On Monday October 26, 2020, Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily would attend a very important Charms lesson.
When Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily entered their Charms classroom, they saw a box of styrofoam blocks sitting on Flitwick's desk. They all recognized instantly that these blocks would be what they would be performing whatever Charm they were learning on this day on.
"Today is a major lesson, " said Flitwick clearly when Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily were all seated at desks. "Today we will be learning about Splitting Charms, Splitting Charms are an important skill for witches and wizards and competent witches and wizards will master them quickly. However, you should be aware that you will now start to see a progression of Charms skills becoming more difficult. Splitting Charms are not as easy as, say, Levitation Charms, but, with practice, all competent witches and wizards should master them. Now there are some similarities between Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Both use incantations but also require more than just the incantations to be successful. But can any of you tell me the important difference between Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"While success at Defense Against the Dark Arts is more about mental willpower, Charms is more about concentration and focus," said Lily confidently.
"Precisely Miss Potter, ten points to Gryffindor," beamed Flitwick, "To perform Charms spells you really have to be focused on what you're doing."
Flitwick now passed out the ten inch styrofoam blocks to Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily and explained how Splitting Charms worked.
"The incantation to perform a Splitting Charm is "Detachio" said Flitwick clearly, "You will be performing a simple Splitting Charm today. Everyone please put his or her styrofoam block in front of himself or herself."
Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all placed their styrofoam blocks directly in front of themselves.
"As you can see," continued Flitwick, "these styrofoam blocks are ten inches long. Your task in this lesson is to cut off two inches. In order for the spell to work you will need to create a clear mental image in your head of a two inch piece of the styrofoam block separated from the other eight inches. Much like the basic Color Change Charms we learned early last year, simple Splitting Charms are achievable for any competent witch or wizard who can focus. The level of success in simple Splitting Charms is directly proportional to level of focus. Have at it second years"
Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all pointed their wands directly at their styrofoam blocks and cried "Detachio!"
Predictably, Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all had varying levels of success on their first attempt.
Lily had detached exactly a two inch piece of styrofoam off her block.
"Splendid work, Miss Potter," said Flitwick in a delighted voice, "twenty points to Gryffindor!"
Lily smiled warmly and her eyes lit up as pride engulfed her. She had earned thirty points for Gryffindor in this lesson alone.
"Good job, Lily," said Hugo proudly, his voice trailing into despair as Flitwick looked at his work.
Hugo had managed to cut off four inches of styrofoam from his block.
"You mind was wandering too much, Mr. Weasley, "said Flitwick matter of factly, "The worse your focus is, the more off your results are in Charms. With simple Splitting Charms, poor focus means detaching too much."
"My strength as a student is Wandless Magic such as Potions and Herbology, "said Hugo bluntly, "Charms is not my strong suit. I've never been a great concentrator of course. "
"Hugo," said Lily supportively, "It was only your first attempt and you were able to get an O in Charms last year. Focus is always important in Charms, but second year Charms are a bit more difficult than first year Charms. You'll get it, don't worry."
"Thank you for your unwavering support Lily," said Hugo gratefully, "But you do know that my real strength is Wandless Magic, right?"
"No reason you can't be an O student in second year Charms, Hugo," said Lily fiercely, "I'll admit, third year, you probably aren't an O student in Charms but any quality wizard can achieve an O second year Charms."
Hugo smiled at Lily
Hearing Lily express that kind of faith in him and support him increased Hugo's resolve and he said, "I'll made it a goal of mine to O second year Charms."
"That's the spirit, Hugo," said Lily encouragingly.
At the next desk, Devon's results were encouraging. He had split a inch section of styrofoam off his block.
"You're almost there, Mr. Dursley, "said Flitwick approvingly, "A couple more attempts and you'll nail it."
Devon smiled, clearly pleased with his progress.
"Dad expects me to be an O student in Charms throughout my Hogwarts career. It may take more effort as the years go by but goddammit, I'm going to O Charms all seven years I'm at Hogwarts and I'm going to make dad proud."
"Yes, you are, Devon," chorused Hugo and Lily.
"Devon, please do not take god's name in vain," asked Stephanie politely.
"Sorry Stephanie," apologized Devon and the issue quickly passed.
Ainsley, meanwhile, had removed three inches of styrofoam from her block.
"It could be better, but not too bad for a first attempt," observed Flitwick.
"I agree that we can all O second year Charms," said Ainsley briskly, "But I don't see Charms as my best subject in the long run. That said, I'm an excellent student overall and being an E student in Charms long term is a reasonable goal for me."
"I agree with that assessment, Miss Cochlain," said Flitwick simply.
"Strive to be your best, whatever your best may be," Lily advised Ainsley.
"Well said, Lily," beamed Ainsley.
At the next desk, Samantha had detached three and three quarters inches of styrofoam from her block.
"I think my case is like Hugo's," said Samantha honestly, "In the long run I don't think Charms will be my best subject."
"That's okay if it turns out to be the case," said Lily firmly, "We all have different strengths and weakness."
"The important thing is to keep working. Put the effort into it and maximize results." Said Samantha crisply.
"Exactly Samantha, exactly," said Lily, nodding her head.
Stephanie, meanwhile, had, like Lily, cut away exactly two inches of styrofoam from her block.
"Excellent job, Miss Saver," Flitwick complimented Stephanie, "You are particularly good at focusing on things."
"Indeed," said Stephanie, "I'm the opposite of Hugo. I suck at Wandless Magic and I am in my element with a wand in my hand. Like Devon and Lily, I expect O's in Charms in all seven of my Hogwarts years."
"You will achieve that goal, Steph," I know you will," said Lily confidently.
"I'm feeling good about myself," beamed Stephanie.
"And you should, Stephanie, "said Lily cheerfully, "You have a lot to offer as a witch."
Next nanosecond, Flitwick waved his wand across the room and all six styrofoam blocks had been put back to a portion of exactly ten inches again.
"Try again," ordered Flitwick.
Cries of "Detachio" filled the room as they kept practicing simple Splitting Charms for the rest of the hour.
Lily and Stephanie were on a roll all class long.
Devon perfected simple Splitting Charms on his second attempt and breezed from there.
Ainsley mastered them on her fourth attempt. She had an occasional foul up but had more two inch results than not as the hour progressed.
Although it took them nine attempts each. Hugo and Samantha eventually succeeded in removing exactly two inches from the blocks. After they hit it the first time, Hugo and Samantha had several more successful attempts though less consistently than Ainsley.
"Because you all eventually were able to remove portions of exactly two inches, everyone gets an O for this lesson." Said Flitwick as the bell rang.
Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all felt good about themselves as they left their Charms classroom.
Sure, it may be more of a struggle for Hugo and Samantha where it might come more easily to Devon, Stephanie, and Lily with Ainsley somewhere in between. But they had no doubt now that they could all get grades of O in second year Charms.
Yes, Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily were all going to get grades of O in second year Charms. Lily KNEW this.