Worming my way in [Years I-II] on Care of Magical Creatures

Prof. Isis Carter

December 15, 2015 5:11 PM

Worming my way in [Years I-II] by Prof. Isis Carter

It wasn’t long at all before Isis’s service was once more called upon. She wasn’t teaching Potions full-time anymore, and the rest had been nice, albeit a bit boring, though she found her ways to fill time. But today, she was in the saddle for Care of Magical Creatures. Isis wasn’t sure exactly what held up Tallec, although she was sure to hear all about it later from Alfie, his number one bud. Their apparent friendship was admirable.

There was a chance--slim though it was--that Tallec was intentionally missing today, given the less-than-exciting subject matter planned. The likelihood of that, however, was extremely low; mostly, it was just her passionately not looking forward to the lesson she had to teach.

“Flobberworms,” she began after everyone had arrived and been greeted properly, “while not terribly interesting, are very important in the wizarding world. Can anyone tell me why?” Isis called on raised hands until the correct answer was given. “Yes, that’s it. Their mucus. It’s used in a variety of potions, usually to thicken. Does anyone happen to know what else is unique about them?” It was a bit more obscure, but she was looking to hear that they were among the few creatures able to be summoned with a Summoning charm.

“On each pair of desks is a box containing a handful of flobberworms and a container of lettuce and cabbage,” Isis elaborated. “Today’s assignment is to feed and care for your flobberworms in pairs or small groups. If all of your flobberworms are alive and healthy at the end of class, you will receive full marks for the day. But be careful, because if you overfeed them, they will die. You may begin.” Aside from providing the food, the students had little they needed to do as flobberworms did best typically when left to themselves. Isis intended that extra time for the students to work on homework or study, although she didn’t mind a little bit of chatter, either.

OOC: Speculation about Tallec and Alfie is not confirmed with their authors and is only Isis’s thoughts. Please make sure to follow site rules (no god-modding, 200+ words, etc.), and feel free to tag Isis if you need her for anything. Happy posting!

12 Prof. Isis Carter Worming my way in [Years I-II] 31 Prof. Isis Carter 1 5

Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]

December 21, 2015 2:01 AM

Figuring things out by Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw]

Wake up. Get out of bed. Pack books, pack wand, pack box of Potion ingredients. Eat breakfast (save some for mid-morning snack), talk with friends and go to class. Learn magic. Funny how the craziest things could become routine, when just months ago Gabe didn’t even know magic really existed. Funny how the most banal things, the sort of things he’d always taken for granted Before, could become so foreign.

Gabe attended classes at Sonora, and life went on across the country, in his home in New York. Mattie was in his freshman year of high school, already playing varsity tennis and getting ready for the PSAT. And Ems was still at their middle school, captain of the track team, right in the midst of the middle school gossip, with the people that they knew and had known since pre-school. Who was sitting next to who at lunch today? What crazy thing had Mr. Salzman said in history class last week? Had their cousin, Elisa, come by to sell her Girl Scout cookies, yet?

Gabe didn’t know.

He wrote home with more diligence than he ever committed to homework, and received letters just about everyday. But he couldn’t call, couldn’t text, couldn’t even Skype. Wizard kids must have more immediate ways of communicating with their families, he was sure. But Gabe couldn’t make use of any of that, what with his family being normal and all. He imagined that this is what kids who went to sleepaway camp must feel like. Only, most of the stuff Gabe did here was a lot weirder than learning archery or canoeing.

Writing was not enough to make it real. Of this, the dark-eyed boy was certain, especially as he took a seat towards the back of the class in Care of Magical Creatures. Oh, he could describe some of the weird stuff he saw here, but on paper, his life looked like a fantasy story Mattie and Ems might read in one of their English classes. And then there were the limitations of the Statute of Secrecy to contend with, to censor what he could share and keep him more removed. There was even a clause in there that said the pudgy eleven year-old was not supposed to play non-magical sports anymore. Gabe had no idea what that was supposed to accomplish, other than to make him feel more left out. Not quite part of the magical world, separated from the non-magical world.

A small smile spread across the usually upbeat boy’s face when the teacher announced today’s lesson. Worms - really? How boring was that? All this secrecy and distance, just to learn about a bunch of slimy worms. They knew non-magical people had worms too, right?

He absent-mindedly ripped a lettuce leaf into small pieces, and put it in the box with the flobberworms. He wondered when they were going to learn about cool creatures, like dragons and stuff. Something worth writing home about, though his family could not always understand.

“Hey, how often do these guys need to eat?” he asked the student next to him, concerned for the well-being of these creatures even in his current mood. Gabe never thought of himself first, never one to complain, never the downer of the party. He wrote about his new friends, he wrote about monsters and spells, but he didn’t ever share these feelings of not belonging in his letters home. Writing was for fantasy - some things were too real for words.

0 Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw] Figuring things out 330 Gabe Valenti [Teppenpaw] 0 5

Louis Valois

January 01, 2016 12:27 PM

Good luck with that! by Louis Valois

Louis had quickly settled back into his routine at Sonora, and soon it seemed almost as if he had never left. Of course things had changed slightly, as he was no longer a lowly firstie. Despite a certain amount of repetition in the classes, Louis did enjoy being one of the older students. However, with his love of learning new things, he couldn't wait until the following year, with its more challenging intermediate lessons.

He’d also struck up quite a strong friendship with Emmy-Lou Scott. Whilst their rapport might seem a bit odd to outsiders, Louis enjoyed the friendly exchange of insults, along with the odd moments when he’d confide to her things that the old Louis would never have dreamt of admitting. However, it was nice to be able to share his problems (although only to a certain extent – Louis was never and never would be one for loudly broadcasting his feelings and problems). He was definitely glad that his parents had decided to send him to Sonora, and not to Beauxbatons – the people he’d met here were, on the whole, a welcome change from his old stuffy pureblood friends.

All in all, Louis was very much enjoying the new term. Until, that is, the Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
Flobberworms. Of all the varied and dangerous magical creatures they could study in this class, they had chosen flobberworms. Louis was definitely not impressed. Give him dragons any day; there was nothing one could do with flobberworms but feed them! Sure, he’d come across the use of their mucus as a thickening agent, but would rather have nothing to do with the actual production of it.

Louis turned as he heard the boy next to him ask a question. Frowning, he thought for a moment, trying to remember the little he knew about flobberworms.

“I'm not actually sure,” he replied. “But as we’re unlikely to manage to starve them in such a short amount of time, and as the professor said overfeeding could cause death, I guess we don’t really need to do that much.” He looked at the brown worms with distaste, noting that they were already producing mucus. “Although overfeeding them could be interesting, I suppose. D’you reckon they’d explode?”

Louis wasn't actually serious about seeing if the flobberworms could explode. After all, he did want a decent grade – and he did have some respect for life. Still, he mused, if his assumptions about feeding were correct, this was going to be a long and boring lesson.

He turned more towards the boy next to him, deciding that getting to know him – presumably he was a first year, as Louis didn't recognise him – might make the time pass more quickly. “I'm Louis Valois,” he introduced himself. “Aladren, second year. What about you?”

9 Louis Valois Good luck with that! 314 Louis Valois 0 5

Gabe Valenti

January 06, 2016 2:25 AM

You're too kind by Gabe Valenti

A small smile flashed across Gabe’s face as he thought of the idea of explosion from overfeeding. If such a thing could happen, his Nonna would have exploded her flock of grandchildren many times over. Instead, Gabe remembered leaving weekly Sunday dinners with a belly full of deliciousness and a serious case of a food coma. And of course, some biscotti from the bakery for midnight snack.

But there had been no extra pieces of biscotti for months now. Since his birthday last July, his extended family had been led to believe that he was starting to take his sports very seriously, and had received a scholarship for athletics to a far away boarding school.

To keep up the ruse (but mostly because he missed organized sports), the first year could be found most days after class just above the Quidditch Pitch, practicing his flying. There were no organized games this year, leaving the pudgy boy to do laps around the Pitch mostly on his own. He was sure by next year he could make the Teppenpaw team. He had to make the Teppenpaw team. He didn’t know what he would do for the next six-and-a-half years without an organized sport to make him feel like he belonged. Look after worms, apparently.

“Nah,” he shook his head, joking, “That would be too interesting.” Not that he’d really take any pleasure out of making that happen. But really, worms? Yeah, he was a first year and could barely be trusted to keep his wand from exploding things at random. He still couldn’t believe that he was spending months away from his family, living with secrets and telling lies to the people he loved most, just to study worms.

“Gabe Valenti, new Teppenpaw,” the younger boy introduced himself to Louis, with his usual easy going grin. So far, he’d had an easy time of it talking to the other kids around here, just like at his old, normal school. Nat was a cool girl in his house, and Cassius had some pretty awesome flying moves. The kids from his School Challenge team seemed alright, too. But he hadn’t made any very close friends, yet.

“So,” he decided to pick the older kid’s brain, “Do we ever get to study any cool stuff around here? Like dragons?” Right about now, the only thing that could really cheer the New Yorker up was a cool monster, like a dragon or something. Something to make being a wizard cool and interesting, and not just a wormy barrier between him and Nonna’s treats.

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Louis Valois

January 11, 2016 2:01 PM

I doubt many would say that by Louis Valois

Louis grinned at Gabe’s question. “Dragons?” he replied. “If only! I'm hoping they’re just saving the dangerous animals until we’re older – although I’d be surprised if they ever let us progress beyond Diricawls or Clabberts.”

Louis had, perhaps, a somewhat sceptical view of school education. Having been let loose on the Valois’ rather extensive library as soon as he’d learned to read, he slightly resented the restrictions imposed upon his learning by the curriculum. However, this was slightly mollified by the school library, which contained some interesting books that he enjoyed reading in his spare time (when he wasn't reading Quidditch books).

Speaking of spare time, if Emmy found out he was having a conversation with a first year – and a Teppenpaw at that – he’d never get a moment’s peace. She’d be organising study sessions for him, and who knew what else!

“So where do you come from?” asked Louis, intrigued by the boy’s introduction, which had differed from that of the standard American pureblood. Personally, Louis didn't bother with introducing himself in such a way – the name Valois wasn't exactly unknown to those who cared about such things, and those who didn't could probably tell Louis was foreign (despite a near-perfect grasp of English, Louis still had a slight French accent. His sentence structure sometimes became slightly atypical too, especially when speaking more informally). However, the boy seemed to be American. Perhaps he was a half-blood, or even a muggleborn. That could be interesting – Louis still hadn't had that much contact with muggleborns at Sonora.

As he asked, Louis picked up a cabbage and ripped a bit off, pushed it into the cage, half rethinking his decision to spare the lives of the flobberworms. Luckily for the worms, his desire to get a good grade won out, and he sadly put down the rest of the cabbage.

9 Louis Valois I doubt many would say that 314 Louis Valois 0 5

Gabe [Teppenpaw]

January 24, 2016 3:27 PM

I'm filled with surprises by Gabe [Teppenpaw]

Gabe was happy to hear that Louis was a fellow dragon fan. Thank goodness he had not sat next to someone who was actually excited about these worms. That polite conversation would have been painful for the boy. He absent-mindedly ripped lettuce into smaller and smaller pieces, sprinkling some next to the flobberworms. While he wasn’t sure what Diricawls or Clabberts were, he was intrigued, so he made a mental note to look them up after class. He was always happy to discover new monsters.

“Westchester, New York, just north of the city,” he answered proudly, “And you? Where’s that accent from?” Not that he had room to judge, given that he had a fairly strong New York accent himself. Gabe of course, did not hear this, and would strongly deny that he had any sort of accent to anybody who brought it up.

He leaned back in his seat and glanced at the flobberworms, which were not up to much of anything. This was going to be a long class, and there were so many better things he could be doing. If he left a bit early, would it really matter? Would the teacher notice? Would Louis rat him out? Would he actually go through with it? Gabe wondered what the magical version of detention would be like.

“So do you play Quidditch or any other sports?” Gabe asked. If he did make an escape, the first thing he would probably do would be to go to the Quidditch Pitch. He was there after classes ended most days anyway. Gabe missed having organized sports as part of his routine, plus he hoped the frequent practice would put him on par with kids who had been flying all their lives. It would be awesome if he could get to the Pitch before anyone else got there for an afternoon flight, he would have first pick of the school brooms.

0 Gabe [Teppenpaw] I'm filled with surprises 330 Gabe [Teppenpaw] 0 5