Librarian DiAnna Diaz
February 10, 2011 2:41 PM
Helpers this way, please by Librarian DiAnna Diaz
There had only been four students sign up to help DiAnna out in the library, and four was plenty. As two had asked to be monitors, one had requested assistant and the other hadn't specified, DiAnna decided to run with two of each. She sent out a short note to each student who'd signed up - Rachel Bauer of Crotalus and Samantha Hamilton of Aladren were monitors with a few more responsibilities, and the would be assisted by Renée Errant of Crotalus, and Daniel Nash of Aladren, who was also Head Boy - to inform them of their role and she'd like to meet them the next day after classes finished. It hadn't escaped the librarian's attention that only two Houses were represented in this small group, but as students were sorted based on personality traits then she supposed that make sense.As she'd left the sheet up to give a couple of weeks for students to add their names, it was a month into the school term before DiAnna held the first meeting. Luckily, this was sufficient for her to have found her way round the various sections of the library so she didn't look like she was completely clueless, but she could still use the extra help. When the new monitors and assistants turned up to their first meeting, they were greeted by several large piles of books to be returned. They were also greeted by the librarian.
"Hey, everyone thanks for coming. For anyone who hasn't bumped into me yet, I'm Miss Diaz, I can usually be found right here." Having just graudated from Sapienti University at the start of the summer, DiAnna was closer to the students' age than most of their teachers. She was more easily identified, however, by the long flowing purple and black velvet clothes, long black wavy hair, high-heeled boots, and a great deal of eye make-up. In addition, as already mentioned, she could usually be found in the library. "If you guys could just let me know which of you is which I'll do my best to remember your names." Daniel, admittedly could easily be identified, by being male, obviously older, and wearing a couple of shiny badges on his robes. The girls were less immediately distinguishable.
"If you guys just want to check in with me from time to time when you've got a free moment and want to help out then that will be great. If anything major happens I'll maybe drop you a note and ask for your help, but so far," she crossed her fingers, "it's been fairly quiet." It might change later in the year when exams happened, but she didn't have any fifth or seventh years among her helpers so theoretically they would be around to assist with the extra library users. "For now we have this small mountain of books," DiAnna waved her hand over the pile, "to put back. If you could give me a hand I'd really appreciate it."
Subthreads: Present and Accounted For by Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant with Renée Errant {Library Assistant}
I have arrived. Cower in terror, lesser mortals. by Rachel Bauer, Library Monitor with Samantha Hamilton, Samantha
0
Librarian DiAnna Diaz
Helpers this way, please
0
Librarian DiAnna Diaz
1
5
Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
February 11, 2011 11:30 AM
Present and Accounted For by Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
As Daniel walked through the library every time he left or returned to his Commons, not to mention his recent research project into 'What Kind of Career I Want to Pursue', Daniel had already run across the librarian before she introduced herself to the small group of assistants and monitors. (He'd initially been taken about by the make-up, the boots and the velvet clothes, but he was adjusting. Slowly.)He looked at the others and decided he totally could have had Monitor if he'd asked for it, but he hadn't and he didn't feel threatened by Rachel or Samantha so he was okay with his demotion to mere assistant this year.
Okay with it, but not pleased. He touched the edge of his Head Boy badge to remind himself that he really didn't need to be Library Monitor to show off his Leadership skills anymore. Besides, he had RATS in less than two years, and graduation right after that and he still had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He couldn't afford to spend all of his library time monitoring things anymore.
Besides which, he was the only returning Library helper. Jera had graduated, and he was sad to see Taylor wasn't here this time, but he had years of experience on even Ms. Diaz herself. They'd be coming to him even without the Monitor title.
"I'm Daniel Nash," he said when it was his turn to introduce himself, "I was the Monitor under Ms. Simms, so I know where pretty much everything belongs." He also knew where some things were that weren't where they belonged, but he tried not to think about The Living Sweetner Packets, else he'd try to report them to Professor Levy and she'd think he was crazy.
Daniel was well aware Sweetner Packets were not living creatures, after all. The malevolence he felt from them was obviously all in his head. So he was just not going to say anything, and he'd let somebody else throw them away when they found them. He was not going to touch the things with a ten foot pole himself, though. Merlin only knew how long they'd been there. Plotting.
Fortunately, the small mountain of books to put away was a welcome distraction, and something he could do (and may have done) in his sleep. "I'll sort them," he said, and started piling the books into five piles. (He would have only done four, but Ms. Diaz seemed willing to join in as well.) "These two," he said when he was done, pointing at two of the piles, "are ones that belong on the top shelves." Renee, Rachel, and Samantha might have trouble reaching those, so he'd divided by height as well as subject area. He'd done this often enough with the last batch of assistants that he knew where the vast majority of the books belonged vertically as well as categorically.
"I'll take these," he volunteered, picking up the larger pile of top shelf books, and headed over to the Charms section.
1
Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
Present and Accounted For
130
Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
0
5
Renée Errant {Library Assistant}
February 14, 2011 1:36 AM
A bit tardy, but I'm here as well. by Renée Errant {Library Assistant}
Though her father had expressed pure joy at her letter, absolutely ecstatic that she had signed up to help at the library, Renée's mother and brother were merely confused. She had pretty much expected her father would go overboard with the excitement, no doubt taking the fact that she had signed up as an indication that she would follow in his own academic plaid wearing footsteps. 'As if.' She made her way to the library, holding a quill between her pressed lips, as she clipped her dark curls back so they wouldn't fall in her face.'Still, they didn't have to be so surprised.' She gave a mental huff, annoyed at Marianna and Gabriel's reaction to her letter. 'You'd think I'd never read a book before.' While it was true that Renée was not the most studious of the family, she had various interests and she was not particularly adverse to looking up more about these interests. She winded around a bookcase and saw a gathering of three students and an adult. 'Just because I tend not to study so much for school doesn't mean I hate books. I just want to meet them on my own terms.' She joined the circle hurriedly, taking the quill from her mouth and stuffing it into the bag she had slung over her shoulder.
It took her a moment, but Renée suddenly realized what their supposed librarian was wearing. She looked gorgeous. Renée rolled her eyes at her own thought and inwardly huffed at herself. Though she had done her best to repress it, it was hard not appreciating certain styles when she had a popular stylish dress and robe maker for a mother. It was like Marianna was in the room with Renée as she looked at Ms. Diaz. Could hear her cooing about how pretty the purple fabric was. 'Oh mama. No matter where I go...' She smiled fondly. She and her mother were so alike personality wise, and yet their interests ran along polar paths. Her mother on one end, and Renée on the other.
"Oh, hola." Renée raised her hand in a shy wave at the group, tucking a dark curl that didn't really need to be touched behind one ear. "I'm Renée Errant. Ah, I guess I'm - I guess I'm looking forward to this." She restrained herself from a nervous giggle and just ducked her head down, smiling wide for no logical reason. It hadn't escaped her notice that she was the youngest one there. And the absolute oldest just happened to be Head Boy. If the badge displayed proudly on his chest hadn't given him away, then she would have recognized him anyway from last year's game against Crotalus in the finals.
Ms. Diaz told them what she wanted after everyone had introduced themselves, and Renée turned to watch the Head Boy sort the books into stacks. He might have been only a library assistant like her, but he undoubtedly held the authority. She waited until he had gone with his stack, and then grabbed her own, smiling her cute slightly crooked smile when faced with her favorite genre of school books; Care of Magical Creatures. She picked up a stack, it was little heavy but bearable, and made her way to her section.
There was a silver leather bound book that growled at her, and another hardbound book that phased through her hands but other than that the work was straightforward and simple. She straightened up a fallen pile on the shelf and then noticed a misplaced book. Amanda's Amour: Seventy Seven Surefire Steps and Spells to Catch You Your Man. She looked at it for a moment, then began a series of giggles. "Probably doesn't belong here." She spoke to herself, then looked around unsure.
"Um, Head Boy?" She asked, smiling nervously, approaching the charms section. "Does this go in the charms section?" She stretched out the book to him, carefully, as if afraid he might lunge at it or bite. Again she felt as if her body were taken over by the giggles, though she did not give into them. She didn't care that she was consumed by giddiness, she did not want to make a fool out of herself in front of the Head Boy.
0
Renée Errant {Library Assistant}
A bit tardy, but I'm here as well.
0
Renée Errant {Library Assistant}
0
5
Rachel Bauer, Library Monitor
February 14, 2011 2:37 PM
I have arrived. Cower in terror, lesser mortals. by Rachel Bauer, Library Monitor
She had kept an eye on the list, prepared to risk the trouble she’d get into if she were caught doing it to scratch it out if Raines’ name appeared, but when the day came for the library monitors and assistants to meet each other and the new librarian, her least-favorite person was still missing from the proceedings. Smiling a little more brightly than usual at Daniel, Renée, Samantha, and Librarian Diaz, Rachel couldn’t help but feel a little smug, even though she hadn’t so much planned this as had it handed to her by Fate in a kind mood. She had come up with the thoughts, and that was something.Rachel had, as it happened, seen the new librarian a few times – it was one of those things that came with having to skulk around so as not to be seen sitting at one table and studying too long – and had been wondering if she always dressed that way. It was starting to look more and more like she did. Rachel wasn’t sure if she should wince or just give the woman some points for having the guts, which itself made her wonder if she’d been spending too much time at a school where a teacher routinely walked around wearing a pink bubble hat. Anyone dressed in either Diaz or McKindy style would be unceremoniously banished from her mother’s presence so fast it would make their heads spin, but here she was, being kind of okay with it.
She looked down at her own outfit, just to assure herself that unconventional taste in fashion hadn’t begun to transfer itself by osmosis, but while she felt her slightly-less-high-than-the-librarian’s high-heeled boots and high-necked purple tank top, the neck surrounded by heavy beads cut to look like gems, were a little suspect, they still within normal social parameters. She couldn’t see her eyes, but was even more certain that her eye make-up was okay. Rachel thought her eyes were a pretty shade of blue, but they were too narrow, giving her what Momma called a too-determined look, so she had to be very careful about how she worked with them so the color was noticed instead of their failure to be wide and alluring. That meant really heavy stuff was just not an option. The rest of her make-up was beyond question, and, with her blonde hair smooth and shining and the smile, it did a lot to take away any suspicion associated with her footwear and top. She was still the second best-looking thing here, after Daniel Nash.
Who might have actually gotten hotter over the summer. Rachel was impressed, especially since the badges would normally be enough to dock at least two appearance points from anyone. It was completely pointless, since she was younger than he was and personality-wise he came across as way too uptight and the rumor mill had it he was Charlie Abbott’s, but she smiled at him as she joined the tiny group around the librarian.
“I’m Rachel,” she said when called upon to introduce herself. “Rachel Bauer, Crotalus. Great finally meeting you.” As opposed to ducking around, trying to keep Diaz from noticing that she’d been at the end of an awful lot of aisles in the course of one day. It would be so much simpler if she could just check out lots of books at once and take them back to her nice private dorm room, but she didn’t want to be seen levitating them down the hall.
Of course, she was about to demonstrate that she knew her way around the second-highest pile – Potions and Potions history, mostly, it looked like; her sister had been complaining about how Fawcett was the Source of All Evil, and Rachel guessed this was why – pretty well, so some of that was about as important as technically being a Monitor when one of the Assistants was the Head Boy. It was hard, but Rachel decided not to say anything. Momma always lectured her about seeming too aggressive – and the irony of Emily Layne saying that was not lost on her, but she’d learned that it was a bad idea to point it out – and Daniel could pull rank on her any old time he wanted, up to and including in here, since he’d been a Monitor before, and that would just be annoying.
“I’ve got these,” she said, taking the second stack. If something was over her head, which wasn’t too likely since she wasn’t really short and was taller thanks to her shoes, she could just levitate it. Which was how she mostly intended to move it around, once she demonstrated that she could lift it for the benefit of the other library staff. There was a difference between making a point and being an idiot who pulled a muscle and couldn’t admit it to the medic and had to go around sore for a while.
16
Rachel Bauer, Library Monitor
I have arrived. Cower in terror, lesser mortals.
154
Rachel Bauer, Library Monitor
0
5
Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
February 16, 2011 11:36 AM
Seriously? 77 Surefire Steps? by Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
Daniel suppressed a frown at Samantha as she put away her own pile of books; the more he looked at her in this setting, the more he was convinced she had been one of the bitty little Assistants the first year he was Monitor. He mostly associated her with Quidditch now, since that where he'd been seeing her for the last month, but now he was fairly sure he wasn't the only returning helper after all.Though he still felt he was the most qualified of them to be a Monitor (if he had the time for it anyway), it made him feel better about not having the formal title if the other Aladren had already worked with Ms. Simms, too. Even if she had dropped out last year, which he didn't entirely approve of, but she was back now so that counted for something.
He turned back to putting away his own stack of books before anyone thought he was stalking the younger girl or something, but he hadn't even gotten more than one put back away when someone called for the Head Boy.
Daniel turned toward the voice, feeling a bubbly satisfaction inside that this form of address was used for him, and found the other Assistant holding a book out toward him. He took it warily, because some books in this place were dangerous, and she was holding it rather carefully herself.
A glance at the title made him both frown and sigh. He hadn't seen this particular volume before, but he'd seen its ilk. Most of them weren't found in the charms section, though. Love potions always seemed to be the preferred route over Love spells, though those did not seem to be entirely uncommon either unfortunately.
"Restricted, mind control," he corrected. Charms? Seriously? Where anybody doing first year homework could stumble upon that? "With the ones on love potions. I'll show you." As a Library Assistant, she might be called upon to put away other such books, so he lead her back to the area where those were kept.
1
Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
Seriously? 77 Surefire Steps?
130
Daniel Nash II, Head Boy, Library Assistant
0
5
Renée
February 18, 2011 8:27 AM
For those with a heck of alot of time on their hands by Renée
"What? Really?" Renée couldn't stop herself this time and giggled as she followed the Head Boy. "But it's only love spells!" She shook her head in amazement as they entered the restricted section. She grinned at the eerie book covers, her hands dancing across passing spines until one snapped at her. "I can come here whenever I'm working, huh?" She asked, attempting for casualness. "Just to put things away, I mean."She waited for him to show her the volumes of Love Potions and laughed lightly, her smile bright. "Why do we even have these books?" She pulled one out of the shelf, noting that the dust hadn't quite had the chance to settle over it like the others. "Do we study this stuff in class later on or something?" It seemed odd for the school to have the books. Renée opened up to a page, staring in both interest and confusion at the pictures winking up at her from complex poses she had never seen before. "Huh." Was all she said. She put the book back and then looked up at Head Boy.
"Okay, thank you." She smiled and then turned to head back to her stacking.
0
Renée
For those with a heck of alot of time on their hands
0
Renée
0
5
Daniel Nash II
February 18, 2011 4:23 PM
And only a few principles by Daniel Nash II
Daniel frowned at the girl. "Love spells are dangerous and intrusive," he told her. He'd been the victim of just a simple Inhibition Lowering potion during his first year, and that had caused more than enough trouble for the couple of hours it lasted, never mind the kind of damage that could have happened if he'd thought he actually loved Charlie.He didn't really like the second year's eagerness to be in the restricted section, but she was an assistant, so he nodded, "Yeah, you can come in to put away books. Some of it is covered in higher level courses, so there will be books to put away."
Once the Seventy-Seven Steps were put away, Daniel was glad to get back to putting away his own pile of Charms books. That section of the library creeped him out. Which was the other reason he'd decided against a career in DADA or Auroring.
1
Daniel Nash II
And only a few principles
130
Daniel Nash II
0
5
Samantha Hamilton
February 23, 2011 8:12 AM
Are you calling me a lesser mortal? by Samantha Hamilton
Seeing as she spent so much of her time in the library anyway, Samantha was happy to help out the new librarian. She was an Aladren, and as the past three years had taught her, this was the sort of thing that was expected of an Aladren. That sorting potion probably knew what it was talking about, even if Samantha knew she wasn't really a logical person. She liked books and she liked reading, and she had to study a lot for her classes because she thought otherwise she might get left behind - she was still slow at this magic stuff, and honestly felt that Muggleborns should have a crash course or something to get them started. There was stuff the professors mentioned that seemed to make perfect sense to most of the class, and go right over Samantha's head. It wasn't fair, but moaning about it not being fair wasn't going to pass her in classes, whereas studying avidly might. Hence she studied.When she met the other assitants and monitors, and the librarian for the first time poperly, Samantha first noticed she wasn't the youngest helper, which was great, and then she couldn't take her eyes of the clothes the librarian was wearing. She stared for a few seconds, and then while the other helpers introduced themselves, Samantha stared at their clothing, too. Renée looked okay, but Daniel and rachel looked like they were dressed up to go out somewhere nice, not to put away soem old books. Samantha herself was clothed in jeans that had tears on both knees, sneakers that were too tatty and should be thrown away soon, and a blue t-shirt with a purple Care Bear on it - practically all her tops were old sport shirts that had once belonged to her older brother, or cutesy motif tops that her Mom, step-dad, Dad, or step-sisters had bought for her in a vain effort to make her less of a tomboy. Good luck with that. Samantha was comfortable in her clothes (colorful cartoons aside) and they were certainly appropriate for the task of putting away books.
Having introduced herself along with the others, Samantha helped herself to one of Daniel's stacks and looked where she should be headed - most of them seemed to be herbology books, which was weird, because that wasn't even a subject taught at Sonora. Maybe someone was reading up on flowers or something, or maybe herbology books could be useful for other subjects. Like, maybe potions, as they cut up so many different plants. Whatever the reason, Samantha carried the books to their correct section, and ended up working near Rachel Bauer. samantha had never spoken to the older girl before, but guessed she was probably a relative of the other Sam, because Bauer wasn't that common a surname.
She worked silently for a couple of minutes, looking among the shelves for where her book should be and sliding it back into place, but then it felt awkward. Having always been chatty, Samantha said, "I like your top." She wouldn't ever wear it herself, but it sort of looked nice on Rachel, in a going out way, not really in a working in the library way.
0
Samantha Hamilton
Are you calling me a lesser mortal?
159
Samantha Hamilton
0
5
Rachel
February 24, 2011 5:19 PM
No, you're an equal mortal. by Rachel
Putting away the Potions books wasn’t too hard, mostly because Rachel was good at the subject and put a lot of effort into Fawcett’s supplemental assignments and got really familiar with the shelves of sections she spent a lot of time in because of how often she had to remember where a specific book went so she could put it back as though she’d never taken it down. She fell easily into a pattern of moving between the stack she had floating behind her to the shelves, scanning the shelves, and then shelving the book, and was so preoccupied by it that she didn’t even really notice that one of the others had followed her.Because of that, she jumped a little when Samantha spoke to her, but then looked over at the younger girl with a smile. “Thanks,” she said. “It’s really old.” Two years, nearly, which was practically ancient in fashion circles, but she didn’t wear it all that often, and had never really gotten into the habit of discarding clothes after a few months anyway. Probably one of the reasons why her step-aunt made so many comments about middle class just not washing out, but Rachel was firm in her conviction that everyone had at least a few favorite shirts.
Okay, except Alicia, but Alicia was special and Alicia was nine. She was still in that mode where she thought the things Momma said should be taken at complete face value, for Merlin’s sake. Half of that was acting, doing her best to do what no one did all the time for real because she’d been told to. Rachel thought she’d still had a little of that going on when she came to Sonora at eleven, and Alicia was the baby. She would have been a little over-girly and naïve even if their parents had still been married.
“Your outfit looks really comfortable,” she said, since that was the only reply she could think of that didn’t reveal she at least knew the basic theory of Care Bears even if she’d never actually gotten into that Before. “Especially the shoes. Even with charms, these things are usually murder by the end of the day.”
16
Rachel
No, you're an equal mortal.
154
Rachel
0
5
Samantha
March 02, 2011 9:28 AM
*is an equal mortal* by Samantha
Rachel claimed that her top was really old, and Samantha looked at it again just to be sure. It certinaly didn't look old. maybe there were spells she could learn to keep her clothes looking new - that might be worth it - or maybe it was just old in terms of how frequently rachel bought her clothes. If she was anything like Gemma, Samantha's oldest step-sister on her dad's side, 'really old' could mean 'bought it last year.' Deciding not to ask which it was, Samantha put away another book and couldn't help smiling at Rachel's comment that her outfit looked really comfortable. She couldn't say it was nice, because that would almost certainly be a lie, but she had replied without lying. Samantha appreicated that."It is comfortable," she replied, sounding happy about it - she would much rather be comfortable than look nice any day. "I have some a bit like that," she gestured towards rachel's shoes. "They kill my feet to walk in," she said, "so I never wear them." She had lots of clothes she never wore - but then, she had lots of people buying her clothes or offering her hand-me-downs (like Gemma) and really it was entirely pointless, because jeans and t-shirts were what kept her happy. She supposed if she ever got invited to parties or went out somehwere nice to eat then she might make more of an effort to mark the occasion. As it was, she hadn't been invited to a birthday party since she was about seven, and the only place her step-dad ever took them to eat was a crummy local diner or to the big golden archways. There was just no point changing out of her jeans and sneakers for that.
It took a few more seconds of replacing books on shelves before Samantha took in what Rachel had said and realized its importance. "Wait, you said there were charms on those?" she asked. Sure, she'd said that by the end of the day they were uncomfortable, but Samantha's shoes and boots were painful after about half an hour. Maybe if Rachel could teach her the charm then she could wear them... but then would she even want to? Just to class? Maybe, under her robes... for fun... "Could you teach me?"
0
Samantha
*is an equal mortal*
0
Samantha
0
5
Rachel
March 09, 2011 1:59 PM
Offering instruction. by Rachel
“The price of beauty,” Rachel joked when Samantha said she, too, had lovely but torturous shoes somewhere. Not really funny to her, but more right this second than it normally would be. Something about being in the library in the open, working with someone wearing a Care Bears shirt, and still having a slight feeling of having somehow gotten up one on Raines had put her in one of those rare moods where she didn’t take herself quite as seriously as usual, and she could see, from the outside, how vaguely funny her constant running back and forth to change clothes and redo her hair was.It was weird. At least half her life, now, had been spent as Jeremy’s stepdaughter, who was expected to do these things. She thought she would have forgotten that it wasn’t just natural by now. Probably Sam’s fault that she hadn’t. They weren’t on the best of terms when they were on terms at all, but he was still her cousin, and occasionally they exchanged two words in passing that were completely civil. Plus, they were in the same House, in adjacent years, so it was kind of inevitable that she was going to see him around, and that doing so was going to remind her that they’d once been closer than they were now. Back when she still wore sneakers, including a few pairs in not much better condition than Samantha’s footwear, which had been even before the divorce, but still.
She was surprised out of her thoughts on that and her shelving alike when Samantha asked about the comfort charms on her shoes. She was even more surprised to be asked to act as teacher, but couldn’t see anything wrong with it. Even those Crotalus girls used as a byword for low IQs were expected to know this kind of thing inside and out, and Rachel was pretty sure she was not known as a complete dunce. “Sure,” she said with a smile, nodding as she took out her wand. “Some of the more complicated stuff, you practically have to go to the boutiques for – “ stupid trade secrets – “but I can show you the everyday version.”
She floated a chair from the nearest table over and sat down, figuring her boots could use a refresher if she was going to be up moving around the library a lot this afternoon anyway. “You just take your wand like this – “ she made a long, oval movement around the sole of her shoe – “ and say mollis.” Instantly, the inside of it began to feel better, as though she were standing on a newly-inflated air bubble. “Easy enough, right?”
16
Rachel
Offering instruction.
154
Rachel
0
5
Samantha
March 14, 2011 1:34 PM
Being taught by Samantha
Rachel agreed to show Samantha the spell, and the third year felt a thrill of excitement. Not just at the fact that she might be able to wear some of her clothes without them disfiguring parts of her anatomy, but also because she was learning magic outside of class - that hadn't happened before. An older student was teaching her a fashion spell in the library - that was pretty cool. The Aladren watched with interest as Rachel performed the spell - it looked easy enough, as Rachel said."Right," Samantha agreed, nodding. She thought she should probably try it while Rachel was there, to offer corrections if necessary, but the well-worn sneakers already were comfortable. Nevertheless, the third year took her wand from the small shoulder bag she'd deposited by her books, and prepared to try the spell. She balanced on her right leg, lifting her left foot up and bending her knee, so the sole was more or less accessible. She moved her wand like Rachel had done, and incanted the spell. Immediately the shoe was yet more comfortable, as if her foot was incased in a cusion of soft air, as bizarre as that sounded. "Hey wow," Samantha exclaimed, delighted at the result. She immediately cast the spell on her other foot, too. "That's phenomenal," she said, sufficiently delighted to expand her vocabulary beyond 'cool' and 'awesome'. She took a couple of steps in her newly comfortable shoes. If this spell made her boots feel like this then she might even wear them to dinner later.
"I feel like someone should have told me about this years ago," Samantha said. Admittedly most magic was still new to her, but things like this should be available to girls from the age of eleven; Samantha was recently fourteen. "Do you know any other spells like that?" she asked Rachel. "Like, to make a blouse stay flat without ironing it, or, I dunno, to keep your hair in place without hairspray or something?" Samantha's light brown hair was usually fairly neatly tied back in a ponytail, but she was rarely more adventurous than that. For one she still believed comfort was more important than looking good, but for another she detested the smell of hairspray - it made her choke.
0
Samantha
Being taught
0
Samantha
0
5
Rachel
March 28, 2011 4:31 PM
You're a good student (WotW). by Rachel
Rachel laughed as the younger girl exclaimed over the effects of the spell. “It is, isn’t it?” she said, going ahead and re-charming her other shoe while she was at it. Doubling up didn’t make the charm last longer or anything that she could tell, but it could make standing more comfortable for a few minutes. “I couldn’t live without this stuff.”She nodded sympathetically when Samantha said she should have learned about this sort of thing earlier. It was stupid, really, how this kind of magic was regarded. It was practical stuff, some of it, but there was this stigma against talking about it. Rachel guessed she could get why they didn’t talk about it in classes, since the point was to seem effortlessly perfect (though she thought that was kind of stupid, too, and assumed a much lower brain cell count for males of the species than Rachel really hoped they had), but a girl couldn’t even talk about it with other girls, or read things about it, without everyone assuming she was a ditz.
Well, maybe they could do something about that. Maybe not on a big scale, since she really doubted she and Samantha Hamilton had much of a chance of starting a social revolution with two women, one of whom had to be as effortlessly perfect for other girls as she did for anyone else, but between themselves anyway. And have some girl fun in the process.
“All that and more,” she said, smiling, then glanced around to make sure the librarian wasn't about to descend on them. “Every girl alive needs to know how to get wrinkles out and keep hair up. Let’s finish putting these books up, and then I’ll show you all the tricks, okay?”
16
Rachel
You're a good student (WotW).
154
Rachel
0
5