Lesson Two: only second years reply on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Zephyrflame

June 18, 2005 10:40 PM

Lesson Two: only second years reply by Professor Zephyrflame

Alexander was looking in the classroom cupboard, his wand in one hand and a list in another.

"Cursed stones... check!" Alexander swished his wand over the box of stones that were palm-sized and had strange runes carved on them. The stones rose and flew towards the student's desks, each landing themselves on a student's desk.

"Antidote... check!" Alexander once again swished his wand over a box which contained dozens of vials, each filled with a shimmering blue liquid. The vials flew off, each landing on a student's desk.

"Pictures... check!" Alexander once again swished his wand over a stack of parchment, all which showed a wizard tapping a rock with strange carvings on it, and casting a spell as the stone started to give off sparks.

After closing the cupboard, Alexander walked down the rows of seats, making sure the stones, vials and parchment did not make any mistakes in carrying out his instructions.

Just after replacing a broken vial and cleaning up the puddle of spilled potion on the floor, the students came walking in.

Alexander walked back to the front of the classroom and picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote on the board as the students were settling down.

Insula incantare

"Good afternoon class. Before I continue, do not touch the stones on your desks, they are enchanted and will turn your nose blue. Today, we will be focusing on protecting ourselves from enchantments.

Enchantments are spells that alter the magical order of an object, such as enhancing the static electricity in a cauldron that when you touch it you get a minor static shock.

Now, this is what we are going to do today. When you are ready, you will tap the stone, and five seconds later, the stone will start to give off sparks and try to shoot sparks at you, and when it touches either skin or hair, it will turn your nose blue. To prevent this, you will have to say the spell on the board, which means in Latin 'insulate from enchantment'. You will feel an invisible layer of rubber spread all over your body, thus 'insulating' you from enchantments. If, however, you are affected by the enchantment, take a sip of the potion on your desk and the blue should fade off within a minute. When you are ready, you may begin."

Alexander returned to his desk and sat down, watching the students at work, and the blue noses. \n\n

0 Professor Zephyrflame Lesson Two: only second years reply 0 Professor Zephyrflame 1 5

Zack Dill

June 22, 2005 4:59 PM

I call upon Aldur to help me now by Zack Dill

Zack claimed his usual desk in the DADA classroom, and was reaching for the stone to make more room for his notebook when the professor's voice stopped him just in time. Zack shifted uneasily, wanting to move the stone almost as badly as he wanted to sit on his hands to prevent him from accidently doing just that. But neither option was available because as much as he didn't want his nose to turn blue, he couldn't not take notes. The very idea offended his sense of self.

Instead, he opened up his spiral notebook to the first blank page of subject 2 (he had a 3 subject notebook, and subject 1 was last year's DADA notes) and placed it on the edge of his desk farthest from the stone and slouched crookedly on his chair so that his own person was also removed that much further from temptation.

To compensate for the distractive quality the cursed stone eeked merely by existing in Zack's space, the second year opted to take his notes completely in Quenya, which was far more difficult for him that the more commonly used Sindarin, Kling-on, Orcish, or ZackDillese. High elvish didn't have words for 'Latin' or 'rubber', at least so far as Zack knew, so he had to expand upon the concepts by capitalizing 'the old language that is dead' for Latin, and substituting 'material used for round transport accessories in modern times' for rubber.

[OOC: need to go, will continue later]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1 Zack Dill I call upon Aldur to help me now 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Zack Dill

June 22, 2005 9:44 PM

Continuing to call upon Aldur by Zack Dill

Once his notes had been completed to his satisfaction (he had to go back to replace 'round transport accessory' with the Quenya word for 'wheel' when he finally remembered what it was), Zack drew out his wand with a great deal of trepidation.

Theory and memorization he was good at, practical application, not so much. This class, in particular, gave him even more grief with spell casting than even Charms or Transfiguration. He suspected this was due to making a fool of himself in front of the teacher on his very first day. That was difficult to recover from, and confidence seemed to be a large part of magical success. Of course, knowing you needed confidence and actually having confidence were entirely different animals.

Zack scowled at the stone that seemed to mock him from the corner of his desk. I'm going to get you, my pretty, he could almost hear it taunt him with an evil cackle, And your little nose, too.

All right. Zack could defeat a dumb stone. Rocks didn't even have brains. He could do this. Insula incantare. Easy, right? He drew in a deep breath, loosened up his arms, cracked his neck, did another deep breath, and then went for it, "Insula incantare."

It didn't feel rubbery. It felt like slime was oozing up out of his pores, making a thin slippery layer all over his body. Tentatively, he reached toward the stone, squeezing his eyes mostly closed and grimacing in anticipation as if he expected it to physically hurt.

He jerked his hand back the moment it made contact, looking for all the world like he'd been burned, though it had felt like a normal stone. Normal stones, however, did not start sparking seconds later. Grimacing worse that before, he reached forward again, and let a spark fall into his palm.

It seemed to sizzle on the slick oily coating that covered him. He couldn't tell if it permeated or not. Lacking a mirror or any reflective surface that would show a reasonable degree of colour, he turned slightly to address his neighbor. Said neighbor was getting a full on view of possibly hideously blue nose that he may be sporting.

"Is my nose blue?" he questioned, with a visible wince at his own uncertainty. He hated this class. Absolutely hated it. The only thing worse was Gym.

OOC: He can't see it, so I can't write it, but I figure he's probably partially blue - blue freckled, larger polka dots, splotchy, or just a solid light blue, whatever - it worked a little, but not completely. \n\n

1 Zack Dill Continuing to call upon Aldur 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Tori Evans

July 25, 2005 9:15 PM

Getting nervous now by Tori Evans

Tori look over to Zack's partially blue nose and struggled to hold in giggles. Thats about the same moment that the nerves started to set in. 'Oh Wow.' Thought Tori that could happen to me. She normally did pretty well in defense against the dark arts but that still didn't help quench teh nerves she had right about now.

"Oh well." Tori muttered "Carpe Diem. no time like the present amd all that jazz."

She took her wand aimed it at the rock and before she lost her nerve muttered "Insula incantare."

It felt like she was covered in a rubber glove. "UGH!" Tori said "I don't think this is how its supposed to feel." She tentantivaly stuck out her arm and a spark from the stone fell upon it. She didn't feel any different.

Tori took out her pocket mirror that she always kept with her and held it up to her face. Yup there it was. Tori's nose was very blue indeed. "Hmm maybe I should keep it. it'll certainly help me stand out." Tori said giggling.

She decided against the idea and took a swig of the antidote. 'Well I still deserve and E for effort.' Tori thought as she set up her things to try teh spell for a second time.\n\n

0 Tori Evans Getting nervous now 0 Tori Evans 0 5

Zack Dill

August 09, 2005 2:39 PM

Okay, how about now? by Zack Dill

He had asked 'Is my nose blue?' To Zack, this seemed to require an answer in one of five forms: 'Yes', 'No', 'Of course it's not blue, you wacko. Why would it be blue?', 'My God, what did you do to your nose?', or 'Ha-ha-ha-ha! Lookit Zack's nose, everybody! It's blue!'

When the girl first turned towards him, Zack was expecting the latter. She looked like she was trying very hard not to burst out laughing at him. He appreciated the effort, but it did nothing for making him confident of his success.

But what she said was "Oh well. Carpe Diem. No time like the present amd all that jazz," which really didn't make any sense at all to Zack's way of thinking. Only when she drew her own wand and addressed her own rock did he realize she'd been talking to herself and he'd been completely and utterly snubbed.

For a moment, he blinked in wounded offense, but then he shrugged it off. It wasn't like they even knew each other, and she'd at least had the decency not to laugh at him. Much.

Okay. He was going to work under the assumption that, yes, his nose was blue. He reached for the potion that Zephyrflame said was the antidote and took a sip.

Now to try it again. He pointed his wand at himself once more and cast, "Insula incantare!" speaking more strongly this time and giving the latin words clearer diction than before. The sensation that creeped across his skin this time was a little less slimy and a little more rubbery, which he took for a good sign.

He tapped the stone again, caught another spark on his hand and gave the girl another chance to laugh at, snub, or speak to him, depending upon her inclination. "How 'bout now? Is it blue again?"

OOC: he might have a few very small and light blue freckles, but he did much better this time.\n\n

1 Zack Dill Okay, how about now? 40 Zack Dill 0 5