Lesson Two - Lumos Solem and Lumos Maxima (Year I)

Ambrosius watched as his students were entering the classroom and heading to their seats. "Good afternoon everyone, and welcome back to Defence Against the Dark Arts" he calmly greeted them as most of them were looking around the room with surprise. There were indeed some odd additions to the classroom. In one corner, there were four shining crystal balls floating in mid air, forming the shape of a square, and that seemed to be connected between them by a luminescent ray. In that cage made of light, one could see a spectral dog, walking in circles, on alert. On the other side of the professor's desk, a ghost was standing near the wall, furiously glancing at the students. He was rather frightening, wearing a robe covered in silver bloodstains, and carrying chains and a sword around his belt. Finally, on his desk, Ambrosius had placed a plant composed of a mass of soft, springy tendrils and vines.

"Yes, I have prepared something quite special and interesting for this lesson, but you will hear more about that later. By the way, as some of you may already know, this is the Bloody Baron, the house ghost of Slytherin. He has indeed kindly agreed to help me with this lesson" he announced, answering Emmalynne St. Pierre's question. "But for now, we will proceed with what we had not finished last time, more precisely the uses of the Wand Lighting Charm and its variations in Defence Against the Dark Arts. I trust you have all done your homework?" he asked, observing the students. "Could you please just pass them to me so that I see what you have written?"

Apparently, all of his students had accomplished their task. And quite well, it seemed. "I see that you have done this with the required seriousness. I will keep your parchments in order to examine them more thoroughly, and will consequently award you with the house points your work deserves." He paused for a moment and swiftly leafed through the papers he was holding.

Once he was certain to have his students' full attention, Ambrosius continued with the lesson, slowly walking around the room. "You have all understood that the Wand Lighting Spell, as well as its powered up version, was used to ward off spectral foes, and that the Lumos Solem charm was an effective weapon against the Devil's Snare. However, as you know, Defence Against the Dark Arts is about making you able to defend yourselves when facing danger. Therefore, I believe that what we are learning here would be useless without applying it to more practical situations. And that is exactly what we are going to do today. Now if you would all please stand up and come to the front of the classroom.".

As soon as the students had joined him, with a swish of his wand, he moved the desks and the chairs to the back of the room, leaving a vast empty space in the middle. "I have asked you to master the Wand Lighting Charm, and I hope all of you have done that. Today, you will be practicing two of its variations, Lumos Solem and Lumos Maxima, as we will be needing them later. You can ignore Lumos Duo for now, as it is not used for defensive purposes. However, if some of you have the curiosity to see what it looks like, you should observe the cage in that corner" he said, showing them the area with the spectral dog.

"I want every one of you to first attempt performing the spells without a target. If you have any trouble with them, you can ask one of your classmates for advice, as it is often easier for others to see our wrongs than for ourselves. Lumos Solem will probably not be a major problem for you since you have mastered the Lumos spell, but Lumos Maxima may be a bit more difficult, since it is a powered up version of the basic charm. It therefore demands greater concentration and precision from the caster. But I do not doubt that you will manage to perform it."

As the students were preparing to start the exercise, he added: "When you are done, I will give you further instructions."

Ambrosius silently paced around the classroom, successively visiting each student to see if they needed help with the charm. He approached Morgana Gaunt, who was fairing pretty well. "Excellent, miss Gaunt." he complimented her. "You have captured the essence of the spell, which is the most important part in mastering it. And as you have just witnessed, a lack of power or longevity in the charm can easily be resolved through practice."

After making sure they had all finished, Ambrosius went back to his desk so that everyone could see him and announced: "I am very pleased with your performances today. You have all mastered Lumos and Lumos Solem, and although some of you did not manage to cast Lumos Maxima perfectly, your results and effort have been more than satisfying considering the difficulty of the charm. I therefore award ten points to each one of you." He paused for a moment as some of the students were rejoicing about winning points for their House.

"I know you are all weary from all this practicing, yet there is one more task ahead of us. As I have said many times, this is a Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and its goal is to help you protect yourselves against the many dangers that you can encounter in the magical world. It is therefore useless to learn spells if they cannot help you in such perilous situations. That is why we are now going to see how the charms that we have learned today can be used when dealing with dark creatures." He stopped for a moment, making sure they had understood, and then pursued. "This is how we will proceed".

He turned towards the ghost who had been silently floating near his desk while the students were practicing. "As you know, this is the Bloody Baron, the ghost of Slytherin House, who has kindly agreed to help me with this lesson." The spectre just nodded to the audience, looking serious and terrifying as always. Ambrosius then glanced at the light cage on the other side of his desk and the dog that was sitting in it: "This is a Gytrash. I guess you all know what a Gytrash is, at least for those who were here last time and who have done their homework. This particular one comes from the Forbidden Forest." Ambrosius said, designating the corner of the classroom. "And finally, as some of you may have guessed, what you can see on my desk is a Devil's Snare" he added while showing them the plant composed of a mass of soft, springy tendrils and vines. "It may seem inoffensive, but know that this particular plant is very young, and that when they grow up, Devil's Snares can reach a terrifying size. And this one will hurt you as well if you give it the opportunity." He approached his desk and touched the plant with his hand. It immediately seized it with one of its vines and started winding around his arm. "Lumos Solem" he pronounced and the plant instantly released him, contracting inside its pot with a slight squeal. "However, as you can see, a simple Lumos Solem charm will keep it away from you."

He then waved his wand and the set of candles placed along the walls instantly went out. As the windows were already covered with black curtains, the chandelier hanging in the middle of the room now constituted the only source of light. Ambrosius could barely distinguish the silhouettes of his students standing in front of him, while the two ghosts were peacefully shimmering in the darkness. Facing the audience again, he announced: "As you know, Gytrashes are sensible to light, so we need to do this in a very obscure environment. Now that you are familiar with everything, I will give you more specific instructions. You will all complete this task one by one, while the others are waiting in the back of the room. First, you will stand in the center of the room. When you are ready, I will let the Gytrash out of its cage and it will attack you. You will then cast the basic version of the Lumos spell in order to ward it off. Next, you will approach my desk and let the Devil's Snare grab your hand, after which you will cast the Lumos Solem charm to keep it away. Finally, the Bloody Baron will charge towards you and you will have to perform a Lumos Maxima spell to defend yourself against him. If you can, try to send the ball of light towards him before he gets to you. For those who are not comfortable with Lumos Maxima, the basic version will do as well. But be careful, he is called the Bloody Baron for a reason."

He stopped for a few moments, glancing at the students to see if everything was clear. "The most important thing you have to remember in order to complete this task is that you must not panic when facing danger. Just remain calm and focused on what we have learned. You are all capable of casting these spells now, so there is no reason why you should not succeed. However, even if you have difficulties, do not worry, I am here to help you." he added, seeing that some of the students seemed anxious. "If you have no questions, whoever wants to go first can begin."

"Impressive" Ambrosius complimented Morgana Gaunt once she had completed the task with flying colours. She was smiling, seemingly exhausted by her performance yet satisfied by it. "You have shown the ability to remain serene and focused in the face of danger. Twelve points for Slytherin, for your success and the courage you displayed by going first."

Noticing that the skin on her arm had slight red marks where the Devil's Snare had grabbed it, Ambrosius turned towards his desk, opened the first drawer and took out a plant and a very large bar of chocolate. "This is Dittany. Just rub it on your arm and it will relieve the pain." Ambrosius told the Slytherin, giving her one of the leaves he had just detached from the stem. "And please take some chocolate as well" he added, handing her a big piece of it. "It will restore your energy. Although it is most useful after encountering Dementors, it may help recover from a contact with any dark creature." he explained. As she was heading towards the back of the classroom to join the others, Ambrosius glanced at the students, waiting to see who would go next.

Once they were all done, Ambrosius returned to the centre of the classroom. Glancing at his watch, he realized that there were only two minutes remaining. Swishing his wand, he lit the candles and pulled the curtains. The dark room was now bathed in light again. "Unfortunately, this class has come to an end. You have all performed well, and I expect you to keep up the good work in futures lessons. We have finished working on the Wand Lighting Spell in all its versions, so if you have any questions about that subject, now is the time to ask them".

He waited a moment to see if anyone had anything to ask, and then pursued: "Next time, we will be working on the Knock-back Jinx. I therefore want you to read the chapter about this spell in the Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1), and I have prepared a short series of questions to acquaint you with it." As we was speaking, the list slowly appeared on the blackboard. "However, I'm only asking you to read and write about the spell, do not try to perform it, we will do that in class during our next lesson". Arriving at his desk, he stopped walking and faced the students: "That is all for today. I wish you all a pleasant afternoon and a delightful summer."