Getting Your Grade
This test is graded in one of two ways.

Reply to this thread.

The first is to reply to this thread with a role played post of your student taking the test. Based on that post, I will determine their grade for the class. This is based on the 'surprise me' idea of grading.

Send Georg Kirchlehner a PM.

Your PM needs to follow these guidelines:

• Needs to have the title format of "Year / Student Name" (5th Year / Jane Doe)
• You need to state what grade you want your student to have.
• You need to explain what they have done in the class to receive that grade.
If I feel it is necessary, I may question your reasoning, especially if your requested grade is sharp contrast to your student's performance in past class threads and on the board as a whole. 

Code for Personal Messages
[b]Student Name: [/b]
[b]Requested Grade: [/b]
[b]What Have They Done to Earn This Grade?:[/b]


---

Name: ______Jane Doe____
House: ______Hufflepuff___

Do not write on this paper below the dotted line. This paper is for examination and instruction purposes only, and therefore only your professor will fill out the lower half. A student found attempting to falsify the professor's notes will automatically receive a failing grade.

Your desks are assigned. If you are sitting at a desk with another student's name on it, move.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Complete each spell to the best of your ability

*   *   *   *   *

Alohomora		Wingardium Leviosa
You have a Locked Box on your desk. You must simply unlock it. Once unlocked, leave the box open so that the Professor may properly judge your progress in the test.		You have been given a Quill Pen. Your task is to Levitate it up into the rafters and deposit it in the basket placed there.
Anapecium		Reparo
You have been given and seemingly Blank Parchment. Your task is to use this spell to make the invisible ink appear.		You have been provided with a Shattered Plate. Your task is to repair it the best you can.
Petrificus Totalus		Lumos/Nox
On your desk, still in its wrapper, is a Chocolate Frog. Unwrap the Frog and Petrify it. Do not eat the frog. Doing so will result in a loss of points.		Once you have completed all other requirements to the best of your ability, leave your desk as-is and approach the podium. There, demonstrate this spell combination to the Professor directly.

---

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY will not be held responsible for student injuries, death or distress caused during the normal course of their examinations. All students are expected to obey the rules laid out by the Professor.

---

Georg stood at the podium, arms folded neatly behind his back, wand gripped. The student's desk were littered with objects, and on each desk sat a simple name plate. He'd arranged the houses carefully; each child was sat with their housemates, but with one desk's space between the students to make it harder to talk.

"Take your places, quickly," he instructed. "Slytherins to the far left; Ravenclaws to the far right. Gryffindors to the near right and Hufflepuff to the near left." Each instruction was dictated with a wave of his wand, indicating the area in question.

"When the clock strikes, you will have 45 minutes to complete this examination. The last task requires you to come to me directly; if there are students in front of you, form an orderly line. You will get two tries on the final task, and that is it. If you do not complete your exam within the allotted time, unfinished work will be counted against you." His voice was strict, neutral, and left no room for back-talk.

His pipe sat on the podium, lit; when the bell began to ring, he sat, picking it up and blowing a smoke ring. His eyes darted around the sitting children, watching each in turn.

How did it go so fast? How were the final exams already starting? Ormen hurried into the Charms classroom, not wanting to be late and perhaps miss one of the most important finals. He surveyed the classroom and saw a multitude of items accompanying the already divided desks. As he was examining the items he heard Professor Kirchlehner tell them where to be seated. Ormen made pace towards the Slytherin side of the room and noticed the names on the desks. He carefully made his way between the rows until he came upon a desk that simply read 'Ormen Morne'. Excited at finding his seat, although it wasn't a very large accomplishment, he immediately sat down and inhaled. He was ready. Exhaling, he looked down at the parchment in front of him. He read through the writing at the top, nodded as he did so, and began his first ever magical examination.

Ormen's eyes wandered to the very first part of the test. Alohomora. Ormen had difficulty with this spell when they first attempted it in class. No matter, he took no emotion to his first attempt at this spell and read on. After reading the instructions, Ormen looked up and saw that a locked box lay in front of him; obviously the target of the first task. He cautiously pulled his wand from his robes and closed his eyes as if giving himself more luck. He opened his eyes and, with a shaky hand, lifted his wand to the lock on the box. 'Focus. Focus!' his voice echoed in his head as he began the incantation.
"Alohomora." he said, focusing on the lock with all his might. At first, it seemed as if nothing happened.
Silence.
Clink.
The lock clicked off and simply opened after a small, amber light protruded from his wand. He had actually done it! Turning red in the face with confidence, he simply gave a lowly grin and continued his exam.

Next on the agenda was Anapecium, the charm that revealed invisible ink. Ormen found this charm fairly easy to conduct, but they hadn't focused much on it compared to the other spells they had visited. With the confidence he picked up from Alohomora, Ormen simply lifted his wand to the designated parchment beside his exam and focused like he did on the previous. "Anapecium!" he muttered as the ink began to appear on the parchment. Satisfied with his results, he turned to his exam once more to cont- "Huh?" he said looking back at the parchment. The ink had revealed itself fine... but stopped mid-way. Looking at it doubtfully, he plucked his wand up once more and aimed it at the parchment. "Anapecium!" he commanded. Nothing happened. Biting his lip, he hastily shrugged it off and beckoned that he'd come back to it later.

As his eyes scaled down the page to the next spell, he swore he could feel his heart pound. Petrificus Totalus. This by far, throughout the year, had been his favorite spell. During class time he had loved testing this out, and perhaps not the best thing, but, he had later dreamed of binding all of the teachers with this spell. Smiling on his own accord, he read the instructions thoroughly, as to not mess up like he did on Anapecium. It seemed simple enough... petrify a chocolate frog. He looked to the top of his desk and saw the wrapping. He grabbed it and set it closer in front of him, pulling his wand and getting ready to petrify it. He slowly started peeling the golden wrapping off the frog, and then quickly ripped it off to reveal the chocolatized amphibian, "Petrificus Totalus!" he said with the utmost confidence. An small, clear blast cracked and shot at the frog, almost immediately setting it solid, unmoving, and tipped over. Ormen gave a clear look of 'Of course I did it perfectly.' and looked around himself before returning to the final.

Wingardium Leviosa.
Ormen didn't know what to think about this spell. It was basically on and off for him, and seemed to only work when it wanted to. Talk about a choosy wand. Nevertheless, Ormen sat up straight, quietly cleared his throat, looked up to see where the target bucket was, then pointed his wand at the quill pen. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said clearly. It gave a sort of nudge. Eying it closely, Ormen shook his head and attempted once more, muttering the incantation again. His wand made an awkward squeaking noise that he hoped no one else had heard. Come on, you stupid quill! boomed Ormen's voice inside his head. Then it hit him, causing him to almost face-palm; swish and flick. He had forgotten the hand gesture needed for the spell to work correctly. He was sure people were sniggering at him now, or at least, that's how he felt. He once again turned his attention to the quill pen. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said clearly, moving his wrist in an ovular fashion, then flicking at the quill. It nudged, wiggled, then was lifted off of the desk and high into the air. Controlling it carefully, Ormen levitated it up to the rafters, above the bucket, then stopped concentrating. He watched it float into the bucket. Nodding in appreciation of his work, he continued on.

His heart sank. This is what he was hoping wouldn't be on the final. Reparo. For the life of him, he could not cast this charm. He had no idea what it was, nor did he find this charm useful (mostly because he couldn't do it). Trying carefully to suppress his frustration, he directed his wand at the given shattered plate and hoped for the best. "Reparo." he commanded, trying to say it as calmly as he could. Nothing happened. Of course nothing happened. "Reparo!" Ormen said a little more firmly. Two pieces of the shattered glass connected themselves. Astounded that even that happened, Ormen tried once more. "Reparo!" he said, attitude adjusted. A third piece of the plate had tittered, but nothing repaired. Sighing, he continued on, knowing he honestly failed that.

After carefully reading the last bit of test information, he looked up at the time... 34 minutes had passed out of the given 45, and he still had time. Turning back to the invisible ink parchment, he flicked his wand at the ink and muttered, "Anapecium!" and watched as the paper's corner's folded and crumpled. That wasn't exactly the result he was hoping for. He turned his attentions to review his other test segments and noted he did fairly well, besides Reparo and Anapecium. Perhaps he would get some marks for repairing a small amount of the plate, and getting most of the words to appear. No matter, he still had a final task to complete.

He grabbed hold on his wand and walked up to the front of the class. He noticed some of them were at the same stage as he, giving him a warm feeling in his stomach. As he reached the professor's desk, he nodded, gave a twirl of his wand and said, "Lumos."
Just what he was dreading. Nothing happened.
Too afraid to peer into his teacher's eyes, he tried once more. "Lumos!" he said, trying really hard this time. A light emitted from the tip of his wand and gave Ormen a relieved feeling. He nodded again, and knew he now had to turn it off. "Nox!" he commanded, and basically straight away, the light fell dim, then disappeared. He nodded to the professor once more and returned to his desk, making sure everything was in order.

As he sat back down, he looked up at the time... 43 minutes had passed. He closed his eyes and relaxed; he was done.

Heliotrope went to a desk right under the professor’s nose, where her name was written on a label. The instructions were clear, even for one who had never taken a week of exams before. Throughout the year, if Heliotrope ever thought of the past, Charms had been scattershot for the first year Selkie girl. Some she got quickly, others she would incant and nothing would happen or the wrong result would occur. The simplest of spells, ones with predictable single results she could do. Anything that required imagination was still underdeveloped. However Heliotrope was not one to think of all her past attempts in class. Some teachers had wondered if her mind really was a blank sheet of parchment, curious if anything could be added. This simplemindedness did bring a unique advantage: test anxiety was a foreign concept.

Heliotrope began her test. It took a few minutes of staring at the instructions to get everything to register. ALOHAMORA: Heliotrope selected her locked box. “Alohamora,” she incanted. The box clicked open, the lid sprung upwards. Simple.

ANAPECIUM: Heliotrope selected her blank parchment. A message written in invisible ink. Did that mean it was written in water? Heliotrope stared at it for a minute to see if there were ripples on the parchment from when it was wet. There weren’t any. She placed the parchment down. “Anapecium,” she incanted. Nothing. If a message was written in invisible ink, then how was she supposed to know what it said? She spent ten minutes repeating the spell in robotic monotone to no effect. Left to her own devices, she might have spent the whole exam time attempting the spell but a voice from a nearby desk muttered quietly “Um, Helio? You can go on to the next spell if you’re having trouble.”[1]

Heliotrope blinked, pupils just visible behind her translucent eyelids, as if this was a reset mechanism. She did not look at the speaker but moved on to the next spell. PETRIFICUS TOTALUS: Heliotrope unwrapped her Chocolate Frog. It had a tremendous hop stored in it. Free from its prison, the frog leapt from the desk, landing some good feet away. Heliotrope nearly lunged after it but for once actually hesitated on instinct. She was supposed to use the spell on the frog. Her testing materials were on her desk. The desks were assigned so the students should not leave their desks. From this Heliotrope thought that she needed to body bind the frog on her desk. But since it had moved and she needed to remain seating…

Heliotrope pulled her kelp whip from her bag. With one movement the greens unrolled and then with a jerk of her wrist the whip ensnarled the distant frog. The whip was too dry, snapping the frog back slower than usual. The harsh kelp had mangled the soft chocolate frog in this attempt. When Heliotrope placed it on her desk, the frog hobbled weakly on mangled limbs. “Petrificus Totalus,” Heliotrope incanted. The frog lied still, but whether due to the spell or being whipped by a length of kelp would be left for the professor to judge.

WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA: Another spell that registered with Heliotrope as ‘simple.’ She took a minute to find the basket along the ceiling. She pointed her wand at the quill. “Wingardium Leviosa,” she incanted. The quill levitated upwards, guided by the tip of her wand. It wasn’t a smooth trip; the feather grazing the beams of the rafters but after a moment the feather was deposited into the basket.

REPARO: Heliotrope stared at her shattered plate for a few minutes. Most tableware was still a curiosity to her. For merpeople, food went from the end of trident or spear to the mouth with no placement on platters in between. As such table manners were lost on Heliotrope; her housemates along the Hufflepuff table had somewhat gotten used to her picking food from the serving platters and popping it directly into her mouth, never touching the plate or silverware. And that was on the days she hadn’t consumed raw fish that she caught from the Black Lake. Heliotrope attempted the spell for several minutes. Roughly two thirds of the plate had been repaired, the remaining pieces refusing to budge. Recalling the words spoken to her earlier, Heliotrope moved on to the next spell.

LUMOS/NOX: This was the spell that required her to go up to the professor. She did so, her other test materials complete or forgotten: unlocked box, practically untouched blank parchment, squashed chocolate frog, and mostly repaired plate. When it was her turn to stand in front of Professor Kirchlehner, Heliotrope performed her spell. “Lumos,” she incanted. Cool, sea green light radiated from her wand. “Nox,” she incanted, the light fading.

That would mean she was done with the test. However, Heliotrope returned to sit at her desk. There was still a minute until the professor excused them from class.

1.	Another character of mine will say this in a future post

Dahlia walked into the charms classroom with her head held high. She was pumped and ready to start the exams. She knew that she was going to ace all of them, it wasn't a hope or a dream it was a simple fact. When it came down to it Dahlia was likely a genius even in the wizarding world. She had no idea where it came from considering her siblings but she supposed there had to be someone in her genepool who was as smart as her, it made her wonder whether she got it from her wizarding ancestors or her muggle ones.

Dahlia arrived at her assigned desk, her wand out and ready and read the parchment of instructions. Everything seemed simple enough, in fact it actually seemed too simple but she wasn't about to over complicate things just to satisfy herself. She'd perform the tasks assigned to her and be out of the class with enough time to enjoy some sunshine before their next exam.

Dahlia approached the locked box first. She gave it a quick once over before straightening her posture and holding her wand at arms length in front of her, "Alohomora!" Even over the cacophony of the other students performing spells at different volumes all about the same time Dahlia was able to hear the satisfying click of the lock releasing. With a smile that wasn't quite smug she opened the lock box half disappointed that there was nothing inside and set herself towards the next task, deciding to complete the spells in the most logical order: Alphabetically.

She cocked her head to the side regarding the blank piece of paper. She found herself happy that Kirchlehorn had provided them with instructions. It wasn't that she wouldn't have known what to do but more likely that she would have over complicated things and tried seven other spells before coming across the one that she was actually supposed to perform. She hoped that as she got older the exams would have a little more problem solving to them but for now she was happy with what she was given, "Anapecium!" The ink shimmered to life earning yet another not quite smug smile from the small Hufflepuff.

Dahlia next unwrapped the chocolate frog. Mid leap she called out, "Petrificus Totalus!" The frog froze and fell to the desk top rattling as it settled into a horizontal position. Instead of invoking the same smile that her previous two successes had the frozen frog received a grim frown, her brow furrowed and her eyes looking troubled. The frog was a reminder of what had happened all those months ago, the reason her sister to this day still wasn't talking to her, just three months into her career at Hogwarts Dahlia had petrified two Fifth years who were picking on her sister at the older Collins' birthday. She shot a glance up at the Professor wondering if Fleetfoot or perhaps Frasier had passed any of that information onto him. She decided it was best not to dwell on it and pushed herself onto the next task at hand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" The quill took to flight easily enough. With barely a thought Dahlia used her wand to glide the light feather from her desktop and into the rafters so that it was settled neatly and efficiently into the basket provided for them. For a brief moment she wondered how long it had taken Kirchlehorn to decide where to put the basket before moving on once again.

Dahlia sighed softly as she regarded the shattered plate in front of her. She remembered hearing that when he was younger her cousin Jackson had flunked out of high school because he was so smart he was actually bored being in regular school. She couldn't help but feel sympathetic to him now. She swished her wand, gave a stiff, "Reparo!" And watched with a small sense of satisfaction as the plate regained it's originally shape and stability.

Dahlia was only too happy to leave her desk and approach the podium where Kirchlehorn awaited her. She gave the Professor a nod in greeting before holding up her wand for him to see - an 8" supple aspen wood wand with a decorated shaft and a unicorn tail core, "Lumos!" Bright almost blinding light sprouted from the tip of her wand illuminating the area directly in front of her, "Nox!" Just as quickly as the light appeared it was extinguished.

The not quite smug smile had returned.

Obderedria had been somewhat nervous about exams, that her grades were based on being able to perform magic in front of everybody. Although after a few months of nervousness, Charms had become one of her better classes. She didn't think she was doing anything unique in the class. It might be a strength of her wand, she'd heard off-handedly that even wands had different strengths in magic based on wood and core. Maybe Hippogriff talon wasn't too cheap after all.

She found herself amongst many of her roommates when she took her seat in the Hufflepuff section. Dahila was sure to do well and Heliotrope...well, the partial mermaid (how cool is that?!) seemed unpredictable. Obderedria hoped she would do well. She didn't have any particular testing traditions but thought of tackling the spells minus Lumos in reverse order. It would keep her from thinking that she was locked into a starting and ending order in case she struggled at anything.

So she started with REPARO, selecting the pieces of her broken plate. At least she hadn't heard the grating sound with her own ears. Obderedria didn't like breaking things, even if the Professor had to break them for the purposes of this test. Clearing her throat, she exclaimed "Reparo!" and was glad the pieces snapped back together.

Next was WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA, that required the feather quill. It took her a bit to find the basket in the rafters, a beam was obscuring her view. She cast the spell and guided the feather up--with some spirals and loop-de-loops and pirouettes, those were always fun. She giggled. Hopefully that wouldn't count against her.

Her confidence gaining with each successful spell, Obderedria went to the next challenge. To cast PETRIFICUS TOTALUS on a Chocolate Frog. She licked her lips. Chocolate Frogs were high on her list of candies, although swallowing them whole did lead to the amusingly unsettling feeling of something hopping around in your stomach, just like Peppermint Toads. However the words "Do not eat the frog. Doing so will result in a loss of points." were clearly written on the test. How could Professor Kirchlehner bait his students like this? Well, regaining her focus, Obderedria carefully unwrapped her frog so it wouldn't shoot out across the room. It leaped. "Petrificus Totalus!" The frog froze and she managed to catch it before it fell to the floor and it shattered. Even if she couldn't eat it during the test that would still be a waste. She laid the brown frog on its wrapper.

The path of the leaping frog did cause Obderedria to notice the activity next to her. Heliotrope was 'stuck' it seemed on trying to get a spell to work. Obderedria felt worried for her; was she going to spend the whole period trying the same spell over and over? Shouldn't the professor say something? Feeling that she was the only one who noticed, Obderedria casually leaned in Heliotrope's direction. This wasn't cheating, was it? Just a reminder to help a friend in need. “Um, Helio? You can go on to the next spell if you’re having trouble.”

That seemed to work, and Heliotrope continued her test after a moment. What spell was giving her such difficulty? Obderedria decided to try that one next, ANAPECIUM. The task seemed to be about uncovering a secret message. Ooo. Curiosity got the better of her. Messages in invisible ink? How conspiratorial. She should try writing messages to Beverly that way. Did Bev know magic? Obderedria decided that she did and she was wonderful at it. Giggling at the thought, Obderedria tried the spell. Words appeared on her blank page, words that became both amusing and immensely shocking:[1]

Dearest Obderedria,

Quidditch does sound like an amazing sport. I like the American equivalent called Quadpot where the ball explodes after a random length of time. But just like you, I think the sport could be improved. The ball should explode into confetti and jelly beans and cupcakes, so the members of the audience can get snacks without leaving their seats. Hopefully Hufflepuff did well on the game.

You know me, I always enjoy a good slumber party. I’m glad that you’re getting close to your roommates and are developing friendships besides the one with little ol’ me. I’m sure if you bring the marshmallows it will be a swell party. As for that Astronomy Professor of yours, you’ll have to tell him that if he ever finds the great Red Spot on Jupiter to look purple, my mission has been a success.

We’ll have to catch up over the summer. I’m sure you’re becoming an impressive little witch by now.

Hugs and Kisses XOXO
-Beverly

“Wha-??!” Obderedria exclaimed in disbelief. Her test paper actually had a secret message from Beverly?? In her excitement she had prodded the paper with her wand one too many times and now the words from her pen pal began to blur. “No no no!” Drea cried, trying to stem the ink. But soon her test paper looked like a bottle of ink had been spilled all over the secret message. Obderedria sat there in silence for several minutes. What did it all mean? Had she really just read a letter back from Beverly responding to that letter she had mailed off to who knows where when she had been up in the Owlery with Pax? Did Professor Kirchlehner set this up? Even if he cruelly tempted students with candy during exams how would he know about Beverly? If not that, how did Beverly know to write her message in invisible ink and slip it into the Professor’s testing materials so that it was delivered to Obderedria’s desk?

Wallowing in confusion, a few passages from the strange note did jump out at Obderedria. Beverly was happy that she was making new friends, that Beverly was sure she would become an impressive witch. To do that she needed to do well on her exams…oh no! She had been doing so well and now the last minutes of the testing period had been squandered before she had finished!

Quickly, Obderedria started the ALOHAMORA portion of the test. She cast the spell but was unsuccessful, still confused over what it meant to get a reply letter from her imaginary pen pal. “You can do this,” Obderedria whispered to herself. It took another few tries but finally the locked box was open.

What was left? She needed to go in front of the professor and demonstrate the pattern of LUMOS and NOX. She got nervous during the short queue of students. Wouldn’t everyone be able to see her? Wouldn’t they see her fail at magic since her nerves were so fried from seeing a letter that couldn’t possibly exist?  At last it was her turn in front of the Professor Kirchlehner. And that mustache.

“Um…” Obderedria began. “L-L-Lumos!” A wisp of light came from her wand and dimmed, her heart dimming even further. All because of the stupid letter! A stupid letter that did say…it did say…she would become ‘an impressive little witch’…

“Let me try that again, LUMOS!” Obderedria said quickly with a shot of confidence. Orange light radiated from her wand, like a sunset or an old gas lamp in a foggy night. She was so surprised she nearly lost the spell; most times Lumos gave whitish or pale green light. She’d always thought it was such a cold spell with that harsh light, so Obderedria was both shocked and pleased with the warmth of her orange Lumos. The spell was about to fizzle out but she masked that with “Nox!”

After making her way back to her seat Obderedria collapsed, exhausted. Given the ups and downs of that exam she needed something to lift her spirits. How about a Chocolate Frog? She didn’t touch it yet, but once the period was over she was going to ask Professor Kirchlehner is she could eat her frog. The instructions did say to not eat the frog…but that was only during the test, now wasn’t it?

1.	I direct you to the third letter down on Drea's stack of outgoing mail

Cyhirae sat in the back of the Ravenclaw desks, her fingers drumming on the desktop, clearly impatiant to begin. Unlike some of her classmates, she was not nervous about how she was going to do on the final. Spellwork, she had found, was something that came naturally to her and that Cy only needed a simple review every so often to keep on top of things. Dueling club certainly helped with that.

As soon as the clock chimed Cyhirae grabbed the locked box and pointed her wand at the lock, "Alohomora." She was rewarded with a soft click and she opened the box and then put it aside for grading. She next grabbed the plate pieces and began putting them back into place.

Reparo was one of those spells that seemed to work better when what ever she was trying to repair was was as close to the original shape as possible. Cyhirae began quickly tapping at the cracks, quietly but clearly stating the spell each time. When the last crack was fixed, Cy placed the now complete plate next to the box and moved on to the next spell.

Cyhirae laid the parchment in front of her and tapped the upper left portion reciting the correct spell. While words did appear, it was only the area around her wand. Frowning, Cyhirae tapped around the paper filling in the rest of the parchment. She rolled up the paper and placed it into the box.

She placed the quill in front of her and with the flick of her wand sent it floating upward. Slowly but surely it made it's way upward as it dodged other quills and Cyhirae released the spell, where it floated directly into the basket.

Cyhirae picked up the chocolate frog and unwrapped it. It lept out of her hands to land on the desk and then made ready to jump again, this time heading towards the floor. Cyhirae quickly pointed her wand at the frog,"Petrificus Totalus." The frog froze in mid leap and fell over on the desk and she placed it into the box as well.

Standing up from her desk she made her way to the podium where Professor Kirchlehner stood. Cyhirae was somewhat disappointed that she wasn't the first one done when she saw Dahlia finishing up. After Dahlia left Cyhirae stepped up. She held up her wand and confidently cast Lumos. The tip of her wand lit up with a bright, even, white light. After about thirty seconds she then cast Nox, putting out her wand light.

Charles was nervous about the finals, he hoped he would do as well as Josh had during his first-year.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Charles said, levitating the feather quickly and smoothly to the basket. well, that went well.

"Alohomora"Charles called, and the lock on the box clicked, so Charles opened it up. putting the box aside, he moved on.

OK, the next one was a page of invisible ink. "Anapecium" Charles again incanted, seeing the message appear immediately.

Charles pushed the pieces of the plate together, then said "Reparo", and watched the plate join back together.

unwrapping the chocolate frog, he pointed his wand at it, and juts as it was about to hop off the desk, said "Petrificus Totalus" and was rewarded with seeing the frog stop immediately.

having finished that part, he headed to the front, turning left to reach Professor Kirchlehner's desk. Once Trishna had finsihed, he stepped up, then said "Lumos" and a very bright, even light came out of the wand tip. after a few seconds, he said "Nox" and the light was immediately extinguished.  he promptly returned to his desk to wait until the end of the exam, hopeful he would get an O.

Pax was trying very hard not to panic. Why did his first exam have to be on one of his worst subjects? He wished it could have been something like Potions or Herbology. He even found himself wistfully thinking forward to his Astronomy exams; he wasn't as good at that subject as Dahlia or Cyhirae, but he still knew the material well enough.

Charms was another matter. It wasn't quite that he didn't know the material, because he was familiar with all the spells written out on the parchment before him. It was just that he couldn't always make them work. At least it'll be over with quickly, he tried to tell himself. Then you won't have to worry about it. You'll just have to worry about Transfig... and Defence... He swallowed hard, still making a concerted effort to keep his breathing even.

When the clock struck, Pax picked up his wand and tried to make his mind focus on the first spell. Alohomora, you learned that ages ago. You can do that one. You can. Breathing deeply and focusing on the desired outcome, Pax pointed his wand at the locked box, performed the wand movement, and recited the incantation. Nothing happened. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling panic start to take over again and focusing on keeping calm. That's okay. You hardly ever get it the first time. Just keep trying. And he did, all the while trying not to get worked up over how hard this was for him. He had to actively avoid looking at Dahlia; she was almost certainly a few spells ahead of him by now, and the last thing he needed was to be comparing his progress with one of the smartest witches in class. Finally, he unlocked the box, after half a dozen near misses, and with a sense of cautious optimism, he opened up the lid.

Anapecium was another one he had sort of mastered, so spurred on a little by his eventual success with his first charm, he approached this one with a trace more of confidence. His first efforts were, predictably, fruitless, but as the minutes drew on, writing started to appear on the parchment in bits and pieces. Once Pax was confident he'd de-invisibled most of it, even if the ink was still a little faded in places, he moved on.

Petrificus Totalus and Wingardium Leviosa were the two that worried him the most, but he'd have to do them sooner or later. Setting the quill in the middle of the desk, Pax glanced about for the basket, a sense of dread settling upon him as he found it. I'll never be able to get it all the way up there! It really was rather difficult to think positively when you could hear your heart beating in your ears.

Still, he had to try. 'Wingardium Leviosa,' he intoned, swishing and flicking his wand at the quill. It took a few attempts, but Pax finally got the feather in the air. The next step was to set flying up to the basket in the rafters. After a few false starts, and a lot of deep, steady breathing and calming mental mantras (wing-gard-ee-um lev-ee-oh-sah, swish and flick) the quill finally started drifting upward towards the ceiling... Until it was suddenly drifting downwards to the floor, and Pax was frantically swishing and flicking his wand to no avail. Distraught, he edged out of his seat and reached over to the quill, returning it to his desk. A pointed cough from the front of the class drew his attention to Professor Kirchlehner[1]; Pax quickly sat back down, looking duly abashed for leaving his seat. So maybe he'd come back to the feather.

It was with a great deal more caution that Pax decided to tackle the Chocolate Frog. If he let it loose, it would be out of his sight before he could so much as pronounce the Body-Bind Curse properly. So he unwrapped the animated sweet with excessive care, and held the frog in place as best he could with one hand, while with the other, he tried to cast the spell. Again, repeatedly. The frog was in danger of getting away from him. He couldn't let that happen, he couldn't very well leave his desk again. And if the frog got away, it would disrupt the other first-years; it might leap up onto Eirene's desk and distract her, or worse, it might land or Noriko's shoulder and scare her-- 'Petrificus Totalus!' Pax exclaimed a little louder than he had meant to, just as the frog succeeded in wriggling out of his grasp. It froze. Pax smiled a little. It wasn't frozen as stiff as he knew it was supposed to be; it was more lying sort of limp and motionless on the desk, in a rather pitiful way. But the spell had worked, sort of. Time to try that feather again!

Again, Pax got off to a lot of false starts with the Hover Charm, and even dropped the quill on the floor again a few times. When that happened, he would try to levitate it from where it fell. When that proved ineffective, he floated it back to his desk as best he could, the feather hopping and scuffing awkwardly along. Glancing at the clock, Pax realised that a full half hour had passed; he was getting dangerously close to the time limit. Time to move on; he'd come back to Wingardium Leviosa again if he was able.

Reparo was a charm he had been saving until later because he had actually done it with some degree of success before. One of the doll house chairs he'd been making for his little sister had had its leg snapped off, and spurred on by the desire to fix his sister's present, he'd eventually managed to make the Repairing Charm stick. So along with the steady breathing and focus on wand movement and pronunciation, Pax tried to imagine that the plate was somehow a cherished possession of Professor Kirchlehner's, and he was counting of Pax to fix it. Bit by bit, Pax managed to affix each piece to its neighbour, until the pieces of ceramic eventually resembled a plate again. It looked a bit precarious, as though glued together with paste that hadn't set properly, but Pax didn't have time to do any better; he had five minutes left for the remaining spells.

Wingardium Leviosa was, mercifully, getting a little easier by the third time round. By now, Pax was very conscious that the feather constantly dropping might be disturbing his classmates, so he was doing his level best to keep it in the air. Finally, he managed to float it directly above the basket, and with a sigh of relief, he released his hold on it. It dropped where it was supposed to. Pax looked again at the clock; two minutes to go!

Starting to feel panic rise in him again, Pax trotted briskly to the front of the class, painfully aware of being one of the last students to do so. 'Um. Um. Lumos,' he murmured hoarsely, wand extended, and a very faint light flickered on. 'No! Um, nox,' he dismissed the spell, looking visibly stressed. 'Sorry, I can, I can do better, hang on--' He was so close to completing the exam, now wasn't the time to lose his head. Taking a moment to regain concentration, he again incanted, 'Lumos,' and the tip of his wand lit up instantly with a clear, white light, like that of a muggle torch. Then, 'Nox,' said Pax, with an enormous sense of relief, and the light blinked out. Pax gave Professor Kirchlehner the smallest of smiles before returning, mentally exhausted, to his desk. Thank Merlin he didn't have another wandwork exam today!

1.	Checked this with Armiece.