Charms Lesson 1 || A Night On The Bog

"A little more power," Professor Barlowe said as he walked by. Taking his advice Tilly extinguished the charm and tried again, digging deeper. “Lumos Duo!”

This time the light came out bright, reaching farther into the darkness, illuminating the bog. The Professor gave out the instructions, making sure to remind them to use the new spell. After seeing how bright the new spell was, it was clear to see why.

Get closer, cast the spell, if it takes more than three retreat. Easy enough.

“Go.”

With that, she set off towards a light in the distance. Her shoes squishing in the bog, the sounds becoming louder the farther away she went from the group. She didn’t rush, afraid that she would fall in or get snatched up by a creature.

Getting closer, the light coming into focus, she took tentative steps, watching for movement, but seeing none. Finally close enough, Tilly pointed her wand and cast “Lumos Duo!” She put more power into the cast, like Barlowe had suggested, her light coming out far brighter than her first try.

She could see the Hinkypunk, but it hadn’t solidified yet. Pulling the spell back, she cast again, focusing her mind and power on the spell, “Lumos Duo!” It was hard to say if the light was brighter, being on the casting end, but the beam seemed more concentrated, the Hinkypunk not happy with the spell at all.

It was difficult to see if it was completely solidified, so she decided to do one more for good measure. “Lumos Duo!”

This time, it was clear the spell was stronger and the creature had stopped moving completely. Hopefully, they would be done soon, and could return back to the castle. Even with the bright light, she had the feeling eyes were on her everywhere.

She was utterly deflated and the cold was starting to seep into her very bones. Most of her clothes had soaked through from falling over and getting sprayed with muddy bog-water as the fireballs kept raining down. The adrenaline wearing off did the rest.

She felt Professor Barlowe's presence next to her but she didn't look around. He kept quiet too and somehow that helped.

"Take a moment if you need it."

Maevie nodded once, her eyes still trailing the path of her wand through the puddle before her.

She had started to feel this way years ago, from time to time, after her father's death. When he hadn't come home from war, when her mother had gotten the letter in the mail. It had been worse, much worse, and it had taken a long time for her to find back out of that despair.

But the essence of it felt the same. Mourning something that she knew wouldn't come back anymore, and when the thought struck, it struck deep. It lingered for a little while, laid with her in bed at night, and then my morning it had passed. She never fought it, she just sat with it in solitude until she woke and then she continued to live.

"Take a few deep breaths, focus only on the spell. Not the fire. Not the bog. If you still can't get it, you can hang back with me when the others head off."

She nodded another time and when he stood to address the class, Maevie took a deep breath, releasing it forcefully. She could hear the others' chatter and splashing footsteps as they went to face the hinkypunks, only a few seemed to remain with Professor Barlowe, mostly younger years such as herself.

Maevie rose at last, watching the retreating backs of her friends but she didn't feel like following, let alone setting off by herself. Instead, she turned from the others once more, pointing her wand at the ground. Over and over she practiced the wand movement and incantation, focusing on the light that appeared, just a tad bit brighter each time.

Time to go!

The professor had approved of her casting, which clearly meant it was the best he'd ever seen, hands down, no competition. Did it matter that the man seemed to hesitate before delivering his verdict? Perhaps to someone less self-interested. Rae had always been very good at gleaning meanings where there may have been none, and a night on a bog wasn't about to change that. It was fine; he could tell her how amazing she was, or he could keep it to himself. All she knew was that her spell had been THE SUN INCARNATE and that the hinkypunks shooting fire at them didn't stand a chance.

Extinguishing her wand, the Slytherin waited for the shield to be lowered before heading off in the direction of the light directly ahead—the one she'd been following from the start.

Rae felt confident enough in her cast that she didn't think she needed to tag along with anyone else. It would be a true test of how potent her magic was, as the professor suggested. Either it would work and the creature would turn to stone, or she would have one hell of a story to tell when they all got back to the castle.

Being eaten wasn't an option, and she wasn't going to pretend that it was.

In the dark, with the cool breeze at her back, Rae trudged her way through the wetland. It was difficult to see without her wand, even with the thinning clouds allowing more light in, but she pressed on. The light before her, flickering as it was, never changed positions, making that part easy at least.

She drew close, finally able to make out the wispy form.

Huh.

She didn't know why...but she'd been expecting...more? It didn't look terrifying. Pale and barely there, floating with its little lantern. What was the worst this thing could really do–?

Fire. Lots of fire. As it had done before while they were still at a distance, the creature hurled balls of fire at her. On instinct, she nearly shielded herself before remembering why she'd walked up to the thing in the first place. To test her newly acquired spell.

Rae did her best to dodge, focusing on the more important task.

"Lumos duo!" Bright light shot from her wand, rivalling what she'd accomplished while still back under the professor's shield. It gave the creature enough pause for her to get out a second one. "Lumos duo!"

She could see the wisps beginning to harden and felt emboldened by the progress she was making. The creature was now a weird amalgamation of smoke and dust, nearly where she needed it to be. Reaching out, she poked at it with her wand, wondering whether further casting was needed.

Eh.

Why not. "Lumos duo!"

There, that should do it. Nice and solid as the professor had requested. If only he'd been there to see.

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Number 2

No yelling, no figures running through the dark screaming bloody murder. Maddox was inclined to think that the lesson had been a success. From where he stood, the man could see several bright lights illuminating the bog, collectively turning night into day with proficient spellwork. It was a thing of beauty, more so in the fact that it wasn't accompanied by some great apocalypse or sudden reason for him to spring into action.

Nordstrom had improved since her practice. He could see that the area she'd gone off in was bathed in brilliant beams of near-blinding light. More power. Good for her.

Elliot...was at least consistent. The light was on level with what he'd seen while she was still practising, even with her being further away. There was someone he didn't worry about being eaten. The man dreaded to think what she might do with more delicate spells.

For a moment, his attention turned to those who had remained with him. Younger students, nearly all of them. Some looked out into the bog where their classmates worked to subdue their hinkypunks, while others, like Golding, made varying degrees of effort trying to practise the spell. What started out as a faint light was growing, and that was enough for him to take pride in. The small girl had been caught up in a moment of panic, likely caused by the fire raining down, but she'd proven herself resilient again in the way she was able to shake it off enough to show improvement.

"Nicely done," he commented as he walked by, off to save a first year from permanent vision loss with the way he held his wand.

Crisis averted, the man cast a quick 'sonorus' on himself to amplify his voice. He called everyone back to the centre, using his own wand as light so they wouldn't be confused about where they should go. When the last of them returned to the group, he got the portkeys ready for their return.

"Excellent work tonight. I feel confident in the assumption that many of you have gotten – or are on your way to getting – the hang of 'Lumos Duo'. Next week's class will include a revision and further chances to practise and refine the spell. I don't need to tell you that I don't expect anyone casting this deliberately at anyone else. We'll go more into its purposes when we meet again on Monday. For now, here are the portkeys back. You'll have about an hour before curfew to get in any last-minute things you'd like to do. Be sure to get the reading done on chapter 3 of your textbook over the weekend. I'm not saying there'll be a test, but I am saying I don't expect any grumbling when the parchment suddenly appears on your desk."

He let them take the portkeys, ensuring each student had returned before using the last to bring himself back to the castle.

A productive class, he would say.

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OOC: Charms Lesson 1 has officially ended! If you've followed along so far, there's no need to post again. If you've missed an update or two and want to catch up, however, you're free to do so. I'll leave the lesson open for another 24-48 hrs to facilitate this. Look out for Lesson 2 which should be starting around February 1. Thanks for sticking with me <3