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[Professor Penvellyn]

Penvellyn didn’t bother staying at the front of the class for long. It was more important in her younger defensive classes to keep a close watch on all of the students. She found it was easiest to do when she moved between them, making them feel as though they were constantly being watched. She had made such the mistake to not do so last year and resulted in one student haphazardly casting stunning spells in every direction.

Some students grasped the concept quickly, stunning their partners enough to cause them to lose balance and fall back safely. Others caused little more than a tickle to their counterparts. “Magic, above all else, needs to be controlled and focused. Try to remove all distractions from your mind and concentrate on the very end; the target and purpose of the lesson.” Such things become second natured to well-practiced wizards.

“Professor, Alexander is bleeding….”

It was the last thing Eleanor wanted to hear. She had taken extra precautions; the cushions were little more than a few inches from one another. The boy had been absolutely fine when he stood up and moved away, hadn’t he? Just as she expected, Alexander denied any injury. “Let me have a look, Mr. Sowerby.”

With three quick strides, she was standing between him and his partner. She took his face in her hands and tilted it up toward the light. There was some drying blood crusted about his nostrils and an obvious smear from where he had tried to wipe it away. “Does it hurt to put pressure on it?” Very carefully, she ran her fingertip from between his eyes to the tip of his nose, knowing he would wince if something was actually wrong.

[Alexander Sowerby]

Alexander wanted to glower at Mary for having the Professor now swooning over him making it seem that he was delicate but he was blocked from her by the Professor who now arrived to check on him.

“Let me have a look, Mr. Sowerby.”

"It's okay Professor, it really is. Just a regular nose bleed, I get them often." he said trying not to make a big fuss of the whole thing.

Alexander looked up at her, his face as neutral as he could make it. She inspected his face and than without warning she said. “Does it hurt to put pressure on it?” the Professor ran her fingertip from between his eyes to the tip of his nose. Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he let out a small gasp of pain as he tried hard not to wince, although he shuddered slightly as she made the pain in his nose seem to cascade everywhere.

[Professor Penvellyn]

Penvellyn sighed quietly as Alexander denied anything being wrong.  He seemed a bit young to be concerned with looking masculine for the girls, but saving face was something that came natural to some children. Professors weren’t supposed to perform healing spells on students; why did it have to be broke? With some regret, for Alexander hadn’t had much of a chance to practice, Penvellyn moved to her desk and wrote him a note to go see the nurse. “Hurry back, Mr. Sowerby.” She doubted he would dawdle in the hall.

“Everyone, please continue practicing.” Hopefully they would all get their fill of this spell in class. There were too many cases of students “practicing” on one another in the halls. That was always the trouble with this class, wasn’t it? She was responsible for teaching kids to duel one another in preparation for real conflicts, but then they enforced rules that said they weren’t allowed to use them on each other.

“And if there are any more accidents, I need them reported to me immediately.”

[Alexander Sowerby]

“Hurry back, Mr. Sowerby.” She doubted he would dawdle in the hall.

He wasn't happy about being forced to see the school nurse, but Matron Longbottom would fix him up in a moment, all he had to do is scramble down a few flights of stairs and get back as soon as he could.

Not looking at any of his class mates, he picked up the note and within a blink of an eye the door to the classroom was closing behind him, the noise of the lesson drowning out.

Edited by Alexander Sowerby, 01 January 2012 - 09:58 PM.

[Emmanuelle Armand]

Emmanuelle smirked as Alexander was sent to the hospital wing. He didn't seem too happy about it, either. Suddenly, her partner petrified her again, and she fell immediately back onto the cushion. Mon dieu, she thought grimly. Would this class ever be over? After a moment or two, the spell wore off and she climbed quickly to her feet again.

"A leetle warning next time?" she suggested crossly, pointing her wand directly at his face. "Petrificus Totalus!"

The Slytherin boy's arms snapped to his sides as he froze and fell quite ungracefully onto the cushion behind him. A smug grin formed on Em's face. It served him right for being such a snide little rosbif. Leaning against the wall, she raised her hand lazily to get the professor's attention. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take; being frozen wasn't a very heavenly sensation.

"Professor," she called out, the woman being only feet away. "Er, 'ow much longer do we 'ave een this class?"

Edited by Emmanuelle Armand, 12 February 2012 - 02:02 PM.

[Professor Penvellyn]

It was difficult to assess her teaching skills when some students were knocking their counterparts flat on their backs while others couldn’t so much as tickle their opponents. How frustrating it was for students to get spells right on the first attempt. If parents were going to allow their children to perform magic outside of school, why did they insist on sending their brats to Hogwarts in the first place? Obviously pretentious wizarding families thought their own teaching abilities surpassed those of qualified professors.

Professor Penvellyn was careful to keep her temper in check while watching out for the students that invariably saw this class as an opportunity to “accidentally” inflict harm on their classmates. Her eyes jumped from one set of cushions to another, making sure they adequately covered the ground that a student was likely to fall on. She admonished one pair of students, already sporting a few bruises, who had decided to forego the mat in order to prove who was tougher. “Five points from Gryffindor, now proceed as instructed,” she harped, staring the pair down until they lined up with the others.

Eleanor’s jaw clenched when she heard Emmanuelle’s voice call out. Do the French not own watches? she thought exasperatedly, checking her own. There were still another fifteen minutes yet before the bell was due to ring. However the Slytherin first year, and several others that had heard her question, all seemed ready to leave as fast as possible. “Those who have successfully stunned their partners may go.”

As the students that had yet to perform the spell correctly enviously watched those who had leave, Eleanor returned to her desk and added a new task to the end of her to do list: Prepare surprise practical examination for first year defense; next lesson

{OOC: You all have a day or two to post anything else you'd like before I close the topic}

[Emmanuelle Armand]

Emmy noted the put out expression on Penvellyn's face, but decided to ignore it. She had more important things to do today. Well, not important exactly, but more important than petrifying her classmates over and over again. Quicker than necessary, she gathered her things and pocketed her wand. She almost felt pity for those  poor souls who hadn't mastered the spell; they'd have to stay for another....fifteen minutes?

"Well, 'ave a nice day, Professeur Penvellyn," she said cheerfully before walking out the door, grinning as she saw that her partner was still lying frozen on his cushion.

[Mary Lynn Wilkins]

Mary had felt her limbs tense slightly but Elisabet's spell seemed almost unwilling to leave her wand so she managed to catch herself before she landed on her mat. She too didn't want to cause her partner any harm but this was a defensive spell and she wanted to master it before the end of the lesson, which she felt was not too far away.

Mustering what strength and resolve she could, and knowing that she wasn't going to cause the girl any more harm she tried one last time before the end and called out "Petrificus Totalus" as she made a show of attempting the proper wand movement. The beam of light that shot from her wand as she cast her spell was strong and bright, appearing to share her own resolve.

She hoped, for her own sake that this attempt would be successful, knowing it would likely be the last she was going to cast in this lesson. She would of course be practicing the spell later though, it was clearly a highly effective way to immobilise somebody who was a potential threat without causing them any real harm, and Mary was the kind of girl who would go to any lengths to avoid hurting people.

[Elisabet la Barre]

Elisabet felt a momentary  flash of fear as she saw the bright light rushing at her just before her arms and legs snapped together  and she fell backwards on a pillow.

Giving herself a few minutes to recover, she stood up and shook herself out "That was really good, Mary", she said with a smile."Do you mind if I try again?", she asked while getting into a proper spell casting position.

[Mary Lynn Wilkins]

Mary caught the look of fear in Elisabet's eyes as she cast her spell, and a part of her felt sorry for what she was doing. Compassion was one of Mary's driving forces, and she hated do do anything that might cause unnecessary alarm or distress. Still, she was pleased to see that her spell had been successfully cast.

"I hope you didn't mind" she felt compelled to say when the other girl recovered "I really didn't mean to frighten you." The girl seemed really pleasant and friendly, and she hoped they could get to know each other better. She didn't want Elisabet to be afraid of her.

When her partner also expressed a desire to try again, she nodded. "Of course" she smiled, moving so she was standing in front of one of the cushions. She recalled that Elisabet's last attempt had seemed a little timid and she hoped that this time she too might be more successful, even if she was the target. "Don't hold back" she advised "and don't worry about me, concentrate on the spell." She gave an encouraging smile and waited for Elisabet to make her next attempt.

[Elisabet la Barre]

"Oh, no worries," Elisabet answered when Mary apologized for frightening her. "You didn't frighten me, it was thinking about losing control that spooked me."

Elisabet concentrated and slowly practiced a few wand movements to make sure she was preforming them correctly. Satisfied, she turned toward Mary and said in a controlled, calm voice said.
[color="#4169E1"]"Petrificus Totalus"





[[ OOC: It won't let me delete that code, idk why, I've tried a few times]]

Edited by Elisabet la Barre, 16 February 2012 - 07:53 AM.

[Alexander Sowerby]

((I don't think you closed the [ / color ] hashtag after your second statement.))

Alexander returned to the room after the Matron, Madam Longbottom set his nose right siphoning off the blood off his face in a few quick wrist movements of a wand. The boy sped back up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class room and saw that groups of people began to pour out of the room. Biting his lip he felt he had wasted a perfectly good class, sure he had been able to stun and yet he would rather have stayed behind and made sure that his stunning spell was certifiably powerful.

He opened the door after letting a couple of Gryffindors out.

"Sorry Professor, I've just gotten back" he said to the teacher as he crossed the class room to where his school bag still lay.

[Mary Lynn Wilkins]

Mary was pleased to see that Elisabet didn't feel too frightened, or if she did then she forgave her for it. The girl seemed rather pleasant and she hoped that their ifirst classroom encounter would go reasonably well.

It was at around that point that Alexander returned to the classroom, he did look to be in a bit better condition than when she had last seen him, and she was about to welcome him back when her partner's spell hit and she fell on to her mat. She didn't object though, she was pleased for Elisabet and the success of her efforts showed that she was progressing reasonably well in the lesson.

It was a few moments later when the control returned to her limbs and Mary was able to regain control of her limbs. "Well done!" she addressed Elisabet then followed that up with "I'd say that constitutes a successful spelll from both of us, and as the professor has started dismissing students perhaps we should go too." She gestured towards the exit. "By your leave, professor?" she remarked, feeling it was only polite to still ask the prrofessor's permission to depart before she took it upon herself to walk out the door, after all Mary was a stickler for etiquette sometimes..

Edited by Mary Lynn Wilkins, 18 February 2012 - 06:06 PM.

[Professor Penvellyn]

As students, some rather smugly, wandered out of the room, those left behind seemed to work with renewed vigor to be released. The young Slytherin returned, his nose seeming to be in good repair. However, it wasn’t much use for him to partner up again for just a few moments. Even Mary Wilkins, a girl that seemed to have some trouble in Penvellyn’s classes, was asking to be released.

“That is all for today,” Eleanor announced. There was obvious relief on the faces of the students that had not mastered the spell. “Please spend some time between now and next lesson practicing, it will do you good.” With any luck, these hard workers would get the hint and be prepared for the surprise exam the next week.

“Mr. Sowerby,” she addressed the young boy, “If you need some assistance, feel free to drop by my office after dinner on either Thursday or Saturday.” It was more her fault than anyone’s that he had missed so much of the lesson. If he didn’t show up, she would simply assume that he had found someone else to practice with.

[Alexander Sowerby]

Alexander lingered as the class was dismissed, picking up his bag and making sure it was safely closed. “Mr. Sowerby,”  he looked at her curiously.  “If you need some assistance, feel free to drop by my office after dinner on either Thursday or Saturday.”


His expression remained neutral. "Yes Professor, I'm really sorry to have missed this lesson, I shall come by." Alexander none the less planned on practising that night and every day until Thursday, to get the spell down correctly.

"Have a good day Professor Penvellyn" he said as he crossed the floor and opened the door to the corridor.

[Professor Penvellyn]

Topic Closed
By Staff for Archiving
(points awarded accordingly)

  
Meghan    +4
Alexander  +10                                          
Elizabet      +7                                            
Mary           +6
Emmanuel   +4