This is why you can't have nice things on Care of Magical Creatures

Prof. Adrian Meade

December 30, 2013 4:43 AM

Coo Coo [Int. 3 to 5] by Prof. Adrian Meade

Adrian wasn’t having the best day. In fact, he wished this day would be over very soon. The COMC teacher was suffering from a cold, and his very busy schedule had prevented him from reaching out to the Medic for a solution to his very annoying illness. The middle-aged man rarely got sick, but when he did it hit him like a big wave that washed away his will to live. He was feeling that bad. Adrian felt like his life force had been sucked away by a dementor. The COMC teacher was glum when he entered his classroom a tad bit late. He looked at his students for the first time and made a mental promise to go see Dylan after class. He couldn’t continue wandering around the school like a mindless zombie. And a nap. Yes, napping would help his morale.

“Welcome,” he greeted his students without his usual cheery tone and smile. Adrian wished he was back at his old childhood home being pampered by his mother, but it was impossible starting with the fact that his mother had died a long time ago. Maybe his Aunt could make him feel better. She had basically taken care of him since he was a teenager, but Adrian still remembered his mother’s sweet smell and the tenderness of her hands and voice. The dark-haired middle-aged man had gone through a very big adjustment moving in with his Aunt after his mother passed away. Adrian owed a lot to his Aunt Cecilia.

“Today’s lesson is very easy. I couldn’t procure a live specimen for the class because they are actually an endangered species and they are guarded by magical law all over the world,” Adrian coughed into his sleeve before continuing with his very brief lecture.

“The Diricawl is a plump, fluffy-feathered and flightless bird. It has the ability to disappear and reappear elsewhere as a means of escaping danger. Muggles are aware of the existence of the Diricawl as a dodo(a large, extinct, flightless bird). However, since Muggles are not aware of its ability to vanish at will, they believe that they have hunted the dodo to extinction. The International Confederation of Wizardshas not seen fit to reveal that the animal still exists, since it seems to have raised Muggle awareness of the consequences in slaying their fellow creatures indiscriminately.”

Adrian slowly sat down on his chair and looked at his intermediate class, “Partner up. I’ll be here if you need me. You need to write a profile on the Diricawl, both their magical and muggle properties.”

OOC: posting rules apply. If you need Adrian tag him! Have fun AND PLEASE write your house beside your name. It makes me adding points more easy. Thank you.

Subthreads:

Said the Clock by Keme RunningBear, Aladren with Carter Browning, Teppenpaw, Keme RunningBear

Describes how I feel (tag Lucian) by Clara Abernathy, Pecari

This is why you can't have nice things by Effie Arbon, Crotalus

I was picturing more of a kiwi than a coocoo by Neeka Campbell [Pecari] with Rupert Princeton, Pecari

*sigh* (Tag Julian) by Willow Collins, Teppenpaw with Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

0 Prof. Adrian Meade Coo Coo [Int. 3 to 5] 0 Prof. Adrian Meade 1 5

Keme RunningBear, Aladren

January 01, 2014 1:42 PM

Said the Clock by Keme RunningBear, Aladren

Keme didn’t celebrate Christmas. There were some families in his tribe who did, some who did so because they enjoyed the festivities, others who did so because they had found a religion, but most did not. Their culture gave thanks in different ways on a daily basis and gave and received gifts throughout the year. His immediate family didn’t feel the need to do so on a particular night. The tribe did, however, celebrate the solstice through traditional meals and dance. It was a fun time all around and Keme always enjoyed watching the men of the tribe in their headdress and garments dance together.

But aside from that, his holidays had been quiet. He had shot around his bow with his sister, who was definitely a great teacher for him as he continued to become a better archer each time they went out together, hung around with his friends, and spent time with his parents. They sometimes still brought up girls around him, but most of the time it was really asking if he had made friends. The only thing Keme could tell them was that he had acquaintances that he did not mind being around. He worried that labeling that as anything more would only lead to disappointment for himself if the other parties did not agree with those sentiments.

He was back into the routine of school now though and it was just the same old thing after the same old thing. The only thing different about this term was that he had to participate in the concert at the end of the year. His group had yet to get together and he wondered what that would mean for them. If Lawrence didn’t get them together and they had nothing to show for the concert, would they get in trouble for his lack of responsibility? Keme didn’t want to lose points or get into any sort of trouble because of someone else. He didn’t think that was fair. But at the same time, he didn’t feel like he was in any right to request the team to meet, mostly because he wasn’t anywhere near the oldest of the group and he didn’t want to step on any toes. Hopefully, something will come up and he will be able to stop fretting about it.

He took a seat in the Care of Magical Creatures classroom and immediately noticed that there weren’t any specimens in a cage or tank with them. So, that meant it was just a lecture and probably an essay. Keme wasn’t sure how to feel about this. He liked looking at the creatures when they were available to him, but it always felt the same. Look, sketch, look, write, or discuss and write. Every class was like this in its own way; read, cast a spell, read, write an essay, etc. Always the same. The only thing that changed was the content. Usually, the content was what made it fun.

The Diricawl, they were interesting. They were interesting enough that their magical properties actually had the Muggle world believe they were extinct. That was pretty awesome. Obviously unintentional, but still pretty interesting. That was about all he really knew on the bird though, so this assignment would require a little research. Now all he needed was a partner willing to help out with. Keme pulled out his text book and some parchment before looking around to see if there was anyone free to partner with. Seeing someone who looked to be alone, Keme took his things and wandered over to them, “Hey, sorry to bother you, do you have a partner yet?”

6 Keme RunningBear, Aladren Said the Clock 0 Keme RunningBear, Aladren 0 5

Carter Browning, Teppenpaw

January 01, 2014 5:11 PM

Aren't Coo Coo clocks the only ones that talk? by Carter Browning, Teppenpaw

Carter had already finished a quick lunch and was up in the Teppepaw dorms looking for something when his COMC class time came around. He had left Cascade Hall towards the Teppenpaw Common Room to retrieve his textbook which he had left sitting on the table beside his bed in the dorms. Carter had silently cursed himself for that little slip as he had made his way to the dorms. He had been back at school for a couple of weeks now and was slowly getting re-acclimated to the routine. Once he found his textbook he left the Teppenpaw dorms and common room and headed for the COMC classroom. He was actually kind of glad that this particular was in the mid afternoon just after lunchtime. That meant that he could actually try to concentrate on what he was doing instead of focusing on food. Carter had been doing well in his classes thus far despite a few minor hiccups here and there and didn't want to mess up that track record. He wasn't like any of the Aladrens, who he was pretty sure had way better grades than he did since they probably studied far more than he did, but he was doing alright. At least his grades were good enough that his parents left him alone about them for the time being. As long as he was able answer their “surprise” pop quiz questions at home, his parents were satisfied that he was doing what he should be at school and didn't bother him about it. There were many other things to bother him about so Carter was glad that for the time being his grades were not one of those things.

Carter entered the COMC classroom and was a tad surprised to see that there appeared to be no specimen there for the class to work with. Carter kind-of enjoyed the more hands-on approach to the class and it was slightly disappointing to not have anything to deal with. Then again, there was always the possibility that the specimen they would be working with was invisible or something. He knew that some of the animals in the wizarding world were able to appear and disappear and some were just plain invisible to begin with. With that thought in mind, Carter looked around briefly for Wendy and after waving towards her he took a seat and waited anxiously for Professor Meade to begin their lesson. When Professor Meade began his lecture Carter felt a bit sorry for the poor guy. Professor Meade did not look like he was feeling all that great. His suspicion was confirmed when Professor Meade greeted them without his normal slight cheeriness. Professor Meade didn't exactly strike Carter has a particularly cheerful person, but he did strike him as someone who was usually excited-ish about his job and the subject matter that he presented to them. Today Professor Meade didn't seem like quite his excited-ish self.

Carter took his notebook out of his book bag and placed it on his desk. He pulled out a self-inking quill and began taking a few notes during Professor Meade's lecture. Carter felt his eyebrow raise in surprise when the Professor mentioned the Diricawl. Carter had heard of the Diricawl, but knew very very little about it. One of the few things that surprised him the most was that Muggles actually knew it “had” existed. He had no idea that the Diricawl and the Muggle Do-Do bird were actually one and the same bird! He was further surprised to learn that the bird could actually disappear at will. That explains a lot he thought to himself when Professor Meade mentioned that Muggles believed the animal to be extinct and for what reason. It made him slightly curious to know how many other animals were believed to be extinct by the Muggles due to their unique abilities. Carter grimaced slightly when Professor Meade told them that their assignment was write a profile for the creature. He may as well have assigned them an essay on the thing. Carter was never any good with writing essays and figured writing a profile was about the same. He was digging around in his book bag for the textbook he had just collected right before class when he heard someone beside him. ”Hey, sorry to bother you, do you have a partner yet?”

Carter offered the boy beside him a friendly smile and shook his head before turning his attention away for a second to retrieve his book. Once he had it in hand he gave the other boy his full attention. Carter recognized him briefly, but didn't really know him. He was fairly certain the boy's name was Keme since he had heard it said during roll call, but hadn't had the chance to work with him or talk to him really since Carter usually had a different partner or Keme did. He was glad they had a chance to work together this time. Carter shook his head at Keme's question and offered him a friendly smile. “It's not a bother,” he assured the other boy. “I dunna have a partner yet. I would be happy to work with ye if ye want.” He held his hand out proper to the other boy. “I'm Carter,” he introduced himself simply. “You're Keme, right?” he asked politely. Once he received confirmation Carter went right to work. “Its funny, I've heard the Diricawl mentioned before, but I had no idea that the muggles knew it existed.” He shrugged absently. “I kind-of wish we could see it here in class. Its too bad that its on the endangered species list,” he commented, disappointed. “Do you have any ideas on how we should go about setting up the profile the Professor wants?” he asked curiously. “I was half way thinking that we could do it sort of like a Pros/Cons list. Ya know, put the magical attributes on one side and the Muggle attributes on the other like this,” he showed Keme what he meant on a blank piece of paper. “What do you think?” he inquired. He was genuinely curious to see if Keme might have a different idea.

0 Carter Browning, Teppenpaw Aren't Coo Coo clocks the only ones that talk? 0 Carter Browning, Teppenpaw 0 5

Clara Abernathy, Pecari

January 01, 2014 6:31 PM

Describes how I feel (tag Lucian) by Clara Abernathy, Pecari

Clara had spent most of her time back to school either in her dorm room, in the library studying for her RATS or at Quidditch practice. Even though she had opted to sit on the bench this time around that was no excuse to miss practice. What if one of the other players got injured and she had to fill in for them? Wouldn't help the team much if she was out of shape, would it? So she went to practice like the rest of the Pecari players on the off chance that she might be needed. She silently prayed for their sake that she wasn't, but she would be there in case she was. Clara walked silently from the Pecari dorms to the COMC classroom with her arms crossed painfully tight across her chest.. Since her disaster of a holiday and just before, the fifteen year old was not in the cheeriest of moods. She still had not spoken a word to her father since her outburst at the wedding reception and that made the usually cheery girl even more morose. She entered the COMC room and after glancing around the room frowned in confusion when there appeared to be no animals there for them to work with. “What the devil?” she mumbled to herself as she found her way to a seat. She couldn't help wondering what Professor Meade had in mind for them as she placed her bag on the floor by her seat.

Clara glanced towards Professor Meade as he began his lesson for their class. She frowned slightly and cocked her head when he mentioned the Diricawl. Since Clara had grown up mostly around Muggles and not Magic folk, she had no idea what a Diricawl was. She felt her eyebrows raise in surprise when he told them that the Muggles knew the bird as the Do-Do. Seriously? THE do-do bird? No way! she thought to herself as Professor Meade continued his brief lecture. Clara had heard very few stories growing up about the ancient birds. The only things she knew about them were what Professor Meade described to the class. Clara had never really been interested enough in them beyond that to do any other research. She had been told they were funny-looking birds that couldn't fly that lived thousands of years ago. They had been hunted into extinction (apparently) and now they no longer existed. Beyond that Clara knew nothing about them. Since Clara had grown about around Muggles the other name they carried was never used. This was the first time that Clara had ever heard it mentioned.

Clara absently took notes as the Professor finished his lecture making as little eye contact with people as possible. Since she still wasn't in the best of mind frames she had felt it best not to be around too many people. It was part of the reason why she hadn't seen much of Lucian since their return to school. She hadn't wanted her bad mood to put him into a funk. She was supposed to be the cheerful one in their relationship, not the seriously bummed out one. He was the serious one, she was the silly one. He gave her serious advice when she needed it, she gave him the excuse to be silly when he needed or wanted to be without feeling like he was weird for wanting or needing it. They went well together and it was one of the many reasons she liked him soo much. She was still thinking about Lucian when she heard someone move in the seat near her. She glanced towards her neighbor and offered them a small smile when she saw who it was. “I'm beyond glad its you sitting beside me right now,” she told them lightening up a little. “I really missed you over the break. I'm sorry if it seems like I've been avoiding you. I haven't, I've just been in a rotten mood and didn't want it to affect you,” she told them sincerely. “I hope you aren't angry with me,” she told them, glancing back towards her notebook. She offered her neighbor a weak smile.

0 Clara Abernathy, Pecari Describes how I feel (tag Lucian) 232 Clara Abernathy, Pecari 0 5

Effie Arbon, Crotalus

January 02, 2014 3:04 PM

This is why you can't have nice things by Effie Arbon, Crotalus

Professor Meade often had surprises for them when they entered the classroom, whether it was a tank with the latest specimen for study or the entire room transformed into an animal's natural habitat. Effie had rather come to expect this sort of thing and almost did a double take as she walked in to find the room just... as itself. She took a seat, carefully studying it for any signs of interesting life or clues to what they would be studying today. However, the only thing different to usual was that Professor Meade looked like he needed a large dose of Pepper Up Potion and a good lie down, which perhaps accounted for the rather lack lustre appearance of everything else.

Effie always prepared to take notes at the start of class but as she dug her quill and parchment out, she got the feeling that she might not be packing them up again that quickly. She suspected they were in for a theory class. That was fine by her, especially as she could have quite happily have studied a number of their recent projects without a face to face encounter. However, she really was rather fond of animals (the kind that weren't going to cover you in slime or venom at any rate) and was really rather hoping there might be a practical class with something that was nice to look at, or maybe even pet, in the near future. Care of Magical Creatures failing her on this front, she always had Hemlock, her Maine Coon, who would never refuse a cuddle, even though he had rapidly outgrown his mistress' lap.

As Professor Meade began his lecture, Effie began taking notes in elegant, sloped hand-writing. Her long light hair was tied back neatly from her pale face with a little red ribbon. As her hand moved gracefully across the page, it never caught in the line above and her writing shone out, as neat and unblemished in its appearance as its owner. The only thing to disturb this scene of serenity was the slight smirk that crossed her features as Professor Meade mentioned the tack taken by the Confederation as regarded Muggles. Her tutors had taught her many of the atrocities committed by Muggles, and their rampant destruction of nature, with no thought for the balance of the world or the consequences of their actions had featured frequently. Indeed, it had probably come in second only to tales of the wars and violence Muggles inflicted upon each other and the horrific machines they wrought to kill with. The Confederation and those who upheld the Statute of Secrecy were about the only sensible policy-makers out there; Muggles simply couldn't be trusted not to damage or tarnish any nice thing they came within reach of.

Effie turned her attention to the essay, not quite sure what Professor Meade meant by 'Muggle properties' of the animal and quite determined not to find out, unless it simply meant illustrating their stupidity with regards to the creature.

'Magical Properties of the Diricawl – Ministry Rating,' she wrote as a sub-heading. Sticking firmly to the wizarding authorities' view of the creature was very definitely a good place to start. It seemed to have a XX rating, which she noted down, along with the descriptor for the category 'harmless/may be domesticated.'

'More likely the former as the Diricawl's capacity to disapparate would make it difficult to contain as a pet she added her own thoughts below, vaguely wondering whether anyone had tried. With the right wards, it might be possible, although creatures' abilities in this area were often different to wizarding kind's – House Elves, for example, could transport themselves across certain wards that wizards could not. If the Diricawl could not be contained by regular magic, she couldn't quite see why someone would go to the trouble of inventing spells specifically to contain it, especially as it didn't seem that attractive or useful. However, wizards did often seem to enjoy doing things just to prove they were possible. She was pondering whether or not it was worth researching this angle when her attention was drawn away from it by the person next to her speaking...

13 Effie Arbon, Crotalus This is why you can't have nice things 238 Effie Arbon, Crotalus 0 5

Neeka Campbell [Pecari]

January 04, 2014 12:38 AM

I was picturing more of a kiwi than a coocoo by Neeka Campbell [Pecari]

Neeka felt a pang of disappointment strike her as she arrived for Care of Magical Creatures. For one thing, Professor Meade was clearly not feeling very well, which would probably mean a more mild lesson than what the class might otherwise have been granted. At fourteen years old, she was definitely okay with a little more danger than her younger self might have wanted to encounter.

Additionally, the Pecari saw no magical creature anywhere; how were they supposed to Care for something that did not exist? Of course, given the nature of magic animals, it was entirely likely that today's lesson centered upon something that was invisible. She supposed she just had to wait to find out, but given that she tended to arrive early, she had longer to wait than she really cared to endure.

The time passed, and Neeka discovered that she had been only half-right; today's lesson was on a species that was occasionally invisible, but no such organism was lurking before them. Professor Meade had not been able to acquire one. Pouting internally, she just sat and listened to the description he provided, eyes closed, doing her best to stir her mind into an image of the Diricawl.

Neeka's least favorite instruction was uttered--"Partner up."--and she glanced about anxiously, seeking someone who she thought she could approach. Over the course of her years at Sonora, she had somehow drawn inward, and as a result, there was not really anyone she considered a friend. That being said, a sort of awkward shyness descended upon her, isolating her from her classmates.

Spotting a nearby classmate with a hopefully friendly look on their face, Neeka offered a smile and spoke. "Hey, would you like to be partners?"

0 Neeka Campbell [Pecari] I was picturing more of a kiwi than a coocoo 0 Neeka Campbell [Pecari] 0 5

Keme RunningBear

January 07, 2014 9:38 PM

In the magical world? Probably not. by Keme RunningBear

Keme recognized the person he asked to be Carter Browning. He had been dating that weird girl who wore plastic all the time. Keme didn’t know where that girl was now, presumably she had transferred to a different school (perhaps to get some help with her issues?) so he saw this Teppenpaw Fourth year with Wendy Canterbury. Keme didn’t know her very well either, but she was cute and seemed nice enough. Keme wasn’t sure if the two of them were dating or if she was dating the Pecari. People in this school were fickle and he had a hard time keeping up with it.

Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be couples forming in his year just yet, so he wouldn’t have to think about all of that too.

“Yes, I’m Keme.” Keme answered. At this point in time, after 3 years of having classes mostly together, Keme wasn’t sure if introductions were really necessary. They had role call every day. They were informal and obviously not friends, but the school was small, so unless someone completely ignored everything and everyone around them, they all should at least be acquainted with the names of the students they shared lessons with. He certainly hoped that by his seventh year, he wasn’t still introducing himself to people he saw daily. That just seemed tedious.

“I think it’s one of the few creatures they are aware of because of fossils.” Keme commented absently. “I don’t know why they haven’t found fossils of other magical creatures, but the rest just seem to be myth and folklore for them.” It was one of those things that Keme never really understood. They couldn’t obliviate everyone’s memories who stumbled upon strange creatures, so how was it that the magical could keep dragons and centaurs and all sorts of giant creatures hidden from the Muggle world for so long? Was that how folklores happened? A muggle stumbled upon it and went around telling others who, in return, thought they had gone mad and didn’t believe them? So instead of discovering magic, they simply told the tale of a crazy person?

Keme mentally shook himself. It was useless having those thoughts since he would never learn the answers to them. They were just mere curiosities that he had about life things. He had them often and about a lot of different things, but he knew that obsessing wouldn’t change anything or help him in any way.

“The Magical/Muggle list would be a good start for a profile, but I don’t think the professor would accept it as a full profile. We can flesh it out after we make a list and add in habitat information and other properties for the creature and that should be a pretty detailed assignment that I think the professor would appreciate.” Keme stated as he took a seat beside Carter. “Er, I mean, if that work is okay with you.” Keme could go into depth with his assignments and sometimes had to remember to pull back if the teacher wasn’t looking for that much detail or if his partner didn’t want to do that much work.

6 Keme RunningBear In the magical world? Probably not. 249 Keme RunningBear 0 5

Rupert Princeton, Pecari

January 11, 2014 5:12 PM

Kiwis make me think of fruit. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari

COMC was usually one of Rupert’s favourite classes because he was able to work with magical creatures he normally would not have worked with. Before attending school, Rupert hadn’t been allowed to leave the grounds of his family’s estate for fear he would befriend Muggles and muggle-borns and others of the ‘wrong sort.’ He had proved very early to have an affinity towards those whom society ignored or looked down upon. As a result, he had spent countless hours in his family’s menagerie which included several different magical creatures ranging from friendly to somewhat dangerous. His time spent interacting and taking care of those magical creatures, however, had caused him to feel a slightly stronger connection with animals than people. People were confusing and had so many rules that Rup didn’t like following. Magical creatures were simple; they followed their instincts, ate, slept and watched for predators.

Rup did, however, love people and he enjoyed making people feel comfortable. He considered one of his talents; his family considered it partially a curse. Today, however, it didn’t seem like his favourite part of class was going to happen. There was no creature in sight when he walked into class. Professor Meade looked ill as well, meaning he was likely going to do as little talking as possible which inevitably meant theoretical work, class work Rup would rather do without.

Much of Professor Meade’s lecture was in the textbook so Rup didn’t bother taking notes, but he did have to try to forget that he was tired. Lately Leo had been keeping him up late in the evenings claiming he needed help on his essays with the threat of failing marks. Rup had tried to put his foot down in refusing to write his essays for him, but he had a weak spot for the young lad who had been ignored by their parents for quite a bit of his life in favour of Cepheus. Still, Rup knew that Leo had to grow up sometime and that would be much better now than later.

Studying a Diricawl would have been really interesting if it had been right in front of them. Writing a profile of a creature they could not see, however, was not quite as entertaining. When Professor Meade dismissed them to work, Rup sighed and tried to forget that his body was starting to wear from the lack of sleep and intense Quidditch practises and be the entertaining, friendly lad he naturally was.

In the midst of scanning the general vicinity for a partner, he was surprised to be approached by Neeka. He knew of her well enough; she was his house-mate and his year-mate, though he couldn’t remember seeing her with a specific group of mates. He had wanted to approach her, but other classmates had grabbed his attention first and four years had passed quickly. His opportunity had finally come and his desire to make her feel comfortable kicked in. In response, his face brightened with a smile. “That’d be lovely,” he replied, genuinely glad. “I do wish we had a physical Diricrawl to study, but I suppose that’d be asking poor Professor Meade too much. He does look rather ill, doesn’t he?” He glanced over at their professor sympathetically before turning back to her. “So I suppose we ought to get this profile started. The only question is: where?”

0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari Kiwis make me think of fruit. 0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari 0 5

Willow Collins, Teppenpaw

January 18, 2014 5:26 PM

sigh (Tag Julian) by Willow Collins, Teppenpaw

Willow had had a miserable midterm. Her sister was back in the hospital. She wasn't all that surprised really, yet had spent the holidays crying in her room here at school anyway. The Teppenpaw had stayed, not wanting to have to deal with celebrations and unable to fake any holiday spirit. She doubted any member of her family had really had any in the first place, or she wanted to believe that anyway. Willow wanted to believe that even though the situation seemed utterly hopeless to her, people still cared about Autumn. She did, and couldn't help but be downright scared anyway.

She wanted to lash out, blame it on her older sister's new suitor, but she couldn't really. Nor could she blame Autumn herself. She was really really sick and Willow firmly believed she'd remain so. The third year, as usual, directed most of her anger at her parents. They hadn't given her details, they never did. They treated her like a child who couldn't handle anything, though since Autumn had been supposedly better for so long, they had been paying more attention to her in terms of writing to her and over the summer, though they never said much about her sister's health, just that she was fine, had a new suitor and seemed happy.

Willow, of course, had watched all summer. Waiting for the inevitable to happen but fortunately, nothing had. Just a few kidney infections and Autumn seeming out of breath sometimes. The former Crotalus had seemed to be extra cautious about things, probably in an attempt to keep from breaking a bone. Truthfully, Willow had not really seen all that much of her, except occasionally at meals. Autumn hadn't always taken them with the rest of the family and the Teppenpaw had suspected of course but her sister hadn't seemed any thinner than before, unless it was right after she'd been ill.

Oh, and in addition to Autumn being hospitalized right beforehand, Harmony had had her baby over the holidays too. The baby, Bridget, was fine, Harmony wasn't. What a joyous season. Of course, Willow had gotten slightly more details about that than about Autumn. Because they felt that would be less upsetting to her, but truth be told, it was nothing that was surprising to her either. Marshall was a mess too-moreso than usual- and both he and Bridget were staying with Jim and Isabella.

She barely noticed the condition that her professor was in. Not that she didn't feel bad for other people who got sick because someone else she knew was worse off-though she naturally was going to care more about her own sister than one of her professors-she genuinely did not notice . Willow was in a bit of a fog and it was everything she could do to pay attention when he began to speak.

The lesson sounded rather easy and for that she was a bit grateful. Truthfully, even though this was her favorite class, she did not feel like being here-and she especially did not want to have to partner up. She noticed that Keme was already working with somebody, and he was one of the few people that she didn't mind talking to. Her roommates were okay, she supposed, though Gemma was awfully cheerful and though Willow liked her all right, she wasn't sure she could deal with more cheerfulness.

She sighed to herself. She really didn't want to get in trouble for refusing to partner up. The third year looked around for Julian instead. Hopefully, she wasn't already working with Charlie or anyone else.

Spotting her roommate, Willow approached. "Hey, do you have a partner yet?" She asked.

11 Willow Collins, Teppenpaw *sigh* (Tag Julian) 253 Willow Collins, Teppenpaw 0 5

Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

January 31, 2014 4:33 PM

The Mock Turtle sighs most, not the Dodo. by Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

Professor Meade, Julian couldn’t help noticing as he entered class late, looked awful, and his brief presentation lacked his usual energy and enthusiasm. She frowned a little, concerned, but did not see anything she could do to help him. At home, if someone was sick and not admitting it, she could make tea and toast and leave them in the person’s general vicinity, and help pick up part of the chores if it was a family member who wouldn’t take offense at this, but she couldn’t teach classes or grade papers and really doubted Professor Meade would appreciate a random, none-too-brilliant student making him tea, if she could even acquire any – she didn’t even know where the kitchens were, and by the time Mom could send her any, if Mom would even do so, given how strange the request would be, he’d probably be better anyway. So she decided to just do the work the best that she could and try not to draw attention to herself in case he was sick enough to be short-tempered.

Mom had, she remembered, mentioned the Diricawl a few times when she had been teaching them all at home, both in science lessons and in reading – there was a Dodo in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Dad liked to tease Mom about how she’d reacted to finding out they weren’t really extinct after all. Stephen had also ended up dressing as one, once, when they had all put on an adaptation of Alice for Mom’s birthday – Julian had been Alice, and as such, the only one who hadn’t gotten bits of costumes mixed up in the scenes they’d kept. It had been pretty accurate even so, though John and Joe still argued about whose fault That Thing With The Teacups was, and Dad had photographed it all – the one set of moving photos Mom actually liked. Usually, she thought moving pictures defeated the whole point of photography, which was to hold onto a single moment forever, but said that one was like getting to watch a Home Video, as she would have if she’d stayed in the Muggle world.

Does she ever regret it?

Julian shook her head a little at the thought, which felt as though it had come from the air. Mom had admitted before that she missed things, but also that there was a difference between missing something and regretting giving it up. Julian didn’t quite understand it, but that wasn’t uncommon; Paul was the one in the family who best understood anything Mom said when she was really talking instead of teaching, and Julian knew he, too, didn’t always follow. Many of the distinctions her mother made seemed over-fine to her, hair-splitting, not practically useful at all, though Mom classified them as specificity.

Willow approached her, and Julian smiled at her roommate. “I didn’t,” she said, gesturing to the spot next to hers. “Do you have any idea where to start?” she asked, taking out a sheet of parchment to write on. “I’m going to send my brothers a copy of this, John’s obsessed with birds, he has been for like a year now, and it’s kind of my fault, so I want to get it right.” Her spelling would, as always, make John irritable, but John enjoyed being irritable and enjoyed correcting people even more and Paul would get a good laugh at both of them in before he explained lots of complicated theoretical and biological stuff to her so she understood it better, so she wasn’t worried about that.

16 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw The Mock Turtle sighs most, not the Dodo. 254 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw 0 5

Willow

February 04, 2014 8:30 PM

That's an interesting fact by Willow

There were things that Willow still honestly wanted at school. She wanted good grades and she wanted to make friends. The former wasn't all that hard despite her being generally apathetic about everything. The latter caused more issues,even though there were people she liked and wanted to be friends with, given her tendency to pull back and want to be alone to deal with her problems-well, her sister's problems as it wasn't about her. Still, Willow didn't want to put that on others and be a downer.

And now that Hope had graduated and married with her own life, there was nobody here to confide in about how she was feeling. Evan and Portia didn't understand, what with Evan being a guy-though there were males with the problem Autumn had too, it was just a lot less common-and Portia was so...silly. As for Nora, she might have understood the intellectual parts of the disease and know all the symptoms but Willow didn't want to know from her.

She felt it was all holding her back. The Teppenpaw didn't want to resent Autumn in any way, shape or form. None of it was her older sister's fault. She was just broken and despite Willow's utter pesimissim about the whole situation, she couldn't help but worry. The third year had people that she desperately wanted to have as friends, even Gemma's perpetual cheerfulness had it's benefits as it may lift her spirits. It was just that well, at the moment, she was grumpy enough not to want to deal with it and she was afraid she'd get irritated. Fighting with the other girl was not something that Willow wanted, she didn't want to upset her roommate or drive her away.

So, Julian it was. Not that she minded working with the other girl despite her blood status, she seemed a perfectly pleasant person-which aside from the girl who from what she'd understood stole Kaylie's then boyfriend-even though Kaylie had, like Hope, had found a guy who practically worshipped her- and Hope's apparently irksome roommate-was typical of Teppenpaws. As Keme was working with someone and Evan was in a different class, Julian was much preferred to others, though Willow still felt she was being a bit unfair to Gemma. The girl was nice and sweet, it was just that she couldn't take her energy at this precise moment.

Truthfully, she did want someone to comfort her when she was upset, but right now, it was just that...well, she wasn't close enough to anyone. Plus it was not something that should be discussed with those not within her family, out of wanting to protect Autumn and not wanting to chance scandal. Scandal that could not only cost her sister her suitor but her life.

Willow, however, had to pretend that nothing was wrong. Let everyone think she was quiet and serious and even studious. She was quite pleased that Julian had agreed to work with her, even smiled at the suggestion. Though given the similar backgrounds, she'd expected to be closer to Gemma. Still, Chelsea who had always seemed prejudiced from what she'd understood had been friends with a muggleborn , something that in her case seemed a bit hypocritical. Of course Chelsea had also ran off with her cousin's betrothed and was hardly a role model, but that had nothing to do with Willow's roommate. Besides, even Nina had defended that, claiming that Fallon was way worse than Chelsea.

"A bit." The blonde admitted to her roommate. "I mean, the Book of Fantastic Beasts and where to find them doesn't say much more than what he's already mentioned. They do escape in a flurry of feathers and turn invisible, which does seem more magical than muggle." Willow paused. "I'm not sure on the Muggle end, I mean, I don't know a lot about the Muggle end of things in general," she admitted. "The also live on the island of Mauritius which is off the coast of Madagascar in the South Indian Ocean, a place known to both wizards and muggles."

She listened with interest about Julian's comments about her brothers and birds. It seemed interesting and rather Aladren-ish. If her brother was even coming to Sonora. "How did he get interested in them, if you don't mind me asking." Always the best to keep the conversation on the lives of others and away from her own. "I mean, how is it your fault?" Willow paused for a second. "Sorry if I seem like I'm prying, I'm just trying to make conversation." She was interested in her roommate's life too, though admittedly it was partially to distact her from her own worries.

11 Willow That's an interesting fact 253 Willow 0 5

Julian Umland

February 06, 2014 3:40 PM

We called him Tortoise because he taught us. by Julian Umland

“Invisibility’s definitely a magic thing,” said Julian absently, still trying to figure out how best to organize the work. “Muggle things don’t turn invisible.”

Mom had insisted they all learn about both worlds, which had necessarily involved learning to be very good at compartmentalizing, at keeping what applied to which side straight. They had also all learned to have no problem with lying to Muggles at need, though she wasn’t sure Mom had meant for that to happen or even knew it had happened. It bothered Stephen, she knew, though she thought he didn’t say anything except at home, and the rest of them were just used to fibbing when they had to, though they preferred to avoid it when they could.

It was murder on their social lives – Paul’s girlfriend had broken up with him for being too distant, Julian had never bothered even trying to have close friends when she was little, and they all had an awful time when it was John’s turn to host his book club. They had been terrified, one time over the summer, when his friend Lindsay had spotted a magic-world book someone had overlooked and so not hidden in the boys’ room; Mom had managed to come up with something convincing enough, but they’d heard the redheaded girl muttering something about ’this whole family is so weird’ to her friend as they left. John had offered to tell the redheaded girl that they’d heard her and that Mom didn’t want them around anymore because of that, but Mom hadn’t approved of being used that way, so after that, they’d completely rearranged everything so all those books were in her parents’ room so it wouldn’t happen again. Her back had hurt for two days after they finally finished carting all the stacks of books from room to room, figuring out what would go on which shelf….

She was brought out of those thoughts by Willow, ironically, apologizing for seeming to pry. “No, it’s fine,” she said. “We write a lot, and I told him about something from one of our classes – I don’t even remember what – “ that wasn’t true, but she was still sort of embarrassed about the actual circumstances – “and somehow he ended up doing this huge mythology project, and somehow that led him to birds. He says it’s all connected somehow. I just know I know more than any normal person wants to about the family life of American crows now.”

She shook her head. “He’s learned to use a Muggle machine that lets him find things out without reading through a whole book at the local library, and I don’t think he’s realized he won’t have one at school yet. I feel so sorry for Professor Fawcett if he comes here”

She was, after all, pretty sure that John would barely taste the Sorting Potion before he turned very, very blue. Or at least she hoped so. He wouldn’t fit in with some of the elements even she, an outsider, could see were in Aladren, but he’d come closer to belonging there than anywhere else at Sonora, and unfortunately, John wasn’t, she had realized, really as much of a loner as she thought he wanted to be. He complained and tried to say the people in his book club weren’t really his friends, but Julian was convinced he could have driven them off if he’d really wanted to, and he had, at least once, let the redheaded girl borrow one of his books - actually let her take it home with her and give it back to him another day. That was like a dragon inviting someone to roll around in his treasure while he was away. It just didn’t happen, and it made Paul and Julian stare in shock if it ever did.

“Okay,” she said to herself, then turned her parchment sideways and drew two big, overlapping circles on it, a Venn diagram. “I’m still not sure how to organize it in writing, so is it okay if we make a chart first?” On top of one circle, she wrote Magical and inside it, Disappears. The other circle was labeled Muggle. In the middle, she wrote Mauritius Island, Can’t Fly, Non-Sentient, and, after a moment’s hesitation, Animalia Chordata Aves?

“I’m pretty sure the classification’s still the same through Class,” she muttered. “But we’d put them in different orders. Vanishing birds have their own – there’s perching birds, and a bunch of others I can’t remember, and then those, and the Muggles don’t know about them. I don’t know what the Muggle order is at all, though.” Under Muggle, she added. Extinct, used to prove a point, bones and pictures in Oxford.

“This is kind of a side interest of my mom’s,” she explained. “And she traveled while she was at university…she’s determined that one day, we’re all going to go together.” It might be just possible, once Paul and Stephen were through university and could pay their own way. Better if she could, too. She had the idea it would all be before John and Joe were grown, though, if only because surely at least Stephen would have managed to get married and have a family of his own to take care of by then. He was studying medicine, so he would be studying for a lot long longer, but it would be years before Joe even started. “Have you ever, Willow? Traveled, I mean?”

0 Julian Umland We called him Tortoise because he taught us. 254 Julian Umland 0 5