Count off, one two three four on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Kijewski

June 07, 2009 9:12 PM

Lesson 1 for Beginners (1st-3rd Years) by Professor Kijewski

Kiva stood in her usual clearing waiting for the younger students to make their way down to her. She decided to bring back a creature that was first taught when she had been on personal leave. From what she had heard, Professor Murphy had not been well liked. That really bothered Kiva since the lesson was supposed to be one of pure delight, but the boys in the class had been pushed off the side while the girls got to have all the fun. It really was a lesson that Kiva wish she had originally taught, but it was too late to redeem herself and it wasn’t as though she could have asked her father to pass away some other time.

Hearing the footsteps of the approaching students, Kiva stood up straighter and put a smile on her face. She was well aware of what was said about her from the students and that she was seen as a pushover (and, apparently that she was a desperate woman by the way she was represented at the concert), but those things didn’t bother her. She’d rather be seen as approachable than scare everyone away. The first of the students began to file into the clearing and found spots to stand or sit while waiting for the lesson to begin.

Once everyone was present and Kiva did roll-call, she began the lesson. “Good morning everyone! For those of I haven’t had the chance to meet yet, I am Professor Kijewski or Professor K. if you prefer, and I am your Care of Magical Creatures professor. Please, go ahead and get comfortable. We’ll begin our lesson shortly.” Kiva announced to the students and waited until everyone stopped bustling about. “Okay, I hope everyone had a great summer, but now we have to get down to business. I have to explain a few rules before we begin.

“First and foremost, you must pay attention when I’m explaining the creatures to you. Not only will I be giving you information that will help you on your exams, I’m also giving you vital information on creatures that affect your everyday life.” Well, some of the creatures affected their lives based on how they assisted with potions or wand making, etc. But, Kiva didn’t feel that it was necessary to explain all of that right now. “We’ll begin your lessons with the less dangerous creatures and as you go on with your lessons and grow closer to your RATS exams, the creatures will steadily become more dangerous.” She really hoped that they would stick through until they graduated; the best creatures came about when they were in their sixth and seventh years.

“Another rule is to not talk while your peers are talking. If someone is asking a question, there’s a good chance that it’s a question you would want to hear the answer to. And I’m sure you all wouldn’t appreciate someone talking while you are. So, let’s be kind and be quiet during the lesson.” Kiva paused for a moment to glance at the first years. They were the ones who would need to know the rules more so than the older students. So, she wanted to make sure their minds weren’t wandering on her. “You’ll want to make sure you bring your required dragon-hide gloves to all of your Care of Magical Creatures lessons just in case we have a creature that requires you to have more protection than you normally need. Other than those rules, this class is fairly informal. Feel free to remove your robes and get comfortable.”

She waited a moment for everyone who chose to get comfortable to settle in before she actually got on to the lesson. “Today we will be learning about Unicorns.” Kiva announced with a wide smile. “Unicorns are the purest creatures on Earth. Unicorn foals are pure gold. They turn silver when they're about two years old. They grow horns at around four. They are considered fully grown around seven years old, and turn pure white and have golden hooves. Now, it is said that they are so white that when compared to snow, the snow looks grey. Pretty white, right?” Kiva had seen Unicorns before on her travels and had always been taken aback by the beauty the Unicorns gave.

“Unicorn horns and tail hair are often used in potions or wands. How many of you have Unicorn hair as the core of your want?” She nodded at those who raised their hands before continuing. “Unicorn blood is said to give a person immortality, but it would be at a price. Slaying of a Unicorn is a terrible crime. You will live if you taste the blood of a slain a half-life, a cursed life. Meaning, your life would not be worth living in the long run.” She doubted any of her students actually ever intended to harm a Unicorn, but incase that thought ever did pop into their heads, she hoped her warning was enough to throw them away from such a crime.

“Now, I do not have a Unicorn adult with me, but I was able to obtain a Foal for us for the day.” Kiva advised her students. She walked out of the clearing for a moment and returned with a golden foal trailing behind her. “Unicorns, in general, are skittish around humans, and more so around males, but foals are more trusting and will allow humans of either gender to be in their presence. I want you each to count off to 4 and then whatever number you are that will be your group. In your group, I will call you up so that you can spend time with the foal. Ready?” Kiva asked, before pointing to a student. “You start.”

OOC: I will post the groups and you guys can decide whatever number you wish to be. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves, but be sure to visit with the Foal as well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Please remember that all posts are to be at least 200 words and well detailed in order to gain any points. Enjoy!

Subthreads:

Count off, one two three four by Daniel Nash II with Mike Song, Amelia Smythe

Hailing Group Two! by David Lancaster with Marissa Stephenson, David

They say 'three's a crowd' by Insomnia Zannicci

In search of fours... by Edmond Carey

0 Professor Kijewski Lesson 1 for Beginners (1st-3rd Years) 0 Professor Kijewski 1 5

Daniel Nash II

June 08, 2009 12:33 PM

Count off, one two three four by Daniel Nash II

Daniel first thought on learning that the lesson was about unicorns was that they really weren't all that harmless. They did have a giant pointy horn attached to their foreheads that could gouge someone pretty good if they felt threatened.

His second thought was that Holly was going to be insanely jealous. Unicorns were equines and Hol's beloved Wendy was only one horn and some magical purity short of being a unicorn herself. In fact, the foal that came out could very nearly have passed for a slightly smaller version of Wendy, after Holly had spent hours washing and brushing her until the white coat was nearly blinding. The foal's was a bit more silvery now, but it was still hard to look directly at for too long. As the creature didn't have a horn yet, Daniel figured it was probably between two and four years old.

"One," Daniel counted out when the Professor Kijewski pointed to him first. He'd picked the spot off to the side to avoid notice in his worst class, but he supposed it made sense to start with him if they were going to count off.

As part of the first group, he approached the foal, trying not to spook it despite not being a girl. Professor Kijewski had said that mattered less to the younger ones, though, so he hoped this particular unicorn foal wasn't the exception that proved the rule.

Tentatively, he reached out and patted one of the silvery flanks. The fur felt softer than the coarse coat Wendy wore, and though he was by no means an expert, he thought the muscles were arranged a little differently. He couldn't say definitively if that was just because the unicorn was immature, or if it was a species difference, but one couldn't spend as much time around Holly as he had without learning far more about horses than even Daniel cared to know.

Thinking of his sister, he asked, a little curious, "Do they ever let people ride them? And can they run faster than normal horses?"

1 Daniel Nash II Count off, one two three four 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

David Lancaster

June 19, 2009 10:37 AM

Hailing Group Two! by David Lancaster

The VHS and DVD collection that stood stacked and organized first by subject matter and then by title in his parents' study included none of the animated fare, but for one exception: The Last Unicorn. The film was filed under the 'Book Interpretation' section, and sat between copies of The Last Temptation of Christ and Lavoro di Pina. Growing up, David had only been allowed to watch The Last Unicorn after first reading it; his copy of Peter S. Beagle's novel currently sat in his trunk, tucked under his dorm room bed, and the pages showed the wear and tear of years of reading.

He wasn't sure why it hadn't occurred to him before that the existence of magic meant that other, previously believed to be imaginary things, might be real as well.

And if unicorns existed- as surely they did; it could not be denied because one stood before him, its coat too brilliant and too dazzling for him to look at for more than a few seconds at a time- if unicorns existed, then perhaps Beagle's book wasn't fiction at all, but a glorious story from the past. David had spent many a summer, stretched out after a lesson of some sort, a task given him by his parents to master tennis or swimming or chess or bridge or whatever skill they had decided he needed; he would stretch out on a patch of grass, his forehead slick from the summer heat, and the clouds overhead would morph into pictorials of the Unicorn querying the Butterfly, or Schmendrick arguing with the Cat. The fair Prince Lir, so ever noble in his desires to win the Unicorn's heart, would explode into nothingness as the sky grew heavy with unshed rain and the afternoon would spoil into storm.

David knew that the invitation for questions did not include the sort that he now thought of, now that a real live unicorn stood before him, but even still, when it was his group's turn to move closer, his hand rose ever carefully toward the unicorn's mane, the slippery silk of it sliding through his fingers like morning dew on a spider's web, and he asked, his tone pensive, "Do you think they can feel regret, the unicorns?"

0 David Lancaster Hailing Group Two! 0 David Lancaster 0 5

Mike Song

June 19, 2009 12:35 PM

I hear one's a lonely number. by Mike Song

Mike generally existed in a land of unimpressed, irrepressible selfishness; it made for an easy existence, where he never felt the compulsion to adjust his attitude for the sake of others, and since this was a static behavior, after a time, people around got used to it. Or so it had been Mike's experience; he was either labeled incorrigible or precocious, or, by a few others, a brat. He preferred to describe his attitude as independent, and minus his attachment issues with his older sister, he was, for the most part, apt to the description.

Still, though, it was difficult for him, upon learning the subject of his CoMC lesson, to not openly react. He had never seen a horse in person, let alone a unicorn, and even if it was only a foal, the creature was positively glowing with adjectives like other-worldly and supernatural. It knocked him a hard one, and with unabashed intimidation, he approached the unicorn with the rest of his group with blatant apprehension. It really wasn't that he was frightened by the unicorn, although the golden sheen was mildly freaking him out; it wasn't even so much that he had just learned that a unicorn's blood could give something immortality to its drinker- although that did strike a whole long string of other thoughts to consider; he wondered what Father Luke would have to say about that back at St. Anthony's- Mike already had a fairly good idea what his mother would think of the possibility of immortality: she'd call it blasphemy and heresy and probably make him kneel and pray and count his rosary beads for an hour.

No; his temerity was due to something else all together, and he was having a hard time putting a definition to it. He had been a wizard- well, known he was a wizard for over a year now, but nothing before, not the classes, or enchanted wagons, or his wand- none of it had managed to take him out of his self and into something bigger. A unicorn, though: it was the stuff of legends and fantasy films and really long books from the library. Unicorns weren't real- not in his world of Key Largo and the Is-Ha Key, not in a world where his cousin was saving money for a scooter and his uncle snuck cigarettes in the back of the house. Unicorns didn't exist, not in that world.

His classmate's question- that Hollywood guy, Daniel- threw him for another loop; it was so ordinary a question, it literally left Mike's jaw hanging and he gaped for a good thirty seconds before managing a response. "Are you kidding? I have no idea, man. It's been a year, and I'm still not used to this stuff. I mean, unicorns? Bet we have dragons, too, right?"

Unicorns were one thing, but Mike was certain that something as noticeable as a giant fire breath, maybe flying, dinosaur was bound to be stumbled upon often enough to warrant media attention.

0 Mike Song I hear one's a lonely number. 0 Mike Song 0 5

Marissa Stephenson

June 25, 2009 11:59 PM

Answering the Summons by Marissa Stephenson

Though she wasn't really much of an animal person, Marissa felt something like relief at entering the Care of Magical Creatures area. She had looked through the textbook before she came, and had recognized several of the creatures that were mentioned in it from mythology units and the heraldry project she'd done the year before. They had even, for the most part, matched the descriptions she was familiar with. After all the strangeness of her first days at Sonora, any vaguely familiar things were comforting. Even ones with an unseemly number of fangs.

Having thoughts like that made her wonder if she should go to guidance, though, so she tried to ignore them as a lady who seemed far too young to be a professor started talking about rules and regulations. She seemed...softer, somehow, than most of the teachers. When given permission to do so, she removed the long green school robe. Maybe it would get comfortable in time, but wearing such a thing still felt a little odd to her. It felt like she was wearing a vaguely-Victorian coat in September, which was just wrong.

Her breath caught slightly as she heard what they would be studying, and she leaned forward in interest. Unicorns. It was not something her parents would have approved of - too frivolous, though she wasn't sure any of their rules about what constituted 'frivolous' really counted anymore - but, well, unicorns. Bella would just die if she ever knew what Marissa was studying now.

She was one of the students who had a unicorn tail hair for a wand core, which made the bit about what happened when an idiot killed a unicorn slightly disturbing. The nice wizard who'd sold her her wand hadn't seemed like someone under an awful, life-long curse, but what did she know? Since it was a harsh warning and something that was apparently used on a regular basis in the magical world, though, Marissa decided to assume that her wand core either came from a live animal or one that had died of natural causes. Since dead things - no matter how pretty they were alive - were icky, she went on to decide it was the former.

When they counted off for groups, Marissa was a Two. Since that was her favorite number (except during contests, but, as far as she knew, this wasn't a contest, so that was not relevant), she had no problem with that designation.

While Group One gathered around the unicorn, Marissa tried to make small talk with her group members. It wasn't quite as easy as it should have been, since she was still trying to learn the ropes of how things worked here, but she felt she did an adequate job. Once Professor Kijewski gave them the word to move forward, she eagerly followed the rest of her group to the unicorn foal.

Up close, it was even more beautiful than it had been at a distance. Marissa felt something like awe as she approached it. It shone what she could only call gold, but gold just didn't seem like good enough of a word for it. She was familiar with gold. She wore it. Her mother and sister did, too. This was above that, somehow.

Trusting authority as always to ensure her safety, Marissa stepped closer and, very cautiously, touched the unicorn's side with her fingertips. When that didn't earn a negative reaction, she moved to stroking it gently.

"Do you think they can feel regret, the unicorns?"

Marissa looked over at the boy who'd spoken. She recognized him as another first year, one of the 'Teppenpaws'. What in the world that meant, she still wasn't entirely sure, but a central tenet of her upbringing had been that all knowledge was useful. "What would they have to regret?" she asked. In deference to the creature, her voice was barely louder than a whisper. "If they're the purest creatures in the world..." As it occurred to her that he probably hadn't had any interest in her thoughts on the subject, her free hand rose as if to cover her mouth, but she put it back down in a hurry. Maybe, if she ignored the slip, everyone else would, too.

16 Marissa Stephenson Answering the Summons 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Amelia Smythe

June 26, 2009 12:26 PM

Better lonely than a loser by Amelia Smythe

Why care of magical creatures was still compulsory, Amelia wasn't sure. She was confident she'd never needed to know any of the stuff in this class. Besides, her sister held a veritable menagerie back home; Amelia had really taken all she could of animals. But no - apparently Sonora thought she could stand a bit more, and so it was that she made her way down to the start of yet another year of pet projects.

Unicrons. So what? Big deal. Old Prof K was making it sound like these things were marvellous creatures. Yes, of course. Except Amelia's father's ex-business partner's daughter bred them, and Milly had seen them hundreds of times. She rode a foal on her fourth birthday. Still, as far as classes went, stroking a unicron was surely a breeze. She counted herself off as told and was granted the small mercy of being in the first group; at least she didn't have to wait around too long.

She followed a couple of younger boys and deigned to stroke the unicorn's nose - she wasn't denying it was a pretty creature, just that the hype was over done. As was this guy's excitement. "Yes, dragons, werewolves, vampires, unicorns and faeries," she replied, somehow managing to sound pleasant and sarcastic at the same time. "Pick up a book some time, kiddo." Giving the unicorn a final pat on the side of its neck, she moved to the side, giving others the opportunity to touch the foal if they felt the urge.

0 Amelia Smythe Better lonely than a loser 121 Amelia Smythe 0 5

David

June 26, 2009 12:47 PM

Well, that's handy. by David

According to this parents, David suffered from a long list of bad habits; his parents also insisted that those habits were easily rectified through due diligence and aggressive self-awareness. The list included such proclivities as day-dreaming, wool-gathering, under-achieving, giving-up, overly-forgetful, and a whole litany of other behaviors that, to most others, would be captured fully by one word: quiet. The outcome was a gradual one, nurtured by a childhood lacking in roots, long term friendships, and siblings; when coupled with the strong personalities of his parents, both over-achievers in their own fields, it came as no surprise that David simply fell short in comparison.

He had learned to not worry too much about this fact of life. He had his simple pleasures, and the few friends he had fostered over the years had been steadfast ones during the brief periods between moves. He didn't mind that he was normally overlooked, or that his social interactions came across awkwardly. He was perfectly contented living day to day in a world that, for the most part, left him free from excitement or drama. He was not special in that world, and he was happy with that.

But this--

Magic and potions and wands and unicorns!

Was there any other way to describe such an existence than to declare it as special and exciting and dramatic? He could think of no other way, every word he dreamt up of building upon the same meanings and definitions. Without a doubt, David could no longer avoid the absolute individuality and uniqueness that his status as a wizard game him. He couldn't disappear into the woodwork anymore, and the realization was a daunting one.

Still, old habits die hard, and David's personality wasn't about to undergo a transformation over-night. He was far too comfortable with the rules he'd set for himself over the years, and so, when he spoke his question out loud, not realizing its verbalization, he responded in the same vein to its eventual answer. "I don't know really. It's just that I've read, before, that unicorns don't feel regret, or emotions like it. It was fiction, but I thought: since magic is real, maybe other fantasy stories I've read have some truth to them as well."

David carefully removed his hands from the unicorn's white-gold mane, the feel of it leaving his fingertips tingling, and faced his classmate properly. Her name came to him vaguely, possibly picked up from one of their prior lessons in the week. Marissa something or the other, a Crotalus, which, from the house descriptions, meant that she was supposed to be fairly straight-laced; he smiled, the motion both slow and tentative. "You're Marissa, right?."

He started to extend his hand for the customary shake and thought better of it half way through, the gesture turning into a awkward half wave that made its way to brushing too long hair from his forehead. "I'm David."

0 David Well, that's handy. 0 David 0 5

Marissa

June 29, 2009 12:03 PM

I live to please. by Marissa

A wide, involuntary smile spread across Marissa's face when she heard the words since magic is real. Someone who said that had probably once assumed that magic wasn't real, and someone who had once assumed that magic wasn't real was probably someone like her. A Muggleborn. She was not the only clueless person in first year.

It was sad and kind of mean to be excited by something like that, but excited by it Marissa was. She wasn't alone. This boy, too, was just getting his bearings. She felt a wave of warmth toward him as she turned in his direction.

"I've thought about that, too," she admitted. "The textbook has a lot of things I've read about before, but there's not a lot of detail." She realized what that statement could be taken to imply. "Not that I read the textbook or anything," she added quickly. "Just looked through it."

His correct identification slightly surprised her. She had tried to maintain her old overachiever front, but had been under the impression it was a losing battle. When just how completely unfamiliar all of her classes were was factored in, it was a real wonder she'd managed to bluff as well as she had so far. "That's me," she said brightly, beginning, as he did, to extend her hand before dropping it awkwardly back to her side. There was no doubt about it: Addison and the girls had to be secretly glad to have her and her five million social mistakes a day out of the way. "It's nice to meet you, David."

It felt like the right time to move away a little and let a few others have their time with the unicorn, but having the introduction session with David made that a bit awkward. It would be rude to just walk off without a word, but might be presumptuous to ask him to come along. She had to make that call, though, and make it quickly. "D'you think that we should get out of the way?" Marissa asked, only a little uncertainly, while gesturing to their gathered group.

16 Marissa I live to please. 147 Marissa 0 5

David

July 01, 2009 5:09 PM

You are officially very convenient. by David

"Hm?" David turned his head slightly, his heels lifting to allow him the slight increase in height; he smiled sheepishly. "Oh right; we are kind of a blockade. Here--"

Sidestepping the unicorn, his hand unable to resist a last brush over the fine mane, he made his way back toward the rest of the class and his waiting bookbag. He took his cue from a few of the second years and spread his school robe out over the grass. Once comfortably seated, he gestured to the space next to him for Marissa to join and drew his knees to his chest, his expression growing thoughtful during the brief motion.

"I've been trying to match up our classes with the kind I would have right now if that letter hadn't arrived. Potions with chemistry, transfiguration with physics, flying with phys ed, and so on, but I can't quite find something that equals this."

His hand opened to gesture to the entirety of the lesson, the unicorn and the Gardens and their invisible oasis in the middle of the desert. It boggled his mind and all of his considerable imagination whenever he paused and considered the mechanics behind his school's existence. Nothing he had ever dreamed up before had included anything of a similar magnitude; nothing he had read of, poetry or fiction or periodical came even close.

A breeze whipped through Garden walls and briefly pushed back the thick layer of hair that brushed over his shirt collar; the wind brought nothing of the desert with it: no sand, no silt, and none of the stagnant dry heat that gripped the area beyond the school. It was nearly frightening how perfectly crafted their hide-away was from the rest of the world. The thoroughness of it bothered David, somehow; it made believing all the more difficult.

And if it was difficult for him to believe, even after days of actual magic use and repeated demonstrations, he could barely imagine what it would be like trying to convince his parents of it, months from now when he returned home for the holidays.

"I don't how I'll manage to explain it to my parents when they ask," he confessed, giving voice to his thoughts in a voice tempered with passive acceptance. "They still seem to think that Sonora is some grand experiment in group hypnosis and delusion."

0 David You are officially very convenient. 0 David 0 5

Marissa

July 08, 2009 8:17 PM

Not if you want a spell performed. by Marissa

Marissa mentally gave herself a point. Apparently, she had made a good call. Following David back to the larger group of students, she hesitated for only a moment before taking her neatly folded robe off the top of her bag and laying it inside-down on the patch of grass beside his. If it became stained, she wouldn't have time to go back to Crotalus for another one until the next meal, so the portion people saw had to stay clean.

Folding her legs up under her, she listened as David began to talk about comparing current classes to normal classes, nodding until he got to the part about Transfiguration-as-physics. At that point, she had to bite her tongue to keep from asking what kind of school he'd gone to before. Maybe a less literal interpretation of 'right now' was required. It was the only logical explanation. Paige was starting to read prep school catalogues for next year, and Marissa was sure physics was always a high school subject.

"I do that, too," she said. "Comparing classes. I kind of equated this with Ag classes, but..." She looked back off at the unicorn. "I'm pretty sure they don't have those in the barns at home." No way anyone could keep their possession of such a creature a secret. There was just no way. Some girl would see it eventually, and then it would be pandemonium as every girl and fantasy fan in the state poured in to visit. "I still haven't come up with a class for Charms at all, though." Marissa frowned slightly as a thought came to her. "Maybe home ec. A lot of it has that practical-skills feel, doesn't it?"

Which didn't make it better that she was passing on essays and was sure Professor Taylor hated her, but she wasn't in the mood to think about that. This was a good day. She had met another Muggleborn, and was having a day where she was socially competent enough to maybe make a friend here. She was not going to think about her wand and the fact that it lived to spite her.

The confession of not knowing how to explain struck another chord with her. Her parents seemed to be handling her being a witch fairly well, and Paige was unreadable, but such was not the case for all of the extended family. "My parents're okay, but my nana insists we're all being drugged." She was not about to bring up what Uncle James thought. Marissa had often thought about what she'd like for the family to think of when they thought about her, and 'she made Jim think his stupid JFK theory has legitimacy' was not on the list of desirable thoughts.

16 Marissa Not if you want a spell performed. 147 Marissa 0 5

Insomnia Zannicci

July 21, 2009 8:12 AM

They say 'three's a crowd' by Insomnia Zannicci

‘Nia hurried down the path towards her CoMC class, panting slightly. She’d got slightly lost in a couple of corridors and had been really rather anxious about being late – but no, other students were still arriving. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the teacher who stood cheerfully waiting for them.

‘Nia found an empty spot in the clearing, and as on first glance she hadn’t spotted anyone she’d spoken to previously, stood alone. After a few minutes of waiting, Insomnia noticed other people sitting down and joined these ranks. Before long, names were being called and the answering reply of “here, here, here” echoed among the trees surrounding the clearing. After answering her name, Insomnia jotted ‘CoMC, Professor Kijewski (aka Professor K)’.

Insomnia listened carefully, taking notes as Professor K talked on, but when she came to the “... the creatures will steadily become more dangerous” Insomnia’s eyes widened. She hadn’t quite grasped the structure of the wizarding school curriculum but she really hoped she could drop this subject, like certain subjects could be dropped at GCSE, before they had to deal with anything unpleasant. Having mulled this over she continued adding notes. Most of the rules were just common sense, but she made sure to specify “ALWAYS bring dragon-hide gloves”

‘Nia, legs cramping at this point, jumped up, stretched and removed her robes as it was getting quite hot. Her jumper stuck to her and she found herself brushing stringy hair out of her eyes. She was tired, and wanted to write a letter home and these rules were dragging on but then “Today we will be learning about unicorns” – Insomnia heard the startled gasps of amazement and wonder from her classmates and frowned. Sometimes she felt like she was 7 again, with the vivid childhood dreams of ogres and all sorts of fairytale nonsense. She still found it quite hard to believe all this was real but unless someone had drugged her, she should have woken up by now. Insomnia was interested in horses, and unicorns just seemed like an extension of that species so she was less awed than everyone else but she still “aww-ed and ah-ed” over the gentle-looking unicorn foal.

Another count off began and Insomnia waited her turn.... one, two... “Three” she called, and started glancing around to see who else was in Group three, whilst groups one and two had their turn with the foal. After murmuring “hellos” to everyone in her group, she went up to the teacher nervously to ask a question (or two). “How old is this foal? Is it male or female? Where’s its parents? Do they stay together or do unicorn foals have to fend for themselves?” ‘Nia breathed in, in a huge whoosh, and blushed, embarrassed with herself.

0 Insomnia Zannicci They say 'three's a crowd' 0 Insomnia Zannicci 0 5

Edmond Carey

July 22, 2009 12:11 AM

In search of fours... by Edmond Carey

In all honesty, Edmond suspected Care of Magical Creatures would prove to be the class of least use to him after he'd finished his years at Sonora. Even if he had been the sort for wilderness adventures (which he wasn't), they had very little place in the life of a Carey heir. Most of his life would be spent as all of the first eleven years of it had: on well-maintained estates warded against admitting things that didn't need admitting. He had heard, in fact, that he would be more or less required to live on an island once his father died, and Morgaine had confirmed that said island was indeed the main estate and that their father no longer left it.

Somehow, the more Morgaine told him or let slip about their father, Edmond was starting to get the impression that he'd been born into a family that didn't really like people that much.

He had to get along with them, though, and he had to make a good grade in Care of Magical Creatures. He was expected to be first in his class, and that meant putting aside any and all thoughts he might have about a subject. Besides, it had the potential to be interesting, and interesting could make up for useful sometimes.

The information he'd learned about her before entering the school had made Edmond come into the class nervous, but to have the history he'd had described to him, Professor Kiva Kijewski seemed very...nice. Nicer than his tutors, at any rate. He didn't take her up on her offer to take off their robes out of discomfort; class was a formal event, and not wearing formal attire, even with permission, struck him as improper.

The setting made note-taking difficult, but Edmond thought all of this was in their reading. The first question given to them was one he couldn't answer - his wand had a dragon heartstring core, not unicorn hair - which made him feel a very irrational sense of disappointment. It was one thing, after all, to answer a yes-or-no question with no academic relevance and another to answer a question where the tutor (or, in this case, professor) already knew the real answer and wanted to see if he did, and the only shame lay in not being able to answer the second type. Knowing it wasn't an appropriate reaction didn't stop it from bothering Edmond, though.

Also bothersome was being placed in group four. Being last wasn't something he was used to. At all. It was like meals being served in a dining hall, or having many strangers in the parlor equivalent. Sonora, apparently, had no aversion to surprises. Since there was nothing to be done about it, though, he sat down on the ground and took a book from his bag to pass the time.

After a bit, though, he realized someone was speaking to him. Edmond looked up, surprised. "I beg your pardon?" he said automatically, having no idea what he had just been asked or told.

0 Edmond Carey In search of fours... 143 Edmond Carey 0 5