Lesson Two

Ambrosius watched as his students were entering the classroom and heading to their seats. "Good afternoon everyone, and welcome back to Defence Against the Dark Arts" he calmly greeted them as most of them were looking around the room with surprise. There were indeed some odd additions to the classroom. In one corner, there were four shining crystal balls floating in mid air, forming the shape of a square, and that seemed to be connected between them by a luminescent ray. In that cage made of light, one could see a spectral dog, walking in circles, on alert. On the other side of the professor's desk, a ghost was standing near the wall, furiously glancing at the students. He was rather frightening, wearing a robe covered in silver bloodstains, and carrying chains and a sword around his belt. Finally, on his desk, Ambrosius had placed a plant composed of a mass of soft, springy tendrils and vines.

"Yes, I have prepared something quite special and interesting for this lesson, but you will hear more about that later. By the way, as some of you may already know, this is the Bloody Baron, the house ghost of Slytherin. He has kindly agreed to help me with this lesson" he announced. "But for now, we will proceed with what we hadn't finished last time, more precisely the uses of the Wand Lighting Charm and its variations in Defence Against the Dark Arts. I trust you have all done your homework?" he asked, examining the students. "Could you please just pass them to me so that I see what you have written?".

Apparently, all of them had achieved their task. And quite well, it seemed. "Well, I see that you have done this with the required seriousness. I therefore award 5 points to each of you. You have all understood that the Wand Lighting Spell, as well as its powered up version, is used to ward off spectral foes, and that the Lumos Solem charm was an effective weapon against the Devil's Snare. But, as you know, Defence Against the Dark Arts is about making you able to defend yourselves in the face of danger. Therefore, I believe that what we are learning here would be useless without applying it to more practical situations. And that is exactly what we are going to do today. Now if you would all please stand up and come to the front of the classroom.".

As soon as the students had joined him, with a swish of his wand, he moved the desks and the chairs on the back of the room, leaving a vast empty space in the middle. "I have asked you to master the Lumos spell for today, and I hope all of you have done that. What I wish from you now is to practice to perform the two other spells, Lumos Solem and Lumos Maxima, that you haven't tried yet, as we will be needing them later. You can ignore the Lumos Duo spell for now, as it is not very used in defensive goals. However, if some of you have the curiosity to see what it looks like, you should observe the cage in that corner" he said, showing them the area with the spectral dog. "You will be working in groups of two, one of you attempting to perform the spells, the other criticizing him or her, pointing out mistakes, for example in the incantation or the wand movement, as it is often easier for other to see our wrongs than for ourselves. Of course, when you succeed in casting the charms, you change roles with your partner. Lumos Solem will probably not be a major problem for you since you have all mastered the Lumos spell, but Lumos Maxima may be a bit more difficult, since it is a powered up version of the basic charm. It therefore demands greater concentration and precision from the caster. But I don't doubt that you will succeed at performing it after a certain number of attempts. "

After a moment of reflection, he pursued: "Miss Frey, you should team up with mister Macgonagall, and Miss Fernandes with mister Riddle. You can get started with practicing now. When all of you have mastered the two spells, I will give you further instructions."

Demelza and James and James were walking to classroom 3C (the DADA classroom) and sat down. The class was weirder now than before as the house ghost of Slytherin was there. And there was four shining crystal balls floating in mid air, and finally a dog in a cage," What a weird class, James," Demelza said.Professor Umbranox started explaining and later ordered James and Demelza to be a group and perform a spell. "You go first," Demelza told James.

James followed Demelza in the classroom and sat next to her. Having seen lots of unusual things for him over the past few weeks, he didn't immediately notice the atypical additions to the classroom: a spectral dog, a ghost and a very odd plant. However, after seeing the expression of surprise on Demelza's face and her comment on how weird this class was, he understood that they were not really going to have an ordinary class.

After reviewing their homework, Professor Umbranox asked them to practice the Lumos Solem and the Lumos Maxima spells as they would be needing them for the second part of the lesson. Then, he announced they would be working in groups of two, teaming up James with Demelza. Glad to be practicing with her, he gave her a smile as she was saying: "You go first". "Okay" he answered.

He was quite confident that he was going to perform well, at least for the first charm, as he had perfectly mastered the basic Lumos spell, and the casting of Lumos Solem was very similar to that of the Wand Lighting Spell. Nevertheless, he was also a bit nervous, especially because the fact that Demelza was watching him and had to criticize him afterwards. Concentrating, he pointed his wand in front of him and pronounced the incantation. A narrow beam of light instantly burst out of the tip of his wand. Satisfied, he glanced at his partner to see her reaction and started getting ready for the second, much more difficult spell. After a few moments, he moved his wand like a whip in a hasty and somewhat clumsy way, uttering: "Lumos Maxima". Unfortunately, nothing happened. Disappointed, he looked at Demelza and asked her: "I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"

Kim was late for her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Everyone was passing their assignments when she got to sit beside James. She hurriedly took her homework and passed it to her professor. At first, she didn't notice some changes in the room until she saw her own house ghost, the Bloody Baron who was really scary but seems to be nice.

After some introduction, she put out her wand and saw that James and Demelza we're already doing what they have been instructed to do. She was still catching her breath this time, so she decided to let Bill go first.

"I can't conjure a spell while I'm catching my breath. You conjure the spell first then I'll try to watch," Kim said to Bill.

Ambrosius was walking between the different groups, checking how they were faring with the spells. "Nice work for the Lumos Solem charm, James. However, you seem to have some issues with Lumos Maxima. Demelza, could you please point out what he was doing wrong?". Then, he approached the other group and demanded: "Mister Macgonagall, could you please start casting the spells while Miss Frey is recovering?". He didn't raise his voice, but somehow still managed to sound authoritative.

"Yes professor I will" Bill said to the professor. He watched other students do and it is time for him to do the same. "Lumos Solem" Bill said and beam of light appeared from his wand and pointed itself in one direction, Bill felt good that he did that well. But now comes the hard part the lumos maxima spell. Bill moved his wand in elongated S shape and said "Lumos Maxima" but only small ball of light appeared and it went down immediately. "Oh-No what happened?" Bill asked professor and Kim.

"Well, Lumos Maxima seems to be a hard spell to conjure. Maybe this spell really won't work with just casting it once," Kim answered.

Kim took out her book of DADA to look for some tips on how to cast the said spell.

"And according to this book, you also need to have really tough confidence that you'll do the spell to be successful with it," she said without taking her eyes off the book. "You ready to start it again?" Kim said to Bill.

Richard entered classroom 3C and found himself in front of a very strange scene: a ghost, a strange cage made of light containing some sort of spectral dog, the students grouped by two apparently trying to light their wands, and the professor walking among them. Suddenly, they all turned towards him, their attention caught by the sound of the door opening. He quickly snapped out of that moment of confusion and said: "Excuse me for being late, professor, but I have just arrived at Hogwarts, and they just told me about this class. Can I join?"

Ambrosius turned around when he heard the door of the classroom opening. A boy was standing there and asked if he could join the class. "Since it is still the beginning of the term, I will let you attend. However, from next time, I won't tolerate any more late arrivals during class, whatever the reason" he said, emphasizing the last few words. "Now, come on everyone, get back to work" he demanded, as the other students were still waiting to see what will happen with their new classmate. "And you will be practicing with me, since all the others are already in groups" he added looking at the boy who had just entered.

He waited for the boy to join him in the center of the classroom and then said; "First of all, can you tell me your name? And then, I want to know if you have had any experience with magic so far, in particular with the Lumos spell since it is what we have learned during last lesson, and it is necessary for today's assignments."

After laying his backpack near one of the desks, he took out his wand and joined the professor at the center of the room. "My name is Richard Adlard, professor. And I have had quite a lot of experience with magic. My father already taught me the Lumos Spell, lending me his wand so that I could master it, since it is the only spell that is not affected by the Trace" he said, looking the professor in the eyes, with a satisfied smile. He then pointed his wand in front of him and said: "Lumos". The tip of his wand instantly started emitting a bright light. "Nox" he added, and the light immediately turned off. Turning his look back to the professor, he eagerly awaited a new task.

"Impressive" Ambrosius replied with a tad of sarcasm in his voice. He was glad that his new student had already mastered the spell, but did not like his vanity. "I guess you won't have any problems with the Lumos Solem and Lumos Maxima spells either then. We are learning those two charms today as they are necessary for the second part of the lesson, so please try to cast them and I will tell you what to correct."

Eliza walks into room a little bit shy. She had just started Hogwarts. " sorry i was late. I just started Hogwarts." said Eliza. " What are we learning about!" Eliza walked to the only unused desk. She lay her books down. Quickly she waved her wand and said "Lumos," to catch up with the class as her wand slowly lit up at the tip.
Her tie was neatly done up and she was in full uniform.

"Of course" he answered trying to remember the lessons his father gave him. "Lumos Solem" he uttered and grinned seeing his wand successfully performing the spell. Concentrating this time on the elongated S-shaped wand movement required for the second charm, he clearly pronounced: "Lumos Maxima !". A small ball of light appeared at the tip of his wand. It was not very powerful, but since this was a more difficult spell, he was really proud to at least get to that result.

Another one? thought Ambrosius seeing a girl enter the classroom. "Come in, put your bag in the back of the room and join us" he said. He then turned towards Richard Adlard and added: "Since you seem to have mastered the two spells, please team up with your new classmate, explain to her what we are learning, and correct her if she's doing something wrong when casting the charms."

Letting the two of them proceed with practice, he started another walk around the classroom to check up on the other students. Apparently, William Macgonagall had successfully cast the first spell but had some issues with the second one. "Miss Frey is absolutely right" he declared while approaching the group. "Listen, everyone" he demanded loudly so that all the students could hear him. "I'm sure mister Macgonagall is not the only one having problems with Lumos Maxima. Being a powered-up version of another spell, Lumos Maxima requires the utmost focus from the caster. The intent is also different. For the basic Lumos charm, you just had to imagine the outcome in your head. But with this one, you need to concentrate on building and sustaining all the energy of the spell on the tip of your wand, and then releasing it." He raised his wand, moved it in the shape of an S, uttered the incantation, and let the ball of light slowly become bigger and brighter at its extremity, to let his students really understand he nature of the charm. When it was powerful enough, he suddenly moved his hand in a whip-like action and sent the ball of light to the other end of the classroom. "Now get back to practicing. I'll come and see how each group fares." he added. "Try again having this in mind, mister Macgonagall."

"Nox" she added and and her wand turned off.

"Well, I can see that you know how to cast the Wand Lighting spell." Richard said to the new girl. "Why don't you try Lumos Solem and Lumos Maxima now?" he asked her. "Apparently, we have to master those today. I'm Richard, by the way."

Slowly, She made an S shape in the air. "Lumos Maxima," she said and her wand lit up but only lightly.

James was still waiting for Demelza to correct him about the way he tried to cast the Lumos Maxima spell, but apparently she didn't know what was wrong either. However, after seeing professor Umbranox performing the charm, he realized that he did the required hand movement completely wrong. "Of course, an S shape. I totally forgot." he said to himself. "Let me try one more time" he added, talking to Demelza.

Making sure that he performed the right motion this time, he pronounced the incantation, focusing on what the professor explained about storing the energy on the tip of his wand. A feeble light appeared at first on its extremity, similar to the one resulting from the basic Wand Lighting spell, but it progressively grew stronger and stronger as he was concentrating on building up the charm's power. James smiled, thinking that it was really amazing to actually feel the energy passing through the wand and being sustained at its tip. After a few moments, the weak light had transformed into a luminous ball. Imitating his professor, James moved his hand like a whip and watched as the sphere was travelling though the air to the other side of the room.

"Well done, mister Riddle" Ambrosius said after seeing his student successfully cast the second spell, "and you too, miss ..." he added, turning towards the girl who had arrived several minutes earlier, waiting for her to give him her name. He then faced Kim Frey and William Macgonagall's group and said: "Mister Macgonagall, could you please try to perform the Lumos Maxima spell again? And miss Frey, please cast the spells too, so that we can move on to the second part of today's lesson."

Kim immediately picked up her wand after she heard what the Professor told her to do. Even though Bill is trying to conjure the spell, she started to practice already.

She knew that she learned a lot from watching Bill casting the spell, realizing what mistakes he is doing, from reading the book and from listening to Professor Umbranox's advice. She tried to cast the first spell, Lumos Solem, more confidently than the other spells she tried before. "Lumos Solem!" A light was shining at the tip of her wand. She knew that she did very well in the said spell so she started focusing on the harder one. The Lumos Maxima.

Trying to watch others on casting the spell, somewhat she already have a clue on how to cast it. Concentrating, she said,"Lumos Maxima!" A light stronger that the other light was produced on the tip of her wand. Kim knows this is not good enough so decided to try it again, concentrating harder than ever on the spell. "Lumos Maxima!!" After uttering those words, a ball of light appeared before her eyes. She didn't let her amusement to stop her concentration toward the spell. The ball of light went on for some minute but then, exhausted, Kim lost her focus and the light began to shrink. She knew that she did well on that spell and was amazed of what she can now do using her wand.

Storm was rushing. He was late the first day! How emmbarrasing! His tie and shoes were not correctly tied, and he was struggling to find the classroom.
When he finally got to the door into the DADA classroom, he straightened his tie a little bit. He had a horrible feeling that he was gonna cost his house some points. He heard a female voice sharply saying "Lumos Maxima".
He opened the door, to find himself sorrounded by the light of the slytherin girls wand. She looked rather nice, but Storm did not excpect a slytherins personality to be equal.

"Im sorry im late Professor. I was having trouble finding the classroom". Storm while desperatly trying to fix his hair.

"Im sorry im late Professor. I was having trouble finding the classroom". Ambrosius was dissatisfied of being interrupted again but replied: "Since I let the two other new students join, I will allow you attend too. Leave your bag in the back of the classroom and join us". "However, know that from next time no late arrivals will be tolerated." he added as the student was heading towards the desks.

Ambrosius then went back to his desk so that everyone could see him and announced: "Please, everyone, stop practicing and listen. I'm very pleased of your performance today. I therefore give 10 points to miss Frey and mister Riddle for successfully casting the spells, 5 points for mister Macgonagall for performing the first and trying the second one, and 5 points to miss Parkinson and mister Adlard, as they were late for class. If my calculations are correct, that makes 15 points for Slytherin, 10 for Ravenclaw and 5 for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." He paused for a moment as some of the students were rejoicing about winning points for their House.

"We can now start the second part of the lesson. As you all know, this is a Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and its goal is to help you protect yourselves against the many dangers that you can encounter in the magical world. It is therefore useless to learn spells if they cannot help you in such perilous situations. That is why we are now going to see how the charms that we have learned today can be used when dealing with dark creatures." He stopped for a moment, making sure they had understood, and then pursued. "Let me now explain to you what we are going to do". He turned towards the ghost who had been silently floating near his desk while the students were practicing. "For those of you who arrived late, let me present to you the Bloody Baron, the ghost of Slytherin House, who has kindly agreed to help me with this lesson." The ghost just nodded to the students, looking serious and terrifying as always. Ambrosius then looked at the light cage on the other side of his desk and the spectral dog that was sitting in it: "This is a Gytrash. I guess you all know what a Gytrash is, at least for those who were here last time and who did their homework. Can anyone tell our new students what it is?" he asked.

"Yes, that is correct." he replied after one of his students gave the answer. "And finally, as some of you may have guessed, what you can see on my desk is a Devil's Snare" he added while showing them the plant composed of a mass of soft, springy tendrils and vines. "It may seem inoffensive, but know that this particular plant is very young, and that when they grow up, Devil's Snares can reach a terrifying size. And this one will also hurt you if you let it the opportunity." He approached his desk and touched the plant with his hand. It immediately seized it with one of its vines and started winding around his arm. "Lumos Solem" he pronounced and the plant instantly released him, contracting inside its pot while a slight squeal. "However, as you can see, a simple Lumos Solem charm will keep it away from you."

With a swish of his wand, he drew the curtains, and with a second flick he lit several candles around the room, which was now considerably darker. Facing the students again, he announced: "As you know, Gytrashes are sensible to light, so we need to do this in a dark environment. Now that you are familiar with everything, I can explain you what your task will be. You will all complete it one by one, while the others are waiting in the back of the room. First, you will stand in the center of the room, I will let the Gytrash out of its cage and it will attack you. You will then cast the basic version of the Lumos spell in order to ward it off. Then, you will let the Devil's Snare grab your hand, after which you will cast the Lumos Solem charm to keep it away. Finally, the Bloody Baron will attack you and you have to perform a Lumos Maxima spell to defend yourself against him. If you can, try to send the ball of light towards him before he gets to you. But be careful, he is not called the Bloody Baron for nothing." He stopped for a few moments, glancing at the students to see if everything was clear. "The most important thing that you have to remember if you want to achieve this task is that you mustn't panic when facing danger. Just remain calm and focused on what we have learned. You all know to cast these spells now, so there is no reason you shouldn't succeed. However, even if you don't, don't worry, I'm here to help you." he added, seeing that some of the students seemed anxious. "Is everything clear?" he inquired. "If you have no questions, whoever wants to go first can start."

Storm was releaved he didnt cost Gryffindor points.
"Ehm - Professor?" said Storm, right before he had realised what he had said. Storm was really going to ask him about the house points, but now he had no choice. "I can try". Everyone else went to the back of the room, and Storm was sure he noticed some slytherins laughing at him.
Professor Umbranox let the Gytrash out of its cage. The Gytrash was running towards Storm.
"Lumos!", Storm shouted. A little light appeared on the tip on his wand, but it was not enough.
"LUMOS!", he shouted again, this time even higher. The Gytrash was neaarly near him, but now it fled from the light at the end of Storms wand. Umbranox put it back in its cage.
As soon as Storm could breathe out, the devil's snare had wrapped around his arm.
Without even thinking, a huge focus ran across Storms body.
"Lumos Solem!", he said almost as a reflex. He mastered the charm and the devil's snare lost contact. Storm was very surprised.
He new what was coming. A creepy ghost with silver-blood all over him, was now hovering towards him.
"LUMOS MAXIMA!". Nothing special happened. Storm was so afraid, he almost thougt the baron was a dementor. "Lumos MAXIMA!", he shouted again. A small light appeared, and it didnt seem to be strong enough for the bloody baron. Storm ran across to the other side of the room, shouting the spell several times, but now he was trapped in a corner. A strange feeling went through his body again, and Storm knew the battle was over. Just one more time, he thought. Its worth a try. The Baron was almost one foot away.
"LUMOS MAXIMA!", he shouted, surprisingly confident. A little light appeared. But it grew bigger and bigger, and then he was surrounded by a bright light, and a great feeling of energy flowing through him. The Baron Fled, and Storm felt both relieved and pleased with himself.

Richard watched the new boy complete the task. I can't let a Gryffindor take the points and the glory, he thought to himself. Feeling very confident that he would succeed considering the fact that he had already mastered the required spells, he stepped up to the middle of the room, took and his wand, pointed it towards the cage, focused and said: "I'm ready, professor".

As soon as Professor Umbranox unleashed the Gytrash, Richard uttered "Lumos!", and pointed the lighted tip of his wand towards the spectral dog. The animal rapidly ran towards him, but them instantly stopped at approximately five feet. Hurt by the light, it turned its head away from him and started slowly moving back, loudly wailing. Taking advantage of the situation, Richard took a few steps forward, driving the specter closer and closer to its cage. After a few moments, it was back in its prison of light, which Professor Umbranox immediately sealed. Richard smiled: the first part of the task was a success.

He then approached the professor's desk, determined. The Devil's Snare has happily moving its many tendrils, as if it was searching for a prey. He reluctantly placed his left hand on the plant, his right one holding his wand at the ready. At the moment he touched the plant, he felt one of its vines twisting around his hand and then his entire arm, painfully squeezing it. Remaining calm and focused, he exclaimed: "Lumos Solem !". A narrow ray of light burst from the extremity of his wand, hitting the tendril, which immediately backed off and hid inside the pot as it was burned by sunlight.

Finally, he walked back to the middle of the classroom and turned towards the Bloody Baron, who was floating near the professor's desk. Now that we was face to face with the ghost, he realized how terrifying he was, with his blood covered clothes and heavy chains, and his wide black eyes staring at Richard. The Baron started hovering towards him, yielding his sword in attack position high above his head. "Lumos Maxima" he pronounced, but all his self-confidence was gone. A small ball of light appeared at the tip of his wand but it vanished almost instantly. Paralyzed, he watched the ghost get closer and closer. Suddenly, he remembered something his father used to tell him : You'll see, at Hogwarts, there's a ghost for every House. Even if they may look scary, especially the Slytherin one, just remember that they can't do anything to you, they just go though you, so you have no reason to be scared of them. He looked at the ghost again, this time thinking about how inoffensive he really was. With a wide smile on his face and a new-found determination, he raised his wand and shouted: "Lumos Maxima !". This time, a big ball of light formed on the extremity of his wand, and with a swift swish of his wand, he sent it directly towards the Baron, who instantly covered his eyes with his wands, and moved back to the other side of the classroom. Putting his wand back in his pocket, Richard slowly joined the other students, glad this was over, and with a triumphant smile on his face.

Ambrosius was standing next to his desk, waiting to see who of his students would go first. It was the new Gryffindor boy. Several minutes later, despite some minor difficulties, he had successfully completed the task. Then, it was mister Adlard's turn. He passed the two first parts without a problem but seemed to have been paralyzed by fear when encountering the Bloody Baron, but then achieved the task nevertheless. "Well done, both of you." Ambrosius said as Richard Adlard was walking to the back of the classroom to join the others. They both seemed satisfied but exhausted by this experience.

"New boy. I believe you still haven't told me your name. That was quite impressive, especially considering that you came late and therefore didn't have the opportunity to practice the spells with the rest of us. I see that you worked hard to prepare this lesson on your own. Also, you taught your fellow classmates a valuable lesson today: when facing danger, you must never give up. You always have to try another time, and have hope that you will succeed. I expect you all to remember this in the future. And you just earned 10 points for Gryffindor." He then looked at Richard Adlard. "Mister Adlard, nice work as well. I hope that your experience with the Bloody Baron has shown you, and all of you, that sometimes knowing the spells perfectly is not enough when you are in a dangerous situation. Being able to stay serene and focused and being capable of overcoming your fear is equally important. You have done that today, and I therefore award 10 points to Slytherin."

Turning around, he took something from his bag and headed towards the back of the classroom. He then handed a bar of chocolate to each of the two students. "It's chocolate. Eat it. It will restore your energy. It is most useful after encountering Dementors, but it may help recover from a contact with any dark creatures." he explained to the class. "Well, who's next?"