Defense Against the Dark Arts Closed

 Okay, there was no doubt, Felicity was officially late for class. It wasn't her fault that the school hallways were always twisting and turning! She got lost before she even had the chance to figure out where she was going. Thankfully, though, she had run into an older student who was more than willing to help her get to her class. It excited the blonde when she learned that today she would be learning Defense Against the Dark Arts - she assumed that it would be later on in the year, when the year had at least learned how to do Transfiguration, but she was pleasantly surprised. Then again, why wouldn't they be in Defense Against the Dark Arts from the beginning of the school year? It just made sense.

 She rushed into the classroom, and sat at an empty desk, plopping her books down in front of her. She had The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, as well as Magical Theory and Book of Spells. She wasn't sure what exactly they should be bringing to the class, so she brought the books that she thought made the most sense to bring along with her. She slid into her seat, looking around her to see if there were any people that she knew. There was Ryan, who she had met at the Ravenclaw table on the first night of being at Hogwarts. Other than him, that was it. The rest of the people in the room were either Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, or Slytherins; at least as far as she could see.

 Hopefully, she wouldn't have to remain sitting alone for the year, though. Maybe someone would have the courage to sit next to her, unlike she did. She found it nerve-wracking to initiate a conversation, or friendship, with someone, but she oftentimes got through it effortlessly. Despite that, she would much rather have someone speak to her first. Though, as it was, class seemed to be initiated. She should probably find someone and ask what, exactly, they were doing. Then again, it was a much better option to stay as a 'wallflower' for the time being, in her opinion.

Ryan was busy listening to the lesson and jotting his notes down when Felicity had walked in. She sat just a bit away from him, something Ryan would have known had he turned. It wouldn't be in his interest to sit away from her. Still he looked around at others around him. He looked over to a boy nearby, member of the Slytherin house. He seemed confused, saying Expelliarmus however the result was nothing other than wingardium leviosa. He looked pleased which I suppose was what it was all about. Still he thought it be best to let the kid know that wasn’t what he was going for. He’ll just wait till after class to let the boy know, after all same house or different, they’d all be in the same line of work one day. Class was interesting and Ryan’s notes were going well. Starting with what it means to defend against the dark arts all the way to the Expelliarmus spell.

Nothing compared to the kid of front though, boy he could write, look at him go. Ryan was getting a little bored with the lesson, so he thought to have a little fun. He looked over to others who were practicing the Expelliarmus spell which when not used in offense causes small sparks to occur, yet according to the book is used to disarm opponents who are not defending. He pointed it over to the Adohiro’s wand who was had just finished levitating the feather. Ryan smirked as he was going to bully the kid for some fun. He concentrated on the kid’s wand and shouted “Expelliarmus!” with a firm and swift circular action followed by an inner frown hoping to disarm the kid and show him the real power of the spell.

She would have been lying if she said that she wasn't finding her eyes going back to Ryan whenever they could. She should be focusing on the assignment - which she assumed was the Expelliarmus spell - but she couldn't. Well, maybe she could, but not without a willing partner, of course. But like they say, there's a new opportunity around every corner. She happened to be watching Ryan when he aimed his wand at a Slytherin. She smirked a little bit when she saw her opportunity to take part in the class assignment. As far as she knew, he didn't ask his permission, so why should she ask for Ryan's?

 Felicity stood, feeling a little nervous considering she was clearly not the one to do things like this off the bat, but regardless, she held her wand up, looking around the room before she aimed it to observe the correct action to do with the spell, and she let out a soft sigh, relaxing her shoulders. She read through the Book of Spells more than enough times to know this off by heart! She should be great at this. She pointed her wand directly at Ryan's, steadily. With a deep breath, she did the motion, saying, "Expelliarmus!" 

 She closed her eyes afterwards, not wanting to see the outcome of the situation. She doubted that he would be angry with her - they were friends, and this was more of a joke than anything for Felicity. She peeked her eyes open, grinning nervously at the boy, lowering her wand to hold it at her side.

James Lachoneus wrote: As James observed the other students, he began to notice that their wand movements looked a bit like a spiral. A downward spiral, to be specific.
"It looks kind of like a lasso, like people use in those old cowboy movies..." Christy said.
James nodded in agreement. Now that he looked at it that way, James could see what she was talking about.
"Would you mind if I tried? It probably won't work. I haven't been able to levitate my quill yet." she asked.
James nodded again and proceeded to step back, creating room between the two of them. James held his wand up, creating the target for Christy. As much as James was excited to try the spell, he had decided to let Christy go first 1) because she asked, and 2) because James felt like being nice. Of course, he always tried to be nice, so that wasn't surprising.
"Alright, you ready?" James asked. "So, it's 'expelliarmus' with a lasso motion and it's to disarm me... I remember someone saying something about also needing to concentrate on exactly what you're trying to do." James shared.
As he waited for her to use the spell, James had another thought.
"Later, if you want, I could try and help you with the levitation spell."

Christy stepped back as James did as to give plenty of room for them to practice the spell. She felt quite nervous and felt her face flush brightly as she tried to focus on what she was trying to do. She raised her wand, closed her eyes, and tried to be mindful of his wand, knowing where it was, and focusing on getting it away from him. This was the first time Christy had gotten this advice for doing magick, maybe this was the trick she needed to actually be successful at it.

She opened her eyes and focused on his wand, still thinking of it being pulled away from him by the invisible lasso attached to her wand. She took a deep breath, and with as much courage as she could muster she said, "Expelliarmus!" as she whipped her wand around, imagining the lasso wrapping around his wand, and she yanked it back, watching as his wand jumped out of his hand. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in disbelief. Her face slowly turned into excitement as she had been successful with the spell. "I did it! Oh my goodness! Thank you for the advice, James. That's what did it. I just have to focus on it and picture it happening. Oh that felt wonderful!" She felt giddy as she had felt the magick flowing through her for the first time.

Kevin fought down the urge to yawn from his all nighter, he'd been looking forward to classes so much he hadn't slept and killed time by flipping through the textbooks. It couldn't exactly be called an advantage given that it was just first year magic, but he was still solidly in the camp of those who'd already read all their textbooks already. Still the clamor to actually cast a real spell in class was enough to keep him awake - a stark contrast to Transfiguration, and not a boring spell like in Charms. Still his less than five foot stature required him to work to get attention if he wanted a partner in spell flinging.

However he wasn't sure how to approach someone to actually ask if they wanted to team up since it looks like everyone had already done that. So rather crudely he rapped his wand to his desk - inadvertently producing a shower of sparks which he brazenly ignored.

"I don't suppose anyone is still in need of a partner?" He forced the question out, secretly wishing his voice was a little more convincing in the show of confidence. After all, he didn't just want to come across as a pushover in front of the entire room.

OOC: Sorry this took me so long to reply to
Owen had been tensed up, preparing for his wand to fly away but he had relaxed for her last shout of the word, the thought that she might not have been able to do it flicking through his head briefly, before his wand once again remained soundly held in his grasp. As he watched her, her eyes seemed to put on a show of embarrassment and frustration, not dissimilar feelings to what he had been experiencing in a couple of his classes this week, he had just seemed to get lucky with this spell in particular. He raised an eyebrow as she turned away, her guard seeming to have been flung up once again and he reconsidered whether or not he had judged her emotions correctly. He allowed himself a brief smile at her praise, which gave him  a warm feeling, but he quickly snuffed that out. Thinking that she probably didn't enjoy not being able to do something just as much as hated it, he thought it prudent he give her a bit of encouragement. Hoping for the best, he piped up in a small voice, "Are you sure? I'm positive you were getting really close to it. Everything you did seemed in line with what everyone else was doing."

James stood ready, actually finding himself nervous about what would happen. Not necessarily nervous, thinking that Christy was going to mess up, but more nervous about what it would feel like when he was hit by the spell. Would it hurt? James wanted to doubt it, because surely, Hogwarts wouldn't put their student's in any kind of danger... would they?
James shook his head, attempting to clear it of those thoughts, and he stood in a ready stance. It wasn't as if he needed to, but he felt it was appropriate for this situation.
James' hands grew a bit sweaty as he gripped his wand tight. He saw Christy getting ready as he remembered what they were doing, so he let his grip loosen just a bit. He also had a lishgt fear of breaking his wand if not too careful with it. A wand was the greatest thing he had ever had possession of, and he wasn't about to lose it.
James waited a few beats before he heard Christy shout the incantation.
"Expelliarmus!"
James' eyes shut reflexively, and almost instantly, after she gave the magic word, James felt a strong tug on his wand as it went flying out of his hand. He had tried to hold onto it, but it had still managed to slip away. James opened his eyes to see his wand laying a few feet away, in front of him.
James performed a celebratory punch in the air for Christy.
"Yeah! Good job!" he congratulated her, grinning. "You did it!"
"I did it!" Christy exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! Thank you for the advice, James. That's what did it. I just have to focus on it and picture it happening. Oh that felt wonderful!"
"Yeah! No problem! I'm actually surprised that I helped!" he said honestly. "I'm no good at magic anyway, because, well, I was raised muggle..." James spoke as he stepped forward to retrieve his wand.

Ryan was just about to cast the expelliarmus spell and to his surprise his wand flew cleanly from his hand at rapid speed. Almost as if it was tied to a string and was pulled instantly with haste. He turned his head to see his wand hit the floor, and as he looked around to see who might've done it, he noticed Felicity there wand in hand with eyes closed looking guilty. He didn't want to return an expelliarmus at her, dueling wasn't possible at the moment, and she wasn't someone he was looking to fight with, on the contrary it was just the opposite.

He smirked, grabbed his stuff, picked up his wand and quickly relocated to the seat next to her. Hopefully, moving before the professor noticed. He leaned his head close to her direction and said softly.

"Alright, I'll admit you got me, but the next time you want my attention you can always just call my name. Anytime..." 

He said ending it with a wink before laying his palm on top of hers. Corny as heck but a kid his age has to move whether it's move forward or move on. Still, Felicity was his number one crush, so hoping he wouldn't ruin things, he left his hand on top of hers and went back to focusing on class, and writing notes.

Quite the daring move on his part, and it was sure to get a reaction, unsure if it would be good or bad but he had a defense. If it was good, well score, if it was bad he'd just laugh and make it seem like he was getting her back for the expelliarmus spell.

Oh lord here we go he thought to himself while multitasking between Felicity's reaction and the lesson itself. Unsure how long he'd let it go on, it was awkward, but in a way kind of nice.

 It was most curious when the Ravenclaw boy picked up his things from his previous desk and moved them over to the empty one next to the blonde. She watched him curiously, kind of expecting him to throw the spell back her way once he picked his wand back up, but he did nothing of the sort! Instead, he sat down, and leaned close to her. Cautious, nervous, and hesitant, she didn't move, instead focusing on fiddling with her wand.

 It was a light blush at first, simply because he was saying that if she ever wanted to catch his attention, all she would need to do is call his name, and he'd be there. That enough was enough to entertain the developing crush that the girl was having on this boy. She stayed silent, which was most uncharacteristic for her in the present day - ever since she arrived at Hogwarts, she had been talking nonstop. The next action caused her whole face to heat up to a deep rose color.

 Oh, god! His hand was on her's, and she had no clue what she should be doing. She was embarrassed out of her mind, convincing herself that she looked like a fool. She should just take a breather, calm down, and reevaluate her options. It didn't take her too long to figure something out.

 "Y-You know, aiming at people unexpectedly is quite rude." Were the first words that came out of her mouth. Not, 'Oh, I wasn't looking for your attention,' or 'You have a big mouth,' but she was standing up for the Gryffindor boy who could have had his wand knocked out of his hand unexpectedly. She felt her face sort of cool off once again, but she didn't count on it staying that way.

Ryan acknowledged her light blushing, which made him want to smile but he kept a straight face as if what he was doing was somehow normal. He had kept taking notes while leaving his palm on her hand. He could just feel her skin heating up with embarrassment, it wasn't just her either. Ryan was getting so close from smiling ear to ear. Upon writing his next sentence she spoke to him which made him pause mid-word to what he was writing. After all that was happening between them she spoke to him in a serious manner.

To believe that she called him rude for trying to play the prank that he had originally planned. He honestly felt downright mean and didn't know how to respond. He was getting ready to remove his hand from hers, feeling a bit like the usual bullies he hated to see. Instead he did something a little out of his own comfort zone, he turned her palm over and laced his fingers with hers. Then he put his pen back to his quill, and turned looking Felicity in the eyes.

With a serious but innocently worried face, his eyes stared into her and while this seemed like a movie moment which would make most people hurl at its hilarity, he was honest what he said.

"Guess that's why I have you...to keep me straight as my wand." Ryan said to Felicity. He then turning to look at the boy he originally had tried to trick. He nodded breathing deep acknowledging his own rudeness, he removed the pen from the quill and returned to taking notes.