Professor O'Leary
May 28, 2009 8:20 PM
Lesson I: Sixth and Seventh Years by Professor O'Leary
Drake sat at his massive oak desk grading the papers from his last class, which involved an unfortunate amount of red ink, while waiting for his sixth and seventh year student to begin entering. It was hard to believe that he had been here for seven years. In fact, he had begun at the same time Briony had. It was a painful reminder that she was all grown up and would be graduating with this year’s class. Soon enough, she would begin an entirely new life and it made him feel old even though he was only in his forties.Thankfully, there would always be young minds that needed prepared before entering into that cruel world. That’s where he (along with the other professors) came in. It was up to them to teach the students the skills they would need to get through RATS and beyond. As students began to trickle in and take their seats, he called out, “Just take out your wand for today.” He set the papers aside and pushed his chair back, the legs making a scrapping sound against the concrete floor. Getting up, he moved to the front of the room and with one look set the tone for the lecture.
“Often before training young wizards and witches cast magic unintentionally, because the child is emotionally charged. This probably even happened to most of you before attending Sonora and may have even happened on rare occasion if you were in distress. So, if we are able to cast magic from a young age without a wand or incantation, why do we use them?” He gave a moment’s pause to allow the students to come to their own conclusion, before he went on, “The wand acts as a conductor for our magic.
They help provide direction. Without it, spells aren’t as powerful. The incantations help to deliver a focus to our mental and physical conditions for the spell to be successful. Without the incantation, the magic might be powerful, but may have unintended consequences. For example, young children may cause seemingly random items to break or disappear when they are upset, because the magic is unfocused. However, it is possible to cast all spells with neither a wand nor an incantation.
Today, we will be focusing on Non-Verbal, or Incantationless, Magic. It is possible to cast all spells without using an incantation, but the more advanced the spell, the more difficult it is to do. Even the most talented of wizards will often need to use the incantation for the harder spells,” Drake informed the class. “Now, what is the importance of using Non-Verbal Magic in Defense? It is important when an incantation either cannot be or is inconvenient to cast, such as if the Silencio spell had been used on the person or if the person does not want to be detected, but wishes to use magic.”
His lecture finished, it brought the class to what they would be doing specifically. “All right. I want everyone to find a partner. When first learning Non-Verbal Magic, we start with the most basic spells, so we’re going to be working on casting Expelliarmus and Protego. I want everyone to take turns attempting to disarm their partner and protect against their partner silently. Seventh years, attempt the spell first with your wand and then if you’re feeling adventurous, attempt incantationless with the wandless magic you learned last year. If you need help or have any questions, I’ll be around. You may begin.”
OOC: Please remember that posts should be a minimum of ten well-written sentences. Points will be rewarded based on length, detail, etc. Most importantly, be creative and have fun!
Subthreads: Silent Night by Lila St. Martin with Devian Dupree
Silent partners, anyone? by Helena Layne with Annabelle Winslow
Keeping my wand for now. by Geoffrey Layne with Briony O'Leary
I'm incredibly generous by Morgaine Carey with Saul Pierce, Morgaine
Not a chance by Steven Beckett IV
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Professor O'Leary
Lesson I: Sixth and Seventh Years
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Professor O'Leary
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Geoffrey Layne
May 30, 2009 7:41 PM
Keeping my wand for now. by Geoffrey Layne
Having a question about the homework assignment had almost made Geoff late for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Cursing himself for not just owling, he hurried into the classroom and discovered there were no more open chairs in the front row. He was forced to drop his books instead on top of the last desk in the second row and sit down in a hurry before the bell.Less than half-over, and this day was already a bust.
He hadn't known it was possible to be this stressed. It was as if every time he finished taking care of one thing, four more popped up to take its place. He wouldn't drop it - his pride wouldn't allow it - but he was already jealous of his sister for having the sense to not take Ancient Runes as an independent study. If this was what it took to get ready to take the RATS, Geoff had serious doubts about how well he'd survive college. Some days, it felt like Potions was all he was even barely competent at, never mind good at.
This lesson, which began almost the moment he dug out his wand, did not seem geared to improve his self-esteen. His memories of wandless magic were not fond ones; after some initial success with the basics, he'd started having lots of problems making things happen the way he wished. Since non-verbal magic at least allowed for a conduit, it ought to have been easier, but Anne had left him with the very, very distinct impression that it was ten times harder. He didn't trust her judgment on a lot of things, but she was one of the few people he considered smarter than him.
He thought he was going to keep his wand for now. Later, if all went well, he might attempt wandless if he cared to, but right now he didn't think so. Especially if the one he worked with was younger; Geoff liked to be an impressive figure to the younger students, and taking several tries to do something he'd technically learned a year before was not conductive to that aim. He made a mental note to review his wandless magic over the weekend, if he could find both time and solitude to do so, and pushed his bad mood aside before getting up to look for a partner.
Since, as Head Boy, he needed to get around some, he made a random selection and went to the first person he saw. "Want to work together?"
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Geoffrey Layne
Keeping my wand for now.
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Geoffrey Layne
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Briony O'Leary
June 22, 2009 4:17 PM
How long will that last? by Briony O'Leary
Being the professor’s daughter didn’t really give Briony room to miss or even be late to classes, especially her father’s class. And since she was always early, it seemed wrong to sit in a seat that wasn’t in the front since there were a few that were open. So, she took one of the coveted seats and took out her wand since it would be a practical lesson. She placed her bag on the seat next to her in an attempt to save it for Saul, but as the class was filling up this became an impossibility and eventually she was forced to move it.When Saul finally came in, she offered him a small smile before turning her attention to the brief lecture on wandless and nonverbal magic. Usually, she had an unfair advantage of having learned most things before the rest of the class since her father had an obsession with being prepared for the eventuality of anything, but there were the rare lessons that she had to wait to learn with the rest of the class. This was one of those times though what was new was the nonverbal part rather than the wandless since they had learned that last year.
Once they were allowed to begin, Briony turned automatically to look for Saul, but was a bit disappointed at the apologetic look she received as he was partnering with Morgaine. Though, she preferred it to be Morgaine rather than Pepper now that she knew how her friend felt about her boyfriend, which was going to make their soon to be conversation probably rather awkward, but it needed done. And because of that, maybe it was a good thing that she and Saul weren’t partners. She seemed to like him more every day and that could be a dangerous thing.
Now she had to find another partner. She was about to get up to look when she heard the person that had taken the seat she had been trying to save turn down Geoffrey Layne’s offer. “I’ll work with you if it’s all right with you,” Briony offered. She figured that it would be good to get to know one another since they would be working together all year as Head Boy and Head Girl and in all honesty, she wasn’t sure if they had ever talked before.
OOC: I wasn’t sure that Briony could really be counted as a random selection so I hope you don’t mind if I had someone that turned Geoff down. If I wrote anything wrong, feel free to ignore or rewrite Briony a bit to make it work. >^^<
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Briony O'Leary
How long will that last?
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Geoff L.
June 23, 2009 10:33 PM
Probably for a while. by Geoff L.
...And his random selection already had a partner in mind, making him look like a bit of an idiot to anyone who heard the exchange. This really was destined to be a rotten day, wasn't it? "Good deal," he said, amiably enough, hoping to save some face.To his relief, he was quickly rescued by Briony. He'd known there was a reason, despite having little to do with any of them over the years, that he liked the Teppenpaws. Geoffrey gave the Head Girl a grateful smile. "Perfectly all right," he said.
As small as their year was, it was almost strange that he'd never really had anything to do with her. Sure, most of his time had been caught up with Anne and Quidditch and being a typical Aladren overachiever, but...they had been in all of the same classes, several of which had not included Anne in them or - as with Potions - he had always been reluctant to work with her in.
Well, he and Briony would probably work together enough for a lifetime this year. Such was the lot of the Head Boys and Girls. He hated to think of what it would be like when - as was eventually inevitable - a Head Boy and Girl with a real problem with each other were elected. 'Trainwreck' wouldn't even begin to cover it. "Would you like to start?" he asked her.
OOC: No problems! Additionally, sorry for the shortness of the post; I'll try to do better next time.
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Geoff L.
Probably for a while.
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Geoff L.
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