After the sad departure of Professor de Nostredame last term, Professor William, er, Williamson returned to the castle grounds to take the reins of Care of Magical Creatures. And for reason, he thought that it would be a wise idea to convene all the castle’s feline population for an obstacle course. After much cooing, waving of toys and tugging on leashes, approximately half of the cat population had opted for sleep being the better option…and who can really blame them? The rest were either hissing loudly or bribed around the course with treats (or a sock, in the case of Phoebe James), with Claudine Blaze blazing round with her cat President. And she would have won, if it wasn’t for Professor Eris’ blatant cheating. Yes, you heard me, Sir…cheating. With the chaos and misery over, Professor W went on to introduce the lesson’s special guests: Rufus and Fiona, the wampus kittens with hypnotic powers. Apparently sunglasses are helpful to avoid the latter, but Professor Williamson had neglected to provide any, or tell us to bring some. Which was apparently a plus to Flynn Whitlock, who appeared to actively want to be hypnotised. Meanwhile, Avalon Sinclair and Isla Bellchant managed to let Fiona escape, whilst Rufus took down the pairing of Ravenclaw Prefects, Ewan Jones and Missa Renaldi…before tripping over the next intrepid duo to take the leash, Aboli Song and Chloe McCarthy. Fun times.
After trapsing through the mud on a grey, drizzly day, our second lesson featured another furry four legged creature – the jarvey. And a noisy lesson it was too, with jarveys well-known for their endless stream of chatter and generally potty mouths. After something about shamrocks (still not got the foggiest what that was about), we discussed the effect of the environment. Nature versus nurture, and all that jazz. What that had to do with jarveys in particular, I can’t say I remember…possibly something to do with what they say? Before we got to find out, however, we were rudely interrupted by a swarm of gnomes…which just so happen to be a jarvey’s favourite snack. Cue a spot of de-gnoming! Carsyn Rose and Maui opted for the James Bond roll tactic, whilst Ivory decided to take a nom of Aboli Song’s favourite necklace. On the other side of the mud pit, Heath Jones and Naya Lindsay had teamed up with Mollywobbles, and quickly disposed of the potato-headed gnomes to chants of “gnome stew!” (which, frankly, sounds gross).
Another chaotic term of Care of Magical Creatures. Who knows what new beasts Williamson will try enchant us with next year…?
charms
Some might say that Professor Fuller-Thompson is charming, but there is no doubt that the professor has what it takes to guide the students to their true potential even with the obstacles that are always thrust in the way at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although somewhat ambitious in his hope that the students would have completed their reading before class about the Aparecium Charm (something that was displayed in big, bold words on the chalkboard), that didn’t deter the Professor as he waited at the front of the classroom in his usual position as he waited for the students to arrive.
With the arrival of the students came the arrival of the first discussion of the day on the topic of “being sneaky” and most specifically, how wizards are sneaky with their use of magic as it was somewhat loosely linked to the topic of the days lesson: The Aparecium Charm or more commonly known as the revealing charm.
One could argue that asking students at Hogwarts about being sneaky was asking for trouble, but the replies turned out to be quite reviling (Pun intended). With some of the students giving answers that touched upon how muggles could potentially be sneaky, it was Jina who suggested the use of the muggle-repelling charm to hide magical items from muggles whilst Cole suggested the use of the Muffilato charm as a way to remain secretive whilst planning a prank. One unknown Ravenclaw prefect also suggested the use of the Fidelius charm so conceal a secret in someone’s soul but that was quickly shot down and not recommended by the charm’s professor for obvious reasons.
With the end of the student’s answers came a stark warning about the teachers of Hogwarts being sneakier than the students, as if they didn’t already know this from the number of last-minute tests that had been thrown their way. The subject at hand, the Aparecium Charm, was quickly broached then by the professor which the students were then asked to discuss. In a surprising fashion, the students did relatively well, first by coming up with the basic definition of what the spell does as well as by stating the type of things it might work on. There was even mention of the history of the spell by Islay and how the roots of the spell came from the latin word, appareo, by Jillian followed by a debate on how ethical the use of the spell actually was by Eboli and Alexandre and the ethical issue that as a consequence of this, are raised when one has found out what information said charm was hiding by Heath.
With the questions and debates over, it was finally time for the magic to commence! With quills welled up with invisible ink, the students were first asked to practice the incantation and the wand movement (three taps) before eventually writing a message on parchment using the invisible ink and then practicing the said spell until they had is mastered all whilst under the careful gaze of the Professor who would often make helpful tips and suggestions to those who were struggling. It was true that some of the students would make better sneak thieves than others but not everyone had that side of them at Hogwarts it seems, despite there some notorious pranks happening over the years.
After the practice was halted though, a surprise twist would then occur with the Professor throwing out a challenge for the students, stating that pieces of parchment had been sneakily hidden around the class with hidden messages on them and that it was the student’s job to locate and decipher the messages with the use of the apperecium charm. He even indicated, through a rather over dramatic pause, that there would be surprises in stock for those who found some of the hidden scraps of parchment.
And so, carnage ensued as student after student tore the class asunder looking for the tiny scraps of parchment that held an invisible message. In a rather surprising turn of events though, the first few scraps of paper were found by some of the younger students, with Isla and Bernie both finding scraps and reciting the charm first and second. In a rather anti-climactic fashion however, the messages were silly and meaningless. How sad.
It wasn’t until one of the older students, Jina, found a message that an actual prize was actually awarded with Ravenclaw receiving an extra 5 house points for the hard work! Other students even received messages to pass on to other teachers with Ronan’s parchment revealing a message to pass on to Professor Schmoe! As the lesson progressed, more house points were given out, jokes were told and there were even whispers of students who were annoyed at receiving a free pass on charms homework. The was eventually stopped and in sticking with the surprising theme that seemed to becoming more and more common in charms, the Professor let the students out early due to their fantastic work but not without a quick warning about the looming threat that was their homework assignment.
defense against the dark arts
Kelpies and bubaks and Trent, oh my! We experienced our fair share of dark creatures this year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not to say that Headmaster Trent is a dark creature, but you have to admit that he can be a little intimidating sometimes.
The first lesson of the term had us heading over to the Great Lake. After we talked about the hidden dangers of water, the headmaster asked us what we would do if we ever came face-to-face with a kelpie, which is a shapeshifting water demon that lures people onto its back and drags them into the water to eat them. Charming, right? Apparently, magic doesn’t work on them (and neither does punching them in the snout), but if you can manage to slip a bridle over their head, you’ll be just peachy. Headmaster Trent corralled a team of wooden horses for us to practice on, but the bridle placement charm was trickier than it seemed, especially on such unwilling equines. Case in point: Claudine Blaze got a not-so-friendly chomp to the sleeve after attempting to pet her horse, and Cole Vance got trampled by one that had been hit with a dancing feet jinx.
After a semi-disastrous practice session, it was time for a little competition to see which team could take down their quasi-kelpie first. The prize? The option to skip out on the safety seminar. Pretty enticing, if you ask me. Although Team Green displayed an Oscar-worthy acting performance, they were unable to get the bridle on their kelpie, which had shapeshifted into a bird. It landed on Blake Ryan’s shoulder (who, if I may add, was doing a rather excellent job of playing the part of Defenseless Child #3) before changing again, this time into a hippogriff, and flapping off toward the lake with the young Slytherin in its grasp. Team Purple thought that throwing rocks and grass would be a good idea, which only resulted in an angry kelpie barreling toward them. And Team Orange? Well, to put it plainly, their plan resulted in Phoebe James getting dragged by the arm to the lake.
Thankfully, Headmaster Trent intervened before anyone could get eaten, but as punishment for our lack of common sense, we had to write 100 lines at the end of class. Oh, and did I mention that we all had to attend the safety seminar?
The next lesson was an epic crossover of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Drama Club. Since our magic had sputtered out due to the storm, the headmaster put us to work building a set with a cornfield, moon, and a bunch of dummies. We told a spooky story about the scarecrow-looking, black cloak-clad, baby-crying creature called a bubak before playing an exciting game of bubak tag. One group moseyed around in the corn while the other donned their cloaks and attempted to capture the wanderers. If a bubak tapped one of us before we could shine our flashlight (AKA patronus) on them, they succeeded at stealing our soul, and we became the next bubak. Thankfully, nobody got dragged or bitten by a demon horse this time around. Or at least I don’t think anybody did. My memory of that class, like much of the second half of the term, is still a bit fuzzy.
divination
Guess who's back - back again? It's none other than Professor Cassiopeia Kitridge, returning to take her rightful place at Divination Professor at Hogwarts. Professor Kitridge is not the first professor to return to her old post after some time away, but everyone couldn't help but wonder if her teaching style had changed, and what she was going to bring to the table for her lessons this term.
Perhaps Professor Kitridge was tapping in to some Seer abilities, because she taught what would end up to be an EXTREMELY relevant lesson more on that later when she taught students about seances and spirit boards. The official name for all that? Necromancy! During the mini activity spirit boards were handed out and students were encouraged to try contacting the dead. Most students went with famous historical figures like Queen Victoria, in the case of Ewan Jones and Isla Bellchant, but others - like Bernadette Grantham and Flora Thiese - decided to swing for the fences and tried to summon Voldemort back from the dead. Thankfully for everyone, they weren't successful. In fact, most students couldn't get their board to do much except vibrate a little. Moaning Myrtle decided to crash the party and liven things up when the students were unable to communicate with the dead and ended up becoming an assistant for the day, which was fitting considering the lesson was about communicating with dead people! Naturally, she was super dramatic about it and ended up storming out of the classroom after being slighted by the students - and because of all her bad energy, the seance they attempted at the end of the lesson was unsuccessful.
Little did everyone know they'd get a chance to try another seance later in the term - this time a REAL seance, where they summoned Crystal Divine from the past to help them restore the timelines and return to their normal state. Without the practice in Professor Kitridge's class, they may never have been able to successfully summon her later in the year!
On a lighter note, another topic covered that was fun for everyone was the art of Divination using FLOWERS! This type of Divination is referred to as Floromancy, and you use just about every part of the flower to ask questions and practice reading the future! Claudine Blaze helpfully pointed out that the structure of the flower plays an important part in the reading, and Naya Lindsay guessed correctly that they would be using the actual petals to help with reading. Overall, Kitrdige taught students that there are MANY ways to interpret the flowers to help you get answers to your questions, and the answers are not always black and white or what you exactly want to hear.
Professor Kitridge had more than just an educational impact on her return to Hogwarts. Without her, one could argue that Hogwarts wouldn't even be here right now! Hopefully this term will be less hectic for everyone, and Kitridge will be able to continue to share her craft with all her enthusiastic students.