NEWT class, Lesson 3

Zara had calmed down from her Basic classes enough to know that NEWT students were the brighter of the bunch. She could almost enjoy this class, of course enjoyment for Zara usually meant handing out detentions, but hey, she had to do what she had to do. So when the time came for the students to pour into her class, she simply unlocked it, instead of letting it bang open, it opened up lightly, and the class filed in, taking their seats, and one by one noticing that it wasn't their old professor who usually taught the class. Of course there were the smart ones who had noticed right away, and the less smart ones who kept talking right up until their friends nudged them and pointed at the new teacher.

Zara flicked her wand and the door closed, and then flicked it at the board and her name was written across it in bold letters. "PROFESSOR ELLIS." She slowly turned to the class and smiled. "Good Afternoon NEWT Class... I am Professor Ellis, if you can't read.. and I am the new teacher for you.. as you can see, you're nitwit of a teacher got booted, and I was moved from my original class of Divination.. to this soddy class of Charms.. now, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy Charms, I'm just.... disgruntled by the fact that I have no bloody idea what your last teacher taught you.. so we'll start off with a simple question... what were you taught by your last teacher.. and... tell me how did she treat you as NEWT students?" Zara said and moved so she was in front of her her desk, lightly jumping up so she could sit on it and converse with her class. She was in a better mood now, and it was obvious, she may not hand out as many pointless detentions as she had in the Basic classes. So instead she simply leaned forward, half feeling younger then some of the kids in the class as she let her gaze wander around her students, waiting for the first hand to go up.

Amelia had been first to arrive to the charms classroom, only to find it locked when she got there. This was a confusing and uncustomary practice, but Amelia wasn’t one to question authority, so she assumed that there was some purpose behind the practice. Instead, she waited in the hallway, growing progressively more annoyed as her peers began to arrive, lining up behind and around her as they all waited for entrance to the room. Amelia didn’t particularly enjoy being in close proximity to others, and while she thought she had made this perfectly clear to her classmates over the years, some of them hadn’t learned yet, and had placed themselves far too close to the red-headed girl while they waited, making her squirm with discomfort.

When the door lock clicked open, most of her classmates were oblivious to it, but Amelia had been keeping her eyes leveled on the door since she arrived, waiting for it to open so she could take herself out of this personal hell, so she was the first to pull herself off the wall and move into the classroom, taking a seat in the second row closer to the left side of the room. Even before she sat down, Amelia’s hyper-observant tendencies informed her that the woman at the head of the classroom was not Professor Delacour. She might have the same dark hair and piercing eyes, but this was someone else entirely.

Silently, Amelia observed the new professor at the front of the room, blocking out the incessant talking of her classmates who clearly hadn’t made the same observation about the new professor, or at if they had they did not realize the importance of making a good first impression – i.e. a quiet, respectful one. It was only after the new professor slammed the door shut with her wand that the room fell silent, all eyes turning to the young woman at the head of the class.

Professor Ellis… Amelia read to herself as the woman at the front of the room spoke to give the same introduction. By her physical demeanor and the tone of her voice, Amelia guessed she could not be older than her early twenties. What she lacked in imposing appearance, however, she made up for with her first few statements to the class. She seemed to think Professor Delacour to have been an inadequate preface to herself, which Amelia thought rather conceited of her, though she would never say so aloud. Furthermore, she seemed disappointed to be teaching charms instead of divination – a waste of a class if Amelia had ever known one. It was clear that Amelia did not have much in common with this new professor, but to Amelia that had never been a necessity. She simply needed to do as she was told and perform the spells to the utmost of her ability and she would be able to get by.

“Professor Delacour was teaching us about non-verbal magic,” Amelia offered when no one else spoke up, clearly still a bit aghast at having a new professor mid-year, “We had covered aguamenti and glacius non-verbally, as well as the bubble-head charm, though that was tested verbally,” Amelia added, ticking off in her mind the things they had been asked to do last semester.

“As for her teaching style…” Amelia began, reaching the second portion of Professor Ellis’ question and struggling to find the correct words. Amelia had never thought altogether highly of their former charms professor, but she also had nothing against her. She didn’t stick out in any way, really, good or bad.

“Professor Delacour did an adequate job,” the Ravenclaw girl finally settled on, choosing her words wisely, “her expectations could have been higher of us, considering we are NEWT students, and perhaps a higher set of expectations may have pushed us to really test the limits of our potential. But as I said, she taught adequately and knew the material well,” Amelia added, careful to end on a compliment lest the professor think she was ungrateful for what their former professor had taught them. She didn’t need to be making that kind of impression.

Brienne had noticed right away. This wasn't the nice teacher she'd known from her Charms class. No, this was someone different. More so than she'd expected. It was a scary thought, but something was calming her about it; the fact that if she could manage to be good and to study hard, maybe the teacher wouldn't try and make her life a living hell. "I must disagree with Lyons here. Professor Delacour actually did more than an adequate job. Her expectations weren't too low, nor too high. Achievable for most dedicated students. Or, at least people that do their homework". To make things worse, this new teacher didn't seem too nice. Anything she could say would potentially be used against her.

"So, what will we be learning today? I'm sure it'd be a pleasant lesson either way".

Amelia couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Brienne. It was becoming a compulsory action each time the girl was in her vicinity. Amelia wasn’t one to dislike people specifically – she mostly just avoided people in general – but Brienne seemed to have decided that she had some personal affront with Amelia and took just about every opportunity she could find to point out Amelia’s supposed flaws. It seemed that ever since they had first met, Brienne had somehow had it in for Amelia, who couldn’t recall having done anything in particular to the dark-haired wolf girl, but then again, Amelia was often offensive without intention. Still, Brienne had taken her dislike for Amelia too far several times now, up to and including a class last semester when she had gotten a crazy look about her that had made Amelia legitimately question the girl’s sanity.

And despite how many times before it had happened, Brienne seemed intent on keeping it up, looking for ways to make Amelia look bad. It was actually rather insulting, Amelia thought, considering that she didn’t think Brienne to be any more intelligent or capable than herself. In fact, Amelia thought her to be a bit of a suck up, answering every question eagerly, defending Professor Delacour even though they both knew that augamenti and glacius were OWL spells, even nonverbally, and let us not forget her oh-so-perfect ”I’m sure it’d be a pleasant lesson either way.” It was enough to make Amelia want to pull an Ariel and give her some new animal accessories, but she had more restraint than the blond Slytherin boy.

And I’m the one who gets called a teacher’s pet… Amelia thought bitterly, looking pointedly away from Brienne and refusing to rise to the girl’s petty comments. If Amelia got into a spat with Brienne, it would only make her look childish as well, to both the new professor and her classmates.

If Elijah had his way then he would have been in a pub in Paris somewhere drinking and sketching the day away. Instead he found himself sat at the back of the Charms classroom, picking at the wooden desk, listening to his peers talk around him. They had a question to answer. It was simple enough but Elijah didn’t even recall there being a change in Professors – that in itself showed how often he went to class. He did recall going to one class but it was hazy, suggesting that he’d either fallen asleep or blocked out the unpleasant experience. Whatever happened, Elijah was betting on him sleeping through it. It definitely made sense. At present though, he was playing with a cigarette, waiting for the moment he could get outside and smoke it.

Elijah looked up when Brienne spoke, raising a dark eyebrow. He snorted in disbelief and tucked his cigarette behind his ear. “Delacour wasn’t that bright,” he remarked slowly. “She was like...a wall of glass. I could see straight through her head. Plus, if I recall, she was as boring as hell. I’d have rather watched paint dry, myself.” Elijah chuckled and shook his head. He sat back in his chair and lifted his feet up onto the chair in front of him. He pushed it forward slightly before hooking his feet onto the back. He then added something else. “If the classes weren’t based on year groups and instead on ability then I’d have said she was under the impression she was teaching bottom-set, first-year Hufflepuffs. That might be a stretch but I don’t honestly think I’m far off.”

Feeling better than usual, Ariel had decided to go to class. He was sat amongst the others, flipping the Kombolói back and forth in his hand. He didn’t know why he’d picked Charms of all things to attend but according to the matron of the Hospital Wing, it was time to stop moping. He wished he’d picked something more exciting like Defence against the Dark Arts. He had nothing to play with here apart from Brienne who was aggravating him already. He didn’t like people as a rule but she really got under his skin. Ariel turned his head to the side, the beads coming to a stop in the palm of his hand. His eyes narrowed upon falling on Brienne and he opened his mouth, words spilling from his lips as sharp as knives.

“Look,” Ariel’s voice resounded around the room. “It’s bad enough you being alive much less being here filling the room with your flab. Delacour was a ridiculous waste of space, like yourself, so if you adore her so much then I suggest you bugger off to wherever she disappeared to.”

After about 3 weeks of holiday, you'd expect some kids, especially those who had something to look forward to, to actually want to go back to school. You'd think that they would be like 'Oh joy! We get to go back to school tomorrow." But for some people it wasn't like that. For some poeple, It was 'Gah why school? Why not driving test or, getting the dragon pox or something?' For some holidays were just a way to say 'good riddens' after a simester of school and for others, Holidays were just another excuse to spend all day studying and getting even more ready for those dreaded exam that come closer as long school days draw by.

For people like Saige Mars, It was a time to relax and take a break from all of the pressure that the professors put on your sholders the first semester of school, acting like they expect you all to get really high grades. And as soon as you end up proving that you wont get good grades, They put more and more pressure on you like a compresser does when they try to smash alluminum into those 25 or 50 pound cubes. some kids, not saige though, Got so much pressure put on their backs it was as though they were going to fail the class all because the teacher didnt know how to stop putting weight on their already heavy sholders.

Now, Saige really hated the fact that he had to take charms class. Especially since he'd rather spend all day inside his dorm thinking about his girlfriend. Either that or planning dates to go on with her. If not that, He would be sleeping or studying his usual little fracture of time each day. But, he was stuck in charms class that day. Saige dreaded the fact that he was just about to walk into a classroom full of teenagers he didnt know without his girlfriend around to be with him. Oh how he wished she could be here. But alas, He was alone on the aventure that they called Charms class.

Saige opened the door of the Charms classroom hoping for the best of all the posibilities that could happen in class. Looking around, He was right about the thought of knowing no one in the classroom besides the professor. A deatheater professor at that. That was the bad part about being in Hogwarts, there were to many death eaters and not enough normal people. Saige walked into the classroom, still looking around, and then looked at the back of the room hoping for an empty seat. there was a few left. Quickly, Saige grabbed a seat and sat down, slinging his bag on the back of the cair and making sure he had his wand in the pocket of his robes.

Zara sat and watched her students debate about the previous teacher, and had to smirk at how overall they were saying she sucked anyway. Finally after a few nasty comments made by a Slytherin boy, Zara stood up and looked around the room, surveying the students. "As far as I can tell, she was a horrible teacher soo..." She said and glanced around the room. "Five points from Ravenclaw..." She said and pointed at Brienne. "For lying.. I do not appreciate lairs... oh, and ten points to the two Slytherin's who talked, for giving me an opinion I actually care hearing..." She said lightly and walked around the room. "Oh, I guess I should give back that five points I took, no how about this, I took ten points from the suck up girl, and five points to the girl who actually answered my questions, meaning only five was taken off, yes I like that." She said with a nod before turning back to the board and flicking her wand at it.

A few words appeared on it, and she grinned slightly. "Well obviously your teacher didn't really care about your... education before, and if I may use a quote from Mr. Krum here...
'she was under the impression she was teaching bottom-set, first-year Hufflepuffs.' and from what I've heard from other classes, that is a fine quote to describe her." She said nodding at Elijah. "But as I was saying.. " She said and pointed this time with her finger at the board. "I will be teaching you something that will probably be more.. beneficial to you in the future.. besides non verbal spells, which I expect you to do for every spell you learn in this class, if I hear a peep out of you I will deduct points.." She said lightly and then smiled. "Today I will be teaching you how to turn water into wine.. Now.. has anyone ever done this before?" She asked looking around the classroom, before leaning against her desk again, and striking a very elegant pose against it, as she looked around, feeling very.. teacherish.. and it almost made her feel sick. She'd be sure to dress more.. appropriately tomorrow so that the boys wouldn't be able to concentrate, and the girls would be weirded out, and that was just for the fun of it.

Zara honestly hoped that someone in the class would be idiotic enough to make Zara give them a detention, of course she wouldn't do that to her own house, but that suck up Ravenclaw girl sure looked like she could use some time learning when it was appropriate to suck up, and when it was appropriate to keep your mouth shut. Zara shook her head and after another quick glance around the room, turned her back on the class. "Water is a main ingredient in any liquid we could possibly brew, meaning any liquid you could want, can be conjured from water, wine is probably the most used however, because depending on how much power you put into your spell, the heavier the wine you will get.. Oh, and I do enjoy aged wine, if you want a little.. extra credit." She said lightly and her eyes flickered over the boys in the class before flicking her wand at the board and the incantation showed up on it.

"I want everyone to turn this water, into wine." She said and with another flick of her wand, a cupboard flew open, and goblets flew around the room, landing in front of each student, the contents full to the brim with water. "Remember, the more you want it, the tastier the wine will be.. when you are satisfied, you may bring it up to my desk for grading.. oh, and remember, do not use any words... all in your head.. you may go." She said and sat down at her desk simply, picking up a quill and pulling an essay towards her, signaling that it was time to start working on their spells.

Amelia became even more frustrated with Brienne when the professor deemed her answer sufficiently stupid to deduct points for it. Even though Amelia agreed with their new professor that Brienne’s sucking up warranted public mockery and a good slap on the wrist, Amelia still wished it hadn’t cost her house five points, even after Amelia earning five back. It was like her father had always told her: stupidity was punished more harshly than sufficiency was rewarded.
Sighing, Amelia pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill as the professor got to their lesson, informing that all spells in the class ought to be performed non-verbally, and even going so far as to instruct them all to be completely silent. Amelia was fine with this, as she never really spoke much in general, and she would be glad of the silence from most of her classmates as well. She was also pleased to find that the magical prompt for the day seemed intriguingly challenging: turning water into wine.

Not having much experience with wine – she had drank only a few glasses at her parents’ gatherings, and never much more than that – Amelia knew this would be a unique type of challenge for her, but it was better than squirting water into a barrel and freezing it just to prove that it could be done. So when the professor’s wandwork brought a goblet onto the surface of Amelia’s desk, she pushed her parchment aside and replaced her quill with her wand.

Focusing, Amelia bit her bottom lip in concentration as she looked at the clear, tasteless liquid in the glass. She knew fundamentally what it took to change water to wine, but she hadn’t ever done it before. In fact, she hadn’t ever seen anyone do it either, but she did know there was some kind of muggle story about a man who became famous doing it. Probably just some wizard getting showy.

Closing her eyes, Amelia moved her wand above the goblet and concentrated on the incantation, being careful not to let her lips part to say the words. She held her focus for nearly a full minute, and when she opened her eyes, the liquid in her glass had turned dark. This was initially a pleasing result to Amelia, at least until she raised the glass to her lips and her face screwed up in distaste; she had put too much concentration into it too quickly, and the wine had over-fermented, tasting more like yeast than any normal person would prefer in their wine. Displeased with her performance, Amelia non-verbally removed the offending liquid from her glass and replaced it with new water before closing her eyes to give it another try.

Jack came in late, which was finally a change she appreciated. She had begun to fall into a bad habit of arriving on time and early to her classes. It was becoming a dangerously bad habit. Finally, the pattern had been disrupted ans she entered Charms as a new teacher was dishing out points deductions. Hmmm, a Charms teacher with backbone? What was this?

From the sounds of it, this class would no longer be daycare but they might finally actually LEARN something in here. And to think, Jack had been considering dropping the class. Which would have been a shame, seeing as Charms were useful for pranks. Maybe the class would actually be significant.

She sat down in the back corner, dropping her bag and glancing around. Oh. Ariel was in the class. Jack supposed she should have went and sat with him, but old habits die hard. The back, corner spot had always been her spot in all the classes. A goblet full of water flew in front of her and seemed to fix her to the spot. No moving now.

Unfortunately, she had only paid attention to bits and pieces of the professor's instructions. She glanced up and saw an incantation and watched Amelia go about the task. Jack shrugged and went about pointing her wand at the goblet, thinking the incantation. She started out concentrated, but a bird flew by the window and she became distracted. She glanced down at the goblet and took a sip. It was not Vito's wine, that was for sure, but it was still just a shade below strong. It'd do.