Knocking back pillows: DADA, first year, lesson 3 open

Robin stared intently at Professor Lécuyer, trying her best to pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth, but inevitably ended up daydreaming about her professor's face instead. She was immediately intimidated by the professor when he introduced himself in the first lesson, especially when he mentioned he had previously been a hit wizard. Robin assumed a hit wizard was a secret government agency like the CIA and had immediately been taken with the interesting wizard. Seriously, what was in Hogwarts Pumpkin juice? Hot professor potion? Because he wasn't the first oddly attractive professor to have made her daydream list. Honestly, Robin knew she should be ashamed - she should be paying attention! But she couldn't find it in herself to care. Besides, he was just ranting about information from the textbook that she already knew and didn't feel the need to panic about missing a few sentences here and there.

Robin was deep in thought when she felt a nudge from her classmate, Lucy Channing, who was seated next to her, swinging back on her chair to also talk to the classmates behind them. She listed a series of letters, ending with "I." Robin felt like she could guess the rest of the word, considering Lucy had declared her lack of interest in class previously. Robin couldn't blame the girl - obviously, she had been a little distracted as well and couldn't say she was any better at the moment.

Robin turned her head to Mikey, who had given Lucy an answer in the form of "Iris" for the letter "I."

"You can use the plant Nettles for 'N'," Robin whispered to the girl, hoping the professor wouldn't notice her chatting while he rambled about jinxes and hexes. Robin noticed the doodles on Lucy's paper and smirked, thinking they looked sweet. Robin wasn't really an artist, and her doodles would look like a dinosaur regurgitated a stick figure if she attempted. "I like your doodles."

Robin's cheeks felt hot when Lucy started speaking in Welsh. Robin understood most of the language, because her grandma and Mam spoke it frequently, but she couldn't speak it herself except for a few key words, despite how much her mother nagged on her about learning it. "Uh, I only know some Welsh. But Diolch thank you for asking. Me Mam only speaks it when grandma's around," She whispers to the girl, Robin said, finishing off her notes with a flick of the quill.

Then the professor was instructing the students to start practicing the knockback jinx on the fluffy pink cushions. She put away her quill and paper, watching as the desks were levitated from the center of the room.

Robin grabbed her wand and looked toward her classmates. "Want to practice together?" She asked Mikey and Lucy, pointing to a section of wall where they could all work. She grabbed a pillow and placed it on the table and turned to her classmates. "What was the wand movement, again? I was a bit... distracted." She said, cheeks burning even hotter than before. She knew the incantation - Flipendo - and she knew that the light cast was supposed to be a bright blue. She just happened to not be looking when the professor made the jinx's wand movements. Robin hoped that her classmates had a little bit better luck, or she would have to resort watching the other students or God forbid... asking the way too handsome Professor...

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Robin slowly copied Mikey with her wand arm as he instructed her through the wand movements: a downward curve... with a flick upward and a small flourish at the end. She nodded and copied it a couple more times, breathing the incantation under her breath simultaneously, trying her best to focus.

"It's no big deal Robin I'm happy to share notes and help with anything you might have missed," Mikey said, surprising Robin. She knew her classmate was kind - they'd had a few good conversations back in the common room when they first arrived - but she didn't understand why he would offer to help her. Despite feeling shame, she appreciated it. She generally disliked admitting that she was behind in any sort of way, and Mikey had reacted in a way that immediately disarmed her. Maybe- they could be friends one day soon.

"Thanks, Mikey," She said warmly, smiling at him. "I'll go first." Robin concentrated on the purple pillow, pointing her wand at it, and tried to focus. "Flipendo," She said weakly, attempting to do the wand movement that Mikey had shown her. The pillow flinched but didn't move. She sighed. Why am I so out of it? She thought, wiping a drop of sweat off of her forehead. Robin stepped back and released an awkward laugh, not making eye contact with her classmate.

"You try it. Guess I'm blowing it today." She mumbled, embarrassed, crossing her arms and gesturing to Mikey to try.

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Robin was grinding her teeth together when Mikey got the spell on his first try. Usually that was her, and she was trying to keep her irritation pointed towards herself instead of her classmate. She knew he was only trying to help, and maybe watching him do it correctly would make a difference for her. She knew that her pride was her biggest obstacle, and she wouldn’t take it out on an innocent bystander… even when they were doing better than her, academically. Momentarily. Whatever. Robin was competitive, and now she was going to get it right.

Mikey nudged her with his elbow, reminding her of her older brother Jer, instantly making her relax. Mikey was a naturally calming person. He seemed to be highly attentive to the people around him, and although it made her nervous never knowing what he was thinking, it also gave her a sense of brotherly familiarity. She gave Mikey a small clap for a job well done, and took a deep breath.

Okay, Robin thought. Let’s try again.

She took a deep breath, approached the pillow and raised her wand once more. Feeling a bit more confident with the wand movement, it was no problem at all for Robin to exclaim, this time with, as Mikey said, some oomph. “Flipendo!” She said, a blue light streaking from her wand, sending the pillow flying, nearly hitting a Gryffindor, but landing directly beside his on the floor. She broke out in a relieved smile and nudged Mikey back with her own elbow. It felt a bit easier to relax when she wasn’t completely distracted by attractive professors - not that Mikey was much better, honestly, but she wasn’t nearly as intimidated by students her age than she was of imposing adult wizards with unknown magical qualities.

“Nice!” She exclaimed, bobbing up and down on her feet. “Thanks, I was about to lose my shit honestly.” Robin studied the boy for a moment, maybe staring a bit too long. He was a conundrum to her. He was always nice to her, interested in her activities, and just as capable intellectually. It made her respect him. Robin thought back to her first interaction with her best friend, Odette, and how she had stalked the girl for over a week before they had finally spoken. Robin didn’t trust people easily, and Mikey was no exception, but he most certainly intrigued her. Just as Odette did. She wanted to know more about him, understand him, so she could know whether to extend a hand of friendship or not. It was her only rule- don’t get too close unless you know what they can poison you with. Robin stowed this thought away for another day- they had a lesson to return to.

“Your turn.” She said, stepping back. Robin suddenly remembered something from their first meeting- the boy had tattoos… but had said, if she could remember correctly, that they had just shown up one day. “Tell me about your tattoos,” she said, bluntly, looking at his arm despite it being covered by his standard black cloak.