Winter Term Normal Charms Class

"Of course," Khaat smiled, "Please--introduce yourself."

"I understand. I have my favorites too, for my own sentimental reasons. That's not a bad thing. However, it is important that you are well versed in a variety of spells, and that you keep well practiced. I will expect that you will practice those spells outside of class in order to become proficient at them. Do not be surprised if I arrange sporadic magical quizzes that might be either a written essay question or a spontaneous demonstration of a spell you have learned."

"Hmm. I see some of you aren't happy with the mention of a possible essay. I do nothing without a reason, and the reason I believe that theory is important in mastering a skill is that to truly master a skill you need to not just be able to apply the skill but also understand how that skill actually works. Some of you are familiar with muggle machines, for example. Any muggle can use just about any muggle machine. The machines are generally designed that way. However, it is the muggle who understands how the machine functions--how it does what it does--that becomes the master of that machine, and not just the muggle who can push the buttons on the machine. A chimpanzee can do that. The same is true with magic. Anybody can point a stick at something. What builds your skills is when you truly understand magic and how it works. And I want you to leave here as masters of magic, not just practicers of it.

"Welcome," Khaat told the newest arrival. "Two extra points to those who introduced themselves as asked. However, onto the lesson for the day. We are about to discover, if some of you haven't already, that sometimes we do break things, either magically or through our own human frailties. It is helpful to be able to repair things. She took her wand and pointed it at one of the drinking glasses. "Waddawasi!" It hurled the glass through the air and broke it against the wall next to the chalkboard. "I am not teaching you how to break things. Rather, I am teaching you how to repair them.' "Reparo!" She pointed her wand at the shards of glass, and watched them reassemble into a functional drinking glass that she levitated to her hand. "Some of you may know how to do this already, and some may not. IF you demonstrate satisfactory skills with this, we shall move on to another charm. I have placed a number of drinking glasses here. Please come and get one and practice breaking it, either manually or magically, and reassemble them. Please do not break glass against, toward, or in the vicinity of, another student. I do not wish to have to take points for carelessness. Please get a glass and begin."

'Excellent! Well done, Abbey!" Khaat said. "Keep practising that bit for a moment while we see how the others have done."