DADA Lesson 1

The DADA class room was usually a really dull place with desks and a screen and a chalkboard at the end of it, but today it was changed drastically. To begin with, there were no desks, and not only that, but there was a void between the first tiles after the door, and where the professor desk was, on top of which, was a box full of different kinds of candy from Honeydukes.

Gillian was standing at the other end of the void waiting for all the students to arrive, with a mischievous grin on her face. Once everyone was standing on the edge of the precipice, she addressed the class.

“Welcome students, to your first Defense against the dark arts class!” she said with a dramatic bow “Dark arts are a tricky thing, and most of us live with them on a daily basis without noticing, but don’t worry, we’re going to see that another day.” She smiled even widely “now, for today class your goal is to get here, by my side and get whatever you want from this box, which, for your information, is filled with Honeydukes sweets” saying this, she took out a chocolate frog to show everyone. “to do that, you must materialize a bridge in front of you and avoid getting hit by my spells” she could almost feel the adrenaline flowing through their veins “to do that, you must say out loud something about the Protego charm, it can be a characteristic, how to cast it, what do you have to do in order to cast a good one, what does it protect you from, anything give your best shots” (the bridge only materializes once I say so, depending on your answer) “after your bridge is materialized, you get to try and cross it, BUT!, I’ll be casting spells at you and you only get to the other side if your Protego is strong enough” she said, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

(in your post you must describe your arrival to the class, and your answer; after I tell you that your bridge is materialized you get to try and cross it. Remember that your posts must be at least 50 words [FYI this post is 391 words long, see? Is not that difficult] and that you are first years)

Essi entered the classroom and was surprised to see the sweets on the desk. She hadn't expected class to be like this.

She frowned as she tried to remember all that she had learned about the protego charm by reading her defence against the dark arts text book on the train. She couldn't remember much, and she wasn't sure if looking at her book would be classed as cheating. She didn't want to risk it.

"Uh..." she said nervously, looking at the floor. She desperately wanted to get this right. "Protego blocks jinxes, curses and hexes but it doesn't block the killing curse." She carried on staring at the floor, hoping she hadn't got her answer muddled up or wrong.

Lyss walked in, humming a song underneath her breath. She spotted the sweets on the desk, and her face sprouted a large grin. This was so far her favorite class. You can't get any better than candy.

Lyss recalled reading the section about the protego charm in her book. Trying to picture the paragraph in her mind, she wished she had a photographic memory. Now, with candy involved, she needed it more than ever.

"Protego is a shield charm." Lyss recited, remembering as much as she could. "Protego blocks minor jinxes, hexes, and curses, but doesn't block major ones, including the three Unforgivable curses."

I suppose that'll have to do, Lyss thought, I know there was more to that paragraph, but I suppose it'll be fine. I mean, it's only the first class.

Terry entered the class, and the first thing she saw was the candy. She liked her Professor already! Candy, for some reason, usually calmed her down.

Racking her mind, as she hadn't gotten to that one textbook yet, she found something her cousin had told her a few years ago. It was a shield charm, but couldn't block the Unforgivable spells.

"Protego is a spell that creates an invisible barrier that will rebound spells but major ones, like the Unforgivables, will shatter the barrier, therefore rendering the spell useless." she answered, adding the barrier part because how could light stop a spell?

Deciding that should do, she tucked her wand behind her ear and waited for the bridge to materialize.

She really wanted that candy.

Candy was the first thing going through Sami's mind when she entered the Defense classroom. She wasn't entirely sure what they would have to do thta would involve delicious delicacies, but didn't mind. DADA and candy was sure to be a good mix.

Professor Brennan had asked them to list something about the Protego charm, a minute before. She desperately wanted some of that candy, she hadn't any for at least a week beforehand.

As the other girls answered the question, she was busy thinking of something that hadn't already been said. Didn't Michelle tell her that there were multiple types of shield charms, all belonging to 'Protego'?

Sami stepped up, next to where Alyssa stood having not yet caught up with her, and raised her hand.

"The Protego charm comes in four different shapes and forms," Sami said, feeling a bit shy.

"Um- there's the first one which is a simple shield charm that can be used to protect yourself. Protego Totalus, I think, puts a whole bubble around a small area. There's also Protego Horriblis that protects something from high Dark Magic."

The witch cursed under her breath, realizing that she had only listed three. Hopefully it would be good enough to pass.

Silver walked into her Defense Against the Dark Arts class and was surprised at what she was asked to do. Protego? On the first day? She could already tell she was going to love this class.

"Protego is a defensive spell used against jinxes, hexes, and curses and it works by creating a magical barrier around the spellcaster."

Charlotte found this classroom a little easier than the others. She didn't know the castle too well, but better than the days before where she was walking into the boys bathrooms by accident. Well, that was an exaggeration. She was mislead, leaving her contacts back in her room (mainly because she hated her glasses.)
So when she heard the question, she paused. She didn't want to repeat what everyone else said. She wasn't very prepared for the first classes. She wasn't a smarty. Someone who knew the answer to every question. So she paused still. "Uh..." What they said. "It's a protection, basically. Though, if we're barely learning now, as first years, then it might not be the strongest. Probably wont block things like death, right?"
She was going to go though all of her books when she got the chance. She was going to be prepared next time.

Anne had decided this was the strangest class she had been to yet. She had originally decided to take the class to protect herself, and when she saw the topic for the first lesson was a protego charm she knew she had made the right decision.

She stepped forward to give her response to the question posed. "The Protego charm is a shield charm, which protects the caster from harm caused by minor hexes and jinxes. It can reflect the spell being cast or simply dissipate the spell impacting it depending on the type of spell. For proper results the spell must be pronounced properly, the proper wand movement must be used, and most importantly, you must desire to be defended. Meaning the shield won't work if you don't want it to."

Anne hoped this was enough information to get her across; she had the section on shield charms on the train, but due to her nervousness could barely remember a word. Anne let loose a small sigh forcing herself to relax; there wasn't anything she could do about it now.

Emily had managed to fins her way too te class without too much difficulty. She hadn't really wanted to take the class. Honestly she though it would be boring. She did however think it was iportant she knew hw to defend herself. She lidetened to the Professor as she spoke.

She was a little suprised they were learing protego on their first lesson, and she decided maybe it wouln't be too bad. She raised her own hand.

"the spell protego creates a magical barrier around the caster. The barrier protects them from hexes and jinx's thrown at them. However it will not stop unforgivables." she said quite pleased with her answer.

Dree took a deep breath. She didn't know what the teacher was talking about, but based on the other students answers, it was a sheild spell, but it wouldn't protect you from Unforgivables. So it was used for minor jinxes and spells?

When it finally came to be her turn, she panicked a bit. "Uh... It's a... Sheild spell. but it won't protect us from any Unforgivables or things like that" She said nervously.

She didn't really want the candy that much. If she even got it, Sami and Terry would probably eat most of it...

Gwen actually had no idea about Shields and she didn´t want to get hyper that early so she settled on smirking at her almost drooling classmates and saying,
"Protego is a basic shield for basic hexes. I´m sorry, I don´t know more thozgh," She smiled sheepishly. She knew the teacher from a photo so she kept her head ducked as to not show how much she looked like her Mother. She didn´t want more people to know all about her.

Leighton crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. Protego, Protego, Protego. Leighton searched through her memory of anything her brother or parents had said about a Protego charm. She tried to remember the name, but nothing came to mind for a little while.
Suddenly, she could remember when her cousin, Cyst, coming over for a visit. Alyxander and Cyst and Alyxander have never been very... close. So, it was inevitable that they would get into a duel. Leighton could remember Alyxander using a Protego charm to block Cyst's Jelly Leg hex.
"If I can remember correctly, Protego is a standard sheild spell. It will protect you against standard hexes and charms. But, I'm almost positive that it won't protect you from any Unforgivables." Leighton stated, hoping her voice sounded confident.

Gillian was pleased by some of the answers and not so pleased with others, she started answering back to each of the students, with a smile always on her face, just, sometimes, that smile was more genuine and less forced, it all depended.

“yes! Ms. Kettenun! You are right! And even though your answer is just like the one in the book, you get three galleons, for having the guts to answer first” she exclaimed pleased with the girl who despite the obvious discomfort had answered, the bridge started forming in front of her but stopped mid way, she still had to repel the following spells.
“Ms. Lastwick, your answer, even though is correct, you repeated Ms. Kettenun answer, but don’t worry, you get 2 galleons, for mentioning that it doesn’t protect you from the unforgivable curses” she said pointing out, “now, don’t worry class, we will be seeing that later on!” she said to the class, a bridge had formed halfway in front of the girl too.
“Ms. Verbatov, thank you very much for mentioning the form of the Protego charm!, That gives you 2 Galleons! “ she said watching yet another bridge materialize.
“now, Ms. Criss, I believe you just gave me a great answer there! Earning three galleons all for yourself!” she said with a bright smile and fist pump; turning to the rest of the class, she explained a little bit more about the different kinds of protegos “as Ms. Criss said, there are four kind of protego: there is the regular protego, Duo protego, which is slightly more powerful than a regular one, and the other two were already explained by your classmate”. There was a bridge forming in front of her, but this one was a little bit longer than any of the others.
“now, Ms. Willow, I’m glad that you talked about the quality of the shield, of course your first protegos won’t be as strong as you would like, but practice makes perfect! So two galleons for you too” she said glad that her students were thinking about different factors that influenced the spell casting; a bridge was forming in front of her too.
“Ms. McSommers! There’s another amazing answer! Three galleons for you! All of those are really important things to have in mind when casting a spell!” Gillian was getting more excited by the moment with some of her students answers, while seeing yet another bridge materialize.
“Ms. Harper, Ms. Sparrow, Ms. Conners, Ms. Cooper and Ms. Vladimir, I’m afraid you all repeated answers that were already given” she said with a pout “As you can see, there’s a bridge formed halfway in front of you, but I wouldn’t step on it, it’s not going to be completely solid… I want you to give me creative answers, I know that you might not know what a Protego shield charm is, but your classmates already gave you answers from where you can start… think! Elaborate your line of thinking, be creative!! What kind of things a protego could stop? What would you have to think of when casting one? Come on!! I know you can do it!!” she said encouraging them.

Leighton frowned, knowing that her answer wasn't the best. But, she tried. So, Leighton tried to think of what she would imagine while casting one. Maybe, Leighton thought while her eyebrows creased together, its like a fortress.
That gave Leighton an idea. "If I were to cast a Protego charm, I would want to imagine something that was strong and safe. Since Protego is a shield charm, wouldn't you want to think of something protecting? I would imagine myself in a castle. Maybe Hogwarts or maybe not. To me, a castle symbolizes strength and security. Of course, a castle could be attack. Just like a Protego shield could be attack by spells. So, weak hexes like Jelly Leg Hex would be stopped. But, an Unforgivable would crumble it and the caster would be done." Leighton could feel her eyes glazing over as she said her explanation out loud. It seems as if she let her imagination control her again.
Leighton looked up at Professor Brennan, hoping she liked her answer.

"YES!!!" exclaimed Gillian with more enthusiasm than what she initially intended "that's what I'm talking about Ms. Vladimir! you need to picture the protection, and feel protected so it is properly casted! and Hogwarts of course is really well protected, so you would be imaining quite well! and what an amazing analogy you just made there!" she was really happy with this answer, that was what she wanted, the thing she aimed at was for her students to think for themselves, to really use their brain.

"you get 3 galleons for that magnificent use of your brain Ms. vladimir" she said while clapping her hands. "any one else want to give it a go? see how it isn't that difficult?" she asked, looking at the class.

Kyra rushed into the classroom, sure that she was late. WHY had she slept in? WHY? That was the last time I EVER read in bed, she fumed in her mind. She had heard what Professor Brennan said, but wasn't sure...

She asked around and found that their first lesson was "Protego." She smiled because she felt she knew that one rather well.

Thinking that Professor Brennan had yet to hear from her, she said her fact. "Protego can protect its caster against getting hurt in non-magical ways too?" Happy with it, but uncertain, she stood with the rest of her classmates.

Dree looked up at the teacher and bit her lip. "Well.." She bit her lip and blushed slightly, thinking really hard. She didn't know much about the spell, so she racked her memory trying to come up with something "Protego has a few forms Protego Duo, Protego Horribilis, and Protego Totalum..." she remembered"and um.. the sheild spell blocks minor and moderate spells and hexes and also physical enitites." she remembered reading that somewhere "and when a spell hits the sheild, it might rebound off it and hit the caster, or it might just disipate or go off into nowhere..." She said, then looked back up at Proffesor Brennan.

"There you go Ms Conners!! see? you don't need to know a lot of things and have read your books, you just need to use your logic!!! you get 3 galleons for that" she said her smile getting wider by the time "Protego is a shield that protects you from spells, hexes and PHYSICAL ENTITIES!!!" now they were getting to where she wanted them.

The brigde in front of Ms. Conners was now more defined. Now, she was only waiting for the rest of the class to participate.

As the professor talked avidly, Sami took a cautious step on the bridge. Something she knew from personal experience, was to make a move when no one was looking. She took a few more steps on the bridge before whipping out her wand, ready for Professor Gillian to start throwing hexes.

"Protego is a shield that protects you from spells, hexes and PHYSICAL ENITITIES!!!" The Ravenclaw watched as the bridge in front of Addy grew more and more visible.

Elise was sure to go and bash her head in once the class had ended.

After running all the way from the kitchen's floor and into the third floor, Elise quickly followed another Hufflepuff into the room. It seemed that she was late as well. She stepped in line with the others, and noticed that they all have some sort of bridge in front of them.

"Protego is a shield that protects you from spells, hexes and PHYSICAL ENTITIES!"

Elise watched as a Ravenclaw, indicted by her robes, girl stepped on the bridge and brandished her wand as if ready to get hit or something. Is that what they were doing? Protego. Protego! I remember that spell! Elise, being an avid fighter, had reread the textbook for this class more than once.

Hearing the other late Hufflepuff answer something about Protego, Elise thought she'd give it a try. She didn't want to be the only one without a bridge.

"I heard that the Protego charm can be reduced in size. Like... casting it around your wands, and then using it like a sword to block other spells," Elise stated uncertainly before continuing. "Even though it's ideal to have the shield around your body at all time, it's more efficient to reduce the size so you can conserve your magic."

Lyss glanced at the half bridge in front of her, determined to get that candy.

"Um," Lyss began "If I was going to cast a Protego spell, I would defiently want to think of the reason I was casting it, or what the reward would be. Like, if I was casting a Protego charm in class on the bridge, it would be for the candy on your desk, Professor. It would give me a little more determination, and wouldn't that help me cast the spell?"

Lyss' stomach dropped. Her answer had been unusual, but she was being honest.

Students were giving some really interesting answers to the riddle that was protego, you could theorize a lot about it, and almost anything could be right if you put a lot of effort on it and concentrated.

“ok, Ms. Henderson, you have an interesting idea there, it’s beginning to form I can see it, try to go beyond, you just said not getting hurt in non magical ways… what else? Evolve that idea and make it wonderful!” she said trying to hold back her excitement “you get 2 galleons because your answer, even if not from the book, still needs that tiny bit to be a three galleon answer”, the bridge in front of the girl started to take form.

Seeing how Ms. Criss was stepping on the bridge cautiously, she aimed her wand at her and said “Aquamenti!” trying to hold back her power, she wasn’t planning on drowning any student yet.

“Now, Ms. Hawkins, that’s quite a different theory you have there, really interesting and out of the box, just how I like it! but not quite correct, you see protego is by default, a shield charm, so you can make it bigger, but not smaller” she said opening her arms at the word ‘bigger’ and closing them until she was showing about two inches with her thumb and index finger and lowering her voice while she did that. “there are however, other spells that can be used as swords, still, you get 2 galleons for making such an amusing theory” she said with a smile.

“And that’ would be correct! And I’m glad candy gives you such a determination! I’ll have it in mind for other classes! Determination is such an important thing when casting a protego!! That’s why it works so well when you’re in danger; you see, you are determined to protect yourself, because self preservation is one of the most basic human instincts, another 2 galleons for you Ms. Lastwick!” she said smiling and pointing out lke she was giving them in fact a lesson.

Terry glanced over at Sami before hesitantly stepping on her own bridge, wand brandished. She kept one ear out for spells sent her way and the other at the Professor's lecture.

"And I’m glad candy gives you such a determination! I’ll have it in mind for other classes!" Professor Brennan said. Terry perked up at that, losing her balance as she almost fell, catching herself just in time.

Sami squeaked a bit and ducked as Professor Gillian shot water out of her wand. Aguamenti, she'd have to remember that one. She cursed under her breath at her response, mad that she hadn't said the spell on instinct. I will be ready, she thought determined to get this right.

She decided to try a new strategy. For some reason, the pictural approach usually worked for her. What or who was her personal shield and/or guard? The girl re-adjusted her grip on the wand as the professor began talking to the other students and concentrated. Protego, Protego, Protego... A few minutes had passed, and she was yet to think of anything.

Silver watched as the girl on the bridge was dowsed in water and tried to resist the urge to laugh. Instead she smiled and gave a more creative answer to the question Prof. Brennan had asked.

"Protego is supposed to protect you right? So you should picture when you feel the most secure. Like for me that would be when Mrs. Polley gives me a hug. She's practically my mother so when she hugs me it gives me reassurance and confidence, which is what you need in like battle and stressful situations right? I don't know much about that though." Silver looked around nervously and hoped her answer was correct this time.