. If you're having trouble, I will come around and point you in the right direction. Good luck." Jake explained, waving them off to have a go at the spell.

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

Guest

Hook, line, and sinker. That was how her Professor had bought her line, and she grinned inwardly. This was far too easy. As the spell topic was given, she raised her eyebrows. Boring, was the first word through her mind, but then they were given partners and she was forced to learn it. Moving over to the boy indicated, she looked him over.

"Hi!" she greeted, friendliness still in her tone, although she had just decided this boy - Finley, if she remembered correctly - was going to be fun. And, she never backed down from fun. "I'm going to go first if that is okay with you. I've never tried it before," she said, innocence tinting her tone, but she fully intended to do so, no matter what.

Fragile, easy going.. Potential target for us, she added in her mind. Then, taking out her wand, she traced the pattern a few times, not saying the spell just yet. Tickling was so trivial, so useless, that she was quite sure that it would be boring - and yet.. yet something at the back of her mind was nagging at her, telling her she was wrong. Still, not able to figure it out, she instead looked towards Finley and smiled sweetly again.

"Rictumsempra!" she tried, but nothing seemed to happen, and she shrugged lightly. Focusing more, she tried again, and this time, a beam of silver shot out, heading towards the boy.

Guest

Finley was glad when he had gotten the answer right, letting out a soft sigh of relief at the professor's words. When they were told that they were going to have to practice on one another, the young Ravenclaw froze.

Well, this was not going to go well, was it? Finley's magical ability was outrageous at the best of times, let alone when there was someone watching. The Ravenclaw was still quite adamant the Headmaster had gotten this wrong, but he couldn't be sure.

The polite words of greeting from the Slytherin put Finley slightly on edge and he let out a very soft 'H-hello' in response. Slytherins always made him much more nervous than anything else, but that wasn't the time to dwell on such things. Not now...

"I'm going to go first if that is okay with you. I've never tried it before,"

"O-okay..." Finley responded to her words, taking out his wand. Was he supposed to shield himself? What was the shield charm again? Oh no, oh no, oh no.

"Rictumsempra!"

Finley jumped at the first word from the witch's lips, but nothing happened and he looked back to her uncertainly... "T-try again." He prompted, though it seemed he didn't need to, as the second time a streak of silver hurtled towards him and hit him in the chest before he could even think about a shield charm.

Giggles erupted from Finley, giggles that weren't nervous in any manner. Merlin he was glad he didn't need the toilet as he got tickled incessantly, his laughter filling the room as he fell to his knees, clutching his sides. "S-Stop..." He managed between laughs, but he was falling around laughing more a second later, trying to motion to stop, but struggling too much with the laughter to get anything else from his lips.

» Defence Against the Dark Arts Lesson One - First to Fourth Years
» Defence Against the Dark Arts: Lesson One (First to Fourth Years)
» Defence Against the Dark Arts Lesson Two - First to Fourth Years
» Defence Against the Dark Arts - Lesson Three (First to Fourth Years)
» Defence Against the Dark Arts Lesson Three - All Years