Another Empty Classroom
 

Across the corridor from the Defense Training Room is an unused classroom. The door has been unlocked and the room is now available to the group of students who requested additional training space. The room is a bit dusty, with sheets covering large pieces of furniture that have been shoved into the middle of the room.



This room is reserved for use.

Please note: Simon (Macavity) is helping with defensive spells and Jimmy (Tegz) is helping with offensive spells. If you are not working with one or the other, you should not be in this room.

Alright, Zara finally had time to catch up on everybody. But, where exactly is everyone? Simon, the Gryffindor captain should be here, as well as the others who would be practicing.

Maybe they were done? Oh well, Zara went to a corner and sat down, waiting for the others to come.

Macy skipped into the room, glad to be away from the two hooligans. Whew. Okay.

Pulling the list of weekly activities out of her pocket, she tried to decide on what to do next. Ugh. She had a lot to do. Running, Meditating, Singing, Ballroom dancing, she hadn't even talked to herself in the mirror yet! She also still needed to swim the lake, which was one of the things she tended to skip out on quite frequently. :whistle: Hmm.

OHH!


This would all be loads easier with a partner! Now to find one. Careful not to interupt the girl meditating, Macy tip-toed over to the only other girl in the room. "Hi," she said, introducing herself. "I'm Macy. I actually still have a lot left to do this week. You, erm... wanna be my partner?" the girl asked with a sheepish smile. True, the girl did look younger than her, but Macy seemed to have an abundance of friends that were younger than her.

So it was all good.

Oakey walked in through the door leading to the extra classroom. It didn't look like an extra classroom, more like an abandoned one. It would do though, Finally after 3 months of not learning defensive spells Oakey would be able to properly defend himself from Crazy Ravenclaws anything.

He closed his eyes and imagined himself casting a spell that made Jacob go stiff and fall to the floor. Then he imagined again that his next spell set the back of Jacob's robe on fire while the Ravenclaw ran around in circles trying to put it out, and again with Jacob now a frog.

Oakey was so busy with his imagination that he hadn't seen Gryffindor Captain in front of him and walked into his back. Oof!

"Erm, sure. But, I don't really think now is a good time because we're having some DADA lessons taught by older students. If you want, you can join in then we could be partners later?" Zara offered with a smile to the girl. "I'm Zara by the way."

Zara extended a hand over to Macy for a handshake. And the Gryffindor captain appeared.

Oh heyy. The Gryffindor captain was here now. Wait, what was his name again? Simon? Right, Simon. Zara smiled as she immediately stood up and removed the dust on her robes which she gained from sitting down on the floor.

She nodded in acknowledgement to Simon and looked at the two others in the room. "Erm, maybe you could join us if you want. Or, just continue those stuff you're doing elsewhere. Sorry." Zara said softly.

And Oakey came in..who looked like he was not his usual self. Before Zara could even have her first suspicion of what the boy was up to he bumped—more like walked over—the Gryffindor captain. Oohh. Zara winced a bit and regained her normal expression and bit her lip. "Hey, Oakey."

Presley stepped into the room. "I heard that some students were going to help others with their Defense because Lord Borr doesn't do anything. Is this where I can get help with that?" She hoped so. DADA was for learning to defend yourself, not just being in top physical condition. Presley hadn't learned a single defensive spell since coming to this school, and she was ecxited to finally start.

OH!

Wow. She looked stupid now. She hadn't even seen the older student walk in. >_< EEP! Well this would be fun anyways. Macy gave a nod to Zara and shook her outstretched hand. "Right," she agreed.

She'd just stick around anyways. No point in wasting the energy it took to walk over here.

i'll just park me lad here....
 

From the corridor Salander spotted a new room that he hasnt seen before. Poking his head in he spotted Simon and a few other students he didnt remember being with the training sesh at the DADA room. New recruits? Well, he's just around to improve on his spell casting.

"'Zup Simon!" the Slytherin lad greeted the Gryffindor Captain. Now, where's Jimmyboi?

To all even if I didn't quote
 

As he watched to see if they would leave or stay, Simon suddenly found him jostled from behind by another body. Turning his head he spotted a young Hufflepuff raising a slight eyebrow. "Might want to be a bit more observant next time," he said to the boy before adding for the room's benefit as he turned to them. "Sensing others is as important in defense as your spell casting. Whether it is your opponents or your friends."

Looking towards the door as a Ravenclaw entered questioning if this was the right place for the lessons, Simon nodded at the girl. "Uh huh...you're in the right place," he assured her motioning for her to come further into the room. He then spotted Salander follow soon after and gave a one armed shrug. "At the moment the ceiling though I was about to start talking to the group," he said quietly gathering up his confidence to lead whatever he was to do.

"For those who don't know me, I'm Simon Bennett, Gryffindor quidditch captain, but for these lessons I'm just Simon." The seventh year figuring to introduce himself was the best way to start. "I'm just one of the students that has offered to help so you'll see any number of us at any time in this room throughout the year. Seeing as we're all of different years and different defense levels, let me start out by asking if there was anything in particular you were interested in talking and/or learning about?"Simon stood quietly when he stopped speaking to listen for any answers, his gaze absently moving across the room.

Aurora arrived at the classroom and peered around the door. "Hello." she said, making her way into the room and standing with Zara. She was so happy that this was actually happening and that she had actually played a part in organising it! She made a mental note to tell her mother in her next letter.

Simon confirmed Presley's suspicion, and she stepped fully into the room. "I'm Presley," she introduced herself. "I think I'd like to start with the basics if that's okay. Like, a shield charm maybe." Presley knew the theory of a lot of the defense stuff. Her brother was really into defense, but she hadn't actually performed any defensive magic ever.

Salander took out his wand and was about to practice that antler spell Jimmy mentioned when he heard Simon ask a question for everybody "Uhm yeah...." the Slytherin started "... is there a pushing or blasting spell other than Confringo?" he asked curiously.

*busypants*
 

Wow. There were already a lot of kids there. Jim wandered into the room and looked around, eyebrows up behind his sunglasses. He banished them back to his dorm and went inside properly.

"Word spread quick, huh?" Jim commented as he reached Simon and Salander.

"So, maybe we can split into offensive and defensive to start with." He suggested, after hearing a few of the requests.

Nika had heard about this meeting from Kimalia and she wanted to join in. So she poked her head into the classroom and looked around. "Erm Hiya. I heard about this practicing group and I was just erm-- wondering if I could join in?" Hopefully they wouldn't turn her away. She saw Zara in there and smiled at her. Maybe Zara could convince them to let her stay.

Nika beamed and walked into the classroom and walked towards Zara. She was excited for learning some new DADA stuff. Last term they didn't really get around in doing much in the class and this term that Lordy Borr-guy didn't even show up to the school once!

Kurumi sprinted through the castle with her book bag slung over her shoulders and a look of nothing but excitement on her face. FINALLY a proper lesson and not some ridiculous assignment disguised as something that it wasn't Kurumi could only meditate so much before she felt like she were about to burst - or fall asleep.

After bursting through the door, she saw that Simon was already present and quickly ran up to him, bowing over and over as she did. "I'msosorrythatIamlate!" she squeaked setting her bag down and bowing once more to him. "I-I-I can make it up though!" She then reached into her bag for a rather large box of, you guessed it, cookies. Since this was going to be DEFENSIVE training, Kurumi thought the shape of a shield was more appropriate.

She then looked around sheepishly at everyone else, bowing repeatedly as she did before rushing to an open area where she stood and began tugging on her hair.

"I-I've actually always wanted to learn how to produce a Patronus," she said timidly raising her hand. However, she knew that that was asking the impossible out of the group's younger members. Even as a third year that task would be difficult. The only third year she had read about being able to produce a Patronus was the legendary Harry Potter, the Chosen One. She was pretty sure that there were no more Chosen Ones among them.

When she had entered, she thought that she had heard one of the first years ask about learning Protego. "A basic shielding charm would be good and those of us who are older could perhaps learn Protego Horribilis or Salvio Hexia?"

Ohh all of you. XD
 

Zara smiled to her, as she turned her attention back to the Gryffindor captain. But seeing as he may still be thinking and all that, Zara leaned back on the wall and closed her eyes.

And another person came in the room and Zara sat up straight once again. Patrocluuss. Ahhh. *drools in her mind*

Ohh, Simon was announcing, better keep quiet. "Er, any kind of defense spells would be fine with me. As long as I learn them, that's all I need to know." Zara said softly as she raised her hand, but realizing she didn't need to do that since she wasn't in a class. Slowly, she put her hand down.

Ohh heyy, Aurora arrived already. And Zara had stood up, leaning on the wall, as Aurora had stood beside her. "Why hello." Zara had said softly to her friend.

Zara listened as the three older students were somehow planning..talking. Maybe they were in charge of it all. Or maybe there were more.

"Heyy, Nika," she smiled, hoping that just for now Nika would stop about the Patroclus issue. GAHH, why is she thinking so much about him? Gee Zara, the guy's got Destiny. And you know, he just spoke to you that day at the feast because you asked a question. Never know, he might've been just felt obligated to reply to you.

Aaaand, Nika went beside her. "Hey Nika," she greeted happily. Well, as happy as she could manage. Zara couldn't help but be all sulky because of the fact that she still hadn't seen HIM around at all. Maybe he was busy or something, or that their schedules just didn't meet.

And ohh, Kurumi. Zara smiled at her. And she heard the word Patroclus. Wait, Kurumi did say Patroclus right? Or was Zara imagining things? "Hey Kurumi, I couldn't help but hear what you've said before. What about Patroclus?" she asked, completely unaware that Patroclus had gone. Gone away, never coming back.

OH HEYY, COOKIES. "Do you mind if I have one? I really love your cookies."

Kurumi felt a sting in Kurumi's chest when Zara mentioned her Papa Lion. It hadn't been but twenty-four hours since she had seen him vanish right before her eyes. His words to her still echoed loud and clear in her memory. Never stop being as wonderful as you are, I know the pride of Gryffindor will forever be safe with you... Kurumi had to bite her lower lip and turn her head away for a moment to make sure that she didn't show the younger lioness what she was feeling.

"I-I-I didn't," she said swallowing hard and turning her full attention back to Zara. "I mentioned the Patronus Charm...the one which conjures an incarnation of the caster's innermost positive feelings, such as joy, hope, or the desire to survive..."

Good old dictionary answers to distract from the pain behind her eyes.

"Well yeah." Jim heard the kid and nodded. "Anyone can join in if they're actually serious about it." He grinned as Simon said pretty much the same thing.

"That works." Jimmy agreed. He hadn't expected people to show up before they had figured stuff out. Oh well. "I guess you take that half of the room and I'll go over there." He gestured with his chin. "And people can just choose whether they wanna do defensive spells or offensive spells and switch between us when they want as well."

He drew his wand and summoned a few dummies and targets from the defense room. Yep that'd do it.




"No reason you can't start working on it now, Kurumi, even if you're in... third year?" Yeah that was right, right?

"'sides, the theory of that one will help a lot with the execution of other spells you know. Magic's all about what you've got going on inside and how you can control it."

Kurumi nodded as she listened to Simon and Jimmy speak about how to organize the session. Kurumi had already decided prior to the divide that she wanted to focus a bit more on defensive spells. Defense was the best offense, right? She had applied that to her kendo training at least, using defensive stances and techniques while battling her brothers to observe their movements, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Same principle applied here, right?
Kurumi then looked up at the older boy and smiled nervously. He did have a point. "You're right," she chirped with an enthusiastic nod. "Even if I can manage to produce a puff of silver smoke I should consider it an accomplishment."

Just as long as she didn't blow something up. No, wait, her spellwork usually ended in something melting.

As soon as Hugo heard about this, he ran over to the defense rooms. He wanted to learn. When he peeked in the room, he saw Kurumi already there. "C-can I join?" he asked nervously. Maybe he could learn non-verbal spells with Kurumi. That would be awesome. Hold on, where they talking about patronusses? Hugo was even more eager to do this now!

Ohh, right. Patronus Charm. Zara nodded, embarrassed for her mistake, then looked away. Her thoughts turned to Patroclus. Really, where is he? And blah blah blah *insert a whole novel of words about Zara thinking of Patroclus*.

Cookies. Zara's eyes were on them and she finally remembered she wanted one. Was she allowed to have one? Kurumi hadn't said so right? Maybe she should ask again. "Is it okay if I have one?" asked Zara, eying the cookies.

AAAAANND, dummies and targets suddenly appeared.

Simon smiled as the girl answered his words with an enthusiastic entrance, absently watching as she joined Zara already seated.




"Its alright Kurumi, we don't really have a set time," Simon assured her as she kept bowing in repeatance and appologized for her lateness. He couldn't help inwardly smirking at her suggestion...leave it Kurumi to wand to do something a bit more complicated.

"Well that usually an upper level piece of work but the mechanics can be gone over," he said with a nod about the added mention of the Protego charm and its extensions. "All good options," he said before moving his gaze onto others awaiting other suggestions.

Simon nodded as Jimmy divided the room into the two sections . "Sounds good," he said to the other seventh year, letting him move off to the other side to set up what he needed to demonstrate the defensive spells. He couldn't help smiling as Kurumi showed her williness to give the tougher spell a try even if nothing much developed at first.

"Of course...the more the merrier," Simon replied waiting for him to come in before continuing.

"Ok we're gonna divide into two groups for now," he spoke up turning his attention back to the group as a whole. "Those who are interested in defensive spells like the shield charm and patronus' stay over here with me. For help with more offensive or attacking spells, Jimmy will be working over in that portion of the room," he instructed motioning to his partner where he stood.

Presley took a step closer to Simon as he said to stay with him if you wanted to learn defensive spells. Why was this being taught by students? Not that she minded really, she was just confused as to why Tate didn't simply fire Lord Borr. He was the minister of magic, but didn't the Headmaster have ultimate authority in the school? She was tempted to ask, but she wasn't sure she would like the answer they might give.

Hugo walked into the room. Two groups... CHOICE? This was hard. What if he wanted to learn both? ARGH. He decided to go for the patronus and the shield charm, because he really wanted to learn them. He walked up to the Gryffindor leader guy and looked up to him. Wow, he had some growing to do. "I'm Hugo, Hugo Doyle, third year Ravenclaw," he said, smiled at the Gryffindor and walked over to Kurumi.

Aurora walked towards the boy (was he called... Jimmy?) and wondered if she should take out her wand. She leant against the wall and waited to begin.

Macy sat attentively, listening to the discussions. Before she knew it, everybody was up and moving. OH!

Alright, well it sounded like he'd said people working on defensive and patronuses were to stay with him. Heh. Be good to bother Eden with. Standing up, the fourteen year old went to gather around the Gryffindor quidditch captain. WOOO.

Kurumi turned her face away again for a brief moment as the tears treatened to show themselves once more.

Cookies? Oh, right, Zara had asked Kurumi about cookies. "O-O-Of course you may," she nodded taking off the lid and offering the box to the first year. "Not as good as chocolate if we face any dementors today though."

Okay, so THAT was a bad joke.
PHEW! That certainly was a relief. Still, Kurumi felt like she had arrived late and the feeling was a little unsettling since she pride herself on her organizational skills. Perhaps she should just follow Simon around like a duckling to make sure she was always there whenever these sessions unofficialy started? She could roll a sleeping back out in front of the boys' dormitory since she couldn't get in there herself.

She giggled a bit at the sheer idea. Walnut would have to do. He could play the messanger for her.

Kurumi took a few steps closer to Simon. "I'll stay here," she said smiling to him.
Kurumi then turned her violet gaze to Hugo when he came up beside her. "Defensive spells?" she asked - although the answer was rather obvious considering he was here with Simon and not at the other end of the room with Jimmy.

Seeing Hugo reminded her of the check list that they were failing miserably to actually get done. "Simon?" she said in a soft squeak turning her attention back to Professor Captain. "Do you think we could also practice nonverbals?" Something else that was probably too advanced for a third year, but Simon and Jimmy had said that the mechanics and concentration would be a good idea to get an early start on.

"I dunno," Hugo replied to Kurumi. "I'd like to learn both... But I really want to be able to produce a patronus! I wonder what my patronus is..." he told Kurumi. Ah yeah, thankfully Kurumi asked it. He was a bit shy when it came to meeting new people.

Dementors? Zara's expression turned wild at the word, and she began to feel alert, looking up and around once in a while.

THEEEEEEEEEN, people were going and walking all around.

Ohh, right. Right. But what if she wanted both? Zara pouted a bit and lazily walked over to where she could learn defensive spells as she was still looking overhead, ready for the dementors. Right, she'd learn defensive ones first for now. "Erm, Simon. Captain Simon. Uhh, could we learn the offensive spells too? After defensive, I mean. So we know both?"

"I am curious as well," Kurumi chirped with a sparkle in her violet eyes. "I don't think I will be able to produce one this term though, maybe next term if I am lucky."

Kurumi leaned over. "Psst, Zara...we already split up into two groups: offensive and defensive. Simon is handling defensive spells and Jimmy the offensive. You can switch back and forth at will..."

Cass and I want in XD
 

Cass lost all hopes of ever being able to truly throw a proper punch and abandoned the punching bags she was at again to turn her attention to much yummier subjects i.e James Wilkes. He was much more interesting and the DADA extra physical working out club thing they had going sounded pretty interesting to of course, so she pulled her bag back unto her shoulder and made her way into the class room they all seemed to be gathering in.

She looked around and realized that a fair few were already there and propped her bum on one of the tables at the side, swinging her legs a little. She wanted to know what this whole thing was about before she threw her lot in after all.

Young lady with her usual friendly expression on the face walked into the office, only the first lesson which was held as a parallel, leaving memories to wash the hands before eating and the desire to finish the case before nightfall, to leave the home place before dark og stay at home, or if given the opportunity to pair with a friend. Anasta greeted one fellow 'hello'.

All square seemed full with students, perhaps, wanted to be with some defense against darkness with some pritective light.

Switch back and forth.. Zara knew about the split, but not about the switching. "Kurumi, how long does this last anyways? More than one day right?"

Nika wasn't sure which group she wanted to join. She was torn between the two. Why must she be so indecisive! She lifted her head as she heard a boy named Hugo making an introduction. That was a pretty good idea so Nika might as well introduce herself and stall some time for making the choice. "Oh, I'm Nika Adler and I'm a second year lion!" So very enthusiastic. So right the choice.

THE CHOICE

DUN DUN DUUUNNN

Offensive? Or Defensive? Attacking? OR Patronus? What is a patronus anyways? Eh... it sounded cool though. But if Kurumi was almost sure that she wouldn't be able to produce one until next year then maybe Nika better stay with the other group. Kurumi was probably one of the smartest lions so if she thinks it would be hard then it would probably be almost impossible for Nika.

So with that in mind she made her way towards the guy named Jimmy.

Aurora took her wand out whilst people split into groups and waved it around to produce the silver and green ribbons she had advisement come up with at the last Quidditch match. She tied her hair back with them and tucked the few loose strands behind her ear. She never really tied her hair up but it wad long and would get in the way if she left it down. She smiled sheepishly at Nika who had come to join the offensive group. "Hey Nika. Are you ok?"

Nika smiled at Aurora who was apart of the group that Nika had eventually chosen to join. There first encounter with the hug attack and then the second in the great hall were not very good. The Slytherin probably thought Nika was insane. After being super cheerful and hug attacking random people then going all depressed she wouldn't blame the first year for thinking that. "Yeah I'm great!" Even though the thing that was bothering her during that day in the great hall hadn't completely gone away Nika knew she had to get over it. So from now on it would be in the back of her head... hopefully. "Sorry about the last few times we met... I'm not normally like that." She said with a sheepish smile. "You ready for some real DADA?" Unlike the stupid DADA assignment from Lord What's-his-face.

Simon watched and waited as the room started to divide itself, noting the students that had opted to stay and work with him and nodding absently as if counting or accepting those who did. "Hello Hugo," he greeted with a polite smile at the Ravenclaw who introduced himself to the older Gryffindor.

He nodded again as Kurumi chose to stay by him, unaware of course of the amusing plans that dwelt in the younger lion's mind. The boy simply smiling back as he awaited others making their decision. He looked back at her however when she spoke up asking another question as to what they may learn causing him to think for a moment. "Perhaps later on in the term," he answered figuring it was a better answer then yes or no since it was up in the air at the moment.

Simon turned to Zara as the first year spoke up, tentative at first to get his attention. "Of course," he answered her before adding to the group around hims as a whole. "Just because you chose one or the other today doesn't mean your locked in your group for the whole term. You can switch back and forth during the various sessions we hope to hold," he explained, nodding and smiling as Kurumi told her friend pretty much the same as he had been about to say.



The quidditch captain waited a few more minutes before finally deciding that he should probably start. "Alright well then let's begin, shall we..." he questioned rhetorically gathering his group's attention. "Starting with the shield charm, also known as the Protego charm. It's actually like the Patronus charm as it takes focus and your skill level will determine the strength of it. Simon paused to let what he already said to sink in before continuing.

"Its incantation is Protego like its name and the wand movement is a simple straight-forward point towards the person and direction the spell you trying to protect yourself from."

Defensive spells, this was what Oakey was looking for. He might spend the entire month practicing them he was glad it was Gryffindor captain helping them too. He was unsure of the Ravenclaw helping with the offensive and it would probably take some time for Oakey to warm up to them again after what their crazy captain almost did to him.

That spells simple enough thought Oakey the name is the same as the incantation as well.
Oakey went right to it then unsure if he was supposed to or not.
Protigo! Oakey barked jerking his wand forward fast and stiff.

Simon had gone silent after he had finished his explaination of the incantation and wand movement and it was probably a good thing to. For as he let his gaze pass over the group as he waited for them to get what he was saying and possibly ask any questions the spoken spell was heard. With a reaction much tuned by playing quidditch his wand was out and he turned to act upon the mis-spoken shield charm that had caused the magic to continue going rather then form into a shield infront of his castor.

"PROTEGO!" he cast with a simple point of his wand as he had directed. Letting out the breath he hadn't know he was holding when it dissipated for he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to find out what it was actually gonna do.

"Now that is an example of what not to do," he said lowering his wand back down to his side with a soft sigh. "Though it also provided me with an example of the correct way to handle things. " he added calmly looking to the Hufflepuff who had acted out of turn.

"Theres a reason why when learning a spell especially in a group setting like in class that one practices both the wording and wand movement individually a few times before putting them together for you can catch your mistakes. The shield charm is thankfully a spell that doesn't do too much harm when cast wrong but there are others that if a variation is used can cause dangerous consequences so you should keep that in mind....all of you," he explained looking over the group, turning to pace slightly in front of them all.

"Now the correct pronunciation is protego. How about you all try it---with no wands," the seventh year instructed, reminded them of his warning. "Proh-tay-goh."

So they divy up the room with defensive and offensive spells then switch over? That was fine with this Slytherin lad. Except that he wanted to learn more about offensive spells. He's got that protego spell down pat-- heck its one of the few spells that he was ever any good at.

He stepped aside for the younger students as he fell in stride beside Jim, watching Simon teach the basic protego spell.

Nika smiled when she saw someone else walking towards their group. "Hi!" Wait a minute... this was the boy that she hug attacked in the trophy room was it not? She tried starting up a small conversation while she waited for that Jimmy kid to get their group started. It was better than waiting around in silence.

The shield charm. This would certainly come in handy sometime. Awesome.

Hugo put his wand back in his pocket. Proh-tay-goh. "Proh-tay-goh. Protaygo. Protego!" Hugo looked around if he was doing a good job. "Protego!"

"W-was that alright?" he asked Simon.

"Oh yes!" said Aurora, "And I hope it's wonderful." she grinned, playing with the ribbons in her hair. They were a little flimsy, she was going to have to get better at producing them... She looked over to the defensive group. "Oh look, they're doing shield charms. I learnt that last year with Hilda. Protego." She said, pointing her wand forwards. A silver shield billowed from her wand and she grinned. She always smiled when she achieved a spell. She waved the shield away and thrust a hand into the pocket of her robes, producing a white paper bag. "Jelly baby?" she offered the bag to Nika.

Presley slipped her wand into the pocket of her robes so as not to accidentaly wave it while practicing the incantation. "Proh-tay-goh," she muttered, pretending her wand was in her hand, and using the demonstrated movement. "Protego," she said louder and more clearly. Wait. Proh-tay-goh, or Pro-tey-goh? What if she got it wrong? Would it hurt her? "Simon? If you get it wrong, what happens?" she asked, suddenly a little nervous about this.

Offensive Peeps
 

"Alright then." Jim had waited long enough for people to choose a side and what not so he figured he'd start for the few people who had decided to learn some attacking spells and all.

"We'll start with some hexes. So the thing with hexes is that most of them have the same wand movement. Thats an x shape, crossing over with a flick at the end. We'll begin with a stinging hex, there's a whoooole lot of those. We'll start with 'Urticate'. Its an easy one. 'Er-tick-ate'."

He tried not to yawn. He was waking up a bit now and he'd drawn his wand and was spinning it idly in his fingertips.

"The great thing about hexes is, while you need to be strong with your intent, you don't need to be quite so negative with it. The difference between offensive and defensive spells in dueling is that with the offensive spells, usually you have to call on negative feelings. Anger, hate, a strong dislike, annoyance, jealousy.... whatever works for you really. You've gotta be able to call on whatever strong negative feeling that you have, to translate it into negative intent so that your spell will be successful. The trick is doing that without losing control." Like for Jimmy, anyone that knew him would be aware that he used anger. Effectively. But it could get out of hand. Less so now that he was older.

"So, choose a dummy or a target and practice 'Urticate'. The wand movement is the X." He demonstrated with credible flicks.

He paused and grinned.

"In case anyone is interested in the theory crap, Urticate is the nettle stinging hex, it comes from the old Latin 'urticatus'. Basically means to sting and all." Sort of. Past participle. But who wanted to get to the nitty gritty of medieval Latin really?

"When you do it with enough force, its more than just a stinging nettle sensation, its more like being whipped with nettles, but that takes a fair bit of practice."

He demonstrated at one of the dummies, a flash of greenish yellow flicking from his wand and whipping across the dummy's face. "If anyone would rather read a bit about spell theory, I recommend chapter one of Into the Dark by Corruptia Vlakh. Its pretty straight forward. Its available in the library and I think I saw some copies in the defense room across the hall."

Nika nodded her head as she beamed at the slytherin. "Yeah, definitely." She was so excited to finally be able to learn DADA. Last term they didn't do much, it was all talk. This term this lord borr guy doesn't even bother to show up!? She gladly accepted the offer for a jelly baby and smiled some more. "Thanks!" Then she heard the Jim guy say something so she quickly turned her attention to him. "Right I think we're about to start! YAY!"



Nika was a bit nervous for this. She normally didn't do well in classes like charms in transfiguration where it was more of hands on stuff with spells. She didn't want to be the only one who couldn't do it. So she quickly chewed on the jelly baby as she watched the little demonstration by this Jim guy. Should Nika introduce herself again? Nah. She already did it once so hopefully Jim was listening.

Right now to choose a dummy. Nika walked over and stood in front of the nearest one. Okay so what did he say it was again? "Er-tick-ate?" She nodded in confirmation. Right. Er-tick-ate. That's how you say it... She lifted her wand and made a small X in the air. "Er-tick-ate?" She muttered very quickly and not so confidently as she hoped that something would happen.

Nothing.
Zip.
Nada.

She was used to this though. It wasn't a new feeling. This always seems to happen to her in charms. After maybe a good seven times she seems to get it right though, but she didn't want to end up embarrassing herself in front of these people. She wanted to show them that she was good enough and that she wasn't just an "ickle second year who doesn't know what she's doing". So again she lifted her wand and did the same thing. X in the air and the muttered, "Er-tick-ate?"

Still Nothing.
Still Zip.
And Still Nada.

She let out an exasperated sigh as she blew a stray strand of hair away from her face. She looked towards Jim and raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what I'm doing wrong?" Maybe this wasn't a good idea and she should've just stayed in the common room.

Oakey looked up at Gryffindor Captain with the biggest puppy face he could possible make with his face. Sorry Oakey said Oh and umm You're Welcome? He was unsure if he should say this.

Despite making a fool of himself in this lesson that Gryffindor Captain was helping them with, Oakey was proud that he was helpful in showing what not to do even if his expression didn't show it. He quickly pocketed his wand and stuck his index finger out as a substitute for his wand.

He was still jerking his hand forward fast and hard and strong, but he felt he was saying the spell right now. Proh-tay-go... Proh-tay-go... Protego

Cassie had her wand stuck in her hair actually holding her hair up as she listened to Simon's explanation. She tried her best to get into class frame of mind and not let her mind stray too far or she would probably just end up missing everything that he said.

Of course her initial reaction was to join James' group but then yeah, she figured she needed to practice some defensive spells since the offensive ones would probably come more natural. Casting a quick look in Jim's direction, she finally focused her attention on Simon.

She frowned slightly as Simon instructed that they practiced without wands. She figured that would look quite silly and proceeded to just repeat the spell's pronunciation over and over in her head. The wand motion was after all simple enough.

"You've got to put some intent into it." Jim answered. "Its Nika, right? Be confident, and even if you don't feel confident, fake it. Think about something that makes you feel strongly and use that to focus your intent. You can't question yourself with offensive magic, or your wand will question you too and nothing will happen. See hexes and jinxes and especially curses, you have to put negative feelings in because after all they aren't benign are they? The point is to either hurt someone or incapacitate them so they can't hurt you. Just keep practicing and be firm with it. You're not gonna let a little spell get the better of you right?" He gave the kid an encouraging grin.

Aurora stood very still in front of the a dummy. She took her wand and pointed it at the dummy. "Urticate." She made a cross shape with her wand. Nothing. "Urticate!" she tried again. Nothing. She tried once more, getting a little impatient and realising that she wanted this to work even more now that it had failed twice. She took a deep breath. "Urticate!" She crossed her wand quickly and felt a little 'zing' from her wand hand. She peered at the dummy. There was a light, barely noticeable cross on it's chest. It had worked! She grinned and kept trying.

He was late-ish. Maybe. It was a long way upstairs to deposit Matilda on his bed, check Killy and Kranky hadn't wandered over to Finn's bed AND grab some food. He'd decided being hungry didn't help concentration, and concentration was needed to get antlers. He reeeeally wanted to learn this.

Spike skidded to a halt near Jimmy, just as the older boy started to demonstrate. Phew. Just in time. Though he did give a little pout that said 'you coulda waited for me'. Watching carefully, he mimicked Jimmy's wand movements with his left hand, and muttered the incantation. Er-tick-ate.

Biting his lip as they were left to practice, Spike looked doubtfully at the dummy. He wasn't sure about negative intent, being a happy-go-lucky kind of chap, and there were more people than he was hoping. He pulled his wand from his robes, and rubbed his lips together.

"Er-tick-ate," he reminded himself, as he lined up with a dummy. He repeated the wand movement a couple of times too. Breathe. Antlers. Breathe. Focus.

"Er-tick-ate!" He opened his eyes, not really sure quite when he'd closed them. Did it work? Probably not.

Nika nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, Nika." So intent, confidence, and negative feelings. Shouldn't be too hard... Then why is it so hard!? She took a deep breath as she concentrated hard. "Right." She said strongly. If only she could feel that confident while casting the spell. Jim made it look so easy. She held up her wand once more and looked at the dummy again.

Nika took one last deep breath trying "channel" all of the negitiveness into her spell. "Er-tick-ate" She said louder than the first time she had tried and a little more confidently. Still nothing happened. She frowned slightly and tried again. She was determined to get this right, even if it took all day.

"Er-tick-ate!" This time a little wisp of something came out of her wand. The spell may have not worked, but she was getting somewhere. Hopefully this little wisp meant improvement and not that she did something wrong.

Then she turned to Aurora just in time to see the first year get it right without even asking for help. She felt a little pink creep up on her cheeks as she burned with embarrassment. Even first year Aurora can do it.

"You gonna join in?" Jim asked, noticing an audience of one. "You're more than welcome to." Really, he was almost having fun.

Whodathunkit?

Jimmy watched and saw the moment when focus seemed to come to Aurora. "Hey thats it, good stuff. Nice wand movement."

"Open your eyes, Spike." Jim suggested. "Don't really want you to whip me with a stinging nettle hex by accident." Grin. Jim's tone made it clear he was confident that Spike could do it. "When I first learned this one, and was just getting the hang of hexes, I used to sorta do this whole.... mental.... 'bamBAM' thing." Jim demonstrated, really putting some attitude into it, the bamBAM being the way he punctuated each swipe of his wand with a flick.

It was pretty gangsta.

"Don't worry about her." Jim suggested, putting his own wand away for now. "Can't get distracted and all that you know? Gotta put it all aside and focus on the immediate stuff. Do you want this? Took me bloody ages to get the hexing to come naturally, but I really wanted to get good, and I practiced." So much. He grinned encouragingly. "I reckon you can do it."

Noticing that the Ravenclaw senior is talking to her, Aiden hesitantly replies. "Uhh... Sure. Alright," she nods. It is a lot better to learn the actual Defense Against the Dark Arts than doing those bloody things Borr asked them to do.

"Should I be on the defensive or the offensive side?" Aiden asks Jim as she draws out her wand from her vest.

"Mmm well, thats up to you." Really. "I'm helping people out with the offensive stuff, Simon over there is working over the defensive stuff." Jim smiled, his usual sort of crooked, cocky, but friendly grin. "We're starting out with a stinging hex over here, and from what I hear, Simon's showing the basics of the protego shield."

"I'm not actually sure when I closed them," Spike said with a puzzled look on his face. "They just...were. I'm guessing it didn't work though." He looked at Jimmy apologetically. "I don't wanna hit you either. Nettles are nasty things." Plus, the celebrations of achieving it would be too short lived before Jimmy came and tackled Spike to get his own back. He had a vision of Jimmy running after him for a tickle fight or or water fight similar. The older boy would have a distinct advantage. Spike giggled at the thought.

Trying to keep a straight face, Spike watched Jimmy's demonstration. bamBAM. With a bit of attitude, apparently. Spike nodded. He could do some bamBAM in the style of Jimmy, he was sure. It seemed far more fun thinking like that, and reminded him of an epic play sword fight he'd had over the summer, complete with extra sound effects. bamBAM! he practised. Oh yeahhhh.

His eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath as he raised his wand.

"Er-ti-kate!" bamBAM.

Nothing. He knew. He had most definitely kept his eyes open that time. That was an improvement, right? He glanced at where Jimmy was now helping a girl. He could do this. He wanted those antlers! Maybe he needed some more bamBAM?

With a stealthier grip, he held his wand up more determinedly. That dummy was gonna get bamBAM'd. Got it dummy? Good.

"Er-ti-kate!" bamBAM!

Was that...a wisp of something? He squinted to see. Hmm. Maybe not. But it felt better. Next time maybe?

Viola walked into the classroom and stopped, a surprised look on her face. There were tons of people learning magic. REAL magic. Wow. She spotted the points guy and yes, she still didn't know what his name was and walked towards him, feeling excited and slightly nervous. Yep. She wanted to learn magic and not waste her time doing silly execises. "Hi." She said, hesitantly.

She stares at the wall for a moment, trying to make a quick decision which one she should work on today. After a while, she responds to the Ravenclaw senior. "I'll be on the defense lines then," she smiles faintly before walking away towards the defensive group.

Protaywhat? Zara blinked as she tried to make this sink in. Proh-tay-goh?

She whispered softly to herself, trying to get the words out right. "Prow-tey-gow." And she shook her head, and continued. "Proh-tey-gow. Pro-te-gou. Prohhhh-tay-gow." Beginning to feel frustrated, she began to enunciate each syllable slowly. "Proh. Tay....Goh."

And the light bulb in her head turned on. She smiled to herself and said aloud. "Proh-tay-goh. Protego." Looking at Simon, she looked at him with an awkward smile, as if to confirm if what she had been doing was right. Really, Zara, saying a word is so simple. Why can't you just copy it right?

Prote-what? Proteins? She though proteins are found in meats and milk. Much to her surprise, Aiden sees Zara is producing some sort of shield. Cool beans!

Aiden just joined the lesson which is quite late, so she has no idea how to produce that shield. Maybe she should ask Zara for help. Aiden walks slowly towards Zara while her eyes look around the classroom. "Hello, Zara. How have you been?" greets Aiden with a faint smile. "I... I just joined the lesson, so, do you mind teaching me how to..." says Aiden hesitantly, ashamed.

Zara still wasn't doing any shield, just practicing the words like Captain Simon said
 

"I'm fine," she automatically said as Zara turned to the sound of the voice. Oh, it was Aiden.

"Oh, hey Aiden. You just say the words, without wands first though," she smiled. Zara wanted to practice the spell already but I guess they'd have to learn step by step first.

"Is it pro-tay-toe or something?" Aiden asks Zara to make sure. It sounded like potato to her. Woah! Does it summon a potato to become a shield?

Simon nodded at the Ravenclaw as he questioned his wording being right. "Uh huh, good job," he assured him moving on to the next.

The seventh year raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin first year who casually cast the charm. "Regardless of you knowing a spell or not, we were practicing without magic first. And I would advise to not be so casual about spell casting because focus is always important," he informed the girl before leaving her to her snacks.

Simon turned as he was called by name and asked what would happen if done wrong. "Well depending on the mistake it will either be a weak shield or not form into a shield at all which always leaves the chance your magic will simply be aimed at the person your casting at. But don't worry, its not dangerous." It wasn't like a miss-cast shield charm was going to maim or kill someone.

At least the Hufflepuff boy had been repentant at his mistake, a look on his face showing pretty well that he'd be listening from now on. Simon simply nodded as he appologized, holding back a chuckle as the boy used his finger to mimic the casting instead.

Whatever worked, he mused as he watched and listened to him work before turning his attention to the next student under his watch.



Simon watched as a newcomer joined the group, having noticed her standing back before seemingly deciding to join the defensive group eventually. Catching sight of Zara, he returned the ackward smile with a more confident one of his own before nodding to confirm her unspoken question.

"Its actually Proh-tay-goh," he instructed, correcting Aiden for Zara. "Welcome to the lesson," he greeted politely. The older boy then moving to complete his cycle around the group satisfied with their progress.

------------------

"Now I know this must seem pretty simple, especially for the older students among us, but I wanted to start off with the basics to catch everyone up. I promise to move up to more complex spells soon." With a flick of his wand, he summoned one of the unused dummies brought over, setting up like he had seen done on a previous occasion in the defense room.

"I've set this dummy to shoot a spell...rather a simple jet of light at a person should they step in front of it. I want you all to line up and when you feel you're good with the pronunciation step up to the dummy one by one and practice blocking the light with your shield charm." That being said, Simon stepped off to the side and awaited the group to do as instructed. The older lion leaning casually against the wall of the room as he watched.

Zara smiled at Aiden, seeing as Captain Simon had already told Aiden the correct way. Then she turned her attention back and listened to the next instructions.

Ahh, line up line up. Zara looked around and no one had moved yet to form the line. Should she go first, then? Her gaze wandered off to Simon who was there, watching. She stepped up and whispered to herself first before trying, "Proh-tay-goh. Right. Here goes," she mumbled and pointed her wand towards the dummy.

And almost most suddenly that dummy seemed like it came to life for it suddenly produces some kind of light aiming towards her. Panicking, she immediately shouted, "Proh-tay-goh!" with her eyes closed, but her wand still pointing at the dummy.

That light..it wouldn't be dangerous right? Slowly, she opened her eyes, saw her hand was still held up towards the dummy with the wand firm in her grasp. Had she done it? Zara blinked as she let this sink in. OH HEYYYYY. She did it..did she?

Her lips curved into a smile as she realized that she had just produced a spell. Not caring whether it was weak or not, she was happy just to do it. Maybe she'd improve later on after practicing.

Aiden turns around to see the person who corrected her incantation. She has to tilt her head up to see the upperclassman who was about twice her height. She realised that it was Simon.

"Thank you..." she thanks Simon while thinking of the proper title to address him. "Captain Bennett," she finally comes out with a proper way to address him.

"Prow-tay-goe, pro-tay-goh, Protego!!" Aiden keeps recalling the correct incantation.

Aiden managed to master the incantation in short period of time. While lining up, Aiden takes a deep breath to overcome her nerves. She could feel her heart pounding. What if the spell does not work?

As her turn comes, Aiden takes another deep breath. She recalls what her father told her how to cast a spell properly. "Focus... Say the incantation loud and clear..." she mutters, reminding herself.

Wand pointed at the dummy, the grey eyes are locked on the dummy like a lion waiting for it's prey. As the dummy shoots the light, she reads the incantation with a clear voice. "Protego!!" Bright, transparent blue shield is conjured from her wand.

She did it! Stepping aside, she gives an almost invisible smirk of self-satisfactory.

Aurora grinned widely at the praise. "Thanks!" she said and kept trying. The cross on the dummy didn't get any darker but she eventually managed the familiar zing in her wand hand again which gave her even more encouragement.

She didn't immediately reply to the other boy. She knew she'd been showing off and figured she shouldn't but she wasn't really used to the classroom environment. She couldn't bring herself to apologise - Hilda had always frowned and been rather nasty if she showed any sign of weakness - but she stopped grinning and nodded at the boy.

She turned back to her dummy. "Urticate." she crossed her wand and felt the familiar zing in her hand but still didn't manage to make any difference to the dummy.

Hugo smiled. This was awesome.

DUMMIES. Awesome! Hugo instinctively took a step backwards as the dummy was brought over. He was feeling pretty nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped in front of the dummy, held his wand tight. "Pro-" The jet of light shot out of the dummy's wand before he was ready. Hugo instinctively ducked, he did not know whether the spell would hurt. He got back up. Right. Try again. He looked around nervously. He focused as his pupil shot back to the dummy. The dummy shot it's spell, Hugo pointed and said "Protego!" and a blue shield shot out of his wand, absorbing the spell and disappeared immediately. "Awesome!" Hugo said, awing his wand. He was always intrigued by spells that could be used in combat.

aghh i'm late *flails*
 

Nika nodded as she turned away from Aurora. Jim was right it wouldn't do her any good to look at Aurora and envy how she got her hex right away. She'd just have to focus on her own work and maybe she'd be able to get it right after a while. "Yes, I do want this." She said with a confident nod. She held her wand up again and looked at the dummy. "Er-tick-ate!" She almost yelled it this time. She was getting a bit restless after trying and failing so many times, but no matter how hard she'd fall she would just get back up and try again.

A wisp of something came out of her wand again, but the hex didn't work yet. She was getting closer though. She could feel that she was improving, all it took was a few hundred tries. "Er-tick-ate!" This time the wisp extended out more and she could see that she was almost their. It'd just take some more practice.

Anger was starting to build up. She couldn't take it. Why must this be so hard for her!? But maybe that's what she needed, anger. Jim did say that it was all about negative feelings so maybe this anger building up inside of her was the little push that she needed. "Er-tick-ate!" She did the X movement and was shocked when it worked. IT WORKED!!

"I did it!" Even though it didn't look as strong as it should it was still something. She got something and that was the only thing she needed to give herself a confidence boost. It might take another fifteen tries to get it to work again, but at least she got it once.

After it was confirmed to her that it couldn't hurt her, Presley was eager to step infront of the dummy and try her spell. She pulled her wand out of her pocket, and waited for the jet of light. "Protego!" she said, and failed. The light hit her, and she stepped out of the way, letting other students take their turns. Protego, Protego, Protego!" she practiced by herself. Maybe she had the wand movement wrong?

My exams are done yay.
 

"Not so much, but you'll get it if you keep trying." It was a nice and basic stinging hex after all. Jim grinned as he watched, there was already a difference in Spike's focus.

"Hi." He agreed and raised one eyebrow. "So you wanna work on a stinging hex with me or head over to Simon," He pointed at the Gryffie Quidditch Captain, "And work on some defense?"

"Have fun with that." Jim didn't mind. People could do what they wanted, so long as they were participating somehow.

It was good seeing how dedicated they all were. Jim nodded. "Good pronunciation too. Relax your grip just a little bit, it'll help make it feel a bit more natural. Your wand is like an extension of you, its a tool sure, but it should feel natural to use it and if you grip it too tightly, then part of you will be distracted by how it feels in your hand."

"Hey good work. You wanna try it on me?" Brave Jim. "I'll tell you how much it stings hehe." He held out his arm, sleeve rolled up. When it hit they'd be able to SEE his skin get all red too.


"Give it a go."

Spike gave a little nod, feeling more confident as he caught sight of Jimmy's grin. He would have this sussed by the end of this session.

"Er-ti-kate!" bamBAM.

His eyes widened. Nothing had happened to the dummy that he could see, but he'd felt something. He couldn't really explain it. Almost like an electric tickly feeling...through his arm and down his wand. Was that proper magic? It certainly felt more that just waving a stick around any old how. Like it had a purpose. A smile crept across his lips.

Sneaking a glance to Jimmy, he saw the older boy offer to be practiced on. That was an awesome thing to do. That was why Jimmy was one of his heroes. Because he did awesome stuff like that. And although Spike didn't want to practice on Jimmy, he did want to get his spell to the stage where it'd leave a decent mark on the skin and hurt if he needed it to. And so he could see he'd done something properly.

He thought about that feeling he'd had before, and then seeing a sore red rash on skin. He held his wand comfortably in his left hand, and then looked at the dummy.

"Er-ti-kate!" bamBAM.

His face lit up, as he saw it hit the dummy. Not all that strongly, and not precisely where he was aiming, but it was still a hit. He gave himself a little clap.

Now to get it good enough to show Jimmy. So it might actually be considered an offensive spell, and not just a slight nuisance for a couple of seconds.

JIMMY! *fangirl*
 

Jimmy... Lexi was looking for Jimmy more than anyone else. With a roll of parchment in her hand and a self inking quill tucked behind her ear she wandered into the classroom and cast a glance around. AH! There he was. Heheh.

Gliding through the room being sure to stay out of the way of any stray spells and whatnot she observed the kiddos learning Defense stuff. Cute.

"Hey Jim! Whatchu teaching everyone, Professor Wilkes?" she asked with a cheeky grin. She knew how much Jim loathed that people knew he could do stuff. Hehehe. Pulling the quill from behind her ear she poised herself to jot some notes down. MHM. Yearbook stuff for the win.

Aurora nodded, "Right, looser grip, 'kay," she threw her wand in the air and caught it again. I'm so glad that worked. she thought to herself, she'd been practicing that for ages. Then she looked around, good, no-one had seen her showing off. She didn't want to come across as an absolute narcissist. "Urticate!" she crossed her wand as she said. Zing. A wisp left her wand and the cross on the dummy darkened. She jumped up, smiling. "Yes!" she shouted, clapping a little.

Nika looked at Jim with her mouth agape. What?! Try it on him? Nika raised an eyebrow worriedly. "Are-are you sure?" Won't it hurt him!?

lulz.
 

BamBAM. Jimmy didn't comment, but he had seen.

Uh huh.

Jim turned and made a rude gesture at miss Denver.

But... well...

"Just working on some offensive spells right now, starting with a stinging hex, urticate, the nettle hex."

What was with the mini-applause? First Spike and now this one. Jim grinned. She was pretty fast though, that was good.

"I'm sure. Don't worry. Me manly man." He beat on his chest and then stretched his arm out again. "It'll hurt a bit, but you know, this way I can give you an idea of how much you're doing and you can see what its like to cast on someone and this IS relatively harmless, no long term damage. I can handle it, I'm promising you."

Yep. He was ready for her to try it out. Arm was ready to be a target.

:gasp:

"James Wilkes! I never! You ought not to make such gestures to a LADY ya know," she said with a smirk. And followed it up with a burp. Heh.

Right. Urticate. Good deal. "And how are things going, in your opinion? Better than letting kids out to fend for themselves trying to learn on their own or not learn at all?" she asked as she tickled at his nose with the end of her quill. Hehehe.

Nika raised her wand reluctantly. She didn't want to hurt the guy, but he told her to do it. She took a deep breath and looked at him again with a raised eyebrow, just to be safe. "Um here I go." She closed one eye as she looked at his arm, "Er-tick-ate!"

Aurora walked closer to the dummy and inspected the mark. It wasn't so mug burned onto it as burned out. As though the hex had stung all the colour from the dummy. That's pretty cool. Aurora thought to herself. Then she stood back again and tried again. Concentration: check. Pronunciation: check. Wand movement: check. Loose grip: check. She took another breath and held her wand in front of her. "Urticate." she let out the breath as she said the spell and felt it leave her wand. She saw it hit the dummy; not quite where she had been aiming but she was getting the hang of it. She grinned to herself, she had been worried that she'd find the DADA stuff as difficult as flying or arithmancy but she seemed to be getting there with it. She wondered how painful the hex was, it didn't look particularly pleasant. Note to self: try it on Kryspin... when out of hospital... her face fell, she had been trying not to think about her brother and now she did she felt guilty. She tried (badly) to avoid looking miserable and reminded herself that she was getting good at this whole not-home-school thing and that he would be proud of her. Maybe.

Hm. Tough choice but she'd rather learn few offensive spells first. "I'd like to work on offense for a while." Viola tried not to look too excited. But, the idea of getting to learn new spells was making her a little hyper. "I'm not sure if I've introduced myself before but I'm Viola." She took a deep breath and coontinued, "And, thanks." Yeah, it was nice of him to offer to teach her a few spells.

He glanced at her, one eyebrow going up at the questions.

... was she interviewing him?

... for his vair own publication?

Jimmy gave her a daaaazzling smile.


"Things are going pretty well, these guys here," Most of whom we're TINY in Jim's opinion, being no older than third year, "Are pretty hungry to learn, and its hardly fair not to help them do that."

Jim kept his eyes open, being careful not to flinch preemptively. The spell hit him, but not too hard; his skin had a faint pink mark. James wrinkled his nose. "That was... uncomfortable. I didn't die though, so maybe try it again with a little more.... oomph." Or bamBAM if she preferred. He stretched his arm out again.

He watched Aurora as closely as he was able considering Jimmy was being a bit of a human target. He grinned when he saw her make another hit, to him it looked good, and he didn't know it wasn't quite where she'd aimed of course.

Jim gave her a thumbs up.

"Sure. Nice to meet you, Viola." Probably. That was the sort of thing you were supposed to say at least.

Maybe secretly Jim didn't mind doing this for the younger kids after all.

"And its no problem. We're working on a stinging hex, the nettle stinging hex. The incantation is Urticate and the wand movement is a crossing x shape." He didn't demonstrate, considering he was waiting for Nika to cast at his arm again.

"So maybe watch what these guys do, and then give it a go. Practice pronouncing the incantation first, then the wand movement seperately, and then put it together and see if you can make one of those dummies squeak."

... not literally squeak. But, hit the dummy.

Oooh look at that PRETTTTTY smile. It made her want to hug him. Hehe. Yeah right. Pffffft. She did smile right back at him as she jotted some things down.

"Awesome, Jim. I shall quote you... Hey if you want I could show them the proper way to cast that hex... on you perhaps," she said with an eyebrow wiggle for his benefit. Little did he know, Lexi had skills now that she hadn't had before. Hehehe.

Tegann XD
 

Walking through the corridor, Desmond stuffed his hands in his pockets and whistled. Nothing like a lonely walk down another deserted corridor. Its all he seemed to be doing now a days. It almost surprised him when he heard voices in a classroom up ahead.

Getting curious, Desmond walked a little faster. When he got close, he slowed down and stuck his head around the corner. "Um... hey?" he said in more of a question then a statement. This was one of the abandoned classrooms. What were these students doing in here?

Aiden who was practising the Shield Charm when she saw the older Slytherin stucked his head in. "Hello," responded Aiden, wand still drawn. She has no idea what else to respond, but it should be polite to greet back, isn't it?

Simon watched as his group all tried their hands at the relatively simple spell. He couldn't help smiling as they seemed to be handling themselves quite well including the youngest of the bunch. He nodded as they went one on one with the dummy. "Very good."

"You're welcome," Simon returned to the girl as she thanked him for his assistance on the spell pronunciation. When it was her turn, the seventh year watched with concentration, glad to see she had gotten the hang of it. "Good job," he said as Aiden moved to let the next student go.

"Don't worry...it wont hurt. Its more for appearance," he assured the Ravenclaw as he ducked the first time around for the dummy. Simon watched the boy try to relax and focus, smiling as the shield appeared the second time. "Good job."

Seeing the girl miss her mark the first time, Simon frowned but not out of disappointment. For it was understandable for some to not be able to do it at first, they couldn't all be perfect. The captain walked closer as she practiced off to the side. "Anything I can help with?" he asked seeing as it had seemed to be done well enough.

Simon turned hearing a new voice and spotted a boy sticking his head into the classroom seemingly confused and curious at the same time. Which was understandable seeing as they weren't making their lessons too wildly known and most would expect this classroom to still be empty like it usually was in past years.

"Hello...come on in," he greeted in return motioning for him to walk in further. "We're working on learning defensive and offensive spells if you'd like to join us."

Spike was in the zone. Or the closest he'd probably ever come to it when learning something new about something other than critters, creatures, plants or Quidditch. He fired down spells at the dummy, a few wobbly bad ones here and there, but on the whole getting better. A couple had even made an obvious impact. He turned to have a break, and to see where Jimmy had got to (as in, how much extra practice he might have til the older boy saw his efforts), when Spike saw someone he hadn't ever expected to be here.

His eyes widened, as Finn went over and spoke to Jimmy. Had they made up? And Spike didn't know about it? He pursed his lips together, a curiousity in his blue eyes.

Perfecting urticate (bamBAM) was momentarily forgotten...

Presley sighed. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I can't seem to get it," she admitted dejectedly. She was saying it right, she was mimicking the other people's wand movements precisely. But for some reason the spell wasn't working for Presley. Simon offered to help, but Presley couldn't see how he could, if she didn't even know what the problem was. Perhaps she didn't have motivation enough to block a ray of light that wasn't going to hurt her? She voiced her opinion to the instructor. "Maybe I just don't have enough motivation." Not that Presley wanted hexes fired at her, but it might help some.

Selina walked into the DADA practice room. With a lack of a Professor this term, Borr was exactly like hi sname a bore, she came in from time to time to hone in on her skills. Upon entering the room she saw Simon Bennett helping a ton of students. Her first feeling was to panic and run out the door, but then she remembered that they were friends now and she could approach him. Approaching him would be still difficult, because of her crush, but after seeing him on the beach with Jacob a lot of the sparkle in her eye for him had dissipated. He was just Simon and she respected him, but a lot of his allure was gone. So she leaned up against the door and said, "Hey there, what's going on here?"

Coming into the classroom a little farther and resting against the door frame, Desmond looked around. The lot was all practicing spells and what not. This was quite a little surprise. "Spells? Incantations?" he thought to himself a smile emerging on his handsome face. This was a little rebellious act. And he could enjoy it.

"Well what are you all practicing now?" he asked with mild interest crossing his arms across his chest and looking from student to student. All different but all, sorta talented. He'd have to see where this led him.

Luna heard about this DADA group and thought it was a pretty good idea she walked into the empty classroom and looked around it looked good ''Hi!'' said Luna

Aurora returned Jimmy's thumbs up, wiped the worry off her face and plastered on a wide smile. She dug into her pockets for something to use to mark the dummy. Jelly babies... A small phial of plant food... A few knuts... Some dried mealworms... A little sparkly thing... AHA! The stub of a pencil! She made a faint cross in the dummy and stepped back.

She held her wand in front of her and tried to hit it. "Urticate!" she missed. She tried again. And again. And again. Eventually she managed to get within three inches of her target. "Arghhh!!! So close!" she frowned and sighed in frustration, popping a jelly baby into her mouth.

Aiden lowers her wand, slightly panting. She has been casting the Shield Charm non-stop. "Well, if you want to learn the Shield Charm, you could ask Captain Bennett for help. If you want to learn the Stinging Hex, you can go to that group over there," she points towards the other group whose members are practising offensive spells. Then, she turns around at another new member.

"Hello," greeted Aiden briefly. She is not good at communicating, but a simple hello should do it, right?

''So what spells are you doing?'' asked Luna she wasn't listening when she was talking another new member

Nika truly hoped that it didn't hurt too bad. She opened her eyes a bit wider as she looked at his arm. When she saw the pink mark her eyes opened as wide as they can go and they were filled with a look of concern. Oh my.

Wait Jim-say-what-now!?

he's asking her to do it again because he didn't die!? Does this mean that he wants her to do it hard enough so he does die!? Oh my Merlin, as if it wasn't hard enough to do it to his arm the first time. Now he wants her to do it again.

Nika took in a deep breath as she held out her wand again and looked at the target, which in this case was jim's ARM!! Now all she needed to do was add a little more "oomph", but what if she didn't want to add more oomph!? Right. Deep breath. "Er-tick-ate!"