Getting the party started. on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Tallec

November 03, 2014 3:30 AM

Practice for the ball [Beginner Class] by Professor Tallec

Richard was beginning to feel a little swamped with his work. Not just because he was busy teaching 3 classes, but also because he was trying to get study guides together for those students taking the CATS and RATS. Although he knew he wouldn’t have nearly as much stress as the students actually taking said exams. Lucky for him, he still had the beginner COMC class who, unlike the older students, could have a little more fun with their lessons.

Today they would be studying one of his favorite creatures- besides dragons of course- the Hippogriff. In Richard’s opinion, Hippogriffs were like art, something to be respected and admired, while dragons were more like a fine whiskey. Although they weren’t his main field of study, Hippogriffs held a special place in his heart. After all, it was through his encounter with one that he had discovered his passion for studying magical creatures.

“Hello class, please place your homework assignment on my desk, then take out your books and turn to page 582,” he said getting right down to business. The homework assignment hadn’t been a very hard (or exciting assignment as it was on the flobberworm), but it was part of the curriculum for beginning students. After the class had settled into their seats he began the real lesson.

“Taking a turn from the… lets just say ‘less than interesting’ flobberworm, today we will be studying the Hippogriff,” he said as he marked down the page number on the board just in case anyone had forgotten. “This fantastic beast has the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle while it’s body, hind legs and tail resemble that of a horse. Hippogriffs have steel-coloured beaks and large, intense orange eyes. The talons on their front legs are half a foot long and very sharp. However despite their appearance,” he said turning back to the class after he marked several important notes on the board, “it’s usually their sense of pride that makes them so dangerous. Which is why for humans, its important to maintain the proper etiquette to avoid danger. For instance, you must bow to them before approaching as a sign of respect, and the Hippogriff must bow back if you are to try and approach it. If it doesn’t, then you might want to get away from it as quickly as possible, lest you find out just how sharp it’s talons are,” he said remembering his first encounter with a particularly moody Hippogriff. “However for the most part, Hippogriffs are very kind and extremely loyal creatures. Going along with this, they are able to be tamed- only by experts I might add- which is why they are merely classified as XXX.”

Now came the bad news, Richard figured that students might be a little disappointed the day’s task, but it was a much needed lesson if he wanted them to actually get a hands on experience with them later in the month. “Today you will practice this bow with a partner,” he announced, “this may seem easy enough, but there are few extra things you need to remember. 1. It should be a low respectful bow,” he said demonstrating to the class. During his first encounter with a Hippogriff he took this rule much too lightly and ended the day with a large scratch on his arm as punishment for his negligence. As a result he wanted to emphasize this point to his students.

“When you practice the bow, your partner should be looking for things like graceful movements, making sure it’s a low bow from the hips, and that there is constant eye contact,” Richard said straitening himself and walking over to the board once more to write down these points. “Which brings me to my second point. Always keep eye contact, and that means no blinking- especially during the bow. If you break the eye contact for even a second, then the Hippogriff may perceive it as rude and attack.”

“Be sure to be critical of your partners actions, as a Hippogriff most defiantly will. If I see that you are goofing off or aren’t taking the assignment seriously then you will not be allowed to participate in the hands-on day next week. Just in case any of you were wondering- yes, it will be a real Hippogriff, but only those who take this week's lessons seriously will be allowed to approach it,” he added in a serious tone. He really wanted all the students to get a chance to interact with the amazing creature, but he had to keep his ground on this. He didn’t want to be sending all the students to Doctor Eir after all.

“Well, get to bowing,” he said with a smile, excusing his class to begin. “Students who think they are ready for an extra challenge can have their partners purposely try and distract or surprise them as a test. Remember practice makes perfect!” Richard added as he began to walk around the class.

OOC:
Creative, realistic posts are worth more points. If Richard is needed, please tag Professor Tallec in the subject line. Posting rules apply. Please add house after name. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Getting the party started. by Lionel Layne, Pecari with Joella Curtis, Pecari

Not really my kind of event. by John Umland, Aladren

A couple of nuts off the family tree. by Liac and Tobias Reinhardt with Araceli Arbon, Crotalus

Practice makes perfect [Tag: Jamie Park] by Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus with Jamie Park, Pecari

0 Professor Tallec Practice for the ball [Beginner Class] 0 Professor Tallec 1 5

Lionel Layne, Pecari

November 06, 2014 11:50 AM

Getting the party started. by Lionel Layne, Pecari

It wasn’t the best piece of work he had ever done, but Lionel was more than happy to put his homework assignment on flobberworms on Professor Tallec’s desk. He had been subjected to more boring things than flobberworms before – at least they moved, and it was kind of neat, at least at first, watching the way they moved, and trying to figure out which end was which, which was an improvement over the arithmetic and grammar drills he’d had to do in a lot of elementary school before he came to Sonora – but they were still not exactly an enthralling topic. Lionel doubted his potioneer uncle would even care much about them, even though their only known use was producing mucus to thicken potions.

He grinned when even Professor Tallec agreed that flobberworms had not been very interesting, but the expression faded into a more impressed expression as the professor continued his lesson. Plenty of their lessons had been more interesting than flobberworms before, but this one sounded like it was going to be actually dangerous, which was…new.

All magic was, of course, dangerous, and there was always the chance that a Really Bad Person would come along to demonstrate. Even first years learned a few simple hexes and jinxes that they could, in an absolute pinch, use to defend themselves until better help arrived, and bungling a potion too badly could kill anybody at any age. Transfiguration also had the potential to get really wacky if someone did the wrong things with it, or did them in the wrong way; the warning portion of his book was full of stuff about how people who didn’t know what they were doing who attempted human transfigurations could end up deformed and stuff. Even simple Charms could be dangerous, since the textbook said levitation could be used to great effect in a duel. For beginners, though, at least, classes were usually safe as long as they followed procedures to the letter. Hippogriffs went right past that and into a whole different category, at least from the way Professor Tallec made it sound.

For him and his classmates, Lionel thought this was going to be cool, a good introduction to the more interesting material that awaited them in intermediate classes next year. He worried, though, a little about the first years. Habit, he guessed; he was enough older than his sister that he had always been allowed to do things while Grandmother had always told Amelia, who wanted to do them, too, that she was too little and then told him to make sure she didn’t try behind Grandmother and Granddad’s backs. Younger people, now that there were some around, just seemed like they should be more like Amelia than like he had been this time last year.

In actuality, though, he thought some of the first years might have an edge on him in the assignment today. There were some people who were taught bowing gracefully from the time they could walk, but Lionel was not one of the people who had received such instruction. Bowing just wasn’t something people where he was from did very often. Even Isaac, his pureblood cousin who had money, didn’t do it much. Getting it right might not be as easy as it sounded.

He looked for a classmate and made eye contact with one. “Do you want to work together?” he asked. “I’ve never done this before, but it can’t be that hard, right?” Which was the opposite of what he’d just thought, but he thought it was better to sound positive than too cautious.

16 Lionel Layne, Pecari Getting the party started. 283 Lionel Layne, Pecari 0 5

John Umland, Aladren

November 06, 2014 5:37 PM

Not really my kind of event. by John Umland, Aladren

There were a lot of topics John found it rage-inducingly difficult to obtain much information on and to understand what information he did obtain, but worms were not one of them. Earthworms seemed to be one of the first thing most science programs had their students dissect, and when his friend Rafe’s parents had gotten him a kit to work with last year, they and their other friends had briefly become serial annelid killers, chopping up specimens in different ways and comparing their internal structures under Joanie’s microscope, talking about how they compared to their own and speculating about whether or not they could run long-term projects to test their regenerative abilities and see what happened if they inbred the earthworms for a few generations. It had been generally disgusting and frequently morally questionable, but also a lot of fun.

He didn’t have a microscope at Sonora (yet), much less an internet connection to guide him, but he did still have all his old notes, the knife in his Potions kit, the ability to turn toothpicks into needles which could serve as temporary dissection pins, and the old magnifying glass he had carried around everywhere during his Sherlock Holmes phase, so he had managed to spend what he felt was a respectable amount of time on his Care of Magical Creatures homework, comparing flobberworm anatomy to earthworm, speculating about the possible function of the potion-thickening mucus in flobberworm reproduction and the species’ relationship to lettuce based on their similarities and differences with regular worms, and ending on the matters, mostly about the chemistry of the mucus’ potions use and how lettuce was grown, he hadn’t had time to read all the material he had found about. To his delight, he actually had found a book in the library on the subject of the mucus usage (he had no idea why, if the dates on the card were accurate, no-one else had found a reason to check it out in his lifetime) and another on magical species of leafy vegetables, but they were both long, technical, and had small print, and he hadn’t had much time to do the assignment and all his other work in. He was still going to finish them and just hoped he would have an excuse to include all the facts he was going to acquire from them somewhere on the final exam. It wasn’t what he wanted it to be, but Care of Magical Creatures was probably his favorite class, or at worst in a tie with Transfiguration, and he wanted to impress Professor Tallec as much as humanly possible along with learning everything humanly possible about the man’s subject.

Professor Tallec’s first comment of the lesson made him think he might have just failed in the minor goal of impressing the teacher again, since people usually didn’t like people who found things interesting that they found boring, but he forgot about it, his eyes widening and his posture straightening in surprise, when he heard what they were moving on to. He had read a little about hippogriffs in the textbook, had read a lot more in that first happy week where he had barely come out of the library when he had the option of staying there, but he had never thought he would get to formally study them this year.

He tried, as he copied down what the professor was writing on the board, not to get too carried away, but – this was awesome. Maybe even more awesome than dodos. Griffins, he had read, had been produced by ancient Greek wizards crossing massive, ten-foot-wingspan, now-extinct eagles with lions by methods said to be lost (John assumed this meant it was just highly illegal and thus the books had been hidden), and hippogriffs were griffins crossed with winged horses. Not only had the great magical proto-scientists of antiquity managed to produce fertile hybrids once, they had then made hybrids with their own hybrids, all with species which were not remotely genetically compatible, just because they could. It was….

He couldn’t put it into words. It was beyond them, at least for him. He just knew that probably everything he ever did would seem like a parlor trick beside it.

He was distracted from that gloomy line of thought, though, by Professor Tallec’s warning about their pride. He had read that they were proud before, of course, and about the bowing, but sometimes, hearing someone say something out loud made him look at problems from new angles, and hearing Professor Tallec relate those facts did it with them.

Pride. That was a human vice – the sin, he had been taught, of loving one’s own excellence, especially to the point of overestimating one’s importance, or only appreciating excellence because it was one’s own and resenting other people’s. It had taken him years to realize why Mom insisted he, specifically, memorize those definitions, but he didn’t think that was what Professor Tallec meant when he said the hippogriffs were proud. His best guess was about them thinking their creators, humans, should bow to them; if they bowed back, they were willing to accept that specific person as an equal. Exactly how smart, then, were these things? How did they determine who to allow close and who not to? Were they self-aware? One of the girls here had to have a mirror they could use for a mirror test. Eagles had some social behavior – he remembered fragments, single sentences in books, about playing with sticks, monogamy, expanding and reusing nests – but he hadn’t read a lot about them specifically in the materials he had on bird intelligences, which was one of his favorite subjects. He was not as sure about the other animals in the hippogriff mix, but knew lions and horses also exhibited social behavior, and was pretty sure at least most horses were herd beasts. Hippogriffs, then, were almost certainly social, but how complex were their behaviors? What were their family units? Had the original specimens been attuned to magic and fairly intelligent beforehand, or was high intelligence a product of the magical combinations – ?

“Today you will practice this bow with a partner,” said Professor Tallec, dragging John abruptly back to earth. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, some of his excitement leaving him, or at least being suppressed a little, temporarily, in the face of other concerns.

He felt awkwardly separate from the group in a way he associated with Quidditch as everyone began to pair off. He didn’t, even after more than half a year, know any of his classmates very well – he had had too much to do, for one thing, and, well, for another thought he might be too used to keeping people at a distance so they wouldn’t realize his family was more than just unusual; he’d made friends at home, but they had grown on him like mold in a house, slowly, not revealing their presence until it was too late to do anything about them – but he had gotten impressions of some and did not enjoy the thought of accidentally giving one of the wrong sort the chance to refuse to bow back. On Mom’s advice, though, he avoided sitting near people he thought might be like that whenever he could, so he didn’t think he had too much to worry about, and he had to do this lesson anyway so he could move on to the more interesting one. That was all that mattered until the minute someone actually insulted his family, and people here (as absolutely delusional insane as he was convinced some of them were) didn’t usually seem to do that as much as he had worried they would. Usually, the worst sort just kept to themselves and left everyone else alone, which suited him until he was old enough to argue with them better.

“Need a partner?” he asked another student.

16 John Umland, Aladren Not really my kind of event. 285 John Umland, Aladren 0 5

Liac and Tobias Reinhardt

November 15, 2014 12:44 AM

A couple of nuts off the family tree. by Liac and Tobias Reinhardt

The two first year Teppenpaws made their way from the Charms classroom to Care of Magical Creatures. Though they were of similar height and their facial features slightly resembled each other their gaits and colorings might have caused someone who didn’t know any better to think they were simply close friends rather than actual cousins. The lighter of the two boys sported an unkempt hair cut which, coupled with an open robe and slightly wrinkled shirt contrasted against the more groomed Tobi.

“You did do your homework, didn’t you?” Tobi asked his cousin. He had retired early the night before and forgotten to ask Liac if he’d completed the assignment.

“Of course I did, I copied yours last night. After you went to bed,” Liac paused to take in Tobi’s face before putting his cousin’s mind at ease. “Just kidding, it was on flobberworms. It’s not like it was a hard assignment. Besides I always ask before I copy,” he said with a smile and a wink.

Tobi simply raised an eyebrow and shook his head. After eleven years of Liac he was used to his cousin’s carefree attitude and had found that the best way to deal with it was to do nothing. He fed off of Liac and Liac fed off of him-- it was a good arrangement.

“Sit next to me?” Liac asked even though he already knew the answer.

“Do you even need to ask?” It had taken awhile, but Tobi was starting to feel his old-self, his real-self returning to him. The walks in between classes were the only time during the day that he felt comfortable. Sitting in those classrooms, surrounding by people he didn’t know-- Tobi didn’t like it. He felt stifled, as though his every move was being watched and it was exhausting.

Liac lightly punched him and Tobi returned the gesture with a tiny eye roll and a grin. The rest of the walk was filled with excited chatter about the trip the family would be taking to Germany that summer. However, as soon as they entered the door of the Care of Magical Creatures classroom, Tobi clammed up. The cousins took their seats-- Liac lounging against the back of the chair, ready to doodle in his journal; Tobi sitting there with eyes sparkling, ready to take down notes.

“Hello class, please place your homework assignment on my desk, then take out your books and turn to page 582,” Professor Tallec said.

Liac collected Tobi’s homework and made his way up to the front of the room as was their everyday ritual. It was a good system-- Tobi helped Liac to remember to do his work while Liac did small favors for his more focused cousin like taking their homework up to the front of the room or keeping him company while he studied.

“Taking a turn from the… let’s just say ‘less than interesting’ flobberworm, today we will be studying the Hippogriff,” Professor Tallec continued once the class had settled back down in their seats. “This fantastic beast has the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle while its body, hind legs and tail resemble that of a horse...”

At this point Liac started tuning out, certain that he would get the info from Tobi at some point or another. Besides, Care of Magical Creatures was cool and all, but it was really more of Tobi’s thing than his. He had managed to draw a few designs when finally his favorite part of class arrived, when they were released to do… whatever Tallec wanted them to do that day. Luckily because it was only the beginners class, it was almost a guarantee that it wouldn’t be anything too hard- and that’s just how Liac liked his classes.

“So… What are we supposed to be doing?” he asked after the lecture.

Tobi slowly closed his notebook and lay his pencil aside, making sure to take his time and line everything up before answering Liac’s questions. Honestly, his cousin was lucky they were the same age. “We’re bowing to each other,” he said simply, knowing from previous experience that if he were to go into any more detail Liac would tune him out like he did Professor Tallec. “We’re practicing for next week when Tallec is going to bring in an actual, live Hippogriff!” He was certain his voice cracked on the last one but he was too excited to care.

“That’s the one with the lion head and the wings, right?” Liac asked, not even bothering to hide that he couldn’t tell the difference between a hippogriff and a griffin.

Tobi made a weird face at him. “No, that’s the one with the eagle front and the horse back and the wings,” he corrected. “Come on, Liac, how’re you going to do well on your final exams if you need my help with everything?”

“Oh, it’ll be fine, Tobi,” said Liac. “I made it through elementary school without your help, didn’t I?”

Tobi shrugged his shoulders. “I guess,” he said, standing up. “Let’s start bowing?”

Liac immediately started bobbing up and down, his right hand in the shape of a beak, close to his face. “Look, I’m a bird!” he exclaimed.

Tobi bit his lip and raised his eyebrow. “Yes, I’m sure. Look, you really can’t mess around on this lesson. Tallec says that if we fool around we won’t get to meet the hippogriffs next week and I really, really want to meet the hippogriffs,” he said trying to stress just how important this was to him.

“I know, I’ll be serious,” he said as he attempted a genuine bow, eyes locked on Tobi. “My good man,” he added as he straightened his back.

“My good sire,” he responded, bowing deeply in response.

“By the way,” Liac started, the bowing exercise reminding him of the dance “You going to the ball? I might ask a seventh year, you know, no big deal.”

Though Tobi knew that to be a joke he still had a feeling that it was something Liac would actually attempt to do. “I don’t think so,” he said. “That’s not really my thing.” Fancy balls were not his thing, Tobi would much rather be off hanging around with his cousins or sitting in his thinking tree.

“What?” Liac asked him, incredulously. “Grandma made you learn classical dancing too. Don’t you want to put it to use?”

Classical dancing also wasn’t really Tobi’s thing. There was too much socializing involved, especially at a school dance where he would be required to ask a date and keep her company throughout the whole evening. “That’s not really my thing,” he repeated. “Sorry, Liac. I know you want to go but I think you’re going to be on your own for this one.”

“Hmmm,” Liac grunted, bowing again. Although he left the subject at that, he wasn’t ready to give up on the idea just like that.

OOC: This was a joint post written by both Liac and Tobi's authors.

10 Liac and Tobias Reinhardt A couple of nuts off the family tree. 288 Liac and Tobias Reinhardt 0 5

Joella Curtis, Pecari

November 16, 2014 6:22 AM

Joining the party. by Joella Curtis, Pecari

Joella had spent the previous night completing a last minute assignment on what she considered to be the most boring creatures in the world. It shouldn't have been particularly difficult but concentrating on flobberworms for long enough to actually write about them wasn't exactly something that came easily to someone like Joella. She was happy to hand in the assignment which marked the end of such a boring topic and could only hope that the next creature they studied would be far more interesting.

Joella didn't dislike the class. She accepted that first years were beginners and therefore studied simpler creatures at first. There were so many creatures in the world and it made sense that the school would teach about whatever magical crearures they could get their hands on. Practical lessons were always miles better than theory in Joella's opinion.

Nevertheless, the young Pecari turned to page 582 in her book with some reluctance. She was then pleasantly surprised by the contents of the page and had to double check the number on her page with that Professor Tallec was now writing on the board.

Hippogriffs. Joella adored these creatures. In fact, she had a particular love for any beast that flew or had features of a horse. Hippogriffs met both of these categories.

Growing up on a farm she had a fondness for animals and a benign confidence with that. Whilst she couldn't recall the Curtis farm ever having homed Hippogriffs, Joella had come into contact with such beasts numerous times at the home of one her best friends, Audrey Montague, whose parents bred Abraxan horses in Virginia. In addition to their main business of Abraxans, Mr and Mrs Montague homed several Aethonans and Granians as well as other supposedly "non-magical" unwinged horses and other animals such as Hippogriffs.

And so Joella, who had ample experience with what was required in the presence of such beasts and who had even gotten the chance to ride a couple of Hippogriffs in her eleven years, was confident that for once she may actually be top of the class - even if it was just for the one topic.

It was a relief when Lionel Layne asked her if she wished to partner up. Finding a partner herself in classes was a faff she didn't particularly enjoy so it was always nice when classmates came to her. She had spoken with Lionel at the Returning Feast and he had seemed very nice so Joella was of course in no ways reluctant to reply with a "sure" and then "oh, I've done it a few times and no, it's not that hard." She hoped she didn't come across as bragging with her casual "I've done it a few times" but it was true, she had - it was rare that Joella got the opportunity to be one of the more knowledgeable students in class situations, especially when the first years shared their classes with second years, so she wasn't going to pretend otherwise. She wasnt entirely truthful in her response to Lionel's assumption, however, as her first encounter with a Hippogriff wasn't something she would define as "easy". It had been a success but it couldn't be denied that the idea of keeping eye contact at all times had been a struggle for a girl who was so used to handling animals that felt uncomfortable when it was held for too long.

Maybe Lionel wouldn't find it difficult but at least the class got to practise before it actually mattered whether they got it right or not. Joella grinned. "OK, so let's do this." She gave a low and graceful bow, not dropping eye contact with her partner. Even though she had done it before, she still listened to Professor Tallec's instructions and was quite pleased with how smooth her movements were.

8 Joella Curtis, Pecari Joining the party. 295 Joella Curtis, Pecari 0 5

Lionel Layne

November 17, 2014 8:15 AM

Did you bring a dish? by Lionel Layne

Lionel raised his eyebrows slightly, impressed, when Joella said she had done this a few times before. He knew a lot of backgrounds involved a lot more interaction with magical creatures than his own did, but he couldn’t imagine Grandmother letting him near something with claws that big before school. Granddad might, though, if Grandmother were somewhere else and he was convinced that Lionel could be trusted not to tell about it later. “That’s good to hear,” he said.

She bowed and kept eye contact at the same time, which was even more impressive. He was sure that he would have forgotten the part about eye contact if he had gone first, which would have been disastrous if he had been dealing with a real hippogriff. Maybe the reasons would have been different – nerves instead of just thinking about the bowing part more because it was unusual and he thought of it as something that involved looking at the floor – but he didn’t think the hippogriff would have really cared all that much about his reasoning. The downside of interacting with animals was that it was usually impossible to talk one’s way out of a situation, even for those who were blessed with a talent for doing so. Lionel thought he was no more than an intermediate in that arena and was so glad that he hadn’t needed to try it recently.

“Good,” he complimented Joella, despite not being sure how much his opinion counted since he had just admitted that he didn’t have a clue what he was doing a minute earlier. “Okay, my turn.”

He remembered to keep eye contact, though it felt strange to bend his back and raise his head at the same time to do so. His movements were not smooth, though, and his feet tried to wander beneath him as he tried to coordinate his movements, making him feel for a moment as though his feet were about to go out from under him altogether and make him fall down. He straightened back up, extending one arm to balance himself, quickly and grinned sheepishly, a little embarrassed, at his much more graceful partner.

“I guess that could use a little work,” he said. “Do you have any tips on how it works or anything?” He knew there were different kinds of bowing and curtsying, which meant it was a thing that people were taught, which meant there might be...steps, helpful hints, something.

16 Lionel Layne Did you bring a dish? 283 Lionel Layne 0 5

Joella Curtis, Pecari

November 17, 2014 12:33 PM

Yes, a dish of unhelpful experience. by Joella Curtis, Pecari

After straightening up, Joella watched Lionel take his turn at the bow. Even though he had told her that he had never come into contact with a Hippogriff before, the young Pecari had high expectations of her classmate. He was, after all, a boy and she made the ignorant assumption that he would have a great deal more experience in bowing than she herself. Joella could only recall ever having performed such a greeting in front of a Hippogriff, under the impression from the few etiquette classes she failed to escape as a younger child that a girl was to curtsey (something she tried to avoid doing as much as possible but found was inevitable in her social circle) and a boy was to bow.

Despite her apparently misjudged presumptions, Joella didn't appear surprised by Lionel's inadequacy. It was, in all fairness, a low bow that was required and when partnered with prolonged eye contact it could perhaps prove difficult.

"That was good," Joella offered in a phrase that she hoped didn't sound too generous yet by no means devoid of positivity. She thought it had been good for a first try, just perhaps not quite what a Hippogriff was looking for. Lionel's question was rather pleasing to her ears and she rather liked the idea of a second year asking her for tips for once rather than it being the other way around. Still, she wasn't entirely sure how to answer it. Maybe it was just because she was naturally quite flexible but the first year had always found the "no blinking" to be the hardest part of all, yet she didn't think this was the area that Lionel flawed in.

She pulled a face for a second as she contemplated what it was that had caused Lionel's movement to be so inelegant. "You need to bend from the hips," she told him confidently then gave an uncertain smile, "at least, that's where I think you're going wrong." Joella hoped this advice would make some difference as she didn't really know what else she could give him. All she could remember being told was to bow low and keep eye contact and everything had been fine. Then again, memories weren't always one hundred percent reliable. Perhaps past experience wasn't really that helpful, for this practise lesson anyway.

8 Joella Curtis, Pecari Yes, a dish of unhelpful experience. 295 Joella Curtis, Pecari 0 5

Lionel Layne

November 18, 2014 10:54 AM

Hey, it's better than what I'm bringing to the table. by Lionel Layne

Lionel grinned when Joella responded to his performance. “Come on, now,” he said teasingly. “You got to work harder to lie to somebody who knows the truth.”

He was not sure that sentence made sense, but didn’t think it mattered much. The fact was that he was not a very graceful bow-er (or whatever the word was; he thought a ‘bower’ was either a room or something in a garden, couldn’t remember which, but it didn’t usually refer to a person who was bowing) and he was aware of it. Grace and stumbling didn’t usually go together so well. The definitions of the words didn’t match up well enough for them to describe the action…or at least, he thought not….

He shook his head before he could start trying to figure out if there was such a thing as a graceful stumble and got back to the matter at hand.

“You might be right,” he said when Joella offered advice, trying to remember his own movement and thinking it had been more from the middle of his back than from his hips. He felt like he’d fall over if he bent at the hips too much, but that was the right way to do it, so he’d have to work on it. “Might be my feet, too – might be a little steadier if they weren’t right next to each other?” He had seen his cousin Alicia working on her fancy curtsies a few times when they were all little, and it had been a complicated sort of thing she’d done with her feet – one of them had started out extended in front of her and been extended behind her when she came up – but her feet hadn’t just been together the whole time. He tried putting his out of line, extending the right one further ahead of the left, and did feel a little steadier as he leaned forward, concentrating on not bending his back and forgetting to keep his head up at the same time.

"I think I'm gonna need a lot of practice to get this right," he said, smiling ruefully, "but I'll get it together sooner or later. How'd you come to do it before?" he asked, still curious about that. He couldn't help imagining Joella living on a gigantic ranch, learning to play Quidditch on giant flying horses and finding the Sonora iteration of the game boring after that, but he suspected the last part, at least, was pure fancy. The first part might, though, be true.

16 Lionel Layne Hey, it's better than what I'm bringing to the table. 283 Lionel Layne 0 5

Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

November 19, 2014 4:31 AM

Practice makes perfect [Tag: Jamie Park] by Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

Uzume rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she walked into Care of Magical Creatures, her eyelids still heavy despite the large serving of tea she had sipped throughout breakfast. Although most days she handled the early morning dance practices with ease, shifting from dance, to breakfast, to class without so much as a complaint, today she felt unusually sleepy as she slipped into the seat next to Park-kun*. She knew she couldn’t very well complain about being tired as her sleepy state this particular morning was entirely her fault. She had gotten so wrapped up in a comic book the night before that she had completely forgotten about all her homework assignments. They young Crotali had debated ignoring them all together, but after careful consideration, decided it would be better to just complete the easy assignments she had been given. In the end she had only stayed up until midnight, but the early hour was still unusual for the 12 year old** who tended to wake up at 6am in order to get in a Mahou-tsukai practice before breakfast. As a result she wanted nothing more than to skip the day’s lessons and retire to her room.

After tossing her homework onto Tallec’s desk, she returned to her place and opened her book to the page on Hippogriffs. Of course she wasn’t planning on paying much attention but she wanted to at least appear to be following along just in case Tallec was watching. Unfortunately throughout his lecture, Uzume’s eyelids flickered back and forth between open and closed urging her to fall asleep where she sat. Placing a hand under her chin, she gave in to the allure of sleep and closed her eyes, moving in and out of consciousness as she listened to the lesson.

In her dreamlike state, she heard (what she thought was) snippets of the lecture- something about a hippo needing a dance partner, a steel beak, along with plot points of the book Pride and Prejudice. As the lecture went on her imagination quickly took over. She saw a large gray hippo whose face was covered by a bird mask, wearing a ballerina outfit as it danced around with Mr. Darcy. Bystanders looked on as the hippo completely ruined the party, finishing with the contents of the punchbowl falling all over the floor. Uzume could feel a miniscule smile tug at her lips as the scenario played out. However she was quickly brought back to reality as Tallec excused them to ‘get to bowing’. She stretched her arms out, feeling the blood begin to flow back to them with each movement. Even though she couldn’t have been out for more than 10 minutes, the short nap was enough to recharge her spark- either that or the tea was finally kicking in.

Squinting her eyes, she stared at the board in an attempt to see what she had missed. A mischievous smile spreading across her face as she realized their task for the day. “Bowing, huh?” she whispered slightly to herself, happy that she definitely wouldn’t have to try in today’s class. Turning to Park-kun she gave him a small smile, asking in a tone that resembled more of a command than it did a question, “Be my partner?”

OOC:

* -kun is used to address men who are younger or the same age as the speaker. It’s usually added to show familiarity or friendship. Although in Uzu’s case it’s more of an indication that she enjoys their presence in one way or another.
**Uzume’s birthday is in December so she has already turned 12.

0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus Practice makes perfect [Tag: Jamie Park] 0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus 0 5

Joella Curtis

November 20, 2014 4:26 AM

I wouldn't count on it. by Joella Curtis

Joella wasn't bad at lying on the whole but in some areas of the subject she was better than others and when it came to telling others what she thought of something she was terrible. Hence it was no surprise that Lionel sussed her out. However, she had been completely lying - having no experience with rookies to greeting Hippogriffs other than herself, she assumed that Lionel hadn't been too bad for a first try. Perhaps it took several attempts to perfect.

She grinned at her partner, "Well, I guess it needs some work but for a first attempt..."

The eleven year old was rather pleased when Lionel agreed with her advice, not caring to consider that it may just be out of politeness but instead fancying that it had actually been a rather sound piece of advice.

He made a good point about his feet and now that Joella actually thought about it she was pretty sure that she brought her right leg back a little. Her classmate, however, chose to bring his right leg forward. Accompanied with her own instruction this seemed to be an improvement on his previous attempt.

Joella smiled, "That was better - maybe you should try bringing one leg back slightly rather than forward." She wasn't sure if it would make a difference as she had never experimented such a thing but it couldn't hurt to test it.

"Oh I have a friend in Virginia whose parents breed all sorts of horses," she told Lionel. "So I've gotten the chance to ride a few Hippogriffs there - they aren't their main line of business but they have a few." She had often wished that she had one of her own but it would be rather pointless considering that she spent much of the year at Sonora now. The Curtis farm had more than enough variety of animals to keep her happy as it was.

8 Joella Curtis I wouldn't count on it. 295 Joella Curtis 0 5

Jamie Park, Pecari

November 22, 2014 1:29 AM

But I already am. by Jamie Park, Pecari

Jamie tossed his messily scribbled homework onto the desk and took a seat. He was glad it had been easy as he really couldn't be bothered with putting actual effort into an assignment on Flobberworms. They, and their uses (other than hiding them at the bottom of your sister's bed to make her scream) were utterly uninspiring. He slumped, head resting on his hand, wondering what boring bug they'd be made to study now that was done.

His eyes widened and his head actually came up from his hand for a moment when Professor Tallec said they would be studying Hippogriffs, but then he realised there was no place that could be hiding an actual live one in the classroom. Great. They would be studying in theory. His head slumped back onto his hand and he glanced next to him. Shinohara was actually falling asleep and he smirked.

He vaguely listened to the lecture. If he could memorise what Tallec said now, he could scribble it down when they were inevitably told to go make a pretty poster or something, and not need to actually read the book that the teacher was probably quoting verbatim. His ears pricked up slightly as the lecture ended with a mention of a real Hippogriff. Things were looking up... the lesson was a piece of cake and they might actually get to meet a real animal next week that did something other munch cabbage. He was about to slam his book down to jolt start Shino into waking up but she beat him to it... Shame.

“Sure,” he nodded as she asked/stated that he would be her partner. He wouldn't let a girl boss him around in a case that actually mattered but he wanted to work with her anyway, and he generally found her bluntness somewhat appealing. So many girls here were so... frilly. Not just in how they dressed but also how they spoke – it was all 'pardon me' and 'would you mind terribly but...?' and were simply scandalised if you didn't offer the same pointless verbal gymnastics. He preferred Shino's rudeness and lack of respect when it was directed at other people, but it didn't really needle him. They had fun hanging out, and that was more important than pleases and thank yous, though he thought he might tease her about it next time she did it.

He dropped a bow, or at least what he thought passed for one though there were probably many technical points on which it failed, as he had never had to do one beyond coming on stage at the end of a primary school concert, and those standards hadn't been exacting. He made the one for Shino nice and elaborate, twirling his free hand at his side. He completely forgot Tallec's point about eye contact, though the bow was as low as he could do without falling over.

“Well,” he said, straightening up and stretching, “That's me done with today's assignment. What do you want to do with the remaining forty-seven minutes of class?”

OOC – as Shinohara extended the offer to Araceli to shorten her name to Shino, I assume the same offer would have been extended to Jamie. If not, well it's his head and he's lazy, so he probably calls her that anyway.

13 Jamie Park, Pecari But I already am. 284 Jamie Park, Pecari 0 5

Araceli Arbon, Crotalus

November 22, 2014 4:57 AM

I know the feeling by Araceli Arbon, Crotalus

She hadn't thought it would be possible but this term seemed to be going worse than the last. This year, the most meaningful interaction she had had with another person was being woken up from her embarrassing impromptu nap in the library and assisted by a Muggleborn. If anything, that was a step down from what she'd achieved last term, when she had spoken with Tobi and... at least communicated with Aiden. Her room-mates had both given her Christmas gifts, which she wasn't sure how to interpret.... It was probably just politeness, rather than any real intimation of friendship as she had arranged her schedule to avoid, as far as possible, being in a situation where she was both awake and in the room at the same time as either room-mate. She had had gifts for them too, which she had left on their bedside tables when she got in. They had been bought just in case, as both her room-mates were respectable Purebloods, and it never did to give less than one received. Both girls had received simple silver bracelets with a pattern of leaves engraved on them. She wasn't sure whether they were really their taste but she hadn't even chosen them, her mother had. She liked Mackenzie's gift to her, and the intriguing little piece of green glass rested against her skin, under her robes, giving her both comfort, in the fact that her room-mate had acknowledged her existence, and an agonising ache at the same time... She longed to ask more about it. She liked the feel of it and wanted to know where it had come from. It seemed like an object with a life story.

She felt a little brighter as she entered Care of Magical Creatures. It was by far her favourite class, and one she was actually succeeding in, owing to the minimal requirements to talk. In fact, quiet and diligent observation was often what the class called for. The lack of pressure to speak, perversely, made it easier, and here she often had animals to talk to, and thus she sometimes chatted a little whilst she worked, though only ever whispering quietly to her charges. She placed her neat and detailed homework on Professor Tallec's desk, wondering whether he noticed the fact that she always smiled at him when she handed in her work. She supposed he wouldn't know that she kept her head down and didn't make eye contact with the other teachers, so perhaps it didn't seem that unusual to him. That in itself was almost thrilling though... She might seem normal to him. Unnoticed but in the good sense, whereby she blended in as one of the capable.

She took a seat, carefully taking notes of all that he said. Hippogriffs were exciting but.... She thought about their sharp beaks and about making a bad impression. She usually made a bad impression on people and worried that the creature might feel just the same... They sounded capable of seeing right inside a person and she was sure to be found wanting. At least she didn't have to speak to it though, she just had to... bow. She made a note next to this which said or curtsey? It seemed strange that the female equivalent wouldn't do for females. She made a note to research it, though she was sure Professor Tallec would have mentioned it if it was an option. She certainly wasn't going to query it with him now, which meant she would have to spend the lesson getting to grips with the unfamiliar act. With a partner. And have them critique her performance, and.... speak back to them. She was sure all her classmates were laughing at the simplicity of it but, yet again, she was stuck. She felt the familiar knot twisting up inside her throat, although this time it was tinged with the feeling of wanting to cry as her favourite class had let her down.

She slipped out of her seat, wondering who she could possibly partner. She wanted desperately to go to Aiden, who already knew and hadn't been unkind to her in their Charms class together but she couldn't believe he really wanted to spend the class passing notes when he could have the option of a normal conversation. Tobi... she had already spoken to, and that plus this being another of her small and slight comfort zones might give her a fighting chance. She felt he might understand too, if she couldn't. They had got over all the little conversational mishaps she'd had when they spoke in MARS. Though MARS itself had helped, by providing little prompts.... She stepped towards the Teppenpaw boy but as he stood to work, she realised he was already with someone. His inappopriate cousin. The one who had made father sniff derisively over the little progress she had made in acquiring a friend. She hesitated... Tobi already had a partner but it didn't make the desire to pad up and tug on his sleeve and hope he'd take care of her go away. It didn't magically create any new people who she more capable of speaking to. She stared forlornly, wondering whether the best thing to do was just find a corner and bow by herself until she felt she was doing it right.

OOC - I leave it up to Tobi and Liac to decide who she is standing behind (though still a distance away, she's not right at their shoulder) and thus who can see her more easily. Or if someone else wants to notice her and come join her, that's fine too.

13 Araceli Arbon, Crotalus I know the feeling 290 Araceli Arbon, Crotalus 0 5

Lionel Layne

November 25, 2014 9:43 AM

We'll scrape together some kind of meal eventually. by Lionel Layne

“That’s fair enough,” said Lionel amiably to the amended statement. A first attempt at anything that didn’t involve landing face-first on the ground was not too bad for most people. He was still upright, so it could have been worse.

He didn’t see that moving one foot backward would really change the overall position of his feet more than moving one forward, but it was worth a try. There were a lot of things, after all, that only worked by communal agreement. “You could be right again,” he said. “I’ve seen one of my cousins do something kind of like that – ‘course, she had her toes pointed, I think it was a dancing thing, what she was doing, but it’s all related, isn’t it?” He grinned. “I’m glad I don’t have to know all this in, you know, just daily life,” he said. “There’d be a good, old-fashioned lost cause for you….”

Probably it wouldn’t really be – Uncle Jeremy had practically raised Alicia since she was a baby, but her sisters had both been older when he and Aunt Emily got married, and Lionel thought Rachel and Kate had both learned this stuff, too. Aunt Emily and Aunt Helena and to a lesser extent Uncle Geoff had all learned it, he thought, as full adults - Granddad said sometimes that he was proud of them for not showing, as far as Granddad could tell, where they were from at all. He wasn’t the most brilliant apple ever to fall off the family tree, but if they could all pull it off, he was sure he could, too. He didn’t, however, have any desire to do so, which might be a factor in his success if he ever had to try….

He raised his eyebrows a little, impressed, at her statement about her friends in Virginia. “That’s cool,” he said. “Most of my people are from the suburbs, so I guess that explains some of it.” Aunt Helena lived, Grandmother and Granddad had always said, in a lovely house in the countryside with Uncle Orville and his other set of cousins, but he didn’t think she kept horses or anything, and his family didn't really have friends - just Aunt Anne, and Lionel was pretty sure she didn't have any hippogriffs, either, though he did think they might be her kind of thing.

16 Lionel Layne We'll scrape together some kind of meal eventually. 283 Lionel Layne 0 5

Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

December 01, 2014 7:12 PM

Too bad your bow was far from perfect. by Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus

Uzume grinned, happy he had said yes, and that she hadn’t needed to resort to other more coercive means. She watched intently as he bowed- if one could even call it that. Coming from a country where such action was a daily practice, Park-kun’s attempt seemed feeble at best. She did however like his flare, it was so American and crude.

“Well,” he said, straightening up and stretching, “That's me done with today's assignment. What do you want to do with the remaining forty-seven minutes of class?”

“Your bow was atrocious,” she said standing up to show him how it was done. She lowered her torso, not going too far down as she didn’t want him to think he was getting the upper hand or that she was showing gratitude. It was a concise and graceful bow, the type she had practiced for years in front of her elders, and as a result the action looked completely effortless- except for the impish smile she gave him as she straitened herself. Whereas most of the time she strived for the bare minimum, showing up Park-kun was well worth the extra effort.

“But then again it doesn’t really matter. After all I didn’t sit next to you for your manners, I wanted to have some fun,” she said breaking into a grin as she tried imagine what a stuffy, well-mannered Park-kun would be like. It was something along the lines of her dream, a hippo in a tutu messing everything up. She quickly put two and two together, and realized that perhaps he could be the hippo to her Mr. Darcy.

“I have a few ideas for the rest of class, but I think you need to think bigger!” she stated, a spark in her eye reflecting only a fraction of the mischief the two of them could cause to make the Midsummer’s ball ‘more interesting’.

“Go to the ball with me,” she said rather frankly, “Usually I would never go to something so pointless, I’m going to dance for a living after all, but if you went to the dumb thing with me as my sidekick then we could really do some damage.” A smile spread across her face in anticipation of the upcoming chaos. It had been so long since she had done a big prank, probably not since she was Jun. Although she wouldn’t be with her old group, Park-kun was a fine replacement. She felt he was different from the rest of the boys she had met at Sonora. He was cunning, and didn’t care for keeping up appearance, at least as much as she had seen, and as such he would be the perfect accomplice (or scapegoat if needed) for a night of fun at others expense. Of course Uzu knew he could always decline her invitation, but she wouldn’t let him live it down if he did.

0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus Too bad your bow was far from perfect. 0 Uzume Shinohara, Crotalus 0 5

Joella Curtis

December 04, 2014 5:13 AM

Here's to hoping it will be good enough. by Joella Curtis

Joella wasn't sure as to whether or not Lionel's words surprised her. She had vaguely recognised the name Layne and so given him the benefit of the doubt in assuming he must in some way be part of respectable society. His talk of his cousin gave suggestion that he was at least linked with such people but the young Pecari had already begun to doubt that Lionel himself was. He looked unpractised in the art of bowing for starters. And so when he admitted to the fact that such routine was never part of his daily life, Joella found her suspicions confirmed. But she wasn't about to get her snob on. There was a time and a place and a person for everything and right now she didn't really think it was appropriate to question the second year's background. She liked Lionel and thought he would make a good friend. Even if he was to be in a different class than her next year, there was no reason why he couldn't make amiable company for her this year. She was, after all, with a lack of classmates to pair up with and whilst no one seemed to be picky about who they chose, Joella had come to see Lionel as a familiar and friendly face

"Oh that's lucky for you," she smiled, unsure as to whether she was referring to his lack of success in the greeting or to her own hatred of society's formalities. Joella often felt a little indifferent to her own world and being the youngest in her family by so much seemed to have allowed her some slack. She could still recall the first day of Sonora where she had failed to curtsey in front of her roommates. Away from the prying eyes of adults and in the comfort of what was to be her bedroom for the next seven years, she had allowed herself to relax even more and was therefore surprised at the way most pureblood parents drilled etiquette into their children so much that it became automatic and not something more like a chore. Joella only did such things because she had to, not because she thought it polite.

Despite her evident lack of knowledge on all the pureblood families in attendance at Sonora, she was pleased to be able to benefit from her family's closest connections. Lionel seemed impressed which was to Joella always a good thing. She didn't live to impress and liked to think she cared little for the opinions of others but it really couldn't be denied that the eleven year old liked to be envied or admired or held in high esteem.

Although the young Pecari had grown up on a farm in Tennessee, she was by no means oblivious to the urban world. The family farm wasn't a great distance from Franklin and she had even journeyed to Nashville on numerous occasions. In addition to this, the Curtises owned a L.A residence largely due to Ivan's work as an Auror which he had long been debating whether or not to retire from. The suburbs she could imagine. "Whereabouts are you from?" she asked Lionel, although she was pretty certain she knew from his accent.

8 Joella Curtis Here's to hoping it will be good enough. 295 Joella Curtis 0 5

Jamie

December 04, 2014 7:32 AM

Too bad your face is far from perfect by Jamie

“Looks more or less the same to me…” he shrugged, rather hoping she’d be goaded into lecturing him on exactly what was wrong with his bow. He wanted to be allowed to meet the Hippogriff next lesson but he didn’t want to let on to Shinohara how keen he was to do well in a class. Although for a class that had wings and talons and could rip a man apart, he thought he deserved a bye.

“Though you might want to wipe the smirk off your face if you don’t want the Hippogriff to tear it off,” he countered. They had, after all, been advised to give feedback and Jamie was nothing if not a model partner in all class assignments.

“Who said I wasn’t thinking bigger already?” he asked, when she told him that was what he needed to do. He had been meaning to ask Shinohara about whether she wanted to make Sonora’s fanciest formal a little less of both those things with some well-placed wandwork. He was pleased that she was thinking along the same lines, especially as she was all into dancing and might have cared about the damn thing, but he was a little annoyed that she would probably try to take all the credit just for getting the suggestion out there first. Like causing chaos at a school function was such an original thought and wouldn’t have occurred to him…

“Sure, I’ll go with you as my sidekick,” he nodded, hoping that if he seemed to be agreeing she might miss the messing around he’d done with her sentence structure. English wasn’t her first language after all. Perhaps it technically wasn’t his but he’d grown up in America and been speaking it long enough to not remember ever having to learn it, and figured he might be able to out-manoeuvre her.

13 Jamie Too bad your face is far from perfect 284 Jamie 0 5