This lesson contains a PRACTICAL assignment. Please remain in character. Any out of character comments should be put behind spoiler tags!

[img align=left] https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/270497.png[/img] Lydia walked to the front with the rest of the students, following Professor Romano. She waited, watching the demonstration, and waited again for someone to step up and be the first to break off and begin. Since no one seemed to be stirring, Lydia decided to be the one to initiate the practice.

"Okay..." Lydia gestured to one of the dummies with her wand: "Piertotum Locomotor." The dummy jumped up and began walking towards her mechanically. Lydia took her time, swirling her wand in the circular motion as Professor Romano had demonstrated. She liked doing that; it felt like she was able to hone her focus on her magic and without having to rush. Rushing wasn't something she was good at. Eventually, the light surrounding the tip of her wand shifted to a purplish-red and she felt ready enough.

"Flipendo!"

The force she felt from her end of the wand was unexpected, throwing her farther back than the dummy. She took several hard, clumsy steps backward but managed to hold her ground. The dummy on the other hand was simply nudged a few steps without much obstruction. She decided that next time she'd try and do it without the circles.

Lydia / Ilvermorny

Niamh listened to the instructions, and hoped someone else from her school was willing to go first. She spotted a girl in Ilvermorny uniform having a go, and decided to jut be brave and try it herself.... after all, what could go wrong?

Picking a dummy, she pointed her wand at it and said "Piertotum Locomotor". It started walking towards her, so she waved her wand in circles like the Professor had demonstrated. A glow of light from her wand started out blue, but turned a strange shade of purple, so she shouted "Flipendo" and held her breath to see what would happen. The purple light hit the dummy on the arm, which broke off and flew towards the other students. Blushing profusely, Niamh hoped that everyone had ducked and didn't get hit for the dummy's arm. "Erm, I think I need a bit more practise on this one," she said as she stepped back for someone else to have a go.

Niamh Doyle, 4A

Teresa walked up; she was confident about the Flipendo spell since she had already learn it at Hogwarts, but not so sure about the locomotor one. She observed the professor carefully and her wand movements, so after a few students give their try she step in to try as well. She mimic the professor's movements and pointed toward the dummy saying "Piertotum Locomoter!" Since the dummy didn't moved, she realized she said it wrong so once again she tries "Piertotum Locomotor!" This time the dummy moved forward and seem like it won't stop unless she stop it.

With a nice stance she perform the spell, feeling confident of what she have learned in school, her lips pronounced the spell with ease and strength. "Flipendo!" The dummy fall back hard and stopped moving, which made Terry very happy. She smiled and nods to the professor who nods back accepting the work done. She sighs once she returns to her place and wonders if she could have a second go after everyone has finished in order to practice the stronger version but until everyone have tried she wouldn't dare to ask.

Teresa Evans, Hogwarts

Outfit Not Found

Piertotum Locomotor went just fine. Tiferet hadn't done it before, but it was pretty straightforward after all.

It was the Flipendo that was the problem. The dummy went flying, all right. Right into the window. Tiferet winced, not sure what would be worse: if the glass just broke, or the dummy went out the window.

Fortunately, the glass was only cracked.

"Sorry?" She worried her lower lip between her teeth. "This is usually my best subject. Which...is usually my problem."

Tiferet bat Maryam, 4A

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/263871.png[/img] After his disastrous Doxycide potion, Nathaniel wasn't feeling as confident as usual. A young woman dressed head-to-toe in black addressed the class. With her wand, she tossed the desks and chairs to the classroom walls: they'd be practicing The Knockback Jinx. Nathaniel almost laughed with relief: they'd practiced Flipendo at Hogwarts.

The girls ahead of him went ahead and did their spells with varying rates of success. Niamh had launched the arm of her dummy towards the students watching and Tiferet cracked a glass window pane. If it didn't go to plan, at least he wouldn't be the only one who didn't perfect the spell.

It was his turn. He stepped forward and aimed his hazel wood wand. He felt confident and he hoped his wand picked up on that. Hazel wood is known for being sensitive to it's owners emotional state. He twirled the wand lightly, his voice steady. "Flipendo!" A stream of blue light emerged from the tip of the wand, hitting the dummy in the chest and knocking it backwards.

He smiled to himself. Finally a success! "Let's try this again," he said, paying no notice to the audience of students watching. He repeated the spell, this time moving the wand in a circular motion until the tip of the wand glowed the purplish-red colour described by Romano. A burst of light the colour of byzantium shot from the wand and catapulted the dummy backwards. With some force, it almost knocked Nathaniel backwards too, though he managed to hold his ground.

In this moment, he'd never been so grateful for the fact that he'd paid attention in classes back home at Hogwarts. He'd practiced the spell before, maintained good form today and it seemed he'd finally done something right at Ilvermorny.

Nathaniel Pitt, Hogwarts

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/0R2keX0.png[/img]

Excited, Corvus listened to the professor. This was finally interesting after all these theoretical lessons. He loved dueling and the Knockback Jinx was surely interesting, especially because one could charge it up. Patiently, he waited for his turn on the dummy, while thinking if he should charge the jinx or not. It would be wise to go for the easy way, but he wanted to show off a little. However, he was a bit concerned that it could go wrong... Now how embarrassing would that be..., he thought to himself and was so deep in thoughts that he was a bit surprised when it was his turn finally.

With confidence in his mind and the red oak wand in his right hand, he stepped forward and pointed the wand at the dummy. Though, his confidence began to crumble a bit when he remembered that he had to use a charm first to make the dummy walk towards him. Corvus knew the phrase, but he actually found it difficult to pronounce. It was a useless charm in battle after all. A real target would be walking on its own. He frowned a bit before going on. "Piertutom Locomotor", he said, his voice a bit annoyed. But nothing happened and the dummy remained lifeless where it was. Corvus felt a slight blush on his cheeks. Oh really? Get it together, Corvus!, he scolded himself in his mind. "Piertotum Locomotor!", he spoke, this time with a calm voice. To his delight, the dummy started moving towards him and at the same time, Corvus began to wave his wand in circles for a few times before unleashing the spell. " Flipendo! ", he shouted and a purplish-red light rushed towards the dummy and hit it hard. It was knocked back to the wall of the classroom and fell down like the lifeless puppet it was. Corvus remained his stance despite the powerful jinx. Definitely not a surprise, he thought pleased. Then he gave way for the next student and went over to the tables, leaning lightly against one of them.

Corvus Farlan Montgomery ~ Horned Serpent ~ Ilvermorny

Outfit Not Found Lenore sat perched on top of one of the desks as she listened to Professor Romano talk about the Knockback Jinx. Once again, Defense Against the Dark Arts was going to be easy. She smiled and let her attention drift; after all, she didn't really need a refresher here. Her thoughts went back to the first time she had performed this particular jinx. She had been nine years old.

"You know better, Lenore." her fathers voice rang in her mind. Lenore had been practicing spells outside with her mother's wand. Magic was expected in her home, the Ministry would never know the difference. Her father, however, was a different story. He wasn't one to be disobeyed. Fortunately for Lenore, he also wasn't one to raise a weak child. In this instance it was the latter that proved the stronger. Her jinxes, which she had been firing on some garden gnomes, weren't bad. And she hadn't missed a shot. Her father had spent the next hour practicing with her, helping her to 'feel' the magic as it passed from her, through the wand in her hand, and finally out into the world. When she had gotten good enough to knock the gnomes unconscious with the force of the impact, her father had said that she was ready to go test it on some muggles and laughed. Lenore didn't know whether he was serious. She hadn't asked.

Lenore was jolted out of this memory and back into the present as her desk began to move underneath her. The desk tilted and gave a none too gentle shove, knocking her to the floor before joining it's mates along the wall. Lenore stood up and dusted herself off before joining the rest of the class.

She watched as Professor Romano demonstrated the jinx, animating the dummy first. Not a problem. she thought to herself. Still, it's too bad we can't practice something a bit more challenging. She pulled out her beechwood wand and felt it's reassuring familiarity in her hand. Beechwood was good for subtlety and she had never had trouble getting the exact results she wanted. Subtle and exact was what she wanted now, not raw strength.

When her turn came, Lenore couldn't help but show off a bit. She pointed her wand at first one dummy and then a second, causing them both to walk forward. She hadn't bothered to say the charm aloud. Calmly, but with a smile that was just a bit smug, she flicked out two purple bursts of light that knocked the dummies backward and neatly into their original places in the corner.

Lenore lowered her wand and rejoined the rest of the students, leaning against the wall to watch the others take their turns.

Lenore Addlebourne - Hogwarts

Bran entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, which was one of his favorites, along with the numerous other students and found a seat. When Professor Romano informed them they would be practicing the Knockback Jinx, he smiled. It was a relatively easy spell, at least it was now that he was seventeen and had used it a few times. He still recalled the first time he’d tried it as a ten year old who had eagerly and energetically waved the wand around and then released the spell with a flourish that knocked him on his backside. Well that wouldn’t be happening today, Bran swore to himself.

The suggestion to open the textbook and review the spell went ignored by the youth as he had read the book countless times and committed a majority of it to memory. Instead he glanced around the room. Several others looked as ready as he was to get things started and so he was on his feet and moving to the front of the room as soon as Professor Romano directed them to come forward. As the professor demonstrated the spells needed to both bring the dummies to life and to perform the jinx, Bran fingered his rowan wand, ready to take a turn.

He watched as others stepped forward. When Lydia stumbled with the counter shock of the powered up spell, Bran bit his lip in concern, but he was glad to see her recover quickly and hold her ground. Much better than he’d done the first time! He smiled as Teresa had no problem with the spells. The Hogwarts girl was proving her intelligence yet again. Niamh’s attempt had him ducking as the dummy’s arm came flying across the room, landing a few feet away from where he was standing. He watched a few others try with varying results and then Corvus stepped up. Bran had to admire his fellow schoolmates style. The other boy had a perfect dueling stance and made it look easy and effortless. As Corvus completed his task with flying colors and went to lean against a table, Bran grinned and gave the dark haired boy a thumbs-up, but he didn’t miss the rather pleased look the Horned Serpent student had. The look was enough to raise Bran’s competitive instincts. He had at first planned to only use the mild form of the Knockback Jinx, but now he was determined to do the more powerful form.

As he was about to step forward, Lenore moved from her spot and Bran waited to see how the Slytherin student would perform. The look on the girl’s face told Bran right away that this wasn’t Lenore first time performing this particular spell. As not one, but two dummies began to move and with no verbal incantation, Bran quirked an eyebrow. “Very nice,” he said softly, his eyes on the young witch who had a good command of non-verbal magic. When Lenore took out both the dummies in rapid succession and again without a word, Bran nodded. He noted the smug smile and didn’t begrudge her the satisfaction at all. It had been one heck of a performance. His eyes followed Lenore as she returned to the group and leaned against the wall. Rather than give her a thumbs up as he had Corvus, when he caught her eye Bran sent a wink to the Slytherin girl and grinned to himself as she flushed slightly.

When it was his turn, Bran stepped forward. His decision had already been made in his mind but for a moment he worried. Would he mess up? Would he look like an idiot or appear immature in front of Lenore after her stunning demonstration. Forget the doubt and stop trying to be on top, Calder, he said sternly to himself. His easy grin faded and his face took on a more serious look as he held his wand ready. Clearly and calmly, Bran stated, “Piertotum Locomotor.” The dummy had barely started to move before Bran was circling his wand, readying it for the next spell. Two steps, three steps, the dummy moved closer and closer. He was faintly aware of a few gaps as other students wondered what he was doing, or if he would be unable to perform the Knockback Jinx. When the dummy was nearly on top of him, Bran braced himself, held out his wand, and with a flick and “Flipendo!” the dummy was lifted and flung backwards against the wall with a burst of purplish-red light. Bran hadn’t budged from his spot though the force of the spell did blow his longish hair around somewhat. Giving his head a slight shake to settle the blond locks back into place, Bran then made his way over to the others who had already had their turn, his smile back in place and a spark of pleasure in his eyes.

Brandon Calder ~ Ilvermorny ~ Thunderbird

Today’s defense lesson was a new jinx that Ebele found was difficult to pronounce. She had to practice saying it a few times before she felt that she had the proper pronunciation. “Flipendo,” her voice was soft with a slight nervous tremble in it. As she glanced around the room, she noticed several other students practicing the jinx in a similar manner and her nerves eased a bit.

The wand felt clumsy in her hand as she practiced the movement required for the jinx. Ebele had never felt at one with her wand. She felt slow and out of place when using it. ‘I need to practice using my wand more,’ she thought, making a mental note to do so after class each day.

Eventually, she reached the point where she felt confident to cast the spell. A dummy was moving across the room in her general direction and she tried to cast the jinx but was a bit slow. The dummy ended up being cast backwards by a successful blow from a student nearby. Ebele looked around the room at the other students, amazed at their dexterity and swift casting abilities. She wanted to quickly jinx the dummy without her wand but knew she needed to master it with a wand. She watched as another student charged their wand and sent the dummy flying across the room. With her mouth agape in awe, she stared at the student. The room irrupted in remarks of praise and the excited cacophony that many voices created.

Without preamble, Professor Romano shouted loudly, “Ebele look up!”

Suddenly, Ebele was facing a dummy as it raced directly towards her. Gasping in surprise and fright, Ebele reacted by dropping her wand and flicking her hand towards the dummy, sending it flying backwards without a word spoken. The dummy hit the wall and stayed there. Whatever Ebele had done, she’d caused it to stop moving.

The room fell silent as students had all stopped to watch after the professor had yelled so loudly. Ebele’s face grew hot as embarrassment and fear spread through her body.

“We’ll talk after class,” Professor Romano’s voice was stern yet her eyes were kind as she looked over at Ebele. She nodded towards Ebele’s wand, “You should retrieve your wand and remember it is your friend not your enemy.” Casting her gaze around the room, she directed her next comment towards everyone. “Many wizards can cast without one but your spells will grow in strength as you utilize your wand properly.” With that she cast the charm that would start the dummy again, “please resume practicing your jinx everyone.”

Ebele figured that this was a way of relieving the pall that had fallen across the room, as well as taking advantage of a teachable moment. Ebele smiled shyly at the professor and let out the breath she’d been holding as her classmates again began to practice the jinx. Her wand lay at her feet still, so she bent to pick it up. When she stood she angled her body towards the dummy and cast a quick sideways glance at Professor Romano. She was watching Ebele closely now.

Ebele was preoccupied about the required meeting after class with the Professor and subsequently couldn’t clear her mind. When the dummy came in her direction again she lifted her wand quickly. “Flipendo,” her voice faltered and sounded more like a frog croaking than her normally upbeat tone. The dummy continued onward and two other students hit it simultaneously, sending it spiraling around the room.

There were several stifled giggles from students near Ebele, but for the most part the casting continued on as if she hadn’t failed in her attempt. Ebele looked down at her wand and concentrated on it. ‘We can do this. Put the others out of your mind, what they think does not matter. We are strong.’ With those thoughts she looked up, determination creasing her brow and coloring her eyes with bright amber flecks.

She flicked her wrist with clear purpose, “Flipendo!” From her want burst out a quick jolt of blue-green light that smashed against the head of the dummy, causing it to whirl and teeter backwards. Luckily, another student hit the dummy only moments after Ebele’s head-shot, causing the dummy to shift forward, saving it from toppling completely over.

The room again bloomed loudly into cheers and remarks of surprise at the dummies close call. Ebele’s smile spread wide as she contemplated her success. ‘We did it!’ she thought towards her wand.

The dummy continued circling the room as students continued to hit it with the jinx. Ebele tried a few more times before attempting the much more difficult charged up version of this jinx. It wasn’t until the end of class that Ebele felt ready to charge the jinx into its more powerful state. She flicked her wrist and circled the air, when the blue-green glow from her wand changed to berry-red she let the charm lose. “Flipendo!” The jinx hit the dummy square in the chest splashing berry-red colored magic across his body before dissipating.

She took several deep breaths as she stood back smiling. ‘I am so glad that is over, but I definitely need to practice with you more often.’ She mentally chatted with her wand as it if were a real entity. ‘I bet we can do anything we put our minds to, eh?’ She chuckled softly as she imagined blowing the dummy to bits with a powerful spell that they could conjure up together.

Private Outfit

Evalyn was sitting down listening to Professor Romano and opened up her book to Chapter 3 to quickly review the information, even though she had just read it last night.

At Professor Romano's request, Eva jumped up and walk to the center of the classroom with her other classmates and watched she the Professor demonstrated the wand movement and performed the jinx twice. Now, Eva stood in the center practicing the wand movement as she waited in one small line with her other classmates to perform the jinx on one of the many dummies in the room.

Finally, Eva was at the front of the line, staring the dummy down. Standing there, Eva quickly thought to herself, I hope I don't make a fool of myself... herbology and potions are my strong suits but, I do tend to surprise myself with the power I have, hopefully this will be another time that I surprise myself.

Focusing now on the dummy, Eva stared at it, squaring her feet off, pulling out her chestnut wand and beginning the circular wand motion. As soon as the light turned purplish-red, Eva spoke with conviction, "Flipendo"! and a purplish-red light shot out of the end of, hitting the dummy square in the chest pushing it back with more force than Eva would have thought.

Please with her spell, Eva turned to the left and walked over to one of the desks by the wall, hoping up on top of it and watching the remainder of her classmates practice. I will have to go back and try a few more times to perfect it she thought to herself while watching the rest of the class, maybe even see if I can duel another classmate to practice shielding myself from the spell.

Zack listened to the professors' instructions. It didn´t seem too hard to do.

At first, he pointed his wand at the dummy and said: "Piertotum Locomotor !!!" The dummy started to walk up to him. Next, he flicked his wand just like the professor did it and said: "Flipendo" A blue light shot out of the tip of his wand and hit the dummy in the chest causing it fall over. However, it got back up.

Zack waved his wand in circles before doing the proper movements for the jinx and then waited until the blue light turns a purplish-red. The force of the spell sent the dummy flying and it crashed into the wall. It didn´t move again.

Satisfied Zack watched as the other students tried their luck.

Zachary Thane Underwood/Hogwarts

Seb sauntered into the room and found a seat while the Professor went over the assignment. Her outfit was curious and perhaps he stared at her a bit too long, before actually tuning into what she was saying. Leaning over Seb read along in the textbook with the student seated beside him. Although he was confident he didn’t need a refresher, at least not on this basic of a jinx.

As the lesson progressed he jumped up, ready to get started. As the desks and chairs flew to either side of the room, Seb found a spot in the queue and waited his turn. All the while keeping an eye on what the other students were capable of. As expected there were a few disasters waiting to happen. But giving credit where it was due, he only had to dodge an arm or two, nothing too terrible if you were paying attention.

Maybe he was a little too full of himself. When it was finally his turn, Seb stepped forward. Holding his wand a little carelessly he cast the momentum charm, but fumbled the pronunciation. Instead of moving forward the dummy began spinning rapidly in place. Gritting his teeth Seb tried again. The spinning did not stop, but now the dummy was moving toward him. Without hesitation he pointed his wand and shouted “Flipendo!” Doing his best to pronounce the word properly. The dummy was hit and ricocheted backwards, arms still flailing wildly as it crashed back into the pile of immobile others.

Alright, not so bad. He glanced around the room and caught eyes with a few concerned students. Shrugging it off he smirked at them, but his expression dropped when he realized the Professor was a little less than pleased with his performance.

(Sebakhin, 4A)

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/262039.png[/img] Zala reluctantly entered the DADA classroom for another practical lesson. She wanted some time alone and work in the gardens or in the medical wing. The constant group lessons were becoming to be a little too much for her even though the assignments didn't require a partner. Her lack of enthusiasm was clear as she stood by herself in the back of the classroom not paying much attention to the instructions. She watched the professor call forth a dummy just to send it flying back with a spell. Zala sighed. If that was all she had to do she would try and then return to the dorms for a much needed nap with her cat Mara. She flipped through her book to read up on the spell before looking for a practice spot.

Zala found an empty spot in the back where luckily one of the dummies stood alone. "Flipendo..." she waved her wand in a circular motion muttering the incantation. A light blue spark flew from the tip of her wand towards the dummy yet it somehow missed. Zala groaned and repeated the motion. She had to at least knock the puppet once. On her third attempt she hit it square in the chest, the dummy falling over in place. "Guess that's good enough for that one..." Zala muttered as she rubbed her temples. The professor had showed a stronger version of the spell through repeated circling of the wand. The spark should have a purple color instead of the blue one Zala had managed. Something she found herself wanting to achieve before the end of the lesson.

She continued practicing the spell twisting her wrist round and round to increase the spell intensity. By her 6th try she looked energetic as she called the dummy forth. "Flipendo!" she spoke resolutely. The light at the tip of her wand finally turned a deep purple and red hue. The spark hit the dummy in the shoulder. She watched the dummy spinning back to land in a heap a few meters from her feet. Zala nodded her head in satisfaction. Perhaps she had had a bit of luck on that last try. She felt she should practice her aim some other time and sat back to watch a few other students attempt the spell.

Zala Tulasi - 4A

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/304431.png[/img] Ivy loved Professor Romano. She was brave, beautiful, and such a badass. Most of the class listened intently as she demonstrated animating the dummy and jinxing it. Ivy really had little interest in the lesson itself but she wanted to put in a good effort for one of her favorite teachers.

Someone had left a dummy on the floor near a window. First, Ivy began without her wand by practicing the incantation aloud, “PY-air-TOH-tuhm LOH-koh-MOH-tor.” She got a good feel for it and said it forcefully at the dummy, "Piertotum Locomotor!" It jumped upright and began advancing on her rapidly. Cursing under her breath, Ivy tried to knock it back. She hadn't had a chance to practice or charge up her spell. "Flipendo! Flipendo!" The dummy jerked feebly but continued on its path. One of her admirers came to her rescue when he saw that her back was pressed against the windowsill.

The boy from Alexandrian Academy helped Ivy with her fli-PEN-doh incantation, the basic jinx, and the charged version. He worked with her for most of the class until she was confidently flinging the dummy against the back wall. Professor Romano circulated by them and gave her an amused wink. "It's nice to see such, ahem, collaboration between schools. That's really what this tournament is all about."

Ivy Lockwood, llvermorny

Nadine had never animated a dummy before. Nervously, she stepped forward and stuttered, " Piertotum Locomotor!" but she put too much emphasis on the second word, which came out, "LOH-KOH-mo-tor." The dummy snapped to attention and came swiftly charging towards her. Nadine stumbled backwards with a yelp. "Flipendo!" she gasped, flicking her wand as she landed hard on her rear. The blue light shot from her wand and struck the ceiling. A chunk of plaster fell downwards, landing on the hostile dummy and showering Nadine and her classmates with gray dust. Sheepish, Nadine got to her feet and moved to the back of the classroom.

Nadine Nyx - Ilvermorney

Outfit Not Found

Rain was excited for this lesson, as DADA was a subject that she was naturally talented in. She listened while professor Romano explained the jinx that they would be casting, then followed the other students to the front of the classroom. She was excited to learn that this spell could be charged, but decided that she would try the normal way, since this was her first time casting it. Her decision was confirmed when she saw what happened when a few of the other students tried. She really didn't want to look bad in front of the students from Hogwarts and 4A if something went wrong!

When it was her turn, Rain approached the center of the room. She chose a dummy and spoke as clearly as possible, pointing her wand at it, "Piertotum Locomotor." The dummy jumped to life and started walking towards her. Mimicking the swirling wand movement that the professor had used, Rain then pointed her wand at the dummy and shouted "Flipendo!" A burst of blue light shot from the end of her wand and hit the dummy, flinging it backwards. Rain felt pleased. It wasn't a spectacular attempt, but it was successful. She decided that next time, she would try charging the spell, too.

Rain Stormwing ~ Ilvermorny

Sominae wasn't so sure about this. The animated dummies were freaking her out, for one thing. For another, everyone around her seemed to be using the charged up version of the spell fairly quickly. She took a deep breath, and successfully animated the dummy. One step completed, at least. Then she tried the jinx, rather quietly. Nothing happened. She tried it louder, but the dummy was still uninfected. The Professor was walking around the room to see how people were doing, and Sominae felt her cheeks redden. "It think you're pronouncing it wrong," Professor Romano told her kindly. "It's a soft 'o' at the end, not an 'a'." Sominae nodded, and tried again. Her dummy finally faltered, though it was not completely toppled over. Summoning her courage, Sominae tried the charged up version, but ended up sending herself flying backwards instead. She sighed as she picked herself up, but was thankful that everyone was too busy working on the jinx to laugh at her.

Nrogara, Sominae, Alexandrian