Oooh, so they were severing leaves off of plants. Neat. Lux could definitely see the use in that though she didn't really do much gardening. After writing down a few more things into her notes, she pulled out her wand in order to practice. Diffindo wasn't new to her but a bit of a refresher never hurt and she had never tried it out on a plant before.

"Diffindo ... Diffindo ... Diffindo ..." Incantation done, she started working on the wand movement. Easy peasy since it was just an incomplete w. Reaching under her desk she pulled out her piece of wood and cut it in half using the spell.

Zander couldn't help but smile at Kyroh's response to Professor Grumps. Ha. At least he wasn't the only one who knew how horrible Walton was. How come know one else even noticed? No wonder Kyroh was a Ravenclaw. 'Cause he knew before ANYONE else, well 'cept Zander. Zander knew after the first day. For ahem, reason. But anyways, was Professor horrible done talking now?

The Gryffindor hadn't really been paying attention at all after the first few questions. So when he saw everyone taking out a piece of wood, it took him by surprise. So uh, right, where did those come from? He eyed a couple of students for a minute before realizing that they were pulling it out from under the table, oh. Grabbing a piece for himself, he set it out on the table in front of him. What spell were they-- Diffindo? Uh, ok.

He followed the movements that everyone else was doing, 'cause that's how you figure things out when you forget to listen. Were they making a.... 'w'? Merlin. Why'd it always have to be the complicated spells when he wasn't paying attention? "Diffindo.....Diffindo....... Diffindo?" And.... Nothing. Letting out a small huff in frustration he tried again, but this time payed particular attention to the wand movement after staring at Jasmine doing it. "Diffindo!"

Ah, finally.

So like... tending to plants? Marigold could handle that. She practiced the wand movement a bit, then focused on the word. "DiffIndo. Diffindo. Diffindo."

She practiced it combined on a spare leaf and severed it pretty easily. Okay.

The Professor hadn't been finished his sentence before Kyrohs' shoulders were raised and then dropped in a dramatic fashion. Yeah, shrugging at you Professor Walton, because frankly, he didn't care. Nope. He still wanted BAD things to happen to the mans' plants.

And look at what he was talking about, a plant that got NO SUNLIGHT, just like he had said.

Kyroh Scabior could so teach this class.

As for the charm? Kyroh knew that already too. He had after all read Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 cover to cover last year and it had been one of the spells that he practiced until he had perfected.

But a refresher didn't seem like a bad thing.

Sticking his hand under the table he managed to wiggle a piece free and drew his wand. His tongue stuck out, just slightly, caught in-between his teeth as he focused. Making a sudden w-motion pointed right at the middle of the wood, he opened his mouth. "Diffindo!"

Almost automatically the wood was sliced in half.

When things appeared on the board, Toby made sure to dutifully copy those down too.

But then........... oh. Unhappy plant. Tobias looked at the plant Professor Walton showed them and couldn't really help but feel a LITTLE sad about it. Poor thing. But he kept all those thoughts to himself and practiced the spell, like Walton had said.

"Diffindo... Diffindo," the Hufflepuff intoned, even as he leaned under the table to retrieve one of the pieces of wood. Then he retrieved his wand from its holster and practiced that 'W' shape wand movement too, without saying the incantation just yet. Standard spell practice, though Toby was pretty confident with this spell anyway.

Okay, so now to practice on the wood. Toby pointed his wand at it and did that 'W' wand movement, this time with the incantation and intent.

"Diffindo!" Just like that, the wood split in half. Toby quickly checked to make sure that the table underneath was okay, and then tried again on one of the pieces of wood he was left with. "Diffindo!" With a 'W' shaped swish of his wand later, Toby split that piece in half too.

Okay, soooooo that was alright, and Toby was confident. But he had a question, and so raised his hand.

"Professor Walton," the Hufflepuff called to the man, as politely as he could muster, given that he already respected the dude quite a lot. "Is the Trimming Charm, Flipnsnipwitit, suitable to use on these plants, like for the tricky smaller leaves? Or is it best to just use Diffindo for them?"

The Trimming Charm was Toby's favourite spell, even if just for the incantation. Flipnsnipwitit. Hehe.

Ooohhhhhhhh! They were cutting things! Ahem, severing things, trimming things... same difference, right? But the coolest thing about this was he KNEW how to sever things. Slicing and dicing was an important skill - or so he'd been told, so it was naturally the first spell he made sure he learned - after aguamenti, of course.

The sad thing about this, was that they weren't practicing ON plants... BOOOOOOOO. Blocks of wood would do though, FOR NOW.

Zeke nodded along with Professor Walton, and copied down the notes as he went... but as soon as they were given the command, he retrieved his wood and eagerly took his wand in his wand.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

"Diffindo!" Zeke recited clearly but eagerly, completing the wand movement as he targeted his wood.

He severed it alright, HACKED it. It had gone through and through... to the table, but not really. He didn't CUT into the table... it was just a scratch.

A scratch.

That's all it was.

And these tables... who was to say HE caused the scratch anyway? Hhhmmm?

Hazel eyes down and moving his bits of wood together, Zeke reassessed his actions.

Intent, check.

Clarity, check

Wand movement and incantation, check.

Focus... well, he WAS focused, just, over focused? He'd try that again.

Zeke repeated the wand movement and incantation, "Diffindo."

This time with greater success, now that he wasn't as ... eager. The cut was clean controlled, and the woods days were numbered. Bye bye metaphorical dead leaf!

Angel had never used this spell before... she had used sheers or other cutting equipment on plants at home though when she was old enough she wanted to use this spell because well it would save a lot of time if she could help plants quicker it meant she would have more time talking to them and making sure they are okay.

"Diffindo!" Angel was going to practice saying the spell first. "Diffindo!" Angel was sure she could say it now she had to practice the wand movement she did the W wand movement several times before deciding to put it together.

Angel took out the piece of wood from under her desk and put it down. She tried to concentrate on the wood but Benny was putting her off, she was so concerned about him.

"Difido!" Angel did the W wand movement but nothing happened, why had nothing happened what had she done wrong? She was so confused now and was hoping someone might help her but she was a bit shy to ask.

He’d still put her answer with other people’s. Brooklyn had sort of side-eyed the professor for that, but she’d stayed quiet while he’d been talking. That and scribbled down the additional notes as they’d appeared on the board. At least the short break had rested her hand so there was less chance of it cramping up. Plus, they were being excused from the notes to actually do something, which was even better. Learning spells was always better than just being stuck taking notes like they were at some Muggle school. She was here to learn spells and magic, and all of that. Anything that could help strengthen her superiority. Could help her be respected, if not feared. Feared could be nice too. It meant people wouldn’t mess with her, which was the important part.

The fact they were learning a Severing Charm made it even cooler. She still knew better than to try it without practice, after all her other classes and everything. She didn’t want to accidentally cut herself either. Other people might have been fair game, had she not been in a lesson, but she wasn’t about to hurt herself. “Diffindo,” she said to herself, feeling out the incantation and its pronunciation. After repeating it a few times, she ducked under the table to find the wood that Professor Walton had said was there. She wasn’t practicing yet, but she was going to be ready.

First she wanted to practice the wand movement. The not-finished W shape. Taking her wand out, she traced it in midair a few times, thinking about the incantation just so she didn’t feel like she was stupidly waving her wand around for no reason. She wasn’t good enough to cast it without physically saying the spell anyway, so thinking it shouldn’t be an issue. Once she was ready, though, she took a breath and pointed her wand at the piece of wood. “Diffindo!,” she cast, flicking her wrist and tracing the W-shape out again while she focused on the wood. Namely, cutting a piece off one end of it, and a brilliant grin appeared on her face as it happened. A tiny slice of wood separated from the rest. See? She didn’t need any help.

Pulling her parchment and quill in front of her on the table Hady quickly took down some detailed notes. She might need to know all this later. Note taking done she slipped her things into her bag and turned her attention to the Professor.

So they were learning the Severing Charm. Alright she could do this...hopefully. Practice was best for first things first. Pulling out her wand she practiced the wand movement that was shown to them. A not-completely W shape. Once. Twice. Three times.

With the wand movement done she needed to work on the incantation. Quietly she recited it several times. "Diffindo, Diffindo, Diffindo..." Now came the hard part. Doing this together and cutting the piece of wood and not the table or herself. That would be really bad.

Reaching under the table to picked up a piece of wood and set it on the table in front of her. Wand pointed at it she did the movement needed and called out "Diffindo!" There was a small nick in the wood but nothing else. More intent is what she needed. A deep breath and a cast of "Diffindo!" as she flicked her wand in the correct movement once more slicking the wood cleanly in half! Grinning she admired her work.

Plenty of notes were taken down, and lots of facts archived in her head. A thought had a occurred to her while Professor W spoke. Plants weren't the focus of said idea, but they had something to do with it. And she was going with it.

Shoving that thought away, she set her quill down and withdrew her wand.

The Severing Charm.

She learned that one from her ex-tutor a while back. She remembered that because of what Mrs Peppernickle told her: Of course you'd learn the Severing Charm quickly. And right after that SWOOP! Beverly had -- accidentally of course -- sliced her wig, and with great precision too, not getting the woman's scalp.

Re-channeling her focus, the Prefect took a block of wood and set it in front of her. Slice and dice.

"Diffindo!" Her wand traced the shape of a W, only coming short before finishing, just like Professor W had demonstrated.

To her satisfaction the block spit in half, the table unharmed. Smirk. Mrs Peppernickle would be proud.

Ian finished up his notes and then grabbed up his wand and piece of wood.

He first practiced the wand movement. Coming up short with a W wasn't as easy as it sounded. It took some measure of dexterity. When Ian felt he was up to the task, he spoke the words. [b]Diffindo![/i] and watched as his wood was precisely cut along the edge. He was rather pleased, though he didn't know how successful he'd be with what was sure to be delicate work with plants. Cutting wood was one thing because it was more solid. Wrong move with plant and bye bye plant.

Squints for you, bestie. Were you returning to normal? Was Dragon Benny finally making his comeback? But Adi was still curious about why Benny looked soooo confused. It was as if he didn't remember being the crazy Hatter. Hm....Anyway. "Don't you want Dormouse anymore? I'm sure he'll miss being kept in a teapot.'' But Adi collected his toad, still eyeing the Lion. "Well, try not to worry about anything now. Just concentrate on the spell otherwise Plants might throw you in detention for all the um, confusion and shoutiness.''

Oh yeah. That spell was kicking AJ's butt yet she wasn't willing to admit it. Adi shook his head. His stubborn, stubborn girl. "You can do it,'' he encouraged as he watched her try and quite forgetting he was to be racing her. He like looking at her, you see. Hehe. Annnd she did it! Adi grinned. "Awesome!''

The Puffer could hear Angel's voice over the voices of his classmates so he finally looked away from AJ. What was the incantation she saying? O_O "Hey, Angel.'' He waved his arm to get her attention. "It's Diffindo. Diffindo.'' Now whatever she was saying. LOL. "The wand movement...'' He traced out the incomplete W. "Got it? Give it a try.'' An encouraging grin for you, little sister.

Pulling out his wand Cyprien decided to give it a whirl and see what happened. It shouldn't be to hard to get the spell correct. Most people around him seemed to be able to get alright. Pulling back his sleeves (although what that would do he couldn't tell, just felt right) Cyprien pointed his wand at his piece of wood and announced clearly "Diffindo". Immediately the wood cut the wood. Hmmm what an interesting spell. Better make sure and practice a couple more times.

Adi was cheering her on, and when she finally got the spell right she felt so much better. "Thanks." As far as the race was going, it looked like Adi didn't even have his head in the game. "Looks like I smoked you." Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Wondering if she really had it down or not, AJ continued to practice so when it came time for the real activity she would be ready. In case Adi wanted a real race. Angel was struggling too, but Adi was already helping her out. Of course he was, the ever helpful puff.

Angel was sure she had said the right thing, but saying that Benny was playing on her mind at the minute... she wanted to give him a hug and to tell him everything would be okay. "Thanks Adi." Angel smiled as she looked at the block of wood on the table.

*concentrate*

"Diffindo!" Angel did the incomplete W wand movement and smiled when it worked this was awesome and she wondered why it hadn't worked the first time... she was sure she had said Diffindo. Oh well it was working now which was a good thing.

Something about Dot told Cutty that once she did slice into the wood it would be with particular relish. Suppressed, perhaps, and definitely subtle, but relish all the same. And how satisfying would that be? He said nothing to her. In fact, nothing but a brief and fleeting glance was paid toward her as he spoke the incantation. He was however keeping his ears tuned to the situation for when she finally did slice 'n dice.

Meanwhile, in a rare moment he MANUALLY lifted a piece of wood from it's spot beneath the table and set it in front of him. What if this was just a fuss-free way of Walton getting them all to carve him tikis. Ha! Cutty Mordaunt didn't work for free! Wouldn't the Professor be ...surprised once he saw what Cutty was carving. The subtle and quick W-like formation formed and Cutty aimed toward the wood. He'd done this spell before, but it never hurt to not use it when once had the chance. "Diffindo!" The first slice had come off. "Diffindo!" And so on and so forth the little chops fallen to the side. Soon the greenhouse area in which they were working began to fill with the smells of fresh wood.

He looked up to see what the Professor would say in response to Tobias Tempus. The trimming charm. That was a classic!

Ah, finally something Caleb was GOOD at! He'd practiced the Severing Charm before and knew that he was pretty skilled at it for whatever reason - this was going to be a good lesson now, Caleb could feel it.

He reached under his desk and picked up one of the wooden boards the professor had pointed out. Awesome, now to get to work! He picked up his wand, slashed at the board in the W movement he had practiced in the past, and shouted "Diffindo!" SLASH! The board was cut in half, clean as a whistle. BOOM!

Caleb looked around at the younger kids and did something he NEVER ever did - volunteered to help. "Anyone need assistance?" he asked. Yes children, Caleb Newell can show you how to chop your enemies in half. Have at it.

If there was gonna be a showdown between Kyroh and the Professor, Grayson was ALL up for it. Bring on the drama! Because he could SENSE the hateful tension in the air. Dude lived for things like that. And he knew that Walton wouldn't DARE to try and set someone on fire or something so the second year was pretty safe in this Slytherin's eyes.

And was it just him or was this lesson more tame than the last one? HMMMM.

ANYWAYS. Doing as instructed, Grayson reached down and grabbed a piece of wood from under the table before setting it down onto the table itself. Practice the Severing Charm? Easy. Dead easy. How many times have they had to do something like that in Potions? Sure, he preferred to use a knife just in case but the severing charm came up quite a bit. His professor back in Beauxbatons preferred it, Merlin knows why, and generally got them to use it instead of a knife.

Scowling at the memory of that school, the fifth year reached into his robes and pulled out his wand. "Diffindo!" he cried, moving his wand in a 'W' shape and cutting off a good chunk of the wood. Not even, mind you, but he didn't care. He just had to SHOW that he can do it, right? And since he hadn't sliced the table in half or sliced his hand, he was gonna call this a success.

What was with the stares his way from Adi?

And mention of a Dormouse?

And what was AJ on about...welcome back?

Benny just let Gus go as he listened to his bestie's instructions. Right....best not to upset the professor by not doing as he apparently asked. He took a deep breathe and thought back to what was needed for the spell; the incantation was easy enough, it was the letter-shaped wand movement that was the tricky part. The fourth year absently tried out the movement a few times to practice it, ready to only add the words when he felt he had a chance of getting it down.

"Diffindo!" the Gryffindor finally cast, making the w shape with his wand and aiming towards the first piece of wood. It scared the wood but didn't cut all the way through. Alright...he could do this. Thats why they were practicing. Ben took up the second piece and tried again. "Diffindo!" This time it cut, if just a little jagged.

They were practising 'Diffindo'? Snort. Lex could cast that in her sleep, in fact she used it almost every time she went down to the kitchen because sandwiches didn't cut themselves and nothing cut quite like a well cast diffindo. Could it even be classified as practising for her with her expertise? Even Kinsley knew this spell before he left, and that was saying something.

Lex reached under the table for a chunk of wood. It was thicker than most things she'd cut but she figured just up the intent and the power and all would be good. That was all it was, gauging how much effort would be needed. Wood was far denser than a sandwich--or well that depended on the day and the type of sandwich. She'd seen many in her day, don't question it.

Drawing Airey's wand, she did the incomplete 'W' like she'd been doing for years, concentrated, then, "Diffindo."

And just like that, the chunk of wood was now in two. See? Very little effort.

Andrew was on full alert! He certainly did not have faith and confidence in ALL the students. So he was watching each and every one. Well, some looked like they could handle themselves, others were exploring and trying new things which was alarming. So the man was ready for anything to happen. Good thing his reflexes were good.

So far so good.

Even the Gryffindor who was talking about riddles and bringing out his tea set seemed to have returned to his right mind. Whatever was wrong with him before.

When he heard his name being called, his real name for once, he wondered if it was an emergency. So he immediately followed the sound of the voice. Luckily the tone was normal and calm and belonged to Mister Tempus, so nothing to worry about. It was good that someone asked a question. "It is suitable, yes," He nodded at the Hufflepuff. "Though I quite prefer to use Diffindo because it's one of the basic spells and very important to master, and can be used in various occasions." He hoped that was a satisfying response for the fifth-year.

When it seemed that most have gotten the practicing part done, Andrew cleared his throat and called out to the students. "Okay. That is enough practicing for now," He gave them a minute to settle down.

"Now we will learn a new spell. I'm sure some of you already know about it already but for those who don't it's the Herbivicus Charm, " He said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Miss Brown earlier mentioned something about a plant being stuck in a certain phase and not growing. So did Mister Mordaunt," They touched the topic without meaning to. "This charm will help boost the growth of the plant and help it bloom." He said turning to where the plants were usually. He bent down and waved his wand to reveal another pot. Soon everything was going to be visible but for now this how it had to be.

Carrying the plant to the table, he placed it at the further end like before. "Watch closely how this small plant will grow in a bit," He said drawing out his wand. Were they looking? They should be. "Herbivicus," He said slowly waving his wand. A flash of green light quickly appeared that connected the tip of the wand with the plant. The light soon vanished leaving the plant bigger than before. Like with the previous step, he walked around the table to stand at the opposite end to preform the spell again. "I'll demonstrate again," He told them then turned his attention to the plant again. "Herbivicus," Again the light appeared then vanished and the plant became even bigger and with more leaves. He supposed that was enough demonstration.

"Now I want you to practice doing what I just did," He waved his wand for like the millionth time this lesson and many small pots appeared. "You will notice on those plants that only just started to sprout from the seeds," All the pots contained the exact same thing. Andrew cast a quick glance to make sure that that was the case and nothing else was among them.

"Remember the incantation is Her-biv-i-cuss," He repeated slowly. "The wand movement is like drawing three little mountains," Eh, did that description make sense? Just in case it did not he moved his wand slowly for them to see. Hmm. Now, was there anything else to tell them ? Nope. Time to watch.

"Be careful and off you go," He clapped his wands together and stepped away from the pots but kept his eyes on them.


ooc: I'm sorry posts are coming later than the time I estimate. First week of uni is hard! Anyway, you will also need one post for this unless you feel like posting more. It's up to you. If you have any question or something is unclear to you do not hesitate to ask!

A NEW spell. Now THAT was exciting, yes? Maddie watched the professor carefully, noting his wand movement and the way he pronounced the incantation. Brown eyes widened slightly as the plant in front of the man very visibly changed, getting bigger. More mature, even. The second year was impressed.

When it was their turn, Maddie decided to focus on getting the incantation right FIRST and then attempting the spell on the little sprout before her. And so she cleared her throat and started. "Her-biv-i-cuss...her-biv-i-cuss...her-biv-i-cuss." Bit of a mouthful, that. "Her-biv-i-cuss...her-biv-i-cuss...herbivicus." Little easier now. "Herbivicus...herbivicus... herbivicus." Got it.

And three mountains. Three little mountains. How charming. Maddie waved an imaginary wand in the air as if drawing three little mountains and smirked to herself. Okay, she was just about ready to try it out on the plant.

As if she could feel his eyes on her, Dot glanced up and spotted that Cutty boy looking at her. What? Waiting for her to screw up or something? With a little grimace, Dot drew the broken W in his direction. Y'know... just saying. That's what she was doing, practicing her spells. Definitely not threatening him or anything.

New spell, though? Sure... she could master Diffindo later. This new one was probably more up Dima and Kyroh's alley, what with it being about making something grow and be happy. The trimming and cleaning was important, but it was probably nice to have a world view that left that bit out.

"Her-biv-i-cuss." Easy enough. And the motion was almost like a reverse of the one they'd just practiced. Like they were opposites or something. Clever, really. "Herbivicus Herbivicus Herbivicus." Easy. Done. Was the Cutty boy still looking at her?

His three friends were making progress. Cool! Adi was so pleased that Benny seemed to be coming back to his normal self. Maybe now Angel would stop avoiding the poor guy? Oh looky. Plants was talking again. And demonstrating.

Adi had indeed heard of this spell but he never used it. But it looked as if that was about to change. He watched in awe as Plants made the mini plant growww. What a cool spell.

"Herbivicus, Herbivicus, Herbivicus.'' Wand movement like drawing three little mountains. Right. Adi got that. He pulled a teeny potted plant towards him. "Herbivicus!'' Cue the mountain like wand movement.

Ahh! It worked. The little plant was no longer so little. It was growing, growing, growing! Awesomeee!

The little scene unfolding in front of her just made Puck laugh, but she didn’t want to draw attention to the two. So she never let the sound escape her lips, she just sat there the mirth of a forgotten laugh twinkling behind the grey-green glint of her eyes. This was precious, a sweet girl giving her first threat. She was growing into her snakeness wasn’t she? That was sweet.

Now that she heard people practicing the spells Puck knew it was time for her to practice as well. “Her-biv-i-cus” she smirked, “Herbiv I Cuss” she said the spell in the wrong way she knew that much, but she was just having fun with the sound it was making. “HerbivIcuss” snort. That wasn’t it either but she was having a bit of fun stretching the muscles of her cheeks, throat, neck, and yes even her tongue. “Herbivicus” she finally said it the proper way the mirth still audible in her voice.

Now she moved her wandless hand around carefully as ever. Moving her hand through the air she made sure to make an attempt at drawing three imaginary little mountains. She was ready to dot his. Now could they start?