END OF YEAR 2 CHARMS EXAM

Part 1

1. Orange fruits – oranges, satsumas, clementines, sharona fruits, tangerines
Red fruits – apples, red grapes, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, tomatoes, pomegranates
Green fruits – apples, pears, green grapes, kiwis, watermelon, melon, cucumbers
Yellow fruits – yellow kiwis, Chinese pears, bananas, pineapples, melon, lemon

2. Faccia la frutta ballare – make the fruit dance

3. Italian is a good language to create a spell in because of its close relationship with Latin, the original spell-casting language. It is also relatively easy to speak.

4. arancione – make the orange fruit dance
rossa – make the red fruit dance
verde – make the green fruit dance
gialla – make the yellow fruit dance
The use of short and simple prefixes means that the spells can be distinguished from each other.


Part 2

A festival is the celebration of a religious or cultural tradition. For example, Christians may celebrate Christmas (because Jesus was born then) or Hindus Diwali (the Festival of Light). Cultural festivals include Chinese New Year for all Chinese people, and historical festivals, such as America’s Independence Day, are also celebrated.

For me, Christmas is the most important festival. Because of my Christian background, I see Jesus’ birth as the one most important thing that happened in this world. However, the cause for celebration put aside, Christmas is also, for me the brightest time of the year, when nearly every window visible will have some kind of light or representation of it. Decorations also fill shops and homes, which makes me feel welcome and warm inside, despite the stereotypical (and unrealistic) cold weather associated with Christmas.

Magic which can be used to improve how people celebrate Christmas include an actual flying Santa – in this way, children will gain even more of a thrill in seeing their present-deliverer flying around in a sleigh driven by reindeer. Magic could also help improve the temperature inside houses during the winter months, so that families can gather and open their presents in warmth on Christmas morning.

The giving and receiving of presents could also be made much easier by the fact that people can apparate – families can see each other even if they live on the other side of the world. If this is not possible, presents can be sent by Floo so that they arrive on time – suitable for people (like me) who make a last minute rush to buy presents in the hope that they will arrive in another continent in time.

Charms can bring this festival to life by making the streets much more livelier. Dancing toys could be introduced into the presents, and children would be far more excited for what they could receive. Floating fairy lights could light up the streets, or help the tired (and possibly drunk) party-goer to find their way home after a night out of partying.

The mood charms that could be used include those that keep a party going – there is nothing worse than being at a Christmas party and knowing that it will be no fun at all, if people are not in the mood to participate. There should be Festive Cheer Charms – we don’t want those Scrooges spreading their ‘bah humbug’s everywhere!

Charms used during festivals would most likely be those that can help with the daily shopping of gifts, and those that can bring a town or village/city to life with the modifications that can be made to the ordinary object.


Part 3

In this year’s Charms classes – many of which I didn’t do but read instead – I learnt how to manipulate words to create the spell that I required. This was important as I can now apply this to any class that I do, and therefore to the spells that I may or may not create in the future, either for personal or for global use.

Part 1:

Last year, you learnt Wingardium Leviosa. This year, you have learnt how to animate
fruit. Next year, you will be moving on to animating other objects, making them move and transferring the theory of this particular charm to other charms. For this part of the exam, you need to create particular charms to animate different types of fruit. Therefore:

1. Divide fruits into no more than ten main groups. You can do it accoding to size, colour, seeds, where they are grown,etc. List these groups here with two examples of fruit that would belong in that group.

Colours
yellow - banana, yellow melon, lemon
red - cherries, strawberries
green - avocado, watermelon
violet - red grapes, blackcurrant
orange - oranges, grapefruit

2. Which charm is used to make any fruit dance for a limited amount of time only (use Italian translation)?

ballare

3. Why is Italian a good language to create a spell in?

Because the pronounciation is clear and it is the closest descendent of latin, the language in which many charms were originally created

4. Now use your groups and devise Latin or Italian names for each group. These should be short and simple to say so they can be used as prefixes to your general Charm. Explain each translation.

english name - italian name -> charm name
yellow fruit - "frutto giallo" -> charm: gial-ballare
red fruit - "frutto rosso" -> charm: ross-ballare
green fruit - "frutto verde" -> charm: ver-ballare
violet fruit - "frutto violaceo" -> charm: vio-ballare
orange fruit - "frutto arancio" -> charm: ara-ballare

Part 2:

This section is focused on festive charms to do with Halloween and Christmas. You have devised Charms yourself to enhance the spirit of these festivals, showing you magical ability. Next year, you will be focusing more on Mood Charms and their functions. For Part 2:

Write a short essay, between 400 and 500 words about what festivals mean to you in general.

A festival is to me a way to celbrate something – to spend some precious time together in order to be jolly, have fun because of a special event.
There are many festivals along the year but my favourite is still Christmas – I just love that merry atmosphere, seeing the kid’s faces glowing up with expectation, families gathering around the Christmas tree to relax and feel comfortable. Because you can have wild parties at every time of year – but Christmas is the only time when you actually get that special feeling of love and peacefulness and understanding among all. And maybe I also think this way because I associate Christmas with the beautiful, pure snow. That is why this year’s Christmas, when not one single snowflake fell upon the earth – at least where I spent Christmas this year – was a bit dissapointing.
As I have already written about Christmas in the Christmas Charms homwork – and I apologise for doing so again, but this is honestly my favourite festival, there are several magic ways to improve Christmas. I will try not repeat anything I have used earlier.
One way of magically improving Christmas would be transfiguring the family house elf into an elf resembling Santa’s elves – of course, in concordance to all current Ministry Elf Rights. And transfiguring the family’s father into a fat Santa with a white, long beard. Another way of creating a fun atmophere through branches of magic other than Charms would be potions – maybe one of newly invented “Family Peace”-potion could calm that rebellious teenager son and turn him into a lovable family member just for Christmas? Or a potion to improve people’s voices and sense of music that would play a decisive role in making famlliy caroling a much more pleasant experience. Consulting an experienced Seer before Christmas could also help people cope with critical problems that might come up.
Charms of course also play an immense role. Besides basic charms to help the witch bake her cake or help the wizard transport and decorate the tree, charms can also be performed to clean the house, the festive clothes or who knows – some dirty shoes of some guests who just had a long stroll in the snow. Or why not – you can make some candles float in the air or wrap your guests in tinsel the moment they enter your house. And a charm to project the text of the carols playing on the radio to the wall, so that everybody can sing them, would also be necessary.
Mood charms – yes, they do liven up the atmosphere. It’s great idea to use some in order to have a great Christmas party. Everybody will feel like eating and singing and being peaceful and jolly. You just can’t think them away, can you?

Part 3:

What have you learnt from this year’s Charms classes? This can apply to your magical career, future in the magical world or future in the Muggle World. Write over 50 words, at least.

I have, so far, only attended to one Charms class – the Christmas Charms. But it did do a lot for me – it will help me in my career as a magical party planner and in taking care of my family at Christmas time. In my muggle life, remembering that lesson will help me enjoy Christmas even more and be even more creative each Christmas – even if I can’t actually do magic.