Crying is for babies. on Care of Magical Creatures

Sub Professor Adrian Meade

January 25, 2013 5:37 PM

Cry me a river! by Sub Professor Adrian Meade

Another year teaching and Adrian had begun to like the whole sedentary life. His apartment was now half-way decorated and it had never looked better than now. He had been in constant correspondence with his team in Burma, and he had used the summer vacations to catch up with them and spent a couple of months abroad. Adrian had missed the call of the adventure, but he had come to realize that he had missed his position as teacher at Sonora. It was a rather fierce debate between these new sides of him. So, he had compromised with himself and would stay at Sonora to see what happens and do his field research during the holidays. It wasn’t the best plan, he knew, but it would do. While he was in Burma he had missed the stability Sonora gave him and when he was in Sonora he had missed the adventures his nomad life gave him. Adrian was of the idea that there was time for everything in life, and maybe, just maybe it was time to stay in place and settle down.

The Magizoologist was rather content inside the four walls of his classroom that now resembled a forest. Adrian smiled at his work for the beginner’s class. The classroom looked amazing in a reduced version of an Irish forest. Today they were going to study Augureys in their “natural habitat”.

And now it was time for class to start, and for Adrian to stop smugly staring at his work. “Welcome,” Adrian greeted the first students to stumble into the newly decorated classroom. He was sure some of them would be surprised to find themselves in the middle of a forest.

The professor waited for a few more minutes for the rest of the class to start. Once it was time for it, he locked the classroom. Adrian hated unpunctuality. The students should have learned by now that he didn’t let any latecomers into the classroom once the door was closed.

“As you can see, today will not be a common class,” he said grinning, still proud of his work. “Today’s class will be all about watching the Augurey in its natural habitat, well, as natural as it can be by means of magic.”

Adrian placed himself in the middle of the classroom, “Sit on the floor,” he instructed before continuing with his lecture. Once the students found a spot on the floor and got comfortable, he continued, “The Augurey, also known as the Irish Phoenix, is a thin and mournful looking bird, somewhat like a small underfed vulture in appearance, with greenish black feathers and a sharp beak. Its diet consists of insects, fairies and flies, which it hunts for in the heavy rain. Intensely shy, the Augurey lives in a tear-shaped nest in thorn and brambles.” All around the classroom were the nests he had described. A few low cries were heard in the classroom as the Augureys called to one another.

Adrian continued to talk, “It is native to Great Britain and Ireland, but is also found in Northern Europe. It was long believed that the mournful cry of the Augurey foretold death, and wizards would go to great lengths to avoid the nest. However, further research determined that the bird merely sings when it is about to rain. When it was known that Augureys could foretell the coming rain, they were used as weather forecasters.”

A deep breath was taken by the professor before offering a smile to his students, “Now, I left food for the Augureys all around the classroom. You can feed them and observe their behavior,” he cleared his throat. “And by next class I will expect an essay on what you observed and what you read from your book about these birds. Essays are to be written in pairs. Raise your hand if you need me.”

OOC: Posting rules apply. Have fun and you may or may not end up drenched by a small rain Adrian will conjure by the end of the class so that they students can hear their cry.

Subthreads:

Beginner's class (nm) by Sub. Meade

Girls aren't supposed to cry in public. by Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus with Julian Umland, Teppenpaw, Virginia Bellrose, Ginny

An Irish Phoenix? Cool by Carter Browning with Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw, Carter

Bird watching by Amity Brockert, Aladren with Effie Arbon, Crotalus

Quiet and methodical by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

Crying is for babies. by Adam Spencer, Pecari with Willow Collins,Teppenpaw, Adam

Being Friendly. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari

0 Sub Professor Adrian Meade Cry me a river! 0 Sub Professor Adrian Meade 1 5

Sub. Meade

January 25, 2013 5:37 PM

Beginner's class (nm) by Sub. Meade

0 Sub. Meade Beginner's class (nm) 0 Sub. Meade 0 5

Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus

January 27, 2013 8:21 PM

Girls aren't supposed to cry in public. by Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus

The class that Ginny was most excited about was Care of Magical Creatures. She knew that this would be perceived as a girlish thing to be excited for, but she would let that slide. Back in Ohio, Ginny had a cat. Well, really, it was her mother’s cat, but Ginny was able to play with it. She loved that cat so much. Being an only child and not having many people around for her to talk to, Ginny found solace in the cat. The cat was one of the reasons why she had explored so much of her manor’s backyard. Whenever the cat went out, Ginny followed.

The cat was old though and died shortly after Ginny had turned six. Her mother had never wanted the animal and so, the cat was never replaced. Ginny spent the remainder of her time with the elves or the help or completely on her own for the next two years until they moved. At the community where she had been since she was eight (much to her parents resentment), Ginny had been able to be around many kids and animals. Her favorites were the goats. The younger ones would run around with her because they always thought she had food on her. There were two cows too for milking. They scared her a little bit because they were so large, but sometimes she helped milk them. Her mother was horrified and always made Ginny immediately talk a bath and made her swear that she would never tell another person outside of the community of what she had done. Ginny didn’t see the harm in it, but she had promised her mother anyway.

So, when she saw that Care of Magical Creatures was on her schedule that morning, Ginny became extra excited. Coming to school had been a completely new experience for her. One that she had been looking forward to because it meant time away from her parents and that she would finally be able to have and use a wand of her own. It also meant meeting new people. So far, she had met some really nice people and hoped to continue to do so. She also was able to learn her first spell in Charms and now, now, she was going to be able to see her first animal of the year….

Only to be disappointed that it was a bird.

A bird

She had been so excited when she walked into the classroom (although she thought this was the one core class taught outside) and discovered that it look like a forest. How amazing that had been! It almost made up for it not being outside as promised. But then he started the lecture and she discovered it was on Augueries. Boo. It was even an ugly bird to boot.

Ginny sat on the ground, uncomfortable with her legs folded to the side since she was in a skirt, and attempted to take notes (which was definitely not going to be happening considering she had no real hard surface like a desk to write on) and gave up after a few attempts. She would just look it up later and try to recall what was said in the lesson.

The sudden sound of the birds startled Ginny and she made a sharp intake of breath. It was really creepy now that she realized it to be sitting in a fake forest with weird bird cries happening around her. Ginny grumbled to herself when the professor ended his lecture and dismissed them to be off on their own. Already an essay to write? And a bird? Sighing, Ginny started to look around the room for either the food or the bird, but not finding a lot of motivation to find either. “I was hoping for something a little more active.” She commented to the person beside her. “And cute.”

0 Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus Girls aren't supposed to cry in public. 0 Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus 0 5

Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

January 28, 2013 3:26 PM

Unless it's a diversion, maybe. by Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

Julian had, in accordance with her vow to herself after the near-disaster with flying lessons, made sure to leave for everything since early so she was sure to have time to find her classrooms, especially since the problem of not being totally sure where they were hadn’t completely worn off even after a few explorations of the school. She had hoped it would be otherwise, but had known, really, from the start that she wasn’t the best with directions. She couldn’t count the number of times in her life she had bruised herself because she didn’t pay attention to where she was going and forgot that something in a room had been moved or rearranged from the way she was used to it being, and that was just in her house.

Today, she got to her second period Care of Magical Creatures class with some of the fifteen-minute intermission between classes to spare, but stumbled as she started to walk through the door, looking around at what she was pretty sure was an indoor room which looked a lot more like a forest. Stopping where she was to look up at the things that looked like trees, she was simultaneously impressed by magic, a little scared by magic, and tempted to go touch some of the flora to see to how real it was, but before she could make up her mind which of the things was most important, Professor Meade said ‘welcome’ and distracted her into going further in to continue her gaping.

When they were told to sit on the ground, Julian trusted the ground not to be really dirty enough to sit down cross-legged on it instead of on her bookbag, since that had been at Sonora long enough to be constantly heavy with a combination of textbooks, notebooks, and library books and would no doubt be pretty uncomfortable to perch on no matter which way she turned it on the ground. Professor Meade’s lecture went into one of her two thick notebooks as close to word for word as she could manage while keeping her handwriting legible. When she studied for exams, Julian would have to write every word of her notes, along with those she took over the readings for classes, out again in her neatest handwriting, just the way her mother had always taught her to do, so it was helpful if the first copies were easy enough to read.

As she wrote, most of her attention was on the information and getting it down, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the birds they were studying. It wasn’t their fault they were, well, naturally associated with sounds and imagery that were pretty funereal. When she was done writing, she tried not to think about that anymore as she first tried to put her notebook back, then removed two textbooks and a library book to make room for it, then realized she might still need it and left the notebook out, putting the other books back in her bag instead.

When she finished, Julian straightened up again and was worrying about the prospect of asking someone to write an essay with her when the girl sitting beside her complained about the lesson. Julian smiled nervously. “Well, I guess we’ll get some activity looking for the food,” she reasoned, fidgeting with the piece of fabric sticking out at the bottom of the part of one of the straps of her bag where that strap’s length could be adjusted to fit the carrier better. “And their behavior could be really interesting, I don't know. I've never seen one before.”

16 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw Unless it's a diversion, maybe. 254 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw 0 5

Virginia Bellrose

January 30, 2013 8:42 PM

But that doesn't seem ladylike. by Virginia Bellrose

Ginny’s green eyes assessed the girl she was talking to. It was no more than a quick flicker of her eyes as she studied her. So far, Ginny had been okay with the people she had met. They seemed to be of the same status with her even if she couldn’t say for certain (there were just far too many names to remember), but they had still been kind and didn’t seem to judge her too much even if she made a few blunders along the way. This girl… Ginny wasn’t sure about it. It wasn’t anything with how the girl looked, but with her words and body language. Was she nervous? Did Ginny make her nervous? Or did the bird make her nervous? It was an ugly bird, so Ginny could understand being anxious over it.

“You’ve never seen an Augurey?” Ginny asked the girl, looking surprised. “Do you know magic?” Ginny asked before quickly putting her hands up to her mouth as though she had just used a curse word. “Oh, I’m sorry, that was rude of me to have asked.” She apologized, hoping her face wasn’t red. Manners were everything to her mother and she would be appalled by Ginny’s blunt words. “My Great Grandmother has an Augurey back home. She likes to be appraised of the weather at all times. I’m not really sure why though, she never leaves her manor for it to matter much.” Ginny commented after some thought.

“We should definitely make finding the food an activity.” Ginny said to the other girl. “If all we are going to do is standing around looking up at the tree tops in hopes of watching a bird sleep or whatever they do when they’re in nests, we might as well make a game out of the food and really make it worth something.” She was talking mostly to herself and very quickly as she thought of things that they could do. Something with the food that would force the birds to actually do something. She certainly didn’t want to just hold out her hand and hope one comes flying out at her. That was scary. And sort of gross.

“Oh, I’m Virginia Bellrose of the Alberta Bellroses’.” Ginny said, remembering her manners (still needed to work on her timing with those). “But, I prefer to be called Ginny.” She added. At least she introduced herself correctly and even gave permission within her introduction. “Did you want to work with me?” Ginny asked the girl, looking hopeful. “I am making assumptions without asking and that’s impolite.”

0 Virginia Bellrose But that doesn't seem ladylike. 0 Virginia Bellrose 0 5

Julian U.

January 31, 2013 1:39 PM

Desperate times can call for desperate measures. by Julian U.

“It’s all right,” Julian said, excusing the other girl’s question about her background. It didn’t necessarily mean anything, since she guessed it was only natural to be curious about new people, especially when they were all meeting so many of them in their classes. She wondered what people’s families were like all the time herself. “I’m still learning magic, but, um, Mom and Dad are a witch and wizard, if that’s what you mean.”

Well, they were. She saw no need to announce that Mom was Muggleborn, or get into the biological parent game, especially since she didn’t really know anything about that. Stephen was actually Dad’s second cousin or something like that, and John and Joe and Paul had the same mother, they knew that much about them, but Julian’s original parents just weren’t something that had ever come up that much. She was pretty sure at least one of them had been magical, but that was all. Mom and Dad had given her her name, even, so it wasn’t something she even thought about very often.

“That almost sounds like Dad’s grandmother, except for the manor part,” she said when the other girl mentioned her grandmother’s behavior. “But we live in the city, so keeping a lot of magical animals around would get us fined all the time, so we just don’t do it. That’s all.”

She looked up in interest when Ginny told her where she was from, but was then cut off by Ginny’s apologies for being impolite. Again. Julian hadn’t really noticed it this time, since she had kind of assumed they were working together, too, after talking this long, but she smiled anyway. “It’s all right, I was sort of assuming the same thing,” she said, getting up. “I’m Julian Umland, I’m from Alberta, too – from Calgary, but Mom grew up in Edmonton, so we’ve been there a lot, too.” Both her parents had family further east, too, but she didn’t want to overload a new acquaintance with elaborate information about her family. Maybe purebloods – as the introduction lead her to believe she was dealing with – were different, but she found that kind of thing, right up front, overwhelming; she had tried to follow on the first night when Willow had started explaining about her grandfather’s cousins and stuff, but couldn’t remember all of it since she suspected it would’ve been weird to start taking notes over a casual conversation even if she'd been an aspiring journalist.

"That's the weirdest coincidence," she said, thinking of how she had expected to completely stick out like a sore thumb here and how so far she had met someone else similar to almost every reason she had thought that. "I've already met someone who went to school with my parents in Canada, too, even though I think his parents are all Americans." Dad, thanks to his dad, was an American citizen, too, but it usually came up mostly in history lessons and vacations. "Do you mind if I ask why you came to school here?"

16 Julian U. Desperate times can call for desperate measures. 254 Julian U. 0 5

Carter Browning

February 01, 2013 3:37 PM

An Irish Phoenix? Cool by Carter Browning

Carter made his way from the Teppenpaw dorms to his next class, COMC. He liked the last class with the ants mostly because he got to watch his cousin Kinley squirm. He always found it slightly amusing whenever he got to see her deal with anything unpleasant. Sometimes he felt she needed to deal with stuff like that head on. It was good for her. He got to the COMC classroom and went to walk inside. He found himself suddenly standing in a forest instead of what looked like a normal classroom. He looked around quizzically and then stepped back out again to make sure he had the right room. Once he was sure he had the right room and walked back inside. He had to admit this was the coolest thing he had ever seen. He couldn't wait til he got to the class where they got to learn how to do this spell.

He waved towards Professor Meade offering him a polite smile and took the direction to find a seat. He picked a grassy spot on the floor and after dropping his bag down next to himself he sat cross-legged on the floor. He waited with the Professor for the other kids to get to class and have a seat. He listened as Professor Meade told them what they would be working with for the day. “The Augurey, also known as the Irish Phoenix, is a thin and mournful looking bird, somewhat like a small underfed vulture in appearance, with greenish black feathers and a sharp beak. Its diet consists of insects, fairies and flies, which it hunts for in the heavy rain. Intensely shy, the Augurey lives in a tear-shaped nest in thorn and brambles.”

Carter looked around the room and for the first time really noticed that there were in fact nests all over the room. He found himself frowning slightly when he heard that this bird's diet consisted of fairies among other things. I really hope that the food we get to feed them doesn't contain any fairies he thought to himself. He couldn't help, but wonder if his grandparents back in Ireland ever used these birds as a weatherforecaster. He would have to ask them about it the next time he wrote to them. He usually wrote to them atleast twice a week. This was definately going in the the next letter. He found himself realizing that he really hadn't dressed for rain which is apparently what these birds predicted when they sing.

When Professor Meade finished his lecture, Carter found himself getting up off the floor to get a closer look at these strange birds. He found a small container of the food that the Professor was referring to and grabbed a small amount. He was unsure as to whether or not it contained any fairies and felt it best not to ask. He had been fortunate enough once in his life to actually see a fairy up close and the thought of anything eating them kinda made him sad. He shrugged away the thought and leaned towards his fellow classmate also over by the food container. "Professor Meade didn't exactly say so, but you don't suppose these things bite at all, do you?" He held out his hand politely and smiled. "I'm Carter," he introduced himself. "Partners?"

0 Carter Browning An Irish Phoenix? Cool 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Ginny

February 03, 2013 8:31 PM

I suppose that could be true. by Ginny

“We’re all learning magic, silly.” Ginny commented with a wave of her hand, but she was glad that the girl’s parents were both magical. It meant that at least she understood what was going on around them and Ginny hadn’t offended her in any way. Or, that’s what she was hoping for. Sometimes it was hard to tell. “So then, you’ve just never had anyone who owned the bird before? I guess that would make sense. I’m not sure how many people own them. My Great Grandmother is an odd woman, so I suppose it’s possible that she owns something others don’t desire.” This comment was more to herself than anything as she tried to work out why this was. Ginny was curious about a lot of things and she liked to have the answers to things that had her curious to begin with.

Ginny’s eyes went wide when Julian advised that she was also from Alberta. Ginny never thought that she would have met another person who was from the same location all the way down here in Arizona. What a small world that was! “Are you really?” She asked, more rhetorically than anything else considering Julian had offered the name of the cities she was associated with. “My father’s family is from Red Deer City, but they have their manor just outside of it. It’s charmed to keep Muggles away, but since we’re on the Magical side of the city, I don’t think it’s an issue. My mom is also from Edmonton, but I have never been there myself.” Ginny commented lightly. She hadn’t really been much to Canada really since she was a little girl. Her father tended to keep them away for whatever reason. There was a lot going on with her parents that they were keeping from her. Someday, she planned on figuring it out, but for now, they refused to tell her a thing, saying it wasn’t for little girls to worry about.

“Oh, that’s an easy question.” Ginny said, although she wanted to know what boy they went to school with also had parents who were associated with Canada. “My parents moved to American when I was a small child. I grew up in Ohio, but we’re one of the few who branched out of Canada. The main family is still in Red Deer.” Ginny explained, hoping that it made sense. “My Father felt that Sonora would be the best school for me to attend. How come you decided on Sonora?” Ginny was living in America, but Julian sounded as though she remained in Canada.

0 Ginny I suppose that could be true. 0 Ginny 0 5

Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

February 04, 2013 8:23 AM

British and Northern European too! by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

Charlie was really excited about his first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. The only animal they had at home was Father's rather arch cat, Oscar. He certainly would not have been happy at sharing the house, nor the attention of his preferred humans, with anything else. He could even be ungenerous about sharing Father with Charlie when he needed help with homework, often arranging himself across the study materials. His expression – conveying both his seniority and the fact he was a cat, goddamnit – seeming to imply that he should be exculpated in any situation. Then there was Henny and her whole being nervous of animals thing. Not that he thought that other families had large ranches of exciting animals in the back garden but it had been his best day out ever when his sister had got over her issues enough for them to go to the zoo as an adoption day treat.

He bounced into the classroom, letting out a loud 'Ooh!' of undisguised and unembarrassed amazement at the room. He continued to peer up, trying to take in as much as possible before the Professor started to speak. Augureys seemed like a pretty cool assignment! Their magical abilities were interesting and they were kind of fun to look at. Maybe not super pretty but they were kooky and their feathers were just lush – they made a perfect trimming for high end gowns and he could name several collections that had featured them in this way and as decoration for accessories.

When they were dismissed, he began to make his way around the room hoping that some of the birds had shed a feather or two and that he might be allowed to keep them if they were especially fine. Sure, they were useful for potions and stuff but you could put any old battered one in and it probably wouldn't make too much of a difference. For fashion, you needed the finest ones and it would be a crime, in his eyes, to melt them down as part of some concoction.

As he was strolling about, he encountered another boy – a second year, he guessed, seeing as he hadn't been in flying lessons – who seemed to be setting about the task of feeding the birds.

“Erm... I'm not sure,” he admitted, when the boy asked whether the bird would bite. “I mean, I'm sure it wouldn't mean to but its beak does look awful sharp...” he considered, eyeing up the nearest Augurey and remembering the vultures he'd seen at the zoo. They hadn't exactly looked like the kind of bird you fed out of your hand. The keepers had mostly thrown their food in, though he thought they might have fed them one of two titbits. “If there's anything big enough to hold out, then you could try that. Otherwise, I'd just put it on the floor and see if it comes down nearer to us.” Whilst he was sure the Professor wouldn't let them get hurt he did think the birds seemed a bit wild and sharp-beaked to be getting too cosy with. He began to understand Henny's reluctance to come to this class a little more, even though he was still very far from wanting to be elsewhere. “I'm Charlie,” he smiled, shaking the boy's extended hand and nodding to his statement that they should work together, especially as they already sort of were. “Let me know if you see any feathers on the floor,” he added. After all, he'd helped Carter with his enquiry.

13 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw British and Northern European too! 252 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw 0 5

Amity Brockert, Aladren

February 04, 2013 8:56 AM

Bird watching by Amity Brockert, Aladren

Amity was not at all pleased about this year's Team Challenges. First of all, they sounded like a lot of work , something she rather hated. Secondly, she wasn't all that pleased with her team. Jordan Adair and Arnold Carey were fine, it was just that she had to work with Aubrielle Thornton, and the Aladren wanted nothing to do with that family at all. It wasn't just that Aubrielle was a halfblood, it was that when you showed kindness to a Thornton, the way Aunt Lilac had, they thought you were their best friend and you never got rid of them. The last thing Amity wanted was for anyone, including the Thornton herself, to think she was friends with one. She wasn't all that comfortable being friends with people outside her social class in the first place. After all, Amity did want to get betrothed one day.

Furthermore, she deeply resented the whole thing with those girls being at her uncle's wedding. Them being associated with her family was not something she wanted in any way, shape or form. They simply weren't worth the risk of looking bad to others. Nothing about them warranted that and she wished her aunt wasn't so blasted nice. It seemed Aunt Lilac, like Ryan, had this need to be liked, and when someone liked her, she couldn't say no to them and hurt their feelings and risk not being liked anymore. Amity rather resented them taking advantage of Aunt Lilac that way as well, when they were probably just social climbers trying to be somewhere they didn't belong. Aunt Lilac had been the only one who really wanted them at the wedding. Uncle Seth cared too much about her to say no, but Amity had felt rather embarrassed by the poor way it reflected on her aunt and uncle. Mother said they had no business being there and for once, the Aladren agreed and if Amity agreed with her mother, then it really was bad.

And she thought Clara Abernathy might be a relative of theirs. Or at least a friend. Ugh.

To top it off, Effie and Isabel were on the same team and she was on a different one! It might have all been okay, if the last member of her team had been either of them, or someone else she liked like Alan or Anthony or Bianca. Even McKinley, though she probably would have complained about dirt the whole time, would have been acceptable. Instead, she got Rupert Princeton, who had a tendency to consort with the wrong kind of person. Like he preferred them or something. So he'd probably hang out with Aubrielle and Clara and ignore her. Like he was choosing them over her. Amity could think of no greater insult than someone choosing a Thornton over her. Maybe choosing Carrie over her, but she just didn't see that happening. She was going to be left out within her own team, and she really didn't like that.

Sighing, she turned her attention to the Care of Magical Creatures lesson. It seemed like a pretty good one, mostly observing an Augrey. Amity liked observing, it required much less effort on her part. Feeding them didn't require a lot of work either. She took out some parchment and found a good spot to sit and watch the bird, making some notes here and then. That was when someone sat down beside her and she turned to them. "Oh, hello."

11 Amity Brockert, Aladren Bird watching 233 Amity Brockert, Aladren 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

February 04, 2013 8:59 AM

Quiet and methodical by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

The classroom was undoubtedly impressive. Assuming that the Professor had done this himself, he was clearly a man to be respected. Francesca was almost more interested in attempting to explore the charms at work than in the lesson. In fact, she was and it was only her lack of skills as yet in any kind of wandwork, let alone the forensic spells necessary to dissect another person's work, that kept her on track. Augureys were a tolerable subject. She had been worried that first year classes would be patronisingly simple but these birds would make a tolerable case study. She was unsure, however, about the concept of writing an essay as a pair. Essays, in her view, were best done as a solo affair and she did not relish the idea of being hampered by someone who was not her intellectual equal.

For now there was the practical part of the lesson to address. She seated herself in a position which gave her a good view of some of the birds and pulled her text book from her bag. Turning to the pages on Augureys, she consulted it to see what kind of behaviours one might expect. There was the risk that this was unscientific, as she might then be inclined to notice only those things which she expected to see. However, she was fairly unfamiliar with such field work and thus is seemed reasonable for her to give herself some sort of guidance. Knowing what to expect also gave the possibility that unexpected things would be far more apparent than if she had no notions of typicality, which would render everything as simply the same level of noteworthiness. Furthermore, there would be no point in making detailed notes on things the book already covered in perfect detail, such as feather types – her own notes would be that much poorer as to be useless and thus she would be better focussing on other aspects.

She craned her neck, scrutinising the tree tops. Most of the augureys seemed fairly non-plussed by the presence of students, keen to observe their whims and quirks, and were either sleeping or sitting in a fairly docile manner, lazily watching those who were watching them. One though was fidgeting with its nest, seeming dissatisfied with its construction. Francesca consulted her text book. It mentioned the characteristic shape of the birds' home but little more and so she focussed her attention on the activities of the augurey above. It mostly seemed to be using its beak, biting and using the sharp end to break apart the materials and using the smooth round top to nudge and pat things into place. It fluttered down to the forest floor, collecting leaves and twigs. Francesca drew a quick sketch of the leaf shape it had selected and picked up a twig from the forest floor near her feet, hoping she would be able to identify the species at a later time – tree types were not her forte, and especially not strange European forest ones. She scribbled the words 'Thickening? Reshaping?' and tilted her neck back up to try to ascertain what had the augurey had found unsatisfactory about its nest and what improvement works it was currently undertaking.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren Quiet and methodical 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren 0 5

Adam Spencer, Pecari

February 04, 2013 12:19 PM

Crying is for babies. by Adam Spencer, Pecari

The moment Adam stepped into the room, he found himself immersed in a wood. He was surprised at first, but it didn't last for too long. He was, however, finding classes at Sonora quite enjoyable compared to the dull tutors he'd had before. He did miss home very much, but classes like these did make up for it, though they did give too much homework in his opinion.

Adam sat down on the floor and looked around at the forest, his legs spread out in front of him. Though he had grown up in the city, he had visited the woods many times. He had family who lived out in the country, most notably his mum's father who was the patriarch of the Princetons. He didn't visit them often, but he had seen the woods that surrounded their estate and there were photographs. Not the same, of course, but nature was peaceful much unlike the city. Adam liked sitting here without the smog and noise of people mulling about.

He almost didn't want the professor to begin talking, but the professor started on the Augurey, a magical creature Adam was actually familiar with. He had learnt about most of the magical creatures in the U.K. and Western Europe, both the illegal and legal creatures to have around. The Augurey was one he hadn't seen till now, but he liked that they were learning about an animal native in his country.

The essay was the worst part of the class, but Adam couldn't complain. He enjoyed working hard to make his parents and siblings proud of him and he knew he would need good marks as well. He was aiming to become a healer in the future like his dad and work in the Princeton hospital. Maybe he could even run the hospital in London one day, but that was all fanciful thinking and much too far ahead.

The practical lesson for today was to observe the birds and write an essay on them. Observing them didn't seem like something that would help him write his essay, but he supposed it was better than any theoretical lesson he could think of. He took out a piece of parchment and a quill and began to watch the bird. It didn't do anything particularly interesting except peck at its food and look around for any predators. It noticed him staring and immediately flew back to its nest. 'Intensely shy,' noted Adam on his parchment. It reminded him of his younger sister who was also painfully shy in public. They balanced each other out: he was a very social wizard and she a very introverted lady. Between the two of them, they were very good at entertaining each other; she was his best friend and he missed her very much. She wanted to come to Sonora next year and he hoped it would work out.

The bird, noticing that Adam's attention was elsewhere, had come back down to peck at its food once more. Adam watched it out of the corner of his eye, his head tilted slightly away from it to give the impression he was off in his own world. "He certainly doesn't like being looked at," he said to the person sitting next to him. "Do you think he's self-conscious of his feathers or something?" His dark eyes flickered over to his partner as he smiled before surreptitiously flicking back to the Augurey.

0 Adam Spencer, Pecari Crying is for babies. 0 Adam Spencer, Pecari 0 5

Effie Arbon, Crotalus

February 04, 2013 1:23 PM

Trying to avoid them by Effie Arbon, Crotalus

Effie was having a generally enjoyable year thus far. Her ball over the summer had been splendid fun, Delphine's infatuation with Rupert Princeton aside. His behaviour at the feast had shown that the ball had been a one off attempt at propriety. It was unfortunate that that was the only example of his behaviour that her impressionable younger sister had. However, she had pressed Effie to let her know all the news from school and she would be sure to include plenty of juicy details about the kind of person with whom Rupert chose to associate. She was sure her sister wanted news of him in particular, after all. Not that such explanations of his usual character had had any effect thus far – his few hours of model behaviour and flattery exculpating him in Delphine's eyes of all the charges which Effie could level against him. However, she could hope for the process of attrition to work its wonder. Her challenge team was not the best but having Isabel was a reason to be thankful and the rest of the team seemed to manage a modicum of politeness, even if she would not have chosen to associate with them under normal circumstances. Her first year at Sonora had provided her with enough context that she knew one's behaviour in such forced and abnormal circumstances did not seem to count too badly against one's reputation, and thus she felt she could get through the challenges unscathed. Some aspects of them might even prove enjoyable and there was the ball at the end of term. It would obviously not be so refined an affair as if she or one of her friends was playing host, as all kinds would be attending – some had probably not had a dance lesson in their life – but an excuse to dress up was an excuse to dress up.

She took account of the transformation the classroom had undergone, somewhat impressed by the handiwork of their Professor, and delicately arranged herself on the ground as was the custom in this class. It was a little uncouth but it was only her school robes in jeopardy and their purpose was to endure the trials of the school day. She shivered slightly when he mentioned they would be studying augureys. She knew their associations with death had long since been disproven but she still regarded the bird with suspicion. Her mother always said that if an augurey flew across your path, you would have bad luck for nine months. She swore she'd encountered one in the early days of her third pregnancy and that it was why Araceli had turned out to be a third daughter – unheard of in the Arbon family. Effie, hoping that none of her classmates observed her being so silly and superstitious, traced a quick star over her chest with the index finger of her wand hand to ward off misfortune.

When they were dismissed to begin their work, she moved only as far as she needed to in order to pair up with someone whom she liked. She was glad to find Amity nearby. Being in different houses and on different teams, she didn't want it to be the case that she spent any less time with the other girl than usual. She didn't really think that should be a problem – the challenges were not going to take up their entire lives and she was scarcely going to start spending all her time with the people to whom she had randomly been assigned just for the sake of team bonding or some similar nonsense.

“Hello,” she greeted Amity warmly. “How are you? Oh, have you discovered anything interesting?” she added, noticing that Amity had already taken a few notes.

13 Effie Arbon, Crotalus Trying to avoid them 238 Effie Arbon, Crotalus 0 5

Carter

February 04, 2013 2:43 PM

I wonder what they're for by Carter

Carter studied Charlie for a moment as the two boys shook hands. He was actually glad to be meeting another boy from his own house besides Marcus. The fact that Charlie was probaby a first year didn't faze Carter at all. Carter himself was still fairly new to this strange place, both the school and the country. His irish roots came out more often than not both when he spoke and due to his appearance. His mother's family being from Dublin and his father's family being from Sussex he really couldn't hide the accent from people nor did he really try. He figured it was there and they would deal. "Its great to meet you Charlie," he told him politely.

He listened to Charlie's suggestion about the food and found that he readily agreed. It was probably a better idea to put the food down for the Augurey and wait and see if it ventured out anywhere near them. "I think you might be right," he agreed with Charlie. "Its a really good idea to put the food down and just watch from there. It may not do anything, but at least we gave it a shot." Holding his notebook in one hand with his quill pen he crept closer to the nest and placed the handful of food he carried just outside it. He placed it on the "grassy" floor and backed slowly away. He took a seat not far from where he put the food and waited for Charlie to do the same. He heard Charlie ask him about the feathers and couldn't help wondering what was so special about them.

"Hey Charlie," Carter began as he watched for the Augureys to do something. "I'm willing to bet the feathers are good for potions or something, but what else are they used for?" he asked curiously, stealing a glance away from the funny vultures and towards his partner. He was sure there had to be a good reason Charlie would ask about them. "I'm happy to help out with collecting them and stuff whatever they're for," he told him. "I'm just curious what else they're used for." He turned his attention back slightly to the Augureys. He was surprised to see that one of them had actually wandered out of the nest. It was slowly pecking at the food on the floor and glancing around nervously it looked like. It bobbed its head slightly from left to right and continued to eat.

It looked directly at Carter who was busy watching it intensely and dashed back into the nest nearby. Carter blinked in surprise as he watched one of the feathers drop from the fidgetty bird as it retreated. He made a note of its behavior before gently nudging Charlie with his elbow. "Hey man, theres one of the feathers on the ground by the nest," he told him quietly. "You want me to try and snatch it for ya?" he asked, slowly putting down his notebook and pen. He slowly got up from the ground and watching the birds closely he made his way slowly towards the nest. Once he was in front of it he bent down slowly and while still watching the birds he felt around on the ground with his fingertips til he felt the feather. He slowly grabbed it with fingertips and making sure he had a better grip on it backed slowly back to where Charlie waited.

The Augureys made a noise from time to time while he retrieved the feather, but they made no moves towards him. They seemed to want nothing more than to avoid him at all costs. He held the feather out to Charlie. "As requested...one Augurey feather. At least to start with anyway," he laughed slightly, giving Charlie the feather. "Let me know if you want any more," he offered adding a few more notes to his notebook for their essay. "Did you see them do anything interesting while I was close to the nest?" he asked after making his notes. "Maybe we can use it for our essay. What do you think?" he asked.

0 Carter I wonder what they're for 0 Carter 0 5

Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

February 04, 2013 3:51 PM

What, Britain and Northern Europe? by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

“Fashion!” Charlie grinned brightly when Carter asked about the feathers. To his credit he managed not to add 'darling' to the end of it – a word which so naturally followed. But his voice, soft and slightly effete ordinarily, possessed these qualities in even greater amounts when he got started on such a topic. Or perhaps the context just made them that much more apparent. “I think one would look just dandy in a hat,” he drawled, “Although I can't say I've found a hat that works for me this season, but maybe one of the girls would like it for something.

“Hey, it's come down!” he whispered, lowering his voice as he noticed the augurey giving his fashion choices – or perhaps just him in general – concerned looks. “Bless, I think it's more scared of us than we are of it.” He wasn't sure this was entirely reasonable on the augurey's part, seeing as it had a big sharp beak and talons but he was quite happy if it wanted to continue in that vein of thought.

He gasped with delight as the bird took off, partly at the spectacle of it launching itself back into the air but also at what had been left behind. Before he could reply to Carter, the other boy was already sneaking forward. He hoped the augureys wouldn't take offence. He doubted they would be defensive over a feather, and their previous behaviour suggested they would rather avoid a close encounter with a human but he still breathed a sigh of relief as Carter made it back ok. He was glad the other boy hadn't got hurt for him. The feather was a bonus.

“Thank you,” he smiled, as he took it, stroking his finger along its silky fronds. It was so smooth and shone so beautifully. “Look at the colour! The way it gleams!” he enthused. “But we'll have to ask Professor Meade if I can keep it. He may have promised to collect them for the Potions professor or they may be really expensive - I don't really know,” all he knew was that they weren't in his basic Potions supply. He didn't want to get into trouble by taking something that he wasn't entitled to. “It's great though,” he added, to reinforce his gratitude at Carter getting it for him.

“Hmm... Well they made a noise. Which I guess you heard. But it wasn't really a 'mournful cry,'” he said, echoing the words the Professor had used to describe the birds' call. “More a... Rrr! Rrrr!” he contemplated, trying – mostly unsuccessfully – to imitate the throaty noise the birds had made. “So we should probably write that down...” he pondered how exactly he should spell this, “I guess it might have been kind of a warning noise? So we could put 'warning noise' and that it's different to their rain noise.” He had been watching Carter more than the birds, although he had directed a couple of anxious glances upwards. He tried to play back what he had seen in his head. “And they kind of fluffed themselves up a bit,” he added.

13 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw What, Britain and Northern Europe? 252 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw 0 5

Willow Collins,Teppenpaw

February 05, 2013 8:48 AM

Sometimes, people have good reason by Willow Collins,Teppenpaw

If there was one class Willow looked forward to above all others, it was Care of Magical Creatures. She loved animals, and had really enjoyed spending time at the ranch over the summer, even though she hadn't really wanted to leave home. This time it had been at least necessary since her parents had gone to be near Autumn at her treatment facility which was out east in Vermont. Of course, Willow could have stayed with her mother's parents who lived nearby them instead. At least she'd had fun with her cousins and the animals though.

Which the Teppenpaw badly needed. She tried to put up a happy front, not let anyone see how worried and upset she was. The summer had been really hard on her. Well, not so much the beginning but after she'd found Autumn. Willow was still rather haunted by that. Her sister looked so sick, so fragile, and her parents wouldn't tell her all that much in their letters, instead focusing on asking her about school.

She didn't know why they wouldn't really tell her much. They were treating her like a baby. The first year knew that Autumn was very ill, she'd seen for herself. It had to be really bad just judging by that. They didn't have to hide things from her. She was upset and worried and scared and her parents had done nothing to dissuade her fears. If Autumn was doing better they probably would have told her that and to Willow, them saying nothing meant she probably wasn't.

The first year pushed those thoughts out of her mind, she had to. They were interfering with her concentrating on her favorite class. She was trying so hard to prevent that. Willow wanted to get good grades and make friends. She needed to focus but it was really hard at times. Especially when she had nightmares, which were much more frequently than she would like. Not that anyone wanted to have nightmares ever.

Willow sat on the floor with her classmates, listening to Professor Meade. She was really glad that Augreys had been proven to only predict rain rather than death. Truthfully, she wouldn't really want to be around one otherwise, for fear that they would cry. She thought predicting rain was far better, for one thing, than the birds could be helpful to people rather than scaring and upsetting them. This way, they could let people know how to plan accordingly for the weather. Like if someone heard the cry of an Augrey, they wouldn't necessarily go out and have a picnic.

She went to go look at the bird. It seemed so...sad, though Willow thought its feathers were rather pretty. She felt the urge to pet it, to tell it everything was going to be okay, even though that was probably silly. It was, however, exactly what she wanted herself. Not that she was going to go seeking it from anyone here, but she needed her parents to do it and they just weren't. And if things weren't going to be okay, she needed them to be honest and tell her that.

The boy next to her spoke and Willow turned to him. "Maybe, I don't think he should be though. I think they look nice." She replied.

11 Willow Collins,Teppenpaw Sometimes, people have good reason 253 Willow Collins,Teppenpaw 0 5

Carter

February 05, 2013 8:54 PM

Nah..I know what those are for..lol by Carter

Of all the things Charlie could have said they were for, Fashion was not one of the things that Carter would have thought of off the top of his head. He supposed it was possible that they could be good for that purpose. Honestly he wasn't much of a fashion person. He left that sort of thing up to his mother. He was pretty certain that his sister would probably take after mom in the fashion department and he was glad to leave her to it. Carter also wasn't much of a hat person, but if that was what someone was into he wasn't about to say anything about it. He nodded slightly at Charlie's comment of the Augurey's behavior. "I think you might be right," he whispered back. "I think they are more afraid of us than we are of them."

He smiled back at Charlie as Charlie thanked him for the feather. "You're welcome," he told him cheerfully as he watched Charlie stroke the feather. He shrugged lightly as he heard Charlie comment about the feather's colour. He had to admit it did look pretty sweet. He nodded as Charlie commented that they may have to ask Professor Meade about keeping it. He had to admit he hadn't thought about the fact that Professor Meade may have promised the feathers to the Potions teacher or that they might be terribly expensive. "I don't think Professor Meade would mind if we asked him about your keeping the feather," he commented encouragingly. He picked up his self-inking quill and his notebook and began jotting down some notes. He also made sure to include all of the things that Charlie mentioned as well. He nodded in agreement on Charlie's observation about the bird's "mournful cry". "You're right," he began looking up from his notebook. "They did make more of a Rrr Rrr sound, didn't they?" He asked Charlie seriously. "If that is a warning cry what do you suppose its a warning for? " he couldn't help wondering aloud. "How exactly is it different from its rain cry?" He continued questioning out loud. "And finally what are they fluffing themselves up for do you suppose?" He finished his line of questioning. He wasn't really asking Charlie all those questions, but it didn't hurt to ask them anyway.

"So...how do you suppose we write this essay up?" he asked Charlie. He made final notes in his notebook as he waited for Charlie to reply.

0 Carter Nah..I know what those are for..lol 0 Carter 0 5

Julian U.

February 06, 2013 3:17 PM

This isn't really a desperate situation, though. by Julian U.

“I wouldn’t mind one, but Dad’s not very enthusiastic about pets that won’t maybe get us in trouble with the law,” Julian said, since she still felt sort of bad for the auguries because they weren’t that pretty and people thought they were bad luck. “He says four boys in the house already make it a zoo anyway,” she added lightly, since that part was a joke; her brothers could be annoying, sometimes, and of course Joe was all over the place, but she knew she got on their nerves sometimes, too, and no one really got in trouble that often.

She listened to Ginny’s family locations. “That’s too bad,” she said about the other girl not going to Edmonton. “I think Mom always wished we’d settled down there, but I don’t know, I guess Dad likes it better further south.” Her parents’ reasons for things were usually explained, but Julian sometimes thought about that one, which wasn’t, though generally, where she lived was just where she lived.

Ginny’s presence here, like Charlie’s father’s former presence at Julian’s brother’s and parents’ school, was made to make sense: though Julian thought Ohio was probably closer to British Columbia or the eastern schools than it was to Arizona, it would be crossing the border for Ginny, which, as Julian had recently discovered, could be kind of a pain sometimes. Probably not as much of one as it would have been if she’d wanted to go to Hogwarts or something, not least because she thought she could blend in better on the same continent than she could on the other side of the ocean, but still, kind of a pain sometimes. She shrugged when asked about her own presence in Arizona.

“My oldest brother didn’t like his school, so we decided to try something else,” she said. She thought she was closer to Paul than Stephen in temperament and tastes, but Paul had never been to school, so they hadn’t been able to use his opinions when having that discussion. “Dad’s sister came here ages ago – their dad’s from the state of New York – so that was how they knew where it was and all.”

She pointed toward something half-concealed beneath greenery. “Do you think that’s some of the food?” she asked, not sure herself and thinking Ginny might have a better idea what auguries ate since her grandmother had one at home.

16 Julian U. This isn't really a desperate situation, though. 254 Julian U. 0 5

Adam

February 07, 2013 10:02 AM

It would have to be a really good reason by Adam

The witch's comment was something his sister would say, but Adam was always finding something or someone to compare to home. "They are nice," he replied, his eyes trained on the bird. "The professor said we could feed them, but I don't think it would be all that easy with this one." The Augrey seemed to be doing just fine feeding itself. Adam's only experience with birds were with the owls his family owned. He had recently received his own barn owl as a gift before going to school. But Pip wasn't all that shy and Adam had a harder time with shy animals than with shy humans.

Since the Augrey wasn't turning out to be the most exciting creature ever, Adam decided making conversation wouldn't hurt. He needed to find someone to write the essay with anyway and he didn't expect Rupert to be much of an essay-writer. "What's your name?" he asked her. If the Augrey did anything spectacular, he still had an eye on it through his peripheral. "I'm Adam Spencer." Ordinarily, Adam would stick his hand out to take the lady's and kiss the back of it, but they were in class and he didn't think it would be considered normal here in the States. It wasn't necessary, of course, but his father had told him that was the right thing to do.

"You're a first year, correct?" he asked. "How are you liking Sonora so far?" He turned quickly around to the Augrey who flew back up into the tree. "Sorry, I don't mean to keep you from observing." He'd let her get back to watching the magical creature if she really wanted to. They were supposed to write an essay on their behaviours so it would probably be a good idea, though Adam could see what he could potentially write already. 'The Augrey I observed in class flew away a lot. It was very shy. Terribly shy. Needlessly shy.' He would have to work on his adjectives, but that was a start.

0 Adam It would have to be a really good reason 0 Adam 0 5

Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

February 07, 2013 1:52 PM

Go on then.... by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

Charlie was quite surprised when his comments about fashion weren't followed by Carter with something along the lines of 'Isn't that for girls?' or 'What, are you queer or something?' Whilst Henny had told him Sonora was a much more understanding place, and whilst he was ever the optimist, he'd heard comments like that so often from other boys that expecting it had just become habitual. It was why he preferred to hang out with girls. That, and they tended to have more in common. But maybe here he would find himself hanging out with Carter, or with other boys, and actually getting on ok.

“It's a warning that there's a sneaky feather stealer under their nest,” Charlie grinned, when Carter questioned why the birds had made the warning noise. “Or maybe telling you to watch it and not come any nearer. I think lots of animals puff themselves up when they're being attacked – or think they are. Then they look scarier, so the predator – that's you,” he teased with a friendly smile, “will be scared and go away.

“I guess we look at the book and look at what we have and then write it....,” Charlie shrugged, feeling he hadn't done much more than state the obvious. “And we have to agree on stuff cos it's working as a pair. When they 'essay' here, do they usually mean like... just write up notes?” Carter had a year's worth of homework and feedback on this sort of thing. To him, essays had to have titles, and you were supposed to argue points and be much older and sitting exams. It seemed more like the Professor just wanted them to show what they had learnt but maybe his second year partner knew better.

13 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw Go on then.... 252 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw 0 5

Rupert Princeton, Pecari

February 08, 2013 8:52 AM

Being Friendly. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari

Rupert was finding himself liking COMC more and more every class. This one, however, took the cake. The classroom looked like a forest and there were birds perched up high. Rup knew those birds from the menagerie his family had on their estate. They were called Augureys. For once, Rup actually knew something ahead of time. It was rare treat, it was. Living in the country did, it seemed, have its perks. Rupert sat on the floor, feeling at home in the forestry. He liked sitting in solitude sometimes, though he would much prefer being around people.

After the professor lectured about the Augureys for a bit, during which Rupert let his eyes wander around the classroom, he let them begin observing the birds. Rupert decided he liked this class even more today. He got onto his feet and went straight-away towards one Augurey. The birds, he knew, were terribly shy, and Rup had learnt how to interact with them. Having only animals to play with for most of his childhood once Cepheus became 'too old to play,' and his younger brother was uninterested, Rup had a good understanding of the magical creatures and the way they worked.

The Augurey eyed him suspiciously and Rup didn't make any sudden movements. He knew the bird would fly away once he got too close unless he had some sort of friendly offering, and so he picked up a handful of food. The food, unfortunately, consisted of dead flies and while Rupert didn't mind getting dirty on a regular basis, he didn't care to be holding a handful of dead insects. But it was too late anyhow. He held it out and the Augurey seemed to be narrowing its eyes at him. "Come on," he said, trying to be soothing. "I won't hurt you." He was close enough to stick out his hand and scatter the flies gently in the space between them.

The Augurey stared at him for a moment before venturing out to the flies and eating them up. The bird came a bit closer, tilting its head as if to inquire if Rup had any more. Rupert scooted back a bit and grabbed a handful more. It was disgusting business, but once he could get the Augurey to eat out of his hand, he would call that success. He scooted back closer and scattered some of the flies in front of him again. The Augurey ate it up as before and came closer. Rupert stuck his hand out with his offering, this time the flies staying on his palm, but apparently it was too close and too quick because the Augurey was scared away.

"Rats, that was so close," he said sourly, but his mood didn't drop completely. He turned his head and caught someone looking. He brushed the flies off of his hands and looked up in the tree to see if the Augurey was watching. It was nowhere in sight. "Curious things, aren't they?" commented Rupert to the person as he walked over to them. "You think we could get him down from there?"

0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari Being Friendly. 0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari 0 5

Amity

February 08, 2013 3:42 PM

Some things <i> are </i> best avoided. by Amity

Amity smiled when she saw that the person who'd sat down next to her was Effie, one of her best friends. Sometimes, she worried that the other girl and Isabel were closer to each other than they were to her. They were roommates and now on the same team and the Aladren felt just a tiny bit left out. Just like she was sure to among her team members. Arnold and Jordan she was sure would be fine, but they were just so much older and Rupert would have been okay if he'd just behave properly. It had been nice of him to dance with Delphine, but his actions at school were less than impressive. She didn't really understand his desire to hang out with those people, none of them seemed all that interesting as far as the second year was concerned.

"I'm all right."Amity replied. Okay, so she was rather annoyed about the team challenges and had been sulking nonstop, but this wasn't really the place to talk to Effie about that, even though she'd been complaining to her relatives every chance she got. Ryan seemed to mind listening to her the least, but that was Ryan, he could be kind of a pushover. Amity knew that he'd never tell her that he was tired of hearing it and really, she had no intention of stopping. She felt she had legitimate reason to be unhappy.

Not that any team would have been perfect, but she felt her friends had fared a lot better than she had. They might have had some not so proper people, which could be found on any team, but they had each other and a Thornton free team. Amity didn't know which one Aubrielle was-they seemed fairly interchangeable-but she didn't care. She didn't like any of them and would generally prefer to pretend they didn't exist. If she'd had to deal with someone else improper, she could probably have handled treating them cordially, the way she did with Clarissa. It was just that a Thornton would surely take even that the wrong way.

"How about you?" She asked, reciprocating. The Aladren hoped to get to spend as much time with her friends as possible this year despite the challenge teams and being in a different house. She certainly had no intention of spending any more time with her team than she had to since the only two decent ones were older students whom she was sure wouldn't have that much interest in hanging out with someone her age that wasn't a relative. It was unfortunate that Rupert seemed to prefer the company of the wrong sort when there were so many decent people in their year group to hang out with, otherwise, Amity would have regarded him as all right too.

"Not really." Amity admitted. Just because watching the bird was easy didn't make it interesting, though she still preferred it to anything where she actually had to do work. Doing the associated essay did not thrill her of course, even if they did get to work on it in pairs. "Do you want to work on the essay together?" She asked. Amity hoped that Effie would say yes and if she did, Isabel would be able to find someone to work with too. She wished they could do it as a trio as she didn't want to leave anyone out any more than she wanted to be left out herself.

11 Amity Some things <i> are </i> best avoided. 233 Amity 0 5

Willow

February 13, 2013 1:36 PM

Such as? by Willow

She took her eyes off the bird, which admittedly wasn't doing much. "Willow Collins, of the Pennsylvania Collinses." She curtseyed at Adam, as it was the proper way to greet someone and she knew it was important to impress 'right' people, the boys in particular, even if she was nice to the 'wrong' ones too. She could probably get away with being friends with them to a certain degree. Autumn had been good friends with a Muggleborn, and that was perfectly all right. Her sister needed all the support she could get. Willow just hoped that Jane and Samantha were writing to Autumn now and letting her know that they cared.

Willow nodded. "Yes. Are you one as well?" She had heard an awful lot of important names during role call but she couldn't be sure if they were first or second years, other than Amity Brockert, who was definitely a second year. Truthfully. though, it was her own yearmates she wanted to befriend. They were the ones she'd have to spend her entire school career with. If she stuck with older students, she'd have at least one year where she was all by herself, lonely.

Loneliness was something the Teppenpaw had experienced quite a bit. The focus had all been on Autumn, with her parents leaving her with relatives all the time. Her family tried to make it fun, but it just wasn't the same. Not that she resented her sister, Autumn was very sick-Willow could tell that just by the time she'd found her-and needed them more, it was just difficult being shut out and kind of ignored. The worst part was not knowing what was really going on. Her parents were probably trying to protect her, but Willow didn't need that, she needed them to tell her the truth.

"Oh, Sonora's great!" She honestly couldn't think of anything that she really didn't like about it and it wasn't as if she were homesick. There was nobody at home right now and besides, Willow was starting to get used to being away, shuttled from place to another over the last few years. Being here kept her from being lonely and most of the time distracted her from her troubles. "What about you? Are you a first year too?" Willow really did want to get to know her own classmates better so she hoped that he was.

11 Willow Such as? 253 Willow 0 5

Effie Arbon

February 16, 2013 5:22 PM

Indeed by Effie Arbon

“Quite well, thank you,” Effie smiled. She was rather worried over her sister's ridiculous attachment to the Princeton but she wasn't really sure how to confide that in Amity. Firstly, although she had her suspicions that the other girl felt that she did, there was every possibility that Amity liked Rupert. She did wished neither to put her friend in the middle nor risk creating a rift between them. Secondly, if Amity felt as she did, then she felt embarrassed to admit her sister's poor taste to her.

“It was lovely to see you over the summer,” she added. She had written to Amity, of course, but this was her first chance to really chit-chat with her again in person. “I know one shouldn't talk up one's own parties but I mean it only as a compliment to the other guests when I say that I had just the most splendid time. Everyone was impeccable,” she noted, putting only ever so slight a surprised stress on 'everyone.'

“Yes, certainly,” she nodded, when Amity asked if they wanted to work on the essay together. She liked that their homework tended to actively encourage sociability. There were enough other suitable people that Isabel would not be left in the lurch by this action. Besides which they could quite easily work as a small group. The essays were bound to be broadly similar enough across the whole year group that she did not think it would be noticeable, or considered to be cheating. So long as they all handed in essays with two names on each one, they could all spend time with each other whilst working on them.

She returned her attention to the lesson, still slightly curious as to what Amity had been writing.

“The textbook is likely to cover most of the basics. I suppose the main difference we can observe is how our presence seems to affect the birds' behaviour,” she reasoned. She was not especially keen to interact with the birds and hoped they were somewhat people shy. She reasoned that a bird with its mouthful could not cry, which was the aspect of their behaviour she was keenest to avoid. She collected a handful of food from one of the stores and placed it on the ground some distance from herself and Amity. “Firstly, let's see whether it will accept that. Then, if it does, I suppose we could test how close it's willing to come,” she ventured, although her tone suggested her limit might be reached before the augurey's. “Unless you have an alternative idea?” she ventured hopefully.

13 Effie Arbon Indeed 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Carter

February 19, 2013 6:21 PM

You got it by Carter

Carter grinned back at Charlie for the feather stealer comment. For all he knew Charlie was right and the warning sound was for that. He had never encountered one of these creatures before so who was he to say what the sound might be for. He found himself nodding in agreement over Charlie's observation that it might be warning them not to come any closer. He kept looking over at the creatures' beak and talons and finding himself really wishing they didn't do anything to make this thing think it was in any real danger or they would be in big trouble. He smiled back as Charlie seemed to tease him about being a predator to these extremely shy birds. "I suppose if they were to snap at us or something for messing with them I would be afraid," Carter commented off-handedly .

"I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be sliced to ribbons by one of those things," Carter grimmaced at the nest and shook his head. Carter thought for a moment about Charlie's question about how they were supposed to do the essay. "We basically compare notes with eachother," he began to explain. "And then we both write an essay using the notes and our own words. Then we make sure that both of our names are on the essays so that way the professor knows who paired up with whom." He felt that was the best way he could describe it to the first year. It made sense to Carter. He only hoped it made just as much sense to Charlie. Carter pulled out his notes and his quill pen.

"Okay...so how do you think we should start the essay?" he asked, trying to include Charlie as much as possible in the writing process. "I gotta be honest I've never been very good at writing these crazy things," he confessed.

0 Carter You got it 0 Carter 0 5

Adam

February 25, 2013 6:45 PM

You know, a scabbed knee, a broken arm... by Adam

It was lucky Adam had picked a fellow first year to introduce himself to. He didn't want too many older mates, though they would be helpful in the near future. Other first years would be his classmates for the next seven years and Adam didn't want to end up alone his last year at Sonora. He knew he would always have Charlotte, but he wanted her to branch out and make her own friends as well. Maybe being alone would be good for her; force her to be a bit more independent, though he knew that was not likely to happen. Witches were expected to be married off and he knew his sister had been expecting it her entire life. It made him sad to think of that, but he knew it was her duty to the family and she didn't seem to mind.

There was some part of him that wanted to keep Charlotte with him forever. It would just be he and her against the world taking care of the younger two. They would always be best friends and never marry, but Adam knew better than to dwell on fantasies. Reality was reality and all he could do was take in every moment. The Augurey didn't seem to think the same the way it kept flying away and hiding from any real interactions with the world.

Miss Collins seemed to really like Sonora and he was glad for that. He hoped he came to like Sonora just as much. He was unfortunately homesick for everyone and everything he loved. He missed London, he missed his siblings and he missed his parents. It was difficult to keep from wondering how they were faring without him to look over the house while his father was gone on trips. Charlotte certainly couldn't do that herself and his younger brother was too young. He couldn't help but worry and that did hinder him from fully enjoying boarding school.

"Yes, I'm a first year," he replied with a smile. "I was hoping to pair up with another first year. We've got to stick together, us first years. I like Sonora very much. I do miss my family, though, but I guess that's expected, being away from home for the first time." He shrugged and smiled again at Miss Collins. "I think I've really come to like my house as well. I'm in Pecari. What house are you in?"

0 Adam You know, a scabbed knee, a broken arm... 0 Adam 0 5