NEWT Charms Class 1

It had been a long time since Jess had sat his NEWT Examinations, but the memory of them burned fresh in his mind. The tasks had been grueling, the study had nearly driven him insane (Funny, because it was meant to be increasing his mental fortitude) and in the end he'd only just scraped in with the marks he wanted.

But while he had at the time hated each and every one of the teachers who had forced him to sit through such a terrible ordeal, in hindsight he had come to realise that what they had done was necessary, and that to give these young minds the best chance he could, they were going to have to buckle down hard.

So it was with that hard line attitude that Professor Jess Potter had chosen to... well, try and be serious, when it came to teaching his NEWT students... it would last one or two lessons at least, but he wasn't really holding up high hopes with himself - one never really knew how they were going to act when placed under any sort of position of power.

Sitting in his office he heard the school's bell go off in the distance, and knew that lunch was over, meaning it was his turn to do some real work.

So he walked out of his office and opened the classroom door, before walking back to his desk and standing behind it, waiting for the students to arrive for their first charms lesson of the year.

This was totally unlike Ryo. He was awake and actually planning to get to class on time this year. Maybe it was because he only had two more years in Hogwarts and he felt like these two years were the most important. He had been up since almost midnight, he just couldn't sleep. Maybe because he was a vampire and he doesn't sleep at night anyways. It wasn't like he cared anyways, he hated being up all night, not being able to or wanting to go to sleep. So when it was finally time to get up, he happily got out of his bed and dressed to get to class.

This would be his first year as a NEWT student and he was, for some reason, nervous. He knew he shouldn't be, how hard could NEWT classes be? But maybe it was just being back in school that was making him nervous. He didn't know, but at least he was going to the class that he liked the most. He left the empty Hufflepuff common room, and headed to the Charms classroom.

He entered the class quietly and saw that only one other student was there, and the professor(of course). Ryo could tell that he was a new professor, since he hadn't seen him there before. Well, it didn't matter to him, as long as the class didn't turn into one he hated, he was fine. Ryo put on a smile, he wasn't used to using, and walked up to the new professor. "Good morning Professor." he said and he took a seat in the front of the class, which was unusal for him since he alway sat in the back, like certain friend of him.

Chris had been happy to finally return to Hogwarts. The fresh air of the ancient castle couldn't be replaced. She had been doing her own thing since she arrived. Avoiding everyone and everything that she could possibly avoid. Again, she become an outsider. It was like nobody noticed her. Maybe that was a good thing for her.

That afternoon, she was peacefully having lunch. She had been starving through the morning since she hadn't had breakfast. Ugh She thought. So delicious! At this point she was shoving food into her mouth. After like two minutes, she noticed people were starting to stare. She lowered her head and slowed down. Never seen a skinny girl eat like that before have you? She thought about the people who were staring.

All of a sudden, the bell rang and lunch was over. She picked up her bag and scurried out of the hall. Let's see..... Ohh Charms! She thought happily. When she reached the classroom, she saw a new teacher sitting at the desk. She merely looked at him and walked past him. "Hey Michi," she muttered as she made her way to the back of the room. She took a seat and got her books out.

"So," Jess said slowly, grinning slyly at the small assembly of people who had bothered to turn up to his class.

"So," he repeated, shaking his head a little and checking his roll briefly, before looking back up and chuckling. "This is it? A little underwhelming for my first day back, but I personally prefer smaller class sizes, means I can get a lot more personal with you all," he said with a small shrug.

"My name, as you may know from our time shared here, is Jess Potter, and I will be your charms professor this year," he told them all, tapping his wand on the board behind him, his name appearing on it as he did so. "But you can call me Jess, if you like. If this is all we're getting," he said, gesturing out to the... three people "Then we should at least skip the formalities and break down any barriers," he said.

"Now, this year you will be studying the NEWT course guidelines, a test which is run by none other than the Ministry itself, so I will not be writing your tests. That does not, however, mean that I wont know what is in the test. Everything I teach you is something worthwhile listening to, so please do not think that I am a waste of your time

"This lesson," he then said, rising out of his chair and starting to walk around the front of the class, "we will be studying a charm I personally believe to be one of the most important in the Wizarding World. It is tricky, I cannot deny this, so today we will only be testing it in a slighter forms, but it is something I have found many grown wizards to be incapable of producing," He told them, his voice turning serious

"We will be learning the Shield charm today," he told them after a short pause, before shooting a quick smile at the three students. "The incantation for this spell is Protego he told them, tapping the board once more to make the words appear on it.

"To cast it," he told them, "you need to be concentrating on defence, at least for the time being. As your proficiency in this spell grows it will become like breathing to you, and you will be free to think whatever you like whilst you cast it, however for the time being you'll need to focus. The wand movement can be tricky, half an anti-clockwise revolution upwards, finishing in a gentle flick of the wand in the general direction that you are intending on casting the spell," he told them, raising his own wand and demenstrating the movement for them.

"For now, practice it on your own, and in a few minutes attempt to try it with one of your classmates sending a small, low powered spell at you," he said, emphasising the latter part of his instruction, "before the conclusion of class I myself will be testing your defences, so I wish you luck," he told them with a gesture for the class to get started.

Unbelievable. First charms lesson for the year and Ambrosa was late. It wasn't her fault. Really. Two kids from the third year picked up a fight in the hallway and as a prefect Ambrosa had to take care of it. Then her bag ripped and everything flew all over the floor so she had to fix her bag and find everything until the last hair pin. There she was running on the second floor on the way to her charms class. She knocked on the door and saw her teacher. Jess Potter.

I am really sorry Am said and made her way to a table in the third row. On the black board there were three words. Jess Potter and Protego. So they are doing the protego charm today. She knew that it was a charm that could block almost all jixes. Which was a good thing. Ambrosa pulled out her books, parchment, quill and ink and turned to the class. Sadly she missed what Jess Potter said so she had no idea what she should do now.

Jess looked up as he heard a knock on his door, and watched as it opened to reveal one of his now-late NEWT students. "Good morning Ms. Lunafiore, you are indeed late," he said with a smile and the suggestion of a shrug. "But don't worry," he said, the smile lingering, "I'm not too fussed, just glad you came," he told her, before turning back to his board and tapping it to reveal a set of pre-written instructions.

"This is your task for today, just make sure that you don't overpower the hexes while you practice," he said, pointing at his own wand for effect.

"But first, tell me a story. Why are you late this morning Miss?" He asked curiously. "You'll have to forgive me, but you look a little... uh... disheveled," he said with a mildly apologetic smile.

Darius was late. Surprise! Whoop-de-freaking-doo. The Slytherin boy would have been more intrigued by watching grass grow than having an internal reflection on his perpetual lateness. Besides, he didn’t really need to give it that much thought: he didn’t give a shit, and therefore he was rarely on time. Mystery solved.

Charms was one of the most boring classes for Darius because it always seemed they were learning the same spells over and over again. It didn’t help that the professorial staff changed every year and no one seemed to communicate what had already been taught. It was a tedious subject, but Darius continued to take it because at least in that class, he could slack and still pull of passable grades to ensure his parents he wasn’t a complete waste of space. Not that he really valued their opinion, but he did like the peace and quiet that came from keeping vaguely within their academic expectations.

His arrival to the classroom wasn’t as obnoxious as it could have been – he didn’t have the energy this morning to go all out – but he kicked the door in as he reached it and strode in as though there were no explanation necessary, making sure to salute the professor cockily as he passed. He quickly spotted a clique of Slytherin students, none that he was particularly close with, but he could sit with them without having to explain himself. Dumping himself into a desk, he pulled one long leg up and propped it on the desk next to him, idly drumming his fingers on the kneecap of his raised leg as he read the board.

“Protego. Brilliant,” Darius said with sarcastic exasperation. This was the most boring spell of them all. If you cast it right, no one got hurt. Where’s the fun in that?

Cecilia walked into the Charms class room quietly hoping the professor wouldn’t notice her being late. She quickly took a seat. She looked up at the board the glanced around her before taking out her wand. She had heard the end of something someone was saying as she walked in. “tago, brilliant?” she mumbled to her self trying to figure out what spell they where working on. “Protago?” she smiled to her self slightly. Now all she needed was someone to practice with.. Well not really practice just defend her self from. She looked around again her eyes stopping on that of a blonde Hufflepuff.
Getting up Cecilia walked over to him, “Hey, your Ryo, right?” she said, “I’m Cecilia. Would you please cast spells at me while i use protago. Then we could switch off.” she smiled slightly tilting her head to the side.

Jess shot a look of irritation at Darius before smiling cynically. "Something on your mind, Mister Flint?" he asked casually, slowly making his way around the classroom so that he positioned right in front of the boy. "Please, share your views for all of us to hear.. I'm sure we'd all just love to know that you think," he said, a mildly challenging tone in his voice.

After a long, appraising look he shrugged and turned around, walking back to the front of the classroom. "Get your feet off my desk, Flint, do not arrive late, and never kick my door in like that again," he added, his back still facing the class.

"Now, the charm Protego is incredibly handy in defensive purposes, so Professor Wilson will, no doubt, be building upon the basics I teach you here today, but I believe that some spells are more important than others, and should be taught as early as possible," he said to the rest of the class.