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The Whomping Willow is a very valuable, yet very violent species of magical plant. The tree was planted around the year of 1971, and has grown into the majestic beauty that we see today. Make no mistake, though... The Whomping Willow WILL attack if a person gets too close.
"He's possibly a lot sorrier than you. No worries. He's got a better perspective on life now...or worse depending on how you look at it I suppose." Who were they talking about again?
Eh, it didn't matter, not when the man seemed to be in an inquisitive mood. It was interesting to say the least. The only questions on charms he would be asked he expected to be asked from his students...unless it was more a case of 'I need this done and you're the expert so have a go at it for me'. This was entirely different.
Talent? Maddox scoffed. "Talent's got something to do with it yes, but it's hardly the deciding factor on whether one gets a charm or not." It's what annoyed him so much about many people. They think 'oh it's just charms anyone can do that' or 'I've got talent so naturally I'll nail this one too'. "Don't get me wrong, it'd help if the person was already naturally gifted but even if they weren't there's still other things to consider."
Blue eyes followed a small bird that dared fly too close to the tree and narrowly missed getting it's wing clipped. "The wand for instances. Some wood are better at casting charms while others are better at Transfiguration etc. Then you've got to consider the charm itself. How advanced is it? How often is it used?" Important things to think about. "I'd say if someone wanted to get better all they'd have to do is try. The wand will do what the Caster wants once the Caster knows what he wants, applies enough power and focuses deeply enough on intent."
You know what, maybe Maddox was the wrong guy. Cosgrach was cold hearted too, but what Maddox was saying about his brother... almost like he didn't even like the guy. Sure, Cosgrach had a sister he despised, but... He didn't even know what to say, so he said nothing and just nodded. And anyways, they were discussing his charms future here. As much as Maddox was heartless, Cosgrach liked what he was saying. The fact that they hadn't named anyone meant Maddox was being honest about it too, and Cosgrach was too engrossed in the man's words to see the bird.
"Okay, you see, I failed in Charms OWL," he said pretty straightforwardly, "then I never got them quite right. I can do DADA and Transfiguration fairly well, but charms... is challenging." Not 'difficult', no. A professor of Hogwarts certainly knew how to charm. It was merely challenging.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarShine
You know what, maybe Maddox was the wrong guy. Cosgrach was cold hearted too, but what Maddox was saying about his brother... almost like he didn't even like the guy. Sure, Cosgrach had a sister he despised, but... He didn't even know what to say, so he said nothing and just nodded. And anyways, they were discussing his charms future here. As much as Maddox was heartless, Cosgrach liked what he was saying. The fact that they hadn't named anyone meant Maddox was being honest about it too, and Cosgrach was too engrossed in the man's words to see the bird.
"Okay, you see, I failed in Charms OWL," he said pretty straightforwardly, "then I never got them quite right. I can do DADA and Transfiguration fairly well, but charms... is challenging." Not 'difficult', no. A professor of Hogwarts certainly knew how to charm. It was merely challenging.
"What do I need to do?"
It might have bothered him that his colleague was suddenly silent on the whole matter but they were moving on and that was much easier than feigning concern. By now the lie he copped up was all but forgotten, leaving him to see very little reason behind the man's sudden silence.
Ah and they were getting to the meat of the matter. The person in question was in fact Cosgrach and the charade was now over. For his part in all this Maddox nodding in somewhat of an understanding manner--not to mock or patronize but rather to confirm that he was listening.
When it got to what he would need to do. "Something no one wants to hear; practice. You'll need to work at it, like the students do. I find some people work better under duress--I imagine it might work for you as well considering I don't suspect you'll want to be sat at a table making teacups dance all afternoon." No and it would be insulting to suggest as much to someone as advanced and well learned beyond years.
"What have you been doing to work at it so far?" Just out of curiosity.
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
It might have bothered him that his colleague was suddenly silent on the whole matter but they were moving on and that was much easier than feigning concern. By now the lie he copped up was all but forgotten, leaving him to see very little reason behind the man's sudden silence.
Ah and they were getting to the meat of the matter. The person in question was in fact Cosgrach and the charade was now over. For his part in all this Maddox nodding in somewhat of an understanding manner--not to mock or patronize but rather to confirm that he was listening.
When it got to what he would need to do. "Something no one wants to hear; practice. You'll need to work at it, like the students do. I find some people work better under duress--I imagine it might work for you as well considering I don't suspect you'll want to be sat at a table making teacups dance all afternoon." No and it would be insulting to suggest as much to someone as advanced and well learned beyond years.
"What have you been doing to work at it so far?" Just out of curiosity.
Cosgrach plainly made a face. Practise? No, thanks. He had a reputation to protect as a competent professor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What would they think if a student caught him trying to make the teacups dance?! No, no. Too much was at stake. Besides, WHAT were the chances of something's coming up that required his charms ability anyway?
"I..." Summoning things probably wasn't much of a practice. "Nothing? I don't know." He shrugged. Cosgrach Culloden was the lazIEST when it came to things that didn't interest him. Charms was one of those things right now.
Had Sophie Brown been following the professors? Absolutely not. Was she elated that her run through the grounds had brought her to stumble upon the sight of two very grumpy and hilarious professors mingling together?
You bet.
When she made out who they were in the distance as their backs were turned to her, she slowed her run to a walk, then eventually stopped and considered the scene before her. Sophie strained her ears to hear what they were saying, but she couldn't make out much as they were facing the other way and their words bounced in the other direction, so she sloooowly tip-toed to get closer through the snow to hear what they were saying. As she went, she wondered how they'd respond to a snowball launched their way - Culloden would undoubtedly laugh and battle back, but... Quigley? Tricky guy. He seemed the type to have a sense of humor about things, but... he also seemed like the type to literally murder a student. So. There was that.
Aside from her silent footsteps and slight crouching, there was no extra added stealth to her approaching. No, she was quiet, but there was nothing to even hide behind - she was just headed right for them in plain sight, and if they turned around, they would see her coming toward them, hugging her running jacket tighter to her body as if it would conceal her from view.
She didn't care that they could see her. All that mattered right NOW was... Merlin, did her ears deceive her? Was Culloden actually admitting weakness? Is that really what she was hearing? No... no. Couldn't be. RIGHT?
Yeah I broke that mirror, so what? ll NOT backward ll Official Gryfferin ll Lemon's favourite
Quote:
Originally Posted by StarShine
Cosgrach plainly made a face. Practise? No, thanks. He had a reputation to protect as a competent professor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What would they think if a student caught him trying to make the teacups dance?! No, no. Too much was at stake. Besides, WHAT were the chances of something's coming up that required his charms ability anyway?
"I..." Summoning things probably wasn't much of a practice. "Nothing? I don't know." He shrugged. Cosgrach Culloden was the lazIEST when it came to things that didn't interest him. Charms was one of those things right now.
Oops.
You know what was hard? Trying to pay attention to a conversation when you were sure you could hear footsteps approaching. At first, Maddox did his best to ignore it, his eyes locked on Culloden but the crunch of snow was getting harder to ignore and the wind was carrying the faintest of smells. A student most likely. Eyes still on the Potions Professor though; he didn't wanna seem rude even with the end of the footsteps and the lingering smell...Miss Brown maybe? Might be getting his scents mixed up.
He COULD turn around, satisfy his own curiosity but at the moment there was something even bigger. "Nothing?" An involuntary scowl spread across his face. "That's hardly conducive to progress, tell me you realize this?" One didn't wish to do well then decide to do nothing. It was like being hungry but deciding against food.
Casually, Maddox spun his head around, as if fascinated by the bird from earlier, the one who'd somehow survived the tree, but he wasted no time in facing his colleague again. Definitely Miss Brown. Odd girl that one. The man figured she would speak when she was ready. "If you don't mind my asking, why haven't you done anything?"
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
Cosgrach didn't see Sophie, because it felt like Maddox was one step before lecturing Cosgrach. Somehow it felt like he was a student yet again, even though the man was YOUNGER than him. It wasn't uncomfortable... yet. Until Maddox began shouting. He wouldn't shout, right? Even though they were alone. He shrugged at the second question.
"Because I s'ppose... I don't exactly know what to do." How could he? Mweh. This was awkward.
Still moving toward the pair as silently as she could, Sophie could TELL Quigley knew she was there, but... but he didn't say anything or acknowledge her at all. At ALL. Which meant... he didn't mind her sneaking up on them? Or... that he was curious to see what she was going to do, yeah? MAYBE? So... maybe he was on her side. Maybe, since he didn't immediately scold her for interrupting them, she WASN'T going to die.
Which meant one thing: ALL SYSTEMS GO.
Still listening with great surprise - Culloden was laying down his pride and SEEKING HELP which was kind of mindblowing - Sophie crouched down to pack some snow into her gloves to form a perfectly-rounded snowball. She only needed one - for Culloden, of course, not Quigley, as she knew from experience that Culloden was a fan of snowball fights but still couldn't quite trust that Quigley wouldn't kill her. It didn't seem like a good time to strike yet, though, so... Sophie stopped walking, perhaps about twenty feet behind the professors, and waited with the snowball hidden behind her back, biding her time till Culloden at least got the help he needed from the charms professor.
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More snow crunching. What was Miss Brown doing back there? Moving closer maybe? Perhaps she was one of the most restless children that roamed the castle and the grounds, though why anyone would roam with this much snow and cold was beyond him, the man hated it--hated the snow anyway.
Shoulder shrugging caught his attention from the Ravenclaw and handed it back to Cosgrach. Maddox could almost sense the man's level of discomfort and deduced that this whole speaking about his problems and asking for help thing wasn't something he was quite used to. Only one thing to be done in that case and a wide grin spread across his face with ease. "You're in luck. I happen to know what do to and I can have you knowing what to do too." Offering his help, he was. That was where this conversation was going, wasn't it? Why else bring up such an inferior flaw unless you planned to change it?
Hardly a good conversation starter.
"I don't mind giving you a hand with this. My Charms Annexe is always open but I can have it closed and we can work something out." It was large enough in there and sparse enough to ensure he didn't BREAK anything. "What'd you say?"
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
Cosgrach was too distracted to notice Maddox was looking at somewhere, and he didn't have the ears of a cat to hear one Sophie Brown. In fact, he was pretty much fighting back the shame Maddox had just made him feel, and the regret for having this conversation. Why hadn't he sought Piers' help? Right, because Sophie Brown wouldn't leave him alone. She'd probably want to come to the sessions, and give him a hard time for admitting his failure. But Maddox...
What did he say?
The more Cosgrach listened, the happier he became. His negative mood was suddenly lifted, and he looked at the man hopefully.
"I say 'Aye'," he said, "as long as... this stays between us?" He didn't even feel the need to explain WHY.
"Thank you, by the way." This called for a hand shake, and Cosgrach would extend his as soon as the other man promised utmost privacy.
This was sweet. Really, really sweet. Honestly, the friendship of these two men warmed Sophie up right down to her core on this very cold day, and later she would take advantage of the opportunity to teasingly congratulate Culloden on making a friend, but for now, she just grinned stupidly at the pair as they went for a handshake.
Ugh. Adorable. But now was the time to strike, now that they seemed to have things worked out. No more time for them to be adorable. SHE HAD BUSINESS TO TAKE CARE OF.
"M'sorry to interrupt, gentlemen," she spoke up to the pair to get their attention, the grin spreading wider across her face as she kept both hands behind her back. "But duty calls. Professor Quigley, you weren't here to know this, but a couple terms ago I got voted for a superlative in the yearbook." Her eyes flickered to meet Culloden's, and her smile turned mischievous. HE would remember, of course, wouldn't he? How could he not? She'd probably been voted for it because people had seen her pelt the potions master with snowballs on more than one occasion. It was just the way things were.
"I've got a reputation to protect, and the student body thinks I'm Most Likely to..." she paused for a moment, then removed the snowball from behind her back and LAUNCHED it at Culloden, aiming for his torso, "INITIATEASNOWBALLFIGHTAGAINSTTHEPROFESSORS." HEHEHEHE. "SO BYE."
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Just between the two of them meant no discussing it during his Friday Game Nights with Airey but that was easily promised, plenty of other things to discuss about the castle anyway. "Just between the three of us." He said with a solemn nod. Surely Culloden knew Sophie was standing there. It was hardly just the two of them anymore.
"And it's no problem, we'll have you casting in your sleep in no time." Which could actually be dangerous depending on how you looked at it but...it was the thought that count?
He'd go with that.
Ah and it seemed that now that they had gotten done with business, Sophie was ready to make it plain she'd been there the entire time. There was a hint of amusement settled in his expression as she spoke of superlatives and reputations but it threatened to vanish when he realized what she was about to do. He...did NOT...like snow. Luckily Cosgrach had been the one to take the blow before the girl bolted off.
Hah! That was actually kinda funny. Funny enough to have him slip into cat form and bolt after her with the idea of cutting her off, making it easier for his colleague to get a little snowball revenge if he so chose. Team work and all that jazz.
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
Cosgrach frowned, opened his mouth to ask WHAT he meant, but Quigley promised to get him casting in no time, so that was good. But WHO exactly had been -
...oh no.
Sophie Brown. Heard his inability to cast a proper spell. He narrowed his eyes at her and GLARED. She certainly was NOT sorry to interrupt, just look at that grin! And why didn't Maddox WARN him, huh? He had been fooled! He opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it. What, she'd been voted for a lot of things, what was her game now?
...
......
HFŞLJAFJLKDÇ NOOOOOOOOOO -
The snowball HIT his chest and he gasped. It wasn't too cold or fast to do any damage, but she'd HIT his HEART all the same. He furiously made a snowball, it fell apart, then tried to do another. He saw that Quigley had transformed into his cat form - the man had better not run away! - and once he was pleased with the snowball, he started running... HEH, Quigley was helping him too. Today was the day Sophie Brown would DIE. And so he aimed for her body and threw the snowball at her.
Just between the three of them. Bwahahahaha. Quigley was a HOOT.
Running like the WIND across the snowy grounds, Sophie giggled in delight as she went, keeping Culloden's VERY grumpy face in mind as she did and enjoying every second of it. She knew what Culloden was like when he ran and KNEW she could outrun him, especially in such snowy conditions, so she felt good about running away and zigzagged in her motion in case he tried to hit her with a spell to stop her -
But she didn't need to worry about a spell, because suddenly there was A CAT IN THE WAY. QUIGLEY CAT. SOPHIE BROWN WAS NOT GOING TO SQUISH THE CHARMS PROFESSOR, NO. "NO, CAT." So when he tried cutting her off, Sophie tried to dash to the side and not hurt him, but her foot slid right through the snow and she elegantly fell on her bum, the snowball Culloden threw at her back going narrowly over her head.
Ow. BUM HURT. But there was NO TIME TO FOCUS ON PAIN. Sophie scooped up snow with both of her hands and turned to sit on her knees in the snow and face DGJDFLGJDFK CULLODEN WAS RUNNING TOWARD HER. The fifth year PACKED THE SNOW AS QUICKLY AS SHE COULD (still while giggling like a fool) and LAUNCHED the snow at him, aiming for his chest again with a "HA!" then scooped up more snow and tried to get up to make another run for it.
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His work was done the moment Sophie fell back on her bum because that was how you cut someone off. Someone a bit lighter on their feet might have hopped over him like a hurdle sprint but no such person had thrown a snowball and ran just now. IT was brilliant really.
Next thing now was to work on Culloden's aim. Deliver the girl to him and he misses.
Maddox stretched into the shape of a man once more, decidedly not willing to take chase a second time, especially if it would go to waste. What he was prepared to do, however, was raise a snow fort from the ground with a flick of his wand that had some of the snow around them racing to build a wall effectively cutting off any retreat.
"Leaving so soon, Miss Brown? We haven't brought out the big tricks yet." And a wide grin that showcased his unusually large canines. Despite his dislike of the cold this could be fun.
Heh.
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
If Quigley wasn't on his side too, there was NO way Cosgrach could have caught Sophie. But he didn't even think about that. All he wanted to do was to teach Sophie Brown a lesson - one she would never forget, and one he'd be able to proudly tell his grandchildren. He only snickered when she fell majestically, slowed down and scooped some more snow. Her second ball hit him in the stomach, which made him growl, he aimed for her NECK where it would hopefully trickle down inside her clothes -
...
HEHEHEHE. "HEEEEEEEHEHEHE!"
Maddox was suddenly his FAVOURITE person on earth, and he launched the ball towards her chest with even more enthusiasm as he closed the gap between them . . .
Sophie was doing JUST FINE and RUNNING FOR THE HILLS as she packed her new ball of snow in her hands, but she was keenly aware of the cat turning back into her professor and VERY DEARLY hoped that he was going to decide to watch to see how the match-up between herself and Culloden was going to go -
AHHHHHHHHH BARRICADE OF SNOW BUILDING. NO NO NO. AND A TAUNTING QUIGLEY. BIGGER NO. "Nooo-hooo-hooooooo," she giggled miserably through her whining, already KNOWING how this was going to play out. She was absolutely doomed. There was NO WAY she could get out of this one.
As she slid to a halt, Sophie groaned a "shut uuuup" at Quigley and tried to take a moment to size up the wall and decide if she could burst through it - just how much DID Quigley want to keep her from getting away, hmm? Would he have made it so sturdy and tightly-packed that she couldn't break through if she tried? - but just as she was trying to decide, a snowball collided directly with the back of her neck, just above her jacket. This effectively resulted in snow trickling down the back of her jacket and an abrupt, shocked gasp passed her lips.
COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD.
Sophie JUMPED on the spot and tried shaking out her jacket as she turned around to face the professors. "You guys are NERDS," was her battle cry as she launched the snowball she had crafted right at Culloden again - then scooped up a handful of unpacked snow and tossed THAT right at the nearby Quigley, and was already bending down to scoop up more snow and FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT... even though she knew the end was in sight. Heheheh. Sophie could've taken either one of them on her own, she so knew she could. But... TWO AGAINST ONE? No. Sophie knew she was a dead girl walking.
So... might as well get a few last good hits in before they buried her alive in snow, eh? Heh.
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Hahaha, now THAT was how you did it! Well done Cosgrach! Had to show the students that age proved nothing. It was the skill that came with it--as seen with the snow fort he'd erected with a simple flick of his wand while she was still packing snowballs. It was a dirty trick, admittedly, and one he was used to casting FOR his children as opposed to against them but different circumstances and all that.
Maddox burst out laughing when his Colleague's attack got Sophie jumping the way she did and he laughed even harder at her yell and counter attack--until he saw one heading for HIM.
Um...no...he didn't do snow thanks.
Just a spectator that helped on the odd occasion. Except the snowball to the face made him an active participant by default, didn't it? As such he graciously wiped the snow away then magicked a large fluffy ball of snow--people of his limited willingness to exert energy did not bend and make their own snowballs when there was magic in this world.
Quite the impressive ball of snowball it was too, magicked further to chased the Ravenclaw.
Charms ftw.
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
Maddox was ACTIVELY demonstrating how HANDY charms was, especially in teaching people a lesson, and Cosgrach couldn't be more motivated to learn the art. He laughed in delight to see his snowball DID trickle beneath her clothes, and opened his mouth to answer with a witty answer, but she was too quick to throw another snowball at him, and it hit his neck and a few pieces entered his mouth.
HGAJŞADJDK -
"NOOOOO -" he yelled, and as Maddox [wisely] used his wand to create a snowball, he bent down to make a lot rapidly and started throwing them at her without aiming much.
At this point, Sophie was VERY aware that magic was a huge factor in her currently developing loss, and that SHE was a witch and could do magic, TOO, but one snowball after another was launched at her as she fired more off at both professors, and she couldn't even catch a break to flick her wand out of its holster under her jacket.
No, she was totally doomed.
She DID, however, stop her snowball-making process long enough to catch sight of the snowball hitting Culloden in the neck AND her unpacked snow covering Quigley, and the fifth year CACKLED ALOUD TRIUMPHANTLY. "Hahahahaha!!!" If nothing else, she got two very good hits on them, and that was all that mattered, really.
...Or that was all that mattered because Quigley was cheating AGAIN and was making a BIIIIIIIIIG ol' snowball by MAGIC, which got an accusation of "CHEATER!" out of Sophie Brown as she launched one final snowball at the charms professor before seeing both professors about to pelt her. And, just as Quigley sent the massive snowball off after her, Sophie dropped to the ground on her stomach and covered her head with her arms, giggling through her shouts as the snowballs smashed against her, "OKAAAAAAAY, OKAAAAAAAY!"
Strategically, it wasn't a blatant surrender, but maybe enough to get them to feel bad and back off?
And then she would strike again. Hehehehehehehehe.
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They were a dramatic lot, weren't they?
Maddox watched the two and their reactions to being pelted by each other with snow, somewhat intrigued--while simultaneously exhausted. Watching them was hard enough work, then you added him having to dodge the stray snowballs with Cosgrach's lack of aim. It wasn't difficult but it was tiring work. So much so that by the time Sophie threw her own he just kinda stood there because...effort.
He snorted at the Ravenclaw's accusation. "You don't call a dragon a cheater for breathing fire. I'm a wizard, magic is my life."
And with that he magicked another snowball and aimed it at her. "I didn't come here to teach you lot Charms so you can muggle your way around in life either." Then another was conjured and thrown despite her already being buried.
"What'd you say Cosgrach? I think she'd make a lovely snowwoman."Smirk. They would make one of her yet.
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
Cosgrach LOVED Maddox' answer to Sophie, and wasn't even WORRIED when she surrendered. The only thing he did was stopping his assault and getting up. Aaaaah, nothing like a good victory which was going to be even better with what Maddox had just suggested!
"She would!" he agreed enthusiastically, and brought out his wand even though he didn't know what exactly to cast. THIS would teach Sophie a lesson.
While she was on the ground, Sophie worked at digging her wand out from under her jacket sleeve, and even as more snow threatened to bury her, she managed to get it out and tried to shield it from their view with her body so they didn't KNOW that she now had her wand out, which wasn't hard to do since she was on her stomach and could just conceal it under her body.
Quigley's taunting was so IRRITATING, though, but in a stop-making-me-like-you-when-I-want-to-hate-you-because-you're-being-mean way again. He was SUCH A BIG GOOBER and she hated him, but he was also loads of fun and had a good sense of humor and kept reminding her of Piers time and time again. "Shut up!" she called to him again, not sounding at all as threatening as she wanted to due to the laughter that was accompanying her words. She turned her head around to let him hear her words better, "Snowball fights aren't supposed to be magical, they're -" KDGJDFKGJKRGJDS. RIGHT IN THE FACE.
Sophie GASPED again and wiped the snow from her face with her snow-covered sleeve, not doing much to the state of her face except clean it of snow, but it was still WET and COLD. "That's it." She SAT UP and, without even blinking, flicked her wand right, then downwards sharply, "Armanto!" Catching the silver shield she conjured, she latched it onto her free arm - it was heavier than she remembered last time, but she was JUST FINE, gentlemen - and held it in front of her protectively as another snowball soared toward her, a very prideful expression crossing her face when it collided with the shield instead of her this time.
Now it was on.
She still didn't know how to do anything with the snow, though, and was at a loss there, so... uhhh... for now, she just held the shield up and used it to block any attacks. "Teach me to do the snow stuff or I'll get you back even worse!" Her wand was pointed at the both of them while she gripped tightly to the shield with her other hand and gave them a PRETTY PLEASE TEACH ME I'M ADORABLE AND WANT TO LEARN look. Hehe.
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Why did snow have to be so cold? Were it a pile of leaves, he could pull them together and flop into them, enjoying his victory from a comfy seat but alas it was snow and the man would prefer to continue standing.
Maddox grinned over at Cosgrach, glad they were on the same page with burying Miss Brown until she understood that Professors were better than Students in every single way ever possible. Heh.
Snowball fights could be magical. Pfft, probably just up in arms about losing to 'old' people. "No worries, we'll conjure you a nifty little hat after we're done." What snowman was complete without one?
The Charms Professor got set to pelt her with more snow but noted the shield she'd put up. "Now you're getting the idea." Magic was useful, dead useful especially when up against a guy who refused to use anything but. Might as well step to it. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Maddox snorted at the Ravenclaw's plea. "Like I've never seen that look before. You remind me of my own Sophie." Come to think of it, it usually worked with his Sophie. Huh. The charms of a 3 year old.
"But sure, a break for learning." He took a step back and looked for a decent patch on the floor. "What you wanna do is animate the snow, that way it'll become something of a puppet for you. The incantation is 'excito animans' and all it'll take is a point at what you need animated. Now it's a little trickier with snow considering you need to keep into account how much of it you want to animate and you'll have to keep it all animated otherwise it'll break away before you've had your fun." So basically. "Concentration is key here, you'll need to focus your energy on it and imagine what you want the snow doing."
With that, Maddox pointed to the snow by his feet. "Excito animans." He watched the snow rise and roll itself into a ball as he'd wanted then hurtle straight toward her. "Now you try."
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Imma say all the words inside my head____________________________________
______________________________I'm fired up and tired of the way that things are said.
Cosgrach LAUGHED when the snowball caught her right in the face. This was priceless! He didn't know if Maddox was doing it to show him how useful spells could be or if he really wanted to kill Sophie Brown - whatever his intention was, it was clearly working. Cosgrach didn't even throw more snowballs anymore, but just watched the two, and laughed briefly again when she said that was it. Most likely she would use her wand to make snowballs too, so the man readied his own wand -
Oooooh. Wow. Cool one, Sophie. He opened his mouth not to fall for her pleas - she wouldn't last a second against Maddox, but alas! The charms man proved to have a much softer heart! Well, if they were going to learn something, Cosgrach would come closer to watch too, but he'd watch only for now. He didn't want to practise it like a kid, thank you. Maddox had promised him private lessons anyway. He'd learn the trick there. For now...
Sophie grinned when Quigley seemed pleased with her conjured shield, but she didn't take her guard down - no, she kept the shield held high and her wand pointed at the both of them... until Quigley mentioned his own Sophie. Her wand lowered at that and she gave him a curious look - did he...? "You have kids?" That was weird. Was he married? Did he have lots of small, attractive children running around back home? Where WAS home?
Her straying thoughts almost made her miss what Quigley was saying, and she perked up a bit when he went along in TEACHING HER. Heeeeeey. That was cool, wasn't it? Soph watched, the goofy grin still plastered on her face as he explained things very politely and recited the incantation a few times in her head before her focus was lost when he sent more snow her way - which she managed to block with the silver shield again, the grin turning malicious as she tried to think of what to do with the snow. What did she want to make happen...? Hmmm.
Calmly pointing her wand right at the snow by Culloden's feet, Sophie had a clear picture in mind of what she wanted to have happen as she cast, "Excito animans!" The snow around the potions master's feet began to pile up and cover the his shoes up to his ankles in a nice mound, and Sophie snickered.
"Cool, Q. Thanks." HEHEHEHE. Not even sorry. "So we could like... build a snowman with this? Without actually having to TOUCH the snow?" That was wicked. Could they do that?
The Whomping Willow 
x5 
x6
