A positive outlook on Charms

Professor Aaron McKindy

August 24, 2011 11:25 AM

Beginner's Lesson 007 [Years I - III] by Professor Aaron McKindy

Professor Aaron McKindy had, by this point in his life, learned that things just had a tendency to not go his way. He had more-or-less resigned himself to that sort of thing, but the return of his old friend to the post of Headmistress at Sonora shortly after he had been invited to submit an application for professorship at the Center for Higher Education of the Society of Sorcerers was a bit much. Admittedly, Aaron had been excited to hear that he had been accepted and was already anticipating his move to the small town outside of Los Angeles. After the messy divorce of last year and the stress he felt at being somewhat friendless at Sonora, it would be a nice change. He had also begun studying to become an Animagus, and teaching at a university would provide him with better resources to do that, and it had (of course) been a tremendous honour to be selected out of the Society of Sorcerers as someone who would be a valuable contribution to CHESS. But it wasn’t fair that Sadi had returned as Headmistress just as he was leaving.

After Sadi had pointed out with her usual calm, matter-of-fact manner that she was only the acting Headmistress while the Scot was away on family business and that Aaron ought to stop sulking he had, of course. It was just that he didn’t want to.

He hadn’t yet let his students know that he would be leaving , but he had planned a number of particularly exciting lessons. If Aaron was going to leave the post he had spent most of his last decade at, he was going to do it in style. He would miss his students much more than he would miss his colleagues, but he did hold out hope that some of them would pursue higher education at CHESS and that he would see them again.

Today, for example, Aaron stood outside of the doorway into the Charms classroom to intercept his students before they entered. The Charms professor had spent a gratuitous amount of time playing with wizard space and planned to hold his Intermediate and Advanced classes in the library until he could put things to rights. Once all of the students seem to have gathered in the hallway, the t-shirt-clad man shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and leaned against the doorway, feeling his wand handle stick into his lower back. Aaron had a penchant for sticking his wand in his back pocket, although it wasn’t a strictly safe procedure.

“Hello class!” the tall, black-haired man said, grey-green eyes looking around the group. They were still mostly segregated by year, although there was moderate mixing. “Before we begin class, I want you each to pair up – different years, please. I don’t want to see any first years with first years unless it’s strictly necessary.”

Once the students had followed his instructions, some less willingly than others, Aaron began handing out scraps of parchment, apparently blank. Those students who had been paying especial attention to the Midterm Challenge assignment that Aaron had given them to complete over break would probably suspect that the slips of parchment had actually been written on in Invisible Ink, but those who hadn’t would, presumably, be quite confused at the moment.

“Line up, please, by pairs,” Aaron directed, then waited as the students did so. “Each of you,” the Pecari Head of House announced, a grin creeping on to his face, “are now a pair of secret agents. You have been given a confidential government assignment that you must complete in the next hour and a half or suffer the consequences of failure,” there weren’t actually consequences of failure, but Aaron thought that such a ‘threat’ fit into the course of the assignment rather well. “Beginning in just a moment, each pair will be released through the door at forty-five second intervals.” He paused, then smiled broadly, opening the door.

“First pair, go!”

The obstacles for each team would be different – therefore the manipulation of wizard space – and if the team didn’t figure out that the instructions could be found on the slip of parchment they wouldn’t get far, but overall Aaron thought that this lesson offered a fun opportunity for imagination, exploration, and an assessment of the students’ comprehension and practical abilities.

Getting out his gradebook, Aaron slipped into his section of the wizard-spaced classroom to observe the students as they worked at their pop-quiz, of sorts.

|OOC|
Minimum ten sentences, please! But the more you do, the more House Points your House gets. Be creative and have fun! Tag me in your subject line if your character needs Aaron. Feel free to be creative with the charms you use – check the Harry Potter Lexicon or Wiki if you want some ideas – but don’t forget to remain within realistic guidelines. Each student pair will definitely be required to use: Wingardium Leviosa, Alohomora, Aparecium, and Lumos/Nox.

A bonus of up to ten points per character will be given for use of creativity in designing obstacles and your character’s response to them. However, as you write your posts, please recall that Aaron would not have created obstacles or situations in which the students would be put in actual, physical danger – although the illusion of actual, physical danger is totally legit for use.

Enjoy!

Subthreads:

I spy by Linus Macaulay with Jessica Applerose - Teppenpaw, Linus

*Puts on sunglasses and a dark suit* Good to go, sir. by Russell Layne, Aladren Second Year with Katrina (Kitty) McLevy - Aladren

To the Batmobile! by David Wilkes, Aladren with Alice Adair, Crotalus

A positive outlook by Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw with Jhonice Trevear - Pecari

*gulp* by Valerie Lennox, Crotalus with Derry Four, Teppenpaw

0 Professor Aaron McKindy Beginner's Lesson 007 [Years I - III] 0 Professor Aaron McKindy 1 5

Linus Macaulay

August 24, 2011 4:37 PM

I spy by Linus Macaulay

Before he'd come to Sonora, Linus' concept of a real wizard would have involved a long cloack, pointed hat, white beard, and possibly a staff of sorts - in short, a lot like Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies. Since learning a little bit more about wizards, however, Linus had ammended his concept; old wizards did look like Gandalf, but younger adult wizards looked like Professor McKindy, who could probably almost pass for a Muggle most days, but then he often wore an eccentric pink bubble top hat and sometimes his clothes had motifs that moved. In Linus' mind, this was how actual wizards were.

Charms classes were usually quite fun, because the students learned how to do things that in a Muggle environment would be considered impossible. Things like making objects float, or disappear, and they almost always used their wands. It felt like real magic, whereas potions and care of magical creatures, for example, could sometimes be rather dull in comparison. Linus still enjoyed those classes, but they just weren't as exciting as waving his wand around and actually personally causing things to happen. The draw of charms was such that Linus was actually looking forward to the class. He tried not to be too disappointed when they were asked to partner someone in a different year group. Linus was adverse to this arrangement because he didn't like to be made to feel inferior, and older students inevitably had that effect for one reason or another.

Regardless, he wasn't about to break school rules or go against a professor's instruction simply because the scenario didn't sit pleasantly with him. He sucked in his gut, approached one of the students who he knew wasn't in his yeargroup. He usually looked presentable with his dark blonde hair swept back from his face, his uniform robes neat and shoes properly polished. He was decent at the spells they had studied in class so far this year, and so he thought he was just as recommendable a partner as any of the first years, and probably moreso than most. "I'm Linus Macaulay," he said boldly but not rudely. "Could we be partners for this class?"

0 Linus Macaulay I spy 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Jessica Applerose - Teppenpaw

August 25, 2011 3:40 AM

With my little eye by Jessica Applerose - Teppenpaw

Jess was excited for Charms. She had studied her whole first year, nearly neglecting her social life--something quite unusual for her--just to know more about her favorite subject. The British-born California girl knew a lot of the spells that was used in this class and loved using her wand. Another reason why she loved this class. She had fervently done the homework the professor had assigned over the holiday, between having fun with Regina of course, and had learnt a lot. Prepared herself a lot, really.

Jessica tugged on a brunette curl when she received her piece of paper. She knew better than to expect it to just be a blank piece of paper. She smiled secretively. Perhaps when they went into the room whatever was on the paper would appear. Or a simple revealing charm would work as well. She liked professor McKindy's scenario of being a secret agent. She wasn't sure if the purebloods would get it like she did. She was lucky to have lived in the Muggle world, although she certainly did not live like a Muggle.

And now they had to find partners. Easy. But before Jess could even turn, someone approached her. She turned to look at a well-groomed boy in surprise. Then her surprise melted into a large smile. "Sure. I'm Jessica Applerose," she offered. After introductions, she gestured for her companion to go with her to professor McKindy. Soon, they were allowed into the room. First of all, the room looked nothing like she had expected. It almost looked like they were in a boring Muggle office without the cubicles and with heavy-looking desks. It was missing the employees, though. And there was a random wardrobe in the corner. Creepy.

"Well, time to find out what's on this paper," she said. "Aparecium," she said, pointing her wand to her paper. Black inked words appeared, just like she had thought. Her lips curled into a smile. "Invisible ink," she said. She wasn't sure if the first-year beside her would know how to do the charm, but she had faith in him. Might as well not hurt his pride. She read a couple of the instructions.

"One. Find the Quick-Quotes quill and write a message. Use the message to find the emerald amulet (watch out for beasts)." Jess' eyes widened. "Beasts?" she repeated skeptically. Well, what else could she expect from such a class? Nothing remotely safe, anyway. She wondered if this really was the Charms classroom they were still in. She glanced warily at the wardrobe. "I have a feeling we'll need to look inside that wardrobe eventually. I dearly hope that it's only holding clothes, though. Do you want to explore that part at the end?" As confident as she could pretend to be, she was deathly afraid of the unknown.

The paper suddenly dropped out of her loose grip. "Whoops!" She bent down to pick it up and said, "Why don't you read the rest of the instructions?"

0 Jessica Applerose - Teppenpaw With my little eye 0 Jessica Applerose - Teppenpaw 0 5

Russell Layne, Aladren Second Year

August 25, 2011 3:49 PM

Puts on sunglasses and a dark suit Good to go, sir. by Russell Layne, Aladren Second Year

McKindy being there to greet them all as they came in was nothing new, but him keeping them outside the classroom was. Russell’s eyebrows rose a little in surprise, but he just picked a place to stand among the rest of the very large class, somewhere between the bulk of the second years and the bulk of the first years, near Mellie, though that wasn’t a deciding factor in the place. It was just where his feet happened to stop when he reached the hall, and while it felt a little conspicuous not to be in a knot of friends, he thought it would feel even more like everyone was noticing if he went to stand with someone specifically now.

It turned out not to matter much anyway, though, because while his guess would be that most friend groups would be in the same years – sure, they had a chance to make friends between years in class, but they shared rooms and all their classes with their own yearmates, knowing they would all still be together in seventh year, too, and plus, there were skill differences that made him think first years deferring to second and second to third must be as natural as breathing in most cases and something of a bar to an equal relationship between friends in as many – they didn’t have total freedom to choose their partners. That made him smile a little; there were going to be some people who didn’t like that at all.

He was okay with it. A little wary, since the mixing of skill levels implied some of the things they got thrown into might be third year level, but he had always completed all his lessons up to this point, working with different years at times, and saw no reason why this normal course of things would not continue. He was not the most brilliant student, in general or in use of magic, in the year, that was probably Preston or Alice or Arthur, but he could hold his own, and he didn’t think he’d seen anyone in the class who was just a complete failure at magic. It would be all right.

“Wanna work together?” he asked a non-second year eye he caught, smiling slightly in a friendly way instead of a privately amused one now. That wasn’t an expression, he thought, that people liked to see on another.

16 Russell Layne, Aladren Second Year *Puts on sunglasses and a dark suit* Good to go, sir. 183 Russell Layne, Aladren Second Year 0 5

Katrina (Kitty) McLevy - Aladren

August 26, 2011 5:54 PM

This message will self destruct in five…four… by Katrina (Kitty) McLevy - Aladren

The playful tap taptap of Kitty skipping down the hall towards the charms room was quickly muffled by the chatter of her classmates who were all standing around outside the room, instead of inside. Kitty joined the group as curiosity blazed in her sky blue eyes. Charms and transfigurations were two classes that she really liked because she got to use her wand, even though sometimes the spells didn’t always work right, it was still super fun and made her feel magical.

“Ohhh secret agents!” Kitty whispered, excitement tinged with annoyance at not being able to pair with Laurie, that would have been epic. But, it wasn’t to be, so there wasn’t any use pouting over it now. It was probably for the best that the first years had to pair with someone older, the undefined task sounded like it might be tricky and they’d need the older students whose spell base was bigger.

Clever sparkling eyes swept over the group to see who to pair with as the Professor handed out sheets of paper. Her smiling features smoothed out into a look of curious concentration as she looked at the blank sheet of parchment, flipping it over showed that the back side was equally blank. Why would he give us a blank sheet of paper? Ohh! Secret agents, it’s probably written in invisible ink. Kitty thought with a grin, that again turned into a pout as she couldn’t remember the revealing charm needed to show her the writing. Ruffling though her book bag Kitty snagged her Charms book and quickly flipped through the pages. “There you are! Aparecium” She said with a swish of her wand. Perhaps the swish wasn’t quite right as the words only barely appeared, as she was squinting down at the sheet a voice broke her concentration “Wanna work together?”

Kitty glanced up from the faint words and grinned. “Yeah! That would be great.” Her smile was by far greater than his but Kitty didn’t mind. At least he wasn’t frowning or looking all blank like some of the magic kids did. Kitty was an expressive person by nature and without thought she reached out and snagged his shirt sleeve, the tiny girl practically dragged the other boy into the line, wanting to be the first though. “This is going to be so much fun.” Kitty said with a grin, they weren’t the first pair to go through but they were the second.

Kitty’s eyes widened in amazement at the pure white space they’d found themselves in. The only thing in it was what looked like a door made of glass. It was hollow about three inches wide and inside was a glass maze, like a rat in a lab would run, going the length and width of the door. At the top left corner of the maze sat a golden key. Reaching out Kitty tapped the door with a fingernail, the sound wasn’t quite as true as glass, nor as dull as plastic. “I wonder what it’s made out of?” She couldn’t help but ask. The lock was at the center of the door, and they’d have to move the key though the maze to get it to the lock. “Drats I’m alright at levitation, but not very good at directing it.” Kitty admitted with a pout.

Staring at her sheet again Kitty could just make out the words she read them out loud “In marble walls as white as milk, Lined with skin as soft as silk, Within a fountain crystal clear, A golden apple does appear. No doors are there to this stronghold - Yet thieves break in and steal the gold. Hmm, well that sounds like a riddle to me, but that doesn’t make any sense there’s a door right there.” Kitty argued with the parchment as she pointed towards the door. “Where do you think it leads?” The tiny girl asked.

0 Katrina (Kitty) McLevy - Aladren This message will self destruct in five…four… 0 Katrina (Kitty) McLevy - Aladren 0 5

David Wilkes, Aladren

August 29, 2011 12:33 PM

To the Batmobile! by David Wilkes, Aladren

This sounds like a good idea seemed to David like good candidates for famous last words, but he wasn’t sure if they counted if he first didn’t say them out loud and then thought them sarcastically. He really hoped they didn’t count that way, because that was exactly how he came to interact with them once he heard they were going to be partnering up for the Charms lesson, which was either being held in the corridor or which involved something weird with the room, before they knew what was really going on with the Charms lesson.

That they couldn’t pair up with people of their own years, though, struck him as indicative that his luck might not be in today. He didn’t really know the second and first years that well, which made it hard to know what he might be getting in a partner. If it was a hard lesson, that would – or at least really, really, could – be kinda bad. He wasn’t cut out for being a babysitter, and didn’t always pick up spells with great ease himself.

There was nothing to do about it, though, so he picked a face he was sure he had never seen in an Intermediate class before and smiled at it. “Hey,” he said, noticing that a line of pairs was already forming, and that the teacher had what looked like assignment slips in his hands, just waiting for the rest of them to form up so he could tell them what the assignment was going to be, “Got a partner yet?”

Maybe it would be fun. Stranger things had happened. Much stranger, if he didn’t miss his guess. He pushed his mind toward the lines where this would just be about having some fun in one of Professor McKindy’s often slightly eccentric lessons. That was the best way to think about it. The way to go about it, really. He had never believed it when teachers said it, because they were on pay from the government anyway and wanted students to be the opposite of what they were saying they wanted to help their test scores, but empirical evidence at Sonora suggested that perfectionism didn’t pay. It was better to just enjoy what he could and do his best at that and the rest alike, or else he thought he might go kinda crazy and that would be no good.

16 David Wilkes, Aladren To the Batmobile! 169 David Wilkes, Aladren 0 5

Alice Adair, Crotalus

September 02, 2011 12:16 PM

Can I be Cat Woman? by Alice Adair, Crotalus

When the students were intercepted at the door of the Charms room, Alice frowned. She didn’t like change. Change required an adaptation, a trait of Pecaris, and the last time, she had checked she was in Crotalus, a house that stated being cautious. Yes, she was cautious. She liked that which was known, but it seemed that this class was never that. Every single time it was something that bordered on the lines of being crazy if not being outright so. And the fact that they were not allowed to go immediately into the classroom was like a red light in her brain warning her that she was going to hate today’s lesson.

Mmm, and it was only made worse by the fact that they were being ordered to work in pairs. She hated working in pairs because she usually ended up with someone that had difficulty with the lesson. But she was never quite sure that they actually had issues with the lesson or if they were merely mocking her, because she understood, or at least thought she did, the lessons. She supposed if her marks were any indication, then she guessed they weren’t somehow making fun of her. But she still was never sure. She never understood when others didn’t grasp something and assumed that they should. So, she felt that they were somehow pretending. When she had told Jordan this, her sister had called her crazy. Maybe she was.

Biting her lip, she shuffled a bit in her chucks, as she looked around for a partner. She decided to try and find a first year since she felt that there was little chance that they would pretend not to know anything. First years always seemed eager to show what they know or learn what they didn’t. But before she could, someone else asked her. She chewed the inside of her mouth, hesitating slightly. “No, I do not. We can be partners, if you like.” She added the last part, because that always left room for one to change their mind. “Alice Adair. You are David Wilkes, right?” She remembered names from role calls, easily enough.

0 Alice Adair, Crotalus Can I be Cat Woman? 0 Alice Adair, Crotalus 0 5

Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw

September 03, 2011 6:09 PM

A positive outlook by Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw

Midterm had been great for Hope of course. She'd gotten to see her family whom she loved. The best thing was that she'd gone to Cecily Smythe's wedding with her parents and had gotten to see Chelsea again and she'd found out that her older sister was pregnant! Hope was going to be an aunt ! She couldn't wait for her niece or nephew to be born.

It was unlikely though that Hope would get to spend much time with Chelsea's baby though. Her sister was still hiding in the Carribean with Julian. Great-Grandfather had put protection in place at Cecily's wedding to keep Chelsea from being harmed. From what Hope understood, Fallon and Aunt Dorothea were out for blood. They wanted to harm Chelsea and Julian. Chelsea's husband wasn't even able to attend.

Hope wondered when she would see her sister again at all. She didn't understand how Fallon and Aunt Dorothea could be like that. Yes, it was upsetting to lose one's fiance and Hope could certainly see why Fallon would be upset that Chelsea ran off and eloped with Julian at what was supposed to be Fallon's wedding to him but to take it so far that Chelsea had to go away.

She just didn't understand how people could do bad things period, especially to their family. There was this rift now between her mother and her brother, Fallon's father, Uncle Henri. Not to mention the dark looking figure of Uncle Liam. Uncle Liam had mistreated Marshall horribly and drove Aunt Rosemary insane through mental magic from the bit Hope and picked up here and there.

The Teppenpaw really wished she didn't know even what she did. Hope wanted to keep the world a happy and kind place forever. She never wanted the illusion broken the way it had been for all her older siblings. Didn't want to be bitter like Adam or heartbroken like Kaylie before she met Ian or left out like Nina.

There was still time. Time to make friends, there was always time. After all, things had gotten better for Kaylie and someday they would for Adam and Nina too, Hope was sure.

She listened to Professor McKindy's lesson. It sounded like something that could be a lot of fun. At age twelve, Hope was supposed to outgrow playing pretend, but part of her really wished she still could instead of worrying about dates to the ball and betrothals. She wished she could just stay a child a bit longer. Bubbles burst when you got older and you developed a grim outlook on life, Hope wasn't ready for that yet. She wasn't sure she ever would be ready to see the world in such a depressing way.

Truth be told about the ball, though, Hope did know who she wanted to go with. As friends of course, because they were so young and Hope would never be betrothed to the person anyway and if he didn't ask her, she wouldn't be too upset. Hope snuck him a quick look before turning to the nearest person not in her class. "Hi! Do you want to be partners?" Hope asked enthusiastically.

11 Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw A positive outlook 186 Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw 0 5

Linus

September 05, 2011 7:22 AM

Something beginning.... by Linus

(Sorry it's so late! Crazy couple of weeks.)

His first instincts concerning Jessica were not entirely companionable, but then Linus rarely managed to extract a good first impression from people he met. All jessica had done, in all honesty, was be an older student and a girl, and that was sufficient for Linus to be wary of her. However, she did immediately ascertain that the piece of paper they'd been given was written on with invisible ink, and not only knew the correct spell to make the words appear, but also executed it proficiently. Linus couldn't help but grudgingly admit she was apparently adept at at least some forms of magic, and thus she would probably make a decent partner for the day's assignment. "Nice one," he made a positive comment on her initial success; girls usually responded well to positive feedback.

The instructions Jessica read out made little sense to Linus. How were they supposed to follow directions if they had to be the ones to write them? What was a Quick Quotes Quill, anyway? The contents of the wardrobe weren't concerning him just now; if that was something at the end of their trail, or even along the way, they'd have to get to that point before they needed to deal with it. And, Linus thought as Jessica dropped the instructions, at this rate they may never need to worry about it. "Let's follow the first instructions first," he said, taking the parchment from her. "We can worry about the next bit once we've completed the first bit." That was obviously the logical way to do things.

Loathe as he was to seem ignorant, Linus didn't want to ask about the Quick Quotes Quill. Instead he looked around them for some inspriration and, on a shelf way above their heads, he saw an acid green feather producing of its edge. "Do you think that's it?" he asked his partner. Then, before he'd given her chance to answer, the Crotalus cast Wingardium Leviosa and gradually guided the feather back down to him; it had taken a lot of practise before midterm for the first year to float items down as well as up, but as the feathered quill landed in his outstretched palm, Linus was convinced he'd gotten that spell down nicely.

Fairly sure that this was the Quill they required, Linus looked round for some ink, but found none, only some parchment in the cubicle where they stood. He'd seen some of the other students use self-inking quills, so, hazarding a guess, he put the nib to parchment, and immediately the Quill stood up on its end and began to scribble. Linus leaned over to see what it had written.

0 Linus Something beginning.... 0 Linus 0 5

David

September 06, 2011 6:31 PM

Sure thing. by David

David couldn’t quite put a name to the face of the girl he’d spoken to, but to his surprise, she was immediately able to identify him. He wasn’t sure if he should feel pleased or paranoid, really, though he was more inclined toward the latter. Whatever he might like to tell himself from time to time, particularly when swearing at a spell that wasn’t going his way wasn’t an option because there were teachers around and he had to say something to keep his work going, he knew he wasn’t exactly a Sonora celebrity. He had yet to even play in a Quidditch game, never mind do something epic in one, and while he was a decent student, this did not exactly make him stand out in a room with three years of Aladrens in it the way it might have in a Muggle school.

He settled for not thinking either way about it. Some people, he knew, were really good at faces; he wasn’t one of them, but some people were, and she didn’t seem to expect to have been recognized. That wasn’t in line with the members of his family he knew to be really good at remembering what everyone they met looked like, but then, his family wasn’t normal in any sense of the term, and he expected a truly normal person born into it would be converted or disowned by sixteen at best.

“Yeah, that’s me. Don’t think we’ve met, though.” Though now that he really thought about it, he was pretty sure she was one of the second years, one of the very few Crotali – that number stuck out, along with how many Aladrens there were, because it was completely the opposite in his year. “Good to, though. What do you think all this is about?”

The answer to his question was soon revealed. “Well, this is different,” he commented, as much to himself as Alice. A downside to being the Quidditch reserve was that he’d developed a habit of commenting on a lot of things to himself, a habit born of running his own commentaries of the matches he watched without anyone in close proximity to look at him like he’d bumped his head on something. “Are you good at this kind of thing? I don’t do this kind of thing, but I think it sounds neat.” Really neat, actually; he was hoping to have some fun with this. Being a secret agent. How many times, since he’d become a wizard, had he thought about how it might actually be possible to do some of the James Bond thing because of magic? A whole lot.

He took the bit of paper, apparently blank, and then grimaced and handed it to Alice. “Can you remember the makes-ink-appear spell?” he asked. “I can’t remember what it is right now to save my life.”

16 David Sure thing. 169 David 0 5

Jhonice Trevear - Pecari

September 07, 2011 8:26 PM

They are always the best by Jhonice Trevear - Pecari

Jhonice made it to class early, it was charms and she liked charms. She needed to get very good at charms, then she could do horrible, horrible things to Andrew. The nerve of him. His family had traveled up to visit theirs for Christmas as usual, they exchanged presents as usual and what did he give her? A homemade coupon for flying lessons! As if she was completely and utterly hopeless on a broom. Hadn't she made the Quidditch team? Hadn't she chased the ball magnificently? True, they hadn't won, but that wasn't entirely her fault. She now knew what everyone was talking about when they talked about Aladren's Quiddtich team. Anyway, she had lots to learn and then she could make her cousin pay.

She fumed for a bit as she stood outside the charms classroom as the other students gathered. The professor was keeping them out in the hall for some reason, she would have to listen to him, she had to learn lots. He began talking and her thoughts of vengeance drifted off to another part of her mind while images of secret agents took over. This was learning! This would be awesome! The only thing that could possibly make this better was....

"Hi! Do you want to be partners?"

Jhonice looked at the girl next to her that had asked that question. It was Hope Brockert. Hope Brockert. One of the Brockerts. She nearly squealed in delight, okay she actually squealed in delight, but covered it up quickly by turning it into "Yeah, I'd love to!" This was the best thing ever! She snatched the piece of paper out of the professor's hand when he offered it to them. "Let's go!" then promptly charged to door when it was their turn.

2 Jhonice Trevear - Pecari They are always the best 209 Jhonice Trevear - Pecari 0 5

Jess

September 08, 2011 10:52 PM

...to freak me out a little... by Jess

Jess smiled when Linus levitated the quill down. She supposed she had to let him do some things. She knew she could do the spells on her own. After all, she was a second-year now. "Good job," she told him. Might as well make a friend on the way! Nobody could ever have too many friends, even if they were younger than her.

She watched as he put the quill down and watched the letters form from its inky end.

Holding a prize am I.
Holding a monster to die.
Your beast of burden is weathered and hurtin'
But choose the right potion or cry.

The words gave Jess the chills but she didn't know why. "Okay, so that's pretty self-explanatory. We gotta heal a beast in there with the right potion or, er, cry? The beast'll probably hurt us." She gulped and pulled out her wand. "Don't worry," she said, trying to reassure both herself and the first-year. "My dad is a Potions master so I know some of the healing potions. Just some though." She didn't want to frighten him with her own trepidation. She sighed. "I'm guessing that the creepy wardrobe is holding that 'beast of burden.'"

She took a couple steps towards the wardrobe, wand grasped tightly in hand, when suddenly she felt her foot stick. Frowning, she looked down at the floor. "Darn it!" she cried. "I stepped in Sanderblot's Super Sticky Sobbing Glue!" She'd never understood the sobbing part, except for the rumor that Sanderblot's had found the super sticky stick for his glue by sobbing...but there was no time to dwell on that. Now her foot was being chomped on by a desk!

She screamed. "My shoe!" she screeched. "That stupid cubicle desk has its, er, leg around mine!" She wondered what charm to use to get out of this mess. "Darn it!" she exclaimed again for lack of a better word. Suddenly her eyes widened. "I know. I'll use a cleaning spell and then you, Linus, try and lift me out of here." She wasn't exactly looking forward to facing the end of his wand much less being levitated by him, but he had seemed reasonably good at it. "Wingardium Leviosa-me out of here right after I clean up this glue. If you don't, my shoe's going to slip and the desk'll come on top of me!"

There wasn't exactly much space the desk could hold for her foot so she wasn't worried about getting eaten alive. She just wanted to get out of this strangely enchanted room before she went mad. It was a darn good thing she had studied like mad her first year and last summer. It had been much easier having her parents show her how to say and use the charm without her actually using it herself outside of school. She loved being magical. "On the count of three. One, two...Scourgify!"

0 Jess ...to freak me out a little... 0 Jess 0 5

Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

September 10, 2011 8:22 PM

gulp by Valerie Lennox, Crotalus

It had been an awful midterm for Valerie, she had spent the entire time in bed with the flu and she was still getting over it. She still was supposed to take it easy, of course Valerie was always supposed to but more so than usual. The first year hadn't been able to enjoy the holiday even the slightest. By the time, she felt anything close to well enough to function, it was time to go back to Sonora.

And she was glad that she was able to return. Valerie worried all the time that her parents would make her drop out and lonely as she was here, the first year didn't want to go home to stay. She had this need to continue on at Sonora.

That didn't mean things were easy for Valerie at school at all. There were some lessons that she just didn't feel capable of, mostly in Defense. Care of Magical Creatures also presented special problems in that it took place outside, and Valerie wasn't supposed to go outside. Outside was full of dirt and germs and germs could potentially make her very ill if not kill her.

Today, however, was Charms. This was supposed to be a safe class, one Valerie could do without too much trouble though she had ran into problems when they had to decorate the tree and she was making paper snowflakes and needed a place to sit down. Valerie simply physically could not stand up in one place for too long.

The Crotalus looked nervously at the older students. Valerie didn't know any of them really. The only one she'd met briefly was her father's cousin's son, Ryan but he was on the other side of the room and looked occupied with someone else. She felt terrified and sick to her stomach, hopefully from nerves. Valerie didn't think the older students would want to work with her. What if the person was mean to her and got impatient like David had?

Valerie looked down and fiddled with the bracelet her father had given her for Christmas. It was rubies set in silver, for Crotalus, feeling worried. She was rather good at spellwork, she knew that but couldn't help but worry she was going to be a burden to her partner, that she was someone who couldn't hold her own. What if they were going to duel or something. There was no way Valerie could do that!

Just then she heard someone speak to her and looked up. "Did you ask me something?" Valerie inquired. She assumed the other student had asked to be partners but she didn't want to just respond yes in case she was way off.

11 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus *gulp* 204 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus 0 5

Hope

September 11, 2011 4:58 PM

Indeed! by Hope

Hope grinned cheerfully at the other girl, Jhonice, she thought. The second year tried to know the names of everyone in her classes. She believed it made others feel good if someone knew who they were. Like they mattered. Like they were someone special. Hope thought everyone should get to feel that way. Not that they should be rewarded for something they didn't deserve but that everyone had special qualities that should be recognized.

That didn't always happen. Like with Adam. To hear him talk nothing good he did ever mattered. That he was a great big nobody. He claimed that people did know who he was at Sonora, but it wasn't positive and to be honest, he'd preferred being at SUM where he blended in and faded into obscurity. Adam thought that being unknown was better than being known in a negative way.

Hope could see some merit to that, but she couldn't see why people wouldn't see her older brother in a positive light and recognize his gifts.

As for the second year's cousin, Autumn, she seemed bent on getting recognized for hers . Hope could see the older girl just getting more and more stressed. If everyone would just get credit for whatever they were good at, Adam wouldn't be bitter and Autumn wouldn't be on the verge of giving herself some stress induced illness, but they were in an environment apparently, where only certain qualities mattered.

But that was a depressing thought and Hope didn't like depressing thoughts.

She turned back to Jhonice. "You're Jhonice right?" The Teppenpaw asked, just to make sure. "I'm Hope." In case the younger girl didn't know.

The second year followed the Pecari into the door. "What does the paper say?" Hope asked. "It looks blank. I bet it's written in invisible ink."

11 Hope Indeed! 186 Hope 0 5

Derry Four, Teppenpaw

September 12, 2011 10:26 PM

Pierce. Derwent Pierce. by Derry Four, Teppenpaw

Derry had enjoyed his time spent at Sonora over midterm. The helmet making had been super cool and the archery was something he hoped he'd be able to do again sometime. Maybe the Sports MARS room had some bows and targets. He'd have to look into that later. Plus, he'd gotten an owl from Mom with his presents and even though that reminded him that he wasn't home with his family, it also reminded him that he loved Mom and missed her, even if she did lie to him, and he probably wasn't going to stay at Sonora over break again. It had been fun to do once, but holidays were supposed to be spent with family.

The return of classes was welcome not only for the return of most of his classmates and the opportunity for fresh new experiences, but also because it meant it was getting closer to summer and he'd be able to see Mom again. And Thad. Thad should be starting at Sonora next year, so there was stuff Derry needed to tell him. Like all the stuff Kirstenna had been saying about Thad's sister. Thad should know enough to stay away from her anyway, but it was best to make sure.

Arriving at the Charms classroom, Derry was somewhat surprised to be stopped in the hallway, but he took it easily in stride and followed the instruction to wait in the hall. He moved to stand with some of the other kids from Second Year since he knew them best, but wasn't too put out by the instruction a few minutes later to partner up with someone from a different year. Saying good-bye to his yearmates, Derry looked around and spotted a first year who didn't seem to have found an older student yet.

And how cool was that? Derry was an older student now.

Grinning as he headed in her direction, Derry figured he may as well make sure that she didn't already have someone in mind and asked, "Need a partner?" She turned toward him, but apparently hadn't caught what he said, so he said it again. "Need a partner? I'm Derry Four." He smiled, and added, proudly, "Second year Teppenpaw."

1 Derry Four, Teppenpaw Pierce. Derwent Pierce. 189 Derry Four, Teppenpaw 0 5

Jhonice

September 15, 2011 8:12 PM

This looks tricky by Jhonice

Jhonice smiled brightly at her partner. Hope actually knew her name? That was awesome! She'd have to note that down... once she was able to. "Yup", she responded rather enthusiastically to the young Brockert girl, "Jhonice Trevear." She looked around the classroom that they had entered, it looked normal enough, what were they to do? Hope's suggestion was brilliant, invisible ink giving them instructions!

She smiled at her partner, "I guess there is only one way to find out." Drawing her wand, she pointed it at the paper and tried to enunciate clearly, "Aparecium!" Dark splotches began to appear on the paper, and formed themselves into letters and words. "You're right!" she cheered. So far there was one class that Jhonice was excelling at, and this one was it, she was relieved that her spell had worked, she didn't want to look bad in front of Hope. She was however the senior partner here, she should be leading the charge, right? Plus she was one of the Brokerts, she could watch the girl in action!

"Looks like some kind of clue to me, what do you make of it?" Jhoince handed Hope the paper and pulled out her notebook. "You have more experience in this sort of thing then me, lead the way" she added with a smile. This was going to be great.

2 Jhonice This looks tricky 209 Jhonice 0 5

Alice

September 16, 2011 11:54 AM

Glad we have that established. by Alice

“No, meeting would have required an introduction and this would be our first introduction. Traditionally, as introductions go, there is only one introduction, however, some people are forgetful and therefore, require many introductions. So, in case you are forgetful, it is the only introduction we have ever had,” Alice replied in her strangely logical manner. Most people at this point might smile to indicate that they were joking, but Alice’s face remained quite expressionless with the exception to her dark hazel eyes, which seemed to stare through others. It could be eerie at times.

Alice tilted her head at David’s question causing her long, light brown hair to fall to one side, some of it into her face. She brushed it behind one ear. “I have never done this kind of thing before, so I do not know if I am good or not. I suppose everyone will do just as well since it is merely a matter of using the spells at the appropriate intervals.” The idea that anyone would actually not know or be scared or any other possible factor that would tie up the production of the game did not occur to her. It was a folly of hers not to account for human nature when it always accounted for so much.

“Though, it does sound neat,” she admitted, as she pretended to study a piece of the floor that was a slightly different color than the rest. She hated to admit that she might actually enjoy class when she worked so hard to pretend that she didn’t. Enjoying classes, enjoying school, might imply that she wasn’t normal. Normal kids didn’t enjoy the academic aspects of school. Unless, of course, you were in Aladren, but she wasn’t in Aladren. No, she was in Crotalus, which seemed to imply a certain amount of socializing. Different than Pecari’s openness. It was more of a game of backstabbing and rumors. So, being in this House, she was unable to enjoy school lest she seemed weird and the rumors turn to her.

Sigh. David gave the paper to her, asking her if she remembered the formula. Yes, she remembered the formula, but this wasn’t normal. Alice considered pretending like she didn’t know it, but he was an Aladren. So, he probably actually did know the spell and just wanted to see if she did, if she was going to be a help or a hinder in doing this project. She pointed her wand at the paper, “Aparecium!” Slowly, but surely, the words slowly appeared. “Oh, they’re instructions.” It was a really good thing too since they were next up.

“Ready to go?” She stepped forward finding herself surrounded by total darkness. It was disorienting and her initial reaction was to turn back. She hated being in the dark. There was something upsetting about not being able to see what was around her. Perhaps, it was the fact that everything around her was unknown and she was a person that very much liked the known. Sighing, she bent down to try and find her wand. In her disorientation, she had dropped it. “David?” She wasn’t sure where he had gone.

0 Alice Glad we have that established. 0 Alice 0 5

Valerie

September 19, 2011 10:05 PM

Anxious by Valerie

Valerie smiled weakly but politely. She was still feeling very tired from midterm, still getting over a bad bout of the flu and possibly coming down with something else but she was pleased that someone had asked to be her partner.The Crotalus knew that she was not an asset in lessons like these.

"I'm Valerie Lennox, of the St. Louis Lennoxes." The first year introduced herself, curtseying. It made her a little dizzy and she felt funny doing so when not everyone at Sonora introduced themselves that way, but Derry Four was likely a pureblood. He had a numeral.

Of course, Derry hadn't introduced himself like a pureblood so she could be wrong, but then again, it was better to be safe than sorry and introduce herself properly like she had been taught. That was what was polite and correct. She didn't want to risk offending anyone.

Not that Valerie was offended by Derry's failure to introduce himself the proper way. Nor would she be upset if he wasn't a pureblood. She didn't care, she just really needed friends. If the older boy would want anything to do with her after this lesson.

"I'm a first year, Crotalus." Valerie added. Derry had likely known she was a first year and the Crotalus badge was prominent on her robes but he had told her his year and house. She felt a little dumb though anyway. Socializing was not really Valerie's forte. Maybe she could have been better at it had she practiced but she'd been kept away from people for the most part her entire life. "And yes, I do indeed need a partner."

Valerie took the blank piece of paper from Professor McKindy and lined up with the others, a nauseous feeling growing in her stomach. Which only made things worse. It could be anxiety-as she did feel pretty nervous about the lesson after hearing what it was-or it could be a stomach virus. Either way, Valerie felt queasy.

She gave Derry a nervous smile when their turn came. "Are you ready?" The first year asked. Because Valerie sure wasn't.

11 Valerie Anxious 204 Valerie 0 5

David

September 26, 2011 11:23 AM

It'll form a solid foundation for our partnership. by David

“I…think I’m not that forgetful,” David said, not quite sure what to make of Alice’s analysis of his comment. Her thoughts on how the game should go only confirmed the notion, he thought, that she really should have been an Aladren.

Or maybe not, when she made such an intent study of the floor. There were quiet Aladrens, but not, that he’d seen, very many very shy ones. Heck, half the House was too busy being ambitious to bother, and a lot of the rest of them (he thought with something like pride; he had been considered ‘the weird kid’ in Muggle school, and while he doubted his Housemates would call him a model Aladren any more than his old classmates had called him a normal human, he still did a lot better here than he had there) didn’t have the social skills for being shy to occur to them. He thought he was certainly getting blunter after three years in there.

He’d have to take care what he said to her, though. Be nice. Not do anything too dramatic. He could do that.

It would be good, too, if he could manage to do a few other things, which he was failing at so far. To David’s relief, thought, his partner seemed to have no trouble with the spell that made the words show up on their paper. “Good job,” he said encouragingly to her when the words began to appear on the paper. They weren’t quite readable yet, but he guessed it was just a matter of giving them a minute.

Guessed, because reading them immediately proved impossible. To his not-so-much relief, they then immediately found themselves in the pitch-black dark.

“Here,” David said when Alice called his name, hoping his voice sounded steady. He’d jumped, just a little, at hearing a voice out of it. It was not the kind of thing he intended to ever bandy about at Sonora, since was reasonably sure he would rather not be mocked by every other male over the age of five he had occasion to come into contact with, but he was a little uneasy in the dark.

Of course, he didn’t have to be in the dark, but the light on the end of his wand would probably just make shadows that were worse than being in the total dark. He had to use it, though, because otherwise, he and his partner would never find each other. So, with a flourish he hoped would translate into an appropriately heroic mindset once he was done, he took out his wand and said, “Lumos.”

He had a feeling the wand lighting his face from below made him look faintly demonic and better suited to a Halloween festival than a spy thriller, but maybe, once they added some more light, that effect would be dimmed. If they should add more light. “Do you think we have to worry about security?” he asked. “If we were really spies, two lights might attract the night guards or whatever.” Unless this was already supposed to be a death trap. He wondered how many spy thrillers McKindy watched or read in his spare time. Knowing the professor’s frame of reference would have made this a lot easier to navigate.

“I guess we need them, though, if just to read the directions and not fall over our feet,” he added immediately as yet another thought occurred to him. And, with it, a bit of excitement crept back in. It was just a game, after all, so figuring out what to do was part of the fun.

16 David It'll form a solid foundation for our partnership. 169 David 0 5