Clueless pv w/ Howie Finished

Howie was less than enthused with today’s Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, a class that had become synonymous with pain and unpleasantness. Today the Hufflepuffs shared the room with the Gryffindors. The memory of the previous lecture rolled through his mind, the Curse Of Boogies sounded fun at first, but the hour long runny nose was anything but. What a disgusting mess!

The knock back jinx sounded useful, but now they were to partner up and practice on each other. Great! He thought it was a bit rediculous, all this magic and enchantments, couldn’t they just magic some dummy into existence for these situations. Howie looked around as the class stood and  quickly partnered up, he must have been the odd man out. He stood and made his way to the back of the class, searching for any other stragglers that may need a partner. 

BANG! Howie’s world turned upside down, literally. The poorly aimed spell had hit him square in the chest, sending him hurtling backwards into a fellow student. He stood, straightening his robes, helping the poor girl up. “Oi! Watch where you aiming that thing!” He yelled out to whoever, throwing his arms up out of frustration.

Looking up he spotted a familiar brunette in the corner. Where did he know her from? The train! He made his way over to her. “Aurelia! Long time no see. We gotta partner up to practice the Knockback Jinx, wanna have a go?”  

Aurelia had no clue what to do. Everyone in the room seemed to have all partnered up already and were shooting spells across the room with terrible aim. The brunette jumped to the side when a light from a misaimed spell nearly hit her. It was a spell that would be useful for the future and Aurelia needed to learn it. She didn’t even know the actual name for it.

“Aurelia!”

A voice called her. She turned around to see a familiar face smiling at her. She had seen him on the Hogwarts express a few months ago before she even stepped into the Scottish castle. She looked at the crest on his robe. Hufflepuff. It wasn’t a suprise he was sorted into the house, after all, he had been extremely friendly on the train ride.

“Long time no see. We gotta partner up to practice the Knockback Jinx, wanna have a go?”

he asked. The girl now knew the name of the spell thanks to him, however, she was still clueless about the incantation and hand movement. She hope Howie wouldn’t find her troublesome for not being present at the start of the class.

The girl was most likely going to have her ass kicked if someone were to practice the spell on her but when she glanced around, there weren’t many others for Howie to practice with. Reluctantly, she gave him a small nod.

“Sure, I can’t find anyone else,” Aurelia lied. She hadn’t even tried finding anyone else. Aurelia walked a few feet away from the boy and gripped her cherry wood wand in her hand. Here goes nothing.

“En-see-en-do,” she yelled and waved her wand in a random pattern similar to a conductor in an orchestra. As expected, nothing happened.

“I probably need sometime to get it right. Why don’t you try?” she told Howie.

“Sure, I can’t find anyone else,”

Geez! What am I? Chopped liver. Oh well. Howie smiled politely as she agreed to be her partner. He backed up a few paces as she took her mark. Now for the fun part. Shutting his eyes tight He readied himself for the blow. Howie wasn’t sure why, but he had a tendency to always look away or close his eyes when he was about to be jinxed or cursed. Not the best dueling tactics, but he found it hard to just stand there and watch somebody fire a spell at him. 

“En-see-en-do,”

Howie heard her call out the incantation incorrectly. He let out the deep breath he had been holding, relieved for now that he was still standing. She must not have been paying attention to the lecture, or, now come to think about it, Howie could not recall seeing her at the beginning of class. “Oh. You must have missed the lecture. It’s pronounced Flipendo.” He took a few steps forward to stand beside her. “I believe that you’re to hold out your wand and make like you’re drawing the letter V. Like this.” With a quick swish of his wand, he drew a V in the air.  

Why don’t you try?”

“Ok, I’ll give it a go, sure.” He said as walked back to his spot and turned facing her. Howie always had trouble with this part. It just felt wrong to jinx a fellow student, it was like throwing a sucker punch. Also, he couldn’t imagine what his father would say if he knew Howie was about to jinx a girl. This would have been a serious wrongdoing back home, his father always very strict about the treatment of women.


Howie raised his wand, pointing it at her chest as instructed. This is where his error began. As he went to cast the spell, he forgot the number one rule to spell casting. Concentration. He was worrying too much about harming another student that he was not focusing on the task at hand. As the word left his mouth, “Flipendo,” he found himself hurtling backwards again. The spell had backfired with a loud bang. For the second time this class, he found himself staring up at the ceiling. God I hate this class!

Howie was extremely helpful and even came closer to explain the incantation and hand movement. Even then, it was hard to hear him from the loud bangs that echoed in the classroom. He then returned to his spot. His face looked unsure as he pointed her wand at her. Of course, most Hufflepuffs were friendly people and unlike Gryffindors, they would hesitate when attempting to hurt someone. But it was a DADA class and what had to be done had to be done.

Aurelia prepared herself for the hit. She would probably be flying across the room like how the many others in the classroom were. It definitely looked nasty. She stood with her legs shoulder width apart to have as much balance as possible.

"Flipendo,"

The girl heard him say. She didn't expect when Howie was thrown backwards with another loud bang. Aurelia gasped lightly, but she was actually thankful that it wasn't her who took the hit. The spell had backfired and according to what she learnt in charms class, he had made a mistake. She was sure he had pronounced the incantation clearly and did the hand movement correctly. It was most likely that he wasn't concentrating.

"Gosh, Howie, are you alright?" She asked, towering over the boy. She extended her right arm to help him up.

"I think you had a lapse in concentration. You should try again, practice makes perfect. Make sure you are thinking only about the spell itself when you cast it or it might backfire again. Also make sure its pointing in the right direction and that you don't miss, accuracy is extremely important in duels." She stated the moment he was up on his feet. It paid of to be paying full attention in charms class.

She walked back to the position she was at. She looked him straight in the eye.
"Come on, hit me with your best shot!" The girl said, slightly bouncing on her feet like a competitor in a boxing ring. She didn't mind if he casted the spell successfully, she would get back at him with her own spell later on so they would be even.

Howie laughed at himself as he looked up at Aurelia, her arm extended in a friendly gesture. Reaching out he allowed himself to be helped up off the ground. Most kids might have been embarrassed, but that was something Howie rarely felt, his father always telling him that you have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes. 

“Thanks.” He said as he got back to his feet, brushing his hair out of his face and straightening his robes. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just wanted to show you how not to do it.” Howie said with a smile, he often amused himself with his own corny jokes. “Yeah, you’re right, I was sidetracked when I went to cast it. Honestly, it just still feels kind of weird to shoot a spell at someone, but I suppose I have to get over that.” He admitted to her. 

She went on to give him a bit of advice about spellcasting and duels, stepping a few feet back and preparing for him to have another go.  

"Come on, hit me with your best shot!"

Alright. She was bouncing on her feet as if they were about to spar. Maybe this was the encouragement he needed. If he was to be successful at Hogwarts he would have to get over this fear of dueling. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all the distracting thoughts. Raising his hand to his mouth he coughed to make sure his throat was clear. He drew his wand again, aiming it square at her chest, focusing on the lion emblem on the front of her robes. Gryffindor. She’s not Aurelia, she’s a lion, lions are dangerous, knock that lion down! With a newfound focus, Howie swished his wand and shouted, “Flipendo!”

Aurelia let out a puff of air, she was inevitably going to be shot across the room by someone she had just helped. She hoped she wouldn't be sent to the hospital wing again. She moved on her feet nervously it was going to be nasty and the girl, after seeing so many students hitting against the walls, knew that clearly.

Howie stood across her with his wand in his hand. From his look, he was trying hard to concentrate. The boy shut his eye for a moment before opening them again, but as he did, there was the fierceness in his look. A glare that might make a young kid cower in fear. That was when Aurelia knew that there was no turning back.

Flipendo!

A split second after the incantation was called, there was a blinding flash of light and Aurelia felt a strong force pushing against her chest, so hard that it had sent her flying across the room. She wheezed as she laid on the cold cobblestone floor. It was guaranteed that a bruise would appear on her chest later on. Bruises were nothing new to the young girl for she had played a quidditch pick up game before, and there were countless bludgers that hit her. However, the feeling was terrible and she definitely did not want that to happen again.

"That sucked," She said under her breath.

Howie could feel the magical energy coursing through his body, coming up through his chest and tingling down his arm. The cedar wood of the wand grew warm, it vibrated in his hand. With a blinding flash and a bang, the spell erupted from the wand tip. Howie was shocked at the power of the spell, it felt as if he had just fired a gun.

The spell hit her a split second after it had launched, landing square in her chest. It was like he had shot a cannon ball at her, as she was lifted up off her feet and thrown like a rag doll across the room. She landed with a thud on the hard stones. Oh god! I’ve killed her! His worst fears were coming true, he had harmed someone with his magic. Howie tore across the classroom, landing on his knees beside her. 

“Aurelia! Oh s***! Are you ok?” He called out as he shook her lightly. “I didn’t mean to. I was just concentrating like you said.” She looked up, wheezing a bit. Well, she’s not dead, that’s good. 

"That sucked,"

He smiled down at her, it mustn’t have been too bad if she was making light of it. His smile faded, it was now her turn to go, and revenge is a you know what. Standing up, he reached out a hand to help her up.

Her chest still ached from the impact even after she had been lying on the ground for possibly a few minutes. Howie had out done himself, she swore that the bang that had followed after she had been hit was a loud one. Other students were staring at her from every corner of the room.

Aurelia laughed when the boy rushed to her side. He seemed overly worried with the tone of his voice as he asked if she was alright. Typical Hufflepuffs. "Yes, I'm not dead, it was only a jinx. It's not Avada Kedavra." She chuckled as she took his hand and was pulled up.

There was probably only about 5 minutes left and Aurelia had to hurry if she wanted her revenge. She hurried to a suitable spot across Howie where it was unlikely that she'd hit any other students than the target. Howie was the target and she must not let the spell backfire. According to Ollivanders, he had described her wand to be 'ideal for casting defensive and protective charms'. She hope he was right. The old man had also said that her wand suited wizards with a clear mind and heart. It meant that Aurelia herself had a clear mind and heart. No distractions.

Aurelia took a deep breath and exhaled trying to ease her nerves. She really didn't want it to backfire, time was limited and she only had one shot. The cherry wood wand that was gripped tightly in her hand was lowered down to Howie chest.

"Howie, are you ready?" She asked but didn't wait for him to respond before incantating with a soft but stern voice, "Flipendo!" A bright flash of silver light immediately shot from the wand's tip.

"Yes, I'm not dead, it was only a jinx. It's not Avada Kedavra.”

Howie laughed at himself as he helped Aurelia to her feet, he couldn’t help it. He was always concerned about the welfare of others, sometimes too much so. Oh well, it was his nature, that’s why he wears a badger on his chest.

Hmm, Avada Kedavra. The killing curse, the most unforgivable. They didn’t know each other very well, but he appreciated Aurelia’s straight forward attitude. Most kids might not have joked about the Killing Curse, But she was daring. He scanned her bright blue eyes, trying to figure her out. She could be a strong ally one day...or foe. 

He followed her her eyes to the clock, class was almost over. She quickly went and took her mark again. This didn’t bode well for Howie, she looked quite determined. With a few nervous steps he back away, allowing her the room necessary to fire her jinx.

"Howie, are you ready?"  

No!! He wanted to say, who the hell was ever ready to be cursed. But, there was no escaping it. “Yeah, go for...” He began to speak.

"Flipendo!"

The spell hit him before he could even register what was happening, his back hit the floor with a thud. Howie clutched his chest, coughing a bit as he regained his breath. A sucker punch! He wasn’t mad, he enjoyed a little playful rivalry. It was a good move on her part. He lifted his head off the ground to look at her, “Nice one!” He said with a laugh. “Now is this damned class over yet?!”