Seeking out a partner on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Kijewski

June 19, 2006 3:41 PM

Lesson 1 -Years 3 & 4 by Professor Kijewski

Kiva placed Rutter back into the crate for a later purpose. It had been over a year since Stephen had given him back to her and she had promised that he would be able to spend time with the crup whenever she was in possession of him. She was going to keep her promise. She cleaned up whatever the younger students had left behind and then waited patiently for her older students to join her in the clearing.

Once she was sure everyone arrived ( a few stragglers wouldn’t make a difference), Kiva greeted the students with a friendly smile just as she had done on her very first day here. “Good Afternoon everyone! It’s so great to see you all back this year. I hope your summers were relaxing and enjoyable.” Kiva always felt a stronger bond with these students. The fourth years had been with her through that disaster of a lesson where the dust storm had made itself a home here in the gardens. And the third years started here at Sonora the same year she had. She doubted the students felt any sort of kinship or bond with her, but she couldn’t help but be a bit softer with them than any of the other years. “You all know the rules by now. No talking when I or one of your peers is talking. Feel free to get as comfortable as you like.” Kiva paused here and looked over at Stephen. By this point in any of her other lessons, he had made a point of doing something that would cause her to pay attention to him. Whether he did such things on purpose or not, Kiva couldn’t exactly be sure.

When everyone was settled down again, Kiva continued. “Today we will be studying Jarveys. I want to warn you all, Jarveys are nasty little buggers when it comes to conversations.” Kiva paused and smiled, “They like to insult people.” Kiva pulled out a Jarvey from the second crate she had brought down with her earlier that morning. A Jarvey looked much like a muggle ferret except that it was larger in size. Immediately upon being pulled from the crate, the Jarvey went about saying short sentences full of foul insults. Kiva chose to ignore them, but she was sure the students would get a kick out of it. “I want no one repeating anything this creature says or else it’s detention.” Kiva warned. She had faith that the students wouldn’t say anything, but she eyed the Craven twins with a stern look just to get her point across to them. They had a habit of not listening to authority. “And if detention isn’t enough, an owl home to your parents might do the trick.” And a good threat often worked too.

“Jarveys don’t have much of a purpose.” Kiva informed her students. “Most people keep them around to rid themselves of gnomes. Now, someone of you may be wondering what a gnome is, and no, I’m not talking about those little garden statues that look like Santa want-to-bes. A gnome is this-” She reached into a sack and pulled out a wiggling potato with legs. “This is a garden gnome to the Wizarding population. They live in holes in a garden and uproot plants. They create havoc in a person’s garden. Every so often, a wizard or witch has to de-gnome their garden. By de-gnoming, you take the gnome by the ankles, swing them about so as to disorient them, and chuck them as far as you can.” Kiva had demonstrated all this with the gnome she had in her hands, sending flying off when she released him from her grasp.

“Today, using the Jarvey, we are going to de-gnome the gardens. I want you all to pair off or go off in groups, it doesn’t matter, and take up a section of the garden. I will leave one group in charge of the jarvey, but first you have prove yourselves of the responsibility.” Kiva said, holding firm to the creature she was talking about and intent to ignore the rude remarks he was making. “Everyone head off to the gardens, try not to go off too far. Hopefully Simo-er-Mr. Tellermen won’t mind us de-gnoming the garden for him.” Kiva said, keeping in check to call other adults by their last names. Though she doubted he would mind being called Simon to the students. “I’ll walk around and be keeping tabs on you all. If you aren’t working, I’ll know. Those who I find are doing the most work, will get the Jarvey for the remainder of the class period.” Kiva finished and then waved them off.

OOC: Alright, it’s a different sort of lesson, but one that should be fairly entertaining. Search for a group of people to work with, don’t be afraid to go with older or younger students. And, if you can, separate from your normal group of friends. Keep the posts long and detailed and make sure you have fun!\n\n

Subthreads:

Horrified by Zack Dill with Zoey Welsh

This class is just begging to be the bane of my existence by Jordanna Howard with Asher Tallow

Yuck, chores. by Jake and Bella Santoro with Catherine Raines, Bella

I never liked group work by Jenna Howard with Tally Adams, Tally, Jenna and Jordanna Howard

Seeking out a partner by Dillon Welsh with Anne Wright

Gnome-tossing! by Lily Collins with Lexi Stafford

Surprise allergies. by Kaylie Brockert with Chris Dupree

Is this a lesson or a chore? by Earl Valentine

ATTENTION EVERYONE! by Professor Kijewski with Zack Dill, Asher Tallow, Earl, Zoey, Professor K.

0 Professor Kijewski Lesson 1 -Years 3 & 4 0 Professor Kijewski 1 5

Zack Dill

June 19, 2006 4:20 PM

Horrified by Zack Dill

Zack had his paper, pen, and binder to lean on out and ready in time for Professor K's welcome back. He had his pen poised and ready when she started talking about Jarveys, and he took copious notes on them using primarily Kling-on because they seemed a Kling-on appropriate subject. He threw in some orcish, too, just to mix things up. He wouldn't sully the elvish languages with talk about Jarveys though.

When she mentioned gnomes, he looked up in surprised delight and excitement. Gnomes were real? He'd played a gnomish sorceror in his D&D campaign this summer. It would be really cool to meet a real one. However, his excitement and delight shortly turned to horror as she pull out a wriggling little fellow who was obviously terrified to death and explained how to 'get rid of them'.

Sure gnomes were a bit irritating what with being so much smarter than all the other species of Faerun, but surely that was just cruel. Zack had always felt a strong kinship with the little guys, what with them being scientifically inclined and really dang short, and this swinging gnomes around by their feet and throwing them did not sit well with him at all. It reminded him all too much of the times Nick and his friends wanted to play 'ball' with Zack. It sucked being so much smaller than your younger brother.

And these Jarvey things also went after gnomes? Zack's already low opinion of them plummetted further.

Angrily, he finished writing up his notes, using harsh orcish words as he denounced the vile practices visited upon simple garden gnomes by a people who claimed to be civilized. Did the magic world have a protection league like the SPCA or whatever, to look after little guys like him, er, like gnomes? He'd have to look into it immediately after class today.

In the meantime, he sat down on his log, arms crossed in angry stubbornness, and refused to take part in the lesson.\n\n

1 Zack Dill Horrified 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Jordanna Howard

June 20, 2006 1:54 PM

This class is just begging to be the bane of my existence by Jordanna Howard

If there was one class Jordanna couldn’t bear, it was Care of Magical Creatures. For one thing, it was outside, with all the dirt and disgusting insects that made her squeal and all the other unclean things she’d rather not think about.

Second, the sun had a tendency to burn her pale skin, and in the deserts where Sonora was situated, it was even worse. Plus, the heat made her sweat, and sweat smelled foul and was gross. Not to mention the class itself, in which she was quite far from a star pupil. She did not feel like learning how to take care of animals, that was peasant work, thank you very much. The blond girl was much more concerned with caring for herself.

Donning lilac robes today (she refused to conform to the ever-tacky school uniforms) she looked for a place in the shade, and was fruitless. How dare they make her burn her skin to watch stupid, smelly little creatures? That was certainly cruel and unusual punishment by her standards. She primped her robes as she stood, not bothering to sit because that would only cause wrinkling, and this class was certainly not worth getting wrinkled for.

Her mind continued to wander to what she considered were more important subjects. Her shoes for instance, were starting to get scuffed; she’d have to buy new ones. Witch Weekly was supposed to have a new article on winter fashions in next month’s edition; she supposed she’d get her idea from there. The time would be better spent reading her magazines than standing here and getting sweaty and gross, anyway.

Jordanna was forced out of her reverie when she heard the sound of an insulting voice- what in the? Oh, just a jarvey. One of her uncles had smuggled them into the Howard summer home once, and it had followed her around for an hour, insulting her hair and her outfit and her appearance in general. Jordanna didn’t take insults very well, especially those aimed at her appearance. She’d suggested making the jarvey into a nice skin or neck adornment, it'd be much more useful that way. Unfortunately her uncle said no. Either way, she never wanted to deal with one of those things again.

She caught the teacher’s last words “Those who I find are doing the most work, will get the Jarvey for the remainder of the class period.” Well then, that just gave her even more incentive not to work.

“Hmm, more work, more jarvey,” she rolled her eyes and gave a short laugh, “It’s like she’s begging us to stay away from the stupid thing.”\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard This class is just begging to be the bane of my existence 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Zoey Welsh

June 23, 2006 5:36 PM

Why so blue, Panda bear? by Zoey Welsh

Zoey had awoken early that morning. She had spent a good couple of hours in the library studying up on the lessons they would be learning this year. She had already read her Transfiguration book during the summer as well as her Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not to mention all the books she read on the subjects in general. She was still reading through her Charms and Astronomy. The only lesson she didn't bother looking through was Care of Magical Creatures and that was becuase that was Dillon's class, not her's.

She made her way down the paths to the clearing. Her eyes were cast downward as she watched her feet move. Her legs were extremely long now, making it seem that she hadn't any control over them. However, after years of being tall, Zoey was accustomed to walking with enough stretch between each step to not trip over herself. Still, that didn't make Zoey any less self conscious.

Entering the familiar clearing, Zoey sat herself down in a spot and readied herself for the days lessons. After listening to the Professor explain what they were teaching (slightly affronted by the words coming out of the jarvey's mouth), Zoey became rather interested in the lesson. Jarveys were interesting simply because they could talk, even if it was vulgar and unnecessary. It was still amazing. Zoey had always wondered what animals would say if they could talk. Though, she really hoped it wasn't that.

When the gnome (Zoey had been expecting to see a little fat Santa despite what the Professor said) was pulled out and shown to them, Zoey made a rather disgusted face at the sight of it. It was an ugly looking thing and Zoey felt immediately sorry for it. Though she really didn't want to touch it. Of course, that idea went flying (literally as well as figuratively) as Professor K explained what they would be doing that day.

Digging for gnomes. Lovely.

She didn't mind getting dirty. That never bothered Zoey, but the idea that she would have to willingly touch one of those (or many) gnomes didn't sit well with Zoey. Still, she was never one to sit out during a lesson. She did want good grades. As she stood and brushed off the back of her uniform, Zoey noticed Zack sitting off in what looked to be a huff. She frowned in concern and made her way over to him. "Hey Zack, what's up? Not feeling well?"

\n\n

6 Zoey Welsh Why so blue, Panda bear? 39 Zoey Welsh 0 5

Zack Dill

June 25, 2006 9:42 AM

I assure you, I am not a panda. They're bigger than me. by Zack Dill

Zack looked up from his passive resistance (otherwise known as a sulk) when he heard Zoey's voice asking if he was all right. He gave her forced smile to show that he was perfectly well, but it was swiftly replaced with an unhappy frown as soon as he was done nodding.

Realizing the non-verbal reply wasn't going to be terribly convincing, he waved irritably toward the professor. "That's cruel and unusual treatment of gnomes. I'm not going to participate." To emphasized that point, he crossed his arms again and his expression turned stubborn once more.

"And I don't want that jarvey coming anywhere near me, either," he added, just in case it could sense that Zack was ideologically a gnome as well and went after him. Kijewski hadn't been very specific in how the creatures were used in de-gnoming gardens, and he didn't particularly care to be sent to the infirmary again. He'd managed to avoid if for the entirety of last year and he had no wish to resume the practice.\n\n

1 Zack Dill I assure you, I am not a panda. They're bigger than me. 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Jake and Bella Santoro

June 27, 2006 7:52 PM

Yuck, chores. by Jake and Bella Santoro

This wasn't the first time the Santoro siblings had had a class together, but it was the first time in a long time that Jake openly avoided his younger sister. That morning the siblings had received a letter from their parents informing them that a raid in which Julia was involved in had gone terrible wrong. Julia was now residing in a Magical Hospital until the Healers could figure out how to help her. There were no specifics, but their parents asked them not to tell the twins.

Whenever there was a family crisis, they came together as a whole and worked it out together. But, now that half the family was off at school and the twins weren't to be told, Jake and Bella were left to deal with this knowledge without the guidence of their parents. Jake was in the habit of not talking about problems while Bella liked to work everything out.

"¿Jacob, qué piensa usted le pasó? ¿Piensa usted que ella será alright? ¿Por qué no quieren Mamá y Papá que los gemelos sepan sobre Julia?" Bella walked a few paces behind her brother on the way down to class. Jake grunted in response but otherwise ignored her. This did not keep Bella from replying. "¿Piensa usted que ella muere? ¡Tal vez un Mago Oscuro hizo daño a ella con un poco de maldición que ellos no pueden romper! ¿Qué haremos si Julia no se pone un poco mejor?"

"ENOUGH, IZZY!" Jake exclaimed louder than he had intended. He stopped walking long enough to tell his sister that he didn't want to talk about it anymore and that he had things to do. After that was done, he turned and continued on his way to class. Bella, slightly affronted by his temper stood in her spot for a moment before running to catch up with him. Jake never lost his temper and when he did, it was out of worry.

"It's just, we lost John and if Julia-" Jake stopped her before she could continue with a glare.

"Juan no está muerto." Jake said in a quiet voice. "He left us. Remember that. There is a difference. I'm done talking." They had reached the clearing and the two of them separated.

....

Jake stalked away from his sister and planted himself down in the grass. His hands tore at the grass that surrounded him as through the grass had wronged him in some way. He listened half-heartedly to the Professor explain about that day's lesson. He already knew about Jarveys, he was sure someone in his family had one for a pet and de-gnoming was something his parents made them do every summer as a chore.

Of course...de-gnoming allowed him to vent some of his frustrations, so at least he could work out the aggression. He stood up and walked over to a brush. He started looked around for gnome holes, not even bothering to look for partners. Either someone would just join him or he'd work alone. Either were fine with him. Spotting a gnome hole, Jake reached down and grabbed the first one he felt. After a few fun twirls, he sent the thing flying with a smug look of satisfaction.

....

Bella walked to the other side of the clearing and away from her brother. Obviously this wasn't the best time for family issues. She sighed as she sat down and pulled out some parchment and quill to take notes. The lesson itself wasn't all that entertaining. Bella already knew of these types of magical creatures. She was awaiting for the day when they learned about creatures Bella didn't see on a day-to-day basis...like a Hippogriff or a Dragon.

She groaned inwardly when Professor K said that they would be de-gnoming the gardens. She hated doing that. The twins thought it was the best thing in the world, but Bella thought it was slave labor. Plus, it was hot out and she didn't really want to get all sweaty.

Standing, Bella realized that she didn't really have any friends. This realization brought a frown to her face. She knew her roommate on a semi-decent level, some of Jake's friends, and those who had been on the Quidditch team, but that was about it. Her eyebrows creased in worry. What if she didn't find someone to work with? Would she get points taken off? Finally taking a deep breath to calm herself, Bella walked over to the first person she could find. She cleared her throat quietly before asking, "Would you like to work together?"

Translations:

¿Jacob, qué piensa usted le pasó? ¿Piensa usted que ella será alright? ¿Por qué no quieren Mamá y Papá que los gemelos sepan sobre Julia? - Jacob, what do you think happened to her? Do you think she'll be alright? Why don't Mom and Dad want the twins to know about Julia?

¿Piensa usted que ella muere? ¡Tal vez un Mago Oscuro hizo daño a ella con un poco de maldición que ellos no pueden romper! ¿Qué haremos si Julia no se pone un poco mejor? - Do you think she's dying? Maybe a Dark Wizard hurt her with some curse that they can't break! What will we do if Julia doesn't get any better?

Juan no está muerto - John isn't dead\n\n

6 Jake and Bella Santoro Yuck, chores. 42 Jake and Bella Santoro 0 5

Asher Tallow

July 02, 2006 11:05 PM

Take me to the Kingdom of the Gnomes! by Asher Tallow

Asher spent her first portion of the class sprawled cross legged on the ground, her school robe discarded to keep the grass from itching her bare legs. Her brain, while registering the words her professor was speaking, was focused primarily on a discovery she'd made during the summer.

While staying with her mother in her cramped Montreal apartment, Asher had little else but time on her hands. Marguerite Sarto did not believe in television, or video games, or making friends with other building children; she gave her five children each their own library card, and while she would spend her days in search of jobs that weren't beneath her, her children would make the three block walk to the public library.

Asher had discovered a book on memory, misplaced in the computer science section of the library. It discussed the existance of eidetic memory, and its authors claimed that true photographic memory, or total recall, existed only in those people with conversely debilitating brain activity (that was, naturally, a direct quote). She hadn't known what to make of that opinion, since obviously her own memory was, in fact, photographic, and despite occasionally getting- and not admittedly here- irrationally angry, she didn't display any abnormal behavior. She had read more after that, wanting to understand the trait she had seemingly inherited from her father.

All the books she read over the summer agreed with the first: her photographic memory shouldn't, according to them, exist without certain other conditions being present. Asher didn't suffer from issues of self doubt or low self esteem. Occasionally she might feel self conscious or unsure, but she generally avoided situations that might cause her to feel that way, and if caught in such a situation, she would bluster through it one way or the other. But these books, these people with their degrees and years of study, all said the same thing: that there must be something wrong with her.

It made her wonder if maybe the abnormality these authors all insisted she must have might be that she was a witch.

She didn't know how to test that idea though without someone finding out, and the very last thing she wanted or needed was to have someone like Catherine Raines or-

“Hmm, more work, more jarvey."

Or Jordanna Howard. Asher had unknowingly seated herself close to the blonde bane of both her dorm room and house. The Hens was cackling to herself, “It’s like she’s begging us to stay away from the stupid thing.”

Asher's brain had registered just enough of the lecture to know the two most important aspects of the lesson: one, they were to practise de-gnoming, and two, the group that worked the hardest would get to have the jarvey join in. Obviously, Howard didn't know the first thing about what having a jarvey around a garden meant. Asher decided to inform her housemate.

"Actually, Howard, jarveys are the best around at getting rid of gnomes. Having the jarvey equals getting to sit around and watch everyone else work." Asher's expression was more than enough to pass along the rest of her words, kept internalized: Obviously, idiot.

Having an herbologist for a father had taught her a thing or twelve about running a garden. And having four brothers had taught her a thing or six about the more effective ways of getting rid of gnomes- ways that did not entail spinning oneself in circles. The only question was: what could she use for a sling?

OOC: For those of you who grew up on Nickelodeon morning cartoons as well: Gnometastic\n\n

0 Asher Tallow Take me to the Kingdom of the Gnomes! 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5

Jordanna Howard

July 04, 2006 7:10 PM

I was more of a Doug and Rugrats kid myself by Jordanna Howard

Jenna raised her eyebrows. She had heard it from Catherine that Asher was no longer at the school, yet here Asher was talking to her as if she actually thought Jordanna cared. She made a mental note that Catherine must not be up to date with the gossip as Jordanna had originally thought. Of course, it could have been that she had left sometime last year and returned for the beginning of the new one, but still, Catherine had been her informant and she expected her to know the latest in Sonora.

One might think that Jordanna herself should have realized Asher was in the dorm. Naturally that wasn’t so, because in the mornings she liked to focus on herself, and put a lot of effort into her grooming. Most people didn’t seem to realize that it took a lot of effort and hard work to look as good as she did. It was perfectly excusable for her not to exert her energy getting dirty and touching filthy gnomes.

She’d also woken up early, even by her own standards; to do a little… cleanup was the best word she could think of, in the Howard family fashion department. What people thought about other members of her family affected what they thought about her, and she certainly wasn’t going to let them mar all her hard work.

And after all that effort, here she was, sitting next to this person who clearly didn’t appreciate the fine art of being in-fashion who that Jordanna was the more idiotic of the two.

“Then there’s obviously no point in my participation in peasant’s work if the stupid Jarvey is best at it, Daddy can just buy one for his gardens,” she decided coolly, “However, if you can’t afford one, then getting dirty and practicing now is perfectly understandable.” \n\n

0 Jordanna Howard I was more of a Doug and Rugrats kid myself 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Jenna Howard

July 04, 2006 7:11 PM

I never liked group work by Jenna Howard

Jenna arrived late to Care of Magical Creatures, and not because she wanted to. Someone (Jordanna probably, she had the motive for it after all) had removed her hat from its place on the nightstand while she slept. The fourth year had skipped breakfast and searched practically all of Crotalus for it. In the end she found it stuffed under one of the armchairs. She’d dusted off the battered red hat, stuffed her hair under it as she placed it on her head, popped a piece of Droobles Blowing Gum in her mouth and was on her way.

Sitting on the grass she pulled out her quill and her CoMC scroll (she was the traditional sort) and hoped that for once they’d study a creature she could use in a potion, like a newt or something. Not that she’d actually use one in a potion or anything, it be easier to snatch ingredients from her uncle’s stash, anyway. But she figured learning more about future ingredients in their living state couldn’t hurt.

And then she realized it was Jarveys. It was all she could do not to laugh. If she couldn’t learn about a creature that could be used in a potion, then Jarveys were the next best thing. It was kind of like being like home, only better because Jarveys distributed insults equally, no matter who you were. The one time she had a Jarvey over her house, it riled just about everybody up, even the house elves. It of course had made fun of Jenna too, but Jenna was quite used to it as she heard similar things from her brothers and younger sister.

Swinging the shrieking gnome over her head, she threw it in Jordanna’s general direction, and fell short…by about thirty feet (she should have known, she had never been at athletically inclined anyway). Instead, the angry little gnome flew about ten feet in the air, and it looked like it was going to hit someone else square in the chest.

Well, that was just her luck.

If they were particularly coordinated- unlike Jenna- then maybe they’d have a shot of catching it, or at least side-stepping it or something, but the fact of the matter is, just when she decided she’d try talking to someone, she goes and throws a gnome at some random person instead. Just brilliant.

“Merlin,” she muttered angrily, they yelled to the person running toward them, for all the good that might do, “Hey! Look out!”\n\n

0 Jenna Howard I never liked group work 46 Jenna Howard 0 5

Catherine Raines

July 04, 2006 11:01 PM

Never done any, but I wholeheartedly just the same. by Catherine Raines

Catherine shifted her feet very slightly and resisted the temptation to shrug her shoulders. Her discomfort wasn't because of the heat or, though she had no love for it whatsoever, the subject of her current class. The reason for her awkwardness was her clothes. Under her robes was an outfit very like any other she might have worn on any day she'd been at Sonora: a knee-length skirt, made-to-match blouse, and a strappy, thick-soled pair of sandals meant to keep her feet away from any bugs that might roam the dirt of the Care of Magical Creatures clearing. The problem with the ensemble was the robes. Like Jordanna, she'd disdained the uniform ones. Unlike Jordanna, she had at least stuck to green, if a green several shades paler than the school ones. She'd spent every second since leaving her dorm sure a teacher was going to swoop down on her and give her detention. It was her first real experience with it, but Catherine had already decided that she hated rebellion.

It was unsurprising, therefore, that she'd tried to blend in as well as she could in her lessons. Care of Magical Creatures, as little as she liked it, was particularly good for not being noticed, since half the class shed its robes anyway. Catherine crossed her arms over her chest and tried to pretend it was because she didn't want to be here instead of because she'd just seen Jordanna standing out like a pale purple beacon. She barely paid any attention to what Professor Kijewski was saying, but the stream of abuse from the Jarvey did succeed in grabbing her attention. None of the insults were directed towards her specifically, but it was still completely unnecessary.

Her first instinct when they were told to find groups to hunt gnomes was to make a straight line for Jordanna. If there was a duo in the school with fewer chances of winning the keep-the-Jarvey hard work competition, she didn't want to meet the members of it. She was sure her friend wouldn't want to do this any more than she did, which would mean they'd have to spend minimal time with the foul-mouthed thing. That plan was brought to an abrupt halt when she saw Jordanna engage someone else in conversation. Asher Tallow.

She had, of course, registered that there was an extra bed in the dorm. She'd actually seen Tallow entering and leaving once or twice, though she hadn't recognized her at first because of her awful new haircut. Catherine's initial thought once she had figured out who Asher was had been that Jordanna was going to kill her for giving out incorrect information, maybe even start doubting the rest of her gossip, now that it turned out Dione was gone, too. When Jordanna had shown no signs of noticing that Asher existed, Catherine had breathed a little easier. Now that Asher was forcing her company on Jordanna, Catherine was strongly inclined towards running.

She bit her lip, thinking. Should she intervene and try to save the situation, or should she let it play itself out and pray for the best? Before she'd come to a decision, she heard a voice speaking, it seemed to her. Turning, she saw one of the Aladrens from her own year. With a little luck and a little common sense, she managed to put together what had been said.

"Oh," was the first reply she made to it. Half of it was surprise - not many outside her own House spoke to her if they could help it, she was Catherine Raines - and half of it was uncertainty. Neither of those were good things for her to show. "I'd be delighted," she recovered, lying through her teeth. "I'm so sorry, but I can't remember your name. Mine's Catherine - Catherine Raines, of the Illinois Raines'." \n\n

0 Catherine Raines Never done any, but I wholeheartedly just the same. 66 Catherine Raines 0 5

Asher Tallow

July 06, 2006 9:29 PM

I lurved Rocko's Modern Life! by Asher Tallow

"Yeah, and I'm sure Daddy will be so super proud of you if you fail your classes." Asher rolled her eyes, cheered unexpectedly by the predictable response from her dormmate. "Being a snob doesn't mean you have to be boring, Howard. You don't have to get dirty either. All you need to be is a bit creative. . ."

That said, Asher set her eyes to finding something that would serve as a sling. It would need to be fairly strong, long enough to be looped, and pliable. "My dad is an herbologist," she went on, far chattier than normal considering that she was talking with someone she didn't much like. "So he's constantly having to deal with gnomes and the like. Since he likes peace and quiet, he only resorts to jarveys when it's absolutely necessary. That's where my brothers and I come in. We'd have to- oh, hang on, there we go!"

Asher was considering tearing off the bottom length of her robes, when her gaze fell upon the thick, extra long purple laces that ran through her black sneakers. Quickly, she pulled off her left shoe, balancing in the meantime on the other, and yanked loose the shoelace. "This will work perfectly."

She slipped the laceless sneaker back on, and looped the purple shoelace once, tying off the end so that it made a servicable sling. She left it caught around her elbow and pulled free her wand from her jeans' pocket. Gripping it solidly, Asher called out confidently, "Accio gnome!"

Having watched her brothers perform the spell numerous times, and having done it herself times again as well, she was more than assured that her call would summon out a gnome, and indeed, one of the potato shaped little creatures zoomed out from its burrow underground and landed with a comfortable smack in her left hand. She dropped it immediately and used her still laced right sneaker to pin it to the ground.

Holding out her makeshift sling, she explained as she demonstrated the finer art of gnome slinging. "See, it gets really old really fast to have to spend your time spinning around and getting just as dizzy as the gnome, when you can achieve that exact same thing and not even have to touch it." Asher reached down to pick up the struggling gnome from beneath her shoe and pinned it neatly into the end opposite the knot of her shoelace loop. "Well, not much anyway. Less than the normal way."

"You have to first grip it in a short loop, so it can't squirm free, and then," she began swinging the looped gnome by her hip in small easy circles, "you give it some room and start swinging faster. And faster. And faster." Her arm was now parallel with her shoulder, the gnome spinning easily above her head. "And then finally, you flick your wrist like this," she flicked and the gnome made a wide arch that flung it above and over a clump of vined wall. "Bye-bye gnome!"

She grinned widely,and pushed back at her bangs, pleased that her demonstration had passed without a hitch. "It's really not hard. I'm sure even someone like you could do it, Howard. . ." she gave her classmate a doubtful look, obviously baiting her. "Then again, not everyone is able to pull of an Accio right away. . ."\n\n

0 Asher Tallow I lurved Rocko's Modern Life! 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5

Tally Adams

July 09, 2006 12:53 AM

Who does? by Tally Adams

Tally had woken up at her usual time and laid there staring up at the canopy top. She had done this many times before, always thinking about mundane things that somehow controlled her every day life. She guessed that just was the way of a teenager's life.

After staring up at her ceiling, Tally finally decided it was about time she got up and got ready for the day. Her hair was as long as ever and hung plainly down her back. The only difference now was that there was a wave to it. Thanks to her mother's genetics. Tally frowned as she prepared herself for the days lessons and when she finally decided she could stall no longer, waved farewell to her roommate and walked down to Cascade Hall for a quick bite to eat.

Now that she was at Care of Magical Creatures, Tally sat down in the midst of the class. This was their first lesson in this class with the younger years. Tally was used to seeing these third years from her other lessons, but it felt odd having them around her out here. Trying to shake off her discomfort, she focused on the lesson at hand; Jarveys and gnomes.

She loved Jarveys, though had only been around them whenever she was in an animal job with her dad. They amused her to great lengths and often had begged her dad to buy one when she was younger. He, of course, said no. He couldn't have the thing around their house with muggle neighbors. That being said, Tally had no issues with gnomes because they didn't live in a magical community and rarely used magic around the house. It was easier to keep their lives secret that way.

Walking to the bushes, Tally ignored the thought of partners. It wasn't because she didn't like people, but chore work was best left to be done alone. She was already on her third gnome when she heard someone shout. Tally looked up in time to see a gnome flying at her. On instinct, Tally shot out her hand and batted the thing away from her. To her surprise, she actually hit it and watched it soar off and away from her.

She stared blankly in the direction of where the gnome had gone flying off to before turning her attention to see who had thrown it. Disbelief was evident on Tally's face. None other than Jenna Howard in a hat. Tally grinned at the other girl. "Word of advice, try throwing them away from your classmates. If you wish to have friends that is." Tally joked.\n\n

6 Tally Adams Who does? 41 Tally Adams 0 5

Bella

July 09, 2006 1:10 AM

Well, aren't you Miss Lucky by Bella

Bella had been watching the rest of the class while waiting for the girl to respond. She vaguely recognized the girl from all her other lessons, but considering Bella hardly associated with people in her own house, let alone those from other houses, she couldn't really place a name to the face.

When the girl responded with an 'oh' that didn't seem exactly like a happy 'oh' Bella's dark eyes returned to the girl in question with a barely visible frown on her face. Was she some terrible person to work with? Bella thought, slightly offended. She was a hard worker. She was an ALADREN! That should have been apparent. The girl should be so lucky.

"Great. We can start over there." Bella said, pointing to a group of bushes once the girl agreed to be her partner. The girl's introduction made Bella pause and look at her. Who introduced themselves like that? Jake had told her once that those from 'Proper' families liked to show off. Apparantly, Catherine was from one of those family. Bella was a pureblood, but rarely was allowed to go out to gatherings or any of the like. Instead, she stayed home with Jake or one of the cousins and waited up until her older siblings came home to talk about it. So, it was no surprise to her that she didn't recognize the name.

Things like that were unimportant to Bella anyway. "I'm Izabella Santoro of the International Santoros." Bella said, half joking. Her family was all over the world and so large they could surely populate an entire country. "But Bella for short." She continued, grinning at her classmate. "It's nice to meet you, Catherine. Ready to get started?" Even with family problems, Bella refused to let her grades slip. They were the only things that would get her into a great training program once she left Sonora.\n\n

0 Bella Well, aren't you Miss Lucky 0 Bella 0 5

Zoey

July 09, 2006 1:32 AM

Aren't most things? by Zoey

Zoey watched Zack's face as he responded. Something was bothering him. Actually, in Zoey's opinion, Zack looked ill. Maybe he ate something that morning that didn't agree with him... She stood silently over him, unsure of what to say in the silence. Not that she had to wait long, he soon opened his mouth to explain his mood.

Cruel and unusual treatment of gnomes? Zoey stared at him, trying to understand why he seemed so bothered by the way the gnomes were handled. They weren't cute, and, as far as she knew, weren't good for much in either the magical world or the muggle world. So, was he some animal-rights activist? She didn't peg him as one.

His Jarvey comment surprised her as well. She was repulsed by it simply because it was insulting and Zoey wasn't one to stand that. But she was sure that the boys in the class would have loved to have had the Jarvey all to themselves. At least, she was certain that Les or Cole would have wanted the thing. But, that was just how they were.

"I'm fairly certain that the gnomes aren't actually hurt." Zoey said, hoping that that might make him feel a bit better. "And they do destroy gardens and aren't useful...not that we should chuck unuseful things out or anything!" Zoey added hastily. She paused for a moment, unsure of what to tell him. "Erm...why don't you like the Jarvey though?" She asked him, purely curious to his reasoning.\n\n

6 Zoey Aren't most things? 39 Zoey 0 5

Dillon Welsh

July 09, 2006 2:01 AM

Seeking out a partner by Dillon Welsh

Dillon had awoken early that morning as he did every first day of lessons. He had a habit of having anxiety and believing that he would miss his first day of classes. Because of this, he hardly ever slept well and awoke earlier than he would have liked. He sat at his desk, half asleep, and repeatedly made sure he had everything he needed. On occasion, he would even write a letter home to a family member. Today, he wrote a letter to each of his brothers. He would never send them, of course. Well, maybe the one to Ryan. Ryan married his long time sweet heart two years ago and now they were going to have their first baby. The idea of being an uncle both intrigued Dillon and made him nervous.

His anxiety also had a habit of taking away his appetite. So, while sitting in Cascade hall, he sat and stared off at everyone. He liked to watch people interact with one another and not know that they are being watched. Humans were funny creatures. Les always joked that Dillon would become a Psychologist simply because of his abilities to study and analyze a person so easily. Dillon didn’t want to work with people.

Now he sat in Care of Magical Creatures, listening to Professor Kijewski talk over the Jarvey (magnificent creatures. They could talk!) while explaining what the lesson was about. It was on Jarveys or Gnomes? Jarveys are interlinked with gnomes? Gnomes are potatoes with legs. And, apparently, they are airborne as well. Dillon watched in amusement as the gnome the professor had been holding went flying off and away from all of them. That looked like good fun. Magic was so cool.

The topic of partners came up and Dillon sighed inwardly. He was about to ask his sister if she wanted to work with him, but he saw her stalking off to talk to the Aladren boy she seemed to like so much. Not that Dillon minded. But it did leave him in a predicament. Standing, he made his way over to the first person he found who hadn’t found a partner yet. With as charming of a smile as he could do, Dillon spoke, “Would you like to work together? I’m pretty decent with throwing things, if you need some incentive.” \n\n

6 Dillon Welsh Seeking out a partner 44 Dillon Welsh 0 5

Anne Wright

July 09, 2006 5:28 PM

Volunteering my services in that department. by Anne Wright

For the past two years, Anne had kept her feet during Care of Magical Creatures, the better to run if the creature she was supposed to be caring for decided to attack. Today, she sat on the ground, telling herself that she was bored stupid and not afraid of anything Kijewski might throw at them. The relaxed pose she'd assumed as part of this act might have been a bit more convincing if she hadn't been visibly tensed up, but tensed up was her normal state. Looking happy and at-ease in her least-favorite class would probably look more suspicious than anything else she could have done.

Professor Kijewski was as...'bouncy' was the best word Anne could come up with for it...as she ever was. She paid attention, more out of House loyalty than anything, and found herself sitting up straighter from indignation when the Jarvey began to talk. What had happened to protecting the moral fiber of the students entrusted to the school's care? At least Kijewski threatened anyone who repeated the thing with detention and letters to the folks. Anne privately thought simple good breeding ought to have done the trick, but not many -

When in the heck had she started thinking about things like good breeding? She sounded like a St.Martin. That was over and done with, that whole chapter of her life was closed. She was out. They would have disowned her the minute she cleared the doorstep and assumed she had the sense to realize it without any further communication between herself and the family. She jerked her attention back to the lesson and winced reflexively at the day's assignment.

All her life, Anne had hated working in groups on school projects. The people she always wound up being put with annoyed her, always complaining that she was a power hog who wouldn't let them do anything and then doing what she let them do wrong. Teamwork was meant to be employed in Quidditch, not in academics, and she'd always held to that one without any question of its accuracy. In this case, though...well, this case wasn't quite like any other she'd run across. They were supposed to be touching those gnome-things. For a grade. Not being afraid of anyone or anything was all well and good, but there were limits to every good thing. She wasn't afraid of the gnome - of course not - but she wasn't going to touch it, either. The only solution was to seek out a partner who she could feel somewhat sure wouldn't laugh at her and who looked reasonably intelligent and let them whirl the gnomes while she took notes or something.

She had friends, of course. Their names were Geoffrey and Helena. Neither one of them, though, was in this class. Next on her list of potential candidates was a member of the Quidditch team, but Bella had been caught by one of those airheaded Crotalus snots, she didn't see Ben anywhere, and Zack was...well, she doubted he'd be as good at throwing things in the air as he was at catching much smaller things already in the air. That, and he was already working with Zoey Welsh. Anne didn't know when or how, exactly, but all her instincts told her that she'd managed to antagonize the older girl. It wasn't the ideal group-work situation. The only other person she could think of who might be even remotely willing to work with her was Gwen, and while her cousin did have the advantage of being a fair enough Beater, she also had the disadvantages of being a St.Martin kinswoman, being from an opposing team, and being a little strange upon occasion. That didn't translate into a high-level grade in most scenarios, either.

There was always Plan Z: the plan she least liked, the most desperate of them all, but one that could, theoretically, be effective. That plan was to walk up to a total stranger and say 'hey, wanna work together'. She'd done it before - in first year, she had - and the girl she'd wound up working with then had been nice enough. Before she could come to a conclusion about whether enough the situation was desperate enough to warrant Plan Z, though, she heard a voice, apparently speaking to her, and turned to face the speaker who was saving her from Plan Z. She had to look up to see him properly, but, while she was no fairy-sized doll like the twins and Morgaine, she wasn't spectacularly tall, either, and quickly decided she could live with being loomed over a bit. The taller he was, the longer his arms were likely to be, which meant that he was less likely to drop the gnome on her head.

His mention of being good at throwing things sealed the deal. "You're on," she said, throwing in a return smile for good measure. "Let's get this done with." She began heading away from the class clearing, hoping to get him lost in the maze before she divulged her resolution to refrain from touching anything. She was less likely to get in trouble that way, and it would be his word against hers if he told anyone she was a prissy little princess afraid to get dirt on her hands. "My name's Anne, by the way," she said over her shoulder, fairly sure they'd never spoken. \n\n

16 Anne Wright Volunteering my services in that department. 59 Anne Wright 0 5

Lily Collins

July 09, 2006 9:09 PM

Gnome-tossing! by Lily Collins

Lily snickered at the Jarvey. It wasn't a creature she was familar with, but she couldn't help be amused at the insulting foul-mouthed thing that seemed to be expressing the exact sentiments she felt for the majority of third years in her house, particularily Earl.

The garden gnomes Lily was a bit more familiar with. She, her step-mother's youngest sisters, Britta, who was her age and Oleta, who was two years younger, and Autumn had been sent to degnome her step-grandparents' garden. Lily had gotten a kick out of throwing the creatures and pretending they were various people she didn't like. Now, however, some of those very people were here and Lily could actually throw the potato-like creatures at these people. She didn't really want to work alone though. In fact, Lily and her partner could make a game of it, seeing who could hit the most people with gnomes.

"Say, you wanna work with me?" Lily asked the person next to her. "We can toss the gnomes at people and make this lots of fun." Actually de-gnoming wasn't so bad, it wasn't like doing dishes or cleaning toilets or anything.\n\n

11 Lily Collins Gnome-tossing! 45 Lily Collins 0 5

Jenna Howard

July 10, 2006 5:36 PM

The teacher, apparently by Jenna Howard

Jenna was relieved that Tally was able to whack the gnome, and watched it soar threw the air in another direction. For a moment, she wondered if the other girl could be employed to help throw gnomes at Jordie, but doubted it. Tally was a Teppenpaw and Teppenpaws were too nice to throw gnomes at other students, no matter how annoying.

“I was aiming for my sister, actually,” she shrugged lamely, “But I really don’t have enough athletic ability to have hit her anyway. Don’t think it would have changed our friendship, because there really isn’t one,” she paused to adjust her hat on her head, “Want to work together though? I’d like to get my hands on that jarvey; it’s probably safer to have an argument with that than my sister. At least I know it would be interesting, anyway.”

She always seemed to be arguing with the younger, blonder Howard. Part of it was because their personalities clashed- Jenna was more introverted and didn’t care how she looked as long as she was clean, and Jordanna loved being the center of attention and lived for fashion. The other part, though neither of them would admit it, was for entertainment. Both girls generally enjoyed insulting each other, in a weird sort of way, it was what they did for fun and giggles. Neither really knew how to talk to the other girl, so they annoyed each other instead. A strange form of sisterly-bonding, but that was what they did.

Jenna reached down in the dirt for another gnome, grabbing it by the ankle. Its dirty little hands balled into fists and beat at the air angrily as she raised it over her head. She made a mental note to get a jarvey of her own if she ever planned on making a garden to grow her own potions ingredients; gnomes were nearly as annoying as prairie elves. And that really was saying something.

Throwing it underhand, she watched amusedly as the gnome went zooming through the air, even if it didn’t completely get out of the garden. Maybe she wouldn’t get a jarvey; throwing gnomes seemed to be an excellent form of anger management. And Merlin knows she needed that once and a while.

A few gnomes later, and she was back to favoring the jarvey idea. Jenna was not used to physically demanding work of any type, besides pushing her cauldron to different sides of her room depending whether or not it needed to be by the window.

“There’s got to be a simpler way to do this,” she said, shaking out her right arm after throwing a particularly heavy gnome, “One that doesn’t involve throwing.”\n\n

0 Jenna Howard The teacher, apparently 46 Jenna Howard 0 5

Jordanna Howard

July 11, 2006 3:16 PM

Never watched that one, actually by Jordanna Howard

Jordanna could have explained to Asher that anyone with a bit of money had no reason to care about excelling in peasant class. Or that she would never have to support herself, her family fortune would do that for her, but it would be a waste of her own voice. Then Asher went onto her near endless ramble about her whole life-story- didn’t she realize that Jordanna didn’t care in the least?

Needless to say she was surprised when the other girl actually took off her shoe and took out the lace without at all being embarrassed by its ugliness. Her eyes narrowed skeptically as the girl she considered lower than herself in just about every possible way then tied the lace into a sort of knot-thing. Sacrificing your attire for a stupid class in the stupid dirt with the stupid gnomes and jarveys? Jordanna Howard?

Not in this outfit.

Or lifetime, for that matter. She scowled; it just wasn’t going to happen. Tossing her hair back, she watched in disgust as Asher barbarically swung the gross little potato-like thing and then tossed it away. It was totally barbaric. It was peasant’s work. It was certainly not for sophisticated or well-bred people such as her.

And then Asher baited her easily. Had she mentioned a spell in any other subject, then Jordanna might have brushed it off as useless to upstanding people like herself. But Charms, that was a different story. The gray-eyed girl occasionally even enjoyed that subject, or at least certain spells. It was the one subject she had the potential to excel at, if presented in a light that made her care.

She smirked as she unearthed her wand from her sleeve, holding it at the ready. Asher Tallow had no idea what she was getting her dirty little barbarian nose into.

“Well you and your caveman family can make knot-things and dirty your shoelaces all you like. They’re not that pretty anyway. But unlike some people,” she said coolly, “I have expensive outfits to protect, and I don’t need to resort to acting like a barbaric fool to achieve my ends,” she eyed a tubby gnome whose head had popped out of the ground to see what all the commotion was about, “Wingardium leviosa.”

She had to admit she enjoyed watching the gross little things wriggle and squirm pitifully as she guided it threw the air with her wand. Serves it right for making her work, and nearly getting her dirty for a class she didn’t care about. Jordanna let it violently swing back and forth through the air, “How quickly do you think gnomes get nauseous?” she wondered aloud, a somewhat sadistic smirk on her face. She wondered if she could get it to barf all over Asher… but then decided not to push it and went back to a smoother flight. After all, Jordanna really didn’t want to see it throw up or something. That would be too gross.

Taking a few steps toward the vine wall where Asher had hurled her gnome, she guided it to the other side, and then ended the spell, hearing a low “thump” on the other side when it hit the ground.

She pivoted around back to Asher, obviously very pleased with herself as she put her wand back in her sleeve. Jordanna didn’t even realize that in a way, she had played right into Asher’s hands by doing the work, “See- even peasant work can be completed in a civil way. Now why don’t you put those ugly laces of yours back out of my line of vision?”\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard Never watched that one, actually 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Asher Tallow

July 14, 2006 4:47 PM

Hey Lily! I've got your first victim! by Asher Tallow

Asher's rather impersonal good-feeling was quickly evaporating. She hadn't forgotten the selfish nastiness of Jordanna Howard, not in the slightest, but somehow her mind had managed to conjure up some sort of expectation of a change. Surely growing older meant changing, did it not? And surely wouldn't such a change be for the better?

(No. . .no, a must adament no.)

But Jordanna continued to speak, and whatever irrationally placed idealism Asher felt fleeted ever further away with each word that dropped from the girl's hateful, bigoted little mouth. "You're exactly what's wrong with everything in the wizarding world, Howard," Asher spat, her neck reddening in the flush of her anger.

"You're so convinced that magical ability makes you superior, that somehow your blood makes even that ability more superior, that you fail to recognize how very pathetic you are." She angrily began picking up her few jotted notes. "You call it civilized- I call it boring and old and easily done by anyone with a wand- including most any muggleborn that can outshine you."

She threw her shoelace into her bag as well, not caring about her loosened sneaker, nor about the level at which her voice had now risen. "You're pathetic," she repeated. "You're not capable of the slightest bit of originality. Everything you've ever done or will ever do will have come from someone else's instruction. Originality? Your mind is so filled with your parent-fed snobbery that you couldn't think an original thought even if imperio-ed."

Her words had gained a shrill sort of ringing that carried easily in the open air, the tones diction-precise and unnaturally mature. It had long become obvious that Asher had stopped talking about Jordanna Howard specifically, and was now addressing a different audience- an audience that was not there standing amidst the grass, but was living far to the north, in a cramped apartment, drinking her conjured cafe-au-lait while dreaming up visions of recapturing her long since denied inheritance. All that her mother had missed out on by having her and her brothers: prestige, position, authority, and blood-enriched notoriety. The most laudable line of Sarto.

Pathetic.

She stopped her frenzied movement sharply, her dark hair barely settling against the long mold of her scalp; it tickled at the base of her neck. She felt suddenly quite calm, and when she again spoke, it was in a very different sort of voice. Civil, patient, and inexplicably childlike. "You're so sad to listen to, Howard, if only because you'll never understand how much you miss out on."

She walked away then, her unlaced sneaker slapping up against her heel in muffled pads. She was very much ready to return to her dormroom now; she needed to rest.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Asher Tallow Hey Lily! I've got your first victim! 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5

Kaylie Brockert

July 14, 2006 7:38 PM

Surprise allergies. by Kaylie Brockert

Kaylie felt funny. Her nose was beginning to feel stuffy and her eyes were itching and burning. It was weird, she'd felt just fine this morning. In fact this had only started since she'd gotten to this class. It was odd for her. Kaylie wasn't prone to colds and other illnesses. She was ordinarily pretty healthy. She never got sick. Especially not this quickly.

She tried to focus on the lesson, but she felt as if she were in a fog. "AH-CHOO! AH-CHOO! AH-CHOO! AH-CHOO! AHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Kaylie sneezed loudly five times in a row. "Sorry" She said in a stuffed up voice. What was wrong with her? She didn't want to disrupt the lesson.

Kaylie sat down under a tree and rubbed her watery eyes. She was surprised at how puffy they felt. "AH-CHOO!!!" She sneezed loudly again. Her nose was feeling more stuffed up by the second. "AH-CHOOOOO!" \n\n

11 Kaylie Brockert Surprise allergies. 43 Kaylie Brockert 0 5

Zack Dill

July 16, 2006 4:01 PM

Yes. Yes, they are. by Zack Dill

Zack frowned doubtfully as Zoey insisted that being spun around in circles by your ankles then thrown halfway across the gardens like a discus wasn't painful. It seemed the sort of thing that would hurt rather a lot as far as he was concerned.

Granted, he'd never experienced it personally, but he was in no hurry to try, just to prove her wrong. The gnomes, which presumably had been subject to this abuse before, certainly seemed eager to avoid the treatment. That was all the proof Zack really needed.

He did find Zoey's dismissal of the gnomes' rights to dignity and not being tossed around like balls disturbing. They were living creatures after all. They had bones that could break, didn't they? What if they landed wrong and didn't have any healing potions on hand? And these guys looked like they had fewer hit points than D&D gnomes did to begin with, as they were probably 'tiny' sized instead of just 'small'. It was borderline though.

His frown deepened at being called 'useless' and his shoulders stiffened with offense and defensiveness. Sure, as a gnome, he was a bit fanciful and a complete waste of arrows in a fight, but gnomes were the basis of the scientific community in the D&D world. Some people could be so dismissive of things they didn't understand, but that didn't make the advances 'useless'. So what if the flying machine only flew about 5% of the time? That was five percent more flying than anything not born with wings could do without using up precious spell slots. If it hadn't crash landed in front of that dragon's cave they would have gotten away clean from that necromancer and been the richest campaign group in Faerun. Unfortunately, it had, and they'd all been promptly eaten and the dragon collected all their treasure. But that was beside the point. The DM had just been bitter about the escape plan working.

None of which really matter to Zoey, now, though. "Gnomes are not useless," he grumped, trying not to sound self-conscious but failing. "And I don't really know much about Jarveys, but Professor Kijewski said they're nasty to gnomes, so I'd just as soon not risk meeting one."\n\n

1 Zack Dill Yes. Yes, they are. 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Chris Dupree

July 16, 2006 11:50 PM

Re: Surprise allergies. by Chris Dupree

Chris had been attentively listening to the professor when someone started sneezing. He looked around to find the source of the disruption, a very miserable looking girl.

He turned back to the lecture, but kept sneaking glances towards her. She was rather pretty. She was pretty? Chris shook his head slightly. He had never really thought about girls before, but she was different. He dared a peek at her again. Yes, she was very attractive.

When the professor finished, Chris seeked the girl out again. They had been told to partner up. Maybe he could work with her.

Now where did she go? He looked around bewildered, looking almost foolish, til he spotted her sitting under a tree. Tentatively, he headed over, as beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. What was he supposed to say or do? Should he mention her sneezing or ignore it? Panicked, Chris began heading in the opposite direction. He went about five steps before realizing how silly that would be. She was just a girl. Right?

He started once more towards the girl when a horrible thought occured to him. Yes, she was just a girl, but what if she were a girl like his sister? Changing his mind, he headed away from her.

But that was just as silly. Not every girl would be like his sister and it wasn't like he was marrying her, just asking to work together. Checking around to make sure no one was watching his buffoonlike self, he turned once more. This time he made it the entire way to where she was seated.

Now what? She was sneezing again.

Deciding to ignore the sneezing, as he would be exchanging poite tones with her forever and they would get no where, he stuttered a quick, "Hi. Do you have a partner yet?"\n\n

0 Chris Dupree Re: Surprise allergies. 0 Chris Dupree 0 5

Lexi Stafford

July 17, 2006 2:23 PM

Five points if you hit a firstie by Lexi Stafford

Care of Magical Creatures was almost always the highlight of Lexi's week, no matter what it was that Professor K. was having them learn about. Just being outside and getting to mess around with all the different creatures was enough to make her happy. And as soon as the
jarvey was taken out of the crate, she got the feeling that this might prove to be her favorite class of all time.

Jarveys had to be one of the best things that the magical world offered, Lexi decided as the ferret-like thing began to chatter uncontrolably. She had never seen one before, but she had heard enough about them to realize just how awesome they were. After all, who couldn't like a critter that looked like a ferret and had the mouth of a sailor?

She reluctantly tore her gaze away from the jarvey as Professor K. began to talk about the uses of jarveys, and then on to what the students were going to be doing that day. She inwardly groaned as soon as she heard the phrase "de-gnoming." Unlike the jarvey, she was incredibly familiar with those little pests. Degnoming had always been her job whenever she and her brothers stayed with their grandparents. It wasn't bad, for a chore, but it was tedious work. Still, if she did a well enough job, maybe she'd get to work with the jarvey. That alone would make it all worth it.

She was about to begin the arduous task of trying to find a partner when the girl standing beside her made an offer. After looking around to make sure it was her being addressed, she nodded automatically. Then the girl's last words sunk in.

"Throwing them at people? I'd never thought of that one, but it sounds like lots of fun," Lexi replied with a wicked grin. "So, random tossing at whoever's in our path, or are there people in particular you're in the mood for hurling things at. I'm Lexi, by the way," she finished, extending a hand to the older girl. Even though she had never really talked to her before, if this kind of thing was what the other girl came up with on a regular basis, then they were probably going to be good friends.
\n\n

0 Lexi Stafford Five points if you hit a firstie 0 Lexi Stafford 0 5

Catherine

July 19, 2006 9:07 PM

I've always thought so. by Catherine

Catherine's reaction to the Aladren's introduction was automatic and instinctive, barely even noticeable to her until the needed information was presenting itself to her. She smiled politely at the half-joke about being international and ransacked her memories about families she'd met through her Aunt Margaret or heard about from Lorenzo. Santoro rang a bell, but a very vague one; she had no intention of marrying outside the country and so had little interest in foreign families. "The pleasure's mine," she said automatically when Bella claimed to be glad to meet her. It was the proper thing to say, and she'd said it so many times that it no longer prompted any reaction from her.

She was about to carry on with the prescripted conversation and ask if Bella was related to the Mendozas when the other girl added in another bit about getting to work. Catherine thought she controlled her expression well enough. She did not want to do this, and the line would be drawn if Bella was delusional enough to think she was going to touch one of those ugly things. She couldn't even imagine what Jordanna would say if she did. "All right," she said, smoothing her robes a little. "If we're going to do it, then let's just go ahead and do it." There was no enthusiasm in it, but she doubted seriously that anyone would expect it from her. Resigned determination would have to do.

She approached the bushes warily, ready to jump back in about the same amount of time it took to scream if something jumped out at her, and if the shoes made her fall over mid-jump, then so be it. When she was in her courtyard, she didn't worry about things jumping out at her. Here, where something was supposed to, she did. It was supposed to jump out, and therefore it was going to jump out, whether she liked it or not. Her eyes darted from spot to spot, trying to see everywhere at once, and she had gotten a death grip on her robes without even realizing it. When the bushes rustled, her reaction was as automatic as the one to Bella's surname. She screamed and scrambled backwards, fumbling for her wand. \n\n

0 Catherine I've always thought so. 0 Catherine 0 5

Earl Valentine

July 20, 2006 2:46 PM

Is this a lesson or a chore? by Earl Valentine

Earl practically ran to get to Care of Magical Creatures. he loved this class. Being outside was great for any class. Plus, today Earl had deemed it approporiate to bring his sketch book and pencils with him to class. He had held off from drawing for a while and was trying to get back into it. He figured there might be an interesting animal to draw here.

So Earl was only half-listening to the professor's speech untiol she pulled out a Jarvey, who immediately began insulting everyone within sight. Earl laughed hysterically. He had heard of these weird ferret-like creatures before, but had never seen one in person. Earl opened his sketchbook to an blank page and tried to draw the squirming creature. He was just getting started when the professor pulled out what appoeared to be a living potato - a garden gnome, in other words.

Those he had seem and those he didn't like. They were ugly and kept uprooting whatever sad plants they had in the backyard. He really didn't feel like drawing one of those.

Then he heard what they were going to be doing. De-gnoming! Earl was outraged. That wasn't a class; that was a chore! Furiously, he picked himself off the ground and made his way, alone, to the gardens. He found himself in aremote corner of the gardens and sat down right on the ground. He opened his sketchbook again and began to draw the first thing that came to mind.\n\n

0 Earl Valentine Is this a lesson or a chore? 67 Earl Valentine 0 5

Lily

July 20, 2006 4:15 PM

That would be some feat, since they aren't here. by Lily

She grinned. "I'm Lily." She shook the other girl's hand. "Nice to meet you, Lexi" Lily was glad to see Lexi wasn't too stuffy and obnoxious. She seemed like someone Lily would get on with just fine. "Actually, I did have a target in mind. The third years in my house. Oh, I'm in Crotalus." Lily added. She wasn't wearing her robes, so there wasn't anyway Lexi could know that. "But I'm not like, a stuck-up prissy pureblood." That's what everyone thought about them. "Actually, those are the people I want to throw the gnomes at. And there's this one particular idiot boy who...." Her voice trailed off as she spotted Earl leaving the class.

Anger welled up inside her. How dare Earl ruin Lily's plans! She let out a string of words that would rival the jarvey's and turned back to Lexi "Well, we can still get the snobs. Is there anyone you want to hit?" Lily asked, as she spotted both Jordanna Howard and Catherine Raines. They'd do just fine. Still, nothing would have been as satisfying as hitting Earl. Lily could only hope he got in deep trouble. Normally, she wasn't big on rules and punishment, but he'd ruined her fun. Besides, this was Earl . Anything bad that happened to him made Lily pretty happy. Especially if he brought it on himself.\n\n

11 Lily That would be some feat, since they aren't here. 45 Lily 0 5

Tally

July 21, 2006 1:27 PM

oh that's true. They do love partners by Tally

Tally was amused by Jenna's comment. She had purposely been throwing the gnome in her sister's direction. Tally knew of how much those girls disliked one other, they made their animosity rather clear when they had both been here in Tally's second year. The thought surprised Tally. It had been two years since then.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and nodded at Jenna, "Sure, I'd love to work with that Jarvey. Reminds me of my dad just a bit." Tally said amused. Though, she was only half-joking. Her father had a way with words and often wondered why his daughter had started to insult him in such ways, but in a joking manner. When asked where she learned such language, Tally always laughed and bowed before him to indicate he was the master of cuss words and insults.

Tally returned to her work and within minutes, was covered in dirt. De-gnoming was hard work, but she wasn't about to complain. Truth was, Tally loved twirling and throwing. She got such a great satisfaction of doing it, which the thing fly off. Her arms were tiring, but having trained with tossing the quaffle around, Tally was used to pushing herself. Besides, she was sure this would end up being a nice workout. Something she'd have to keep in mind for the future.

She was so involved in her work, that Tally didn't even notice Jenna was talking to her until the very end of her sentence. Tally flung the gnome and stared at Jenna for a moment, her mind working out what had been said to her. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure there is, but I like physical work." Tally said with a shrug. "We can't do any magic outside our house, so all yard work is by hands. We get dirty and sweating, but in the end, it's so satisfying."\n\n

0 Tally oh that's true. They do love partners 0 Tally 0 5

Jenna Howard

July 23, 2006 12:26 PM

Maybe they had a lonely childhood? by Jenna Howard

Jenna wondered how a jarvey could remind a person of their dad, seeing as jarveys were really offensive, but didn’t ask about it. Families were weird, and that was something she definitely understood. Besides, the other girl didn’t sound completely serious about it anyway.

Two thrown gnomes later, Jenna felt as if her arms were about to fall off. She was not made for this, plain and simple. Her muscles were flabby and she was totally out of shape. Give her a potion, and she'd do just fine, but give her this, and she might as well be a Squib. In fact, a Squib could probably degnome better than she could.

She raised her eyebrows at Tally’s last statement about the dirt and sweat being satisfying, “Dirt and sweat being satisfying? Not something I’ve heard of before,” she commented, letting a gnome scurry by her, “No offense or anything, it’s just honestly not something you hear around my house. It’s all about cleanliness around there. But they deal with a different sort of dirtiness, though, so I guess it’s kind of the same,” she added darkly.

Sitting down on the ground, she took off her hat- which began to stick to her hair from the sweat- to wipe the sweat off her forehead, and then put it back on her head. The girl was tired and dizzy from all that gnome throwing, and there had to be a better way then this.

Her wand slid down her sleeve, and she got an idea. What if she could get rid of the gnomes in the garden with a banishing charm? Sure, she wasn't very good at spells, but it was worth a shot. Besides, at this rate, she was going to become useless in about five second anyway.

"Think I'm gonna try a banishing charm on it, okay?" she warned Tally from her spot on the ground, "Let's see what's the incantation? See- no- sah, erm- sep! Yeah, sep, seppy, seper- no, I've got it, sepono, that's it!"

Okay, she was halfway there, now she actually had to make the attempt. She spotted a runty little gnome about a yard away, peering up from a hole in the ground, it obviously thought Jenna didn't see it.

"Sepono," she said, flicking the wand down, then up, the blue ray wasn't very strong, but strong enough to work, and it probably would of if the gnome hadn't gone and taken off.

"Darn," she grunted, biting the side of her cheek, "Okay, so maybe that wasn't the most foolproof plan."\n\n

0 Jenna Howard Maybe they had a lonely childhood? 46 Jenna Howard 0 5

Kaylie

July 23, 2006 5:47 PM

Re: Surprise allergies. by Kaylie

"Ahhh-choooo!" Kaylie continued to sneeze. She was incredibly miserable. She couldn't believe this. This was terrible. Kaylie couldn't even breathe out of her nose. "Ahhh-choo!!!"

"Hi. Do you have a partner yet?"

Kaylie looked up with red watery eyes, to see a boy standing there. An incredibly cute boy. Oh, Merlin! Why did she have to meet such a cute boy looking like this . Granted, Kaylie wasn't one of those girls who spent hours on hair and make-up, (It took way too long for her tastes. She didn't have the patience or attention to detail for it.) but she didn't want to look like this . Her face was all puffy. Her eyes were red. Her nose was red and dripping and she was pale. (Kaylie didn't notice this herself, but she knew she couldn't possibly look very good, as people didn't normally look very good when they were sick.)

"No" Kaylie sniffled. "Ahh-chhooo! Sorry about that." She continued in a stuffed up voice. "I'd be glad to work with you if you don't mind working with someone who's sniffling and sneezing." She managed to smile at him. "I'm Kaylie Brockert."\n\n

11 Kaylie Re: Surprise allergies. 43 Kaylie 0 5

Jordanna Howard

July 25, 2006 8:49 PM

What the- hey! Professor! by Jordanna Howard

Jordanna could have told Asher that just because something was simple, didn't mean it was any less efficient than a more complex solution. And that if something worked well then there was no need for change, no matter how old it grew.

She'd like to tell Asher that if someone was put under the Imperius Curse (not imperio'd, as she called it) then of course they couldn't think an original thought. That made no sense whatsoever. Even Jordanna knew that.

But of course, rational thinking was wasted on people like Asher Tallow, who didn’t understand the concept of controlling one’s temper. The kind of people who took little care of their attire, which was already tacky to start with.

Watching her roommate walk off in her unlaced shoes, Jordanna thought she’d rather die than be caught looking like that. Any girl would. Someone really ought to teach that girl a little discipline.

A thin, runty little gnome ran past her feet, how disgusting. Wand still out, she muttered the spell for the full-body bind ‘Petrificus Totalus’ and continued on her way. A very temporary solution (but then, so was throwing them out of the garden) but Jordanna didn’t have very much time on her hands. The wand was hastily stuffed back in her pocket, and she only took a second to flatten out any wrinkles. She was a girl on a mission.

If Asher thought Jordanna was above of being a snitch and ratting her out, then she was horribly mistaken.

“Professor!” she called eagerly, striding towards the teacher, waving her hand daintily in the air trying to catch professor-what’s-her-face’s attention, “Professor, I’m quite sure that there’s a school rule that clearly states that students cannot be dismissed from class without the teacher’s consent,” she glanced back at Asher momentarily before folding her hands neatly on her right hip and continuing her little campaign in a most saccharine tone, “And I don’t think that anybody should be exempt from the rules, do you?”\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard What the- hey! Professor! 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Dillon

July 29, 2006 5:55 PM

How nice of you to do. by Dillon

Dillon was expecting a 'no' to come from the girl's mouth. Not that he could very well blame her. She didn't know him, probably was in some higher league that Dillon was unaware of, or perhaps one of those snobby girls he had heard so much about. And, for a moment, Dillon wondered why he had asked to be her partner at all? Mainly, it was because everyone else he knew was already paired off and Dillon wasn't someone to be considered in the 'popular' crowd. So, when he said 'everyone' he meant the three people he had actually had conversations with in the past.

However, much to his surprise, the girl actually agreed to becoming his partner. A smile of disbelief formed at the corners of his mouth, but he immediately began to follow her through the maze. "Thanks." He said, hoping she knew it was a thanks for agreeing to work with him and not some other random thing. The farther into the gardens they went, the farther it took them away from the class. Dillon could still hear people talking or grunting with work and, on occasion, he would see a gnome fly up into the air, but, for the most part, the two of them were relatively alone.

"I'm Dillon...Welsh." Dillon added his last name just incase she wanted it. Though, she hadn't offered up her own. Though, he did recognize her as the Aladren Captain and had heard Zoey mention her from time to time in passing. Dillon didn't mention that fact either. "This spot looks as good as any." Dillon said, pausing in front of a bush and glancing at Anne to be sure that she was okay with his choice. He didn't want her to freak out if she thought it was inadequate or something. Girls could be rather weird if they were in a mood.

OOC: I'm sorry this took me so long to get back to, RL has been rather rough at the moment. I'm also sorry it's such a short post. I'll try to be better about it in the future.\n\n

6 Dillon How nice of you to do. 44 Dillon 0 5

Tally

July 29, 2006 6:09 PM

How sad would that be? by Tally

Tally continued to work, not minding the sweat that began to drip down from her forehead or form at the top of her upper lip. Her school robes were banished on the ground and she stood in a t-shirt and shorts in the heat. She was glad she dressed lightly that day. With every toss of a gnome, the more satisfied Tally was. She had even been counting how many she tossed just to see her limit.

"My dad and brother are Aurors, being sweaty and dirty comes with the job." Tally said, smiling at how different her's and Jenna's lives were. Like night and day the two of them were. Not to say that was a bad thing. The more they worked though, the more Tally realized that Jenna had probably never done hard labor ever in her life. How sad for her to never know how rewarding such things could truly be.

Tally stopped and stood up straight, her back groaning from being bent over for so long. "Are we allowed to use magic? I mean, I know she never said we couldn't, but she never said we could either." Tally said, frowning as she watched Jenna try. Whether it was because Jenna was terrible at charms (Tally's absolute favorite charm) or the gnome was clever enough to run, the spell had been a failure. "Ah, well, at least you tried." Tally said, a small chuckle escaping.\n\n

0 Tally How sad would that be? 0 Tally 0 5

Professor Kijewski

July 29, 2006 6:36 PM

ATTENTION EVERYONE! by Professor Kijewski

Kiva was walking around and watching her students. She had already warned them that she knew what they would be doing at all times. Did they honestly think she would just let them roam freely within the gardens without supervision? So, at the present time, she knew exactly what each student was doing...or, in some cases, not doing. Honestly, she had so much hope for this class. She thought with them doing physical work for an award (who wouldn't want a jarvey? They would do all the work for them!) that the students would be estatic. Apparently, she was completely wrong. And, therefore, completely disappointed in her students. Especially the ones who had never given her trouble before, but where now being rebellious.

“Professor!” Kiva turned around and saw one of the Howard girls making her way towards her. Kiva frowned and moved closer so that they would meet half way, listening to what the young girl, Jordanna, had to say.

Kiva's frowned deepened as her eyes glanced in the directions Jordanna's had. Kiva sighed and pinched her nose as though she were getting a headache. This was not how she saw this lesson going. Why did the students feel as though they could just defy the professors without consequence? Back when she was in school, Kiva never believed she could go against a Professor. They were the authority. "Thank you, Jordanna, I'll take care of it." Kiva wasn't happy with Jordanna either. The girl had made no effort in doing the lesson Kiva had assigned to her. Flicking her wand didn't constitute as effort.

Kiva's wand was in her hand and stetched out high above her head. Shots of red and green sparks flew high into the air making loud popping sounds. Kiva was as talented in charms as she was in taking care of animals. She needed to be in her line of work. Such techniques came hand in hand. Someday, these kids would understand that. "It seems as though some of you students feel as though this lesson is a choice that you have. An option. That is not the case. Earl Valentine, Zoey Welsh, Asher Tallow, and Zack Dill please stand over there and wait for further instructions." Kiva called out, pointing over to a tree for them to wait at.

"As for the rest of you. I'm appalled at how much you lot think you are allowed to do. This lesson is for your benefit, not mine. I know how to de-gnome gardens and I've worked with Jarveys plenty of times in my past. So, I wonder, why is it that you, as students, feel as though you don't have to listen to a thing I say? I did not say to use magic. I did not say for one person to do the work while the other one does nothing. And I certainly did not say that this was a free choice for you to do or not do. This is a class You will be graded, you will win points or have them taken away from you. I AM YOUR TEACHER!"

Kiva's last words had much emphasis behind it to sound like venom. She knew she had allowed her class to be informal, but they were on borderline disrespectful. Kiva had wanted this class to be fun, exciting, for them to want to learn her material. Apparently, she had put too much faith in them if this was the outcome. "Miss Howard, do remember that we have specific school uniforms that shall be worn during any and all classes. If you forget again, points will be taken, continue to forget and I'll have words with the Deputy Head as well as send an owl home." Kiva said to Jordanna, giving the girl a stern look. "That goes for the rest of you who think that the dress code is optional. From what I can see, there has only been one group of students who have been consistant in their work. Jenna Howard and Tally Adams, the two of you have won the Jarvey. One of you may come up and claim the Jarvey. Have fun with him. The rest of you, back to work or points will be taken. That means you too, Miss Howard." Kiva said, glancing at the student next to her. "Find yourself a new partner and your hands better have dirt on them by the end of the lesson."

Kiva left the girl and walked over to the group of students she had summoned over. "The lot of you had better have a good reason for blantantly defying my orders!" Kiva said, though she never raised her voice, the anger and hurt that she felt was as clear as though she had shouted. "Zack and Zoey, the two of you are upper classmen. You two are suppose to be role-models. How does it look to the others when you guys aren't working? And from my own house!" Kiva threw up her hands in exasperation, disappointed at her fourth years. "Earl... did you even bother to try doing what was given to you? Bother doing anything at all?" Kiva asked, her eyes glaring down at him. Finally she turned to Asher, "I know you were working with Jordanna and from what I hear, you two aren't friends, but walking out on class will not solve anything. I want answers from the four of you and then I want you all to work together and finish this lesson."

OOC: Everyone can continue to write in their threads if it's easier, just be sure to make comments of having heard me speak. Earl, Zoey, Asher, and Zack, you four will post in this thread so as to keep us all together. Thanks.\n\n

0 Professor Kijewski ATTENTION EVERYONE! 0 Professor Kijewski 0 5

Zack Dill

July 30, 2006 12:01 AM

Completely cowed by Zack Dill

Zack was a good student. The number of times he'd gotten into trouble could be counted on one hand, and almost all those instances were because he'd been caught doing other people's homework. He'd flinched and cowered before the school principal then, and he flinched and cowered before his Head of House now. He looked at the ground and not at her. He fidgetted and wrung his hands and wished desperately for the ground to swallow him up (this was a magic school, ground could probably do that for real here).

Heck, he'd even settle for getting abducted by aliens. Yes, that was bound to be unpleasant, but surely it couldn't be worse than being singled out (well, quartered out) by the teacher and getting yelled at for lack of a work ethic. He very nearly cried. Didn't, thankfully, but he had to blink really hard to stop it.

"I'm s-sorry," he blurted out as soon as she gave them a chance to defend themselves. His voice cracked, but he doubted that it had anything at all to do with puberty today. He blinked again, squeezing his eyes tightly each blink to forestall any embarrassing leakage, then offered his only excuse, "But I can't hurt gnomes."\n\n

1 Zack Dill Completely cowed 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Bella

July 30, 2006 10:11 PM

Rolls Eyes by Bella

Bella doubted very much that she would get along with this girl. For some odd reason, Catherine reminded Bella of her roommate. She wasn't exactly sure why that was...maybe because there were times when Bella thought Anne acted as though she were superior, though that girl had no reason to think that whatsoever. And neither did Catherine. Bella shrugged and started off towards the bushes. Either way, she was going to get credit for this class whether Catherine helped her with it or not.

She had already begun to dig into the ground in search of gnomes by the time anything remotely exciting happened. Catherine's scream made Bella stand straight up and her mouth hang open. Fear caused Bella's head to dart about looking for the source of Catherine's fear...but she found nothing. Slowly, Bella's heart rate returned to normal and her dark eyes landed on Catherine. She was trying desperately not to laugh, but the corners of her mouth twitched and she could feel a giggle rising at the back of her throat. Bella had never met anyone so scared of a little gnome. Not even her prissy sister, Sofia was afraid of gnomes and that girl was afraid of dust.

She nearly lost control of her giggle, but was interupted by the professor. Whatever had happened to cause such an uproar with Professor Kijewski, it must have been big. Bella had never seen her head of house lose her temper. Not once. It seemed as though people didn't want to do this lesson. Bella's eyes glanced over at her partner and wondered if the girl had enough in her to even complete the lesson, considering a fly seemed to set her off, but otherwise remained quiet. Once Professor K. had finished talking and told them to get back to work, Bella returned to the bushes in front of her.

"The only thing a gnome will do is bite you. And that's only if you hold on to them long enough." Bella told Catherine, though she very much doubted the other girl cared at all. "Listen, just look like you're doing something, alright?" Bella finally said, looking up at Catherine. Bella wouldn't fail this class because this girl didn't want to break a nail, "I don't care who you are or if you're allergic to dirt, I will not get bad marks in this class because of you." Bella told the girl as bluntly as possible. "Especially not because of you."\n\n

0 Bella *Rolls Eyes* 0 Bella 0 5

Anne

July 30, 2006 10:51 PM

I'll think of my alterior motive later. by Anne

Though not too sure about what she was being thanked for, Anne nodded as if she understood and decided to take the good-manners route. "Not a problem," she said, pulling on the ends of her hair without noticing. There were disadvantages to having never learned good communications skills. Worrying that she and whoever she was interacting with were on different playing fields without her realizing it was one of them. When he introduced himself, she jerked harder on the strand of hair wound around her left ring finger and took another look at him. Tall, redheaded, and he had the same surname. Most gamblers would have bet against it being coincidence.

Her entire don't-touch-the-gnome strategy collapsed. There was no way in heck she was going to let Zoey's brother or cousin or whatever show her up in class.

"Wright," she said, throwing in a smile for good measure before she remembered the inevitable misunderstanding. "That's my last name, I mean. I've never been able to figure out if having a name at the end of the alphabet's a good thing or a bad one, have you?" Hopefully, he wasn't the sort for puns. "I know your...sister? Zoey. She's on my Quidditch team." Nowhere to really go from that one... She was relieved of the necessity when Dillon picked out some bushes. "Sure," she said, then hesitated. Deciding she wasn't going to be shown up was one thing, but putting the idea into practice had the potential to go less than well.

It was then that the image came to her. For a moment, she was back in South Carolina, when she was...six, maybe six and a half. It had been hot, anyway, so it had to have been after her birthday. She'd made such a practice of avoiding memories of her parents that she almost failed to recognize the fair-haired woman talking to John. He'd wanted to teach her how to fly on her own, but her mother had thought she was too young...

"Y'all are impossible," Mary pronounced. "If I didn't know he was still alive..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "Well, it doesn't matter. But I'm telling you, John, if she gets hurt - "

"I won't even want to know how painful my demise will be," John finished for her. "And impossible's an understatement, honey. We're flat-out crazy." Mary's expression didn't suggest that this was much of an improvement. "It has its benefits," he assured her. "We aren't afraid of anything."

We aren't afraid of anything.

Fine words, coming from him.

Hypocrisy was stomachable in small doses, but there were always times when it wasn't. This was one of them.

"These bushes are fine," she said to Dillon, then put her money where her mouth was and began rummaging around in them. Coming up with a gnome, Anne flinched instinctively and forgot the whirling around part as she flung it away from herself, channeling both disgust with the thing and her temper into the action. The look she shot Dillon before going back to the bushes dared him to comment on it.

"I can hold my own," she said flatly, then began looking for another of the wretched things. \n\n

16 Anne I'll think of my alterior motive later. 59 Anne 0 5

Asher Tallow

July 31, 2006 8:26 AM

Hmm. . .righteous indignation prolly covers it. by Asher Tallow

She stopped her hackneyed exit from the gardens, as the tale end of Howard's words caught up with her. The rat! Asher seethed, her teeth biting down so hard that her jaw began to ache. Snitching to a teacher was something she hadn't even thought Howard capable of; it only went to show how low the stuck-up brat really was. She readied herself for an explanation, feeling somewhat confident that the friendly Care of Magical Creatures professor was bound to inquire further.

The calling out did come, but it was not what Asher expected in the least.

The words landed harshly and despite the warmth of so there! that she felt when Howard's breach of dress code was named, Asher still felt stung to hear Professor Kijewski publically reprimand her. Her neck turned red with a sudden bout of self-conscious shame, a feeling that while rare was always potent with her. That feeling quickly melted into a more familiar emotion: anger.

The reproof was certainly deserved; she had no right to leave class without at least attempting to ask permission. But Asher wasn't one to consider things rationally when put on her defensive. She was always one to react, and react she did. She barely even noticed the fourth year from her first potions class's obvious dismay, and she didn't hear his apology in the least. Just as his words died, she picked up with some of her own.

"Jordanna Howard is no one's friend, and it has nothing to do with being friendly! She's an awful person, and I certainly don't have to be subjected to her kind of thinking; and I won't." Her voice sounded clearly defensive and openly childish, but she pushed away the small sound of self-recrimination that reminded her of moderation. "I did the assignment- I even tried to get someone who wasn't doing it to start in. It's not my fault that I have nothing to learn from this lesson."

The now even further quieted voice that occasionally managed to work in some sense tried to reason yet again. Don't you think you were a little bit wrong? Don't you think showing more disrespect might worsen your position? Maybe you could try a small bit of humility and apologize? Asher listened, but her words reflected a poorly interpreted translation.

"I'm sorry that I didn't ask your permission to leave early," she said, her voice only mellowing slightly with the words. "But you should be sorry for not paying enough attention to the kind of people we're stuck working with. They're the ones who deserved to be punished, not me."

She looked surprisingly young in her stance, with one untied shoe and her carelessly shorn hair plastered across her cheeks. But her passion, while mature, was poorly wasted in the immaturity of her manner, and the very sad thing was that Asher was really no different from her classmate; both were stubborn, proud, and equally as closed-minded.

Funny, isn't it, how an enemy's faults are often your very own? the voice of wisdom whispered in Asher's ear, and the silly girl, she heard it but didn't listen.\n\n

0 Asher Tallow Hmm. . .righteous indignation prolly covers it. 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5

Jenna and Jordanna Howard

July 31, 2006 8:44 PM

Woah by Jenna and Jordanna Howard

Just about as soon as the question left Tally’s mouth, the teacher supplied an answer. Or yelled one, anyway. Jenna jumped in her spot as the teacher proceeded to tell them all off.

It wasn’t that she was particularly scared by the teacher; she had sat through more than her share of lecturing and scolds to the point where she came to expect them. But that was at home, and not here, and she was genuinely surprised. Picking at the grass, Jenna hadn’t thought the teacher had enough backbone in her.

I did not say to use magic.

She looked very guiltily down at the wand at her hand. Well, like Tally had said, the professor hadn’t said anything either way, so she didn’t see herself completely at fault. Besides, the spell hadn’t even worked. Still, she stuffed the wand back in her pocket, not in the mood to get further reprimanded.

Jenna stopped grass-picking to raise her eyebrows at the professor’s special vendetta aimed solely at Jenna’s younger sister. Jenna knew Jordanna hated the dress code (heck, even Jenna did, she felt like a Christmas tree everyday, with Crotalus red and Sonora green, and Jenna wasn’t cheery enough to enjoy that.) She wondered vaguely whether the blond would actually listen. Jordanna wasn’t used to being yelled at.

She would have gone back to grass-picking, but looked up upon hearing her and Tally’s names being called out for the jarvey. That was good… and bad. Good news was, Jenna didn’t have to do work anymore, for which she was glad. The bad news was that whenever a class got in trouble, you tended to really hate the goody-goods. At least, that was how Jenna felt when she got in trouble for something and Jordanna did not.

“I’ll get the jarvey,” Jenna volunteered, after all, most people probably didn’t remember her from before, “I don’t have a reputation or anything to kill,” she said with a faint grin, “Besides, I really want to see the look on Jordanna’s face right now.”

And without waiting for Tally’s reply, Jenna walked off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The grin on Jordanna’s face was akin to that of a Cheshire cat’s. It was like Christmas. The rules had paid off, and Asher was going to get in trouble. For that moment, all was right in her world. The girl wondered what the punishment would be. Copying lines? Some errand that could potentially cause severe injury?

The smile quickly dropped into a frown as the teacher went on about the magic. What was she, a squib? They were witches and wizards- of course they were going to use magic! It was much easier, and much more effective. Why should Jordanna be punished when she thought she was being practical?

Then the frown was joined by a blush, and it didn’t help that she was so pale. Her face was all heating up, the blushing only getting worse, and this was becomign embarrassing. How dare that, that woman tell her what to wear? This was impending upon her individuality- her right to look the best. If you have it, flaunt it, right? Jordanna thought so.

But her father wouldn’t. No, if she got in trouble with the Deputy Headmaster, he would be furious. Howards didn’t mess with the law, and when they did, they made darn well sure they didn’t get caught. Maybe she would wear a uniform, to this class. It wasn’t worth her ruining good attire anyway.

And then the next big sting. Apparently her sister and some mixed blood were teacher’s pets. She detested being outdone by her sister, and loathed even more the association with peasant work she brought to the family. Teacher’s pet in this class? That was downright embarrassing!

The last threat just about drove her nuts. Get these manicured hands dirty? She hated dirty above all things. It was just about the worst punishment ever.

“Jen-nah!” she whined in a sing-song voice when she saw her sister approaching the front of the class to get the jarvey. Already her mind was working on an escape plan.

“No.”

“But why?” Jordanna griped, knowing very well her sister obviously enjoyed Jordanna’s groveling, “We’re sisters, sisters are supposed to do stuff for each other.”

“How much hairspray have you been using lately?”

Jordanna stomped her foot. It didn’t really help her case, but it made her feel better.

The older sister with the jarvey stopped in front of her, the jarvey already letting out a stream of insults on Jordanna.

“Here’s the deal. You get rid of five gnomes, and no less. You will be civil to Tally. Then you get to direct the jarvey with us. If Professor Kijewski says anything, I’ll say you tried and that you’re not feeling well or something,” Jenna said with an unusual amount of authority.

“Done,” Jordanna said reluctantly.

“Of course, it will cost you,” Jenna said with a Howard-style smirk.

Well, it wasn’t as if she shouldn’t expect something from that fashion disaster she was forced to call a sister. Jenna had Howard blood in her.

Jordanna weighed her options- get dirty, work with sister, jarvey, and mixed blood, but not get in trouble, or stay clean, and get in trouble, which could possibly jeopardize the party she wanted to throw in the common room, because Daddy might cut her off from the money. She had no choice.

“What do you want?” Jordanna asked reluctantly.

“You’ll see,” Jenna said with a smirk, “Follow me.”

“You make a pile of dung smell like perfume,” the jarvey chided at Jordanna, “You cause happiness whenever you go.”

“Oh, shut it, ferret,” Jordanna grumbled.

Jenna turned around when they reached the Tally girl, but whether or not either of them heard Jordanna was anyone’s guess, “Jordanna, this is Tally,” Jenna introduced, “And Tally, this is Jordanna, who is going to be nice to you if she wants our cooperation,” the words were more directed at Jordanna standing behind her than at Tally, “I thought it would be a good idea to make her physically get rid of five gnomes before she can work with us and the jarvey,” Jenna explained, “But only if it's okay with you, of course."
\n\n

0 Jenna and Jordanna Howard Woah 0 Jenna and Jordanna Howard 0 5

Earl

August 01, 2006 12:27 AM

Caught! by Earl

Earl jumped up out of reflex when he heard the loud pops that accompanied the bright red and green flares that were shot into the sky. The pencils and pad of paper clattered to the ground and he looked around to see who had set off the fireworks display. It was the professor. He listened attenively to her speech, his face growing redder as her words stung him.

And then he heard his name specifically. Ducking his head into his shirt collar as far as it would go (and looking rather like an overgrown turtle) he left his things in a pile on the ground and trudged over to where Zooey, Asher and Zack were standing, waiting to be yelled at further.

He stayed silent during anotyher round of censuring, and bit his tongue while Zack and Asher made themselves heard. He knew he should have been de-gnoming instead of drawing. It was his fault, but could he help it if a lesson didn't interest him? No. Instead of apologizing or explaining himself, Earl was content to stay silent and look thoroughly shamed by staring at the ground and kicking up little clouds of dust with his left foot.\n\n

0 Earl Caught! 0 Earl 0 5

Zoey

August 01, 2006 6:44 PM

Oh dear... by Zoey

Zoey had apparently said something wrong to Zack as, instead of smiling or saying something in the way that said 'Zoey was on the right path', he seemed to deflat even further and (though Zoey was sure she was imagining it) move even further from where she wanted him to go. What had she said to make him not want to do the assignment even more?

Before she had any time to respond to him, Professor K. shot off a bunch of sparks and started to reprimand everyone. But, that wasn't what brought the bright blush into her freckled cheeks. No, it was the moment Zoey heard her name being called out infront of the entire class. It wasn't so much of her not wanting to do the work as to figure out why Zack didn't want to do the work.

While Professor K. had her way with them (making Zoey wish she could sink into the ground forever and never be seen again), Zoey tried to frantically think of a good reason why she hadn't just gone off and find a group when she realized Zack wasn't planning on working. Mainly, it was because Zoey had wanted to be a friend and help him. And look how well she was at doing that.

She listened quietly as Zack apologized and gave his reasoning. Zoey was going to apologize next, but suddenly the girl beside her went off. The way she spoke to the professor caused Zoey's jaw to fall open. Holy Crap! Zoey thought. If she had ever spoken like that to anyone, her butt would have been in her room until she was thirty. Her parents were professors at a Muggle College back home. Zoey knew how much her parents despised students who thought themselves above the rules of the classroom and treated everyone like crap. As this girl was surely making the Professor feel.

When the scene had calmed down enough for Zoey to feel it was ample opportunity to apologize, she cleared her throat softly. "Professor, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lapse in my work, I just wanted to make sure Zack was alright."\n\n

6 Zoey Oh dear... 39 Zoey 0 5

Dillon

August 01, 2006 7:08 PM

Oh wonderful... by Dillon

Well at least now he had her full name...not that he couldn't have asked his sister it later. Of course, he knew that Zoey wasn't necessarily fond of her Captain. From what Dillon gathered, Anne had been rather cold and distant to Zoey and Zoey (being the quiet girl she was) couldn't figure out for the life of her why Anne would be like that. Dillon had a tendency to shrug off the matter as it didn't pertain to him and now that he was working with the said Captain, he didn't see anything cold about the girl at all. Then again, he wasn't on her Quidditch team.

"Uh...I can't really say for certain if I ever thought much about it." Dillon admitted. Well, he often hated having a last name that started with a 'W' mainly because he had to wait forever to do just about anything when it came to classes or extracurricular activities because teachers and coaches believed in going in alphabetical order, but otherwise, he didn't think much of it. "Yeah, she really loves the sport." Dillon said. "She's all about basketball at home, but that's cos it's the only time she gets to play it. But, she still makes time for some Quidditch. When she's serious about something, she does all she can to be the best at it." Dillon said, half joking.

When Anne agreed with the set of bushes, Dillon set to work. He was tall and lanky and had no muscles. Sure he played Goalie for the soccer league and sure he had played the Quidditch keeper for Teppenpaw for the last three years, but Dillon looked as awkward as ever as he reached into holes and pulled out the first gnome he grabbed and flung it high and away from him.

"I can hold my own"

Dillon looked up at Anne when she said this, the look on her face took Dillon off-guard. Had he said something wrong to imply that she couldn't? Or was it like Zoey claimed and Anne had a chip on her shoulder to...well, everyone? "Uh..." Dillon searched for words to make sure anything he said didn't offend her, "okay. I'm glad..." The way the words came out of his mouth, it was almost as if he were asking it as a question for her, though, in reality, Dillon was just afraid that she would just start throwing gnomes at him instead of elsewhere.\n\n

6 Dillon Oh wonderful... 44 Dillon 0 5

Professor K.

August 02, 2006 10:59 PM

Is utterly shocked by Professor K.

Kiva felt as though she had gone a bit overboard when she looked down at Zack. The boy seemed absolutely petrified. Well...she didn't think she had gone completely off the wall, but she was tired of the students thinking they could do whatever they liked without consequence. This was a school, they were here to learn. Apparently, some didn't quite think that.

Zack’s response completely mystified Kiva. He couldn’t hurt gnomes? What in the world was he talking about? But, before Kiva could even open her mouth to respond let alone allow Zack to know she had, indeed, heard him, Asher Tallow started talking. Kiva had started to reprimand her for saying terrible things about a classmate, but her words went unheard as Asher continued to speak. Anger rising with every word Asher spoke, but it wasn’t until her last statement that Kiva finally lost her control.

"But you should be sorry for not paying enough attention to the kind of people we're stuck working with. They're the ones who deserved to be punished, not me."

“You want to try that one again, Miss Tallow?” Kiva took a step closer to the girl, anger flashing dangerously into her eyes. Kiva was, by all means, a quiet woman. She lived her life (or used to before worry of her father interrupted her days) as carefree and stress free as she could. But, she lived in the world, had studied the most dangerous of creatures. There was a side of her that was rare to see, but a side that was necessary in order to work with Chimeras, Lions, and Dragons. That assertive, heated side was brewing beneath the surface. The audacity of this girl.

“First of all, Miss Tallow, you didn’t do the assignment. Using Magic was not the way I showed you how to de-gnome a garden. Had you paid the least bit of attention to what I had said before coming over to you, you would have realized that. I ought to completely fail you just for that.” Kiva said, her jaw tight to keep her voice even. The girl had a lot of nerve talking to Kiva like that. Talking to any Professor like that. Kiva was so upset at that moment. She knew that if she had been in her first year of teaching, she would have probably dismissed the class, waited for the students to leave before bursting into tears. However, now she had enough sense to keep her emotions in check. She had enough to cry about with her personal life that she couldn’t let a few bratty students get the better of her.

“Second of all, how dare you speak to your Teacher like that.” Kiva said, finally relaxing her muscles and taking a deep breath to calm herself down. “You chose your partner, Miss Tallow, you only have yourself to blame for that. I’ve dealt with Miss Howard accordingly and she knows her place in this class. I will reprimand her as I see fit.” Kiva walked a bit away from the students before turning back to them. “Earl, Zoey, the two of you may get to work. For now, you have a warning. Do this again, and it’ll be a detention.” Kiva told the two of them before waving them off. Quite frankly, any excuse they gave her didn’t matter to her anymore. Figuring out how to deal with Asher was the only thing on Kiva’s mind and then working out what Zack was on about. But first, Asher.

“You will come back here after dinner, Miss Tallow, without your wand and in some comfortable clothing.” Kiva said. “You will serve detention with me for the rest of this week. I will be sending home an owl to your parents in regards to your attitude and if you continue down this path, a talk with the Deputy Head. Now, go join Zoey and Earl. And do try to learn something from the lesson this time.” Kiva said in a patronizing tone before completely dismissing Asher and turning back to Zack.

“Alright Zack, explain yourself.” Kiva said, her voice lighter than it had been with Asher. “Why can’t you do this lesson?”

\n\n

0 Professor K. *Is utterly shocked* 0 Professor K. 0 5

Zack Dill

August 03, 2006 9:48 AM

Trying to explain by Zack Dill

1 Zack Dill Trying to explain 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Zack Dill

August 03, 2006 10:27 AM

Trying to explain (full post, stupid Enter key) by Zack Dill

Zack trembled in his Sonora robes as Professor Kijewski spoke with barely restrained anger to the girl next to him. Asher, if he remembered her first name right. The fact that Kijewski didn't yell almost made it scarier. It meant she was bottling it, and that meant it could explode, and she had just dismissed Zoey and Earl and then she gave Asher the detention, all still without yelling, and then it was just Zack left with a very angry teacher. He clearly hadn't thought this passive aggression through. But as much as he didn't want to face the Head of House's wrath, he even more strongly couldn't do the assignment.

"I-I," he stuttered, but couldn't think of how to finish the sentence. "You," he started again, but that would sound accusatory and he was already in deep trouble. "We," attempt three had the same problem as the first. He really wished his brain would just turn on. He spoke English fluently, really. Maybe another language would help? One she didn't understand, just to kick start his brain without risking it coming out all wrong.

Distressed, he just vomited the whole problem in Kling-on. "You want us to throw gnomes," here he had to use the English word for gnomes because Kling-on, for some strange reason, didn't have a direct translation, "around and they land on their heads and you don't think that doesn't hurt? I've been tossed around with a whole lot less air time and I can tell you it hurts," his stupid eyes began to tear up again and no amount of blinking stopped them from spilling over. He used the heel of his hand to push them away and tried to pretend it wasn't happening by continuing on in Kling-on, and determinedly spitting out his conclusion. "So I'm not going to do it to other gnomes."

Sadly, unless she was a much bigger Star Trek fan than he was guessing she was, she'd understood the two times he said 'gnome' and nothing else. Which meant he was going to have to explain it all over again in English.

Fortunately, unless she was a much bigger Star Trek fan than he was guessing she was, she'd understood the two times he said 'gnome' and nothing else. Which meant he hadn't just accused her of gnome cruelty to her face. He still didn't know how he was going to get around that part.

Oh, and while he was getting things off his chest in Kling-on, he might as well add, "Besides, the Jarvey scares me, so I don't want to be anywhere near it." For obvious reasons, he'd left that part out of his explanations to Zoey. He knew he was a coward. He didn't really want everyone else to know that. Unfortuantely, that was probably going to become obvious in the next few years of this course if they kept getting progressively less benign creatures to study.

She still didn't know what he'd said besides 'gnomes' and 'jarvey' and if she was anything like his third grade teacher she was probaby getting frustrated with him and she was already on a short fuse, so he hurried up and said in English, still looking at the professor's feet, as he had been since she first addressed him, "Sorry, I needed to sort out my thoughts." At least he had stopped crying. And he'd only squeaked a little on that sentence.

He still didn't know how to say it all in English. "The assignment," he began carefully, his voice again wavering on the second word, and no he had control over his tear ducts. Stop it. He wasn't a little girl. He tried to stiffen his upper lip to see if that helped. There had to be a reason why the British used that phrase as a synonym for not crying.

He just felt like he was making weird faces. But so far, it was a successful method. The tears were remaining in his squeezed shut eyes and not dripping down his face. That was one small mercy. "I have," he re-tried, because now he finally figured out how he could put the problem into politically correct terms, "an ethical objection to the assignment."

\n\n

1 Zack Dill Trying to explain (full post, stupid Enter key) 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Asher Tallow

August 03, 2006 2:55 PM

Fine then. by Asher Tallow

Why was it that adults were so convinced that they knew everything? That they had all the answers, were always right, and for as long as she was younger and smaller, that it would always be that way? She hadn't used magic- she only accio-ed the stupid gnome her way; she'd de-gnomed the way she always had done before. With her dad. Her father who used to listen to her, who used to care about her, who used to want to have his family with him.

Now he was just like her mother: another adult who knew better.

Asher hated it. She hated that no one understood her, or cared to listen to her anymore. She hated that she was stuck in a class with a teacher who should be able to tell- isn't that what teachers are all about? Understanding their students? Why couldn't Professor Kijewski see what she meant? She was so tired of being around people who would sooner call her dirt because she didn't pander to their so-called blood status, and having adults get angry at her for being honest.

Was it really better for her to stay quiet? To not voice her thoughts? To bottle it all up and stay shut in, and never ever speak what she was feeling? To not say that she was angry? That she wanted her family back and at home and mostly, above all else, together? Asher had tried that, and it didn't work.

Staying quiet doesn't work. You just lose things, have things taken away from you, and find yourself without a family. But she didn't care, she decided adamently, her face blotched red with anger and hurt and tears that were gathered and waiting expectantly.

She didn't care. So what if Professor Kijewski wrote a letter home- it's not like her dad was going to come screaming and kicking and yelling. He was busy with other things now- with finding his life again. And her mother? Asher's mother had far more important issues of concern than her only daughter's errant behavior: there was the Hallow's Eve ball to prepare for, the Winter Social Gathering, the re-padding of her much depleted and so very outdated wardrobe. Who was going to react, much less care, about whether or not Asher was acting politely at school?

They didn't care about her anymore, so it didn't matter. And besides, she didn't care either.

"Fine," she whispered lowly, her voice layered tight and low with the encumbent tears. "I don't care anyway. Write them a letter- a lot of good it'll do you. They don't care, and I don't care. About this class, about you, about anything any-"

The tears choked her words, and abruptly, in full retreat, she ran from the class, not listening to anything said behind her. She left behind her bag and books, and the shoe she had yet to relace. She ran from the gardens and did not stop until she reached her common room. She fell into her empty dorm room, into the quilts and blankets that had followed her all through childhood, and cried with the wretched sort of abandon that only the truly hurting can. Even through the tears, she continued to assure herself that she didn't care, that she wouldn't care, and that she'd never care. Not again, not if it meant feeling like this, not if it meant caring meant hurting like this. . .\n\n

0 Asher Tallow Fine then. 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5

Earl Valentine

August 03, 2006 11:01 PM

Not Prince Charming, just a friend by Earl Valentine

Earl waited for the punishment to come. In every other situation that he had gone through ecxactly like this, Earl had always gotten detention, or a fail for the day, or something like that. Instead, he found himself shocked to hear that he was getting off with a warning. But Asher wasn't so lucky.

Earl was slowly plodding awway, amamzed at his own good luck, when he overheard(which wasn't very hard, considering how angry Professor Kijewski was) Aher's sentence. A week's worth od detention. That was pretty harsh, especially for the usually good-natured Care of Magical Creatures professor. No one else seemed to notice that in all of Asher'd running out of class, she had left one of her shoes behind.

He picked it up by the tongue(the laces being Merlin-knows-where), thinking that this scenario was oddly familiar (*CoughCinderellaCough*). Earl glanced around the garden figuring that if Asher was upset enough to leave her own shoe then she had probably forgotten the rest of her stuff too. He looked over the gardens (luckily appearing as though he were looking for gnomes)for her things before finding her bag and books at the far end from where he had started. Earl quickly picked them up and carried them over to his own discarded pile of belongings. He's take her things back at the end of class.

And now, on with the gnome tossing! He should probably do something so as to curb the wrath of Professor Kijewski. Earl spent the remainder of the lesson searching under bushes for the ugly-loooking creatures, but by then, most had been purged from the area already. And at the end of the lesson, Earl levitated both his and Asher's things and headed back to the commonroom.\n\n

0 Earl Valentine Not Prince Charming, just a friend 67 Earl Valentine 0 5

Anne

August 05, 2006 8:49 PM

Just kidding. by Anne

"When she's serious about something, she does all she can to be the best at it."

That was...suggestive. Possibly threatening, too, but she was going to stick to suggestive. It sounded less accusatory.

Dillon's comment could have been completely innocent, even a joke. Even if it wasn't a joke, it could have meant absolutely nothing. Zoey could just want to be best at what she did, which probably wasn't staging coups. Real people didn't do that anymore, just purebloods with their heads in the clouds and their genes so exhausted half of them turned out mad. Still...if something happened to make Kijewski and Fox and the higher-ups think that Anne was no longer an appropriate candidate for the captaincy, then Zoey would be a likely candidate for her replacement. She didn't know how she'd gotten her job in the first place, but she had no intention of losing it, which was why Zoey, who'd often struck her as a little sulky or dissenting or something else less-than-amiable, had been viewed as a threat from almost the very beginning.

She thought she might now understand some of the tension that had come before she began to see Zoey as someone who might or might not be out to get her, at least. If Zoey's brother was right, they both wanted to be best at the same thing, and there could only be one best at any one thing. They were competing, if not for a specific role. That was something that made sense to her, unlike the more psychological, presentation-based theories she'd half-considered on the occasions she thought about it - not that there were many of those. She nodded as if she hadn't thought any of it and mustered a smile.

"She's a good Chaser," she informed Dillon, trying to sound a little less barebones matter-of-fact than she usually did when discussing people's capabilities. "Basketball's not that much different from Chasing, I don't guess...more goals, and there's the brooms, but it's still throwing a ball through a hoop without letting other people get it away from you." She personally knew little about the intricacies of basketball - she'd never taken too much interest in Muggle sports, since doing so would have gone against her reputation as a quiet geek sans glasses - but she'd seen enough informal games of it to know that much. "I was glad to see that she's staying with us this year." If he felt like repeating that, then no harm done and maybe some good. It was the truth, after all. Losing three people had made her very appreciative of the four who had opted to stick it out.

Wretched things, gnomes. Even if there hadn't been the fact that they had teeth they could use to bite her and a limited capacity for logic, there would have been the fact that they were a nuisance. Pretending that they were her relatives, however, made touching and throwing them a little more bearable. She wouldn't mind chucking a fair few of the Wrights and St. Martins over a hedge...It was a moment before she realized the affect her memory-inspired comment had had on her partner. He'd probably heard less-than-flattering reports about her, if he was Zoey's brother; she didn't want to do anything to make enemies that she was in control of herself enough to avoid. She forced a grin, wondering if her face was going to crack from the repeated effort.

"Glad to hear it," she said, with an effort at sounding energetic. "Sorry if I - er - sounded a little...off. Got off woolgathering and thinking about some of my cousins...load of purebloods, think girls can't do anything unsupervised - " Now she was lying, and doing so without remorse. Grabbing a gnome, she threw it in another direction a moment before it tried to sink its teeth into her wrist. "Blasted thing," she muttered, and it was then, looking up to push her hair back, that she saw the sparks. "I think we're being summoned," she said, trying now to keep apprehension out of her voice.

Being far out resulted in them being among the last to get to the assembly, just in time to hear Kijewski, at long last, blow a fuse. Anne had been expecting it for about three years - nobody was that easygoing for real - but it was still a shock to see it happening, and she was glad to be in the back. Hearing a teacher yell still put an uncomfortable, twisty sensation in her stomach, even when she hadn't done anything wrong. She'd thought about doing something, after all, and though there was no such thing as mind-reading...Scoldings were something she would just as soon miss. Especially when two of the people who seemed to have been singled out for extra yelling - Kijewski did not look like she was in the mood for giving out praise, and her assignment of the Jarvey proved it - were both Aladrens and members of Anne's team. This could be bad.

It didn't seem, though, that the class was to hear the last part of Kijewski's rant, because they were sent back to work. "Knew it was going to happen sooner or later," Anne remarked to Dillon quietly as they headed back into the maze. "Hope for her sake it isn't too late for her to get some kind of grip on things." She shot a look backwards. "Hope she isn't too hard on that lot she called out." She didn't say why, since any reasoning she offered was likely to come across as the wrong one.

Hoping to rebreak the ice, she came up with another gnome, gave it an experimental twirl, and threw it in a tension-backed arc. It helped, a little. Flinging things was turning out to be almost as good as blowing them up for relieving stress, and not nearly as embarrassing; she was supposed to throw gnomes, but she was not supposed to still be losing control after three years of proper schooling. "Well, she isn't allowed to bite anyone. Might as well amuse ourselves tossing these things around. Tons of fun, eh?" It was close enough to sarcastic that she figured Dillon would recognize the joke without further effort on her part. \n\n

16 Anne Just kidding. 59 Anne 0 5

Tally

August 14, 2006 7:02 PM

Erm... by Tally

The sparks had startled Tally. Was the lesson over already? They hadn't seemed to be de-gnoming for very long. Or maybe someone had gotten hurt. She wouldn't have been shocked to hear that a gnome had gone crashing into another student and then retaliated against said student. However, what Tally had not been expecting was the Professor's reaction. Professer K was angry.

She stood listening to the Professor rant and rage about how disrespectful they were as students. Tally couldn't really blame her, it was bound to happen. Every person had a limit and apparently, Professor K had reached her's. Even though Tally knew she hadn't done anything wrong, she still felt guilty. A small blush rose into her cheeks and she hung her head slightly, her eyes staring at the ground waiting like a small child for the scolding to end.

Tally's head snapped up when Professor K announced that Jenna and her had won the Jarvey. How did that happen? Surely there were other students who had done better than them? Not that Tally was about to complain. Having the Jarvey meant no more work for the two of them. Tally liked that idea.

She didn't reply to Jenna as the girl walked off to collect their prize, but instead turned back to the bushes. The satisfaction of getting the job done wouldn't be quite as sweet when they got the Jarvey and Tally was still feeling rough around the edges. So, she went back to work and only turned back around when she heard Jenna approaching.

Today seemed to be a surprising day. Jenna walked with her younger sister. The only reason Tally knew the two of them didn't get along was because of Chrissy. So, the two of them together was, well, rather shocking to Tally. "Erm..." Tally looked between the two Howards trying to decide what was the best route to take. Tally hadn't heard anything all that good about the 3rd years (any of them, not just the Crotalus) and she wasn't so sure she could stand someone like Jordanna. A girl who looked like she had never broken a sweat or a nail in all her life. Here Tally stood, sweat running down her face, her muscles sore from the reputition of throwing the gnomes, hair messy and all over the place. And there was Jordanna...someone who looked straight out of a fashion magazine. "Alright..." Tally finished slowly, finding it hard to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the younger girl.\n\n

0 Tally Erm... 0 Tally 0 5

Professor Kijewski

Lesson 1 -Years 3 & 4 by Professor Kijewski

Zack Dill

Horrified by Zack Dill

Jordanna Howard

This class is just begging to be the bane of my existence by Jordanna Howard

Zoey Welsh

Why so blue, Panda bear? by Zoey Welsh

Zack Dill

I assure you, I am not a panda. They're bigger than me. by Zack Dill

Jake and Bella Santoro

Yuck, chores. by Jake and Bella Santoro

Asher Tallow

Take me to the Kingdom of the Gnomes! by Asher Tallow

Jordanna Howard

I was more of a Doug and Rugrats kid myself by Jordanna Howard

Jenna Howard

I never liked group work by Jenna Howard

Catherine Raines

Never done any, but I wholeheartedly just the same. by Catherine Raines

Asher Tallow

I lurved Rocko's Modern Life! by Asher Tallow

Tally Adams

Who does? by Tally Adams

Bella

Well, aren't you Miss Lucky by Bella

Zoey

Aren't most things? by Zoey

Dillon Welsh

Seeking out a partner by Dillon Welsh

Anne Wright

Volunteering my services in that department. by Anne Wright

Lily Collins

Gnome-tossing! by Lily Collins

Jenna Howard

The teacher, apparently by Jenna Howard

Jordanna Howard

Never watched that one, actually by Jordanna Howard

Asher Tallow

Hey Lily! I've got your first victim! by Asher Tallow

Kaylie Brockert

Surprise allergies. by Kaylie Brockert

Zack Dill

Yes. Yes, they are. by Zack Dill

Chris Dupree

Re: Surprise allergies. by Chris Dupree

Lexi Stafford

Five points if you hit a firstie by Lexi Stafford

Catherine

I've always thought so. by Catherine

Earl Valentine

Is this a lesson or a chore? by Earl Valentine

Lily

That would be some feat, since they aren't here. by Lily

Tally

oh that's true. They do love partners by Tally

Jenna Howard

Maybe they had a lonely childhood? by Jenna Howard

Kaylie

Re: Surprise allergies. by Kaylie

Jordanna Howard

What the- hey! Professor! by Jordanna Howard

Dillon

How nice of you to do. by Dillon

Tally

How sad would that be? by Tally

Professor Kijewski

ATTENTION EVERYONE! by Professor Kijewski

Zack Dill

Completely cowed by Zack Dill

Bella

*Rolls Eyes* by Bella

Anne

I'll think of my alterior motive later. by Anne

Asher Tallow

Hmm. . .righteous indignation prolly covers it. by Asher Tallow

Jenna and Jordanna Howard

Woah by Jenna and Jordanna Howard

Earl

Caught! by Earl

Rolls Eyes by Bella

Is utterly shocked by Professor K.