To my Seventh Year NEWT Students

[alt_savitha]

The discussion today after the exercise ran for so long, we didn't quite get to finish.

Miss Patil, you appeared to be acting as leader for Team Alpha. Can you please tell me who you felt excelled, and who shamed themselves and their Houses?

Mr Marvolo, you appeared to be acting as leader for Team Beta. Can you please answer that same question?

Anyone else from 7th Year Defence, please feel free to chime in and tell me who you believe excelled, and who did not. I was watching, naturally, but a battlefield (even a mock battlefield) can be a swift-moving, confusing place; I do not claim to be personally aware of each and every hex thrown.

(I suppose to avoid alarming any parents reading along, I should explain that any 'kills' referred to involve no actual death; we played a delightful game this afternoon in which the students were divided into two teams. One team needed to get three members to a goal; the other team needed to stop them, ideally with a tagging hex. The students performed admirably and it ended in a draw.)

Comments

[alt_harry]

Longbottom's plant spell was brilliant. Moon used a theater charm to create a distraction and that worked really well. I saw loads of people on Team Alpha hexing those arms he made appear. Perks has dead good aim, Jones ran faster than I've ever seen her, and Capper dodged about five hexes getting to the goal.

I don't think anyone on my team shamed themselves, Professor Desai, and it's not really my place to talk about Team Alpha, is it?

[alt_ron]

Cheers, mate. Well done.

No hard feelings?

[alt_susan]

Finnegan and I both tagged Moon at the same time--it was a good hit, but maybe we could have coordinated better?

[alt_linus]

The Spearcarrier charm worked a treat, combining nicely with the projection spell. (Never let it be said that Astronomy does not prepare one for other situations! I learned about that particular spell when helping Professor Sinistra with her projection stones for lectures on cloudy nights, and glad I am of it!)

The only real risk on that one was that Greengrass would see through it immediately, familiar as she is with the minutiae of the dramatic arts, but fortunately either she was distracted or the hubbub prevented her from communicating with her team-mates. Either way, it went swimmingly! At least, until I got tagged, alas.

[alt_justin]

Moon,

It was a jolly clever charm, what, but if one may say, it was obvious they were all the same hand. Having them pop up at so many points did provide a distraction, but once one realised what one was seeing it was easy enough to tune out the deceptive motion in favour of bona fide targets.

-Finch-Fletchley

[alt_padma]

Smith hit his own teammate in friendly fire. Greengrass should have been more aware of him but ultimately she can't be blamed for his mistake.

Weasley and Finch-Fletchley performed as I expected. I would have liked to stay in it longer myself, but the plan worked regardless. And someone had to draw fire to allow the others prime position for their shots. On reflection, I should have sent Zabini and Parkinson down the centre, particularly since Parkinson seemed to serve no other purpose than attract the other team's hexes.

[alt_ron]

She lasted longer than you did.

CCF trained us that a unit leader fails at her role if she allows herself to be taken out straightaway at the start of an action. Basically, you issued some orders, marched straight into a petrifying hex, and then got turned purple by whoever it was that happened to run by. Not a lot of leadership in that.

And once you were down, Finnigan stepped in to fill the void and saw us through to the end. Not that this manoeuvre required a lot of command or co-ordination. Professor Desai's instructions laid out the objective, and bringing down the other team was more or less a game of hounds and hares. Once you let the hounds loose, they chased their quarry without needing much direction. If we'd had a more complicated objective, it would've gone much worse with us after losing our commander so early.