The Boy who died - Ready for Anything

The first charms class

POV of Ariana Clarks

Together with Hermione and Parvati, I made my way to the Charms classroom. According to our schedule, we had this class with the Ravenclaws. As we entered the classroom, Professor Flitwick insisted that a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw always sit together at a table so that we could all get to know each other better. Parvati quickly decided to sit with Oliver. After a brief discussion with Hermione, I went over to Ginn while Hermione sat with Padma. Once everyone had found a seat, Professor Flitwick began to speak:

"Welcome to your first Charms lesson! Today, I would like to teach you one of the most fundamental spells."

He drew his wand and aimed it at an empty table.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he said clearly and performed a swishing movement with his wand, causing the table to float.

After we had all stared at the floating table in fascination for long enough, Professor Flitwick gently lowered it back to the ground.

"All right. Repeat after me, without wands for now: Wingardium Levi-oo-sa."

"Wingardium Leviosa," we repeated after him.

"Very good," he praised us. "And now, please watch the movement closely."

He repeated the swishing movement with his wand.

"Always remember: Swish and flick! And now, please try it yourselves with the feathers I have already placed on your tables."

Ginn and I exchanged a quick glance and then began practicing the spell. Highly focused, we tried to mimic the wand movement our teacher had shown us and get the pronunciation of the spell right. I was quite startled when Hermione, one table over, suddenly began arguing loudly with a red-haired Gryffindor boy:

"Stop, Ron! You're supposed to make your feather float, not shout at it and then stab it! You're pronouncing it wrong. It's Wingardium Levi-o-sa, not Levio-saa."

"Fine! If you know better, then show us," I heard him reply defiantly. Since many of our classmates had stopped their exercises to watch the two of them, Hermione now seemed slightly nervous, but she demonstrated the spell to Ron—and thus the entire class—nonetheless. And she undoubtedly succeeded. A self-satisfied smile played on her lips as Hermione made her feather hover about half a meter above the table and then gently land it in front of Ron.

"Excellent, Miss Granger! 10 points to Gryffindor!"

Professor Flitwick's delighted voice rang out. Encouraged by Hermione's success, I continued to practice diligently. However, the longer I tried and noticed from the corner of my eye how more and more of my classmates succeeded with the spell, the harder it became for me to concentrate. How were they all doing it? Ginn also managed to perform the spell just as well as Hermione about halfway through the double period. By now, she had long since succeeded in not only making her feather hover a few centimeters above our table but also in making it fly around the room before lowering it onto the table in front of me.

When Ginn noticed my frustrated expression as I looked at my own feather, she smiled at me encouragingly and offered to help me practice. Gratefully, I returned her smile and listened carefully as she gave me tips. This gave me new motivation, and I practiced with focus for the rest of the lesson. By the end of class, even I had gotten the hang of it. My feather flew across the room and got caught in Parvati's braided hair just as the bell rang for break. I saw the confused look on Parvati's face as Oliver laughingly pulled the feather out of her hair. They both looked around to see where it had come from. When they looked at Ginn and me, I returned their gaze slightly guiltily.

Professor Flitwick then assigned us homework to practice the spell on a slightly larger and heavier object. As I left the classroom, I apologized to Parvati for hitting her with my feather; the bell had distracted me. Parvati laughed and said, "Don't worry; I'm fine," before we made our way to lunch.