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

Mikey gave a wide boyish grin when Robin’s spell hit the pillow. The flash of blue light, the satisfying thump as the pillow skidded across the floor almost hitting another student. He leaned slightly to the side to see where it landed and gave a low whistle. He rubbed his arm where she’d elbowed him, dramatically pretending to wince. He was just lining himself up to take another shot, lips forming the first syllable of Flipendo when Robin’s question landed, cutting clean across the moment like a guillotine.

"Tell me about your tattoos."

Mikey blinked, genuinely caught off guard and his spell fizzled before it started. For a moment, he didn’t say anything, his arm falling back to his side. He wasn’t used to people asking about them directly. Most classmates either didn’t notice or pretended not to. He appreciated that she didn’t do either. Mikey exhaled quietly and stepped back from the pillow, lowering his wand.

“I don’t really know,” he said after a pause, brushing his sleeve back enough to show the faint outline of one of the symbols etched onto his forearm. It was barely visible under the classroom light, like ink sunken deep into the skin instead of just on top of it. “They are not actually tattoos, more like birth marks I guess.” He paused, watching the pattern shift slightly with the flex of his wrist. “They’ve always been there. My parents told me I had them the day I was born. They’ve gotten darker over time though.”

“Anyway,” he said, taking a step back toward the cushion. He squared up again, lifted his wand, and with a clean motion and clear voice, cast “Flipendo!” The pillow shot across the floor, smacked off the base of a desk leg, and landed in a small, slightly dramatic spin. “I think we are getting the hang of this!” he said gesturing to robin to take her turn.

When Mikey pretended to be hurt, Robin had rolled her eyes and was tempted to elbow him again, but harder. She decided against the idea, opting to gather more intel before pushing. Which is why she asked the tattoo question, and his reaction highly amused her. He has seemed taken aback, and Robin smirked, finally feeling like she was back in control of their interaction. Catching people off guard usually shows you their true colors, though he didn’t seem to mind her out of the blue question. She scanned him, taking in every detail of his tattoos, or birthmarks, as he showed her and explained. She listened intently, eyebrows furrowing as he explained that they’ve gotten darker over time.

Robin didn’t say anything for a moment, lost in thought. She almost certainly would be spending some time in the library scouring for information on magical birth tattoos. There had to be a rational explanation for something like that. Robin considered that he might have known the real reason, just didn’t want to share. She respected it, but it didn’t mean her curiosity wasn’t going to get away from her via the library.

“Thanks for sharing,” she said earnestly, letting it go, as Mikey stepped toward the pillow, once again casting a perfect knock-back jinx. ”Nice one.”

When she stepped forward to cast her own spell again, it felt almost effortless. “Flipendo!” She exclaimed, the pillow flying backward and tumbling to the ground.

“I think you’re right,” Robin said before turning around to her partner. “We’re kicking ass!”

Robin looked around the room, comparing their wand-work to the students around the class. One of the students had accidentally knocked themselves back, and another student was attempting to help them up off the floor. Robin had to quickly turn back around before she laughed, clearing her throat. “Clearly not everyone is,” she said, eyes flickering to the scene happening a couple of rows down.

Mikey bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing as the student across the room flailed to get back up, assisted by their red-faced partner. Robin’s comment didn’t help and he had to duck his head for a second, pretending to adjust his grip on his wand. “That’s one way to test the spell, I guess,” he muttered, trying to sound serious and failing miserably. It wouldn’t have been so funny if he didn’t know the student was ok but from what he could see they were fine. He gave the nearest cushion a little kick with the toe of his shoe to center it again. “Alright, last round? Whoever knocks it the farthest gets bragging rights for the rest of the week.”

Mikey squared up, expression sharpening with mock determination. This time, he planted his feet a little wider and spun his wand with a bit of flair before pointing it forward. “Flipendo!” The jinx surged from his wand in a clear streak of blue. The pillow shot across the classroom like a riderless broom, bumped against the leg of a chair, ricocheted, and smacked into a stack of unused cushions, sending the whole pile tumbling like a small avalanche. He blinked. “Okay definitely not what I planned, but I’m counting that.”

Then, grinning and backing up, he gestured grandly. “Your turn Robin.” He offered a little mock bow with one hand over his heart, trying very hard not to look too smug about his unintended trick shot. But his eyes still sparkled with anticipation. This was probably the most fun he had in class… ever. He internally wished that all classes could be taught like this but knew better than to believe that they would. He decided to live in the moment that he was enjoying so much and stepped back to watch Robins next shot.

“Alright, last round? Whoever knocks it the farthest gets bragging rights for the rest of the week.”

"Okay," Robin nodded in agreement, a smirk forming due to her competitiveness being triggered. She understood competition - she'd grown up with six older brothers and every time "bragging rights" were up for grabs, it became serious. Bragging was a constitutional right in the Marie house. She watched with concentration as a streak of blue shot from the boy's wand directly toward a chair, which bounced off in turn to knock down a stack of pillows, and landed a good distance away - further than either of them had done previously. Robin's eyes widened in amazement and she let out a shocked laugh.

"Epic, man, truly." She let out, shaking her head as the chuckling subsided. "Okay, last one." Robin, fully focused and in compete mode, pointed her wand at the pillow and swished her wand..."Flipendo!"

The pillow lifted into the air, tumbled in a neat arc while slowly spinning like a top, and landed almost directly next to Mikey's pillow. Robin quickly trotted up to the pillow to see that her pillow indeed had flown about two inches further than her classmate's. She hisses,"Yes!" and did a small happy dance. "Think I could knock someone off their broom with this spell?" She thought aloud, not completely sure why she let the thought slip past her lips. She certainly had been wondering - who knew what kind of mischief she could pull off with a spell like this? After her winning celebration, Robin turned to Mikey and offered her hand for a high-five, saying,"Mine may have gone farther but you certainly won bragging rights. I'll be telling people about that all day." She said honestly. "You make a good partner." She added, not forgetting her first failure with the spell, having been too distracted to focus, and the way he helped her get it down correctly.

The professor finally encouraged the students back to their desks where they finished off the lesson with a lecture on Doxies. Robin was disturbed by the interesting creatures - she'd heard of pixies for sure, but they were supposed to be tiny little things that could make you fly. Not pests that infected your draperies and poisoned you with a bite. Robin was grateful that she knew how to brew the Antidode to Common and Uncommon poisons... hopefully she would never need them. As the class ended, Robin asked Mikey if he wanted to grab lunch together. She hoped she could get to know him better. Heading to lunch, Robin felt a little bit lighter than she had when entering the classroom that morning.

He watched the neat little arc of Robin’s pillow as it twirled and twirled and flew towards his. Mikey’s eyebrows shot up as he realized she had just edged him out by two inches. He blinked at her and then broke into a boyish grin. Mikey chuckled full and hearty when Robin gave a triumphant “Yes!” in a happy hiss and performed her little jig. The laugh echoed comfortable and relaxed in the distance between them.

“I suppose I have to admit it,” he said with a sigh as she bounced her way over to him, smug and victorious. “You beat me legit.” He returned her high-five with a loud slap that echoed. “I respect that,” he said with a playful note in his voice, “but I’m still going to go around bragging about this nonsense chaotic combo shot I made. I’m not going to keep that kind of story to myself.”

His intention was to come up with a joke, and yet… somehow, it felt more like one of those unique school tales that last over the years. An overall positive recall. The kind of a memory which lifts up an otherwise regular Tuesday evening DADA class to a more significant level. Mikey’s smile shifted, more real at her remark of being an ideal partner. His hand hesitated for a moment at his side before he pocketed it. “Likewise,” he replied in a hush, giving a small knowing nod as if it was an inside joke.

When class resumed, Mikey reluctantly returned to his desk and tuned into the lecture on Doxies, sneaking a couple peeks at Robin’s slightly curious and slightly grossed out expression to stifle a small chuckle. At the end of the lesson, when Robin spoke to him and asked him about lunch, he couldn’t help but grin again. “Sure, I’m game,” he replied and grabbed his bag. “I’ll buy you a biscuit." he said as a joke, "Call it a prize.” He flashed her a smile and matched her pace as they walked out of the classroom.