Charms ((NEWTs, 6th-7th years))

[Professor Filius Flitwick]

Flitwick sat patiently at his desk that afternoon, wondering why the students for the next lesson were so late. Well, technically they weren’t actually late, but normally there were a few students here at least. It didn’t worry him too much-he was prepared for the lesson, and hoped that it would be fun for all the class. He’d decorated the classroom just that weekend with festive decorations…from the traditional tinsel and paper chains to light’s he’d charmed into hovering in the air, to brighten up the room a bit more. He’d even managed to persuade Hagrid to collect one of the smaller trees from the forest, to put in the corner of the classroom, but this had yet to be decorated.

However, this was about to change. In front of him lay a box, full of various tree decorations-baubles, stars, snowflakes and icicles…even some plastic apples he’d been given a few years ago, that he was rather fond of. But this year he felt like a change…a lot of the decorations were getting rather dull now, out of age, and they needed repairing. And their colours needed changing, so he thought this would be a good chance for the NEWT students to rejog their charms from OWL level-those charms may well come up in the NEWT, plus give them a chance to experiment with colours, which always proved to be popular.

This was the reasoning behind the words written on the board behind him-Latin words for various colours. They simply read:
RUTILUS
VIRIDIS
PUTEULANUS
BLATTA
CROCEUS
ARGENTUM
AURUM
written in plain, white chalk, as to not give the answer to his first question away.

Students began to file in, and once he thought that no more students were going to arrive, he began the lesson. “Good afternoon, once again!” He began “Today I hope you’ll have a fun lesson, with it being the last lesson before the holidays. Now, can anyone tell me what the words written on the board are all examples of…going back to your OWL days. And if anyone could tell me what any of the words individually mean, that would be fantastic!”

((Sorry for the delay…the words above are all colours, as I mentioned. Feel free to guess or look up what colours they are, or just don’t bother and act as if the student doesn’t remember or something along those lines!))

[Ariane Chan]

Five points. Five measly points. Ariane was sorely disappointed with Gryffindor. Even worse, Slytherin were in the lead with sixty-five points. "I might as well give up being a prefect and Gryffindor here and now," Ariane thought to herself dryly as she swept out of the entrance hall where the house points were clearly displayed - and the lack of red in the colour mix was glaringly obvious. Still, evidently her fellow Gryffindors had not noted such a difference. Ariane did not begrudge Hufflepuff's fifty-five points; she had reason to believe Harmony had earnt most of those, and she was extremely proud of her little sister. Hufflepuff was the house of Aurora and Harmony, and Ariane could never dislike it. Ravenclaw, Ariane was mainly apathetic towards. They were at thirty-five points - and although they were no way near Hufflepuff and Slytherin, Gryffindor were trailing by much more. "If Slytherin win during my last year I will... Well. Hufflepuff had better win. And I'd better do something about my pathetic house mates." With a dark look Ariane entered the Charms classroom. For once she wasn't extremely early - her detour to the entrance hall to stare listlessly at the house points - or lack of - had made her five minutes later than usual. Still, she was the first person there. Professor Flitwick seemed surprised that no one was present yet, but Ariane knew how lazy her fellow students were. Aurora would likely appear soon, after dragging herself out of bed.

Sure enough, Aurora slipped into a seat beside her minutes later, along with many other pupils. Ariane flashed a brief smile. She knew this was Aurora's favourite class. The lesson soon began and the class quieted, and Ariane observed the words on the board as Professor Flitwick spoke. Normally she had no intention of speaking in class, but it was time for Ariane to get into gear and pull some points into the Gryffindor bag. Narrowing her eyes, she assessed the Latin words in seconds and immediately translated them. Colours were extremely easy - Ariane had a brilliant memory, and she could still remember her OWLs lessons from two years ago. Frankly she could answer for all the colours, but knowing Professor Flitwick he would want as many to participate and be given a chance as much as possible. Now Ariane just had to choose which colours to translate for the class and gain some house points. She scrolled down the list and mentally said them in English in her head. "Rutilus: red. Viridis: green. Puteulanus: blue. Blatta: purple. Croceus: yellow. Argentum: silver. Aurum: gold." Ariane's fingers entwined together as she thought. "Not green." Her mouth dipped into a subconscious frown. "Or silver. Aurora will want blue and purple and yellow, knowing her." It was obvious to Ariane which colours she should translate. After all, she was a Gryffindor and she wanted to get the message across to her fellow house mates: Strap up and earn something for your house already.

Ariane raised her hand and spoke. "Rutilus is red. Aurum is gold." Hopefully Professor Flitwick wouldn't mind that she had answered two of the colours - maybe he'd understand her dilemma that Gryffindor desperately needed some house points. Ariane waited for Aurora to make her addition to the Hufflepuff's points - after all, she never shut up in Charms classes, and colours - well, Aurora was a very colour-obsessed person.

[Aurora Chan]

Aurora awoke with a bright smile on her face. Normally she wasn’t exactly a morning person, but her first lesson of the day was – “Charms!” she exclaimed, leaping out of bed like a bushy-tailed squirrel. Aurora had an odd energy about her; she was nearly always bursting with hyperactiveness, but inside, whilst she wasted away her energy, her inner cogs were slow and sleepy. That was why her inner self was constantly unhappy and her outside world always saw her as the happiest, bubbliest person alive. Sometimes Aurora knew she was too much for some people, but she didn’t care; she rarely – if ever – cared what people thought about her. She was Aurora Mireille Chan, and if people didn’t like that they could go to—

Aurora threw on her robes and dashed to breakfast. Food was top of her priority sleep, along with sleep, friends and music. She wondered where Ariane was as her eyes darted along the Gryffindor table. Deciding her best friend had probably already gone to Charms, Aurora ate even faster and sped off to the classroom. She didn’t want to be late, but neither did she want to bowl some poor innocent bystander (or worse, a professor. Aurora was fortunate enough to have never received a detention in her whole Hogwarts life) over in the corridor. Aurora had bumped into people several times – never causing serious harm, but it had always been rather embarrassing. No, Aurora didn’t care what people thought, but she enjoyed feeling confident about herself, and she was definitely a people-pleaser, so even though she never conformed to society’s ways, she automatically tried to make people happy.

Eventually Aurora reached the Charms classroom where Ariane was already seated. Grinning, she sat down beside her cousin and said hello. Professor Flitwick quickly began the lesson and soon Aurora was absorbed in the subject. Colours – yes! Aurora was a colour maniac. She had always liked colours – she liked her clothes, her stationery, everything to be colourful. She loved bright colours and it suited her personality. Concurrently, though, she had quite an obsession with black and white. Whatever the colour of her things, though, Aurora always colour-coded them in the order of the rainbow. So, when Professor Flitwick asked the students to translate the words, Aurora knew she was in for a good lesson.

Aurora was about to answer before anyone else when she was extremely surprised to hear Ariane beside her speak up. She glanced at her best friend in amusement as she answered the questions smoothly. Ariane always knew the answers, but she usually didn’t speak up – what warranted such a change? Ah, Aurora thought. Most likely it was because of Gryffindor’s trailing house points. At the moment Slytherin was in the lead, and that made no one happy – especially the Gryffindors, their rivals. Ariane may deny it, but she was extremely protective and proud of Gryffindor, and she wanted them to do well. Their five points had been earned by Ariane in Defence Against the Dark Arts and since then no one had contributed. Hufflepuff were doing quite well, only ten points behind Slytherin, and Aurora knew that was thanks to Harmony. She had congratulated her cousin, and then promised she would do her best to add to the total so they could shorten Slytherin’s lead – and she would do just that now.

After Ariane had finished speaking, Aurora took her turn. “Croceus is yellow,” she answered, thinking what a shame it was that black was not on the list. She found it rather amusing Ariane had translated red and gold – very subtle. Well, if Ariane was going to do two, Aurora refused to lose to her friend. “And Puteulanus is blue.” Yes, Aurora just had to go for the long, hard word. She was quite fond of purple, and she liked the word ‘Viridis’, but she thought ‘Puteulanus’ was a great word.

[Theo Darke]

Charms was Theo's favourite lesson. It was a popular class; most people took it, such as Lori. "Ready?" Theo smiled at his best friend as she descended the stairs from the girls' dormitories. Theo preferred attending classes with Oscar, but if Lori and he shared a subject, it was rather obvious that he and Oscar were hiding something; Theo couldn't just ditch his best friend and hang out with Oscar all the time - that would definitely start some serious rumours. So far he and Oscar had managed to maintain their relationship with utter secrecy, and although sometimes it was tiring as well as risky, Theo knew this way he was happier. The thought of sharing his relationship with other people made him feel uncomfortable. That was why Theo bore the fact he had to attend Charms with Lori. Yes, it was his favourite class, but when he could just revel in Oscar's company only and laugh with him, such as in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Theo felt the happiest.

Theo and Lori triapsed to the classroom, chatting animatedly. Over the last few weeks Theo had become more comfortable in Lori's presence again. It wasn't back to the way it used to be, but at least Theo didn't feel guilty around his best friend anymore. He was truly happy she had Scott - even if he still harboured some feelings for the other Gryffindor. Theo just wanted Lori to be happy, that was all. She was a beautiful person and she and Scott deserved each other. Smiling at Lori, Theo opened the door to the classroom for her and motioned her to go in first. Following her lead, they sat near the front of the room. Eventually the lesson began, and Theo found himself concentrating more on the topic at hand rather than his friends and boyfriend.

Eventually Professor Flitwick asked about the colours. Theo knew them, but only after a quick memory jog. The Chan cousins in the year above answered the first few, then Theo put his hand up. He'd wanted to answer for blue, but Aurora had done that already. That left Viridis, Blatta and Argentum. He chose the latter. "Argentum is silver," he answered. He didn't want to say more than one, to let anyone else who wanted a go have this opportunity. Theo wanted to earn some house points - hopefully the other Ravenclaws would perk up.

[India Nightingale]

India rarely had any lessons with Skye. In fact, Herbology was perhaps the only one they shared. India took the typical subjects most students chose: Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Skye on the other hand had chosen Herbology, Potions, Ancient Runes, Astronomy and Arithmancy. To be honest, though, she hadn't exactly had much of a choice. After all, she'd only regained her voice at the beginning of this year. She'd passed all of her exams, but she hadn't done well enough to continue Charms, Transfiguration and the like. It was a shame; India knew her sister was not incapable at those subjects. In a way she felt to blame and the guilt welled up again. However, Skye had frequently convinced her that it didn't matter; she loved the subjects she'd chosen, and she had never wanted to do any of the jobs those other subjects could've offered her anyway. Besides Potions, Skye was content with what she had chosen. She was adept at Potions, but Professor Snape had always disliked her. This made India feel angry, but she could do little against the Head of her House. He was known for his bullying ways. India vowed she would take care of Skye when they left school. If Skye couldn't get a job, she would become the best of her field and earn enough for them both. India saw Skye as her responsibility, even if she didn't feel as much guilt that ate her up anymore.

But still, India had no idea what she would become when she left Hogwarts. Definitely she did not wish to become a healer. A codebreaker sounded more like her - working with machines and the like instead of people. An auror was okay too; although that involved people, all she had to do was catch bad people - and India knew she wouldn't be shabby at that. She was an apt dueller and Defence Against the Dark Arts was one of her strongest subjects. Charms was an okay lesson; she liked it enough, but India had never been particularly fond of Professor Flitwick. In all honesty, she found him rather irritating. Still, what they did in his classes weren't too bad. However, once India was seated and she heard what they were doing, she had to resist a loud sigh and a roll of her eyes. Colours? Seriously? Wasn't that a little bit... easy for NEWT level? India had left OWL last year - she wanted something more challenging. It got even worse when Flitwick asked the students to translate the words. "That's too easy." India could still remember all she'd learnt last year. She prayed the lesson would speed along quickly. Almost all the colours but two had been answered for, and India hoped some know-it-all kid would hurry up and cut short her misery. She leaned her head against her hand and found her mind wandering to... well. As usual, it was him. Frowning fiercely, India hid her face behind her hands and begged Drake not to invade her thoughts during her lessons.

[Drake Manning]

There was one class that Drake excelled in most, more than any of his other classes. It was the only class that he got an O in for his O.W.L.s, and it was the class he liked most. Then again, he didn't really like classes at all, but knew they were necessary. Just another of those annoying things that life liked to throw his way, similar to the way that life had handed him the most confusing and absurd sort of relationships in the past year. It was enough to make him contemplate just up and leaving. Leaving Hogwarts. Leaving England. He was certain nobody would miss him or care. He'd be free to start over again, a new reputation to build. It wasn't like he was making anything of himself at Hogwarts anyways. A prefect spot wasted, that was for sure. He wasn't even certain what the professors and Dumbledore had had in mind when they made him prefect. Some sort of elusive potential? Drake snorted at the thought.

Despite his normally cynical mood, Drake found his way to Charms on time. Instantly, he recognized the names of a variety of colours written on the chalk-board. What was this? First year all over again? What a joke. He wasn't even going to participate in naming the colours, a task that a blindfolded squib could do. That was, he didn't plan on it until the other houses started racking up points, sending a flare of envy through him. Heck, he didn't care one bit about winning the House Cup, but he cared about his own pride. He wasn't going to sit there idly while the Chans took two answers a piece, followed by the annoying Darke kid from Ravenclaw. He'd be damned if another Ravenclaw was going to give the next answer.

"Viridis is green," he said, his voice lacking much enthusiasm. For some reason he knew Professor Flitwick tolerated his apathy. Perhaps the small man knew Drake's true potential. Drake rolled his eyes. "Blatta is...." he began, but someone else had already answered the question. Drake was slightly annoyed, but happy that they might move onto something more complicated. He wasn't about to sit there all day and name colours. If the lesson advanced to something more complex, at least he might feel that time passed a bit more swiftly.

[Finn Miles H7]

"Purple!" Finn could hardly control himself. Besides Care of Magical Creatures, Charms was the one class that Finn absolutely loved. The practicality of it, the hundreds of charms that he could use in everyday life. He loved it. So, whenever the students were asked to review the names of the colours in latin, likely to help them with some coulouration spells, Finn wasn't about to let the entire list be named without any sort of input from him. However, as he sat there, trying to decide which colours to name, it seemed that the list shrunk faster than he could keep up with. It wasn't until an older Slytherin was about to answer the last two colours that Finn realized his opportunity to help Hufflepuff with a few more points was fading fast.

After blurting out the answer part way through Drake Manning beginning to give the correct colour for blatta, Finn felt his face turn a deep shade of rutilus. Ironic how all of his thoughts about colour were in Latin now. He hoped that Professor Flitwick would excuse his sudden outburst, but even if he didn't Finn figured that his performance in the rest of the class might be enough to make him forget. Drake was a different story though. Finn wasn't really in the mood to have angered the elder Slytherin. It was just last class, D.A.D.A in which a seventh year Sltyh had used Finn as a human shield. Apparently he wasn't able to avoid the wrath of this group of seventh year Sltyherins. Oh well, Finn wasn't really afraid of anyone. He was rather tall for his age, able to defend himself if need be. Plus, Drake didn't seem like the fighting type. Finn couldn't help but notice a sort of laid-back apathy about him. His face had the constant look of annoyance, or at least it did for now.

[India Nightingale]

India had been doing quite well in ignoring the ghost of Drake in her mind - but that all shattered when a very familiar voice spoke up and broke her concentration. India looked up sharply and, across the rows of desks, saw Drake Manning listlessly answering for the colour green. Instantly, India felt extremely annoyed with Drake. She didn't know why exactly, but she knew she had been quite successfully ignoring him in her mind, until his real-life self had butted in and made her realise he was in this lesson with her. India had forgotten she now shared classes with Seventh Years - well, particular Seventh Years. India didn't even know Drake did Charms as well. Narrowing her eyes in annoyance and spite, she wished Drake had never entered her life. He had thrown her on a rollercoaster of emotions - from dislike to irritation to confusion to upset to forgeting to remembering to frustration to anger. Wow, that really was a round-the-world ride - and India was not at all appreciative. Drake was just about to answer what Blatta was as well, when the rebellious old nature of India's surfaced and she decided she needed to get her own back and stamp her own presence in Drake's thoughts. He could never answer her questions - so why should he allow himself to answer these ones so easily?

"Blatta is--"

"Purple," India interrupted loudly, causing some heads to turn in the class at her. India glared defiantly at them all to tell them to remove their curious, nosy noses out of her business. So what if she'd decided to answer? No big deal. Okay, so India never spoke up in class, never earned house points, but she didn't mind casting that reputation away for a few seconds to see the expression on Drake Manning's face.

Then India realised someone else had shouted out the answer too and glared across at that person. It was Finn Miles, a Hufflepuff in her year. Oh darnit. Well. She at least had Drake's attention.

[Cyrus Thorn]

For some reason Cyrus found himself walking into a tacky muggle Christmas shop that morning rather than his usual Charms classroom. “Oh, lord. What on earth has happened in here?” He ignored everyone around him and stared at the atrocious decorations with obvious distaste, his eyes taking in everything, his lips scowling but with that small twitch that showed his amusement. “Who put up these god-awful decorations?” As he spoke a small man popped up from behind a large desk. Oh no- the desk wasn’t that large. Flitwick was just ridiculously tiny, as always. Cyrus sneered as he found the answer to his muttered question in the man before him. Not that he could really be called a man, but whatever. Throwing his bag on a table near India casually he stretched, his arms before him and his back arched, before comfortably falling into the seat a few away from Nightingale. “Alright sweetie?” He grinned evilly at India who looked far from sweet. From then Cyrus watched with a bored expression clear on his face as the Chan cousins answered Flitwick’s questions as if their lives depended on it, followed by that gay Ravenclaw kid. Throughout the answers Cy remained silent. He knew the colours of course but didn’t care enough that moment to answer them.

Clearly some people felt very differently- this became apparent when the Miles boy shouted out an answer, interrupting one of Cyrus’ roommates. This irritated Cy. The Hufflepuff’s childish and to be frank idiotic nature irritated him. The childish, to be frank idiotic lesson he was sitting in was irritating him. “Jesus Miles, keep your pants on.” He frowned at the boy after muttering the comment. Little comments like this always popped into Cyrus’ head, and they didn’t hold enough importance to remain there so he simply came out and said them. Especially when he was in moods like this- the mood to irritate others. The mood to cause trouble basically. With a chuckle Cyrus looked at who Miles was sitting near. “Especially near Darke…” He disguised his comment with a cough but it was audible to those near to him. The snide remarks were childish and he knew this well enough- he just didn’t care.

[Professor Filius Flitwick]

Flitwick was surprised at how well the colours were remembered...within just a few minutes they'd all been recalled, and he was pleased with their memories. He only supposed that that highlighted his own declining memory, thanks to his age, as he always made sure to drum those colours into the heads of all his students before their OWLs. He was also pleased to note the equal contribution from each house, in terms of students at least. As 2 students consecutively shouted out correctly that the answer for Blatta was Purple, he began to speak and move the class onwards. "Yes, yes, all of you are quite right! Especially well done to Ariane and Aurora there for recalling 2 colours each! As that was a simple exercise I'll only be giving 5 points to each house..don't worry, you can boost this later on! I know you Gryffindors especially need to gain points!"

He paused for a couple of seconds before continuing, to catch his breath. "Anyway, students, as this is one of the last lessons before the Christmas holidays, I shall at least attempt to make it fun for you! Although undoubtedly your ideas of fun are far different from my own, I think most of you at least should enjoy it. You've probably all guessed by now that it'll be something to do with colours, and that it is! Now, on each desk there will soon be appearing one of these boxes". He held up one of the fairly small decoration-filled boxes that lay on the front desk. "In these boxes are what can only be described as, in Mr Thorn's own subtle words, "god-awful decorations". And it's your jobs to make them less "god awful". And consider yourself lucky Mr Thorn...if it wasn't Christmas you would have lost yourself those 5 points Mr Manning gained for you earlier. And you wouldn't want that, would you?"

As he moved the boxes over to the desks, he couldn't help but notice all the bored faces around the room. He had to admit to himself that he did start the class with a very, very simple task so that should have been expected. He also guessed that the students wouldn't like the sound of the main task, to start with anyway. And some of them would find the "fun" part boring, stupid and immature...but he hoped that those students wouldn't be in the majority! And it would only be for one lesson anyway, if they set their minds to it properly. It was an opportunity for them to have fun with colours, which could involve some rather tricky charms, as well as doing something very useful for the professor.

"Now" he continued "you will notice that these decorations are far from at their best. All I want you to do, for now at least, is to basically repair them. To do this, simply cast "ornamentum reparo", and you should see a big change in the quality of the decoration. You may also want to use "Tergeo" too, if you think it's necessary. And then, you can play around with the colours - as you can see, the vast majority of them are dull as well as rather shabby. Reparo will repair the shabbiness, but you'll have to make them brighter with other spells. You can simply change their colour, or make them glitter, or even make them glow and change colours. You can even change their sizes if you want. And points will be awarded based on the final quality of the decorations you produce."

He wrote down several spells on the board as the students were repairing and cleaning their decorations, expecting them to know what they meant:
ENGORGIO
CANDERE *latin colour*
GEMINIO
MICARE *latin colour*
HEBERE *latin colour*
REDUCIO
SPLENDERE *latin colour*

"Some of the charms I've written on the board are red herrings...they will make the decoration dull, or smaller, or do something completely different. I seriously hope none of you fall for the traps, and if you do...I expect you to know how to reverse them! You have 20 minutes to change all of your decorations-have fun!"

[Cyrus Thorn]

Cyrus couldn’t help but smirk slightly as Flitwick made as if to scold him for his comments. “Oh, no professor. We certainly wouldn’t want that.” He said reassuringly, eyes twinkling. These eyes then turned to the box floating into his hands. Merlin. The god-awful decorations would continue. He reached out and took the thing between two fingers as if hesitant to open it. When he finally pulled the lid from the little box he looked into it with obvious contempt, although that every-present smirk was still tugging at the corners of Cyrus’ lips. Beautiful. He thought as he lifted just two things from the box. The first was a long dull-coloured ribbon. Perhaps it had once been a festive yellow, but now it was a dull grey with hints of washed-out cream at the edges. There was a tear at one end a dark splodge of… well, Cyrus didn’t really want to know what it was. He turned his attentions to the second item. It was a cracked bauble of a pale blue colour. The string hoop was still attached but it was limp, the once silver thread now a dusty brown.
Cyrus was in the mood to be a little creative so didn’t throw the task away with contempt. He had the potential to be brilliant in Charms- his exam results had been outstanding, but purely because he had done well on the actual exams. If he had been graded on his work, behaviour and even attendance in lessons, then he would not have been surprised if they had given him an A, or even P- poor. Lazily taking out his wand, Cyrus was tempted to glance at Manning and Nightingale to see how they took to the childish task. It was more a test of their Latin knowledge than their spellwork, but since Cy had a good memory he wasn’t too bothered about this. After a moment’s consideration- yes, Cyrus could consider- for what he would do, be began.

“Tergeo!” The first offence. It attacked the ribbon after the flourish from his wand and cleansed the material of any muck, until it was just the dull cream in colour. “Geminio Quartus!” The ribbon doubled four times until there were eight strips before him. If he put them together- which he soon did with a mutter of “Concero.”- they made one long ribbon about two metres in length. Without needing an incantation Cyrus flicked his wand at the end of his last charm which joined the ribbons together. This movement made the pieces join into a twirling, twisted shape that was elegantly intricate, just as planned. “Uhhhm…” He considered the colours for a moment. “Aurum?” Slowly the long, twisted ribbon began to change colour. The gold crept up from the bottom, crawling over the twists in the material in an almost eerie manner. Now before him Cyrus had the beautifully twirled golden ribbon.
But he was not finished- far from it. Now completely taken in by his charms and wand work Cyrus ignored that the people around him might be doing. He twirled his wand through his fingers casually before lifting up the cracked blue bauble. “Reparo!” The crack disappeared. “Niger.” The bauble turned a dark, bottomless shade of black. “Reducio… Geminio Quartus.” The bauble shrunk until it was about two centimetres wide. Now it was just a tiny black ball- but with the last two words, the little ball duplicated until there were eight little back balls in Cyrus’ hand. Carefully he held one ball up to a spot on the golden ribbon and with a mutter of his former spell to join two things together, attached the bauble to the ribbon carefully. He continued doing this until, spaced out evenly across the two metres of gold, the eight black baubles hung. They contrasted with the gold which was bright and elegant, welcoming even. Whereas the spinning baubles represented something darker and more sinister. With a satisfied smile Cyrus finished the whole thing off with one more incantation, one more flick of his slender wand. “Splendere!” And the decoration shone, the quality enhanced.

Cyrus was not surprised at the perfect outcome of his decoration, but he noted a few minor mistakes. The joining charm he had used was probably not the best one to use- if you looked closely you could see the eight pieces of long ribbon were joined weakly, the seams of the material tight. And he had used the same incantation to attach the spinning black balls; they too were beginning to waver and falter, losing a little of their elegance as a result. He considered the words he had used. “Concero.” He muttered it out loud again and turned a critical eye on his decoration. “Maybe…” He hesitated, trying to find the words in his head. “Subiun? No- subiungo!” With a smirk he repeated the last word and flourished his wand one last time. This resulted in the formerly weak seams of the ribbons strengthening until they held on tight, and the baubles straightening up in their positions, no longer looking as if they were about to fall off. His decoration was complete, and, although he didn’t like to admit it, he had actually learnt something from his mistake.

[Theo Darke]

Theo was amused at Finn having interrupted Drake mid-sentence - although the older boy didn't seem to read from the same page. A second voice caused Theo's eyes to glance backwards and land on India Nightingale. As a prefect Theo knew practically everyone's names and their reputations, however small or big, in his year, and he'd had to deal with many pranksters and rule-breakers in the last year and a bit. However, India was a different ball-game altogether; she never got in the prefects' way - quite the opposite, she stayed out of their way, and people in general, as much as possible. Still, India could not escape the student populus' interest and rumours, and from Day One she had been dubbed the 'Ice Queen' by her fellow classmates. Theo didn't participate in name-calling and nicknames in general, for he thought it childish and mocking, but she only did her name justice by acting as the coldest and most untouchable girl in their year - or school, even. Theo had never met anyone who hated people so much. There were loners - and then there was India Nightingale. Theo had attempted to speak to her on several occasions, but she always merely ignored him or snapped at him to mind his own business. Theo had long ago given up on India, so when she spoke up in class - interrupted a classmate! - Theo was extremely surprised. Was India changing? Well, her recent change in hair colour suggested it. Theo knew her sister, Skye, quite well, having taken care of her sometimes due to her dumb disability, and recently she'd regained the ability to speak. Perhaps the Nightingales really were changing.

Theo had to avert his attention from India back to Professor Flitwick when he gave out the house points and began announcing the next task. Five points wasn't a lot, but Theo would take it - Ravenclaw needed all the house points they could get. Smiling at Lori, Theo went to grab a box of decorations for them. Taking out a bauble that was broken and dulled, Theo lay it on his table and looked at it with interest. Remembering Professor Flitwick's instructions, Theo pointed his wand at it and said, "Ornamentum reparo" to each. Immediately it looked much less shabby. Smiling to himself in amusement, he deemed it necessary to use Tergeo also; the result was an extremely polished bauble, although it lacked colour and glitter. Theo glanced up at the board to see what he could use to improve his bauble, and after going through the list, noted which ones were what Professor Flitwick deemed the 'red herrings'. He pointed them out to Lori: "Rudicio is obvious, most people will know that. That must be what the professor meant about making things smaller. And... Micare - that makes things duller, doesn't it?" Theo gained Lori's affirmation and nodded.

"I think I'll make my bauble bigger," Theo declared, pointing at the decoration and casting Engorgio, causing it to largen to the size of a grapefruit. Uttering "geminio octo" caused the bauble to multiply by eight. With eight large baubles in front of him, Theo decided it was time to give them some colour and sparkle. "Splendere puteulanus," he cast upon one, turning it a sparkling Ravenclaw-blue. "Splendere pyropus," was uttered at another, giving it a bronze sheen. Smiling broadly, Theo moved onto the next pair of baubles. "Candere croceus. Candere niger." Theo decided to try out the other spells that could make things shiny - and made one bauble yellow and one black. Then: "Candere rutilis. Candere aurum." And finally: "Hebere viridis. Hebere argentum." Theo sat back and admired his collection of baubles. "There," he nudged Lori and grinned. "What do you think? All the house colours."

[India Nightingale]

One repulsive Slytherin Seventh Year boy in the room was bad enough - but two? India watched indifferently as Cyrus Thorn flung his bag on a desk not so far away from hers. She knew his name, knew his face - that was about it. Well, she also knew he was an arrogant, uptight individual, just like most of her house. As long as Cyrus never poked his supposedly handsome face into her business, India would pretend she didn't know him at all, just like everyone else. Yes, India had changed, but not enough to warrant a desire to socialise. Quite frankly she highly doubted she'd ever willingly strike up a friendly conversation; that was perhaps beyond her ability forevermore. She blamed Duke for it. But, Cyrus Thorn only had himself to blame when he addressed India as 'sweetie'. It took several seconds for India to realise he was indeed speaking at her, and not some dumb blonde sitting behind her. Narrowing her eyes in disgust, India gave Cyrus her trademark cold glare that she had regained since her last encounter with Drake that night. A slice of the old India was definitely resurfacing - and she wouldn't deny it - not to this repulsive young man anyway. Turning her head away from Cyrus, India allowed herself to simmer alone and in silence. No one called her 'sweetie'. It was the worst description of India and she hated it. However, she refused to let Cyrus have the satisfaction of seeing her react to his lecherous words. They made her skin crawl, but they couldn't create that angry fire within India only Drake Manning could.

India remained silent, but she heard all of Cyrus' backhand comments clear enough. She felt her insides rise in dislike. Evidently he lacked tact. He was obviously a Slytherin through and through, and he was the type of Slytherin India hated most. She hated over-confident Gryffindors; over-friendly Hufflepuffs; over-intelligent Ravenclaws; and over-arrogant Slytherins - and Cyrus Thorn was the picture of arrogance. Still, despite her thoughts, India kept her face firmly towards the front of the classroom rather than look at Cyrus. She disliked his quip about Theo Darke the most. Yes, India was not friends with Theo Darke - quite the opposite, she found him irritatingly popular, well-liked and friendly... just all-round too perfect, along with his best friend Lori Leigh. India had never liked them, but she had never discriminated against Theo for being gay. That was his choice, just like it was India's choice to be who she wanted to be. Theo had never asked her to be any different and he treated her like another individual, and she felt extremely offended by Cyrus' comment. Still, she wasn't about to stand up for someone she barely knew; and so remained silent.

India refused a roll of her eyes when Flitwick only awarded five points per house. He had always been so keen on equality, but sometimes he took it too far - what about her own answer? And Finn Miles? As much as Finn had annoyed her by interrupting Drake at the same time as herself, she was doubly annoyed that neither of them had been properly awarded for their slight contribution. The lesson seemed to be getting more and more on India's short nerves - from Cyrus Thorn to Drake to Professor Flitwick himself - and now the activities. This was totally mind-numbing. Unable to restrain a frown settling on her forehead, India chose an angel from the pile, finding it rather ironic that she used to abhor such an image. Angels - psh. But the past was the past... No more Angels and no more Devils - besides her cat, of course. Musing to herself in silence, India decided to do as Professor Flitwick had suggested and used ornamentum reparo with only a mere twitch of her wand. She was extremely apt at silent spells - ironic, since Skye couldn't do them as she had had no voice. India didn't want to waste breath unnecessarily.

India didn't feel the angel was broken enough to desire the need to use Tergeo, skipping to Engorgio, largening the angel by half so it was more noticeable. Finally she chose to speak, as she wanted to specify the right colour to her wand properly. "Hebere argentum," she uttered softly, causing the angel to become sparkling silver. Boredly she left the decoration on her table for Flitwick to inspect and waited.

[Ariane Chan]

Five points? Ariane's eyebrow jerked upwards. Five points? Okay, so these questions weren't made for Einstein (don't ask, non-muggles), but Ariane had made the effort of answering for two, as had Aurora, and they'd gotten the same amount of points as Theo and Drake?! And what about Finn and, goodness, India? They'd all made an effort and Ariane felt rather cheated. This was probably why Professor Flitwick had never been her favourite teacher; he was too nice. She preferred Professor McGonagall, and had been glad when she had been made Headmistress, but at the beginning of the year Ariane had worried somewhat about who would replace her. Then Hermione Granger had appeared and Ariane knew all would be well.

Skipping over the issue of the house points, Ariane concentrated at the task at hand: decorations. At least she had earned five points... not a lot, but every point counted. Ariane shuffled through the box of decorations listlessly, feeling the task too juvenile. However, she chose a a bauble, knowing she'd have to impress if she were to earn more house points from Professor Flitwick. Before Ariane could set to work, though, a voice behind her caused her to turn around. She immediately turned white, then coloured a fraction, before looking forwards again with a steel look in her eye. "Aurora," she addressed her friend, "please tell Jez Cuthbert to get his act together and earn some house points. He runs Junior Charms Club and has no excuses." With that, Ariane began to improve her decoration, determined to ignore Jez as much as possible this lesson.

After casting ornamentum reparo and tergeo, Ariane caused the bauble to grow in size with engorgio. Still feeling she had to stress her Gryffindor pride, she chose to speak splendere rutilis to make the bauble a shining red. Then, using aurum, she decorated it. Not many people had yet thought of this, but Ariane was determined to make a pretty decoration. She spelt out 'Gryffindor' around the middle body of the bauble in gold, before rounding the top and bottom with swirls. Finished. Wait, not quite. Using geminio, Ariane replicated the bauble ten times and let them lie on her table proudly. That would teach those pathetic Gryffindors to strap up.

[Aurora Chan]

Five points wasn't bad. Aurora could feel without looking at her best friend that Ari was seething at the injustice of it. Well, Professor Flitwick was just being fair in his own way. All the houses had been awarded points, and Finn and India had called out together at the end, so whether or not Hufflepuff and Slytherin gained another five points mattered little to Aurora. After all, these were the two houses in contention at the current moment for the House Cup, and even if Finn and India had been awarded another five points, that would keep the gap between the two houses the same. Aurora felt she should gain more points for answering for two colours, but these were simple questions... It made sense not to award too much. Aurora let Ari simmer alone with a small knowing smile and listened to Professor Flitwick's next task. Neither herself or Ari heard Cyrus Thorn's snide remarks towards Finn and Theo - otherwise both of them would most likely have done something about it together.

Fixing decorations appealed to Aurora. She watched as Ari chose a broken bauble, and was about to pick one for herself, when a voice behind her caused her to turn around. "Oh hi Jez," Aurora smiled friendlily at the Gryffindor. She was about to ask what he planned to do with his decoration, when Ari interrupted her. Blinking, Aurora digested her friend's short and sharp message. "Um..." She looked back at Jez, knowing he had probably heard Ari's words clearly. "Ari says earn some points for Gryffindor," she summarised with an awkward grin. Aurora still had no idea what had occured between Ari and Jez, but evidently Ari still disliked Jez. She acted very oddly around him: last year she'd been cold and angry towards Jez's presence; now she was civil but refused to speak to him directly. Aurora found Ari's changing face colours rather amusing, though confusing also. However, she'd learned not to question when she knew she would receive no answers. Instead, she flashed Jez another smile and turned back to the task at hand.

Aurora eventually chose a dangling star from the box. Smiling at it, she examined it for a minute before nodding decisively. She had an idea of what this star would look like in her head. Aurora had always been a creative person, and knew she should excel at this task. "Ornamentum reparo. Tergeo," she said, cleaning up the battered-looking object. Moving on, she glanced up briefly at the board where Professor Flitwick had written the other spells they could use. She noticed that Ari had not even bothered looking up, ploughing through the spells with that precise memory of hers. Smiling to herself, Aurora chose to use candere aurum, turning her star a bright gold. "Engorgio," she concluded, causing the decoration to grow, large enough for it to be put atop a tree and be admired. It was extremely glittery and bright, but that was the point of a star, right? Grinning happily, Aurora looked across at Ari's masterpiece... or rather, masterpieces. Instead of the one broken bauble, there were now ten of them, all glittering red with gold splayed around them. Aurora chuckled at the 'Gryffindor' word and shook her head knowingly, laying her star down for the professor to inspect when he came across. Aurora did not feel the need to use geminio; that, she felt, would be overdoing it a bit. Too many stars would no doubt blind poor Professor Flitwick.

[Ruby Lehane]

Ruby sat back in her seat, questions having been answered already…she looked down at the ornament. It was rather grimy to say the least…she wondered if it had been taken out and used at all in the last fifty years. Everyone set to work right away, everyone but Ruby it seemed. She wanted something special…something that would stand out from the others. The question wasn’t creating the perfect decoration; it was how could she go about creating perfection in a completely different way than everyone else was doing. Lifting the glass ball from the box she turned it over, disregarding the dirt with a grimace as she sat it down on the wooden table before her. Digits wrapped around her wand as she tapped it against the table in a way that clearly showed that she was thinking.

Well…First is first… she thought to herself as she flicked her wand at the ornament. Ornamentum reparo. The silent spell didn’t seem so silent as the hairline crack vanished and a hint of a dull gray caught her eye. Oh no no no no…Gray will certainly not do. But first…we need to clean. Normally she’d commentate to her brother, but he seemed to be caught up in what he was doing. Charms was definitely a decent class for them both, though Ruby, admittedly was better at it. “Tergeo,” Ruby said out loud, her want tapping against the top of the ornament. It was almost an immediate effect. The gray becoming far more apparent, though still dull and lifeless it seemed, even with the grime removed.

Blue orbs flickered across the room…everyone it seemed had the same idea as her. She had been about to use ‘geminio’ on her ornament, but there were far too many with the same idea. That left her to create a brilliant design with the colours before her. Pursing her lips in annoyance she tapped her wand on the table once again. There were a million different ideas, it seemed, running through her mind. None of them were good enough though. If she were really going to earn some house points for Slytherin she’d have to think of something ingenious.

“Ornamentum engorgio,” Ruby said as she watched her ornament swell to about the size of a grapefruit. Nodding her head with approval she smirked a little. The idea that had finally clicked in her mind might not have been the most original of ideas…especially since she’d caught sight of a few other people’s ideas…but still it was a good one if she did say so herself. “Geminio quattour.” Ruby was alight with glee as she watched the ornament multiply into four different ones, each that horrible dull shade of gray. Now was when she’d have to be creative as she pointed her wand at the four different ornaments. “Candere viridis, candere rutilus, candere puteulanus, candere croceus.” Each ornament became a brilliant solid colour of green, red, blue, and yellow. It brought a smile to Ruby’s face…though in reality she would have just done a Slytherin coloured orb…but she knew this would look much better to her peers and her professor, in which case she was more than happy to sacrifice pride for house points. Ruby turned her head to the side for a moment studying each ornament before nodding, righting her head, and then using another spell to decorate. “Splendere argentum.” She smiled to herself as she swirled her wand around, the silver sparkling as it curled this way and that across the front of the brilliantly green ornament until a beautifully etched snake appeared. Each ornament would have it’s turn, though also it possessed it’s own quality. The red ornament would use ‘splendere aurum’ and it’s etching would be that of a lion, the blue would use ‘splendere pyropus’ and it’s etching was an eagle, and lastly the yellow would use ‘splendere niger’ with a neat little badger etched on the ornament. Ruby smirked at her handiwork, each house represented by their respected animals. As she sat her wand down she waited to see what Professor Flitwick would have to say about her decorations, in the meantime her eyes strayed to Wynd to see how his project was coming along.

[Merrick Marr]

Merrick didn’t want to admit it, but he was rather interested in this classroom project. Not that decorating ornaments was something he found to be cool, but because he already had the perfect idea. He smirked a little to himself, that wry grin plastered on his lips as he waved his wand at the ornament. As a 7th year Merrick had already begun learning silent spells and found himself pretty adept at them. Sometimes he even amazed himself with how awesome he was. There was that arrogant attitude that everyone knew and loved. Leaning back in his seat he looked up at the board. His Latin was a little rusty, but he seemed to get the gist of the words in front of him. The red-herrings probably wouldn’t be anything too devastating as it was the class before Christmas holidays meaning Professor Flitwick wouldn’t want to do anything that could blow up his classroom.

“Ornamentum reparo,” Merrick said as he watched the shatter small bulb repair itself and sit in its dull, grungy state on his desk. Tergeo. The flick of his wand seemed to act as a vacuum as the dirt and grime quickly disappeared leaving in it’s place an almost shiny new Christmas decoration. Now which one should I try…obviously engorgio and reducio should be left for later…I know what those ones are for certain. Shrugging to himself he randomly chose one, his mind using the process of elimination on the words he didn’t know.

Micare, he thought. It was an immediate effect and one that made Merrick frown. His process of elimination hadn’t been very good…now his ornament was even duller than before. Glaring at the orb he clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth before crossing that one of his list. Good thing he knew which one would counteract it. Splendere aurum. The ornament immediately changed to a gleaming gold. Nodding his head Merrick got an idea on making the ornament look even more like the decoration he wanted and it was all thanks to the spell he had found by mistake. Micare aurum, he thought as he moved his wand around the little gold ball, creating a twisting design that looked like small grooves across the surface. Now the ornament resembled an oversized snitch. Grinning that arrogant ear-to-ear smile he sat the ball down. Reducio. He watched the ball shrink to the perfect size and he held it up with amusement. Now the only thing missing was the wings, but they weren’t needed to get the idea. He leaned back in his seat tossing his ornament into the air and catching it before setting it back on the table, waiting for the Professor to marvel at his handiwork.