But Did You Remember to Use Boiled Eggs? on Charms

Professors McKindy and McFarlan

May 27, 2007 3:56 PM

Charms Lesson II: Second Years by Professors McKindy and McFarlan

A few nights ago, Aaron had attended dinner with the rest of the world instead of just making something himself or going down to the kitchen later, as he was accustomed to doing. There, he had met the new Astronomy teacher. Kathleen McFarlan. Redheaded, Irish, and much less aggravating than her predecessor. She was also only a bit younger than he was, something that was a bit of a rarity among the Sonora staff. He had actually been able to have a civilized conversation with her, something that he had not been able to manage with the majority of his colleagues.

Actually, Kathleen was the reason why the second years were about to have a decent lesson. They had gotten to talking of something called the vernal equinox--something that was apparently happening today.

The two professors chatted idly as the second years entered the Charms classroom. Aaron had not bothered to replace the Muggle posters after the last time he had taken them down. The man was rapidly returning, at least to some extent, to his pureblooded mentality, even wearing astrologically decorated robes for this day.

"Hello," Aaron began, once his second years had seated themselves in one manner or another on the beanbag chairs he kept around for that purpose. As he spoke, he kept a careful eye on Caedence Redoak. He had been worried about her ever since she had come to him after midterm with some decidedly odd...requests. "Today, you will find, is a very special day. Professor McFarlan is here to explain a bit more." Aaron motioned to his Irish colleague to take centre stage, stepping aside, and keeping one eye on the class.

Professor McFarlan smiled at the students. This was a special day for her and it was going to be difficult not to proselytize. There were more faiths than hers that held thier more sacred holidays at this time and the Spring holidays were now so secularized that it was impossible at first glance to tell many of the venerable symbols apart. Still she wore her ceremonial robe for the day, an unbleached soft muslin with purple and yellow cording about the waist. Her hair was decorated with white, yellow and purple crocuses.

“Today marks the official change of seasons from Winter into Spring and its gives you all a bit of a head start on our next assignment in Astronomy class.” She began. “The Vernal Equinox usually occurs between March 20th and 21st in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the day when the amount of daylight and night time hours are virtually the same. This also marks the time when the sun takes center stage for a few months. As we mentioned in class, the moon’s magical properties are of a female quality, the sun resonates with male magical energy and will gather strength from this point in the year until Summer Solstice.

"Spring is a time of renewal. The days grow longer from this point on. Animals go into season and those with long gestations generally give birth around this time. The first flowers of the year bloom and vegetation begins to grow at a rapid rate. It is a time for cleaning out the debris of the winter, planting seeds, celebrating new life, decorating and (when you‘re older) falling in love. Hence spells that relate to these life cycles are much easier to learn and perform on this day, especially those of an artistic nature.

“One of the symbols in many religions of Spring is the egg. It symbolizes spiritual renewal, fertility, and the promise of new possibilities. Decorating eggs in bright springtime colors are traditional with many people around the world. And on that note I yield the floor to our esteemed Charms professor.”

"Consequently," he said when she had finished, throwing her a wry grin at the last part of her small speech, "Today we will be dyeing eggs using a colour-changing charm. As Professor McFarlan has just explained, the charm should be much more potent today than normal. So! To begin, you must wave your wand over that whose colour you wish to change and strongly intend that it change colour. Questions? No? Then begin." Aaron waved his redwood wand in the general direction of an unoccupied beanbag chair. It immediately dissolved into half a hundred medium sized eggs...that began running about on small, fuzzy legs.

"Thank you for that," he said quietly to Kathleen.

Subthreads:

Eggs with legs...What will they think of next? by Helena Layne

But Did You Remember to Use Boiled Eggs? by Professor McFarlan with Professor McKindy

... Astronomy Professor? Wait... legs? by Paul Tarwater

Egg Custard by Elly Eriksson

Shelldon? by Echo Elms

Class Ends by Professor McKindy

0 Professors McKindy and McFarlan Charms Lesson II: Second Years 0 Professors McKindy and McFarlan 1 5

Helena Layne

May 27, 2007 7:58 PM

Eggs with legs...What will they think of next? by Helena Layne

It was hard to be sure, but Helena didn't think she'd ever had a class whose members were drawn entirely from her own year, which made her at once curious and apprehensive over today's exception. She wasn't entirely sure that Professor McFarlan's presence and dress - were those real flowers in her hair? - meant anything good, either. Helena folded her bony form into a beanbag and put her arms around her knees and waited for the class to begin. Whatever the professors had planned was going to happen whether or not she gave it her stamp of approval.

Things made more sense after Professor McFarlan started her lecture - it only made sense for the Astronomy professor to talk about something like the Equinox, and her lessons with the woman had let her know that the new professor knew more than the average Jane about sociocultural stuff. Helena was more accustomed to associating March with death than birth, regeneration, and promise, but that was an inevitable side-affect of having Geoff for a brother and Anne for a friend; to them, the entire month revolved around Julius Caesar and his assassination.

Her family wasn't particularly religious, but she and Geoff and Lavinia had hunted Easter eggs with Anne when they were younger. She could still remember the four of them lined up in front of Mary Wright's kitchen table, making rather poor crayon drawings on eggs prior to Mary hiding them. In spite of herself, Helena was almost eager to start working. Doing this for a grade was different from doing it in the kitchen next door, and she wasn't exactly scribbling with Crayolas, but it was close enough to a flashback to childhood to suit her...Until McKindy produced the eggs and, almost certainly intentionally, gave them legs.

Helena was a Chaser, so she wasn't in bad shape, but there was a world of difference between Chasing a Quaffle on her broom and chasing an egg on foot. Running around bent over grabbing at small, fragile oval-shaped objects wasn't very common with her. Still, it was for a grade, and though she was no Aladren, she spent more time with Aladrens than she did with her own Crotali. The grade complex so common with them had started to wear off on her a little bit. Grateful for the lucky streak that had made her decide to don pants instead of a skirt that morning, she stood up and began to hope that her luck would hold as she joined the egg hunt.

By the time she finally managed to get a firm enough grip on one to keep it from escaping without breaking it, Lena had a thought that she wasn't going to want eggs with her breakfast for a few days, if not a week or so. She wasn't given to giggling, but she was doing it now, and it was a lot harder than it looked to move around in a room with a bunch of people milling around and a bunch of eggs moving around underfoot without stepping on something. "I've got you now," she informed the egg, ignoring the way it tried to kick her. Raising her wand, she began concentrating as hard as was possible while half-out of breath and a touch giddy on how the egg would look bright red.

16 Helena Layne Eggs with legs...What will they think of next? 88 Helena Layne 0 5

Professor McFarlan

May 27, 2007 9:12 PM

But Did You Remember to Use Boiled Eggs? by Professor McFarlan

Kathleen McFarlan gazed about the room in amazement. She knew her classroom was not the typical academic environment and this was no ordinary school, but after several years in the ordinary world, some things still took a little getting used to. The padded walls, wild colored beanbags, the posters, even the bubble hat all shouted that this came from the brain of a very eccentric personality. Somehow it made sense. Charms was a discipline that demanded creativity and imagination. The decor most certainly would encourage a student to think out of the box.

Aaron had been very nice to talk to at dinner and seemed genuinely interested in her desire to teach the interconnection of all disciplines. Too many people, especially the experts in Healing and Astronomy, smiled kindly and verbally patted her on the head and then changed the subject especially when she spoke of blending magical and muggle sciences. Professor McKindy truly listened with growing interest and then asked her to help him with an integrated class. Kathleen jumped at the chance.

The class itself began normally enough. Her lecture was brief and to the point. Professor McKindy’s demonstration was clear. It was just like any Charms class in any magical school until the eggs McKindy produced began running around on fuzzy little legs! She had to laugh and laughed harder still at the students’ reaction to this unexpected challenge.

She was still chuckling when Aaron thanked her. She scooped up a egg that bumped into her foot and waved her wand over it. The shell turned grass green. In her spiritual world it was the male energy color and a wish that the recipient would find romance before the year was up. She didn’t know if he was attached or even looking, but it “felt” like the right thing to do besides, to him, it would be just a green egg with fuzzy legs so she handed it to Aaron.

“You are more than welcome,” Kathleen said. “I should be thanking you. This is wonderful.”

\n

0 Professor McFarlan But Did You Remember to Use Boiled Eggs? 1467 Professor McFarlan 0 5

Paul Tarwater

May 28, 2007 5:02 PM

... Astronomy Professor? Wait... legs? by Paul Tarwater

Paul had been rather tired this week, having spent most his free time sitting in the library in some random corner where no one could find him, with Lussni and a couple hundred books. Not all of them were for the black-haired boy to try and find a job over the summer to help support his family. Most were, but some were just leisure for when he got tired of actually trying to think about what to do.

But still, with classes, homework, and all those books Paul tried to cram up in his head, his normally bright (yet cold) blue eyes were half closed, tired, and dim. Which was why when he walked into the Charms room, his bag slumped across him holding not only Charms books but his own, he didn't notice either teacher in the corner. Oh, he knew the Charm's teacher was here, it was his room, but when Paul actually took a seat he was quite surprised to see the odd new Astronomy teacher here.

Paul's eyes blinked and widened slightly. No, not her. Next thing they would tell him was that they were combining with the first years, meaning Paul would see not only his crankier-than-normal sister. But that extremely annoying boy from Astronomy. His own year was bad enough, especially the Pecaris.

Paul listened barely as Professor McFarlan went on about the Astronomy things. Births of Spring (odd, he was born in spring) and eggs and stupid Muggle religions. Just what Paul needed today, a history lesson that he could barely listen to. He watched as eggs were brought out, and he frowned. What were they to do with those...
Oh...

Color them? How boring.

Paul rolled his eyes, wanting to sleep. Or read more, then sleep. Only to see that now the eggs had legs. He wanted to roll his eyes again, more puns. Stupid puns. Instead he slid his head on his desk and shook his head. Now he had to catch and color eggs for a grade. Joy, and Paul was still so tired. How could he catch one!?

0 Paul Tarwater ... Astronomy Professor? Wait... legs? 0 Paul Tarwater 0 5

Elly Eriksson

May 29, 2007 3:53 AM

Egg Custard by Elly Eriksson

For the first time she could remember, Elly wanted to skip class. It wasn’t that she particularly disliked charms – it was by far her worst subject but Professor McKindy really did do his best to make it interesting. However, the constant effort Elly had to put into the subject did make it a little draining. Yet the reason she wanted to skip the class wasn’t due to it being charms at all, but because of her puffskein. Custard had been distinctly under the weather recently. Elly noticed a decline in purring, and she hadn’t seen Custard eat anything for a few days, either. Even the mention of Teppers, which usually perked her pet up, hadn’t had any effect.

Never having had a pet before, Elly wasn’t sure what to do when it became ill. She didn’t even know why Custard was acting so odd. Maybe it just had something to do with the other pets. Custard had never gotten on very well with Dot or Pence, and now Caedence had a cat, too, and Elly was convinced that Custard had been hiding from it. Also, she couldn’t be sure, but Elly thought that Caedence and Danae had been bickering more than usual, and that was enough to make anyone feel down, Puffskeins included. Elly thought she could take Custard to see Professor K, now that she was back, but she had to go to lessons. So, unsure and concerned, Elly had placed her fluffy pet in her robes pocket, and smuggled it along to class.

Upon reaching the charms class, Elly found a beanbag near the door so she could leave with less chance of being noticed if it became necessary. She was vaguely aware of Professor McFarlan also being there, but she paid very little attention to what either professor was saying, her mind on the ball of fluff shivering in her pocket, despite Elly’s discreet stroking. Then, to her immense surprise, the beanbag just in front of her exploded into what first glimpse told her was lots of large insects. Another look, however, confirmed they were actually eggs… with legs. Well Elly didn’t expect any less from her eccentric charms professor.

Not having listened to the lecture, Elly didn’t appreciate the reasoning for the eggs, but on watching another student make chase and grab, she decided she perhaps needed one for the lesson. Still with one hand in her pocket soothing Custard, Elly reached out with her right arm and closed her fingers around a fast-moving white egg. Her Seeking practise was obviously paying off. With the egg now in her possession, Elly hadn’t a clue what to do with it. She stayed seated on her beanbag, egg in one hand, Custard in the other, and blinked up at the someone who now stood over her.

“Er, hi?” Elly said, with an amused smile. She was going to have to let on that she hadn’t a clue what they were supposed to be doing.

0 Elly Eriksson Egg Custard 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Echo Elms

June 02, 2007 5:27 PM

Shelldon? by Echo Elms

Professor McFarlan was quickly edging out Professor O'Leary for the Echo's favorite teacher award. O'Leary was cool because he was tough and had high expectations, but Echo liked that McFarlane knew stuff about muggle science. She had this muggles and wizards need to learn from each other thing going and he was, as Brett would say, down with that.

McKindy was okay. He kept things interesting anyway. As he explained his color changing lesson with the eggs, Echo remembered dying eggs in elementary school. He'd gone over One-T's house... One-T and his mom put little crosses on all the eggs and didn't understand why he put dinosaurs on his.

No, no, One-T's mom said, Not like that. And she explained that these were Easter eggs and didn't he know about Easter.

Like in Happy Easter? Echo remembered saying. His grandparents said that during this time of year. Happy Easter, Echo! And his mom taught him that the right response to that was Happy Easter, Gramma, and not Uh, okay or whatever it was he'd said last year. But One-T's mom changed the rules. She wasn't supposed to ask him questions about it.

Back in the Charms room, Echo looked off to one corner of the room and picked at a scab. Yeah, well, you're an unsaved heathan! the later words of his third grade pal made Echo miss the charm they were supposed to be learning. He squished the scab back where it was supposed to be, brought his knees up and hunched over them. Sonora was usually safe. Not today.

A nearby beanbag chair exploded into eggs with legs. Just now, though, it didn't seem very funny. As most kids got up to chase their eggs, he spotted Elly looking grimmer than usual. Actually, the mere act of not smiling made Elly grimmer than usual, but this was worse than that. He made a note to ask her about it later -- he didn't feel like talking just now.

An egg wandered near him and he made a motion to scoop it up, but he missed, and it scuttled back toward a crowd of egg hunters.

21 Echo Elms Shelldon? 93 Echo Elms 0 5

Professor McKindy

June 10, 2007 9:40 AM

I knew I forgot something by Professor McKindy

More than a bit pleased at his colleague’s reaction to the eggs, particularly that Kathleen was not loathe to touch them, Aaron was completely thrown by her offering him a green egg. Not because she had performed the spell, or even because the spell had been done particularly well, but rather because of the colour she had chosen. A certain colour that could signify something that he could have sworn she did not know. A bit of peradventure about his assumptions invaded Aaron’s thoughts. Surely she couldn’t know about—but if she did, did that mean—

He automatically took the egg and was almost positive that he managed some sort of polite gesture or murmur in response. Turning it over in his hand, the legs on the egg wiggling about in offense at his rough treatment, the professor contemplated the very strongly green object.

Why had Kathleen chosen that particular colour? It was around Easter and they had just finished discussing the significance of the colour red at the vernal equinox. So why green? What seemed obvious to Aaron that it signified almost certainly would not be at the top of anyone else’s mind. After all, he had only come across it after quite a bit of uneasy reading. Perhaps it didn’t signify anything but the changing of the seasons or a whim.

Realising suddenly that he had been silent for more than an appropriate length of time, Aaron smiled again, a bit uneasily this time, as he struggled to recall Kathleen’s last sentence. Something about his lesson, he thought.

“Thank you,” he said, his unease touching his voice. The emotion wasn’t completely blatant; it would still take a fairly percipient person to even notice it, nevermind understanding why. “So I hear you are taking your older classes on a field trip? Have you met Sadi Powell yet? I’m sure she would be interested in that sort of thing, if you were to need informed help.”

0 Professor McKindy I knew I forgot something 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Prefessor McFarlan

June 10, 2007 1:43 PM

Things Could Get Messy by Prefessor McFarlan

Professor McFarlan watched the parade of emotions flicker across the Charms professor’s face. She truly doubted he knew the significance of the green colored egg unless he did a bit of research before class. Perhaps her instincts had been right and there was someone he cared about? If that were the case, she wondered who the lucky girl was. Aaron McKindy was certainly charming and rather easy on the eyes.

Kathleen scolded herself for being a hypocrite. She wasn’t looking for romance. She found it got in the way of her other passions and after a devastating end to a long past engagement, she’d decided love just wasn’t in the cards for her. At times, she resented her family and close friends’ attempts to get her married off “before it was too late”. Still, when it came to others she was a hopeless romantic and felt great joy when a soul found it’s mate.

Obviously, there was something about the egg that made him uncomfortable because he directed the subject in a completely different direction.

“Oh, Professor Powell is coming along.” Kathleen answered easily. “She is one of the first staff I met here. I enjoy her company very much. But we’re not doing anything with Ancient Runes and Astronomy just yet. Why did you mention her specifically?”\n

0 Prefessor McFarlan Things Could Get Messy 1467 Prefessor McFarlan 0 5

Professor McKindy

June 18, 2007 11:06 AM

Magic school bus, much? by Professor McKindy

“Only because she certainly knows her subject, and I’ve always found astounding connections between Runes and Astronomy. Runes and Charms, as well. I’m hoping to do some sort of joint lesson with her in the future, perhaps with my older students.” Aaron replied. He really needed to stop overreacting to such incongruous things. Taking an eye away from the conversation to check on his students, he was rather amused by what he found. The eggs seemed to be quite the elusive little buggers, and some students were having a real problem trying to catch them.

Still, the eggs provided a bit of fun to the Easter-season lesson. Aaron almost wondered if he ought to do a repeat lesson with his first years as well, then discarded the idea. While they would, doubtless, have fun with the eggs, Aaron wasn’t all that positive that he wanted those students dashing around his room in mad pursuit of a bunch of eggs.

Although he was still uncertain about Kathleen (and probably just assuming she knew things that she didn’t), Aaron was definitely more at ease around her than with most of his colleagues. He didn’t especially mind Niobe or Sadi, or Kathleen now, but most of the other professors made him a bit…nervous. After all, he hadn’t been teaching for that long, and he always felt as though he was intruding when he interjected some sort of comment.

“Sadi’s birthday is coming up soon,” Aaron added, before he forgot to mention it.

0 Professor McKindy Magic school bus, much? 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Professor McFarlan

June 19, 2007 6:55 PM

Just Thinking...the Yolk's on You by Professor McFarlan

“Sadi’s coming along to keep me sane more than anything else,” Professor McFarlan explained. “I don’t think the kids will be a problem. I’m too new, A unknown entity, you know? We’re all still on our company manners.”

Professor McFarlan’s eyes follow Professor McKindy’s toward the students in his class room. With the exception of one or two, like the ever sullen Paul Tarwater, everyone seemed to have gotten in the spirit of the exercise and were really enjoying themselves. They were a lot more relaxed in this class than they were in hers.

“I do really want to do see what I can do to integrate classes more and more.” She agreed. “I think this generation may just be flexible enough to grasp the concept about the interconnectedness of everything. Perhaps they can shake things up a bit when they grow up.”

“Really?” Kathleen brightened when her host mentioned that Sadi was having a birthday soon. She would have to make certain to do something special for her. “Is she celebrating with her family?”

\n

0 Professor McFarlan Just Thinking...the Yolk's on You 1467 Professor McFarlan 0 5

Professor McKindy

June 23, 2007 6:09 PM

Oh, gods...bad puns! by Professor McKindy

Aaron nodded in silent assent as Kathleen commented on the integration of different classes. He agreed, in his own odd way. Of course everything was interconnected; it was one of the first lessons he had learned. Every action had its expected reaction, as well as two or three unexpected down the road. The Law of Unintended Consequences, it was called. It was also rather an interesting theory when you got down to it. Spending time cataloguing actions, reactions, and the interconnectedness of everything was more of a momentous project than the professor could even begin to consider, forget think about undertaking. Still, it was interesting.

“No, I don’t believe so,” Aaron replied. “I know she visits her family often on weekends, but I don’t believe she is going home on that particular day.” he grinned, slightly mischievously, gray-green eyes twinkling in the almost childish amusement of a secret that did not wish to be kept. “What I do know, though, is that Niobe and I—mostly Niobe—have planned something of a faculty party for her.” He named a date a bit more than two weeks in the future, the day of the astronomy fieldtrip. “We’ll be setting it up in her room, I think, as a surprise for when she returns from chaperoning.”

Although he wasn’t much of a party planner, Aaron had jumped in with Niobe on this. He rather liked Sadi Powell, for all that the woman was nearly old enough to be his mother. He was also hoping to do at least one joint lesson with her next year. After all, Ancient Runes and Charms went so well together.

0 Professor McKindy Oh, gods...bad puns! 0 Professor McKindy 0 5

Professor McKindy

June 27, 2007 10:03 PM

Class Ends by Professor McKindy

OOC: Sorry, but I lack the time to write an actual post for this, and it's not fair for the second years to have more time than anyone else. So class is officially closed, thanks for the fun, see you next term...and I'll write the actual post tomorrow. ;)

0 Professor McKindy Class Ends 0 Professor McKindy 0 5