Defense Against the Dark Arts [Classroom] - April 24th - April 30th/May 1st - May 7th

[np_dumbledore]

[Specify your grade in your subject line - as all grades are allowed, but not all grades are in the same class. Try to keep that in mind even though you'll all be in this thread playing "together"]

Comments

Fourth Years

[cal_archer]

Callum had prepared the room for a practical lesson. He had attached football sized sandbags to the ceiling which would drop randomly on the students if they weren't careful. "Form groups of no more than four. I want you to watch out for each other and fend the sandbags off. Have fun, kids."

The teacher leaned back in his chair and began to read his paper.

Re: Fourth Years

[genuinebaker]

Ben didn't hear what said at first and he looked around for someone to explain it to him. Preferably a friend. Claire maybe? He glanced around and didn't see her right away.

A sandbag fell a few feet away from him. Ben almost jumped out of his skin. Perhaps he should go stand closer to a wall.

Re: Fourth Years

[masterdevlin]

Was there truly no one else to... No. Clearly there was not. Archer had said groups of no more than four. Could one interpret that as groups of one? At that moment a sandbag chose to fall directly on top of Adrian, sending a sprinkling of sand down the back of his robes and into all sorts of uncomfortable places- but more importantly- stumbling him directly toward that filthy Baker boy.

"Oh, FINE," he muttered. "It would seem," Adrian said slowly, as though it pained him to do so (which it did), "that we are stuck together. Tell me you are good at this." He really did not fancy being struck many more times.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[garlick_rat]

Glancing up at the sandbags on the ceiling, something told Ramsey that this was one of those classic cases of someone forgetting to create a Monday lesson plan. Still, he wasn't going to complain - the activity sounded simple and mind-numbing enough that it might help him forget about the craziness of Saturday evening.

Turning to Cody, he grinned. "Team up?"

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[cody_nelson]

"We better," said Cody, looking up at the rafters. "Do we need a plan of action?" He side stepped closer to Ramsey, trying to tiptoe, unsure of what triggered the bags. "Or do we just wing it?"

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[garlick_rat]

"Wing it with shield charms, I think," Ramsey said as he stood, palming his wand. "D'you think they fall randomly, or that they're triggered by things we do?" A week ago, Ramsey would have automatically assumed the sandbags were put up with less-than-adequate sticking charms and figured they would just fall at random. But he was feeling a bit more paranoid than his usual self after his 'adventure' in the seventh year dorm, and he wouldn't put it past Archer to do something sneaky like have the bags set up to fall according to triggers. Heck, it was what Ramsey himself would've done, in the same situation.

Well. Bags with triggers as well as some with inadequate sticking charms that might fail at any moment, just to keep people on their toes and really confuse 'em.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[cody_nelson]

"I don't know," said Cody, looking up again. "I think we might run into each other if we're always looking up to see if we're going to get hit." Cody look at Ramsey and grinned. "Wanna dance amongst the falling heavy objects?" It was an odd statement, but Cody was teasing.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[garlick_rat]

Ramsey returned his friend's grin. "You know... that almost makes it sound you're proposing we try and bring them down on purpose." Actually, now that he thought about it, that idea had merit... "Hey. You think we could take 'em out before they even fall?" If they cleared an 'free' area on the ceiling, they could just stay underneath that for the rest of the class while everyone else ran about.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[cody_nelson]

Cody's jaw dropped and he looked at Ramsey with some admiration. "You, sir," he said, holding his hand out under a sand bag to see if it would fall, "are a genius."

He surveyed the room. "Where should we make our island, and how should we go about it? Accio's and wingardiums?"

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[garlick_rat]

"Close enough to the door that we can get out without being squashed if they haven't all fallen at the end of class," Ramsey said after a moment's thought, glad of Cody's praise. "But not too close, in case there's a stampede of people if anyone starts to panic."

Picking up his bag from where he'd left it, Ramsey realised that he was still smiling. He couldn't help it - once he'd worked out that all they needed was a plan of action, this had actually become a fun lesson. Making plans, after all, was one of those things that Ramsey did best.

"I was actually thinking we could blast them - use 'em for hexing practice or something," he admitted a little sheepishly. "Accios and wingardiums sounds like a better plan, though - I'd rather not have sand in my clothes all day." Though... Were there any bags above Archer? Maybe they could blast those once they'd cleared a space. Surreptitiously, of course.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[cody_nelson]

"It is defense against the dark arts," said Cody. "Hexing would be good practice." He paused, thinking. "Maybe if one of us accios, and the other covers with hexes incase things get out of control."

He grinned at his friend. "After you, sir."

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[garlick_rat]

"Hmm... You can do the fun stuff and hex," Ramsey said in a gracious tone, though it was really just common sense - Cody was loads better at defense than he was, though they were both about the same when it came to charms. Aiming his wand, Ramsey began summoning sandbags from the ceiling above them, careful to keep them from coming down too fast and doing him any damage.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[cody_nelson]

Cody kept a vigilant watch, following each sandbag with his wand as Ramsey summoned the sandbags as carefully as he could. One down, two down... the third sandbag, however, changed direction slightly and it looked like it was heading right towards Ramsey. Each of the accios had gotten a little bit faster as Ramsey had gotten more confident -- and while Cody would have had time to warn him before, now all he had time to do was yell, "Expelliarmus!"

The sandbag flew across the room, but so did Ramsey's wand.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[cal_archer]

Something shot past Callum's head missing him by an inch and he looked up in time to watch Ramsey's wand fly over him in a graceful arc.

"Mr Tibble!" He summoned the wand and sent it flying back to the student before he returned his attention to the paper. "Keep it up."

((in and out))

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[garlick_rat]

Ramsey blinked in surprise as his wand flew from his hand. He grumpily turned to Cody. "You didn't have to do that! I had it, I would've gotten it fine. And now my wand is go-" He broke off as his wand sped back, hitting him in the chest. Oof. "Well. It was gone," he amended, rolling his eyes.

Re: Fourth Years, Monday, April 24th, afternoon 1.

[cody_nelson]

"Sorry!" said Cody, a bit defensively. "I didn't want you to get thumped, and I didn't mean to get your wand." He rolled his eyes as well, hoping that the tense moment had passed.

Those three sandbags had opened up a space not quite big enough for even one person. Cody took a deep breath and let it out. "How many do you think we should get rid of? And what do we do with them?" The pile at Ramsey's feet offered less than enough room to maneuver.