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FA N C H O N
M A R I E
C O H E N
Professor of DADA │ Muggleborn │ Haitian

Fanchon did not generally have a high opinion of the majority of her students. She didn't have a low opinion of them either, and she could count on one hand the number of students she had ever truly disliked as a professor over the years. She just didn't believe in showering her students with praise they hadn't earned, or faking a false sense of affection. They were learning what she was teaching. Of course she wanted them all to succeed, but she didn't take things personally.

That said, she'd rarely had a student be so blatantly disrespectful in class as one Vespera Salazar. She'd identified the girl as potential issue last year; she generally projected a sense of what Fanchon couldn't describe as anything but 'raging entitlement combined with a deeply sheltered upbringing'. She didn't think the girl was hell spawn or anything; Fanchon had had her own rebellious streak growing up as well.

But she had very little patience for students who not only expressed no interest in her subject, but who treated the whole thing as something of a joke. Fanchon didn't miss the girl's dramatic sigh upon entering the room, nor her choice to sit in the very back. She likely assumed Fanchon wouldn't pay much attention to what went on there. Suffice to say, she was very wrong. Fanchon had been teaching and dueling for long enough to not let much get past her, least of all an arrogant little girl's nonsense.

"Five points to Ravenclaw, Mr. Lane," she said calmly, her eyes not leaving Vespera as the girl snickered and lobbed a ball of paper at the boy. Fanchon patiently waited for it to make contact, then summoned it wordlessly with a lazy flick of her wand. "This is not a snowball," she read aloud, enunciating carefully, and then looked up, flashing dangerously white teeth at the class. "Incendio." The paper burst into flames in her hand for a moment, before turning to ash, which she dusted off.

"Miss Salazar, stand up," Fanchon took a step back, leaning against her desk with her arms folded across her chest. Her cat prowled nearby, rubbing up against her legs. "You're clearly not very interested in discussing knock-back jinxes. I understand. They're not terribly compelling. Which is why you'll be demonstrating your practical knowledge of them instead. With me in detention, directly after dinner tonight." She paused briefly to let that sink in.

"Please bring a two page paper on the uses of said jinx in a duel as well, instead of wasting your parchment on projectiles." She uncrossed her arms, hands sliding into her pockets. "Throw something at anyone in my class again, and we'll be having a chat with your head of house instead of in front of your classmates. Sit down." Her tone offered little room for argument.

Almost as an afterthought, Fanchon added, "And 10 points from Slytherin for childish antics in a learning environment. I expect better choices from a second year student. Waste mine and your classmates' time like this again, and a 45 minute detention and a little essay on Flipendo is going to seem like a dream. I hope I've made myself clear." Raising an eyebrow, she held Vespera's gaze for a few moments longer, before addressing the rest of the class. "Break into small groups, and practice lighting and extinguishing your wands."

▬▬"Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two sides to every person. " ▬▬

Vespera stood when asked, realizing she was in trouble. In retrospect, maybe she should have waited until after class to do that. Or at least wait until Professor Cohen's back was turned. She was not looking forward to the detention, an having to see the Slytherins after losing them house points. Most of all, she wasn't sure how she'd be able to write a two page paper on the Jinx. She would have to beg Sona and Jonah, maybe they could barter for something if they helped.

She nodded and said softly, "I'm sorry Professor Cohen." She then closed her notebook and took her wand and went to partner up with Jonah and Sona, not saying a word during that time. If she had just stayed quiet before, and stayed still before and not acted rashly, then she wouldn't have detention tonight. She knew she didn't get the worst punishment, but she could feel the disappointment(?) from the professor, and didn't like that feeling being put towards her. Maybe, she should just go back into her shell. Sona seemed joyous that she had gotten detention. “Lumos.” She whispered. Then whispered again, “Nox.” She shrugged to Sona, choosing not to answer her question. Maybe detention wouldn’t be so bad. But it was the thought of it.

Sonora's smile fell when she noticed how downtrodden Vespera was about the detention.Thankfully, Jonah had some actually comforting words for their friend. "We'll both be right out the door," she added softly. "With chocolate."

She lit her wand again, wondering how to cheer her friend up, or at least mollify the dread of detention."Ves? It'll be okay. We'll make up the points by volunteering to help Professor Blodwen organize materials or something." She hoped that by pointing out they could make up the points, it'd make Vespera feel a bit better.

Sonora greeted Vespera with a little nudge, then noticed the spell on the board and glanced cautiously at Jonah. This sounded like grounds for a future prank. She couldn't help but giggle a little herself when Sean doubled over in laughter. It looked like a fun spell. Definitely a future prank. She was surprised it was most often used in dueling...although she had to imagine that after being hit by the spell a few times, the other person would be quite out of breath, with stitches in their side and probably pretty annoyed.

She was partially relieved to discover they wouldn't be practicing against each other. It meant her friends would be would be safe from each other for the hour at least, and Sona probably would have spent the entire period laughing instead of practicing.

She found herself at the front of the line. With an apologetic nod, she raised her wand: "Rictumsempra!" As it was she ought not to have worried-- her cast barely seemed to register as a mild giggle and Sonora headed to the back of the line wondering if she'd messed up the wand movement. She turned to the student next to her quietly. "Do you think it works if you're not ticklish?"

In any case, that was clearly not the issue with Imogen, as other people seemed to be having more success making her laugh.