Charms class was so much fun today! I loved getting the magical energy explained, if only a little, and being taught to focus it properly. My father does most of his work with a wand but in Iceland a lot of people still use staffs as foci and so I've honestly learned more about them until now. The way a wand works is a bit different from a staff so this was extremely interesting! Besides, officially learning my first spell at Hogwarts is an experience I'm not likely to soon forget ^^

Lesson 2 notes:

*No one knows where magic comes from or how it passes between people
   -There are both muggle-borns and squibs, no one can explain why
*Magic, similar to breathing, is something we do without thinking
*Small exercise for focusing magic:
   -Visualize the magical energy as a ball of light inside you
   -Hold your wand and move the energy up your arm, out your fingertips and up your wand
   -If focused properly small sparks should appear from the tip of the wand ^^
*Charms for leviation:
   -Hover Charm:
     *You need to be physically touching the object you're levitating
     *It only allows you to move it up and down
   -Rocket Charm:
     *Don't have to be touching the object but still only up and down movement
     *More difficult to move heavier objects and can't move anything too high up
   -Floating Charm:
     *Much better controlled vertical movement than the Rocket Charm
     *Still only vertical though and only manages a few feet up
   -Levitation Charm:
     *Not only vertical movement but back and forth and side to side (and what more could
      you want?)
     *Can move things higher up than the previous ones
       -still difficult to maintain, especially in things further away
     *Can lift extremely heavy objects, although it takes a bit more effort
     *Also so easy that first year students learn it :)
     *Only known limitation: doesn't work on humans (thought: does that mean it works
      on animals? If so, why on them and not us?)
   -Incantation: Wingardium Leviosa (wing-GAR-dee-um levi-O-sa)
     *Movement: Called 'Swish and Flick'
       -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.
     *Mental part: Focus on the item you want to leviatate the whole time (otherwise you
      might make something else hover by accident).
     *Timing: Say Wingardium during the 'swish' part of the movement, end that movement
      as you start saying Leviosa, finish the word Leviosa with the 'flick' movement.
     *Visualizing the energy going into the wand helps to focus it better

-Nightreader