Lesson Three - The Knock-Back Jinx

"Sure." Shah said. "Flipendo!" She then said. Keith only stumbled a bit, as he noticed that Shah had done the right hand movement. "Let's see how it affects me." Shah said to him. Keith laughed. "Actually, I think I see what you're doing wrong. You're just not moving your wand correctly. Here, let me show you." He said, taking out his wand. Once he was sure that Shah was ready, he spoke the incantation, waving his wand in the correct movement. "Flipendo!" He said, only half a second later, he watched Shah fly back onto the cushion behind her. He smiled. This had been the one spell he practiced many times before he had gone to Hogwarts. He walked over to her with a smile, and held out a hand to help her up.

Shah's first thought was, Thank Godric the teacher put some cushions!! Otherwise, she would have hit her head on the wall. She'd noticed how Keith had moved his wand. She was doing it in the wrong way. She took his hand and stood up. "I'll try again." She said. This time she focused and moved her wand correctly. She smiled as she saw Keith fly back and fall down. But he didn't go as fas as she did. She walked to him and held her hand out. "Did I do it this time?" She asked.

"I'll try again." Shah said, as she took his hand, Keith pulled her up and nodded. He positioned himself in front of the cushion, prepared to fly backwards from the force of the spell. Keith watched Shah perform the spell, Keith felt the force of the spell knock him backwards onto the cushion. "Did I do it this time?" Shah then asked. Keith smiled. "Perfect." He said, taking her hand that she offered to help him up.

"Your turn." Shah said. Making sure that Shah was positioned in front of the cushion, he lifted his wand towards her. "Flipendo!" He said, watching as Shah was hit by the force of the spell and knocked backwards onto the cushion. "I think this is going to get a bit annoying after a while." He said, laughing and holding out his hand to help her up again.

Keith noticed that she hadn't let go of his hand yet. "I know. It will. So, how about we give it a lil' twist?" Shah asked with a smirk. Keith wasn't sure what she had in mind. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Shah instantly let go of his hand, and stepped back. Keith was about to ask what was wrong but Shah had butted in. "Let's both do the spell at the same time and see what happens?" She asked. "Well, we could do that, but we would need another cushion, and I think that all of them are already taken up. Unless you want to try to borrow one." Keith said.

"Hey, Kim!" Aurora called across the room. "Do you want to be partners?"

Kim immediately smiled, knowing still that someone knows her name. "Of course. I would love to. Anyway, would you like to go first?"

OOC: Sorry for my late reply. :OOC

"Of course. I would love to. Anyway, would you like to go first?" Kim asked.

"Sure!" Aurora responded. "I'll get some cushions." Grabbing the pillows from near Professor Umbranox's desk, she raced back over to where Kim was standing. "Um, I guess you should just stand there," she told Kim uncertainly.

OOC: It's fine :OOC

After Professor Umbranox announced that they were to be working in partners, Wade thought of Lucy. He glanced around the room, but before he saw her, he noticed James.
I could work with him, Wade thought. After all, James would be a worthy opponent in any situation.
He walked over to the Ravenclaw and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey James, wanna work together?" he asked.

James was still observing the others form groups when he noticed Wade approaching. "Hey James, wanna work together?" the Slytherin kindly suggested. "Aren't you going to team up with Lucy?" James inquired surprised. "Besides, if we work together, she'll be left alone." he added, considering that the two Fontayne sisters would be partners.

"Aren't you going to team up with Lucy?" James asked, quite surprised to not see him with Lucy. Before Wade could answer, James continued, "Besides, if we work together, she'll be left alone."
"I think I hang out with girls too much. It's time for some guy time. You know what I mean? And it's alright, I think she can work with Professor Umbranox, it'll be a challenge for her, and if not, then I'm sure Ella and Ellie wouldn't mind having a third member." Wade replied, trying to explain why he decided to work with James and not his cousin, and quite confident that Lucy could perform the jinx against Professor Umbranox.




OOC: I realized I made a mistake, *I copied James' dialogue twice*, so I had to correct it.:OOC

"Yeah, you're right." James confirmed after listening to Wade's explanation. "Let's go then" he added, and after a final glance in Lucy's direction, they both headed towards the other end of the classroom, which was less crowded and therefore offered more space for them to practice. "Do you want to try casting it first?" James inquired once they had positioned themselves on the appropriate distance for the task.

"Yeah, you're right." James said "Let's go then."
Wade and James started heading towards the other end of the classroom, but he saw James glance at Lucy, and it bothered him a little. Letting go of that feeling, he turned to James. "Do you want to try casting it first?" the Ravenclaw asked him.
"No, no, no. This is barely my second lesson. You have more experience in this than I do." Wade said, backing up a little, bringing his hands up, signaling that he really didn't want to go first.
"You should go first" Wade said, lowering his hands.

Aurora started to get some cushions for their activity. "Um, I guess you should just stand there," Aurora told Kim uncertainly. Kim moved towards where Aurora told her to go to. Then, she stood confidently, readying herself for the attack that the girl is going to make. "Alright. Just tell me when you're ready."

Lucy looked around the room, trying to find someone to work with, but her two options were already paired up to each other. She tried not to let it get to her, but she felt a bit hurt that Wade and her were not working together. She walked towards Professor Umbranox, "Professor?" she began, "I believe I'm the odd number in the class."

Leaned against the wall of the classroom, Ambrosius observed his students sort themselves into groups of two. The pairs then spread around the room and began practicing the charm. Walking from one team to the other, he contemplated their performances. Passing by Shah Hazel and Keith Parker, he saw them both successfully cast the Knock-Back Jinx. "Let's both do the spell at the same time and see what happens?" he then overheard the girl suggest. "Good work, both of you." he complimented them upon approaching. "And I see that you have anticipated the next task I wanted to demand from you. However, please just wait for the others to finish performing the jinx, after which I will lay out further instructions." he added.

"Professor?" Ambrosius suddenly heard. Turning around, he found himself face to face with Lucy Malfoy. "I believe I'm the odd number in the class." "Yes, it does appear so" Ambrosius confirmed after a brief glance around the room. "You will practice with me then." he added, heading towards a part of the classroom that was still relatively empty, the Slytherin behind him. "Please stand there." he instructed her, showing the soft cushion on the floor. "Now, since you will not be able to knock me back for reasons I am not ready to disclose yet, this is how we will proceed. You will cast the jinx, and I will reflect the spell back in your direction, so be prepared to experience its effects." Making a short pause to make sure that the student had understood, he took out his wand and pointed it in front of him. "We can start whenever you are ready."

"Alright. Just tell me when you're ready."

" 'Kay," Aurora said. "I think I'm good. Flipendo!" she exclaimed as she swished her wand the correct way. It only seemed to emit a weak burst, though, and Aurora could feel that it wouldn't do much harm.

"No, no, no. This is barely my second lesson. You have more experience in this than I do. You should go first" Wade suggested, stepping back. More experienced? James thought, surprised. It's been barely a month since I discovered the existence of magic. "All right" James finally replied, although he wasn't very confident at the idea of having to begin.

Unable to chase his disastrous performance at last lesson's practical task away from his mind, he hesitantly took his wand from his pocket and pointed it at his workmate. "Flipendo" he uttered, but it didn't make him move back at all. Trying to regain some confidence, he refocused and exclaimed again: "Flipendo". Still nothing. Slightly starting to panic, he pursued, swiftly waving his wand: "Flipendo ! Flipendo !". Suddenly, he felt his own body get propelled backwards, landing on the ground several feet farther. Looking for his wand, which he had dropped in his fall, he tried to calm down. He was utterly desperate. An overwhelming fear slowly started taking over, one that had often haunted him since he arrived to Hogwarts. Was he really good enough to practice magic?

Ellie and Ella had decided to work together. Ellie looked towards Lucy and felt back that she didn't get to partner up with Wade. "You can go first." young Ellie directed towards her sister. Ellie wasn't worried about falling, after all the floor was padded and it couldn't hurt more than falling in cheerleading did right? Ellie braced herself while waiting for her sister to cast.

Ella worked with Ellie since she was still new and had been through so much. She tried to be with her sister as much as they could. They had been inseparable lately. "You can go first." Ellie told Ella. Ella looked at her sister and noticed that she had braced herself. She nodded to signal to Ellie that she was ready and called out, "Flipendo!" She had great concentration and incantation and wand movement. She saw Ellie fly backwards forcefully and land hard with a "THUMP!" Ella ran over and helped her up. She noticed she was rubbing her head. "You okay?" she asked Ellie.

Although clearly nervous, James managed to utter "Flipendo", but he didn't move back at all.
He tried again, "Flipendo" and nothing happened. Wade was about to suggest maybe relaxing a little bit, as he seemed to be getting a little panicky."Flipendo ! Flipendo !" James exclaimed as he waved his wand. All of a sudden, James was propelled backwards, landing on the ground. Wade ran towards him, offering his hand to help him up.
"Are you alright?" He asked his partner, although he didn't seem very well.

She saw Ella nod to signal that she was ready and then she heard her call out, "Flipendo!" All of a sudden she flew backwards and hit her head on the ground. It still sent a sharp pain through her bbody even though it was a fairly soft landing.She saw Ella ran over and grabbed her extended hand. As she was rubbing her head trying to chase away the stars she heard Ella ask, "You okay?"

Ellie nodded and shook it off. Still feeling a little dizzy she pointed her wand at Ella and shouted, "Flipendo!" Ella went up into the air and flew backwards. Feeling quite satisfied she went over to Ella and knelt beside her. Smiling she mirrored Ella's actions, "You okay?" The dizziness was finally fading away and she noticed the blow didn't seem to affect Ella as much as she was affected by it.