3: Presentations I

[Rowan Trace]

True to his word, Rowan had a heftier assignment this class. He brought out his wand as students were finding their seats, and the day's topic scrawled itself across the board.

Presentations I:
Teach to Learn

A small cauldron sat on his desk, and he gave it a light tap. It filled with folded scraps of parchment, and he reached in to mix it up. He knew that students preferred to work with friends, but there was always someone left out and this was a good way to solve that problem.

"We're going to spend some time studying specific spells," he said when the room was quiet. "We've worked on getting people up to year level, but there are some lesser-used spells that are just as important.

"I have here the names of some of those spells. I want each of you to come up and choose one from the cauldron. There will be more than one of each spell. Find the other person with the same spell as you; you'll be working together outside of class.

"I want each pair or group of three to study their spell and practice it. Next class, you'll be presenting what you've learned. Become an expert at your spell, and present it next class as though you're an expert, or as though you discovered the spell. How do you perform the spell? What is the incantation? How can the spell be used?"

• Engorgement Charm
  
• Severing Charm
  
• Silencing Charm
  
• Tickling Charm
  
• Unlocking Charm
  

You will be given points for posting your character getting his or her spell. More points will be given next class for the presentation. If you don't get a partner, or if your partner disappears on you, present by yourself next class, and you'll get the points.

"After you've got your charm assignment, you may spend the rest of the class working out meeting times with your partner."

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo couldn't have been the only one who'd groaned at the announcement. He hated group assignments, partly because he'd rather work alone, and partly because he usually ended up alone anyway, while his partner slacked off and he did all the work. He hated presentations, too. Why did standing in front of people prove he'd learned something any better than writing an essay? Not that he liked essays...

He got into the line of people getting their charms assignments, and when he reached the professor's desk, stuck his hand into the cauldron. His fingers closed around the first scrap of parchment it touched. He closed his hand around it, then stepped away to let the next person choose and smoothed his own parchment out.

Engorgement Charm. He had several comments on that, and not one that he'd say out loud.

[Marius Reed]

No, Mari hadn't been watching Indigo's progress through the line as he sucked on a piece of Pocky he'd broken off under his desk and slid into his mouth when the teacher wasn't looking. He wasn't sure if candy was allowed, but he ate it anyway. When he reached the little cauldron and reached in with his half-gloved hand (it was still super cold), he dug around for a bit before slipping away. Engorgement Charm. Well that definitely brought some interesting thoughts to mind and a grin to his lips.

"Who's got Engorgement charm?" he asked, looking around at the people who'd already pulled names. He didn't really mind group projects, though he really liked to pick who he got to work with.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo's chest restricted. Please, no. He looked back down at his parchment, but there it was, in the professor's handwriting. Indigo tapped his nearest classmate on the shoulder to see if he could trade, but got a firm no.

He shifted his weight, then told himself to move, before Mari announced it to the room again. It was bad enough having that charm, bad enough having to work with someone he'd been trying to avoid, and Mari had to shout it to the room.

"I have it," he said, giving Mari a light nudge. There, he'd claimed it, it didn't need said out loud again.

[Marius Reed]

Well, really, how else was he supposed to figure it out? Go up and ask each person? "Oh, okay, cool," Mari said, turning to face Indigo and smiling. "When do you wanna meet up?" At least they were in the same house, so it would be easy to figure it out. Maybe he should have felt awkward around Indigo, but really he didn't. There was no point in feeling super awkward and stuff about it, as far as he was concerned, even if he did find it kind of funny that he would be practicing the engorgement charm with Indigo.

[Indigo Noble]

Indigo shrugged. "Maybe we can like, cut the project in half, each of us does half, you know? It might be faster that way." And he could do his half alone. "As long as both of us can do the spell, it shouldn't matter." He refused to look at Mari, and kept his gaze anywhere else in the room. He didn't need any reminders of whatever weirdness had possessed him in the last couple weeks, he needed to get off his butt and talk to Brindle, and forget all of that.

[Marius Reed]

"He'd be able to tell," Mari said, shaking his head. Teachers were annoying like that, especially when they were as young as the ones at Hogwarts and still remembered all the tricks. "It won't take long for us to do it, get in the common room for a bit." The hardest part would be actually learning to do the spell, which, in Mari's experience, could take a long time.

[Indigo Noble]

"Fine, let's just... get it over with." If he was a little snappy, Indigo didn't notice. He just didn't want to do this assignment. Really, he didn't want to hang around Mari even more than he didn't want to do the assignment. Why couldn't he have been paired with someone quiet, like Silver? He should have lied and kept trying to trade.

[Castiel Catalyst]

Castiel had been in line right behind Marius, and he'd have gladly traded papers with anyone besides Indigo. It wasn't that he had anything against Indigo. In fact, the opposite was true; he knew Mari liked the guy more than he'd admit, and if it forced them to spend time together, he'd get over the fact that he'd be paired with someone he didn't know.

He reached into the cauldron and picked out a paper. Severing Charm. Well, he supposed it could have been worse. He looked around and held his scrap of parchment up. "Severing charm, anyone?" he asked.

[Lystravirtue Phrixus]

Ly had hoped her and her brother would pick the same charm, though it seemed almost impossibly unrealistic to do so. When she reached into the cauldron and read her parchment, only to realize it read what the boy ahead of her had called, she wrinkled her nose. The boy was a strange one and she didn't particularly want anything to do with him. She sighed heavily and went up to him. "That would be me," she said, boredom leaking from each word.

[Lysiseraph Phrixus]

Ly's eyes darkened slightly as he watched his sister turn away. He grabbed a piece of parchment without even looking at it. "Here, trade me," he said to the kid. He held out the still-folded parchment in his hand. There was no way he was sitting around with any of the losers at this school any longer than he had to. He'd trade, and he'd work with his sister.

[Castiel Catalyst]

Castiel hadn't made any connections until he saw the second tall, slender blonde approach. Then he looked between the two and back down at his parchment. What was it he'd read about them? They’re both pretty nasty with a wand and I’d rather he didn’t think I was hitting on his girlfriend. Uh, sister.

"Um, yeah, sure," he said. He'd rather not get beaten up or whatever, and it didn't really matter who his partner was, anyway.

[Rowan Trace]

"There will be no trading," Rowan interrupted. That would defeat the entire point of randomly assigning partners. "Mr. Phrixus, I suggest you find your own partner. I've already written Miss Phrixus and Mr. Catalyst down." There would be no discord in his class. He'd had enough adventure with that pregnant girl.

[Lysiseraph Phrixus]

Ly narrowed his gaze at the little Ravenclaw. Nothing had better happen with his sister, or there would be discord all over a corridor somewhere when no professors were looking. He turned away. Maybe he could get a Ravenclaw too, and he and his sister could just let their partners do all the work.

[Aiden Shover]

Aiden shook his head at the posturing from the Slytherin before reaching in for his own assignment. He couldn't help but laugh at what he'd gotten. "Tickling charm? Anyone in for the tickling charm?" he called. It would be a lie to say he didn't notice a couple disappointed looks from girls around him as they looked at their scraps of parchment.