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 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.

Jonathan crept inside and looked at the students forming into group. He was there long enough to hear about the whole defensive and offensive group stuffs. He should have came earlier.

Of course, joining the training is a lot of fun. Besides, Lord Borr wasn;t teaching them enough skills to reach their full-potential of the subject DADA. Why was he the professor again?

Jonathan joined the crowd but which one would he choose? Defensive or offensive? Both were very much important but he'll go with the offensive one. He walked to the group where they picked offensive.

"Which spell will be using today?" he asked.

"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.

"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."