SPOILER!!: Professor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DaniDiNardo 
Was it terribly awful of him that he was really looking forward to this lesson?
He had his reasons, they were entertaining reasons and while he wasn’t quite sure how the students would react, he was ready to get the ball rolling—once 11 rolled in of course. For now, the man contented himself with standing by the door replying to greetings.
Oh merlin he was going to enjoy this. Did he seem like he was in a good mood? Because he was in a good mood. No one had crashed his office with upsetting news yet. All was good.
”Morning, Tamesis.”
Was this room bouncy?
”I suppose it could be. I confess I haven’t given it a fair shot. Fairfield over there has some sort of idea but I reckon it couldn’t hurt to try it yourself before we begin.” There would be no bouncing at that point. It would be right down to business.
No, but it really was time for the lesson to begin, all jokes aside. Malachi looked around at the students, doing a mental head count. When he was done counting, he flicked his wand in the direction of the door and watched it slam shut as it always did when it was time for the lesson to begin. Anyone that was late would not be getting in at all. He would deal with them later.
"Gather 'round everyone. It's time to begin the lesson. The first thing you'll notice now that the door's closed is how much this room absorbs sounds. It's soundproof, none of anything we do in here will get out. Is there a reason for this? None particularly, outside of getting you all used to a more silent environment. In this lesson, I want you all to find an appreciation for silence and the silent approach to things."
Some may have already gotten the gist of where the lesson was going. Either way, "I have a question. Think about it. All answers are welcome. It's not something you'll find in the textbooks that I hope you didn't tug along with you but rather you'll find the answer in daily experiences or the experiences of others. What are things that can be accomplished silently? Can you name something that requires silence in order to be effectively accomplished or keep you safe?"
He could think of at least a dozen things right off the bat but it would be interesting to see where their brains took them and how widely they were allowing themselves to think.
WHO WAS SHE TO SAY NO????
There was no way that she was going to say no. Grinning like she hadn’t heard anything else as exciting today, she put her bag down beside Avery and the others, and then jumped over to the side so that she wouldn’t knock anyone else over. Hmm. It was bouncy… Slightly. More-So than her mats, not as much as the board or a trampoline… but she could make do. Checking over her shoulder that the class was still filing into the room, she jumped to gain height and momentum then did a few somersaults before landing and bouncing on the padding with joyful glee. Oh, that was amazing.
With a wide grin on her face she moved back over to the main body of the class.
”Professor?” she called out.
”Can I practice gymnastics in here over lunch before you turn it for your next class?” It was far too good and fun an opportunity to miss out on. Pleaseeeeeeee.
She’d get an answer later, right now it was time to have FUN. She could feel it. It was going to be a great lesson. Ohhhh soundproof. Nice! She could yell and yell and whoop in joy and no-one would be annoyed or interrupted!
Her hand was in the air before he’d finished his statement and question… which made her face flounder slightly.
”Oh, I was going to say you need to soundproof studios so that amazing Wrockbands can record… but then you added ‘keep us safe’ and that… doesn’t really fit that description.” Whoops. Nothing to see here.
Instead, she listened to what everyone else offered and nodded along as she tried not to blush at how badly she’d answered. She really should have waited, had patience. For someone who liked all the facts, she certainly hadn’t had them all this time.
SPOILER!!: Professor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DaniDiNardo Was that the last of them? It was time to move on then. Malachi walked to a section of wall while the last of them offered up an answer. With a tap of his wand, the wall opened up to reveal a ball pit. It was meant only for storage.
"Now that we've discussed the virtues of silence, we're going to try a little exercise that ties in with what one of your classmates said. In duels, life truly does become easier when you aren't announcing your every intention to your opponent. Keeping the element of surprise is often just the push you need to get you into the winning position. The easiest way to keep the element of surprise? Non-verbal spells."
The man reached into the pit for the balls, passing them around to the students. It wouldn't be enough for everyone, in fact only half of them would end up with a ball. "We won't really get into non-verbals until Thursday's lesson but today we'll be doing something of a light introduction. Think of it as more a class on applicability. Getting you to solidly understand what makes them such a game changer."
They'd have an essay at some point, but he wouldn't bring THAT up just yet.
"Easiest way to do that is with a little game of dodgeball. As you can see, only half of you possess a ball. If you don't have one, find someone that does." Pair work. "If you don't have a ball, come collect a blindfold." Here he paused to fish the blindfolds from his pocket. He extended them to the students for them to take. "Those of you with blindfolds will be the first victi--volunteers." That was probably a better word for it. "This exercise is simple. In pairs, the student with the ball will have two shots at you. In one shot, you must say where your throwing the ball, whether to the left, the right, toward their face, by their legs. Be as detailed as you can. In the next shot, say nothing, just throw the ball. In both throws, the blindfolded student will have to dodge the attack." Did they see where this was going? It was essentially a duel. The spoken throw being the spell with an incantation and the silent throw being the non-verbal.
The balls would not be tremendously painful no matter how hard they were thrown, suffice to say the man didn't trust half of them. "Give yourselves some space along the line." At that, a line appeared dividing the room into equal halves. "Blindfolded kids on this side." He pointed. "And those with a ball on the other. Face each other. You can begin when you're ready. I'll give you about 10 minutes."
Ball pit!!!! She knew this lesson was going to be amaz--- ……… Did he just say non-verbal spells…
Holly didn’t know it was possible to feel sheet ice spread through her veins, but she was feeling it. Right now. She was only a third year, she hardly had a good base knowledge for dueling, never mind doing them non-verbally? Nibbling on her bottom lip, fingers wringing the material of her jumper just to give herself something to do, she tried to breathe. It would be okay, the Professor wouldn’t let anything happen to them. She trusted that much.
Just as she was getting her panicking under control, she got passed a ball and she murmured a thanks under her breath. She wasn’t sure if having a ball was good or not, so she just… waited. Okay. She could do this. It was two throws and two dodge-attempts with the ball. She looked around and found Jorgie, letting Alis be pulled away by one of the guys. She trusted Jorgie to throw a ball at her and know how important her
face was. It was very important. Best friends understood this.
Standing on one side of the line ball in hand, she waited for Jorgie to put on the blindfold before she looked at her bestie.
”Your right hip, Jorgie.” She counted down softly from 3 to 1, and then pressed the ball away from her, letting it sail directly towards Jorgie’s right hip. It landed slightly further towards her belly button, but her friends hands were still well placed to catch it. She grinned, proud of her friend and her own aim.
”Throw it back, J. I’ll catch it.” She could see - which meant she could move around to catch it.
Taking a single step to the side, let Holly catch the ball easily - it showed that Jorgie grew up around sports… Sometimes she wished that she liked other sports more, was sure that her Dad would have loved that… but nope. Gymnastics or Quidditch…. Nothing else really held her interest.
Looking back over at Jorgie she smiled.
”Okay, can’t tell you where I’m throwing it - but I’m throwing it in the next 5 seconds.” She wasn’t sure if that was cheating, but on the count of 4 she threw the ball in Jorgie’s direction - aiming for left shoulder and Jorgie almost caught it, but it bounced off her hand.
”Oh man, that was so close Jorgie!” she laughed. Her bestie was amazing.
Next up, she got the blindfold and it was her turn. She watched as her world went black, and she heard everyone’s voices get sharper, louder - more… pitchy? Huh. They were more annoying when you couldn’t see anything. Interesting. She stood, light on her feet while she waited for Jorgie’s word - for the signal. When she spoke, she nodded her understanding of where the ball would be heading and she was prepared for it. Catching the ball and blocking the first pass, even if she had fumbled the ball and almost dropped it. She hadn’t… that was the important thing.
She threw it back to Jorgie, heard the
thunck of her catching it and couldn’t help the soft grin that spread over her lips when she realised her hearing was much better without her vision. That was kind of cool. Staying focused, and bending slightly into a more defensive position she hovered and waited for Jorgie’s second throw. Listened. She heard the ball releasing… but it was too quick for her to react too. Her hands moved, hoping she was going in the right direction only for her hands to move too far, ball bouncing off of her forearm instead of being caught snuggly in her hands.
She frowned. She really hated losing.
… But she wanted to try being blindfolded again. She wondered if it would help her as a Keeper… Surely it would, having better hearing. Interesting.
SPOILER!!: Professor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DaniDiNardo This was turning out...well. No one was on the floor rolling and writhing in pain over being hit in the face too hard, no one was prematurely running away or ducking to avoid what they assumed was an oncoming ball. Good. It was good.
Malachi glanced down at his watch. It was time.
"Alright start wrapping up then head back over." The man gestured them closer. It was almost time for what he was looking forward to but there was still a bit that needed to be gotten through.
"We've still got one more activity but before we get there, what can you tell me about non-verbals? What makes them affective? How do they work? How advantageous are they? Anything you know is fine."
Giggling from the thoughts of being a Keeper while wearing a blindfold, Holly shook her head and hand in hand with Jorgie moved back over to the Professor. She was bouncy, felt light. Even if she hadn’t managed to catch the second ball.
Biting her lip, Holly looked around the class at the older students. Non-Verbals felt like it should be on them.
”They sound really difficult... ” She offered, finally.
”Like, climbing Mt Everest type difficult... in that you need to train really really hard, and it is a marathon not a sprint.” She added.
Okay, fine. She was scared and terrified of this challenge. How on earth did it work? How did your wand manage to hear you? How did magic work if you didn’t say it out loud? And if you didn’t need to say it out loud, why were they not simply always taught magic non-verbally??