Complete recipe for disaster on Charms

Professor Aaron McKindy

December 05, 2006 7:24 PM

Charms Leson I, First and Fourth years by Professor Aaron McKindy

First day of lessons! Aaron McKindy had spent uncounted hours holed up in the Charms classroom, Transfiguring or Charming nearly every object inside it in preparation for this lesson. It had seemed a better use of his time than trying not to alienate any more of his colleagues, anyway.

He had made the attempt to read the book assigned for the class. Truly. However, it was so dry that after no more than ten pages, he was running frantically about for something, anything, else to read. So Aaron had scrapped the Potential Lesson Plan for first and second years, turned the usual class system on its nose, and come up with something he hoped the students would find at least marginally more interesting.

Aaron was sitting on top of the oak desk at the front of the room when the first students entered. For those of them that had not glimpsed him at the Opening Feast, he was surely a sight, and those that had probably had already determined that he was quite mad. In regular jeans today, Aaron still wore the top hat made of large, transparent pink bubbles atop his longish black hair. The pink almost matched the purple shirt he wore today, though, a relative oddity.

After what seemed like most of the class had arrived, he jumped down off the desk and grinned widely at the students. When they quieted, either from fear, curiosity, or respect, he began his introduction.

“I’m your new Charms teacher, Professor Aaron McKindy. Feel free to call me Professor McKindy, Professor, or whatever else you can think of, so long as it remains respectful. No doubt you’ve noticed that a good half of your classmates are not from the year above or below you. For those of you that haven’t, may I suggest a bit of attention to detail?

“As you should also have noticed, I have removed all desks and chairs, except for my own. If you would care to have a poke at the walls, I’m sure you will also realise that the walls seem especially spongy. This is because I would prefer not to have anybody go to the infirmary today, and you will be learning spells that have the wonderful effects of moving objects (and, in some cases, people). Fourth years will be learning the Summoning Charm, first years will be instructed in the arts of levitation. First years will be partnering with fourth years.”

Here, Aaron whipped out his wand and demonstrated both charms on one of the small cushions that rested in a corner.

“There are various difficulties depending on what objects you practise the charms on. You will thus be practising on cushions, feathers, and,” Aaron grinned, removing his hat and placing it on the desk next to him, tapping it with his wand. “frogs.” The hat exploded in seventy different directions as each large, pink bubble was un-Transfigured to reveal a large, pink frog. “Have fun, and be sure to ask me any questions.”

Professor Aaron McKindy watched in barely concealed amusement as the students got to work.

OOC: A’righty. Remember, firsties, you probably cannot perform the Summoning Charm. Any attempts to do so will most likely go horribly wrong, and Aaron won’t be pleased if he catches you. For information on how the room is set up, read Setting Up the Classroom below this post. Remember that the wizarding posters will move and may offer advice or criticism, while the Muggle ones are spelled to offer advice and yell rather loudly if your character starts doing anything too out of hand. Fourth years, help your partners and try not to skin them alive. Materials are scattered in piles about the room.
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Subthreads:

Am I in the right place?? by Gwyneth with gwyneth, Lexi Stafford

In need of a firstie by Jordanna Howard with Matt Tripp

Nice Hat by Mika with Lutece Anthony

Here we go...partner? by Hyana Kamiya with Dalila Bastet, Hyana

Read this post...this is the good one. by Earl Valentine with Nathalie, Earl, Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

Firstie here! Anyone partner-less? by Irene Liddowe with Nicoletta Dupree, Nicoletta, Irene

calling all fourth years by Law Cooper with Catherine Raines

Summoning a fourth year would probably end in chaos by Kaleb Heindrich

Firstie seeks fourth year by Brett Hodges with Bella Santoro

And thus does our time together draw to a close by Professor McKindy

0 Professor Aaron McKindy Charms Leson I, First and Fourth years 0 Professor Aaron McKindy 1 5

Gwyneth

December 06, 2006 11:56 AM

Am I in the right place?? by Gwyneth

Gwyneth was certain she had misread her class schedule when she saw the generally taller upperclass students in the same room as herself and several first year students. She wasn't sure what she had read wrong, but hoped that the professor could figure it out. She saw the man sitting on the desk and remembered that ridiculous pink bubble hat from the feast. 'If he is genius then he is eccentric,' she thought generously, 'otherwise he must be a real goofball.' When he said that he was pairing first and fourth years together, she began to lean toward the goofball side of the equation!

When his bubble hat exploded into PINK??? frogs, she felt like she was in a strange production of Alice in Wonderland! As she listened to his explanation of what each group would be working on, her eyes drifted around the room. The posters surprised her the most. Many of the pictures seemed alive and appeared to move. She dropped her quill and notebook when one poster whispered loudly to her to pay attention to the professor and stop looking around the room. Blushing in embarassment, she refocused on Professor McKindy.

He said first years would be instructed in a levitation spell. 'Well, that sounds pretty cool,' she thought. But then he just sat down! She glanced quickly around the room, hoping that she wouldn't get yelled at by another poster, and saw that some of the other first year students seemed as perplexed as she was. So, maybe this is one of those self-taught, go at your own pace, type of classes, she thought and began rummaging in her bag to find her copy of the textbook.

She thumbed through the pristine pages of the book but wasn't even sure what she was looking for! Gwyneth was used to being one of the "smart kids" in classes and quickly began to feel that she was most definitely out of her element here. "Where is that darned spell?" she muttered under her breath in frustration. "What does that teacher expect from us?" He said that first years would be partnered with fourth years, but then he just sat there and smiled at the class. Were the fourth years supposed to choose one of us? Did he honestly expect us first years to just walk up to a fourth year and ask for help? Gwyneth sat in her seat, feeling tears of frustration start to well up in the back of her eyes.\n\n

0 Gwyneth Am I in the right place?? 0 Gwyneth 0 5

gwyneth

December 06, 2006 11:59 AM

OOC question by gwyneth

OOC: Sorry if my inclusion of the poster's comment is considered writing for another character. \n\n

0 gwyneth OOC question 0 gwyneth 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 06, 2006 3:33 PM

OOC answer by Professor McKindy

OOC: No, 'tis alright. Sorry I didn't specify--feel free to write for frogs, feathers, posters, whatever. Just not other people.\n\n

0 Professor McKindy OOC answer 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Lexi Stafford

December 06, 2006 5:24 PM

Apparently by Lexi Stafford

From the moment Lexi Stafford walked into the charms classroom, she got the feeling that there was something decidedly…off about the inhabitants. Over the past three years she’d gotten used to there being differences between what years shared classes, with some being single years, some being with the grade above, and some being with the grade below. However, while there were a few students in the years around hers who were somewhat smaller than average, the students joining her grade were far to tiny to be near her age.

It all made sense within a few minutes, though, as Professor McKindy confirmed her conclusion that the fourth years would be working with the first years instead of one of the more predictable match-ups. Well, at least the presence of the younger students made sense. She still wasn’t sure why the new professor was doing such a thing but, if the bubble-hat was any indication, he was obviously off his rocker, and it was best just not to question him.

As McKindy droned on, Lexi started to zone out, and examine the surroundings. It was drastically different then it had ever been with Bulla as the teacher, with various posters covering the walls. Most of them looked familiar (she had the feeling that a lot of them were in the various books that decorated her family’s library), but she couldn’t name beyond a couple. She did realize that a few were originally muggle, though, and was slightly surprised to see one or two talking, although, with it being a charms class, it wasn’t that difficult to cope with.

Her surprise became even greater when McKindy said that the fourth years were going to be partnering with the first years. Maybe he really was crazy. Maybe the school had been required to hire someone completely batty, since Marnett had left, so they could meet their loony quota. Sure, it made sense in a warped kind of way, since she and her peers were supposedly old enough and mature enough to help someone younger than them, but it didn’t seem like the two charms they were working on had anything to do with each other. Unless the fourth years were supposed to be summoning back the objects the firsties had accidentally flown out a window….

Theories still forming in the back of her mind, she glanced around the room to try and find a suitable first year. She wasn’t sure what suitable entailed, just that it was somehow important. Within a few seconds, she believed she’d found one, a Teppenpaw girl who looked like she was about to cry. Lexi felt genuinely sorry for the girl, who appeared to be searching for something, probably her book. McKindy really hadn’t done all that well to explain the how of the spells, even to go over the names. If she had been a first year, she’d probably have wanted to cry too. Well, perhaps not, but she understood the feeling, at least.

Heading over towards the younger girl, she leaned against the wall, which was just as spongy as McKindy had stated, then cleared her throat to get the girl’s attention. “The levitation charm’s wingardium leviosa,” she said as soon as the firstie looked up. “It’s probably in the front of your book. It’s generally one of the first people learn.” She shrugged, then continued. “Of course, generally when teachers teach it they explain it all before sending the students off. A recipe for disaster, that’s what this is. Even so, as you appear to be partnerless, do you want to work together? I’m Lexi Stafford.” Hearing a croak by her foot, Lexi bent down to pick up the pink frog that had worked its way over to the pair, then began to stroke it while waiting for the first year to say something. Despite the fact that it had once been a hat, it was still an animal, and the pink was actually charming, once you got over the ‘color not existing in nature’ aspect of it.
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0 Lexi Stafford Apparently 0 Lexi Stafford 0 5

Jordanna Howard

December 06, 2006 7:28 PM

In need of a firstie by Jordanna Howard

Tossing yellow hair charmed into waves instead of its usual lankiness, Jordanna walked into the Charms classroom and stopped short. Pictures on the walls that didn't move? A professor in strange looking pants? Definitely muggle. Top hat made out of bubbles? Definitely tacky. The class that had always been her favorite (as it had always come easiest to her) was quickly losing it appeal. She examined herself for a moment in the bronze-rimmed mirror, gray eyes evaluated her appearance from her green headband, to wrinkless school robes and gray sandals. She gave a smirk of approval. As usual, she passed.

The fourth year turned around to examine the desk-less classroom, wondering just where she was expected to sit. Standing without a purpose was a waste, after all. The pale teen noticed a pile of cushions, as well as a pile of feathers. She supposed that they were moving things today with their wands. Levitation spells? So last year. Really, in the one class she could show off in, she hoped for something a little bit trickier.

Another strange thing about the class were the people in it. About half of them were much too short. What was this, an invasion of midgets, or something? Jordanna smirked to herself, unaware of how rude her thoughts were.

She listened to the introduction of Professor McKindy, the tacky-muggle man, as she had privately dubbed him. Stepping back in surprise when he transfigured the bubbles into frogs, a hand clutched her chest and she inhaled sharply. That was just creepy! Now why would anyone have any inclination to learn how to do that?

When he was done, she began to scan the room for first years- specifically her first years, as she thought of them- Oliver, Matt, and Riley. At least she knew before hand that they wouldn't be terribly annoying. So long as she didn't get some hyper Pecari, a Teppenpaw or an Aladren would even suffice. Besides, she'd rather use her talents to help a housemate than anyone else.

She smiled as she saw one of the firsties approach her, if only not to scare them away, and greeted them with what she thought was a fairly sincere, "Hello."\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard In need of a firstie 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Matt Tripp

December 06, 2006 11:23 PM

Jordanna's First Year Number Two Reporting For Duty by Matt Tripp

Matt entered the Charms classroom flanked by his brother and sister. Matt looked around at the weird room. The walls were spongy and there were both moving and non-moving pictures on the wall. It was obvious that the professor was not a pure-blood, not that Matthew Tripp had anything against Muggles. He, unlike some pure-bloods, understood that Muggles were people too, and could prove valuable members of society.

Speaking of the professor, well, anyone who would wear a hat like that of their own free will had to be crazy. 'Just what we need at a respectable school,' Matt thought sarcastically, 'an insane Muggle with a room set up like an asylum.' He chuckled to himself.

As Matt came further into the room, he noticed that not only were his fellow first years there, but some older students as well. Spotting Jordanna, he reasoned that these must be fourth years. But why would the first and fourth years have class together? Were the older students going to charm them. Matt shuddered at the indignity of the thought.

Matt listened as the teacher introduced himself, saying they could call him whatever they wanted, as long as it was nice. Matt thought Professor Crazy Hat might work, but decided to just call the man, Professor McKindy. Then he told them that they were to pair up and practice levitation charms or summoning charms, depending on the year they were in. Matt walked over to Jordanna, who greeted him. "Hello" he replied to the older girl, before calling to the professor.

"Excuse me Professor McKindy," he said, "but I have a question. Are you going to tell us what charms we are to use to levitate and summon these items, or are we to figure them out ourselves?"\n\n

0 Matt Tripp Jordanna's First Year Number Two Reporting For Duty 0 Matt Tripp 0 5

Matt Tripp

December 06, 2006 11:27 PM

OOC by Matt Tripp

Sorry I didn't read the original post carefully enough. I reread it and it does say the professor demonstrates the spells; it just doesn't have the incantations specifically mentioned. \n\n

0 Matt Tripp OOC 0 Matt Tripp 0 5

Mika

December 07, 2006 1:47 AM

Nice Hat by Mika

Mika wheeled in to the charms class room and... just wasn't sure what to think. What was the English word for shalno again? Oh yeah. Crazy. He was used to men in hats, but usually they were black, and flatter, and worn with other orthodox dress, such as a suit, prayer shawl, and full beard. Not muggle jeans. These Americans were out of their minds.

He parked his wheelchair somewhere out of the way, surprised to see older students entering the room as well. He supposed they were there to help the younger students. It made sense, thats how Hebrew lessons had been done at his yeshiva in Jerusalem.

When the hat exploded into frogs, Mika jumped, hands flying to the wheels of his chair, as though ready to back away hastily. When he saw that they were just frogs, he relaxed again. He wasn't thrilled about having to partner up though. He decided just to wait for an older student to approach him. If none did, that was fine too. Mika didn't like group work. He leaned back and drew his charms text out of the backpack that was hung on the handles of his wheelchair. He immediately flipped to the index, then looked up what page numbers were listed for levitation. He went to the first page in the book that was listed, figuring that they would be working in the traditional western English way of reading, front to back.

He sat and studied his book for long moments, reading. After a moment, he reached into his bag again, and pulled out a Russian-English dictionary, and looked something up. His finger trailed the text as he read it, and despite reading in a foreign language, he was reading at a fast clip.\n\n

0 Mika Nice Hat 0 Mika 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 07, 2006 5:03 AM

OOC by Professor McKindy

Just assume they're the general Summoning and Levitation charms used in the book. Thanks for checking, though.\n\n

0 Professor McKindy OOC 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Gwyneth

December 07, 2006 5:05 PM

Partners?!?! by Gwyneth

When she heard someone nearby clearing their throat, Gwyneth quickly tried to blink back the tears of frustration that were threatening. Although Gwyneth was probably close to the girl's height, she realized the newcomer was a fourth year. This girl was a life-saver, she thought. First, she had not laughed at Gwyneth's obvious imminent tears. Second, she immediately offered a solution as to what spell to look for. Third, her comment about the professor's teaching style echoed what Gwyneth herself was thinking. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the girl who had introduced herself as Lexi was kind to both frogs and firsties!

"H-hi, Lexi. I'm Gwyenth Aquillon. . . first year Teppenpaw." She didn't know if house affiliation was important but thought she might as well throw it out there. "Thanks, for the advice." She reached out to pet the pink frog Lexi was holding. "I didn't know where to begin to look. I guess I didn't really hear what Professor McKindy said when he made the cushion float. Yeah, I would really like to be your partner. Thanks for taking pity on a first year," she said blushing.

With Lexi standing there, Gwyneth waggled her fingers at the closest feather and muttered "wingardium leviosa" in a very self-conscious way. Much to her embarassement, nothing happened!
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0 Gwyneth Partners?!?! 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Lexi

December 07, 2006 5:49 PM

Yes... by Lexi

As Lexi listened to the first year, muttering a quick, “Pleasure to meet you, Gwyneth,” after the girl introduced herself, she became more and more convinced that she could have done a lot worse when picking partners. She really did feel sorry for the poor youngling, what with being stuck in a class with a complete psychotic instructor.

“Really, it’s no problem,” she said in response to Gwyneth thanking her for the advice. “I’m older, I know more, and therefore, I can help. That’s the way things are supposed to work, at least. When I was a first year, I got a partner one class, in charms, actually, who was just a complete shrew. But, then again, everyone has their moments. For example, I probably shouldn’t be approached when I’ve got a beater’s bat.”

She grinned at the younger girl, realizing that she probably wouldn’t get it, but then, if she didn’t, quidditch at least provided something to talk about, in a worse case scenario. “And you’re not supposed to know where to look, unless you come from a wizarding family, and, even then, sometimes it’s still hard to figure out what’s going on. I’m in awe of the muggleborns sometimes, since they come from a disadvantage as to knowing what’s happening, at least initially.”

Watching with a critical eye as Gwyneth tried to perform the spell for the first time, she shook her head. “You’ve got to make a more pronounced movement with your wrist. It’s a swish, and then a flick. You’ve also got to be pretty firm with your tone. Think of it…like a dog, or something. You have to be confident, or you won’t get the result you want.”

She slid down the wall into a seated position, motioning for the other girl to join her. “There’s no reason for us to stand. It works just as well no matter what position you’re in and, frankly, this is more comfortable, at least for me. You can stay standing if you want, though. Now, watch my wrist.” After placing the frog on the ground, and going slower than usual, so that the firstie could hopefully see everything, she swished, flicked, and stated, “wingardium leviosa” in a clear, if slightly quiet voice. It was such a simple charm that there was no reason to have to over-do it, and she didn’t want to get in trouble with McKindy if he in his insanity just wanted the separate years to do their own spells, despite being paired.

The feather rose a few feet, then dropped as she turned her wand away. “It’s all in the wrist,” she reiterated, then grinned again. “Don’t feel bad, though. Hardly anyone gets things right their first time. And, just think, once we get you going, you can watch me make a complete mess of things, with no doubt. Although I’ve seen the summoning charm enough to do it passably, so maybe not.

“It seems kind of silly just to work in silence. Unless, of course, you’re having trouble concentrating. If not, what do you think of Sonora so far? Enjoying everything?” Alright, it was a little weak, as far as conversation starters went. Still, it was a slightly awkward setting, and it was her first week back, so Lexi didn’t feel as bad about it as she could have.
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0 Lexi Yes... 0 Lexi 0 5

Hyana Kamiya

December 07, 2006 5:56 PM

Here we go...partner? by Hyana Kamiya

Hyana entered the classroom, looking for Ebony. Yet again, like COMC, she was unsuccessful and stood in a corner. She didn't like being noticed.

Soon their sensei, Proffessor McKindy, had jumped off his own desk and was grinning like a maniac at them! Hyana was quite shocked at first, but as he spoke, she began to like him more and more. He seemed fun, entergetic, nice, all of those good qualities that she didn't possess. She heard that her year, first year, would be practicing levitating charms, and she gave a small smile herself. She had read about those over and over again in her textbook, but had never attempted it. Well, she wanted a challenge, now she had one. She pulled out her wand and froze when the Sensei said, "First years will be partnering with fourth years."

Hyana let her arm drop to the side. She had wanted to work with Mika or Ebony, since she already knew them. Meeting a new person, let alone a sempai, was impossible for her. She couldn't do it.

So she waited in the same corner, and waited for some kind soul to ask her to be their partner. Hyana bit her lip, and she was close to tears. At this moment, she imagined her mother, what she would say to her: "Hyana, look at you. I bet you couldn't go up to a mouse and say hello." And at that moment she knew her mother was right. She stared at her feet, and waited for someone to say something, anything, to her.\n\n

0 Hyana Kamiya Here we go...partner? 0 Hyana Kamiya 0 5

Jordanna Howard

December 07, 2006 6:32 PM

You've numbered yourselves? by Jordanna Howard

"Nice to see you, Matthew," Jordanna said politely, "You lucked out, Charms happen to be my specialty." Sure, he had introduced himself as Matt, but Jordanna had a thing against nicknames. Names were beautiful, names were what your parents bestowed upon you at birth, why change them? So Matthew it was, whether the first year liked it or not.

"Come with me," she beckoned, as she made her way to the pile of feathers, "We'll work on you first." In case Matthew hadn't noticed by now, he was sure to realize that Jordanna had a fairly dominating personality. Picking a peacock feather out of the pile (to match with her ensemble, of course)she led Matthew off to the side, so that no one would get in their way.

"The feather will come later. First, let's go over pronounciation, because you might as well be a muggle with a twig if you can't pronounce your spells correctly. So repeat after me: the levitation spell is pronounced 'win-GAR-dee-um lev-ee-OH-sa.'"\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard You've numbered yourselves? 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 07, 2006 6:34 PM

Looking for a Fourth Year..... by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru walked into the room...he was amazed, it seemed as if he was in a dream. He listened intently to the Professor as he spoke. As he looked around for a partner and couldn't seem to find anyone. He pulled out his wand and repeated the incantation over and over in his head.
He couldn't seem to find anyone and was starting to get frustrated. \n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi Looking for a Fourth Year..... 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Gwyneth

December 07, 2006 7:08 PM

Relief! by Gwyneth

As Gwyneth slid down into a cross-legged seated position, she thanked her lucky stars that this fourth year had come over. She watched, carefully and gratefully, as Lexi gave advice, explanation and a demonstration of the spell she was to work on. 'Whoops, she used her wand, not just her hand! How stupid of me not to remember!' she thought.

She quickly pulled her vine wrapped wand from the pocket of her robe. She tried to copy the swish and flick movement that Lexi had demonstrated as she repeated the spell words, “wingardium leviosa”. The feather did wiggle a bit, but really didn't lift up off the surface. "RATS!" Gwyneth exclaimed, not sure where she had messed up. She then realized that Lexi had suggested a more firm tone and tried it again with slightly better results. The feather lifted a few inches off the floor before it gently drifted back down.

To show that she was listening as well as watching, Gwyneth said, "A beater's bat? That's part of Quidditch, isn't it? Sorry, but I've never played." Dropping her voice slightly and feeling afraid the older girls would regret selecting her as a parner, she admitted, "In fact, I've never even seen a game played before."

Lexi had generously asked about her first days at Sonora. Gwyneth wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Well, I guess . . . it's nothing like my old school and I could never have imagined anything like this at all. I'm human, . . . er, Muggle-born, you see, or so I thought. I only found out about magic a few weeks ago when the acceptance letter from Sonora arrived. Up 'til then, my mom, who it turns out is a witch,' she said with some exasperation, "had never told me about magic. I didn't even know that this," and she shook her wand, "was magic. My Grams gave this to me. I thought it was a director's baton, for goodness sake!" Suddenly, Gwyneth felt rather foolish for babbling on so.

Wanting to turn the attention from herself for a few minutes, Gwyneth asked, "What was that spell you fourth years were supposed to be working on?"

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0 Gwyneth Relief! 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Dalila Bastet

December 07, 2006 10:15 PM

Partner. by Dalila Bastet

Dalila walked into Charms twirling her wand like a baton and glancing around the room. It was interesting to say the least. And she loved it. Especially the professor's hat, which reminded her of the bubblegum she was chewing. With her orange streaked hair and cherry-red glasses, she thought they would get along swimmingly. She blew a big pink bubble and sat there poking it as she listened to their assignment for the day.

She looked around the room again, this time looking at the students. Some were a lot smaller. So, there were firsties in the room. Dalila shrugged, got up and began her search for a firstie partner. It only took a minute or so to locate the little Japanese girl in the corner who looked close to tears.

With a smile, Dalila walked up to the little firstie and bent down so they were eye level.

"Hey, you want a partner?"\n\n

0 Dalila Bastet Partner. 60 Dalila Bastet 0 5

Earl Valentine

December 07, 2006 11:02 PM

Read this post...this is the good one. by Earl Valentine

Earl stared around the room and especially at the new professor. The hat alone (which Earl hadn't noticed during the feast) put him in the 'weird beyond all reason' book. The room Earl approved of. And that automatically meant it was cool. Earl took out his book and skimmed the section on summoning charms.

With an intake of breath, he pointed at a cushion on the other side of the room and shouted "Accio" at the top of his lungs. The cushion shot up, hit the ceiling, and landed on an unsuspecting student.

"Crap!" he shouted across the room. "Sorry!" He ran up to the person, levitating the cushion off them as he did so.

"You okay?"\n\n

0 Earl Valentine Read this post...this is the good one. 67 Earl Valentine 0 5

Nathalie

December 08, 2006 2:09 PM

Hello - firstie in need of a partner by Nathalie

Nathalie had been trying to work out if levitating charm meant the same as a fascino di levitazione, and had concluded, having flicked through the book, that it was, but with a slightly different wand movement. She was just starting to practice the wand movement using her hands (she had had some fun involving wand movements before) when a cushion appeared out of thin air, apparently, and hit her on the top of her head.

Nathalie was small and slight, and the force of the cushion hitting her knocked her over. She heard someone swear and then run over, before the cushion began rising off her. Nathalie jumped up angrily. "Mon Dieu, vous dupez! Que faisiez-vous?" She asked, not noticing she had lapsed into French.

OOC: My French is bad, but this roughly means: You fool, what were you doing?\n\n

0 Nathalie Hello - firstie in need of a partner 0 Nathalie 0 5

Hyana

December 08, 2006 6:44 PM

Of course I do by Hyana

"Hey, do you want a partner?" Hyana was looking into the eyes of a fourth year girl, who was smiling at her. It wasn't a smirk, or a teasing smile. It was a real smile. She bowed and said, "Arigato sempai..." she looked back up, realizing she didn't know the girl's name.

"I'm Hyana Kamiya. And I would love to be your partner." She finally forced out, and returned the smile. She extended her hand, feeling much better about her charms lesson.\n\n

0 Hyana Of course I do 0 Hyana 0 5

Earl

December 08, 2006 10:16 PM

Well, then I'm glad I almost knocked you unconscious. by Earl

Great. He'd almost killed a first year girl. Why couldn't it have been a fourth year guy? No. it had to be the small, innocent, little girl...who suddenly started yelling at him in another language. Earl back off a little when she jumped up and began yelling.

"Hey! Whoa, whoa...first off: speak English! And second: I said I was sorry. You don't need to yell at me!" He had no idea what she had said or what language it was in, but he got the gist. She was angry, but he was bigger and stronger and older, it wasn't like she could anything besides yell at him in other languages.

Earl crossed his arms across his chest and glared down at her.

"Look, I need a partner. If you start speaking English and stop yelling, I'd be willing to partner up with you," he said begrudgingly.\n\n

0 Earl Well, then I'm glad I almost knocked you unconscious. 0 Earl 0 5

Dalila

December 08, 2006 10:27 PM

Yay! by Dalila

Dalila stood up straight again and put her hands on her hips with a smile.

"Great! I'm Dalila Bastet, by the way," Dalila mimicked the bow Hyana had just given her and upon straightening up took the girl's hand, shaking it gently.

"So, the levitating charm...basically you move the wand like this." Dalila held her own wand out, waited for Hyana to copy her and then gave it a swish and a flick.

"And then there's the spell: Wingardium leviosa. Emphasis on the 'gar' in wingardium and the 'o' in leviosa. That's important. Are you getting this or am I going too fast?" Dalila had no idea if Hyana knew about magic or not, but if not this would all be very confusing for her.\n\n

0 Dalila Yay! 0 Dalila 0 5

Riley Garraway

December 08, 2006 11:02 PM

I'm a first year, but... by Riley Garraway

Riley had woken up a little late, and had thusly arrived at class a little late. She felt so incompetent, and hoped to make up for it with a good performance.

She'd walked in just as the professor (that was their professor?!) had started his speech, and had stayed respectfully in the back of the room. She'd nearly started when the hat had exploded, but kept calm. When the lesson began, and students started pairing off, she found herself partner-less.

A little disheartened, she tried the spell by herself. The feather she'd found to practice on wiggled in the air before falling back down. She sighed, trying again and again but finding the same results.

Finally, since no fourth years had yet to approach her, she went in search of someone else. There was a boy standing by, looking a little disgruntled. She assumed he was a first year, and went up to him, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hi, I'm Rily Garraway. I know we're supposed to be paired first years-fourth years, but, well, no one seems too keen on helping us, eh? However," she waved her feather a little for emphasis, "two heads are better than one, right? Want to work together?"\n\n

0 Riley Garraway I'm a first year, but... 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hyana

December 08, 2006 11:45 PM

I've got a partner! by Hyana

"I'm Dalila Bastet, by the way." Hyana heard her say. She let her take her extended hand and shake it. Dalila had started to explain the charm. Hyana quickly pulled her wand out and copied her.

It wasn't that hard of a movement. She had read her charms textbook already, but hadn't tried this spell. Being muggleborn and all, it was kinda scary.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Hyana repeated. She hoped she was doing it right. She practiced the movement a couple more times, said the spell a few more, then turned to Dalila as if to say: I'm ready.\n\n

0 Hyana I've got a partner! 0 Hyana 0 5

Dalila

December 09, 2006 12:03 AM

Me too! by Dalila

Dalila watched Hyana practice the charm a few times, with a satisfied smirk. What should she do now? Her own charm, for one.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. Try it for real now. I've gotta practice my charm, but if you need help, I'm here." Dalila gave Hyana a reassuring smile before turning to choose a cushion to send flying in her general direction.

She pointed her wand at the chosen cushion and stated "Accio" as clearly as she could. The cushion didn't move. however, the pink frog sitting in front of the cushion let out a loud croak and flew toward her. Dalila stared wide-eyed as the frog drew nearer and nearer and then started descending lower and lower until the frog smacked into the wall beside her.

"Aim, girl, aim!" A nearby poster of an old man with a British accent and a rather large gray mustache scolded. Dalila glared at the poster and then shifted her gaze to Hyana.

"How ya doin'?"

OOC: Just as a little heads up, you don't need to start every post with something I say.\n\n

0 Dalila Me too! 0 Dalila 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 09, 2006 11:02 AM

Kay by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru smiled "I'm Hikaru Kasuragi..." he bows to her and continues speaking "It is an honor to meet you and I would really enjoy working with you...I hope that we can be friends." He turned slowly to a feather laying on the ground on and muttered "Wingardium Leviosa..." as he slowly flicked his wand up in the air the feather rose slowly after it. He set the feather on the ground and listended to the fourth years as they practiced their summoning charms. He remembered the incantation for later use.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi Kay 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Riley Garraway

December 09, 2006 12:08 PM

I can do it. by Riley Garraway

Riley watched as Hikaru levitated his feather. "See, you got it," she said, feeling a bit more incompetent. She looked down at her own feather with determined eyes and raised her wand. "Wingardium leviosa." She flicked her wrist and the feather sprang to life before wafting back down. Riley's shoulders fell and she groaned. "I can't believe I can't get this," she said, more to herself than Hikaru. "Charms is my favorite class, too." She tapped the tip of her wand to her bottom lip (ignoring her mother's chiding to "stop that; it's revolting"). What was she doing wrong?

She sighed, letting her arm fall back to her side. She looked around at the others; Matt and Jordanna were nearby. She watched the other students cast the spell with ease, pulling their cushions and feathers and what have you into the air as if attached to invisible strings. Then, she raised her wand once more, a determined calm about her, cast the spell, "Wigardium leviosa!" and flicked her wrist, just like the other students had done. The watch-and-learn method hadn't failed her yet. And sure enough, the feather lifted into the air, now under the control of her wand. It didn't fall this time, but stayed aloft, and she smiled.

"I'm in Crotalus, by the way," she told Hikaru. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway I can do it. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Nathalie

December 09, 2006 1:11 PM

Odd way of getting a partner, but it works for me. by Nathalie

Mentally beating herself over the head with the cushion, Nathalie realised that she had just shouted at someone. She'd just shouted at a fourth-year guy, and she'd done it in French. Fantastic.

"I'm sorry." She said, as he complained. "I just, well, it was a bit unexpected, that's all. And sorry for speaking French, it was stupid." Hoping that he'd leave her alone to work out her levitation charms herself, she put on her best 'cowering in fear while you glare at me' face. He, however, seemed to have otehr ideas.

"Look, I need a partner. If you start speaking English and stop yelling, I'd be willing to partner up with you," he said, and she considered it. On the one hand, she would really rather work on ehr own, as she was used to. On the otehr, well, she probably already had a bad reputation for kindness having screamed at him, so perhaps she ought to just agree.

"Um, OK. I think I know roughly what I'm doing, but I could use a hand. Thanks."\n\n

0 Nathalie Odd way of getting a partner, but it works for me. 0 Nathalie 0 5

Earl

December 09, 2006 1:39 PM

Works for me too. by Earl

She agreed to be his partner. He didn't care onr way about it, but now he won't have to talk to any other firsties. Better yet, she said she knew what she was doing. He would have to guide her through the wonderful world of magic. Thank God.

"No problem," he replied to her apology. "So, you having the rough idea means that you can just get on with practicing and if you need anything, I'll help you. That good with you?" Earl sincerely hoped so because he sucked at actually teaching anything.

He got out his wand for his own spell and pointed it at the cushion that had almost killed...he didn't know her name.

"Hey, umm, what's your name?"\n\n

0 Earl Works for me too. 0 Earl 0 5

Lexi

December 09, 2006 2:27 PM

Always happy to help by Lexi

Lexi watched with approval as Gwyneth managed to get the charm right, then cursed inwardly as she realized this now meant it was her turn. Not that charms was really a class that had ever given her any difficulty, she just wasn’t amazing at it, that was all. And she really didn’t want to look like too much of a fool in front of someone so much younger than her.

“Yeah, beater is one of the positions in quidditch,” she said reflexively. “They hit bludgers, really nasty metal balls, at the other team to try and knock them off their brooms.” She glanced at the younger girl, who had dropped her voice on the next part. “Don’t be ashamed of not knowing, if you are. It’s no big deal, really. I spent the first twelve years of my life avoiding the game with every fiber of my being, and stayed in muggle sports for the most part. Drove my twin brother crazy.” She laughed, and then grew puzzled.

“What is it your mother does, if you don’t mind me asking? I mean, there’s lots of half-bloods out there- I’m one, as it is, my mom’s an actress- yet for the most part the wizarding parent still uses magic. Or maybe it’s just the ones I know of that do.” She shrugged, then smiled sheepishly.

“We got assigned the summoning charm. Now, no laughing, or I will come after you with the earlier mentioned bat. And you can ask anyone, I’ve got possibly the best aim in the school,” she concluded with a wink, before turning her attention to a pillow lying near the front of the room, gripping her wand more tightly and calling out “accio!” forcefully.

It worked, for the most part. Actually, it worked almost too well, since the pillow immediately came to where it had been summoned, but the force of its momentum carried it back another five or ten feet, stopping only when it hit another wall. Wincing slightly, she returned her attention to Gwyneth once more. “As you can see, charms is largely a matter of balance.” Perhaps if she made a joke about it, it would be less embarrassing. Besides, at least something had happened. Now she theoretically knew just what she had to correct.

“Accio,” she called out once more, more mildly this time, and was rewarded with the pillow doing almost precisely what it was supposed to. Yes, it still had a great deal of momentum when it arrived at her, but at least she was able to make a grab for it and stop it this time. Even though she got it right, though, she wasn’t sure she wanted to try it with anything much heavier. She was generally able to handle anything barreling towards her on a pitch, but she didn’t think it would be as fun in the middle of a classroom.
\n\n

0 Lexi Always happy to help 0 Lexi 0 5

Hyana

December 09, 2006 3:10 PM

Here's my first attempt by Hyana

Hyana raised her wand, and focused on a feather. That was all she needed to levitate. 'I can do this' She repeated in her head.

Doing the swish and flick movement at the same time, Hyana recited, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Nothing happened. A little let down, Hyana concentrated harder than before. She thought of what she did the last time and realized that she didn't pronounce the spell correctly.

She took a minute to mutter the spell, to get a feeling for the proununciation. Then she focused on the feather and, more clearly this time,performed the spell again. "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather lifted off the ground for a few seconds, the dropped. Hyana turned to Dalila and exclaimed, "Did you see that?! I did it!" \n\n

0 Hyana Here's my first attempt 0 Hyana 0 5

Dalila

December 09, 2006 4:08 PM

Which was rather good. by Dalila

Dalila turned her head at Hyana's exclamation. The cushion(she finally got the cushion and not the frog) she was focusing on dropped to the floor ten feet away from her, but she didn't care.

Dalila saw Hyana's face and hers lit up as well. She was a good teacher. Or maybe Hyana was just a good pupil. Either way, Dalila was thrilled. She grinned broadly, even though she hadn't actually seen the feather float, she believed her.

"Wow! That's great! I can't believe I missed it! Try it again, so I can see?" Dalila asked. She wanted to see the firstie in action.\n\n

0 Dalila Which was rather good. 0 Dalila 0 5

Hyana

December 09, 2006 6:14 PM

Thanks by Hyana

Hyana nodded, and started concentrating again. Raising her wand, she did the movement and said clear as day, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The feather lifted off the ground and stayed in the air this time. Hyana was shocked, and it certainly showed on her face. Her almond shaped eyes were wide, and her smile just grew wider. She turned slightly to Dalila, and said, "Arigato Dalila-sempai! I don't think there's a sempai in here better at teaching than you!"

Translation:
Sempai- Upperclassmen
Arigato- Thank you\n\n

0 Hyana Thanks 0 Hyana 0 5

Dalila

December 09, 2006 8:01 PM

You're very welcome. by Dalila

Dalila waited in anticipation as Hyana prepared to do the spell. And her anticipation was not wasted. Dalila gasped and clapped her hands together as the feather floated above the ground at Hyana's command.

"That was great!" Dalila squealed as she hugged Hyana tightly. She released the girl and stood back with a wide grin on her face. She didn't know what a sempai was, but it sounded good and decided that she liked it when Hyana called her that.

"Maybe you should try it with heavier things," Dalila suggested, glancing around the floor for that pink frog she had accidentally sent zooming into the wall. She located it cowering at the wall, slightly dazed. Dalila picked it up and brought it over to Hyana.

"Try leviting 'Pinky', here. I still gotta practice my summoning charm, but I'll definitely be watching." Dalila smiled warmly, feeling very affectionate to the girl even though they had just met. She nonchalantly sent the summoning charm at the cushion again, but since she wasn't paying much attention it made odd flips in the air over and over again.

\n\n

0 Dalila You're very welcome. 0 Dalila 0 5

Gwyneth

December 09, 2006 9:41 PM

Watching floating pillows by Gwyneth

Gwyneth was actually a little surprised when Lexi asked about her mom. 'But then, you did open the door,' she reminded herself. "Well, both my parents are teachers, actually. Mom is a history teacher at the local middle school and my dad is a biology professor at the college in town. Dad now makes the joke that ancestry and genetics won out in me. I never saw Mom doing anything magical before. She seems just like everyone else's mom, at least like all my friends' moms back home. It turns out that my grandma is a witch, too. This used to be her wand; she gave it to me when we found out I was coming to school here.

"Hey, that was a good try with that 'Ak-key-o' or whatever spell!," Gwyneth said interrupting herself as she watched Lexi's success. "You got it on the first try. Is that what it is like to be really good at magic? I wish I could do that. You really sent that first one zooming!" she said admiringly.

As she looked around the room to check on some of the other first years, she noticed more of the pillows, feathers and a few frogs were now flying around the room. She was glad they were sitting near a wall and not in the middle of the floor like some other partners were. She would feel like she needed a crash helmet out there! She did duck once when a pillow seemed to come out of nowhere and was headed straight for them and hoped Lexi wouldn't notice.

"So your mom is an actress. That's REALLY cool! Does she do movies, TV or plays? Would I know her?" Gwyneth watched Lexi's face and hoped she wasn't being too rude with her questions. "So, who's the magical parent in your family?"

As she waited for Lexi's reply, Gwyneth saw a frog coming right at them. "Look out," she cried.\n\n

0 Gwyneth Watching floating pillows 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Hyana

December 09, 2006 11:00 PM

Pinky? Nice name by Hyana

Hyana couldn't stop grinning. She had done something right, and someone recognized it! Her mother could go jump off a cliff. She was wrong, Hyana could do something right. Hyana could be appreciated.

When Dalila suggested trying heavier things, Hyana nodded quickly. She didn't want to dissapoint her. So when Dalila returned with the frog 'Pinky', she had to laugh. It was such a clever name for that frog. "Okay Dalila-sempai!" Hyana said happily.

She focused on the frog and tried to clear her mind. 'Pinky is different than a feather. For one, she...or he...is alive. Well, here I go!' She thought with her eyes closed. Opening them, she did the same thing she did with the feather, but a bit more forceful. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The frog didn't lift off the ground at all, but she heard one of the posters cry out in alarm.

"Hey, stop that!" it shouted at her, half of it lifted off the wall and into the air. Hyana dropped her wand arm to the side right away, blushing. "Gomenasai!" She called out. She looked at Dalila, and waited for her to laugh.\n\n

0 Hyana Pinky? Nice name 0 Hyana 0 5

gwyneth

December 10, 2006 7:16 AM

OOC correction to previous post by gwyneth

OOC: In re-reading my post, I realize I wasn't very clear about the frog. He is flying at us, about head high and on an apparent collusion course!\n\n

0 gwyneth OOC correction to previous post 0 gwyneth 0 5

Oliver Abbott

December 10, 2006 12:08 PM

Jordanna's First Year Number One joining in! by Oliver Abbott

The fact that he was at a wizarding school was taking a lot longer to sink in than Oliver could have predicted. He had always known he was a wizard, so that wasn’t a shock. Meeting other witches and wizards was good fun, though, and living in a magical building was almost indescribable. Oliver still found himself jumping when the portraits spoke to him, and kept forgetting that the wand he carried around everywhere was capable of transmitting actual magic.

Upon entering the charms classroom for the first time, Oliver didn’t know what to expect, but he had assumed there would be desks and chairs, like in any ordinary classroom. Contrary to this, there was little furniture at all, and their teacher, Professor McKindy, was sitting on one of the scare few articles: his desk. Apparently, the walls were spongy, too.

When Oliver got over the shock of his professor turning his hat into several pink frogs, he then had to deal with the task of pairing up with a fourth year. Was the professor crazy? All of the fourth years were bigger than he was, and Oliver didn’t fancy strolling up to any of them and asking to be partners. He wasn’t shy, but he didn’t feel capable of recommending himself to anyone with at least three years more magic experience than he had.

Trying not to freak out, Oliver glanced nervously around the room. It wasn’t until he saw her blonde hair that Oliver remembered that Jordanna was a fourth year! Partnering her didn’t seem so scary; she had been so nice since he met her. She already had Matt for a partner, but Oliver didn’t think his roommate would mind if he tagged along. Making up his mind, Oliver grabbed a smart looking black feather and headed over to where his two housemates were.

He arrived just in time to hear Jordanna say, “So repeat after me: the levitation spell is pronounced 'win-GAR-dee-um lev-ee-OH-sa.'"

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Oliver muttered. Then he suddenly realized that he hadn’t even made his presence known. He was sure that an embarrassed blush had crept onto his usually pale cheeks, but he tried his best to ignore it. “Sorry,” he said, still clutching his wand in wand hand and the feather in the other. “Do either of you mind if I join you?” he asked them.
\n\n

0 Oliver Abbott Jordanna's First Year Number One joining in! 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Lexi

December 10, 2006 1:03 PM

Complete recipe for disaster by Lexi

Personally Lexi thought that the entire situation with Gwyneth’s family sounded a bit sketchy. After all, who would want to spend his or her life teaching ordinary muggle history when there was any sort of alternative? But, then again, hers was the only half-blood family she could think of where she knew both parents, and her father was a healer, and it wasn’t a job that one quit just because one was marrying a muggle.

“Where is it you live?” she asked, realizing that the first year hadn’t said anything about her home outside the school. And it wasn’t like she was just trying to make polite conversation. She really was interested. “I’m from NYC myself, although my dad’s side of the family’s from England. Makes the weather here a challenge sometimes, I can tell you that.”

She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to answer Gwyneth’s query about whether what she’d done was how it was to be really good at magic. “Well, I lucked out, really,” she admitted. “I’ve seen the charm before, loads of times, and that can help when you’re trying to get the motion and the tone down properly. And charms is just one of my better classes, that’s all. Transfiguration…now, that class is a nightmare. And potions as well, on occasion. I’m really not all that good. I have instinctive talent in some things, but I’m constantly told I have nowhere near the amount of dedication I should.”

As she glanced around the classroom while figuring out how to answer the last comment made, about how cool it must be to have an actress in the family, she noticed the amount of pandemonium was increasing constantly. Idiotic professor she thought, although without much feeling. Did he honestly think this unsupervised situation was really going to work out?

“It’s less cool than you would think,” Lexi replied, still glancing around the room. “And I doubt you’d have heard of her. She’s on Broadway, yes, but only as a member of the chorus most of the time. She’s been on the cast of one or two big hits during her time, and occasionally she gets bit parts, but, most of the time, it’s a rather humdrum exististence. And my dad’s the magical one. He’s a healer. It’s actually a bit of a family tradition.”

Lexi noticed the frog flying towards them at the same time Gwyneth did, although her reaction was a bit less panicked. Without thinking about it, she pointed the wand that had been dangling uselessly from her fingers at the frog, and exclaimed, “Impedimenta!” The frog came to a stop about a foot away from the girl’s heads, and Lexi moved towards it to pluck it out of the air, casting the countercharm that would let it move again, and stroking it gently, to try and rid it of any shock or panic.

“See, this is just stupid,” she said, half under her breath, to her partner. “There’s no order in this. Someone’s going to end up getting seriously hurt, all because the professor’s not bright enough to figure out that there needs to be some kind of rule system. He just can’t give no instructions besides “have fun,” and expect nothing bad to happen.” She tried to keep her voice low enough to escape detection by any except her intended audience, but, sitting by a wall a they were, there was no way to avoid at least a couple of the posters hearing her critiques of the newest addition to the staff.

OOC: Thanks for the clarification. I’d figured that out, but it did help. Still, you might want to tone down the OOC messages on the IC boards, since a lot of time those can just as easily be added onto actual posts.
\n\n

0 Lexi Complete recipe for disaster 0 Lexi 0 5

Dalila

December 10, 2006 2:37 PM

I thought so; it suits him. by Dalila

Dalila stared at the frog willing Hyana to make it levitate. But nothing happened. Instead, she head a scream. Dalila turned towards the sound and realized that Hyana was accidentally levitating one of the posters and the poster was trying to put up a pretty good fight.

She couldn't help it; Dalila tried muffling her giggles, but it was hard. Luckily, when Hyana dropped her wand arm, the poster fell back onto to the wall. Dalila ran to smooth out the rumpled poster and apologized to its owner through her giggles. Then she turned to the rather embarrassed first year and sank down to eye level.

"It's okay, really." Dalila calmed down a bit and then added. "I don't think I got anything to levitate till way after you. You're still doing great. My first summoning attempt caused Pinky to fly headfirst into the wall, so really, it's okay." Dalila stood up and grinned.

"C'mon, try again."\n\n

0 Dalila I thought so; it suits him. 0 Dalila 0 5

Nathalie

December 10, 2006 4:29 PM

Glad to hear, cos you're stuck now. by Nathalie

"I think so. Could you demonstrate the charm for me once? I should be able to sort it out from there, but I can't quite see it otherwise." The boy seemed to be relieved, and had accepted her apology with good grace. Nath was pleased - people who held grudges annoyed her, and it wasn't as if she'd actually done much, he had been the one who had knocked over a small girl on her first day of lessons.

He produced a wand and she wondered if he was about to repeat the incident, and considered looking for cover somewhere. He asked for her name, and she suddenly realised that while in her head he was known as Boy-Who-Tried-To-Kill-Me-With-Cushion, his parents probably hadn't christened him that.

"Nathalie Grant. And you?" She replied, pointing her index finger and attempting the wand movement.\n\n

0 Nathalie Glad to hear, cos you're stuck now. 0 Nathalie 0 5

Hyana

December 10, 2006 5:08 PM

Yes it does, yes it does by Hyana

Hyana nodded at Dalila, and lifted her wand again. This time she was going to completly focus on the frong, and say the spell the way she said it with the feather. She just hoped this time she wouldn't do anything to the poor poster.

"Wingardium Leviosa." The frog lifted off the ground for about three seconds, then fell. Hyana bit her lip in frusturation. She could do this. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She recited. This time, when the frog lifted off the ground, it stayed in the air. It croaked, she guessed the poor thing must be afraid of heights. After a minute or so of moving it around the room, she finally let it down.

"Can I see you perform your spell now?" Hyana asked curiously. \n\n

0 Hyana Yes it does, yes it does 0 Hyana 0 5

Earl

December 10, 2006 5:34 PM

Should I be worried? by Earl

"Earl Valentine," he replied to her question. "And I show you..." He pointed his wand at the cushion he had hit Nathalie with and muttered "Wingardium leviosa" while doing the proper swish and flick motions. The cushion rose up and hovered above the ground for a few moments before Earl released it and it fell to the floor again.

"You got it?" Earl asked. He really just wanted to get on with this summoning charm; with it he could be as lazy as he pleased and with this thought he gave a last glance to Nathalie and focused his attention on the cushion.

Instead of yelling the incantation, he said it plainly and this time it just slid across the ground to bump into his feet.

"Better," he muttered to himself and shrugged.\n\n

0 Earl Should I be worried? 0 Earl 0 5

Gwyneth

December 10, 2006 6:24 PM

Disaster averted by Gwyneth

OOC: thanks for the advice, I'll try to keep it "in character"!

Gwyneth was absolutely, positively, completely in awe when Lexi stopped the frog that was hurtling towards their heads. And she seemed so calm and matter of fact about it, too! 'Memo to me: help a first year the way she is helping me when I am the upperclassman,' she thought to herself. She was beginning to agree with Lexi's assessment of the professor. Who in their mind would allow such, such . . . CHAOS in their classroom?!?!? Her parents certainly never would! She was surprised that the poster who had reprimanded her and told her to pay attention was not shrieking about the situation!

'This class has been very educational,' she thought. 'First, I found out how to do the levitation spell, and I really must practice that again while Lexi is here to help me. Second, I found out that the correct term is 'half-blood' rather than 'human' or 'muggle' which seemed to indicate both parents were human. Wow, that will take some major adjustment to the thought processes!' Thirdly, her family situation seemed a bit odd, at least according to Lexi. She could truly understand Lexi's father not giving up the magical way of life if he was a doctor, er, healer. She frankly wasn't sure why magical folk married the 'normal' kind, now that she thought about it. Guess I need to ask Mom and Grams about that one.

Gwyneth stopped her inner dialogue and brought herself back to class. "WOW! That was a terrific stop!" she said to Lexi as Lexi plucked the frog out of mid-air and pet it until it stopped croaking in distress. "I guess you must be the best Beater on the field in Quidditch, with reflexes like that!"

"Do you mind if I try that spell I was working on one more time?" she asked Lexi. Hearing no objections, she waved, no swished and flicked her wand at the feather she had been practicing on and said, "wingardium leviosa" in a clear, firm voice. This time her feather floated about 2 feet into the air, level with her wand, and hung there. She was congratulating herself on her progress when she realized that it was just hanging there! 'Darn that professor, he really isn't the best. He never told us how to end the spell. Maybe he didn't think any of us would be able to master it, even with a fourth year's help,' she thought. Then she asked aloud, "Uh, Lexi, how do I make it stop?" \n\n

0 Gwyneth Disaster averted 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Dalila

December 10, 2006 11:35 PM

I'm creative like that. by Dalila

Dalila grinned and gave a round of applause as Pinky floated around the classroom. When he settled on the ground and tried hopping out of sight, Dalila turned her attention to trying to show Hyana the summoning spell, though she had yet to grasp it. She cleared her throat dramatically and raised her wand out in front of her, pointing it at a cushion.

"Accio cushion!" she cried, praying that it would work. The cushion made a lazy arch across the room and landed about five feet behind her. Dalila sighed impatiently and glanced back at Hyana with a grin.

"Well, at least I got the cushion this time."\n\n

0 Dalila I'm creative like that. 0 Dalila 0 5

Nathalie

December 11, 2006 5:09 PM

Oh, always. by Nathalie

Earl Valentine. Certainly an unusual name, Nath thought, and then reminded herself that outside of France, her name wasn't quite common either. Earldemonstrated the charm and she watched his hand, elbox and wrist carefully, as she'd been taught. As he tunred away, presumably to practice his own charm, Nathalie got out her wand and decided to risk trying it without words. Swish and flick, from the wrist, not the elbow. Swish and flick.

Luckily, she seemed not to be setting things on fire, and so decided to try the words. Hopefully, her pronounciation hadn't disappeared over the summer. "Wingarrrdium Levioso!" she muttered, pointing her wand at her pen. The pen wriggled slightly on the desk, but didn't seem to want to float. She checked the book, and realised her mistake. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She repeated. This time the top end of the pen raide itself a few centimetres off the desk, and then collapsed again.Well, progress, she thought.

Next to her, Earl seemed to be making progress too, his cushion merely sliding along the floor rather than flying. Looking back at her book, Nathalie cheked the oncantation one more time and began again, muttering "Wingardium Leviosa!" feverishly under her breath.\n\n

0 Nathalie Oh, always. 0 Nathalie 0 5

Hyana

December 12, 2006 7:21 PM

Creativity is always good by Hyana

Hyana laughed, it was fun to watch Dalila. She seemed to enjoy trying the spell. She didn't even seem to mind that she messed up.

"I'm sure you can do it Dalila-sempai!" Hyana said, trying to give Dalila the encouragement she gave her. She clapped her hands together with a quiet giggle. At least she wasn't accidently summoning one of the poor posters off of it's wall.\n\n

0 Hyana Creativity is always good 0 Hyana 0 5

Irene Liddowe

December 13, 2006 6:57 AM

Firstie here! Anyone partner-less? by Irene Liddowe

Irene wandered through the crowd of people while carrying her cusion. Glancing waround and deciding that she should best start, she set to work.She cast the levitating charm, pointing her wand at the cusion. When nothing happened she wasn't surprised but, nevertheless, disappointed.

Like they say: try try again. She gathered all of her concentration and waved her wand towards the cusion once more. When that had no result, she tried again. Again, nothing happened. It sat there like a rock...but much softer.

Irene glanced around looking for a partner. She didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

She called out, Um...Any 4th year not have a partner?" \n\n

0 Irene Liddowe Firstie here! Anyone partner-less? 106 Irene Liddowe 0 5

Nicoletta Dupree

December 13, 2006 7:22 PM

Fourth year partner by Nicoletta Dupree

Nicoletta entered the Charms room, curious as to what the new professor was going to be like. The chairs and tables were missing, but that wasn't really all that unusual or interesting, however, the fact that there were first years in the room in addition to the fourth years peaked her interest. It really made no sense, as fourth years were much more advanced than the first years.

Most of the students appeared to either be sitting on the floor, not an option in her opinion, or standing. Obviously, choosing the later, Nicoletta waited for class to start. She gave a small sigh. She really hoped this wouldn't take long. She wanted to write a letter to Lucien. She had known him all of her life, as they had been betroathed since the time she could walk. Amusingly enough, her twin was also betroathed, but that was a matter for Chris to deal with, whether it be with her parents or Kaylie. Though, her mother had been nice enough to her.

No, she and Lucien couldn't stand each other til this summer. She had hated the idea of having to one day be his wife. If she didn't, then her parents would certainly disown her and she would lose her portion of the inheritance. But something had happened. He had changed or maybe it was her. She now thought that he was incredibly good looking with his crystal blue eyes that seemed to stare right through you. It gave her shivers just to think about.

Not only that, but he now appeared to be charming. Maybe, it was because he was more mature now. He had just turned sixteen over the summer. Every day of his visit, they had spent together. The last night there, they had been allowed to have a private dinner at a famous restaurant nearby. It had been incredibly romantic! When they had finished dinner, they had gone for a walk, holding hands the entire time. At the end, he had kissed her, her very first kiss!

She was still daydreaming about the kiss, when the professor interrupted her thoughts. She turned her attention towards the front of the room, where a man was wearing a purple shirt and a pink hat of bubbles. She sneered slightly. How disgusting! Did this guy have no fashion taste at all? She highly doubted he was seeing anyone and if he was, then they must have none either.

So, they would be learning the Summoning Charm while working with some firstie. She gave a mental sigh. She didn't want to work with some first year that probably didn't know anything. If she had to work with someone, then she wanted to work with her friends, some of the only respectable people in the school.

She was glancing around the room to see if there was a decent first year to work with, when Professor McKindy's hat exploded into frogs. Gross! And supposedly, they were supposed to work with them. She didn't think so! Of course, a firstie would come in handly if they absolutely had to...

As if on cue, she heard a first year call out 'Um...Any 4th year not have a partner?' Smiling, she headed over to the girl.

"Hello. Nicoletta Dupree, fourth year. I need a partner," she graciously smiled at the girl, as though she were doing her a favor.\n\n

0 Nicoletta Dupree Fourth year partner 64 Nicoletta Dupree 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 14, 2006 11:45 AM

And another approaching by Professor McKindy

OOC: Just a reminder for anybody else who may be reading this; you can control the posters, should you feel so inclined.

BIC:

"Just bring the feather back down, girl!" a young witch snapped from her poster. She spoke with a slight Italian accent and there was a broom leaning against the side of the poster. A Snitch flitted around the room behind her. "Honestly, students these days. And you!" the witch turned to glare at Lexi. "No respect for your teachers at all! I'll have to tell Aaron about this, oh yes."

The witch looked about the room, then yelled. "MCKINDY! A student in need of your attention!" She resumed her seat in the poster, then glanced smugly down at the two girls, awaiting Aaron's arrival.

Aaron McKindy had been across the room, observing two first years with interest as they attempted the spell without the help of an older student. He didn't particularly mind that they hadn't listened to his directions; people learned in different ways, and so long as nothing blew up, it wasn't really his business. When he heard Delanna Ruisi yelling for him, though, Aaron abandoned the first years and went to her poster, making note of the first year and fourth year girls sitting against the wall. He also noted Delanna's decidedly smug expression and decided not to ask her to clarify what was going on here unless he needed to.

"Is there a problem?" he asked mildly, looking down on the girls and moving aside slightly so as not to step on one of his frogs. They were magical creatures, but that did not mean they couldn't be harmed, although it would take greater effort to harm one of these frogs than the normal ones.\n\n

0 Professor McKindy And another approaching 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Law Cooper

December 14, 2006 4:57 PM

calling all fourth years by Law Cooper

If there was a reason to look foward to Charms, it was because Law finally got to use his wand for the very first time ever. For this reason, more than being curious about the subject itself, Law had made sure that he had gotten an early start. After only two wrong turns, he had made it to the class five minutes early. There was no where to sit, seeing as all of the chairs had been removed, so he leaned on a wall. A really, soft, spongy wall. He jumped back and turned around to examine the wall, poking it with a finger. Yep, still spongy. It wasn't just in his head.

"Cool," he muttered, as he continued to poke at said wall.

Law didn't even realize that the fourth years were in the room until he turned around to listen to the teacher with the weird albeit cool hat make his little speech. All those older students made him feel weird, he wasn't used to being one of the shorter people in his classes, being taller than most kids his age (and heavier, but that was a different story). It made him feel less awkward, anyway.

The bad part about the fourth years being there is that they had to work with them, and Law didn't know any fourth years. All he knew were Darla, Gwyneth, and Josiah, and they were all first years, and Teppenpaws at that. Well, he thought, it's always good to make friends with people who know what they are doing.

So, mustering all of his courage, he walked straight up to one of the fourth years, "Hey, I'm Law, would you mind being my partner?"\n\n

0 Law Cooper calling all fourth years 0 Law Cooper 0 5

Jordanna Howard

December 14, 2006 5:25 PM

Which would make Riley number three by Jordanna Howard

Jordanna raised her eyebrows at Oliver's sudden appearance without even making a proper introduction or greeting or anything. However, she wasn't willing to make a scene over it, either, not in front of all the houses and especially not in front of a professor.

"Of course you may join us," she said, with sort of a forced smile. The older girl was fairly sure Matthew was willing to accept Oliver as well, seeing as they were roommates and all. If not, well, it would be rude for him to say anything anyway, now that Jordanna had already approved.

"So, as I was saying, you've got to pronounce the spell correctly. The other important thing, is wand movement, obviously. In my family we believe that good posture always helps, but specific to the levitation spell is a swish and flick. It's like this," she put the feather on the open palm of her left hand, and got her ebony wand out of her wand pocket with her right hand, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The peacock feather rose about a foot in the air, and Jordanna directed it right to left, and up and down with great precision. She loved the feeling of control, and knowing what was going to happen. There was a reason this was her favored class.

Letting the feather fall back into her hand, she pocketed her wand again, and held the feather out towards Matthew for him to take, "Now you two can try."\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard Which would make Riley number three 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Lutece Anthony

December 14, 2006 5:56 PM

I hope that was sarcasm by Lutece Anthony

Lutece was late. She loathed being late, but she had been absorbed in a book about Keeping in the library and hadn't even noticed the time until it was well past time to be in lessons. Then she had gotten lost, which only further aggravated her. Lutece did not like being late or lost; both made her look unnecessarily foolish, and foolish was the last thing any true leader looked. She had learned that fairly early on, and life had only continued to verify her findings.

Luckily, nobody seemed to be looking when she slipped into the Charms classroom. The teacher had his back to the door, presumably chastising somebody, or perhaps giving advice. The class was cacophonous, and there seemed to be feathers, cushions, and some odd pink things floating and flying about the room. She ducked as a pink thing flew towards her, suppressing a scream as she realised it was on over sized frog. She stepped back hastily, landing on something. It wasn't until she turned around, unconsciously adjusting her robes and the light pink Hollister shirt beneath them that she realised it was a wheelchair.

Oh no. She didn't like people in wheelchairs. Lutece never knew how to act around them. Some of them got all mad if you just talked normally, and some got mad if you didn't. Her mother volunteered at a veteran's home occasionally, and had dragged her along until she had been sent to this bizarre school. Poor Grace and James probably had to deal with the weird old people now. Lutece shifted her purse a bit. Inside the purse was some lip gloss, as well as the wand thing Dolan had told her to stop fooling around with. She had done a bit of research, and it seemed that the wand could be used to conduct some sort of power that allowed things to happen, just like in the faerie tales she used to read the twins. She had to say something, though.

"Er, sorry," she began. That sounded too hesitant. Lutece did need to find out what was going on as well; now that she had to talk to the crippled kid, why not find out? "I'm a bit confused about the instructions for," a quick peek over the kid's shoulder told her that they were learning levitation spells. "the Win-guard-I-um spell. Do you think you could explain it a little?"\n\n

0 Lutece Anthony I hope that was sarcasm 100 Lutece Anthony 0 5

Irene Liddowe

December 15, 2006 4:15 PM

Sorry. Lots of homework and stuff.. by Irene Liddowe

"Hello. Nicoletta Dupree, fourth year. I need a partner," came a voice from well above Irene's head. She looked round to see the girl who had spoken. Her voice had a superior heir to it that made her feel more like a first year than ever.

"Hi. I'm Irene Liddowe. So I guess we're partners?" Irene said holding out her hand to shake. As Irene held her hand out she noticed the summer tan hadn't faded from her arms yet.

Summer at the Northern Michigan cottage was the best yet. They celebrated her 4th "moving in" anniversary. All of her cousins had been there. She had never met any of her cousins. There had been a small shock when she realized that her grandparents had died just before their daughter, Irene's mom, had.

She was now up to date on the entire goings on in her family. She had a grand total of 3 first cousins: Renaye, who was 10, Josh who was 8, and Evette who was 6. Her Uncle Will and Aunt Claera were their parents. They, of course, knew all about magic already. Renaye and Irene got along very well, hidding from Josh and obsessing over attending Sonora one day. Irene loves the things the way they are now. It's much nicer not dealing with her so called "father."

Irene shook herself from her reverie and glanced down at her wand.

"Well, let's get started then, shall we?" Irene said with a smile. \n\n

0 Irene Liddowe Sorry. Lots of homework and stuff.. 106 Irene Liddowe 0 5

Kaleb Heindrich

December 15, 2006 11:36 PM

Summoning a fourth year would probably end in chaos by Kaleb Heindrich

The Professor's wierd fashion sense was the first sign that Kaleb would love this class. This guy seemed to have a good sense of humor. What Kaleb envyed greatly about this guy was his hat. That was a kicking hat! Realizing that the Professor had stopped talking, he wondered what he was supposed to be doing. He wasn't exactly the most on-task and focused person in the world. Seeing a wizard on a poster move, he decided to consult him. "What are we supposed to be doing?" he asked the poster, just hoping he could give him an answer.

He wasn't worried about it, but it would stink to get booted out of this awesome teacher's class just because he didn't know what was going on. Honestly, he should have taken some thought about paying more attention.\n\n

0 Kaleb Heindrich Summoning a fourth year would probably end in chaos 0 Kaleb Heindrich 0 5

Brett Hodges

December 16, 2006 9:57 AM

Firstie seeks fourth year by Brett Hodges

As much as Brett liked hanging out with Echo, he was totally wired to be out on his own. With Echo, he felt totally weird going, "Whoa, dig that!" and turning around only to find something else to oggle in the other direction.

Dig was, like, his new word. He'd just picked it up from his Uncle Stanley about a week ago and was still experimenting with it to see if he could make it not sound so 70s treehugger-ish. It wasn't quite right yet.

He wasn't really friends with anyone new yet and it bothered him. While the teacher -- no, the professor -- was talking, he scoped out the other kids. Some of the girls were way cute, and there was one in particular he thought he might crush on for a little while. When the professor (something about him reminded him of Willy Wanka) said the word "partners" he grinned to himself and tried to catch her eye. He had started really noticing girls about three months ago, but his friends were a little older than him back home and he had been pretending since sometime towards the end of last November.

It finished processing while he was looking at that girl that they were supposed to pair with the fourth year students.

No fun, he grimaced, and surveyed the crowd. It seemed like there were a lot more firsties than fourth years. Maybe, he thought, eyes flicking back to the girl, he wouldn't get a fourth year.

Flying frogs were, like, the whoa diggit of the day. Now all he needed was a baseball glove and a trampaline and he could have all kinds of fun with this.

He spotted a firstieless fourthie and wondered if he was cool enough to approach a fourthie. Clothes didn't get you far here because of the uniforms, so he couldn't tell much about him/her. It was frustrating. At his old school, you could tell everything (well, maybe not everything) about someone just by what they wore. He shook his hair away from his eyes and walked up to him/her.

"Hey," he said trying to be really cool without looking like he was trying to be cool, and mostly succeeding in being a little punk, "You got someone?"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Brett Hodges Firstie seeks fourth year 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 16, 2006 11:16 AM

Good Job by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru watched intently as Riley succesfully levitated the feather "Good Job! You got it on the second time and I noticed that it was a little bit stursier then mine, so congratulations!" Hikaru listened as she told him "I'm in Crotalus, by the way," Hikaru nodded "I'm in Teppenpaw! I still hope we can be friends!" He slowly dug through his bag and pulled out a small bracelet fron his bag.
It was an intricate silver braclet it was carved with silver snakes, which his godparents told him had belonged to some person from London that he was related to. "I want you to have this, I don't really want it and I think you can appreciate it more then I can..." he said holding it out to her "Well? Do you want it?"\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi Good Job 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Mika

December 16, 2006 12:49 PM

Surprise! Not a Lawn Ornament by Mika

Mika jumped as he almost ended up with someone in his lap. He braced her up quickly, especially once he realized that she was in fact a SHE. A girl in his lap? Oh heck no. How embarrassing would that be? The way she moved away from him, off him, really, seemed very casual, as though he was an inanimate object, not a person. Wonderful.

At least when she started to speak to him, she didn't speak like he was deaf or slow. There was that anyway. There was a light blush staining Mika's cheeks, still embarrassed that she had almost been in his lap. His yeshiva hadn't even had girls that attended it. He pushed his glasses up on his nose a bit, no where near as comfortable with this girl as he had been with Ebony and Hyana.

"It is a levitation spell. I have not yet tried it. I was still reading on it. We are to be partnering with an older student for help." He explained carefully. He had a rather heavy Soviet Block accent, but he enunciated carefully, which made him easy to understand. \n\n

0 Mika Surprise! Not a Lawn Ornament 0 Mika 0 5

Lexi

December 16, 2006 3:16 PM

No rest for the wicked by Lexi

Bad. Very bad. Even as she watched Gwyneth, and prepared to answer her, Lexi knew that something bad was coming. And she was proven right a few seconds later, when the poster called out to McKindy. “She’s right, even if she is an interfering busy-body,” Lexi told her partner even more quietly, confident this time that it was impossible for her to be overheard, even if the measure was done slightly too late. “Just move your wand down, and it will come down too. Or stop concentrating, or applying pressure to your wand. There’s lots of ways to end it.”

With her basic partnerly duties accomplished once again, Lexi tried to think of some way out of this, glaring once or twice at the poster as the professor worked his way over. The woman only gave her a smug look back, which didn’t help matters. This situation didn’t look like it was going to go well. And she may think that her teacher was a fool, but she didn’t want to get in trouble on her first day of class.

“No, sir, there’s no problem,” she temporized, not looking at McKindy. The woman on the wall made an indignant noise, but Lexi ignored her. Still, her opinion of the professor had risen a little, since he had asked her, rather than the one that had called him over, so she felt she decided to go ahead and say her piece. Besides, she had no doubt the worthless piece of parchment behind her would crow anything that Lexi left out.

“However, there is a…concern.” She began again, actually meeting her teacher’s eyes this time, and standing, since it was probably better to be on a somewhat more equal footing. “I know it isn’t my place to criticize your teaching style, and that my opinion about it really doesn’t matter, but the reason,” she glanced once more at the poster, searching for a name, finally finding it at the bottom (she wasn’t quite sure how one was supposed to address the subject of a poster, but then figured it didn’t really matter), “Miss Ruisi called you over is I think this,” she motioned towards the class, “was done a bit foolhardily, and mentioned as such to my partner after a frog came barreling towards our heads. Sir.”

She debated mentioning the actual ways this class had been done poorly, but decided that if he actually cared, he could ask, and, if he didn’t, doing so wasn’t going to help her cause any. She dropped her gaze once more, ignoring the poster’s triumphant sneer, looking down at her partner and raising one eyebrow with a slightly ironic shrug. Now all she had to do was wait for their professor to figure out what he was going to do.
\n\n

0 Lexi No rest for the wicked 0 Lexi 0 5

Dalila

December 17, 2006 1:25 AM

I always thought so by Dalila

Dalila grinned at Hyana's encouragement. Especially with that Sempai thing added on at the end. It added a nice touch. She should ask her what that meant. Right after one more try. Dalila concentrated as carefully as possibly and said the incantation to the cushion. The cushion rose up about waist high and slowly glided over to Dalila before dropping at her feet as though it were physically exhausted. But to Dalila, that was a triumph.

Well, not bad, I'd say," Dalila shrugged. "What'd you think?" Then she remembered her question from before and added, "And what does 'Sempai' mean?"\n\n

0 Dalila I always thought so 0 Dalila 0 5

Earl

December 17, 2006 1:34 AM

I guess thyis is where being older and stronger comes in... by Earl

Earl glanced back at Nathalie jsut to make sure she was actually practicing. He didn't want to fail forthe day just because his firstie partner was lazy or stupid or something. But she was working...quite possibly harder than he was(which wasn't hard to do). Satisfies that at least she wasn't gonig to make him fail he turned back to the cushion sliding along the floor. After having it slide towards him the first time, that was all that he'd been able to do. For some reason, this particular cushion - after its first trip through the air- had deemed the floor a better place to be and remained there.

Maybe he should get another cushion; a cushion with a bit more adventure stuffed into it along with the chicken feathers. He glanced around the room for an unused cushion and, spotting none, went for the pink frog hiding underneath someone's discarded robes. He pointed his wand at the frog and said "accio frog!" With a frightened croak, the frog zoomed into Earl's outstretched hand. He grinned at the frog and then cranced his neck towards the abandoned cushion.

"Stupid, lazy pillow," he muttered and then set down the frog to try again.\n\n

0 Earl I guess thyis is where being older and stronger comes in... 0 Earl 0 5

Riley Garraway

December 17, 2006 3:00 AM

Really? by Riley Garraway

Riley beamed at Hikaru's praise, blushing a little. This day was turning out okay, after all; already she'd seemed to have made a new friend! And this time she was sure he was a friend, not a tentative acquaintance, as had been the cases with Oliver and Matt and Jordanna. The thought of having an actual friend thrilled her. She nodded at him, saying, "I'd love to be friends."

When he offered her the bracelet, it was all she could do to keep her jaw from dropping. "Really, you want me to have it?" She smiled, taking it from Hikaru and sliding it on her wrist. It was cold against her skin, but fit nicely, and looked beautiful. "Thank you so much!" The words felt inadequate, and she was sure no words could, in fact, capture her gratidude then. She hoped it showed enough on her face. "It's so beautiful," she murmured, awed. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway Really? 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Lutece

December 17, 2006 9:26 AM

Aaaah! It talks! by Lutece

Whoops. Partnering with older students for help? Lutece surreptitiously looked around the room for Jen. She didn't seem to be there, and Earl, who she recognised from Quidditch practise, already had a partner. Drat.

"I know," she said, as though it were obvious that she did. "The older students all seem to have partners, though. I figured I could try it on my own. I just don't quite grasp the concept." That was usually a winner. For some reason, everybody assumed that if you could say the phrase 'grasp the concept', you knew what you were doing to some extent, and were merely having a bit of trouble. The boy was talking strangely, though. She supposed he wasn't from around here. Not that she was exactly from 'around here' either--Lutece came from Maryland. Still, he spoke like he was from another country. Great. Just what she needed--a foreign crippled kid. But crippled kids were usually smarter, probably because they didn't have much else to do with their time than study.

The kid seemed to be blushing, too, which she totally didn't get. It wasn't like she had done anything, was there? No. Gosh, some people just got so weird about things that didn't even matter.

"Lutece Anthony, by the way. First year Crotalus." she said, smoothing her short pink skirt. It was a new outfit that her mother had sent via owl, but Lutece liked it nonetheless. Pink flip-flops, short pink skirt, and the wonderful shirt. Grace had assured her that it was the latest in fashion back home; even Dani Martin wasn't wearing it yet.\n\n

0 Lutece Aaaah! It talks! 0 Lutece 0 5

Mika

December 17, 2006 12:50 PM

It Thinks Too... by Mika

Uh hu. Mika's eyes scanned her briefly. She was a first year? Dressed like that? She looked like... like a prostitooka. And she was his age. These Americans were horrifying. Mika paused, smirking slightly to himself, realizing he had made a bit of a pun 'hor'rifying indeed. He made a mental note to write that one down. He managed to make a pun in English. Even if it was only to himself.

He raised an eyebrow as the girl replied that 'she knew', as though she had been just checking to make sure Mika knew. He knew that he knew, and he obviously knew, since he had already been hard as work. Which obviously meant that she was the one who didn't know, despite what she said.

"I see," he said slowly, lifting a skeptical eyebrow. "You do not grasp the concept?" Mika wondered if she actually knew what she was even saying. What she said meant, literally, that she had no retention of the idea of what they were supposed to be doing, In other words, she had no idea what was going on. As a non native speaker, Mika understood the words by their literal meaning. He also had a vague notion that it was sort of a 'buzz word' way of suggesting that you knew what was going on, but couldn't figure out how to apply that knowledge. The way in which she said 'grasp the concept' made him suspect that she actually didn't have a clue, but wanted him to think that she did. Fine. If she wasn't going to actually ask for help...

Mika close his book, keeping a finger between the pages. He smiled sweetly at her. "Oh, yes, I see," He nodded. "Show me what you do know, and I will see if I can help you... grasp the concept. I do not want to show you what you already know. As though you were stupid." He smiled another sweet smile, as though he wanted to be her friend.

"And I am Mika'el Romanova, I am an Aladren first year." He sat back in his chair and waited for her to demonstrate just how much of the 'concept' she 'grasped'.\n\n

0 Mika It Thinks Too... 0 Mika 0 5

Bella Santoro

December 17, 2006 1:43 PM

Fourth Year at your service by Bella Santoro

When Bella had first initially entered the classroom, she had been expecting the same dull Charms classroom that it had always been when Bulla had been teaching the class. However, the sight of the new classroom caused Bella to stop walking momentarily and have a look around. Well, this was certainly new.

Taking a seat on one of the bags, Bella took out her book and began to go over it again. Her charms book laid closed still in her bag, next to unused parchments, dried out quills, and bottles of ink. The book in her lap was her music book, filled with songs that she enjoyed singing and notes she could possibly play on her guitar...when she got good at playing it. The only time she glanced up from the book was to briefly watch the professor as he began the lesson.

Though her eyes were on the book in front of her, Bella heard every word the professor spoke and groaned inwordly at the mention of pairing with a first year. She had nothing against the first years, just something against partners. Maybe if she kept her head down, nobody would notice her and then she could work alone.

Or not.

As soon as the thought came to her, a first year boy walked up to her. Her dark brown eyes stared up at him for a moment, trying to decide just to tell him no or not. The corners of her mouth pulled up slightly to show an amused look on her face. "I suppose that's your way of asking if I have a partner or not." Bella commented, pulling herself up from her bag-chair-thing. Bella was not a tall girl by any means. She only stood at 5 feet even with no chance of growing any taller. Despite knowing that many first years were her height or taller, Bella was never bothered by her size.

Her amused look grew into a genuine smile. "Sure, we can partner up. I suppose it'll be best for you to start the levitation charm, not much can go wrong with that. Did you want to work on a cushion, feather, or...frog?" Bella frowned slightly when she said frog. She didn't see the logic in using the amphibian, but shrugged it off. It was clear this Professor was a little off. "Oh, I'm Izabella Santoro, Bella or Izzy to most." Bella said, introducing herself to the first year.\n\n

0 Bella Santoro Fourth Year at your service 0 Bella Santoro 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 17, 2006 2:26 PM

Yay! by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru beamed when she told him that. It was nice to have someone appreciate you and Riley seemed like a very good person, his mother had left it to him in her will and told her that he should give this to the first person who was really a friend to him. Riley was so nice and kind partnering up with him he just couldn't express his gratitude in any other way. The will had also said something about it being a charm bracelet but, his godparents had proven to him otherwise.

Hikaru pulled out his small notebook and started to scribble down something that he had suddenly remembered. He had a bad habit of doing that exact thing, forgetting something then out of the middle of nowhere remembering it. He looked down and the note said something about a hex he was going to practice tonigt. He looked up and asked Riley "Hey, meet me in that corridor by the Library tonight, theres a hex I want to teach you..." He then remembered that he had to tell his new friend his favorite thing to do if he had any free time "Umm...I sorta specialize in hexes so if theres a particular one you want to know just ask and I can try to find it in the Library here or at home."\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi Yay! 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Riley Garraway

December 17, 2006 5:13 PM

Hexes, hm? by Riley Garraway

Riley watched Hikaru pull out a notebook and jot something down on the page. When he told her that he wanted her to meet him later that night, she tilted her head curiously, murmuring an affirmative "okay."

"Hexes?" What an interesting thing to specialize in. Her lips curved up in a smile. "I don't know any hexes; it'd be cool to learn one!" She briefly flashed on the wicked idea of finding a hex to use on her mother, but mentally smacked herself. However much she disliked her mother, that was a horrible thing to think!

She folded her hands in front of herself, briefly fingering the bracelet. "Why do you like hexes so much?" she asked, genuinely curious. "I love charms (naturally, Charms is my favorite class), and it's a wonder I've never looked into hexes before. They're a subcategory of charms, after all." Riley thought for a moment and decided it was, indeed, a wonder that she'd never given hexes much of a thought before. She supposed she'd have a lot to learn from Hikaru, and the notion made her smile again.\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Hexes, hm? 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Gwyneth

December 17, 2006 6:18 PM

Really, it was all MY fault . . . and that nosy poster's! by Gwyneth

The poster's shrill voice which yelled at her to bring down the feather effectively embarassed Gwyneth, breaking her concentration and grip on her wand. Just as Lexi answered her query for help and explained how to bring the feather down. "Jeez Louise, why did she have to yell for the teacher?" she muttered to Lexi. "You were doing just fine in helping me."

When Professor McKindy came over to check on her, Gwyneth felt completly mortified. First day in class and already she was on a teacher's radar as a problem! Just as she was about to take full responsibility for the disruption, her sputtering confession, "Sir, it was really all my fault, you see I . . ." was interrupted by Lexi's comments. She couldn't believe her ears! Was Lexi really telling the professor how to run his class? What did she think she was doing? She didn't want Lexi to get in trouble because of her stupid mistake. Well, her stupid mistake and that stupid, nosy poster! Gwyneth turned and shot a baleful glare at the poster who was watching the proceeding with a smirk on her face!

Gwyneth, still seated on the floor, had an unusual viewpoint of their conversation since she had her neck craned back so she could look up at Lexi and Professor McKindy. She barely suppressed a nervous giggle when Lexi looked down and her and raised an eyebrow. She completly agreed with Lexi's assessment of the class. Scrambling to her feet, she stood by Lexi to show her support, and nodded her head in agreement even though her stomach felt like it was doing to do somersaults.\n\n

0 Gwyneth Really, it was all MY fault . . . and that nosy poster's! 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 17, 2006 8:54 PM

So first you insult my teaching, and now my decor? by Professor McKindy

Aaron was pretty sure that Delanna would either be sulking over the fact that he had asked the girls and not her what was happening, or gloating because she had gotten some students in trouble. She was predictable that way. However, that did not diminish his amusement as the fourth year stood up and looked him in the eye. He was even more amused when the fourth year truthfully told him what the problem was. Foolhardily? While not the traditional way a classroom was managed, Aaron could hardly agree with the 'foolhardy' label. His respect for the two grew as the first year, though not quite so tiny as most, stood up and nodded in agreement with her partner.

"I designed this class to be cohesive to several learning styles," Aaron began. "First, the hands-on learning style, which as you can see, seems to be fairly popular. Second, it is easy to learn by example; the partners work well for that purpose, as does a room full of people working on the same charm. Then there are those who prefer to read and take notes before trying a charm practically." He turned slightly and motioned to a boy in a wheelchair who had a book in his hand and was talking to a girl. "Granted, there is some room for improvement. Anything that either of you two would like to suggest? By the way, what are your names?"

At that point, Aaron turned to raise one eyebrow at Delanna, who quickly turned her smirk from the two girls and looked at him innocently. Apparently she also decided that it would be a better idea to be farther away from him when he got done with the two students, because she flitted out of her poster to the other side of the room, striking up a rather heated discussion with Abraham Peasegood.\n\n

0 Professor McKindy So first you insult my teaching, and now my decor? 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Hyana

December 17, 2006 9:22 PM

I can't wait till Christmas! by Hyana

Hyana watched the cushion rise in the air and plop down at Dalila's feet. She clapped enthusiastically, and said, "I knew you could do it Dalila-sempai!" Dalila was happy, she could tell. It was nice seeing someone smile at her. Dalila paused for a moment, then asked what Sempai meant.

"Sempai? It means upperclassmen. You're older, and in a higher grade than I am, so it's only polite." She said happily. \n\n

0 Hyana I can't wait till Christmas! 0 Hyana 0 5

Lutece

December 18, 2006 5:22 AM

Now <i>that</i> could be problematic by Lutece

The crippled kid was looking at her weird. He was raising an eyebrow at her. Lutece barely stopped herself from shifting uncomfortably. Even worse, then he tried to look friendly. Lutece never trusted anybody who was friendly within the first five minutes or so of their acquaintance. Even Jen and Dolan hadn't exactly been friendly; it had been more patronizing than that, which signified that they were fine to be around. People who were too friendly always wanted something. Often they just wanted to make you look foolish. That simply would not do in her new school. And from that smile that the crippled kid gave her as he shut his book and told her to show him what she knew of the concept.

That wasn't good. Lutece quickly glanced around the room, noting a sort of flicking motion that was being used. She had already seen the incantation, and all the books had said that you combined the two. So she unzipped her purse and dug through it, finally uncovering the wand and some pink lip gloss. To give herself some time, she applied the lip gloss thoroughly and looked around some more. She could do this, the crippled kid would show her how to do it better, and then she could maybe go to join Earl. Lutece wasn't sure if he disliked her for signing up to Keep, but anything would be better than this bizarre kid. Mika'el was his name. That name was so weird and un-American, though, she just debated calling him Mike. Lutece decided that if the boy kept on being as annoying as he was, she would.

Stowing the lip gloss safely in her purse, she held her wand in two fingers, made a sort of flicking motion at a nearby frog, and said "Win-Guard-I-Em Levvy-Oh-Sah". The frog began to turn a lovely shade of blue while growing enough fur to make it resemble an Angora rabbit. Then it tried to hop away, but after jumping up didn't go back down. At least she had done something, though. She turned a bit of a patronizing smile towards Mika.

"You see? I'm having a small difficulty with the," she motioned vaguely at the frog. "color changes and such."\n\n

0 Lutece Now <i>that</i> could be problematic 0 Lutece 0 5

Mika

December 18, 2006 1:09 PM

That Poor Frog by Mika

Mika watched as she stalled, and stalled, and stalled. He reminded himself to play nice with the other children and not say anything mean. The frog turned blue, and sprouted fur. The poor animal was going to have a gender and species crisis, pink to blue, frog to... well, fuzzy frog. Although, it was kind of cute, furry like that. One of Mika's eyebrows rose as the frog rose.

"I see." He said slowly. "Well, the first issue is that we are to be working with the feathers, not the frogs. The frogs are for the older students." He leaned over and picked up a feather that had floated near by, and held it up for her. Just in case she didn't know the difference between a 'frog' and a 'feather'. "So, I suspect your first issue in attempting to levitate a feather, is that you are not working with a feather." He set the object down on his knees, and open his book again, scanning it. Right, swish and flick.

Mika drew his wand out of his sleeve, rather long, and made of dark yew. "I won't try and correct your pronunciation." He shrugged, doubting he could make it clear with his accent the right away to say it. "But you cannot just flip your wand around like that. It is swish and flick, see:" Mika murmured the incantation executing the 'swish and flick' demonstrated in his book perfectly. his wand held a bit loosely in his hand to get the motion just right.

The feather quivered on his knees a bit. and he pushed up his glasses frowning in concentration. He would get this right, dang it. First spell ever or not. He was smart, and he knew how to apply book learning to real life, and he had done nothing but read about magic all summer. Win-guard-i-um levvy-oh-sah." He commanded the weather a bit more firmly. And after a momentary contest of wills, it slowly rose off his knees just as it should.

He turned to look at the girl and smiled a bit. Rather proud of himself, thank you very much. "Does that help you... grasp the concept?"\n\n

0 Mika That Poor Frog 0 Mika 0 5

Dalila

December 18, 2006 1:50 PM

Christmas!!! by Dalila

"Wow, that's really cool. Okay, then you can continue to call me that." Dalila grinned at Hyana, really pleased to know that she wasn't being insulted in other languages by a firstie.

Dalila absently tried the incantation again, but the cushion seeemed to get tired at the last moment and sink to her feet. Oh well...I'll get the hang of it eventually.

"So, Hy-Hyana..." she actually remembered the girl's name. Maybe her memory was getting better. "What language is that? Like Chinese, Japanese...one of those other ones?" Dalila didn't know much about the far east except their food was excellent, kimonos were very pretty, and that pandas ate bamboo. Maybe she could learn more...go there some day.\n\n

0 Dalila Christmas!!! 0 Dalila 0 5

Nicoletta

December 18, 2006 9:58 PM

It's okay. Been there too. by Nicoletta

"Yes, I suppose so," as she gingerly took the tan hand to shake with her own silky white one. "Have you tried casting the levitation charm yet?"

With almost a bored expression, Nicoletta pulled out her own wand and pointed it towards the cushion that the first year had been working with, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The cushion rose with ease up in the air. She knew it would be a breeze to do. Any competent fourth year should be able to do it, meaning that most wouldn't. She stopped herself from snickering at the mere thought. She allowed the cushion to fall back with a soft thud to the floor and turned to the first year.

"Place emphasis on gar when you are stating the spell," she instructed, as she moved her wand to mimic the movement. "Now, you try."

Nicoletta waited for the first year to try again. With a little luck, she would get it right off the bat and would worship Nicoletta for having showed her how. Once that was done, she would be able to get to know Irene better and find out if she was worth taking under her wing.\n\n

0 Nicoletta It's okay. Been there too. 0 Nicoletta 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 18, 2006 10:12 PM

^_^ YAY! by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru smiled happily when she said okay. His eyes widened in suprise however when she said she didn't know any hexes, I mean...how could you not know any hexes! They were the best things ever! When she asked him about why he liked hexes he twitched "W...Why I like hexes!" his eyes became fondly reminiscent "My godfathers an Auror and he specializes in hexes! He gives me a spellbook of newly developed hexes every Christmas as well as a new book of curses which I'm also fond of but...I can't do any very well yet."

He sighed as he remembered his last attempt at trying to do the reducter curse. He could still feel the wind getting knocked out of him and falling off his familys garden wall. Needless to say he hadn't worked on that one since. He then finally made sense out of the other stuff he wrote and he realized he had written down the mechanics of the Summoning Charm...he moved his eyes around shiftily and muttered to Riley "I've got a giant book of charms I can lend you just please don't speak to anyone about my ummm...habit (writting things down, its a bad habit of his and sometimes he writes down things he's not supposed to)people might think I'm cheating or some other such nonsense." He twitched again and started writing down something about a random curse he had heard someone talking about. He sighed to himself, sad that he wouldn't understand what he had written until he had written it.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi ^_^ YAY! 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Riley Garraway

December 18, 2006 10:40 PM

Hmmm... by Riley Garraway

Riley nodded, her stawberry-blonde ponytail swishing over the back of her neck. "I won't tell anyone." She smiled teasingly, adding in a murmur, "So long as you let me take a peek at that book of charms you mentioned." Her smile broadened a little, expression betraying her kidding manner. She wouldn't really force him to share his book with her, unless he wanted to.

She tapped her wand to her chin, tilting her head interestedly. "So you're godfather's an Auror? That's amazing. No one in my family has ever dabbled in the Dark Arts... they think it's too messy for their 'clean' hands." She rolled her almond eyes, agitated at the notion. The smile quickly returned to her face, however. She looked at Hikaru again, deciding that he was indeed an interesting person. Unique, most definitely, and so far fun to be around. She was sure they'd grow into good friends. Or at least, she hoped they would.\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Hmmm... 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Catherine Raines

December 19, 2006 2:47 PM

Will you settle for just one? by Catherine Raines

Doing her best to ignore the hard knot of dread just above heart level, Catherine sashayed into the Charms classroom, looking clueless and smiling at the boys - well, at the two boys who she thought were at least purebloods and not off-limits. Being the class idiot could only earn you so many allowances. She glanced around, looking for the new professor, and stopped dead in her tracks, cluelessness fading into stunned confusion. The little kids were surprising enough to warrant a reaction, but where was the furniture?

Catherine looked at the floor, considering it, and decided against trying to sit. She'd be limping by the end of class - her heels were not designed for standing up in for long periods of time - but pain was definitely better than someone looking up her skirt or her getting dust and dirt and other things that people's shoes brought in all over her backside. Great. Charms was always a nightmare because of Jordanna and the necessity of not exceeding or even matching Jordanna in anything, but now it was going to be an uncomfortable nightmare. Just what she'd needed to get her year started off right.

Her eyes darted automatically to find her friend. Jordanna liked Charms, but she didn't like anything else that Catherine knew about. She surprised herself by feeling a surge of resentment. There were other people who were bad at almost everything, but Catherine was sure she had it worse than any of them, having to pretend to be bad at all of everything. It wasn't fair. If not for Jordanna, she wouldn't have to spend half her time worrying about failing her classes, wouldn't be seen as the dumbest girl - no, dumbest person in the year. Nicoletta didn't have to do this just to stay in favor.

Thinking of Nicoletta made her remember that she was in a room with all of her roommates. If she started scowling, one of them was bound to notice. Jordanna and Nicoletta would, if they figured it out, question her loyalty to the group, and Carey would blackmail her till the sun turned cold. Catherine pasted a too-bright smile on her face and raised up on the balls of her feet, trying to look bouncy instead of like she was giving the arches of her feet an already much-needed rest.

The class got even better when the verdict came down that they were going to have to work with the first years. Jordanna had adopted all of Crotalus', which meant that Catherine and Nicoletta were almost bound to get two of the three dumped on them. At least they were Crotali. That had to encode for at least a bare minimum of tolerability. Her smile faded when Jordanna wound up with multiple partners and Nicoletta wound up with a Pecari. Oh, no.

She was considering using her first attempt at the Summoning Charm to get one of the Crotali away from Jordanna when boy's voice was directed at her, introducing its owner as Law - what kind of name was that, anyway? It had to be a nickname, unless his parents were exceptionally weird Aurors - and asked for partnership. He sounded polite enough, but had offered no surname. That might not mean anything, and she was the class idiot. Jordanna probably thought she was too stupid to realize what it could mean. She smiled as nicely as she knew how. "Not at all," she said. "I'm Catherine." She considered offering to show him his spell, or at least perform hers first, but refrained. It would look too smart. "You wanna start?" \n\n

0 Catherine Raines Will you settle for just one? 66 Catherine Raines 0 5

Lutece

December 19, 2006 3:27 PM

I'm sure it'll survive, somehow by Lutece

There was absolutely no need for the crippled kid to act so superior. Yes, she had asked him for help, but he didn't have to be so smug about it! Going through the whole stupid explanation, being patronizing about the frog (even though Lutece could see perfectly well that there were other kids her age levitating frogs), and then doing it right on his second try? That was infuriating. And then he smiled at her, and asked her if she grasped the concept now.

Lutece was mad. She knew that anybody who pretended to be friendly was really out to get her. The stupid boy didn't have to be so...so knowitallish. That wasn't even a word. Lutece's anger grew. Unfortunately for the boy, the usually under motivated Lutece got extremely motivated when necessary. He would pay. Oh yes. She would show that crippled kid who was the best. The frogs were 'for older students', then? Fine. She would levitate one of those.

Smiling eerily at Mika, Lutece swished and flicked her wand, proclaiming the words "Win-Guard-eeum Levvy-o-seeuh" in the sort of voice she had used on the broom when Jen was showing her how to fly. The furry frog, which had been fading to a dull shade of purple, turned upside down and croaked as it shot up in the air. It twitched there and glared down at them with beady amphibian eyes while croaking reproachfully. It could hardly be heard over the classroom's noise.

"Yes, thanks, Mike," Lutece replied to his question coolly. Let's see you do that she thought triumphantly as she tried to figure out how to get the frog down.\n\n

0 Lutece I'm sure it'll survive, somehow 0 Lutece 0 5

Irene

December 19, 2006 4:29 PM

looks out window Aww...there's no snow... by Irene

"Have you tried casting the levitation charm yet?" Nicoletta asked her. Irene nodded.

"I'm doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is..." Irene paused as Nicoletta pulled out her wand and performed the spell with an obvious ease. Nicoletta turned to her and gave her instructions on the spell.

Irene pulled out her wand, concentrating on the tips.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She cried waving her wand. Nothing happened. She took a deep breath and counted to five. She focused her mind on the tips once more, making sure that she put them into practice.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She cried again, waving her wand and pronouncing the words.

The cushion rose into the air about a foot above the ground. Feeling excited for accomplishing her task, Irene beamed as the cushion hung in the air. She gently lowered it down the the ground.

"Thanks! That really helped!"\n\n

0 Irene *looks out window* Aww...there's no snow... 0 Irene 0 5

Brett Hodges

December 19, 2006 4:32 PM

Woohoo! by Brett Hodges

This fourthie seemed pretty mellow, like a babysitter. But a cool babysitter who asked mad crazy questions like, "Did you want to work on a cushion, feather, or...frog?"

As though asking was even necessary.

"A frog!" Brett grinned, eyes turning to examine the floating amphibians. He totally wanted to see how -- Uh? Oh, cool name -- Izzy would get a frog down because he had a feeling it wouldn't involve summoning (another new word) a trampeline and a baseball glove even though that's so what he would do if he knew how. This wand stuff was wicked.

"I'm Brett," he introduced himself. He didn't know what the big deal was with people using their last names all the time, so he left his off. It wasn't like anyone would know another Hodges. Well, wait, maybe they could. If his dad was a squib and his uncle Stanley was a real Wizard that would make him a Hodges, too... meh. No use in other people knowing more about him than he did anyway. It wasn't like he knew that part of the family very well anyway.

He was still watching the frogs and had picked out a big fat spotted one. He pointed up, up, and up, "Can we use that one?"\n\n

0 Brett Hodges Woohoo! 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Lexi

December 20, 2006 3:08 PM

We could always insult your clothes, too by Lexi

Lexi wasn’t sure whether to be amused by Gwyneth’s seemingly instinctive reaction, that the teacher was coming over because one of them was having difficulties, or to be concerned at her partner’s naïveté. She was also glad that she’d managed to start talking first, because once she noticed that Gwyneth was going to say something, she figured that it was only going to make things more complicated.

And, naturally, she knew that it was for disrespect that the two of them, or, rather, Lexi, had gotten into trouble for. Her partner really had nothing to do with it, was just the one listening to her comments. When the first year stood up to join her, Lexi bit back a groan. Now, on top of getting herself in trouble, she was going to get the innocent firstie in trouble along with her. Still, it was a kind action, even if a bit misguided, and she gave the girl a supportive smile, even if she thought it was a foolish action.

At that point, though, it appeared things were starting to go a little more in their favor. Contrary to her predictions, McKindy did not immediately grant them both detentions, or yell at them, or anything of that ilk. It did make sense, in a way. From the ease with which the class appeared to be conducted, he seemed an easy-going man, for the most part.

She nodded as he explained his intent in the class being the way it was, grudgingly forced to rethink her label of him as off his rocker. There was logic in this method that she hadn’t noticed before, yet that hadn’t been what she thought was so foolish in the first place.

“Sir, when I said that the class seemed foolhardy, that wasn’t what I talked about,” she began, not sure if she was pressing her luck. But he had asked them if either of them had any suggestions, and it was something she felt was important. So, trying even harder to appear respectful, Lexi continued. “What I meant, sir, is that there appeared to be a lack of…direction, and instruction, I suppose. No guidelines, or explanations, or really anything. And, yes, by partnering the first and fourth years together there was someone to explain the things the first years didn’t understood, and obviously your posters are very good at what they do,” she shot a look at Delanna, who had moved to a different poster, “so perhaps my opinion needs re-evaluating. Part of the shock of having something flying towards one’s head, and all.”

She wanted to groan when McKindy asked their names. She’d been hoping he would have forgotten about that little aspect, since he couldn’t do anything to them if he didn’t know who they were, but obviously that plan had fallen through. “Lexi Stafford, sir. And this is Gwyneth Aquillon,” she finished, putting a hand on her partner’s shoulder. She hoped the younger girl wouldn’t mind Lexi speaking for her, but it was just instinctive to try and take charge, somehow. She was older, and, of course, if Gwyneth didn’t argue, it was likely she wouldn’t get into the same amount of trouble as Lexi, if there was any at all.
\n\n

0 Lexi We could always insult your clothes, too 0 Lexi 0 5

Law Cooper

December 20, 2006 5:26 PM

I could do that by Law Cooper

"Nice to meet you, Catherine," Law smiled up at the older girl, manners driven into him by his mother so that even when she wasn't there, Law tried to be polite. Catherine seemed nice enough, although those shoes she was wearing looked pretty painful. His aunties had shoes like those, and as soon as other people were gone they'd start complaining about their poor feet. Law didn't understand why girls wore them in the first place, and was only more confused when his aunties tried to explain it. He definitely wasn't going to bring it up now, that's for sure. If his aunties could get moody when talking about the painful shoes (whatever they were called) then so could any other girl.

He looked towards the piles of objects, trying to figure out which one he wanted. The feathers were probably the easiest, being the lightest and the smallest. He felt kind of bad for the frogs, and was surprised that the teacher would let the first years work on them. What if he said the incantation wrong, and a frog died? Or grew an extra head, or lost an eye? Because, knowing his luck with school, something bad was bound to happen. And what about the cushions? Sidestepping a frilly yellow cushion that zoomed by his stomach, it looked like someone could potentially get hurt with one of those too. Even if it was soft and frilly.

Yes, feathers were good, feathers were safe. And, right about now, when he was just beginning how to do spells, safe seemed pretty nice.

"It's like a Quidditch field in here," he muttered, "Except with frogs and cushions instead of bludgers. Crazy," he shook his head, then looked back up at Catherine, "Sure, I'll start. Think I'll use a feather for my spell- I can get your object too, if you want. Feather, cushion, or frog?"
\n\n

0 Law Cooper I could do that 0 Law Cooper 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 20, 2006 7:19 PM

Sweetness by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru pulled out the book of charms that was lingering in his bag and opened it to the first page, he muttered the counter curse for the trap he had set on all of his personal items that no one was to see, a gift from his godfather. He flipped through the pages and handed Riley the book saying as he did "Keep it until you want another one then just ask and I'll get my other couple out and see which one you should advance to next."

He opened his notebook again and asked as he was jotting down a few notes in his notebook that he could actually see. The first one read about a curse that Hikaru didn't even know -The Conjunctur Curse, a curse that allows the user to temporarily tie the target up with a magical binding of blue flame.- inncantation, Conjuntavio. Hikaru blinked a few times and read it over, it didn't sound that good to use in a regular situation, so he decided he wouldn't use it until later.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi Sweetness 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Riley Garraway

December 20, 2006 7:47 PM

Thank you! by Riley Garraway

Riley's face was practically illuminated as Hikaru handed her the book. "Thank you," she said happily. She read over the first page interestedly, committing the spell to memory. "I can hold on to this?" she wondered, amazed. And he had more! Oh, Riley felt like a kid in a candy store.

Her fingers rested over the crack down the middle of the book, and she looked up distractedly. "Say, when does this class end?" she asked out loud. She glanced around and spotted their teacher talking with a couple of girls nearby. Shrugging, she slipped Hikaru's book into her bag, handling it almost reverently. Then she raised her wand and held her feather in her hand, casting the levitation charm again and watching the plume rise under her command. Oh yes, she had this one down.

The feather wavered, and it only took a brief disheartening to crack her focus. The feather wafted back down to her hand, and she sighed. Okay, so she almost had it down. Hey, Charms was her favorite class, but she wasn't a genius in the subject, pureblood or not. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway Thank you! 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Bella

December 20, 2006 9:04 PM

...is scared by Bella

She should have known that the kid would choose the frog. Boys seemed to love frogs...toads...lizards...anything that was slimy or bumpy or gross in general. Still, knowing this, Bella still couldn't quite keep herself from sighing when he responded to her question. "Frog it is." She said, watching the frog as it went farther and farther away.

Of course, he chose the biggest one too. And she would have to summon it over to them in order for Brett to be able to levitate it. Bending, Bella rummaged through her bookbag until she found her Charms book and pulled it free. Flipping the pages until she found the proper spell, Bella's dark brown eyes read over it briefly before dropping her book on her now abandoned beanbag. "Alright, stand back, this might end ugly." Bella stated to Brett as she prepared herself to do the spell.

Taking a breath, Bella raised her wand and in a not-so-sure voice, said, "Accio big fat pink FROG" Watching for a moment as nothing happened, Bella frowned. And then...everything happened. Not only did the frog that Brett wanted come flying towards the two of them, but so did a handful of others.

Bella let out a small shriek as she was pelted by a couple of juicy frogs. "I don't know how to stop them!" She exclaimed, her arms over her head and her body turned to the side to in hopes to stop from being pelted by all the frogs. "Finite... FINITE" Bella cried out, looking up just long enough to point her wand at the very frog she was trying to summon, watching it plop onto an abandoned cushion not far from where they stood. "Gross."\n\n

0 Bella ...*is scared* 0 Bella 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 21, 2006 6:58 PM

Awesome! by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru shrugged as Riley walked away he had heard about some of the fifth years talking about a spell that was supposed to attract some attention, he thought about it and decided that since class was almost over he could probably bolt out of class before anyone noticed He raised his wand into the air and muttered "Inforium!" he had looked up the spell and found out that it was a hex that partially dazzled the target and since he wasn't pointing his wand at any other person the hex shouldn't be able to hurt anyone.

A flash of blue dazziling light fired in to the air, he blinked a few times as sight slipped away from him and he fell over onto the ground with a loud thump; he slowly rose a second later and he had a blinding headache. He decided that he would have to practice with sunglasses on in order to avoid the migraines. \n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi Awesome! 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 21, 2006 9:46 PM

I can't see what there is to insult about my clothes! by Professor McKindy

Aaron nodded as the girl explained further. It made a bit of sense, he supposed, but this way students actually learned how to think. This wasn't something that was exactly taught in most schools, or even encouraged. After all, one couldn't precisely teach people how to think. Encourage, yes; teach, not really. He found his vision wandering over to a tiny boy and girl, who seemed to be swapping books of some sort. Nice to see first years so thoroughly into learning.

"Excellent. Gwyneth, Lexi. Nice to--" Aaron broke off as one of the first years, the boy, raised his wand into the air and fired of a stream of dazzling blue light. Aaron shut his eyes immediately as he recognised the hex, turning his face downwards so as not to be effected by the light. He opened his eyes a moment later, then made his apologies to the girls. "Sorry to cut you off; I seem to be needed elsewhere. As you were, then."

Aaron quickly strode over to the first year boy, containing his anger. Honest criticism he could understand, but randomly firing hexes off into space? That was too dangerous for most classroom settings. \n\n

0 Professor McKindy I can't see what there is to insult about my clothes! 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 21, 2006 9:54 PM

And something considerably less so, I'm afraid. by Professor McKindy

Part of being a teacher, Aaron reminded himself firmly, was dealing with the problem students. At least in Muggle classrooms, this wasn't exactly much of a problem. After all, a Muggle delinquent couldn't usually do much. In the wizarding world, as Aaron was well aware, troublesome children could do much, much more than the Muggle type could. Theoretically, they also had the common sense not to do tremendously stupid things (ie: firing off random hexes in a room full of students). Occasionally, though, one seemed to run into difficulties; Aaron was pretty sure this was one.

Keeping calm was the first and most important step to dealing with any problem. As he strode towards the first year, Aaron made sure that his face displayed no hint of anger, irritation, or a wish to beat the child in question firmly over the head with a large book until he used a bit of common sense. Although his grey-green eyes may have shown a bit of his true emotions, Aaron was relatively satisfied as he stood over the boy. At six foot, he was taller than the first year by a fair amount.

"Would you mind telling me," he asked his mild tone concealing his emotions just as his face did, "what you thought you were just doing? That looked rather like a hex to me. Hexes can be dangerous, especially when set off in a crowd of students. Was there any sort of reason for your actions?"\n\n

0 Professor McKindy And something considerably less so, I'm afraid. 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Brett Hodges

December 22, 2006 1:41 PM

Dodge frog! by Brett Hodges

Brett caught an unwanted frog and took another on his shoulder. After that he ducked, laughing, and somehow ended up with frog slime on his cheek. Izzy screamed. The big frog landed squarely on a pillow.

"Nice!" he said, drawing it out with emphasis.

He quickly but carefully -- to avoid stepping on fallen froggers -- picked his way to the cushion and grabbed that big amphibian before it could leap away. He pressed it agaist his chest with one hand -- so amazingly mad gross, like Izzy said -- and held up his free hand to high five Izzy.

"Awesome. Now what?"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Brett Hodges Dodge frog! 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 22, 2006 3:05 PM

blushes Oh this is really embaressing by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru flushed as red as anyone might have ever blushed "I am soooooo sorry Professor, I didn't think it would do what it did and I have a tendancy to be a little shall you say impulsive when I can't get something right the first time." He really hoped that the Professor wasn't angry with him. He bowed apologetically and asked in a submissive voice "If there is a punishment for me for my actions please allow it to occur..." He really hadn't meant for it to do what it did but it had failed twenty times last night, he hadn't gotten a headache then but then again, the magic on the room might or might not have had an effect on it. Hikaru waited fearlessly for his punishment, then he twitched and cringed as he began jotting down a note by his own mind however -Note to Self-Don't do that hex in a populated room or somewhere where there is alot of magic going around...End of Note- He sighed hoping that people didn't think he was a feak for doing that.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi *blushes* Oh this is really embaressing 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 22, 2006 10:37 PM

Not quite the word I would have used by Professor McKindy

The child was blushing, now, and acting submissive. While Aaron didn't particularly care if he was frightening the boy--anyone fool enough to fire a previously untried hex in crowded area needed some scaring--he truly hated submissive behaviours. There was really no point to them in a situation like this. It was obvious that Aaron was the one in charge. Even if his status as teacher hadn't secured that fact, his height should have. Even more irritatingly, the boy practically gave him permission to punish him. Stupidity or hubris? A mixture, perhaps.

"You don't seem to grasp the point," Aaron said, still keeping tight control over his features and voice. It simply would not do to have this child realise the extent of his anger. "Hexes beyond the basic level should not be attempted in your first year, especially without supervision. They are dangerous and some can seriously injure your classmates, whether they are done correctly or not. What is your name and House?"

Aaron would probably have to have a discussion with one of his colleagues about this boy, mostly because he was, at this point, unsure as to the disciplinary programme at Sonora. Some Muggle schools used detention, while at his own magical school, all miscreants had been sent directly to the Headmaster. He just hoped that the boy's Head of House would be somebody he had already met; first time meetings didn't usually go well if you met while criticising that person's charge.\n\n

0 Professor McKindy Not quite the word I would have used 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

December 23, 2006 11:04 AM

My name you ask? by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru sighed "My name is Hikaru Kasuragi...I'm in Teppenpaw and I really am sorry, I promise that I won't work on hexes infront of other people or in crowded areas. If you insist on punishing me then force me to do something infront of my classmates that would embaress any fool." Hikaru glared at him defiantly, he stuck his right foot forward and faced Professor McKindy with a scowl that would have scared away the smartest of people, he had had much practice in depicting peoples emotions while living with his father and wasn't used to being treated like a child (he actually was but more like a slave)

He especially frowned on people who thought that they could hide their emotions and thought that the other person wouldn't notice, if they wanted to be angry go right ahead and be angry with him. He had apologized and anything that happened was his fault anyway so why should he blame himself. Hikaru had to admit that this was no ordinary teacher and he would need to tread carefully around him but he should have still let himself rage at him instead of barely covering it up, all he had to do was to look into his eyes to tell when a someone was angry and that told all.

Somehow this teacher was much better at hiding his emotions then most of the other people he had met who were in a position of power over him. He did respect the Professor for that but still, Hikaru asked slwoly "I could help put things away at the end of every lesson and if that doesn't help then think of some other way to creativly punish me...otherwise please spek to my Head of House...what ever you do to me please do it now or at some other moment in time and I'll owe you." Hikaru slightly dropped the scowl and began twiddling his wand in between his fingers waiting for and answer, he was going to be irritible all day thanks to that bloody migraine pounding away in his skull.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi My name you ask? 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Professor McKindy

December 23, 2006 11:29 AM

That I did by Professor McKindy

Aaron was growing increasingly angry as Hikaru continued to speak. At least the boy was in Teppenpaw; he could talk to Deck about him, at least. Hikaru was blatantly challenging him, though, as well as telling him what to do. This child obviously needed a serious lesson in manners and common sense. Besides the obvious problem of firing off an unpractised hex without any provocation, most people had discovered that further antagonising somebody in a position of authority was not the best survival technique. Aaron pulled out his redwood wand and Summoned Hikaru's wand, then put a hand on the child's back and marched him towards a corner with a bookcase. Conjuring a study carrel and chair, he gestured towards it.

"You will write an essay on the dangers of hexes. Paper is on the bookcase, and you may reference any of the books in it. I will keep your wand until after this class ends, and then we will go talk to Professor Chatterjee about this. The essay must be at least two pages long. I would not suggest trying my patience further." Aaron told the boy, keeping his voice level with only moderate effort. He pocketed Hikaru's wand and walked away. The two posters by the boy (Albert Camus and Bowman Wright) would no doubt alert him if Hikaru decided to do anything else particularly foolish. \n\n

0 Professor McKindy That I did 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Riley Garraway

December 23, 2006 11:56 AM

Uhm... by Riley Garraway

Riley watched the scene unfold before her, somewhat aghast. She didn't know why Hikaru had cast the hex, though she wished she did so that she could help him. Their professor looked kind of scary when he was angry...

Riley felt helpless as her new friend was taken away to the corner of the room, and she could almost feel the heavy weight of his book of charms in her bag, as if her bag was on her back and not at her feet. She looked forlornly down at her feather and her wand in her hands.

With a sigh, she knelt down and pulled out a piece of parchment. Using a ballpoint pen that she kept handy in her bag (she'd bought it one day when her grandmother had taken her to a Muggle shopping center), she jotted a note down:

Do you still want to meet outside the Library tonight? Just nod or shake your head.

She didn't know if other students would get in trouble if they tried to talk to Hikaru, but she didn't want to take any chances. She folded up the note and weaved around her classmates, passing Hikaru's carrel and dropping the note on the flat surface. She moved a decent distance away, but not out of sight, and waited for his response.\n\n

0 Riley Garraway Uhm... 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi
December 23, 2006 12:01 PM

Hikaru Kasuragi
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*sighs* How troublesome... by Hikaru Kasuragi
Hiakru begrudgingly took one of the books off the shelf and skimmed through it, he was suprised at the amount of accidents that had happened and he continued to read with renewed vigor and finally figured out what he had been doing wrong and the gruesome pictures didn't exactly help him with trying to get his old point of view through. He took a bottle of ink and a quill out of his bag and unraveled a scroll of paper that he had intended to write something important with, well this was the most important thing to him, he looked at the paper and poured his soul out in the writing, listing accidents, killings, and damages that could be done when a hex had gone array.

He filled the entire scroll with imformation on the subject that Professor had told him to write about and every few paragraphs he set in a small apology and listed the things that had gone wrong, things he shouldn't have done and things that could have happened to the other students at his carelessness and foolishness.

By the end of the scroll he took out a small chisel that he used for signing a binding contract or an important piece of work, he cringed as he cut his skin and signed his name in blood at the bottom, he rolled up the scoll and set a seal on it so that anyone could tell if it had been opened or not.

He walked over to Professor McKindy and handed him the scroll "I apologize for my foolishness McKindy-sama and I hope that I can make it up to you in some way..."

-Sample of The Writing-
Such as in the case of the British Ministry of Magic, the department of Aurors has told people repeatedly that hexs ca be extremely deadly, as such in the case of Malocon the Mad, who performed an incorect Conjunctur Curse (now considered a hex to most) he ended up strangling himself and the group of wizards watching him perform it for a party trick. Studies have also shown that incompetent wizards who don't take spellcasting seriously have tended to injure many others in the process of casting hexes; many such cases have ended up in the deaths of Muggles, Wizards and Magical Creatures alike. Only diligent study of the hex in question and a competent wizard and/or witch can use a hex safely.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi *sighs* How troublesome... 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Hyana
December 23, 2006 2:19 PM

Hyana
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Only two more days! by Hyana
Hyana laughed at Dalila's happiness of being called Sempai. It was a very common reaction. People usually thought she was saying something insulting, and were jerks back. She was very happy Dalila wasn't like that.

Hyana was brought back to earth when Dalila asked her the language. "Oh, it is Japanese. I am part Japanese." She did have a slight Japanese accent. It was another thing that isolated her from people.\n\n

0 Hyana Only two more days! 0 Hyana 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi
December 23, 2006 2:32 PM

Hikaru Kasuragi
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*nods* by Hikaru Kasuragi
Hikaru slowly reached for the note and read it over varefully, he crumpled it up when he was done reading and nodded slowly in Rileys direction. He tore the note apart into tiny little pieces and wrote one done as fast as he could with some spare paper from his bag and responded 'Yes, I'll be alright, don't worry I'll explain about what happened tonight and we can speak again soon. I'll try to catch you at the end of class...' He bit the tip of his finger so hard that it blead and slowly signed his name in blood quickly as not to catch the posters notice and crumpled the note into a paper ball. He aimed carefully and kicked the note at Riley with such speed that had never been seen by anyone outside of the soccer stadium.

He waited patiently for the Professor to take his paper and began reading one of his free-reading novels Tolstoys 'War and Peace' he thought the book was fascinating and dug his nose in deep. He smiled to himself, the only person who would actually be able to read that note was Riley do to the signature in blood, it was something he was glad his father taught him before he had left.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi *nods* 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Riley Garraway
December 23, 2006 2:53 PM

Riley Garraway
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It's all good. by Riley Garraway
Riley saw the nod and stooped to grab the paper ball as it came at her. She walked back to where her things sat and opened up the note. She smiled, nodding in Hikaru's direction, and then shoved the paper into her bag.

Taking up her feather again, Riley practiced the levitation charm numerous times. Slowly, she improved, and soon enough she had a good handle on it. She smiled to herself, satisfied.\n\n

0 Riley Garraway It's all good. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Professor McKindy
December 23, 2006 9:02 PM

Professor McKindy
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A quick OOC by Professor McKindy
Thank you for your enthusiasm in participating in my lesson! However, I'd just like to remind you that all posts should be a minimum of ten sentences. Thanks!\n\n

0 Professor McKindy A quick OOC 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri
December 24, 2006 11:13 AM

Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri
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In case some excitement was needed... by Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri
Jae didn't have a partner. Saul wasn't in his class, and everybody else looked like they had partners. Since the teacher was busy talking to other people, he decided to play with the frogs. They were really big, and pink, so they were cool frogs. Not just normal frogs. Maybe they talked too!

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Jae tilted his head slightly to the side as he watched a big kid and a littler girl throw pillows at each other with their wandsticks. And then the big boy used his wandstick to get a frog to come to him! When the boy set the frog down, Jae got up and skipped over to the two, then knelt down to pick up the frog and hug it. Gently. Because Nina said that if you hugged some animals too tight they didn't like it, and their insides got all squishy. Jae thought that would be cool, but the teacher who used to have the madcoolawesome hat wouldn't like it very much. Since the frogs were part of his hat. Or were made of part of his hat. Or something.

"Hi, I'm Jae!" he chirped up at the other two people. "Does the frog have a name? I think he should have a name. Isn't the professor madcool? Nina has a hat like he did, only it doesn't explode with frogs. She puts it on her desk when she isn't wearing it. And it's black, not pink. I think pink is cool. Who're you?"\n\n

0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri In case some excitement was needed... 0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri 0 5

Professor McKindy
December 24, 2006 12:12 PM

Professor McKindy
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OOC: Continued in Teppenpaw (nm) by Professor McKindy

0 Professor McKindy OOC: Continued in Teppenpaw (nm) 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Earl
December 24, 2006 4:35 PM

Earl
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And you sure are excited. by Earl
Earl groaned. It was bad enough having to teach one firstie the ropes, but two? At least Nathalie was working and not bothering him, but then this kid comes over, talking like a cheerleader with too much caffeine running through her system. And this was a boy. It was just weird. He glanced down at the hyperactive boy hugging his frog,trying hard not to laugh and show disgust at the same time.

"Look, uh...Jae. First off, maybe you should cut back on the sugar. Secondly, the frog doesn't have a name, but I'm Earl. And this is Nathalie." he airily gestured to the first year girl.

"Two more things," he turned back to Jae, holding up one finger. "One: I have no clue who Nina is, therefore I don't care. And two:" he held up a second finger. "Why are you bothering me?"\n\n

0 Earl And you sure are excited. 0 Earl 0 5

Dalila
December 24, 2006 4:52 PM

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Only one more day! by Dalila
"Cool," Dalila said after finding out Hyana was Japanese. "I've always been a fan of Japan. Those Kimonos are all so pretty. My mother has one and when I was little, I spent a whole week pretending I was a Japanese princess. Lucky you, you don't have to pretend."

Dalila grinned and winked at Hyana. "Now, we really should be getting back to the charms." Dalila twirled her wand between her fingers and promptly dropped it on the floor where it emitted purple sparks that transformed into flower petals when they hit the floor.

"Cool! I love when magic does strange things." Dalila smiled and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her index finger before picking up her wand and pointing it at Pinky, who was trying to make a getaway behind Hyana.

"Accio Pinky!" It felt as though she were trying to pull Pinky through molasses at first, but after a few seconds, Pinky came soaring into Dalila's arms as though she had wings.

"Hyana, I did it! It was practically perfect!" Dalila squealed and hugged Pinky tightly.\n\n

0 Dalila Only one more day! 0 Dalila 0 5

Hyana
December 26, 2006 11:43 AM

Hyana
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Merry Christmas! by Hyana
Hyana laughed at the princess comment. It was obvious that she wasn't any princess. It was very kind for Dalila to say so, though. Hyana opened her mouth to say something when Dalila's wand hit the floor and the sparks that came out transformed into flower petals. 'They're so beautiful. Just like the ones in Japan...' Hyana thought. She suddenly heard Dalila chant, "Accio Pinky!"

Hyana watched Pinky fly towards Dalila. Dalila caught Pinky in her arms, and squealed at what she did. Hyana clapped excitedly for Dalila. "That was really good Dalila-sempai!" She grinned widely. Dalila seemed so proud of herself. "But, ummm...you might want to stop squeezing Pinky. It looks like it's going to explode."\n\n

0 Hyana Merry Christmas! 0 Hyana 0 5

Bella
December 27, 2006 9:52 PM

Bella
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Beware of the flying frogs by Bella
Bella had to wipe away some of the reminents of the frogs that had flown into her. Despite not caring about getting dirt beneath her nails, windblown hair, or ripped clothing, Bella wasn't a fan for flying reptiles, or anything remotely slimey.

Rubbing her eyes slightly and smearing the dark liner she was wearing, Bella glanced around the room for a moment. No one seemed to have been affected by her terrible spell casting. That was a good sign. Her scream hadn't even caught the attention of their professor. Even better.

Staring at Brett's hand for a moment, Bella wasn't sure what he wanted. Slowly, she lifted her hand and gently hit his. Did people still do this? She couldn't remember the last time she had given another person a high five. And more than that, why did he want a high five? Bella's spell hadn't gone right at all. Strange kid.

"Er-now you have to do the levitating spell." Bella replied, looking at the kid as though he weren't at all right in his head. She had already did her part of the spell, it was only logical for Brett to have to do his now.\n\n

0 Bella Beware of the flying frogs 0 Bella 0 5

Brett Hodges
December 28, 2006 12:02 AM

Brett Hodges
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There'll be another in a minute by Brett Hodges
Brett cleared a circle of froglessness on the floor for big pink Frogga the Hutt and knelt down inside it. Frogga seemed to know he was supposed to stay still and waited patiently as Brett searched his pockets for his wand and, taking it out, looked up at Izzy with a thoughtful frown.

"Wing Guard Eon, Levee Soda?" he asked. He had a mad crazy memory and that was definitely what Professor McKindy had said when he did the spell the one time he demonstrated it. "Right?"

Frogga adjusted his back leg uneasily.\n\n

0 Brett Hodges There'll be another in a minute 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Gwyneth Aquillon
December 29, 2006 5:10 PM

Gwyneth Aquillon
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Show's over, moving along now by Gwyneth Aquillon
Gwyneth breathed a sigh of relief when Professor McKindy moved off to "help" other students. She had understood Lexi's hand on her shoulder to be both a supportive -"don't worry, big sis is here"- and a warning gesture -"let me handle this, kid". The first she understood perfectly since she frequently intervened when her younger sister had done something that directed the negative attention of adults to them. The warning gesture she had also understood. Lexi was more familiar with the expectations and consequences of the school and, therefore, better equipped to handle this incident. Knowing all this did not make her any less grateful, if anything, it increased her already high opinion of the fourth year student.

"Well, that was . . . And you were terrific. I'm sorry if I got you into any trouble, Lexi," Gwyneth said rather abashedly. "I guess I should have just stayed put on the floor, but I was part of the 'problem' and I just wanted to have your back, so to speak. NOT that you needed my help! Course, I wasn't really much help anyway, just standing there nodding like one of those plastic dogs in the back of an old beat up Chevy!" Gwyneth took a quick breath and reminded herself that she was babbling again.

"So, one last question, then I will just sit back down and practice quietly on lifting my feather. Are we allowed to practice spells outside of class like homework or only just in here?"\n\n

0 Gwyneth Aquillon Show's over, moving along now 0 Gwyneth Aquillon 0 5

Jae
December 30, 2006 3:56 PM

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Yes, I believe I am. by Jae
"I don't eat very much sugar," Jae said seriously, looking up at Earl. "Aunt Marla says it's not good for you. Can I name the frog Robert?" he asked, brightening. Then Earl decided to say some other stuff, so Jae put on his listening ears and tried to pay attention, just like his aunts always said. He perked up visibly when Earl asked him the questions. These were easy questions!

"Nina's my best friend EVER! We're neighbors. And we have a horse! Only, she's taking care of it 'cause I'm here, and Aunt Cheri said I couldn't bring Chester, which wasn't cool. And are we a'posed to be doing something? I'm confused." Jae grinned up at Earl, then carefully put Robert down and stood up. He was shorter than the older boy, but Jae was shorter than a lot of people. His blond dreadlocks made most people notice him, though. Jae was also very proud of his earring. Nina had gone with him to get his ear pierced right before he left to come to school. She said it looked madcool. Nina knew a lot of stuff. Earl probably did too. Maybe they could all be friends!\n\n

0 Jae Yes, I believe I am. 0 Jae 0 5

Bella
December 30, 2006 5:56 PM

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Poor Frog by Bella
Bella had lost interest in the actual assignment that was given to her from the Professor the moment those frogs had come flying at her. If anything, that spell proved to Bella that she wasn't going to be so lazy and cast a spell to grab something, but rather, get up off her butt and get it herself.

Forcing herself to pay attention again when Brett started talking, Bella lifted her eyes and looked at him strangely. He had said each syllabol separately but it didn't sound right. "Wingardium Leviosa." Bella spoke the incantation at Brett for him to hear it again. "Win-gar-dium Lev-ee-o-sa. It's strange, but not terribly difficult. Go ahead and give it a try, Brett." Bella responded, trying to be encouraging by giving the first year a surprise.

"Besides, it can't be any worse than mine."\n\n

0 Bella Poor Frog 0 Bella 0 5

Mika
December 30, 2006 11:35 PM

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Places to Stick Your Feather by Mika
Mike? Did she just call him Mike? Oh HECK no. A flood of insults rose in his throat, many of them involving street corners, or the nature of her parentage. The only thing that kept him from saying them was that he thought of every single one of them in Russian. He doubted anyone would be impressed with a Russian retort. After a long, heavy moment of silence he smiled tensely.

"Ah, I see you have a bit of a speech impediment. You see, there is an 'A' at the end of that. And actually its a soft 'k'. I know, vowels and consonant can be tricky, and it is a foreign name, so I will repeat it for you. As I trust you are not so stupid that you cannot learn to say it correctly after a second repetition. It is Mika. Mik-kah. Or, if that is too challenging, I will settle for Mike-a in that horrible flat American accent." He smiled again... smiled, or bared his teeth it was hard to tell.

"And in the future, try for a controlled ascent. If you splat your frog on the ceiling, you may get guts in your hair." With a swish, flick, and command, he levitated his feather in the air again. It was a bit wobbly, but rose steadily, and then descended again.\n\n

0 Mika Places to Stick Your Feather 0 Mika 0 5

Catherine Raines
December 31, 2006 8:46 PM

Catherine Raines
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

Good, if you will. by Catherine Raines
"The pleasure's all mine," Catherine said automatically, smiling back with a hint of approval. He wasn't in her own House, but Law did at least seem to have manners. That meant she shouldn't have to think too hard about how to respond to anything he said, since polite responses were largely proscribed. She pulled out her wand, careful not to let any red-painted fingernails curl under it and risk breaking them. One manicure stood no chance of lasting all the way till Christmas, but she wanted to keep it intact with minimal maintenance as long as possible.

Not that she couldn't, if it got right down to it. There were, she suspected, limits to how much idiocy Jordanna would be willing to tolerate in her lackey, and not knowing how to keep up appearances would probably blow past every one of them. She knew and felt relatively comfortable performing charms to shape her naturally blunt nails, trim, curl, and straighten her brown hair, smooth minor wrinkles from her clothes, and remove small stains from them. Apart from being useful, it also allowed her to tell the truth when she told her parents she was good at Charms. They'd never asked if the charms she referred to were the ones Bulla taught her.

If the excuse sounded thin even to her, well, that didn't really matter. They hadn't asked, and Lorenzo, bless him, had never betrayed her when her school reports were passed to him for review. Tossing her hair - curly, today - over her shoulder, Catherine made a show of examining the three objects she could Summon. It would have to be a feather, because the frogs were just disgusting and the cushions were heavy enough to look as though they took talent to work with.

She had a moment of worry when Law muttered something about Quidditch, a topic she knew virtually nothing about, but it was alleviated quickly when he went back to the lesson. "I think I'll take feathers, too," she said, forcing a light laugh. "It's sweet of you to offer, but I'll try getting mine with the charm. I don't want the professor to think I'm just standing here doing nothing." Not even the threat of losing her status had been enough to convince Catherine to break rules in front of her teachers since the robe incident the previous year. If Kijewski, the ultimate doormat, could blow up like a Potions project gone wrong, anyone could.

Pointing her wand at a randomly selected feather, Catherine took great care to look a little anxious and uncertain. It wasn't hard. Using the English word for feather was going to sound so stupid, but there wasn't much to do about it. "Accio feather," she said clearly. The feather jerked forwards and left, but came nowhere near her. "Accio!" she tried again, and this time ended up having it land on her nose. She kind of doubted it was supposed to do that, but she'd done the charm correctly. She grinned at it, pleased, completely forgetting that she was supposed to mess up. \n\n

0 Catherine Raines Good, if you will. 66 Catherine Raines 0 5

Lexi
January 01, 2007 12:25 PM

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The show must go on by Lexi
He left. McKindy just left. Lexi wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. Then she caught sight of the bright lights that the professor was heading towards, and everything started to make sense. Obviously, someone was stupid enough to be casting what looked like a hex in the classroom. And, just as obviously, the teacher wasn’t going to be worried about two girls who were nice and respectful and just got eavesdropped on by one interfering poster when there was someone doing something that dumb.

Releasing a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding, Lexi grinned down at Gwyneth. She hadn’t realized how cute first years could be, now that she was so much older than them. “Aw, thanks,” she responded, cheeks turning a little pink despite her best intentions (but, being a redhead, she could probably blame it on anything. Lexi Stafford did not blush). “And don’t worry about it. First, it was entirely my fault. I was the one who made the criticism, and was stupid enough to get caught. I do appreciate your support, though. It probably helped our case, at least a little.”

She paused as she considered Gwyneth’s final question. It was a straight-forward enough one, yet one Lexi couldn’t remember ever coming up against before. “I suppose you could, if you really wanted to,” she said hesitantly. “Homework’s generally more written than practical, since teachers generally don’t want the disorder that comes with trying new spells for the first time unsupervised. But I think people can generally use smaller spells. Or, at least, some do, and as long as they’re small, nobody notices or cares. Still, doing stuff like that” she gestured towards the boy who looked like he was now getting interrogated by McKindy, “is never a good idea.” Remembering that her partner was new at magic, and probably wouldn’t have recognized what the bright lights meant. “I think he just tried a hex in class- stupid of him, since those can both hurt those around you and get you into serious trouble.”

Deciding it was probably a good idea to try her own charm a few more times before class ended, she summoned a few more pillows (mostly successfully, although there was one that she could swear hated her), and then checked her watch instinctively, surprised to see how much of the class period had already passed. It had been a pretty efficient use of time, though. Helping a younger student, getting in trouble, getting out of trouble- she was impressed with herself, and decided that, since being nice to the smaller ones was paying off, she might as well continue it. “Class is almost over, but it was nice meeting you. And, you know, if you ever need help with something, or just a person to talk to, feel free to come find me. I’m generally pretty hard to miss,” she joked, flipping the ponytail containing her bright red hair, “and I’d be glad to help.”
\n\n

0 Lexi The show must go on 0 Lexi 0 5

Earl
January 02, 2007 12:57 AM

Earl
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Written by:

Too excited if you ask me. by Earl
Earl mentally cursed himself for starting the conversation with the hyper little boy. Now he'd have to actually teach him the spell. He ignored everything Jae said except that he was confused. He sighed.

"You're supposed to be learning the levitation charm," Earl exasperated. "Wingardium leviosa is the spell, so get going." He waved Jae off to do his own spellwork, but stopped.

"Hey, I'm gonna need my frog back." He glanced around the floor when Jae had put his frog down; the frog he had Christianed Robert, but it was nowhere to be seen

"Where'd he go?"\n\n

0 Earl Too excited if you ask me. 0 Earl 0 5

Oliver
January 02, 2007 2:07 PM

Oliver
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Yup, your little band of firsties. by Oliver
OOC: The Tripps seem to have disappeared. If you do come back, Matt, just join in again.

BIC: Oliver watched with barely concealed awe and admiration as Jordanna executed the spell with absolute precision, directing the feather firmly but gracefully with her wand. She made it look so natural, as if she'd been doing it her whole life.

"Now you two can try," Jordanna said.

Oliver pushed his glasses back up his nose and concentrated hard on the black feather resting in his palm. He said the spell through once in his head before mimicking Jordanna's swish and flick as closely as he could, saying aloud, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The feather lurched a little, as if someone had breathed lightly across its smooth, smart surface, then lay still again. Oliver frowned at it. Did he do something wrong? He looked to Jordanna. "Was that right?" he asked her. Oliver was confident that he had followed the instructions carefully, and was disheartened that his feather hadn't danced gracefully as hers had.\n\n

0 Oliver Yup, your little band of firsties. 0 Oliver 0 5

Law Cooper
January 03, 2007 4:40 PM

Law Cooper
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And I don't see why I wouldn't by Law Cooper
"Cool," Law exclaimed upon seeing Catherine successfully summoning her feather. Sure the boy had grown up around magic, but it never ceased to amaze him. He thought it was especially cool how she was able to make it land on her nose. The heavy eleven year-old boy decided that when he was old enough and good enough at Charms to learn the summoning charm, he would have to learn how to do that too. Of course, that was looking way ahead into the future. Meanwhile, he hadn't even cast his very first spell yet.

And before he could even do that, he had to actually get a feather to cast the levitation spell on. Yep, that sounded like it would be pretty important part of a successful class. "Be right back," he turned to Catherine before making his way to the feather pile. It was picked over by the time he got there, and the boy chose a plain looking brown feather that was about the size of his hand. But it didn't matter what it looked like to him, just that it was a feather.

Putting the feather in his pocket, he reached into his book bag on the floor and began searching for his wand. In it was an inky green pouch. The pouch was narrow and about a foot long. Fidgeting with the gold drawstrings he opened the pouch and reached in for his wand before shoving the pouch back into his book bag. The wand pouch had been his father’s idea, so that the precious instrument would not get dirty or broken. And so that it wouldn’t accidentally hit something else and cause a catastrophe. Law supposed his father had put all sorts of spells on the pouch- he just wasn’t sure of what.

Clearing his throat, the brunette boy went over the spell in his head. Wingardium Leviosa was the incantation swish and flick was the wand movement. Sounded simple enough. It was the actual carrying out the spell that would offer a problem. Getting the now haggard looking feather back out of his pocket and mentally prayed that he wouldn’t mess things up too horribly.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” he said, tentatively swishing his wand… and then what were they supposed to do? Oh yeah- flick! The feather moved just a bit, but it could have been that it moved from his breath and not magic. At least he hadn’t screwed anything up on his first attempt. That was something, right?

“Wingardium Leviosa,” he said, a little more relaxed, this time remembering to do the flick right after the swish, although the transition between movements was still a little bumpy. The feather shook a little bit, and then flipped over. It moved! Thank goodness, that means he had to be improving! He was on his way to getting the feather airborne! He was one step closer to doing the cool summoning spell like Catherine did! This was absolutely wonderful!

Catherine- she could help him! The girl was a fourth year after all, plus she seemed to be good at this stuff, so she obviously could explain to him how to improve even more.

“Hey, Catherine,” he turned to the older girl, “What should I do to get better at this- besides practice, that is?”\n\n

0 Law Cooper And I don't see why I wouldn't 0 Law Cooper 0 5

Jordanna Howard
January 03, 2007 5:16 PM

Jordanna Howard
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

Nice by Jordanna Howard
Jordanna didn't know why she had the false hope that her firsties would catch on quickly. They were Crotalus students so a lot should be expected from them, but they were firsties, after all. No matter, it had only been the first attempt of only one of the firsties. The boys were bound to catch on quickly.

"Don't think too much, just focus," she said, without stopping to think if that made any sense. A better word might have been to have more confidence, but she wasn't having anyone, especially not a Crotalus, think that Crotalus students weren't confident in themselves. People took advantage of the weak and unconfident all the time. It would be a pity if someone from another house tried to take advantage of a Crotalus firstie.

"Make sure you speak clearly, and don't delay too much between the swish and the flick," she said covering the basic issues, then remembered one she was missing, “Oh yes- make sure you have the accent on the ‘gar’ of ‘wingardium’ and the ‘oh’ of ‘leviosa’.”\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard Nice 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Oliver
January 03, 2007 6:07 PM

Oliver
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Gee, now I feel wanted. by Oliver
Luckily, Jordanna was apparently unperturbed that Oliver’s first attempt at the spell hadn’t worked out. She offered some more advise, ‘Don’t think too much, just focus’, she had said. Oliver understood that to mean he shouldn’t concentrate on what he should be doing, but on what he was actually doing. He wasn’t sure if that’s exactly what Jordanna meant, but it made good sense, so Oliver thought he would try it anyway. He practiced the wand movement again, and said the incantations once more in his head. More confident this time, and therefore more relaxed, Oliver focused his attention back on the feather, and recast the spell.

This time, the feather did lift very slowly into the air. Oliver felt triumphant at his progress, but quashed the bubbling emotion immediately, in case it should distract him from his work. The feather rose a couple of feet from his hand, and Oliver thought he would try and move it from side to side, like Jordanna had done. Still concentrating, he moved his wand slowly to the right. However, instead of following his wand, the feather began a slow descent back towards the ground. Oliver caught it and looked to Jordanna to see her reaction. “It worked for a while,” he said, quite proud of what he had accomplished.
\n\n

0 Oliver Gee, now I feel wanted. 0 Oliver 0 5

Catherine Raines
January 03, 2007 10:23 PM

Catherine Raines
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

Then I guess we're working together. by Catherine Raines
Catherine smiled in spite of herself, gratified, at Law's exclamation. He must not have known it was supposed to end up at her feet or in her hand instead of on her nose. What did it really matter, anyway? She'd Summoned it, hadn't she? And it wasn't like the feather was an elephant or a safe or something like that, where its landing place could have a negative impact on her health. Who knew, maybe every object in the world had a specific place where it was supposed to land.

She cut that line of thought off quickly enough. It might work in theory, but she somehow doubted she was so good that she performed the charm so perfectly on the second go that it landed in its exact designated location. She was decent at Charms when she wasn't flubbing up to make Jordanna and Nicoletta look better, not a genius. Still twirling her successfully Summoned feather between her fingers, she watched Law's two attempts to levitate his feather.

She opened her mouth, intending to offer encouragement, when Law abruptly turned and asked her for help. Her mouth closed when he asked for advice other than 'practice', the only thing she could think of immediately. "Um...you might want to practice the wand movement a little," she said, noticing that she didn't sound nearly as much like the all-knowing fourth year as she would have liked to. "Marlowe - Transfiguration, if you don't know her - is big on wand movements. You're a little unsteady on your flick. And be sure you emphasize the 'gar'." She hesitated, not wanting it to come out wrong, then said it anyway. "And be sure you're confident and believe it can work. That's supposed to be a big thing."

She smiled at him as encouragingly as she could. "You're doing fine, though, especially if you haven't done much magic yet. It takes a while to - you know - get into it." The smile became reflective. "My first Charms lesson was a nightmare. I never got the spell right, and I was so afraid Bulla - he was the Charms professor and Dep Head, then, not the Headmaster - was going to start yelling at me." In all truthfulness, it was still beyond weird, thinking of Bulla, who was, like, ten years younger than her father, as the Headmaster, never mind Kijewski as the Deputy Headmistress. It made her feel ancient, compared to these first years who might not have even heard of crazy old Marnett.

"It gets - well, maybe not easier to learn everything, but making the wand do something does." That sounded nice and idiotically lame. Maybe her first year, when he eventually heard the tales about Catherine and her friends, would think she was just a stupid person being swept along by the crowd instead of as a horrible person. She paused, not sure she really wanted to know. "Did that make any sense whatsoever?"\n\n

0 Catherine Raines Then I guess we're working together. 66 Catherine Raines 0 5

Jordanna Howard
January 05, 2007 4:59 PM

Jordanna Howard
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

So long as you do what I say by Jordanna Howard
So there was hope for the future of Crotalus! Brilliant. After all, she didn't want to be seen with stupid firsties. Not that she wanted them to be nerdy, heaven knew what she would do if the mini-Crotali were a bunch of little geeks. And they couldn't look smarter than her, because she was older and it wasn't right to be shown up by a firstie. They just had to look competent in magic, and not struggle in front of the other houses. That really wasn't so much to ask, was it? No, she didn't think so.

"Good," she said approvingly, watching Oliver's latest wandwork. It was a decent try, but she was fairly sure he could do better. At least, she hoped he could improve. What use was the levitation spell if you couldn't move anything with it? The girl had decided to hold off on her own spells until he could move the feather in the air.

"But you still need to practice. Try it again," she said, not aware how much those words came out as a command. Then she thought about it, and while she still didn't realize how commanding she was (she rarely did, it just came naturally to her, and she knew when she spoke in this tone she got whatever she wanted) the blond had some other advice. "Try moving the feather up and down before side-to-side."\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard So long as you do what I say 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5

Professor McKindy
January 07, 2007 9:15 AM

Professor McKindy
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And thus does our time together draw to a close by Professor McKindy
Aaron had kept on eye on Hikaru at all times after sending the boy to work on an essay in the study carrel. Anyone who lacked the common sense to know that one did not simply fire off a hex in the middle of class. A bit of stealth would be expected even of the Muggleborns without previous magical exposure. How much thought did it really take to realise that if the point of a spell was to injure someone, it was a bad idea to perform it in front of a teacher? The boy seemed to be working diligently on the essay, though. Perhaps he would learn something from it. Aaron trusted his posters to alert him if Hikaru tried anything too hazardous, but nothing beat watching someone yourself.

With a start, he realised that his first lesson was nearly over. Over the cacophonous noise of frogs croaking, children screaming, and children talking, there was no way Aaron would be heard without some assistance. Pulling out his delicate redwood wand, he tapped his throat and said "Sonorus".

"Your attention please!" he boomed, then waited for the noise to die down a bit before continuing. "The lesson is nearly over. If you still haven't mastered the charm you were assigned, I would suggest meeting with your partner out of class or approaching me about possible tutoring. Otherwise, first years, your homework is to read the second chapter in your book on magical and Muggle locks and make note of the similarities and differences. Fourth years, I would like you to read chapter five on charm derivatives. Class dismissed. Not you, Hikaru," Aaron added, with a pointed look in the direction of the first year.

After the students left, Aaron went around collecting the pink frogs, Shrinking them, and put the animals in an aquarium in his office. Leaving the small room, he went over to Hikaru's study carrel and picked up the essay the boy had finished. It sounded as if the boy had gotten the point rather well or could fake that he had. At least, Aaron thought so until he reached the bottom of the essay to find that Hikaru had signed in blood.

"We're going to see Professor Chatterjee," the professor said shortly, waiting for the boy to pack up, then heading towards the office of Declan Chatterjee.

OOC: Hikaru, you need not respond to this, as it is merely a judicious use of 'fuzzy time' and we have already met with Professor Deck.\n\n

0 Professor McKindy And thus does our time together draw to a close 0 Professor McKindy 0 5