Needing a first year to clean up after on Charms

Professor Bulla

July 30, 2005 10:39 AM

Charms Lesson 1: Cleaning up after yourselves by Professor Bulla

A good working knowledge of the school was never something that went amiss. Manfred, making good use of his, took a quick shortcut from the Cascade Hall that allowed him not only to be the first to arrive in the corridor where his class was, but also allowed him a minute to make sure that everything needed for the class was present. What with recent events, and the intense morning he wasn't certain that he had allowed enough of his attention to be directed to preparation for his classes, so he was glad to find that he had remembered to collect several tableclothes from the prairie elves.

They were stacked neatly on his desk, and after subjecting the classroom to another last minute check to be sure that all was in order should the tour make its way past his classroom, Manfred went back to the front of the room. While the students filed into the room he busied himself at the board, writing up notes for the class.

"Alright," he said finally, when the last of them had arrived. He pulled his watch out of a pocket, looked at it, and directed a frown at the last student, then put it back away. "I'm sure you're all very excited to have visitors at the school, particularly those of you who are recieving visits from your family, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't all settle down for class. What you are learning in these classes is very important to your education, and to your ability to become a functioning member of Magical Society." He looked around to be sure that his words were at least having some effect, then deciding that it would have to do started the lesson proper.

Pacing around he addressed the class.

"First years, you are going to be learning a charm that I'm sure your older classmates are all familiar with: Aquor. This is a charm which does what?" He pointed to a second year student and nodded as an answer was given. "Very good. To reiterate - please listen, I don't appreciate talking in my classes, particularly when I'm addressing the class. It is disrespectful not only to me, but also to your classmates who are trying to learn - Aquor is a charm which conjours water from your wand. It can be very useful in environments such as the one which surrounds our school. You point your wand - there is no specific movement needed for this spell - and pronounce this incantation Aquor."

He demonstrated, squirting water over the pile of tablecloths and soaking them quite thoroughly in the process.

"If you need any help, refer to the information on the board," Manfred indicated the notes on the left hand side," or you can ask me, or perhaps one of the older students. You will, after all be working together today.

"Second years, you will be learning a drying charm today." He waited half a second, then cut off any protests, "You'll find that these spells do have everyday use as well and are not 'merely doing the job of a house or prairie elf'. Now, as I'm sure you can all recall some of the gaff's that you managed to conjour up last year, the particular charm I've picked for you to study today is a general dogsbody type of drying charm. Watch."

He walked back to the side of the desk, aimed his wand and then while keeping the tip in place pulled down on the handle while saying "exsorbeo". A low, sucking sound started to come from his wand, and as he moved the wand over the soaked tablecloths, the moisture was sucked out of them. Towards the end the sound started to rattle as he moved around picking up the last drops, sounding remarkably like then last few drops of a milkshake being sucked up through a straw.

"Ok, I want you all to form into groups of two or three. One second year per group." He flicked his wand and the tableclothes sailed around the classroom, each settling onto this desk or that. "You may begin."

OOC: Ok, I want some good long posts from you all. Any one line posts will not get your house points. Please pay attention to what your fellows are doing, I'd be quite happy for one student to write that they were the last to arrive, and for another to answer the question, but I don't want more than ONE for each, ok? So once that's happened, its done.

Have fun posting.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Subthreads:

Dibs on answering the question by Zack Dill with Rachel Tibbs

It's a conspiracy! ("Wanted" - 2 x firstie) by The Cravens with Lexi, Asher Tallow

Needing a first year to clean up after by Mia with Anne

How charming... by Dalila with Elizabeth

The friendless geeky loser in the corner needs a partner... by Ty with Earl Valentine, Professor Bulla, TJ O'Reilly

He really doesn't want a partner- but he needs one. by TJ O'Reilly

Finding a firstie by Jake Santoro (Teppenpaw)

Finally getting through this by Tally Adams (Tepp)

Sorry I'm late dude (Oi! Gwennie! I figure you're with me) by Stephen Baxter with Gwenhwyfar Carey, Stephen

Hide me!!! by Carillon Arksington

Class as per usual... by Arixios Jackel

In Search of Some Control... [from the Hospital Wing] by Brett Lavine with Professor Manfred Bulla

39 Professor Bulla Charms Lesson 1: Cleaning up after yourselves 2 Professor Bulla 1 5

Mia

August 01, 2005 7:59 AM

Needing a first year to clean up after by Mia

Mia was half glad and half annoyed that she didn't have magical parents. 'Muggleborn' as it was called around here. She was annoyed because she would’ve loved to have at least one magical parent which would save her a lot of annoying ignorance. A lot of people seemed to know more than she did on just about everything that had to do with magic. She was glad for many reasons, all having to do with seeing that much less fighting (verbally or just through eye contact) between her parents at the alumni banquet had they been magical like her. Mia didn't linger in Cascade Hall since she had little reason to. While people said goodbye to their parents after Professor Bulla's announcement, Mia just went straight to class.

Because she left right after the announcement, she was one of the first few to walk into the Charms room. Mia grabbed a seat near the back, as had become her custom and watched Professor Bulla jot some notes on the board. One couldn’t exactly say he started off his lesson with a grabber sentence. By the time Professor Bulla had asked what the spell ‘Aquor’ did, Mia was already twirling her wand through her fingers under the desk in a bored fashion, but kept her hazel eyes on the professor. She stifled a yawn and tried to look attentive though she really didn’t know if she was doing that well or not. She hoped she was because she didn’t want to lose anymore points for her house. That was embarrassing enough for her.

‘But boy, can he talk.’ Mia thought to herself with the faintest smile.

She was sort of glad to know that the second years would be working with first year partners. She had met one of the first years in Potions and he seemed pretty cool. Mia thought it was odd that she didn’t really know the first years in her own house. She saw them around and knew them by looks, but not by names. Well she was pretty sure she knew them by looks.

When Professor Bulla told the class to begin after showing the spell the second years would be trying and then doing a nice little something that sent a tablecloth neatly folded onto the desks, Mia looked around for a first year she could partner with. She was all for just sitting and looking available rather than getting up and actively searching for someone. She blamed the filling lunch she ate which she had more than usual. Her small frame wasn’t used to eating more than a small plateful or two. She was sure a first year would come around. She knew she hadn’t wanted to be left partnerless in her first year. Mia hung back, looking around and ready for someone to walk her way.

She wondered if someone would come by soon because she loved using her wand and if a partner didn’t come by she might just do both spells by herself while waiting.
\n\n

0 Mia Needing a first year to clean up after 0 Mia 0 5

Anne

August 02, 2005 8:58 AM

I'll try to keep the mess small by Anne

Anne had become very fond of her wand since she came to Sonora, to the point of considering the seven inches of dragon-heartstring-cored rosewood a friend. As far as inanimate objects went, the only competition for her affections her wand had was Bob the Dummy in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had her wand in a death grip as she entered the Charms classroom, looking more like a street brawler than a goody-two-shoes Aladren. One event had effectively ruined her perfect image, at least temporarily. She couldn't decide if she wanted to curse or cry or both.

He hadn't shown up. Her good-for-nothing coward of a father. She had, for some reason she no longer remembered, expected him to ever since a distinctly white-faced Gwen had told her about the alumni banquet. She had spent hours debating whether she should forgive him, ignore him, or attack him, but she had finally settled on forgiveness for her mother's sake. Mary Wright had been born a St.Martin, but her ideas about family were much less ganglike than theirs. She had believed families shouldn't fight because of the nature of family itself, not because of the mafia-like organization of the pureblood world. Anne had probably managed to add all of her roomates to the list of people who thought she was insane by spending still more hours rehearsing her speech in front of the mirror. All for nothing. When it came right down to it, he hadn't had the guts to face her.

She had left the alumni banquet without eating a bite, not wanting the whole bloody school to see her getting upset, and had made it to a girl's bathroom before she lashed out and smashed a mirror. It was stupid, calling for her mama and daddy when she knew the one was dead and the other was gone, but she hadn't been able to help it. Her right arm gave a small, nervous jerk and a few sparks flew out of the tip of her wand. Lila was right, it seemed. She was just a charity relation who would be thrown out as soon as she turned seventeen unless she allowed them to arrange her a marriage at fifteen or sixteen, and she had no intentions of doing that. Confounded purebloods and their arranged marriages. She wanted nothing to do with them or their world. The only good things about the magical world were Quidditch and hexes, and the rest of it could go to Hades with her blessing.

Some of the fight went out of her as Professor Bulla began talking, and she was definitely in favor of crying instead of cursing when he mentioned the alumni and family. Who needed family, anyway? It was all so overrated. Her eyes were stinging threateningly, and she blinked hard, looking down at the top of the desk. She was completely okay with her father's absence. She didn't need him any more than he seemed to need her. She had done pretty well for herself, if she did say so herself. After all, how many girls with her unorthodox raising had ever managed to live with the St.Martins? She had her life, he had his, and it was better for everyone if they didn't open up half-healed wounds by meeting again.

She turned her mind to the problem of finding a second-year who looked equally or less likely to attack than herself to work with. Her eyes fell on a girl sitting a row back from her, a Pecari by her robes and a second year if Anne's memory was any good. She didn't look very threatening, though Pecaris were sometimes odd. Look at Gwenhwyfar's boyfriend. Still, she was as good a bet as any. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Anne walked over to her, looking, though she didn't know it, both more nervous and defensive than was strictly necessary.

"Er-d'you need a partner?" she asked stiffly, unused to deliberately approaching someone with the intention of conversing even this much. She did well enough if the conversation was spontaneous or started by someone else, but she had a terror of being the one to offer speech to people she didn't know. "I'm Anne," she added, rather thoughtfully from her point of view. "Anne Wright, first year Aladren." \n\n

16 Anne I'll try to keep the mess small 59 Anne 0 5

Mia

August 02, 2005 4:27 PM

Much appreciated. by Mia

Mia had been looking in another direction for a moment and didn't see the girl walk over to her. She turned her head back quickly when the first year spoke, causing some of her hair to land over her small oval glasses. She quickly brushed it aside and behind her ear and looked at the younger girl.

"Mia Kerova, Pecari second year and a partner sounds pretty good to me." Mia greeted the nervous looking first year and, after pocketing her wand, moved her hands around her to indicate that she was, in fact, partnerless.

She smiled hoping to lighten the girl up a bit. Mia looked to an empty seat next to her where the person had moved to get a partner and moved the chair so Anne could sit and they could get these spells done. She didn't want to look like the over enthusiastic weirdo even though she was really ready to use her wand again. She waited for Anne to take a seat before continuing, pulling the cloth over towards her and her partner.

"Alright, I guess you're up first." Mia said, pulling her wand out again and once again threading it through her fingers until Anne did her spell.\n\n

0 Mia Much appreciated. 0 Mia 0 5

Anne

August 03, 2005 9:53 PM

Whether or not I succeeded is up to you to decide by Anne

Anne surveyed her partner suspiciously for a long moment, wondering if the second year was trying to be condescending. She decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, not everyone on the planet was a jerk, and Mia seemed decent. Anne had discovered years earlier that she couldn't always trust herself to tell the difference between a slight and an effort at friendliness. She forced a slightly painful return smile and took the indicated seat.

"Pleased to meet you, then," she said, more mildly than she would have imagined she could have. Once again, she was proving that she had absorbed more of Grandmother St.Martin's lectures than she let on, if she was trying to act normal. She hesitated when the cloth was passed to her. She didn't like admitting to the weakness, but it would be a pretty lousy thing to do if she tried something with her wand in her current mood without warning those around her.

"If you have anything that might - er - blow up," she said, awkward again, "you might want to move it. If the spell doesn't work or I get mad or something, stuff might start exploding." She forced a laugh. "I thought my mama was going to kill me the time I blew up my third-grade teacher's coffee cup. Her memory was altered and everything, but we never did get along very well after that." Anne had lost control since then, but never again aroud a Muggle. She had actually memorized parts of the Statue of Secrecy since that day.

She tried to loosen her grip on her wand a bit and winced as her cramped fingers unbent. She had to repress an urge to check to see if they had left impressions in the wood. Using something so essential as an emotional lifeline probably wasn't the brightest idea she had ever gotten, and the pain of returning circulation acted as evidence. "Aquor," she gritted out, mimicking Professor Bulla's pronunciation as closely as possible.

Nothing happened. It was the Reparo business all over again. "Aquor! she snapped, temper flaring up again at the recollection of her earlier temper tantrum. As if responding to her feelings, the water shot out of her wand more forcefully than it should have and its contact with her free left hand proved that it was hot. She dropped her wand and jerked back with a yelp.

"Don't reckon that was supposed to happen," she said, trying and failing to sound casual as she turned to Mia. "At least the tablecloth got wet.Your turn." \n\n

16 Anne Whether or not I succeeded is up to you to decide 59 Anne 0 5

Mia

August 04, 2005 10:41 AM

It looks pretty good to me. by Mia

Mia didn't act on the suspicious look Anne had given her though multiple things to say sprouted to mind, but none of them would help in being friendly. She was glad that Anne seemed to lighten up though. She even joked which worked for Mia. She laughed at the joke mostly because the same could be said of herself.

"The only time I really did something in front of non magical people was in…third or fourth grade.” Mia started after Anne’s story “An older boy was rushing at me shouting that I had taken his seat on the bus and I thought he was going to beat me up for sure, but when he was like, a foot away he looked like he ran into an invisible brick wall. No one seemed to notice that, only that he fell backwards unconscious with a bloody nose so while everyone was laughing I snuck away to find my friends since I wasn't even sure what happened."

Mia had done worse than just giving some bully a bloody nose, but if Anne wasn’t going to ask than she wasn’t going to go into detail. It wasn’t like she killed anyone though she supposed she had cut it pretty close with her brother.

Mia watched Anne do her spell and she wasn’t surprised that it failed the first time. It usually did. When Anne tried again, she sounded angry and Mia was reminded of her Charms lesson last year when she tried the spell herself for the first time. Mia’s right hand wasn’t lucky enough to be out of the way and got sprayed by some of the surprisingly hot water causing her to flinch back and drop her wand as Anne had. Mia sharply inhaled with her teeth gritted together. After a few moments of fanning her hand Mia let the breath go and simply stated calmly,

“Ouch.”

It wouldn't do to yell and call more attention to the mistake. Everyone made mistakes, plus it didn’t even hurt so badly and Mia made the same mistake so she had been corrected. She hoped Anne didn't think she was a stuck up know-it-all, but she figured she might as well tell her what she had been told. Mia grabbed hers and Anne’s wand from the ground.

"Yeah, the table cloth is definitely wet now." Mia said good naturedly "Just for future reference, it's not the best idea to fuel a spell with emotion. That's how things tend to go wrong…like exploding. I got frustrated last year since I was new to it all and it only went down hill from there until I relaxed. I'm not going to preach because it's really not my place to, but I figure it might help to pass the little that I do know about magic." Mia shrugged before handing Anne her wand back with a small smile and then pointing her own wand at the damp, steaming tablecloth. She liked reminiscing about her progress as a witch, but she’d have to save it for later.

"Exsorbeo!" she chanted firmly, and heard that sucking sound that came from Bulla's wand.

She didn't have time to get excited because a split second later, it stopped. Mia frowned, but aimed her wand again and repeated the spell. Two always had been her favorite number. The suction sound lasted longer and Mia’s frown slowly reversed as the sound stayed steady for a little while. She raised an eyebrow at the sudden stop of the spell again. She brushed her fingers over the tablecloth and it felt like something she tried to ring every last drop of water out of yet still had that slight moist feeling to it. She figured she didn’t need to do much better on a first try and didn’t want to keep going when she mostly had it down. It wouldn’t do to be a perfectionist as she tended to slip into every now and again.

“So, do we give it another go?” Mia asked, once again, holding back any over exuberance though she really wanted to practice the spell more. \n\n

0 Mia It looks pretty good to me. 0 Mia 0 5

Anne

August 11, 2005 6:27 PM

Now I'll try to do it without injuring anyone... by Anne

Anne glared at her burned left hand, as if that would help matters at all. It wasn't a bad burn; she had gotten worse scrapes. Geoffrey Layne was calm to the point of being downright cold on the ground, but he flew like a madman and hit Bludgers like one, too. No, her hand wasn't anything to worry about. She noticed Mia flapping her hand around and winced. "You all right?" she said, feeling guilty. She hated feeling guilty. It meant she had done something wrong, and she hated being wrong more than anything else in the world. "Need the medic?"

She forced another painful smile when Mia advised her of the dangers of fueling spells with emotion. How many times had she been informed that she had all the serenity of a cat on a hot tin roof? She didn't even have the Muggleborn excuse; she knew the theory, knew the proper way of doing things, and it had no affect. Once her temper was up, it was up and there was no way to predict what might happen until she got a grip. She shouldn't have lost one in the first place, not over what had happened. It was a sign of weakness to let him get to her like this. Her face darkened momentarily, then reverted to a more normal expression, meaning that she looked anxious instead of angry.

"I know," she said, amiably enough. She was getting better at this. "I'm a theory geek until the end. I should have known better than to lose control like that. Thank you, though." She accepted her wand and studied it for signs of damage. It appeared to be intact. She had wound the ends of her hair around the fingers of her left hand without realizing it and was tugging on them slightly, a habit she had never tried to break or seen any reason for breaking. She was secretly relieved when Mia suggested trying the spell again. She had to prove that she could do it right.

"Yeah, let's," she said, not quite able to keep a note of eagerness from her voice. Running her fingers over her wand one last time to make sure it hadn't sustained any damage (her wand was one thing she definitely did not want to explode) she raised it and pointed it once more at the tablecloth. "Aquor." There wasn't as much water as there had been the first time, but it wasn't hot, either. She had done it, and was unable to suppress a real smile of triumph. "Much better, I think," she murmured, more to herself than to Mia. "Much better." \n\n

16 Anne Now I'll try to do it without injuring anyone... 59 Anne 0 5

Mia

August 15, 2005 4:06 PM

The injured forgives by Mia

"No," Mia answered quickly, but kept her voice fairly even at the mention of the medic. "I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore." That was a bit of a lie. Her hand still stung a little, but it was nothing. It'd leave her mind by the next class. Plus, avoiding the Hospital Wing seemed like it was for the best for Mia. She hoped the medic wasn’t still sore at her.

She smiled a little when Anne said she was a theory geek, but felt a little dumb since Anne already knew what she had said. Well so much for passing on the little that she knew. After Anne’s response, Mia guessed that she had one or two magical parents. She just hoped this didn’t turn into a whole ‘inferior muggleborn’ thing. It didn’t seem to be heading that way and Mia was relieved for that. She had enough of that nonsense.

Mia was glad that Anne agreed to do the spell again. She threaded her wand through her fingers and watched her partner perform the spell. Mia was slightly weary of where her hands were placed this time.

"Nice." Mia complimented when Anne did the spell right "Let's see if mine will turn out any good." She said mostly thinking to herself out loud and pointing her wand towards the damp tablecloth.

"Exsorbeo!" she focused on where the water landed and heard what she wanted.

The water was being dried up much better than before. Without even realizing, a smile grew on her face as she focused on the spell to continue. Doing magic right made her a bit giddy, but she didn’t start squealing or anything like that. She just had trouble holding back the large smile that formed on her face.

Since there wasn't a lot of water this time (though she was glad that it was a small bit of cool water rather than a lot of hot water) it didn't take as long to dry. When the spell stopped Mia felt the cloth, but she knew just by looking at it that she had gotten this spell down pact. Mia lightly bit her bottom lip to suppress her grin, but it didn't work well. She took a breath and twirled the wand through her fingers again.

“I think we’ve got these spells down pretty well.” Mia stated and lessoned the ecstatic smile to a friendly grin towards Anne.\n\n

0 Mia The injured forgives 0 Mia 0 5

Anne

August 24, 2005 8:28 PM

Much appreciated by Anne

Anne watched Mia perform the drying charm again, this time with more of an interest. The first time around, she had been too humiliated by her own blunder to become overly excited about what anyone else was doing, provided she even noticed it. There was a small, logical part of her brain that chalked this up to an overreaction - after all, producing any water was an accomplishment, for a first year - but the majority of her brain had been fixed on the thought that nothing less than perfection was acceptable. If she ever wanted to get anywhere in the world, she would have to do it on her own and she wouldn't be able to if her academic performance was anything less than stellar. People like her didn't have a 'natural place' in wizarding society; everything she ever had would be, she was already sure, the product of a long, hard struggle rather than inheritance.

Now, however, her fears that she was falling below standard had been partially alleviated, and she was able to observe what was going on around her. It never hurt to learn next year's material, especially when there was a good chance she would be put into Mia's position in the next year, landed with the task of working with some random first year who had never held a wand before. She twirled her own wand and felt the corners of her mouth jerk up as she almost smiled at seeing Mia do the same thing. She allowed herself to finish smiling when she registered that Mia was doing so. She thought Mia might warrant a place on her 'good' list. After all, there were probably some older students who would have slapped an initally hostile first year who shot hot water onto said older student's hand into next week.

"Yeah," she said, cautiously beginning to disentangle her fingers from her hair. People might begin to work out that her habitual fiddling with her hair was a mark of anxiety of some kind, and that would never do. Besides, it was all right now. She had proved that she was as good as any of them. She could do it. She had done it. She was fine, for now. She looked down at her hands, her hair swinging foward to cover her face for a moment before she looked up. Her stare was as intense as ever, but her general expression was not unfriendly. "So," she began, then stopped, momentarily perplexed. She finally decided to resort to one of the oldest and lowest tactics known to mankind: transfer the responsibility to the older and supposedly wiser party. "What now?" \n\n

16 Anne Much appreciated 59 Anne 0 5

Mia

September 11, 2005 7:48 AM

ponders Hmm...where have I seen that title before? by Mia

OOC: Sorry for the long delay! I'm really trying to avoid those. Ugh, darn RL! Anyway, continuing on...

BIC: Mia frowned a little and bit her bottom lip lightly. She really didn't know what to do next. She and Anne learned the spells and did them right. She supposed she could start up a conversation for a little while before class ended. Sitting there in silence wouldn't really help, but what to talk about was the real question.

Even if first years and second years were only a year apart in age, the two years seemed so different and segregated. It was weird to Mia seeing how she had made friends with kids in the grade below and even above her own before she came to Sonora. They weren’t her closest friends, but they were friends none the less. Why shouldn't she be able to just talk to Anne and maybe get to know her a little? Then again, the magic and non magic worlds were different so that might not work the same as it had at her old school. It was worth a shot though.

“I’m not really sure what comes next.” Mia started with a shrug “I mean we did the spells right? So I guess we could relax and talk for a while."

Alright, it was a start. Mia wasn’t the greatest conversationalist in the world, but she supposed it cracked the ice. There was now a suggestion for what to do next and hopefully Anne would go with it. And if she wanted to keep practicing the spells while talking, Mia wouldn't mind doing that too. She was all too willing to use her wand again.\n\n

0 Mia *ponders* Hmm...where have I seen that title before? 0 Mia 0 5

Anne

September 12, 2005 9:56 PM

When dealing with me, expect subjection to my sense of humor by Anne

OOC: Completely understood. BIC:

Anne had been expecting idle chitchat to be the next item on the agenda, and it didn't take long for her to be proven right. What she hadn't been expecting was to be designated the initiator of said conversation. The last time she had been put in this position, she had ended up throwing her Great-Aunt Paulina's firewhiskey at the head of one of the Cambury boys, which lead to her grandmother going into a screaming fit about what Anne's grandfather had to say on the matter - Anne's grandfather who had died before she was born, that is. That had been the last St.Martin party all summer. Uncle Roland had thought it wise to cancel the rest of the season after, as he put it, his stepmother and niece both made utter idiots out of themselves in public.

Well, Mia had several advantages over Wilmer Cambury. One was that Anne seriously doubted Mia was internally debating over whether or not her being half-St.Martin made up for being half-Wright in the marriage game, as Wilmer had only too obviously been even before he started talking about it directly. Two was that Mia's accent suggested that she wasn't from the Southeast, meaning that even if she was a pureblood, she wasn't one who Anne would have to see "in society". Three was that Anne had never broken a rule in front of a teacher and didn't mean to start now. Four was that Aunt Paulina and her ever-present bottle were back in South Carolina.

"I guess so," she said. What was a good, universal, impartial topic... "Where're you from?" she said, voicing the first thing that came to mind. "I'm from South Carolina." Her voice warmed slightly as she mentioned the name of her home state. She had set foot in four states in her whole life, could only remember three of them, and was completely convinced that South Carolina was by and large the best of them. "Charleston, to be specific. Used to live next door to another family of wizards, the Laynes. Me and the Layne kids would hang out after we got out of Muggle school while our parents talked in the kitchen of one or the other's house." Those had been good days. Geoffrey, Helena, and Lavinia had been the closest things to friends that she had ever had. She had, in fact, referred to them as her friends internally for years, though not aloud. Anne felt a distinct twinge of guilt as she realized she had only exchanged three letters with them since her mother died.

That was a good deal more than she felt she had been obliged to say, so she thought it safe to shut up and let Mia put in her two cents worth. There were gaps in her own history, gaps she didn't understand or know how to fill. If someone got her talking, they would soon become obvious. Her fatal flaw was the gradual lessening of her guard as she relaxed. She was already starting to do so, by tiny increments. The last thing she needed was for this bad day to get worse. \n\n

16 Anne When dealing with me, expect subjection to my sense of humor 59 Anne 0 5

Earl
September 13, 2005 7:05 PM

Earl
Peripheral
Written by:

Wow...that WAS a long time by Earl
OOC: That's okay.

BIC:
Okay, so she was a little weird, but that didn't stop her from being a good drawer, which was the only reason he even asked to be partners with her.

He ignored the urge to act as though he'd rather be anywhere else and replied.

"I gotta soak the table cloth with 'aquor' and you gotta dry it up again using 'exsorbeo'. At least I think that's how you say it."

He stared at his hands uncomfortably. He still felt a little odd around girls. He had just gotten over the cooties stage, but hadn't quite reached the other side. With the exception of his sister and maybe Asher, girls still made him nervous.

"I guess I'll get a table cloth," he murmured as he stood up. He took his time getting getting it and sat back down again with a dejected look. "So, I guess I'll be going first since you can't dry anything that's not wet." He tried to crack a smile, but it looked more like he was in pain.

He stated the incantation, waiting for the jet of water, but nothing happened. He tried again and still, nothing happened. Earl stared at his wand in confusion. Shouldn't water be coming out now?

"I can do this," he said more to himself than to Ty as his fifth (or was it fifteenth?) try ended as the rest had...with nothing. There wasn't a single drop of moisture on the pristine, white cloth and Earl's patience was running thin.

"You know what? This is stupid," Earl muttered as an idea came to his head. He checked to see that teacher's back was turned before reaching into his backpack for the bottle of water he had put in there that morning. He unscrewed the cap and, with a smirk to Ty, poured the contents over the table cloth, leaving it soaked through.

"Okay, you're turn."\n\n

0 Earl Wow...that WAS a long time 0 Earl 0 5

Mia
September 14, 2005 5:16 PM

Mia
Peripheral
Written by:

The same could be said of myself by Mia
Mia was glad Anne started though it didn't particularly matter to her. She wouldn’t have minded starting. Asking where the girl was from was on the tip of her tongue before Anne started speaking. It just took her a moment too long to think of how to start. Either way, the question was asked and the conversation took hold. At least they wouldn’t have to sit in an awkward silence.

"I have family in South Carolina." Mia started after Anne spoke. "My aunt and uncle and my grandparents on my mom’s side live there. I can’t remember the name of the city though. But I live up in Jersey. You probably wouldn’t even know the little town I live in, but it’s a nice town. My friends from my old school live nearby to me and there’s a park that’s in walking distance. We hung out there all the time.

Mia smiled as she thought about her friends back home. She missed them a lot, but being a witch and getting to go to a magic school was definitely somewhat of a compensation for being away from them for almost a year. Not to mention getting away from her parents’ arguing was a plus too. The summer was when Mia and her friends got back together and talked just as if nothing was different. That was something she could count on with her friends. They didn't make a big deal out of something when you didn't want them to.

“Most of my friends are non ma- um, muggles.” Mia corrected herself using the wizard term for non magic people though it still sounded weird to her “I miss them over the year, but I get away from my brother for nine months which is a plus.” Mia laughed a little. She didn’t hate her brother, but he was a pain to be around most of the time.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Mia added as an after note. “I actually have two older brothers.”\n\n

0 Mia The same could be said of myself 0 Mia 0 5

Ty
September 15, 2005 1:02 AM

Ty
Peripheral
Written by:

A successful attempt by Ty
"I gotta soak the table cloth with 'aquor' and you gotta dry it up again using 'exsorbeo'. At least I think that's how you say it."

“Oh, um, great. Sorry, I… don’t pay very much attention.” Fact was, she was uncomfortable. She didn’t have to act like she didn’t want to be here… she simply didn’t want to be. Communicating normally was still something rather new to her. The miniscule amount of touchy-feely interaction in her family was primarily reserved for her proper older sister from her mother, and her father simply wasn’t that way. Actually, most of the verbal communication from her mother (Father didn’t really talk very much at all) was to tell her that she had messed up, and this was fairly often.

Nowadays, Ty just wanted to fit in, and even went to great lengths to break the habits that had been drilled into her through years of etiquette lessons, such as sitting up straight. But being normal, Ty didn’t really have the slightest idea how to do that. She couldn’t help the fact that she didn’t even really like being around people that much anymore than she could help jumping away at the slightest human contact.

As for boys, Ty didn’t even notice the difference. Well, no, that wasn’t true. She knew she would rather be around a boy than a girl any day. Her knowledge of them was that they were stupid, backstabbing freaks, never quite saying what they mean, always talking about you and the way you look behind your back, and they usually liked to spend hours getting ready for fancy balls.

No, Ty did not like girls, which was why on the rare occasion that she made a friend or an acquaintance at the parties, they were always boys, and why her cousin, a stuck-up, arrogant, richboy prat, was her best friend. Well, nobody could quite figure out their friendship, least of all themselves. For her part, Ty understood that there was more to him than him being in line to be patriarch of the Boyd family, and more to him than being extremely full of himself.

She watched as he attempted to wet the stubborn cloth (or use the stubborn wand… one or the other) repeatedly. Had it been Transfiguration, she would have offered advice, but she didn’t feel as though she were good enough at the subject to talk. She would probably have just as much trouble as he was having, or more.

"You know what? This is stupid."

“Yes it is”, she agreed absently, pushing her fuzzy/curly (she couldn’t decide which it was yet) hair out of her face. He pulled a water bottle out of his backpack, and she grinned widely as he poured it on. Taking her wand out of her pocket, she brandished it.

“Excellent job on the spell by the way.”

She stared at the water. Ok, disappear, just disappear. “Exsorbeo”, she said firmly. Absolutely nothing happened. Nice job the voice sneered. You’re a success as always. Maybe she had said it wrong… “Exsorbeo.” There was a weak sort of sucking noise, but hardly anything happened. Ok, so she had the pronunciation right… She had to think. How did she manage Transfiguration? She imagined the molecules changing; modifying… this wasn’t so different was it? Of course, it would help if she knew the theory behind it, but this might work.

She stared at it for a moment. Ok, so it’s supposed to suck into the wand.

Try not to screw up this time idiot.

Leave me alone.

“Exsorbeo.” The sucking sound was considerably louder this time, and although not all the water was up yet, she had the spell. “I did it?” She blinked. She had actually done it properly on her third try. Something that certainly had never happened before in this class. \n\n

0 Ty A successful attempt 0 Ty 0 5

Gwenhwyfar Carey
September 15, 2005 7:31 PM

Gwenhwyfar Carey
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 11

Don't feel bad, I'm even later than you are. by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen's entrance into the Charms classroom seemed oddly surreal, as if she were floating near some impartial bit of ceiling and watching everything going on while somehow participating in it. Some vague corner of her mind registered that she also felt like a wrung-out dish cloth. It was the pattern she knew from roughly two years experience with these episodes. She'd be perfectly fine, this time, and next time could wait until next time. Divination and introversion seemed like good things to avoid, for the moment.

She put up no objections when Stephen seemed to take it for granted that she would sit with him. If he felt like doing her thinking for her, then bully for him. To use an expression often used by her cousin Clarence, her brain was malfunctioning and the repair part wasn't in yet. Clarence said weird things like that, sometimes. Gwen personally thought he was the best of the Careys, but most people thought Richard Carey the Third of the Savannah Careys had been crazier than Merlin's housecat since the day he ceased to use his real name altogether and became universally known as 'Clarence'. His rationalization had been that having a 'the Third' tacked on to his name eliminated any possibility of individuality that being a Carey hadn't. The numerous Anthonys of the Charleston Careys had not been amused.

Professor Bulla was talking. It was probably a good idea to try to pay attention. He was showing them how to do what it was they had to do today, and she couldn't disappoint the family...she was clutching at straws and astute enough to realize it. This time next month, she might not be part of the family she wanted to please now. That rather depressing line of thought was cut off by Stephen's brief attempt to say something before the professor interrupted. Idiot, quit thinking and start listening. It's just a waste of time and money for you to come to this school if you're going to spend all of your time daydreaming and none of it learning. The thought was hers; the voice was Alasdair's. An elbow kept her from thinking about the implications of that too long.

She managed a weak laugh when Stephen attempted his own demonstration of how Aquor worked and felt a little better. Her Grandma Vaughn was a firm believer in the curative powers of amusement, and since one of Rosemary Vaughn's three children had turned out to be almost boringly normal and only one was a real psychotic (her Uncle George had just been a sentimentalist and a fanatic, nothing on the level of his twin sister)Gwen had long since decided that Rosemary's was a good opinion to adhere to.

"I think I can manage that," she said, withdrawing her wand from its holder and looking at her hands for a moment to reassure herself that they weren't shaking. The only thing wrong with her now was the unnatural tiredness that had completely replaced the near-hysteria of earlier. Her episodes hit hard and went fast, as a rule. She'd been able to learn spells in other classes, so there was no logical reason why she couldn't learn this one. Logic was such a comforting thing, sometimes. Pointing her wand at the tablecloth, she tried to envision water coming out of it. "Aquor."

A single drop of water shivered on the end of the wand for a moment before falling to the cloth, too small to even be noticed. Try again. You did something, and anything's better than nothing. Even the voice was hers this time, because she had trouble imagining Alasdair ever saying something so...supportive. "Aquor," she repeated, stressing the first letter more than she had the first time. Four drops, this time, falling a little faster than the first. She stared at them for a moment before shaking her head and biting her lower lip, trying to work out what she was doing wrong.

She knew most spells were Latinesque in their form, but she wasn't entirely sure if the word 'aquor' was one of them. Her Latin, such as it was, fell into the category of 'Church Latin', and she had learned it not because her father thought it something she should know but so she wouldn't mangle it on the rare occasions that the Careys attended Mass outside Bellevue. Since 'unda' was the word she knew for 'water', Aquor didn't seem to be derived from her kind of Latin. Altering her accent from Savannahian, with its utter lack of sharp sounds, to Latin, which was much clearer, might do some good, though.

"Aquor," she tried yet again, finally managing to send forward a stream of water through a mix of pronunciation and sheer concentration. It wasn't as much as Professor Bulla had produced, but she was too tired to bother with perfectionism. There seemed no greater happiness than to get back to a dorm now entirely filled with enemies and go to sleep. \n\n

0 Gwenhwyfar Carey Don't feel bad, I'm even later than you are. 63 Gwenhwyfar Carey 0 5

Earl
September 15, 2005 8:37 PM

Earl
Peripheral
Written by:

Lucky you... by Earl
"Thanks," Earl grinned at Ty's compliment.

He stared at his wand as Ty attempted to dry up his "spell" trying to figure out if it was his fault or his wand's that he couodn't do the spell. Luckily, Ty didn't seem to mind that he cheated. It didn't really matter...he'd get it eventually.

Earl looked up at Ty's exclamation of I did it?. She did it? And he couldn't. He looked at the only slightly damp cloth and sighed in defeat.

"Congrats, Ty. I wish I were as good as you." His eyes went from Ty to the table cloth, and then back to Ty.

"I should probably try again. I ran out of water," he grinned sheepishly as he brandished his wand and then stated the incantaion.

Nothing.

He tried again. Noth--...wait! Something happened?

Earl was in the middle of swinging his wand around for another try when a splash of water hit him on the face. He stopped short and looked at his wand. The tip was dripping steadily and he hadn't noticed. He laughed out loud.

"Well, I did it! Kind of...look it's dripping!" He continued to watch the water spill lightly from his wand in amazement.

"Umm...how do I get it to stop?"

\n\n

0 Earl Lucky you... 0 Earl 0 5

Anne
September 15, 2005 9:39 PM

Anne
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 11

So we do have something in common. by Anne
Anne listened impassively as Mia talked about, for the most part, her friends in New Jersey and relatives in South Carolina. At some point, Anne had begun to put together the idea that Mia was probably either a Muggleborn or a half-blood, and decided against asking what the South Carolinian's relative's surname was. She didn't really want to know, anyway. Knowing her luck, if they were purebloods they'd be part of the crowd that had initially believed that she herself was a half-blood and treated her accordingly. The Wrights were one of the numerous, virtually unknown pureblood families that were scattered amongst the various hidden corners of America, and the rumors had spread that the reason Mary St.Martin was disowned was for marrying a Muggleborn she picked up at Sonora. Anne had never been the most popular girl in the world and had been subjected to her fair share of teasing before her mother's death, but nothing like what the pureblood brats of the lowcountry threw at her. It was her first lesson in the more delicate forms of cruelty used by the upper class, and she had learned it well. She wanted no more to do with them than they did with her.

Still, logic said that no one could choose their relatives, regardless of how much they wanted to. She had thought about it long and hard since she, in her opinion, lost both of her parents, and had come to a conclusion that startled her because of its complete contradiction of everything she had ever been taught. Blood didn't amount to a hill of beans. At least a hill of beans could be thrown in a pot and cooked up for supper. It didn't matter who she was related to at all. Being family in the sense of being blood relatives didn't make her love or even feel anything for her various relatives, be they St.Martins, Wrights, Careys, or blowfish. If they all dropped off the face of the earth, she didn't expect that she'd be any worse off. It was just the inbred sentimentalism of the classical southerner that made her sometimes feel bound to those people, nothing natural or logical.

Geoffrey, of course, would have been shocked if he ever heard her say anything like that. He took being a pureblood entirely too seriously, and she had been trying to lighten him up for years. Lena and Lavvie certainly weren't blood fanatics, but Geoff couldn't get off his high horse about it. The Laynes were roughly on a social level with the Wrights (read: one rung up from as low as a pureblood family can be), but Geoffrey had always walked around as if he had King Tut's treasure hoards at his disposal and sat on the old fellow's throne while he was at it. There were times she really wanted to see if hitting him got her point across as well as it had to Lila,as he had really been getting annoying about it recently (his last letter to her had contained no less than six solid paragraphs about the status order at Sonora, whatever that was supposed to mean)but she didn't have enough friends to lose them by breaking their noses on a regular basis.

She flinched internally at Mia's question about siblings, but her face didn't change noticeably."No," she said, sounding a little flat even to her own ears. "I don't. There were complications when I was born, and Mama was never able to have any more kids." She put a real effort into sounding lighter when she started again. "I do have two cousins, though, who let me totally understand where you're coming from. They're identical twins, and the three-minutes-younger one is the dictionary definition of 'brat'. Her sister usually just follows wherever she leads,and they're the spoiled darlings of the family." She grimaced mock-cheerfully at the thought of Allie and Lila, the St.Martin twins. "Unfortunately, my aunt, uncle, and grandmother are all in firm agreement that if Sonora will have them, this is where they're coming next year." She laughed, then, with something somewhat like real amusement, though she didn't know why. \n\n

16 Anne So we do have something in common. 59 Anne 0 5

Ty
September 22, 2005 2:06 AM

Ty
Peripheral
Written by:

No, not really, luck doesn't seem to be over-fond of me by Ty
I got it… but I never do well in charms. Weird. Freak coincidence I suppose….

Don’t get your hopes up… it’s not as if you usually do things right twice in a row.

She bit her lip and looked at the ground, his congratulations gracefully soaring well over her head. Why did she always have to ruin things for herself? She was just a… No, stop, she mentally reprimanded herself. Stop thinking about yourself for a change. But she had done the charm correctly…

Ty was still attempting to figure out how she had managed to figure out the spell when Earl’s words jolted her back to reality.

"Well, I did it! Kind of...look it's dripping!"

“Good job”, she said with a nod. “Um… I’m not sure how exactly…” she glanced at the professor, who looked busy, and back at the wand. “Well, if I remember my Latin correctly…” Every proper witch and wizard had Latin along with their other subjects in tutoring, as it was the language spells were based on and therefore important to have a well-founded knowledge of. Having a fairly good memory for languages, she remembered it quite well.

“Well, there’ll be aquor of course… um, obturo is to stop up, but who knows what that would do to your wand…” She searched her memory for all of the Latin verbs she had learned. “Intransit is to cease or to stop…” she said slowly “…and fluvius is flowing, as in water. So if you mixed up those words…” She shrugged hopelessly. “Probably too risky though, who know what it would do. I’ll go get the professor.”

It was then that she accomplished something that probably only she was capable of.

She quickly hurried in the professor’s general direction. Too quickly. As she passed Stephen’s desk, she slipped on the small amount of water which had dripped onto the floor. With the reflexes of one who is quite used to falling, her hand flew out to grab the edge of the desk, but it was too late. As her weight shifted slightly forward with her arm, her head met fairly sharp, wooden, very solid corner, and she swore violently (and loudly) before hitting the floor.

Feeling dizzy, she sat there for a moment, and her hand reached up to touch her head gingerly. It was wet… why was there water on her head? No, no, water wasn’t sticky… sticky… the word wandered dully around her head in search of something to connect with. And as she brought her hand away in front of her face… red. Red, sticky… oh shit, she was bleeding.
\n\n

0 Ty No, not really, luck doesn't seem to be over-fond of me 0 Ty 0 5

Professor Bulla
September 23, 2005 12:54 AM

Professor Bulla
Former Staff
Subject: Headmaster
Written by: Emily Lewis

It appears not (ATTN: TJ and Earl) by Professor Bulla
There was a kerfuffle happening in the classroom, and as appeared to be often the case, Stephen Baxter was right in the middle of it. Or... actually in this case, he appeared to be right to the side of it. Whatever way it was, Manfred didn't have time to deal with the boy at the moment. Miss Boyd, not the most attention seeking of students by any means, but known well enough due to her family, appeared to have suffered something of a mishap.

Manfred walked towards the scene with deceptive speed, eyes narrowing slightly as he saw that the girl was bleeding quite profusely from a wound to the head. It seemed that this was going to be quite the year for accidents, and this wasn't the best timing for it to have happened - not while there were so many important pure-bloods present for the alumni luncheon and tour. At least, he thought thanking heaven for small favours, no Boyd had shown up. No doubt too caught up in events further north. That didn't mean this was potentially disasterous though.

"Finite" he cast absently in the direction of the boy who had been working with her, stopping the leak in his wand immediately. A frown coupled with a couple of other quick spells and the other immediately obvious problems around the classroom were taken care of enough that he could give Miss Boyd his full attention.

Manfred crouched down, deftly checking the wound and wincing slightly at it before recalling his audience and schooling his features to their usual stern expression. He used a temporary charm to stop the bleeding, but it was obvious that she needed to visit the infirmary. He frowned again, then stood quickly.

"Mr O'Reilly," he said, looking around and gesturing for the boy to come over. "Can you help Mr Valentine in assisting Miss Boyd to the infirmary?" TJ was of good family, not that it mattered greatly, but in this case, with the pure-bloods about it was best to try and make things as presentable as possible. Which meant not letting Mr Baxter loose on an unsuspecting school during classtime.

"The rest of you, this is not a show! You have work to do, so you can stop gawping and get on with it."\n\n

39 Professor Bulla It appears not (ATTN: TJ and Earl) 2 Professor Bulla 0 5

Carillon Arksington
September 23, 2005 9:20 AM

Carillon Arksington
Peripheral
Written by:

Hide me!!! by Carillon Arksington
Punctuality was one of Carillon's okay points. He wasn’t obsessively early but he's not exceptionally late either. He's just always in the acceptable middle part of the graph though he might just be convinced to switch to obsessively early after this particular class.

For the moment the very short and black-haired boy stepped into the room, he nearly ran back out. It seemed that the available seats were beside girls. And they looked like the giggly ones too! Sweat started to bead on his forehead. What was he going to do? He didn't want to sit beside them. He had enough female contact at home, why can't he be spared at school?

The professor looked like he meant business and Carillon had to choose a seat before he received a reprimand. Gingerly, he hunkered down on a seat beside a girl who looked the least volatile to giggles. He could only imagine what would happen to his nerves if she started to titter.

As Professor Bulla started his lesson, his apprehension turned into horror to find out that he needed a partner at the least. A partner! It was hard enough to find a male partner in Sonora but a second year? He'd probably have a better chance in asking for the apocalypse.

He desperately scanned the class for a second year male who could partner with him. Unfortunately, none of them looked like they were available. Eeeekkkk!!! His third older sister’s, Clarice, favorite phrase echoed in his head. He was doomed for a female partner but that didn't mean that he couldn't fend off the inevitable.

He scrunched down even more into his seat (Not a very difficult feat with his size). Taking out some parchment and a quill, he started copying his written notes on the board before some girl though he didn't have a partner. No! He'd make this a bit harder for her as much as possible, whoever she was.\n\n

0 Carillon Arksington Hide me!!! 0 Carillon Arksington 0 5

Mia
September 24, 2005 1:56 PM

Mia
Peripheral
Written by:

Yes we do. Does this merit a little celebration? by Mia
Mia instantly felt bad and wanted to bite her tongue for asking about siblings. It just seemed like the natural next question to her, but the response was a sad one. As much as Mia disliked her brother at times, she’d hate to be an only child. Both Leo and Isaiah meant a lot to her and they usually knew when to be annoying big brothers and when to be protective big brothers. Both boys still had a bit of a problem being too much of one then the other. Leo could be way too over protective and Isaiah tended to be the epitomy of annoying. Mia’s face took on a slightly sympathetic look while she nodded at Anne’s response. She didn’t start going on and on about how sorry she was because she knew from experience that people constantly telling you they were sorry didn’t help the problem and tended to get annoying after a while.

When Anne went on about her spoiled cousins, Mia couldn’t help but think of her own cousin. Her aunt on her dad’s side had a daughter who was spoiled something awful. Natalie Amy Taylor could seem like the sweetest dear if she wanted to and then in the next instant (usually when adults weren’t around and it was just Mia, her brothers and Natalie) she was the spawn of the devil. Mia and her brothers took to nicknaming her ‘Natalie the Gnat’ or ‘Natalie the Nuisance’ or just plain ‘Nasty Nat.’

“I have a cousin like that too.” Mia said and she was amazed by how much she and Anne had in common. “My dad’s sister has a daughter, Natalie. She knows how to tweak her parents just right to get what she wants.” Mia rolled her eyes remembering some instances where she was able to get exactly what she wanted and then some. “She’s cute though. Natalie is seven. But as cute as she is, I think I’m pretty lucky that she isn’t a witch…well not the magical kind anyway.” Mia smiled and mentally laughed at her joke “Maybe our cousins-”

Mia was about to suggest something when she was cut short by a loud commotion farther up in the room and a bit of loud swearing. She didn’t see who it was because she had been looking at Anne, but the voice sounded familiar. She saw Professor Bulla quickly make his way to the scene. Other students seemed to have stopped to see the commotion too, but Mia looked away from it instinctively, remembering how her mom yelled about rubberneckers who slow down traffic on the highways. She was curious as to what happened though. Obviously other people didn’t have the same thought as Mia and were still looking because Bulla shouted for them to stop gawping and to get back to work. Mia clutched her wand and looked at Anne while listening for the usual classroom noises to return.

“Never a dull moment around here is there?” Mia said a bit quietly since the noise and hustle and bustle wasn’t quite back to where it had been before yet. She gave a quick glance to the door where a few student had been told to help Tyranthia Boyd (‘Oh yeah! That’s her name!’ Mia thought) to the Hospital Wing.\n\n

0 Mia Yes we do. Does this merit a little celebration? 0 Mia 0 5

Anne
September 24, 2005 5:01 PM

Anne
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 11

Hey, any excuse for a party. by Anne
Anne had to smother a real laugh at Mia's half-pun half-joke about her cousin Natalie's witch status. God, but that sounded like her cousin, for the most part. Lila was most definitely a witch in both senses of the word, though there was some doubt as to whether her twin shared the trait. Since identical twins had identical genetic codes, to the best of Anne's understanding, she personally thought Allie's real problem was the lack of any kind of sense. Anne had never seen Allie stand up to her sister, no matter how, for lack of a better word, mean Lila was, or appear to apply any form of logical thinking to anything she did. If Allie hadn't been a St.Martin, hadn't been in any way associated with Anne's mother and grandmother, Anne thought she might have felt sorry for the other girl. Since Allie was a St.Martin and Mary Wright's ex-half-niece, the best Anne could find it in herself to grant the other girl was the dubious honor of being the least despised St.Martin, as a rule.

She knew virtually nothing about her father's family. He had told her he had several siblings and that she had cousins by some of those siblings. He had told her that her grandmother was a Sicilian immigrant. He had told her that her name, Anne, derived from long family tradition. Other than that, they were complete enigmas. Unless she was supposed to deduce that one of her father's sisters was named Anne also, she didn't have a single name to attach to these Californians she had supposedly been taken to see when she was only a few months old. Of course, the fact that she was now determined to think of John Wright as symbolically dead to her made the whole thing a moot point. The adoring, close-knit family John had described to her would, quite naturally, take his side in the whole messy business, making her chances of a functioning relationship with them zero.

She pushed aside her thoughts of the Wrights and St.Martins. Maybe it was simply because Mia didn't know about the general craziness of her family/life/everything associated with the aforementioned, but Anne was finding it progressively harder to hold on to her desire to go beat someone up whilst crying. This classroom seemed so far from the insanity and melodrama of both her family and the events of earlier. She couldn't convince herself that everything was fine and dandy, but she could, for now, act as if she were just like everyone else. No dead mother. No runaway father. No psychotic relatives...

Her train of thought was broken off abruptly by a girl Anne recognized vaguely as being in her House falling with an exclamation that would have meant quite a good deal of detention in Anne's old school. Anne thought she shouldn't have been surprised to see that the incident had happened fairly close to a girl whose hair marked her unmistakably out as Gwen. Where Savannah Careys went, chaos soon followed. She wondered who the guy her cousin was sitting with was, as he was not immediately recognizable in spite of the nearly four months Anne had spent monitoring Gwenhwyfar and her acquaintances as closely as possible and with a near-obsessive interest.

"Tell me about it," Anne muttered back to Mia's comment about how things at Sonora never got dull. She was just able to hear Professor Bulla refer to the girl as 'Miss Boyd'. The Boyds were one of the families her grandmothr's lectures and her various aunts' gossip had touched on often enough - old, pureblooded, et cetera. Just like every other family Eileen and the Aunts had discussed in her seven months among them. She frowned, some vague memory trying to surface, then shrugged and forgot about it without fully remembering. If she couldn't remember it directly, it was probably because she didn't want to. "I don't think I've had a dull moment since I got to this school, honestly." Or the better part of this year, her brain added silently. \n\n

16 Anne Hey, any excuse for a party. 59 Anne 0 5

Mia
September 25, 2005 10:47 AM

Mia
Peripheral
Written by:

That's something else we have in common. by Mia
Mia had to agree with Anne's statement. She hadn't had many dull moments herself. When she first got to Sonora things started to get crazy. She had yet to be covered in paint again, but the food fight from the end of last year came close enough. She didn't know if she had expected to have a quiet experience while learning magic. She was used to not being in the spotlight very much because at her old school, attention wasn't often drawn to her unless it was asking for help with homework or something like that. She and her friends just hung out on their own and did their own things while everyone else pretty much left them alone. Sonora was so much different than anything she might've imagined it was before she came here.

"I know what you mean." Mia nodded "Things were hectic the moment I stepped foot into this place for the first time last year. And they have yet to calm down."

Mia stole a look over at where Sorrel and Ash Craven were sitting with their separate partners. That couldn't have put them in a good mood, being separated like that. She felt sorry for the first years that had to partner with them. No doubt it wouldn't be pleasant. The twins' were one of the reasons things were still crazy at Sonora for Mia. She somehow managed to get on their bad side (something she still wondered about how it happened exactly) and ever since, she had been deemed ‘Princess,’ something that seriously wore at her nerves, but there wasn’t any point in telling them to stop since that would be the perfect excuse to continue. It was a ‘lose-lose’ situation. That was just how they addressed her and they managed to get Stephen to call her that too. Mia had to wonder from time to time whether or not they remembered her real name.

She realized she had been looking at the twins a bit longer than necessary and looked back at her own partner, pulling her thoughts back from, once again, trying to figure out what happened last year. She’d save that for another time.

“We should probably look like we’re still practicing. We wouldn’t want Bulla coming over here and having a cow because we’re talking rather than working.” Mia said with a grin, beginning to thread her wand through her fingers again.\n\n

0 Mia That's something else we have in common. 0 Mia 0 5

TJ O'Reilly
September 29, 2005 7:08 PM

TJ O'Reilly
Peripheral
Written by:

A step in the right direction by TJ O'Reilly
The wand still in his hand, TJ, dropped the cloth as the teacher addressed him. A blush spread across his face as he looked at the damp cloth lying on the table and quickly and as subtly as possible positioned himself in front of the table.

A look of utter distain flashed across his face as the teachers comment brought to his attention a girl laying on the floor bleeding. If you could get injured practicing a spell that shot water out of wands, then you didn't deserve to be at Sonora, and you didn't deserve to be called a witch.

Walking over, he took a route that would avoid the girl, and nodded respectfully to the teacher. The weight of Professor Bulla's words didn't set in until after he had nodded, and he took another quick glance at the girl with surprise.

He refused, absolutely refused to trudge around school with a mudblood when his parents were around. If Professor Bulla expect-

His thought stopped as quickly as it came. Scanning the face carefully, the bleeding stopped, TJ nodded slightly in respect towards the family. Although he'd never come across this particularly Boyd at parties, he had been informed of such a Boyd in his year of school almost from day one.

Holding out a hand, expecting the first year to show deference towards an older student, he waited for "Miss Boyd" to show her preference. He would assist her in anyway that she preferred. \n\n

0 TJ O'Reilly A step in the right direction 0 TJ O'Reilly 0 5

Earl Valentine
September 30, 2005 6:46 PM

Earl Valentine
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 11

Just one more accident... by Earl Valentine
Ty shot off to get the help of the Professor. Earl was about to try and stop her, but his increasingly drippy wand was causing him concern. Could wands get colds?

His mind and eyes were completely preoccupied with his wand until he heard Ty's voice shout out a particularly nasty word that his older brother would have been proud of. He tore his eyes away from the steady drip, drip of his leaky wand and and saw Ty lying in a puddle of water bleeding from the head.

Earl was in too much of a shock to register Professor Bulla plug his wand and ask him and a boy he didn't know to get Ty to the infirmary. He stared as the other boy held out a hand to her before rtealizing he should be helping as well.

He shoved his wand in his pocket and weaved his way between desks till he reached Ty and the boy. He took Ty's arm gingerly to help steady her.

"To the infirmary, I guess," he started with false enthusiasm. "Luckily, I've been there before, so I know exactly where it is."\n\n

0 Earl Valentine Just one more accident... 67 Earl Valentine 0 5

Ty
October 01, 2005 1:07 PM

Ty
Peripheral
Written by:

And another and another... by Ty
"Can you help Mr. Valentine in assisting Miss Boyd to the infirmary?"

Who on earth had decided she even wanted or needed help? Supposing she wanted to live up to her family’s standards, she was a Boyd for Merlin’s sake. Yes she was a lady, but even her mother would agree that if it was possible, she should only depend on herself. Boyds used people for their own purposes, but relied on nobody but themselves and their family, and being one of the richest and influential pureblood families in the world, this method obviously worked.

Not that she cared about upholding family honour, her personal interest happened to agree with it at the moment. She might be a screw-up and an embarrassment to her family, she might have no friends, but hell would freeze over when she willingly accepted help for something she could do herself. She had been raised to be independent; it was practically the definition of her.

And he was an O’Reilly. She vaguely recognised the name… all she knew was that he was pureblood. She wasn’t going to accept help from a pureblood.

Ty began to shake her head at the proffered hand, feeling dizzy, and quickly stopped as it was quite painful. “I’m fine”, she muttered, trying to suppress the wave of nausea that threatened to engulf her. “I can do it myself.” She grasped the desk and began to pull herself up. She didn’t remember being that heavy… had gravity suddenly increased?

You can do this you idiot… she thought savagely, but it was fairly useless, she was too shaky. “Ok, help might actually be useful”, she mumbled, taking his hand. She managed to unsteadily find her footing, and by the time Earl grasped her arm, she was too dazed to protest, except to half shake her head. Earl’s voice drifted through her head, as if from a great distance. “Right, let’s go then”, she said dully.

OOC: Tj, go ahead and post in the Infirmary if you want...\n\n

0 Ty And another and another... 0 Ty 0 5

Stephen
October 07, 2005 12:33 AM

Stephen
Peripheral
Written by: Emily Lewis

and then I go and leave it forever again *grins* by Stephen
"Come on, you can do better than that," Stephen said as Gwen managed to squeeze out a drop. "You gotta," he paused for a second to think, "see it in your head. Concentrate, you know? Oh yeah," he added as she tried again with better results, "and that emphasis thing too." He wasn't sure she was really listening to him, that expression on her face seemed to not take him into account at all, but you never knew, and he wasn't the kind of boy to be easily discouraged.

The third attempt Gwen sounded crisper, clearer, and, as Stephen watched, a short stream pour out onto the tablecloth.

"Nice job, Gwennie," Stephen enthused, looking from the desk to the girl. He grinned, "now I get to try that vaccy-straw spell." He moved in closer to the wet tablecloth and lifting his wand again, pointed it at the cloth and - with his tongue just sticking out of the side of his mouth in concentration - was just about to pull his wand down (like a lever... cool) when his attention was severely rattled.

There was a movement to the side, and as he turned Stephen saw Ty falling, hitting her head, hitting the floor. He glanced once, horrified, at Gwen then started to move... too late. Old Grumps had made astounding timing and was already almost upon the scene. Stephen, unsure what to do, hung back and double checked on Gwen another couple of times. She looked tired, and he wasn't sure how she'd take this accident of poor Ty's.

"She'll be ok," he reassured the younger student, although with that blood there was every chance he was reassuring himself as well. "Ty's pretty tough. Takes good photos too," he commented somewhat randomly, looking at the Grump doing some spell that stopped the bleeding. The professor stood up, and Stephen stood also, prepared to offer to help Ty to the infirmary when he was completely overlooked. He frowned down as Ty was helped by TJ and some younger guy - Valentine, Bulla had called him - out of the room.

"Er..." Stephen felt somewhat at a loss. He looked at his wand, still in his hand and at the damp tablecloth and finally at Gwen. "Gwennie? Don't suppose you recall the spell?"\n\n

39 Stephen and then I go and leave it forever again *grins* 0 Stephen 0 5

Anne
October 07, 2005 10:49 PM

Anne
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 11

Weird, isn't it? by Anne
For Anne, Muggle elementary school had been an uphill battle. She had lost her temper more often back then, and while she had never done anything so odd as blow up the coffee cup until that article exploded, but there had been any number of rumors identifying Anne Wright as a weirdo and someone it was wiser to avoid for as long as she could remember. She hadn't done much to help matters, and had derived a sort of enjoyment from her reputation. The teachers wouldn't hear a word against her and the students wouldn't hear a word for her, especially in the last year and a half she was in public school. Both Mr. Barrett, the pious old sinner who taught her fourth-grade class, and Mrs. Waleckstein, the forceful matriarch in charge of fifth grade, had reguarly praised her, to the fury of her classmates and to her mingled embarrassment and amusement. Watching Vanessa Hardigree, her old rival, get mad because someone else out-goodied her would always be priceless.

She didn't miss it when Mia looked off in the direction of two other second years Anne thought were in Pecari. As that directly followed a comment about how Sonora had been hectic from the first, Anne thought it safe to assume they were part of the pandemonium. One of the reasons she was personally glad she was in Aladren was because Aladren was a quiet, orderly House in which something exciting rarely happened. There were times she wanted to make something exciting happen, but it would rock the boat too much and separate her from the community, what little of her was in it, anyway. She had exactly enough St.Martin in her to know that she shouldn't do anything to completely alienate herself from the rest of the unit.

She nodded at Mia's suggestion that they resume work. Professor Bulla didn't seem to be in the best of moods, and something told her that staying on the teacher's good side was just as important in the Wizarding World as it was in the Muggle. "Right," she said. "I'll try again to make this thing work right." Anne had never seen any point in denying that she was a perfectionist, but had learned to take pride in it. Pointing her wand at the tablecloth for the third time, she stiffened her wrist to guard against any unnecessary movements and said the incantation. The water was stronger than the second attempt had been, but still miraculously cool. She had leashed her temper, for the meantime, and would do all she could to keep it that way until she achieved the sanctuary of a place where it was safe to vent.

For the meantime, her biggest problem was not having the spell just perfect. Music really was a lot like magic, when she thought about it; either something was correct or it was not. There were no gray areas. Anne didn't like gray areas, never had. Much preferrable that everything be nice and clearcut and direct. \n\n

16 Anne Weird, isn't it? 59 Anne 0 5

Gwen
October 08, 2005 12:31 AM

Gwen
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 11

There and Back Again, I suppose by Gwen
Gwen had not yet been able to satisfactorily deduce why someone who didn't even know her real first name had sort of intervened on her behalf, but she was finding that she didn't really care. The likely answer was pity, which made it better not to know for sure. Careys, even Careys in disgrace, could not be pitied. Those who sat around waiting for someone to feel sorry for them lost, whereas those who got over it and did what they had to do won. The flaw in that course of action was that she didn't know what she had to do. A school was such a closed environment that she had somehow managed to act against the code, for a time, though many people would just say she "took after dear Lorena", being and having always been out of sync with reality. Her current situation was more anchored in the outside world.

Once she performed her spell, she let herself drift, trying to think up a plausible cover story that would somehow fit the situation for anyone who had seen something they shouldn't and asked her about it. The old fainting story was not going to work. There was, of course, the pureblood family line: She and her father were Careys, and outsiders could not begin to comprehend why Careys did the things they did. That one seemed rather ridiculous, upon inspection, and it was as good as admitting something, if not everything. She could just point out that Alasdair had a famously bad temper and lost that temper when she did something to annoy him while he was still angry at someone else. That seemed a bit flimsy, the kind of excuse that would only be accepted by politically correct purebloods who would probably pretend nothing had happened, but it was the best she could do on short -

Someone swearing loudly broke her out of her reverie, and she instinctively flinched back, momentarily thinking that she was at home and the post had included some news Alasdair didn't like. It didn't take her long to realize that she was mistaken, not least because the speaker was of the wrong gender. She didn't recognize the girl who had fallen on sight, but it didn't take long for Professor Bulla to provide a name. Half of a name, actually, but it was sufficient. He called her Miss Boyd.

Gwen knew who the Boyds were. The Aunts - more properly her step-aunts with some accompanying greats, but she had always joined in the St.Martin kids' practice of referring to them like that - had mentioned them in their constant chatter about the different families the last time she had been at Magnolia Grove. They were important, very important, and one of them had just busted her head open very close to Gwen's desk. There was blood, probably less of it than she thought but seeming to be quite a lot. Without meaning to, she drew back as far as she could, feeling as if she were shaking. Her father would make her mother look like a logical and well-balanced member of society if he somehow got it into his head that she had, even indirectly, caused one of the Boyds to fall and injure herself.

Think, she tried to tell herself. He's not here. He can't draw conclusions about something he probably won't even know happened.

He wasn't supposed to know about me carrying on like I have, either, and he sure knows about that. Besides, he's looking for a reason to get rid of me, now. Nothing's a secret for long.

Alasdair and God are two distinct and separate entities. He doesn't know everything.

Try working up the nerve to tell me that after I get a very blunt letter from Thomas Carey informing me I've been disowned. It occurred to her that she had just told herself to try to work up the nerve to tell her something after something that, at least theoretically, might not happen happened. Maybe she was losing it.

She jumped, startled again, when Stephen suddenly spoke to her. She had heard what he said, but had barely registered it at all. "All right," she said shakily. "All right!" Her voice rose sharply on the repetition. She had to breathe. No one seemed to be accusing her of anything. It had been an accident, and the professor seemed to be accepting it as such. She watched, distracted, as Earl and another Crotalus boy she recognized from the common room escorted Miss Boyd, or Ty, as Stephen had called her, from the room. "That is," she said, her voice falling back into its usual range, "I hope she's all right."

She was slightly thrown by the question about the spell. She had barely paid attention to what was going on while the second years' spell was demonstrated. Trying to arrange her memories into some kind of comprehensive order, she managed to recall the suffix. "It starts with Ex," she said, as much to herself as to Stephen. "What starts with that - what's it mean - Exsorbo or something like that, I can't remember it right." Now she just had to hope that if Stephen decided to attempt the spell as she had said it that she was either right or not so wrong as to cause any major mishaps, and if he didn't that his version fit the same two options. \n\n

0 Gwen There and Back Again, I suppose 63 Gwen 0 5

Arixios Jackel
October 20, 2005 9:55 PM

Arixios Jackel
Peripheral
Written by:

Class as per usual... by Arixios Jackel

Things really hadn't changed that much for Arixios since his first year. He had kept pretty much in the background for awhile. Waiting. Watching.

The visitors had been particularly interesting to observe.

As Professor Bulla had so kindly pointed out, classes and life were continuing. Magically, mysteriously, miraculously, life kept going.

There had been a slight disturbance at the beginning of class when one of the girls had gotten injured but apparently all was now well so Ari didn't much worry himself about it. Instead indulging in a mental sigh at the lesson Ari couldn't contain a slight twitch of the lips as he thought of the expressions on the Alumni's faces when they came in and saw their sons and daughters performing these house-hold charms. Useful? Of course. Would the mostly pureblood potential 'benefactors' of the school stop to think of that before they started spouting off reasons that their children should not be allowed to know how to perform the work of a prairie elf?

Probably not.

With a private smirk Arixios quietly got up to retrieve the necessary materials for the lesson. Having glanced around and noticed that not many of his fellows had a partner Arixios decided that part of the lesson must have been optional and got to work. After all, it would be highly improper to hold up the lesson now wouldn't it?

\n\n

0 Arixios Jackel Class as per usual... 0 Arixios Jackel 0 5

Brett Lavine
October 24, 2005 6:36 PM

Brett Lavine
Peripheral
Written by:

In Search of Some Control... [from the Hospital Wing] by Brett Lavine
It hadn't taken Brett nearly any time at all to make it back to his old Charms classroom, and upon reaching it, he stopped. With his brisk walk being what it was, he had certainly messed up his robes in the process. A quick check-over of his hair and robes proved him wrong, however, and confident that he had a presentable appearance, he took hold of the door handle, swinging open the heavy wooden door.

The room was full of students, and not just one year of them. It appeared by the size difference in some of them that they were first years and second years in the same class. Taking a quick survey of the room, he immediately recognized his little sister, Lizzie sitting next to some other girl, Jake and Bella Santoro not too far off, and other students in second year that he recognized, but could not name precisely. He turned his attention to the professor of the class, who was probably wondering what the alum was doing in his classroom. He strode quickly over to the man, clearing his throat.

"Professor Bulla, I presume?" he asked rhetorically, ignoring his sister's questioning looks from her seat across the room, "Brett Lavine, I was sent by the Headmistress to find you and take you at once to the Hospital Wing. I'm afraid your duties as Deputy Headmaster are in dire need of fulfillment."

Brett waited for the professor's reaction, wondering what in the world the man would do with a classroom full of younger students if he was to be over at the other wing. He couldn't possibly leave them here by themselves... If they are anything like Gary and I were at that age, they'll have blown up the classroom in five minute's time...

He shifted his weight slightly, looking determinedly in the Deputy Head's eyes. He knew that his old Professor couldn't keep her cool for much longer, and he also knew that there was no way she could handle all those alumni converging on her at once without the help of the rest of the staff. It was imperative that Bulla get there to help her. \n\n

0 Brett Lavine In Search of Some Control... [from the Hospital Wing] 0 Brett Lavine 0 5

Professor Manfred Bulla
October 24, 2005 10:27 PM

Professor Manfred Bulla
Former Staff
Subject: Headmaster
Written by: Emily Lewis

Were you now... by Professor Manfred Bulla
For a little while after the three students were sent on their way to the hospital wing, things had gone along as per normal in the Charms classroom. Spells had been practiced, work had been done, minor disturbances had occured and been dealt with - there hadn't really been anything much in the way of warning that something of magnitude was about to happen.

And then the first crack of thunder struck with an explosion of sound. Manfred was at the windows in an instant, surprised by how dark it had become, and then deeply worried as it became obvious that here again there was further proof that he had been right. That the charms were not so stable as previously assumed by others. He wasn't quite prepared for the strength of this manifestation, however.

Another flash accompanied by a rumble and the windows shook violently. Manfred started to back up, pulling his wand out and calling out to the class at the same time.

"Everyone, please move towards the side of the classroom away from the windows. Calmly, there's no need to panic. Just gather your things and move."

He waited until those closest to the windows had started to move, but the feeling of pressure building up forced him to act a little sooner than he would have liked.

He literally threw up the strongest wards and shields he could quickly muster against the windows and apparently it was just in time. The glass in the windows shattered, the spells he had managed to get up were battered, but just managed to hold out against the onslaught of glass, wind and mud. Working quickly and efficiently, Manfred shored them up, making them as strong as he could while relying on memory and wand alone. There was the occasional flicker in the otherwise clear air where the wards were, but other than that, it was possible to see that chaos reined at the side of the room and then abruptly stopped a foot away from the wall with the windows.

It might have been stopped here, but Manfred was well aware that if this was happening here, there was every chance that it was happening elsewhere as well. Still, at least his own class was safe for the moment, it was safe to start to think about elsewhere.

Obviously the charms had failed. It was as he had warned the Headmistress, but had not been able to convince her of the now obvious danger. A century and a half of control over the local weather system... it was a frightening thought about what might occur now if he was right and the charms had failed. Especially when he recalled that there was a tour somewhere on the grounds, a tour full of important people and former students who might have something to say on the subject of the weather. This was a disaster in the making, and a solution was desperately needed...

..unfortunately the only charms that Manfred could think of for the moment were temporary at best.

But first things first. The most important thing at the moment was to make certain that the students were safe, to locate the headmistress and her tour group, and to try and secure the school against the onslaught. He looked around the classroom, taking in the students who were still in there.

"Tally Adams, Zack Dill, Arixios Jackel and Mia Kerova," he called out the names and was gesturing for the summoned students to come over to where he was standing when the door to the classroom opened and revealed Brett Lavine.

The sight of the younger man was actually something of a relief. His un-mud-splattered appearance was good evidence for the tour still being inside the building, and the fact that he was at the charms room so promptly after things had started to happen gave him hope that Lucinda was at the very least able to give some directions. He doubted that any of the alumni had really paid much attention to which classes had been announced at the end of luncheon. He held out a quieting hand towards the class and the four summoned students especially and turned to hear what Mr Lavine had to say. More information at this moment would make it much easier to organise the security of the school.

"Professor Bulla, I presume? Brett Lavine, I was sent by the Headmistress to find you and take you at once to the Hospital Wing. I'm afraid your duties as Deputy Headmaster are in dire need of fulfillment."

"Of course. One moment Mr Lavine," Manfred dismissed him from his attention as he turned to the four students. "Sorrel? Ash? If you could come up here too," he called the Craven twins up to join them and then started to quickly detail his instructions. "Tally, Arixios, Zack and Mia, I need you to al organise the students here from your houses, and get them all down to your commonrooms. Mia, you'd be better off going via Professor Connell's office. Wait outside the commons until your Head of House allows you to enter, get them to make a headcount - I want to make sure we don't lose any students," his gaze briefly focused on the Craven twins before returning to the four students to make sure that they all understood. "Get moving."

Ash and Sorrel had been picked with another need in mind. The twins were athletes for one, and he suspected it was better to get them helping than to have them sitting around idly, a recipe that was almost certain to lead to trouble.

"I need you two to do a round of the school. Check every classroom, the infir-" No, Brett had mentioned the hospital wing "- the library, the hall. Get all students to report to their commonrooms, Heads of Houses to go there too and make certain that they're secure. Tell them that Professor Bulla says that they are to sit tight until they hear from me or the Headmistress. Then get to Pecari - I need you two to be responsible. Prove yourself worthy of that Captaincy, Miss Craven. Hurry up now, get moving! Let's go, Mr Lavine."

He waited only long enough for the classroom to empty then set off as fast as he could for the hospital wing. He would have to see what was happening and then there was still his own house to be secured. The Teppenpaws would be safe enough on the stairs for the moment though, and Tally could be trusted to keep the others in line until older students arrived.\n\n

39 Professor Manfred Bulla Were you now... 2 Professor Manfred Bulla 0 5

Mia
October 25, 2005 3:58 PM

Mia
Peripheral
Written by:

And then something weirder comes along... by Mia
OOC: I thought it would be better to post down here first just so you know I'm still alive, heh. I'm sorry once again for taking so long.

BIC: Mia watched her partner repeat her spell. Anne's spell seemed to come out right. The cloth was wet like it should be and now Mia had to do her spell again. She wondered just how many times one could repeat a spell before getting really sick of it. She doubted she’d get sick of it though because magic was still something that amazed her and it probably would for a long time to come. Mia held her wand so that she could do her spell. She spoke the incantation firmly and confidently as she had before to assure the spell would work.

The water was sucked out of the cloth once again, faster than before. Mia ran her fingers over the cloth just to be completely positive that she got the spell down pact. She smiled at another job well done with her trusty wand. The words “alright, you’re up again,” were on Mia’s lips, but were stopped by a loud bang of thunder from outside making Mia jump just the slightest bit. She wasn’t scared of thunder, but how many people wouldn’t flinch even the slightest bit if something really loud crashed seemingly right next to them? Mia turned her head to look out the window where it had gotten dark. Mia would’ve thought nothing of it, just passing it off as a storm, had the windows not started shaking so much.

‘Oh great,’ Mia thought to herself ‘first a dust storm and now what?

The Professor seemed to have everything under control though Mia doubted the situation outside was as calm as Bulla made it out to be. Mia and Anne didn’t have to move because Mia had chosen a seat that was already on the other side of the room. Bulla did a spell on the windows just in time because a moment later they shattered, but the glass didn’t go anywhere. Mia raised an eyebrow at the mud that seemed to be falling from the sky rather than the rain she expected. If her eyes hadn’t been stuck on the mud she would’ve turned back to Anne to ask if this was normal in the magic world because it definitely wouldn't be considered normal back home. She shook her head to break the stupor when she heard Professor Bulla talk again and call names including hers.

“Hang on. Bulla probably knows what’s going on.” Mia told Anne before pocketing her wand, and making her way over to the professor.\n\n

0 Mia And then something weirder comes along... 0 Mia 0 5

Mia
October 25, 2005 8:47 PM

Mia
Peripheral
Written by:

Pecaris! Come on over! by Mia
Mia made her way over to Professor Bulla. When she got over to him along with the others, she stood by Tally and was about to ask her if she might know what was going on when someone else entered the room. He was much older than the other students. Mia thought she remembered seeing him at the Alumni banquet at some point. When he introduced himself, Mia made the connection between him and Elizabeth. He and Bulla shared a few words about the Hospital Wing and then Bulla called the Cravens over too.

Professor Bulla told the first four students to organize the students in their houses and go to their common rooms. Mia gave a small nod when he told her to go through Connell's office to get to the common room. She figured as much after the dust storm when she got nearly the same instructions. He told them to get moving and so Mia did.

Well she already knew where the Cravens were, but if Bulla called them up then he probably needed them for something else so she didn't worry about them for the moment. Mia moved a little farther from Bulla and a bit closer to where the students had moved to. Why she felt her face get warmer she wasn’t completely sure, but it was probably due to the fact that she had to get a bunch of kids who either didn’t know her or didn’t really like her to pay attention to her. Mia was still working on her leadership skills and her self consciousness wasn’t helping.

‘Oh suck it up Mia!’ she scolded herself, but someone caught her eye that gave her an idea.

Mia hurried over to where she saw Stephen. People in her house liked him and he didn’t seem to have a problem with Mia. He could help her get their attention without the obvious ignoring or taunting…or maybe less of it. And he was the first one she saw anyway, besides the Cravens, so she’d start forming the group with him. It worked out in her favor.

“Stephen, Bulla says we have to go to Connell’s office to get to the common room. C’mon, I have to get all the Pecaris in a group before we go.” Mia raised her arm, snapping her fingers sharply so she’d be noticed and found and started calling her housemates over.

“Pecaris, we're over here!”\n\n

0 Mia Pecaris! Come on over! 0 Mia 0 5

Brett and Elizabeth Lavine
October 25, 2005 10:56 PM

Brett and Elizabeth Lavine
Peripheral
Written by:

Yep, trouble's a brewin'... by Brett and Elizabeth Lavine
Liz was still thinking of just what to say in response to Ty’s fall as well as the blunt question posed by Dalila, when it seemed as though all hell was breaking loose. There were so many things going on at once in the classroom that the sheer shock of it all caught Lizzie with her mouth agape, wand drooping slightly in her right hand. The students were effectively herded off to the side by an obviously surprised Bulla, away from the windows, all the while thoughts of the dust storm and its unnerving effect it had on the professors streaming through her mind.

Elizabeth had been pulled from that thought line when she saw her eldest brother enter the Charms classroom, looking very grave. She resisted the urge to run up to him at once and demand what was going on, but after he spoke quickly and tersely with Bulla, he could no longer hold herself back. Lizzie rushed up to him, disregarding Mia's call for Pecaris to come to her. Immediately, Brett turned his attention to her, concern clouding his relatively young face. It gave her no consolation to see him in such a state.

"Brett, what's happening? What's going on?" her voice sounded frightened, but her determined face showed no sign of her emotion. Lizzie’s bright blue eyes flashed, her eyebrows furrowing in frustration of the unknown. Brett sighed, clasping her in a quick embrace.

"Everything's going to be just fine, Lizzie dear, just go to Professor Connell's office, and wait for her." he brushed some of the black hair that had fallen into her face away, putting on a comforting smile, "Be safe. Don't do anything unwise. You'll be just fine."

He drew her close in another hug, but released her just as quickly as before. Lizzie knew Brett loved her, but she also knew that there were greater things at hand, and that he was needed to help. She sighed frustrated that he said nothing of consequence, and said a small goodbye. Liz turned around to join up with the rest of her house, still wondering what in the world was going on- Sonora was supposed to have these fabulous spells protecting it from weather, so why was the mansion being assaulted by this torrential rain and wind? Elizabeth approached the group still thinking and trying to stay near the back, away from Miss Kerova. Not that she still had anything against her, only she was trying to avoid any sort of awkward situations.

Brett watched her go, silently wishing her and all the students at the school safety until they were back at home with their families for the winter holidays. It would be a terrible permanent mark on the school's name should anything happen to any alumnus or student, not to mention the impact that would have on Sonora's investors (Brett being one of those prominent annual givers to the school) and their opinion on the school. He then turned back to the Deputy Headmaster, giving him nod.

"Let's go then." Brett said, turning for the door, waiting for the Professor to show signs of his following him.
\n\n

0 Brett and Elizabeth Lavine Yep, trouble's a brewin'... 0 Brett and Elizabeth Lavine 0 5

Arixios Jackel
October 30, 2005 2:26 PM

Arixios Jackel
Peripheral
Written by:

Crotalus is Leaving by Arixios Jackel
So much for staying in the background.

Ari had been idly considering the merits of putting a water-repelling charm on his books and things before he
began the lesson when he heard Professor Bulla's voice calmly urging the class to move away from the windows. At first choosing to stay seated, the site of exloding glass, globs of mud and pellets of rain got him quickly scrambling towards the back wall.

Pureblood honor, blah blah blah. That was for later. Ari was not dying because he refused to quicken his step when there was a half-a-ton glob of mud flying towards his face.

"Tally Adams, Zack Dill, Arixios Jackel and Mia Kerova,"

The door opened as Arixios made his way up to the Professor with the other three students and frankly, he was shocked that it was something as normal as a human that came through the door. At this point the expectation was nothing less than a horde of angry, slobbering goblins come to murder the lot of them.

Figuring that the 'storm' - if you could call it that - had hit the rest of the school as well Arixios went to round up the members of his house. He smirked glancing at the mayhem of the room and proudly noted that the members of his Crotalus seemed to have retained their calm. Politely excusing himself from the company of the others he strode over to the door, held it open, and then cast a sonorous charm on himself to make certain he was heard.

"Ladies and Gentleman of Crotalus House it has been suggested we retire to our common rooms. Please proceed out into the hallway."

Arixios trusted the good sense of his house-mates but if nothing else he would have ample opportunity to practice his mobilicorpus.
\n\n

0 Arixios Jackel Crotalus is Leaving 0 Arixios Jackel 0 5

Tally Adams
October 31, 2005 1:26 AM

Tally Adams
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Amelle Nicchi

Age in Post: 12

Oh Bother! Let's get on with this... by Tally Adams
Tally had been practicing the charm on her own table cloth alone because she hadn't been able to find a partner when the first crack of thunder stuck. Immediately her head ducked and her shoulders hunched, making her look like a turtle escaping into it's shell. Her green eyes widened and flickered to the windows, mouth opened slightly, and her breathing quickening.

Storms. She hated them. They were ferocious and often times caused the worst sort of damages. The previous duststorm had proven that much. But this wasn't anything like that last storm. It was worse, much worse. When the second rumble of thunder struck along with the lightening, Tally's jaw clenched shut and the muscles of her body tensed, this wouldn't bring anything good.

She was mesmorized by the storm, watching and waiting for it to hit. It took her a moment to realize that Professor Bulla had spoken and now the class was moving away from the windows and to the far wall. With a quick sweep of her hand, her parchment, quill, ink, and book were back in her bag and she was making her way hastily over to where everyone else was standing, bashing her hip into a desk on her way. Tally had only just made it to where the others stood when the windows exploded in. In the chaos, Tally felt sharp pains of panic engulf her. Her breaths quickened and her pulse raced. She threw her arms protectively around her head and squeezed her eyes shut, willing the feelings away. It only lasted a few moments before it finally subsided and Tally was able to control herself once more. Whether it was her own fear that caused her reaction or the fears she felt from those that surrounded her, Tally couldn't tell. She removed her arms from her face and swirled to face the destruction behind her.

What she thought would be utter disaster, wasn't. Turns out that Professor Bulla had placed charms to prevent much havic upon the room and the students. Tally felt her body relax a bid and a bit of pride came through knowing that he was her head of house and someone she looked up to. Of course, any sort of relaxation left her body the moment she heard her professor say her name and summon her forward.

She hesitated with her steps but moved forward when the others did, grimacing as though she had done something wrong and was about to be punished. She was nearly to him when the doors burst open and in walked some boy-er-man that Tally didn't know, though from the eye contact he showed to Elizabeth, Tally had no problems discerning the fact that they were related. Tally turned to her close friend, Mia, throwing her a questioning look before turning back to the Professor, who was now addressing them.

Tally listened as he instructed them to get the students back to the common rooms. Tally almost opened to her mouth to remind him that he was there head of house and ask him what to do, but decided against doing so. She could keep them in line and it wasn't like any of the Teppenpaws were bad. The commonroom was windowless since they were located in the middle of the building, so she doubted any destruction had occurred there. But, she couldn't be absolutely sure.

With a nod to Professor Bulla, Tally turned and headed back to the students, frowning a bit when Arixios decided to call out to the Crotali so calmly using the Sonarus charm. Thoughts of him left her as she reached the students, "Alright, Teppenpaws," Tally said, urging her voice louder than she normally would so that she could be heard over the chatter, "Follow me and do as I say, we're heading back to the commons. No stranglers! The faster we get there..." the safer we'll be "...the better."\n\n

6 Tally Adams Oh Bother! Let's get on with this... 41 Tally Adams 0 5

Stephen
November 02, 2005 2:39 AM

Stephen
Peripheral
Written by: Emily Lewis

Man, I'm bad at replying at the moment, huh by Stephen
And then things got interesting.

Stephen was far enough away from the windows that he hadn't needed to move any more than was needed to shift a bit to make room for the people coming over, but that didn't mean he wasn't on his feet and checking out the windows and the - whoah! Now that's a bolt of lightning - storm blasting outside. He climbed up on his chair to see better over the heads of his classmates, completely forgetting his partner in the process.

This was the coolest Charms lesson ever.

Bulla was doing something off to the side, Stephen wasn't really paying much attention until the windows exploded. Instinctively, he half crouched on his chair, nearly losing his balance in the process before noticing something very strange.

There wasn't any wind.

There wasn't any flying glass, or mud.

There weren't (many) cries amongst his classmates.

Odd.

He stood back up again. There was some kind of... forcefield between the class and the windows. It was actually pretty cool, you could see chaos just beyond it and then nada, nothing - it just stopped abruptly in midair. Stephen turned to look at the Grump, a new respect in the tilt of his head, the gleam of his eye. Obviously the ol' stick in the mud wasn't just a grumpy face.

"Way to go, Prof!"

Tal, Mia, Ari-the-picky-porridge-eater and Zack got called up the front, and then some older dude came in and was all on about the Professor going with him to see the Headmistress - did she send this storm? That'd be cool, in an odd way - and then the Professor was apparently giving the four, and Sorrie and Ash too, instructions of some sort. Stephen was starting to feel quite left out, and had climbed back up on his chair again (with intentions towards climbing onto his desk) when it all started to break up and Mia came straight towards him.

"Hey Mia," Stephen grinned, "cool weather, huh! I've never seen it rain mud before."

She didn't seem all that interested in small talk though, a thought that occured to Stephen at exactly the same moment that it occured to him that poor Rover was in his room all alone, and possibly even scared by this storm. His grin slipped into something more serious.

“Stephen, Bulla says we have to go to Connell’s office to get to the common room. C’mon, I have to get all the Pecaris in a group before we go.”

Shrugging, Stephen leapt up onto his desk and sketched a salute.

"Come on Pecari!" he shouted, backing up Mia's call for attention. "We're making a strategic retreat to the commons - everyone follow Mia."

He jumped down onto the floor besides Mia, and then because she looked like she needed it, made his grin more reassuring. "Lead on, I'll take rear guard and make sure we don't lose any stragglers." He turned, winked and waved cheerily at Gwen, then set to work.\r\n\r\n"Oi, Conner - get moving, dude. Come on Tori, let's go. Liz, you can talk to that guy later - is he your brother? - we've gotta move now..."\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

39 Stephen Man, I'm bad at replying at the moment, huh 0 Stephen 0 5

Carillon Arksington
November 02, 2005 4:51 AM

Carillon Arksington
Peripheral
Written by:

Pretend I'm a migdet... No wait! I already am by Carillon Arksington
This was a disaster, Carillon thought briefly, crouching underneath his desk. And things were going so well...

He'd managed to avoid partnering up with anybody or any (shudder) girl. Instead, he'd carefully devoted his time to making notes, reviewing them and doing homework pertinent to other subjects. Under no circumstances did he leave himself look like he wasn't doing anything. Of course, without a partner he didn't do any of the required classwork but at least he was busy.

Head bowed over his essay, he was so intent on looking busy that he didn't even look up when the door opened and in came an alumnus.

Scribble. Scribble.

When Professor Bulla got up and peered at the window.

Scribble. Scribble.

When the Professor cast a spell and instructed the students to get back from the windows.

Scribble. Scribble.

When said windows exploded with a very audible shatter did Carillon finally looked up from his parchment and dived under the table. Great. Just great, he thought, bracing himself for the inevitable pain of searing glass.

After a few minutes, when no broken glass was forthcoming, his blue eyes peeked cautiously from under his desk and looked vaguely puzzled at the lack of chaos around him. Shouldn't they be screaming in pain about now? But he didn't have time to investigate the reason why though, since the older students started herding their younger housemates into groups.

"Come on Pecari! We're making a strategic retreat to the commons - everyone follow Mia."

Strategic retreat?

What was heck going on?

Rather than look like a sitting but contemplating duck during duck season, he kept his curiosity in check. Shoving his things into his bag without preamble, Carillon literally scurried to the Pecari group. He'd worry about straightening his wrinkled homework and Stephen's announcement in the safety of the common room. Now, he was more concerned about getting out of range should the weather decide playfully to fling another lightening bolt.\n\n

0 Carillon Arksington Pretend I'm a migdet... No wait! I already am 0 Carillon Arksington 0 5

Zack Dill
November 02, 2005 1:08 PM

Zack Dill
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 12
Birthday: November

Alderaan, to me! by Zack Dill
Zack readied his wand to clean up Rachel's third puddle of water. He wanted to ask what sorts of creatures she read about in books, but she'd used Aquor again which was class related and therefore spiriting away the water had a higher priority than continuing the conversation. Before he could cast the spell, however, a great clap of thunder made him jump and drop his wand. He might have yelped, too, but he would deny it unless and until someone provided videographic evidence.

His wand had fallen right into Rachel's puddle, which was good because it hadn't rolled off the desk, but was bad because it was now dripping. As he wiped off the stick dry on his robe sleeves, Professor Bulla instructed everyone away from the windows. That, of course, made Zack look toward the windows and his eyes widened.

The aliens had come. The sky was black as night, the storm clouds roiled dangerously, and Zack had only ever seen the like in bad sci fi movies. Then the window exploded and the difference in air pressure that rended the glass should have sent an cold gust of wind eddying violently through the room, but the air was still. Zack was really impressed. Magic also kept back the rain and great globs of brown muck, which Zack suspected was either alien teraformation technology or some kind of biological weapon.

"Way to go, Prof!" Stephen called out, which Zack took as a really good sign. It had looked like Bulla's shield had done a great job of protecting them from the invaders, but if Stephen, Sonora's own resident alien, said Bulla had successfully fended off the attack, Zack felt much better about the whole situation.

"Tally Adams, Zack Dill, Arixios Jackel and Mia Kerova," the Professor himself then called out and Zack nearly dropped his wand again. He didn't do anything! But he followed the wordless instructions and approached the teacher. He clutched his wand, not because he thought he could do anything useful with it, but because it was convenient thing to do with his hands.

Some adult guy came in then and spoke briefly with the Professor, but neither of them said anything about the spaceships that had to be hovering right over the school to generate the ugly clouds. Maybe they didn't know? No, they knew. They just didn't want to panic Zack's classmates, most of whom probably didn't know about aliens being real (aside from Zoey and Stephen).

Then the teacher's attention was back on him. Well, him and the other three students orginally called. "Tally, Arixios, Zack and Mia, I need you to al organise the students here from your houses, and get them all down to your commonrooms." For a second, Zack was stunned and almost didn't hear the rest of what Bulla was saying.

Him? Zack Dill? In charge of leading his whole House to safety?

Well, of course him. He knew more about aliens than anyone else in the school excepting Stephen. (Why Stephen hadn't been assigned to this duty instead of Mia, he could only postulate. Zack assumed Stephen was either expected to perform other duties secretly, or Bulla didn't want to give away Stephen's origins by drawing attention to him.)

But getting the other Alderaanians to safety. Yes. Zack could do that. He squared his shoulders and tried to stand tall (which was, of course, a very difficult task for a twelve year old boy who stood only four feet seven). He breifly toyed with the idea of saluting Bulla and saying 'Yes, sir!' but Mia, Tally, and Arixios were already walking away and he didn't want to appear to be slacking. He was being entrusted with a very important task.

"Alderaan, to me!" he called out when the other three (four if you counted Stephen) stopped shouting for their respective Houses. "Line up! We need to make a quick and orderly evacuation to the secure location of our commonroom!"
\n\n

1 Zack Dill Alderaan, to me! 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Dalila Bastet
November 02, 2005 10:21 PM

Dalila Bastet
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by:

Age in Post: 11

Good idea... by Dalila Bastet
The class was going fairly well. Dalila had managed to escape the doldrums she had fallen into after her mother left for that tour, and she had almost gotten the hang of the spell she was trying to learn. All in all...not bad.

That is, until the storm broke out.

There she was, sitting perfectly normal when a huge roll of thunder sounded across the desert. Dalia shrieked. Not because she was afraid, but it just shocked her. Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of shield preventing storms? Dalia had heared that somewhere.

She almost got run over by Lizzie as she ran towards what Dalila could only assume was her brother. Without waiting for her partner to come back, Dalila hurried to the other side of the classroom and tried to pick the rest of the Teppenpaws from the crowd without much luck. As bad as she was putting a name to a face, she was even worse at putting a face to a house.

Dalila sighed in relief as she heard someone yell out the word Teppenpaws over the din.

"Hey, Teppenpaw right here!" Dalila yelled, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from and dragging her bookbag on the ground because most of her things were falling out and she didn't want to risk picking it up.

'Come on! Let's get outta here!"
\n\n

0 Dalila Bastet Good idea... 60 Dalila Bastet 0 5

Mia
November 03, 2005 8:58 PM

Mia
Peripheral
Written by:

Alright Pecari, we're outta here. by Mia
Mia was glad to see her plan work. She looked up as Stephen got up and called the other Pecaris to the group in a way they definitely couldn't ignore. When Stephen said "everyone follow Mia" she felt her face get warm again and willed it to stop. He told her to lead on and Mia had no reason to argue with that. Mia was about to start when she realized she left her bag at her seat.

"One second," she said to no one in particular and hurried to where she had been sitting before with Anne. She snatched up her bag and threw it over her body as she, just as quickly, made her way back to her housemates.

Stephen was calling over the last few students so Mia decided to start going with the ones already gathered. Her hands were a bit shaky so she let them hang from her jean pockets casually by her thumbs. No need to draw attention to that.

“Okay, since we can’t exactly get to our common room the regular way, we’re going through Connell’s office, alright?” Mia mentally patted herself on the back for sounding a lot more confident than she felt. The “alright?” was just to make sure everyone heard her and understood where they were going. She waited for any kind of mumble or grunt or nod or “No problem, Mia. Whatever you say.” (she was kidding herself if she was expecting that last answer at all) to make sure she was heard before continuing.

“Cool, we can go now.” Mia finished and started for the door.

Bulla seemed a bit on the agitated side so it could only help to get the students out quickly. She trusted Stephen to pick up any stragglers and led the group to Professor Connell’s office. Mia let one hand rest on her black bag that was lightly bumping against her hip. It brought her some of comfort and her hands shook less. The scribbled notes from her Jersey friends in many bright colored inks made her wonder what they were up to now. Surely they weren’t leading a pack of kids to shelter or wondering why it looked like the sky was falling.\n\n

0 Mia Alright Pecari, we're outta here. 0 Mia 0 5

Professor Bulla

Charms Lesson 1: Cleaning up after yourselves by Professor Bulla

Zack Dill

Dibs on answering the question by Zack Dill

Rachel Tibbs

charms... groups? by Rachel Tibbs

The Cravens

It's a conspiracy! ("Wanted" - 2 x firstie) by The Cravens

Lexi

That's never good by Lexi

Mia

Needing a first year to clean up after by Mia

Asher Tallow

It always is. ("Wanted"- one brain replacement) by Asher Tallow

Ash Craven

They're out to split us up ("Wanted" for what?) by Ash Craven

Sorrel Craven

No. Though this might be fun.... by Sorrel Craven

Asher Tallow

Serves you right. ('RL stuff made my brain hurt) by Asher Tallow

Anne

I'll try to keep the mess small by Anne

Lexi

For you, maybe by Lexi

Mia

Much appreciated. by Mia

Dalila

How charming... by Dalila

Ash

Yet seems you're being punished for it (what stuff?) by Ash

Craven

I'm the only one in this 'partnership' I care about. by Craven

Asher Tallow

Same could be said for you. (problems with transcripts) by Asher Tallow

Lexi

Well, bully for you, then by Lexi

Craven

No, bully (ie me) for you by Craven

Anne

Whether or not I succeeded is up to you to decide by Anne

Mia

It looks pretty good to me. by Mia

Elizabeth

What? Charms? by Elizabeth

Ty

The friendless geeky loser in the corner needs a partner... by Ty

Dalila

Getting on with it by Dalila

Earl Valentine

Good. Cause I need one too. by Earl Valentine

Elizabeth

Right, well, good by Elizabeth

Dalila

Very good by Dalila

Elizabeth

Yes, indeed by Elizabeth

Dalila

A sore subject by Dalila

Elizabeth

I see... by Elizabeth

Dalila

I guess I'm not the only one by Dalila

TJ O'Reilly

He really doesn't want a partner- but he needs one. by TJ O'Reilly

Zack Dill

whoops, forgot I had this thread by Zack Dill

Rach

okay... by Rach

Anne

Now I'll try to do it without injuring anyone... by Anne

Elizabeth

No, I guess not by Elizabeth

Mia

The injured forgives by Mia

Jake Santoro (Teppenpaw)

Finding a firstie by Jake Santoro (Teppenpaw)

Tally Adams (Tepp)

Finally getting through this by Tally Adams (Tepp)

Dalila

Hmmmm... by Dalila

ponders Hmm...where have I seen that title before? by Mia