OOC: For those unfamiliar with my lessons, please post as if you have been present from the beginning, unless you have a valid, and pre-discussed plot reason for announcing a late arrival.

PMing me is encouraged if you'd like me to be aware of something character significant for the lesson, ta. I don't deduct housepoints for non attendance, I do add them for participation, interesting, plot furthering or amusing IC reactions, and especially for balanced character abilities. If you can't join us, may be to your advantage to drop me a quick note.

Second lesson of the day at nine, on a Monday.

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Outside the classroom, the first years had formed an orderly line based on the notice pinned to the classroom door, which read Wait until summoned by name. For those who tried the door, they found it locked, and no sound within. If it were not for the note, it would have seemed the end of term test was cancelled for the first years.

Instead they stood in the corridor, pouring over books or nervously recounting spells. Some gave up entirely, either arrogantly assuming they would walk whatever test lay beyond, or deciding it was futile.

The door opened, and the Professor's voice called a name from within the classroom, though was not glimpsed. What could be seen of the inside of the classroom was dark. Summoned by name, the solitary student entered and the door closed behind them, while the others continued to wait.

Within the classroom, it is evident that the darkness was due to only the front candles being lit, and the fire beyond it. The desks were drawn back to the sides of the room, leaving empty space.

Professor Storm was stood the other side of a table which was empty apart from a set of twelve identical cards which were set out in a grid. Each of the backs was plain, and the card was like thick parchment in colour and texture.

"Choose a card," The Professor requested gesturing to the set, "and turn it over."

On the opposite side was an instruction, a spell to incant and demonstrate. The cards would rearrange between students, and the spells behind were ones covered in their lessons that year already.

To hand was a chair, and a frog patiently sat on one end of the table, blinking and occasionally shuffling.

Once three spells had been selected at random and cast, the Professor drew his wand and gave the simple instruction.
"You will need to defend yourself from what happens next." The first years had not covered stupefy, and he was fully prepared to pick dazed student off the classroom floor who didn't react with anything in time. They wouldn't know how to block, but they had to be able to think on their feet when posed with danger.

"That is all. Return to your common room, and do not speak to your classmates when you leave. I will know."

OOC: Choose three of the following, and remember imperfection is far more interesting!
Items in italics are OOC notes for you, and are not on the cards. Refer to the AO Wiki & Canon Wikis for details.
One post to reply is great, if you do want Ignan to respond particularly, let me know so I can reply quickly to keep the thread moving.

Protect the chair beside you by adding an audible alarm when it is touched.
Cast Armoplore on the chair provided.

Condense the smoke created.
The Professor will create smoke from the fire. Use Firmus fumus

Heal a small wound.
The Professor will gesture for your hand to scratch the palm of your non-wand hand. Use Sano

Upturn the chair by pushing it
Use Flipendo

Make the chair legs dance uncontrollably
Tarantallegra

Lock together the legs of the frog provided
Locomotor Mortis

Cause the legs of the frog provided to collapse
Locomotor Wibbly

Apply a full body-bind curse to the frog provided
Petrificus Totalus

Tickle the frog provided
Titillando

Make the frog provided sneeze
Steleus

Give the frog provided a cold
Mucus ad Nauseam

Jinx the tongue of the frog provided
Langlock

Dione's name came up first, much to her relief. If she had to stand out in that hall for an hour surrounded by neurotic Ravenclaws, weak-kneed cowards, and the Lupin boy -- who was repeatedly gnawing his nails to the quick only to grow them back and start over again -- she would have had to hex someone.

As though entering a duel at one of her mother's parties, Dione curtsied to Professor Storm before delicately selecting her first card. Luckily, the instructions were plain and straight-forward, with no conversation required. "Upturn the chair by pushing it," it read.

Dione left the card where the Professor could clearly see it and made her way to the chair, her hands and wand folded neatly into the small of her back. With the light tread of her dueling style, her feet did not make a sound. She walked a wide circle around the chair before selecting the proper angle and raising her wand in a silent spell.

The Knockback Jinx struck the chair in the back, thrusting it onto only its front legs. To make sure it fell she added another blow, this one aimed at the corner where back met seat. The chair flipped completely over and landed flat, its front legs in the air. It was child's play, really. Flipendo was one of the earliest aggressive spells she'd covered with Auntie in her pre-school tutoring.

Dione returned to the table and, at the teacher's instruction, selected another card. This one said "Condense the smoke created," which made her raise an eyebrow, for there wasn't any smoke in the room. She turned to card to Professor Storm and quirked her head.

With a motion from the instructor, smoke bellowed out from the fireplace. Its scent filled her nose and Dione recoiled, all the hair on the back of her neck standing on edge. That awful, terrible, acidic smell, threatening to swallow up her air. She didn't actually remember the potion that'd ruined her voice, she'd been too young, but smells like that revived half-formed memories of a blistering tongue and a taste like hot tar.

She swept her wand at it, but instead of forming a rock of any kind the smoke solidified in mid-air, snowing to the floor like ash. Dione took a step back, furiously shook her arm to clean it, and pursed her lips tightly to hold in the disgusted noises her throat tried to make without permission. She shuddered and retreated to the table, selecting her final card.

"Apply a full body-bind curse to the frog provided."

Dione breathed in through her nose, steadying herself. She turned to the frog. As though it recognized a predator when it saw one, the creature jumped from the desk. She flicked her wand and it landed, clattering on the floor like a children's toy, its back legs and most of its body completely frozen while one front flipper pulled uselessly at the floor. Dione scowled and aimed her wand again. This time, the animal went completely stiff.

As Dione set the frog back on the table, the Professor spoke again, telling her that she would now have to defend herself against what came next. Dione's nerves were already on edge from her encounter with the smoke. It only enhanced the instincts she'd earned from a childhood playing the Mulciber family's favorite 'games', also known as 'learning to duel for fun and profit.'

So when the Stunner came, she didn't think, she just moved, spinning out of the way like a ballerina crossing the stage. The spell grazed her back, knocking her off her stance. She stumbled a few steps, wobbled on the tip of her toes, regained her balance, and snapped her heels into First Position, wand arm raised to deliver a counter.

But she did not fire a spell. The test was over. When dismissed, she curtsied to the Professor again, though his warnings about speaking with her classmates brought a tired smile to her face. She drew her hand across her lips as though promising they'd stay 'zipped' and left the room without another sound.

Alice stood in the hall, nervously going through her notes. She was freaking out. What if she failed? What if she couldn't graduate because she couldn't pass? What would her dad say? What would her mum say? Mark? She shifted her weight quickly from one foot to the other, taking deep breaths.

Professor Storm came to the door, after Dione left. He called Hunter's name, who gulped, and handed Annette her notes, with a nervous look. She walked into the dark room. She smiled a nervous smile at the professor.

Alice drew a card, which read, "Upturn the chair by pushing it." Alice smiled. This one was easy. She withdrew her wand, and cleared her mind, pointing her wand at the chair, and saying, "Flippendo." The chair flipped over, and she looked up at the professor with a proud smile. That one was an easy one. She knew it, that she had gotten lucky."

The next card she drew, read, "Heal a small wound." Alice's eyes grew, but she took a deep breath, showing her palm to the professor, and shutting her eyes. He scratched her palm, and she took a deep breath, cleared her mind, and focused. She could do this. She had practiced this one diligently. She was actually ready for it. She took her wand, and pointed it at the wound. "Sano." She said, clearly. The wound healed. She breathed in relief, as she withdrew her last card.

"Apply a full body-bind curse to the frog provided." Alice looked up at the professor. She showed him the card. "But, sir, that'd be wrong. That'd be wrong, and mean. This frog has done nothing to hurt me, how am I expect to hurt it?" She looked at him, and knew that he was serious. It seemed so wrong. But she knew she had to do it. Alice looked down at the frog, who was oblivious of what was about to happen. She could feel tears forming. "I'm so sorry." She said, before a single tear dropped on to him. She pointed her wand, and sniffed her nose, blinking the tears away. She didn't want to hurt the poor thing. The little thing didn't deserve it! "Petrificus Totalis." She said clearly, seeing the frog freeze. Alice's hand went to her mouth. It was like she was a monster.

"You will need to defend yourself from what happens next."

The professor said. Her eyes grew. "P-professor?" She questioned. Alice steadied herself, and held her wand in a defensive manner. The professor fired the stunning spell at her, and she dropped her wand, and shrieked, as the sparks hit her. Alice was asleep before she hit the ground.

Chaya was called in third. She was glad to go early; she couldn't imagine how frazzled she'd have been by the time her name was called if she'd had to go much later.

The darkness inside the classroom didn't help her nerves. She swallowed harshly and walked to the front of the room where she found Professor Storm waiting.

He gave his instructions, and she drew her first card. It read, "protect the chair beside you by adding an audible alarm when it is touched." She closed her eyes and searched through her memory for the spell she needed.

Right, Armoplore she remembered after a moment. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She let it out and pointed her wand at the chair. "Armoplore," she said firmly, and pale, blinkering red waves extended from her wand. The chair glowed a dull red for a second or two. She leaned forward and gently touched the chair to activate the charm. The shrieking that emitted from the chair wasn't as loud or shrill as it should have been, she knew, but at least the charm had worked.

Professor Storm  cancelled her spell and she drew her next card.

"Make the frog provided sneeze," she read silently. Oh, no, she thought. She remembered the incantation for this spell, steleus, mostly because she'd spent so much time practicing it, with little improvement. She'd had trouble with every hex and jinx she'd learned so far. She was starting to think maybe she just had a natural weakness with them, or something.

Still, she had to try. She pointed her wand at the frog. "Steleus," she said, glad her voice, at least, didn't shake, though her wand arm did. Nothing happened. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a shuddering breath. She opened her eyes, lowered her am and raised it again to re-point her wand. I can do this, she told herself.

"Steleus." This time, her wand emitted faint green rings, and after a very long moment, the frog sneezed, though not very strongly, or as many times in a row as it should have.

When the frog finished sneezing, she drew her last card, which instructed her to "Condense the smoke created." She nearly grinned in relief. Finally, a spell that came easily to her.

She waited for the professor to cast a spell to create smoke, then pointed her wand  - her arm was steady again, she noticed - and said, "firmus fumus." The smoke was sucked into the tip of her extended wand, leaving behind a dirty, grey rock on the classroom floor.

At least that one went well, she thought to herself as Professor Storm vanished the rock.

"You will need to defend yourself from what happens next," he told her. She tensed. "Stupefy."

She moved the moment she saw his lips begin to form a word, and still barely managed to dodge the beam of red light from his wand.

"That is all," he told her once she'd picked herself up off the floor, heart still thudding with adrenaline. "Return to your common room, and do not speak to your classmates when you leave. I will know."

"Thank you, Professor," she said, and left.

Seeing students leave with mixed expressions made Jack shiver a little bit. Seeing as he was called in fourth, Jack slowly walked in.

The difference in light took a few seconds to adjust to but when the door closed he jumped a little. Candle light...it made Jack either comforted or scared out of his mind, depending on the situation. Seeing the professor on the opposite side of the table and seeing cards made Jack a little less nervous. Card games, he loved card games!

"Choose a card""and turn it over." Well this seemed simple enough Jack turned the first card over. Make the chair legs dance uncontrollably That's easy, and funny too. Jack raised his wand and said,'Tarantallegra" almost instantly the legs began to move, dancing in such an odd fashion that Jack actually started laughing.

He slowly picked up the next card, seeing the professor glare. He hoped this next card would be as fun as the last. Tickle the frog provided Jack had finally stopped laughing and saw the frog next to him. Yes! just as fun as before. He smiled and whispered,"Titillando" The frog began to move around a little,even croaking occasionally until it fell off the table. Jack chuckled at the thud and picked up the frog to put it back on the table.

Jack picked up his last card, Make the frog provided sneeze. This will be great. He's done it before as a joke to some people so he knew this by heart. Quickly saying,"Steleus" Jack watched as nothing happened. A few seconds went by, then the frog sneezed. Jack actually felt coldness hit him and he replied with a loud "Ew...profesor that's gross."

Before he could respond he heard "You will need to defend yourself from what happens next." Jack had no idea what that meant but he saw whatever was coming towards him aim for his face. He jumped out of the way quickly and landed on the floor. The frog sneezed again. Jack got up laughing from nervousness and from the frog randomly sneezing again.

When he was told to leave, Jack was still laughing and could only com out with the words "Okay professor see ya, that was fun, thanks." He ran out laughing but also really scared because he knew professor Storm was really mad at him.

Noah waited patiently outside of the classroom, occasionally flipping to his notes to brush over them before tucking them away again. He was simmering in a odd mixture of nerves and excitement. He drew a guilty pleasure from the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, despite Professor Strom sometimes offsetting him. The idea of studying combat appealed to him in a very basic masculine way, and he couldn't help enjoying it to a degree. Eventually his name was called and he moved inside, looking about the room with curiosity before approaching the set of cards.

"Choose a card and turn it over." Interesting, randomness to the test. Alright then. He picked up one of the cards and turned it over. Upturn the chair by tipping it. Easy. Noah took his wand and held it ready as he collected himself. He took a deep breath before focusing upon the chair before shouting.

Flipendo! he exclaimed, a bit too much of an edge on his voice. His overexertion showed, the chair rocketing up at the spell and flipping into a wall. A look of horror crossed his face as it crashed back to the ground, his mind racing with the various ways that could result on the test. His hand shook as he followed instruction to pick yet another card.

Make the frog provided sneeze Let's see. Sneezing. Sneezing like in a cold or just a sneeze? Would either work? The simplest answer was probably better... Noah nodded to try and calm himself once more before pointing his wand at the frog and focusing again. His eyes reflected some desperation as he began the incantation.

St-...Steleus!

Once again his wand flashed in a near explosion of light, the Ravenclaw pushing far too hard at casting the spell. The frog erupted into a fit of heavy sneezes. This continued for what felt to the Ravenclaw to be hours, starting to whisper encouragement to try and get the frog to stop. Eventually these pittered down to silence and Noah looked up nervously at the professor once more before following the instruction to flip a third card.

Make the chair legs dance uncontrollably

He smiled despite himself, remembering how much he enjoyed the class in which they covered this. He looked over to the crashed chair with a sigh, however, which immediately reminded him of the failure. He pointed his wand at the wreck before half heartedly chanting out.

Tarantallegra

The wrecked chair started to wobble about as the legs tried to waver about. He grinned slightly at the at least not catastrophic failure before his attention was caught by the final command.

You will need to defend yourself from what happens next

Noah blinked at the command before looking to the professor to try and get clarification. However his eyes quickly were drawn to the professor's drawing of his wand, quickly raising his own in defense. The broken fingers of the episkey class were still vibrant in his mind and he quickly chanted out.

Expelliarmus

The first proper spell finally erupted from his wand, sailing over to the professor and at the very least disrupting the wand enough to allow Noah to avoid seeing whatever it was that was about to head his way. He left the classroom a bit shaken and worried for his grade, but glad that the test was now behind him.

Thales waited for his turn, observing his classmates getting nervous for this test. He didn't saw a reason to get nervous, himself. If anything, getting nervous would be counter-productive, wouldn't it? He sat on the corridor, leaning against a wall, and started to relax. He closed his eyes, and only opened them when his name was called. Slowly, he standed up and walked to te classroom, not knowing what to expect. maybe he would have to kill some creature? He sure hoped not, he didn't want to hurt any animal, or person, except maybe in self-defence.

"Morning, professor!"

He entered the classroom in a good mood. Relaxing before the test had been a great idea, as he felt in control of the situation. He paid attention to the classes, and he knew that the professor would only request knowledge given in class, so, as long as he maintained a cool head, he wouldn't have much difficulty.

"Choose a card," The Professor requested gesturing to the set, "and turn it over."

He nodded to the professor and picked up a card. Well, that seemed easy enough! Just condensing the smoke of a fire. He looked at the fire next to the professor, and then at its smoke, took a deep  breath, and then flicked his wand at the smoke, whispering.

"Firmus fumus."

The smoke condensed, alright, and Thales for a moment wondered what practical applications that spell might have. He shrugged, maybe he could do a smoke barrier, with enough experience? He should ask the professor that, once the test was over. Thales walked to the table again, and picked another card. He had now to heal his hand, after getting it scratched by the professor. He extended his arm, and, looking away, got his hand scratched.

"Ouch." He said, as if stating a fact, looking at his hand.

Calmly, he pointed his wand at the wound, avoiding touching it.

"Sano."

The wound glowedt for a moment, and then it was closed. He smiled to himself. Until now, no problems! Feeling a bit more confident than usual, he went to pick another card. And seeing it, he felt slightly uncomfortable.

Cause the legs of the frog provided to collapse

That.... didn't seem very nice to the frog, Thales thought while walking towards him. Sure, there would be no permanent damage, but he saw the situation from the frog perspective: He was alone, in an unknown room. People around him talked in a language that he didn't understand. Why he was there? He remembered being picked up of the fields, while hunting for flies and other insects. Someone said something, and he lost control of his legs. He needed his legs! The frog thought desperately, how would he be able to survive without his legs? The frog was scared, so scared that he would cry, if he could shed tears...
Thales shivered thinking about that, and decided he wouldn't do it. He didn't need to be cruel to that frog to get a passing grade, he was doing very well until now, but he couldn't free the frog, as some of his classmates could need to use the spells on him to pass.
Thales, after thinking that, looked at the frog he had to cast a spell on, already having his wand pointed at him, dropped it, and looked at the professor, in a apologetic manner.

"Sorry, professor, I do know the spell, but it seems cruel to scare the frog with it, specially when he's so defenseless... Feel free to consider that I got this task wrong."

He shrugged.

Once three spells had been selected at random and cast, the Professor drew his wand and gave the simple instruction.
"You will need to defend yourself from what happens next."

Thales got his wand ready as soon as the professor drew his wand, looking at him. He wouldn't attack him, would he? Oh, snap! He would... He will!  Desperately, Thales flicked his wand towards the professor, exclamating.

"Locomotor Wiggly!"

Thales hoped that preemptive strike counted as a form of defence. The professor supported himsef on the table to avoid falling, and his aim was off, thanks to the attack.

"That is all. Return to your common room, and do not speak to your classmates when you leave. I will know."

Thales walked back to his common room, slightly worried about his perfomance at the test.

OOC: Thank you all for such beautiful, creative responses. As the timeline has moved to January I'm closing the exams up. If I haven't already contacted you for exam grades (perhaps because your character is a recent addition) then please see the details below and let me know your additions. Its not necessary to have written a response to this thread to send me a PM. - Kit

Request for Defence Exam Grades

Please would you be able to help me grade the performance of your characters in Defence Against the Dark Arts?

As this is an internal exam grade for December 2009, please keep in mind that Professor Storm is a hard marker and will often give the grade lower than the student would have achieved, had they been marked by an external examiner.

More about picking grades for DADA.