Lesson 3 - N.E.W.T. Level

Wilson entered his classroom. It was empty, for now, but soon... his students will arrive, thinking they can do what they want, as it is with the majority of them. He had finally begun with teaching some relevant subjects, meaning he had finished with those boring and stressing introductory classes. He waved his hand, and text appeared on the board, with the usual not to copy it down. As soon as they were all present, he would start with the class.

Amelia was early to class, as usual, but this time she had had a legitimate reason for arriving early. She had been in the common room this morning, writing part of a Potions essay due later in the week, but her attempts at writing the thing were almost completely thwarted by the presence of two other people in the common room who seemed to be, from what Amelia gathered, going through a very messy breakup which involved cheating from both sides, flying accusations, and tears all around.

After giving up on the idea that she could possibly block this kind of nonsense out, Amelia had packed her things and gone to DADA early, which was why it was unsurprising to find the room empty. She took her usual seat and did not hesitate to take her half-finished essay back with the hopes of adding more to it before the class officially began.

Thank Merlin for peace and quiet... she thought as she began to write another sentence on the proper use of belladonna leaves.

James Wake had become used to the routine chaos that normally absorbed his morning. Pranksters like Keith Nicholas and Jack had become much too common. The chaos in the school was severely impeding on his attendance to various classes, but of course, James never used his duties as Imperium Squad member as an excuse. Some of the Professors were not exactly appreciative of the hard work he put in keeping himself balanced between hardcore killjoy and softy permissive.

But today was different in that he actually got enough time to make it to class before it started. A small, but useful victory in a deluge of mischief and mayhem. Given, this was Professor Wilson's class. It would not end well for some students. He found himself in the classroom with a fellow Ravenclaw, Amelia. James did not care much for welcomes and chitchat. Instead, he took a seat, took out his quill, notebook and textbook and proceeded to read. Just read. Not ahead, nor behind. Just reviewing, editting and messing with the material.

Brienne yawned and walked through the halls. Class was going to be boring, but she decided for good mark's sake, that she'd pay attention and be less...what was the word? Recalcitrant. Yes, she'd be less recalcitrant. That would allow her to get top marks and be better than that Amelia girl she so despised. She reached the classroom, she seemed to break a sweat for some reason. She hid that sweat behind a stoic wall of fake happiness. She wouldn't change the fake happiness, because she'd be more pleasing to look at if she still had it.

She went to her seat and reviewed the materials being taught today, just so she'd be ahead of the game. That was what she needed to keep her mind off of everything else, including the difficult teachers. She knew ahead of time what to expect from the way that the pages in the textbook and their lessons were ordered. If she followed that, read ahead every night and at the beginning of class, she'd be okay.

Bouncing down the hallway to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Elijah found that he was actually looking forward to the lesson. He weaved through the light crowd billowing through the hallway and made his way to the door, reaching it before he could be swamped by a group of fourth years that weren't watching where they were going. He walked into the classroom and made his way down the middle aisle until he reached a desk nearer to the front then he would have usually picked. Elijah shrugged his bag off of his shoulder and dropped it onto the floor. He kicked it underneath the desk and sat down in the chair, his wand burning in his pocket as it desired to be used once more. It had loved the Sectumsempra, much to his chagrin, and was itching for more of the dangerous stuff. It wanted an arsenal of spells and classes would oblige that wish.

Jack walked into her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, her confident swagger in place, though none of her strength could be found in her eyes. There was a storm there. She had thought her last year of Hogwarts would be... more. But so far, she had been nothing more than dreadful. No more friends, rivalries with teachers...

She hitched up her bag and her toe caught on a chair. She stumbled and quickly straightened up, her eyes fluttering closed for only a millisecond before she continued on, scowling as normally as she could at the rude chair before continuing on to the back corner. On a normal day, Jack took the back. On a bad day, she also took the corner.

Jack collapsed into the seat, wanting nothing more than to lean back in her chair and prop her feat up on the desk, though she had learned she and Wilson did not get along. Wilson did not get along with anybody, though, so she did not feel too bad. She had been the only one that had been asked to leave last lesson though... She sighed. What did this class hold in store?

Simon strode into the class, feeling out of place. Nevertheless, he made his way to the front, feeling like a mouse caught in the sight of a large cat. As though he thought that the less he moved, the less attention was brought to him, and the less attention brought to him, the better the chance that he would somehow survive. He decided to take a slightly off-center seat in the second room. No risks there.

He had found this class... intense. Simon was not strongly opinionated one way or the other when it came to the dark arts, mostly because he really never encountered it. His dad had dabbled a bit in the good side... or whatever, but there was nothing pushing him or motivating him to go out and die for some cause. Or risk a good grade just to make a point.

No, Simon preferred to keep his head down. He might... might, offer an answer, but only if he was absolutely, one hundred percent sure he was right. He made a fool out of himself to often to allow for the chance that he would do so willingly. No, he had learned it best to sit back and just shoot for average, and then hope for a miracle so his parents would not be too disappointed.

Breakfast had been oddly quiet but in all honesty Rafael probably wouldn’t have noticed if someone had shouted bloody murder from directly to the right of him. He’d been engrossed in the same book he’d been reading since his bout of sickness, the sickness that had prompted his absence from class. He’d been allowed a few books from the library and he’d indulged in some time to himself while he got over whatever virus had decided to take up residence in his body. It hadn’t irked him as much as it should have though. He’d actually enjoyed the time he had alone away from his rowdy dorm mates. He’d eaten enough sweets to make his teeth drop out but he’d religiously been cleaning his teeth to get the lingering taste out of his mouth and to combat the decay.

Returning to classes now felt weird. As Rafael walked the halls he wondered where he fit in. He felt like a ghost but he knew he wasn’t one, walking into a wall and not straight through was proof enough of that. He hadn’t felt lonely in a long time but this was really taking the biscuit now. Everyone was so happy, so pleased to be back in each other’s presence. There was also the added population of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. Rafael hadn’t come across them as of yet but he’d been at the feast and listened to banter. He wasn’t actually sure if he wanted to meet one of them, either. But that wasn’t important. Right now Rafael had to focus on getting to class without being run over by some of the over enthusiastic younger students.

Curiously enough, the seventh year made it without a casualty and entered the classroom, pushing it to with his foot. He cleared his throat and walked down the middle aisle. He spotted the Slytherin that had been levitated in Potions class. Rafael averted his gaze, knowing that staring was rude, and took a seat at an empty desk near the front but not too near. He swallowed and took his Defence book out of his bag. He set it on the table and put his bag on the seat beside his own. He pressed the poppers together and rubbed an invisible piece of lint off of his bag. He lifted his head and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

Unfortunately Rafael had succeeded in losing his contact lenses which he had acquired over the summer. According to the optician his eyesight wasn’t as good as it had been in the past and would need glasses or contact lenses just to give his vision the extra push it needed. He didn’t necessarily agree with her but she was willing to give him the lenses for free. The only problem was that he’d lost them, as mentioned. But he’d been fine with them throughout the summer. It was just during the recent bout of sickness that he’d succeed in losing them. Thankfully the optician had given him a pair of glasses and they weren’t too ugly. He’d thrown them on this morning, hoping for the best, and they turned out to be fine. He would just have to get used to the odd feeling. With contacts he could just move his eyes, with his glasses he had to move his head a lot more. It didn’t matter though, he decided, as long as he could see.

Good day to you all. Today, you will finally have the pleasure of torturing your classmates with spells, which is something you'll enjoy... well, I would. Now, today's spell isn't difficult and you won't hurt your colleagues... unless they fall down badly... but more on that later. Petrificus Totalus is a very practical spell when facing enemies who you do not want to duel. Remember, running away from a fight does not mean you're cowards... fight only the inevitable and try to avoid anything dangerous, for your own sake. Now,. it freezes your opponents in place, immobilizing them for a certain period. It isn't advanced, but it is very practical, relating to other topics we will be going through this term. Now, you shall be divided into pairs and practice on each other. Miss Lyons will work with... em... the other Ravenclaw girl, while Wake will work with the new guy from Ravenclaw. Dyllan, Armstrong and Krum you'll work together, which means that you should know how to divide your spells... who will freeze whom... but in the end, you all have to be petrified... you'll see how. Now, please, whoever wants first, you are free'', he said, taking a seat at his desk, watching the students perform.

The room had filled slowly after Amelia had first arrived, but at least it had filled quietly. Her essay was finished within ten minutes, but she had taken the spare time before the lesson began to reread the sentences she had wrote for grammatical errors or insufficient detail. When she had finished her check, Amelia rolled the parchment and stored in it her bag, taking out a fresh sheet just in time to start taking notes as Professor Wilson called the class’s attention.

Petrificus Totalus was by no means a complicated spell, but Amelia could see the practicality of it as the professor described. When he mentioned being paired with another student, however, Amelia was not overly keen on the idea, especially since she couldn’t exactly count any of her classmates among her friends. She knew Rafael, but only in passing, and she had a similarly distant relationship with Jack. The idea of petrifying Elijah wasn’t all that unappealing to Amelia, but before she could start to picture herself flash-freezing the dark-haired Slytherin, the professor announced that her partner would be someone she had not yet considered.

The girl was from her house, but Amelia had never been introduced to her. Amelia had seen her around and heard enough talk in the hallways to know the girl’s name was Brienne, and she was not exactly easy to miss in the common spaces of the castle, because there weren’t many other students that had ears and a tail. Amelia did not hold these traits against the other girl, but had merely taken note of them as identifying markers.

With the professor’s okay to proceed, Amelia set down her quill and took up her wand, sliding from her chair and moving to where Brienne was sitting with a plastic-looking happiness affixed on her features. Amelia wasn’t sure what had happened to make the girl so happy, or even if she was feeling that way at all, but it didn’t really matter. As long as she was proficient enough with the spell to serve as an acceptable partner, Amelia wasn’t concerned much beyond that.

“Would you like to go first, or should I?” Amelia asked the other girl, her voice strictly business. She hadn’t bothered with introductions, because it was unlikely that Brienne did not know who she was. This wasn’t because Amelia thought herself popular, but rather because of the talk that went on in class about her, and the talk she knew was happening in whispers behind her back. The rumors didn’t bother her much, mostly because she cared so little for the opinions of her peers, but that did not make her oblivious to the fact that they were circulating.