Joli; Arrêt complet.

Her eyes settle on the parchment and quill and she frowned slightly. Sure, she was able to understand how to do non-verbal spells now, but she was facing a new dilemma. She didn’t know how to put what she just did, what she just experienced, in words.

She acted calm about it at first. She wrote down the title  ‘Non-Verbal Spells’. She wrote down her name ( of course, her real full name, and not just ‘Pinky’ ) as well as her year and House. However, she stopped after that. Setting down her quill, she stared down blankly at the parchment.

If it was up to her, she would write down how she felt. How the magic flowed within her veins, how she felt like she was flying, how ecstatic she was when she was finally able to do it. However, this was still homework and that meant that it had to be factual and not just a narrative of her discovery.

“Professor,” starts the girl. “Any idea on how to start?”

Julian watched as the girl calmly filled out everything she could except the essay itself  before she stopped. He tried to hold back a grin and raised an eyebrow when she spoke to him.

He tapped his chin with a long finger and hummed, thinking for a moment. Some students had taken a very official approach to this essay in the past. A few, people who had been in Pinky’s position whom he had had to help take the first step, had let a little more personal experience into their essay.

She saw the small fox on her shoulders and let out a small smile, feeling a lot better in it’s presence. She wanted to pet it but she knew her hand would go right through it.

The words the teacher had said lightened her up but stil… would she ever be capable of making a patronus?

Everyone was scattered trying by themselves the charm, when she turned to the teacher in a low voice

“But what do i do when i have too many unhappy memories? When you are a wer-” she caught herself before saying the actual word, hoping he wouldn’t notice it “… how can any memory be happy enough?”

After asking that she looked at the fox, it had left her shoulder and now trotted happily above her head.

Julian was aware of her... situation. All the teachers had to be, as it was a security issue. Not that Julian considered any of his students dangerous in the slightest, he was prepared with potions and spells to protect various students from themselves.

He could understand her apprehension. He knew why she thought she would never be able to produce a patronus, but Julian firmly believed that it didn’t matter what your life had been to up to that point, he was a teacher and therefore it was his job to make sure hat his students thrived.

He leaned in a little closer so they could speak privately and placed a gentle hand on Jennie’s shoulder. “Do not let your past define you. My past tried to convince me that I was a freak and an outsider, that no one would ever love me and that I would never have a family. I didn’t have friends. Boys made fun of me because I was pretty and girls hated me because I was pretty.

“Should I have held myself back in school? Should I have not tried to make friends? I was scared of my own shadow, but I didn’t let it define me. I fought back against what people expected of me and I made my own future. You can too. There is always a light in the dark. My mother never made me feel less than perfect, even when everyone around her was trying to bring me down. 

After being scolding for ‘not paying attention’ by his Potions professor a few days prior, Sicheng had been making the great effort to stay up for longer, primarily to study. He’d been keeping himself up ever since, not wanting to disappoint any of his other professors, just in case he had trouble understanding what would be going on in class. 

Some of the Hufflepuffs had let in a Gryffindor or two into the common room, essentially making it hard for any sane person to revise. Not only that, but the boy also felt that the library was always too full of people. A random corridor, Sicheng decided, would be perfect.

He must’ve gotten through a good 40 minutes of reading (and trying to understand) the English in his Charms textbook, but fatigue was eating away at his ability to focus. Nothing was easy when it was in a foreign language, but Sicheng wouldn’t be able to learn without hard work. It was a tough task.

Sicheng let out a sigh, lifting a hand to cover his eyes. “English is so difficult…” he muttered to himself, a flurry of random words floating about in his head. He had been paying no attention to any passers-by, but a sudden tap to the top of his head had him jumping in surprise, letting out a quiet shriek. “Ah!– Oh…”

It was just a professor. 

…But he was so close. So close that the proximity almost distracted Sicheng from the question being asked, but luckily he picked up on the general gist of it.

“Help…? I think…” He paused, unsure whether to accept. “I– Yes… I do need help.”

Julian repressed a chuckle at the boy’s reaction. He hadn’t meant to startle him, but it was rather cute to see him jump. Julian rolled up his sleeves and rested his hands on top of his knees, tilting his head to the side as he tried to make himself look less intimidating.

Jules had seen the boy in class but he couldn’t really remember his name as he was a relatively shy boy and didn’t participate much. His grades were alright but  he obviously struggled. Julian was surprised he hadn’t requested a tutor yet, as they were readily available and Julian encouraged even the career track students to get one.

A little extra help goes a long way.

She watches her professor change the color of his robes from pink to black. She feigns offense, a small pout on appearing on her lips. “I think it would look cute in pink, you know,” said the girl, trying to hold her composure before letting out a laugh. She had felt at ease with the other now, seeing as he helped her conquer one obstacle.

However, when he asks her to perform another non-verbal spell, she pales. Pinky isn’t sure if she can do it again - she’s afraid of failure, afraid of messing up. But still, she wanted to prove it to herself. Wanted to tell herself she was able, that she can if she believes. She had always told herself she was an excellent witch, and she wanted so badly to prove it.

Nodding, she takes a deep breathe and closes her eyes. She feels the magic course through her body, flowing in her, and she knows she can do it now, even if she was a little nervous. She raises her wand, pointing it at the book. The girl repeats the spell in her mind, imagining the book flying.

Suddenly, her arm feels heavy. Peeking an eye open, she says her wand arm extended up in the air, the book hovering slightly above it. Pinky grins, slowly setting it down on the table. “I did it,” Pinky said, trying to sound nonchalant but very obviously failing. “I really did it.”

Julian smiled happily when Pinky flawlessly succeeded in levitating the book. He knew that as soon as she found the key she could do it with ease. Non-verbal spells were easy that way. Often a little tricky to get the hang of, but usually pretty straight forward.

“I knew you could,” he said, the pride clear in his voice as he hadn’t tried to hide it at all. 

He tilted his head to the side and smirked, pulling a piece of blank parchment from his stack and a self inking quill. He handed both to the girl sitting opposite him with a grin. 

Jennie looked around to see if anyone was going to raise their hands. Everyone was avoiding eye contact by many different means, either by writing down something, or looking out of the window to maybe not be picked by the professor.

The girl made a quick recollection of her memories and chose one that she thought was happy enough. She took in a deep beath before raising her hand with determination

“I would like to try professor”

She stood up and walked to the front of the class, took in a deep breath, focusing on the memory. It was a memory from a past birthday, she was blowing 4 the candles on the cake, everyone was smiling, clapping and singing “happy birthday”.

“Expecto Patronum”

Nothing happened.

She heard a few snorts and small laughs from the students of other houses before she tried again, trying to remember a diferent memory. 

But now that she thought about it, there were few happy memories. Every memory she tried to remember, she was reminded of a bad one to supress it, connected to that goddamed curse her gradmother bestowed her. Many full moons, scared, chained up, screaming in excruciating pain that every transformation brought. In consequence, having little to no friends while growing up. Being ostracised for being who she was. Not a human. A beast. A werewolf.

She realised how many sad and painful memories she had. 

“No memory i have is happy enough.” she said quietly to herself, her voice slightly trembling.

 Her hands started shaking as she closed her eyes tightly taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself and get rid of those bad memories.

Julian didn’t expect anyone to get it right on the first try. You would have to be a prodigy to do that and even then it was rare. So the reaction that came from the other students when Jennie’s spell didn’t produce anything sent a wave of protective anger through him. 

He crossed his arms and frowned, snapping at the giggling students. “Yah, I’d like to see any of you do better on your first try. This is an incredibly high level spell and at least some of you will likely never be able to cast it. So keep your teasing to yourself.”

He watched as he smirks and sniggers turned into shameful down-turned eyes and embarrassment. He turned his eyes back to Jennie and watched as she tried again. His lingering anger softened as she spoke. His heart ached for her. She sounded so sad and it was more than Julian could handle without doing anything about it. 

“Alright, everyone get down here,” he called, waving the other students out of their seats as he stepped closer to Jennie and let his fox climb from his shoulder and hop onto hers. Patronus’ chased away dark thoughts as well as dementors. They protected people from their own misery. Julian just hoped that his own patronus could provide some comfort for her. He instructed the students to start practicing and gently put a hand on Jennie’s back to get her attention, leaning down to whisper to her.

oliver had never been a big fan of studying. class was just class, nothing more and nothing less. sure, he’d aim for good grades, but that could wait a few more months. he was the type to cram last minute and would avoid spending too much time in the library. he knew he was smart. he didn’t need to study on the daily. 

it was his first day of classes after the christmas holidays and oliver was clearly out of practice when it came to staying attentive while listening to professors. a couple of weeks of freedom had fucked his sleeping pattern up and the thought to try to fix it had never crossed his mind. the worst thing that could happen would have been that he’d miss the first class or three of the day. that wouldn’t have been too bad. (he still woke up though.)

he had arrived to his charms lesson with a yawn, surprisingly having made it through the day without dropping off at any point. the class started reasonably well, with oliver occasionally messing around at the back as usual, a fellow slytherin getting told off on the opposite side of the classroom.

once the initial energy in the room started to die down, that was when oliver started to feel sleepiness take over. fingertips pushed at his temples before he resorted to resting his forehead on the desk, eventually pulling his hood up to cover the back of his exposed neck. january was cold. 

the next thing that oliver knew was that there was someone speaking to him. speaking very closely. a poke to the cheek had his eye crack open, a slow realisation hitting him. he’d fallen asleep. fucking great. still, it took a moment for his body to catch up with his brain; he lifted his head, only then processing the question proposed to him. 

“…yeah. really boring, professor. needs more explosions.” he mumbled, it rather obvious that he was not enjoying being woken up. oliver ran a hand through his hair, his usual scowl settling on his features. “don’t tell me i missed dinner–”

Julian raised an eyebrow at the response. He was starting to remember who the boy was now that he was speaking. He was a 7th year, that was for sure. No one else had the guts to talk to teachers like that. He couldn’t place a name just yet, but he knew the boy was very bright. Julian hadn’t caught him sleeping in class before, but he wasn’t one to ask questions either. He obviously had a good grasp on his Charms, because he always got top marks and never asked for help or extra explanations. That, or he was a very good cheater.

Julian barely resisted rolling his eyes as he straightened up and put his hands on his hips. He blew his bangs out of his face and tapped his foot gently. “No,” he said, only a little annoyed at the attitude. “Not yet. Dinner started half an hour ago.”

Julian almost let him go. Almost. He had no reason to hold the boy back and he hadn’t done anything bad enough to warrant detention in his opinion. However, Julian didn’t much like attitude in his students. He believed that if one wanted to be treated with respect, then they should offer people the same respect in return.

Evie had never been much of a liar - she’d been taught by her Daddy that it was a horrible thing to do and that honesty was always the best quality. However, it seemed to have been all she’d done for the past year; she lied about the man she loved, she lied to her friends, to her parents and even to Dorian. It was difficult for her to keep up, the guilt heavy on her shoulders and, the moment Julian questions her, her walls broke.

She looked around, making sure that they were alone before speaking, “Is it so obvious? Should I be more excited?” Evie asked, “I mean… he is very nice, Jules, really and I’ve met him more than once. I think… well, any girl would be lucky to have him. A lot of the Hufflepuff girls had a crush on him too.” Except for her, of course - she had always been the one much more infatuated with the older twin; dark, a little sinister but, in Evie’s eyes, a good person in his heart.

Her eyes were downcast. She’d never told anyone about it aside from her best friend, Amy - and the other girl only knew because she was smart enough to know that it was nonsense for Evie to marry the other Lee brother. “My daddy is excited,” she explained, her voice small, “And I guess that it’s nice; Dorian treats me nicely and my grandmere likes their family but… I was in love, Jules. I am in love.”

Julian softened as he listened to Evie speak. He had known even back when they were in school together that she had been infatuated with the older of the Lee twins. It also hadn’t gone unnoticed which one of them seemed to have eyes for her. It was unfortunate it was the wrong one.

Jules wrapped his arms tightly around the smaller body and hugged the girl tight, placing a gentle kiss on top of her head. “Oh, chère, I know,” he said softly, rubbing a comforting hand up and down her back.  “I don’t know why you’re marrying him. I won’t try and make decisions for you, but I want you to be happy.”

The moment Professor Yoon let go of his ear, his hand immediately flew to it and rubbed it. He could feel his ear become red from the pressure of the pinch. The professor sure did have a firm grip. He supposes he should give himself a pat on the back for remembering to take out his earring or that would’ve been more painful.

He sighed. Nathan was planning on practicing for his Transfiguration class as soon as he got back to the dorms, but it’s obvious that’s not going to happen now. He thought he’d be let off with a stern warning and he’d be on his merry way, but detention was already at his plate.

“What exactly are we doing, professor?”, he inquired, curious as to what they were going to do that required so much energy. What exactly were the professors taking that gave them so much energy?

Julian smiled, far too chipper for how late at night it was. Honestly, having a partner tonight would make the evening go much faster. Being alone always made him feel like time was moving at half the speed it should.

“Tonight you will wander the halls with me and look for troublemakers,” he said the a wink. “Takes one to know one, so it shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

Julian sorted through the assignments he had just collected from his 7th years. It was already late and dinner would have already started, but he would rather get this done now than come back to a messy classroom. He raised his wand and flicked it gently, watching as the blinds slid closed one by one. He frowned as the last one got stuck halfway down.

With a sigh, he slipped off his robes and laid them over the back of his chair, rolling up the sleeves on his grey jumper as he walked up the stairs that lead to the student’s seating. He walked along the rows, vanishing messes and loose papers as he went. Really, 7th years were definitely the messiest. He stopped right under the blind at the end of the row, scowling up at it. It had become tangled in the cords that held it up. With a more precise swish, he untangled them and brought the blinds sailing down.

With a satisfied nod, he turned and started making his way back to his desk. He stopped mid stride, blinking to himself as he tried to decide if he was imagining things. His students sometimes forgot their bags or robes his, it was the last class of the day after all and they were all eager to get a bite to eat. The black robes he had passed, however, seemed to have a little more to them than just fabric.

He turned on his heels and frowned back at the black mass. Ah, yes. That was definitely a puff of hair sticking out from under the hood. Jules sighed to himself as he put his hands on his hips and tried to figure out which trouble maker it was as he walked forwards. He reached out and gently tugged the hood off the head, blinking in surprise when he saw the face. 

Evie loved treats, particularly of the French style - in her opinion, there was nothing in London that could come close to the desserts of Paris. Taking the box from behind her, she couldn’t help but excitedly open it, her eyes sparkling when she saw the macaroon. “Jules! I’ve been thinking about these forever,” she gushed, her accent coming through from her joy, “Thank you!”

When she was asked about the boy though, Evie couldn’t help but become shy, her cheeks flushed. In all honesty, she wasn’t quite sure who he was referring to  - Neukmin, the man she’d been in love with all these years, or Dorian, who she was promised to marry. She hadn’t realised how obvious she had been about her affections all those years, and so was still under the impression that no one knew about their relations, even with her as his secretary.

“Um, well…” she started, wringing her wrists, “There isn’t much to say. D–Dorian Lee, he was a Ravenclaw. You might know about him, he was just one year above me.” She figured that discussing him would have been the safest option. “He’s a healer… he’s very nice.”

Julian listened to Evie talk with a patience that came only from years of experience being the ‘mom’ in his friend group. He pursed his lips a little, taking in what she said. Honestly, it wasn’t much. For a boy she was supposed to marry, she didn’t seem very thrilled about him.

Julian knew a lot of things. He heard things from people and made his own observations. And it was very obvious that this girl held a flame for someone other than her betrothed. 

Jules let his eyes flick to the office door and hummed softly once she was done her explanation.

Jennie had almost let out a laugh as she saw the other girls red faces, quietly going to their seats. Ok, she was a bit confused? The Professor looked nothing like the pictures shown to her. So he could change form? A  metamorphmagus? Cool.

As one of the boys wolf-whistled Jennie groaned internaly, and reminded herself that its Professor Yoon, not Julien, like she said before, as he scolded the other student. He had a sister but Jennie didn’t remember if she had already met her… probably not.

“Welcome to Charms, dear. Don’t let the screaming hoard scare you, I don’t bite.”

Jennie almost laugh at that and answered witly that she bites, but decided against it.

“Thank you Professsor” She didn’t know how to call him, or her, so she went with a neutral term.

When the teacher announced the class theme, Jennie was really excited, but also a bit fearfull. The patronus charm was known to be difficult, needed a lot of focus on a happy memory and a rather cold-blood to be calm and focused, in the presence of a dementor, if it ever came down to using it.

She breathed deeply and focused on the teacher explanation that had begun.

Julian pushed up his sleeves as all his students finally settled into their seats. He looked around the room, taking in every face. As soon as he had mentioned today’s lesson the seriousness in the class had risen very quickly. 

He let a small smile curl the corner of his lip as he closed his eyes for just a moment to collect his memory--a beautiful glimpse into his childhood where his mother sat behind him on the bed, braiding his hair and singing softly. She sang of dances and beautiful creatures, firelight and the glow of the moon. It had filled his young chest with wonder and excitement and it never failed to brim him with happiness.

When he opened his eyes he took a small breath and let it out with the wave of his wand in the form of a spell; Expecto Patronum. From the tip of his wand erupted a beautiful arctic fox. He let the white fox run around the floor of the classroom before jumping into the seats and waving in and out of student’s legs and books on the desks. Julian smiled as he listed to the restlessness from earlier return as everyone craned their necks to get a look at the blue misty figure. 

After Julian had let his patronus do a lap around the classroom, he called it back to clamber up his robes and settle itself around his shoulders.

Pinky didn’t even notice the other slip his hand away from hers. Her mind was far, far away from the library now. It was back in her hometown, Brighton, when she first learned she was a witch. It was in the Great Hall, when got sorted into Slytherin. It was on the field, when she learned how to play Quidditch. She only starts to notice when her wand is in her hand.

It was like a connection now, her magic and her wand. She can feel the magic flow from every inch of her body to her wand. In her mind, she goes back to the robes. It was turned blue now thanks to her professor, but she decided she wanted it in a different colour. In pink, just like her name.

It feels like something inside her burst in excitement. Peeking an eye open, she finds the robe on the table. A small smile spreads across her face and looks up to her professor. “I did that, right?” questioned the girl softly, her smile turning into a grin. “I turned it pink?”

Julian watched the girl with growing pride and fondness. There was no greater feeling than seeing a student who was struggling finally grasping hold of their goal. 

He nodded gently, fingers clasped gracefully on the table top. “You did,” he said softly. “All it took was letting go of your doubts and letting your magic flow. I knew you had it in you.”

He tilted his head to the side as he flicked his wand at the robes and turned them back to the chalkboard black colour before placing them on the chair where they had been before.

Nathan nearly fell to the ground the moment his professor held his ear like his mother often did. He could barely contain the groan of pain that followed, and he’s pretty sure it’s turning red at the moment. He should’ve known that wouldn’t work. This was Professor Yoon, of all people—of course he’d know about every excuse possible.

But Nathan was very adamant in keeping mum about his dung bombs. He’d rather get detention and go down in history as one of the greatest pranksters in Hogwarts history. Also, he worked hard on those dung bombs so no way was he taking any of it down. “I didn’t do anything!”, Nathan insisted, “Just…loitered around, I guess.” The innocent tone was not lost in his voice, and tried to be as small as possible—which was a little difficult considering his posture.

The smile on his professor’s face calmed him down, at the very least. If anything, it assured him that punishment wasn’t going to be as harsh like the other professors. Like being sent to the Forbidden Forest…yikes. Now those were nasty punishments. Besides, if being stuck with Professor Yoon for detention meant his plan would work and vengeance would be served, then he might as well take it.

Julian had been resisting the urge to let his eyes roll back so far in his head he fell over backwards for the entire conversation. It was at this point that he couldn’t resist letting his eyes flick skyward for a moment. It was only a fraction of a second but he had no doubt the student had caught the movement.

“I see,” he said, letting go of Nathan’s ear and crossing his arms. “So it is only detention for breaking curfew, then?” 

He could tell the Slytherin was hiding something but he wasn’t exactly going to call him out when he didn’t have any proof. If something drastic happened tomorrow, Nathan would be hanging from his ankles in the middle of the great hall during breakfast. But that was punishment reserved for further judgement.