Professor Kijewski
December 30, 2005 1:23 AM
Year 1, Lesson 2 by Professor Kijewski
Kiva left her office later than what she had planned. Since the blizzard, she had been unable to teach her classes outside in the clearing like she had been. She was rather perturbed by this as she actually enjoyed teaching outside (made her feel more at ease being outside than it did being inside) so now she had a special classroom for her students were she could teach her lessons.She had been able to charm the classroom as she saw fit. The ground was a mimic to the grounds outside, with an occasional flower or tree littered the classroom, but the resemblance to the clearing outside was remarkable. Yes, Kiva could make do with what she had so long as she could teach in the surroundings such as this.
She made it to her classroom moments before the lesson was meant to start. She was happy to see some students already there waiting for her, “Good morning.” She greeted them with a smile and went to where her desk was located to find the creature she was to be teaching that day. She lifted a carrier box and set it down on her desk. Today she wore a pair of jeans and a sweater beneath plain black robes. She wore her comfortable sneakers with her hair falling in loose curls around her head. She couldn’t wait until the snow went away so that she could return to her capris and sandals.
Once everyone was settled into the grass or chose to stand around, Kiva began, “Good Morning everyone! I’m glad to see you all were able to find the classroom!” After Kiva did role, she decided it was time to get down to business. “Alright, I’m well aware that our first lesson with the flobberworms hadn’t been all that well enjoyable for most of you, but I was happy to see that you all at least gave it a good effort.” Kiva smiled at her class to show her approval of how they handle the situation.
“Today we will be studying these,” Kiva opened the carrier and gently pulled out what looked to be a cat, except that it had spotted fur, rather large ears, and a lion’s tail. “Everyone please pull out some parchement in ink so that you may all take some proper notes.” Kiva told her class before continuing on with the lesson.
“This is a Kneazle. Kneazles are very intelligent creatures who can detect suspicious or unsavory persons very well and will react badly to them. Which means, trust a kneazles instincts. However, if a kneazle were to take a liking to a witch or wizard, it makes for an excellent pet.” Kiva placed the kneazle on the ground directly in front of her. “As you can see, a kneazle looks much like a regular house cat, with only a few minor details. Come have a look, feel free to pet her, she’s well-trained. Now, as you examine her, can anyone tell me the differences between a kneazle and a cat?”
OOC: Okay, you all know the drill. Three paragraphs per post, 3 to 5 sentences to each paragraph. Use as much detail as you can and have lots of fun with the kneazle.
\n\n
Subthreads: Oh Goody by Izabella Santoro with Anne Wright
Nice Kneazle... by Gwenhwyfar Carey with Connor Pierce
Not my cup of tea... by Catherine Raines with Dalila, Catherine
0
Professor Kijewski
Year 1, Lesson 2
0
Professor Kijewski
1
5
Gwenhwyfar Carey
January 07, 2006 6:22 PM
Nice Kneazle... by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen, for her part, was relieved when the notice went up that Care of Magical Creatures was being moved indoors for the time being. She was no outdoorswoman in the best of circumstances, and the current weather did not qualify. Two layers of clothing was neither comfortable nor practical for getting around in, but her mild-weather accustomed bones would accept no less. Two layers not counting her robes and cloak. The building wasn't especially warm, but at least there was no snow falling and no wind blowing.The room came as a surprise. She had seen scene-setting enchantments once before at a Robinond party, but not one this extensive. The Professor's desk looked oddly out of place in its surroundings. Making her way across the room a little gingerly for fear of stepping on anything, she found herself an out-of-the-way corner and prepared to take notes as Professor Kijewski entered the classroom.
Gwen had to duck her head to hide the peculiar look on her face that came from an urgent effort to keep from laughing when the day's subject was announced. Kneazles. Her first run-in with a Kneazle had come when she was seven, and she had yet to forget the experience. Eulalie Carey of the Charleston Careys was seventy-four, an old maid, and much indulged by the family, which was how she had gotten away with bringing her pet Kneazle to a ball thrown for Anthony VII and Lorraine's anniversary. She had made the critical error of instructing her attendant elf to hold it while she went for more punch. The Kneazle had escaped its guardian and inflicted a series of nasty scratches on Anthony V and his wife, the latter of whom had then been hexed by Eulalie when she kicked Precious. Gwen had thought Anthony IV was going to die on the spot.
She wrote down the details Professor Kijewski told them and proceeded forward with the rest of the class, staying near the back and not venturing to attempt petting the Kneazle. She didn't think she was hiding any major secrets at the moment, but she'd rather not find out that the creature thought otherwise the same way Anthony and Laura had. She ventured to nod in her cousin's direction and give her a faint smile when Anne pointed out the Kneazle's ears after the other Aladren girl spoke about its tail.
Gwen raised a tenative hand. "I believe Kneazles also have more color variation in their coats than regular cats as well," she said, edging a little closer to the front. The observation was based on the two Kneazles she had seen against Morgaine's cat, making it of questionable accuracy, but it was worth a try. \n\n
0
Gwenhwyfar Carey
Nice Kneazle...
63
Gwenhwyfar Carey
0
5
Connor Pierce
January 07, 2006 9:24 PM
I thought it started with an 'N'. by Connor Pierce
Connor had read the notice announcing that Care of Magical Creatures was moving indoors with some regret. Flobberworms hadn't gone over too well even when they were outside in the open, and he doubted putting them in a probably musty unusued classroom would improve them. Still, it made sense. It was literally below freezing outside, if the amount of snow and ice he could see from the common room windows and the temperature inside the building was anything to go by, and the winds that had thrown dust and mud against the school had no problem with picking up snow as well. It was for that reason that he shouldered his bag and made his way to the indoor classroom without complaint when time to report to class rolled around.His eyes widened when he saw the classroom. It was like walking into an alternate dimension, or at least a really fancy planitarium with good 3-D effects. "Whoa," he said aloud, not really thinking about it. "How cool is this?" He winced internally when it caught up with him that he'd just spoken aloud into to the air, but no one seemed to be looking at him as if he were nuts. It stil seemed best to move on without further comment, though, which was exactly what he did.
Professor Kijewski was still being friendly in a teacherly sort of way, and she introduced them to something a little more interesting than an earthworm. Cats weren't a terribly great deal more fascinating, true, but they did have some things going for them. Anything once revered as a deity by a pretty advanced society had to be a little interesting, and they'd been associated with witches for centuries. The professor's reassurances that it wasn't actually a cat helped, too. Uncapping a pen, he hurridly wrote down a summary of what she had just said.
Neasles
-Smart magical cats
-Good instincts about people
-Good pet if it likes you
Satisfied with his handiwork and fairly certain he had misspelled the name of the creature in question, Connor moved to the front of the room with the rest of the class to observe the specimen Kijewski had brought into class.
An Aladren girl he didn't know pointed out the Kneazle's most obvious difference from a real cat, and Anne Wright's familiar voice sounded from the back to tell about its oversized ears. He was able to see her by tilting his head a little, and was just thinking how odd she looked trying to stare a cat down when another familiar voice, its accent not too much different from Anne's, hesitantly spoke up about color variation. Trying not to attract notice, Connor edged around the crowd until he was beside the owner.
"Hey," he said quietly, trying to pull off sounding completely normal. It didn't work entirely, but close enough. He then tried - and failed - to find an accurate way to ask what he wanted to ask without taking so long about it that Kijewski overheard. He finally settled on the basic worn-out question of greeting and hoped Gwen got the point. "What's up?" \n\n
0
Connor Pierce
I thought it started with an 'N'.
68
Connor Pierce
0
5
Gwen
January 07, 2006 9:41 PM
Nice or Kneazle? by Gwen
Gwen flinched internally when a voice spoke to her. Hey. A brief pause. What's up? She wasn't yet thick enough to miss the real question. Connor wasn't the best at being subtle. She glanced at him nervously for a moment, then turned her attention back to the Kneazle without saying anything, biting her lip. She almost wished that he'd just taken the general population's word for it and not spoken to her at all."Not much," she said after another moment, just as quietly. "Just watching the Kneazle." Evading the real question. Coward's way out, but a way out just the same. This was not a conversation she wanted to be having. She'd done a good job of avoiding everyone since Christmas, but her luck was clearly running out. At least it wasn't Asher or Laura she was having to do this with. She felt somehow sure that they would have made it a lot more difficult.
The real question was still there, and she had to answer it. She didn't want to, but she had to. He was - had been - her friend. She owed him that much, at least. "I'll tell you later," she said, still not looking at him. \n\n
0
Gwen
Nice or Kneazle?
63
Gwen
0
5
Connor
January 07, 2006 9:57 PM
Kneazle! I know what nice starts with... by Connor
If he hadn't known before that something was up, Gwen's response proved it. It wasn't like her. Nervous, hesitant, fidgety...none of that fit into the picture he'd put together of Gwen Carey. Her usual semi-frightening vitality was practically gone. She didn't really seem to be all the way there. It suddenly felt like he was up to his ankles in snow at a graveyard or something.Quit being poetic, he thought at himself furiously, just as she spoke again, proving that she had been pretending that she didn't understand the question. "Okay," he said. "Avalon." Because of the difficulty of getting into the Pecari commons these days, he would have to make it pretty quick, but this was important. It was just a feeling, but he was sure that it was. To avoid attracting the Professor's notice, he moved a little further forward and scratched the Kneazle's ears. It made a sound sort of like purring. "What's it's name?" he asked, glancing up at Kijewski.\n\n
0
Connor
Kneazle! I know what nice starts with...
68
Connor
0
5