[Term 7] Clean it up with magic

[Prof. Victoria Potter]

Last year had to have been the roughest year of Vicky's entire adult life. For some strange reason she kept making bad decision after bad decision as if she had no sense left in her. Things had gotten so crazy she almost left the school all together. The idea of not coming back to the castle was enough to wake her up. No matter what she said she did love the place and she did love her job. So after the drama Vicky was happy to be getting back to normal, she had settled down with someone amazing, a true gift, and she was still at Hogwarts the one place that felt like home to her.

She entered her classroom and took a deep breath. This was where she belonged she knew that now, things would be hard, seeing him would be hard but she would have to make a go of it. Wearing robes of deepest red, Victoria placed her book on her desk, a mug of coffee followed as she plopped down on her seat.

Grabbing her wand she turned to point it at the board. Words began to appear "Lesson one Cleaning Spells. Please be seated and talk amongst yourselves until class is set to begin."

Happy with that Victoria sat back in her chair grabbing her mug of coffee staring at the empty room smiling while she waited for the door to open seeing who would be the first person to enter, the first person that would allow her to move forward with her life. This lesson was a totally new start for her a new start that she desperately needed.

[Edan Ashby]

Edan was apprehensive of joining any classes that actually involved performing spells considering his glaringly obvious lack of talent in spell-casting, but one could only participate in Herbology and Divination for so long. Not to mention, graduating would be horribly difficult if he couldn't do simple cleaning charms.

With that thought in mind, Edan walked into the classroom only to grimace at the fact he was the first one there. "Hi, professor." He murmured quietly, eyes scanning the classroom for a good seat. Deciding on one on the far right of the classroom, he dropped his book-bag on it with a soft thud.

Interesting setup. Plain and homely with the smell of coffee lingering in the air. Edan supposed it wouldn't be too bad of a lesson... as long as the practical was short, anyway.

[Alexis Heart]

Alexis was tired her eyes were barely opened and the bits you could see were bloodshot. The last few nights her sleep had been interrupted by bad dreams. Alexis would wake up several times during the night and she was suffering for it now. She was supposed to be in class but she looked in a right state. So she ran down to the Great Hall and grabbed herself a cup of coffee, strong black coffee.

Checking her watch though she realized that it was a bit late and she wasn't going to have time to sit there and drink it. Class was about to start so she got a to go cup shut the lid and hauled her butt to class. She made her way to charms class. Entering she noted that she needn't have rushed she was the second student to enter the room. Oh well better early than late.

Taking a seat in the middle of the room she didn't even bother unpacking she simply took a sip of her coffee, something she desperately needed. The dark, rich smelling drink seemed to give her that little boost she needed. She suddenly felt a live again, her eyes opened a little wider and she seemed to be a bit more alert.

Placing the cup down she did manage to unpack all the while keeping her eyes on the board reading up on what they would be working on that day. Cleaning spells, that could be a good thing. Alexis hated to clean the muggle way now she might learn to do it the wizarding way and that was always a plus. Maybe this lesson wouldn't be a total loss, now all she had to do was manage to stay awake.

[Dania Dahl]

You're going to be late. The little voice in her head murmured, and in that moment Dania's eyes flew open. Jolting up before the blood rushed to her head and she fell back over, her head slamming against her pillow with an ironic grace--she landed as softly as she hadn't fallen. In her haste tendrils of her vivid orange hair were tied messily into a bun, though pieces had slowly begun worming their way out of their haphazardly-created bindings. It was a good thing she showered at night, or else she really might have appeared a sore-eyed sight. Blearily rubbing at her near-black eyes she attempted to coordinate herself before getting dressed, grabbing the nearest bookbag available before shrugging the final layer of robes on and nearly tumbling down the stairs of the dorms into the common room. All at once she was assaulted with the bright house colours of Hufflepuff and she squeezed her eyes shut, wishing at that moment she was in Ravenclaw if only to relieve her corneas of the harsh light. The dark blue must be terribly comforting..

The moment she entered the classroom she was only a little irritated to find it near-empty; though this was enough bother her. She would just catch up on sleep later then. Catching Edan's eye as she stepped further inside and offering a hesitant little wave towards the professor Dania moved to slowly sit beside him, flashing a small smile as she rummaged in her bookbag for her stuff. Sighing to herself and dropping it ungraciously on the floor she looked to the Ravenclaw boy beside her with a sheepish look on her face. "Would it be considered foolish to have come to class without a wand?"

[Edan Ashby]

At last... the classroom door opened again, jolting Edan from his aimless scribbling. In a matter of minutes, both Alexis Heart and Dania Dahl were entering the classroom looking either exhausted or frazzled. The latter situated herself next to him, the sound of papers crinkling as she dug in her bag.

Edan shoved away his parchment and turned to Dania expectantly. He was a bit of a grouch in the morning, but he couldn't deny the cheeriness of his Hufflepuff friend and a smile ebbed across his face at her last remark.

"Not as foolish as me bringing along mine," he responded with a grimace. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if my wand is the reason yours is gone."

That thought made him edge away from his schoolbag where the item lurked. He had long since stopped carrying it on him, afraid that one of his limbs would spontaneously disappear in the corridor one day.

[Dania Dahl]

"No, I was in a rush this morning.. I'm fairly sure I dropped it on the way to class." Dania shook her head reassuringly, confident that Edan hadn't made it disappear. That wand of his made him so down at times, he should be thankful it didn't turn people green or make their arms shoot off. Besides.. Everyone needed to disappear once in a while. She brightened. "Hopefully someone will pick it up." Glancing at the board now a small chuckle escaped her. "Cleaning spells? I bet its just the janitor's day off." The Hufflepuff whispered conspiratorially, glancing shiftily to each side before returning to look at him. All worries forgotten now, Dania simply hoped the professor wouldn't mind that she was without a wand for the time being. Or parchment, or ink.. Heck, she was out of everything, not a quill to her name. Everyone had those days though, and that was enough of a comfort to her.

Crossing her arms on the table and resting her chin on her wrists she waited for the rest of the class to arrive, eyes occasionally fluttering closed in their anticipation of sleep. Every so often she would snap them open, scolding herself at even the thought of taking a nap. She was rather horrible with marks as it is, drowsing through study time would only shishkebab her grades into the point of no return.

[Gemma Leigh]

"Oh, cleaning." Gemma remarked, her dislike quite frank in the somewhat empty classroom. "I hate cleaning."

It was an honest statement and one that left her feeling quite sulky as she took a seat to the left of a pretty Ravenclaw girl. Uncurling a fist she let a number of odd trinkets fall to the desk, including two quills and a few pieces of gum. They clattered quietly, and Gemma stared at them with a furrowed brow.

"Everlasting cherry flavour," she said brightly, holding out one of them for the Ravenclaw.

[Edan Ashby]

"A rush?" Edan leaned forward on his desk, mimicking her. "Speaking of, why are you so tired?"

His eyes caught sight of the two figures to his left, and Edan suddenly perked up. Even though the outstretched had was surely meant for Alexis, he reached over desks to pluck it out of her palm. "Cherry's my favourite." He grinned, before digging in his pocket.

Hoping she liked citrus, he opened his hand to reveal three lemon candies. They were of a muggle sort, so not precarious in the least. "Fair trade?" He commented with a smile.

[Alexis Heart]

The classroom was slowly starting to fill around her. Soon the little bit of quiet she had experienced was starting to change to a low noisy buzz. Alexis didn't really mind or anything she was just wondering when class was going to start. Of course that was a nerdy thing to think of but she couldn't help it. Then she heard the Hufflepuff girl's voice loud and clear say something about not coming to class with a wand. Alexis did her best to keep her face impassive as she hoped that what the girl said simply wasn't true. How in the world could you come to a charms class with no wand. Alexis looked away from that conversation so as not to stick her nose in it, but she still didn't understand.

Luckily at that moment another girl walked into the room and took a seat near Alexis. The older girl smiled at the younger and soon tried to ignore the other two having a conversation. The newcomer had offered Alexis a sweet but to her surprise it was snatched up by Edan. Looking over at him Alexis said "hey that was meant for me." Alexis didn't hold back her reaction this time her face showed how annoyed she was at that moment. He offered up a trade with the other girl, but that still left Alexis with no treat owing to the fact that she disliked lemon and had no intention of eating whatever those things were he pulled out of his pocket.

Now she was thoroughly annoyed now, and hoped that their lesson was about to start.

[Alexander Bradly]

Xander hurried on his way to Charms and as usual he was running a little late thanks to his spending just a little too long in front of the mirror. Oh well, he thought to himself, at least I'll look smashing when I get to class.

As he was walking rather quickly down the halls to his class he noticed a wand lying on the ground and he decided he would pick it up and at least turn it into the professor before it got stepped on and broken.

He entered the class quite thankful that it hadn't started and was assaulted with the aroma of coffee. He was rather disappointed that he seemed to be by far the youngest student in the class but he perked up at the sight of all of the older girls. He quickly arranged his face into his most charming, dazzling smile and took a seat behind a Ravenclaw boy and a Hufflepuff girl.

He began to unpack his things taking out a quill, parchment, ink and his own wand. It was only then that he remembered the wand he had picked up. "Professor, I found a wand in the hall. Do you know of any way to return it to its owner?" Xander asked the professor. As he looked toward the professor he noticed the assignment written on the board.

"Cleaning spells?" Xander muttered quietly to himself, "Why do we need to learn about cleaning? Well, I guess that explains all the girls in the class." Xander quickly looked around him and hoped that not too many of his classmates had overheard him.

[Davin Jett]

Davin skipped into the classroom, with still a bit of time to spare it seemed. Most students were talking among themselves, and the professor seemed pointedly disinterested in the fact. Surely if the lesson had begun, that would not be the case. She saw a student, of close age to herself, perhaps a bit older, but she didn't sit by him. She was quite aware of her own small stature, and for that it was necessary to sit on the front row, so no older students could block her view of the lesson.

She overheard someone behind her say that he found a wand in the hall. Worried that it might be her own, Davin quickly checked her pockets, but she found her wand right where she always put it. 'I wonder who could have lost that...' she thought curiously. She hoped whoever it was got it back before they were in terrible need of it. That could be disastrous in the wrong situation.

Unsure of how soon the class would be starting, Davin proceeded to pull her notebook, quill, inkwell, and Charms book out of her messenger bag and set them up on her table. She was a bit concerned because she knew Charms were not her forte, so she also knew she would need to pay very careful attention if she was going to make an adequate grade in the class. As she waited for class to begin, she wrote her name, the date, and the subject of the class neatly across the top of her paper. Maybe later she would get Liz to quiz her about the class so she could be sure she understood what was going on... and maybe she should wait to hear what was going on before she gave up and deemed herself completely incapable of understanding the class.

So she sat, and waited for the lesson to begin.