Aiming for an 80 on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Levy

October 04, 2010 11:01 PM

Beginner Level (First and Second Years): Lesson I by Professor Levy

“Pop quiz time!” Erika’s voice rang out once all the students were settled. “Please put your books and papers away.” She started passing out the papers face down. “Don’t turn your quiz over until I tell you to. If you’ve been doing your homework and paying attention in class, this quiz should be fairly easy and if you haven’t, well, good luck and don’t think about cheating. If I catch you looking at anyone else’s paper or doing anything else that constitutes cheating, you’ll not only earn yourself a zero on the quiz, but a month’s worth of detention.” Handing out the last paper, she made her way back to her desk. Taking her seat, she said, “You may turn over your quiz and begin.”

Name:
Year:
House:

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent?

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell?

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used?

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled?

7. What spell is used to unlock doors?

8. What does stupefy do?

9. What spell is used to seal a door?

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?

Once everyone had turned in the quiz in the allotted amount of time, Erika began the lecture for the day. “Please open your books to page 139 to on Immobulus.” She waited a moment to allow the students to flip through their books. “Immobulus is a charm used to freeze objects where they are. It doesn’t hurt them, though, like some other defensive and offensive spells, but it does allow for what it is cast upon to stop moving completely. This can be used to slow down a falling object or person as well as to hinder something or someone on the attack.” She didn’t mean to scare them, but the entire point of taking a defense class was to learn…well…defense.

“To perform the spell, point your wand like so and then circle around like this,” she said, demonstrating the spell. At the end of her circle, she said, “Immobulus. Now, then I want everyone to come up here and get a container of spiders. Don’t worry. They aren’t poisonous. They don’t even bite. I want you to practice the Immobulus spell on them. You may work alone or in groups. If you have any questions about the material, feel free to ask. No homework tonight since I was a mean professor and gave a pop quiz.”

OOC: Standard posting rules apply. Minimum of ten sentences following basic spelling and grammar rules. Detail and creativity earn more points. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Aiming for an 80 by Nicodemus Sawyer with Valentina Bentancourt [Teppenpaw]

Not my day by Autumn Collins with Renée Errant

Not my idea of fun by Jordan Adair, Crotalus with Neal Padrig, Pecari, Jordan

The Spider Lady by Kirstenna Melcher with Sam Bauer, Crotalus

Doing my best by Ryan O'Malley with Sara Raines, Pecari

Resignation really is the key to life. by Daisy Thorpe, Crotalus with Sophia Randolph [Pecari], Daisy

0 Professor Levy Beginner Level (First and Second Years): Lesson I 0 Professor Levy 1 5

Nicodemus Sawyer

October 05, 2010 1:57 PM

Aiming for an 80 by Nicodemus Sawyer

Nic's heart raced when Professor Levy announced the test. It wasn't that he was worried about it. DADA was his favorite class and he wasn't too concerned about the fact that his grade was averaging a little over an eighty percent. In any other class that would have been a problem and looked to nerdy for Nic's tastes, but DADA was almost like gym back at home - it was okay for the jocks and the buff guys to do well.

Not that Nic was buff. Tall, yes. Very tall. Abnormally tall. Tall enough that a first year asked if he was part giant at the Opening Feast. Tall enough that even at 5'8", the doc said he still had at least half a foot to go. So tall. But not buff. No matter how much he seem to eat, it wasn't enough to keep up with his metabolism and he was bone rail thin. And he'd run into some problems this year with casting spells simply because his coordination was thrown off by his limbs being longer than he thought they were. Which was why he was still in the mid eighties instead of up in the nineties.

That annoyed him to no end. He might not want to be perceived as a nerd, but he liked to have better control on his GPA than that.

But tests . . . tests were different.

Tests were where he could nail that target eighty percent. Every time. Unless he was doing too well or too poorly in a class, in which case he had to adjust his performance accordingly to bring the average closer to an eighty. But he never got more than a ninety on a test. A's - well, what muggle schools called A's and what wizarding schools called O's - were nerd territory and Nic steered well clear.

Tests were what teachers looked at to judge knowledge retention, too, so Nic had to be careful not to stand out. Being a 'smart kid and a good student' was a reputation killer but he was too smart to let people - especially teachers - think he was stupid, so bombing the tests wasn't an option either. So, he never got less than a seventy.

There was an art to getting a perfectly mediocre grade on a test, and Nic was a fairly good artist if he did say so himself.

Step one. See how many questions there are and determine how many to get right. Today's quiz had ten, so he should get eight and only eight correct. Of course, some were two part questions and may count more, which he really didn't like because that made his calculations more complicated.

He decided questions one and six where probably were two points each. He decided to get partial credit on both of those, answering the easy part, but leaving the more in-depth secondary question blank. One of the short answer one should probably be answered completely wrong. It would come out to a little under an eighty, but his DADA grade could handle the bump.

Also, add in a few misspellings, especially in the Latin, and it'll probably be close enough to get full credit but not so perfect as to make him look like a Aladren genius.

Name: Nic Sawyer
Year: 2
House: Crotalus

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?
Lumos - I don't know

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?
Makes a person unable to move at all

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent?
Expeliarmus

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell?
Priory Incantatem

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used?
Point Me

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled?
Flitterbloom resembles a Devil's Snare. Devil's snare is the dangerous one. It can be repelled with light.

7. What spell is used to unlock doors?
Alohamora

8. What does stupefy do?
It makes people ~~unconshious~~ ~~unconcious~~ fall asleep.

9. What spell is used to seal a door?
Dooro Locko

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?
Protego

He decided before turning in the paper that he was going to get the whole Devil Snare question right. It was too obvious to have believably forgotten. He thought maybe the 'fall asleep' thing in the stupefy question would balance it out.

Satisfied that he wasn't impressing anyone with his intellectual prowess, he turned in the quiz and flipped to the page on Immobulus. This he should probably be able to do if the wand circling wasn't more complicated than it looked.

He managed - barely - to get to the front of the room, collect his spiders, and get back to his seat without running into any desks or classmates, knocking anything over, or dropping the spiders.

He took out his wand (which he swore must have shrunk since last year, but at least it wasn't as unwieldy as the rest of him) and did the point and circle and cast, "Immobulus!"

One of the spiders (the one he was aiming at) stopped moving for a few seconds, but then it started climbing the side of the container again. Nic frowned. "Did that work and not hold, or did it just not work?" he asked, more to himself than to his neighbor.

1 Nicodemus Sawyer Aiming for an 80 165 Nicodemus Sawyer 0 5

Autumn Collins

October 06, 2010 3:50 PM

Not my day by Autumn Collins

As Professor Levy's voice announced a pop quiz, Autumn groaned inwardly. It wasn't that she didn't know her stuff, it was just that she got so nervous when she hadn't been expecting something. Autumn liked to know what to expect, to know the plan. There was a reason she was in Crotalus.

She sighed and turned over the quiz, hoping the questions would be stuff she knew all the answers to. Autumn would feel dumb if she got something wrong.

Name: Autumn Collins
Year: 2
House: Crotalus

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?

Lumos

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?

Petrify someone so they can't move.

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent? Expelliarmus

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell?
Priory Incantem

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used?
Point Me

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled? Devil's snare which is dangerous and can be repelled by relaxing.

Autumn was so doomed if she ever got caught by a Devil's Snare plant. She had a hard time relaxing as it was. Being caught in a plant that could kill her would only make her more stressed out.

7. What spell is used to unlock doors? Alohamora

8. What does stupefy do? makes someone unconscious

9. What spell is used to seal a door?

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?
Protego

She turned in her test, feeling very bad that she had forgotten things she was sure she had known. It was just that when Autumn felt pressured she got anxious and forgot things she should have known. But she honestly couldn't remember other variations of Lumos or what spell was used to seal a door.

Autumn felt so stupid right now and honestly, she just wanted to leave the class, go to her room, get under the covers,cry and hope Nadi didn't notice. But of course, she couldn't do that because she would get in trouble. Plus,it would be humiliating, so instead, she went and got herself a spider.

She looked down at it with disgust. Autumn wasn't afraid of spiders but that didn't mean they weren't disgusting. She would have preferred to use a less gross creature. Maybe a catepillar or something.

After practicing the pronounciation and wand motions a few times, Autumn waved her wand over the spider and said " Immobulus " Unfortunately, she had next to no luck, only one of the legs stopped moving.

Autumn sighed. This class was not going well today at all. She turned to the person next to her. "Do you want to try working together?" She asked. Maybe it would go better if she worked with a partner.

11 Autumn Collins Not my day 164 Autumn Collins 0 5

Renée Errant

October 06, 2010 8:57 PM

Imagine how the poor spiders feel by Renée Errant

Idly chewing on a stray curl, Renée glanced over the list of questions she was expected to answer. She was actually a very good test taker, and a very good student which was surprising considering the fact that she was utterly bored by school excepting her Care of Magical Creatures class.

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?

She sighed and cast her eyes around the room, trying to catch a glimpse of a familiar face she can distract herself by making a funny expression to. She saw Nic, but the not-really-a-giant boy had his head bent down and his pencil scratching on the paper. She looked over to see if Neal was nearby, maybe even Brad - no such luck. The whole class seemed to be working. Taking her cue, a bored Renée began the little test.

Name: My name is Renée Errant.
Year: I am a first year.
House: My house is Crotalus but I think that was a sorting mistake so feel free to give points to Pecari, my true calling.

That done, she revisited the first question:

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?
The spell used to light the top of one's wand is Lumos. The derivatives of the spell are "Lux, Lucis." I don't really see why that's important though.

Satisfied with her answer, and actually beginning to have fun, Renée continued on with the rest of the questions.

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?
The spell Petrificus Totalus makes the person hit by the spell unable to move.

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent?
The spell used to disarm an opponent is Expelliarmus. How come you're not asking for the derivatives of that spell? I'm glad you didn't. I don't know it.

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell?
The spell one uses to reveal a spell is Prior Incantato.

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used?
Point Me, but I don't think that sounds very magical, or Latin.

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled?

Here, Renée had to pause, not able to recall this information as readily as the others. She skipped it for now, planning to return to it later.

7. What spell is used to unlock doors?
The spell used to unlock doors is Alohamora.

8. What does stupefy do?
Stupefy is a stunning spell. It makes the receiver black out.

Mindful of the time, Renée rushed the next few questions.

9. What spell is used to seal a door?
Colloportus.

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?
Protego.

And then back to question six. Renée lifted her arm, prepared to write her answer down - time was up. Grudgingly, Renée handed the quiz in before settling back down in her seat.

"The only good thing about taking that quiz," she said to no particular specific person. "Is that now we know how wonderful it feels like to not be taking it."

She opened her page in the book while the professor began her droning. Spacing out, Renée recaptured the ever reclusive curl and stared out into the distance. She came out of it in time to practice her wand movement and get a container of spiders. Heading back to her desk she shook the spider out, watching it scurry around the desk with great interest. Spiders weren't high on her list of favorite creatures (mostly because her older brother had been deathly afraid and had to ask her to get rid of them for him in his room) but all creatures held some semblance of interest in her eyes. She raised her wand, "Immobulus." The spider tripped but righted up and kept walking.

"Do you want to try working together?"

Renée glanced at her neighbor. "Yeah, okay." She peered at her neighbor's spider. "You've gotten farther than me." She smiled, flashing two rows of perfect teeth. "Mine only tripped. You at least got a leg to stop twitching."

0 Renée Errant Imagine how the poor spiders feel 0 Renée Errant 0 5

Valentina Bentancourt [Teppenpaw]

October 06, 2010 10:18 PM

Aiming for perfection by Valentina Bentancourt [Teppenpaw]

Valentina was happy, because midterm was around the corner! And that meant she would go home and be with her family, she really missed them, especially her mother. She was loving every minute of Sonora, for the first time she could be away from her mother’s scrutinizing eyes, but she missed that. She had made the decision to stop taking for granted what she had at home, her mother deserved to have a well-behaved daughter. She grinned. The Spaniard could almost taste the Christmas feast at her grandparent’s house back at Madrid, which was always a good time. Maybe she would get to meet Emmy, and see with her own eyes the girl that would eventually come to be her sister. It was going to be awesome having a sister! Valentina always wanted one, they seemed to be a lot of fun, unlike Alex, which was obnoxious most of the time.

With a grin plastered on her face, she made her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was actually excited about this class. It was really interesting, and the Teppenpaw enjoyed it. With her back-pack on one of her shoulders, she entered and sat down. The grin never leaving her face. Professor Levy announced a pop quiz, now the grin disappeared. Valentina didn’t like to be taken by surprise. Yes, she had paid attention and done her homework, but she didn’t feel prepared for a pop quiz! She sighed and took out a quill and ink. This would be horrible, she was sure.

She read the questions and wrinkled her nose, they seemed to be easy enough. She started diligently writing, she really didn’t want to get them wrong. The Teppenpaw was doing great until she hit question 4, she had no idea what the answer was, it angered her because she was sure they had seen it in class, but she couldn’t recall the answer for the life of her. She frowned and let it blank. Question 6 was also left blank, no idea what the answer was. Without further a due, she handed in her quiz. The blue-eyed girl was not happy with the results, especially because she really liked this class, and should be able to get a perfect score.

She returned to her seat feeling a little bit cranky about it. It was not fair, and now she had to work with bugs. Great. She opened her book, and tried practicing the movements before actually casting the spell. Now that she was fairly comfortable with her movements, it was time to try the spell. It didn’t work. Valentina growled silently. This was not her day. She grumbled and tried again. It failed. Now she was getting really annoyed.

She tilted her head to the right, trying to figure out what she was doing wrong. In the middle of her mental debate the freakishly tall boy next to her talked. She wasn’t sure if he had actually directed the question to her, but she decided to answer him “I don’t know. I didn’t see what you did, I was occupied with my bugs.” She smiled at him, hoping he wouldn’t get upset with her answer. It was the truth, after all.

0 Valentina Bentancourt [Teppenpaw] Aiming for perfection 171 Valentina Bentancourt [Teppenpaw] 0 5

Jordan Adair, Crotalus

October 07, 2010 1:59 PM

Not my idea of fun by Jordan Adair, Crotalus

At the mention of a pop quiz, Jordan groaned softly. She wasn’t very good at tests in general, let alone one’s that she was unprepared for. Yes, it was supposed to be on material that they had been learning thus far, but they had learned quite a bit and she really wasn’t that great at retaining information that she wasn’t interested in. Anxiously, she tapped her foot as she looked at the paper in front of her. The questions were on the other side and she was nervous to see what could possibly have been asked.

Once they were allowed to turn over their quizzes, Jordan flipped hers over and the tapping turned to her quill. She read over the first question. Okay, she knew that one. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe, but she wasn’t about to hold her breath on that one. It was Lumos and she knew that one of the derivatives was Lumos Solem. She couldn’t remember the others though, but some was better than nothing. The second wasn’t bad either and wrote that it made someone unable to move. And the third was Expelliarmus.

The fourth though caused her trouble. She had no idea what would be used to reveal a spell. Revealo? She really didn’t know so that would have to do. The next was Point Me. She remembered that one cause she had thought it would be a useful spell. Six she skipped. Plants usually caused her to sneeze so she took little notice of them. Seven was alohomora. Really, really useful, especially to spy on her sisters. Um, eight was make someone stupid? Probably not, but moving on. Nine she didn’t know. Ten was protego cause it sounded like protect. There was no way she got an O on that or even an E, but maybe she got an A. She would be okay with that.

Flipping her page open, Jordan went through the motions of paying attention when she was really doodling hearts along the side. She just wished she had a name to put into those hearts. She had told Ryan that he was cute at the Opening Feast and Marcus was interesting, but she hadn’t really gotten to know either one to the point of developing a crush. Plus, there were still a bunch of guys that she hadn’t gotten to know yet like that one that looked like he belonged in an older class. She wondered if he had failed a couple years.

Realizing that everyone else was heading to the front of the room, Jordan followed suit. It would be horrific if Professor Levy had found out that she hadn’t been paying attention cause then she’d probably end up with a detention or something and that just wouldn’t work for her. She had seen a new hairstyle in a magazine and wanted to try it. Reaching the desk, she picked up one of the containers, but didn’t bother to look into it until she reached her desk. When she did see what was inside, she said a bit too loudly, “Ewwww!”

There was absolutely no way she was touching something so creepy and crawly. It didn’t really matter that she really wouldn’t be touching them. There was just something so skin tingling about spiders. Maybe there was someone that would ~~do all the~~ work with her. Seeing the person next to her had yet to partner up, and hoping they were fairly smart, she asked, “Do you want to work with me?”

0 Jordan Adair, Crotalus Not my idea of fun 0 Jordan Adair, Crotalus 0 5

Neal Padrig, Pecari

October 07, 2010 10:02 PM

What's your idea of fun then? by Neal Padrig, Pecari

There was nothing wrong with surprises as far as Neal was concerned. They made things more exciting, and he was typically bored enough to welcome anything out of the ordinary. At least, that’s what he thought, until he rolled into Defense class and found out it was pop quiz time. That put a damper on any hopes of having another wand-wielding escapade like they had his first year in the maze. Setting everything but his quill and ink aside, he eyed up the paper placed before him with disappointment. It was pitiful how it only took one piece of paper to make him double-think his philosophy on surprises…

Chagrin aside, he did well in DADA, so he wasn’t stressed over it enough to appear overtly anxious. As soon as Professor Levy gave the class the okay-go, Neal had his paper flipped to the other side and set to work on getting through it. If he could finish up early, maybe he could get through a chapter in the book he was reading or something. If he couldn’t have an adventure today, the very least he could do was get involved in someone else’s. So with his slanted, rather sloppy scrawl he filled in the blanks:

Name: Neal Padrig
Year: 2nd
House: Pecari

Alright, well, so far so good.

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell?
Lumos
It’s Latin for the word light

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?
It makes the victim paralyzed

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent?
Expelliarmus

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell?

Neal’s brows furrowed together as he reread the question. He knew the answer, he honestly did, it just wouldn’t come to him. He was ready to just make a guess and keep going when it suddenly hit him. Smiling at his luck, he wrote in Prioir Incantatem before continuing.

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used?
Point Me

He considered writing in ‘accio a compass’ but something told him that wasn’t the answer the professor was looking for.

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled?
Devil’s Snare, and by using Lumos on it

7. What spell is used to unlock doors?
Alohamora

8. What does stupefy do
Knocks you out

9. What spell is used to seal a door?

Alright, this question had him drawing a blank. Seal a door? When did they learn that? Figuring he was doing well enough to throw away one answer, he wrote down sealo, which was sort of an obvious cop-out, before turning his attention to the last question.

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?
Diffindo

He was fairly sure that he got the last one wrong – and the one before that – but otherwise he didn’t think he did half-bad. Turning it in after a quick yet unhelpful once-over, he felt pretty good about himself. He didn’t have any time to catch up on reading though since everyone seemed to turn it in around the same time, so the lesson started up relatively quickly. The latest spell seemed pretty neat, but then when did a new spell seem anything but?

Getting a container of spiders and settling back down in his desk, Neal had just opened the container slightly and already he was sidetracked. It was hard to not be distracted by all the activity going on in there, what with a bunch of spiders darting around between webs and all.

He got distracted from his distraction when he heard what sounded an ‘ewe’ arise from beside him. His bloodshot brown eyes drifted curiously to the girl next to him, who didn’t look nearly as content with what was in her container as Neal did. “Yeah, I don’t mind teaming up,” he agreed amiably. He was good at Defense unlike Potions or Herbology, so he felt like he’d be a lot more useful partner-wise. He put his hand out to be shaken and introduced himself, “I’m Neal, by the way.”

Slowly easing the container lid open a bit more, he looked around at the spiders and tried to figure out which one to try out the spell on first. Deciding on a rather active one crawling toward the lid, he circled his wand and stated the incantation as clearly as he could, watching in awe as it progressed from a fast pace to a sluggish speed. “I think it worked out alright,” he said, turning the container to face his partner so she could try the spell using the same method he had. “Do you want to give it a try now?”

0 Neal Padrig, Pecari What's your idea of fun then? 0 Neal Padrig, Pecari 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher

October 09, 2010 8:53 PM

The Spider Lady by Kirstenna Melcher

Kirstenna groaned. She hated quizzes and pop quizzes were worse. She tried to read sometimes, but all her text books were so dry. Too much magical theory that Kirstenna just didn't care about. The Teppenpaw didn't care how her magic worked, just that it did. In fact, telling how magic worked was a big no no in the Magician's Code. Nobody was ever to explain how a trick was done. This was great for her father since it protected people from knowing he was a real wizard.

Still, she had to try to do well on the quiz as her written work was not that great. Kirstenna probably could have been a fantastic creative writer, as she had a great imagination but she wasn't so good at essays, especially if they require research. Researching was just so boring. Kirstenna preferred the realm of the imaginative to that of the practical. It was another reason her grandparents didn't like her.

Name:Kirstenna Melcher
Year:2
House:Teppenpaw

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell? Lumos, Lux, Light me

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do?Petrify totally.

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent? Expelliarmus

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell? Revealis Spellus

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used? Point Me

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled? Devil's snare which is the dangerous one. It can be repelled by using umm...Off?

7. What spell is used to unlock doors? Open Sesame

8. What does stupefy do? Makes people stupid

9. What spell is used to seal a door? Colloportus

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?

At this last question Kirstenna thought she smelled a trick and thus put an answer that would have made her cousin proud.

10. Well it depends on the person as not everyone will choose the same thing. Me personally, I'd choose Expelliarmus and disarm them, then get away while they were looking for their wand.

She handed in her quiz, noticing that most people were done already. Kirstenna took her seat and waited for the few left to finish. It didn't matter to her if she'd been one of the last. She was not here to compete. The only place for that was Quidditch as far as Kirstenna was concerned and she didn't even take that that seriously. Which was good when Tepp only had six players.

But that was the Impostor's fault. If she hadn't kidnapped Brian, he would have played, even if he didn't like his position. Kirstenna might have given him hers if it brought him back, though she wasn't good at any of the others. At this point, she would do just about anything to bring Brian back.

Kirstenna sighed again as the lecture began. She had to admit DADA would be great if they never had to compete. At least it used wands and wasn't boring, like Potions. It was just that she hated the competitive aspect. The Teppenpaw was mostly against competition. Really, Kirstenna didn't like how it brought bragging and caused hurt feelings. She stuck with Quidditch mainly out of some house loyalty. She really felt needed.

As Professor Levy told them what they were doing, Kirstenna grinned. Not that she was much for hurting spiders but they weren't being forced to compete! She could even work with someone else. Kirstenna didn't need as much help as she did in Potions but it was always fun to work with others.

Of course, as usual she couldn't help wonder about the spiders. Where they'd come from. Kirstenna envisioned a scenario similar to the Beetle Lady. Only Professor Levy was the Spider Lady. Maybe that was why the Beetle Lady came. Maybe it was Professor Levy who had been plotting to turn them all into spiders because she'd been raised by Acromantula and missed them and the Beetle Lady had shown up to fight her.

Or as she was the DADA teacher, Professor Levy was on to the Beetle Lady and got spiders to fight them. Spiders did eat other bugs.

Kirstenna walked up to the front and grabbed a container of spiders. She turned to another person who was doing the same and asked "Will you please work with me on this? By which Kirstenna meant talk to her because truthfully she didn't need help with spell work.

11 Kirstenna Melcher The Spider Lady 161 Kirstenna Melcher 0 5

Ryan O'Malley

October 10, 2010 2:13 PM

Doing my best by Ryan O'Malley

Defense was one class above all others that Ryan felt it was necessary to be good at. His mother had yet to do anything physical or magical to him but the young Crotalus wanted to be prepared in case she ever tried it, though he wasn't sure he'd have the courage if the time came. She was Ryan's mother for Merlin's sake.

Granted, it didn't seem to matter to her so it shouldn't really matter to him, but it did. It really did. Still, Ryan just wanted to be able to protect himself.

Besides, he wasn't even sure he was capable of being good at DADA. It was a very physical class and Ryan wasn't a very physical person.His grandmother, being under the wrong impression that he was physically fragile, wouldn't let him do much that was. Plus, Ryan couldn't even get his broom up in flying.

Fortunately, the first year didn't have to worry about it right off the bat today. Unfortunately, that meant they were having a pop quiz. Ryan knew he had to do well. He didn't want to get another howler. Of course, given the last one came even though he had done nothing wrong, Ryan was sure they were unavoidable.

Name: Ryan O'Malley
Year: First
House:Crotalus

1. What is the spell used to light the top of one’s wand? What are the derivatives of the spell? Lumos, Lux, Lucis. One can also use bluebell flames to light things up.

2. What does Petrificus Totalus do? Makes someone unable to move at all

3. What is the spell used to disarm an opponent? Expelliarmus

4. What spell does one use to reveal a spell? Specialis Revelio

5. If one were lost, what spell would be used? Point Me

6. What plant does Flitterbloom resemble? Which plant is dangerous and how can it be repelled? Devil's Snare, which is the dangerous one. It can be repelled by relaxing.

7. What spell is used to unlock doors? Alohamora

8. What does stupefy do? Makes someone unconscious

9. What spell is used to seal a door?Colloportus

10. What spell would one use to defend against minor jinxes?

Protego

That finished, Ryan sat quietly waiting for the rest of the class to be done as well. He hoped he had got everything right. Ryan needed to do well on whatever he could in the hopes that maybe, just maybe his mother would be happy with him for once. He was half convinced that the only way to get her to leave him alone was to get perfect scores.

He listened carefully as Professor Levy gave the lecture, wanting to make sure he got everything right. When it was finished, Ryan went up to get a jar of spiders. He took it back to his desk and looked down at it. He really didn't want to hurt the spiders but it was more important to get good grade. Ryan gave the jar an apologetic look and took out his wand.

However, before he could do the spell, he heard someone approach him. Ryan looked up and asked. "Hi, do you want to work with me on this?"

11 Ryan O'Malley Doing my best 176 Ryan O'Malley 0 5

Sara Raines, Pecari

October 11, 2010 5:09 PM

Everyone should always try to do their best. by Sara Raines, Pecari

She felt a skittering of nerves at the words, but Sara felt confident enough of her knowledge of the material the class had been covering for the past few weeks to meet a pop quiz with her usual polite, slightly inquisitive coming-to-class smile in place. It was always hard to tell how well she was doing, but Sara had made it a goal early on to win over all the professors, and seeming willing, even happy, to come to their classes seemed like it would help with that.

Adults were often annoying, but they could be very useful. They had power, especially here. At minimum - which, she'd reluctantly conceded, might be as much as she'd be able to get from Transfiguration - she couldn't have one disliking her openly, no matter how she felt about one in return.

"Thank you," she said when Professor Levy handed her one of the papers, then put it, as instructed, questions-side down on the desk in front of her.

It wasn't, as the professor had said, too very hard. The first question worried her most, since she had a nagging feeling she was leaving out an example or had confused a spell here with one from Charms, but she didn't think it would be enough to seriously hurt her score even if that feeling was right. Besides, she had that feeling all the time, and it was seldom right.

Once everyone was done, she flipped with them to the page where the newest spell was and raised her eyebrows a bit. This spell would be useful if anything ever did happen - though, of course, she suspected it would not; her father was an influential man, but he lived in the shadow of his cousins, and since Alan had been born, she'd just been a girl - and it was acceptable for a lady because it would hold off an attacker without actually doing damage that might indicate an unsound mind, but she thought it would take a little more energy than most of the things she had tried before.

She contemplated removing her shoes if they had to work together, but decided against it. She could walk as well in her one-inch heels now as well as anyone else could in flats, and there was something a little too undignified about fighting barefoot. Besides, she didn't know who else might have been barefoot here, and thought she might be even more likely to slip that way anyway.

The dilemma was resolved once and for all, though, by the announcement that she was going to be fighting spiders, not classmates. She didn't like spiders, but nor did she dislike them so much that it would send her into fits to be near one, and she could get to know her peers much better when there wasn't that sense of competition that practicing spells on each other brought up.

Her mother had been pleased with her progress thus far, but had made specific notes about making sure to introduce herself to Ryan O'Malley and Eliza Bennett as well. Ryan was of suitable status to at least consider marrying, and Eliza lived in their state. That made it important that she try to be on at least civil terms with them. She decided to start with Ryan, simply because he was closer to where she happened to have started out sitting. When he spoke to her first as she approached, sparing her from appearing too audacious, she took it as cosmic confirmation that this had been the correct option.

"If you don't mind," she said, carefully holding her jar of spiders between the tips of her fingers in a way that, she thought, looked like she just happened to have done it from delicacy instead of trying to look delicate. "I don't think we've been introduced yet. My name is Sara Raines."

0 Sara Raines, Pecari Everyone should always try to do their best. 0 Sara Raines, Pecari 0 5

Daisy Thorpe, Crotalus

October 11, 2010 5:43 PM

Resignation really is the key to life. by Daisy Thorpe, Crotalus

When she arrived to classes - which was always early - Daisy liked to take a few minutes to organize her desk. When Levy announced a pop quiz, which required her to clear it off and undo the work, she frowned crossly, but obeyed. This class was useful, which meant she had to operate under the assumption that the professor was going to stick around and be the one to admit her into its advanced stages. Making a fuss about something that was only important to her would be stupid.

Not so stupid, though, that she wouldn't complain about it when she wrote in her diary later. Since she had figured out how to wipe the pages clean, there was no harm in venting her feelings. Merlin knew she couldn't risk trying it out with the girls. Renée and Miya were clearly barking, and therefore not long-term investments, but Jordan and Eliza were both still ambiguous and associated with people Daisy would potentially have to deal with. She had to be...nicer around them.

As for writing to her family...No. The only allies she felt she might have there were her sister Molly and a few of their cousins - Anica, maybe, when she got a little older, and Anya on a good day, or one where Adelle the First and Regina the Second had been especially snotty - but she wasn't close enough to any of them for that kind of thing. Her mother went without saying. Adelle the First couldn't conceptualize a complaint; it was against her nature. Adelle the First fixed things, and turned every situation to her advantage, and was doing her best to groom Molly and especially Adelle the Second into being even better.

Daisy knew, of course, that Adelle the First had plans for her, too. Her mother couldn't see something without making a plan around it. She just didn't expect it was anything she would like, and had resigned herself to that as soon as the thought occurred to her.

The quiz went quickly enough, but Daisy was one of the last to turn hers in, going over it twice just to be sure she'd put in everything she meant to and not put in something that didn't belong. She didn't know what was in store for her, but doing well on her work here was bound to help it work better for her. Handing it in, she remembered, about half a second too late, to smile at the professor before she went back to her seat and started organizing her desk again as the either genuinely slow or even more cautious wrapped up the allotted time.

The lecture was actually interesting, though that wasn't entirely unusual in this class. There were times when the overlap with Charms made it feel like a lull into safety, but usually, Defense was interesting. Daisy didn't bother with the textbook, but wrote down what Professor Levy was saying in her medium-sized, sharp-angled handwriting. That was the important stuff.

She went up with the rest for a jar of spiders, not pushing on purpose but not giving ground either where she could help it, and carried it back to her seat, taking care to keep one of her hands firmly around it and the other firmly under it until it was back on a hard surface. Professor Levy said the spiders wouldn't - or couldn't - bite, but Daisy wasn't going to take chances. Besides, if they scattered, she'd probably have to get them back up herself, and she didn't want to do that. She didn't like touching them even when they were dead.

Hoping, therefore, that they couldn't jump any more than they could bite, she opened the jar gingerly once it was on hard wood and pointed her wand into the opening at one of the spiders. "Immobulus," she said, and then sensed the person sitting next to her looking over. "Oh - did you want to work together?"

0 Daisy Thorpe, Crotalus Resignation really is the key to life. 0 Daisy Thorpe, Crotalus 0 5

Sam Bauer, Crotalus

October 12, 2010 6:13 PM

Arachne? Where? by Sam Bauer, Crotalus

When the signal came, Sam flipped over his quiz so quickly the heel of his hand smacked the desktop. Rubbing it with his other hand without putting down his quill, he read the first few questions and bit the inside of his mouth as he began to think about them. He usually studied the theory longer than the individual spell words, since that took more time to learn and covered more material anyway, but that was a test strategy, not a quiz one.

He scribbled down a few things for number one, thought he nailed numbers two, three, and five, and drew a blank on number four. Six and nine also presented challenges. Once he had something down in every blank, though, Sam handed it in without second-guessing anything, thinking that he'd passed but would need to start working on a good way to explain to his ma how he was going to make up for the not-top grade.

Done early, he spent the rest of the time trying not to tap his feet on the floor or a pencil on the desk too loudly or rapidly, trying to concentrate on writing something. It was hard to wait when he wasn't allowed to talk, as now, though it would have been worse if he'd kept the quiz when he knew he'd done all he could on it. When the lesson began, he finished up a margin note and then tuned in.

Immobulus. Sounded like it did basically the same thing as the Full-Body Bind, but he thought a Full-Body Bind would make someone falling go splat even more violently when they hit the ground, so there were apparently some differences in the physics of it. Also, they were playing against the spiders instead of each other, so while that meant there was no prize to win when there were too many people around to see who got it first, it also meant there wasn't that moment where he was helpless. That was good. He hated to feel confined.

Ducking through taller people to reach the spiders, he took a jar and looked around as Kirstenna spoke to him. Sam was surprised - he liked her all right, but they weren't well enough acquainted for him to immediately think of her asking him to work with her when they didn't happen to be sitting next to each other - but nodded anyway. He did like her all right. "Sure," he said. "Think you'll have trouble? Er, where are we sitting?"

16 Sam Bauer, Crotalus Arachne? Where? 163 Sam Bauer, Crotalus 0 5

Autumn

October 13, 2010 4:14 PM

I'd rather not by Autumn

Autumn smiled. Not because she wanted the other girl-a first year Crotalus, if she remembered correctly-to do poorly but if she was doing better than someone, it meant she wasn't doing too terrible. Or maybe she was, but she wasn't alone in it and that somehow made her feel better.

Besides, it was only polite to smile at someone and Autumn was glad the younger girl had agreed to work with her. Autumn was still nervous about meeting new people and asking them to do things with her. Normally, she'd have preferred to work with Jane or Brad. (Though, truthfully, the former was probably a lot more useful than the latter on schoolwork, but the second year still enjoyed Brad's company.)

Still, they were both known quantities, Autumn had a pretty good idea where she stood with them which was something that she didn't know about the first year. Odds were against her having much opinion about Autumn whatsoever. The second year tended not to try not to stand out, preferring anonymity to being the center of attention. If she was known for anything, Autumn hoped it was being a good student and a good artist.

Still, she didn't want to give the first year a bad impression of her. Autumn had this tendency to want to be liked, or at least not picked on. Granted, this other girl was a year younger than Autumn but that didn't matter. Chelsea used to always torment Adam when they were younger. Now it was Nina that Autumn's older cousin went up against.

"Well, tripping them is a nice start." She said, in a friendly, hopefully encouraging tone. "I mean, at least your spell did something." Spiders were not likely to trip on their own, but Autumn didn't say that out loud as she was afraid it might sound stupid. "I suppose we should try again. I'm honestly not that sure how we're supposed to work together though." Much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't. Autumn sort of hoped the other girl would have some idea.

11 Autumn I'd rather not 164 Autumn 0 5

Sophia Randolph [Pecari]

October 13, 2010 7:40 PM

I can relate to that by Sophia Randolph [Pecari]

In her two years at Sonora, Sophia had found out that she was more or less useless when it came to Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was something she wasn’t very proud of, but it was a reality nonetheless. The class wasn’t like Charms or Transfiguration. For the twelve-year old, it was a waste of her time to have to attend it, she studied and studied, and nothing made sense to her. She knew she needed to know this stuff, it could really come in handy one day, but for the life of her she couldn’t do it, and it annoyed her.

It was time for the dreaded class, and Sophia made her way for what she knew would be a tortuous time. The second year really didn’t want to waste her time in a class she would eventually drop. That time couldn’t come any faster. With her school bag hanging from her shoulder, she entered, and took a seat. She sighed and waited for the torture to begin. The lovely Professor announced a pop quiz. This was not fair! She hadn’t studied, so it was easy to assume that Sophia would do poorly on it. The second-year groaned as she got out the necessary items that would be needed for yet another humiliation in this class.

Before the attempt of not screwing up, she read the questions, and her green eyes widen. She had no idea about half of them. Sophia furrowed her brow, and took a deep breath before starting to answer. Questions 1 to 5 and 7 went rather well, questions 6, 8 and 9 were left blank. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat because she hated doing poorly in classes, it made her feel like a failure, even when she had good grades in almost everything. It was more about disappointing her parents than anything else, they had to sacrifice a lot to send her to Sonora. The Pecari handed in her quiz, feeling quite gloom about the whole affair.

Following the Professor’s lecture, Sophia opened her notebook, and began taking notes. Her book opened to the page indicated. At the mention of handling spiders, she wrinkled her nose, and sighed in resignation. She still had three two more years of DADA to endure. Great.

Sophia didn’t want to play with the spiders, they were icky.

Poking the jar with her wand, she decided it was going to be a not very fun class. She was hesitant to open the jar. For one, she was certain she wouldn’t get the spell right, and secondly, she was afraid the spiders would attack her or something. Sophia was known to have the worst luck when it came to animals. Not wanting to do the assignment, her eyes wandered to the girl next to her. She seemed to be doing quite well with it. She had to admit she was kind of jealous about it.

“Hmm. Sorry, I am just having trouble with it.” She apologized for prying into her work, it was not very polite from her part. Sophia didn’t recognize her, which meant that the girl was a firstie. Sophia smiled at her, “Sophia Randolph.” She extended her hand towards her, she had been rude enough for the day.

0 Sophia Randolph [Pecari] I can relate to that 0 Sophia Randolph [Pecari] 0 5

Jordan

October 15, 2010 9:54 PM

Adventure can be fun. by Jordan

Relief washed over her that the person had agreed to work with her. Oh! Kicking her smile up a notch, she took his hand. “Jordan. Pleasure to meet you, Neal.” Hmm, this had definitely worked in her favor. She had been so concerned over the spiders that she hadn’t really taken the time to pick a suitable partner (a boy) and here one was. Better yet, he was cute. Okay, so his eyes were a little worrisome. How many first and second years looked like they hadn’t slept for weeks? Cucumbers might have helped, but she wasn’t about to discuss a beauty regiment with a boy. He probably would have been looking for a new partner in thirty seconds if she had tried.

Inching closer, Jordan watched with wide brown eyes as she lifted the lid of the container and easily performed the spell. She clapped excitedly. “That was great! Why don’t you show me again? I want to make sure I get it exactly right,” Jordan said solemnly, as if being able to immobilize a spider were the most important thing. Really, she had other things on her mind. The first was that she didn’t want to deal with the spiders and the second was that there was a potentially interesting boy right next to her. Of course, she didn’t know if he actually was or not, but she had every intention of finding out.

She twirled the end of her chestnut hair on the tip of her finger. “So, I’m betting since you’re so good at this that either you’re amazing at defense or that you’re a second year. Maybe both?” According to her magazines, flattery was the second best way to win a guy over. The second was supposedly his stomach, but she had no idea how to cook. Not to mention not having access to a kitchen. This tended to work better for her anyhow. She grinned some more, the dimple appearing in her cheek. “Would you mind helping me with the spell? I think I know the words, but I’m just not sure about how to move my wand and I really don’t want any spiders to get out.”

0 Jordan Adventure can be fun. 0 Jordan 0 5

Ryan

October 17, 2010 1:55 PM

I usually do. by Ryan

Ryan shook his head. "I don't mind. Hi Sara, I'm Ryan O'Malley. It's nice to meet you." He hoped that sounded polite enough. Sara was a Raines and Ryan knew them to be pureblood even though he didn't know the pureblood families by heart. Of the little attention his mother paid to him, one thing she wanted him to know was the pureblood families, so he wouldn't offend them and she had given him a book on geneology to look at so, in order to memorize them. Ryan had not done so though he had tried.

It was probably the only thing she ever had given him. Ryan did get presents on his birthday and his dad put used to put her name on them, but at some point decided it was an insult to Ryan's intelligence to do so. His dad knew better, he really did. Ryan felt sort of bad for him because he tried so hard and couldn't do enough.

It made Ryan feel very guilty too. He often felt like everything was his fault, all the fighting and whatnot-and indeed his sister and mother would tell him that it was. Ryan felt it would be just better for him to live with his grandparents full time when he wasn't at school.

He wasn't just trying to save himself from having to deal with her-okay he was but that wasn't the whole reason. Ryan thought his family would genuninely be happier without him there. His parents wouldn't fight and he wouldn't be yelled at and tormented by his mom and Carrie. The only ones that might not be better off were the house-elves because there wouldn't be someone to take the blame for them.

But right now, Ryan couldn't dwell on it. He had to do his DADA lesson with Sara. He hoped she would like him. Ryan didn't really want any enemies. "Do you want me to go first?" Ryan asked out of both chivalry and a desire to be liked. His mother would probably kill him if he made a girl work with spiders first. Actually, she'd probably have a fit that pureblood girls like Sara had to work with spiders in the first place and somehow make it Ryan's fault.

"I'm not exactly sure what we're supposed to do work together, to be honest." Ryan just liked having someone to talk to while he worked, in hopes the person would become his friend. He needed all that he could get.

11 Ryan I usually do. 176 Ryan 0 5

Neal

October 17, 2010 3:39 PM

That’s something I can agree with by Neal

Jordan’s enthusiasm was nothing short of contagious, and it made Neal a bit more proud of himself to have gotten the spell down so quick. He wasn’t so sure he could walk her through what he did any better than the professor had – if that was even what she wanted, or maybe she just wanted to double check to see if he did it right – but he didn’t mind redoing the spell in the least. After all, spells like this were fun to cast and could be useful to know. He could see himself applying stuff like this to everyday life somehow, which was the whole point of school in the first place. “Thanks,” he told her, his flat tone barely echoing his happiness. “Yeah, I don’t have a problem doing it over.” He put the instructions into swift action and redid the spell on a different spider, feeling pleased as the same effect settled into place.

He hoped he wasn’t coming off cocky since he couldn’t seem to get rid of the slight smile on his face, but he was just happy things fell into place so well for him in this class. “So, I’m betting since you’re so good at this that either you’re amazing at defense or that you’re a second year. Maybe both?” Jordan asked him. “Well, defense is one of my favorite classes,” he answered honestly. No use pretending he had luck in this but lacked interest – he was too straight-forward to try and make himself up to be an effortless spell-caster. “But yeah, I’m a second year in Pecari. I guess that’d make me both. And since you had to ask, I guess that makes you a first year?” he mused aloud, trying to see if he recognized her face in any of his classes last year.

Jordan gave him a dimpled smile as she voiced concerns over how to move her wand. His brows creased as he tried to figure out the best way to show her how to make the want movements. “It’s like a jab and then you bring your wand around completely,” he said as he did the movement to match his haphazard explanation. “There’s really nothing to it, I’m sure you’ll pick up on it.” He hoped his encouraging would be alright, because his tutoring skills seemed to be abysmal. “As for the spiders, I’ll make sure they won’t go anywhere, so you can just aim at any one in the box and focus on the spell without worrying about them,” he promised. If any spiders got too close to the lid, he’d just cast the spell on them and prod them back in the container.

Carefully tilting it back towards her at an angle where she could peer in and cast the spell without the container being flipped over to let any spiders out, Neal nodded at her to give it a try.

0 Neal That’s something I can agree with 0 Neal 0 5

Sara

October 17, 2010 7:38 PM

What about the other times? by Sara

It was still a little unusual to be called Sara by someone she had just met, and she had the notion that the failure to address her as Miss Raines for that one moment before she granted permission to a new acquaintance to call her by her given name was tied somehow to a lower social status than her own, but she smiled charmingly just the same. "And you," she said, taking care to push away her emotions so they didn't show up in place of what she wanted on her face. She wasn't sure, since he confirmed that she had not somehow walked up to the wrong person, what it meant that he hadn't observed the protocols, so she was going to play safely for now.

If it was merely that Ryan wanted to belong to the informal culture of Sonora, well, that was all right. Sara was in Pecari for a reason, and part of it was usually being able to adjust her behavior to the situation. If Sonorans wished to be familiar with her, on the basis that they would spend seven years together more often than they were with their families, then she would allow them to do that, and be familiar with them in return.

If it was that Ryan thought being an O'Malley was somehow better than being a Raines, or that being male somehow gave him privileges that she was to be denied, and was trying to show superiority by calling her Sara, then she would still be polite and charming. That way, she incurred no wrath from her parents or social censure, and he would have no idea who it was going out of her way to make him uncomfortable much later in their acquaintance.

Sara didn't think of herself as a malicious person. She did not enjoy putting people down, the way some of her family did, and she would never actually hurt anyone on purpose. It was just that she couldn't let someone insult her and not know, for herself, that they hadn't gotten away with that. If she ever did, then she was afraid she'd be like Aunt Lila, or Aunt Ellie, or Catherine, or even her own mother. Witches who had to smile and smile while their own husbands insulted them to their faces - sometimes, with her father and Theo Gardiner, without even seeming to realize what they were doing.

She was going to be like Aunt Margaret. Aunt Margaret did not defy the social order, like some women. She'd married extremely well, especially for the family status at that point, and had children, and she was perfectly deferential to Antonio in public all the time. Everyone knew, though, that she was the one arranging all sort of things behind the scenes - there were whispered stories of marriages and assassinations and elections and so forth; Sara didn't find it implausible - and that her husband, far from being outraged, respected her. Father loved Mother, Sara was sure of that, but he didn't respect her very much.

It was how he and Mother felt about Sara, too. They loved her, and they took pride in her little accomplishments, but in the end, she was - a girl. She was a drain on expenses, with her dowry, and once she died, it was very possible that whatever advantage her marriage had gained for the family would evaporate unless she was another Margaret, which most girls were not. Her parents didn't think she was. She was determined to show them otherwise.

Ryan's offer to go first indicated at least the superficial respect one gave to a lady of means, though, so she let the matter drop in her head as she smiled at him again. "If you like," she said, pushing her jar of spiders away just a hair.

Her expression became thoughtful as he offered up yet another statement she didn't quite know the meaning of. He was enigmatic. Sara almost liked that. It meant she might have a bit of a challenge on her hands to win him over to her. "Well, most people have trouble the first time they try a spell," she said, careful to avoid the absolute. It would let him think, if he wanted, that she thought he didn't understand because he was too superior to them all to need to. "If you have someone else watching you, then that person might see what you did wrong, or hear how you mispronounce or - oh, I don't know a word - mis-emphasize something."

All true, but not the advice she'd been given at home on why to always take partner opportunities. The school was not completely oblivious to the real world, and in that world, it was important to have connections outside of the little boxes the Houses put them in. Why, in her real world, almost everyone she would meet would be a Crotalus. If she stayed only with Pecari, she would be hopeless when she graduated and needed friends to rely on. Sara would remain friendly with her, because it was useful, but she was already sure Sophie was not going to be a very good contact for her once they were adults, and Marcus, though she liked him more, would only be of use if she married an actual politician from the area he ended up living in and she needed to gather intelligence on the state of the Muggleborn community. Class was where she would have to begin the connections that could blossom into useful relationships in the dining hall and library and gardens.

0 Sara What about the other times? 0 Sara 0 5

Daisy

October 17, 2010 7:53 PM

I'm sorry by Daisy

Daisy frowned slightly as the older girl beside her - she wasn't someone Daisy had seen at flying lessons, and Daisy knew her memory was very good, so she had to assume that she was dealing with either a second year or a complete rebel, and second years were more common - didn't answer her question. Did she want Daisy's help or did she not?

The vagueness suggested she did, but didn't want to admit it. Her guess was because Sophia Randolph knew she was a first year and was embarrassed to not be doing as well, or that Daisy had implied there could be some benefit for Sophia in their collaboration. Most people, it seemed, would be, though Daisy had never understood why it was such a big deal to ask for help from younger people. It was stupid. Anya knew about all sorts of things Daisy didn't, and she would have tripped herself up more than once if she had ignored Anya just because her cousin was younger.

Still, though - one of the things Anya and Adelle the First and everyone else agreed on was that it was also stupid to tell people they were being stupid. So Daisy didn't do that. Instead, she took Sophia's proffered hand, shook it, and introduced herself in turn. "Daisy Thorpe," she said, throwing in a short, closed-mouth smile just in time for it not to look as rehearsed as smiling usually was for her. Then, because it was what everyone said, she added, "It's nice to meet you."

She looked back at her own still spider. "What are you having trouble with?" she asked, her tone businesslike. It usually was. "The words, the wand, or the magic?"

0 Daisy I'm sorry 0 Daisy 0 5

Jordan

October 17, 2010 8:50 PM

Then one is required. by Jordan

A triumphant look came to Jordan’s eyes when Neal confirmed that he was indeed a second year. She knew he just had to be one, which was even better for her since he was now not only a cute boy, but an older boy. And maybe she hadn’t pegged him quite right in his aptitude for defense, it didn’t really matter. It was his favorite class, which gave a different sort of advantage. Charms was her favorite class so naturally she paid more attention in the class and tried to do better so it could be assumed that he did the same thing for this class.

The brunette was a bit disappointed when Neal gave her some pointers. It hadn’t exactly been what she had been hoping for, but then Dani always did claim that she was farther ahead than she should be. Though, Jordan just thought that her sister was jealous of her. Was it her fault that she already had a healthy interest in the opposite gender? Of course it wasn’t! Dani was just silly. At any rate, things weren’t working out horribly. She paid attention to his movements. Then, when it was her turn, he said he would make sure that none of the spiders escaped. Very gentlemanly.

“Okay, I think I’m ready,” she said, flipping her hair. Boys aside for the moment, she really did think she could do this. Even if it involved spiders. She absolutely hated spiders. When she was younger, she had been playing outside on the front porch and one had come from nowhere to land on her head. Needless to say, she had screamed like there was no tomorrow and her daddy had come running. His attempts to reassure her had done very little and she still had the phobia to which Dani teased her endlessly about. Her sister had even gone so far as to ask for one for Christmas that year. Thankfully, her parents hadn’t allowed that.

She did a test run of the movements and she was about to do the actual spell, but…wait. Oh no! What was the spell again? It was on the tip of her tongue, but it was like she just couldn’t bring it to the surface. Oh, there it was. “Immobulus!” The spider didn’t completely stop and it wasn’t on the verge of being that slow, but maybe it was just a bit. Her lips curved downward into a frown. “I can do better than that. Let me try again.” She took a breath and then tried again. “Immobulus!” Much better. The spider had definitely slowed down.

“Do you want to try again?” She had no qualms if he wanted to use the spell on all the spiders. One was enough for her. Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to end up with an O in this class. Truthfully, she’d be lucky to end up with an A. It wasn’t because she wasn’t intelligent. She just wasn’t book smart. Performing the spells went all right. It was always the written stuff that got her. “Honestly, this is kind of boring. I know you said you like defense, so no offense. I’d just rather be moving around, doing something more than sitting here and waving a wand.”

0 Jordan Then one is required. 0 Jordan 0 5

Kirstenna

October 18, 2010 3:20 PM

A different Spider Lady by Kirstenna

Kirstenna grinned. She hadn't purposely asked Sam, she was just asking whomever was standing by her without looking, as was her way sometime. Kirstenna liked to be random occasionally, in hopes of making new friends. Sophia would always be her best friend, but there was no reason she couldn't have others.

Maybe it would be easier that way if one disappeared like Brian. Kirstenna doubted it though. She was probably going to remember him the rest of her life. Still, she wanted other friends, or she would be lonely forever and Kirstenna couldn't have that either.

And no Bug Lady-spider or beetle-or Impostor would stop her.The Teppenpaw was determined not to let anyone destroy her, whether it be a sinister teacher-they were teachers no matter what else they were-or her grandparents. Kirstenna wouldn't let anyone bring her down completely, even if she did feel down occasionally about Brian.

Anyway, she was glad it was Sam because she had worked with him in Transfiguration last year and had liked him well enough. Kirstenna wanted to get to know him better. Truthfully, she wanted to get to know a lot of her classmates better as most of them seemed pretty cool, but as she'd already spoken to Sam, he was a good place to start. They could hopefully become friends and hopefully he wouldn't be kidnapped or turned into a beetle.

"We can sit at whose ever desk is closer." Kirstenna offered. It really didn't matter to her-these things rarely did-and that seemed as logical to her as anything. She didn't have a burning need to be with her stuff. All she needed was her wand and her jar of spiders.

Spiders that the Teppenpaw was starting to wonder about just the way she did about the beetles in Transfiguration. What if they had once been students. Students who disappeared and-

Oh my! What if Brian hadn't been kidnapped and was now one of the spiders instead? Kirstenna would hate to have to immobilize him. She had been glad when they working with spiders rather than practicing the spell on each other. She didn't have too many qualms about practicing it on a bug, especially one that Professor Levy had collected in hopes of teaching the students to fight back. After all, they needed to be prepared in case Professor Levy was the good one and Beetle Lady was the evil one. Especially to go up against bugs. But if they were really people, especially her friend?

No, no, Kirstenna couldn't think like that right now.If she did, she wouldn't be able to do the spell and learning Defense was important with Beetle Ladies and Impostors running around. She turned back to Sam. "If you really want to though, we can work at your desk. It honestly doesn't matter to me."

11 Kirstenna A different Spider Lady 161 Kirstenna 0 5

Sophia

October 20, 2010 4:37 PM

I am sorry too by Sophia

Daisy’s reaction to her, unnerved Sophia a little bit. She seemed to be very proud, and the second-year didn’t know how to feel about that. Her time at Sonora had been filled with nice people, and this seemed to be the first time that she encountered someone proud, and seemingly arrogant. She didn’t know what to do now, she had approached her, not the other way around. The green-eyed girl wasn’t embarrassed about her lack of DADA skills, she was more irked by it than anything else. Asking someone for help was not demeaning, even if said person was younger. No, the Pecari, could use anybody’s help by this point. She wanted to try and do well in this class, passing it was what she wanted, and by the way the pop quiz had gone, she needed all the help she could get. Still, if the roles were exchanged, Sophia would never act like Daisy. It just went against everything her parents had taught her. Besides, Sophia liked helping people.

“Nice to meet you too, Daisy.” Sophia returned the smile while shaking Daisy’s hand. Okay, maybe she had rushed into judging Daisy. She mentally slapped herself for it, because it was really out of character for the Pecari to think ill of people she had just met, but the way Daisy had been acting with the frowning and all, made Sophia think something that might have been just a mirage.

Sophia sighed, and gave her a sheepish smile, “To be honest, I just have a general problem with DADA.” She shrugged. Maybe she was lacking the DADA gene or something. She preferred Potions, Transfiguration, or Charms. Especially charms, Professor Mckindy was awesome, and a really good teacher. The twelve-year old loved that class, not to mention that the Professor was kind of cute.

“How do you do it?” she asked curiously, it always amazed her how people could do well in this class. “I never seem to grasp anything here.” She blushed a little bit. She hated not doing well in classes.

0 Sophia I am sorry too 0 Sophia 0 5

Daisy

October 20, 2010 7:49 PM

Still, we're better off than the optimists by Daisy

Daisy wasn't sure what to make out of Sophia's analysis of her problem with the spell - or, as it were, the entire subject. She thought, sometimes, that she could detect a slight difference between how magic felt and how easily it worked in Charms and Transfiguration, but not enough for her to think it was more than a slight inclination and a difference in spell level. It was never enough to keep her from doing what she had to do, if she concentrated hard enough.

School was, in a pleasant surprise, turning out to provide many practical uses for some of her mother's lessons. She hadn't been taught to keep her emotions firmly under control for the purposes of doing magic, but it worked better than it did for being able to act like she felt whatever was socially appropriate to feel. Magic worked best when she wasn't distracted by strong feelings.

That was harder some days than others. Today, it wasn't so bad. She almost truly felt like she didn't care what anyone thought of her, up to and including family and professors - though she wasn't stupid enough to let anyone know that on purpose, of course.

"I don't really know," she admitted after thinking about it for a moment, watching as the spider she'd immobilized came unfrozen and began to scurry frantically around the bottom of the jar. "I just...do it. I concentrate, I do what the professor told us to do, I say the word the way she told us to say it, and it works." She gave a short, nervous laugh, acutely aware there was something there to know that she didn't. "I wasn't really taught much magical theory growing up. A - Mother didn't think it was important enough." She couldn't call Adelle the First by her name in front of outsiders, just as she couldn't call her Adelle the First to her face. Mother was the only thing acceptable in both immediate and general society encounters.

0 Daisy Still, we're better off than the optimists 0 Daisy 0 5

Ryan

October 23, 2010 5:57 PM

Those times, I just can't win. by Ryan

It wasn't long before Ryan realized his faux pas. "I am so sorry, Miss Raines. I didn't mean to call you by your first name without your permission." The Crotalus apologized to his classmate profusely. He was from an important pureblood family-two actually, his mother belonged to the most pureb important pureblood family in Colorado and one of the most influential between the Mississippi River and California-and was well aware that the Raines family was just as good as the O'Malleys and Brockerts, but Ryan was not used to being around other pureblood children. His mother had never really thought that he was worthy of socializing with them and if he was home for one of his sister's lavish birthday parties, he was to stay in his room, make no noise and pretend not to be there. As far as Ryan was concerned, it would be better if he just wasn't.

Unfortunately, the only children Ryan had met prior to Sonora were his sister and cousins and it would have been weird to call Arabella and Amity both 'Miss Brockert' not to mention confusing. He didn't even-thankfully-have to call Carrie 'Miss O'Malley' possibly because Ryan was not supposed to address his little sister at all. (Another thing he was really okay with as his sister was just plain mean to him.)

Still, his mom would be very very very mad at him if she somehow found out Ryan had referred to Miss Raines as Sara without permission. Actually, come to think of it, his mother would probably not want him to call her Sara even if she did, but Ryan was so much more comfortable using first names.

Plus, Ryan did not want to offend Sar-Miss Raines. He just wanted her to like him. Not because of any pureblood status they both posessed but just because he didn't want enemies and conflict. Ryan got enough of that at home.

He looked at his partner. What she had said seemed incredibly intelligent. "I never thought of it that way." Ryan replied. The people in his class sure seemed awfully smart. Sophie was amazing at Potions and her roommate seemed to be just as clever. Not to mention the Aladrens and some of the second years. "I'll give it a try then." He smiled shyly over at her. "Tell me what I do wrong, ok?" The Crotalus only hoped that she would be nicer about it than his mother was.

Ryan pulled out his wand and waved it over the jar, using the motion and inflection that Professor Levy had taught them. " Immobulus. "

About half the legs on two of the spiders stopped moving. The rest seemed to be in the same condition as before. Ryan winced, which he hoped Sara, er Miss Raines, would take it as him being embarassed about not getting it right rather than sympathy for the spiders. Somehow, being half immobilized seemed worse to him than being totally immobilized but Ryan didn't want Miss Raines to think he was too sensitive. Boys were not supposed to empathize when they immobilized bugs. They were supposed to be tough.

He looked over at the Pecari. "Do you want me to try again or would you like to?" Whatever she wanted was likely to be what Ryan would do.

11 Ryan Those times, I just can't win. 176 Ryan 0 5

Sophia

October 24, 2010 6:41 PM

I used to be an optimist by Sophia

Sophia eagerly listened to Daisy, she wanted to find an answer to her troubles with DADA, she really did. The second-year seriously thought that something was wrong with her. It was not normal to have so many problems with one subject, especially since Transfiguration and Charms were more or less similar to this? Or maybe she was just mistaken. Maybe the magic was different? Sophia didn’t know a lot about magical theory, it was more of a practiced thing for her, still she was failing this class, and she didn’t like that one bit. As it turned out, Daisy had no idea of what she was doing, or why she was good at it. That didn’t help her, at all. It wasn’t Daisy’s fault she was useless when it came to DADA, but Sophia was just frustrated. What would happen if she encountered something horrible and didn’t know how to defend herself? She would die, that was what would happen.

She gave Daisy a smile, even when she couldn’t help her, because she had taken her time to hear her out. “Thanks, anyway.” She sighed, and looked at her jar with spiders. Now, should she attempt it? Or just wait until the end of class and sulk somewhere else? The green-eyed little witch decided to attempt it, even when she was sure she would fail. This was just so frustrating to her.

Opening the jar, she pointed her wand to a spider that was crawling out of it. She refrained from doing any kind of noise, she hated bugs. She took a deep breath, and attempted the spell. Sophia had done everything Prof. Levy had shown them. It hadn’t worked; the spider was now running for its freedom. She sighed in frustration, and clenched her fists. She looked at Daisy, “See? I can’t get it right.” She flopped into her chair in complete defeat, not matter how hard she tried, she never could manage to do anything right here. It was a reality, and she couldn’t change that, she decided that she, in fact, was lacking the DADA gene. No other explanation.

0 Sophia I used to be an optimist 0 Sophia 0 5

Sara

October 27, 2010 10:55 PM

But you should always try anyway. by Sara

Sara laughed politely when Ryan began to apologize to her. All was well, then. It had just been a slip of the tongue, one encouraged by how school society worked. They had been here long enough for that to happen. She would have to be careful of her own manners. "It's quite all right," she said. "It's what people do here. May I call you Ryan?"

Manners were very well, but she had to survive here. Work here. Sticking to principles no one around her held would be silly. Besides, she found many of them tiresome anyway.

She flushed slightly at what she read as praise - he hadn't thought of what she thought of, he thought it was worth a try, a pureblood boy thought she had a good idea - and smiled back, genuinely this time. Maybe he wouldn't be much of a challenge to like after all. "All right," she said. "Er - I mean, I'll watch. You. Not that I think you're going to do something wrong."

Stupid, stupid, stupid, she scolded herself. She wasn't used to people her own age, and it was making her slip up that this one was being amiable.

Luckily, he didn't do anything wrong. It didn't work all the way, but it wasn't a failure. "That's very good," she said, leaning further toward Ryan's desk to see. "Sometimes you just have to - work up a spell. To make it strong enough to work." She wasn't sure why he was giving her all the control, but she didn't feel completely comfortable dominating the situation. Not openly, with his consent. "Why don't I try now, and then you try, and we can alternate until we both have it?"

0 Sara But you should always try anyway. 0 Sara 0 5