Defense Against the Dark Arts ((1st-3rd Years))

[Professor Kendric Druex]

Professor Kendric Druex sat at his desk with his hands folded in his lap, blankly staring at the ceiling; all the while patiently expecting his students. His lesson plans were laid out neatly over his ornate oak desk that was hand made, and given to him by his older brother Gabriel. Exactly four minutes had passed since the bell had rung, and Kendric lowered his eyes and swept them over the classroom to make sure everything was in order. His eyes lingered on the drapes that covered the high windows, and with a quick sweep of his wand, they went from the deep burgundy that they had been for the past two days to a pleasant shade of blue. Every few days or so, Kendric made it a point to do this for the sole purpose of change. The drapes never stayed the same color for more than three days. Some students tried to use this habit as means of telling what kind of mood he was in. A kind of, moodring, if you will. Sometimes, Kendric obliged this very wrong assumption and would turn the drapes a fiery red and be so thoroughly mean, he could give Snape a run for his money. Or, he would turn them black and act melancholy for the entire lesson. However, picking at his students was sick and twisted fun that Kendric only indulged in every once in a while. His first and foremost goal in all his classes was to teach, and make sure the students learned. Fun came second.

Students started filing in, and Kendric stood up and walked around to the front of his desk where he sat on a corner. Once everyone was seated, he gave a slight smile. "Good morning." He waited until they all returned his greeting, and turned to the chalk board. With another swipe of his wand, the instructions for the day were gone. He turned back to the students and smiled. "We were originally going to learn about Trolls today, but I've decided instead to work on teaching you all the anti-jinx to a rather popular spell: the Jelly-Legs Jinx." This decision only came after he witnessed an older student place the jinx on a first year yesterday. He figured the least he could do was teach them how to remove it instead of having to crawl all the way to the hospital wing. "Come to think of it," he said rubbing his chin, "After we finish with the Jell-Legs Jinx, why don't we go over other anti-jinxes, if we have any time left? For those of you who have, 'social issues,'" he said eying the boy he rescued the other day, "this would be the time to speak up."

Kendric tried to make his classes as interactive as possible. He remembered his days at Hogwarts and how certain teachers would talk all day and the students were to just sit, listen, and take notes. He hated those classes, and was somewhat determined that his would not fall into that category. Having been a first year here at one time, he knew some hardships that the students went through the first couple years; not from experience, but from observation. Having three older brothers, two of whom were known for having a bit of a temper, was most definantly a reason for bullies not to target you. For those unlucky few, it was far from easy.

"So, shall we get started? I'm going to need all books away, all wands out, and for all of you to stand up." After everyone was on their feet, Kendric once again waved his wand, and the desks disappeared. "Now, their is a simple incantation you can do to remedy the Jelly-Legs jinx. I'm going to need you all to partner up into pairs of two. Please. Now, the incantation for the anti- jinx is 'Stifulus'."

[phantomlynx]

One thing that never really occurred to Skyler until this morning was, if Hogwarts did not have any electricity, how then did people wake up in the morning? Back in the muggle world, he had an alarm clock. But it ran on electricity. The alarm clock that Skyler had was black with bright blue digital numbers. When Skyler had tried to pack it in his trunk, his mother had just laughed at him. "Oh yes, they don't have electricity in the wizarding world. And especially at Hogwarts! You're clock would be useless there. Here take this wind-up clock." That wind-up clock had wound down within the first week of school. There were two things wrong with it. One, it was a wind-up clock meaning that every week or so Skyler would have to take the time to wind it back up. Two, it was an analog clock meaning that it didn't have numbers. Those weren't even real clocks in Skyler's mind.

How then did Will seem to be able to wake up every morning without an alarm clock? Even if a rooster crowed, the Ravenclaw tower was to high up to hear it. Skyler didn't hear the ringing of an analog clock and yet Will was always awake and able to wake Skyler up in the morning. Thank goodness Skyler had made friends with Will. If he hadn't, Skyler probably would have slept through every single class that he had in the morning. Skyler would have to ask Will one of these mornings how he woke on time. It was a concept that just eluded Skyler. Maybe Will was just a morning person. But not everyone in the school would have been a morning person. How could there not be more late students than there were? He would have to find the answer someday.

Skyler rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Today they had Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Druex today. Skyler wondered what colour the drapes would be today. He hoped that they wouldn't be a fiery red or black. Those were always the worst days of class. Skyler hoped that they would be a bright blue or orange. That meant that Professor Druex was in a good mood and class would go on without much incident. Skyler hated the days when Ravenclaws had Defence Against the Dark Arts back-to-back with Potions. It always seemed on those days that Professor Druex was in a sour mood so Skyler got to go from bad mood number one to bad mood number two. Skyler glanced around for Will knowing that he would not find him. Will was always early or at the latest on time for his classes. Skyler and he rarely got ready in the morning together. Will was always kind enough to wake Skyler up in the morning but then he did his own thing. And that was fine, Skyler would catch up to Will in class.

Skyler found his way to the Great Hall and found some breakfast before heading toward the D.A.D.A. classroom. A good breakfast always came in handy if Professor Druex had in fact made his drapes black. Luckily today the drapes were a pleasant shade of blue. Skyler breathed easy and found his seat next to Will. Professor Druex waited until the rest of the students filed into the classroom before beginning his lesson. First he surprised the class by erasing what he had written on the board. He then turned toward the class and said that he wanted to work on anti-jinxes. The professor asked the class to put away their books and take out their wands. He then asked them to partner up. Skyler looked at Will and smiled. "Shall we?"

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Even Melody got lonely sometimes. The only close friend at Hogwarts that she'd ever made had been Dana, who of course had left a while ago now. Melody had been a little bit too reserved and awkward to tell the older girl how much she would miss her; she'd just thought it. Of course, Dana would have left by now anyway, so Melody would still have been on her own. Sapphire, one of Dana's friends and one of Hebe's as well, was decent and would greet her most of the time when they passed each other in the corridor, but of course that wasn't the same as stopping to have a chat with someone and make a real acquaintance. As for her own year, Melody really was a bit of a loner. The thing was, it was difficult to tell who really was her own year. She'd been kept back a year when she failed nearly all of her exams after suffering a vicious attack from a Death Eater near the end of her first year, so that had pretty much cut her off from the people who were the same age as her. She had only ever any interest as gossip, a subject of pity. And as for the year that she was with now, she'd felt a bit alienated from them in her repeat of first year, because nothing was a new experience for her like it was for them, and sometimes doing really well in classes (as she had done, due to doing it all before) wasn't the best thing to make you popular, especially when you had quite a few quirks as Melody did.

It had made her second year courses harder for her as well, in so much as that, not having been stretched at all the year before (quite frankly, she had been bored repeating everything), she had found it much more difficult to get back into learning new things at the beginning of the school year, it having been over a year since she'd last had to do that. All in all, the school had definitely made a mistake in keeping her back a year. Hebe always said that. It seemed to make her quite angry sometimes. Melody kind of liked that, though. It was nice to have someone who was protective - it showed that they cared. Melody was very fortunate with her family. There was a lot of love there. She just had many more problems with finding friends than most people, and sometimes - as today - it got to her slightly. Usually she could remain oblivious to life's little trials, but... well, walking to yet another lesson by herself, dodging through the irrepressible stream of students going in the other direction and attempting not to get pushed the wrong way... it would have been nice to have some company.

Melody didn't make the effort to take in the detail of her surroundings as she entered Professor Druex's classroom. Had she been in a good mood, she would have drunk in the atmosphere, noticing small, intricate, fascinating features such as the amount of dust on the desktop, the course of the cracks in the ceiling or the pattern made by the folds in the curtains. However, she did give the Professor a shy smile, as she wasn't upbeat enough today to give him her usual cheerful, verbal greeting. She took a seat in an unobtrusive part of the classroom, at the front to the side, where no one else was likely to want to sit so they wouldn't ask her to budge out of the way so that they could have the room to sit next to friends that they had and she didn't. She kept her head down, listening to the general chatter. Some people's voices stood out more than others, because they were louder, more high-pitched or more animated. It made interesting enough listening.

Finally Professor Druex started the lesson. Melody stood up as instructed, slightly reluctantly. She was slightly surprised when the desk in front of her disappeared, and she blinked at it for a second, wondering whether it had never been real, or whether he'd simply Vanished it somewhere else for the moment. At any rate, that wasn't her greatest conundrum right now. The biggest issue at present was that the Professor had gone and taken a fancy to them being in pairs (not really such an unreasonable request, but one that was difficult for Melody to fulfil), and Melody of course was sitting on her own. She wasn't sure whether anyone in the room would want to work with her, and she didn't want to press herself upon any of them. So instead she put up her hand, waiting there patiently for the Professor to come to her.
"Please sir," she said timidly, "could you assign me someone to work with?" She hoped that he wouldn't tell her to use her own initiative. Right now, she was sick of that meaning getting people to agree, with insulting reluctance, to do something that they didn't want to do.

[Williard Thoth R4]

"Skyler? Skyler," Williard whispered while gently shaking his friend. "Come on, get up. we have D.A.D.A this morning." After Skyler groggily sat up, Williard grabbed his books and headed down to breakfast. In the beginning of the year, they used to get ready and go down to breakfast together, but somehow, Williard ended up going solo. However, neither of them questioned the change. Williard loved school. To him, it was a kind of job. Almost every morning before coming to Hogwarts, Williard would get up with his father, and watch him get ready for work. He didn't have to be at the Ministry until nine in the morning, but he always got up at six thirty, went through his morning routines, and would always be a half an hour early. Williard thought that was the reason he was so well respected in his Department. He was always punctual and on top of that, a hard worker. He never hesitated to show how serious he took his job. So, during the week, it was this feeling solely that enabled Williard to get up bright and early and put his best foot forward with everything he did. He wanted to show his professors, like his father showed his superiors, that he was serious about school. Williard didn't doubt that Skyler was too, but Skyler was a bit more, relaxed than he was. But if it was one thing Williard could say about his friendship with Skyler, it was that they gave each other space to be themselves, which Williard deeply appreciated.

After quickly eating breakfast, Williard made his way to the second floor, and stood outside the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Once the bell had rang, he quickly went in and took his usual seat. He quickly unpacked his materials, and proceeded to copy down what was on the board. He was a little disappointed that they would be learning about Trolls, but he didn't dwell on it. After he finished, he looked around the classroom and noticed that the drapes were no longer burgundy, but blue. At first, he thought this a weird habit of Professor Druex. But after a while, Williard got used to, and even welcomed the small change in decor; except when the drapes were red or black. Those days were usually the worst.

A little while later, everyone filled the classroom, and Skyler was in his usual seat beside him. Professor Druex then got up and greeted the class. "Good morning," Williard chimed with the rest of the class. He was prepared to hear the introduction to today's lesson, but Professor Druex announced instead that they would working on the anti jinx to the Jelly-Leg curse. Williard was somewhat surprised, but not really. Professor Druex changed things alot. Williard wasted no time in packing up his materials, and threw his school bag up against the wall. He stood up, and the desks disappeared. He listened as Professor Druex told them he was willing to teach other anti jinxes after todays lesson. Williard became excited. This was a golden opportunity. They were then told to split into pairs, and Williard returned Skyler's invitation. "Yeah, come on," he said walking over a little to space for the two of them. He took out his wand, and waited for further instruction.

[Jacob Baine H3]

Once again, Jacob was nearly late to class. He woke up extremely late for breakfast and extremely bad tempered. On top of that, he had heard that breakfast had been unusually tasty, and he could hardly believe his ill luck.

"Why?" he asked no one in particular as he shuffled down the halls to get to class. "Why does the universe love to make me miserable?"

As if in answer, the universe somehow tangled his untied shoelaces and caused him to trip rather magnificently in the view of a cluster of a pretty portraits. They giggled at him as he stomped by, blushing and long-stepping to keep his cretinous shoelaces out of conspiracy range with each other.

As he made his way, tantalizing smells of food wafted their way into his nose. It would seem as if the house elves were preparing for lunch. Inhaling deeply, he swore to himself that he would not miss lunch, even if the universe threw itself into his path.

When he made it into the Defense classroom, he took a seat in the back, and watched in barely-contained happiness as Professor Druex erased what looked like an extremely boring lecture on Trolls. His mind began to wander as he tried to think of what the Professor would choose as a topic today, and became so absorbed that he almost missed the Professor talking.

He only caught "Jelly-Legs", and at that he shot up in his seat, folding his hands neatly and trying his best to look like a model student, despite the fact that his eyes were wide and wild with anticipation. Jelly-Legs! He knew how to do that!

So it was with great disappointment that Jacob realized that Professor Druex had been talking about anti-jinxes. It didn't occur to him that perhaps the Professor wanted to teach the anti-jinx to Jelly-Legs because of people like him, so great was his despondency.

He glared up at the ceiling as the Professor continued. Apparently he needed to pair up with someone. But he knew no one in this class, and most of them were younger than he was. Sighing heavily and loudly, so as to let everyone know of his dissatisfaction, he plunked his head down and raised his hand to let the Professor know that he, too, needed to be paired up.

It was then that he realized that that there was someone in this class that Jacob did not particularly want to see right now.

Liang Jong.

Honestly, Jacob didn't see what was so wrong about asking to borrow a quill to write a reply letter. Sure, he supposed that he could have told Liang his reply right there and then. But Liang sent him a letter! He couldn't just.... not send one in reply! Vaguely, Jacob thought to himself that dealing with Liang was a bit like dealing with girls. There wasn't any correct way to act.

Then he realized what exactly he was thinking, and hastily ended the thought, a slight tinge of color appearing on his cheeks. He was not going to partner up with Liang. Not today.

[Pagan Mason S3]

Pagan was in a fairly content mood when she woke up that morning and got ready for classes without a word to anyone else, mainly because most of them were gone already. Pagan would much rather skip breakfast and sleep in rather than get up early just for a few peices of toast or whatever they were serving for breakfast that morning. Instead she took her time getting ready for class and grabbed a chocolate frog from a small stash of candy that her mother had sent for her.

She threw her bag over her shoulder and made her way slowly to class, she was in a good mood today so she didn't want to go to class but did anyway. As she was walking through the halls she spotted some blonde haired boy trip over his shoe laces and chuckled sadistically to herself as she continued on, still pretty far behind him. Yes today was turning at to be a very good morning. She continued to follow the boy through the halls until he got to the classroom that apparently they were both going too. As he turned the corner she recognised him as Jacob Blaine or Baine, something like that, a Hufflepuff from her year.

Walking into the classroom she instantly spotted the professor, Druex, sitting at the front with a boring looking lecture about trolls on the chalk board. Her good morning appeared to be ending at that point and with a much elongated sigh she took her seat at the back on the same row as Jacob but at the other end. She didn't plan on associating with the guy unless she had too, she had no interest in talking to the Hufflepuff. She looked around the classroom and noticed that the curtains were a nice pretty blue colour and snorted, rolling her eyes. Druex was a weird one and apparently today he was in a good mood much to Pagan's disappointment, she loved it when the curtains were Black, his maloncholy attitude always amused her. When they were red it was never a good sign for her since she had a way of bringing out the worst in people and it tended to be directed at herself.

She was pleased when the lecture on the board disappeared and he started rambling on about anti-jelly-legs spells. She couldn't help but grin down at the desk when he spoke. Pagan did enjoy casting the jelly-legs curse on people, especially when they didn't see it coming or see that she was the one doing it. Watching them try to walk with it on at the same time as looking for the person who did it was the high light of Pagan's day.

Her good mood disepated immediately when he told them to stand up and get a partner. She did the first part and stood up with a frown on her face not bothering to move her bag off the table top. She flinched slightly when the table suddenly disappeared and her bag fell to the floor with a loud smash. She rolled her eyes and kicked it carelessly to the back wall and crossed her harms with her wand in her left hand. Not many people liked Pagan, not that she really blamed them really, so she wasn't sure if anyone would want to be a partner to her. Not that it mattered much, being a Slytherin she had already at the curse put on her many times and knew the counter curse anyway.

[Jacob Baine H3]

It seemed his only choices for partners were the Gryffindor second year and the Mason girl, a Slytherin girl who was in his year. He vaguely remembered that she had some reputation for something, and that people were supposed to avoid her or something like that. A part of him wanted to be surly and rebellious and go against the general grain by pairing up with her. But mainly he wanted to avoid the embarrassment of having to partner up with a younger girl.

But if anyone asked, it would definitely be because he was surly and rebellious. As inconspicuously as a teenage boy could manage, he turned his head to look at Liang. Not for any reason other than proving his surliness and rebelliousness. Of course.

In some ways, he supposed that he and the Mason girl were very much alike, at least in terms of socializing. But then again, he didn't go around with a lighter, let alone support the Weird Sisters. He wasn't even sure if that was proper in school. Both.

And yet it only seemed natural that the two outcasts would be partners, at least in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sighing to himself, he collected his things, which had dropped to the floor. His ink bottle had spilled its contents in a black puddle around his feet, which he attempted to spell away. However, as he had expected, it only half worked, leaving him to sop up the rest of it with the hem of his robe. It would get washed.

"Um," he said, moving over to Mason, "partners?"

He paused and looked her over.

"You can try the counter-spell first," he said wisely. She did not seem be as bad at magic as he was.

[Pagan Mason S3]

Pagan glanced over at the guy who walked over to her and sighed letting her arms fall to her sides. There wasn't anyone but some 2nd year girl to pair up with and as much as Pagan would rather work on her own it was too humiliating to put the curse and then counter curse on herself. So instead she chose to do what the professor told them to do and pair up with someone, and that someone would have to be the guy coming over to her. she nodded when he asked if she wanted to be partners, albet grudgingly and shrugged carelessly.

Hopefully this guy wouldn't be too bad at it and she wouldn't have to put the anti-jinx on herself because that was just pathetic. Not that she expected too much from a Hufflepuff, they weren't exactly known for their skills in much and Pagan hadn't really paid much attention to him over the years to know if he was any good at it.

"You can try the counter-spell first," he said to which Pagan just snorted and rolled her eyes. Of course she'd go first, like she was going to wait around for him to do it, no way she wanted to get hers done with now when she still had the most energy rather than when some of it had been zapped up by being jinxed herself, "Yeah sure" she nodded in agreement deciding she didn't want to cause too much conflict with someone who was about to curse her.

[Jacob Baine H3]

Like most boys, Jacob wanted to impress Miss Mason, who he found rather attractive, at least for a Slytherin with a Zippo lighter. And like most boys, Jacob was more the type who'd hit and tease and otherwise mistreat the girl he wanted to impress, rather than be nice. So, he decided, the best way to impress Mason was to successfully jinx her before she could put up her counter-spell. The best way to do this, he thought, was to stall and then jinx her when she least expected it.

He winked, because he was feeling particularly cheeky, and took a few steps back. He flicked his wand upward in salute, but instead of getting into a proper spell-casting stance, he stood slack, twirling his wand with his fingers. "I don't suppose this is the first time you've been jinxed, is it?" he said airily, running his other hand through his hair; his confidence was almost insulting (and yet inside he knew that that confidence would vanish if Liang wasn't paying attention). "I'll go easy on you."

"I'm Baine, by the way. Jacob Baine. Hufflepuff, third year, blah blah blah. And you're...Mason, is it? Pagan? Slytherin, that's right." Slowly, he assumed a proper pose, but then stalled again as he looked at his wand hand and cracked a lop-sided grin. "You know, I'm left-handed. See?" He wiggled his wand hand. "Apparently, in ancient times the left hand was considered evil. A bit like you Slytherins." His grin widened mischievously. "Oops. Didn't mean that. Not completely."

He made as if he was going to get out of his stance once again, but instead, he brandished his wand toward Pagan, hoping to jinx her before she react.
(No offense intended, that's just Jacob. DX <3?)

[Pagan Mason S3]

The first thought that flew through Pagan's mind when the hufflepuff talked was 'what an idiot'.

"I'll go easy on you." he said to which Pagan just snorted very unladylike, "Oh sure you'll go easy on me" she said rolling her eyes. At her age and with her attitude she thought that all boys, and many girls, were complete and utter morons and not worth her time ever. So she never made any effort to become friends or anything more like the rest of the girls in her year. Yes Pagan understood that about now was when most girls became interested in the opposite sex but that just wasn't the way Pagan rolled, nope everything Pagan Mason did was for herself and she thought relationships got in the way of more important things.

"I'm Baine, by the way. Jacob Baine. Hufflepuff, third year, blah blah blah. And you're...Mason, is it? Pagan? Slytherin, that's right." Pagan rolled her eyes as he spoke, she knew who she was and didn't care who he was so that whole sentence seemed like a waste of time in her eyes, I mean lets face it at this rate the only further interaction outside of the classroom that this Jacob Baine was going to get from Pagan was another curse. She growled under her breath when he started on about being left handed, an obvious distraction tactic that he should have known wouldn't work on a Slytherin. She grew incredibly impatient and before long snapped, "Would shut up already I don't care what you think, just do the damn curse"

She didn't react when he brandished his wand and the curse hit her, it also didn't take long for her to fall the floor and then point her want at her legs and snap out the counter-jinx. Before Jacob could say anything else she flung her own wand in his direction and hissed the curse letting it shoot out of her wand at an alarming rate. Yes cursing this idiot would make her much happier.

((AN: No offence taken, Pagan has her own non-conventional ways))

[Liang Jong R3]

Liang Jong wasn’t normally bothered by his height. He was taller than most students his age throughout his years at Muggle-school, and even in a diverse school such as Hogwarts, he stood above the head of many of the other third years. It was something that was – to him at least – normal.

And so, as he walked through the halls – his head above a crowd of little first years who scampered along lest they be marked tardy – he walked with relative ease. Sure, he was a good target for sly Slytherins that wanted to test the newest fad, the aptly named “Jelly-Legs Jinx”, since he was tall and stood out amongst a crowd but…

He was a student from the Ravenclaw House, he was aware of the anti-jinx used to dispel it and so, he took bullying (Which he rarely received, thankfully) in stride. Today, though, the usual antagonists that prowled the halls were not present – perhaps they finally got the detention they rightfully deserved – but, either way, this meant a rather easy walk for Liang up and to his next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Liang liked D.A.D.A (As he, and perhaps many other students, affectionately called it), there was something… thrilling, fascinating about the class. It stirred the warrior inside of Liang, as cliché as that sounded; his love for martial arts taught him the value of self-defense, and the fast-paced motions and timing required to cast an effective counter-spell matched his preferred style of fighting. Besides, the class also covered various topics of interest – Liang truly enjoyed himself here and (unlike a few friends of his) he never found any reason to complain about the class, it had everything he liked and it was an exciting topic, even when the class wasn’t practicing a jinx on each other.

He reached the classroom and quietly opened the door. He had impeccable timing. Professor Druex was present, yes, but he hadn’t begun the lesson since the rest of the class was filling in. Liang was amongst the stragglers, but he walked inside and over to his seat…

… Right across from Jacob’s, which was (At the time) empty. Liang sat down, and he stared straight ahead – quietly fuming. The whole Owl incident this morning was taxing, especially since Jacob wasn’t present for breakfast. He didn’t scrawl a reply to Jacob’s request for a study session immediately – no. Instead, he had stood up and had stalked over to the Hufflepuff table, and had tried to search out his friend.

When he didn’t see Jacob – and was kindly told that he didn’t get up by one of his dorm mates – he inwardly smacked a metaphorical hand to his forehead before he turned ‘round and returned to his table. There, he hastily scrawled out his reply before he tucked into his (rather tasty) breakfast – without much enthusiasm, however, because of Jacob’s irritating little letter.

How long had they gone over Charms? Jacob had told him, eagerly, that he understood it all thanks to Liang’s “wonderful teaching skills” – but… Oh, it was frustrating! Liang couldn’t scowl – his eyes were glued intently to the lecture about Trolls, and he had quill and parchment ready to jot down notes – but he did grip the poor quill in his hand tightly, to the point where it looked like the fragile thing would snap.

Why was he so frustrated with Jacob? He couldn’t explain it now, but he was quite sure it had to do with the fact that he wasted days to tutor him on Charms – and now…

He’d deal with that later, however (And he’d get his blasted quill back from Jacob, too) because the lesson was about to begin!

Liang vaguely noticed that the seat beside him was suddenly occupied by one Jacob Baine, he heard someone scuffle in and settle in that reserved seat. Quite frankly, he didn’t care – he instead focused all his attention and energies upon Professor Druex who began his lesson, or rather terminated it, in favor of assigning the class a new topic: jinxes and anti-jinxes.

Liang’s face brightened. That was what he loved about Defense Against the Dark Arts – it was always unexpected, and a change in plan to something more clever and insightful was always refreshing.

Professor Druex requested that they assign into pairs – and Liang inwardly groaned. He expected Jacob to stand up and walk right over to him, and he prepared himself for the same speech he always had whenever he and Jacob paired up – and the words were on the tip of his tongue but…

…

No one came to his side.

Liang blinked – in quiet shock. Hastily, he turned around – he could have sworn that Jacob was the one who snuck in behind him and into the seat. And indeed, it was Jacob – he recognized his things and Jacob was there…

… But he had asked someone else to be his partner, the Slytherin girl. He unfortunately could not remember her name at the moment; he was more shocked that Jacob chose someone else to be his partner for this demonstration.

Now, he was not offended. Of course he wasn’t offended, how could he even be offended? He did feel, however, abandoned now that Jacob had someone else to partner up with. It had become part of his daily routine, after all, to always be with Jacob.

… Like how it used to be routine to always be with his sister but… No, Liang shook his head – he wouldn’t think about her, and he wouldn’t think about using Jacob to replace that hole that his sister left.

And so, he took a deep breath and glanced around – and he spied a “second” year sitting off to the front. She seemed to be asking Professor Druex to assign her someone, and thus – Liang decided that it would be a better idea to ask himself.

So, he stood up and quietly slipped over towards Melody Bang-bala. He didn’t smile often, but he offered the girl a small smile as he slipped over. Vaguely, he recalled some rumors – stories about her after that vicious Death Eater attack (The thought made him shudder) but…

“Excuse me?” Liang asked Melody. “Do you still need a partner?”

Stupid question, he realized – but he never was the best around girls.

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Melody had been exceptionally polite to the Professor (her usual manner was extremely direct, in some people's opinion too much so), but as it turned out then it wasn't him who answered her question at all, but rather a student who approached her. He seemed to be friendly, since he'd given her a smile (not a whole-hearted one, but still a nice smile and those didn't usually accompany hostility). Melody smiled broadly back at him, and bowed her head to the Professor.
"Ah think Ah'm sorted after all, sir," she said to Professor Druex, sounding much more confident now that she didn't have to ask him to force someone to pair up with her, even though whoever he could have found would probably have been unhappy at doing a charitable deed without having any choice in the matter.

Having thus discharged her duty of courtesy to the Professor, Melody was able to answer the boy standing to the side of her. She looked him up and down, quite frankly. There was more up than down, really. Melody was only of medium height, and on the smaller side of that, whereas he was exceptionally tall for a third year. There were sixth year boys smaller than him. Melody knew his name, actually. He was quite distinctive, and of course back in her first time through first year she'd been in the same year group as him. So she had been Sorted at the same time as him. He'd been tall back then, too. He was the kind of person who you noticed immediately even (or perhaps especially) when you were nervous, and whose fate you watched with interest. So Melody still remembered his name from the Sorting Ceremony, and also from the lessons that she'd had with him back then. She couldn't be sure whether he would know who she was at all. While she'd continued to notice her old year, she didn't think that people who'd left you behind tended to remember you quite as much.

Melody had to look up quite a long way (or at least it seemed like it) to talk to Liang's face. Her trusty bunches bobbed up and down by the side of her face as she did so, and they cheered her up a little. They had real ribbons (turquoise) tied round them today, on top of the cheap bobbles which were all she usually bothered with.
"Aye, that Ah do," she confirmed cheerfully. "Or per'aps not, now thoo're asking. Since thoo're asking rather, that is. Will thoo work wit' me, then?" She took out her wand and brandished it in her hand a little dangerously, enjoying the slight tingle she got in her fingers as a little surge of power from the wand passed through them. Melody was very good at DADA. That and Transfiguration were her absolute strengths, so she was fairly confident that she would do okay in this lesson. She contemplated her partner (it was a relief to have one!) briefly; she wasn't used to looking at people's faces from this angle. Still, the thing that stood out most was his bushy eyebrows, and they were right at the top of his face, so it was obviously still possible to see that. Perhaps she wasn't quite so small after all (she really had been feeling it, with such a tall guy standing next to her).

"We've to wait for t'Professor, Ah think," she said, attempting to fill the silence which she'd created. "What'll thoo be wanting to do first, then? T'jinx, or anti-jinx?"

[Liang Jong R3]

Inwardly, Liang was glad that his request for partnership was accepted. He couldn’t imagine what he would have done if Melody had rejected him, besides feeling like a fool and trying to grasp at some excuse or some half-felt apology.

He glanced down at Melody, then, his eyes brightening slightly in eager anticipation to start the lesson, but, at the same time, he took a moment to observe his surroundings. After all, there was always the chance that a jinx could go wrong – and he’d like to know what he would likely crash into if his legs were suddenly squished into jelly, or if his partner suddenly pitched forward if her legs turned into mush. Melody’s desk was there, Liang promptly pushed it back, a little. Professor Druex’s desk was also in the way, but he presumed that neither of them would suddenly dip to the side and slam into it – and it wasn’t as if he could move it readily, anyway.

Liang took a step back, to keep some space between himself and Melody – not because he wished to avoid the rumored “outcast”, but to ensure there was a safety gap between them. His eyes darted around briefly – the other two boys were off in their corner and Jacob (He inwardly snorted) was off in his own corner with the Slytherin girl. It wasn’t likely that the other people present would prove to be a danger and so, he glanced back at Melody and – again – he offered her is small, lame smile.

When she brandished her wand, so did he. He reached up with his left hand, and rolled up his sleeves before he plucked at his side and brandished his own wand. The rich-colored holly wand was comforting to hold, and he held it lax in his hand for just a moment… And then, he gripped it and assumed his position – pointing the tip back at Melody with a smaller grin.

He was just as ready – and as enthusiastic as Melody was to start this interactive lesson. However, at her suggestion he nodded – not relaxing from his ready position as he replied with a soft, “Yes”. Inwardly, he squirmed; he’d rather not have to wait for the Professor’s signal to start to move but…

… But luckily for Liang – Melody spoke again and, grateful that they wouldn’t have to pass through an awkward silence, he replied easily.

“I’ll try the anti-jinx.”

And he shifted his position – ready to defend against an oncoming blow…

[Jacob Baine H3]

He smirked, a facial expression which he had spent a lot of time and effort practicing in the mirror, rubbed his nose, hoping to pass off his successful jinx as something that occurred every day. Not that he was that good, or that bad of a person. Inwardly, he reflected that he should have had a picture taken of that, just to remember that once he was able to pull off a spell.

Licking his lips as another "cool" gesture, he casually turned around to look at the other students. At least, that's what he hoped it looked like he was doing. His gaze passed easily over the professor, over the the two Ravenclaws, even over his own partner as she prepared to jinx him. Finally, he got to the part of the room where Miss Bang-Bala and Mr. Jong were practicing their jinxes. His carefully structured expression broke down----now he was just a boy watching his friend. A boy who was watching his friend, the friend in question being bafflingly upset. Without realizing what he was doing, Jacob relaxed his position and scratched the back of his head. He knew that he needed to do something about Liang, but he just was not sure what would make it up to him.

Unfortunately for Jacob, time waits for no man. As all his thinking was going on, his partner was preparing to jinx him. And now, just when his guard was at his weakest, Pagan let loose with her magic, flinging the jinx at him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her movement. Alarmed, he pulled his wand out, but in his panic he forgot the words to the anti-jinx. In desperation not to look like an idiot, he waved his wand and muttered nonsense---nonsense which he hoped would save him.

Nonsense or no, magic was magic, whether you knew what you were doing or not. The jinx collided with Jacob's "spell", and for a split second Jacob thought that maybe he should have taken a picture of this, too. But then he felt his own magic slam back into him, sending him careening into the floor.

Dazed, he looked around to get his bearings. He had moved from his original position, and his stomach lurched in realization that he hadn't just moved to anywhere. Wincing, he turned around to be greeted with the sight of Liang's legs. Fervently wishing for nothing else to go wrong, he slowly raised his head to look at Liang, praying that his hurried magic had at least saved him from Pagan's jinx.

For a second, it seemed that his spell had worked. And then, just as he got to Liang's eyes, his legs began to wobble and shake, as if they were made of jelly. "Ugh," he sighed, bringing his hand to his temple, if only to hide the color that was rising to his cheeks.

[Pagan Mason S3]

Pagan couldn't help the satisfaction she felt when her spell pushed through Baine's own magic and threw him over to the feet of some other guy. She supposed it was the anger she threw into the spell that caused it to be so strong and throw him so far but either way her spell kicked his to the kerb. She had throw it at him as he was watching some other guy, someone that Pagan didn't know and didn't care to know. He was pretty tall that's all she knew about it and all she ever planned to know ever.

He had said some sort of spell though and for a moment as her magic tried to barge it's way through she thought that maybe he'd gotten the spell out, and would have admired him secretely for such a quick reaction, however her spell had managed to break through his spell and hit him so she had simply snorted and rolled her eyes and leant against the wall. The look of confusion on his face she registered seconds later after his spell had almost appeared to work confirmed to her that he had just said the first spell that jumped into his mind and had not had any idea of what he was doing. Pity because his spell that he'd shot at her in the first place had been pretty good, she would know. Being a Slytherin Pagan had a pretty good knowledge of spells that could be used to bully other people, after using them herself or having them used on herself. That was one of the positives of being a Slytherin, you got a lot of experience with lots of different spells, good and bad.

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Melody was pleased that her partner was happy to take the task light-heartedly, with his slightly jokey response to having a wand pointed at him. It was strange, he seemed half awkward when you considered the slightly odd smile (was he embarrassed to be smiling?) and then perfectly amiable and amusing the rest of the time, from what little he'd said/done. She gave her wand another friendly wave to stave off her impatience, and a few pink sparks came out of its tip. She grinned happily at the mini firework display, her bunches bopping up and down as she bounced on her heels a little, keeping herself active in preparation for the mental power that she would need for the jinx, and, more importantly, the anti-jinx, when she got a chance to perform it.

Melody glanced over to Professor Druex. He didn't seem too bothered that other people had already started, so perhaps it wouldn't be a problem if they did the same.
"Let's just go for it," Melody suggested to Liang, wanting to make sure that he was ready before she tried to jinx him. Otherwise she would be acting very dishonourably, not giving him a chance to prepare himself. You didn't get that chance, of course, when someone was attacking you for real... Melody knew that from experience. But it was no use being taken by surprise when you were trying to perform a counter-jinx for the first time. Practice had to start at a low difficulty level before it could be made harder by simulating a truly dangerous situation. Melody understood that well enough, and so she had no wish to make life hard for this startling tall Ravenclaw, who she didn't want to appear unfriendly to after he'd been so kind in saving her the embarrassment of being forcedly paired up with someone.

She took a deep breath and aimed her wand at his (very long! and possible unstable when shaking) legs. "Tremulis gravis!" she said, confidently and commandingly. His legs would bend to her will, whatever signals his brain might send to them. She had tried to make her command clearer and stronger than his mental override could be, so hopefully any negation of the quivering symptoms of the jinx would come from the anti-jinx. She thought that she could sense the weight that went with the spell as it left the tip of her wand... in no more than a couple of seconds she would know how successfully Liang could respond as his legs either started shaking, or didn't.

[Liang Jong R3]

Although Liang Jong was an intelligent young man who had his wits about him, too many things were going on for the moment to allow him to properly assess the situation and to react to it accordingly.

For a brief moment his gaze was focused upon Melody. The other student had reasoned that it was perhaps best to start, since it seemed that Druex had given his implied consent to allow the students to start casting the jinxes without further prompting. After all, jinxes were shot back and forth between the pairs, and desks were shifting as students fell forward; all was orchestrated without Druex giving his formal command so…

Liang nodded to his partner and stood straighter, his wand-hand poised and his muscles tense.

“I agree; let’s do this,” Liang breathed and then, he fell into his position. He had been in this stance many times before when he faced a sparring partner in the dojo for his judo classes. Although Melody was much shorter than he, he knew how dangerous any opponent could be for physical fighting, obviously the same could be applied for magical dueling. He seemed to relax; it was all a ruse, however, since he was trained to react quickly, muscles bunched and ready to counter or to dodge.

However, Liang was not going to dodge the oncoming strike, since his goal was to dispel the jinx after it was cast upon him. Really, he was bracing himself for the moment when he would pitch forward and fall, since that was much more dangerous than the actual force launched at him from the jinx itself. Discreetly, he moved his foot off to the side, to kick the nearby desk just a few more inches away – one could not be too cautious, after all.

He sent Melody a small smile then, it was nothing more but a slight quirk of his lips (Liang didn’t smile after all) as he waited quietly for Melody to make her move. As Melody began to move, his sharp gaze quickly fell upon the tip of her wand – which was pointed confidently at her target, his legs.

"Tremulis gravis!" She cried and then, he watched and felt as the magic shot collided with his legs. He continued to stand, for just a mere moment, before he felt his balance waver, and his legs shook – and he knew what was going to happen next.

He was ready, then, to name the anti-jinx as his legs quivered – but what he wasn’t ready for was an unexpected flaw in his calculations.

Just as he pitched forward, half a second later he heard another cry of “temulis gravis”, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that something else pitched forward. And, before he could possibly stop himself – Liang fell down and onto the other object that was pitched forward.

Said object was none other than Jacob Baine, and as the other teen turned red from embarrassment for being unable to block Pagan’s jinx, Liang fell on top of him. Liang fell like a rock on his jelly legs which melted underneath his heavy weight, and to “happily” cushion his fall was none other than his bane of the moment, Jacob.

“…”

Liang’s head rested upon his friend’s chest and – for the moment – he could not move any part of his body, for some reason or other, so instead, he said slowly.

“… That was a good shot, Melody,” he said, lamely as he tried his hardest not to stare at the poor boy he had pinned beneath him for the moment. He tried to raise his head but, with the lower part of his body immobilized for a moment and his arms sprawled awkwardly beneath him (He had tried to break his fall, after all) he sighed and, said – if only to make the whole situation less awkward…

“… I got your owl, Jacob. And I'm sorry, I'll get off of you as soon as I can move my arm...”

Smooth, Liang, smooth.

[Jacob Baine H3]

Legs still wobbling, Jacob tried his best not to look at anyone else in the room. He knew that he would most certainly shrivel up and die if he did. It was bad enough that his "counter-spell" failed and that he fell at the feet of one Liang Jong, but to have this happen in a room full of his peers? He didn't know if he'd be able to live with himself. Dimly, he recalled the old story of a student flinging himself off the Ravenclaw tower. It would be a dramatic solution, certainly, but at the moment, Jacob felt the embarrassment was too awful to bear.

So it was with great surprise that Jacob, absorbed in his own youthful misery, felt the air being expelled from his own lungs, as what felt like a hundred thousand million kilos barrel into his midsection.

"Ooof," he grunted, now knowing what it truly felt like to be caught between a rock and a hard place. The heavy object which had fallen on top of him had hit him with such a force that Jacob was certain that he had left a dent in the stone floor. The feeling where his head had smacked the floor could easily attest to that.

Head spinning, he gasped for breath as he wondered at what just happened. Although he had been contemplating suicide, he certainly hadn't meant it. Why was it that when he wanted something to go his way, it didn't, and when he didn't want something to happen, it did? Finally catching his breath, his first action with it was a sigh. Perhaps, he thought to himself, he shouldn't want anything at all, not anymore. It certainly would be better for his health.

Groaning, he propped himself up as best he could, to get a good look at the projectile that had designated him as its crash-landing site. He wouldn't have been shocked if it had been a dragon or at least a UFO, but he choked in surprised when he saw not a Horntail or Martians, but Liang.

Jacob's face flushed an even deeper red as his eyes went to and from Liang's person. He couldn't decide whether it was more embarrassing to look at the other boy, or act like a wuss and stare at the floor. Pain long forgotten, Jacob's face changed from one color to the next as he tried to think of something to say that could possibly salvage his damaged pride. After his face went through the whole of the spectrum, he finally managed, "Get off me, you lump."

It wasn't the best of insults, and in retrospect, it would probably come back to bite him in the butt, especially since Liang was supposed to tutor him immediately after this class. But Jacob's mind couldn't be expected to think so far ahead when in a situation like this. "If this is supposed to be payback for your quill, you're going over the top," he added angrily.

[Professor Kendric Druex]

Well, start, Kendric thought. He stood there watching as the kids moved into their positions. Some were unsure, but others began practicing straight away. Kendric slightly sighed when a Ms. Melody Bang- Bala, a second year Gryffindor, raised her hand. She was standing alone which was obviously the reason she required him. Kendric nodded, letting her know she could speak, and after listening to her question, he saw another hand in the air, and it was that of Jacob Baine. A Hufflepuff third year, and somewhat of an obnoxious young man. But, before Kendric could put two and two together, Mr. Liang Jong, a Ravenclaw third year, had approached Ms. Bang Bala, and Slytherin third year Pagan Mason had somehow caught the attention of Mr. Baine. Well now, Kendric thought. Some students were still looking shyly around the room, mainly two first year Ravenclaw boys, Skyler Willis, and rather ambitious boy, Williard Thoth. Kendric wasn't messing around with them, however, he meant to give them an open ended order. He often did this and yet some of the students hadn't completely caught on yet. But, they'd learn.

Kendric began walking through the classroom and observing pairs. He stood a little away from Ms. Mason and Mr. Baine. Kendric smiled. Pagan's attitude was amusing and thought it rather funny she had Jacob for a partner. After a little talk, Jacob shot the curse at Pagan who fell, but with impressive speed executed the anti jinx, and cursed Mr. Baine in turn. Kendric had his wand ready in his hand, considering Mr. Baine didn't have the best memory, and Kendric's assumptions were correct. Mr. Baine fell after getting hit with both Pagan's and his own curse, and to Kendric's surprise, Mr. Jong fell onto Mr. Baine.

Kendric made a move, but decided against it. Instead, he turned to Liang's partner, Melody. '' Five points to Gryffindor Ms. Bang- Bala.'' He then turned to Pagan, who was staring at the boys as he was. ''Ten points to Slytherin Ms. Mason for very impressive speed on delivering both the jinx and anti- jinx,'' he said smiling. ''However, while I do grant students the freedom to be who they are, you might want to watch your language in my classroom. This is your first and last warning.'' He glanced back down at the boys. He raised his wand. and with two quick motions alleviated the boy's of their curses. ''Class is almost over,'' he said to the boys. ''I would suggest the two of you concentrate, and work quickly.''

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Melody watched with some consternation as Liang seemed to be waiting for the jinx to actually hit him, which seemed to her a bit of a silly thing to do. It must be far harder to try to concentrate on the anti-jinx when your body was already defying your wishes. Perhaps he was just trying to simulate performing the anti-jinx in the face of adversity, but it wasn't something that Melody really intended to try. She felt that her concerns had been somewhat vilified when Liang fell on top of a Hufflepuff who she remembered had always been a bit annoying when the Gryffindors had shared lessons with the Hufflepuffs her first time through first year (that meant that he must have been very annoying really, because Melody was usually quite oblivious to that sort of thing). Liang seemed to know the Hufflepuff quite well, judging by the exchange between them, which Melody found a little (unjustifiably in her opinion) aggressive on Jacob's side, considering that it hadn't been intentional. Then again, she wasn't the one who'd just had someone fall on top of her - it might look a little different from down there.

Melody watched the Professor a little apprehensively as he came towards the entangled pair, but relaxed and gave a little smile as he granted her five points. She glanced at the clock anxiously as he told Liang and Jacob that the class had almost finished, finding that the Professor was indeed right. Melody wanted a chance to try the counter-jinx as well! She kept a steady gaze on the Professor until he'd moved away again, waiting for him to give them a bit of space again (she hated the way that some Professors seemed unable to observe from a distance and didn't make do with only a fleeting glance from closer up). Then she extended a hand to Liang to help pull him up, grinning and not giving a second thought for any possible damage to his masculine pride at being helped up by a girl (it didn't really cross her mind). She reckoned that he might feel some discomfort about his current less-than-elegant situation, though, and also that it might be best to relieve Jacob of the apparent source of his anger before he got any more aggressive.

"Thoo might've tried the anti-jinx afore t'spell hit thoo?" she suggested lightly. "Ah think Ah'll do that if Ah can... if thoo'll allow me to have a go at the anti-jinx?" she requested, trying to move on past the incident now because she suspected that Liang wouldn't be wanting to dwell on it. She got her wand at the ready again. "Jinx away," she said, her grin returning momentarily at the thought of the challenge, before she resumed her state of mental readiness.