Date and Time: Wednesday 2nd September: 9:oo am.
Year: Second Years.

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Sebastian’s second class of the morning was with the second years, held directly after the first years in the Charms classroom. To top this, the returning second year students were the other class in the school who Sebastian didn't know, having taken last year off for research. Because of this, Sebastian had opted to put his faith in his predecessors and teach a simplistic charm to the students which he could use to test their ability.

As the first years filed out of the classroom, Sebastian called for the second years to enter, indicating the pews. “Everyone find a seat, we’ll begin in a few moments.” Turning to face the chalkboard, which displayed his name as well as details of the levitation charm from the previous lesson, Sebastian waved his wand from left to right, removing all but his name and replacing the instructions with the words ‘Cheering Charm’ in a gentle cursive. He returned his wand to his inside jacket pocket, keeping it safe until it was needed again and leaving his hands free. Turning back to the class, who were now pretty much settled, Sebastian gave the assembled students a small smile, adjusting his glasses before beginning to speak.

“Good morning class, my name is Professor Cadmon,” as he said his name, the letters on the board behind him flashed a pale orange for a moment before returning to their original chalky white. “Now, as I wasn’t here last year and I don’t know what you were taught, I’d like some of you to raise your hands and tell me a few charms you know of.” Then, as if an afterthought, Sebastian hastily added, “Also, if you could tell me your names as well, that would be excellent.”

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OK guys, I’ll let a few people respond, then carry on with the class. If you’re missing from the register, simply post anyway and I’ll update it accordingly.

Mary Beth was chipper that morning, itching to learn some fun little charms. After a long summer on the farm, totally devoid of anything interesting, she was ready to get back into the world she had left behind in June. She had plunked down on the bench surprised and frankly _{a little apprehensive} about seeing a new face at the front of the room. He looked... older. And he looked very stuffy, judging solely by the way he dressed, which Mary Beth knew was decidedly a bad way of judging people.

She had her curly blonde hair pulled away from her face in her very best lacy white headband for the big day, an attention to detail that she was well aware would dissolve after the first week. Casting a quick glance to Eirene out of her clear, wide blue eyes, she raised a little hand at the stranger's question. "How'reya," she greeted congenially, kicking her feet as they came nowhere near reaching the floor under the desk. "I'm Mary Beth... MacEvoy. ...I'm a Hufflepuff," she added, after a beat. She wasn't really sure whether that would be relevant to him or not but, as she figured, better safe than sorry.

"The one I remember best is Alohomora," she offered finally, shooting another glance back toward the stuffy Ravenclaw that she had the least in common with out of anybody in their year. "It's, um... it's straight deadly, you can use it to unlock things. Wicked."

Obderedria was fractionally happy to see that the Professor wasn't the same as last year. Not that she wanted Professor Kirchlehner out of a job but he could be as scary as Professor Storm sometimes. She sat near a cluster of her house and Ravenclaw students, feeling comfortable around a few familiar faces, like Mary Beth and Heliotrope and Pax and Philo and even Eirene, she supposed. That was horrible to list Eirene last because she was a stickler for rules. There was the one time Obderedria had nearly been accused of violating dress code by dying her hair all funny, until her peers eventually learned that it just grew that way.

Professor Cadmon greeted them pleasantly, which Obderedria took to be a good sign that class might be a little more enjoyable. When it came time to answer a few questions, Obderedria wanted to show how much she knew about charms. She had thought she was picking them up well but come test day Professor Kirchlehner could just stare at her and it was instant stage fright.

"Hello Professor Cadmon, I'm Obderedria Pienas," she hoped he didn't ask how to spell it, "but please call me Drea. Um, there's Lumos of course." She kinda liked the spell, since she could turn here's neon orange without thinking about it.

Eirene sat in the first row, her textbook, parchment, and quill neatly arranged on her desk. When she wasn't taking notes, she folded her hands together on her lap, and stared at the professor intently.

After a few moments, Eirene flung her hand in the air. She couldn't be outdone by the Hufflepuffs again! It just wasn't right!

"Eirene Antonopoulos. Ravenclaw. Twelve years old," she tacked on proudly.

"Beginning with the letter 'A'," Eirene paused for half a second, hand twitching towards her textbook. She resisted the urge to double check, and instead trusted her memory.

"Accio, the summoning charm. It summons things! Aguamenti, the watering charm. It waters things. Alohomora-" She frowned, and glanced at Mary Beth MacEvoy, who had named it before her.

"Onto the letter 'B'!" Eirene continued in a peppier voice, looking at the professor for his approval.[1]

1.	Someone is more than welcome to interrupt her!

Erik had been lazily sitting at his desk, listening to everyone name off spells until Eirene decided that "B" should go next. Oh if only Erik didn't have a name that alphabetically preceded the Ravenclaw's. But that could easily be remedied.

"Pax Wintergreen! Sir!" The boy chimed in proudly. Nevermind that he looked eerily identical to his Hufflepuff sibling, and that there were only two people in the class who shared the same name.

"And I know Abeo Umbra," Erik lifted his wand and waved it at his robes, and the red interior faded to blue, "And now I'm a Ravenclaw." He proudly stated as he beamed a bright smile at Eirene Antosaurus.

"Um, Eirene, I think he wants to know which ones we can actually cast," said Philo. "Like Accio and Augamenti, we haven't studied those yet...though there was the time Heliotrope flooded the stairwell."

"Oh, excuse me professor. Philo Falkin. Um.." He scrambled for a spell, the letter 'A' guiding him. "There's Anapecium, the one that fiddles with invisible ink." He thought that was cool, useful for secret messages.

Being back to school and back in a desk was invigorating him. This was something he could appreciate more then the various adventures over the summer. Bring on the essays and ink bottles.

Though while thinking about the summer, his mind did stray to the time he meant Drea in Diagion and she gave him a dirigible plum...

Being a second year was exciting.  It meant that there were people even younger than her at the school -- even if one of them was her little brother, with whom Noriko was still upset for managing to get himself sorted into Slytherin.  As Eirene had said, they were now experienced at Hogwarts.  That meant they didn't need to ask for directions or be scared of things like people accidentally inflating their bums in class, because even if that had happened last year, Noriko knew how to cast the charm for deflation now.

It also meant that she didn't need to put up with mean people like Erik Collins, even if he was only sometimes mean and occasionally sent her presents when he made her cry.  But right now, he was not being very nice to Pax.  Noriko wasn't sure why Erik was pretending to be her friend, but she had no doubt that he was up to no good.

"Your name isn't Pax," she hissed at the Gryffindor, and then shot Philo a disapproving look that she had learned from Eirene.  "Just because you can't cast them doesn't mean that Eirene can't, Philo," she whispered, shooting her friend a loyal look.  There was no doubt in her mind that her friend could cast any spell that their new Charms teacher might ask of them.

Sebastian was pleased to see a number of hands raised, and the professor scanned the room briefly before pointing to a blue-eyed girl in Hufflepuff robes. "Yes, you there." As Mary Beth answered, he nodded approvingly when she offered up Alohomora but couldn't help chuckle when she pointed out it's deadliness. "Absolutely Miss MacEvoy, an excellent charm, though only truly deadly if the caretaker catches you using it on any private doors," Moving his finger towards a second Hufflepuff with distinctive hair, who suggested Lumos. "A great spell for late-night studying. Who's next?"

This time, he pointed to a Ravenclaw. The girl was incredibly formal, and when she said the summoning charm, Sebastian was ready to respond until she continued onto Aguamenti, as well as the unlocking charm again. Then she moved onto the next letter in the alphabet, and Sebastian was about to interrupt her and suggest someone else have a chance to name some spells when a boy called Pax piped up. His choice of charm was Abeo Umbra, which he demonstrated by changing the colour of his robes from red to blue. Nodding, Sebastian gave the boy an impressed smile. "Excellent work, Mr. Wintergreen, though I'd appreciate you changing your robe back before leaving the classroom.

Sebastian decided that he would ask a few more people before continuing, and turned to a Ravenclaw who went by the name Philo Falkin. He suggested Anapecium, and the teacher gave him a nod, about to comment on the spell when a Slytherin yelled across the room at Philo, chiding him for his comments towards Eirene. Deciding that they had best stop there, Sebastian raised his hands to shoulder height, signalling for silence from the increasingly-rowdy class.

"OK, that's quite enough of that. All excellent examples, thank you for those." He glanced from one set of pews to the other, smiling at the obviously-knowledgable students. "I'm glad none of you said 'Cheering Charm', because that's what we're going to look at today. Now, as you can probably guess, this charm is used to cheer people up, making it especially useful for when you're studying for your OWLs and NEWTs later in your school life." He chuckled slightly at his own joke before continuing. "The spell itself dates back to the 1400s, invented by a wizard called Felix Summerbee. Now, I want you all to take out your wands and, holding them comfortably in front of you, follow my gestures." The professor waited from them all to grab their wand before tracing the movement slowly through the air, his wand leaving a trail like one might see from a muggle sparkler.

"Swish your wand down, then flick it up again - like a smile. Down... And up!"

Cyhirae raised her eyebrow at the new face at the front of the classroom. This was the third professor in less than half as many years and, given the turn over everywhere else, she silently wondered how long this one would last. She settled into a desk right in the middle and began organizing her stuff while people answered the teacher's question. Erik's answer, however, made her speak up, unknowingly echoing Noriko's disapproval.

Cyhirae rolled her eyes at Erik in irritation. "Stop trying to ruin Pax's reputation, Erik Collins," she placed heavy emphasis on his name. "Though given how much of a pill you were last year I'm sure all of our new professors have been warned about you." Even if she though he had lousy choices in friends, Cy liked Pax and didn't want him to get in trouble because of someone else. The fact that it meant she could take a swipe at Erik was the cherry on top.

The new professor cut in to start the lesson before she could actually answer his question. She mimicked the professor's wand movement but her heart wasn't really in it. Finding out that her father was no longer a member of the same species that he had been less than two days ago was much more pressing. Especially since her father had no idea what to do to turn him back.

Venora had tried her best to blend in with her fellow second years, and for this reason, upon entering the classroom, she had taken a seat towards the middle of her Hufflepuff housemates. She had been quieter in her return to the school, her artistic, lyrical side seemingly taking over and forcing the childish exuberance that she had exhibited in abundance the previous year to the background.

Truthfully, the young girl did not feel like participating in the class discussion, seeing as the more studious members of her year would be happy to fill the void. Instead, Venora took out her notebook and her new quill that changed colors and began to doodle. As her classmates supplied the professor with spells, Venora proceeded to create pictures that went along with them.

For Mary Beth's contribution, she drew the girl with her wand pointing at one of the castle doors. For Drea's, she tried to remember what her housemate's wand looked like and set about drawing it with a glowing light protruding from the tip, like a candle.

Venora was all set to begin drawing Eirene's spell, but as soon as it became clear that there would not be just one, she kept her quill suspended above her parchment and patiently waited for the next student to speak.

When Dahlia's brother spoke up and pretended to be Pax, Venora's lips curled into a smile. She then quickly sketched him and the Hufflepuff together.

As the discussion went on, Venora continued to idly draw until the Professor started to speak again. When he started to explain the Cheering Charm, she set her things aside and fished her wand out of her pocket.

Venora knew she would never be the most proficient in her wand work or her studies, but, she vowed in that moment to make a better effort at it for the upcoming year. She couldn't spend all her time drawing, no matter how much she desperately wanted to.

Dahlia was situated between Drea and Venora, her fellow Huffles. Much like her attire over the summer, Dahlia had her robe tightly wrapped around her body to hide her school uniform and what was practically bursting out underneath. She had her head down, writing out all the charms she knew instead of drawing attention to herself and offering the information up to the others. She didn't want to make anyone feel bad, or left out or the likes. She knew she knew more spells than most of her classmates but unlike others didn't like to draw attention to it.

Dahlia smirked lightly when Erik introduced himself as Pax. She found herself wishing the snooty Ravenclaws hadn't called him out on it. If Erik and Pax switched identities it might have been fun to try and convince Professor Fancypants that her and Pax were twins.

She pushed her notebook aside and pulled out her wand enacting the movements for the charm to the tee. She said nothing about the fact that she already knew how to perform the spell, Professor Fancypants seemed too happy that no one had mentioned already knowing the spell. It had been one of the few spells she had actually learned from Ayla as it was one of the main ingredients in her magical baking.

As she continued to mirror the Professor's movements she leaned over to Venora, "Shame the Ravenclaws had to spoil the fun, could have been a laugh being Pax's twin for the day."

Pax was feeling a little wrong-footed. He'd heard a little about Professor Cadmon, and how he used to teach Charms in Hogwarts before Professor Fleetfoot and Professor Kirchlehner. So fortunately the teacher only had two new classes of students to get used to this year. Well, and all the incoming older students from the visiting schools as well, but everyone was in that boat. The point was, it made sense for Professor Cadmon to ask for his new pupils' names. And Pax was all set to give his when someone else did instead. He glanced at Erik in confusion. He opened his mouth, either to say, 'Wait, are you?' or 'And I'm Erik Collins then, I suppose,' but his brain ended up being unable to process either so he just sat there opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish until he heard Noriko and, to a more vocal degree, Cyhirae, making the necessary corrections.

Pax, though he generally quite liked Cyhirae, thought she had a tendency to be too hard on Erik, who usually meant well even if he was a bit of a prankster. Still, she was standing up for him in her way, so he gave her a shy, grateful grin. His mind focussing back in to the task at hand, he picked up his wand and attempted to follow Professor Cadmon's instructions on the correct movement. Down, then up. Like a smile. That'll be easy to remember for a Cheering Charm. He couldn't help but give a sideways glance to Dahlia and Venora, to whom he was sitting quite near, when he managed to catch Dahlia's comment. He chuckled a little at the idea of being the other Hufflepuff's twin.

'Um. Um, Professor?' he raised his hand tentatively. 'I'm, um, I'm actually Pax.' He felt that he should probably claim back his name so as not to confuse the professor further. There were enough obstacles to be dealt with when teaching the second-year class as it was. With a small smile, though, he added, 'Not that I'd mind being Erik for today. He's better at Charms than me anyway.' He waved his wand feebly, before resuming the down-and-up smiley pattern.

Eirene didn't know what outraged her more! Erik impersonating her friend Pax, or Philo doubting her abilities in front of the professor! She twisted her head around, first to glare at Erik, then to huff at Philo, and then finally giving Noriko a grateful look for sticking up for her.

Distracted by her need to take notes about the origin of the cheering charm, Eirene bent her head over her parchment, and paused when Pax spoke up.

"No he's not," she blurted after his comment about Erik being better than him at Charms, then glanced worriedly at the professor. What would he think! She and Noriko and Pax were all going to be know as blurter-out-ers and poor wand wavers if their classmates kept provoking them!

Straightening up even straighter in her seat, Eirene swished her wand in the outline of a smile, her expression the exact opposite of a Cheering Charm.

Once Erik pretended he was Pax, everyone but the Hufflepuffs threw a fit over it. From Slytherin to Ravenclaw he was immediately met with retorts and discord, like he had suddenly just offended the Queen of England by scratching his bum. Trishna even got ruffled enough to call him a "pill," if there wasn't a new teacher present he might have been unable the snicker-snort rising in his throat. Instead, he just happily smiled at all the girls and chuckled, "Well, I think cheering charms were a good choice for today's lesson."

But then Erik got a compliment. From Pax. For one full minute the normally easygoing slik Collins twin was silent and visibly baffled. He was accustomed to being bullied, being made fun of, or being laughed at--compliments were few, far, or never in between. Even from his own sisters.

With blue robes still hanging off his shoulders, Erik scratched his brunette hair, "Oh, well uh," but then Eirene butted in and bursted his bubble before a response so much  as forged itself in the Collins' head. If there was any pill this class needed today, it was definitely a chill pill.

After giving Eirene a stare of dull and unamused boredom he turned back to the professor with a smile, waving his wand up in the air, "What happens when you try and cheer someone up, with the charm, on someone as cheery Pax?"

It was a brown-haired Ravenclaw who called Erik Collins on his trickery, yelling out his real name loud enough for Sebastian to hear and causing the professor to raise his eyebrow in some confusion. He glanced across at the ousted Mr. Collins, just about ready to question the boy further when another voice cut through the air, and Sebastian turned a little too quickly to take in the new boy claiming to be Pax. He would have questioned this student, but when he put down his magical talents, and the eager Miss Antonopoulos jumped to his defence, Sebastian figured that this boy must be telling the truth. He would be sure to ask the other teachers about Mr. Collins later, find out if this was normal behaviour or not...

Then Mr. Collins raised his hand, and asked about the effects of casting a spell on a happy person. "An excellent question Mr. Collins, although I will have to deduct Gryffindor house 2 house points for your little joke." It might have seemed a little harsh, but Sebastian felt it necessary to establish what would and what would not be tolerated in his classroom. "There are two different types of happiness - extrovert and introvert. Those who are extrovertly happy and have the cheering charm cast on them quite often become reflective on a happy memory, while those introvertly happy will become far happier on the outside, quite often literally jumping for joy!

"As for Mr. Winterbottom," Sebastian glanced at the real Pax, giving him a small yet friendly smile, "We shall see soon enough whether he becomes more notably excitable, or the reverse." He returned to survey the entire class. "Now, if everybody could get themselves into pairs and label yourselves A and B, we'll have all the As cast the spell on the Bs first. The incantation is 'Hilarem'... 'Hill-Are-Em'." He spoke the second time phonetically, checking that everyone was paired up and taking the time to quickly clean his glasses on the tip of his tie before continuing. "Wands at the ready... Flick down and up and 'Hilarem'..."  Behind his back, Professor Cadmon's fingers were crossed tightly, hoping to Merlin that no one lost an eyeball.