I'm your nightmare? on Care of Magical Creatures

Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt

September 28, 2010 2:16 PM

Dude, your wife is hot! [Third, fourth, and fifth years!] by Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt

Roy Snughardt was going to have a good day. When he woke up, he had discovered his daughter’s owl sitting on his suitcase, which was open, sitting on the floor in a corner where he had left it. He didn’t intend on unpacking since this wasn’t a permanent job. Giggling inside like a child, Roy threw off the blankets and crossed his room in his purple pajama pants to the pure white owl. Reasoning that he was imaging things, Roy thought the owl looked disgusted as it eyed his shirtless self over. “Thank you, Powder,” he said to the owl, but it had turned its head away and seemed to be ignoring him. Pulling the letter out of its envelope, Roy read the following in his daughter’s handwriting.

Dear Pop,
You’ve been at that school for some time now! When are you coming back? Don’t they have a permanent professor yet? Shiloh keeps asking for you, and I don’t know what to tell him anymore. We miss you, Pop!

Love, Susie.

P.S. Did you shave that ridiculous goatee off of your face yet?

Roy laughed and placed the letter down on his dresser, next to the pictures of Susie and his grandson, the only things he had unpacked, mentally noting that he would need to reply in his free time. As he dressed, he remembered that today was the day his class got to meet Sorrell and his wife; oh, those lucky children! There was no doubt in the balding man’s mind that they would love his friend, and the boys would definitely love Sorrell’s wife…

After quickly consuming a small breakfast of waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast, chased down by a cold glass of milk, Roy was off to his outdoor “classroom”. No one was there yet, as expected. With a wave of his wand and a few whispered incantations, stumps sprouted from the ground, smooth and decently softened by a top covering of moss, for his students to sit on when they arrived.

Before any students came, Sorrell and his wife came. Roy hadn’t actually met her before, but what he had heard about her radiance had not done her justice. The woman on his friend’s arm had explosive ice blue eyes that were rimmed by delicately applied eyeliner, not that she needed any make-up. Her mess of blonde waves framed her right cheek softly and fell just above her right hip as it was tied in a sideways ponytail. Her lips were wide and red with more unnecessary make-up.

“Roy, my old friend!” Sorrell smiled as they approached. Since their school years, Sorrell had definitely aged, but he had aged more gracefully than Roy had, all of his dark hair exactly where it belonged, and Roy didn‘t doubt he had maintained his school-day weight, a feat Roy could not brag of. When they got to him, Sorrell’s wife stuck her hand out delicately to shake Roy’s, and ask he accepted the dainty, feminine hand, he noticed her perfectly painted nails. Indeed, she was radiant. If he dared think it, he would have observed that her beauty even surpassed that of his late wife. “Roy, this is Sylvia. Sylvia, my friend Roy.”

“Sorrell and I caused quite a bit of trouble in our own day,” Roy admitted, which got them on track to take seats on the stumps provided for the students and tell tales of their days in school over thirty years before. Sylvia pointed out that thirty years before, she was being born, which at first made Roy uncomfortable about his age, but the conversation didn’t allow time for awkwardness. Sylvia had such a soft, nearly-hypnotic voice that enticed him involuntarily. Roy was in the middle of telling Sylvia about the time he and Sorrell snuck into the Headmaster’s office, snatched six pairs of his underwear, and subsequently tied one to each of the six rings on the Quidditch pitch when students began arriving, at which time Roy stopped dead, not wanting to give them any ideas. “Er, take your stumps, kids! We’ll just wait for the rest of the class.” Uncomfortably shuffling his feet to the front of the “room” and being followed in such action by Sorrell and Sylvia, their conversation was dead, and they glanced over the students as they continued arriving.

“Okay,” he began once everyone had arrived. “By now, you know that my name is Roy Snughardt, and I’m the substitute professor, but allow me introduce to you our guests. This,” he gestured to Sorrell, who waved, “is Sorrell Hendrix. As you hip young things might word it, we’re B.F.F.s!”

“And this,” he continued, motioning to Sylvia, who curtsied gracefully. “This is his wife, Sylvia. As I expect you’ve noticed, she’s strikingly beautiful. There’s a reason for that, on which we’re going to elaborate.”

“Sylvia is not a human. She’s what’s called a Veela,” Roy elaborated. “Veelas are technically not creatures and prefer to be characterized in the Beings category as opposed to Beasts. They appear to be beautiful women --though sometimes, males can be part Veela, but never full who attract men with their beauty, voice, and graceful movements. Often, these movements are dances.”

“However, Veelas have an ugly side, too,” Roy continued hesitantly. “When they are angered, their faces become bird-like, they throw handfuls of fire, and, if it’s serious enough, they sprout scaly wings. Still find her appealing?” he added with a laugh at the end, directed at the males of the class.

“So, to find out more about Veelas, you can do one of the following,” he concluded. “You can talk to Sylvia about life as a Veela and ask her things like how she keeps her temper, if she ever wished she wasn’t a gorgeous Veela, and things like that, or, and I highly recommend this, ask Sorrell about life married to a Veela. Both will be interesting.”

“If you don’t feel like talking, that’s fine, too. Just sit on your stump and waste time. No homework except pondering the advantages and disadvantages of being a Veela. Don’t think I’ll know whether or not you ponder? Yeah, I’ll know. So, ask questions if you want, but otherwise, just kind of hang out.” He glanced over at Sylvia and Sorrell, both of whom were sitting on the ground beside the students on their stumps. Both smiled to him and looked eager for students. “Okay, commence!”

OOC: All right, kids! Standard rules, but I'd love twenty-sentences at the least! It'd make for one happy substitute! If you want to talk to Sylvia, tag her. If you want to talk to Sorrell, tag him. If you have any questions for Snughardt --you guessed it-- tag him. Or you can just hang out and talk to each other. Be aware that the most that can talk to a given adult here would be three students, so post quickly! I expect Mrs. Hendrix will soon have many boys who wish to speak with her ;)

Subthreads:

More like beautiful. Hot suggests she's overheated (Sylvia) by Quentin Melcher, Aladren with Mrs. Sylvia Hendrix

*Sigh* fantastic, my nightmare come true. by Adelita Garcia (Crotalus) with Adelita, Mr. Sorrell Hendrix

Not really my type. (Professor) by Alessa Hinckley, Aladren with Snughardt

She is pretty. by Pippa Brockert, Teppenpaw

0 Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt Dude, your wife is hot! [Third, fourth, and fifth years!] 0 Substitute prof. Roy Snughardt 1 5

Quentin Melcher, Aladren

October 01, 2010 1:50 PM

More like beautiful. Hot suggests she's overheated (Sylvia) by Quentin Melcher, Aladren

Unlike most of his classmates, who were probably unhappy about having a substitute or just plain didn't care, Quentin was thrilled about Professor Snughardt filling in until a permanent COMC professor could be found. It had nothing to do with the man himself, Quentin just had a tremendous respect for substitute teachers given they had to be able to teach many different subjects, the way Professor Fawcett had before he got hired to teach Potions full time. Quentin wouldn't be surprised if Professor Snughardt ended up staying around and filling in when another professor inevitably left.

When he reached the clearing,Quentin's attention was automatically drawn to the beautiful woman who was standing there. She had to be at least thirty but while Quentin was an intelligent and exceedingly pedantic guy, he was still a guy for Merlin's sake!

Actually though, Quentin was not usually the type to be distracted by such things. He did find some of the girls he knew attractive physically but it was usually not the first thing that he thought about. Intelligence and kindness were far more important to him than beauty. Those two things tended to make a girl seem more beautiful to Quentin, which he didn't quite understand. Furthermore, he certainly didn't let that distract him from his studies.

Right now however, Quentin wasn't really thinking too clearly. All he wanted to do was impress the beautiful woman with how intelligent he was.

Which meant, the Aladren realized, that he knew what today's lesson was. The incredibly gorgeous woman was a veela . That made him feel slightly better though Quentin still couldn't help staring at her. At least he understood why though and that was good. He liked understanding what was going on. He just wished he could feel more in control.

As the professor gave the lesson, Quentin's theory was quickly confirmed. He was right. That would totally impress the woman, Sylvia, if she had only known. Quentin made his way over to her. "So how do you keep your temper? And do you ever wish you weren't a gorgeous veela?" There. Those were the questions Professor Snughardt had told them to ask. Now he just had to come up with an intelligent one of his own to impress her.Unfortunately, Quentin still wasn't thinking too clearly and couldn't come up with one.

It was something of a miracle.

11 Quentin Melcher, Aladren More like beautiful. Hot suggests she's overheated (Sylvia) 129 Quentin Melcher, Aladren 0 5

Mrs. Sylvia Hendrix

October 01, 2010 3:46 PM

Oh, you flatter me! by Mrs. Sylvia Hendrix

Sylvia was enjoying this experience. Most of the students --or at least the males. Weird…-- seemed to be paying attention, and she felt like this was a good class. She had been highly flattered when Roy invited Roy and her to come be subjects in his class. Sylvia had no problem with being a Veela or being studied, even in a Care of Magical Creature class. Sure, as a Veela, she was still considered a Being, but maybe having her in as a subject would enlighten students who had difficulty understanding the difference between Beast and Being.

After moving to the front before Roy began addressing the class of teenagers, Sylvia sat gracefully on the ground with perfect control of her body and a sense of grace that alluded even most ballerinas. Once she was seated on the earth, her legs crossed as she leaned to one side, she sent smiles towards the students, and she felt multiple eyes on her, despite the fact that the students probably should’ve been paying more attention to what Roy was saying.

She felt cheeks redden when Roy said that she was gorgeous. Personally, Sylvia didn’t see herself as very attractive, and though she was aware that others did, it was always highly pleasing to hear someone say it. Glancing at Sorrell when she felt his hand on her shoulder, Sylvia smiled at the protective grip he had on her. However, now was the time for students to approach with questions, and soon, Sorrell let go of her and stood up from his resting position beside her, hopefully leading the students that would want to talk to him a bit away. That way, if Sylvia and he were separated, they could possibly answer more honestly.

Sylvia carefully swung her legs into a more formal sitting position as the first student approached her. This boy had an air about him that she quickly picked up on, telling her about his intelligence; he seemed like a very smart boy. "So how do you keep your temper? And do you ever wish you weren't a gorgeous Veela?" Sylvia giggled femininely and lightly when he asked the exact questions Roy had suggested. Clearly, he was intimidated by her beauty, a pretty ordinary experience for the blonde.

“Often, it’s very difficult to keep my temper,” Sylvia answered honestly, patting the crowd beside her to suggest that the boy would sit beside her. “I take classes, actually, to make sure I do. I have anger management, therapy, and even yoga lessons. It keeps me a lot calmer. I guess practice makes perfect, like anything else. I mean, imagine if I threw a fireball at my husband? That wouldn’t go well,” she finished with a smile.

“As for wishing I wasn’t a ‘gorgeous Veela,” she continued, her side ponytail beginning to irritate her. As she continued, she took the ponytail down and fluffed her hair with one hand. “It does get tiresome of being gawked at day in and day out by strangers, but I guess it’s just part of the territory. A lot of men treat me like a piece of meat; I bet you’d never treat a girl like that, right?” Sylvia smiled at the boy. “The only thing I really dislike is being judged as just a pretty face. I had some excellent grades in my school days.”

“Though,” she went on, “I personally wouldn’t call myself ‘gorgeous’ like you and Roy did. Like any other woman, growing up, I really thought I was ugly or something and maybe that was why everyone stared. It was a great shock to find out I was considered beautiful.” Sylvia sighed; maybe she just had low self-esteem.

0 Mrs. Sylvia Hendrix Oh, you flatter me! 0 Mrs. Sylvia Hendrix 0 5

Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

October 01, 2010 8:05 PM

Sigh fantastic, my nightmare come true. by Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

Adelita wasn’t sure on how to really take Care of Magical Creatures. She was a girl and most people would assume that she just loved everything about living creatures. But, the truth was, yes some animals really did tug at her heart, but overall? Not so much. They were cute and all and Lita definitely had her moments when it came to them, but she would never have one of her known and never really had the desire for one anyway.

So, she liked this class because it was more easy-going and did have some amazing creatures, but she didn’t love it like some of the other girls (and possibly boys) did simply because animals were the whole point of the class. Mainly, she was glad that what was taught in this class, she had already had an underlining knowledge of and simply needed to learn better details. It wasn’t completely new material.

Walking into the clearing, Lita noticed to three adults in the clearing and frowned. Was this a lecture period now on Care of Magical Creatures? There were no creatures that she could see, so perhaps the two guests would be discussing something in regards to a dangerous animal?
For some reason, Lita’s eyes stayed longer on the female than they did on anything else. She wasn’t sure what it was about the woman that had her gazing at her as long as she had, but it took most of her might to look away. She felt a little disheartened at the sight of the woman. Everything about her screamed beautiful and the exact opposite of Adelita. Adelita who would never reach five feet of height, who would never have blue eyes or look right with blonde hair, or have long legs that men seem to enjoy. She will never be what the woman was and that thought suddenly had Lita feeling rather down. She wanted to be beautiful. She wanted the boys to look at her like the ones in her class were currently looking at the woman, though, she wasn’t sure why all that was suddenly so important to her.

Professor Snughardt started the lesson. Lita still wasn’t sure what to make of him or if it mattered to have an opinion at all since professors came and went so quickly. When he made the comment about B.F.F.s, Lita had to quickly press a hand to her mouth to prevent a giggle from escaping. She always yelled at her Dad whenever he tried to be ‘cool’. Old people should just do old people stuff.

And then he introduced the guests. The light-bulb clicked for Lita and everything fell together. That was why the woman – Sylvia – was so striking. Made sense now. This lesson was going to be interesting for sure. Veelas were Sirens. They preyed on men by their looks and sounds, but at the same time, they were still living beings who lived their lives like she did.

When the class was allowed to approach the two guests, Lita hesitated for a moment deciding on who she wanted to approach. She had a few questions for Sylvia, but seeing as Quentin was already approaching the woman, Lita made a beeline to Sorrell.

“Hi.” She greeted with a hesitant smile. She felt very weird since this was delving into their personal life. “I’m Adelita.” Lita introduced, hoping to make it a little less awkward. “Um… so, I guess I want to know is how you knew.” Lita started, trying to find the best way to phrase her question. “Veelas enchant men by just being them. How do you know that what you feel for her is more than just an enchantment? How did you or when did you know that she was more than just a pretty girl with special powers?”

0 Adelita Garcia (Crotalus) *Sigh* fantastic, my nightmare come true. 0 Adelita Garcia (Crotalus) 0 5

Adelita

October 01, 2010 8:07 PM

Sorry, forgot to Tag Sorrell! (nm) by Adelita

0 Adelita Sorry, forgot to Tag Sorrell! (nm) 0 Adelita 0 5

Mr. Sorrell Hendrix

October 02, 2010 9:29 AM

I'm your nightmare? by Mr. Sorrell Hendrix

After Sorrell stood up from his resting position on the ground, Sorrell walked across to the other side of the “classroom,” possibly leading a group of students who might want to speak to him. He sat down on one of the stumps that was unoccupied and smiled when he saw a young girl approaching him. Waving in her direction, he didn’t speak and waited for her to reach him.

“Hi. I’m Adelita.” the girl introduced. “Wow, awesome name,” Sorrell smiled. “As you probably could guess, I’m Sorrell Hendrix; just calling me Sorrell works for me if it works for you.” Sensing how awkward Adelita was probably feeling, he observed that the stump next to him was vacant and patted the top of it, motioning Adelita to sit down beside him. This situation was way too formal for his liking. Sorrell was always pretty laid back, and he preferred to speak to her not as adult and child but as equals. “Sit down, won’t you?”

“Um… so, I guess I want to know is how you knew.” Sorrell tilted his head in childlike confusion., wondering what she meant, but then she elaborated. “Veelas enchant men by just being them. How do you know that what you feel for her is more than just an enchantment? How did you or when did you know that she was more than just a pretty girl with special powers?” He pondered this a minute, unsure really how to respond yet. To buy him time, he said politely, “That’s a great question, Adelita. You must be very smart; I bet you get excellent grades.”

“Really, I guess,” Sorrell went on, pausing to think. “I suppose I don’t know that what I feel for her is more than an enchantment. There’s not a real way for me to tell. I know I love her for more than her looks, so that might be how I could be able to tell. Plus, a simple enchantment would probably not be a mutual feeling. My wife shows and tells me that she loves me, and I trust her enough to know she’s telling the truth.”

“Even if it is just an enchantment, I don’t really care,” he continued, shrugging once, “I’m happy, and more importantly, she’s happy, so it wouldn’t really matter. I think the enchantment might contribute to how much or how intensely I love her, but I don’t mind. I know that if that’s true, it only enhances the relationship, not damages is.”

After mentally looking over his words, he smiled at Adelita warmly. “Does that answer your questions? It’s a really difficult thing to comprehend sometimes, but I bet you’re smart enough to get it.”

0 Mr. Sorrell Hendrix I'm your nightmare? 0 Mr. Sorrell Hendrix 0 5

Alessa Hinckley, Aladren

October 03, 2010 10:58 AM

Not really my type. (Professor) by Alessa Hinckley, Aladren

Alessa sighed. She had never found Care of Magical Creatures that interesting. Animals were okay, like her beautiful new toucan, but she'd just never been learning that much about them except as it pertained to her awesome new pet.

She entered the clearing and sat down on a stump. There was no way Alessa was going to take a chance of ruining her robes by sitting on the ground. This was the Care of Magical Creatures clearing, and Merlin only knew what could be on the ground in addition to dirt! Sure, she could send in her robes to be cleaned or replaced easily but it would just be unpleasant. Nor would it do for a Hinckley to be sitting in the dirt or wearing dirty clothing, Alessa's mother would have a fit.

Alessa looked around, trying to see if she could find out what the creature of the day was. She hoped it would be something that grabbed her attention though she didn't think Professor Snughardt would be doing toucans. She really liked her new toucan.

So far, though, she wasn't spotting anything in the clearing but people. That's when she saw the blonde woman and figured it out. They were doing Veelas. Grandpa Gus had always warned her male cousins against veelas, that they weren't really to be trusted, as one had taken advantage of his best friend leaving the man heart-broken after using him for expensive gifts and ruining his relationship with the girl he otherwise would have married. Grandpa also used this story to show the importance of betrothals, as non-betrothal relationships could easily be destroyed.

It didn't matter to Alessa. She forsaw an easy class where she didn't have to handle anything nasty or dirty while her male classmates acted like idiots. That was okay with her, the odds were against her marrying any of them anyway, and besides, the woman was thirty at least and men literally couldn't help it.

As the lesson began, Alessa frowned. Something didn't seem quite right to her about veela genetics. She half expected Quentin to catch on to it but her distant cousin was acting like the same drooling idiot as most boys in the class and had made his way over to the Veela. It looked like it was up to her to ask. Alessa walked over to Professor Snughardt. "Professor, how can you have full veelas if none of the males can be so? I mean if one was a half veela who married a full veela, their child would only be a three quarters veela. Like if a half blood married a pureblood, their child would only be considered a halfblood."

11 Alessa Hinckley, Aladren Not really my type. (Professor) 150 Alessa Hinckley, Aladren 0 5

Snughardt

October 04, 2010 8:40 PM

Not surprising. by Snughardt

Roy was quite enjoying watching the kids do whatever it was kids did when they didn’t have a real assignment when a girl approached him. He wondered as to why little girls kept approaching him. First was that girl in his younger class that wanted one of his lovely crups, and now this girl was coming up to him. Normally, the fifty-something-year-old would have considered it flattering to have so many young ladies talking to him, and maybe he was attractive, but he could already hear Susie’s skeptical words and feel her hand smacking the back of his head. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

"Professor, how can you have full Veelas if none of the males can be so? I mean if one was a half Veela who married a full Veela, their child would only be a three quarters Veela. Like if a half blood married a pureblood, their child would only be considered a halfblood." Wow, this girl had a good question, one he was hoping the students would overlook. Eyes darting about suspiciously, Roy checked to make sure Sylvia wasn’t listening. Instead, she was talking to a student --male, predictably.

“Well, Miss-… Um, sorry I’m bad with names,” Roy started unsurely. “The reason behind that is that there was were male Veelas, but they’ve mostly died out due to the fact that they were seen as less masculine than humans for the reason that they too used motion and grace to seduce.”

“Sylvia is one of the few Veelas nowadays that has both Veela parents,” Roy added with a quick gesture to his guest, matched by a glance. “Really, the Veelas are dying out. Her parents really wanted her to marry a male Veela --even found her one-- but she wasn’t interested. She met my good friend over there, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

“Eventually,” he concluded, “the Veelas will be nearly entirely gone from the gene pool, the only signs of them the pretty faces and golden hair of their great-grandparents. So, does that answer your question? To sum it all up, there are males, but they’re dying out, and Veelas are in denial that it’s possible along the line that they aren’t really full Veelas, much like some Pureblood society members,” the halfblood added.

0 Snughardt Not surprising. 0 Snughardt 0 5

Adelita

October 04, 2010 9:52 PM

Not you, but your wife is. by Adelita

She smiled at the compliment of her name. Adelita sometimes forgot that in America, her name wasn’t so common. Although she a was born and raised in San Francisco, much of who she was came from her Hispanic heritage. Adelita was a normal name in her world. “Thank you, Sorrell.” She commented, making sure he was aware that saying his first name would be okay for her. “Everyone calls me Lita.”

“I do alright at some subjects.” She responded, taking the offered stump before she gathered her thoughts on this whole thing. Of course, what was said left her with a feeling of slight disappointment. She wasn’t exactly sure what she had expected to hear and what she had really wanted to hear, but what he had said was not what she was prepared for. She expected a definitive answer. She expected to say that love surpassed the enchantment. But what she got was that he really had no idea if he was still under the woman’s spell. On top of that, the man didn’t care about whether or not he was still under a spell or not.

She didn’t understand. If he was still currently under a spell, than it wasn’t really love. It was an idea of love. A lie. Love might have been honest on the Veela’s end, but it may not have been on his end. He may be happy and think he’s in love, but what if his wife walked out or disappeared for a long while and the enchantment ended? He could wake up and realize he had just lost half his life in a complete lie.

“I don’t understand…” Lita mumbled after a few moments of thought. “I mean, I understand, but I don’t see how you can be okay with the possibility of being under an enchantment. “ Lita started. “If, let’s say, you are under an enchantment, what you feel is not real. Not really. Happy or not, what you are feeling is a lie. Maybe not for your wife, her feels are as real as they come, but yours are only there because of an enchantment.”

Lita paused, she didn’t want to make him angry at her or anything. She just needed to understand. “Or, they began on what wasn’t real. I don’t understand how you can be okay with that. How do you not question everything about your relationship? I have a hard enough time understanding love and being in love and being loved by someone, but to also have the added concern that it’s quite possible that what I feel isn’t really true, but just an illusion, I’d give up right there.” Lita’s arms lifted as though she were surrendering.

“Maybe that makes me crazy or cynical, but I think it makes you in denial of the possibility that what you two have really is only one-sided.” Lita sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to press. I’m sure you guys are happy. I guess I just wanted someone to tell me how it all worked.”

0 Adelita Not you, but your wife is. 0 Adelita 0 5

Pippa Brockert, Teppenpaw

October 05, 2010 8:34 AM

She is pretty. by Pippa Brockert, Teppenpaw

As she loved animals, Care of Magical Creatures had always been Pippa's favorite class and she couldn't wait to get to each one. However, as the level of the class increased, the fifth year began to become slightly worried that the class would also increase in levels of danger. Pippa had never been too terribly brave, and she'd been raised to think that as a female, she shouldn't be and that it was a man's job to protect her whether it be her father or Justin.

Plus, there was also the fact that Tawny was in her class and Pippa, Tawny and anything with the potential to be dangerous were not a good combination. Actually, never mind Pippa being there, Tawny combined with anything that could be used to harm anyone was bad all by itself. It was just that Pippa was often that 'anyone'. She was glad they were in different houses.

She settled on a stump in the clearing, eager to start the lesson. Pippa hoped it would be something pretty or cute. Those were her favorite things. She thought she could handle something considered ugly or gross just as long as it wasn't dangerous though.

Pippa looked around, unable to spot todays creature, just some guests, a man and an especially beautiful woman. She sort of hoped she would look like the woman someday sort of. That way Justin would be proud to be married to her. She didn't know her betrothed that well yet, but Pippa wanted to make him happy as was her duty. Though she didn't think she would be quite as beautiful or as tall but she could try to make her self up nice.

As for the creature, well, Pippa didn't really know what they were doing. Thestrals maybe? If that was the case, she was glad she couldn't see them because it would have meant she saw someone die and that was a sight she'd never want to see.

The lesson began and Pippa's curiosity was satisfied. They were doing veelas. It seemed to be a lesson than favored the males, but that didn't bother her. She was used to systems like that. Besides, she thought it could be interesting anyway. Unfortunately, Pippa didn't have any questions for the veela or her husband or the professor, so she decided to start on her homework.

That's when a shadow fell over her and she looked up. Pippa gave her a smile. "Hi."

11 Pippa Brockert, Teppenpaw She is pretty. 132 Pippa Brockert, Teppenpaw 0 5

Daniel Nash II

October 05, 2010 6:05 PM

Okay, that may answer one question. by Daniel Nash II

Daniel entered the Care of Magical Creatures clearing and found himself staring at the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Charlie had been pretty, but this lady was . . . wow. She might even be even more beautiful than his mom. And he was really glad she wasn't his mom or this this would be really awkward and embarrassing.

So . . . he wasn't gay. He was potentially still bi, but he was very much not gay. Girls did it for him. Or, at least, this one did.

He was a little disappointed to find out she was married. No! No, he was a little disappointed to find out she was a veela. Seriously? It took a veela to make him stare like an idiot at a pretty girl? Wasn't that roughly equivalent to the excess of alcohol that made Dad take a second look at Mom?

Did that negate the attraction? Did she still count as a girl if she's a veela? Why did this have to be so complicated?

The class was invited to go talk to the guests, and Daniel took an entranced step toward the girl before stopping himself and shaking his head to get a grip. Brainpower was a good thing. More brainpower at greater distance from the siren. Daniel turned and followed Adelita toward the veela's entirely too lucky husband. He did have a name and Daniel remembered it. Sorrel, that was it. Daniel told himself that he wasn't jealous of this man, internalized it, and made it true.

He could totally share his life with Sylvia and Sorrel, both. No need to be jealous.

He blinked and shook his head, and No. He was going to get a grip on himself. He was going to do that by listening to Adelita's question and Sorrel's answer and they both went a long way toward helping him do just that.

As if he didn't have enough trouble being an actor. As if his genetic predisposition toward delusions wasn't going to make telling reality from fantasy hard enough.

No dating Veelas, he told himself firmly, or half-Veelas, or husbands of Veelas. It's worse than dating actors.

Except, he wasn't sure that it was. No, it was. Worse than dating actors. Or maybe just as bad. He wasn't going to date either type, regardless.

In the one, you couldn't trust your partner. In the other, you couldn't trust yourself. Either way, there wasn't trust, and trust was necessary to making a relationship work.

No, actors were worse.

Self-doubt wasn't fun, but it didn't spark damaging suspicions or private investigators or paparazzi blitzes or hard feelings or long weeks away on location shoots.

You could live and function with self-doubt and with illusions about yourself that weren't necessarily true and lead a reasonably happy and fruitful life. Daniel knew that better than anyone.

When Adelita asked for clarification, Daniel joined the discussion with his own view point. "It stops mattering," he told his classmate. "After long enough believing something, even if it's not true, you change to adapt that belief into yourself. You make it true. On the outside, I dropped out of school a year before coming to Sonora so I could work with Dad at the Studio. I was an okay student, but I only did the minimum amount to get by. I didn't read books like most nerds; I just played video games - and not the nerdy ones either, the cool ones - or rode my bike. Then I came here and got sorted into Aladren, which made me decide I had to be smart and a good student to fit in. I'm a good method actor. Started going by Daniel instead of Danny to differentiate myself, and now I'm second in the class, I never miss a homework, and I ace most of the tests I take. So am I really a good student, or do I just think I am now because a potion turned me blue five years ago and Danny Nash, Actor, plays the role of Daniel Nash the Second, Excellent Sonora Student, really well? And does it matter at this point?"

He nodded toward Sorrel. "Same goes for you, probably, right? I mean, it might have started because of some magicky thing," he grimaced slightly. Usually he was better than this about not sounding like the muggleborn he was, "but it makes itself real. You adapt to fit that lie - if it is a lie, and lies and truth are so much harder to tell apart that most people think anyway - and eventually it isn't one. You take away the enchantment - or you go home to a place that hardly seems like it can exist on the same planet as where you go to school and people call you by a different name - you might see yourself differently, but it doesn't make who you became any less you, any less real, than the person you were originally. Maybe it's more you and the person you were is the lie now. You can't tell. So you have to decide which one you want to be and that's really all that matters at that point. If you want to be in love with your Veela wife, then you are."

Daniel shrugged. "It's probably the only situation where you can decide if you want to be in love or not. Which brings me to my question:" he paused a minute to look around - making sure none of his roommates were nearby; hopefully they were all busy being entranced by Sylvia - and then asked in a quick and quiet rush: "do you know if female Veelas can affect gay men?"

He gave a wary sidelong glance at Adelita, too, but she'd been in his group in History when he'd gone on about gay right to marriage, and she was Charlie's best friend (Charlie who he broke up with [assuming they'd been dating in the first place, which he still wasn't entirely sure about] because he didn't know if he even liked girls like that [and because she was already going to the Dance with James Bloody Anthony]), so who knew what kinds of secrets they'd whispered in confidence about him. She probably already knew it was a possibility.

1 Daniel Nash II Okay, that may answer one question. 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5