Beginners' Lesson: 1st-2nd years on Care of Magical Creatures

Duesius Pierce, Substitute Teacher

February 03, 2012 7:40 PM

Beginners' Lesson: 1st-2nd years by Duesius Pierce, Substitute Teacher

Duesius Pierce did not understand how he came to be standing here in front of the first and second year classes of Sonora Academy. He understood how Apparition worked as well as anybody did, he supposed, but the physical processes of traveling across the country were significantly less confusing than the family debts and feuds that led to him casting such spells today in the first place. There were, of course, a couple of steps in the process that were fairly self-explanatory. The first of such steps was that Kerry O'Shaunasey was sick and unable to teach his classes himself. The second was that the usual pool of substitutes had, for various reasons, all turned down the offer or had been unable to be reached in a timely manner. Those, Duesius could grasp well enough. Where things got baffling to him was when Deputy Headmistress Amelia Pierce decided that, of all the people in the world who were not on the usual substitute list, he was somehow deemed the most qualified to come in on short notice to teach Care of Magical Creatures to young people.

It was true that he had a four year degree from Sapienti University in Care of Magical Creatures and he was the founder of a small business that provided care for magical pets of all varieties while their owners traveled or were otherwise temporarily unable to look after them. However, such qualifications were hardly spectacular enough that he felt they overcame the shortcomings he knew Amelia knew about. She had grown up with him. She knew he had trouble talking and she knew he was slow. More than that, she hadn't even liked him when they were kids. So why would she ask for him to substitute?

More than that, though, why would Druscella agree to her plea for help? The two matriarchs of the two all-but-feuding branches had a strange strange strange relationship that Duesius couldn't even begin to fathom. They flooed each other regularly - he knew that from sharing a house with Druescella - but by all outward appearances, they seemed to want people to think they despised each other. Amelia asking for help and then getting it seemed counter to all previous precedent.

More than that, even, why would Father and Wesley then confirm that decision to make Duesius come out here? Wesley's dislike of Amelia was only shadowed by his dislike of Belinda. Plus, Father did not like him going out in public much these days, so something had to be going on that Duesius just didn't see if Marcus Pierce was offering to look after the crup and the kneazle his son was currently supposed to be looking after so he could go teach at a magic school when Marcus knew perfectly well that his son had disgracefully bad verbal skills.

Most confusing of all to Duesius was why he had let his father and brother and grandmother and disowned cousin bully him into packing up the kneazle and putting on his least stained set of robes and apparating out to Arizona. Packing up the kneazle was the easiest part to explain. First of all, he didn't hate his father and leaving a kneazle and a crup in the same house was just asking for disaster if one was not well trained in keeping them out of trouble. Secondly, the kneazle would make a good subject for the beginner class.

Fortunately the outdoor clearing he'd been directed to as the 'classroom' for his lesson did not half a chalkboard so he did not have to embarrass himself and his family with his rough penmanship. His fingers were simply too large for the fine motor control needed to manipulate chalk in a neat fashion. Instead, he stood in front of the group of young students, standing approximately six foot five and two hundred and fifty pounds, mostly in muscle, and said, "I am Duesius Pierce of the New Hampshire Pierces." He gave a very slight nod toward Thaddeus, acknowledging that he was not unique in that designation here today.

He had been lucky enough to get enough time and warning to manage some memorization. Duesius, for all his other faults, did have a nearly perfect memory, and he had already sorted out how to proceed with the main lesson. "Professor O'Shaunasey is ill so I will be teaching today's class. We will be covering the Kneazle. Galinda." Galina ignored the attention being paid to her, opting to take that moment - when Duesius gestured toward her and thus made the majority of the class look in her direction - to start licking her butt. He sighed. "Galina is a variety of magical feline called a Kneazle. These cats are very smart and can often be used to judge character. In some ways, they work better than a sneakoscope because they will actually attack suspicious characters instead of just alerting you to them."

"You may take turns petting her, if she lets you. Please note the lion's tail and her large ears. These are characteristic of most kneazles. After you have had a chance to get a close look, please write a short essay about anything else you might have noticed about the kneazle. Turn that in before you leave." Doing the assignment that way meant he could forgo taking attendance since he'd get a paper from each person.

"Anyone except Thaddeus may ask me questions individually." That was the part he wasn't sure he could handle, and he hoped doing it one person at a time would lessen the impact of being slow. Excluding Thaddeus only made sense or nobody else would get a turn.

Subthreads:

What a class. by Cepheus Princeton with Thad Pierce, Cepheus, Crotalus

Yay, kitties! by Brianna Japos (Crotalus) with Linus Macaulay, Brianna

Trying to get through by Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

Again? by Nora Dobson, Aladren with

Title Blocked by Evan Brockert, Aladren

0 Duesius Pierce, Substitute Teacher Beginners' Lesson: 1st-2nd years 0 Duesius Pierce, Substitute Teacher 1 5

Cepheus Princeton

February 06, 2012 8:01 PM

What a class. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus was getting back into his regular school schedule. He still missed England, but the people he had met as well as his roommate were making it easier to adjust once more. So far, his first year was going by much too slowly, and he felt so intelligent that it was making him a little cocky if he wasn't already. Being the eldest, he tried hard to be polite, to pretend that he was interested in the subjects being taught in his classes, but it was to no avail. He could not, for the life of him, after a term and a few weeks, pretend to be interested for so long. Not even if his own father told him to.

Cepheus was still annoyed with having class outside. It was strange to him that it was winter but sunny still. Arizona was a strange place. Obviously this place didn't understand seasons. Not that it snowed an awful lot in Surrey either, but at least it was still cold like it should be. Cepheus just shook his head and sat down on the ground.

They had a substitute and Cepheus smirked. He turned to the person next to him and whispered, "Thank Merlin," after the professor said that their real professor was ill. He didn't like the ginger bloke because he seemed too, well, free and strange, really. Who had class outside like this?

Cepheus knew very little about kneazles since his family didn't fancy them very much. His parents liked crups much more and those were what he had grown up with besides other exotic animals. He didn't really mind learning about a kneazle, and if the professor knew Thad, he couldn't be too bad.

And then the rest of the lesson was given, and Cepheus almost took back his words. They were going to pet a kneazle for class today? And write an essay? For Merlin's sake! This wasn't a real class. Cepheus glared at the thing that was supposed to be intelligent and pulled out a notebook and his textbook. "This is ridiculous," he sighed. "Are we really just going to pet a bloody cat and write about it?" he said to the person next to him. He sighed. "Want to work with me on this?" Two heads were better than one, after all. And having a partner could keep him from writing something sarcastic in describing the bum-licking cat.

40 Cepheus Princeton What a class. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Thad Pierce

February 07, 2012 12:28 PM

Quite so by Thad Pierce

Thad had experienced substitute teachers before. Sometimes one got sick, or had other plans, and couldn't make it in for a day. He'd experienced it with tutors, and Derry said the previous Headmaster had spent most of a year away. He could handle a substitute. What threw him for a loop and a half as he walked into the Care of Magical Creatures classroom was the person Sonora Academy had deemed appropriate to fill the position. Duesius Pierce was just about the last person he would have ever expected to see there.

Honestly, he did better than Thad had been expecting. There was no questioning Duesius's knowledge of animals and even Thad recognized Galina as a regular client at Duez's care center. Thad had no doubt Duez knew almost everything there was to know about kneazles in general and Galina in particular. What came as a surprise was how articulate Duesius was during the lecture. Thaddeus was quite sure he'd never heard his cousin say that many words together in succession before.

He was more than a little put out by his exclusion from asking questions, though. He crossed his arms, sat back down, and he would forgive his classmates if they came to the conclusion that he had assumed a sulk. That wasn't the case; he was merely making his displeasure known in the manner that Duesius would best understand it.

Irritatingly, Duesius didn't seem to be paying much attention to him, so he let the expression go as Cepheus addressed him. "You're lucky you got a lesson at all," he remarked in response to the criticisms of his cousin's teaching style. "We generally consider him a silent giant. Usually it takes half a year to get that many words out of him."

He was careful not to suggest Duesius might be an idiot. Quiet was acceptable in society. Stupidity less so. It was actually rather clever of the family to set Duesius up as a teacher. It made him look smarter, and having a family idiot did not do the New Hampshire Pierces any favors. Intelligence was one of the draws they had for attracting wives into the family but if Duesius's failings became known it would add in a factor of uncertainty that future generations may also be stupid.

More than that, though, Duesius wasn't actually stupid. He just couldn't articulate his intelligence because he lacked strong (or even mediocre) verbal skills. Thad still wasn't sure how he'd managed to give even a short lecture.

"I'll work with you," Thad added in answer to the direct question. "I'm apparently not allowed to ask questions anyway." The fact that he'd already asked Duesius a slew of questions about kneazles and Galina the last time he'd seen the feline at Druscella's house didn't lessen his bitterness even a little.

1 Thad Pierce Quite so 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Cepheus, Crotalus

February 09, 2012 7:30 PM

I'll try my best not to be snarky. by Cepheus, Crotalus

Cepheus wasn't sure if Thad's comment made him feel better about this class or not. "I can tell he's a man of few words. The lesson's telling in itself." The fact that their professor was related to his friend in some way was comforting. It was nice to know that their seemingly quiet professor wasn't a rapscallion of any sort. That would be rather unfortunate to have any old vagabond come teach. The thought was actually rather amusing.

Ceph sat down and began to unpack his quill and ink. Thad seemed put out by being unable to ask any questions, and Ceph smirked. Having a privilege taken away even if it was the smallest thing was always noticeable after it was gone.

"Why's that, anyway?" he asked. "Ask him a lot of questions at home?" He looked over at the kneazle, unsure of what sort of questions one would ask about it anyway. It looked like a giant cat. Intelligent, perhaps, but their textbook could tell them all that. Cepheus flipped open his textbook, trying to find the page on kneazles.

"I'm not a fan of kneazles," he grumbled when he found the page. "I'd much rather study about crups or the like. Or something exciting, like a hippogriff!" While Cepheus liked to play on the edge, he didn't like to live totally unprepared, and he most certainly didn't like to be in a dangerous situation. Sometimes words came out of Ceph's mouth before he registered them. "Accidentally" exaggerating was one of his specialities.

0 Cepheus, Crotalus I'll try my best not to be snarky. 0 Cepheus, Crotalus 0 5

Brianna Japos (Crotalus)

February 12, 2012 12:35 AM

Yay, kitties! by Brianna Japos (Crotalus)

Brianna liked Care of Magical Creatures for the most part. Mainly, she liked the idea of creatures because she was never allowed pets at home. It was another mouth to feed and her parents didn’t have that sort of money. So, this class was the closest thing she’ll ever have to being allowed a pet. But, beyond that, Brianna loved this class because they had it outdoors. She hated being locked away all day in the school just as much as she hated being locked away in the condominium building. Sure both structures were large and there was plenty of room, but she felt claustrophobic behind the walls. It was stifling and she often felt like she couldn’t breathe and wanted to run through the building and out the nearest door to take large gulps of fresh air.

Walking to the clearing, Brianna felt herself taking in deep breaths of fresh air and enjoying the breeze through her hair. Maybe after lessons were over she’d allow herself a nice little walk through the gardens… yeah, that would be nice. It had been awhile since she had walked the gardens and she felt no reason to deprive herself of such treasure any longer. She would have asked someone to join her, but Attoria was a reason for her escaping and Valerie was often sick. Brianna trusted David, but she didn’t know if she could handle being alone with him for a long period of time. He seemed to be able to get information out of her that she had always kept to herself.

Coming to the clearing, the large man waiting there caused her to pause. Substitutes weren’t new or anything, but this man was massive. Brianna sometimes wished she wasn’t so frail looking. Everyone kept telling her she was all skin and bones and that she needed to put some meat on her. It wasn’t like she didn’t eat anything. At school, Brianna ate quite a lot and at home, her mother made delicious meals out of whatever they could get at the market. She was just… skinny. Maybe if she had more bulk on her, people at home would leave her alone.

Brianna took a seat and listened to the rather quick lecture. Brianna gathered from the names and how personal Professor Pierce was being towards Thaddeus that they were of a similar family branch. Brianna would be unnerved if someone related to her was constantly calling her out while teaching a lesson, but thankfully, her parents weren’t educated and her extended family was nowhere to be seen.

Taking notes, Brianna nearly squealed at the idea of being able to pet the kneazle! She really hoped that Galina liked her. Brianna stood and made her way over to where the Kneazle now sat and kneeled down close to her. “Hi Galina.” She patted her legs and made a kissing sound to grab Galina’s attention. The cat stared at her for a long moment, so long that Brianna thought the kneazle was going to claim she was an unsavory person, but then the cat meowed and came over to her. Immediately, Brianna found her hands lost in her fur and a smile quickly spread across her face. “Such a precious little kitty…” She mumbled with glee. Of course, nothing lasted forever and soon Brianna found the cat’s attention being drawn away by someone else. Watching the cat wander off, Brianna felt lonely. So lonely that she almost bolted from the clearing with the realization that even here she had no one truly to rely on.

0 Brianna Japos (Crotalus) Yay, kitties! 0 Brianna Japos (Crotalus) 0 5

Linus Macaulay

February 17, 2012 8:44 AM

I'm not fond of animals by Linus Macaulay

While he had no reason to complain about the class, its content, or its professor, Linus was nevertheless not a fan of Care of Magical Creatures. He simply didn't think he was all that interested in caring for animals, magical or otherwise. He'd shared a couple of hamsters with his siblings, but there had always been arguments about whose turn it was to clean out the cage, and inevitable tears and distress when the poor thing died before its time. In short, he didn't see the point of domesticated animals, and if they weren't domesticated, then caring for them really wasn't his problem. He had respect for larger and more interesting creatures, and enjoyed a visit to the zoo or aquarium as much as the next person, but he lacked any real interest that would have made this class particularly enjoyable.

Today they seemed to have an enormous substitue teacher. Linus' efforts to not be intimidated by him seemed to become exponentially more manageable as the man began to talk, reminding the second year of the BFG from his childhood storybooks. He had, however, already noted the branch allegiance - a peculiarity in his first year, but now something Linus was greatful for, as it was an instant fact onto which he could latch and place a stranger within a wider system. Admittedly it wasn't a system Linus knew much about still, having only been aware of its existence for the same number of months as he had fingers and toes, and it wasn't one he was a part of, either, but the more he knew about it, the more he seemed comfortable fitting in with his Housemates. Nobody had yet out-right questioned his own parentage, and so he'd had no cause to be flustered, but by this stage he didn't think he would deny being a Muggle, anyway. Linus was proud of who his father had been, and the fact that he hadn't been a wizard didn't change any of that. There were many great Muggles in history, and Linus was by no means ashamed of being associated with him. It just sucked that this new world didn't always see things in quite the same way.

The topic of the class was kneazles, and Linus had already read about them in his textbook when he'd finihsed all his other homework. Seeing one in person, so to speak, was nice to add a 3D image to his knowledge, but he had no inclination to go pet the kitty. He did watch some of his classmates do the same, though, and was alternately amused and exasperated by their reactions. Brianna looked like she was one of those cat people you sometimes heard about, who would happily talk to the creatures as if they could understand what was being said. It was, however, he reaction after the kneazle had deserted her which caused Linus to cross the distance between them.

"You look as though you miss her already," he said from a short distance away, not wanting to encroach on her personal space. He wondered whether maybe Brianna had recently lost a pet, and that's why she'd looked so sad. It was ultimately his responsibility to look out for the wellbeing of his peers, particularly girls whose parents might be asylum seekers, that had driven him to make sure she was okay, but also he liked Brianna. She didn't talk too much, and, unlike many of the girls in their yeargroup, she didn't seem to think she was ridiculously glamourous, either. His younger brothers didn't actually believe she existed, based solely on the fact that they didn't believe him capable of having spent an entire social evening with a girl on what could easily be refered to as a date, but that was irrelevant.

0 Linus Macaulay I'm not fond of animals 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Brianna

February 18, 2012 1:10 AM

Not even the nice fluffy ones? by Brianna

Brianna had been staring after the kneazle and turned slightly to see who had spoken. Linus stood a bit away from her and she had to wonder how her face had been contorted to catch his attention to begin with. How easy was she to read? Someone who didn’t belong anywhere. Someone with no real friends. Someone with no place to go. Someone who found a brief moment of happiness in the fur of a cat. Were those things so open for others to see? Did they see a victim instead of a headstrong girl that she was trying so hard to be?

She bit her lower lip in thought for a moment as she looked him, trying to decide if he was making fun of her for her behavior. She had no reason to believe that Linus was making fun of her, of course. He had always been nice to her as far as she could tell. Sometimes she had a hard time telling with people. At home she knew where she stood with everyone. Here, at school, she was in Limbo. Brianna turned back towards where the kneazle now played. “I’ll never have an animal for my own. I’ve only ever seen them through windows or catch glimpses of them through someone’s door.” Brianna explained. “This was the first time I ever touched a cat. I guess, I just…I never realized how nice it would be to have one.”

She gave Linus a sheepish smile. He probably thought she was being stupid. Even she thought she was being stupid. It was just a cat. A silly little cat. One that she will never see again. Brianna knew that it wasn’t so much the cat itself that she longed for, but rather, just a normal life. She didn’t want to keep hiding and she didn’t want to be afraid anymore. But, she knew that wasn’t an option. If she wanted to stay above the water, she had to keep herself in line. At least, this would keep Attoria happy and Merlin knew if that girl wasn’t happy, Brianna would definitely be unhappy.

“Is it odd that I do miss her a bit?” Brianna asked him, shifting her weight off her legs and instead rested on her hip and hand. Her legs were getting tingly from the lack of blood flow; she didn’t want to lose complete feeling in them. “It’ll probably be the only time I’ll ever have to pet one like her. It would have been nice to have a little more time with her.”

0 Brianna Not even the nice fluffy ones? 0 Brianna 0 5

Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

February 24, 2012 4:42 AM

Trying to get through by Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

One of the classes that made Valerie excessively nervous was Care of Magical Creatures. It wasn't quite as hard for her as Defense in terms of physically demanding lessons, and it wasn't as if she disliked animals. In fact, the second year loved kittens and puffskiens and unicorns. Things that were cute or beautiful. The thing was though, Valerie wasn't really supposed to be around animals. It was one of the many things she wasn't allowed. Animals got dirty and dirt was full of germs.

The real problem she had with this class was that it was outside, dirty, germ-filled outside. The second year was supposed to spend the bare minimum of time she could outside. Like the length of time it took to travel from one building to the next and then there were portkeys-even though they made Valerie nauseous sometimes-and floo powder, though that could get into her lungs and whatnot. Still, it actually wasn't toxic to breathe and aside from getting her clothing messy, it was actually the safest way for the Crotalus to travel other than side apparation.

Adding to her worries was the announcement that the regular professor was not there today because he was sick. Valerie empathized, of course, but the real problem was that she was sure to get whatever he had. She already wasn't feeling too good. The second year was supposed to be getting over bronchitis but her cough had never really left and now it seemed to be getting worse again. It had kept her up the better part of last night, and Valerie had gone down to the common room so as not to make Brianna and Attoria mad at her. Remaining on good terms-and maybe even becoming friends-with her roommates was very important to the Crotalus.

Unfortunately, now she was completely exhausted. Valerie needed her sleep and she'd quite honestly not gotten enough. This was not good for her already poor immune system and she'd been coughing even worse and more frequently today. The potion Valerie had taken for it had improved things slightly but not nearly enough. She had the sinking feeling that she was on the verge of a relapse, but was trying desperately to be positive.

And she did have to go to her classes. Even if she was tired and coughing and they were outside. Valerie needed to make it to her lessons whenever she could so she wouldn't get further behind. Of course, that had often lead to her going when she really shouldn't. Which lead to someone else having to leave class to take her to the Hospital Wing. Then Valerie felt guilty and horrible and worried the person would resent her and see her as a burden.

So today, she would make herself stay here. It wasn't as if Valerie couldn't function at all, though she was certain that if she were at home, she would definitely have to stay in bed. In fact, there would probably be talk of hospitalization if her cough got any worse. Her nurse and healers at home would probably say that Valerie was pushing herself too hard and not taking care of herself.

Despite her fatigue-she knew she truly should by lying down right now but she just wanted to be normal and not fail her classes-the Crotalus forced herself to listen to Mr. Pierce, whom she noted was from the respectable New Hampshire branch. It was likely that Valerie's parents would approve of him far more than the usual teacher.

She smiled when she saw the Kneazle. It was completely adorable. Valerie knew that this class was probably her only chance to get close to one since she and Melanie were absolutely forbidden to have pets. She sometimes wished she could have a puffskien or something though. They were cuddly and easy to take care of even for her and then maybe Valerie wouldn't be quite so lonely all the time. Fortunately, though, Melanie should be here next term and that would help.

She began to make a move towards the Kneazle-she wasn't worried that it would attack her, she was not a bad person-but just then Valerie burst into a fit of severe coughing and collapsed against a tree.

11 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus Trying to get through 204 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus 0 5

Nora Dobson, Aladren

March 07, 2012 6:18 AM

Again? by Nora Dobson, Aladren

Though Nora could see value in each and every one of her classes, she could see more in some than others. Care of Magical Creatures was one that held less interest for her-and even less so when it was being taught by Duesius Pierce, who was not known for his intelligence than by Professor O'Shaunasey or now Headmistress Kijewski. Just because Mr. Pierce was a pureblood didn't make him qualified as an educator in Nora's opinion. Take her uncles, for example, Uncle Oliver would only be qualified to teach on fashion and Uncle Marshall on fine alcohol or transfiguration-and on the latter topic Nora's uncle was far more of a doer than a teacher.

However, Nora had heard that Mr. Pierce, who'd been ahead of Uncle Marshall at SUM, had a degree in COMC, so there had to be more to him than met the eye. Still there was something just rather unimpressive about him, though she'd certainly never tell Evan's roommate that. Even though the young Mr. Pierce impressed her as a great deal more intelligent than his cousin. Of course, Nora probably seemed a great deal more impressively intelligent than some of her elder cousins too.

What really rather irritated her was that they were doing kneazles. Nora had nothing against the creatures. A built in evil detector was quite a useful tool. It was just that well, they'd done them last year along with crups. It was review for her and something that wasn't difficult for the Aladren to begin with. The second year needed to be challenged. The only really useful thing she could see to do here was see if the kneazle attacked any of the first years, given that they'd not been exposed to the one they'd had in class last year.

She was bored already. Nora craved something more complex. Maybe something about the biology about the kneazle, why they didn't like evil people. Something more difficult than just petting and playing with them. This lesson was clearly geared for the less intelligent among them and those like herself were quickly going to get tired of this.

The Aladren sighed, quickly removing a book about famous dark wizards from her bag then using the bag to sit on as she leaned against a tree. Nora kept on eye on the kneazle, just in case it reacted badly to any of the first years but over all she figured this was a better use of her time. Part of her wondered though if the real reason that kneazles didn't like so-called evil people was that they were more likely to be cruel to animals and therefore the kneazle would react in kind though. Sort of years of a defense mechanism bred into the creature.

11 Nora Dobson, Aladren Again? 197 Nora Dobson, Aladren 0 5

Nora

March 07, 2012 6:26 AM

OOC-Oops by Nora

I sort of missed the part about them having to write essays. Just say I had Nora do that instead.

11 Nora OOC-Oops 197 Nora 0 5

Evan Brockert, Aladren

March 09, 2012 12:25 AM

Title Blocked by Evan Brockert, Aladren

Evan loved Care of Magical Creatures. It was a chance for him to get outside, in nature. That was what the Aladren really loved about the class, not looking at the animals. Not that the first year didn't like animals but it wasn't the real draw for him. Evan had spent plenty of time over the years on his Grandfather Frank's Magical Creature Ranch that contained pretty much any creature that they'd be studying in class over the years and while he enjoyed it, they were all kind of old news for the Aladren.

What Evan truly loved was looking around for interesting bits of nature. Things he could use in his works of art. He had a feeling his-or rather,their, it was just as much Thad's piece as it was his-was planned already, or at least Evan had some idea what materials he-er,they-were using-but there were always more where those works came from. Also, bugs to put in the deluxe terrarium that Adam had got him for Yule. Evan didn't understand why his older brother had such a low opinion of himself, he was a great big brother.

His attention was drawn by the fact that there was a substitute, Thad's cousin. Evan felt bad that Professor O'Shaunasey wasn't well. He hoped it wasn't something Harmony-like and that the man would get better permanently. He probably just had the flu or something because if it was like what Evan's cousin-in-law had, it would have started a long time ago and by this time in his life the professor would have been truly disabled. He supposed that Professor O'Shaunasey could be in the beginning stages of cancer or bitten by a poisonous spider or something like Marshall once had. That was one bug Evan did not want to collect. He didn't want any more to do with those than he did porcupines.

It was pretty awesome that Thad's cousin was subbing though. Evan couldn't imagine his doing that. Marshall would be qualified for Transfig, but then he'd be drunk and teachers being drunk all day was usually frowned upon. Unless the school was actually ran by Marshall himself. Which would be an odd thought. On the one hand, the first year's cousin didn't mix too well with responsibility, given his love of drinking and need to constantly spend time with his very ill wife. On the other, Marshall was a really nice guy who'd be very kind to the students.

Come to think of it, the regular Transfiguration teacher was Evan's cousin by marriage to the groundskeeper so he had relatives on staff anyway, they were just more distant than first cousin. The Aladren did have his two sisters here though as students. Plus other cousins in every single year group. Even Thad was connected to him by marriage. Duesius, the one subbing's, brother was Harmony's brother-in-law.

He listened as Mr. Pierce-best not to act as if they were on first name basis and be presumptuous just because Evan's cousin's wife's sister was married to Mr. Pierce's brother and Evan's roommate was Mr.Pierce's cousin even if he did seem the friendly sort,like a gentle giant-talked about kneazles. He did seem knowledgeable enough about the creature but Evan frowned when he wouldn't let Thad ask questions. That just wasn't fair. He would gladly volunteer to ask any question Thad wanted to ask in his roommate's place to get around this but the other Aladren seemed busy with Cepheus so Evan petted the kneazle quickly before allowing others to have a turn and sat down by an interesting group of rocks, picking out the most interesting before beginning his essay. He'd look for more when he finished.

11 Evan Brockert, Aladren Title Blocked 212 Evan Brockert, Aladren 0 5