Lesson One - The Wand Lighting Charm (Year I)

A warm sensation spread throughout Ambrosius when he entered classroom 3C. Glancing around him, he was pleased to notice that the place had remained exactly the same as it had been during the previous term. A rather obscure atmosphere still reigned in the room, despite the sets of large windows on each side. On the walls, the painting he had positioned were still there : on one of them, one could see a man convulsing in pain while he was transforming into a wolf, on another, a group of dementors were sucking the soul out of their unfortunate victim, on a third a few mountain trolls fighting with a giant. Furthermore, hanging from the ceiling, right next to an iron chandelier, there was a huge dragon skeleton. He had decorated the room that way to give his students an insight on what dangers were lurking in the world and to show them how crucial it was for them to learn to defend themselves against these many dark creatures.

A glance at his reflection in one of the windows showed him that his strange physical appearance had worsened over the last year. Despite being quite young, his pale skin, the dark shadows under his eyes and his rather emaciated face and gaunt figure were more striking than ever. Hoping that his first-year students wouldn't be too terrified by him, he strolled towards his desk and waited for them to arrive, curious to meet the members of this new generation.

He finally heard the door open and a flow of students started coming in. He waited for them to sit down, and then started quietly pacing around the classroom, examining every one of them as they were anxiously awaiting the beginning of their first lesson.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally said, with a calm but authoritative voice: “Welcome, first-years, to Defence Against the Dark Arts. I am professor Umbranox, and I will be your teacher during this term.”

After a brief pause, he continued, glancing at random students. They seemed to be carefully listening and eager to find out more. “I believe this class to be exceptionally important for all of you, as I will teach you how to defend yourselves from a wide variety of threats and dangers that you will certainly encounter one day or another in your life. Therefore, I demand your full attention as what I’m trying to teach you may very well save your life in the future. You will be learning how to block unfriendly spells, fight anyone who wishes to harm you, and defeat numerous dark magical creatures. However, for your first year, we will stick to relatively basic but often quite useful defensive spells such as the Curse of the Bogies or the Knock-back Jinx."

He had performed a full circle around the room and stopped just behind his desk. “Apart from your books, The Standard Book of Spells and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, which I sincerely hope you have bought, all you will be needing for this class is your wand. I want you to be as active as possible during classes: that means that whenever you have a question, or you have not understood something, even if it has been already explained, you must not hesitate to ask. I will then do my best to explain in another way. I am here for that. You are the ones discovering the lessons; I am only here to guide you.” he stressed, profoundly looking at every student to make sure that it was clear to them.

“That is all I have to say. However, as we will be spending a lot of time together, I wish to know a little more about all of you. Therefore, everyone please tell me your names, whether you have already encountered any sort of Dark Force in your life or performed or attempted to cast, intentionally or not, any defensive spell until now. You can begin.” he said, looking at the boy on the left extremity of the first row. He then quietly pulled his chair and sat down, ready to listen to what his students had to say.

OOC: Students who have not joined the lesson yet may still do so. Please don't role-play as if you were late, just pretend you were there from the start. Thank you.

Ambrosius was carefully listening to his students. He was slightly surprised that none of them had experienced magic before, since it was very common for young children to unintentionally perform some, sometimes even without being aware of it. Giving an encouraging glance to those who hadn't spoken yet, he waited for them to do so before continuing with the lesson.

"Thank you for sharing that." Ambrosius concluded once all his students had spoken. "It appears that most of you have not had the opportunity to deal with anything concerning Defence Against the Dark Arts yet. However, have no worries, as we will learn everything from the beginning. And believe me, in my experience, the best students are those who try the hardest and practice the most, and not those who possess the largest knowledge at the start".

After a brief pause, he pursued: "Now that we know one another, we can start with the lesson. Even though you might not be fully aware of it, some of you have already performed magic. At your age, in most cases, it is an unintentional response to a specific situation. For example, I am certain that at least some of you have witnessed inexplicable events occurring around you when you were scared or threatened. Strong feelings such as fear or anger can be powerful magical catalysts, but I have to warn you that they will not be enough to save you when facing danger. That is why I will try to teach you to, through deep concentration and much hard work, master a set of spells that will make you able to defend yourselves."

He stopped at his desk and faced the students. "If you have any questions about Defence Against the Dark Arts in general or the way these lessons are going to function, now would be the time to ask. If not, we will proceed." He glanced around the room, waiting to see if any of his students were going to raise their hand.

"Since there seems to be no questions, we can move on. The first spell we are going to learn is not really a defensive one. However, even if it is one of the simplest charms, it can often prove very useful. As a very wise man once said: "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light". Well, that is literally what we are going to do today."

Approaching the blackboard, he took a piece of chalk and wrote: "The Wand Lighting Spell". He then turned towards the class, took out his wand, and pronounced very clearly: "Lumos". A very powerful bright blue light burst out of the extremity of his wand, illuminating the whole room. After a few moments, he uttered: "Nox" and the light instantly went out. "As you can see, the Lighting Spell produces a light that allows the caster to illuminate dark areas, like with a lantern. The incantation is Lumos and the counter-spell Nox. There is no precise hand movement for this charm, it is sufficient to just point at the area that you wish to illuminate. As you may perhaps already know, when casting a spell, three factors are essential: the incantation - it has to be pronounced clearly, the hand movement - it has to be executed precisely, and the intent: you have to imagine the outcome in your head and be confident that you will succeed".

With an encouraging voice, he announced: "I now want you all to attempt to cast the Wand Lighting Spell. Do not worry if success does not come at once, just keep trying. We will proceed with the lesson once each of your wands has emitted a glow, however powerful it is.". He then started walking between the tables, observing the students in their attempts to cast the charm, ready to help them if needed.

Ambrosius calmly paced around the room until he reached the desk of a dark haired Slytherin. Morgana Gaunt, he recalled from her earlier presentation. The only one who had reported having already used defensive magic.

He closely observed her while she tried to perform the charm. After a few unfruitful attempts, the tip of her wand emitted a warm glow. "Well done, miss Gaunt. " he complimented her. "Five points to Slytherin". She had apparently inherited the magical talent of her ancestors. One could only hope she would be wise enough to put her gift to good use. Ambrosius was the last person to judge others prematurely, given his own appearance, and refrained from assuming anything about the girl until he would know her better.

"Be careful though. Will is decisive, yet without control you are but a slave to your emotions. Many great wizards have perished for that, consumed by their own power." He wasn't trying to scare her, only to stress how important discipline was. Leaving the girl, he pursued his stroll, contemplating the performance of other students.

"Good work, mister Adams." he commented as he passed by the boy's desk, after watching the light emanating from his wand progressively grow more and more powerful. "As you can see, even when the result of your attempt is not satisfactory at first, you can achieve your goal through deep concentration and perseverance."

The next one was a Ravenclaw, who managed to perform the spell spotlessly from the first try. "Quite impressive, especially for someone who has never had experience with magic before." Ambrosius admitted. "Though what matters in the end is to be able to cast the charm flawlessly when you need it the most, so a one time success must never be a reason to stop practicing. Only when you are sure you can perform the spell whenever you so desire can you say that you have truly mastered it."

Ambrosius was very pleased to see that before long, most of his students had succeeded in casting the Wand Lighting Spell, even if many of them still had some minor difficulties with it. “Great work. I award five points to each of you. I did not expect that you would master the spell in such short notice, but you appear to be quite talented for this subject.” he complimented them. “However, do not let this fool you. This is one of the simplest charms we are going to learn, so do not relax thinking that you are very skilled in Defence Against the Dark Arts just because you have cast it once, and keep working hard.” he added, immediately becoming serious again.

After a short pause, he continued, while walking around the classroom: "As you have noticed, Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons will often involve practicing a specific spell, most of the time a defensive one. Therefore, I believe that working in groups is the most efficient way to proceed in this subject. More precisely, you will all be sorted into pairs. The first phase of our lessons will involve learning how to cast a specific spell, as we did today with the Wand Lighting Charm, along with discussing useful information about it. You will then try to cast it, while your partner observes you, and corrects any error you are making. You see, I have found that it is not always easy for people to notice their own mistakes, and an exterior point of view can often prove very helpful. Then, once one member of a group has succeeded, their will exchange roles with their partner. The second phase will consist of putting what you have just learned to the test, most of the time through some sort of practical task. You will understand what I mean during our next lesson."

"Now, let us come back to the Wand Lighting Charm. As I told you earlier, this spell is not exactly a defensive one, and I am fairly certain some of you are wondering how casting a faint glimmer of light can be useful when facing the Dark Arts. However, even the simplest of charms can prove effective when performed in the right situation. You will find that sometimes Lumos is sufficient to keep darkness at bay. Can anyone tell me what kind of creatures it can be used against?" he inquired, scanning the room to see if any hands would be raised.

Ambrosius listened to both answers before speaking. "All you have said is correct. Three points to Ravenclaw and seven to Slytherin." he addressed the two students. "The basic version of the Wand Lighting Charm is indeed ofttimes used to ward off Gytrashes and other ghostly creatures, since they are all sensitive to light. For those of you who have never heard of it, a Gytrash is a swift spectral dog with a long forked tail. You might encounter one in the Forbidden Forest, if you were allowed to enter the woods that is, as it generally favours dark environments." he confirmed what the Ravenclaw had said. "I will not expand on the variations of the Wand Lighting Spell now, since it is the subject of your homework for next time."

Ambrosius glanced at his watch. There were only a few minutes remaining until the end of the lesson. Defence Against the Dark Arts classes usually lasted two hours, but since this was an introductory lesson, he had agreed to make it shorter. Switching his attention back to his students, he announced: “As you may have noticed, the end of the lesson is approaching. Now that you know how to perform the Wand Lighting Charm, next time we will continue discussing its uses in defending against Dark Forces, and will practice casting the different variations of this spell.“

Suddenly, the bell rang, announcing the end of the class. “Therefore, I ask all of you to read the chapter about the Wand Lighting Charm in the Standard Book of Spells for next time, as well as to practice casting it. You also have to write four inches of parchment about the spell's use in defence against dark creatures, as well as the different variations on this charm and their effects. Please do this homework seriously as it will help you prepare for what we are going to do during our next lesson, and will also allow you to earn points for your House.”

He started packing his things in his bag and added: “Well done for your performances today. Do not forget to practice the spell. You are free to go now. I will see you next week.”