Dear Mum.

   I haven't been able to write due to how busy my first week was. Now that its died down, I'm happy to inform you, mum, that I have gotten good grades!

   Here, it'll tell you about this second week...

I scrambled up in the morning, already late for class, my dear friend, Cristina Trail, left me a slice of toast beside my bed, which I stuffed into my mouth. Frightening complained sleepily as I stuffed him into my backpack, along with my quills, ink, and textbooks. It took me a record 2 minutes to get up and to Professor Quilmane's class to find he wasn't even there yet. I pulled out my supplies in a flurry just as Professor Quilmane walked in, saying to take notes. Some kids groaned as parchment and quills were pulled out and Professor Quilmane started to speak.

  The class of first years wrote lazily their notes while at the front left of the classroom I scribbled furiously into my journal, taking notes while Professor Quilmane passionately lectured on through our second lesson,

  "No one knows for sure where our magic comes from," he said with a smile, "There are even three theories, but that's for the History class. But I will tell you, wizardry is passed through family lines. Though there can be a child of a witch or wizard with limited ability to detect magic but not be able to use said magic. They are called a Squib." I looked up for a split second then dived straight into more notes, quill furiously skidding across the crisp parchment.

  "Professor Quilmane, I heard it was possible for two muggles to have a magical child. Wouldn't that make the line theory incorrect?" called a student in the back, Bronze Feather, she called herself. I scribbled down this question too, knowing the professor would give an answer,

  "Yes, its possible. These wizards are known as muggle born, and are several times removed from magical heritage." Quilmane nodded at his words and told everyone to take note of that. As I had already done.

  "Now, moving on. You are here in my class, so that means you have some magic, but then you ask, how exactly does it work? Let's start with a simpler question first. Are you still breathing?" Several students called yes and he held up his hand to quiet everyone," As soon as I announced that, I'm sure you were able to feel yourself doing it. Breathing comes so naturally that we don't even realize we are doing it. Magic is like that. We can do it without consideration but the experience of consideration can be amazing. I scribbled furiously again, making loud scratches on the crisp paper, sending several glances my way.

  the professor continued and we soon were using our wands. Colored sparks leaped from the tips, some red, some green, some yellow, but mine was a vibrant blue, and I gently placed down my wand to take more notes,

  "Intention and will guides our power through our hand and wand and wand core before releasing energy. Keep practicing and this gets easier." I scrawled and laid down my pen as Professor Quilmane started speaking again.

  "Today we are going to do a bit of spellcasting and learning spell history." then he continued mentioning Wingardium Leviosa. "Before we discuss the Levitation charm, me must look at the original spells." he paced the length of the room now. His wand in hand. "

One of the earliest known spells that allowed us to magically move something ff the ground is known as the Hover Charm. Once cast upon an object that you are physically touching in some way, it allows you to move that object up and down. Due to its impractical nature and the advent of more efficient charms, the hover charm doesn't see much use." he paused, allowing students to take notes.

  I scrambled viciously trying to fill the page to the brim before turning it, then Quilmane started again, " Another charm you should know about is called the Rocket Charm. This charm does not require that you be touching your target, which is an improvement. However, it is only capable of propelling an object straight up into the air and back down again. The height obtained is somewhat controllable depending upon the effort you put into it, but the height is not very significant and it again becomes a fairly forward charm with limited use, and even more so, heavier objects tend to move less." he paused once again and looked over his class, giving hard stares to people whispering at their desks.

  "Sometime later, the floating charm was created. Unlike the hover charm, the spell could target distant objects besides physical contact, and unlike the rocket charm, this spell involves controlled vertical movement." he paused once more for dramatizing, "But the charm is not without limitations. Items couldn't be levitated more than a few feet. And they cannot be directed any other way besides up and down. This was made impractical when the Levitation Charm was discovered." there were a few cheers in the audience in expectation at spell casting.

  " The Levitation Charm is the closest the Wizarding World has come to true flight. The charm is easy enough that you will learn it as first year students. It allows the caster to control not only the vertical movement of an object but its movement back and forth or side to side. Height is also less of a restriction, though levitating or maintaining levitation on something very far away can be difficult. The charm even allows you to lift objects normally too heavy for you to lift yourself, though this also requires some effort." He said and I had to write faster to keep up with his words. Then he wrote something on the board,

  "Though there is a downside to the levitation charm, the charm doesn't work on people, but can be used on their clothing." the board said as Quilmane turned around to face the class,

  "Now we begin." he smiled," The incantation for this spell is Wingardium Leviosa. It is pronounced ‘wing-GAR-dee-um levi-O-sa’. Please practice saying the spell without your wand several times to be sure you have the pronunciation correct. Note the ‘wing-GAR’, there’s a double ‘G’ there. The emphasis of the second word of the incantation, 'levi-O-sa', is the ‘O’." he said and the class erupted in words as people practiced the incantation. After exactly 5 minutes of this, Quilmane continued,

  " Now for the wand movement. This spell has a somewhat complicated gesture as far as spells go, but it’s not that difficult. To perform the wand movement (typically called the “Swish and Flick” as he wrote on the board again.) raise your wand toward the left and then let it glide gently toward the right, wand tip pointed forward. Then you simply move the tip of your wand back toward your body before flicking it in the direction of your target." He encouraged people to practice the motions, I caught on fairly quick, but some struggled with the movements.

  "Now all that is needed is a mental component. While you’re casting the spell, focus on the thing you’d like to levitate. As you finish the spell, make sure you are still focusing on this object or you might inadvertently levitate something you had not meant to. Also visualize drawing energy from your core and directing it through your wand." people stared intently at random objects, visually imagining levitating objects to fly around the room. Of course, that was only imagination.

  " Let’s put it all together now. As you say Wingardium start the “Swish” motion. Time the swish so that it ends just after you begin saying Leviosa. Then, as you finish saying Leviosa, do the “Flick”. And remember, keep your mind focused on the target of your spell and visualize drawing energy from your body as we practiced before. I know it may take some time for you to get used to doing all of these things at once, but with practice, casting this spell and many others will become easier. I promise!" and with that, he dismissed the class and allowed them free time to practice.

Then came the assignment. It was about how we came by our wands. I pondered this greatly before starting. Here's what I wrote: