A test of skill (Professor Grimm & Caryxander Mordushku)

[G]

Monday, September 6th, 2117
8:00am - The Charms Classroom



Caelin Grimm was perched on his desk, his classroom lit with streams of sunlight from the windows, the day outside clear and warm. He rubbed his hands together enthusiastically, surveying the objects he had set up on the front row of desks. A large pile of soft cushions was piled up in the corner of the room, but in front of him, only one sat. Beside it was a feather; a medium-sized stone from the garden outside and a clear goblet filled with water. He was waiting for the student who had showed so much promise in his first class - a Slytherin boy, Caryxander Mordushku. It had seemed silly to continue without testing the boys proficiency properly, given that he had so quickly mastered the previous lessons incantation, and so he had sent a brief owl to the student the day before.

Mister Mordushku,
Please come to the charms classroom early tomorrow, before the first year lesson.
8am should give sufficient time - I will see you then.
-Professor Grimm.

He was excited at the prospect of a promising student; as he always was, when someone under his tutelage excelled; regardless of whether he could lay claim to the emerging talent, or not. There was the slight concern - why the boy had been doing magic before being properly trained, but that ship had clearly sailed. Grimm's task was simple; make sure the budding talent was properly nurtured, and used.

[Death of Korzan]

Cary had left the Slytherin dormitories earlier than usual, leaving Michael to get ready and Douglas to still wake up - Cary not wanting to shake the boy awake due to the drool that coated his chin and parts of his shirt. Damara had already left the Boy's Dormitory and had gone to join Tamara in the Girl's room, a fact that Tamara herself had been overjoyed with - though uneasy at the prospect of the school rescinding this kindness. Cary had been torn about the whole situation; on one hand, Damara was good company and the boy held a genuine affinity for her, just as he enjoyed the company and companionship of Michael, Douglas and Tamara; at the same time, Cary felt it useful to keep her in his line of sight - he had already brought on one bought of fiery Greek anger, the young Mordushku was interested in what else he get draw from her.

Uniform surprisingly immaculate for a First Year awake too early on a Monday morning, Cary wandered the corridors towards Professor Grimm's office, hands tucked into his blazer's pockets and head inquisitively scanning around at the architecture of the Castle itself. Even now, Hogwarts blew Cary away, driving the boy to wonder what all the other schools looked like; immaculate Beauxbatons; wild Uagadou; savage Durmstrang - the thoughts laced every inch of Cary's mind, and he promised himself that one day, for better or worse, he would see all of the Wizarding schools.

At long last, after a relatively short walk from his Dormitory, Cary arrived at the doorway of the Professor's office. The Mordushku did have to admit, while the teacher himself was a Mudblood and deserved no respect from Cary, he found it hard pressed to not give it to him. The man's admiration for Charms and his skill weren't to be laughed at, and much to his chagrin, Cary found himself somewhat liking the man, if but for his strength in that particular school of magic. Raising his left hand - having dragged it, warm and listless out of his pocket - Cary rapped his Knuckles on the door.

8am sharp - Cary had made sure of his astuteness to timekeeping.

[G]

"Ah, good morning, Mister Mordushku," Grimm greeted the student with his characterstic enthusiasm, smiling at the boy. "Thankyou for being so prompt at this early hour."

He stood, waving his wand nonchalantly at a teapot on his desk, which picked itself up and poured steaming, amber liquid into two glasses. A milk pot added it's own contents to one of the cups, followed by a small silver spoon, which dipped itself into a waiting jar of sugar and then the cup, stirring the contents gently. "Tea?" he offered, as one of the glasses floated up to insert itself into his waiting hand. He sipped it gingerly, and placed the cup on the desk behind him.

"Now, you've obviously mastered some of the basics of charms-work already. I imagine you did a lot of practice on the first night, since magic is of course, forbidden outside of school." He raised his eyebrows in an amused, knowing expression before continuing. "Regardless, it seems prudent to find out exactly where you're up to with it, so I can plan accordingly. No sense spending the whole year on revision, now, is there?"

[Death of Korzan]

"Ah, good morning, Mister Mordushku," Grimm greeted the student with his characterstic enthusiasm, smiling at the boy. "Thank you for being so prompt at this early hour."

As Cary walked into the room, he smiled politely at the Professor before sitting down on a chair that lay in front of his desk. "My Father taught me that being prompt was important - both as a respect for my superiors, and to make sure I did not miss anything vital to my learning." Wiggling about to get more comfortable in the chair, Cary's smile slightly dropped as he stopped holding it. Politeness to superiors was always warranted, but to a Mudblood? The idea of it made Cary's skin crawl.

Professor Grimm stood, waving his wand nonchalantly at a teapot on his desk, which picked itself up and poured steaming, amber liquid into two glasses. A milk pot added it's own contents to one of the cups, followed by a small silver spoon, which dipped itself into a waiting jar of sugar and then the cup, stirring the contents gently. "Tea?" he offered, as one of the glasses floated up to insert itself into his waiting hand. He sipped it gingerly, and placed the cup on the desk behind him.

"No thank you." Cary held up his hand so as the enchanted teapot didn't list towards him. "I'm not thirsty."

"Now, you've obviously mastered some of the basics of charms-work already. I imagine you did a lot of practice on the first night, since magic is of course, forbidden outside of school." He raised his eyebrows in an amused, knowing expression before continuing.

As the Professor spoke about Cary's magical proficiency, the boy raised his eyebrows, having to stifle a smirk from painting itself across his pale features. Looking down at the floor before shuffling once more and returning his eyes to the Professor, Cary sighed. "Of course, my Father had me reading about Magical Theory as soon as I could comprehend the language." Cary lied - but he knew that his fib didn't need to be convincing, as the Muggleborn Professor had already worked out that Cary had been breaking the rules of the Ministry.

"Regardless, it seems prudent to find out exactly where you're up to with it, so I can plan accordingly. No sense spending the whole year on revision, now, is there?" Professor Grimm continued after Cary had said his piece.

"I can get behind that - I'd rather be applying myself in class than spending my time casting spells I already know." Cary muttered. Despite the fact that the Professor had made the task harder for him in the last Charms lesson he had partaken in, he made it no secret after the lesson to his fellow classmates that he would have rather been learning something fresh and new. The idea of his list of known spells increasing excited the Mordushku boy - it was the rush of something he had always wanted, the rush of strength and power that came from being more skilled in the Magical Arts.

"So, where shall we begin?"

[G]

Grimm accepted the lie easily, not seeing any purpose in pushing it. He was not here to punish the boy for his proficiency, after all. Besides, he doubted it had been Cary's own idea, to begin practicing magic before he was allowed.

"Right," he said, first gesturing to the large cushion that sat first in the row of objects on the desk. "I imagine you'll know a lot of this already, but I'd prefer to cover all the basics. Wingardium Leviosa, the levitation charm. A simple swish and flick of the wand, and the incantation spoken firmly, and clearly. Send the pillow to rest on the pile," he pointed to the large pile of matching cushions that sat in the corner.

"We'll be practicing this charm in class today; if you manage it with the cushion, you can move on to the brick; levitating weightier objects is more difficult. But with a first year class I generally prefer to avoid solid objects flying around the room. I thought coloured pebbles would be a good idea, a few years back. I had bruises for a week," he laughed, amused at his own error in judgement.

[Death of Korzan]

"Sounds good to me." Cary spoke calmly, standing up from the chair and withdrawing his wand rather carelessly. Sighing and relaxing himself, the boy locked his eyes upon the cushion and began to flick his wand slowly. "Wingardium Leviosa." He spoke, his voice filled with pride. Once had had finished his exclamation, the boy continued to flick his wand as the pillow began to rise at a decent pace, each corner tugging itself away from its centre as though it were being pulled in a four-way tug of war.

Once the pillow had raised high enough in the air - to the same level as the point of Cary's wand - the boy stopped flicking his wand upwards and instead tugged it left at the same ratio as he had originally, as though he were tapping on some invisible wall to the left of him. As he did so, the pillow shifted with each tug, gradually losing air as the Mordushku boy had stopped pulling it up into the air with his magic. Eventually, the Pillow settled completely flat upon the pile of cushions in the corner, resting gently upon its kin.

Cary turned to the Professor, lowering his wand to the side. "A brick would be good - a pillow is light, easy to manoeuvre." Pausing as he once again turned his eyes towards the now perfectly placed pillow, the boy span his wand through his fingers before asking. "What's next?"

[G]

"Well done," Professor Grimm complemented the boy as the cushion landed neatly atop it's peers, looking unsurprised at the ease with which Cary had performed the task he had set. "I assume you are familiar with this one as well - Lumos," he said, and the tip of his wand lit up with a dazzling white light. It held steady for a moment, then he spoke the counter-charm, "Nox," and the light dimmed.

"An extension of the Lumos charm can send the light to hang independently of the wand," he told the boy, brandishing his wand again.

"Lumos Maxima."

The light beamed out from the woods' tip again, this time sliding forwards to hang, a glowing, perfect orb in the air before them.

[Death of Korzan]

Watching the Professor cast the spell, Cary lifted his own wand around 10 inches away from the now floating orb of light and took another deep breath. "Lumos." He spoke, watching as the end of his wand delicately set ablaze with a beautiful, pure white light that only magic could have been responsible for. Watching the perfectly formed light for a moment, Cary extinguished it with a curt "Nox." The light didn't take its time with its extinguishing, quickly melting away and leaving the room lit with a less beautiful, but more practical light, along with the glimmering light of Professor Grimm's orb.

Keeping his wand lifted into the air, Cary now finished off the three callings. "Lumos Maxima." He muttered, watching as a ball of light akin to Professor Grimm's own orb slipped up and out of the end of Cary's wand, stopping around an inch from its tip to float in the air next to Professor Grimm's. "I can do that as well." Cary responded finally to Professor Grimm. "My father used to use it when he would go into the Wine Cellar, so I just kind of picked it up off of him."

"What's next?"

[G]

"Excellent!" Grimm complimented the boy again, and they continued in this manner, making their way through the first year curriculum. Cary, it seemed, had a firm grip on not only basic charms, but Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, too. He would have to let the other Professors know, Grimm mused as he watched Cary transfigure a small, brown mouse into a perfect goblet, unlock a series of boxes, each with a more complicated lock than the last, and allowed him to lock the Professors' legs so successfully that Grimm had toppled to the floor.

Performing the counter-jinx that allowed him to stand freely again, Grimm's hand rose to stroke his beard, deciding it was time to move forwards to something a little more advanced. The maze he had concocted for the boy to train his skill with the blue-bell flames had proved to offer a decent challenge for the boy, after all - he certainly still had plenty to learn. While Grimm loved to see confidence, there was a fine line between self-assurance and arrogance, and he hoped to ensure that Cary understood the difference. Arrogance led to carelessness, and mistakes. A dangerous thing, with a young and gifted Wizard.

"Alright, let's try something a little more advanced," he said, drawing his wand once more. "I will perform the spell on you, as an example; but first, Wingadium Leviosa." Three pillows withdrew themselves from the pile once more, floating over to arrange themselves on the floor behind Cary. Another three mimicked the first group, making a comfy landing place behind Grimm.

"The full-body bind," he explained, "A very useful spell for defending oneself without causing harm. Petrificus Totalus!" he chanted, and the spell hit Cary instantaneously, sending him toppling stiffly back onto the cushions. Grimm performed the counter-jinx immediately, and pocketed his wand again, smiling as he reached out to offer the boy a hand to his feet.

"Now, your turn," he said.

[Death of Korzan]

Watching as Professor Grimm undid the spell, Cary stood, dusting himself off before getting into position to cast the spell. He was unnerved by this progression. Of course he was ahead of the other students by at least a year in the curriculum - when regarding overall spell knowledge - but he wasn't too sure of his ability to cast many higher level spells. He had managed to cast Cruris Expungo - a spell he had learned by reading ahead of his Father's teachings - during his duel with his cousin, but that was one of a very small amount of higher tier spells that Cary was relatively competent with. Regardless, the boy prepared himself.

Turning his body to face the right wall, Cary shifted into a stance - his back foot faced the right wall, toes pointing towards the wall; his left foot meanwhile orientated towards the Professor, along with his face and his wand arm (his other arm remaining at his right side, which of course faced the door out of Professor Grimm's office). Attempting to copy the same wand movements that Professor Grimm had employed, Cary swished and flicked, before muttering. "Petrificus Totalus!" Following this, there was a dim light that came from the tip of Cary's wand and the sound of something hitting the floor. Cary paused for a moment and then tried to move out of his stance, finding that his back leg was stuck very stiff - almost painfully so. Looking over the Professor, he could see one of his legs had also stuck the same as Cary's. A partial success, met with an equal failure. Cary grit his teeth with frustration.

'An experiment is not an achievement unless it comes to fruition; an experiment in progress is called a test, and a failed experiment is a failure, whether it has never been tried before or not.' The words of Cary's father hung heavy in his head, an almost prophetic mocking of Cary's failure in these spells. The boy wasn't used to failing - having been studying and practising hard before he had come to Bromfords - and the sting of it left a bad taste in his mouth. A venomous welt of anger buried itself deep within the boy, but it was overshadowed by his ever present thirst for knowledge.

"I need to get better." The boy muttered, waiting for the Professor to cast the counter-jinx.

[G]

Grimm's reaction was the opposite of Carys - the Professor looked positively delighted at his immobilised leg. With a flicker of his wand, he undid the students' attempt, and smiled at the boy.

"Excellent first attempt," he congratulated the first year, readying himself for another attempt. "Now, again!"

They continued in this way, Cary slowly drawing closer to a perfect rendition of the offensive spell, until, finally, Grimm found himself toppling backward. The cushions provided a soft landing, and thankfully, the spell was only close to perfect. Caelin could still manouvere his hands enough to undo the body-bind; he had not actually considered that had the boy perfectly cast the spell, it would have left him unable to reverse it.

"Well, I think that's enough to be getting on with; I have a good idea of your proficiency now. In future, I'll remember to teach you the counter-curse, before I ask you to hit me with a jinx!" he laughed. "You've done an excellent job, Mr Mordushku - now, go and enjoy the rest of your day off. You're only young once, after all!"