On Tuesday, September 7th, 2021, Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily had their first Charms class with the new Charms Professor, Parvati Patil.

"Good morning, Third Year Gryffindors, " said Professor Patil warmly as Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all entered the Charms classroom and took their seats.

"Now, " said Professor Patil in a businesslike voice, "Today, I'm going to be teaching you about the Seize and Pull Charm. The Seize and Pull Charm has always been taught in third year. Even in the New Era of Hogwarts with accelerated Charms lessons, Professor Flitwick concluded, and I agree with him, that the best time to learn the Seize and Pull Charm is in third year."

"Is it a Charm that requires a certain degree of physical of magical strength?" inquired Lily.

"Yes, " confirmed Professor Patil, "Witches and wizards will not have developed the physical or magical strength to be able to perform the Seize and Pull Charm even at its most basic level when they're eleven and twelve year olds. Bear in mind that you're still a few years away from being able to execute more difficult levels of the Seize and Pull Charm, but it's good for you to learn it's basic form as early as you can and build on that as you age."

"So?" piped up Devon, "What does the Seize and Pull Charm actually do?"

"The Seize and Pull Charm," explained Professor Patil patiently, "Is used to pull objects towards oneself."

"How is this achieved?" asked Hugo curiously.

"The Seize and Pull Charm creates a magical, retractable cord of orange light that is used to pull objects towards the caster,"

"Cool!" cooed Samantha and Lily together.

"Oh," said Stephanie, "What if an object is fixed in place? Would the Seize and Pull Charm then just not work?"

"If an object is fixed in place, " revealed Professor Patil, "Then the Seize and Pull Charm can be used to pull the caster towards the object."

"Interesting lesson," said Samantha happily, "But does the object in question have to be nearby?"

"Yes, " confirmed Professor Patil, "To cast the Seize and Pull Charm, the object in question must nearby and in the line of site of the spell caster. To summon objects to oneself over longer distances, the Summoning Charm, which I will be teaching you later this year, is used."

"Does the weight of the object to be pulled matter?" wondered Stephanie.

"It does, " said Professor Patil clearly, "It requires a lot of force to pull heavy objects towards oneself. Now, today, I going to be giving you lot a light lesson. You will be using the Seize and Pull Charm to pull lightweight objects towards yourselves and get an idea of how it works. The incantation is Carpe Retractum. Wands out."

Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all retrieved their wands from their right hand pockets with their right hands and held them at the ready.

"I am going to place a plastic rat at the end of each of your desks, " said Professor Patil matter of factly, "And when I give the go ahead, you will use the Seize and Pull Charm to pull these plastic rats towards yourselves."

Next nanosecond, Professor Patil dug her left hand into her left hand pocket and withdrew five plastic rats. One was hot pink, one was orange, one was yellow, one was green, and one was blue. They looked just like the plastic rats used on the pricing game Rat Race on The Price is Right.

Professor Patil placed the blue plastic rat at the end of Devon's desk, the green plastic rat at the end of Hugo's desk, the yellow plastic rat at the end of Stephanie's desk, the orange plastic rat at the end of Samantha's desk, and the hot pink plastic rat at the end of Lily's desk.

"Remember to use a V shaped hand moment while performing the Seize and Pull Charm," instructed Professor Patil, "GO!"

Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all made V shaped movements with their wands while crying out, "Carpe Retractum!"

Ropes of orange light emitted from all five of their wands.

"Your ropes of orange light are now connected to your plastic rats, " called out Professor Patil, "Pull on them with your wands to bring your plastic rats to you."

Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily pulled on the ropes with their wands. As the plastic rats were lightweight, all five of them successfully pulled their plastic rats into their hands.

"Well done, class!" piped up Professor Patil in a happy but unsurprised voice, "I should warn you though, the Seize and Pull Charm does become progressively more difficult as weight is added to the object being pulled. The Seize and Pull Charm doesn't give the spell caster extra strength. The truth is, most witches and wizards prefer the Summoning Charm, which I will be teaching you later this year, over the Seize and Pull and Charm even for nearby objects as the use of the Summoning Charm requires no physical strength on the spell caster's part. That said, the more Charms I can expose you to in the time I've got with you, the better. Having a complete arsenal of tricks at your disposal is invaluable."

Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all nodded.

"I will be having you practice the Seize and Pull Charm on heavier objects later in the year, " clarified Professor Patil, "Today I just wanted to introduce you to it and let you understand how it works. We'll be doing something totally different next class."

"Good lesson, " chorused Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily.

"I like Professor Patil, " said Lily in a satisfied voice, "She's giving us a good practical education in Charms without overwhelming us with too much at once."

"Her approach, " observed Hugo, "Is that you have to crawl before you can walk, and you have to walk before you can run."

"That's a good thing, " said Devon approvingly, "Learning the basics is always the foundation to getting a good education in anything."

"Plus, " added Samantha, "She has a good feel for what's age appropriate."

"She explains things well and is easy to understand, " said Stephanie happily.

"It was a pleasure working with you all today, " said Professor Patil kindly, "I think this teaching thing is going to work out for me."

Devon, Hugo, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all nodded.

Professor Patil was already proving herself a worthy successor to Professor Flitwick.

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