A Charming Lesson (first years)

[G]

Open to all first year students.

Thursday, September 2nd, 2117.
The Charms Classroom - 11:15 AM.

---

Caelin Grimm was excited. He had two passions in life - one, of course, was charms. He had always had a knack for it, ever since he first started... Grimm looked fondly around his classroom. His classroom. The other passion was teaching. Here, he got to do it both; and first years were his favourite. Maybe they didn't get to study the most intricate and beautiful of charms-work; but to them, it was all new.

Each year, he got to experience it with them - the discovery of just what they could be capable of.

And he had a real winner planned for today, oh yes. The tall, slender man glanced at his desk and grinned, leaning back in his chair. He glanced at the sundial that sat on the corner the desk; a device of his own making. A small, square, flat stone several inches across housed the dial; above it, a tiny sun floated in mid-air, in tandem with its' larger counterpart outside. Just past eleven, the Professor thought; here they come!

He greeted the first through the doors with a cheery wave, smiling at each student as they entered and found their seats in the rows of chairs that filled the room, each topped with its' own desk. At the top, left corner of each desk was a pile of sticks of varying sizes and a bundle of dried moss; presumably intended as kindling.

"Good morning, everyone!" Grimm stood as the last few stragglers took their seats, beaming around the room. "Welcome to undoubtedly the most wonderful of the subjects you will study here - Charms! In this classroom, you will learn some of the finest forms of magic; in Charms, you are limited only by your imagination. But, we must of course start with the basics."

As he spoke, his wand made several quick flourishes through the air, and the bundle of branches on his own desk jumped slightly. Again, another hop; and then the sticks rose into the air, spinning around each other. They moved together, leaning inward, and arranged themselves into a neat pyramid; the moss in the centre. Settling back onto the wood of the desk, they settled, forming a small campfire.

"Fire!" Grimm announced, "one of the most important tools known to man! Powerful.. and very pretty!" He pointed with his wand again, this time gently touching it's tip to the stack of wood, which burst into sudden, vivid blue flames. Crackling merrily, the small fire didn't seem to be scorching the wood of the desk. Those of the students, Grimm knew, would not come out as unscathed. He looked rather amused at the idea.

"So!" Grimm clapped his hands, and as suddenly as they'd been ignited, the flames went out. "These are blue-bell flames. An incredibly useful charm - they burn at a temperature low enough to make them malleable... when the spell is cast correctly, of course. This allows them to be kept as a light source.." Grimm picked up a glass jar from his desk, again conjuring blue flames from the tip of his wand. They gathered inside the jar, burning brightly despite the lack of fuel, "Or even handled." He continued, tipping the jar upside down so that the flames poured onto his open palm. He closed his hand, snuffing them out.

"The incantation is Lacarnum Inflamarae," he said slowly, "repeat it with me, Lacarnum Inflamarae. Excellent. Now, build yourselves a small fire each, and you can have a go at it."

[HaelKatrin]

Charms

The first class on the young Slytherin's schedule. She held the piece of light brown parchment paper in her hand. Staring at it curiously. Not that she needed it. Oh no, Katrin had memorized it from the moment it was given to her. She'd been most excited to see Professor Grimm's name at the top of the list of classes.

She'd quickly, and quietly, eaten her breakfast in the Great Hall, and then made her way to the first classroom. She'd gotten there early. Too early, the nervous girl thought to herself. The classroom had been empty, except for the teacher. She made her way to the front of the classroom. Where one lone desk was missing a chair. A spot just for her. She wondered briefly if the castle had done it, or Professor Grimm. Speaking of Professor Grim... She glances up and gives him a quick smile, that turned into a lopsided grin. Her excitement building. She places her pink wand on the table, fidgeting with it while looking around.

The room quickly filled with other students. She grins at the students sitting to either side of her, waving. Her eyes shinning in anticipation. Once everyone had settled, she turned her attention back to Professor Grim, hearing him start the lesson.

"Good Morning, Professor Grimm!" Her voice joined the other students' as they returned his greeting.

Her eyes became glued to his wand as he began the morning's lesson.

Welcome to undoubtedly the most wonderful of the subjects you will study here - Charms! In this classroom, you will learn some of the finest forms of magic; in Charms, you are limited only by your imagination. But, we must of course start with the basics."

As he spoke, his wand made several quick flourishes through the air, and the bundle of branches on his own desk jumped slightly. Again, another hop; and then the sticks rose into the air, spinning around each other. They moved together, leaning inward, and arranged themselves into a neat pyramid; the moss in the centre. Settling back onto the wood of the desk, they settled, forming a small campfire.

"Fire!" Grimm announced, "one of the most important tools known to man! Powerful.. and very pretty!" He pointed with his wand again, this time gently touching it's tip to the stack of wood, which burst into sudden, vivid blue flames. Crackling merrily, the small fire didn't seem to be scorching the wood of the desk. Those of the students, Grimm knew, would not come out as unscathed. He looked rather amused at the idea.

"So!" Grimm clapped his hands, and as suddenly as they'd been ignited, the flames went out. "These are blue-bell flames. An incredibly useful charm - they burn at a temperature low enough to make them malleable... when the spell is cast correctly, of course. This allows them to be kept as a light source.." Grimm picked up a glass jar from his desk, again conjuring blue flames from the tip of his wand. They gathered inside the jar, burning brightly despite the lack of fuel, "Or even handled." He continued, tipping the jar upside down so that the flames poured onto his open palm. He closed his hand, snuffing them out.

"The incantation is Lacarnum Inflamarae," he said slowly, "repeat it with me, Lacarnum Inflamarae. Excellent. Now, build yourselves a small fire each, and you can have a go at it."

In the month or two she'd been living with him, she'd seen him perform more impressive charms. Still, that didn't stop her eyes from widening in surprise and excitement as the small campfire took on a life of it's own on his desk. "Lacarnum Inflamarae. . ." She repeated back with him. Then, picked up her wand to try it herself.

She stares intently at the small pile of twigs and moss, studying them curiously. Finally, she takes a deep breath and repeats the incantation while flicking her wand. Careful to do it exactly like he had. The twigs and moss burst into a blue flame. For a short lived second she had done it. Had done her first little bit of magic. Her eyes shone brightly. . . . That is, until the small flame disappeared. She glares at the pile this time, and tries again. Ignoring the rest of the class. . . .

[Death of Korzan]

"Fire!" Grimm announced, "one of the most important tools known to man! Powerful.. and very pretty!" He pointed with his wand again, this time gently touching it's tip to the stack of wood, which burst into sudden, vivid blue flames. Crackling merrily, the small fire didn't seem to be scorching the wood of the desk. Those of the students, Grimm knew, would not come out as unscathed. He looked rather amused at the idea.

"So!" Grimm clapped his hands, and as suddenly as they'd been ignited, the flames went out. "These are blue-bell flames. An incredibly useful charm - they burn at a temperature low enough to make them malleable... when the spell is cast correctly, of course. This allows them to be kept as a light source.." Grimm picked up a glass jar from his desk, again conjuring blue flames from the tip of his wand. They gathered inside the jar, burning brightly despite the lack of fuel, "Or even handled." He continued, tipping the jar upside down so that the flames poured onto his open palm. He closed his hand, snuffing them out.

"The incantation is Lacarnum Inflamarae," he said slowly, "repeat it with me, Lacarnum Inflamarae. Excellent. Now, build yourselves a small fire each, and you can have a go at it."

Cary stood at his desk, looking down at the bundle of sticks and moss that presented itself before him. Having placed his books next to the pile - the boy bringing them from his dorm just in case they were needed - the pale Mordushku drew his slender, well made wand. Putting the wand down next to the pile of sticks, Cary calmly began to stack the sticks in a pyramid, like formation, the very top of the pile being crested with the scruffy, dry moss.

Withdrawing his hand from his completed, mini-campfire, Cary reached out and grasped at his wand once more. Giving it a quick swish and flick, the boy pressed the wooden tip against the dry campfire. "Lacarnum Inflamarae." The boy muttered, watching as the wood and moss instantly set ablaze though the typical heat that flowed from orange fire was not apparent with the magical embers.

Raising his hand and placing down his wand to free his other, Cary looked towards Professor Grim, intent on getting his attention. "Professor." He called, impatient and hoping to learn something new.

Grimm was surveying the students, most of whom were still attempting to build their campfires, and turned as he was called. "Yes, oh!" The tall man grinned delightedly, striding over to examine Cary's campfire.

"Well done, Mister..." he paused, waiting for the students name.

"Mordushku." Cary responded, still muttering as he watched the blue flames burn - something he had made happen in secret at home countless times.

"Mister Mordushku," he continued, "very well done." As he spoke, he reached out, waving his hand, palm-down, over the fire a few inches above its peak. "And a nice, low temperature as well. In fact..." he reached down, plucking a single, flickering flame from the tiny inferno and balancing it momentarily on his fingertip before making a pinching motion, snuffing it out, "quite malleable. Ten points to Slytherin."

"I need something harder." Cary spoke, his voice now rising to a normal level instead of remaining at a constant mutter. "Lacarnum Inflamarae is too basic for me."


"You have indeed mastered the basics of it, it seems," Grimm agreed, his hand rising to stroke the wiry hair of his beard thoughtfully. "Perhaps a bit more of a challenge; here we go."

With a flourish of his wand, Grimm manipulated the twigs on Cary's desk, the flames that had been merrily flickering there vanishing. The sticks danced through the air, flexing into hoops and rings of assorted sizes which arranged themselves into something of an obstacle course on the wooden surface, which remained unblemished by the fire Cary had created. Some were static, like croquette hoops rising from the wood; some shifted, rising and falling in the air, or moving horizontally along the desk. The beginning was quite simple, the obstacles smaller and closer together as it ran its' course.

"It is possible for a practiced hand to manipulate the flames quite intricately," the Professor went on, his eyes shining; excited at the potential of the obviously talented student. "Try to conjure them as a thin stream." A slender rope of rippling fire erupted from his own wand as he spoke, lending example to his words. It twisted in the air, looping around and folding back on itself to form a circle, then a figure eight, then disconnected, forming Grimm's name in shimmering cursive. Then it snaked downward to travel through the hoops and rings he had created with the sticks. When it had completed the length of the miniature course, it returned to his wand, seeming to disappear back into its' tip.

"Let's see how you go with that. Now, how is everyone else getting along?" Grimm's eyes rose happily to the rest of the class.

Cary couldn't help but smile as he saw the new challenge arise. Turning his head around to look at Michael - who was still struggling at the first iteration of the spell - and then quickly returning it to his own desk, Cary picked up his wand again and began to call upon the Blue flames. He found it easy to make them manifest and last without burning the wood beneath the twigs, but making the flame taper off and follow the wand through the various rings was a much more difficult process than he had thought. 'A proper challenge.' The Mordushku boy found himself thinking.

Using his wand to force the flames to move, Cary gradually swept past them, speaking the pseudo-latin of the spell as he did so. Nothing happened, so the boy tried again. The rest of the lesson went much like this as he attempted to replicate the same thing his teacher had. That wasn't to say that he didn't find progress, the boy managed to make the blue flame taper off slightly, moving a few inches every couple of times he swept his wand across the flickering, room temperature flame. But he was far from the skill of Grimm, and the challenge the teacher had set was adequate for Cary.

[Minkasha]

Damara brushed her braid behind her ear, watching Grimm with prejudicial intensity. Mixed well with her smile, the expression was only for the mud-blood teacher to interpret. She watched his magic tricks with no youthful awe, waiting for his instruction to finish. The Vouves Crystal Wand remained in her hand neatly, drawing a few eyes of the other students – its very alien appeal begging to be used and to shine. It was a calling to her, to be glorious in this class and redeem herself. Her stormy olive eyes looked once at Caryxander and she waved her wand’s tip neatly with a pretty flourish she had learned in her brief time in Beauxbatons. Tri-lingual and native in the Grecian tongue, the magic inaction rolled off her tongue smoothly.

“Lacrnum Inflamarae” Damara’s voice released with a pretty ease, showing she had years of magic practice ahead of her time at Hogwarts. The sands of Mars shot their coqelicot burst of influence upon the incantation. The sauroter shaped wand blinked with the color and quickly faded. Damara raised her nose with a charm, wiggling her head just so to make her down hair bounce and she was poised for success.

The sticks remained untouched, a second passed. Then, it became clear nothing happened. Damara’s eyes widened and she looked away while a few students looked away unimpressed or whispered among themselves.

Dennis was simply staring at her knees and that of Tamara’s after managing a meager flame of his own. Damara’s face flushed with embarrassment and she rubbed her knee frantically.

“Lacrnum Inflamarae!” The regal display repeated and this time from the bright light of her crystal wand the embers came to be and Damara swallowed hard. ‘So much has been taken by my change’ her words spoke so sadly in her mind.

Dennis pulled his eyes away from the girl’s legs and stared at what Caryxander was managing to do.

“Show off…” The boy muttered, Damara turned her head to see what Cary was able to navigate the fire away from the origin point. The Liakos wanted to surpass him. “Lacrnum Inflamarae!” the girl brought out the same result as before, flicking her wand and copying what he was doing. The fire lifted an inch, perhaps two at most before falling back or fading. Damara bit her lower lip and rubbed one of her well-crafted emerald studs, turning her attention to Tamara.

“How are you doing?” she asked curiously, burying the drive of victory with one of co-operation.

[Death of Korzan]

"I can't say I'm doing well..." The girl was biting her lip. Her strong suit was certainly not in Charms, and whilst she briefly managed to get a fire starting, the blue flame either quickly set itself out, or turned into a hot orange flicker, burning the polished table and giving off an acrid breath of smoke that caused the Rosier girl to cough and putter. "I think I'm starting to get it though, at least, the more I do it the longer the Blue flame stays."

"Lacarnum Inflamarae!" Douglas shouted from the table ahead, the boy grinning as a bright blue, softly flickering flame rested itself upon the table. Michael, who sat next to him found himself struggling also, his tongue tripping over the words. "Sir!" Douglas raised his hand, waiting for the Professor to come over and speak to him, his dopey features twisted into an amiable, friendly grin.

"How?!" Tamara muttered under her breath, looking dawn at the now slightly charred moss and sticks and attempting the spell a few more times. "Is there some sort of trick to this or something? How did Cary get this so quickly? And what's going on with your wand Dammie?" Tamara spoke, letting the new nickname roll off of her tongue as though it had always belonged.

[HaelKatrin]

Katrin watches as some of the students get it quickly, and others not so much. Her nervousness getting the better of her.

After a few minutes, she closes her eyes. Tuning out everyone and everything. She takes a deep breath and let's it out. Finally, she opens her eyes, flourishes her wand and whispers the incantation. "Lacarnum Inflamarae" with all the determination she had.

To her delight, the flames appeared just as they should. Dancing brightly on her desk. She grins to herself, cupping her hands around them, and simply watching. Completely forgetting to even tell Grimm she'd managed it. Much to fascinated with her very first successful spell.

[G]

Tamilda looked brimming with excitement as she entered the classroom, throwing herself into the first available chair; the wheelchair-bound girl whose puppy had made her giggle at the Welcome Feast sat in front of her, the glamorous Slytherin who'd arrived late on her right and an empty seat on her left. She listened, rapt as Grimm explained today's task,looking thrilled at the idea of being able to magically set something on fire. She glanced around her, watching the other students interestedly as they made their own attempts, her eye catching the beautiful, crystal wand of the girl beside her, and the pink one of the girl in front. Looking down at her own, rather plain by comparison, she felt a momentary pang of envy, which quickly faded. You're alright, too, though, she thought. And you chose me! Let's see what you can do, then.

Rushing to stack her sticks and kindling into a messy pile before her, she drew her wand.

"Lacarnum Inflamarae!" she bellowed loudly, swinging her wand in a rather wild arc in front of her. A rush of flame as orange as the girls' wild locks sprang violently to life, and the wave of hot air that accompanied it hit her straight in the face, the smell of burning hair wafting through the room as Tilly's eyebrows were singed in the heat.

"Whoops..." she said, laughing at her own mistake as the fire disappeared as quickly as it had begin, leaving a pile of embers and a large, black scorch-mark on her desk.

"Err, Professor?" she raised her hand, "I need some more kindling."

Noticing the crackling blue flame at the desk in front of her, she leaned forwards.

"Ooh, you've done it!" she exclaimed to Katrin, "can you touch it, like Grimm did?"



Professor Grimm left Cary to practice and wandered through the aisles, observing the progress of the rest of the class and offering words of advice here and there.

"Mister Haney, you will be more successful if you focus on your own desk," he said, and, with a chuckle, "Yes, here you go, Miss Rowanwood - perhaps not quite so enthusiastically, this time."

He smiled approvingly at Katrin's small blue fire, then continued to pause before Damara's desk. Watching her and Tamara's attempts, he said, "Good start, girls. Your pronunciation is perfect. You just need to focus - see the fire as you wish it to appear; a sturdy, reliable force. Try again," he encouraged.

This was Grimm in his element; the worrying events of the morning washed from his mind as he watched the youngsters develop their skills.

[Minkasha]

Dammie. Her heart jumped with giddy and a smile touched her face. Damara observed Tamara’s attempts neutrally, pulling her lips down to a smile when asked the key question from her friend.

“Some things changed when I changed…” Damara rubbed at her neck uncomfortably to pause and change the subject. “Keep trying” she encouraged, brushing off Grimm’s advice. This lower level magic wasn’t complex for her and the Grecian didn’t want to be coddled by the mudblood. Damara turned eyes over to her other friends, smiling at Douglas and giving Michael the same treatment. She was curious what the Odemayo son could do. “Would you like help?” Damara asked the other dark skinned child.

[Dnafein]

Dexter entered the room last and took the only empty seat; Finding himself to the wheelchair bound girl's left. Dexter leaned in his chair and watched the lesson. He already knew how to start a fire with an empty hand, so the wand and motions seemed excessive. Though the malleability and ability to be handled was a bonus.

He quickly built a professional looking fire out of the tinder and moss. He spun his redwood wand in small circles on his desk, while quietly repeating the incantation to himself. He had yet to actively attempt the spell when he overheard the advice given by the instructor to another pair of students.

Finally thinking he got it, Dexter lifted his wand and with a flourish similar to that of the professor while uttering the incantation. A small blue flame appeared in the middle of the structure of twigs and moss. Dexter eyed the flame and after a moment of thought attempted to cast the spell again, placing the second flame inside the first.

[Death of Korzan]

"No no, I'll be fine Damara." The Anglo-African boy spoke, continuing to swish and flick and his wand at the pile of moss and sticks he had formed, finding it hard to get the same results as his peer next to him. "I have to work this out on my own, my father would be disappointed if I couldn't even make a fire." The boy grit his teeth and began to work more fervently at the flame. It was around this time that Tamara hissed a 'yes', as she managed to compose a relatively stable blue flame - though it occasionally flickered red where the girl had trouble maintaining a solid heat.

"I did it Dammie!" Tamara spoke excitedly, though taking a note of Cary as the boy gradually moved the flame through the first of the hurdles Professor Grimm had set up, the Mordushku boy noticeably finding the more advanced piece of magic harder. "Well, kind of - it keeps flickering but I mean, it's good enough right?" The girl shot her hand up as she waited for Damara to inspect the flame. "Sir!" She cried. "I think I've got it?"