So much choices, so little time on Charms

Professor Aaron McKindy

May 17, 2010 4:12 PM

In the Kitchen [Lesson I, Years 1&2] by Professor Aaron McKindy

It was almost Midterm, and there was something of a festive mood in the air. Aaron could feel it, but despite the general air of frivolity and excitement, he felt unnerved as he stepped into his classroom to prepare for his first years. He Banished the desks to a wizard-space closet in the wall, unCollapsed the black laboratory tables that doubled as bookshelves, and magically distributed ingredients to each station. It was done with a few muttered words, a few wandflicks, and it was done quickly and absent-mindedly. Aaron’s mind was preoccupied with other things.

The last day of the full moon had been two days prior, and this was the first Beginner Charms class since then. Running his hand through his black hair, Aaron felt the pressing urge to hit his head against his desk. Repeatedly. Garen was the one who took in strays and was good at being a parent—Merlin, he even had a pair of kids who weren’t his living at their apartment, in addition to the pair of kids that they were taking care of, and one of Aaron’s two biological daughters. Aaron, on the other hand, was the one not good with kids, or people, as could be evidenced by the awkward attempt several days earlier to ‘connect’ with Cooper, as Mariabianca had suggested.

First and second years started walking in, and Aaron smiled at them, motioned them over to the laboratory tables, spoke with a few of them. When Cooper walked in, almost late, the pair awkwardly avoided eye contact as Aaron groaned internally. The Aladren would probably hit it off better with Garen, or so Aaron hoped. But for now--

“Good afternoon, guys,” Aaron said loudly to get the attention of the students, although he didn’t bother going to his oaken desk on the raised dais at the front of the classroom. It was a ‘lab day’ today, a sort of fun project before Midterm. The Italian knew that kids were less than interested in doing work at the moment; fortunately, he was also skilled at incorporating learning and review into what he hoped would be a fun activity. In Aaron’s own personal experience, note-taking and lectures made reading the book redundant. Perhaps it was his nature as a kinetic learner, but he believed that class time should be spent doing rather than theorising.

“I know that the last thing you want to do right now is learn, so I’m not going to bother with that,” Aaron grinned as the students quietly (and not so quietly) celebrated his announcement. “I would like a paper summarizing what you learned this half of term the first day we get back from Midterm though, so you can start now if you like. At least one page, please.” The students weren’t quite so excited about that, but Aaron didn’t feel too badly for them. It was an easy grade. “Today, we will be baking holiday cookies; I expect you to use the Charms you’ve learned in your time with me to bake, decorate, and, if you wish, Charm your confections. Recipes should be taped to the lab table. Feel free to use more spells that are in your Beginner book or ask me for help if there’s something else you want to do. Until Midterm we’re just going to work on this review project, and then afterwards we’re going to start new stuff. Sound good? Go on then!” And with that, the students turned to each other and started working out the specifics of their project.

Hopefully, he would be able to sort things out with Cooper over the break. Merlin....

|OOC| Okay guys, minimum 10 sentences please! If you’re having trouble with that, try and describe what’s going on, what your character is thinking, feeling, wearing, looking forward to, fearing, etc. Tag me if you need anything and have fun! If you want to do the homework (for extra House Points) just turn it in to the Homework Bin. ;)

Subthreads:

Yumm, Christmas Cookies by Jude Normandy [Pecari] with Sophia Randolph [Pecari], Jude

Awkward much? by Cooper Abramson (Aladren) with Jessica Zeworth (Pecari), Cooper

Awesome!! by Starbuck Gregory with Tristan Volkmann, Pecari, Starbuck

Not up for this by Neal Padrig, Pecari with Caleb Nichols, Aladren, Neal

Never baked before. by Alessa Hinckley with Delilah Kerrigan

Mostly enthusiastic as usual. by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw with Theo Manzana

Who doesn't love cookies? by Ellie McGill with Tobar Brishen, Ellie

SUPER-cookies! by Brad Hayman (Aladren) with Marian Parker, Aladren, Samantha Hamilton (Aladren)

So much choices, so little time by Brian Moore, Teppenpaw with Nadi Roth, (Crotauls) , Brian

Cookie, cookie, who's got the cookie? by Leonardo Michaels with Nicodemus Sawyer, Leo

Needing a partner by Autumn Collins (Crotalus)

0 Professor Aaron McKindy In the Kitchen [Lesson I, Years 1&2] 0 Professor Aaron McKindy 1 5

Jude Normandy [Pecari]

May 17, 2010 4:38 PM

Yumm, Christmas Cookies by Jude Normandy [Pecari]

‘Bemused’ was the word to describe Jude’s attitude towards life since the Opening Feast, when he had nonchalantly announced to Delilah and Mel that there had been a cute boy at the environmental camp he went to over the summer. Ever since then, it had felt as though things had been not-quite-right between the three of them. Something was off. More than that, he hadn’t really talked to Starbuck all year, and he rather liked Starbuck. Or Nina, for that matter. Jude really didn’t understand what was going on. Things had changed, but was that his fault? Or was that just because they were a year older and things were supposed to change?

Perhaps ‘confused’ was the better adjective. After all, Jude also had yet to solve the Jose-not-going-to-classes problem, because he totally hadn’t seen his roommate at any classes all year. In fact, as Jude uncomfortably pulled on the old sneakers he had swapped Jose for last year, he looked around the Commons to see if Jose was going anywhere. But no, the other boy was nowhere to be found. Weird.

For fun, Jude jogged to class. He was getting antsy without being able to run around all the time, and jogging to class in robes made everyone look at him oddly. He waved cheerily back; he knew most of them by sight, at least. The Pecari was basically a very friendly person, and he consequently had quite a few friends. The ones in his year just happened to spend more time confusing him than most; maybe they would have a chance to talk in Charms. Or maybe he would meet someone new! Jude didn’t particularly mind.

Once in the classroom, the blue-eyed, brown-haired boy looked around the room. No desks, but it was McKindy so that was no big. It looked like they were cooking today though, which was exciting. Jude loved to cook, especially cakes and such. McKindy explained the lesson, as well as the lack of homework, and Jude got more excited. Magical Christmas cookies were totally something he could do. Maybe he would even enchant them like the Professor had last year at Charms Club, and send them to his parents as a surprise! That would be awesome.

“So,” he approached a random person, leaned one elbow against the lab table, winked. “wanna get cracking then?”

0 Jude Normandy [Pecari] Yumm, Christmas Cookies 0 Jude Normandy [Pecari] 0 5

Cooper Abramson (Aladren)

May 17, 2010 5:04 PM

Awkward much? by Cooper Abramson (Aladren)

Purple circles decorated Cooper Abramson’s eyes as he skulked into Charms, avoiding eye contact with the teacher. His books were tucked into a forest green draw-string bag that sat on his back, and he had quite irritatedly ignored the existence of robes today and was wearing jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. The only thing Cooper wanted to do was sleep, and then catch up on all the stupid schoolwork he missed. He hated life, sometimes. Usually in the middle of December when he had a crapton of schoolwork to finish and was going to have to go ‘home’ for Midterm just so he could wait to get ditched at someone else’s house, and then on top of that he had a foster parent trying to be supportive. Or something. Or whatever the hell Aaron had been trying to do when he’d come to visit Cooper’s ‘Full Moon Room’ several days past.

Cooper was in a bad mood, and he didn’t want to bake some stupid cookies because his stupid foster dad said so. Or, indeed, at all. He just wanted to curl up in a corner with his jeans and baggy sweatshirt and just sleep until he felt normal again. This time of the lunar month was always the worst; he was drowsy all the time, and his head felt fuzzy as though it was full of the fur he had so recently shed.

Unfortunately, some stupid kid thought it would be a good idea to walk up to him and look friendly. The brown-eyed, brown-haired Aladren thought about growling, but quickly decided that was altogether too much effort to put forth. Instead, he looked blearily at the other person for a full minute before he realised that they had just asked him to partner with them. Oh, great. Now he would have to make stupid fairy cookies with some stupid kid who thought it was exciting to make fairy cookies, during a time of the year and month he hated. Great. Just, great. And to top it all off, it was in his classroom.

“Whatever,” Cooper shrugged, removing his drawstring bag as he did so but keeping it close to him. He didn’t want any of his freako classmates taking his stuff because they thought it was funny. “What do you want to do?” He was so tired, he didn’t want to think. But just for good measure, he turned around and glared at Aaron before turning his attention back to the dumb kid he was working with.

0 Cooper Abramson (Aladren) Awkward much? 0 Cooper Abramson (Aladren) 0 5

Sophia Randolph [Pecari]

May 17, 2010 5:35 PM

Absolutely delicious! by Sophia Randolph [Pecari]

Charms! It was time for the charms class and Sophia was really excited, out of all of her classes this one was the one she liked the most. It was just so awesome! After her horrible experience at CoMC she dreaded that class. She shivered every time she remembered that. She was sure Prof. Dakin didn’t like her, but no biggie because she didn’t like that class and she was certain that once she could, she would drop that subject. Sophia nervously began playing with her braid, remembering that made her fidgety.

So, seeing as today was the day for the best subject ever, Sophia Randolph made her way to the Charms classroom after eating breakfast and writing a letter home. Her parents had been worried because of the whole allergy reaction mess at CoMC, her mother had even threatened to come to Sonora. The green-eyed eleven years old had prohibited it! It would be embarrassing to have her mother fussing over her. She was a big girl now…even when she missed home. She had been adamant on that particular issue.

She entered the classroom and saw it weirdly arranged with long black desks. She shrugged and got a place besides a boy. Sophia groaned when she realized that they would be reviewing, she wanted to learn new exciting charms! She sighed. Ok, not a big problem, she would have fun still…they were cooking! Sophia loved to help her mother in the kitchen, especially at Christmas time.

Sophia left her school bag unopened, she looked longingly at it. She really wanted to learn something new, but she had a lot of time to do it. She needed to listen to her Professor - which was absolutely adorable! – and look for a working partner. That problem was solved when the boy beside her addressed her; he was also looking for someone to work with. Excellent. Sophia smiled at him; he seemed so sure of himself with the wink and posture, “Sure! Let’s get started,” she grabbed her wand and looked at him, “I am Sophia, you?” she introduced herself, because how could she work with someone she didn’t know?

0 Sophia Randolph [Pecari] Absolutely delicious! 0 Sophia Randolph [Pecari] 0 5

Jessica Zeworth (Pecari)

May 17, 2010 5:36 PM

How about now? by Jessica Zeworth (Pecari)

Some people were more excited about midterm than others, and some were just completely indifferent. Jessica Zeworth was one of the indifferent ones. It wasn’t that she had family problems or anything like that. She loved home. She just liked it at Sonora, too. Jessica still hadn’t decided if she was going home or not for midterm.

The first year had chosen a green shirt and jeans, with a black scarf around her head. The winter months made it harder to just go without something on her bald head. It got way too cold. Sonora was interesting, anyway. She actually didn’t mind going around without a hat, wig, or scarf. No one had (to her face, anyway) made fun of her for being bald. There were the occasional questions that were probably less than innocent, but Jessica could live.

She hadn’t decided on a favorite subject yet. Care of Magical Creatures was fun enough, when they weren’t getting stung by weird bugs, but she likes Charms quite a bit, too. It didn’t mean she was talented at it. Jess was still working on that whole actually using a wand thing. Some days went well than others.

After getting the day’s assignment, Jessica stood and spotted another partnerless kid. Awesome! Jessica had seen him around but hadn’t actually spoken to him or anything. He seemed like more of a loner, but that didn’t bother Jessica any. It actually intrigued her. So, why not ask him to partner up? It could be fun.

“Hey, want to partner up?” she asked him. It seemed to take him a minute to register what she had said. The circles under his eyes were pretty noticeable; did he sleep? He finally agreed to work with her, though.

“Um…I think the assignment sounds like what we should do.” Jessica replied, somewhat amused. He seemed to be more focused on making Professor McKindy miserable than actually doing the assignment. She pointed her wand at the flour in front of her and muttered an incantation, intending to levitate it over. Instead, she pronounced the spell wrong and the bag of flour…well, exploded. Whoops.

“I’m Jessica.” She said awkwardly, removing the black scarf from her head to see how much flour actually got on it. Awesome, now my black scarf has white polka dots. “I’m obviously less than competent at Charms today.”

0 Jessica Zeworth (Pecari) How about now? 0 Jessica Zeworth (Pecari) 0 5

Starbuck Gregory

May 17, 2010 6:44 PM

Awesome!! by Starbuck Gregory

Starbuck walked into the Charms room with a smile. She could handle Professor Mckindy’s teaching he rarely had a boring lesson and she loved that. She sat in her usual place, ever since the Quidditch game, which Pecari had won thanks to Dorian, she had calmed down a lot. The redhead wasn’t as annoyed with Mel as she had been at the start of the year. Maybe it was because soon she would be going home! Last term she had stayed at Sonora for midterm break, but this year she was going home. She couldn’t wait Ishmael had promised that Frankie and Farrah could go snowboarding with them.

She frowned when her favorite Professor assigned them a paper. “Well that’s minus a cool point McKindy.” She mumbled as he continued that they would be making Holiday cookies. Starbuck grinned. “Well you earned it back pretty quickly.” She said and then looked down at the recipes they could make. Instantly she saw the ones she wanted to make, so her eye lit up happily.

“Do you want to make gingerbread men and women?” She asked them with a huge grin. She loved gingerbread cookies. Mom and her had always made them every Christmas before Mark died. Pushing that thought aside she kept her grin as she spoke. “We can decorate them and everything, it’ll be a blast. I bet there’s a charm we could find that would make them say Happy Holidays or something!”

0 Starbuck Gregory Awesome!! 0 Starbuck Gregory 0 5

Tristan Volkmann, Pecari

May 17, 2010 7:45 PM

Eating cookies is awesome. Making them however... by Tristan Volkmann, Pecari

Ever since the win against Crotalus, Tristan couldn’t stop grinning like a madman. While the victory had him in good spirits, it didn’t mean he didn’t practice as much though. If anything he tried to practice even more than he already did before the game. He spent more time in the air than on the ground, constantly training and practicing harder. Sure he ached a bit and was as tired as his insomniac roommate was, but it was all worth it. He’d gone up and held his own against students who were way older and had more time working together as a team for their House. Quidditch here was different from his private league back home, which he was definitely made well aware of during that first match. And being made aware of his faults as a player, no matter how well he thought he played, made him want to smooth them over.

The team was good too, though he didn’t really know anyone other than his roommates, and he was still not all that close with them. He hoped to change that, especially since he had yet to congratulate the Seeker for his awesome play. Cap’n was cool enough, though Tristan often had to force himself to stop comparing him to his private Quidditch coach back home. The Keeper, aka female with wicked speed on the broom, he hadn’t seen since she fell at the match. (Hopefully she was alright, but she wasn’t there when he popped over to the infirmary so he guessed she was fine.) The other Chaser looked… lost and out of place, but hopefully practice could fix that. And the Vice Cap’n and the other Beater were good enough for him to respect at least. But a player is only as good as his team, so getting familiar with everyone at least a bit more was something on his to-do list.

As always, Quidditch was the only thing spinning through his mind. Not even the upcoming Midterm took his mind from the sport. Or the lesson, but that wasn’t anything new. At least the guy wasn’t going to try and make them learn things when Tristan couldn’t focus. Though he couldn’t help the slight grimace at the thought of cooking. He never even made himself a sandwich, how was he expected to make cookies?

He heard some mumbling next to him and looked up to see the Keeper. She didn’t seem like she was severely injured from that Bludger. He really wish he had an easier time remembering names so he could match her face to one, but he hadn’t had any luck as of yet with that. And, on the plus side, no one seemed to notice that he didn’t know anyone’s name yet. Lucky him.

Tristan looked down at the list at her request, looking blankly at the paper. “Uh, yeah, sure, sounds good,” he blindly agreed. It’s not like he had much of an opinion about it anyway. He looked down and shyly admitted, “I’m not really a chef or anything, but I think I can at least decorate a cookie and pull-off a spell or two.” He hated to admit that he was bad at something and wasn’t about to ask anyone’s help even if he desperately needed it, case in point the fire incident in Transfiguration where he blew off the Professor, but it might be a good idea to let her know he wasn’t about to ‘wow’ anyone with his cooking. “Oh, and I wanted to ask how you’re holding up after the Bludger thing. I saw you go down at the last second but I never got a chance to ask how you were after we won.” While she looked healthy, nasty hits from flying balls didn’t usually leave victims completely untouched.

0 Tristan Volkmann, Pecari Eating cookies is awesome. Making them however... 0 Tristan Volkmann, Pecari 0 5

Neal Padrig, Pecari

May 17, 2010 8:24 PM

Not up for this by Neal Padrig, Pecari

This was shaping up to be an awful day. Neal had gotten zero sleep last night. He at least managed to get an hour or so in recently, but his lucky streak ended with him staring wide-eyed at the ceiling before giving up and reading a book by the fire in the Commons until it was time for him to get ready for the day. On top of that he felt sick and couldn’t even go inside Cascade Hall. His stomach tugged itself tight at the smell of breakfast, and he quickly decided to pass up on eating. He decided to try and calm himself down in a bathroom so he could be somewhere conveniently located if he did get sick and pulled himself together in order to make it to Charms.

As soon as he looked down at ingredients he realized what an awful mistake that had been. He gulped and watched McKindy as he spoke, trying to concentrate on what he was saying instead of on his own problems. The class was presented to be something fun and it would be if Neal didn’t feel like he was going to lose his stomach at any given moment.

Being miserable wasn’t going to help anyone though. Hopefully he could just grin and bear it at least until after class. Then he would bolt to the medic and see if she could help him get through the rest of his day. His drooping dark eyes, all bloodshot with bags underneath as they were everyday, searched out the person next to him. He willed himself to sit up straighter even though he wanted nothing more than to collapse on the desk. With a friendly smile, he pulled himself together as he looked at the person next to him. “Do you mind being partners?”

0 Neal Padrig, Pecari Not up for this 0 Neal Padrig, Pecari 0 5

Jude

May 18, 2010 6:01 PM

Perhaps magically delicious? by Jude

Green eyes met blue as Jude recognised the girl as a firstie Pecari. Excellent, he was sure to have fun! Not that he had any doubts about the relative coolness of everyone who went to Sonora, but he just flat out didn’t understand Aladrens sometimes, and Crotali could be a bit standoffish. Pecari was definitely the Californian’s favourite House, by far. By very far, in fact, because almost all of Jude’s friends were in Pecari, and so was his favourite professor. McKindy could be a little quirky, but Jude thought that was fun in a teacher. After years of homeschooling, he wasn’t sure if he could have dealt with a stodgy, boring teacher very well.

“Jude,” he said with a grin. He was pretty excited to be baking at this time of year. Catching Starbuck’s eye across the room, he grinned at his friend too. From what he had heard there had been a little bit of Mel/Starbuck drama. Understandable (Jude wasn’t sure if even he could put up with rooming with Mel) but kind of sad, and he felt like it had led to Starbuck being a little left out. She was cool.

“Right-o, let’s see if we can magically measure things...” Jude hummed to himself as he opened the bag of flower and started trying to levitate it into the measuring cup. All that really succeeded in doing was making a mess all over the lab table. Making a face, the brown-haired boy muttered a spell they had learned earlier that year and ‘vacuumed’ the mess up. “That worked superwell, as you can see,” he said jokingly, brushing his long-ish hair out of his eyes with his wand hand as flour sprinkled off his wand’s tip and into his hair. “Your turn for ideas, ‘cause I’m out of magically measuring plans.” If they couldn’t levitate food stuff, he didn’t see how they could measure it magically. Unless there was some sort of invisible pipe thing that could suck the flour up and deposit it in the appropriate place. Which Jude totally didn’t think there was.

0 Jude Perhaps magically delicious? 0 Jude 0 5

Cooper

May 18, 2010 6:21 PM

You have got to be kidding by Cooper

Great. Just great. Firstly, if Cooper had a problem with too much hair (which he did, once a month) this girl clearly had some sort of issue that involved too little hair. And contrary to popular belief, those two things did not balance out. As ruthlessly sarcastic as Cooper was apt to be, the girl was really asking for it. Hadn’t she ever heard of hair-growth potion, or wigs, or leaving people alone? Because it would have been totally awesome if she had chosen to use her skills at one of any of the three. Really. Any one. Cooper was enough of a target for other kids by himself, and he didn’t need to beg for problems. He had enough of them.

Idly, he wondered if changing families would mean changing schools this time around. It was something he had thought about before, but never really come to a conclusion about. It was a boarding school, but what if whatever family took them after the idiot Charms guy decided that he didn’t want to deal with a werewolf in the house lived somewhere closer to another school? Or what if They decided they’d had enough of Cooper causing problems, and sent him to a home somewhere?

Regardless, he had to deal with stupid people for the time being, and stupidity was rampant. Not that Cooper had any great skill with a wand, but he most certainly knew better than to blow up a bag of flour. Coughing as the flour settled, the brown-eyed boy directed his glare this time at the annoying new person who had come up to him and made his life even more miserable than it already was. He refrained from telling her to drop dead on the principle that if he caused trouble in class, he would probably have to deal with the teacher: exactly what Cooper was trying to avoid.

“Just today?” Cooper asked scathingly, resisting the urge to growl at her once more. Idiot. “Too bad. Find a stupid new partner after you clean up this stupid mess, because I don’t want to deal with it.” So much for not causing trouble. Cooper hated people.

0 Cooper You have got to be kidding 0 Cooper 0 5

Starbuck

May 18, 2010 8:34 PM

Don't worry I'll take care of the making! by Starbuck

Starbuck was pleasantly surprised when she saw one of teammates sitting next to her. Tristan had done better then she had in the game, and she was still miffed at Theo for knocking her off her broom. The red hair girl smiled as Tristan said. ” I’m not really a chef or anything, but I think I can at least decorate a cookie and pull-off a spell or two.” She laughed a little bit and nodded. “It’s no problem, I used to make these cookies every year, even the muggle way they aren’t hard!” She said as she fiddled with the Star around her neck.

When he asked about the bludger hit, she winced remembering the pain. “Oh I’m much better now. I had bruised ribs but Medic Roc fixed that right up. Thanks for asking.” She said as she pushed her hair out of her face. “I’m just glad that our “younger” team was able to win.” With that, she looked down at the recipe. “Okay we need flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, eggs molasses, and vanilla.” She said as she wrote down two lists.

She handed him one that said flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, and eggs. Starbuck figured she would give him the stuff that was easily identifiable and gave herself the harder stuff to find. “Alright you go get these items, and I’ll get my five items and we’ll meet back here and try and whip up some tasty cookies for us to have!” She said with a smile and skipped away hoping the cookies would come out just like she remembered.

0 Starbuck Don't worry I'll take care of the making! 0 Starbuck 0 5

Caleb Nichols, Aladren

May 19, 2010 10:34 AM

Then what are you down for? (Teehee) by Caleb Nichols, Aladren

OOC: Before you read this post, I'm just going to assume that Caleb and Neal actually walked around and found a way out in the Labyrinth Gardens that one day. Btw. Sorry I never responded. I've been so busy lately with testing and stuff on RMI that I've been having a hard time updating. And since Caleb is my only character on here I easily forget about his posts. Sorry. If you want, I can still reply. Just let me know. Now...

BIC:
Caleb stretched as he got out of bed. He had a feeling today was going to be a good day. He put on his glasses and ran his fingers through his short dirty blonde hair. He pulled on an outfit of blue jeans and a green t-shirt with the name of his favorite soccer team on it. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror and then put on some shoes and his robes and made his way down to Cascade Hall for some breakfast. After he finished his breakfast he made his way toward the Charms classroom.

He had really enjoyed Charms throughout the year and he was excited for this last lesson before Midterm. He walked in and sat down at a random desk. He didn't look to see who was next to him, only focusing on the teacher at the front. he listened intently as Professor McKindy explained that they would be baking holiday cookies that day. He was so excited. Caleb loved to bake cookies with his family before the holidays; it was a tradition that they had been doing for as long as he could remember. He smiled to himself as he thought about the awesomeness of this assignment today.

He was still smiling as he heard someone speak up from next to him. He turned and looked at the person and realized that it was Neal, the guy he had walked around the Labyrinth Gardens with a few weeks ago. His smile widened and he replied, "Not at all. I'd love to." He looked down at the list of ingredients that were listed on the paper taped to the table. "And by the way, long time no see. How have you been?" He turned to face Neal again and smiled at him. Caleb was so excited to make cookies, he could hardly contain it, but he kept his excitement down as he waited for an answer.

0 Caleb Nichols, Aladren Then what are you down for? (Teehee) 0 Caleb Nichols, Aladren 0 5

Jessica

May 19, 2010 1:59 PM

I'm not, actually. Is it funny? by Jessica

Most people would probably be taken aback by the boy’s poor attitude, maybe even insulted, but Jessica wasn’t most people. She was quite used to bad attitudes and insults and all those things. Whether it was for good or for worse, Jessica wasn’t even shaken.

“Yup, just today.” She shrugged, wiping the flour off her wand with her now black and white scarf. “But I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.” He seems to like the word stupid a lot.

“Well, you don’t have to deal with it. I can take care of it.” She replied as if it was the most obvious solution in the world. She raised her wand, thought about it, and set it back down, grabbing a thing of Kleenex from her backpack instead. The last thing she needed to do was blow up something else trying to fix the situation.

“Kleenex?” she held one towards him. “I got you covered in flour…I’m really sorry about that.” Her green eyes watched him expectantly. It didn’t matter how rude this boy decided to be. He wasn’t going to shake her that easily. “So,” she continued, whether or not he took the Kleenex from her, “I told you my name. Do you have one, or do I have to come up with one for you myself?”

0 Jessica I'm not, actually. Is it funny? 0 Jessica 0 5

Tristan

May 19, 2010 9:31 PM

Then I'll take care of the eating! by Tristan

Tristan felt immediate relief that the redhead knew what she was doing. He had just started o regret not watching his mother or the house elves when they went into the kitchen when he noticed her playing with a star charm on her necklace. Seeing it gave him a nagging feeling that it was important, but he didn’t know how or why. He stopped focusing so much on it when she went on to rehash her Quidditch incident. He rubbed his own ribs unconsciously when she told him the injuries she racked up. At least she was doing better and not stuck in the Hospital Wing. “Yeah, who’d thought the underdogs would win?” he agreed. It reminded him of how little he knew of the other matches teams. Didn’t they have a match soon? He’d be sure to go to it and scope them out. It’d be nice to be able to see the possible team they’d be up against before facing them off.

She went back to her recipe after that and read off what they needed. He watched curiously as she wrote up two separate lists. Tristan tapped the desk and raised a brow at her scribbling. When she was done, she passed him a simple looking one. This was typically the part when Tristan would complain that he was being bossed around, underestimated, or both. But he didn’t argue with her, and he realized that he really didn’t want to. He just took the paper for himself and read it over obediently.

“Alright you go get these items, and I’ll get my five items and we’ll meet back here and try and whip up some tasty cookies for us to have!” she promised before skipping off to get the rest of the ingredients. He noticed the star charm glimmer from her neck as she took off and something clicked. Starbuck. That was her name. He actually remembered someone’s name! Sure it took until Midterm for him to recall someone’s name, and it was only one person’s, but it was progress. Feeling a renewed vigor he took off to grocery shop around the class with a victorious smile on his face.

When he came back over, he put everything out on the desk gently using the helpful floating charm they learned earlier that year. “There, that should do it,” he said proudly as he looked at the boring food items. He was starting to get into this now. (Or that could still be the excitement that he knew someone’s name, he wasn’t so sure.) “So, what do we do now?”

0 Tristan Then I'll take care of the eating! 0 Tristan 0 5

Alessa Hinckley

May 19, 2010 10:10 PM

Never baked before. by Alessa Hinckley

Even though Alessa generally liked Charms and considered it to be the backbone of all magic, her eyes grew round with horror when she'd heard today's lesson. She had never ever cooked before.

In fact, practically nobody she knew really knew how to bake. Alessa's mother did not bake, her grandmothers did not bake, her aunts did not bake. They could plan meals but they were generally cooked by house elves and that included all the holiday treats.

It could be worse, Alessa supposed. At least they weren't doing anything athletic. Nor were her cookies going to be judged against everyone else's. If she had to compete in something, Alessa would prefer it to be something she had a shot in.

Okay, maybe it wouldn't be so horrible. Cooking, from what she understood, was a lot like Potions and Alessa was decent at that. Furthermore, she'd pretty much mastered all the charms they'd been taught this year. Not only that, they were working in partners, as per usual. So, all Alessa had to do was find someone who knew what they were doing. Which, she supposed, would eliminate all the high society purebloods who'd presumably grown up in similar way to her.

The only other thing was that Alessa would prefer not to work with someone who was unlikely to follow directions. She was perfectly capable of screwing up baking all on her own!

Alessa turned to the person next to her and asked "Hey, have you ever baked before?" She sincerely hoped the person had, because now this person would assume Alessa wanted to work with them, as she'd spoken to them and now it would be rude if she said she didn't want to work with them if they hadn't baked before.

11 Alessa Hinckley Never baked before. 150 Alessa Hinckley 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw

May 20, 2010 12:15 AM

Mostly enthusiastic as usual. by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw

Charms had to be Kirstenna's favorite class and Professor McKindy her favorite teacher. His lessons were different and always so much fun! She adored his hat as well, it reminded her of something the clowns at home would wear. In fact, seeing it had made Kirstenna a bit homesick at first but she'd gotten over it and now she loved coming to this class, just like she loved nearly everything at Sonora (aside from the competitive element of course.)

Today was to be no exception. They were going to be making cookies . Even though she'd never baked or cooked anything. Her mom's family were all trapeze artists with no time to bake because they were always practicing and performing and Grandmother Melcher certainly wasn't the cookie baking type of grandmother that Kirstenna wished she had sometimes.

She brushed those thoughts aside. It wouldn't do to think about things that would never ever happen. Instead, Kirstenna was going to focus on the lesson that sounded like a lot of fun. She would love to learn how to make cookies. Sure, she'd seen how cotton candy and other circus fare were made, but never holiday cookies.

But,perhaps, Kirstenna could learn this and someday many many years from now would make cookies with her own grandkids. She looked around for a partner. Sophia was working with some second year boy but that didn't matter, Kirstenna would love to make another new friend.

Seeing someone without a partner, the Teppenpaw approached. "Hi, wanna work together?" Kirstenna asked. This was going to be so much fun.

11 Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw Mostly enthusiastic as usual. 161 Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw 0 5

Theo Manzana

May 20, 2010 1:40 AM

A bit nervous by Theo Manzana

Theo walked into Charms with a little extra pip in his step. Sure Crotalus had lost the Quidditch game, but he had assisted with the one goal in the whole game. There would always be next time and he was sure with the team they had they would win, especially with the ever frightening Russian beater on their team. The fourth year even scared Theo, and he was his partner. He sat down sighing his normal spot was taken by some first year, but it might be a good thing, Starbuck sat near him and he really didn’t want to face her just yet. Though he was sure the redhead would not hold a grudge over a Quidditch game.

When Mckindy told him their assignment Theo groaned. ‘Oh dear lord please don’t let that Eagle be sitting next to me.’ He thought. After last year’s salamander incident Theo never wanted to be the partner of Demelza Eagle ever again. "Hi, wanna work together?" a girl voice said and Theo looked over at her. She didn’t look like trouble, but then again neither had Eagle, until she has stuffed the salamander full of pepper. He bit his lip hoping he wouldn’t regret this at all.

“Sure, what kind of cookies do you want to make?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m Theo Manzana by the way.” He said with a smirk.

0 Theo Manzana A bit nervous 0 Theo Manzana 0 5

Delilah Kerrigan

May 20, 2010 12:54 PM

Never been a better time to start. by Delilah Kerrigan

Baking was something Delilah hadn't done much of, but she could at least say she had done. It was a lesson that she felt that she might actually be able to get a decent grade in, especially since she didn't think the paper Professor McKindy expected after midterm would be all that swift. Well, maybe since they would be home, she could have Veronica look it over since it only had to be a page long. While her sister would help her, she didn't always help with the longer assignments, because there were simply too many spelling errors. Then, when she began correcting it, she started rewriting it, and then well, it turned into her own paper, which really wouldn't work.

The only problem that came in with cooking were the differences between things like tablespoons and teaspoons, but she had been told everyone learning had trouble with that so she didn't feel too badly about it. Now, she just had to find a partner. Hearing a voice next to her, she was surprised to see her sister's roommate. They had never actually really spoken before, but Veronica liked her well enough, which generally tended to be good enough for her. Though, the reverse wasn't always true. There were people that she liked that her sister didn't like what had been being discussed among her roommates, but maybe Veronica would actually give them a chance. Maybe even work with one of them for this lesson.

"Not much, but some," Delilah replied to the girl with a smile. "What kind of cookies do you want to make? I was thinking of maybe making sugar cookies, because they're pretty easy. Then, we could cut them out into shapes and decorate them." That's one of the things that they normally did around the holidays, but she wasn't sure what this one was going to be like. She had no idea what kinds of things Juri and Marla liked to do or if they would even like any of the things her family did. Thinking about it, she didn't know that much about her Charms partner either. "Does your family bake during the holidays? Is there any type of cookies that you especially like? I like chocolate coconut cookies, but you can't really decorate them so I thought the sugar cookies would give us more variety in appearance."

0 Delilah Kerrigan Never been a better time to start. 158 Delilah Kerrigan 0 5

Ellie McGill

May 20, 2010 5:55 PM

Who doesn't love cookies? by Ellie McGill

As Ellie listened to Professor McKindy speak, she tried in vain to hide her ever-growing grin. Holiday cookies? No. Way. This had been her favorite tradition growing up ever since she could reach the kitchen countertop. Her mother would begin by getting all the ingredients for the old family recipe out of the cupboards and the refrigerator, while Ellie and her sister would sit on the wooden chairs and sing along to their mother's off-key caroling. Meanwhile, their father would be magically decorating the house with holly, tinsel, and the occasional sprig of mistletoe. And the best part, of course, was decorating them with the store-bought and brightly colored frosting that spread so smoothly onto the sugar cookies. Then a confetti of sprinkles came next, and finally, as Ellie and Cameron, her sister, were beginning to feel tired and sung-out, they got to eat a few and save the rest for Christmas Eve.

Ellie began to quietly hum "Joy to the World" in her seat. She had the feeling that this was going to be a very fun Charms class, even if they did have to write an essay for homework. It was worth it if they actually got to eat the cookies, too. Ellie grinned broadly, and hoped that she could save a few and send them home to her family so they could see all her hard work. Maybe the cookies would even get home by the time she got there, too. There was no question that she was staying at school for Midterms; she missed her family too much.

Ellie's humming got louder and louder, until she was semi-worried people would hear her "Jingle Bells" tune. She didn't mind too much, though. The only thing she was worried about was if she was going to be able to use her charms well enough to make cookies that actually were cookie-like. She turned to the person sharing her double desk.

"So, where should we start?"

0 Ellie McGill Who doesn't love cookies? 0 Ellie McGill 0 5

Tobar Brishen

May 20, 2010 11:52 PM

Trolls....trust me. by Tobar Brishen

Tobar sat with his head on his desk, he missed the caravan so much right not and couldn’t wait to get home. He new papa and mama would be upset that he hadn’t spoken to Nadi since they arrived here at Sonora. But he couldn’t help that he wasn’t ready to be someone’s boyfriend, let alone Nadi’s fiancé. He sighed as the Professor began to talk about making cookies. He didn’t want to make cookies, he wanted to be home, he really didn’t have any friends here who understood him. He loved the outdoors, he loved to sing and dance and the boys here simply did not do those things.

The gypsy began to perk up a bit when he heard the person next to him humming. It wasn’t a song he knew but it was music! He watched the girl enthralled with her for a moment. She moved onto a new tune he recognized from when they were performing in the town square of some muggle place. He watched her for a few moments until she stopped. "So, where should we start?" She asked him.

Tobar looked at her with wide eyes. Stammering he began. “I…i….i...” He paused and shook his head. “I don’t know but do you like to sing? Your humming was very pretty.” He said a bit bashfully. He was never bashful so he didn’t understand why he was now.

0 Tobar Brishen Trolls....trust me. 152 Tobar Brishen 0 5

Neal

May 21, 2010 11:00 PM

I'm down for not throwing up by Neal

OOC: I’m actually glad you suggested that, since the DADA class ended up doing the same thing, so that’s fine if we assume they went through it. And I have finals galore going on until early June, so I completely understand that. The only difference is that Neal’s my only character anywhere so it’s easier for me to remember to post for him. So, yeah, we can just stick to this thread and keep things manageable :)

Apparently being sick meant a lack of attention to what was going on around him. Neal hadn’t even noticed that Caleb was sitting right next to him for who knows how long. There was a slight glare from his glasses as he gave his signature wide grin. For as much as Neal didn’t want to be there it seemed that’s how much Caleb did. Trying not to look sickly and ruin the positive energy the Aladren beside him was feeling, Neal decided to forgo any complaints about his questionable health.

“Anyway, I haven’t seen much of you since we took on the Labyrinth.” This made his focus slightly less on his upset stomach and he couldn’t staunch his slight grin. Going through the Labyrinth had been quite the adventure. That maze, in his opinion, lived up to both the pulse-pounding and frustrating reputations it’s come to acquire. He was definitely glad he hadn’t taken it on alone like he originally planned to.

“But I’ve been good since then. I guess I’ve been more busy than anything. It just seems like the professors are trying to squeeze in as much work as they can before break.” Not to mention Quidditch practices, which he still didn’t know how to feel about. He was obviously the least experienced player on the team and would probably lose his spot to an older reserve next year. Or worse, to another Tristan-type. That’d be hard to grin and bear. He just always felt a bit left out of the loop with everyone these days. He smiled at his partner, aiming for it to be nearly half as bright as his was. “Being home will be nice time-off, though.”

He got sidetracked when he noticed how good some of those recipes looked. It made his stomach clench at the thought of how good they’d taste. He’d just save whatever he made for later assuming he doesn’t get sick before they finish. “Wow, these look great…. Oh, sorry, got a little side-tracked there with the recipes. So what’s been happening with you? Are you going home for break?”

0 Neal I'm down for not throwing up 0 Neal 0 5

Sophia

May 22, 2010 12:50 AM

How about wonderfully delicious? by Sophia

Sophia smiled at Jude. He seemed cool enough. She watched as he tried to magic the flour into the measuring cup. It didn’t work. Sophia laughed good-naturedly, but she was stopped when flour got into her mouth making her cough. She squinted her eyes trying to make the coughing stop (she had no idea why squinting one eyes made it better), it wasn’t working. Once her coughing fit subsided, she had to suppress another laugh at Jude’s comment. He really was cool. Sophia brushed the flour that made its way into Jude’s hair and clapped once.

“It was a good idea, until it failed…” she smiled at him. Sophia didn’t want Jude to think she was a brat or something, her comment was meant as a joke. The green-eyed girl tapped her finger on her chin thinking about the best way to tackle their issue. Of course she had seen her mother rock her way around the kitchen, but Sophia hadn’t paid that much attention to her mother’s charm work. She lowered her voice “How about we measure the ingredients without magic?” she hoped Jude was up for it. Besides they could use magic to decorate the cookies and make them sparkle and such.

Sophia smiled mischievously; it was the first time since she arrived at Sonora that she actually thought of going against the rules. “Jude, think about it…it is easier. Plus, we can use magic to make the cookies sparkle and change colors! Because, I for one don’t have a clue of how to magic the ingredients,” she grinned sheepishly. She really hoped he was into her plan. Even when she loved charms and Prof. Mckindy, this was kind of hard. She could totally ask her mother once midterm came, but for today she was clueless on what to do.

She looked furtively around the room looking for the Prof., thankfully he was nowhere near them, “So Jude, are you game?” her green-eyes filled with amusement at her little rebellious plan.

0 Sophia How about wonderfully delicious? 0 Sophia 0 5

Ellie

May 22, 2010 9:34 AM

Then they don't know what they're missing! by Ellie

As Ellie flicked her eyes to the student to whom she had just asked her question, she immediately noticed he was staring at her. Her cheeks tinted a faint pink, and her smile became a bit more modest, before her eyes looked away. The boy had long-ish black hair and attentive eyes that she was sure she could still feel watching her. While she didn't generally mind attention, she had never really liked to be watched carefully. That's why she didn't really like going to the dentist or the doctor, where their eyes were always watching her. But she looked back at him a moment later, for she wasn't one to cower from her fears. Well,
except flying; she would prefer not to do that.

The boy stuttered at first. Perhaps he was just as embarrassed to be caught staring as she was being stared at. He shook his head a little as he said, “I don’t know but do you like to sing? Your humming was very pretty.” Ellie was caught a bit off guard. Beaming, she replied.

"Thanks! And yeah, I really like to sing. How about you?" Back to being her usually bubbly and not-demure self, her eyes caught the boy's eyes. "Oh," she added as an afterthought. "And I'm Ellie, first year Teppenpaw."

0 Ellie Then they don't know what they're missing! 0 Ellie 0 5

Brad Hayman (Aladren)

May 22, 2010 5:29 PM

SUPER-cookies! by Brad Hayman (Aladren)

Brad loved Christmastime. It was such a happy, friendly time when everyone got along and there weren’t any evildoers to worry about. After all, his duty to protect the universe wasn’t exactly a light burden; it was a pretty tall order! It was nice to have a break from it all, to be able to let his guard down. Of course, he never completely ignored the possibility of a supervillain uprising. He just wasn’t as relentlessly alert as usual, was all.

McKindy was pretty cool. The first-year liked the subject he taught as well as the way he taught it; he was pretty laidback, but he knew when to get down to business. He certainly wasn’t of Epic Hero proportions or anything, but he was better than the super-lame Professor Fawcett. Much better.

He grinned when the teacher—the teach-er—said he wasn’t going to bother making them learn today. Brad would probably be a little annoyed if winter break weren’t coming up very soon, but Christmas was almost here and he was going back to the farm soon and he’d get to see all his friends and family and…Well, he was honestly having trouble focusing on his magical learning pursuits, regardless of how utterly fascinating they were. Again, he enjoyed letting his guard down on occasion, and this was one of those times. And there was still some homework he’d have to do over the break, so it wasn’t like he was dumping his brain of Charms knowledge until further notice.

Woo! thought Brad when McKindy said they’d be baking holiday cookies. The redhead was a highly skilled cookie preparer; he and all six of his older brothers made them with his Mom and Pop every Christmas. Though the kitchen usually ended up covered in flour and green and red sprinkles, their cookies always turned out delicious.

Looking down at the table, he saw a recipe taped down that said Sugary Snowmen at the top. Smiling, he turned to the person next to him. “Hey, wanna work together? I’m Brad Hayman, Aladren first-year. I’m a super-baker; I have a badge to prove it!” He picked up his bag and plopped it onto the table, digging out the closest thing to an official badge that he could find: a dark yellow sticky note. He quickly scrawled his name and the title Super-Baker on it and then held it up to the kid. “See?”

0 Brad Hayman (Aladren) SUPER-cookies! 0 Brad Hayman (Aladren) 0 5

Marian Parker, Aladren

May 22, 2010 8:12 PM

What's wrong with ordinary cookies? by Marian Parker, Aladren

The first half of the year had been easy come, easy go. Going back home after spending so much time at Sonora was going to take a lot of adjusting. Marian had gotten so used to being surrounded by and using magic that going into what she was starting to think of as ‘Muggle Mode’ would be like taking away apart of her she just started to embrace. She couldn’t devote evenings to practicing spells or every free moment in the library anymore. If anything all she could do was take some books out so she could study up at home and attempt the spells when she returned. It wasn’t what she preferred, but it’d have to work until she could come home.

Charms class only reminded her of how much she was dreading going home. She seemed to be the only one with any holiday spirit at home. Her parents didn’t really get into ‘silly things like holidays.’ They only appreciated the time off from work and left Marian to try and scrounge up whatever they had around the house for decorations and festive foods. She smiled at the thought that she could make some cookies here that she could share with people who’d appreciate them. She’d be sure to give some to Ellie at least.

Marking the homework in her planner neatly, Marian gently tucked her Quill away before placing her planner in it’s usual spot. She liked to keep things organize and tidy as possible, as she was raised to do. The class today, preparing a recipe, was also what she liked working with. It was, in a way, like Potions – there was a set-plan of execution to follow for good results, follow them and you’re fine. She liked the security in clear cut directions. She was too timid and insecure to trust risks.

She was looking at the recipes when she noticed the person beside her doing the same. He looked excited and had hair as bright as Ellie’s, though his was more red. It was a somewhat familiar shade. Maybe she’d seen him around the Common Room? But she spent so much time hiding in the background, trying to go unnoticed that she couldn’t be sure. Feeling embarrassed for looking at him for so long and trying to determine who he was, she directed all her attention to choosing a recipe. Sugar Snowmen were at the top of the list, but she wasn’t sure about doing it – it seemed to risky. She looked below it and decided she’d much rather do Sugar Cookies. They were the safer option, she thought. No crazy wand work involved in decorating or anything.

”Hey, wanna work together?” Marian leapt in her seat a bit, startled at being so forwardly addressed. No one had spoken that boldly to her, ever. The doll-like fragile girl tilted her head slowly to face the boy beside her, her glossy sky-blue eyes opened wider than they usually were. “I’m Brad Hayman, Aladren first-year.” Oh, so she had seen him in the Common Room then. He didn’t seem like an Aladren now that he was talking though. Most of the one’s she met were rather quiet and calm. He seemed more like the excitable Pecari or Teppenpaw she’d come across. If he didn’t say so or look familiar, she never would’ve guessed they were sorted to the same place.

He further drew attention to himself by dramatically making himself an ‘official’ badge. She giggled than stifled it timorously behind her small hands as her cheeks flushed. She didn’t like to laugh in front of other people – she still had issues talking to other people! Marian slowly took her hands from her face as she looked down and her desk bashfully. “O-oh, umm…sure, I don’t mind working with you.” She looked back up nervously, afraid he’d decide to reject her for being so socially awkward or something before she looked at her desk once more and willed herself to greet him properly. “And m-my name is Marian Parker. I’m an Aladren first-year too.”

41 Marian Parker, Aladren What's wrong with ordinary cookies? 1402 Marian Parker, Aladren 0 5

Brian Moore, Teppenpaw

May 22, 2010 8:22 PM

So much choices, so little time by Brian Moore, Teppenpaw

The countdown for Christmas this year had been something Brian started the day after Christmas last year. It was his favorite holiday, though not for the presents but for the traditions. He didn’t usually cook though, that was typically something his mother and older sister liked to do. It was fine by him since he liked decorating more, but he’d always wanted to swap jobs and try something new. So when Professor McKindy said they’d get to bake cookies, he had to hold himself back for jumping with joy. He’d also be able to send some to his family back home! It was a class him and his family could benefit from!

Brian studied the ingredient options with his grey-green eyes, rubbing his Greek nose or messing up his ashy blonde hair from time to time as he looked over the choices. They all looked great in his opinion. He never turned down a desert and couldn’t find anything wrong with any of the cookies he was looking to make. He never was the bet at making up his mind in the first place.

“This is tough” he said to the person next to him. “They all look so good, I wish we could make them all!” he joked, laughing slightly. He turned to face them, giving them a good-natured smile. “Do you want to work on one of these together? Maybe pick one out since I can’t pick one?” He smiled at them before remembering to give his name. “Oh, and I’m Brian Moore, a first year in Teppenpaw.”

0 Brian Moore, Teppenpaw So much choices, so little time 0 Brian Moore, Teppenpaw 0 5