Lesson Three

Ambrosius was walking around the classroom, observing the different groups practicing. Passing by Kim Frey and Richard Adlard, he found them comfortably sitting on the cushions. "I saw you have both successfully performed the charm. Good work. However, that is not a reason to stop practicing. What I want you to do now is to cast the spell at the same time at each other. Hopefully, the two charms will collide and your wands will be linked through separate threads of spell energy. You will then compete in a battle of the wills, and the one who succeeds to focus harder on the charm will eventually knock back the other. This exercise will help improve your concentration, training you to hold it as long as possible. It may seem complicated, but you'll see when you do it." he explained and then left them to check the other groups.

Continuing his stroll, he noticed that James Riddle was sitting on the floor on the other side of the classroom, apparently having a hard time. Ambrosius slowly approached. "Is everything alright, mister Riddle?"

"Is everything alright, mister Riddle?" James heard. He hadn't noticed professor Umbranox approaching. "Yes, professor everything is fine" he retorted while hastily getting up. "It's just that I.... my spell backfired." he admitted reluctantly, looking down at the ground.

Richard didn't fully understand what Professor Umbranox just explained them, but he was eager to find out. As soon as the teacher moved away from them to check on other groups, they stood up and walked to their practicing positions. His wand at the ready, he looked at Kim and said: "We have to cast the spell at the same time for this to work. So we do it at the count of three. Okay?"

"Well, you should try again then. Not succeeding from the first attempt is not a reason to give up. Just focus on your objective and you will get better with practice." he reassured James.

Keith walked in, knowing he was late. He handed a note to the Professor. "Sorry I'm late, I was helping another teacher." He quickly explained. Keith looked around the room and noticed everyone performing spells. He suddenly remembered his homework and pulled it out, handing it to Professor Umbranox.

(Sorry I'm a little late on posting.)

"I understand, professor" he replied hesitantly while pointing his wand a Eliza. The pressure of performing the spell with his teacher looking added to his previous doubts. "Flipendo" he pronounced without much conviction. He immediately knew it wasn't going to work. Embarrassed and anxious, he turned back towards Professor Umbranox. "I'm sorry" he stuttered, not daring to look the teacher in the eyes.

Ambrosius took the note from the newcomer briefly read it. He then glanced at the boy's homework. before saying: "Very well, mister Parker. Please put your bag in the back of the classroom and see if you can find anyone who still doesn't have a practicing partner. He or she will explain the task to you."

He then turned back to James Riddle, who still had issues with the spell. Apparently, the boy's disastrous performance during the previous week's practical task had had more impact than Ambrosius would have thought. Knowing that his student wouldn't be able to cast another charm correctly until he had regain some self-confidence, he knew he had to do something to help him recover, and suddenly had an idea.

"You can't let your emotions hinder your abilities. Panicking in the face of danger can happen to anyone, you must not let that block you." he said to the boy so that only he could hear. "I want you to try one more time." Standing next to his student, he watched him prepare to cast the spell, looking as unsure as last time. Discretely shifting his wand to face Eliza Parkinson, Ambrosius waited for the exact time James Riddle uttered the incantation and pronounced in his mind: "Flipendo". The spell immediately made her leave the ground and then land several feet further on the magically softened cushions. This should solve the problem, he thought, glancing at the boy to gauge his reaction.

"Thank you, Professor." Keith said. He put his bag in the back of the classroom where the others were. He looked around, hoping to find someone who didn't have a partner. It didn't look like there was anyone left to partner up with, so maybe he could join into another pair of partners to make a group of three. He walked over to James and Eliza, "Would you two mind if I joined in? I can't find a partner." He asked.

James couldn't believe his eyes. The spell finally worked. Immensely relieved and satisfied, he precipitated himself to see if Eliza was fine after her fall. "Are you okay?" he asked her cheerfully. "I'm sorry, I really don't know how I did that." he added. "Would you two mind if I joined in? I can't find a partner." he heard someone say behind him. He turned around and found himself facing the boy who had just arrived. "Sure" he replied with a smile. "You can cast the spell on me, so that Eliza gets to rest for a moment. Do you know what charm we are practicing?"

"Not exactly. Though it looks a bit difficult." Keith answered. He had arrived late, so he knew he had missed a small bit of the lesson, including the charm they were supposed to be practicing. He hoped it wasn't too hard, though.

"It's the Knock-Back Jinx. You can find all the information about it written on the blackboard, such as the incantation and the hand movement." he explained, showing him the board behind Professor Umbranox's desk. "And it's not supposed to be very difficult" he added, trying to hide his embarrassment as he hadn't succeeded to cast it from the first try.

Keith looked at the board behind Professor Umbranox's desk for a few seconds. Then once he believed he understood it well enough, he turned to James, whilst taking out his wand. "Ready?" Keith asked, repeating the incantation over and over in his head, making sure not to forget it right before he cast it.

He waited for the Gryffindor boy to memorize the instructions for the spell. "Ready?" he asked after a few moments. Although James knew that the cushions were incredibly soft and therefore wasn't scared about the fall, the feeling of getting thrown in the air was still pretty uncomfortable. "Ready" he answered.

"Ready." Keith heard James say. Keith pointed his wand at James, "Flipendo!" He said, hoping he would succeed in knocking James backward. He was great in Defense Against the Dark Arts, as a matter of fact it was his favorite class, but sometimes he could make simple mistakes and mess the spell up completely.

Professor Umbranox saw the both of them comfortably sitting in the cushions. He immediately told them what to do. Kim and Richard, who are a bit puzzled, stood up in their former places and positioned again.

"We have to cast the spell at the same time for this to work. So we do it at the count of three. Okay?" Richard said to Kim. "Okay," she answered back.

"I'll count one to three then we'll both cast it together. Ready?" she asked. When she saw Richard's signal, she started counting. "One, two, THREE!" Kim raised her wand, pointing on Richard's direction. Hearing the word three, both of them exclaimed, "Flipendo!"

"Flipendo" James heard and he almost instantly felt his feet blast off, as his body was being propelled in the air. He then fell back on his back, the shock totally absorbed by the pads. It was much easier when he knew in advance what to expect. Swiftly getting back on his feet, he looked at his practicing partner. "Nice work" he complimented as the boy was walking towards him. "Oh, I'm James, by the way." he added, realizing that he actually forgot to introduce himself.

"Flipendo!" Richard exclaimed and heard Kim do it at the exact same time. At first, he thought it didn't work, as they were both still standing still. However, he then felt some sort of pressure in his hand, as his wand was slightly beginning to vibrate. Confused, he held his wand even more firmly, glanced at his partner and saw she was experiencing the same thing. He then noticed that some sort of light silver ray was connecting their wands, barely noticeable at first but growing stronger and stronger. At the core of the connection, where their charms met, they were apparently leading a fierce battle to repel each other, and there was some kind of spell-like residue falling from that shock. That was probably what Professor Umbranox meant when he spoke of a link through separate threads of spell energy.

Fascinated and astonished, Richard lost his concentration for a second. Kim's spell immediately gained some ground, as the middle of the link slowly approached his wand, making it dangerously shake. Suddenly remembering the second part of the teacher's explanation about a battle of wills, he instantly grabbed his wand with both hands and refocused, trying as hard as he could to retake the upper hand.

At the moment that both of them casted the knock-back jinx, a sudden light appeared on the end of both wands. Kim, trying to be amazed but at the same time concentrated on the spell, tried to hold on as much as she could. She felt a vibration from her wand, trying to suck some magic from her body. Feeling the sudden emptiness that the spell is doing to her, she placed her other hand to support the wand.

Suddenly, she took a peek on how Richard is doing. She knew that he is also experiencing the same instance. From Kim's point of view, she made a conclusion that Richard is also trying his best to cope up, having two hands in his wand.

Kim tried to focus some more on what they we're doing. She knew that concentration is one of the key to hold n for more but concentration isn't her biggest problem right now. With too much effort, she realized that her body can't take another five seconds of the certain situation, so she finally let it go.

She let go of her wand, which caused it to fly away. Knowing that Richard's spell isn't done yet, she prepared herself for anything that might happen. She felt her feet leaving the floor, her body flying on nothing but the soft wall. She found herself lying on another soft cushioned floor, thinking on what might actually went wrong.

Suddenly, Richard saw Kim give in and felt all the pressure immediately go away. The link between their wands broke straight away, and he watched his partner being brutally knocked down to the ground. Exhausted by the experience, he rushed towards her while trying to catch his breath. "Are you all right?" he asked her, preoccupied. He noticed her wand lying several feet further and fetched it. "I'm sorry, once the connection broke I couldn't control the spell anymore." he apologized, handing it to her. She seemed weakened and tired. "I hope you're not hurt" he added, taking her hand to help her to sit down.

"Nice to meet you, James!" Keith said with a smile. He was happy to have succeeded the jinx on the very first try. He remembered the feeling of excited rushing through him as the spell left his wand and hit James, it was almost as if there was a weight being lifted off his shoulders.

As the students were finishing to practice, Ambrosius walked to the center of the classroom and said: "Good work, everyone. As far as I have seen, most of you have succeeded to cast the spell correctly. For your effort, I give 20 points for Slytherin and 10 for the three other Houses. Now please gather around as I wish to show you the limits of the Knock-back Jinx before we run out of time. A few minutes later, the students had formed a perfect circle around him. "As you have all pointed out in your homework, this particular charm is not the most effective one when dealing with the Dark Arts, and you are about to witness some of the reasons why. I will need someone to help me with this demonstration." He gazed across the audience. "Miss Frey, if you would please step up and cast the Knock-Back Jinx on me. Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

Kim stood up from where she is lying and heard Richard approached towards her. "Are you all right? I'm sorry, once the connection broke I couldn't control the spell anymore." he said, concerning on her downfall. "Yeah, I think I'm alright, just a bit of tired."

Professor Umbranox started to give instructions to them, saying that he'll demonstrate how the Knock-back jinx isn't as great as it seems. All of them formed a circle, centering the professor, trying to listen very carefully.

"Miss Frey, if you would please step up and cast the Knock-Back Jinx on me. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." he stated. Kim, trying to recover from the downfall, nodded and started to walk in front of him. She raised her wand, pointing at the professor and casted, "Flipendo!"

"Miss Frey, if you would please step up and cast the Knock-Back Jinx on me. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Professor Umbranox had said. Keith watched Kim make her way towards him, then point her wand at the Professor and cast the spell. Keith stood there anxiously, waiting to see how the Professor would defend himself, while wondering what would happen to Kim.

"Expelliarmus" Ambrosius uttered, aiming at her wand, as soon as he heard her pronounce the incantation. With a luminous jet of red light, the charm precisely hit its target, that immediately flew out of the girl's hand and landed on the cushions without a sound. Slowly walking towards her, he pointed his wand at hers. Accio, he thought and the object levitated directly into his hand. "Here is your wand, miss Frey." he said, giving it back to her. "As you have just seen, and as some of you have rightly written in your homework assignment" he pursued addressing the class, "even though miss Frey's spell was executed very well, a simple Disarming Charm was enough to negate it. That is one of the elements showing that the Knock-Back Jinx may be ineffective, especially when facing relatively advanced witches or wizards."

"We will now proceed to another limit of the jinx." he pursued as he had walked back to the center of the classroom. "Thank you, miss Frey, you did very well." His glance swept the group in search of a new student. "Mister Parker, if you would be kind enough to assist me with the next demonstration. The instructions stay the same. You can cast the spell whenever you feel ready."

"Mister Parker, if you would be kind enough to assist me with the next demonstration. The instructions stay the same. You can cast the spell whenever you feel ready." Professor Umbranox said. Keith reached for his wand and walked over to him. He pointed his wand at the Professor, hoping he wouldn't mess this up in front of the whole class. "Flipendo!" Keith said as clearly as he could, his wand still pointing at Professor Umbranox.