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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 almost languished at her desk, looking vaguely irked as the students came in and took their seats. Finally, with a small sigh, she stood up, stretched a little, and wand in hand, began her pacing up and down the rows of desks and chairs, careful not to trip over anyone's bag. "You're all in luck, as today we'll be learning one of the most simple- and essential- spells known to wizards. Some of you may already be familiar with this, as it's not unusual to simply pick it up from older students as you go about your daily lives." She held her wand aloft, made sure they were all looking at it, and enunciated carefully, "LOO-mos," while moving it in a loop:



And then a sharp wave-like motion, saying, "NOCK-ss,":



The bright light extinguished itself immediately. "That," said Fanchon, "Is the wand lighting and extinguishing charm. As you can see, it's obviously very useful when you are in a dark place, or going about at night. It was not, surprisingly, invented until the year 1772, by a witch named Levina Monkstanley, who worked for the Ministry of Magic, and first used it to find a fallen quill. However, credit was almost stolen from her a German wizard name Garvin Lugner, who said he had invented the spell while developing his Instant Darkness Powder. He was lying, of course, and his powder was found to only dim a room slightly, rather than throw it into darkness."

She stowed her wand away. "Now, one of the positive side effects of the charm is that it also repels many spectral creatures, as well as any dark spirits, so it can be very useful to keep your wand lit when in a place where you may encounter anything of that nature. There's really nothing much to this- the wand movements are most important, as well as making sure your wand stays lit. It's no good if you can only keep the charm up for a few moments, so I want to see everyone's wand lit for at least five minutes. I'll set a timer."

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

Fanchon waited until the first years were seated before she started the day's lesson, Jacques prowling around the edge of the classroom. "Flipendo, or the Knockback Jinx, is a very useful spell, especially for a young and inexperienced witch or wizard. It's not difficult to cast and it can be very handy when you find yourself backed into a corner." The Haitian woman gestured with her wand at an unoccupied chair close to her. "Flipendo!" the chair skittered backwards, toppling over with a wooden thud.

"As you can see, it works on objects as well as people. However, people can still get up, even after you knock them over, so I wouldn't expect to win any fights with this jinx," she said dryly. "Depending on the force used, it might just shove someone back roughly, or knock them completely off their feet. I wouldn't expect to send anyone- or anything- flying on your first few tries, however. And be aware that it can be blocked with a simple shield charm or just dodged." The professor nodded to the board. "There's what your wand movement should look like."



"And the light of the jinx should be blue. Now, I don't want you accidentally- or intentionally- hurting each other, so I want a row of desks across the room and everyone behind them. On my count, try to knock the desks back- after I'm behind them as well," Fanchon said hastily. "Alright, en, de, twa-,"

By Wednesday, Aidene was (thankfully) starting for feel more like her normal self--less hyper, and with more purpose. She knew most of the characters in her everyday encounters anyways, and had more than enough quests scratched into her sketchbook.

But then she spent Wednesday morning of her week of classes hunting through the mess around her bed and trunk for a textbook that simply wasn’t there anymore. Apparently she had managed to swap out a textbook when she was repacking that morning before the train. She resigned herself to rebuke via letter and scribbled a message to her dad: Sorted into Ravenclaw, tried out for the Quidditch team, her portable sewing machine didn’t work like he’d said, still hadn’t found the kitchens, and oh yeah, could he pretty-please-with-a-Cherubi-on-top send her Transformation textbook over asap? Then she’d chased down a prefect to ask how to get to the Owlery and which owls she could use.

Getting to the DADA classroom a solid quarter hour early, Aidene hung out at the back of the DADA classroom, flipping idly through a wizarding fashion magazine that had replaced her Transformation textbook. Just before class started, she surveyed the room and moved herself forward purposefully. You know who had stellar notes and shared a room with her? Emma. Ideal party member for school things. ”Hey Emma? Could I share your Transformation textbook tomorrow? I apparently swapped mine out when I was adding some stuff last minute,” she mentioned in whisper, sheepishly gesturing the magazine before putting it away.

At least she did have her DADA textbook, and promptly pulled it out, along with the oversized sketchbook she was taking all her notes in. At least she could demonstrate she wasn’t a completely terrible student and would be a worthy party member. As class started, she thought to herself that Professor Cohen looked like a boss villain of some sort, what with the cat and the literal skelton floating overhead. And then her introduction:

"I am Fanchon Cohen, and I am responsible for ensuring that all of you can recognize dark magic, and properly defend yourselves against it. My rules are written on the board. Follow them, don't follow them, it's your choice. This class is largely about choices. I'm here to demonstrate to you how to make good ones.

Boss villain, hero trainer, whatever faction Fanchon Cohen was boss of of, Aidene was joining up.

Lavinia and the Slytherin girl had a great conversation starter, but fortunately Aidene remembered something to contribute too: ”The Unforgettable Curses are the worst, but there’s a tier list of dark magic, ranking how strong or dangerous it is. Um. I think jinxes, hexes, then curses?”