Hex The Sneezing Hex, First Year Class of 2024

Mia smiled at the professor. She was so exited to learn this new spell! It looked so interesting, and extremely fun to cast. Plus it had an extremely interesting backstory. Even though his example was a bit disgusting.

Sauntering over to a dummy, Mia pulled out her spotless wand. The lighting was a bit low, and she squinted to see the dummy. That, or she just needed glasses, which was entirely plausible.

She pointed her wand straight at the dummy and practiced flicking it without saying a word. In and out! In and out! In and out! In and...out! She tried adjusting her stance and recalled the way the professor did it...so smoothly, taking his time but still direct. She hoped to be half as good of a magician when she grew up.

Finally pleased with her wand movement, Mia focused at the dummy. She swished her wand and furrowed her brow.

"STÉ-lee-urs"

Nothing happened. Puzzled, Mia tried to recall what the professor had said. It was something like STÉ-lee-us, not STÉ-lee-urs.

Muttering under her breath, she re-took her stance and pointed her wand at the dummy.

"STÉ-lee-us!"

Green rings came out of her wand and she smiled, pleased with her work. But before she tried it on herself, she had to practice one more time.

She re-took her stance and pointed her wand at the dummy. She flicked the wand in the correct way and furrowed her brow. She then spoke the incantation clearly.

"STÉ-lee-us!"

Green rings once more hit the dummy, and she smiled. Still nervous but a bit more assured, she was ready to try it on herself.

Mia pointed her wand towards herself, doing a wierd twist with her wand. It gave her a cramp and she winced. Pull it together Mia! she thought, shaking her other hand slightly.

"STÉ-lee-us!"

Green rings came hurtling towards her, and she closed her eyes. They didn't feel like anything, and she opened them soon after, blinking.

Then the sneeze came. Hunching over, Mia pulled out her handkerchief. She felt terrible, and her eyes watered from the sneezing. It was terrible. She was starting to get a headache, and her sinuses felt bloated almost. It really sucked.

Walking over to the professor, she tugged on his sleeve, still hunched over.

"Professor? *achoo* Can you *achoo* make this *achoo* sneezing stop?"

She looked up at him with red rimmed eyes and a nose to match. She was, in other words, humiliated.

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SEBASTIAN CAZAREZ EDIT:
Status: Spell has been learned.

P.S. Cazarez would tell you it goes away in time, you would recover in about 5 seconds.

Serena turned up early to a lesson, for perhaps the first time in the history of the magic. She was here to learn - apparently about a spell that seemed rather random. However, it would be very useful in days to come, she had no doubt. In particular, there was probably at least one person she could think of that deserved to be hit by every horrible hex under the sun, if it meant he would stay away from her. He deserved it though and his Head of House would deliver that justice in the weirdest way possible.

As she walked in, she nodded towards the Professor in a form of a greeting before grabbing a seat towards the back - which was definitely her favourite place to sit. Propping her elbow onto the table, she watched one of her favourite professors - despite the fact his class was ever so boring (who honestly wanted to learn about the history of magic?! It was all about the future!). He explained how to perform a spell that appeared useless. It did, however, become a great asset to any first year in a duel. It also became a great asset as revenge to a boy who would not stop teasing you or being incredibly odd. Perhaps it would work well in detentions. Students often broke the 'no talking rule' and ended up doing a lot of nonsensical conversation. It was tiresome after all. Forcing them to sneeze actually seemed like a nicer sound than the endless questions she sometimes got. 

Serena watched Professor Cazarez demonstate the hex. His instructions were just as bizarre as the concept of it. Nonetheless, she opted to give it a go. Without talking to anyone or wasting time, the Hufflepuff stood up and made her way over to one of the Training Dummys. She pulled out the wand from the pocket of her robes and pointed it towards the training dummy.  Steleus... That was the incantation she needed to use. Visualising the movement of her wand, she practiced it a few times. She waved the wand aimlessly in the way, focusing on getting the movement right. A movement that apparently involved her using her wand to pick her nose and then flick the booger - in his words, not hers. Gross. But boys were gross. Did she really expect anything more from the Spanish Professor that she had grown to be so fond of? No, probably not. 

Boys were definitely gross, after all. Who would describe it in such a foul manner? Only a gross boy. Sighing, she focused her breathe. Carefully, Serena pointed her wand towards the dummy. Flicking her wand from the angled position, down towards the target (as though she was picking her nose and flicking it), she attempted to cast her spell, "Steleus!" She focused on the target, narrowing her eyes towards it. The whole time, she pictured a certain Gryffindor that really needed this hex on him so that he learnt to stay away from her.

Serena practiced it a few times, trying to get the hang of the wand movement and pronounce the spell correctly. It was like STÉ-lee-us, which was harder to pronounce than it looked. After a number of attempts, Serena suddenly burst into a grin as green rings appeared. They hit the training dummy, obviously doing nothing. She frowned a little, deciding it was worth attempting it on herself, "Great... I much rather cast it on that idiot..." Serena mumbled to herself, under her breathe as she sighed. It would have been a lot more enjoyable to cast it on the one that deserved it. 

"Steleus!" She casted again, flicking the wand down a little towards herself in an attempt to cast the spell on herself. The Hufflepuff had no idea if it would be successful or not but she had given it a go. That was all that she could do, right?

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Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned

Who knew that they would be learning spells in a History of Magic class? Dymphna sure didn't! Though she loved the class and didn't find it boring in the slightest, many other students did except now their were spells involved that was sure to change their minds. She quickly took a seat at the front of the class and listened to Professor Casarez as he started the lesson. 

Oh, she knew this one! But another girl raised her hand before she could. Drat! The training dummy didn't move, nothing happened at all. It was a bit of a let down but it didn't exactly have a mouth or a nose. Oh, that poor boy who "volunteered" but it didn't seem to last as long as she'd thought. It seemed like one of those very basic spells to help with distraction. A little silly but if it did the job, it didn't really matter. 

"Think of it as if using the wand to pick your nose, then flicking the booger!'

The blonde made a face at that. How did everything always come back to boogers? First Professor Lear and now this. Oh well, it was time to get to work. Standing, she went to face the training dummy. "Steleus," she said it a few times to practice the pronunciation before she even thought about touching her wand. Then wand in hand, she flicked it (trying not to think about boogers), getting a feel for it before trying it for real. A breath and then, "Steleus!" The same flicking motion and the spell went flying, green rings hitting the dummy and thankfully not another student. She gave it another go, just to make sure she could do so.

Looking to see if the Professor was serious about casting it on themselves, she saw that another student had already done it and it looked awful. With a frown, Dymphna figured she might as well get it over with. "Steleus," then she felt an itching sensation before sneezing twice in a row. It wasn't as bad as the Slytherin girl had made it out to be. Maybe it differed depending on health. "Are there any more strange spells like this one, Professor?"

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Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned

She sneezed like Peter Rabbit. This was the sole thought punctuating Maisy Dane's mind as she approached the test dummy. Her mother read the books to her when she was younger, and even now she could recall the scrunch of the bunny's nose in the illustration and the words splashed in big bold letter across the page "ker-tee-choo"! It was a running joke among her family that she and Peter were one and the same and she couldn't exactly deny it.

Still... If she had to humilate herself in front of a small sum of the Hogwarts student body, at least it was sneezing and not some of the more mortifying hexes she had read about.

Wand at the ready, she swallowed a clump of nerves that felt as thick as Gillyweed, and eyes on the dummy, she recited the word outloud, "Steleus... Steleus..."

"Stele-ow!" A quick swipe upwards brought the wand to her nose a little faster than Maisy intended and smacking herself in the tip, she grimaced, looking around quickly to see if anyone had noticed. Graciously, the rest of the class seemed preoccupied with their own practice.

Clearing her throat, she raised her wand again, "Steleus!" This time, bearing in mind the speed with which she moved, she swiped up, before flicking it forward. Green rings flung forward and Maisy gave a small squeak of delight.

Breathing in then, she next considered the complexity that was firing a wand spell at herself, but after a moment's thought, she turned her arm at such an angle that she could see the tip and thinking through the motions, gave it a practice wave, then another with more authority, "Stele--oh shoot!!"

For the second time in her shortly lived Hogwarts carrier, the wand flung from her grasp, clattering on the stone floor. Blushing pink, she dove to retrieve it, and determined that she should not embarrass herself further, she held tightly to it, sucked in a breath and thrust her arm up, then brought it down with a truncated swish, "Steleus!"

The tickle came as instantly as the green rings struck, like feathers wiggling inside her nasal cavity, and not a moment later, a sneeze, no bigger or louder than a small blue-coated rabbit, burst from the young Slytherin. Then another... Then a third.

"Excuse me..." She mumbled, when the spell seemed to wear off shortly thereafter.

----
Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned

Amadea was excited for the lesson. She had heard they were learning a new spell and she was excited to learn it; the more spells she knew the more well off she would be. She sat down in a seat, still wondering about the spell. Amadea found it interesting that they were learning spells in History of Magic. To be honest, she was excited for the change. Usually they learned about history (which made sense) and then had homework. She wondered why they were learning spells now. 

She chose a seat toward the front of the classroom to get a good view of whatever was going to happen. she wanted to make sure she knew how to properly cast the spell. She listened as Professor Cazarez began explaining the spell they were to be learning. It was a spell that was able to be used in dueling, which excited Amadea. She enjoyed learning spells that could be utilized in dueling.  

Amadea wrinkled her nose as she watched the demonstration. Think of flicking boogers? Eww, disgusting, she thought to herself. Boys were disgusting. She took out her wand, ready to start practicing. She said the incantation a few times to herself before trying it. "Steleus," she said. Then she took out her wand and focused on the gesture.

She looked around the room, seeing some people that were already performing the hex, leaving their dummies looking horrible as they sneezed and coughed. Amadea cringed inwardly. Sighing, she figured she should just get it over with and flicked her wand as she said, "Steleus!" Immediately, the dummy in front of her erupted in sneezes and coughs just like everyone else's. Boogers flew everywhere and Amadea leapt backward to avoid the scattered matter. 

Despite her disgust, she also felt proud that she had successfully cast the spell. She looked over toward the professor for approval. 

----
Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned

A lesson that wasn't boring in History of Magic! This was a first, and Eris was excited about it. She listened to the professor, interest growing as she talked, even if she felt a distaste of sorts for the spell they were learning. Anything was better than another lecture about the History of Hogwarts, and a long essay about it to boot. Hopefully they wouldn't have to write a play script about boogers.. That would be weird.

"Think of it as if using the wand to pick your nose, then flicking the booger!'
Oh god. Why were boys so gross?! Even the old, icky ones couldn't go one minute without a gross joke, even when they were teachers.

Steleus. Sneezing, sickness, cheating. Three things Eris hated. The spell was basically a way to cheat at a duel, making your opponent too sick to fight back. That seemed unfair to Eris. Why didn't you just punch the person and knock them out while you were at it? Did she agree with the spell? No. Was she going to learn it, and use it anyways? Yes. Maybe it was a spell to use on Ami Poprocks after her and Dorian burned off all her hair. The worse part of the lesson was the way the Spanish Professor had injected his stupid sense of humor into it, by making the students cast the spell on themselves and get to sneeze in the process.

Stepping up to the dummy, Eris copied the gesture the professor had made. It wasn't perfect, thus, she didn't stop practicing it until she felt confident that the gesture was good enough to look passable. If she was going to use a stupid spell, it might as well be perfect before she cast it on herself.

Finally, once convinced that the gesture was fine, Eris glared down the dummy. "Get ready to sneeze, foolish inanimate object." She declared, grin on her face.

Wait. What was the thing, again? Steleus? What kind of name was that?

Frowning, Eris repeated the words in her head a few times, before staring at the dummy again. "STÉ-lee-us" She declared. Nothing happened, and green sparks did not shoot out of her wand in perfect green rings. Face flushing, the gnome small girl tried again.

"Steleus" At once, a flurry of green rings came out of her wand and hit the dummy. Nothing happened to the dummy, but Eris had succeeded nonethless. Grinning, she realized what the next part of the lesson was. Time to hit herself with the spell.

Dear god. This was dramatic. Aiming the wand at her chest, Eris said the spell and watched the green rings hit her. Once they hit, she felt her eyes close, and a few sneezes erupted out of her body. Wincing at the feeling of sickness, Eris waited for it to recede until she was able to open her eyes again.

That was stupid. Stupid History of Magic. At least she had learned a spell, hopefully.

----
Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned

He could hear the people all around him repeating the spell again and again to try and get it right, to try and master a spell that made people sneeze. If there was one thing Kaegen knew, it was that spells were never to be underestimated. Especially not one that forced the target's eyes closed. He was going to get this right the first try, test it on himself and be done with it. 

Getting a spell right the first time you attempted it was relatively easy. You just had to practice and fail a few times in your head first. The ravenclaw boy's mouth silently moved to form the word steleus, imagining what the word would sound like, how it would work. As he thought and mouthed the spell he accompanied it with the wand motions. Even just watching himself, he could clearly see he was doing it wrong.

and so he tried again, mouthing the words and practicing the wand motion. The boy kept it up, practicing again and again until most of the other students had finished. Kaegen would have been able to learn the spell a lot faster had he simply attempted the spell more. However he was always taught that you had one shot. You could prepare for that one shot but you only had one. It was ingrained into his mind, and so he worked twice as hard as the other students and only moved half as fast.

When he was finally ready, when his muscles knew the movements well enough and his brain knew exactly what to say was when he finally focused and stood up. He aimed at a target, and briefly made a checklist in his head, ticking off the marks as he went.

-Wand precision. Perfect movement of the wand in time with
-Pronunciation. Perfect enunciation of the words of the spell. Couple that with
-Concentration. And you had everything you needed.

Kaegen's voice was quiet, but no longer as neutral as was it's norm. It now had slight undertone to it, a dark lining to a grey cloud. It had just a little bit of authority, just a little underline of a command. He knew what it was going to sound like, and he was ready. 

"STÉ-lee-us"

Green rings shot from the tip of his wand, along the path set for them by the pair of tired eyes that seemed to gleam with their old energy, mostly concealed behind dark circles that stemmed from the sleepless nights of a young boy that had not thought of the consequences that came with late bedtimes. 

The green rings hit the target, marking his endeavor a success. Turning the wand to himself, the young boy went ahead and said the spell a second time. 

"STÉ-lee-us" 

It lead to instant regret. His first sneeze made an adorable little sound reminiscent of a kitten. The second followed suit, however when he realized how loud his sneezes sounded to him, Kaegen tried to hold it in, which led to his next sneeze being far bigger. But in a way, it was quieter than the ones before it. The large sneeze sounded like one large voice crack, devoid of the beginning or end squeaks.

Kaegen could feel his voice being wrecked midway through the quiet sneeze. It was depressing to have your voice destroyed after a single large sneeze, but it did make sense, in a way. If you never made any loud noises, your voice was bound to get more sensitive. It made him want to get a bit louder, maybe try speaking like everyone else in front of the mirror in the mornings. But at the same time, it just reminded him how he should be more quiet to ensure no one ever hits him with this spell. Or at least a lot faster.


----
Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned

History had always been of interest to Sebastian. In fact, anything to do with knowledge, information, or generally gaining insight from a source was one of the most enjoyable things the boy could take part in. So, considering the addition of a spell in the lesson, it only made things more enjoyable. Not one to waste opportunity, Sebastian listened to the explanation of the hex, and proceeded to observe as others immediately began attempting it.

Similar to picking ones nose and flicking it, Sebastian mused, smirking at the mental image as well as the accuracy of the Professor's example of wand movement. I'm looking forward to more serious spells in the coming years, though...

Before long, green rings were erupting from various wands, encircling the test dummies on one side of the room. Sebastian listened to pronunciations of the incantation, soon finding the correct verbal emphasis, and continued to watch the wand flick. Some other students began using on themselves, which proved amusing, as they were given over to a sneezing fit; however, the Professor mentioned to one girl that the hex wore off after several seconds, proving it truly was a distraction rather than valid form of attack.

Sebastian noticed Dymphna performing the spell, as he smiled.

Standing, Sebastian walked to the line of students presently using the dummies. He raised his wand, fingers wrapped firmly around the handle, pinky finger looped through the hooked end; and with the tip facing upward, the boy spoke the incantation:

"Steleus."

And with a dip and flick, he sent green rings toward the dummy some meters in front of him. With a nod of satisfaction, Sebastian turned and walked back to his desk. Sitting down, he raised his wand again, even as Sebastian shifted his leg outright - and with another incantation, and downward flick of the wand, sent green rings out to hit his foot.

"Steleus."

Knowing he had no control of the sneezing, Sebastian didn't fight it. He let out three large sneezes, before the hex wore off and he cleared his throat; and just for good measure, the boy made sure nothing was hanging from his nose. Wanting to know a little more, Sebastian turned to look at the Professor, who was seated in the chair at the front of the class, observing and answering questions...

"Professor, is this hex able to be recast for additional effects on a subject?" Sebastian asked, eyebrow raised as he placed his wand down on the desk in front of him. "Can the effects be doubled, like Curse of Bogies?"

----
Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned

If for nothing else, Max would've come to the history class simply to hear Professor Cazarez tell a story. Whether it was mandatory or not, whether other people found it interesting or dry, whether he was the only one who showed up... None of it mattered. He loved history. And so, at this moment, making his way down to the first floor for a lesson that involved hearing about history as well as learning a spell, there was a skip in his step and he could even forgive the slower Hufflepuffs in the hall because he was so happy to be going. Although he might be using them for target practise after he learned this new spell - no amount of good news could make him like the lot of the yellows.

Taking a seat, he listened with absolute fascination as the history professor spoke about Alberta Toothill. He remembered the story well actually, since the thought of an underdog tricking someone to win a fight against all odds always gave him goosebumps. Samson Wiblin may have been the more powerful of the two, but Alberta's cunning mind had ultimately ended up winning the competition. Sure, the spell may seem harmless and something for silly pranks now, however you could never tell just what might come in handy in the future. The past tended to repeat itself more often than people ever knew.

A small grin appeared on his face as he watched green rings shoot from Cazerez's wand to smack into the inanimate target. The grin grew as a student was hit next, and he suppressed a snicker at the volley of sneezes it brought on. Such a simple, harmless thing; he wondered how people watching the competition it'd been used in had felt when it had been used to win. It took all of his self-control not to bounce from his seat when they were given leeway to go on casting.

Ensuring he stayed relatively calm on the outside, he planted himself a good four or five feet from one of the dummies and conjured up the image of the hand movement in his mind. Not so elegant, but then battles usually weren't. Sketching a small, mocking bow to the dummy, he lifted his wand like a conductor about to cue an orchestra, and murmured, "Steleus," flicking the wand downwards like he was having his imaginary orchestra begin the song.

The first try didn't work, and he forced himself to clear his mind of the sudden adrenaline of imagining battles, and focus on what he was doing. The second try was a more serious flick downwards with, "Steleus" said in a voice of confidence. This time the green rings left his wand to hit the dummy with the same blunt impotence the spell would have on anything non-living.

Now to test it on something living. With a small sigh, he turned his wand on himself and murmured the spell for a tertiary time, flicking his wand downwards like he was cueing his body to do something. The rings hit him and he tried his absolute best to resist, but this type of sneeze wasn't caused by dust and he had to squeeze his eyes shut as he let out the quietest sneezes he could. He might've tried to leave his eyes open if he hadn't heard once that they'd pop out if you had them open while sneezing.

It was somewhat embarrassing, but at least now he knew how it worked and would be able to use it on someone other than himself. With a small salute at Sebastián for the opportunity to learn yet another cool spell, he took his seat and cracked open his history book to leaf through it. He couldn't wait to see what they'd learn next.

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Sebastian Edit:
Status: Spell Learned