[Professor Denman]

It was bitter cold in the Hogwarts Castle, brackets with torches lined the walls but they did little more than cast everything in spooky shadows, the howling winds and heaps of snow flying around outside had chilled the castle down so much that magic was the only sure way to stay warm.

Professor Denman was leaning heavily on his cane as he waited in the back of his classroom for his students to arrive. The room had only the one hearth, which was currently deprived of both logs and flames and was so cold his breath escaped as puffs of smoke, and the one hand holding his cane was wrapped in the thickest dragon hide gloves he owned, the other (similarly dressed) was tucked away into both sleeve and pocket. His fur lined robes were wrapped tightly around him, and a thick woolen scarf in Ravenclaw colors hid his neck and most of his shoulders. His face was gray with cold, the extra lines visible there proof of his dislike for the season. Cold always made his stiff and painful leg play up more than usual, and his nights were often torturous and full of limited sleep and many waking hours. In tune with the bell he stomped his left foot to keep the blood circulating and his toes from freezing.

As students started to enter, he remained at the back of the room instead of taking his usual position at his desk. "Come in come in, quickly now," he urged his students. "We're going to do something fun today. Keep your books and parchment in your bags, only wands out please."

Yes, magic was probably the only sure way to get warm and Professor Denman had planned the perfect lesson to do just that.



OOC: if I see any posts mentioning Denman at his desk I will be most displeased! Please be a little more courteous than usual with replying, as I'm still on holiday I have less time to reply so if 3 or 4 students have already posted, please wait for Denman to reply first, so he can give everyone, ehm... the attention they deserve....

[Artemis Wolf]

The bitter cold wind whipped Artemis hair around wildly. Half shutting her eyes, Artemis reached back a hand to pull the hood of her cloak down. It was so cold that every step she took was painful. Her feet was numb and frozen with ice and all Artemis wants to do is curl back into the bed. Fighting the desire to skip charms, Artemis walked into class before she could back out.

"Come in come in, quickly now, we're going to do something fun today. Keep your books and parchment in your bags, only wands out please."

Fun? Artemis raised an eyebrow at his statement but took her wand out anyway.

"Good morning Professor." She said respectfully before turning to see who else were there.

This post has been edited by Artemis Wolf: 02 July 2010 - 12:07 AM

[Sylverster Kelestral]

Sylverster grinned at Artemis, the sole brave person who greeted Professor Denman, and followed the girl, "Good morning, Professor Denman," she said, her wand already out, tightly gripped in her pale white hands. The chill was getting on her nerves, everything was practically freezing. She hoped that they would be able to learn something about fire related spells, so she can warm things up a bit.

Grinning, she thought about all the spells that she had read about in books. They were all so interesting, and she couldn't wait to start learning them. If only she can read Professor Denman's mind and see what was planned for the lesson. It wouldn't be right, but it would be possible, with magic. Sighing, she thrust her left hand that was not holding anything into her pocket, hoping to salvage some sense of feel that was left.

"It's so cold," she muttered darkly, closing her eyes for a while. It was painful to be staring and the cold gusts of wind was attacking them...

[Siobhan Quinn]

Siobhan shivered with the cold as she drew closer to the Charms classroom. Normally there would be fires around to help keep the castle warm, but for some reason there were none burning. She pushed open the door to the classroom, and a cold draft made her gasp. It was colder in here than it was outside!

Her hand trembled as she dug through her bag for her wand, and made her way over to the other two students already here. She recognised one as her housemate and the other from various lessons, but her teeth were chattering too much to talk. She settled for a friendly nod, and turned her attention to Professor Denman, who was standing at the back of the classroom. She eyed the empty hearth, then looked back at Denman. What was he thinking? It's freezing in here! She huddled closer to Sylverster, hoping the girl had warmth to share.

[Aquanette Arceneau]

With every step she took towards the Charms classroom, Cybele had to keep reminding herself it was her obligation to actually go to class. But the weather wasn't cooperating! Every time she drew breath her lungs constricted a bit and it hurt her so much to keep hurrying up towards her class. Today was one of those cold, cruel days, and she would have liked nothing better than to stay in bed today, warm and cozy, and wrapped in many blankets. As a consecuence of this NOT happening, she happened to be in a slightly bitter mood.

Cybele reached the class at a slow pace, as she had some trouble even getting her joints to work properly against this cold. She entered the classroom nodding at Professor Denman way in the back and muttering a quiet "G-Good morning," before she sought a seat next to one of her housemates, Artemis Wolf.

Sliding her eyes towards her, Cybele started rubbing her hands furiously. "Merlin, it's so cold! Do you have any idea why there are no fires around?" she asked her, puzzled.

[Iphigeneia Lockhart]

Genie felt so shrivelled up in the cold that it seemed unreal. Her lips were constantly cracking despite how much water she drank each day, and sometimes they would bleed when she forgot to keep hydrated enough- and then it hurt just to lick her lips. Then there was how her skin felt itchy every now and then and when she finally gave in to the temptation to scratch, she would find her skin in a horribly dry, cracked state too. The winter had started off pleasantly cold, then exhilaratingly cold and right for snowmen and snow-angels. But now it was bitingly cold, bitterly cold, so cold it was a chore to pry your eyelids open each morning as the cold wind snapped at then.

Now Genie made her way up to the Charms classroom slowly, shivering albeit being wrapped up in three layers of clothes and her Hufflepuff scarf. Hopefully there would be a fire of some sort in class to keep them warm, or it was bound to be torturous to have to suffer the threat of the cold through the entire lesson. Biting her cracked lip, Genie continued trudging up the stairs and shooting deathray glares at the people in the portraits on the wall who seemed to remain pompously unaffected by the cold. And in front of these portraits lay the Charms classroom.

She entered the classroom, immediately overcome with disappointment when she noticed the absence of a fireplace. But her feelings were short-lived when she spotted an even more thickly wrapped Professor Denman at the back of the classroom and heard him announce the start of the lesson.

"Come in come in, quickly now, we're going to do something fun today. Keep your books and parchment in your bags, only wands out please." Fun? What was fun? What if the Professor's definition of 'fun' was actually to take off all their clothes and run about stark naked in the rain? Fortunately though, that wasn't very likely. 'Fun' could hopefully still be fun in this terrible weather. Still feeling far too cold to do much, Genie dug her wand out of her bag and greeted the Professor with a short, polite bow. Then she turned to the group of early students in the room to introduce herself and perhaps strike some conversation.

"Hello people, hi Sylver! I'm Iphigeneia but you can call me Genie, by the way," she tried to make herself audible before the biting cold shut her mouth tight up.

[Sylverster Kelestral]

(PROFESSOR DENMAN IS TRYING TO FREEZE US INTO POPSICLES AND EAT US! - OOC)

Sylverster felt a presence getting closer and looked up at to see her house mate, Siobhan and gave her a smile, "Good day, Siobhan". When she wanted to withdraw that smile, she had some difficulty, it was as if the cold was determined to freeze the smile on her face permanently. What were they doing, freezing in the cold? She desperately needed some fire, and perhaps she could cast some of the spells that she read about correctly, right? But she didn't, for who knows? Professor Denman might be upset with her and berate her if he wasn't pleased with her actions, for he had not gave them any instructions to do anything yet.

Luckily, Iphigeniea's arrival distracted her and she grinned at her friend, but this time, she was quick to stop smiling, "Hello. I might appear to be not smiling, but it's because to prevent the coldness from fixing this smile PERMANENTLY on my face. Just so you would know."

Shuddering from the cold yet once again, she declared that she hated the cold winds for that day. Horrible creatures, they were.

[Ada Ashenhurst]

Sure that she was late for yet another lesson, Ada ran into the room, one sleeve of her robe slipping off her shoulder. "Good morning, Professor Denman! I'm sorry..." she stopped mid-sentence, realizing that the classroom was not even half-full yet. She was in time. Letting out a loud sigh, she looked around the room and saw several people that she knew well and some other that she did not. However, amongst the crowd, she found herself looking at a face that seemed very familiar, despite not having seen it in quite some time.

"Genie!" Ada waved at her, grinning widely. The Hufflepuff girl was talking to the others, as bubbly as Ada remembered. Everyone was shivering in the wind and others were clenching their teeth, determined not to let the cold get to their heads. "Cold day, isn't it?" said Ada, rubbing her hands together and breathing into them. Her hands were ice cold and every single moment slow and mechanic due to her frozen-stiff hands.

She pulled on her large and puffy coat, putting it over her shoulders. She noticed the hearth in the room, but it was bereft of any logs at all, much less any fire. She looked at Professor Denman, wondering, begging him to light it. Upon further contemplation, she realized that wizards probably had a certain spell to light a fire, without any matches at all. If only Ada knew how to cast that spell...

((OOC: Professor Denman, be careful, some students might just use the spell to burn your beard!))

This post has been edited by Ada Ashenhurst: 02 July 2010 - 12:01 AM

[Artemis Wolf]

"Merlin, it's so cold! Do you have any idea why there are no fires around?"

Faced with this question from her fellow housemate, Artemis found that she had not really thought about it.

Upon careful thought, she said, "I believe that he is most probably going to teach us a spell that will heat up the room, a...fire spell?"

Artemis looked at Professor Denman to see if he did anything that betrayed what spell they were going to cast. He has not lighted up fire even though he is most surely cold. Old people hates the cold. Well, actually, Artemis hates it too. Who can blame old people? Artemis' mind wandered to other topics.

Rubbing her hands together, she looked at the Slytherin next to her. While they have met during classes, Artemis have not actually spoke to her before. "So, I am Artemis, what is your name?"

[Alistair Bauldaugh]

Judging by the sound of chattering teeth, Alistair assumed that it had been a good idea to wear his thick sweater to class that afternoon. However even the wool couldn’t keep out all the cold that must have been stored in the room all winter. He heard one other student mention the professor teaching a fire spell, which sounded like a good idea.

Looking toward the desk, Alistair was about to greet his professor, when he realized the man wasn’t there. It took a few moments of searching before he realized that he had walked by the old man when he entered the classroom through the door in the back. Too startled to really say anything, the boy nodded in lieu of saying hello and moved toward the other students, setting his bag down and pulling out his wand as they had.
Now that e had allowed the chilly air to fully penetrate his formerly warm clothes, that fire spell sounded even better.

[Eileen Wood]

It surprised Eileen to no end how cold it was in the Charms classroom. She felt that it was quite strange, as she felt that certainly Professor Denman could make it warm. Perhaps this was a part of the lesson today? Immediately, she caught sight of Ada and a Hufflepuff girl she had seen, but not spoken to.

"Hello, Ada," she greeted. Eileen smiled at the Hufflepuff girl. "Hi. I'm Eileen."

Eileen heard Denman tell them only wands today, and followed his instructions. The man was being too...excited. And the hearth without a fire? There was no doubt in her mind that the lesson had something to do with the cold being their enemy. Despite the cold, she kept her mind happy and bright. She found the weather to be delightful, though cold. Winter was one of her favorite seasons, followed closely by summer. It was rather ironic, she thought, but it was true.

"What do you suppose Professor Denman is trying to do?" she asked in jest. "Give us motivation for a mutany?"

[Professor Denman]

"Attention please," Harvey stomped his cane on the floor a few times to strengthen his demand. Students always found an idle moment fit to indulge in chattering, the resulting buzz annoyed the man to no end. When he himself wandered into Hogwarts as a first year student, no student would have dared open their mouth until spoken to. The old man wished bitterly that his students would soon pick up on this old and most desirable habit.

"Yes I realize it's cold, there is no need to complain about this any further. Success in this lesson will earn you a warm room or at least warm hands wherever you go, so I expect the cold to be a sufficient motivation to pay close attention." He stomped his feet again to keep the cold from creeping up his legs and shivered violently. "Now lets get this under way before we all freeze to death," he muttered. "Please put your wand on your desk, we'll practice the incantation together so you know the spell I am about to teach you. You may remain standing when your chair gets too cold. Now repeat after me: 'incendio'

[Toren Dunwiddik]

Toren had made his way through the cold castle as always, to his charms class. Today was not his favorite day by far. He was really feeling numb in places he shouldnt. And going into the class was worse. If he knew anything though, he knew the more you talked in the cold, the colder you got. That and wearing a hat makes things easier. So he stayed silent, but nodded his pleasantries. Professor Denman, Always the fearful driving force, was looking upon his students when Toren had arrived, and within a minute of his arrival, Professor Denman told the class to stop their yammering.

Toren felt good he did not need instruction on that. It seemed everyone was complaining about the obvious, which was annoying to him, but he understood. Everything felt cold. Toren was beginning to wonder why no fire was in the hearth, why not a flame could be seen in the whole room, and when Professor Denman told them what they would be learning today, Toren felt happy and relieved.

They would be learning one of the first spells he wanted to learn. He had mastered its basics, and could create a flame wherever he wanted. Sylverster knew he could, so did Kyran and Cerridwyn. It was one of the few spells Toren tried and practiced in his spare time. While he wished he didnt know how, since he did he did not believe he would be getting any housepoints for doing the charm correctly, and on the first class try. Finally his want to read "Useful Household Spells, and other Incantations" led to progressing in class this soon.

He put down his wand, because he was told to by his Professor, and said the incantation after Professor Denman. Today was seeming to become a better day. Maybe this week would bring an end to some problems. He had a great hope for the rest of the week.

[Charlotte Blackwood]

The classroom seemed strangely cold, even for the time of year that it was. Charlotte couldn't suppress a shiver that racked through her body as she made her way to her seat. She sat down next to Cybele with only a few moments to spare, Professor Denman opened his mouth not a minute later to start the lesson. Frowning to herself, Charlotte made a note to walk quicker, if she kept this up she would have a tardy by the end of term. A tardy would not be acceptable in the least.

She gave the Professor the attention he demanded, and a small smile lit up her face as she realized what spell they would be practicing. She had read about it in her charms book, and it seemed simple enough. Not to mention with even half of the class performing the spell the room would become considerably warmer. She gently laid her wand down on her desk and pulled her cloak tighter before repeating the incantation 'Incendio' after the Professor.

Charlotte waited for her next instructions, and thought back to what her textbook had said about the charm. She couldn't remember much, but she knew it would help her master the spell quicker. There was nothing she wanted more than to do well in her favourite class, and the want was only intensified with every shiver that coursed through her body. Yes, this was definitely a spell she would like to master quickly.

[Aquanette Arceneau]

"I believe that he is most probably going to teach us a spell that will heat up the room, a...fire spell?"

"I do hope so," Cybele said, rubbing her hands together and then blowing her breath into her fists to try to prevent her fingers from brittling away into bits.

"So, I am Artemis, what is your name?"

Cybele turned to the girl with a politely cool expression. She didn't particularly like how blunt she was about her words, but refrained from saying anything about it. "My name is Aquanette Cybele Arceneau," she said with a proud little smile. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she added as an afterthought. Regardless of anything, Artemis was a housemate of hers, which automatically meant that she had to put up with her for six more years. Naturally, she wanted to start things well to make that a lasting friendship or easy living at worst.

She made a greeting gesture towards Charlotte when she say besides her and then began repeating after the professor. "Incendio," she repeated, trying to pronounce it correctly. At least this would improve her mood substantially.

[Cerridwyn Glynn]

Cerri was always happy for charms class. This was something she was pretty good at. With both her parents having more experience with Charms than most anything else and her love of the content, Cerri was ready and alert in class, even though it was so cold. She had remembered Alistair's need to sit so close to the front of the class so she had made sure to hold a seat for him, although no one seemed to be sitting in class as it might as well have had ice cycles hanging from their desks.

As the Professor began class, he walked from the back of the classroom making mention of what the class was to achieve today. The moment she heard him say the incanting word she grinned. This was one her Da had all ready taught her, lighting the fireplace each night after meals. In her house, this spell was a right of passage, he father had explained. Once she could light the fireplace, then she was ready for school. That might have been his idea of getting her excited about going away, but regardless of what it was concepted for she liked thinking about it as her test. This was definitely a spell she would receive top marks for, assuming the cold didn't affect her speaking the word.

Something else occurred to her. The rest of the class may not have been so trained in this one spell. Fire would come eruptupting out of their wands at any point! Her eyes began to lead the turn of her head to the student behind her. having no luck on her side, she realized that student was the one boy who always seemed to have unluck surrounding him.
"Oh no." She whispered just knowing what was about to happen.

The sound of wooden wands began clattering to the desks as everyone began laying them down, save for Master Finnigan the Unlucky. He had earned that nickname in DADA by fouling his stupefy attack so badly it left smudge residue on his face and before that Transfiguration had caused him to shrivel a rose petal so severely smoke filled the room. That boy was always fidgeting with his wand absentmindedly with everything he did. Cerri watched him with a nervousness about her, in fear for the whole class. Just as Professor Denman had asked the class to begin practicing the pronounciation of the trigger word Cerri had to act, she had to do something, he was right behind her and Alistair. The two of them would be his first victims of a backfired spell.

With presence of mind she yanked his wand out of his hand with a violent force of irritation. The boy about lost his temper as his own weapon was wrenched from his hand. He shouted loudly in a way that disrupted the whole class.
"The professor said wands down." She gruffed back to the boy, daring him to challenge her further. She swore that boy's family must have been cursed by a hag a thousand years ago!

[Professor Denman]

"I seem to recall both saying that there was no further need for chatter and complaints, as well to lay down your wand on your table," Denman said irritably as two students began shouting about.
"Imagine that," he went on. "Even a simple command as to lay down your wand is impossible to obey, never thought someone in my class could be that dense. I want two rolls of parchment in which you explain how you endanger your fellow students by not listening to your Professors, and how you think you can prevent this from happening in the future, mister Finnigan, and I want them on my desk this Friday. And for you, miss Glynn, I appreciate your concern but next time kindly stick your hand in the air so the Professor can handle the situation instead."

Disturbed that something so careless could happen when they were about to practice with fire-making, he briefly wondered if he should continue with his original plans. It had seemed such a good idea when he was planning this lesson, but he hadn't counted on the possibility of his quarters ending up in cinders. Narrowing his eyes, he gave the class a good look over and decided to let them practice the incantation one more time before moving onto the wand movements.

"When everyone has managed to lay their wands on their tables, please clap your hands and stomp your feet to remain warm enough, I can not have you lot freezing on me. After that we all chant the incantation again, this time hopefully without disruption. Everyone now.."

He stomped his own feet again to keep his toes from falling off and watched intrigued at the puffs of smoke as everyone chanted the incantation once more.

[Daniella Cruz]

'I am moving to Africa and I will never step foot in this disgusting, rotten, frigid, wasteland of a country again.' Getting out of bed was always a chore for Genevieve, but today had been worse than most. It was freezing in the castle, with all their magic you would think they could afford to keep the place warm, but no. She was not looking forward to going out to flying lessons later, it was just too cold for this type of nonsense.

Unfortunately for the moment she was stuck in England, country of lousy weather. For once she moved quickly, it kept her warmer to a degree and truly showed her desperation. It was rare that she even walked quickly, this half run was practically miraculous.

Once in the classroom there was less to keep her warm, but more to keep her interested as her fellow first years continued chattering after Denman asked for a stop. Well no, Denman didn't ask, he growled orders. Viv would be quite interested to watch this progress and wonder how long it would be until the old man finally snapped one day and started hexing students. She hoped she would be around to see it.

Wand laying on her desk, Genevieve, wrapped her arms around her body and pulled deeper into her cloak, glaring at the room in general. If they would just shut their mouths and follow directions they could be on with it before she turned into a block of ice.

[Siobhan Quinn]

Siobhan slid into her seat as the Professor started issuing commands, and gasped as the chill hit her backside. However, she was determined to not be a wimp about the cold, and stubbornly stayed seated. She placed her wand on her desk as instructed, and was about to utter the spell when the Professor snapped at a couple of her fellow students. She hastily pushed her wand further away, to make sure she didnt receive the same treatment.

Ignoring the mist coming out of her chilled mouth, Siobhan said clearly "Incendio!" She looked around at the students around her, watching them shiver. She was surprised she was able to say the spell without her teeth chattering. She wasnt so confident about keeping her hands from shaking when it came to adding the wand movements, however.

[Toren Dunwiddik]

Toren clapped his hands and stomped his feet. He was surprisingly warm enough without it, but the pulse of blood going through heated him just slightly. He said the incantation again, "Incendio," and began to think about how big of a fire he wanted to make. He could make a small almost sad fire, or he could make a glorious fire that could warm the whole room, or at least the 4 closest people to him.

He was embarrassed at the foolishness some students had. Mark had made enough of a fool of himself in DADA, and with this one, someone could easily get hurt. Worst case scenario in DADA someone went into a fit of laughter. With incendio, someone could end up in hospital with 3rd degree burns, and no longer have facial recognition.

He understood Professor Denmans outrage, and for the first time got scared when he talked. Maybe the talk was right, but most days he was just too annoyed to care much to yell. Even though he was not as cold as a good number of them, he still wanted to create a fire so he could be more comfortable.