Is that actually the sound it makes? on Care of Magical Creatures

Prof. Adrian Meade

October 19, 2013 1:45 AM

Glub glub [Inter. 3 to 5] by Prof. Adrian Meade

Back at school. Adrian had come to love the beginning of the school year at Sonora Academy and waited anxiously to meet his new students. The former adventurer was happy with his sedentary life…until a few days ago. He couldn’t believe what had happened and the letter that had brought the news was still at his desk. The middle-aged professor had reread so many times that the parchment was beginning to break due to being constantly touched by its owner. It had been years since he had proposed the project to the University of Michigan to no avail and now, after almost 10 years, they had finally approved the budget for it. What was he to do? The project was his baby, his lifelong dream of exploring, but he loved his job at the school. Sadly, he couldn’t do both. Adrian Meade hated doing things half way; if he committed to something he gave it his full attention because it wasn’t fair. He didn’t know what to do. He was at a crossroads confused out of his mind of what road to take, but he had time to decide.

The Professor took a deep breath as he looked around his transformed classroom and gave a little smile. The eerie under the sea ambience was enough to calm his nerves a bit before the students came running towards their chosen class. Adrian enjoyed adjusting the classroom to house the creatures he brought for his students to see and learn from. Sometimes he wasn’t lucky enough to procure the animal, but when he did, he usually made his best to give the students the real version of the habitat. Studying magical creatures was better if the animal was in its habitat. They were more normal. The classroom completely dark with the exception of the reflected candle light on the big aquarium in the middle. The aquarium was big enough to give the lobalug a lot of space to swim around without being constricted in a tight space. It was filled with everything one would find in the bottom of a lake like seaweeds and fishes and all that stuff. It looked awesome, if he said so himself.

He smiled at his handy work and waited for the students to come poling in. His intermediate class was smaller to the beginners and he was grateful for that. The bell rang signaling the start of the class and, like always, he gave the students five minutes to come in and take their places before locking the door. He was sure that by now his older students knew he didn’t tolerate tardiness. Once everyone was settled in the desks around the enormous tank, he greeted them with a smile and wave

“Welcome back!” he said cheerfully as he looked around. He was very good with face and names, and Adrian had been at Sonora for so long that it wasn’t hard to remember them. “Hope you had a great holiday, but now it’s time for us to go back into the learning path.” Adrian chuckled at his own lame attempt of a joke before continuing.

“Now, I am sure you are wondering what is inside the tank and the answer is a lobalug.” Adrian cracked his neck, “The lobalug is native of the North Sea, is classified as a beast and has a rating of a triple X.” It was a harmless enough creature for his intermediate class and since it was in its tank nothing would happen unless a stupid child decided he or she wanted to go swimming.

“The Lobalug is an aquatic creature found at the bottom of the North Sea. It is a simple creature, ten inches long comprising a rubbery spout and a venom sac. The Lobalug uses its venom sac as a weapon, contracting it and expelling the venom in the direction of an attacker if threatened.” He chuckled a bit. “Merpeople use the Lobalug as a weapon, and the venom is used byWizards as a potion ingredient, though this practise is strictly controlled”

Adrian looked at his students, “This was a small introduction to the lobalug. It’s a very interesting creature, but now I want you to write an essay on its characteristics and features AND enlist what potions its venom is used for AND why the ministry would control the trade of this potion ingredient.You know you can work in pairs and that I have books to consult if you need to. You may need a potions book to complete this one. You can come near the tank to see the creatures. I was able to procure a dozen of them. Don’t irritate them because they might try to attack you!” He finished with a teasing smile. The students were safe from the venom.

Adrian hated giving homework, but they needed to learn and controlled self-learning was a good method. “I am here if needed.”

OOC: Posting rules apply. If you need Adrian just tag him. Happy posting!

Subthreads:

How do you describe something so weird? by Clara Abernathy with Effie Arbon

Is that actually the sound it makes? by Carter Browning with Rupert Princeton, Pecari, Wendy Canterbury - Pecari, Carter

Blurp, Blurp. by Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus with Adam Spencer, Pecari, Ginny

Already off with the work. by Aria Yale, Teppenpaw with Charlie B-F-R, Aria Yale

Logic is good. Dark is not. by Henry Carey, Crotalus with Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Henry Carey

Research questions by Anthony Carey VIII, Aladren

0 Prof. Adrian Meade Glub glub [Inter. 3 to 5] 0 Prof. Adrian Meade 1 5

Clara Abernathy

October 19, 2013 4:39 PM

How do you describe something so weird? by Clara Abernathy

Clara walked from lunch towards her first class of the term. She knew that she needed to pay close attention and get all of her work done this term since her grades were less than stellar. She wasn't doing awfully in her classes, but her grades could use a little work. She told herself that her grades were going to be the least of her worries this term. Her biggest problem was going to be figuring out what to do for the concert that year.

Clara made it to class with a few minutes to spare. As she walked into the room she gazed around in awe. It was amazing how much the room looked like an aquatic environment. She have to admit it was a bit dark in the room, but she reasoned that was probably because of the animal they would be studying. She found herself a seat near the large tank of water and slowly put her bag down. She glanced curiously at the dark tank of water in the dimly, candle lit room. She couldn't see the creature all that well and wondered what it could possibly look like. She heard footsteps entering the room and glanced towards the door to see more people coming in. She was fairly certain she spotted Lucian amongst them and smiled in his direction. She gave him a small wave. She gestured to the open seat beside her, but didn't get to see if he took it. Shortly after she spotted him and waved, Professor Meade shut and locked the door. She just hoped everyone was already in the room by then. Clara was sure they were. All the students knew by now how much he despised tardiness. She sat quietly as Professor Meade gave his lecture on their new little "friend" and took notes. She had never seen one of these creatures before in her life let alone heard of them.

Clara waited until he done with the lecture before she took her notebook with her to get a better look at the weird little? thing in the massive tank. She wrinkled her nose at the creature as she looked curiously at it. Since when did sea creatures have snouts? She was having a very hard time trying to figure out how to describe the thing on paper. She took a step back away from the tank and accidentally stepped on what she feared was someone's foot. She turned to see who was behind her and smiled apologetically. "I'm soo sorry," she apologized friendly. "I really hope that wasn't your foot I stepped on. I seem to be a klutz no matter whether I'm on the ground or in the air," she joked lightly. She glanced back towards the tank and the freaky looking creature inside. "How would you describe what's inside there?" she asked the person near her curiously.

0 Clara Abernathy How do you describe something so weird? 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Carter Browning

October 20, 2013 12:59 AM

Is that actually the sound it makes? by Carter Browning

Carter finished up his lunch in Cascade Hall before heading over to his first class of the term, COMC. He wasn't terrible at the class, but he really wasn't a creatures kind of guy. He had two animals at home and that was it. He had a pet rat named Benny and his barn owl Woody. Outside of those his family owned no other animals. He remembered flipping through animal picture books when he was much younger, but since he lived here in Arizona he didn't really see all that much in the way of wildlife. He saw some interesting things, but since he spent so little time studying up on the things he saw, the only magical things he could name on sight came from class.

Carter lived in a mostly magical based neighborhood, but if he had to guess he was fairly certain that most of the animal population nearby was muggle based. That was really just a guess on his part. Either way he was dealing with an animal of some kind. He walked into the COMC class just behind the Abernathy girl and raised a brow at the decorum. The room was incredibly dark except for the single candle light within the room. It seemed to be centered around a very large fish tank. Carter peeked into the dark tank, but wasn't certain if he actually saw anything in the darkness. He did have to give Professor Meade credit though. The aquatic theme was very cool. Carter found himself a seat and hoped that one of the ones near him was occupied by either Wendy or Charlie. Wendy was pretty obvious...she was his best friend. Charlie he would have liked to see there because he was the only boy thus far that Carter could call a friend. He was on decent terms with some of the blokes from his own team, but that was where it stopped he thought. He was more than sure that Leo was probably still angry with him thanks to the quaffle the poor guy took to the face in their last quidditch game. He hadn't meant to hit him with it, it had been an accident, but that didn't change the fact that it happened. He really needed to make that right, problem was he wasn't entirely sure how. Maybe he would ask Wendy about it if she ended up being the one to sit beside him.

The other person he was pretty sure didn't care for him much was Viktor. He wasn't entirely certain why, but he wasn't going to worry about it too much. He was sure he'd figure out why soon enough. He pulled out a notebook and quill pen and began halfway jotting down notes as Professor Meade began telling the class about the strange creature in the huge fish tank. He wrote down its name and origin and the fact that it uses its venom sac like an octopus or squid would use its ink sac. Carter only remembered that tidbit of information because of his cousin Kinley and her ocean animals book. Other than that he knew very little. He got up to get better look at the creature once professor Meade finished his lecture on the weird looking thing. He went back to his seat to work on his essay.

Carter sat back at his seat and began trying to piece together his work on his paper. He found himself tapping his pen gently against his notebook as he tried to concentrate. He had managed to get a brief description written down before he began tapping his pen. Carter leaned towards his neighbor and asked politely, "Do you have an extra potions book I can borrow? I seem to have forgotten mine." He offered them an apologetic smile.

0 Carter Browning Is that actually the sound it makes? 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus

October 21, 2013 8:00 PM

Blurp, Blurp. by Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus

Ginny was really excited about being back at school. She didn’t mind being home usually, but her mother was being extra clingy this summer and Ginny was over it. She kept saying how her little girl was growing up and that they would eventually have to go looking for a proper betrothal for her and make all sorts of connections through her, blah blah blah. Ginny didn’t want to hear any of it. She was doing as her parents wanted. She was being a good girl and making friends with the right people. They weren’t necessarily the strictest of Purebloods and Ginny had neglected to mention the part where Francesca played Quidditch, but they were still both from very good families. Ginny was only thirteen, she didn’t really want to think about being contracted to another being at this point of her life. Clearly, her mother had not handling her becoming a teenager all too well. But it just made getting on the wagon for school all that much better. She couldn’t wait to see all her friends.

Of course, none of her friends were in Crotalus, so she had to deal with the first night by herself, but now it was time for lessons and she would be able to see them again. Or… attempt to, considering the Care of Magical Creatures lesson was being done by candle light. Ginny frowned as she sidled into the classroom, trying not to get too close to the tank. She didn’t think they had had a class lesson yet that didn’t involve a tank. Couldn’t they have some cute critters for once? She had really enjoyed that petting zoo last year during the Fair. Those were cute animals that she wanted to learn about and pet and play with. Things in tanks were not cute and she couldn’t pet them (and wouldn’t want to anyway).

Not to mention, the room was gloomy! How was she supposed to study the creature in the dark? She couldn’t even see her parchment properly to take notes on it. Ginny could appreciate the fact that the professor was setting the mood for what they were going to learn, but it wasn’t really conducive to actually taking proper citations for the learning. She would just have to read the chapter on whatever it was that they were studying and try to do the best she could from there.

She found a spot in the corner and did her best to try to see what was in the tank and pay attention to what the professor was saying. The lecture didn’t last very long and already they had an essay to do. If that lecture was what everything there was to know about the Lobalug, how was she supposed to write a full essay on it? “Well… at least it’s not a picture I have to draw.” She mumbled to herself. She peered into the tank to try to have a look at the creature. It was dark though and she mostly only saw her reflection staring back at her. “Are you able to see it?” She asked the person beside her.

6 Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus Blurp, Blurp. 0 Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus 0 5

Rupert Princeton, Pecari

October 22, 2013 11:10 AM

I'd like to think not. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari

Sonora was feeling more like Rupert’s home than the estate he had grown up in the English countryside. He weaved through the halls and felt comforted by the walls and the desert landscape. Once he graduated, Rupert was thinking of joining an American Quidditch team if he could make it. He had educated himself with the American teams, though he hadn’t decided which he wanted to call his own quite yet. The COMC classroom was different and was a shock from the bright sun outside. It was eerie and Rupert didn’t like it, though the subject had to be interesting in this environment.

He looked for a seat near Wendy Canterbury. He had made an effort to befriend her last term, but they weren’t nearly as close as she and Carter. This year he was determined to get to know her and learn more about the Muggle culture from her. She seemed like a very interesting person as well and Rup wanted to know if all Muggles were as interesting as her.

Instead of spotting Wendy first, he spotted Carter and made his way to him. If Rupert was going to get close to Wendy, he ought to befriend her best mate as well. “Hey, mate. Mind if I sit next to you?” he asked. He sat in the seat, hoping Wendy would sit with them. If she came in, he wanted to catch her eye and make it obvious he wanted her there with them. “How are you?” he asked with a friendly grin.

They were learning about a poisonous sea creature and Rupert wrote down his notes diligently. His marks last year had not been outstanding by any means except for Muggle Studies. Grandfather had raised an eyebrow at him in response, but hadn’t said more. Then he, Mum and Leo had gone on holiday and Grandfather had forgotten about it when they came back. There had been loads of planning to do as there was every two years with the great family reunion that was much too often for Rupert’s taste. This year Rup had to work a bit harder in his courses if he wanted to continue to be involved in Quidditch. He was sure his parents would suspend him from Quidditch if his marks were any lower than an A.

It was lucky for Carter that Rup had his Potions textbook on him at the moment for his next class. “I’ve got one we can share,” he told him as he pulled it out. “Here; look at it while I go see the lobalug.” The trip to see the magical creature was quick; there wasn’t much to see that would help him write his essay. “Find anything helpful?” he asked when he returned to his seat and spread out a fresh sheet on parchment for his essay notes.

0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari I'd like to think not. 0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari 0 5

Adam Spencer, Pecari

October 22, 2013 11:10 AM

Merp, Merp. by Adam Spencer, Pecari

At the end of the summer, Adam had been ready to go back to the academic world. He was in his third year and feeling good about his life at Sonora. His marks the year before had been great and he was aiming to continue to excel. He had good friends and was involved in extracurricular activities. It had been a bit of a shock to learn that Quidditch had been on the verge of being cancelled, but thanks to Professor Olivers that hadn’t happened. If the sport had been cancelled, Adam wouldn’t have been worse for wear, but it was something he could bond over with his team-mates and keep fit. He would have to regard Professor Olivers with more respect now as a former actress. She proved that former thespian were capable of holding a regular job after their acting career had ended.

Professor Skies was now the Deputy Head as well, which was an odd thought, but she hadn’t seemed anxious to practise her new powers over all of her students. COMC was the subject where nothing had changed and Adam, who did not like massive changes, was looking forward to the stable and unaffected environment, or as stable and unaffected as a magical class could be.

The light was just enough to see around the classroom and Adam felt like he was walking into a solemn ceremony of sorts. He went and sat by Ginny and smiled at her in greeting, feeling as though speaking in such an environment before the professor would be detrimental or cause the creature in the tank to explode or something similar. He didn’t know what sort of creatures the intermediate class learnt about. Adam wondered why Ginny had chosen to sit in the corner when the light did not reach this far. He couldn’t see the creature clearly from here and the light was dim enough that he could hardly see the ink on parchment.

The lecture was short in which Professor Meade told them how poisonous the lobabugs were. An essay immediately followed and Adam sighed. He would miss that from the beginner classes, interacting with the creatures beforehand. The lessons were simple then; it was time to adjust to the harder coursework if he wanted to receive high marks. Ginny said something next to him and he assumed it was some complaint about the essay. He would certainly complain about it too. “I can’t see it, no,” he replied. “Professor Meade’s cheeriness is almost ironic considering the room.” It was rather gloomy in comparison to their professor’s attitude. “I’m going to get books; would you like to share?”

Once Ginny had answered, Adam went to retrieve books. There was one on aquatic magical creatures and two on poisonous magical creatures. Reference to the lobabug had to be in at least one of these books. They were thick enough. As he walked back, he stopped by the tank and peered in, though making sure not to get too close. The lobalug was uninteresting so Adam went back to the table in a matter of seconds. “Nothing interesting to see, but you can take a look if you’d like,” he told Ginny as he set the books between them. “How was your summer?”

0 Adam Spencer, Pecari Merp, Merp. 0 Adam Spencer, Pecari 0 5

Aria Yale, Teppenpaw

October 22, 2013 9:33 PM

Already off with the work. by Aria Yale, Teppenpaw

Aria thought this year was bound to be her hardest yet. She had her CATS exams as a thankful reminder of that. But, she wasn’t at all bothered by it. Aria did well on tests. She did well in class, even if some of them she wasn’t quite sure about how the Professors perceived her. At least in Potions it wasn’t so terribly difficult to have a recipe for potions that were strictly Vegan ingredients. It was Transfiguration that she was having the most issues with and now that Professor Skies was the Deputy Headmistress, Aria was a little worried that she would not allow her the small stretch of lenience that she had been given this far. She was really trying hard to be more accepting of animal/creature transfiguration, she really was, she had even tried to do it on some bugs, but it was just hard for her to honestly believe that they couldn’t feel any pain. Humans were capable of feeling botched transfigurations, likes splinching, how was it that animals could not? Essentially, every time they did not fully and correctly transform a creature, taking it from one spot to another, they were splinching it in some way. At least, that was how she had interpreted her books.

Aria shook her head. She would worry about transfiguration when she had the class. For now, as she walked into the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, she would focus on the creatures. She was a little put off by the fact that the class had reverted back to classroom lessons. She missed the lessons outside. It felt a little bit more like home whenever she had them out in the gardens. Being sour about where they took the lessons wasn’t going to help her adjust to this way of life again, so she closed her eyes and took a breath, leaving any tension she had in her shoulders. Feeling better, she found herself a seat around the big tank.

Things had changed for Aria. She had grown up. It had helped that she found great friends back home who helped her find herself and what was important. Luna did that for her. Aria was fascinated with the older girl, obsessed even in a lot of ways. She was mystical and beautiful and Aria wanted that. For now, she just enjoyed being a part of it all. On top of finding friends and hitting fifteen, Aria had other physical changes that made her feel grown up. Her hair was still chopped short, shorter now, just a couple of inches below her chin, which made her curls look even wilder, and her naturally blonde hair was charmed a shocking white blonde. Luna said that Aria had the skin to wear any color, so she was testing it out. If nothing else, it made her heavy eye makeup and blue eyes pop out. She kind of liked it.

She also had a belly button ring. That made a total of four piercing on her body. Her ears, her nose, and now her stomach. Although, people weren’t likely to see that one unless she wore her bikini again or showed them directly. She did have some midriff tops that she found herself enjoying over the summer, but she only intended to wear them whenever she was meditating and that she often did alone. Well, always did alone here.

Aria felt grown up this year, but she didn’t think it was just physically that had her feeling that way. She just felt, mature. So she was going to take that maturity into her lessons and with every interaction that she came into. She took notes and listened attentively to the lecture that was presented. It wasn’t much, but she could at least start the essay that they were assigned. The problem would be the potions that they needed to list. Aria didn’t use animal extract in her potions, so she had no idea what the venom was in.

Deciding that it was more beneficial to work on the essay than study a creature in a gloomy room, Aria took out her potions book and tried to do her best to read the index and find what potions the venom was found in and then research why it was so regulated.

6 Aria Yale, Teppenpaw Already off with the work. 0 Aria Yale, Teppenpaw 0 5

Ginny

October 23, 2013 10:55 PM

We are really talking now! by Ginny

Ginny was pleased to see that Adam had found her and come to sit with her. There were times when Ginny was worried that she was too different from her friends for them to continue on having any sort of relationship with her. The way that they enjoyed Quidditch so much and she was still only just learning about the sport, Ginny thought she would for sure fall behind and they wouldn’t think she was an adequate friend to have around. Obviously, they had never really ever given her the idea that they would do that to her, but Ginny still maintained the fear whether she wanted to or not.

She smiled at him when he sat down, but she wasn’t so sure he could see it in the low lighting. She wasn’t even sure how he could see her, but she was still happy to see him. She had thought about giving him a hug briefly, but thought it might be a little weird to do it in class and Ginny had no idea about his opinions on physical contact. Boys were fickle in that way. Of course, she had no idea if Francesca liked hugs either, but Ginny felt it was safer to try to hug her female friend than her male friend. Especially since they were in low lighting and awkwardly in the middle of class.

“Sure.” She said when he offered to get the books to share. Ginny didn’t mind sharing, but she wished that now that the lecture was over, the Professor would light more candles. When Adam got up to get the books, Ginny turned away from the tank and pulled her Potions text book from her bag. It was a good thing she typically took all of her books with her. Her mother had charmed her bag to feel lighter, so she didn’t have to worry about the books weighing her down. It was hard to say what classes would require what book since they sometimes meshed together, so she liked to play it safe sometimes.

She made a face when Adam suggested her to go to the tank, “No thank you. I chose this corner so that I didn’t have to look at it all period.” She told him before flipping open one of the books. “It was… sort of boring.” She told him honestly. “My mother decided that I was growing up too fast and didn’t want me leaving her side.” Ginny rolled her eyes. “Which, of course, brought up the subject of future betrothals, but Daddy told me that I don’t have to think of those for a couple more years, thankfully.” She commented as she flipped through the pages. “I did start learning pointe in Ballet. I’m not very good and my Instructor was not pleased to know I didn’t practice as much as she recommended while I was here, but it’s hard to find the time to do it.” Ginny did not seem to put out by this fact, she just knew she would have to work harder.

“Anyway, how was yours? Do anything remotely interesting?” Ginny had corresponded with Francesca over the summer, although their letters were never very in depth. She had sent a few to Adam, but they were somewhat vague. Ginny didn’t really know what to talk about with a boy.

6 Ginny We are really talking now! 0 Ginny 0 5

Adam

October 24, 2013 12:43 PM

In our own dialect. by Adam

The creature wasn't the loveliest thing to look at so Adam didn't blame Ginny for deciding to sit as far from it as possible. It would have been convenient, however, for Professor Meade to light more candles next to them or open a window or something to bring more light in. There had to be a reason for this darkness and Adam didn't want to light his wand and have a mad lobalug on his hands.

Future betrothals for Ginny? Adam thought it strange to be thinking of those sorts of things. He had the leisure of not having to worry about betrothals. So long as he made the right choice in his future spouse, it didn't matter what sort of family she was from. He was the wizard, after all. It was too far in the future to think about those things, but Adam knew from his sister and his mother's harping that it was important for witches to always keep it in mind constantly. Silly, he thought, but supposedly necessary.

Though Adam enjoyed having a friend who was an avid Quidditch player, he also enjoyed having a friend who supported them. Ginny and Francesca were very different and Adam enjoyed both of their companies. It was funny how they all came to be friends, all being from different houses, but it had worked out for the best.

Ballet was not a dance Adam was familiar with. He had joined Ginny's Dance Club in order to practise his own technique with ballroom, a necessity in pure-blood parties, but otherwise he had very little knowledge of anything else. He knew Charlotte had taken ballet lessons for a while, but she had two left feet and hadn't retained very much. Still, the difficulty of finding time to practise a lesson not taught at Sonora was something Adam could understand. "Haven't you been able to practise some in the Dance Club?" he asked.

"I'm sure it's difficult to find time outside of that, though," he added sympathetically. "Now that we're in the Intermediate courses it's going to be even more difficult. You, Francesca and I should study together more often in the library. I know I'll need the extra time." They could be together in a productive environment; too many times Adam was more than willing to sacrifice his studying time to be with his mates.

Adam had received the few letters Ginny had sent him and he had written back, but he supposed they weren't as good of friends as she and Francesca were. There were always boundaries between witches and wizards and it was unfortunate that Adam did not have his own companion as Ginny and Francesca had each other. He would have to pull another lad into their clique. "I visited both sets of grandparents," he told her. "My mother's grandparents live in Surrey and my father's in Darlington. It was nice being out of the city for a weekend." Adam loved the continuous hum of London, but holidays out in the country were welcome breaths of fresh air. "Otherwise, nothing notable." Adam opened one of the textbooks. "I'm going to need to readjust myself back into the academic life. This summer felt particularly long and relaxing.

"My brother Jack's looking forward to coming to school in a few years. He's just starting to show signs of magical ability and he's thrilled." Adam couldn't remember if Ginny had any siblings, but he didn't think she did just from what he knew of her personality. She seemed more like an only child, but he didn't want to be rude and ask in case she had told him about her siblings, or lack thereof. "He accidentally stuck one of the dogs on top of the bookcase and it nearly toppled except Mum was there to save the situation from ending in tragedy." Adam smiled. "I suppose that's notable, isn't it?"

0 Adam In our own dialect. 0 Adam 0 5

Wendy Canterbury - Pecari

October 25, 2013 1:22 AM

It should sound cooler! by Wendy Canterbury - Pecari

Care of Magical Creatures was Wendy’s favorite class in the whole wide world. She was always really antsy during lunch because she always wanted to know what creature the professor would be bringing in that day. Her dream of walking into class and seeing a unicorn had not happened yet, but she was sure it would. Her goal in life was to see a real unicorn and now that she was magical, there was a bigger chance she would. Hopefully.

When she walked into the classroom in her yellow floral dress, her short blonde hair pinned on one side, she looked for Carter. They needed to properly catch up, but today she was oddly later than usual. She was usually one of the first few in the class. Lunch had run a little long for her today since she had been busy being enthralled by all the different magical creatures in the library. Lunch had been so quick she had needed to kill some time. She stopped at the door and looked around the classroom for his red head. Maybe a seat next to him wouldn’t be open. She spotted him. On the contrary, she saw a seat open on his other side with Rupert Princeton there. Carter would be in the middle if she sat there. She didn’t know Carter and Rupert were friends. Rupert looked like he was making eye-contact with her now that she was looking over. It would be weird if she didn’t go sit with them now. Hopefully they hadn’t been having some guy talk that she would be disturbing. She knew Carter wouldn’t mind, but she still didn’t know Rupert that well.

“Hey guys,” she said with a smile as she put her books down. “It’s warm today. It’s also really dark in here.” She dropped her polka-dotted backpack onto the desk and plopped into her seat with a sigh. Still no unicorn and the creature in the tank didn’t look too nice. She leaned forward to see it a little better now that her eyes were adjusting to the dimmer lighting, but then she had to hurriedly pull out her notebook and a pen to start taking notes.

The essay sounded like it required a lot of research which Wendy was not looking forward to. It also sucked that the creature wasn’t able to be played with unless they all wanted to die or something equally terrible. Rupert gave Carter his book before Wendy could reply with her own and went to go see the lobalug. While he was gone, she turned to Carter. “Can I look at the book with you? I have mine, but I don’t wanna pull it out of my backpack till I absolutely need to. It’s pretty heavy.” Now that her backpack was on the floor and her Potions book was in it, she didn’t want to have to get up and look especially when her friend had one out in front of him. Rupert came back and Wendy, wanting to procrastinate a little on this essay when she was with her friends, asked, “How was your guys’ summer?”

0 Wendy Canterbury - Pecari It should sound cooler! 0 Wendy Canterbury - Pecari 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

October 26, 2013 4:37 PM

Yeah, better than a close encounter by Charlie B-F-R

Charlie was curious to see what life as an intermediate brought, class-wise. In most cases, he was sure it meant harder but there was also the potential for cooler, more exciting... Especially, he felt, in Care of Magical Creatures. His favourite lesson in his beginner class had been the Augureys, from whom he'd acquired some beautiful feathers, and he couldn't wait to see what enthralling animals they would get to study now that they were a bit more mature. He had his fingers crossed for unicorns or phoenixes. He was therefore rather disappointed by the gloomy tank in the centre of the room. Things in tanks were rarely sparkling and enticing, in his experience. Tanks equalled things like Chizpurfles and Fire Ants, which were ugly and boring and which it was beyond his ability to fathom why anyone would want to keep alive.

He sighed as Professor Meade said they would be spending the lesson writing an essay. At least, he hoped, it meant they'd have a lighter homework assignment. There had been some really nice make-up looks in the latest Witch Weekly and he was dying to try them out on someone. If having to spend class writing an essay meant that he was free to do that later, then all the better. And going and watching the things seemed optional, which was another plus.

Figuring that anything heavily regulated by the government wasn't going to be in your average textbook, he went to see what Professor Meade had supplied. He grabbed a copy of 'Potions for the Experienced Engineer' and a book specifically on the Lobalug, and made his way back to his desk, resuming his seat next to Aria. He hadn't had a lot of interactions with her but he found her... interesting. She had a kind of funky style. It was a bit hit and miss – there were days when he had no idea what was going through her head, where she just looked like a scruffy hippy. But, when she got it right, she was cool, with this wild, edgy kind of element.

“I like your make up,” he complimented her easily, as he took his seat again. She seemed pretty handy with a brush. “I also figure the answer to the mystery is more likely to be in one of these,” he added, holding up the books he'd acquired. “Want one?”

13 Charlie B-F-R Yeah, better than a close encounter 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Effie Arbon

October 27, 2013 9:24 AM

Are we still talking about the lobalug? by Effie Arbon

Effie often enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures. It was true that she was never going to have much to do with them, save her Maine Coon kneazle, Hemlock, but she liked the outdoors and, by extension, learning about the things that lived in it. Today though, it seemed, was going to be one of those exceptions. Everything from the dimly lit classroom to the fact that whatever it was was contained in a tank did not really speak well of the contents of today's class. She refrained from sighing, as it was unladylike, as Professor Meade explained that they would be studying something that essentially consisted of a large mouth and a poison sac, and was really only of merit to potioneers of controlled substances.

When they were set to their task, she made her way to the front of the room, intent on collecting some useful reading material. Having selected a book entitled 'Controversial Concoctions' she turned to make her way back to her desk. The route took her past the tank, and she decided that she may as well at least have a look at the creature, as she could not really envisage it clearly. Currently, she was picturing a little ball of venom with a nose. She was not sure that observing the creature would help in any way with her essay but the lack of clarity bothered her.

She was just approaching the tank when one of those currently at it stepped back without looking where they were going, and planted their foot directly onto hers. She drew her breath in sharply, managing not to let out a little yelp at the pain. Her mood was not improved, although she was utterly unsurprised, when the careless party proved to be Clara Abarnathy. If anyone dragged the good name of wizarding kind into the mud, it was this girl. The airs and graces to which she pretended were utterly absurd. Effie had heard that she chattered away about betrothals and her grandfather's expectations, like she was someone important, whose bloodline anyone should care about, whilst all the while openly consorting with her raggle-taggle bunch of half blood cousins. Clara even had the audacity to introduce herself in the format reserved for those who were still in society and the sheer presumption of it all grated on Effie. Her immediate instinct was anger but she checked it – however much Clara deserved to feel her wrath, proper ladies did not create a scene in public. However, it afforded her an opportunity to put Clara in her place, which was more than deserved and appropriate.

“That's alright,” she smiled, accepting Clara's apology in a dangerously honeyed tone, “I don't suppose you can be expected to help it. Deportment lessons are, after all, only given to those who have some use for the skill.” For those who were going to be seen out and about – who would have to sashay flawlessly down a grand staircase to enter a ball, and to flit with seeming effortlessness between guests. Such skills would not be necessary for someone who would never be permitted to set foot in such an occasion. She hoped Clara would not create a scene in response to this remark. The girl had a bit of a reputation for such things following the pool party last year. However, Effie had been anything but confrontational. She had gracefully accepted Clara's apology after the other girl had injured her. And, if her apology happened to hint at the fact that Clara was not of the same class as her, well... that merely was a reflection of the truth. Clara really should not be angry over the truth, especially when so much of it had been determined by her own actions in whom she chose to associate with and how she chose to behave, and when Effie had not judged or derided her for it.

13 Effie Arbon Are we still talking about the lobalug? 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Carter

October 27, 2013 5:12 PM

I would like to think so by Carter

Carter grinned as he spotted Rupert coming in his direction when he entered class. He had been hoping to see Wendy first, but he was still glad to see Rupert. He nodded towards one of the empty seats beside him when Rupert asked if he could sit down. "Please do," he told him leaning back in his seat. He glanced up towards the door and spotted Wendy come in. She seemed to be glancing towards them and he was glad when she joined them. "Please join us," he told her cheerfully. "I can't really speak for Rupert here, but you're always welcome to sit by me." Carter frowned slightly. "I'm sorry...that sounded kind-of creepy and stalker-ish didn't it?" He asked sheepishly. "I really didn't mean for it to sound that way." He offered her an apologetic smile. He decided to change the subject to ease whatever tension he may have accidentally created. He took a few notes as Professor Meade gave his lecture. Carter waited until he was finished before answering any questions.

Carter was very grateful that Rupert had his potions book with him. Carter had rummaged through his own bag, but was unable to locate his own textbook. He gave Wendy a cheery smile as he accepted the book. "Thanks mate...you're a lifesaver," he told Rupert as he accepted the book. Carter flipped through the text looking for the right chapter. "Doing already," he told Wendy leaning closer to her seat with the open book. "I don't mind sharing with you," he assured her, setting the book down on the edge of the desk so she could see it as well. As he read it from an angle he wasn't certain he had found the right chapter. "Does this look right to you?" He asked as he showed her the pages. He was looking this part over with her while Rupert was looking at the funky sea creature. Rupert returned shortly afterwards around the same time she asked them about their summers. Carter considered carefully how best to answer that question. He had written her over the summer, but he had left out the part about his possible betrothal. He had wanted to talk to her about it in person. Besides, he knew that his mother had been reading all his outgoing and incoming mail before he got the chance to see it. She was already unhappy with the fact that he was writing to someone she didn't know. He could only imagine how much surlier she would be if he had told his friend about his upcoming betrothal. He felt that part was better comingstraight from him. Carter just hoped that she didn't get angry at him for leaving that part out of his letters.

Carter finally started to answer her question as Rupert rejoined them. "My summer was interesting...to say the least," he laughed slightly. He nodded towards Rupert when he spoke. "Honestly...I'm not really sure if I or we found anything useful. Wendy probably found something, but I can't say the same thing for me," he replied. "I have to admit I'm complete rubbish at this,"he told them both. Carter went back to answering Wendy's question. "As I said, my summer was minorly eventful. My little sister turned three and decided to tear apart the house. That was highly amusing," he told them both. "I went to Ireland to stay with my grandparents for a month," he continued. He cleared his throat slightly before he continued. "While I was there my grandfather told me that he and me grandma were in the middle of talks with another family about my betrothal," he told them. "Nothing has been decided yet. I'm supposed to hear from me grandda about it sometime just before winterbreak," he told them. For whatever reason he looked towards Wendy, but not at her. It was almost as if saying it to her face made him feel guilty...like he was betraying her somehow. He wasn't quite sure why he felt that way. Maybe because she was his best friend and he didn't want to hurt her somehow. He coughed nervously. "Needless to say if it is decided by then then my holiday will be an interesting one," he joked weakly. Carter tried steering the conversation away from him for the time being. "How was your summers?" He asked them both partially stealing Wendy's question. While he was waiting for their reply he asked Rupert a question. "Hey mate, this may sound like a strange question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway," he began. "I've been curious about how to go about apologizing to your brother Leo for that mishap with the ball during our game with Crotalus last term," he told the other boy, curiously scratching his head. "I'm willing to bet dollars to doughnuts (if you'll pardon the expression) that I'm hardly his favorite person as of late." Carter frowned slightly as he finished his thought. "I would really like for him to know that hitting him was an accident. Do you think he'd accept an apology of some kind from me or should I simply be ready for whatever thrashing he'll more than likely give me the next time he sees me?" Carter had no doubt that Leo was probably still pretty sore at him. He just wasn't sure how sore Leo may or may not be with him. He was going that by asking Rupert what he did he would have a better idea. "I'm sorry if I seem to be dragging you into the middle of that mess," he apologized to Rupert. "Couldn't help being curious you know?" He offered Rup a weak smile. He glanced from Wendy to Rupert before asking his final question. "How do you guys propose I go about apologizing to him?" Carter asked them both curiously. He just hoped he hadn't upset Rupert at all by bringing up his brother.

0 Carter I would like to think so 0 Carter 0 5

Henry Carey, Crotalus

October 27, 2013 9:24 PM

Logic is good. Dark is not. by Henry Carey, Crotalus

Henry kept his eyes fixed on a patch of floor some six feet in front of him as he shuffled down the hall to Care of Magical Creatures, then lifted them as he turned into the threshold of the room and promptly froze in place at the sight of the darkness. Or rather, and much worse, near-darkness. Darkness, in and of itself, did not bother him much, he could only sleep in a completely dark and silent room, but half-darkness, shadowy-darkness, the kind in the classroom, did. When the candles flickered and the shadows moved, he started to see things that weren’t really there, and when that happened, it was not unheard of for things to explode.

“Lumos,” he breathed nervously, clenching his wand tightly in his fist and keeping his eyes focused on the small pool of light he cast on the floor as he carefully made his way to the nearest seat to the door he could possibly find.

He didn’t know if Professor Meade would approve or disapprove of his light, but he kept it on, lying on his desk so he could see it, even as the professor welcomed them back. It lent a little pool of brightness to his desk and made the darkness beyond it darker, softer, less threatening. He also did not particularly care what was in the tank, but did not see the need to point this out, though he did look up in alarm when the professor warned that the lobalug might attack if annoyed before he noticed the smile, which usually meant people were being facetious. Especially when the subject matter was otherwise a venom which could permeate glass, when that glass had to be magically reinforced, and they would not use it in that case, and even if they did, if the tank broke, then likely the venom would be diluted by the water enough for Medic Bailey and Professor Fawcett to get them antidotes….

Logic, he thought, was comforting. Formal logic sometimes made sense and sometimes did not, but the common sense kind was definitely something Henry was a fan of. Many magical students plus poison meant reinforced glass, which meant no poison getting onto students, which meant the professor was engaging in the unseemly habit of humor. Opting against approaching, at least for the moment, anyway, he took out his Potions book and began flipping through it, searching for the index and the word lobalug, figuring that would be a good place to start from. Easier than manually going through the whole text, anyway, in search of the information he needed right now.

0 Henry Carey, Crotalus Logic is good. Dark is not. 0 Henry Carey, Crotalus 0 5

Ginny

October 27, 2013 9:54 PM

We're friends, that's how we do! by Ginny

Ginny looked over at him when he brought up the dance club. She would need to set up for the first meeting and send out flyers for it. She was really going to attempt to keep it up if she could help it. Last year had been a wonderful success. She really hadn’t thought that many people would have joined, but so many had and they all had various forms of dance knowledge. It had been a fun experiment for her to learn of different techniques. “The dance club is for everyone. I didn’t want to bog people down with just my way of dancing and I wanted to learn everyone else’s. Besides, it’s only an hour once a week, that’s not nearly enough time to properly practice any sort of ballet technique.”

She was aware that she would just have to do better time management in order to keep up with her ballet. She loved her ballet. Loved it. When she left Ohio, she left her original Ballet group and for a while she hadn’t been able to dance. Her mother had found another group in New Mexico that she had been able to begin dancing with, but it wasn’t the same. Of course, explaining any of that to her friends was forbidden. As far as they were concerned, she was still living in Ohio. She didn’t really like her current instructor and she was pretty sure her instructor didn’t like her, so no matter what, Ginny always felt like she was doing something wrong. She would find the time necessary to work on her dance. It wasn’t like she couldn’t do it after the club was finished for the day or for an hour or so after dinner had ended each day. She was sure she could fit homework in there somewhere…

“Yes, we should study together!” Ginny agreed happily. She wasn’t the most studious of people and she was sure her friends picked up on that fact, but if she had specific times to work with others, it would force her to keep focus. Ginny knew that as the classes become more complex, she was likely to lean on Francesca for help. She didn’t want to have to do that, but it was probably inevitable. Besides, she always liked it when she spent more time with them, even if it meant that they had to do work while together.

Even though Ginny knew that Adam was from England, it was still strange to her to hear him discuss places like Surrey and Darlington (wherever that was). She couldn’t say anything remotely interesting like that. If she went to visit her grandparents from either side of her family, she could only say that she went to Canada. Canada wasn’t America and had so much to it that people probably weren’t aware of, but it wasn’t someplace as vastly unique as Europe was. “I don’t know, I think anything you do over there is notable.” Ginny stated, her eyes slightly wider than normal as she listened to him. “My vacations are never quite so lovely.”

Ginny was always jealous of people when they spoke of their siblings. Francesca had a bunch and Ginny was fairly certain Francesca said her brother was starting this year. Adam’s little sister was already here, and now he had a little brother that was coming. Ginny didn’t have family here. They all went to school in Canada, not that she was close to any of them as it was. “Aw, poor puppy!” Ginny commented, pouting at the idea of the dog getting hurt. “Why would he want the dog up there? That seems like a terrible thing to do, accidental or not.” Ginny’s accidental magic had always happened when she was very upset with her parents from one reason or another. The accidents were always something that would cause them headaches. She assumed that was how most accidental magic happened.

6 Ginny We're friends, that's how we do! 0 Ginny 0 5

Anthony Carey VIII, Aladren

October 28, 2013 12:05 AM

Research questions by Anthony Carey VIII, Aladren

The transition from the lit hallway to the dim, nearly dark Care of Magical Creatures classroom stunned Anthony’s eyes for a moment, and he had to blink a few times to adjust to the water-reflected candlelight providing all of the room’s illumination. Once he did, though, he walked closer to the tank to examine it more closely, finding the effect – for lack of a better word - cool. Like being in an underwater shipwreck.

In the desks, he found it hard to make out a lot of his classmates’ faces, though Henry, far from him near the wall, had a light on his; it threw illumination over his face in such a way that it seemed to loom out of nowhere, looked too short because of the way the reddish-brown hair over his forehead looked black in the dark, and his glasses were transformed into two flat, blind rectangles of white. The sight was a little disconcerting, and Anthony did not look at it long, happily being given an excuse which didn’t involve any implications about his nerve by Professor Meade beginning the lesson, where it turned out they were going to study lobalugs. Anthony took out his writing materials to take notes, but not much information was forthcoming from the professor. Instead, they were going to have to look it up themselves.

He had his Potions book in his bag, and saw that the professor didn’t have a bad selection for them, but first, he thought he needed to think about what he might be looking for – reasoning out what he could. Start with what he knew, go from there to what made sense, figure out what he had no idea about and wanted to learn specifically, and then in the end check what he had learned against all three of those lists. This, according to some of his tutors, was supposed to both make research a little easier and help him refine his thinking and deducing processes, so they worked better the next time.

Lobalugs were used as weapons, which implied they weren’t very intelligent but were pretty poisonous, the latter half of which was supported by the restrictions on their venom’s use in potions. What does the poison do, though? he wrote, since he was far enough along in Potions theory to know that different poisons affected different things: some congealed the blood, some smothered, some simply stopped the heart, some affected the nervous system or muscles, some simply ate holes inside the victim….Not really things he wanted to know about, but he was expected to do just as well in the upper levels as Arthur had, and he didn’t like doing a less than thorough job on his work anyway, so he had come across bits and pieces of information in the course of writing papers last year, sometimes with more detail than he felt had been necessary, even if it was potentially helpful now.

Something which killed very quickly and didn’t cause a lot of symptoms would definitely be a controlled substance, though it did make him wonder about the animal and plant life in the North Sea, if the venom was as strong as all that and if they were inspired to release it at all easily. What do merpeople attack with them? Food or enemies? What enemies do merpeople have? What food? What poisons merpeople and not us, or other way?

He frowned at that last set of questions, deciding it was most likely too far away from the original subject to be of any use for the paper Professor Meade wanted, so he put stars next to those questions and moved on.

How is venom collected? Who has access to areas of collection? Does it have an antidote? How does it react with other magical substances?

That, he thought, was enough to start with. He went up to get some books, then returned to his seat and used his wand to create a little extra illumination. Writing in the gloom was one thing, he could write in something even closer to darkness, if crookedly, if he had to, but reading….”Am I blinding you?” he asked his neighbor as his own eyes were a little dazzled again. “This gloom is as hard to come out of as it is to go into.”

0 Anthony Carey VIII, Aladren Research questions 0 Anthony Carey VIII, Aladren 0 5

Clara Abernathy

October 28, 2013 2:05 AM

What else would we be talking about? by Clara Abernathy

Clara heard the voice behind her and was surprised at who the voice belonged to. She had felt bad enough for stepping on someones foot by accident, but felt a little worse over the fact that she had stepped on someone she really didn't know. Clara had seen Effie around at school, but they had never spoken to each other before. Clara had kind of gotten the impression that Effie didn't seem to like her very much. She really didn't quite understood why. Clara had always made it a point to give people the benefit of the doubt before deciding whether or not she liked people. Soo far that method seemed to be working...well for the most part anyway. There still appeared to be a few kinks in the methodology. She had to admit it didn't seem to be working as stellarly as she had hoped. She knew that there was at least a handful of students at the school who had a serious dislike for her. She had a vague idea why, but wasn't going to invest time in worrying about it. She knew that she had friends and she had her family...that was all that mattered, wasn't it?

Clara shoved her surprise to the back of her mind as she fully faced Effie. She had already apologized for stepping on Effie's foot even before she knew who it was she had stepped on. Clara found herself smiling back at Effie when Effie smiled at her, but found her smile slip a bit when she heard Effie's polite reply. She had heard that term used before by her grandmother who had been trying to hammer a semblance of proper etiquette into her granddaughter. Clara continued to smile as Effie graciously accepted her apology. She was a tad unsure how she felt about Effie's comment. Clara knew that she was pretty hopeless where "proper" etiquette was concerned, but it seemed a little wrong? to rub it in someone's face. Clara decided that instead of making an issue out of what was probably nothing she would simply let it go. She broadened her smile and nodded politely. "I appreciate you being so gracious about it," she told Effie politely. "You make an excellent point," she agreed politely. Not really sure what else to say on the subject Clara let it drop. Instead she turned her focus towards their class assignment. "Did you get a good enough look at whatever it was in the tank?" Clara asked Effie. "If not, I'd be happy to move," she offered nicely. "I promise not to step on you again," she made a lame attempt at humor. She stepped out of Effie's way as promised, making sure not to step on her or anyone else just in case Effie had wanted to get a better look at the weird little thing. If she didn't well then at least Clara was assured not to step on her a second time.

0 Clara Abernathy What else would we be talking about? 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Rupert

October 29, 2013 10:26 AM

Bad news: it doesn't make a sound. by Rupert

Rupert was pleased to see Wendy join them and thought she looked rather pretty. She never seemed to wear anything dull and Rupert appreciated her style very much. The only fun Rup could ever have with his robes were the colours. The robes his mum purchased were all standard and, though fashionable, were fashionably dull. The Colour-Changing charm had come in handy since his first year without his parents’ knowledge. Cepheus didn’t care enough to tell on him and Leo owed him too much to say anything negative. Colour was really the only way Rupert could express himself safely.

It wasn’t clear if there was anything between Carter and Wendy, but he sounded as cheerful as Rup felt. He tried not to laugh at Carter’s poor choice of wording and instead turned his face away so the two wouldn’t see his broad grin. Professor Meade’s lecture saved Rupert and he took copious notes as he attempted to refocus on the lesson.
When Rup returned from looking at the lobalug, he caught the tail-end Wendy’s question about their summers. She didn’t seem to want to begin on their essays quite yet and Rupert could understand the sentiment well. Among friends with at least another week to write the essay it seemed ridiculous to begin working straight away. That was the sort of thing one did with acquaintances and strangers, not friends, if Rup could consider either of them his friend. Carter began telling of his summer and was slightly confused when Carter nodded at him. Did they have some sort of inside joke that Rup wasn’t aware of? His remark afterwards brought clarity and Rup shook his head. “Don’t worry, mate. It’s not due for at least a few more days.”

Carter’s summer sounded fun, particularly with a terror running around the house. Rupert’s parents had been much too strict to allow for any of that nonsense. They had fun in other ways and, growing up in the country, Rupert had spent very little time in the manor during the springs and summers when he wasn’t having his lessons. The talk of betrothal, however, reminded Rupert that he was not really Carter’s friend, at least not a close friend.

The way Carter was avoiding Wendy’s glance told Rupert that there was something more between them that met the eye. Betrothals were awful and he decided to say it. “Betrothals are awful. I can’t understand why these pure-blood families want to force marriages that could very well come naturally. Life comes in stages, don’t you think? Rubbish, that’s what I think.” He had second-hand experience with betrothals with his grandparents and his brother. Cepheus was free for now and very clearly had a secret girlfriend, but there was no notice of how long it would last. It was awful, really, how these set-ups kept true love from blossoming with the right people.

Carter seemed embarrassed about telling that much and Rupert thought it to be the sort of conversation those two would have on their own later. He felt out of place now, but Carter asked two successive questions, only giving Rup time to answer the latter. Rupert had been at the match Carter was talking about and Leo had looked murderous afterwards. He had sworn off Quidditch so adamantly Rup had been momentarily afraid for everyone on the Crotalus team not to mention Teppenpaw’s. Leo was very secretive and was unlikely to share what his thoughts were for his revenge, but it was certain that his youngest brother had some sort of retribution on his mind. Leo was too ruthless to be satisfied with a mere apology. It was a bit frightening how passionate Leo’s grudges could get, but his young age and lack of magical skill worked in Carter’s favour.

It would be difficult to be honest, but Rup thought he’d better warn Carter anyhow. “I don’t think he’d be pacified with an apology, to be quite honest,” he told him. “Leo’s a terror when he’s got a grudge; you should probably look out.” Rup knew there were certain boundaries his brother would never cross. He would firstly never confront the person head-on about his feelings or with his anger. He also knew who he was allowed to hex and who he was not. One he was not allowed to harm was Cepheus. Leo had carried out his revenge instead by resolutely ignoring his eldest brother except during family dinners for the past nine months. Rupert had asked Leo about it once to which his youngest brother had replied he had decided to ignore Cepheus for eleven months exactly for tricking him into joining the Quidditch team. Eleven months for Leo’s age when he joined. His brother was ruthless, to say the least; his innocent face was terribly deceiving.

However, Leo was still his brother and Rupert was not about to tell even his mates all that. He didn’t want to gossip about his brother or talk badly about him no matter how Rupert truly felt. A sudden idea came to mind that could help if Carter wasn’t cursed first. “Actually, I’ve got an idea. Leo’s rubbish with his coursework. He kept me up in the library asking for help all last term. If you offered to help him I’m sure he’d be placated.” Rupert didn’t mention that Leo most likely wouldn’t forgive Carter unless Carter agreed to write his essays for him. That was for the two of them to work out. “Hope I could be of some assistance.” He slapped Carter on the back. “Good luck, mate. You might need it.” He turned to Wendy, not wanting to exclude her. “Aren’t you glad you don’t know him?” Rupert grinned. “How was your summer, Wendy?”

0 Rupert Bad news: it doesn't make a sound. 0 Rupert 0 5

Aria Yale

October 29, 2013 10:28 PM

Of what? A Lobalug? I'd prefer not to have that too. by Aria Yale

Aria’s eye flickered upward and away from her research notes when she heard a voice nearby. Confusion etched her face for a moment when she noticed the young one, the one who held the pool party last year, what was his name? Oh, yes Charles – Charlie – commented on her makeup. She did not understand why he liked the way she made her eyes look. He was a boy and a young one at that. Did he like makeup on girls? Aria recalled that he had a booth during the fair last year. If she remembered correctly, it was a dress up booth. Maybe he just liked pretty things? Aria wasn’t sure and she wasn’t exactly sure how to answer him. She didn’t really do her makeup for anyone else’s pleasure; she just liked how it looked on her. “Thank you.” She said politely, watching him for a moment. Being complimented on her makeup wasn’t a negative thing, so she tried to keep herself open to the compliment.

It was hard for her to really make out the books in the gloom of the light. The other student nearby, she thought he was a Carey- there were so many of them that it was sometimes confusing to figure it all out – had the right idea by lighting his wand. Aria decided to do the same and pulled her wand out and lit the end to have a better look at Charlie’s books. He definitely had the right idea to look at the books that were provided. Aria had planned to do that after she exhausted her method with her own books first, but it was nice of him to be offering up the books that he had just selected.

“Thank you.” She said as she took the one on Potions. “I create vegan potions whenever I am in class or at home, so I have no idea what sort of potions would use anything dealing with a creature.” Aria informed him, as though feeling the need to explain her choice of book. “I thought this would be the most difficult part of my research since there are so many potions and various ways in which people use ingredients. It’s nice of you to share.” She added as she flipped through the pages, pleased that it was easier to read now that she had defied the Professor by lighting her wand.

“Do you typically enjoy things more prone to girls?” Aria asked him, thinking back on his compliment. She had no meant any offense to her question, but was merely curious and did not know of a better way of phrasing her words. “Because of the Fair last year, I mean. I do not know many males who like to do that sort of thing. Does it make you happy?” She asked him, her blue eyes looking over at him with curiosity.

6 Aria Yale Of what? A Lobalug? I'd prefer not to have that too. 228 Aria Yale 0 5

Adam

October 30, 2013 1:58 PM

It's the language of true friendship. by Adam

An hour a week was hardly enough time for Adam to practise his dancing as well, but he wasn't nearly as dedicated to it as Ginny seemed to be to ballet. Adam couldn't see himself doing ballet of any sort so he was glad she hadn't made the Dance Club into a Ballet Academy. Dancing was all right only because it was a necessary knowledge in their society. He couldn't remember seeing Ginny too often at the ball their first year, but he had danced with a few witches then and his practise had turned out to be worth it. One never knew when a party would suddenly come about and dancing would be necessary to know.

Adam would be glad to study with Francesca and Ginny as, on a daily basis, he enjoyed spending time with them. In groups, however, Adam thought he might be the source of distraction. It was lucky Francesca was an Aladren and therefore would be most inclined to keep them in line and focused. At least that's what he hoped for instead of he acting as the bad influence in encouraging chatter. He was glad for Ginny's enthusiasm on the subject and he smiled in response. "We'll have to convince Francesca to join us, though I'm sure it won't take long."

His summer hadn't sounded very exciting to his own ears, but he supposed it did sound different and foreign to Ginny. Anything she said about her summer in America was not nearly as interesting unless there was some new concept or phrase he had never heard of before. Perhaps that was because he lived in America for half the year and England was his home territory. Adam didn't know how to respond, but Ginny seemed enthralled by his summer so he simply smiled. "I'm sure yours are," he replied warmly. "Any sort of travel is notable even if it's not very far from home." Going from city to city wasn't very exciting for Adam, but he supposed it had to be different in America with the different states. He hadn't been to any except for Arizona, but perhaps he could travel around before graduating.

Ginny's concern for the dog was expected as Adam had been sympathetic for poor Tod as well. "Jack was angry with Tod, the dog, for nipping him when he was getting too physical with Lily. Lily's my youngest sister and Tod's extremely protective over her. He's usually very gentle, but I suppose Jack was being rather rude and Tod didn't like that. Hence the nipping and Jack responding by sending him up onto a bookcase." Jack and Lily didn't have pets of their own, but Lily was Tod's favourite. The other dogs were more interested in Adam's father who owned all three than anyone else. "It was terrible. Jack got in loads of trouble for it afterwards which only added to his bad temper."

That incident had been rather early in the summer and Adam had almost forgotten it. Nothing like that had happened again and he was quite certain his parents didn't remember it either. Fiascos like that happened often with children who were coming into their magic and Jack was the third in their family. Adam remembered having found himself on the rooftops of buildings and finding biscuits before dinner when he was particularly hungry. "Did you have any notable magical accidents happen before coming to school?" he asked curiously. No one ever asked about those stories, but Adam thought they had to be interesting.

0 Adam It's the language of true friendship. 0 Adam 0 5

Wendy

October 30, 2013 5:40 PM

We'll just have to make up sounds for it then by Wendy

Wendy didn't really know what to make of Carter's awkward invitation to join them, but she brushed it off and sat down next to Carter. She watched the book as he turned to the chapter, tilting her head to the side so she could see it better without shoving the top of her head into Carter's face or sitting too close to him. "Uh huh, that looks right," she said as she began to read through it. Her eyes began to glaze over in that uncomfortable position and she moved back just as Rupert came back, so she asked about their summers.

Carter answered first and he made it sound like something unexpectedly good or weird had happened. She was all ears, but shook her head first, silently telling them she hadn't found anything in the book either. Not that she had been trying all that hard. Traveling sounded like so much fun especially to Ireland. Wendy had never been there before and she had always imagined it to be really green and colorful and pretty with lots of hills. Or maybe that was Scotland. Her thoughts were preoccupied with her visions of Europe that she almost missed his next sentence. A betrothal, huh? Wendy frowned. That had to suck for poor Carter to be married off to some girl he didn't even know. She couldn't imagine even dating someone she didn't like, not that she thought about dating much. He didn't seem all that happy about it either, but she didn't know what to say.

Rupert did, apparently, as he started on a rant about how awful betrothals were. "I agree," she said. "Do you at least know who the girl is?" This whole arranged marriage idea seemed really archaic and Wendy could see why it would be cool from a medieval point of view. In some ways the magical society was advanced because they had easier means of making potions and healing spells, but in so many other ways she found it to be so very behind the muggle world in thought and practice. There were many reasons why she didn't think she would be completely happy in the magical world, but a lot of other reasons why she wouldn't be completely happy in the non-magical world either if she had to hide who she really was. Most of her identity, way of acting and dressing was based on being as true to herself as possible.

There also appeared to be something wrong between Carter and Rupert's brother. She had been to all of Carter's matches, but she couldn't remember which one was against Crotalus. She wasn't into sports at all, but she liked to support her friends. It seemed like she had completely forgotten the incident they were talking about so she politely listened. Rupert's brother sounded pretty scary for a little kid. Carter had to have done something really bad if Leo was so mad at him. No person could hold a grudge for that long, could they? It was hard for Wendy to understand since she was so flighty in her thoughts and feelings. Anger came and went and didn't leave much of a trace.

She had no idea how to help him solve a problem like that, so when Carter looked at her and asked them for advice, she shrugged. Rupert at least had something to say and Wendy hoped it worked. She didn't want to see her best friend beat up by a little kid! Rupert tried to include her in the conversation again and she shrugged with a little smile. "I dunno. He sounds like he'd be nice if you were on his good side." She didn't know if it was true or not, but she liked to think there was a best in everybody. She and her sister had been raised to be optimists or at least to find the good in everything.

"My summer was good, I guess," she said as she pressed the top of her pen against her cheek in thought. "Let's see; what did I do? I worked at my mom's bakery and hung out with friends a lot. We found a really cool thrift shop that I bought a lot of my clothes at and I was able to give a lot of my old clothes away too." She shrugged. "It was pretty relaxing, but not boring. My family and I went on our annual camping trip too and that was pretty fun. I saw a wild scorpion."

0 Wendy We'll just have to make up sounds for it then 0 Wendy 0 5

Effie Arbon

November 06, 2013 3:24 PM

Not the brightest lumos of the lot, are you? by Effie Arbon

Effie noticed the incremental slip in Clara's otherwise constant inane grin. If she hadn't, she might have wondered whether her remarks had been too subtle to register. On the surface of it, she was graciously apologising, and perhaps Clara was dim enough to take that at face value. Her point had hit its mark though, and Clara seemed to be sucking it up and not creating a scene at least, even if she did seem a little too chipper (and somewhat over-familiar) for someone who had just been put in their place.

“I think I shall study it a little longer,” she said drily, not responding to Clara's chitter-chatter about not stepping on her again. She did not even collude in the remark by offering the other girl a smile as really there was nothing funny about it. She neatly side-stepped Clara, taking up a position in which she could peer into the murky depths of the tank. Although she looked for the Lobalug she also used the reflective properties of the glass to keep an eye on who was behind her – to check that Clara had gone and that no one else unsavoury had appeared, so that when she was ready to turn away from the tank, she could be sure of not being drawn into small talk with someone from the lower classes. Between the subtle bouts of people-watching, she searched the tank, eventually spotting one of the little creatures. It wasn't much to look at, much like any other small and unpleasant bug-like thing, just with a rather long nose, but she was glad to have clarified it for herself.

13 Effie Arbon Not the brightest lumos of the lot, are you? 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

November 08, 2013 2:46 PM

Yes, of the Lobalug. Meeting new people is always nice. by Charlie B-F-R

“Ahh,” said Charlie as Aria stated that she made vegan Potions, a little piece of the Sonora jigsaw falling into place, “So it's you.” Realising this might be somewhat cryptic, he added “Professor Fawcett always mentions vegan alternatives, and I figured it had to relate to a real person for him to have started doing that,” he explained.

“But I don't think that really puts you at too much of a disadvantage here. I mean, if it's ministry controlled, it's bound to be something seriously nasty, so I don't think many people will know anything about it. I certainly don't.” He had turned to his own book and was scanning the index when she spoke again. Involuntarily, he tensed a little at her question. It was very blunt. But, as he processed her words and her tone of voice, he felt himself relax a little. She was being blunt, yes, but rude... he didn't think so. The two had usually gone hand in hand before, mostly along the lines of name calling, or people telling him his interests were 'for fags and girls' but there was no reason why they had to. Aria... just seemed to want to know.

“I... I guess you could say that,” he said. “I mean, yes. Yes they do make me happy,” he said a little more confidently. “And.... well, you said 'typically' for girls, so I guess I can't fault on that. It's just that my dad always says that things don't have to be for one sex or the other. There's... there's just stuff and the world keeps telling you you're only supposed to like a certain type of thing but really you can like whatever you want to.” His Dad always explained it so much more eloquently. In his own mouth it sounded sort of childish and, he worried, silly. But it made so much sense to him – it was so true of his own life and interests.

“Can I ask why you're a vegan?” he questioned. “I don't mean that rudely. I just... wondered,” he added. He knew Aria had been blunt with him and so he hoped it meant she didn't mind it in return but he preferred to clarify. It was better to say that sort of thing unnecessarily than to risk hurting someone's feelings.

13 Charlie B-F-R Yes, of the Lobalug. Meeting new people is always nice. 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

November 08, 2013 3:22 PM

Logic is very good. Dark is good for sleeping. by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

Francesca entered the Care of Magical Creatures class in high spirits. She was looking forward to being in the intermediate classes, not only for the chance to study more interesting topics but also because it meant she'd be back in class with the Pierce twins again. She'd formed a firm friendship with them in her first year of Charms but then they had moved on ahead of her last year. Unfortunately, the Care of Magical Creatures classroom had been made rather gloomy, and she couldn't pick them out. She made her way to a nearby patch of light, discovering it to be Henry Carey, and slid into the seat behind him. As he had not been immediately attacked nor told to extinguish the light, she reasoned it was a safe enough course of action and thus lit her own wand, giving him a small smile now that he could see her.

She took notes on the brief lecture by Professor Meade. It seemed that most of the lesson would be a fact finding mission, with a viewing opportunity if desired. She remained seated for the time being. She would, perhaps, go up later, once the initial scrum had passed. She could, in the meantime, do what she could on her essay from her textbooks (though she doubted the answer to the venom question would be in there) and perhaps combine collecting some more with viewing the tank. Hopefully there were enough that some good ones would remain or have been returned by that point.

She turned to the section on lobalugs in her book. They were singularly unappealing creatures.

“Well, once again, I feel vindicated in my choice of pet,” she commented to Henry as she combed the book for useful information. It seemed to contain much the same as Professor Meade's lecture. Venomous creature, used by merpeople in hunting. Hunting? She consulted her lecture notes. Professor Meade had said 'weapon.'

“That's interesting...” she said, more to herself although audibly enough. The two didn't contradict each other – weapons were essential in hunting – but it gave her a little more information. Merpeople, she was fairly sure, ate small to moderately sized sea creatures the majority of the time (she flicked to the page on them, keeping her place on lobalugs with a finger, to double check).

Hunting weapon, she added to her notes, ? - therefore kills/imobilises moderate sized prey. ? - similar effect in wizards, but less due to size, or different effect. ? - presumably non-toxic to merpeople.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Logic is very good. Dark is good for sleeping. 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Henry Carey

November 13, 2013 10:43 PM

It does have that going for it by Henry Carey

Henry wasn’t a fan of the way there were usually people on at least three sides of him at school, but the teams in his second year had provided enough chances she hadn’t taken for Wolseithcrafte to do something unpleasant to him for Henry to be more or less all right with her presence, and at the moment, it was an almost welcome addition to his environment, since she brought with her more light. He nodded in response to her smile, acknowledging her arrival and their prior acquaintance.

“These would be boring pets,” he agreed, glancing away from his book when she spoke. “Unless you stuck your hand in, maybe,” he added slowly. “If it goes through skin – since it doesn’t look like they have teeth.”

He said this slowly, haltingly, thinking it through as he said it. The poison was spewed out into the water, so it had to either go through skin, or else be taken in by whatever fish it was aimed at, in the water, as it breathed, since they didn’t have teeth to bite with. Just a spout attached to a venom sac. Though it had to have some kind of head, he thought, to sense danger to spew venom at – when a merperson didn’t just point and squeeze, anyway. So….

He glanced at his quill, frustrated with its inability to take down his thoughts as he had them, instead of making him write everything down. He decided to just think about it and see what he could find in the book to see if he was right or not. Wolseithcrafte, though, distracted him, Arthur-like, and he looked at her again. “What did you find?” he asked, assuming collaboration was fair game as long as they were still in class and just doing the research.

0 Henry Carey It does have that going for it 239 Henry Carey 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

November 14, 2013 4:42 PM

But sleeping in class is bad so... by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

“And fairly useless. Owls aren't all that for personality and cuddliness but at least they take your mail. Oddly enough, the potential to burn me isn't the kind of excitement or functionality I want from a pet.”

For a few moments, she and Henry worked in companionable science. Theodore was a big fan of companionable silence and thus it was something Francesca was very comfortable with. She herself wasn't really prone to chattering a mile a minute although she definitely enjoyed being around other people and having friendly discussions. So long as she could be sure of a positive interaction, she was very happy around other people. After spending a year on the challenges with him, she had learnt that Henry kept very much to himself, wherever possible. Therefore, if he was comfortable around her and willing to make odd bits of chit chat, she felt that was a good level to be at with him, and was pleased that such a thing had arisen from the team she'd been in. It had all been very enjoyable and she'd been pleased to win, and she hadn't wanted everything about it to simply fade away. Having Henry be comfortable around her was a way of holding on to that, of it having some kind of continuation.

“It states that they're a hunting weapon,” she explained, when Henry asked what had caught her interest. “Which is mildly more specific than Professor Meade's definition. I'd assume it stuns or kills prey but is non-toxic to merpeople. All of which tells us very little about its likely effect on humans...” she added with a wry smile.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte But sleeping in class is bad so... 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Aria

November 18, 2013 9:16 PM

Sometimes it is. by Aria

Aria’s brows furrowed at Charlie’s statement. What was her? Had she left some of her ingredients out in the potions classroom for him to stumble upon and become quite confused as they hadn’t been using those in their lessons? She didn’t think she had done so. Aria was quite meticulous about her potion kit and she made sure she had everything packed away and cleaned up before she left her desk to head to her next destination. There was simply no way that could be the case. Not that she had to wait very long for an explanation. Almost as soon as making any sort of comment, Charlie was explaining himself. “Oh, yes, I suppose it is.” Aria was fairly certain there were others before her who had also used Vegan ingredients because Professor Fawcett had found alternative lists pretty quickly, but he had begun to regularly add those into his lessons when she was a first year. Perhaps she had been the final straw to get him to do it each lesson instead of waiting for a student to request for it?

“Perhaps not at our level.” Aria commented. Advanced students had more liberties with their potions and ingredients as they were working on their final projects and theories; they were more likely to have to use this in their potions than they were at the Intermediate level. Charlie was only a Third year, so he wouldn’t really come across something dangerous yet, but that wasn’t to say people in her own year hadn’t used it at some point and she was unaware of it. Two years could really make all the difference.

Charlie’s father had a point, but that wasn’t necessarily how it worked. Her community didn’t have things that were masculine or feminine other than in clothing, but she had never seen a male wear makeup. Most of the girls don’t wear it either and Aria simply discovered makeup on her own, but, even so, the idea of Eades finding happiness in something that was meant to beautiful and soften features was humorous to Aria. Despite her feelings of it, she did not think oddly of Charlie. Some in the community find her odd for wearing her clothes as she did or the amount of eye liner, but it made her happy and comfortable and if it did so for him, who was she to think differently of him?

“My community, my family, we feel that slaughtering animals and creatures for selfish means when alternatives are readily available is unjust and goes against the beauty that Mother Nature so willingly gives to us. What one finds in meat, the nutrients and proteins, they can find in other resources. The death of the living is unnecessary.” Aria explained. “We’re not strict Vegans. We do consume dairy. We have a couple of dairy cows on our lands that we care for. They produce milk so wonderfully and since they must be milked on a regular basis, it seemed wasteful to not use what they have given to us. We make our own butter and cream, pasteurize the milk for consumption, things like that.”

Aria remembered studying about the process and how horrible life for a dairy cow on a farm created for the sole purpose of milking those cows dry. A dairy cow on a farm lasted no more than three to five years before death took them. They were breed to be on a production line and then die when they were no longer producing at the top rate. After which, they were sold for slaughter. At least in her community, their cows have and will continue to live to ripe old ages. They were milked when they needed to be milked and only at that time. “I read books where consuming Dairy makes us not Vegans, but considering cows that produce milk but aren’t milked can become sick, infertile, end up with Mastitis, or Lameness, lower production rate, and ultimately death, milking them was necessarily for their health and longevity.” Aria stated, listing off everything she could remember about what she had studied.

It was the care for the cows that ultimately mattered more than anything and like all animals and creatures that roamed their grounds, the cows were treated as equals and with the utmost care. “We live in our own way that makes sense to us even if it doesn’t make sense to others. I’m learning to accept that difference.” Aria said, looking actually content with this knowledge.

6 Aria Sometimes it is. 0 Aria 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

November 30, 2013 3:42 PM

Yeah... I like to be optimistic by Charlie B-F-R

“Fair enough,” Charlie nodded, when Aria explained about being a vegan. You couldn't really say much more than that, as far as he was concerned. Everyone had their own way of doing things. Although he was sort of intrigued as she explained they drank milk and dairy products but that that was, according to some books, wrong or frowned upon.

“So, why do you own the cow then?” he asked, “Seeing as you don't want, or aren't supposed to,” he was a little fuzzy on which it was, “eat any of that stuff. If you didn't have the cow in the first place, then you wouldn't have to.” Surely people owned cows because they wanted milk or, eventually, beef. If you didn't want those things, but ended up having to have them because you had a cow, that seemed strange. Especially as owning a cow seemed a pretty intentional thing. Some animals you could get sort of accidentally - a cat, for example, if a stray one came round and you fed it scraps – but a cow? Surely no one accidentally owned a cow.

“Oh hey, look,” Charlie grinned, pointing to the index of the Potions book, where 'Lobalug (venom) – see venom, Lobalug' was written, “I never understand why they don't just put the page number there too,” he muttered, flicking to the V page.

“And if it's how you're happy, do it,” he shrugged, in response to her comment about her ways not making sense to other people. “That's what my dad always says anyway. That so long as what you're doing makes you happy and doesn't hurt anyone else, then it's the right thing to be doing.

“Ew,” he said, having turned to the page named by the index. He marked the page with a finger, closing the cover. “The words 'Eviscerating Essence' appear on this page, accompanied by a picture,” he explained, pulling a face. “Though I didn't really look long enough to see if that was what the Lobalug venom was in. It was pretty gory.”

13 Charlie B-F-R Yeah... I like to be optimistic 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5