Lesson Two - Lumos Solem and Lumos Maxima

Kennedy watched as the other students began to practice in their pairs. She was the odd number of the class; the late odd number. She had to practice with the professor, just an easier way to fail. Lumos… lumos… they were lighting charms, right? The spectral dog was cool, Lumos Duo. Lumos Solem, Lumos Maxima…they were all complex versions of the Lumos spell, she thought. It looked fairly easy when her parents did it, but they were her parents and all. The question was; would it be easy for her as well?

Another student entered the class. She wasn’t the latest arrival at least. The student walked over the professors’ desk and explained his reason for being late. His cousin was the other Slytherin girl, they were both Malfoys. He was a Slytherin as well, by the looks of his robes. Wait, was this eavesdropping? Oh well, she wasn’t hurting anyone. Maybe he would end up being her partner, maybe not.

After giving everyone the required instructions, Ambrosius waved his wand and black curtains immediately covered the sets of large windows on both sides of the room. The iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the set of candles along the wall now constituted the only source of light, and the classroom was suddenly plunged in partial darkness. Ambrosius figured this atmosphere would allow the students to better observe the effectiveness of their wand lighting spells.

Once his pupils began practicing, Ambrosius headed towards Kennedy Rivet in order to help her with the Wand Lighting Charm since she hadn't attended the first lesson. As he was about to start explaining her about the spell, he heard the classroom's door open for the third time since he had commenced the lecture. Another one?, Ambrosius thought, turning around. A boy walked in and approached. "Professor Umbranox? I'm very sorry to arrive late on my first year. You see, my mom took me on vacation to Hawaii, and well, our stay was delayed for a little bit. I'm Wade Malfoy. I'm her cousin." he announced. Although he wasn't pleased to have to interrupt the lesson again, Ambrosius replied with a serene voice: "Very well, mister Malfoy. Please leave your bag in the back, take your wand and join miss Rivet and me. The others, please continue with the exercise."

Once Wade Malfoy had returned, he addressed his two newest students. "Since you missed our first lesson, I will briefly explain to you what we did, though you will have to catch up for next time. Just contact one of those who were present and I am sure they will be glad to help you." After a brief pause, he pursued. "The first spell we learned is the Wand Lighting Charm. The incantation is Lumos and there is no particular hand movement required, you can simply point your wand in front of you. Concentration is also crucial when casting a spell. You have to believe that you will succeed, and envision the desired outcome in your mind." He successively gazed at both of them to make sure they had understood. He then pulled his wand from his pocket, raised it and distinctively uttered: "Lumos". A powerful ray of light instantly burst out of the extremity of his wand and illuminated the room. "Nox" Ambrosius pronounced and obscurity embraced them once more. With a slight movement of his head, he then indicated to Kennedy Rivet and Wade Malfoy that it was their turn to attempt the spell.

"Well, I never casted it myself, but my father usually uses it, so I know how it is done. Is there any tip I should know before I try to cast it?" Dennis asked him. James thought about it for a second, precisely trying to remember everything Professor Umbranox had told them when they were learning to cast the charm. "Apart from pronouncing the incantation, Lumos, very clearly, you just have to be really focused and try to imagine what you are trying to do in your mind, in this case lighting your wand." Figuring that maybe showing him how the spell was performed could help him, James cautiously pointed his wand in front of him and said" "Lumos". Its tip started to glow and although the light shivered at first, it then stabilized and shone until James pronounced the counter-curse, Nox. Relieved that those long hours spent alone in his Common Room and the Library practicing the spell had proven worthwhile, he still felt somewhat disappointed because he was unable to cast the charm as effectively as during those training sessions. Putting away his wand, he encouraged Dennis to try.

James seemed to be reflecting about Dennis question, when after a few moments he answered "Apart from pronouncing the incantation, Lumos, very clearly, you just have to be really focused and try to imagine what you are trying to do in your mind, in this case lighting your wand." Then, with a gentle movement he pointed his wand and pronounced "Lumos". From his wand, a shivering light was irradiated. Few seconds later, the magic glow became stronger and his Ravenclaw mate stopped the light saying "Nox".

It was Dennis turn. He waved his wand and said, the most clear that he could "Lumos". He felt a funny numbness in his right arm, but nothing happened. "Let me try again." he asked James. "Probably I wasn't focused enough". The gryffindor boy, cleared his throat and declared "Lumos". Mentally, he tried to visualize the tip of his wand to glow, avoiding thinking about anything else. Sudenly Dennis' wand lighten up for few seconds and then came back to normal. "That wasn't that bad, was it?" he asked James, smiling to his colleague.

"You should go. I think we should each try at least twice.," Lucy told Aurora.

"Okay, great!" Aurora exclaimed. As she prepared to cast the spell, however, the door opened again and the Slytherin boy who had entered Transfiguration late came in. He introduced himself as Wade Malfoy and pointed to Lucy as his cousin. Professor Umbranox seemed to have everything in order, so Aurora went back to the lesson.

"Lumos Solem!" she cried. A bright ball of light appeared at the tip of her wand, a miniature sun. Not really a ray, but as she watched, the sun grew bigger and began putting forth rays of light. 'Not bad,' Aurora thought as the sun grew smaller and disappeared.

"Your turn now," she said to Lucy, and stepped aside to let her have the open space.

At his second attempt, the tip of Dennis' wand emitted a bright blue light that briefly shone before suddenly disappearing. "That wasn't that bad, was it?" Dennis asked with a smile. "Not bad at all." James confirmed. "The light was quite powerful, but I guess you have to remain focused even after the it appears for your spell to last a bit longer." he suggested since the point of working in pairs was to help the other improve. "But don't worry, I'm sure that you'll be able to master it with a bit of practice. It took me several days to cast it more or less correctly." he admitted.

Not sure whether they were supposed to move on to the two other spells, James glanced around. To his left, he noticed that Aurora and Lucy were already practicing the Lumos Solem charm. Deciding to follow their example, he switched his attention back to his teammate. "I guess we can try Lumos Solem now." he said. Realizing that Dennis didn't have the opportunity to do the homework Professor Umbranox had given them for this lesson, he gave him a brief description of this charm. "It shouldn't be hard, since it's pretty much the same spell as Lumos, except the incantation is a bit different and instead of emitting a wide glow, the wand produces a narrow beam of sunlight. Maybe you can try Lumos one more time, trying to maintain the light a bit longer, and then attempt Lumos Solem." James proposed.

After many attempts of trying to get past Peeves in order to get to class, he finally succeeded. He ran into the classroom, noticing that the lesson had already began. Unaware of what was going on, he quietly walked over to Professor Umbranox. "Sorry I'm late, sir. I had a little trouble trying to get to class." He explained, in fear that he would receive a detention for his tardiness.

Lumos and Nox, it couldn’t be too hard. No certain hand movements needed, just concentration. She could do it…possibly. Seeing that Wade had made no motion of trying the spell out first, Kennedy took initiative. Taking her wand out of her pocket she pointed her wand out in front of her, concentrate… “Lumos!” to her surprise it seemed to have worked on her first try. A light had emitted from the tip of her wand, she presumed that that was what was supposed to have happened. She then continued on to the next step, “Nox!” Nothing happened, darn. Well, you couldn’t be perfect with your first try for everything. She must have lost focus after being so pleased with her success, “Nox.” That time did it, the light faded out. Kennedy beamed, she had done it. Just in time too, it seemed.

Another late student had entered the class. Apparently, this one had had trouble to class. That was his explanation.

Kim decided to go to class early since she enjoyed the last Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Having their common room on the dungeons, she needs to take some steps on the rotating stairs. Unfortunately, she wasn't aware of the pattern of the stairs.

She took longer than expected and she thought that going to the room after that trouble is enough until she saw a ghost who, she guessed, likes to get into trouble. Kim saw her fellow classmate from Gryffindor, also trying to sneak through him. After some time, he was successful but that boy and Kim are totally different. She took almost half an hour trying to get pass the ghost. Finally, she did.

Kim noticed that the class has already started. She has no idea on what is happening on that time, so she approached her professor, Professor Umbranox and apologized, "Sorry Professor for me being late. The stairs started to rotate when I was on them and a terrible ghost won't leave me alone. "

Ambrosius watched closely as Kennedy Rivet attempted to cast the charm. It worked rather well, as the tip of her wand instantly emitted a warm glow, though she still had some minor issues with the counter-curse. "Well done, miss Rivet." he complimented her. "Just make sure to maintain your concentration until the very end. Ten points for Hufflepuff." he added, then faced Wade Malfoy.

Before he could inform him that it was his turn to try the spell, the door opened yet again and Kim Frey and Keith Parker, who Ambrosius knew from his first lesson, hastily went in. Joining his desk, they both revealed the reason for their tardiness. Though he was slowly growing weary of being interrupted every few minutes, Ambrosius remained utterly calm and replied: "Yes, Peeves always had a way with putting students into trouble." He paused for a moment, staring at them, then pursued. "As we are working in pairs, you can practice with each other. Since you were both present last time, you can immediately try to cast Lumos Solem and Lumos Maxima. Now please deposit your bags in the back and start training."

As the two students were walking away, he turned towards the others and spoke up so that everyone could hear him. "Despite my warning that I would not tolerate late arrivals, I have let many of you attend the lesson even though you did not arrive on time. However, this was a specific situation as it is still the beginning of the school year and a lot of new students are arriving. Do not get used to such treatment. From next class, whoever fails to come on time will see his or her house lose five points." he cautioned them. "Now please get back to work." he added. Switching his attention back to Wade Malfoy, he instructed him to perform the charm.

Keith nodded. "Thank you, sir." He said, before walking to his seat. He looked around and noticed that everyone was performing Lumos and Nox.

He had already learned Lumos, but as for Nox, he wasn't sure if he could successfully complete the spell. He lifted up his wand. "Lumos!" He tried. When nothing happened, he realized he hadn't spoken clearly enough. "Lumos!" He tried once more, this time, successfully lighting the tip. He smiled. "Now, for Nox." He thought.

He took a deep breath. "Nox!" He said, as clear as he could, managing to make the lit up tip of his wand go dark again. He smiled. "It's a good thing I practiced over the summer." He said quietly to himself.

Kim was instructed to be partners with the Gryffindor boy, whom she never get a chance to know. He started practicing the two basic spells on his own so Kim did the same. This time, she perfectly succeeded the Lumos and Nox spells after practicing thoroughly at the dormitory.

"Hi, I'm Kim. Nice to meet you." Since he was not initiating to come first and try the spell specified, Kim presented herself.

She remembered that there is no certain wand movement on Lumos Solem, so she concentrated hard enough and tried to focus on the incantation. After some moment, she informed the boy to that she is quite ready to cast the spell at some moment. She lifted her wand, focused once more and said, "Lumos Solem!"

"I'm Keith. Nice to meet you, too, Kim." Keith introduced himself, giving her a small smile. He watched as she spoke the incantation, after about a second, a beam of light shot out of the tip of her wand. "Great job!" He congratulated her. He had managed to perform Lumos and Nox, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to pull off Lumos Solem.

Since Lucy hadn't responded, Aurora looked to see where her attention might be. Two more first-years had entered, although they were not new. Kim and Keith, whom Aurora remembered from some other classes, had been late because of Peeves. Turning her head away in disgust of other the students' tardiness, Aurora decided that if Lucy was not going to cast the spell, she would try again. "Lumos Solem!" she cried forcefully. A beam of sunlight, too bright to look at, shone from the tip of her wand and lit up the top of the ceiling, which was covered in dust. Aurora grinned. "Nox," she said, and when nothing happened, she tried, "Nox Solem," which stifled the sunlight. Aurora turned to Lucy. "Okay, you can go now," Aurora told her, wondering where her mind was if she was not going to answer in this exciting class.

"Or I can try it first, if you want." James suggested, seeing that Dennis was hesitant. After all, it was probably a completely new spell for him. Pointing his wand in front of him, James focused and when the desired outcome of the charm was clear enough in his mind, he uttered: "Lumos Solem".

A narrow sunbeam suddenly burst out of his wand. Even though it wasn't very bright, it projected a luminous spot on the opposite wall of the obscure classroom. After moving his wand for a couple of seconds and staring at the mark dance on the shaded surface, he tried to cast the counter-curse. However, after saying "Nox" two times, the light was still shining. James paused for a moment in order to figure out what went wrong. He glanced at his teammate for help but judging by his expression Dennis didn't have the answer. James was about to call Professor Umbranox, when he heard Aurora exclaim "Nox Solem". Of course, he thought, the incantation is not the same. The ray of sunlight disappeared as soon as he imitated her. "Your turn now" he added, looking at his workmate.

Lucy was so lost in her thoughts, that she forgot she was practicing with Aurora. Suddenly, she watched a bright beam of sunlight appeared at the end of Aurora's wand. Lucy smiled at her, happy to see her progress. Once Aurora turned off the sunlight of her wand, she turned to Lucy. "Okay, you can go now." she said.
Lucy sensed a little frustration on Aurora's part, however, she let it pass. She placed herself in front of Aurora and raising her wand up, she exclaimed, "Lumos Solem!" and a bright ray of sunlight appeared at the tip of her wand. It was very bright, and as she could not look at it for long, she quietly turned it off. She turned to her partner, "Should I try again?"

Wade had watched as the girl, Kennedy, performed the charm.
He extended his arm, and getting his wand ready, exclaimed "Lumos!"
A faint glowing light appeared, not as bright as he wished it would have been, but it would do for now. Although not happy with the results, he turned it off by exclaiming "Nox" softly, quite a bit ashamed of himself. He turned to Lucy, who seemed to have mastered the spell quickly, and wished he would have gotten to class a little earlier. Turning his attention to Professor Umbranox, he asked, "Professor, do you think I could try again?"
Wade was determined to get it as bright as Lucy's, if not brighter.

"Good work, mister Malfoy. 10 points for successfully casting the charm." Ambrosius announced despite the visible disappointment on the student's face. "And I believe it would be wiser to move on to the next spell." he added, answering the boy's question. "You will have all the time you want to perfect your mastery of the charm after the lesson. The others have had several days to practice it, so it is only natural that they can perform it with more ease." Ambrosius remarked, seeing that Wade Malfoy was glancing at his cousin.

"Now, let us try casting Lumos Solem. You will see that it only slightly differs from the basic version of the Wand Lighting Charm. There is a distinction in the incantation, as well as the outcome. You will understand better when you see it." he explained to the two students. "Lumos Solem" Ambrosius uttered and a powerful ray of sunlight burst out of the extremity of his wand. "Nox Solem" he added and the beam vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. "If there are no questions, you can proceed. Who wants to start?"

"Good work, mister Malfoy. 10 points for successfully casting the charm." Professor Umbranox said to him. "And I believe it would be wiser to move on to the next spell." he added, "You will have all the time you want to perfect your mastery of the charm after the lesson. The others have had several days to practice it, so it is only natural that they can perform it with more ease."
Wade was still a bit disappointed with himself, but earning his first ten points made him feel a little better. His professor continued to explain Lumos Solem, something Wade had already heard from Lucy, but never really practiced.
"Now, let us try casting Lumos Solem. You will see that it only slightly differs from the basic version of the Wand Lighting Charm. There is a distinction in the incantation, as well as the outcome." Wade tried to listen carefully, and not get distracted by his cousin, who was clearly more advanced at this than he was. " You will understand better when you see it." his professor finished,

"Lumos Solem" Professor Umbranox exclaimed and a powerful ray of sunlight burst out of the tip of his wand. Wade was in awe, as the light was very, very bright.
"Nox Solem" Professor said, and the beam vanished. "If there are no questions, you can proceed. Who wants to start?"

Wade jumped at the opportunity to practice it first. If Lucy was going to help him caught up tonight, he wanted to at least be in a decent position where he could perform the charm, as faintly as it was.

"I would like to go first, Professor." He said, and slowly raised his wand.
"Lumos Solem!" he exclaimed, and a very faint beam of sunlight appeared. It was a little bit fainter than his first try at Lumos. It turned off by itself, and Wade wasn't sure if that was a good thing, so he turned to look at Professor Umbranox.
"I don't know what just happened..." he said.

Kim was utterly surprised to have at least produce a light using the Lumos Solem on her first try. As soon as she realized this, the light went off due to her lack of concentration. "Sorry, let me try this again," she said to Keith, who seem watch her every move and learn from her mistakes.

She strengthened the grip on her wand again and pointed it in front of them. Trying to remember the concentration and the things she did a while back, she tried to close her eyes and didn't let anyone bother her in that moment. If ever she will succeed, Nox Solem will be the next one to try.

Breath of nervous air filled her lungs while trying to figure out the right incantation repeatedly stuck on her head. Lumos Solem, she whispered to herself. Alright, here goes nothing.

"Lumos Solem." Unexpectedly, nothing happened. To her disappointment, she loosely let her right upper limb swing on the side of her body. At this point, she tried to remember the thing she might have done wrong. Lack of concentration can be the problem. "Sorry about that, let me try again," she said to Keith.

As usual, she did her routine before casting the spell, adding more amount of concentration compared from before. "Lumos Solem!" Suddenly, a small beam of light appeared, narrower than the Lumos charm that she already quite mastered. Though happy about it, Kim didn't let the thing happen again, in which the light turns out because of her unfocused mind. Keith seem to be counting the seconds the light appears. In the end, she managed to maintain the light in about fifteen seconds.

The weak ray emitted by Wade Malfoy's wand slowly faded away, leaving the boy confused. "Staying calm and focused is crucial when casting a spell. You should attempt to let go of all other thoughts and emotions and entirely envision the outcome of the charm you are about to perform." Ambrosius advised him. "Also, your task is not over once the light has appeared. You have to maintain your focus for as long as you want the spell to last. If your concentration wanes, the light will quickly follow. I believe that explains why yours declined prematurely. Now please try again having that in mind." he instructed the boy. Realizing that maybe the others had some issues, he addressed the two students: "I have to check how the others are doing. Please continue to practice. I will come back to verify your progress."

"That looked like it was about fifteen seconds." Keith told her with a slight nod. He was surprised at how fast she had caught on, sure it took her a few tries, but she got it. "Do you want to try Nox Solem, now?" He asked. Keith had managed to perform Lumos and Nox successfully before, but whether or not he could perform Lumos Solem and Nox Solem, he was unaware of.

"That looked like it was about fifteen seconds." Keith told Kim with a slight nod. "Do you want to try Nox Solem, now?" he asked. "Okay, why not," she answered back.

The thought of not being distracted and to be able to cast the other spell while having some light on her wand, Kim had a hard time focusing right now. "Alright, I'll try it now."

Again, she raised her wand in front of them and said "Lumos Solem!" A much dimmer light appeared on the tip of her wand. She focused herself on the next spell that she needs to master: Nox Solem. The light gets dimmer the longer she concentrated on the incantation. Before it disappears, she opened her mouth, ready to say the spell. "Nox..." Suddenly, the light went out. "Sorry. It went out before I could finish it."

She tried to hide her tiredness but her body won't let it. Sweat started to cover her face and her legs are almost giving up. "I think I need to rest for now. You should practice while I watch you," she said to Keith while walking towards the nearest chair available.

Keith nodded. He took out his wand. He knew he wouldn't automatically get it right on the first try, but he hoped it would take more than a few tries to successfully cast the spell. He held out his wand. "Lumos Solem!" He tried, the tip of his wand sparking a bit. He sighed. Perhaps he hadn't said the words clear enough. 'Lumos Solem!" He repeated, in hope that it would work. Nothing. Maybe he just wasn't concentrating good enough. He held out his wand again, trying to concentrate more. "Lumos Solem!" He finally said.

"Lumos Solem!" Lucy exclaimed. A beautiful ray of sunshine appeared, much like Aurora's, but probably a bit better. "Should I try again?" she asked, looking at Aurora's awestruck face.

"Sure, if you want," Aurora replied. She personally would have liked to try again, as it seemed Lucy had already mastered the spell, but she wanted to let Lucy have her way. She wouldn't be a good person to have as a nemesis. She was really quite good at magic.