28 Jun 2020, 18:12
Sparks Fly (Or do They?)
Near the beginning of the year...
Defense Against the Dark Arts was a class that greatly interested Calvin in principle. While he didn't quite have a good grasp on what the "Dark Arts" could entail, he imagined them as quite a sinister force. Certainly, the boy wasn't entirely incorrect in his assertions, but perhaps he could have been classified as naive. That was acceptable though given his circumstances. The boy was eleven, and a new arrival at Hogwarts at that. Still, regardless of his rather rudimentary understanding of what exactly this class was teaching defense against, he was excited to begin the course. It was one of the few that had initially sparked his interest.
Which made the scenario all the more tragic when Calvin discovered that, along with most of his other courses that required magic, he struggled quite a bit with it. There was just something about how the Ravenclaw boy approached spellcasting that made it difficult for him to ensure reliable, dependable, and consistent success. Likely, it was his laissez-faire approach to details. While most students diligently took notes like their life depended on it, Cal struggled with the attention span needed to focus both on the professor's words as well as whatever he was writing. When the boy took notes... Often, he was distracted by the prospect of doodling rather than paying attention to what actually needed to be written down. It was something that he'd never really learned, note taking, and as a result it was a skill that he hadn't quite mastered yet. Likely, Calvin would figure it out in his time at Hogwarts, but for now it was a struggle and a half. When the time came to practice the spells that they had learned, the two sparks charms, Cal was a little lost.
Hesitating before beginning, Cal listened to some of his peers as they attempted to cast the spell, looking around fervently to try and pick up on the wand motion through demonstration. He tried to avoid making it clear to the person sitting next to him that he was doing it, but unfortunately the Ravenclaw boy was far from subtle in his observations of other students. Once confident enough to try one of the spells, he mumbled the incantation under his breath to test out the word. Gosh... Did all spells have this many syllables? Putting that thought aside momentarily, he raised his wand, moving it in the appropriate motion, and called out the incantation in question, "Verdimillious!" The pronunciation was mangled beyond belief, of course, but the boy was giving it his all.
Of course, spellcasting didn't actually offer participation points, and Calvin's wand didn't see a single spark erupt from the end of it. His wand motion was sound, likely due to his confidence with his body and awareness of it, but he was having serious difficulty enunciating the incantation effectively. Failure was something that was a bit embarrassing to weather, but since the boy had just arrived at Hogwarts, he didn't actually seem all that bothered by it. Only later would shame start to set in, as his peers began to get the hang of spellcasting, and he would lag behind.
Calvin offered the boy next to him a sheepish smile. "Ah, well. Happens I guess. Why don't you give it a go? The name's Calvin, by the way," he added the last introduction just in case, he wasn't sure if they'd met before or not.
Reducio@Eyre Reeves Sorry this took so long, got a bit distracted with other things on the site!
29 Jun 2020, 09:35
Sparks Fly (Or do They?)
Interacting with @Calvin Moore
Eyre was making leaps and bounds in his Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was probably because his father had made sure that he read up about the class during the summer so that he was able to hit the pronounciations and movements on the head when it came time to learn the spells. His father was a young adult in the time of the Second Wizarding War, so he made certain that Eyre and his siblings were able to defend themselves should anything to that degree happen again.
When it came to the Verdimillious Charm, however, he was having some troubles casting it correctly. He usually didn't have that many problems in his first few lessons, but his wand had chosen to be picky that day. Ollivander had warned him that his Phoenix feather was going to be unruly, and it seemed as though it had a stubborn tendency to want to do all of the exciting spells rather than the essential ones. This was particularly annoying on days like this, when they were expected to perform them in a group of their peers.
Eyre had mumbled the spell numerous times with great intent and a strong swish of the arm, but the best that his wand could do was spit out a single spark or two, as if to say Come on, give me something better! This spell is booooring! He looked over to the Ravenclaw boy beside him, who was also having some trouble with his spell casting. Eyre could tell that his classmate was trying his best, and although his pronounciation was a garbled mess, he was sure that with some pointers he'd be able to do it correctly.
Eyre caught the attention of the boy, who smiled sheepishly at him.
"Ah, well. Happens I guess." The boy said in regards to his own difficulty completing the spell, "Why don't you give it a go? The name's Calvin, by the way," The boy told him. Eyre nodded at him with an equally shy grin, preparing to cast his spell.
Eyre cleared his throat, his hand starting to shake ever so slightly at the thought of being watched. This was something that he was clearly going to have to get over, if he wanted to have any sort of luck with his wand cooperating with him. Noticing that this was the case, he gazed off into the distance with a determined glint in his eye. He pointed his wand firmly in the air as a way to tell his wand that he meant business, waving it around in a tight circle before casting the spell.
"Verdimillious!"
A medium sized green orb shot out of his wand when he said this, which exploded with a ZAP of green light. Eyre grinned, looking at his wand proudly.
"Huh. It seems as though it does want to cooperate with me. I was having trouble myself... These Phoenix wands are a real bugger to work with, sometimes." Eyre commented, his eyebrows furrowing in worry when he realized what he said. He whispered a soft "I'm sorry" to his wand for good measure, hoping that it didn't take it the wrong way. It would be a shame if his wand ended up hating him. At that moment he realized that Calvin had been watching him talk to it, and he started to blush out of embarrassment.
"I'm Eyre. It's a pleasure to meet you, Calvin... Might I ask, what sort of wand do you have?" He asked, pretending like he didn't do anything weird. "Ollivander told me that some wands can be harder to tame than others...My wand is, unfortunately, part of that lot." He grumbled softly. Eyre was proud that a wand of its caliber had chosen him, but he knew that it was going to be a long journey ahead to keep it from rebelling against him in the long run.
one morning this sadness will fossilize and i will forget how to cry. ☆
STA: 5 | EV: 6 | STR: 7 | WIS: 7 | ARC: 5 | ACC: 5
STAMINA: 5 | EVASION: 6 | STRENGTH: 7 | WISDOM: 7 | ARCANE POWER: 5 | ACCURACY: 5
1 Jul 2020, 07:39
Sparks Fly (Or do They?)
As Eyre's spell was successful, Calvin didn't bother to hide the surprise and elation on his face. Despite his own failings, he was the very antithesis of the jealous sort. "Man, that was awesome!" he called, a grin plastered easily over his features. The boy had the markings of a jock on all levels: a tough build, and a show of enthusiasm that was probably more appropriate to a Quidditch stadium than a classroom. His shout earned him a few glares from surrounding peers, to whom he offered an apologetic smile, before returning his attention to the Gryffindor boy before him.
If Cal noticed the wand-chatting, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he simply replied to Eyre's question. "Chestnut wood, dragon heartstring core," he stated simply. Searching his mind for the appropriate wand lore, Calvin paused for a moment as he recalled Ollivander's comment on his wand. "I think he said something like, dragon heartstring wands are prone to accidents." It wasn't an incorrect assertion, from what he'd learned thus far. Cal had gone off to the medical wing numerous times already during the year due to backfired spells. Between his own lack of skill, and the unruliness of his wand core, it was inevitable really. Most of the time, Calvin was grateful that the spell didn't horrifically backfire when unsuccessful.
"He also said that my wand type is attracted to wizards that are naturally lucky, whatever that means..." As the boy trailed off, it was clear that he was uncertain if he fit that descriptor. However, Cal shook off the pessimistic tone he was employing, flashing Eyre an earnest grin once more. "A phoenix wand sounds powerful!" he exclaimed, not that he had any wand-making knowledge to back up the statement.
4 Jul 2020, 05:15
Sparks Fly (Or do They?)
Interacting with @Calvin Moore
"It's okay... It's supposed to be powerful, but it's a real pain in the arse if you ask me. " He explained, frowning at his wand. Maybe he wanted it to hear, then maybe it would get it's act together. He watched the other students in the class cast their spells. Some of them were having worse of a time than others, but some were starting to get the hang of it. He wondered if they, too, had difficult wands.
Eyre figured that maybe he could give his classmate some advice.
"Have you tried acting really, really determined? That's the best way that I've been able to have my wand work with me." He said. "Sometimes it takes a little bit of a kick in the right direction. Also, making sure that you have the syllables down will do a world of difference." Eyre didn't want to seem like a know it all, but he assumed that even though the kid had a really great attitude, he must be feeling pretty frustrated.
"If you're having problems, it sometimes helps me to think of something small that riles me up, first... Then, I channel that feeling into my casting. Maybe you could try that, too?"
one morning this sadness will fossilize and i will forget how to cry. ☆
STA: 5 | EV: 6 | STR: 7 | WIS: 7 | ARC: 5 | ACC: 5
STAMINA: 5 | EVASION: 6 | STRENGTH: 7 | WISDOM: 7 | ARCANE POWER: 5 | ACCURACY: 5
8 Jul 2020, 19:30
Sparks Fly (Or do They?)
Really, really determined? Well, Calvin thought that he was already pretty gosh darned determined, but maybe his frustration was making him lose sight of his goals. That certainly wasn't impossible, anyways, so he took a deep breath as he focused on Eyre's words. The thought that he had gotten a particularly difficult wand to work with was a comforting one; maybe it wasn't just Calvin's incompetence at work! A small smile broke out on the boy's face, and he nodded. "Alright, yeah. I can give that a go."
Concentration was evident on the young wizard's features; determination drawing hard lines on his face. He closed his eyes, mumbling the incantation under his breath to practice it, before opening them and attempting to cast the spell. "Verdimillious!" Lo and behold, green sparks erupted from the boy's wand, just as the spell was meant to. A wide smile broke out on the boy's face, and he even broke out into relieved laughter at the sight. Eyre didn't have any way of knowing, of course, but Calvin was starting to seriously doubt his magical abilities. He was afraid that maybe, the Sorting Hat had made some sort of mistake. A Ravenclaw, who was bad with academics?! Sure, he was only 11, and had several years to grow into his house, but for the time being Cal was wrought with a serious case of imposter syndrome.
Looking over at Eyre, Calvin sighed in relief. "I'm not sure what it was that you told me that fixed it, but thank you so, so much! You're awesome, Eyre." The boy was beaming with pride at his success.