I like animals... I hate heights on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Rowan Dakin

April 22, 2010 10:54 PM

Beginner Lesson (Years 1&2) by Professor Rowan Dakin

Professor Rowan Dakin stood by the door of a large stone building by where she usually met her students. For one of first times that she could remember it was down pouring in Arizona. She waved her first and second years over to the classroom. Once everyone was gathered, she led them in. This was the first time either year had stepped foot into the building, she had only used it once with her intermediate students. The once Dragon Keeper wore a pair of black jeans and a forest green t-shirt that showed off the many scars she had received from the dragons over the years.

“Robes off ladies and gents.” The Dark haired woman said. “Welcome back my second years glad to see you survived the summer. For my first years welcome to Care of Magical Creatures class, I am your Professor Rowan Dakin.” She paused for a moment allowing everyone to settle down.

“Just a few ground rules for my first years and second years it never hurts to be reminded. You will always take your robes off when coming to my class, no dangling jewelry or shiny things. Long hair must be tied back. Do not hurt my animals or you’ll be serving month long detentions.” She nodded for a moment glad that part was over. “Now that the serious part is over let’s have some fun!”

She walked over to the chalk board and tapped it and magically the word, Billywigs appeared. “That’s right my kids we are studying Billywigs today.” She paused looking to see if anyone reacted. “Billywigs are insects native to Australia and are rated Triple X. They are around half an inch long and vivid sapphire blue.” She said as she help up a glass box with one in it. “They have wings attached to the top of their head. They rotate the wings extremely fast allowing the Billywig to fly.”

She paused as she walked around the classroom allowing everyone to see the bug up close. “The Billywig is among the fastest animals on the planet. This causes them to be rarely noticed by Muggles, and witches and wizards usually only spot it after they have been stung.” She grinned when she said stung.

“Now this is the coolest thing about the billywig. One sting from the billywig causes the person stung to suffer giddiness, followed by levitation. Can you see why they have a triple X rating?” She laughed for a moment. “Too many stings can cause the victim to hover uncontrollably for days, rarely victims will suffer from an allergic reaction and permanent floating may ensue.”

She paused again ready to shock her students. “Today we are going to allow ourselves to be stung. I have antidotes just in case anyone has too many stings or an allergic reaction. Now once you are floating up in the air your going to be the happiest you’ve ever been but I want you to try and think about the ground. The more you think about the ground the faster you’ll come down.”

“Now lets make this a game so the first one to come down gets to keep Billy the Billywig.” She said and set out a large stuffed billywig that if you pressed his wings it flew into the air. She had founded it at the Billywig market and thought the first and second years would think it was cool better then a teddy bear at least in Rowan’s mind. “The second one to come down gets to keep this.” This time she pulled out a plastic whine up toy. If someone twisted the wings on the head of the Billywig it shot into the air giggling. “The third person to come down gets a billywig bag. And everyone gets a billywig quill with sapphire ink.”

She waved her wand and boxes of billywigs appeared on the tables in front of the students. “Now these are charmed boxes they can tell who’s already been stung therefore no one can get stung more then once and the billywigs cannot escape. So what are you waiting for reach right in and get stung!”

OCC: Ok guys let’s have some fun! Minimum posting length the more you post the more points you get for your house! Allergic reactions are few and far between so if you feel like your student does have one tag me.

Subthreads:

I like animals... I hate heights by Ellie McGill with Sam Bauer, Ellie

Taking a stand by Raines Bradley with Cooper Abramson (Aladren), Cosette Miller, Rachel Bauer

Up, up, and away! by Jude Normandy [Pecari] with Neal Padrig, Pecari, Jude

O.o by Dorian Talsky with Brian Moore (Teppenpaw), Dorian

Feeling the sting by Marian Parker (Aladren) with Jane Carey, Marian

Yes it makes me HAPPYYYYYYYY by Demalza Eagle with Leonardo Michaels

If I have to... by Alessa Hinckley with Tobar Brishen

This is not what I signed up [Tag: Professor Dakin] by Sophia Randolph with Professor Dakin, Kirstenna Melcher

Catching up on my reading by Veronica Kerrigan with Tristan Volkmann, Veronica

Do I really have to do this? by Nicodemus Sawyer with Mariana Ravenmore

Not again! by Autumn Collins with Jessica Zeworth [Pecari 1st Year]

I'm so gonna win this! by Brad Hayman (Aladren) with Caleb Nichols (Aladren)

CLASS CLOSED (nm) by Professor Dakin

0 Professor Rowan Dakin Beginner Lesson (Years 1&2) 0 Professor Rowan Dakin 1 5

Ellie McGill

April 23, 2010 5:08 PM

I like animals... I hate heights by Ellie McGill

Ellie was pumped to be going to Care of Magical Creatures, even if it was pouring rain. She really liked animals and was excited to see what she would get to study. Plus, the professor was also her Head of House, so at least they were somewhat familiar. As she skidded through the rain and into the stone building, she took in Professor Dakin's appearance; quite casual for class, she thought. There were a couple nasty scars on her arms, and Ellie hoped they weren't from teaching classes. That would have been a nightmare. Ellie beamed as the professor started naming rules. And then slowly her smile began to melt...

Ellie stared in horror as Professor Dakin at the mention of Billywigs. Her father had warned her about such buggers. Ellie had already suffered through a flying lesson, and now, Billywigs? At least she would be giddy... right? She could feel her heart rate increase.

As her enthusiastic teacher finished instructions, Ellie contemplated what would happen if she stuck her hand in that dang-blasted box. Would it hurt to get stung? Even if it did, she would still feel instantly happy... but what about her fear of heights? Would this be just another step in getting rid of her silly phobia, or would it make it even worse? Hopefully she wasn't allergic, because she would hate to have been the only one to get antidote. Ellie gulped, and bravely stuck her hand into the box.

"Ow!" she yelped, as something pricked her. It was sudden and lasted for less than a second, like being poked with a needle. But her howl of pain was cut short by the sudden light feeling she had. She began to giggle endlessly, twirling a piece of her orange hair in her finger. She looked around as she began rising, and saw the other floating students, who were positively beaming. She bumped into somebody on her way up. "I'm scared of heights!" she told the bump-ee excitedly, smiling exuberantly. Her jitteriness was obvious in her toe-tapping. The air seemed so inviting now, being so high up. She really didn't want to go down. Looking at the kid she had bumped, she wondered if they felt the same way.

0 Ellie McGill I like animals... I hate heights 0 Ellie McGill 0 5

Raines Bradley

April 23, 2010 9:37 PM

Taking a stand by Raines Bradley

Raines was not having a good day.

For one thing it was, well, raining. Raines hated rain. It made people make stupid comments about his name. It was on his mind to have a serious word with the groundskeeper - a person he assumed had something to do with the charms that regulated the weather, as the weather was outdoors and the grounds were, too - about when it was and wasn't proper to have rain, with the most appropriate time for Sonora to be caught in a downpour being at night on holidays, when most people would be unaware of it and therefore couldn't waste valuable school time infuriating Mr. Bradley. If he'd been aware of where to find the groundskeeper, he thought there was a decent chance he would have gone through with it. He knew his father would back him on this one; David would be thrilled for such a good excuse to oppose his wife, and he had always hated Raines' name almost as much as he did the people it had come from.

Since he was a self-admitted coward when he didn't have a strong point to prove and well-connected backup, the look he gave Professor Dakin when she ordered them to take off their robes was merely sullen instead of a death glare. A chance existed that he could stop her short by claiming a cultural taboo in which going around in his shirtsleeves, especially in front of girls, was considered to be a form of public indecency, but his father said that arguing the cultural angle was iffy even for Muggleborns with liberal juries. Since Dakin and Pierce were both liberals and the Headmistress seemed to be, at best, a moderate, he didn't think he stood much of a chance.

He did, however, put on a jacket almost the same color as his robes. If she said anything about that, he would make an only moderately subtle reference to his uncle and his uncle's expected donation to the school this year. Charles Raines no longer gave Sonora the extravagant amounts he'd done when Catherine was at constant risk of flunking out, but he did still send something to keep relations with the school friendly; it was good politics, and besides, they didn't know how much of Catherine's legendary stupidity Elizabeth and Elizabeth's future siblings would inherit. Raines had no problem with trying to use his uncle's effort for his own ends, especially since any success he had at that would probably just get him a longer mention in Uncle Charles' will.

He was busy working on how to phrase that reference to his uncle, just to be sure he would get the tone exactly right and leave no wiggle room for interpretation or being taken down a peg, when he heard the assignment and stopped dead. The nearly-complete threat vanished from his mind as he did his best to stare the professor down over his gold-framed glasses, kept on because they made him look distinguished but looked over because they were technically for reading. She was not serious.

Except that she was. Raines watched in disbelief as one of his classmates drifted into the air, having apparently put her hand into the box without much hesitation. His teacher was getting them high. In class. This had to be illegal, or at least so unethical that it could get more or less the same desirable effects as complaining of something illegal. They could say, do, anything in that state, and Raines, at least, had quite a few things in his life he'd just as soon stayed between him and himself. And he had his dignity to worry about. He was the heir of David Bradley, of the Louisiana Bradleys, and a close relative of Charles Raines. It was important that he always be in control of himself in public, lest he shame them and his mother.

He wasn't doing it.

The very thought filled him with an odd tingle, which was half excitement and half terror. Despite the disgust with which he regarded most of the Sonora population, he had never disobeyed a direct order from a professor or prefect, but that was what he was going to do right here and now. There were places where everyone had to choose to draw lines, and this was one of his. Slowly, deliberately, he stepped away from the box, put his robe back on because it was as well to be hanged for two things as one, and sat down. He then opened up his textbook so he would look like he was peacefully demonstrating instead of refusing to learn while he was actually coming up with the precise argument he would use when he was called on his rebellion.

He was working on the wording of a statement about morality and his conscience not allowing him to engage in an activity which was potentially addictive and designed to alter his mental state when he realized someone was with him. Oh, no. The statement wasn't ready yet. He didn't know if he had the tone down so that he was respectfully making his point instead of letting Dakin know he was better than her. There was no more time, though, to work on it, so he looked up and put all of his willpower into not shaking or looking uncertain and anxious. "Yes?" he asked calmly, very proud of his voice for remaining even.

0 Raines Bradley Taking a stand 155 Raines Bradley 0 5

Sam Bauer

April 24, 2010 2:14 AM

I'm pretty indifferent to both. by Sam Bauer

Sam wasn't really sure if he should happily go to Care of Magical Creatures or scream loudly and then start running as fast as possible in the opposite direction. On the one hand, most of his family lived here in Arizona, where too many things to comfortably think about were lurking and - generally - had the ability to kill him in a painful way. On the other hand, he was a city boy. His times in the desert had ended before he could do more magic than a two-year-old with a toy broomstick. Wildlife, to Sam, was squirrels and the neighbor's unhousebroken crups, and not many of them. He might be getting well out of his league.

His foreboding was not helped by the sight of the professor robeless. She seemed nice enough, and Sam wouldn't say that he was an expert on the matter, but those scars didn't seem to belong to someone who wanted a long life. Since he had a feeling it wouldn't be appreciated, he bit his tongue about this instead of mentioning it to the person beside him. For something to do, he glanced around and -

Well, there was something he didn't see every day. She was older, now, and dressed stupidly for what should've been a purely outdoor class, but he was pretty sure that a girl he'd just spotted was, despite the differences between his short stature and dark coloring and amusing t-shirt and her leggy blonde fashion catalogue look, his cousin. He actually started the 'hey' of, "Hey, Rach!" before remembering that the professor was speaking and that he needed to be paying attention to that.

Billywigs were one of the things Sam actually remembered from reading through his textbook before term started, mostly because he thought the name sounded funny. He hadn't thought deliberately allowing himself to be stung by a bee with drugs for venom was a good idea, though. It was one of those complexes that came from going to a Muggle elementary school that stressed 'drugs are bad,' having a mother who thought teacher still knew best, and having a geek's aversion to doing anything that would cause discomfort on top of that the larger boys on the bus provided. Sam hadn't had it as bad as some of his acquaintances because of his magic - the larger boys didn't seem to remember exactly all of the weird stuff he'd accidentally made happen over the years, but whenever he did something, it also seemed to scare them off for a while - but elementary school had still been less than fun.

Now, though, drugs were good because they were learning to overcome them by being mental ninjas or something, so Sam just had to deal with his discomfort over doing something that he knew for a fact would induce discomfort. He knew it was kind of lame to be like that about what amounted to a bee sting, but he made a policy of only considering what he did, not what he thought about it, as a matter of public record. And his grade was on the line, and Mom would kill him if he didn't do well. Assuming Rachel didn't kill him first once she realized they were related. Sam decided to do what worked best for him and just act before he could think about it too much.

It didn't hurt as much as he'd melodramatically worked it up to, and for a moment, he felt pretty normal. Then it felt, suddenly, like his brain was floating in shaken-up Sprite. He didn't quite realize he was off the ground with no broomstick until a girl floated past and bumped into him. A corner of his brain put things together so that this meant she was on his level, which meant he was on hers, so her floating meant he was floating.

And she was scared of heights. "That's nice," he told her, laughing. That wasn't something he did, but right now, it seemed completely appropriate. Since clapping his hands did, too, he did that as well. "I'm afraid of most things. Do you think we can do cartwheels in the air like this?"

16 Sam Bauer I'm pretty indifferent to both. 163 Sam Bauer 0 5

Cooper Abramson (Aladren)

April 24, 2010 7:21 AM

Hate to tell you, but you're not standing by Cooper Abramson (Aladren)

Cooper Abramson was not a pet.

He was not a pet, and he was not an idiot, and he sure as hell was not going to be treated like one. He stomped out to Care of Magical Creatures with a scowl on his face. He hated Care of Magical Creatures because he knew that eventually, eventually, they would be learning about werewolves. And they would be called creatures. And he would be called a creature. And Cooper Abramson was not a creature, he was not a pet, he was not some sort of wild animal to be poked at, he was a human being.

It was also close to That Time Of The Month, and Cooper was getting preemptively irritable. The transformation had never been the problem, not after the first time. The first year Aladren had never transformed without the aid of the Wolfsbane Potion. But he had also never transformed alone before, and he wasn’t too keen on spending days alone in some backwards passageway room that had been set aside for that sort of thing. Nor was he too keen on the whole boarding school in general. Aaron McKindy got to go home whenever he wanted. Why couldn’t Cooper? It wasn’t fair, and it was stupid.

It was also stupid that it was raining out. The boy wrinkled his nose as the wet drops dampened his brown hair, half-closing his brown eyes to protect them from the downpour. Incidentally, rain was also something Cooper was not fond of. And as soon as the teacher started talking, the first year found another thing to add to his list of dislike: stupid CoMC teachers who thought it was a good idea to tell their students to get stung by an equally stupid bug. That was not happening. Needles and stings, in Cooper’s mind, were approximately the same. He hated needles. Born a halfblood, he had plenty of time to discern that particular truth before he and Melody had been removed from their biological parents. Four years and five homes ago.

Apparently one of the other kids in the class had decided that Dakin was as insane as she was dumb too, and had pulled his robes back on and sat down on the grass. Cooper wasn’t fond of that idea either; he was in the middle of thinking up a way to sit down on the grass without getting his pants completely soaked when the kid on the ground unexpectedly addressed him. Cooper blinked. This was probably the first person—aside from Jera, who was convinced she had to act like his older sister for some weird reason, probably at Aaron or Sadi’s orders—who had actually talked to him. It was probably an accident.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Cooper snapped, regaining his normal state of mind after the brief moment of surprise. The kid had better not try to be his friend. Cooper didn’t need those.

After a moment’s thought, he wadded up the robe he had pulled off and sat on it, on the grass. “I’m not trying to be your friend,” he clarified bluntly, levelling a brown-eyed gaze at the other boy. “I just think it’s a dumb idea to try and get stung by a giant bug.”

0 Cooper Abramson (Aladren) Hate to tell you, but you're not standing 0 Cooper Abramson (Aladren) 0 5

Ellie McGill

April 24, 2010 7:55 AM

What a shame, then, I guess. by Ellie McGill

"That's nice," the boy laughed and clapped his hands, a goofy smile on his face. Ellie giggled again and kept twirling her bright orange hair around her fingers. She had the urge to start singing (though she was quite a horrid singer, you see) and instead began to hum loudly to herself. "I'm afraid of most things." That's nice, Ellie thought, grinning. "Do you think we can do cartwheels in the air like this?" the boy added. Now thatwas an idea, in Ellie's mind. She was excited as ever to do anything up in the air. A small part of her wondered if she was having an allergic reaction.

"Cartwheeeeeeeeels!" Ellie replied. "Let's find out!" And she began a round-off in that very moment. As she slid to land on one knee, she ended with a final, "Tada!" and looked to the boy for reaction. She giggled again and wondered if she would get points taken off for being up too long, but her giddiness was stronger than her desire to get back on the ground. From the look of it, there seemed to be a few kids on the ground already, but she wasn't very interested in stuffed Billywigs and wind up toys anyways. She liked being in the air; heck, she liked everything! She did a couple twirls, still laughing. "I'm Ellie, first year Teppy," she told the boy, spinning in circles.

0 Ellie McGill What a shame, then, I guess. 0 Ellie McGill 0 5

Jude Normandy [Pecari]

April 24, 2010 8:20 AM

Up, up, and away! by Jude Normandy [Pecari]

With a mother who worked for the National Park Service and a father who was basically a neo-hippie, Jude Normandy had no excuse to not like Care of Magical Creatures. He actually didn’t mind the rain either; it reminded him of home. Contrary to popular belief, California—or his part of the state, anyway—wasn’t sunny all the time. In fact, it rained quite frequently near his house, and Jude rather liked it. Rain was peaceful. It made him feel like curling up in the study, looking out the huge windows created to harness solar energy and sipping a cup of fair-trade tea as he read a book.

However, as long as it was raining, Jude supposed he didn’t have to do that sort of thing. Instead, he could trek down to Care of Magical Creatures in the rain and meet some cool animals. Besides, Jude was like 99% positive that Sonora didn’t have fair-trade tea. The Pecari was pretty sure that free-trade was a Muggle thing. But that was cool with him. Having a different culture than half his classmates gave him his own perspective that was different from the norm. He had also been homeschooled his entire life, which had also made him different. Not shy and strange, like many homeschoolers, but outgoing and very straightforward. In fact, Jude had an awful lot of friends, which was why he wasn’t worried that he walked down to CoMC alone. He would run into someone.

Once Professor Dakin had explained the lesson, and Jude had shed his school robes to reveal his comfortable Berkeley sweatshirt (his father was an alumnus) and jeans—along with Jose’s old shoes—he got ready to approach the Billywig. It seemed a little bit counter-intuitive to get voluntarily stung by a bee, didn’t it? Jude wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but figured that the experience would be worth it. Jude looked around. Where was Jose, now that he thought about it? Jude hadn’t seen his roommate in classes all year, but he was pretty sure Jose wasn’t sick or skipping. Weird...definitely weird.

The moment that Jude stuck his hand into the box before him, he felt funny. His ears were prickling up and down, like small needles were poking them, but not in a bad way. He giggled. Had the bug stung him already? Jude hadn’t felt a sting but pulled his arm out just in case. Everything seemed very sharp to his vision and he was grinning like an idiot, having a hard time focusing his eyes. A minute later, his thoughts started to wander in circles happily and his feet drifted a few centimeters above the ground.

“Woahhhh,” Jude said, grinning at the person next to him. “This is awesome.”

0 Jude Normandy [Pecari] Up, up, and away! 0 Jude Normandy [Pecari] 0 5

Neal Padrig, Pecari

April 24, 2010 10:20 AM

Cue heroic theme music by Neal Padrig, Pecari

The exact moment before Neal voluntarily set himself up for trouble/pain/embarrassment, a few questions run through his mind. The biggest one being: why exactly did he stuff his hand in a box to get stung by something that sounded like it should be on a farm in Texas? Trudging through pouring rain and mud was one thing, since that was fun, and he liked that he didn’t have to wear his robes since everyone else made it a big deal to obey the dress code, but why oh why did his professor want them all stunned into be silly?

Professor Dakin had many scars from who-knows-what, so maybe she wanted to have everyone else match he as far as battle wounds they had. But that seemed unlikely, since she came off like too sweet and excitable to care about that. Besides, Neals eyes were already bloodshot and the dark purple bags under them weren’t letting up anytime soon – he had his own battles to deal with broadcasting.

The Billywigs looked interesting, even when contained. Being colorblind, Neal paid extra attention to what she said they were colored like and somehow ended up paying attention to all the facts. They were a lot more interesting than they looked, which was saying something. At Dakin’s grin when she mentioned stinging, Neal became really intrigued…

And he was simply fascinated. To be stung and giddy and fly on your own? Wow, that sounded really neat! This was the kind of excitement he liked to be a part of. The uncertainty of never coming down was too good to pass up.

So, back to the question: why was his hand in the box to get stung? So he could enjoy an opportunity that actually proved to be really thrilling. Nothing said thrilling like getting stung into action, literally.

So Neal put his Billywig Quill and ink into his knapsack and flew to the box, putting his hand in eagerly. Remember to think about the ground, he reminded himself. Though he might not want to come down, he was pretty sure that was half the fun – overcoming the effects… and maybe sneaking a chance at doing it all over again.

When Neal felt a pinch he took his arm out and waited. It took only a few seconds of anticipation before he felt warmth all over him, even despite the rain. The warm sensation turned to bubbles, and they lifted him into the air. He had a dumb smile on his face as all his thoughts hushed up so he could be… happy. Clearly he was happy.

Woahhhh. This is awesome,” the boy beside him said. He looked familiar – was he in his house, maybe? – but Neal was too glad to focus on the facts. He just nodded, a serene grin on his face. “Definitely awesome,” he agreed, and tucked himself to spin in circles like he’d seen astronauts do in spaceships. (It was as fun to do as it looked.) “Hey, have you tried to spin like this yet?” he asked as he still went in circles. “It’s makes your head feel all heavy – it’s really great!”

0 Neal Padrig, Pecari *Cue heroic theme music* 0 Neal Padrig, Pecari 0 5

Jude

April 24, 2010 10:35 AM

It's only cool if we get capes too by Jude

Because the person was a boy who looked vaguely familiar in a seen-him-around-the-commonroom way, Jude was sure, even in his somewhat fluffy thinking process at the moment, that the person he was talking to had to be a first year. The only two boys in second year Pecari were him and Jose. They were roommates, and they had swapped shoes. This fact seemed very important to Jude at the moment, although he was drowsily aware that it probably didn’t actually matter. Jude’s light brown, rain-dampened hair did its best to ruffle as he rose to a few feet off the ground, but the rain prevented it from doing much.

The other boy was spinning dizzily, and Jude couldn’t help but follow him with his eyes and giggle. His head felt spinny and fluffy in a way that he had never really experienced outside a dentist’s office, but the other Pecari’s dizzying antics looked like a lot of fun. He looked kind of like an astronaut on one of the National Geographic movies Jude watched with his Dad when they were specials on television.

At his neighbour’s insistence, Jude also tucked himself into a ball, pulling the hood of his Berkeley sweatshirt above his head to protect it from the rain. He pretended to be a potato-bug as he spun. It was a lot of fun! But after a minute or so of it the spinning started to make Jude feel a bit sick so he stood up and stopped revolving. Standing on air wasn’t nearly as awkward as Jude would have thought. In fact, it was kind of fun, like he imagined walking on water or something would be. He took a few tentative steps around without touching the ground and grinned widely. Totally cool.

“Professor Dakin is a genius,” Jude declared. Then the mention of the Professor made him remember that there was actually an assignment to do. He grinned again, then spun on his heels to face the other boy again. “Okay so, do you actually want to do the assignment or,” and he tucked himself into a ball to somersault in the air, just as if he were on the ground, “is it like a billion times more fun to just hover?”

0 Jude It's only cool if we get capes too 0 Jude 0 5

Neal

April 24, 2010 11:10 AM

Capes are a must, but I vote to forgo the spandex by Neal

When the older-possible-Pecari spun, Neal resumed his spins too. He kept going at an unhealthy speed, even when he noticed through the whir of the whir around him that the other boy had stopped. Why he would was beyond the first year. He wondered if he went fast enough if he could turn completely invisible…

Neal slowed down a bit to see what the other boy was doing and smiled wide to see him walking a hair above the blades of damp grass. It was so weird to see that it was utterly amazing at the same time. “That’s the neatest thing I’ve ever seen,” Neal commented, not even thinking twice to really determine for himself if it was true or not. He was out of his typical ‘let’s-question-everything’ state-of-mind and just went with the flow. It was a great way to live when you were floating midair, he determined. The only thing bothering him this high up in the air was how his wavy mahogany hair kept getting in his face so he kept having to flip it to the side to see all the greatness around him.

The boy said something about a genius professor. Oh, right, they were the person responsible for this experience. He really should thank him. Actually, the whole world should thank him. They should throw Dakin a party or something. The other boy did a twist in the air and spoke, but not about the party Neal was planning to himself. “Okay so, do you actually want to do the assignment or –“ he stopped for a moment to do a trick, which Neal cheered like any other good entertained bystander would, “ – is it like a billion times more fun to just hover?”

Neal swam to the ground, determined to follow through on his original plan. “I think we should thank Dakin for being so smart, and throw him a party, then get stung and spend the rest of our lives floating!” He laughed at the good idea. While getting to the ground didn’t seem so appeasing as staying up did, at least he had the promise of returning. And besides, maybe Dakin would agree to get stung so the party really could be in the air! “Race you to the ground!” he challenged the boy good naturedly, swimming wildly. It didn’t matter who won, really, just so that this fun could be played up.

0 Neal Capes are a must, but I vote to forgo the spandex 0 Neal 0 5

Jude

April 24, 2010 11:36 AM

Cape is a must, Spandex is a must-<i>not</i> by Jude

Jude did think that walking above the grass was just about the neatest thing ever. In fact, this whole hovering thing was pretty up there on the list of cool. It was a pity that Quidditch wasn’t quite this cool, otherwise he might be on the team with Mel and Starbuck and the rest of his friends. Nina wasn’t on the team either—but that was because her parents didn’t let her play Quidditch, not because she didn’t like sports. Jude didn’t mind sports, but he’d never really done them before, aside from climbing trees, which wasn’t really a sport.

Also, it was cool that the firstie cheered when he did the somersault, which wasn’t technically a trick but was still pretty cool. In fact, Jude felt more chilled-out and happy with life than he usually did, which he wasn’t sure was exactly possible. As a general rule, Jude was laid back and straightforward. He didn’t do the hyper competitive stuff (another reason why he didn’t play Quidditch) and tended to be friends with almost everyone. He was an only child and had grown used to entertaining himself, but wasn’t awkward with other people. Pretty much, Jude’s life went pretty well as a general rule, and he was a pretty happy kid.

“You’re ON!” Jude called back when the other boy offered a race to the ground. Immediately, he started jumping down...but it didn’t quite work. After a moment, the Pecari attempted the younger boy’s idea of swimming down, which worked okay until the last few centimeters. Even though he reached the tips of his fingers past the oversized sleeves of his sweatshirt, he couldn’t quite manage to touch the grass. Weird stuff, man. Jude grinned anyway, because he didn’t really need to reach the ground. It had just been an idea. With a shrug, he hopped back up and started doing cartwheels across the air.

After a moment, Jude’s blue eyes, flipped over to where the other Pecari should be. “Hey,” he called out, doing a handstand on thin air—this was fantastic--and raising an eyebrow upside-down at the other boy as his hair stood upside-down on end. “Did you make it? And do you have a name? I’m Jude.”

0 Jude Cape is a must, Spandex is a must-<i>not</i> 0 Jude 0 5

Neal

April 24, 2010 12:36 PM

Can't overlook the mask, though by Neal

The swimming bit was fine and all, but the initial excitement dissipated when the other boy seemingly gave up the race. He seemed happy as ever though and just went back to doing tricks in the air with his sweatshirt flapping around the rain. Neal stopped swimming and looked from the boy to the grass. He knew he’d need to land eventually, so why not just do it now and get it over with?

Wait, because being on the ground is boring, that’s why ground equaled bad. Right.

Still he couldn’t shake the feeling that being so giddy was wrong somehow. His overworking mind was on overdrive – it was starting to give him a headache, something euphoric people were not supposed to be having when floating. He was probably doing something wrong being so close to the grass, so he just climbed back up into the air in hopes of feeling better.

The other boy was now doing impressive handstands when he called out for Neal. “Did you make it? And do you have a name? I’m Jude.”

Neal looked at the ground and shook his head. “Nope, didn’t make it. Didn’t seem worth it.” He laid flat on his stomach and gave the boy a quirked eyebrow of his own, smirking at how they were both doing the expression right-side up and upside down. He wondered if he looked as funny to Jude right now as Jude did to him. “I’ve got a name – I’ve got a birth certificate that says so and everything,” he laughed. Certificate sounded like a comical word all of a sudden. “I’m Neal. I’m a first year Pecari. And I think – maybe – you’re a Pecari, too?”

0 Neal Can't overlook the mask, though 0 Neal 0 5

Dorian Talsky

April 24, 2010 5:07 PM

O.o by Dorian Talsky

Dorian Talsky loved the rain so he made his way into the downpour grinning like a fool. He was happy that it time for Care of Magical Creatures, no wand waving, no saying anything just taking care of animals. The first year Pecari hope to one day be an animal healer and knew this class would be his make it or break it. Seeing the Professor’s scars he wondered how she had come by them. He sat down and pulled off his robes as most of the older students seemed to be in on a secret. Boy he was glad he had pulled them off because Professor Dakin started her lesson that way.

The brown haired boy grinned once hearing what they were going to be doing today. Reaching into the tank he felt the stinging and then he began to laugh. He had never laughed like this in his life. Dorian would love to see Dimitry act like this. He looked down and giggled at the ground. What was he suppose to be doing again? Oh yeah serious thoughts. He was trying to think of a serious thought when someone floated up by him.

“Hello!” He said cheerfully. “What are you doing? I’m just hanging around.” He said with a straight face before breaking out into giggles.

0 Dorian Talsky O.o 0 Dorian Talsky 0 5

Brian Moore (Teppenpaw)

April 24, 2010 5:59 PM

(._.) by Brian Moore (Teppenpaw)

After getting whacked in the face during flying lessons and struggling during Transfiguration, Brian was hoping Care of the Magical Creatures would be better. And not abusive like the other subjects. He was never one to complain but he’d like to do something well and get some sort of self-esteem boost.

He was feeling great in the rain, having always liked it and was glad to be in it. He was even gladder to get to take off the robe. He didn’t like wearing that much and couldn’t take it off and stuff it in his bag any faster than he did. He felt better in his short-sleeved yellow polo and light jeans even if he was drenched. But he wasn’t the only one, everyone else looked pretty wet and the professor didn’t mind the weather either. And those scars were awesome. This was going to be a good class, Brian could already tell.

Brian listened to the lesson completely fascinated. He never heard or read of Billywigs but they reminded him of dragonflies for some reason. When the professor was done speaking Brian got in line put his hand in the tank, trying not to push r shove anyone. He felt something poke his arm and he snapped it out on instinct, rubbing the spot that should be feeling sore. Instead, it felt good. He felt really good in general.

Brian started to laugh and he rose off the ground feeling bubbly and light. Though he kept saying ‘ground’ to himself he couldn’t convince himself that lowering himself was something he wanted to to. He noticed he was headed right toward a boy with brown hair and he laughed as he floated to a halt to keep from hitting the boy. Even in a giddy state it seemed his manners and care for people were still in tact.

“Hi-yo!” he said, laughing at his silly introduction. He tried to figure out what he was doing and he shrugged. “I don’t really know. Just floating here and being Brian I guess.” Since the boy giggled when he was done speaking, Brian saw no reason why he shouldn’t laugh too. The whole thing was hysterical. “I know we’re supposed to go down, but I can’t seem to make myself want to!” Which was very much like how he felt about flying, though without getting hit in the face by his broom. Yes, he liked this class a lot compared to his other ones.

0 Brian Moore (Teppenpaw) (._.) 0 Brian Moore (Teppenpaw) 0 5

Jude

April 24, 2010 6:02 PM

Is it really a mask if it only covers half your face? by Jude

After a moment of standing on his head, Jude felt things slowly slide into a more focused area. He was still happy, but not quite as crazy as he had been. Even though he still found it funny when Neal made the same face he was making, but from upside-down (well actually rightside-up since Jude was upside-down) it wasn’t hysterically funny. He was just happy-happy, still happier than normal but just...happy. Or mostly. He couldn’t help but laugh at Neal’s comment about him being in Pecari. Pecari seemed like a funny thing to say at the moment, but he guess it always had been. And their Head of House with the bubble hat and all was pretty funny too, now that Jude thought of it, so he laughed again.

“Yup,” he said after he was done laughing. “With crazy Professor McKindy and everything. He’s almost as nuts as my friend Mel, but she really takes the cake. It’s all girls in my year in Pecari, except me and Jose. Jose is my roommate,” Jude felt that funny too, although this time grin-worthy rather than laughter-worthy. “He’s not here today, which is kind of sad because I think he’d like this project.” Jude hummed to himself, then did another flip. He liked flipping, it was fun. He had even done gymnastics when he was really little, but then his parents had moved out of San Fran and into an environmentally friendly house that was practically in the park, and Jude had stopped doing that.

“I think the effects are wearing off,” Jude said with a smile, even though he thought that should probably make him feel less happy. The second-year still felt as happy as he had before though. Unchangingly and distinctly happy, but kind of weird because of that. It seemed like you should be able to change emotions sometimes. Even though Jude wasn’t sad very often, he didn’t think that there could be happy without sad. No ying without yang, that sort of thing. He wasn’t too philosophical, but he did believe in karma and balance. That was one of the reasons his family was so environmentally friendly.

0 Jude Is it really a mask if it only covers half your face? 0 Jude 0 5

Marian Parker (Aladren)

April 24, 2010 6:14 PM

Feeling the sting by Marian Parker (Aladren)

It was raining outside, and Marian was disappointed in herself for not being able to work out the spell to conjure items on her own yet. She made do with using a teal umbrella outside, though she felt a little silly having one when everyone else seemed fine with letting themselves get soaked to the bone. In the classroom, she felt even sillier trying to fold it up on her own as she took off her robes as quickly as possible (she felt like she was undressing in front of everyone and was extremely uncomfortable about it). She neatly folded her robes into her gray bookbag and smoothed out any wrinkles in her light blue summer dress.

She took diligent notes in what the Professor said, though she had already read briefly about Billywigs and already didn’t like them. Not only was it an insect, but it was one that left people with plenty of horror stories. She almost fell out of her seat when the Professor wanted them to get stung. She was pretty sure if her teachers in a muggle school ever held a lesson like this, child labor las and suing would come into the picture fast.

She nervously pulled her curly golden hair out of her face as the students went to get stung. She watched with her large glacial blue eyes watering, already scared of any pain she’d feel after getting pricked. She liked taking notes so much more. And she really didn’t want to have any sort of allergic reaction…

Marian was already telling herself to keep the ground in mind as she tucked her arm in the tanked and recoiled it when she was stung. She shuffled on her feet waiting for something when the strangest thing happened, she felt good. She giggled a bit then uncontrollably as she rose up in the air. She barely paid attention to her dress, but when she remembered she was wearing one she laughed. Hope no one is under me, she thought. Not that she had to worry since she was barely hovering a foot, the wild child. She was so giddy she didn’t notice she bumped into a body. She swirled around and put a hand to her lips. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. But while every other moment she’d be struck quiet with nerves and shyness she was all radiant smiles and outgoing streaks. How odd. “Are you alright?”

41 Marian Parker (Aladren) Feeling the sting 1402 Marian Parker (Aladren) 0 5

Jane Carey

April 24, 2010 7:07 PM

It's not so bad, is it? by Jane Carey

In her novels, girls caught in the rain ran a lot, laughing as they did, with their friends toward the nearest shelter, but since Mother didn't consider that kind of behavior very dignified, Jane had to settle for walking quickly and doing her best to keep her hems from getting soaked. She'd be far more comfortable with them wet than her socks, but that was irrelevant. Wet hems did not look good, and Jane had a very large family to represent to the best of her ability. Carey family mystique didn't concern her much, but not making her parents and Edmond cross with her did.

In theory, Jane knew that boys were supposed to be the ones who were educated and assertive while girls were pretty and submissive, but she'd never fully worked out how to go from theory to practice. Even her parents weren't sure how she'd gone from 'learning from Edmond's tutors' to 'learning what Edmond learned from Edmond's tutors,' but by the time she'd realized she shouldn't, the damage had been done: she could hardly set a table or embroider a sparrow to save her life, but knew almost as much as her brother about most things he had to learn as the future patriarch of the Savannah Careys and was actually better than him at mathematics. Edmond did not seem to mind, but Jane's mother insisted that it wasn't ladylike behavior.

Jane didn't like ladylike behavior. It didn't seem fair to her that Edmond, who seemed happiest when things were very consistent and dull, could do whatever he wanted with life until his father died while she had to get married as soon as possible and spend the rest of her life laying a beautiful table. She wasn't as smart as Edmond in wizardly things, but she was even worse at being a proper witch, so why couldn't she do things she was at least a bit good at?

A rhetorical question, of course. The answer was that doing so wasn't proper.

Once she was inside the stone building, Jane took off her rain cloak and blinked, shocked, at the order to take off her robes. That wasn't....that wasn't decent! She thought she remembered Edmond telling her the professor was 'most immodest' in that way, but she had thought it was a joke. Edmond's sense of humor did usually manage to be a little better than that, but...Oh, dear, now she was in a lot of trouble, because if she didn't do what the teacher said then she'd get detention and if she did and the news made it home, her mother would never let her head the end of it. She might even make Edmond tell her off while they were still here. Since Mother was a more remote evil than the professor, though, Jane reluctantly took her robe off and folded it neatly, trying to cover as much of her arms as she could with her hands.

She had never heard of Billywigs, but Jane had, on a few occasions, been giddy, and she knew it wasn't dignified. Mother told her off severely when she got in that state. Ladies were to be in perfect control at all times, so it was easier for them to notice what the men needed and do that to make things run smoothly. Again, though, she had little choice but to consider that Professor Dakin would notice her disobeying orders before Mother noticed she'd followed them, so she stuck her hand in the box.

There was a sharp pain in her index finger, not much worse than getting a splinter in when she turned too fast around a chair at home, and then she started to giggle. It took a moment longer for her to begin laughing out loud.

She managed to cut that off when she bumped into someone in midair, but it was only a few seconds before she started to giggle again. She had to get herself in hand, Mother was going to be so cross with her..."Oh, yes," she said. "I wasn't hurt at all." She was forgetting something...She had to do....Oh, yes. "I'm Jane Care - oh, I'm sorry, I can't - I just can't stop laughing! I'm Jane Carey, of the Virginia Careys."

0 Jane Carey It's not so bad, is it? 160 Jane Carey 0 5

Raines Bradley

April 24, 2010 7:25 PM

Speaking metaphorically is my friend. by Raines Bradley

Raines' mouth thinned at the first year's tone of voice. "I see," he said stiffly. "I beg your pardon for my error." He didn't add that part of the error was acknowledging that an individual with such poor manners existed. He was already a criminal, and being one hundred percent honest about almost anything right now could only hurt his case. Fortunately, a half-truth had always sat better with him than whole one or a lie anyway. Any idiot could tell the truth or lie, but it took skill to do both at the same time.

He had returned to figuring out how to do just that, glad that at least they were out of the rain so he could think straight and write notes in the margins of his book, when the rude first year surprised him by sitting down. Raines returned his brown stare with an equally level green one, his expression noncommital. "That is very well," he said, his tone similarly bland, "since I cannot say that I wish to be your friend, either. However, I welcome your support in opposing the - professor - and her blatant lack of concern for our well-being."

Friends. Raines didn't have any, but that did remind him of something. If Miss Veronica was in distress, then he'd have no choice but to rescue her. He thought - with, naturally, no trace of bias - that she could be a useful supporter for his protest, too. The one problem would be that taking her would inevitably mean having to put up with Rachel, whom he disliked. He would have to consider it, unless they just joined him and the first year of their own accord. He wasn't going to turn down support at this point; Raines was a product of the patriarchal system, and uncorrupted democracy was no friend of his, but he knew that the more people, and the more people of breeding, stature, and some money, he had on his side, the less likely he would be to be very badly punished.

0 Raines Bradley Speaking metaphorically is my friend. 155 Raines Bradley 0 5

Demalza Eagle

April 25, 2010 12:27 PM

Yes it makes me HAPPYYYYYYYY by Demalza Eagle

Demelza loved CoMC class so much. She might not have had good grades in t, but it was her favorite class next to DADA. She had grown up with magical creatures on her farm! She already had knowledge of many of them because her mom used to be a magical creature hunter. They had dangerous animals on their farm, like chimpereas. They shot out fire and were rated level XXXXX. They were also illegal, as well as many other animals on their farm. But that was what made it fun!

Demelza was prepared for CoMC. She didn't bother to wear her robe (she wore Muggle clothes: a grey tee-shirt and boot-cut jeans) and she had her hair up in a ponytail that was clipped to the back of her head by a claw clip. She was ready for anything that Professor Rowan threw at her! She had also taken a liking into Rowan: she didn't even give Demelza a detention last year when she put the salamander on fire or hit the granian! Those were all accidents, but still, she had many accidents last year that probably deserved at least one detention.

That's why Demelza was a bit confused when Professor Rowan introduced the first years. She didn't give Demelza a detention when she harmed her animals last year. Maybe she just liked Demelza? Yeah, right. Suuure. She would go with that.

Demelza started laughing very hard when Professor Rowan said what they were going to learn. Some people might have been looking at her oddly, because she was laughing at an inside joke between Jamie and Willy. Jamie had told Willy about the Billywgs and teased him, saying that they wwere named after him. She remembered Willy trying to punch Jamie because of his excessive teasing. Funny day.

The lesson sounded like a really fun one. In fact, Demelza considered it the best lesson ever! They got to sting themselves and become loopy! AWESOME! It would be so much fun to be crazy, and have an excuse!

When it was her turn, she threw her hand into the box, excited to be stung, even though that sounded a bit weird. She hadn't realized that it stung her until she felt very... dizzy. Then happy. Then she giggled like crazy, her eyes falling out of focus. She felt awesome, like she could do anything. Like there was nothing wrong in the world. She was at peace. She was on drugs. Woah, they were all on wizard drugs! She wanted a whole bag of the Billywigs: they were addicting!! She suddenly felt herself levitate from the ground. Feeling very giddy, she shouted out randomly, "I'ma billy-willy-willy wigglywig!" She giggled uncontrollably, totally forgetting about the point of the assignment.

0 Demalza Eagle Yes it makes me HAPPYYYYYYYY 0 Demalza Eagle 0 5

Cooper

April 25, 2010 3:55 PM

Have you considered people-friends? by Cooper

Well clearly the boy Cooper was sitting next to was one of the stuck-up kind of purebloods that had made his life very difficult in the past couple of years. Because of Cooper’s—condition—the Abramsons had been restricted to pureblooded foster-parents on the basis that a Muggle couldn’t handle the transformations. However, that had also exposed Cooper and Melody to a lot of stuck-up and annoying purebloods who thought they were automatically better than everyone else. They all used the same tone of voice when they spoke, like their house-elf had put too much starch in their robes or something. Cooper didn’t like those.

Drawing his knees up to his chest, Cooper hugged them to himself, watching his classmates hover in the air and fool around. It sort of looked fun, but the way they had gotten up there was dumb. Plus, Cooper didn’t like heights. It was why he had skipped the Flying Lessons. He knew how to use a broom but he didn’t want to. He had no need for flying in the air and looking dumb. He could recognise what was going on with the bug stings from over here, without being drugged into some vague sense of euphoria. Cooper hated drugs of all sorts, especially the ones that dulled your senses like that.

It was still raining, which Cooper didn’t especially mind. His brown hair was damp, but the front of his shirt wasn’t because it was protected by the hunched way Cooper was sitting. Melody would probably like this sort of thing. On the other hand, his little sister was so happy and naive normally that she probably didn’t even need to get stung to hover above the ground like that. It was irritating, but kind of adorable. On the other, other hand, it was also why he carried a quiet hatred for both Aaron and Garen. With their stupid rhyming names. The only one he didn’t mind was Jessie.

But she was cool. She was going to be a dragon tamer.

0 Cooper Have you considered people-friends? 0 Cooper 0 5

Leonardo Michaels

April 25, 2010 4:18 PM

Wow that's really WEIRDDDDDDDDDDDD by Leonardo Michaels

Leo was psyched about Care of Magical Creatures. Animals had always fascinated him, plus, from what he read in a text book, some of these animals were dangerous. The air buzzed with excitement. Leo felt a bit out of place, at first, since he had been in only his Muggle clothes of some cargo pants and unbuttoned-button up shirt over an undershirt, sleeves rolled up and ready for action. Fortunately, the professor was equally casual and quickly asked the students to take off their robes.

Billywigs sounded like some sort of made-up creature from a bad movie from the SyFy channel, but apparently, they were sort of dangerous. ...For making people happy? Well, Leo wasn't so sure about being stung... but he was an adventurous guy, and therefore didn't hesitate to stick his hand inside the box. He vaguely remembered feeling a prick as his grin expanded and his toes left the ground. He felt like a helium balloon, threatening to blow away while still looking cheerful. He laughed a little as he almost touched the ceiling. His shameless smile was tiring his cheeks but he certainly didn't want to stop.

"I'ma billy-willy-willy wigglywig!" Leo turned to look at some silly girl, who looked to be perhaps a bit older. She appeared to be having the time of her life, and Leo grinned widely at her. "Nice to meet ya, billy-wily-willy wigglywig! I'm Leo!" he called. He looked at the ground and saw a couple students down there, but he didn't want to come down just yet. This was almost as great as flying on a broom, and all thanks to a tiny bug he hadn't noticed in his old Muggle life.

0 Leonardo Michaels Wow that's really WEIRDDDDDDDDDDDD 1468 Leonardo Michaels 0 5

Alessa Hinckley

April 25, 2010 7:06 PM

If I have to... by Alessa Hinckley

For the most part, Alessa preferred rain to sunshine. It meant she wasn't bothered by the brightness of the sun, and thunderstorms were awesome to watch.

That did not, however, mean she liked to be outside when it was raining. Truthfully, Alessa wasn't a very outdoorsy person to begin with but she hated the feeling of water falling on top of her head, her clothing being soaked, her hair getting all stringy and walking in the mud-and Alessa just plain did not do discomfort very well.

Why did they have to have COMC outside when it was raining ? Why not have the class cancelled or even just moved inside? There were plenty of lessons that could be taught inside and in general, Alessa felt being outside was unnecessary.

She frowned at the lesson. Given that she was less than thrilled to be out in the rain to begin with and that COMC was her least favorite class,no lesson would have made her feel very happy. Now, Alessa was being told she had to be stung by something that would make her feel giddy and float. These were not good things. While she could do with some cheering up, she knew it was not proper to act giddy and besides, Alessa would feel silly and awkward being so in front of her classmates. She was afraid she'd look stupid.

Furthermore, there were some people in her class that were giddy enough naturally, to the point where it got on Alessa's nerves. They would probably become insufferable after being stung.

Briefly, Alessa considered joining Raines Bradley and some first year that she'd seen around the Aladren commons in not doing the lesson, but she would hate to fail. COMC was her weak spot to begin with, due to lack of interest, and she didn't think it was a good idea to just refuse to do what she'd been instructed to do. Besides, Alessa really wouldn't mind winning one of those prizes, even though she was normally not that competitive. She just thought the stuffed billywig was neat.

Sighing to herself, Alessa walked over to the box and let the billywig sting her. Within moments, she started to feel a bit less miserable and found herself floating in the air. The rain was starting to bother her less and she felt...good. Still, Alessa tried to concentrate on getting back on the ground.

11 Alessa Hinckley If I have to... 150 Alessa Hinckley 0 5

Neal

April 25, 2010 7:20 PM

Some masks cover the whole face - look at Spiderman! by Neal

The laughter was replaced with mellow grins. That was a good way to describe the mood: mellow. It made Neal feel better than finding everything hysterically wonderful. He felt like he was getting his wits back, and it made him feel more like – if not a bit disappointed in – himself. He didn’t like not being in his right state of mind, it was like being fake. He wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it though. After all, the hovering bit was still in effect and still pretty cool.

And as it turned out, Jude was an older Pecari. He knew more about their quirky Head of House then Neal did obviously, and it was pleasant to know McKindy was as weird as he looked. That’d make his class something to be excited for. As for Mel, who Neal assumed was Demelza, the vice captain on the Quidditch team, she seemed very much excitable, always a good thing. Jose was the only person Neal felt he knew the most, and that was barely at all, since he had been captain. Neal liked him right off the bat, and it seemed Jude did too or he wouldn’t put much thought into whether or not the second year was at the lesson.

The older boy flipped again, and Neal watched with mild amusement. He didn’t have the same compulsion to do it for himself again. He was already bored with this feeling of being obligated to do silly thing s to stay in a silly mood. He didn’t like feeling obligated to do anything.

“I think the effects are wearing off.” Neal looked up, blinking his drooping bloodshot eyes at Jude’s smiling face. It was a more natural smile though, and Neal liked it more than the laugh-your-face-off smiles from a few moments ago. “I think you’re right. I feel… normal.” He looked at the ground and sighed at the thought of having to give up flying on his own. He smirked and shrugged to himself, looking up at Jude. “But I think I’ll float a bit more. I’m not in much of a hurry to win a stuffed bug today.”

0 Neal Some masks cover the whole face - look at Spiderman! 0 Neal 0 5

Marian

April 25, 2010 7:30 PM

It's great for the time-being by Marian

When the girl said she hadn’t been hurt, it was like she granted Marian permission to go into a fit of giggles. Oh, how silly was she to assume a little tap would leave anyone injured? It was completely ridiculous! But even in the giddy state she found being confused was as bad as it was pre-Billywig bite. Marian apparently never liked to be at a loss over anything, be it she’s giddy or normal.

The fact the girl introduced herself wasn’t weird, even through the laughter she had a harder time controlling than Marian it seemed. What was confusing was why she said the state she was from. Was that something wizards did? But… but none on the people she met had done that. Maybe it was because she was so silly, she said something silly?

Of course, that was it. And why was Marian thinking so much about it anyway? It didn’t matter! All that mattered was the floating and the great feeling that came with it.

So, being polite, Marian nodded back to her and laughed at her silly over thinking. She bowed slightly, feeling it was necessary for some reason. The girl had this vibe of royalty about her – it was all so very weird, but she’d play along. “Pleasure to meet you!” she laughed, putting a hand over her mouth like her mother had always told her to do. “My name is Marian Parker, of the Massachusetts Parkers, though some of my family lives in Ohio, but they’re from my mother’s side.” Really, this was such a silly way to introduce herself, but for the meantime she’d have fun with it. At least before she got her wits back. Speaking of wits…

Ground, she thought to herself, remembering in the mist of her giddiness that’s what she should be thinking. Hopefully her thoughts would work this time…

0 Marian It's great for the time-being 0 Marian 0 5

Cosette Miller

April 25, 2010 9:27 PM

That's a bold recommendation by Cosette Miller

Cosette wasn’t a fan of the rain. Her mother had several of her episodes during particularly nasty storms, all of which had left her father and herself out for hours in the pouring rain, harsh winds, and annoying lightning and thunder patterns to find her and drag her back home. It was one of the reasons why, when she realized she’d have to trek out through the downpour, she already decided she was going to dislike Care of the Magical Creatures. Sure the other classes made her do more work than she’d like to do on her own free will – none of it seemed important in the least to her – but at least they didn’t involve her getting wet and strolling down unpleasant memory lane.

When Cosette managed to make it to class (she was the last one there… again), she found the first empty seat and set her chin in her hands, hoping to look alert enough so her professor would have no reason to hassle her bout looking awake or something. And hopefully no one would notice that she was too lazy to bother with taking off her robes.

She tilted her head in confusion when the professor mentioned Billywigs. She was pretty sure they weren’t something that she wanted to sting her. Thanks, but really – no thanks. She’d pass on that little excursion. Hopefully the Professor would understand that she wasn’t a masochist or in any rush to experiment with the closest thing to mind-altering drugs. She’d seen what drugs, particularly medications, do to people and it wasn’t right. Well, sometimes…

Her attention was effectively snapped from her excitable classmates rushing to hover to the boys who were sitting in front of her. Out of boredom, she put her head in her arms and rested on her desk, shamelessly eavesdropping (they were talking quite loud in her opinion, so it’s their fault they had an audience). They seemed kind of moody, but practical for not putting up with the inane activity. She debated saying something, but decided against it. Neither of them seemed like they wanted to be bothered. And she couldn’t honestly say she wanted to be bothered either; she’d had enough of random people deciding to start random conversations with her. “At least their sane,” she muttered to herself, and tried to work on napping until class let out.

0 Cosette Miller That's a bold recommendation 0 Cosette Miller 0 5

Sam Bauer

April 27, 2010 3:46 PM

Eh, I'm all right with it. by Sam Bauer

A factor which had not occurred to Sam before he'd proposed air-cartwheels was that he couldn't even turn them on solid ground. He just kind of fell all over the place. Trying the move while airborne didn't go any better; all he managed to do was come close to colliding hard with someone's head. It took him a minute to get his bearings back - insofar as was possible with his head full of soda - and notice Red-Haired Girl apparently succeeding where he had failed. "Nice one," Sam congratulated her.

And then he learned her name. Ellie the Teppy was a much more logical name than Red-Haired Girl, though it had an unfortunate side affect of making him think of the sorts of TV personalities reserved for very small children and then start laughing again. "I'm Sam, I am," he said. Dr. Seuss wouldn't really make a good children's TV personality; he was sure he'd heard somewhere that the books were really secretly warped or something like that. Everyone read them in kindergarten, though, so it fit the theme. Themes were good. They were literary. "I'm a Crotalus...But that doesn't scan very well."

Crotalus. Yeah. He was a Crotalus. And Crotali were...not trippy loons babbling about poetry in midair. Yeah. He was pretty sure about that. Uncle Isaac had been a Crotalus, and while the guy did like his substances, he'd only let them get in the way of business when he was married to his first wife. This was business. "Ground," he said abruptly, breaking his thought process. "That's what we're aiming for, right? We have to get back on the ground."

16 Sam Bauer Eh, I'm all right with it. 163 Sam Bauer 0 5

Ellie

April 27, 2010 6:41 PM

Well, that's good enough for me! by Ellie

After Ellie had finished her gymnastics, she giggled as she watched the boy's attempts to do the same. It wasn't exactly a mocking laugh; more like the way you crack up at anything during a slumber party at three in the morning. Not that she knew...

"I'm Sam, I am," the boy (apparently Sam) said in reply to her introduction. Ellie burst into another fit of giggles at this. Her mother had read her and her sister the Dr. Seuss books when she was younger. Her father hadn't really known what the heck to think of Green Eggs and Ham, being somewhat of a pussyfoot he didn't exactly approve of non-magical books filled with nonsense about green ham. But how did he get from "Ellie" to "Sam I Am" is a mystery, at least for Ellie. "And I am the lorax, I speak for the trees," she added quietly, before snickering. The odd bubbly and light-headed feeling was still bursting within her, and she had yet to remember she was in class and not on some sort of fairy playground.

"I'm a Crotalus...But that doesn't scan very well." Ellie wasn't entirely sure what he meant by "scan very well," but in the giggly state she was in she didn't mind as much as she might have. From what she had heard from her dad, Crotalus people had a tendency to over-think situations... which is probably why her dad was in Crotalus, back in the day.

"Ground," Sam blurted randomly.

"Wha-?" Ellie offered, then looked back at the ground and vaguely remembered the task at hand.

"That's what we're aiming for, right? We have to get back on the ground." Oh. Right. Ground. Ellie smiled.

"I guess I'm not getting that stuffed Billywig," she replied, then rose her eyebrows in a strained attempt to focus on ground. It was like a chant in her mind; ground, ground, ground... ground... GROUND!! until finally she could feel herself slowly drifting closer and closer to the ground.

0 Ellie Well, that's good enough for me! 0 Ellie 0 5

Sophia Randolph

April 27, 2010 7:43 PM

This is not what I signed up [Tag: Professor Dakin] by Sophia Randolph

Sophia was a little bit wary about her Care of Magical Creatures class, she didn’t even have a pet and she was sure that the CoMC class would be filled with more dangerous creatures than cats, dogs or owls. She sighed while getting ready to go to class, she was sure she would have some trouble with this class because frankly, she was terrified of animals in general. Plus, she had always suffered from severe allergies.

Sophia grabbed her school bag and made her way towards the class. She hummed to herself trying to calm her nerves, it was ridiculous to be nervous…the Professor would never let something bad happen to her, from that she was fairly certain.

She entered the classroom and began taking notes of everything Prof. Dakin was saying, this didn’t look so bad. She took off her robes and left tucked them inside her school bag, she couldn’t lose them. Her hair was in a French braid, so she left it like that.

She continued to hear the lecture and taking notes about the billiwigs. They sounded interesting, but then Prof. Dankin told the class they had to be stung. Sophia wasn’t happy with that; to be honest she was afraid of being stung by the creatures.

She stood while the rest of her classmates got on with what they had to do but Sophia was still unsure of letting the creature sting her; she closed her eyes and began counting to ten to help ease her nerves before actually attempting the deed. She made her way towards the boxes and reached in…she felt the sting and gasped.

She quickly retrieved her hand and began floating but instead of feeling giddiness she was feeling more preoccupied and her hand was all read and bloated! Slowly the rest of her arm began getting red…Sophia began to cry and call for the Professor; she knew getting stung was not a good idea. Her body was reacting in a strange way and she didn’t like it at all.

0 Sophia Randolph This is not what I signed up [Tag: Professor Dakin] 167 Sophia Randolph 0 5

Veronica Kerrigan

April 27, 2010 9:24 PM

Catching up on my reading by Veronica Kerrigan

If Veronica had to pick any weather as being her least favorite, it would be rain. Sure, snow had its downfalls. It made her lips chapped and her skin dry, but sometimes, the sun would shine and cause everything to sparkle and so, it was forgive. But rain was not to be forgiven. Her hair was still a frizzy mess despite the multiple charms applied. Thank goodness, her blonde locks still looked better than some others. Yet, it was more than that. She felt absolutely awful, nearly physically drained.

So, the idea of a pick-me-up was welcomed. Perhaps, it would elevate her to a level of normalness that she just wasn’t feeling today. Normally, she wouldn’t welcome such a thing, especially not from a professor that allowed such informalities as discarding robes in the classroom. It was tacky. Of course, if the school rules changed to allow other forms of dress, then she supposed that would be different. It would at least make it easier to distinguish the uppers from the lowers since only uppers could afford the best.

Unfortunately, there was still the little problem of wealthy muggleborns and halfbloods and telling them apart from the worthy purebloods, but knocking out all of the lower class was a step towards the right direction. After all, if they had taken such precautions, then maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with a heinous stepbrother. It really was ridiculous. She was even considering staying at school over midterm just so she wouldn’t have to deal with him, them. They were an infestation in her home just as some of these professors were an infestation to the educational system.

Even so, she would do as told in class, however would assuredly write to her grandmother of the atrocities going on within the school. Taking a billywig, she was about to allow herself to become stung, but hesitated, thinking better of it. Did she really want to allow herself to be injected with some sort of venom by an insect? Even if, it allowed her mood to be lifted due to the rain? She wasn’t so sure. She didn’t like the idea that she might not be herself. It didn’t feel right. Was there anyone else that was questioning this as well?

Veronica glanced around the room and saw that Raines was wearing his robes despite the command to remove them. He also didn’t appear to be doing the lesson. Was he protesting? The very idea made her heart flutter ever so slightly. How incredibly brave of him, pushing him to the top of her suitors list. Yes, he was definitely at the top for he had all the right qualities. He was a wealthy pureblood like herself. He was fairly attractive and now he was standing up to those that would have them behave like the criminal element.

Taking a cue from Raines, she put her robes back on over the very expensive pastel dress she was wearing and found the nearest chair to sit on. It just wasn’t very ladylike to sit on the ground with a dress. Truthfully, it wasn’t really proper to sit on the ground either way. Pulling out a magazine, she began taking the quiz on which witch she was. Counting up her score, she ended up with, “High-Maintenance Princess. Huh.” A Cheshire grin spread across her face. If that were true, then she was definitely on the right track.

0 Veronica Kerrigan Catching up on my reading 151 Veronica Kerrigan 0 5

Tristan Volkmann

April 27, 2010 10:17 PM

You picked a good time to do it by Tristan Volkmann

Care of the Magical Creatures was a joke. It’s not like Tristan would even learn anything new here. His tutors taught him enough about the creatures in the world to the point where he just tuned them out whenever they mentioned ‘creature’ to him. This should be a class for people who didn’t live in the magical communities and who didn’t have a clue about anything the Professor mentioned. Seriously, what a waste of time.

Tristan chuckled when he saw his peers go wide-eyed at the Billywig. There had to be a problem with people getting awe-struck over it. Sure it looked sort of neat, even he had to admit that, but it wasn’t anything to freak out and get in line to be stung over.

Shrugging off the assignment – as he had more or less done with his Transfiguration after using a spell to set his desk aflame – he sat back and opened up a Quidditch magazine. Being at school meant he couldn’t watch the pros play from his nice box seat. Reading articles was the closest he could get to the action, but he’d have to take it.

“High-Maintenance Princess.” Tristan looked to his side and noticed a blonde beside him. “Hmm?” Was she calling him a princess? “Huh.” He noticed her magazine and decided she was talking to herself. He shrugged and popped his magazine open a bit more, looking back at his pages. “Sounds enlightening,” he muttered to himself at the mention of her results, or at least what he was guessing were results for a questionnaire. He’d never understood the bond between a witch and magazine quizzes, and he doubted he ever would.

0 Tristan Volkmann You picked a good time to do it 0 Tristan Volkmann 0 5

Professor Dakin

April 28, 2010 12:36 PM

Oh no... by Professor Dakin

Rowan was eyeing some students who still had their robes on and were not floating in the air. She did not want to give them detentions but it seemed they were determine to flounce her rules right in front of her face. She had just stood up and began making her way towards them when something else grabbed her attention. Her eyes widened when she saw the poor first year was becoming red and bloated, and she was crying. Rowan rushed over to her desk and grabbed the large bottle of antidote. ‘Keep calm.’ Rowan said and she made her way over to the girl. This was supposed to be a fun lesson and now it seemed to be ruined.

“Sophia I need you to calm down.” Rowan said when she was nearer to the first year. She understood that the girl was scared but there was no reason to cry especially since that made it worse. Thankfully, the child was not floating up to high so Rowan could grab her. “I need you to stop crying or you won’t be able to take the antidote.” She said soothingly.

She rubbed the girl’s back hoping this could calm her down. She flipped her brown hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. “Come on sweetie take a deep breath and then take a long drink off this.” She said with a smile as she pushed the bottle into the girl’s hand. “It’s going to taste a bit nasty but don’t spit it out okay?” She crossed her arms waiting for Sophia to take a drink.

0 Professor Dakin Oh no... 0 Professor Dakin 0 5

Tobar Brishen

April 28, 2010 1:52 PM

Yes!!!! by Tobar Brishen

Tobar loved rain just as much as he loved Care of Magical Creatures. The gypsy danced a bit as he made his way down to the class rain was calming and peaceful, and washed away any thoughts of Nadi Roth. Thankfully he had been able to avoid her since the start of school, he didn’t care if they were “chosen” to be married once they were seventeen, he was going to be with who ever he wanted to be with and there was no one who could change his mind.

He smiled at Professor Dakin his favorite Professor in the whole school. She was a good Professor and always had fun lessons. Of course, the fact that he got to wear his normal clothes probably helped a lot. Today he was wearing a grey pair of shorts that went passed his knees and a black tank top, usually he would wear just a vest but it was a bit chilly for that today. He sat down and began taking notes on the Billywigs. Mama and Papa had often talked about them and their experiences with them. So he was really excited to experience them too.

When it came to be his turn, the longhaired boy stuck his hand into the case and felt the Billywig sting him. He began to laugh as he floated into the air. He was only in the air a few moments before he floated near a girl he vaguely remembered from last year. “Hey Alessa, why so glum?” He asked his grin overtaking his face. He loved the effect of Billywigs it was almost as a good feeling as playing Quidditch.

0 Tobar Brishen Yes!!!! 152 Tobar Brishen 0 5

Dorian

April 28, 2010 2:04 PM

^.^ by Dorian

Dorian knew that he shouldn’t be so happy or giddy for some reason the Talsky’s were suppose to frown all the time. When Brian introduced himself, he chuckled and looked down at the floor. He did not understand why some kids didn’t want to participate in this it was so much fun! “Well Brian, I’m Dorian and I can’t seem to make myself go down to the floor I could hang around here all day.” Dorian said in his crisp English accent.

“Do you think we could go to other classes like this? Could you just picture their faces?” He said with a wide grin. This was way too much fun to ever think of returning to normal. Why would anyone be boring on the ground while you could be happy and floating in the air? He began to laugh for really no reason and figured that was part of the billywig appeal. He suddenly wished he could steal a billywig and make it string Dimity then he maybe his half-brother would not be so mean all the time.

Looking down he sighed and tried to convince himself that he wanted to be on the ground. However, looking at the few unhappy people there he shook his head. He did not want to go down. “No wonder we don’t want to go down, look at all those unhappy fellows on the ground.”

0 Dorian ^.^ 0 Dorian 0 5

Jane

April 28, 2010 7:41 PM

Let's just hope it isn't terrible later. by Jane

"It's a great pleasure to meet you!" Jane said happily once Marian Parker, of the Massachusetts Parkers, had introduced herself. Not having to deal with the awkward issue of blood added real happiness on top of the venom-induced euphorias, since non-purebloods weren't Families and therefore did not use branch titles - or so her etiquette tutors said. Marian had realized that mothers' families weren't very important, too; Jane barely knew any of her mother's relatives because they weren't Careys. "My family's very spread out - there's five kinds of us, you know."

Family history fascinated Jane. She knew all of the names - even the women's - by heart, and many of the stories. She'd often been corrected for starting to talk about the ones on which she'd stumbled at the dinner table; Edmond, after his first year and a half at school, had told her they did that because lots of people didn't like the Careys and would see her talking about their history as a threat. Admittedly, an incredible number of the stories - especially the ones from his branch - involved blood, but still, wasn't that how all families were to some level?

Of course, she was also sure that most families didn't have five schisms in less than two hundred years...or try to act the confederation after they had grown into five medium-to-large independent families. The Careys were a little unique in that way. It was part of what made them interesting.

"Edmond's going to tell me off for this," she said, and it crossed her mind that she should sound less happy about it than she did. "But I don't really care right now. He's not much fun now. Maybe I should trick him into coming down to this building and let him use the Billywigs some of us - " she pointed vaguely toward the protestors - "won't. But he is very tall, so he might hit the ceiling, especially if a thing goes wrong and he gets stung too much. Wouldn't that be awful? To hit the ceiling while you're happy?"

0 Jane Let's just hope it isn't terrible later. 0 Jane 0 5

Veronica

April 28, 2010 8:25 PM

My timing is impecable. by Veronica

A utterance next to her caused Veronica to look over to whom was sitting next to her and was interested to see a boy. She didn’t recognize him so that could mean one of two things. Either he was a transfer, in which she would want to find out more about him, or he was a first year, and then the only potential was social networking as he certainly wouldn’t make her suitor list. There were certain traits that she thought a suitor should be. He should be more intelligent, stronger, and the same age or better a little older.

“I’m sure that there are many that would find it enlightening,” she replied, as she was sure that there were quite a few females in this room that would certainly benefit from such advice as knowing what kind of female they were. Then, they could take corrective measures to become proper ladies. Her twin, no, actually both her sisters were good examples of this. Cassie was more focused on schoolwork than her appearance. Veronica had no idea how she would even begin to attract an appropriate male.

Then, there was Delilah. She was actually into sports. Veronica was seriously concerned that if her sister wasn’t careful, people would begin to talk of things like Delilah being a lesbian. And if they did that, well, it was just a hop, skip, and jump to rumors flying around about her and she was certainly no lesbian! It was already bad enough that her father was allowing their family name to be dragged through the ground. Anything more to her reputation would take her completely out of the running of proper pureblood matches.

“What are you reading?” Veronica asked as she leaned over to get a better view of the magazine. So far, the only thing she knew about him was that he could at least read. She couldn’t tell yet if he was worth continuing to talk to or not and the only way to find out was to actually continue talking to him. “Quidditch? Are you planning on trying out for one of the teams?” She thought this was a good gateway question to not only getting him talking, but to find out valuable information such as what house he was in.

0 Veronica My timing is impecable. 0 Veronica 0 5

Tristan

April 28, 2010 9:34 PM

Oppurtunity had good timing, too by Tristan

Not even halfway through reading the first sentence on the page he was on after Tristan’s remark, which he thought had gone undetected, and the girl had commented back as if he had spoken at a conversational volume. He looked up from his page with a raised eyebrow. “You’re probably right about that,” he agreed. No point in arguing with her when he’d confirmed that thought to himself only moments ago. Thinking she’d spoken her peace, he let his eyes fall back on his page and picked up where he left off.

The more he read, the more irritated he became. Figures that the best game of the season, according to the article, had taken place while Tristan was at school. All the plays he could’ve seen and memorized first hand he now had to take in through a writer’s most likely sloppy and bias perspective. It was disappointing that he couldn’t be there himself, he was sure he’d be better at picking up important details of the game the writers always seemed to miss.

“What are you reading?” Once more, Tristan found himself arching a brow at the blonde. She leaned over to peak at what he was reading and he frowned. What was the point of her asking what he was looking at if she was just going to try and figure it out herself?

Naturally, before he even had a chance to open his mouth she answered her own question. Sort of. “Quidditch?”

He nodded and sat up a bit straighter in his seat. “Yeah, it’s Quidditch International.” If she was a pureblood, or even a halfblood with links to the magical world, he was sure she’d know of the magazine at least. It was popular as far as things-sports-fans appreciated at any rate.

”Are you planning on trying out for one of the teams?”

Well she was social, wasn’t she? But he had a weird feeling she didn’t care about getting to know him. Or maybe he was upset because she thought he was trying to be on the Quiddtich Team that he felt slightly irked. “I’m already on the team,” he told her, not able to keep the cocky smirk from his features. He had been a prodigy back home and was counting down the days to his first match. He gave her a quick glance and determined that she didn’t look like she was going to be meeting him on the Pitch anytime soon. At least, she didn’t have any calluses or scars signature of hardcore Quidditch people. “I’m a Chaser, just as I was back when I played in a private league back home.”

Since she got to see what he was reading, he figured it was only fair to lean over and scrunch his eyes at her magazine. “And what about you? What’s the magazine you’re reading, since I’m guessing it definitely has nothing to do with Quidditch?”

0 Tristan Oppurtunity had good timing, too 0 Tristan 0 5

Sam

April 29, 2010 12:27 PM

Glad to hear it. by Sam

Sam's memory of Dr. Seuss was not good, but he knew that he knew that line Ellie had just recited from somewhere, and a non-magical somewhere at that. One of the several quirks of his memory he'd heard were odd was that, while he forgot as much as the next person in areas he didn't feel were either interesting or important, he nearly always remembered where the things he did remember came from, at least in the sense of Muggle versus Wizarding worlds. It was easily one of the most useful skills he possessed at home, but it was only in the face of Seuss or whatever that Sam was realizing it was not a bad thing to be able to do at Sonora, either.

Before he could ask, though, it occurred to him that he was supposed to be heading downward, so he began to focus on it as hard as he could. To his surprise, once he tried, it was not as hard as he would have thought; he was even getting a grip on the spontaneous chortling. Either the giddiness was wearing off or he was, in fact, a mental ninja. That would be cool, though he'd have to rephrase it a little to write home to Mom.

With his feet an inch off the floor, he looked back over at Ellie. Yeah, his head was definitely feeling clearer, now - tapping foot aside. That was normal. "Guess not," he said. He had forgotten all about the prizes. "But what you said - you speak Muggle?" He remembered what Mom had said about trying to use newscaster vocabulary even if he could never quite get the accent right, so he decided to try to clarify without completely rephrasing it and maybe making her think he thought she was stupid if she had understood. "I'm half-blood myself."

16 Sam Glad to hear it. 163 Sam 0 5

Nicodemus Sawyer

April 29, 2010 1:26 PM

Do I really have to do this? by Nicodemus Sawyer

As a rule, Nic did not care for creatures. He'd never had, or even wanted, a pet. Dogs were slobbery or loud or smelled funny. Cats scratched things and made messes of their litter boxes. He'd rather eat a fish than have to remember to feed it. And the animals he'd met who weren't domesticated were even worse. In his experience, most of those wanted nothing more than to eat either him or his lunch. Sometimes he wasn't even sure which of them they were going after.

All in all, he had very low expectations of a class called 'Care of Magical Creatures'.

Before heading outside (in the rain, by the way; he really hoped he wasn't going to have to smell wet fur for the duration of the class), he was sure to make sure his bag and pockets contained no trace of any kind of food or marginally edible material. He was not going to give any herbivores the smallest excuse to munch on him.

Thankfully, despite it being advertised as an outdoor class, they were ushered into a sheltered building and out of the rain for the lesson. Nic was glad for the excuse to take off his robes (he still thought they looked really weird at the best of times and now they were soaked as well). The denim jacket he wore under it was only damp, and the t-shirt under that was practically dry. They both stood better chances of staying that way if the drenched outer layer stayed off.

Of course, without the robes, his cargo shorts and brown sandals meant his lower legs and most of his feet were completely exposed to whatever critter the day's lesson was going to be about. Next time, he was wearing jeans and sneakers.

He wasn't quite sure if his hair was long enough to require it be tied or not, but just to be safe, he found a twist tie in the front pocket of his backpack and wrapped it around the short tail he collected together at the nape of his neck. He'd have to try to find a real rubber band for next time. Or maybe Autumn or Cosette had a hairband they could give him.

As the Professor moved from class rules to lesson proper, he barely had time to be grateful that she didn't call attendance before his eyes were widening in horror at the completely nonsensical declaration that instead of trying to learn how to avoid getting bitten by a magical pest, they were going to let the things sting them.

Nic had been stung by mosquitoes, horseflies, wasps, other insects he wasn't sure of the name for, and even a bee once. He had no wish at all to add billywigs to that list.

It seemed like most of the class had already gotten stung before he finally forced himself to approach one of the little boxes with the billywigs in them. He dragged his feet as he moved slowly, reluctantly, and with a sense of doom toward the box, sort of like how he imagined convicted felons would approach the electric chair.

Before putting his hand in, he looked at another student who also had waited this long before reaching this point, and asked, "Do we really have to do this?"

1 Nicodemus Sawyer Do I really have to do this? 165 Nicodemus Sawyer 0 5

Rachel Bauer

April 29, 2010 2:05 PM

...And boldness isn't exactly a House trait of ours. by Rachel Bauer

Dressing in a manner technically appropriate for Care of Magical Creatures with her wardrobe was impossible, but Rachel did her best. Her purple top was sleeveless - one of the benefits of the no-robe rule was being able to wear colors that weren't blue, pink, or an earth tone for a bit during the school day - she was wearing grey pants instead of a skirt, and her blonde hair was in a tight updo. Her shoes had a bit of a heel to them, and she still had her diamond studs in, but none of her flats went with the outfit, they and her pants would have gotten ruined in the rain if she'd worn them, and she felt naked without a pair of earrings she didn't think were really all that sparkly. Besides, the diamonds, small though they were, were real. Keeping them on gave potential thieves two less targets to aim at.

Rachel had been seven before she'd ever had the chance to wear more good jewelry than her current, not all that high quality, pair of earrings. She appreciated good jewelry in ways many of her fellow Crotalus girls never would. If any of her sparklies went missing, injury would be done to anyone she got her hands on until they were returned to her.

She kept her expression neutral all the way through the lecture, despite objecting to the rather patronizing way Professor Dakin kept calling them her kids. Rachel had an issue with adults speaking to her as though she wasn't an intelligent person in her own right just because she happened to be younger than them, and she already had a surplus of embarrassing parents. She really didn't need a too-cheerful surrogate extra one at Sonora.

Hearing that they were going to be stung by the idiot bugs of the day did get a reaction; for a moment, Rachel's face assumed an expression of horror that could have only been improved upon if she had not had enough self-control to keep her mouth closed. Giddiness was just something that she didn't do, but it had nothing - all right, very little - to do with her dignity. It had to do with the off chance that she'd get talkative.

It might not take much. Someone might mention that they had nothing this cool in the Muggle world, and then she'd say something in agreement, and then it would take about five seconds, maybe less in her impaired state, for everything to come crashing down. Veronica would never speak to her again. Raines would make her life miserable. No one else would make friends with her, because she was in way too far now. And her mother would totally disown her. She'd go from having everything to being like Dad, living in a house with less than ten rooms and pretending she wasn't secretly, deep down, ashamed of being half-blood and Jewish.

Well, not the Jewish part. Her mother was pretty clearly an agnostic, and even if she wasn't, the thing she was wasn't Jewish. Rachel had both the matrilineal tradition and the way she'd been brought up going against her in that area, and not even her name really working for her; whatever its original source had been, she had gotten it from Great-Aunt Rachel, who had converted to Catholicism when she was in her teens, and her paternal grandfather was a Methodist. Blood was a much touchier issue than religion in her family.

In light of that, Rachel thought her reason for not wanting to lose any reasoning capacities still stood. Dad would take her in, no question, if she got disowned, but then she would have to deal with his family considering her a class traitor all the time instead of only once or twice a year. No, she didn't want to do this assignment at all.

If she didn't, though, she would look like a wimp. And she would get in trouble, but that was less important than not looking weak. She knew she could take this thing on and beat it into the ground, and now she had to prove that to everyone else. Besides, there were prizes involved, and she was a competitor. Ground, she thought, screwing her eyes up as she stuck her hand in the boxy-thing. Ground, ground, ground, ground -

Her wrist scraped hard on wood, and that was when Rachel noticed she was skyward bound. She was also laughing out loud, not even worrying about what people thought. There was this incredible lightness spreading through her, expanding in her chest like a bright light and taking all of the tension away. It felt fantastic. She twirled around, just for the heck of it. If the feeling had possessed any focus, and friends had been nearby, she would have grabbed the friends' hands and screamed at the top of her lungs. If she could just stay like this forever....

Ground, a lucid corner of her brain told her sternly. Ground. Get a grip, Bauer, and get on the ground.

It felt like it should have been painful, but that part of her brain was able to bludgeon its way through the happy. Getting herself back in line when she got overexcited was one of the few high-society skills she had mastered with relative ease, and thinking about a life of polyester and small rooms and Naomi on a weekly basis was enough to remind her that disownment did, her feelings at the moment aside, matter.

She had done enough gymnastics to realize she might hurt herself however she landed, but her hands seemed like the worst option. Her feet weren't much better; compression fractures could lead to very not-nice things. She decided to try to drift down with her knees bent before focusing hard enough, she thought, to drop her to the ground, so she'd be close enough not to do much injury if she got it right and in a position where she hopefully would fall forward and not get more than a few bruises if she got it wrong.

It worked pretty well, though she fell a little sooner than she had intended and skinned one wrist. Her ankle also hit the floor hard enough to hurt, though she didn't think it was anything serious. Standing up slowly, she established that it was going to work and brushed a few bits of her hair that had come loose back from her face, smiling in triumph. Not half-bad.

She glanced at a seated girl she'd come up beside when she processed enough of the mutter to understand it. Since they were all demonstrating or something, Rachel had to assume she was referring to Raines and the first year he was hanging out with. "I wouldn't bet on it," she said, rubbing her wrist. "I don't know the new kid, but you can't be as much of a brat as Raines without having a few screws loose somewhere."

16 Rachel Bauer ...And boldness isn't exactly a House trait of ours. 154 Rachel Bauer 0 5

Alessa

April 29, 2010 2:46 PM

Loophole, Quentin-ish Loophole by Alessa

Alessa was beginning to feel better and better, giddier. That was not a good thing. Proper purebloods did not act giddy. She saw that Rachel was already back on the ground (though Alessa knew her geneology well enough to know Rachel was not actually a pureblood, though she didn't care enough to blow it for her. If the Crotalus wanted to pretend to be a pureblood, Alessa wasn't going to rat her out) and she didn't think Veronica or Raines Bradley had ever come up in the air to begin with.

Was that what Alessa was supposed to do? Go and sit with the other purebloods? She knew that what she'd been instructed to do by the teacher was to get stung and be in the air. But what about what her family would want her to do? They wouldn't want her to act unproper.

She shook her head. If she was acting improper, it wasn't her fault. Her parents wouldn't blame her , they'd complain about the lesson, if anything. Alessa might have been instructed to be a proper young lady, but she was still her parents' baby girl and they would side with her in this situation. However, had she refused to do it, then Alessa might have been in trouble across the board. It was better to do it and have the teacher maybe get in trouble.

When Tobar floated over by her and asked why she looked so glum, Alessa began to laugh. She couldn't help it, as his question struck her as funny somehow. "H-hi, Tobar." She giggled. "I was just thinking about how I'm soaking wet and that my parents are going to be so mad at Professor Dakin for this lesson."

She laughed again. "I'm trying to think of the ground though." Ground, it was a funny word. Ground, ground, ground. Grrr-ound. Ground round, round ground. Grounded,Alessa had never been so and she wouldn't ever likely be. What was the point of grounding someone who sat home and read all summer and wasn't around the rest of the year?

Alessa began to feel herself sinking. Ground, ground, ground. Gwound. Ground that outside was spongey and wet and yucky and hard and cold inside the shed. "What the?" She felt her feet touch. She had done it and not even thought about her desire to be back on the ground.

Of course, all Professor Dakin had said was that they had to think about ground. She never said they had to want to be back on it.

She still felt kinda good. Alessa waved at Tobar from the ground. She would have liked to talk to him longer, and Rachel had already beaten her to the ground, both of which were a little disappointing. Alessa wasn't going to get that stuffed billywig (another funny word) but as far as she could tell, the only people on the ground besides her and Rachel had never been in the air to begin with. She had won the wind-up toy and if Alessa really wanted a stuffed billywig, her parents could just get her one.

11 Alessa Loophole, Quentin-ish Loophole 150 Alessa 0 5

Marian

April 29, 2010 4:50 PM

There aren't any bad side-effects yet by Marian

It was great to be floating around with Jane-from-Virginia-Carey. She seemed perfectly nice, which is a trait anyone would like to find in someone they were in the air next to. It made her happier, and she spun around with a smile. She’d always wanted to spin, but never had ballerina grace, but now was the perfect time to do it. She felt just like a real dancer.

A nagging voice insisting she start trying to go to the ground made her stop. It also made her pay more attention to Jane than to her twirls. “Edmond’s going to tell me off for this,” she told Marian, a chipper sound to her voice that made Marian wonder why it was a good thing to be told off by anyone. More importantly, “Who’s Edmond?” Marian didn’t know enough people for her to be throwing names around! The stress of not knowing something made her giddiness wean and she practically felt herself drop an inch or two.

Jane seemed to not have heard her question since she kept talking. Then Jane pointed to the people sitting out and she couldn’t believe they weren’t doing the lesson. The disappointment dropped her another inch. And Jane’s last comment about the possibility of hitting her head while floating had Marian on the ground in seconds. Still, she didn’t think the Billywig venom was completely out of her system. Sure she stopped floating, but she still felt giddy and outgoing. “Hey, you look really tall from down here! Watch your head!” she warned, pretty sure she was still feeling the effects of the Billywig still since she told Jane this with a smile in place.

0 Marian There aren't any bad side-effects yet 0 Marian 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher

April 29, 2010 5:55 PM

Concerned by Kirstenna Melcher

One of the classes Kirstenna had been most looking forward to was Care of Magical Creatures. She was used to animals such as lions and tigers and elephants and she sure magical animals had to be even cooler. Kirstenna didn't even mind having to walk in the rain to get there even though her long thick golden ponytail was hanging like a piece of string.

As she stood listening to the lesson, Kirstenna was slightly disappointed that all they would be working with would be insects-until she heard what said insects would do! Kirstenna was going to get to fly again, how fun and she'd get to be the happiest she'd ever been. She was normally a pretty happy person so she couldn't imagine the levels of happiness she was about to experience. This lesson sounded great and the prizes were pretty neat too. Kirstenna would love to have a stuffed billywig.

She walked up to the box, put her hand in and got stung. Kirstenna began to laugh as she floated in the air. She could see from where she was up near the ceiling that some people never had left the ground and she couldn't imagine why they wouldn't want to do this.

Kirstenna did a flip in the air, as she'd seen some of her other classmates do. The whole thing was like a trapeze show without wires or swings. It was amazing.

That's when she spotted Professor Dakin pulling Sophia to the ground. Her friend was crying and Kirstenna began to frown. She really hoped Sophia was all right, she looked pretty upset. Kirstenna suddenly wanted to get down and see if she was okay.

The Teppenpaw felt herself begin to descend and her backside landed on the ground with a thud. "Ooph!" Kirstenna cried. She got up and walked over to Professor Dakin and Sophia, her face full of worry.

11 Kirstenna Melcher Concerned 161 Kirstenna Melcher 0 5

Mariana Ravenmore

April 29, 2010 6:16 PM

Apparently. I'd rather not. by Mariana Ravenmore

As instructed, Mariana removed her robes, revealing a maroon shirt and grey skirt, white stockings and black shoes, and tied back her long hair. She was soaked to the bone because of the rain, and the cold air in the building wasn't helping any. Mariana shivered.

To her, the class seemed exciting. Her parents had never allowed pets into their home, describing animals just as lowly as muggles and muggleborns, and some halfbloods. She disagreed of course, finding animals fairly cute. She wished she could own one, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Her parents barely tolerated her- a pet would be treated even worse.

Once, she had taken a kitten home with her. Her parent's mostly avoided her except for at dinner time and the elves could feed her when she was unable to. She had adored that kitten, it was such a sweet little thing. However, her mother was allergic to cats. No one had known of it, but she had found Lilith, her cat, and immediately disposed of it. She missed her little friend's comfort to this day.

Mariana listened to the Professor interest growing more and more as she informed the class about the bug. Her face paled, however, when she realized they were going to be stung by bugs. She hated bugs. She loved animals, yes, but bugs, no. They were annoying pests meant only to serve as bird feed. She wondered- were they going to be doing this all year? Allowing small creatures to sting them? She hoped not. It would mean receiving a lot of bugbites.

As she inched toward the table, she hesitated. The affects of the sting sounded interesting, and she could use a bit of laughter, but the levitating thing she could truly do without. She hated heights. She was determined to never fly on a broom, and keeping her feet firmly planted on the ground, thank you. That was where they were meant to be, after all. If humans were meant to fly, they would have been born with wings.

"Do we really have to do this?" Some one asked. Mariana turned to him, and then toward the box. She nodded but said,

"Unfortunately. I'd rather keep my hands on the ground, than flying in the air." Her voice came out soft and raspy again, as usual, but it wasn't strained. Mariana sighed before reaching toward her own box, noticing some were already in the air and laughing about it. She shook her head, wondering how someone could find heights enjoyable.

"On three, then?" She asked the boy.

0 Mariana Ravenmore Apparently. I'd rather not. 0 Mariana Ravenmore 0 5

Autumn Collins

April 30, 2010 1:38 PM

Not again! by Autumn Collins

After a few days at Sonora, Autumn was getting used to some things, like being around so many people. She was still worried about making a fool of herself in front of them and wanted them to like her but there wasn't going to be anyone in them that wasn't in her Transfiguration and flying classes.

That didn't mean Autumn necessarily knew exactly what to expect in Care of Magical Creatures. She knew it would involve magical animals but that was it. Autumn had no idea what the teacher would be like, or the work or if she would be any good at it. Even what Lily had said about the class didn't really apply as she'd had a different teacher. Autumn did not like this, not knowing what to expect caused her great anxiety.

Not to mention there was the horror of the animals that they would eventually face. Hopefully, they wouldn't go straight to the dangerous ones. These were first and second years, for Merlin's sake!

Autumn's eyes grew round with horror when she heard the lesson. Be stung by a billywig and float in the air! She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Autumn hated heights. In flying it could be avoided by not getting the broom to come up but here? The moment the billywig stung her she would begin to rise and the mere thought was terrifying.

She wanted to bolt out of class, but that would cause a scene and her classmates would think badly of her. Autumn could join the others who were refusing to do the lesson but she didn't have the nerve. She didn't want to get in trouble either. The moment Professor Dakin handed her a detention, she'd probably cry and Autumn just couldn't do that in front of her classmates.

The first year closed her eyes and put her hand into the box. She felt herself begin to rise and surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly as it was an effect of the billywig sting), Autumn felt a little better. Maybe if I keep my eyes closed, I won't freak out. She couldn't let others see that happen.

I must think of the ground, Autumn thought. It wasn't much of a challenge. All she could think of was the ground, splatting on the ground, falling to the ground and breaking every bone in her body, cracking her head on the floor.

Suddenly, Autumn felt herself bump into someone. "Sorry!" She exclaimed, opening her eyes to see who she had run into.

It was a bad idea. Now Autumn could tell how high up she was and she felt sick to her stomach again.

11 Autumn Collins Not again! 164 Autumn Collins 0 5

Sophia Randolph

May 02, 2010 11:41 PM

Thanks! by Sophia Randolph

Sophia was scared, she had no idea of what was happening beside the fact she somehow had found herself allergic to the billywig. She was still crying when Prof. Dakin helped her down. Sophia tried to calm herself but she was really scared, more so because her arms were swelled and red. The Prof. began talking to her in a soothing voice and rubbing her back. Her crying began to subside to sobs.

Her tear filled eyes looked up at the Prof. looking for some comfort. Even when Sophia loved Sonora she still missed her parents and in cases such as this one, she needed for someone to tell her that everything would be all right. After all she was an eleven year old away from her parents for the first time.

She nodded at what the Professor told her, her shaking hands took the offered antidote, she tried to take deep breaths in order to calm herself and actually be able of drinking it. She finally was controlling her sobbing. She took a long gulp of the potion (which tasted horrible) and made a face. Sophia instantly felt the swelling go down and the redness on her arms was subsiding. She smiled brightly at her teacher, “Thank you,” her voice was still cracked from all the crying but she was happy to feel normal again, “I am sorry Professor…” her green eyes looked hopefully at her, she didn’t want to be in trouble so early in her educational career.

She cleaned her tear stained face with her hand and took another deep breath. She realized that Kirstenna had made her way towards them. She waved at her friend and smiled, “Hello! Are you having a good lesson? Because I had to be allergic to the sting,” she looked sheepishly at Prof. Dakin, she was really sorry to bother the nice Professor.

0 Sophia Randolph Thanks! 167 Sophia Randolph 0 5

Jessica Zeworth [Pecari 1st Year]

May 06, 2010 2:32 PM

Again, again! by Jessica Zeworth [Pecari 1st Year]

When having a class that was possibly an outside class, Jessica didn’t have to worry about as much as other eleven year old girls seemed to. She didn’t like dresses and stuff like that, so she didn’t even have skirts with her. Clothing decisions were pretty easy. And instead about worry about what the wind would do to her hair, if it would stay in a ponytail…well, she didn’t have to worry about that, either!

There were benefits to being bald.

The only thing the first year was really worried about was sunburns (the top of the head was very easily sunburned, surprise), so she tied on her green head scarf. Scarves were better than hats and wigs; they were less likely to fly away. Grinning at her reflection, the Pecari skipped all the way to class.

She shed her robes as instructed, revealing a Beatles t-shirt and jeans. She almost giggled at the mention of pulling back long hair. Hopefully she could still wear her head scarf and not get snapped at for it. She wasn’t shy about being bald, but, again, sunburns sucked.

Looking at the ~~bug~~ Billywig curiously, Jessica wondered how this lesson got passed by the school board or whatever. Letting kids get stung by these things? She had been stung by a bee once to find out she was allergic…would she be allergic to the Billywig, too? Suddenly CoMC didn’t seem as fun as it did before…

Sucking in her breath, Jessica reached in, felt a prick on her finger, and started getting tingly all over. Now, whether or not that was an allergic reaction was anybody’s guess, but since she was floating up in the air, Jess was pretty sure it worked. She bumped into another student, who apologized.

“Um, no, not a problem.” She giggled. Okay, feeling this giddy was really weird. “It’s not like steering is easy in the air!” In fact, she was floating around in a circle. She had given up on her sense of direction pretty quickly. “I’m Jessica. Who’re you?”

0 Jessica Zeworth [Pecari 1st Year] Again, again! 0 Jessica Zeworth [Pecari 1st Year] 0 5

Jane

May 06, 2010 7:38 PM

Living in the moment sounds good, then. by Jane

Jane's smile faded a little at the mention of her height. It was silly, she knew, but she had always felt too tall. Almost all Carey girls were very dainty - Edmond's sister Morgaine had just turned nineteen and was shorter than he was - and it bothered her to stick out whenever they were forced to attend family reunions. It wasn't like a family reunion was insufficient punishment by itself for all her other failings; there were a lot of Careys, even when the gathering was just for the Virginia Careys, and Jane kept much better track of the degrees of relationships between people when they were on paper than she did when right in front of them.

But...she looked tall from down there. Which meant that it wasn't really a comment about her at all. She was back to her original smile at once. "I'm trying to," Jane said, then giggled. "Oh, I really should come down now, this isn't proper - "

She drifted closer to the floor, but her feet weren't quite there yet. "I hope I don't have an allergy," she said, once more without as much worry as should have been included for that kind of statement. "Edmond would tell me off without a letter from Mother if I started floating permanently."

Of course, she could always distract Edmond by pointing out that being upset with her for something she couldn't help - a flaw in the blood - was illogical. Edmond had trouble any time he was asked to think outside of straight lines, which was why he and their last mathematics tutor had gotten into such rows. Mr. Dickins liked "real-world situations" in his problems, and Edmond got frustrated - one of the few times, really, that Jane had ever seen him demonstrate emotions at a time when doing so was inappropriate - when the people in them didn't act or the problem didn't resolve logically. At the end of the summer, when she had heard Mother talking to Mr. Dickins about coming back next summer, Jane had started to draw some conclusions about logic that she did not think her foster-brother would like.

Since people were starting to come down more regularly, she also drew some conclusions about what the professor might - soon, if not immediately - not like. Jane forced her brain, much as she might have with an especially tricky problem in a topic she didn't much like, to focus on the ground, and a few seconds later, her feet hit it. She wobbled, but didn't fall, which she was glad of. Falling this early in the year would make a very bad impression.

0 Jane Living in the moment sounds good, then. 0 Jane 0 5

Kirstenna

May 09, 2010 12:11 AM

You're welcome by Kirstenna

"Hey," Kirstenna replied. She listened to Sophia's explanation about the allergic reaction. She wasn't allergic to anything personally that she knew of but Kirstenna had once seen Boffo the Clown have a life-threatening allergic reaction to peanuts. He’d swollen up and been unable to breathe. Fortunately, Boffo got medical attention in time, but he wasn‘t able to perform that night. One of the tech guys had had to fill in.

She was glad that Sophia had gotten the antidote as well. Kirstenna would hate for anything to happen to her friend. (Or to anyone for that matter, she wouldn’t wish anything bad on anyone but she would especially hate for something bad happen to her friend, someone she cared about.)

"Are you okay now?" Kirstenna asked. Sophia seemed all right, but she wanted to make sure. The other girl had been crying and well, allergic. That would be uncomfortable at the very least. She hoped Sophia wasn’t feeling sick from it yet. “Do you need to go to the medic or anything?”

“My lesson is going okay.” Kirstenna looked around. “I don’t think I won anything though. I mean, I saw a whole bunch of people on the ground before I was, but I don’t even think some of them got stung by the billywigs. “ She had not really been trying that hard to get down until she’d seen Sophia crying and having her reaction. Then she had began to think about going to check on her and began to descend. “It was a lot of fun, being up in the air like that. Like flying without a broom.” She bit her lip. “I mean, I don’t want to like, make you feel bad for missing out on it. I’m sorry, I just was enjoying myself really. I came down when I saw you though.” That had sort of killed her ‘buzz’ so to speak. Not that Kirstenna minded or would hold it against Sophia. Besides, they had been instructed to come back down and, had Sophia not had a reaction and had Kirstenna not been concerned, she would probably be floating until the end of class.

Actually, that made her wonder about some stuff. Kirstenna had a tendency to be curious about things from time to time, apparently she still had the Melcher genes for it in her. She turned to Sophia. “Do you think that if you’re a naturally happier person, that it’s harder to come down after a billywig sting? I think I’d still be up there if I wasn’t worried about you. Maybe the three girls who came down ahead of me are more serious.” Kirstenna didn’t know their names and as they weren’t wearing robes, she didn’t see their house badges. She had heard Crotali and Aladrens were more serious in general.

11 Kirstenna You're welcome 161 Kirstenna 0 5

Veronica

May 09, 2010 9:29 AM

Perhaps, it was fate. by Veronica

Veronica’s suspicions were confirmed when the boy stated he was reading Quidditch International. It was really no surprise as most males, both athletic and not, enjoyed reading the magazine, but what was actually impressive was that he was on his house’s team. That meant that he was an athlete, which had its advantages and disadvantages. If the person were any good, then they could get all the prestige and fame that came along with that. If not, well, then it was just embarrassing. And whichever way it went, whoever the person dated, would get the spoils.

Unfortunately, it was hard to predict, at this age, if the person would actually succeed in the professional world or even if that was what they wanted to do, but she could tell that he seemed fairly confident in himself. So, assuming he was somewhat intelligent, that could be an attractive trait. People that were sure of themselves tended to go far in life. Her grandmother had taught her that little fact. She was a rather clever woman and in being so had married one of the crème de la crème. It was a shame her mother hadn’t been that type of woman.

She was certainly not going to be that type. Not ever. That’s why she had to read these types of magazines. So, she would know all about how to accomplish everything her grandmother had, to bring the family name to the top once more. That and she really did enjoy reading them. “You would guess right. It’s MW. Modern Witch. I don’t read Quidditch magazines, but I’ve gone to a couple of games, because…with my family.” She had almost said because of her sister who adored the sport, but that sort of information she didn’t want to get out.

Fortunately, her sister hadn’t done well in school last term and was to spend more time on studies. Hopefully, she would come to her senses during that time and realize that she shouldn’t be playing. There were more important things to be doing like carrying on conversations with a few key people. Even if this guy wasn’t the top of the line, he could be useful in introducing her to people that were. It was all about networking. “We go to show our support to the men out there.” Here is where she had divided the genders. Would he agree with her, call her out, or simply ignore it?

0 Veronica Perhaps, it was fate. 0 Veronica 0 5

Autumn

May 12, 2010 7:07 PM

Embarassed by Autumn

Autumn felt just terrible. Not only was she now painfully aware of how high off the ground she was but she had run into one of her classmates. How embarassing! Autumn hoped she wouldn't throw up, that would make matters worse.

On the plus side, the person she'd bumped into didn't seem the least bit mad. Perhaps it was the effects of the billywig sting or maybe the other girl was easygoing about such things, but Autumn was relieved.

"I'm Autumn," she told the girl who introduced herself as Jessica, trying to focus on the other girl rather than on her own fear of heights. "I-it's nice to meet you, Jessica." Yup, there was that automatic habit again, but at the moment Autumn wasn't too concerned about sounding that way. She was more worried about the fact that her voice was shaking. How would Jessica judge her for that? Autumn wasn't used to meeting people much as it was and she was sure that she couldn't possibly be giving the best impression when she wasn't at her best.

Furthermore, she was still worried about hitting the ground and splitting her head open or something. Autumn tried desperately to try to think about something else. She looked over at Jessica. "That's a really pretty scarf."

11 Autumn Embarassed 164 Autumn 0 5

Jessica

May 13, 2010 12:13 PM

Don't be! by Jessica

The girl, Autumn, looked a little more uneasy than Jessica felt about being up in the air. Wasn’t she supposed to be feeling giddy? That was a side effect of the sting…or maybe Jess was having an allergic reaction after all, making her much more giddy than the majority of her classmates.

No, probably not.

Jessica grinned and touched her scarf. “Thanks.” It seemed to be coming a little loose, but it didn’t seem like it was going to fall off. Normally Jessica wouldn’t mind, but since she didn’t know when she’d be back on the ground, she wanted her scarf to stay where it was.

“What house are you in?” she asked. “Obviously not Pecari, like me, because you’re not in my room. Oh, unless you’re a second year.” She found herself slowly turning upside down. With a twist of the body (and probably looking really dumb), Jessica righted herself back to a Not Upside Down Position. That was better. Okay, she wasn’t enjoying this giddy thing very much anymore. It made her brain too disorganized.

“So, how do we try to get down? Thinking about the ground doesn’t seem to be working very well.”

0 Jessica Don't be! 0 Jessica 0 5

Brad Hayman (Aladren)

May 22, 2010 1:22 PM

I'm so gonna win this! by Brad Hayman (Aladren)

As Brad hurried toward the Care of Magical Creatures classroom in the rain with his robes pulled over his head, he couldn’t help but think that there must be some spell that would make the rain bounce right off his skin. He made a mental note to ask a professor about that as soon as possible.

After everyone had entered the classroom, he marveled at the scars running across the professor’s arms. Man…the animals they worked with in this class must be pretty dangerous! Awesome!

He obeyed the professor’s command to remove his robes, placing them on the back of his chair as he took a seat. The first-year nodded gravely at all of Professor Dakin’s instructions. He didn’t have any pets at home, but he certainly didn’t have anything against animals, so there would be no reason for him to hurt any of them. After all, they were all probably super-awesome since they were magic. He was glad the professor soon changed her demeanor to a more pleasant one; for a second there, he thought she might turn out to be one of those annoyingly strict teachers who ruined everybody’s fun, even when they did follow the rules. This definitely wasn’t the case, though, which was made clear as the lesson went on.

“Ooh!” he exclaimed when she mentioned the Billywig’s Triple X rating, his green eyes widening. That sounded really dangerous and cool! He should totally come up with a rating system like that for all the supervillains in his comic books.

Brad was tempted to reach out and grab the Billywig when Professor Dakin brought it up close to him, but he stopped himself. She hadn’t given them permission to touch it, so he really shouldn’t. For this reason, he was caught by surprise when she said they were going to let themselves get stung by it!

“Dude,” he said, turning to the person beside him, “This is gonna be amazing!” He grinned at them and then returned his attention to the professor. It was going to be super-hard for him to think about getting back down once he was flying, so it was going to be pretty difficult to win this game. He’d try his best, though.

His eyes widened as a box containing a Billywig suddenly appeared on his desk. “Yes!” He took it out right away and let it sting him. A moment later, he was lifted up out of his seat and into the air. “I’m…I’m flying! I’m flying!!!” Man, doing spells was one thing, but this was insane! It was like a dream!

As he was flying, he noticed the same kid he’d talked to earlier rising up nearby. “Hey, what’s up?” He grinned again.

0 Brad Hayman (Aladren) I'm so gonna win this! 0 Brad Hayman (Aladren) 0 5

Caleb Nichols (Aladren)

May 24, 2010 10:37 AM

I'm so gonna be scared of this. by Caleb Nichols (Aladren)

Caleb walked towards the Care of Magical Creatures classroom and took his time. Being a halfblood, he didn't really know much about magical animals and creatures. He was slightly scared of what he would encounter in the classroom and adjusted his glasses as he walked.

When he arrived he saw the teacher waiting for them and he entered, along with all of the other students. He sat down at a random desk and didn't look to see who he was sitting next to. He took a moment to look around the room, taking in all of the things. His nervousness grew a bit as the professor started to make his way to the front of the classroom and began talking. The professor tapped the board and a word appeared that said Billywig. What the heck was a billywig? He question was soon answered, only to bring about another question. What the heck was a triple X rating? It didn't sound very good. He turned to glance at the boy sitting next to him who had squealed in excitement when the teacher announced the triple X rating. He smiled half-heartedly at the boy and tried to keep his cool.

Caleb adjusted his glasses again, for they had slipped down his nose due to the amount of sweat he was producing. He was really nervous when the teacher announced that they would be allowing themselves to get stung by a Billywig and that they would be floating. His knees were slightly knocking together as he waited for the teacher to let them get going. He really didn't hear the teacher announce the prizes they would win if they came down first, Caleb just wanted to get this over with and get back down on the ground.

When the box appeared in front of him, he reached out with a shaking hand and took the Billywig out and let it sting him. He suddenly wasn't nervous anymore. He was actually very happy. He smiled to himself and looked down at the ground that was slowly getting farther away from him. "Hey, what's up?" he heard from next to him. He turned to look at the person and came to see that it had been the boy who had been excited about this before.

"Oh, nothing much. Hanging around," he laughed at his own joke. He adjusted his glasses again and began to think of the ground. But, not wanting to be impolite he remembered his question from before and asked the student next to him, "By the way, what does a triple X rating mean?" He had been curious and hoped this boy would give him a sufficient answer.

0 Caleb Nichols (Aladren) I'm so gonna be scared of this. 0 Caleb Nichols (Aladren) 0 5

Nic

May 25, 2010 3:06 PM

Likewise by Nic

"On three," Nic agreed, figuring taking and offering moral support from and to someone as equally reluctant to do this would help ease the wrongness of letting a bug-thing sting him. He had no interest at all in the prizes. Well, the quill sounded pretty cool, but everyone was getting one of those, so he was under no pressure to do accomplish the task quickly.

But if he was going to get that 80% grade he wanted in every one of his classes, he was going to have to go up and come back down again eventually. A zero in a class lesson was not conducive to a passing grade, not even his target B-. So he took a deep breath, met the other girl's eyes, and asked, "Ready?"

Giving her a chance to collect her courage, he waited a few moments before beginning the count. "One. Two. Three." On three, he put his hand into the box and squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation.

Sure enough, a moment later, he felt a sting, not nearly as painful as he'd been afraid of, and he began to lift up into the air. As the ground fell further and further away, he looked over at the girl again. "This is why I didn't sign up for Quidditch," he informed her. He thought he sounded remarkably calm for a guy hovering unassisted a couple dozen feet above the ground who was simultaneously implying a fear of heights.

And then it occurred to him that he was lying. "Actually, that's not true. I didn't join the Quidditch team because I'm not a good team player. A healthy respect for the laws of physics and the theory of gravity only sealed it." As he looked down at the ground below them, a brilliant solution struck him. "Though if I was under the influence of a billywig sting, I might actually trust the broom enough during a game to try playing it. Then if a bludger knocked me off, I'd still be able to fly. I mean, I'm fine just flying a broom; the problem is that with everything going on in a game, I can't trust that I'll be able to stay on it."

He giggled - which he realized belatedly was a horrible thing to do, but it had already happened before he thought to stop it, and the thought he'd just had was funny - "Here I am telling you about my Quidditch motives, and I don't even know your name. I'm Nic."

1 Nic Likewise 165 Nic 0 5

Professor Dakin

May 30, 2010 9:13 PM

CLASS CLOSED (nm) by Professor Dakin

0 Professor Dakin CLASS CLOSED (nm) 0 Professor Dakin 0 5

Professor Rowan Dakin

Beginner Lesson (Years 1&2) by Professor Rowan Dakin

Ellie McGill

I like animals... I hate heights by Ellie McGill

Raines Bradley

Taking a stand by Raines Bradley

Sam Bauer

I'm pretty indifferent to both. by Sam Bauer

Cooper Abramson (Aladren)

Hate to tell you, but you're not standing by Cooper Abramson (Aladren)

Ellie McGill

What a shame, then, I guess. by Ellie McGill

Jude Normandy [Pecari]

Up, up, and away! by Jude Normandy [Pecari]

Neal Padrig, Pecari

*Cue heroic theme music* by Neal Padrig, Pecari

Jude

It's only cool if we get capes too by Jude

Neal

Capes are a must, but I vote to forgo the spandex by Neal

Jude

Cape is a must, Spandex is a must-<i>not</i> by Jude

Neal

Can't overlook the mask, though by Neal

Dorian Talsky

O.o by Dorian Talsky

Brian Moore (Teppenpaw)

(._.) by Brian Moore (Teppenpaw)

Jude

Is it really a mask if it only covers half your face? by Jude

Marian Parker (Aladren)

Feeling the sting by Marian Parker (Aladren)

Jane Carey

It's not so bad, is it? by Jane Carey

Raines Bradley

Speaking metaphorically is my friend. by Raines Bradley

Demalza Eagle

Yes it makes me HAPPYYYYYYYY by Demalza Eagle

Cooper

Have you considered people-friends? by Cooper

Leonardo Michaels

Wow that's really WEIRDDDDDDDDDDDD by Leonardo Michaels

Alessa Hinckley

If I have to... by Alessa Hinckley

Neal

Some masks cover the whole face - look at Spiderman! by Neal

Marian

It's great for the time-being by Marian

Cosette Miller

That's a bold recommendation by Cosette Miller

Sam Bauer

Eh, I'm all right with it. by Sam Bauer

Ellie

Well, that's good enough for me! by Ellie

Sophia Randolph

This is not what I signed up [Tag: Professor Dakin] by Sophia Randolph

Veronica Kerrigan

Catching up on my reading by Veronica Kerrigan

Tristan Volkmann

You picked a good time to do it by Tristan Volkmann

Professor Dakin

Oh no... by Professor Dakin

Tobar Brishen

Yes!!!! by Tobar Brishen

Dorian

^.^ by Dorian

Jane

Let's just hope it isn't terrible later. by Jane

Veronica

My timing is impecable. by Veronica

Tristan

Oppurtunity had good timing, too by Tristan

Sam

Glad to hear it. by Sam

Nicodemus Sawyer

Do I really have to do this? by Nicodemus Sawyer

Rachel Bauer

...And boldness isn't exactly a House trait of ours. by Rachel Bauer

Alessa

Loophole, Quentin-ish Loophole by Alessa

Cue heroic theme music by Neal Padrig, Pecari