In need of a first year, apparently on Charms

Professor Light

January 21, 2012 11:04 PM

Tomb Raider Training {I&II} by Professor Light

Ants in his room. Caesar stared wide eyed at them, watching them march in a uniform line across his desk, his hand clutching his wand hard, the urge to blast fire at them very very strong. One of them seemed to stray toward him out of the line and Caesar leaned back in his chair, the front legs tilting up as he kept balanced on the hind legs, his hazel eyes wild with both fear and rage retained from boyhood. It had been a favorite pastime; his belly and chin buried in the sweet smelling grass, the San Francisco sun massaging his bared skin, a shard of glass from a broken bottle gripped in his hand as he extended it over an ant hill, watching with innocent wonder as the sun which was so sweetly massaging him also was converted into carnal fire, bearing down not quite as sweetly upon the ants. He could still smell the char, the burnt bodies and little legs spasm.

Now, always, they were out for revenge.

Caesar finally gave up his chair, stumbling out of it, bequeathing his desk for now to the little angry red soldiers. He tried to tell himself that they were lured to his room because he’d failed to be inspired to clean up the Charms classroom after the last Beginners class met (last week was devoted to understanding different levels of fire, ending on Friday with them being able to eat s’mores if they casted the correct amount of fire for the provided marshmallows themselves) but he couldn’t fool himself. He knew they were stalking him. ‘Maybe just one more class on fire.’ He had a vision of his own army of fire wielding eleven and twelve year olds attacking enemy ants, but decided to delay the war after he got his already planned lesson out of the way. Out of a small drawer he pulled out a large stack of papers just as the door to the classroom swung open.

“Afternoon, class.” He greeted the children as they began to file in. “Take your seats.” Over the break the classroom had become more personalized; posters of various winking wizard bands, his favorite Italian Quidditch players, his favorite magical philosopher Dalia Torrez, the walls were lined with shelves and shelves of books (from textbooks to novels, all related to Charms) and magical objects like remembralls and omnioculars as well as stocked with small dishes of candy. The seating had been transformed as well. Instead of desks the classroom was designed like a seminar, with two separate sets of stairs on each aisle of benched wooden seats.

“This is my favorite comedy,” Caesar sent the excerpted scripts through the air to his students as they began to take their seats, the copies of the play all entitled Corazón de Plata. “Silver Heart. It takes place in Old San Juan, right after the Goblin wars that had plagued the West Indies and Carribean in 1893. Three beings; a Duende - that’s the spanish word for Goblin - named Bolsatira, a Centauro - Centaur - named Perez, and a Mago - Wizard - named Rico. Bolsatira, Perez, and Rico all are searching for the gold lost during the Duende Wars.” Finished handing the plays out, Caesar held up his own copy, hazel eyes bright with enthusiasm. “Now, the play is brilliant because, well, the trouble they all get into is just hilarious. This is also a revolutionary moment in theater history and history of Western Society because of the message that Garcia - the playwright - puts out. Just look at the picture.”

The cover of the play showed the silver letters of the title Corazón de Plata dripping silver visages of a goblin, centaur, and wizard all kneeling at the bottom of the page, leaning into the hue of shining gold. “Garcia was making the point that all beings are united by their greed, and that wizards should just embrace that unity to have a world where pointless wars like the Duende could be avoided. It’s about as popular a theory today as it was in 1963 when it was first written and performed - not very. But, it did help push the issue of future magical creature/wizardry alliance.”

Though Sonora was an excellent school, and he was grateful to be there (considering he was just fresh out of his Charms apprenticeship), Caesar disliked the fact that there were no History of Magic classes, and neither was there Theater. Not even many clubs, though at least they had Quidditch for some. The school seemed more academically inclined than creative, even if the students individually expressed themselves creatively. He’d heard there used to be History and was hoping soon someone would apply for the job, but until then tried to get as much history and culture into his lessons. Charms was fluid; it overlapped with the other branches of magics, and could be stretched to cover other branches of the wizarding world. It’s why Caesar liked it so much. He liked the freedom to go anywhere.

“In this play there is a scene in Act 4, Scene 2,” Caesar waited for the students to flip toward the page. “when Rico finds a chest of what he thinks contains the gold they’re all looking for. Garcia casted an actor in the play’s original run whom could actually perform the advanced charm to unlock the chest Garcia had inherited in the playwright’s travels. The spell, Aperi Rumpivi is a more advanced form of the spell Alohomora which the first years are going to learn today. Alohomora can unlock most objects and doors when the obstacle is locked with Colloportus, the spell the second years will be learning today.” Caesar flicked his wand and a sign up sheet raised in the air to settle against the wall, a floating open ink bottle and quill accompanying it. “It takes three years for the average wizard to master Aperi Rumpivi as it causes a terrible strain, but if any of you are interested in learning the groundwork for more advanced charms such as that one, I will be offering private sessions outside of class. You just have to sign up to let me know that you’re interested.”

Caesar swept his wand through the air and sizable treasure chests of various appearance appeared in front of all of the students’ desks. “Some of these chests are opened, some of them sealed shut. I want the first years to go around opening whichever sealed chests they choose, and the second years to close them.” There was enough space in each leveled row for students to comfortably walk without forcing others to stand to make room. “First years, pay attention.” Caesar walked up to a first row student’s treasure chest covered in seaweed and an ancient Germanic crest he could barely make out. He made a backwards S shaped motion with his wand before tapping the tip against the lock. “A-LUH-huh-MOR-a!” He exaggerated the sounds and a flash of pale blue light emitted from his wand point. There was a click and the chest opened. “You’ll find little trinkets like trading cards or candy each time you open the chests.” He peered inside the chest. “And apparently tuna fish sandwiches.”

“Now to close the chests, second years, you go” Caesar made a rough P like motion with his wand before tapping hard against the lock of the trunk. “Cul-loh-POR-tus!” A yellow light, a click and the chest was shut. “Alright, if there are any questions, just ask. Begin!” He made his way to his desk before remembering the stupid ants were still there. Angry and vengeful and he just knew something bad would happen if he dare smite them himself. He dragged his chair to one of the poster clad walls, glancing up at a picture of him and his sister Ava Marie who were both grinning down at him before he relaxed in his seat and watched his students make a go of it. He tried to judge by their performances which would be the ones that might be interested in signing up. ‘Not that one,’ He bit back a laugh at one so far unlucky student. ‘Aw, keep trying. You’ll get it.’ He kept up an internal part mocking, part encouraging commentary as the lesson continued on.

Subthreads:

I didn't know tombs had candy by Waverly Canterbury with Sullivan Quincy, Waverly

In need of a first year, apparently by Linus Macaulay with Alicia Bauer, Aladren, Linus

Yeah, I'll try to apply the spell in a more practical way. by Nora Dobson with Cepheus Princeton, Cepheus

This is a good skill set by Jhonice Trevear, Pecari with Jorge Garcia (Pecari)

Somehow I don't think I'll ever be doing that. by Valerie Lennox with Theresa Carey, Pecari

Shouldn't that involve more deadly curses? by Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus

Do we have to fight mummies? by Evan Brockert, Aladren

I have questions. by Thad Pierce, Aladren with Professor Light, Thad Pierce

0 Professor Light Tomb Raider Training {I&II} 0 Professor Light 1 5

Waverly Canterbury

January 23, 2012 7:39 PM

I didn't know tombs had candy by Waverly Canterbury

Waverly had decided. Charms was her favorite class. Just being able to use her wand in such different ways was so...interesting! And it was a lot of fun to wave it around. She had practiced spells late at night in her room and sometimes in MARS, but nothing dangerous. Not all of the charms she had practiced really worked, but some had, and that had been exciting. Waverly had learned recently that her little sister, who was interested in acting, was thinking of attending another magical school for their theater program. Though Waverly was sad that she wouldn't be able to go to school with her sister, it would be nice to see her grow at a different place. Wendy was much braver than her older sister, that was for sure, and much more adventurous.

Waverly had noticed the lack of clubs at Sonora, and she was on the verge of deciding to make a club herself. As of now, she was wondering what professor to ask to help her with her club. She had a few ideas in mind, but she was too busy with her art project for the fair to think too long on clubs. Her project always made her smile a little. It was on that little house that she practiced most of her magic.

But now it was time for class. She unable to stop the little skip in her step as she went to the charms classroom. When she went in, she was a little surprised at the setting of the chairs, and sat down in the front, putting her backpack down next to her. As Professor Light lectured, she was a little surprised when he began handing out plays. It was almost like he had read her mind! She would have laughed if she hadn't been in a classroom with her peers.

She looked down at the play and flipped through it. She had never really read plays before, and this one was a Spanish play. At least the names were in Spanish. She listened carefully to her professor, though her mind did wander occasionally as she read through the play. When she heard the words "private sessions," she perked up immediately. Any opportunity to learn a higher level spell was always interesting. Waverly knew she would be one of the first ones to sign up, even if she was only a first-year.

He didn't give them time to rush over and sign there names, however, so she told herself she would do it after class. Instead, she listened intently as he explained the charm that they would be practicing. Alohomora. She had read about that charm in her textbook, though there weren't many locked doors that she had tried it on. Now was her chance. She hopped out of her seat when given the O.K., excited to do some treasure hunting. She looked for a second year to partner with as she tied her brown hair up into a ponytail. She'd need someone to close the chest after she opened it, after all.

Waverly went to a slightly older-looking student. "Hi," the first-year said with a smile. "Want to be partners? I'll open the chest and you can close it and then we can split whatever's inside." She really liked treasure hunts. These were one of the times she wished her younger sister was with her.

19 Waverly Canterbury I didn't know tombs had candy 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Sullivan Quincy

January 24, 2012 12:26 PM

We're clearly looking in the wrong tombs by Sullivan Quincy

Sullivan was squeaking through in most of his classes. Potions was one of his better ones, but that was only by relativity. On good days he could pull an E on an assignment or test but most of the time he was just a solid A. Unfortunately, Mom was dating a wizard right now and Simon had informed her that an A was not the pinnacle of academic success in the wizarding world as it was in the muggle one. It was, in fact, quite average, which is where Sully had fallen in his muggle education as well so his mom hadn't been too disappointed by the downgrade of his performance.

The distribution of play scripts at the beginning of the class briefly lent Sully a moment of hope that maybe they'd just be doing some reading - he was pretty good at reading aloud - but that hope was dashed not too long after. They would be performing spells which presumably would get graded. Performing spells was still pretty amazing to the second year muggleborn, but the grading part made it significantly less fun, especially since he wasn't the sort that tended to get things right away.

He kind of wished he could do the presumably easier unlocking spell like the first years were doing (if he'd learned it last year, he'd forgotten it), but he'd been specifically assigned the harder one just because he was a relatively older student. Sulking a little about the unfairness of being twelve, he didn't immediately notice the approach of a first year.

She smiled at him, and Sully tried to return it. It wasn't her fault he was being made to try a more advanced spell when he was doubtful he could pull off the easier one. "Sure," he agreed, "but what we're going to do is that you'll be opening the chest and then I'll be trying to lock it up again. I make no promises."

He stuck out a hand, awkward in the introduction thing that some wizards seemed able to do by instinct, "I'm Sully. From Las Vegas Quincies or something."

1 Sullivan Quincy We're clearly looking in the wrong tombs 207 Sullivan Quincy 0 5

Waverly

January 24, 2012 11:54 PM

Maybe these people liked candy...a lot by Waverly

Sully was awkward, and when he stuck out his hand, she was delighted. Not because it was awkward, but because it was familiar. No one else she had introduced herself to here had offered to shake her hand. It made her feel a little more like an adult when she stuck out her own hand and shook his firmly. "I'm Waverly, from Phoenix. Just Waverly. And don't worry about not locking it properly." She sneaked a peek at their professor. "Hopefully he doesn't notice and you can give another first-year a break." She grinned encouragingly.

Waverly had quickly learned from her time here that your family status was important, something Waverly had never thought of before. Her family came from English immigrants, so she didn't exactly have a huge family history or anything. Maybe she did, but she certainly wasn't aware of it. It was just her, her parents, her grandparents, and Wendy. No one amazing, but certainly special to her.

The way Sully introduced himself made her think that he was probably an uncomfortable pureblood, but she didn't think twice about it. She wanted to hurry up and open some chests. "Now that introductions are done, let's go to that chest!" She walked over to a dark, Gothic-looking chest with gold and black and silver wrapped all around it. What had drawn Waverly to it was not only its intricate designs, but the large, dark purple lock. It stuck out on the chest, and was unlike most of the others.

Waverly stood back like she was going to do something amazing, cleared her throat, and waved her wand the way she had seen her professor do. "Alohomora," she said, and she watched, fascinated, as the chest opened with a click. "Yes!" She turned to Sully and smiled, happy with her work, and then looked into the chest eagerly. And then she laughed. "Well, our booty is a small stuffed turtle, a few chocolate coins, and a ring pop." She looked over at Sully. "Care for the turtle or the ring pop?" She split the coins evenly and handed him his share. She wanted to laugh again, feeling silly with success and her prizes. "I feel like a pirate."

Waverly had played make-believe several times before, and being a pirate was one of her many favorites. She was well-versed in "pirate speak" from movies and books, and she knew how to share booty. Maybe Sully wouldn't know what she was talking about, but she didn't offer any explanation. "Okay," she said, bounding back to make room for her companion. "Your turn! Eat some chocolate; maybe that'll help you concentrate better." Eating always helped her. Distracted her too, but that was another matter. She unwrapped one of her chocolate coins and ate it slowly, savoring it as she watched Sully.

0 Waverly Maybe these people liked candy...a lot 0 Waverly 0 5

Linus Macaulay

January 26, 2012 3:39 PM

In need of a first year, apparently by Linus Macaulay

As was his habit, Linus had already begun to take notes on the class from the moment the professor had started to speak. He didn't see what much of it had to do with charms, but appreciated that the professor had gone to trouble to make the class relevant in some way, even if this was more obscure than the spells' obvious everyday practical useage. He was also intrigued by the notion of a play written by a wizard. Linus had presumed they must exist - it seemed highly unlikely that all playwrights throughout the ages had been Muggles - but he'd never encountered one before (and had not been sufficiently interested to explore Sonora's library to ascertain their existence). Considering it was supposed to be a comedy, Linus thought he might even read it. Any way of increasing his knowledge about the magical world seemed like it would be worth the effort, particularly if he wanted to keep fitting in with the rest of his Housemates. Being in Crotalus was, he could argue, harder work than being affiliated with any other House, but Linus was pleased with his Sorting - he felt he had been put in the proper place, regardless of the fact that his family were all Muggles.

The extra credit assignment almost didn't sound worth it considering it would take three years and extra credit hadn't even been specifically mentioned. Linus considered that he would think on it for the remainder of the class, and make his mind up before he exited the classroom. For the interim, he had an apparent necessity to work with a first year. While usually Linus didn't mind playing mentor to the younger students, and the way that their inexperience made his spell-casting seem superior, he nevertheless resented the instruction to do so; he'd much prefer to look like he was being altruistically supportive of his own free will. Regardless, the instructions had been made clear, and so Linus turned to the nearest first year.

"I believe the chests are already locked, so it would be logical for you to attempt the unlocking charm, first," he summarised. He didn't have a tendency to work with first years in classes, so he couldn't know how well one might perform at spells compared to the other. If fate was smiling on him that day, perhaps he'd have landed himself one who would benefit from his guidance and tuition, rather than a know-it-all who would snub Linus just for the sake of it. That sort were intolerable.

0 Linus Macaulay In need of a first year, apparently 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Alicia Bauer, Aladren

January 26, 2012 6:22 PM

You've got one now, anyway. by Alicia Bauer, Aladren

As she sat down in one of the new rowed seats, Alicia happened to look at a poster of a man playing Quidditch, which winked at her. She frowned at it, but it did not seem overly perturbed by her disapproval. Annoyed, she looked forward again, crossing her arms at her waist as she crossed one knee over the other and waited for the lesson to begin.

Things had started out so well, or so it seemed now, in retrospect. She had been right in the middle of planning her back-to-school party, and was quite sure she had finally worked up the nerve to approach the kitchens to get some help with setting up and providing for that, when she’d found out about Thaddeus’ cousin being…in an interesting position, now, and somehow, having a party in a few days just hadn’t seemed like quite the thing to do, especially now that his ambitious cousin now had a son, thus strengthening his position. It might make him feel better, but then, it might just seem insensitive; safer to just give out her Christmas presents to people quietly and save the fireworks for next year. Next year, when she already had fifteen other things planned to do.

Even more than that, in the present year, she’d signed up for the crafts fair, which meant that the whole school was not only going to see her cross-stitch projects, but they were going to be subjected to formal judgment alongside the work of the rest of the year. She’d briefly considered trying to rope all the other first year Aladrens into working on the chili thing with her, as a group bonding project, but had finally dismissed it as too undignified, not something most of her friends would go along with. Maybe Henny and Ephanie would have, but she would have instantly risked alienating the boys. Everyone was much happier when that wasn't a possibility.

She was generally also much happier when she was actually working during a lesson instead of sitting around waiting for it to begin, but sometimes that wasn’t the case. As Professor Light began his lesson, she looked down at the script she was handed, wondering what in the name of Merlin any of this had to do with Charms, and then winced at the words revolutionary movement, only to have her eyes, directed now firmly toward her lap as a matter of self-preservation, widen slightly in horror as he went on with the mini-lesson.

This could not end well. This could not end well. This could not end at all, not remotely, well….

…They were just learning to unlock things? That was it? A perfectly normal skill which could be used by persons of any political conviction for a variety of different purposes? Had there really been the need for the production? She had been afraid the whole lesson was somehow going to end up centering on exactly the kind of revolutionary activity she had to go even further against than the people who really had a right to go against it!

How it could do that and still be a Charms lesson was not something she could figure out, but she had learned to be suspicious of adults so early in life that she didn’t even remember learning it. Adults were, to lead such utterly boring lives as most of them did, sometimes fiendishly creative when it came to ways to make life for everyone else more difficult. She began to mentally debate whether or not to sign up for the extra lessons or just teach herself the more advanced charm, only paying marginal attention to what else the professor was doing.

Once he sat down – not behind the desk, oddly enough; she shrugged slightly, feeling stared at even though she was pretty sure he was actually watching someone else more closely – she took up her wand, but before she could do anything, Linus Macaulay spoke to her.

This was a surprising event in some ways, since Alicia had never had a reason to cross paths with the Crotalus and so knew no more about him than his name, who his roommate was, and that he played Quidditch, but in others, it wasn’t. By the end of the year, she was guessing she would have probably worked with everyone in first and second year; she was kind of counting on that, actually, and on working her way through all the new first years next year. Intermediates might be trickier; she’d have to see about that, and about keeping contacts in the beginner class. That might have to go on the list for fourth year, with third set aside for establishing herself as an intermediate rather than a beginner. But that was the future. Right now, Linus was talking logic to an Aladren, which was funny, though she didn’t point it out.

“Of course,” she said, tilting her head slightly as she smiled up at him. She disliked being short, but it was good for some things, and Gramma Alma insisted that being able to smile up at boys was one of them. She turned to the nearest trunk. “Alohomora.”

The lock rattled for a moment. She looked at it curiously for a moment before remembering to look flustered. “Let me try that again,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Performing in front of people, you know…” She tried again, focusing harder this time and supposing there was a magical reason it was being obdurate, and this time did get it open.

One way or another, though, she was going to have to learn that stronger spell. Magical closures would of course be stronger than normal locks…locks, she thought, very like what she suspected the one on her trunk to be. Was there a stronger closing spell, too? She saw another long library session in her near future.

“What’s in it?” she asked, standing well back. Being the leader meant getting to do all the potentially unpleasant things, and Linus had pretty explicitly volunteered by her reckoning. “He hasn’t – booby trapped it or anything, has he?”

16 Alicia Bauer, Aladren You've got one now, anyway. 210 Alicia Bauer, Aladren 0 5

Nora Dobson

January 28, 2012 6:04 PM

Yeah, I'll try to apply the spell in a more practical way. by Nora Dobson

Nora took her seat in Charms, eager for class to begin. She absolutely loved to learn new things, plus classes gave her ample opportunity to observe the behavior of both her classmates and the professors. Take Professor ~~Crosby~~ Brockert, for example. One could really tell that she was excited to be married. Also that she was pretty excited about things in general. She was quite different than her niece, Nora's friend Sally, who seemed less emotional.

Which in general the second year found easier to take. She didn't have a problem with her Transfiguration teacher but in general Nora preferred people who were quiet and intelligent, which was why she far preferred Sally's company over Kitty's.

Professor Light was a bit odd. Today he was handing them a play and apparently trying to teach them some sort of moral lesson with the subject matter. Nora didn't object to the idea of not fighting pointless wars. War was something that risked lives and cost money and if you were going to do those things-not that the Aladren ever worried about money-you should make it worthwhile. Make sure it was a cause that really mattered. Not to mention war involved killing people that probably weren't the problem anyway. Nora thought this ridiculous. If she was ever going to kill someone, she was going to make it worth her while and kill someone who she felt deserved it.

She also didn't see what was comical about the play. Nora supposed that was because adventure stories had never been her thing. Perhaps it was funny-and it wasn't as if the Aladren was totally lacking in a sense of humor-because their greed made them do stupid things and the fact that they got into such situations that led to trouble made them idiots in the first place. Nora had always taken bravery and adventurousness as being moronic. It was one thing to display courage when having to do the "right thing" but deliberately go looking for danger was just plain dumb.

Eventually though, the professor got to the point. First years would unlock treasure chests and second years were going to lock them again. That meant Nora had to work with a first year. Great. She scanned the room for one she'd not observed as being hyperactive or mentally deficient and approached one who met her qualifications. "Would you please work with me on this?"

11 Nora Dobson Yeah, I'll try to apply the spell in a more practical way. 197 Nora Dobson 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

January 28, 2012 6:33 PM

Let me join you. by Cepheus Princeton

Not really looking forward to classes again, Cepheus had to drag himself to Charms. Though he enjoyed learning, he felt like most of what he was being taught as first-year was remedial and he knew so much already because of his family. One didn't come from a pureblood family like his without some knowledge of spells, charms especially. He fancied skipping this class, but he supposed he'd better get to it so no one could tattle on him for not going. The first-year was more than reluctant, but felt like he had no choice.

If there was a class he enjoyed after Potions because he was so good at it, or Transfiguration because of the challenge, he enjoyed Charms. There was a lot to learn, and most of the charms they learned were pertinent to their everyday lives. He just hoped that the professor would hurry and teach them something he didn't already know.

He sat down in the classroom and, when he was handed a play, felt like going back to bed. Or better yet, home in England. He didn't fancy reading a play. He hardly fancied any sort of artistic expression. His childhood tutor had torn his hair out over his horrid paintings. That had been part of the reason why he no longer liked painting, and also why he hated his fine arts tutor. Books on adventure, now, that was something worth reading. The fact that books and plays were alike did not occur to Cepheus.

He didn't listen to most of the lesson until the instructions of what they were to do. Cepheus was definitely interested in signing up to learn a more difficult spell. When they were allowed to get up, he quickly got up out of his seat and went to the professor. "I'd like to learn the more difficult spell," he told him. Though he was small for his size, he held himself up like an aristocrat. After he had signed up for more lessons, he turned and looked around for a second-year.

He didn't have to look far. "Certainly," the first-year Crotalus replied. "I'm Cepheus Princeton, from London." He was tired of saying he was from London, but that was what the Americans knew. He didn't blame them, mostly because he didn't know a single city in America. He blamed his geography tutor. "Shall we go to a chest, then?" he said after the introductions were finished. He walked over to a brown and gold chest. "Alohomora," he said, and the chest, not to his surprise, opened.

Cepheus looked into the chest, wrinkled his nose, and then looked at the older girl. "Looks like we got stuck with the sandwich. Fancy anything in here?" There were a couple trading cards, a sandwich, and some hard sweets. He only fancied the cards, but he could do without the rest. But he'd been taught ladies first, so he'd let her choose. He looked at his watch longingly. "I really wish we were learning something more challenging," he sighed.

40 Cepheus Princeton Let me join you. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Jhonice Trevear, Pecari

January 29, 2012 11:24 AM

This is a good skill set by Jhonice Trevear, Pecari

There was something going on around the school. Jhonice had been making a careful study, and some of the people she had been watching were acting very different since they'd come back from break. Rumors had been flying about Derwent Pierce IV and Thaddeus Pierce II and some kind of upheaval on Mt. Pierce. She hadn't been able to corner either of the two for questioning yet, hopefully she'd get the chance soon. She had also heard something of some strange Brockert romance, but she was going to have to delve into that one more later as well. Right now she had Charms class.

Charms class was great, it was teaching her all sorts of useful things. She knew how to make light if she ever found her self on a late-night fact finding mission, she could quietly levitate information filled objects into her hands, she could open locks to gain access to all sorts of places. It was a great class. Professor Light was one of the more likable professors at the school, and he was indirectly helping her greatly in her research. She noticed that the classroom had been rearranged as she entered and there were already a few other students scattered about. Unfortunately she didn't anyone that she had to interview immediately. She spotted Sullivan and thought about going to him, but he always seemed to avoid her. She wasn't sure why. She would have to observe the California Pierce from a distance again. Now that she thought about it, he'd been avoiding her even more than normal since break. She'd have to look into that as well.

Professor Light began to talk and distributed play scripts. She wasn't terribly interested in theater, real-life and what was actually going on in the world was much more exciting then some made up nonsense. Still she skimmed over the sheets as directed, maybe she'd read it at some point. The professor's offer at advanced charms training got her attention, she was definitely going to sign up for that. More ways of unlocking better locks? Excellent, who knows what else they might learn as well! It was time to get to work as the chests appeared in front of them. She was supposed to be locking the chests, and working with a first year to open it again. Okay, she looked around for an interesting looking first year. "So, I'm supposed to be closing these, and you're opening them?"

2 Jhonice Trevear, Pecari This is a good skill set 209 Jhonice Trevear, Pecari 0 5

Jorge Garcia (Pecari)

January 29, 2012 8:30 PM

That's the point of Charms, isn't it? by Jorge Garcia (Pecari)

Life at Sonora was okay. It wasn’t really all that exciting for Jorge. He missed doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted like he could at home. Sure he had his own lessons, but they weren’t so mundane as these ones were. Maybe he was just so used to how his house was informal that school was just too restrictive for him. He was hoping that at least his Pecari house would be a little crazy, but even then it wasn’t so much. His roommate was a bit crazy, so Jorge was okay with him and even Jade seemed to have a mischievous streak to her, but nothing ever seemed to really happen here. The Fair seemed promising and Jorge was half tempted to join in the events, like Hippogriff raising, but decided against it because that would mean he would actually have to care for it and that was too much work for him. Besides, he doubted the school would let him keep the Hippogriff after the year was over and his parents definitely weren’t going to allow him to keep it, so it would be rather pointless for him to spend all that time raising a Hippogriff just to have to send it away at the end of the year.

Still, maybe he would have fun at the Fair. San Francisco always parades and there was the carnival on the boardwalk each summer, it was always something to look forward to. If the Fair at Sonora was anything like those of San Francisco, Jorge might have a fun end of the year treat. Otherwise, Sonora fell flat of his expectations.

This lesson wasn’t helping him any. The professor started out with some play that he wanted them to read. Jorge was not interested in this stuff. This was things that his sisters loved, not him. He wondered how happy parents would be if they knew their children were learning theater in their Charms lessons? This was a subject that was important for every day life and the professor was using it for other things. Even if a Charms lesson was in the midst of the play. The lesson though, the real one, might be useful to him. He always wanted to get his sister’s diary open…

His dark eyes turned to the girl beside him. He recognized her from the common room, so he knew she was a Pecari, but he wasn’t sure on the name. There were way too many girls at this school. His dad said that when he became older, the girl ratio won’t seem like a terrible thing. But, until that happened, their faces sort of blended together. He only knew about a handful of them because he spoke with them and they did something to get him to remember them.

He wanted to correct her by saying that technically she was locking it and he was unlocking it, but he kept his mouth closed. There was no point in saying it since he was sure she’d understand it once they were started. “That’s the gist of it, I guess.” Jorge commented, leaning back in his chair to stretch and make himself comfortable. “I’m Jorge Garcia, I don’t think I’ve met you yet.”

0 Jorge Garcia (Pecari) That's the point of Charms, isn't it? 0 Jorge Garcia (Pecari) 0 5

Valerie Lennox

January 30, 2012 6:39 PM

Somehow I don't think I'll ever be doing that. by Valerie Lennox

As she often did, Valerie felt quite tired and run down. She didn't quite feel sick yet but she definitely thought that she was coming down with something given that she'd woken up coughing that morning. Valerie wanted it to be nothing, she really did, but it was never nothing. Since she'd come back to school,the second year had already had a cold and taken quite a few doses of Pepper-up Potion, which she didn't like very much as it made steam come out of her ears.

So, Valerie entered the Charms room warily and sat down. She never quite knew what to expect from lessons. What if it was a class that required her to exert herself physically? The Crotalus didn't quite feel capable of that,ever. Not even when she wasn't completely incapacitated. It was still not a good idea for her to wear herself down further. Valerie understood the necessity of being able to actually do a spell but there had to be some way to demonstrate and practice that without risking her health.

Valerie did not want to ask for any more special treatment that would single her out among her peers. She didn't want them to think that she was spoiled and whiny but the Crotalus honestly couldn't do things the same way a lot of times. She couldn't go running around the classroom, risking potential injury to herself. The tiniest cut could get infected, which was why Valerie had not ever been allowed to run about and play as other children could. Not that it was very ladylike to do so anyway.

She took the play that had been handed out. Valerie read a lot, as there wasn't much else one could do being stuck in bed so much but this was not a play she'd ever heard of. When Professor Light explained the premise, the Crotalus understood why. It was not something that her parents would have approved of in general, especially not for a young lady. Literature for young ladies her age-especially ones whose parents didn't want them to get stressed or excited-tended to be a bit on the lighter side. Boys probably tended to read more things involving adventures

That aspect of the play worried Valerie. She knew that this part of the lesson probably had some bearing on what they would be doing today. That this was just an intro. What if they had to do something that involved exploring and obstacles? Valerie had little problem with spells themselves, though sometimes, when she worked on the harder ones too much, she'd tire herself out but she didn't know if she could handle any sort of rigorous activity. In fact,she knew quite the opposite.

Valerie breathed a sigh of relief when she found out that all she was going to have to do was simply lock treasure chests after whichever first year she partnered with unlocked them. Nothing too exhausting. Nothing dangerous. It was all going to be okay for this lesson at least.

She started to stand up when she began to cough. When it had abated, Valerie was going to go looking for a first year but it seemed there was already someone standing next to her...

11 Valerie Lennox Somehow I don't think I'll ever be doing that. 204 Valerie Lennox 0 5

Theresa Carey, Pecari

January 30, 2012 10:04 PM

I'm going to be too busy managing my future husband's career by Theresa Carey, Pecari

Theresa still wasn’t sure what she thought of the changes to the Charms classroom – the sheer amount of things going on around the walls didn’t bother her so much, since it reminded her a bit of their schoolroom at home, but the Quidditch players somehow seemed a little inappropriate – so she simply didn’t look at them too much as, Professor Light smiled at and greeted, she took a seat. The seats were a feature of the new decorating scheme that she really didn’t like, but complaining about it didn’t seem likely to change anything.

She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when they got the scripts, though, and the professor went on to provide a short recap of the plot of the play. Such a peculiar thing! She wasn’t surprised it was unpopular, because the theory its writer was behind was ridiculous. Everyone knew the goblins were going to rebel every now and then, they were just like Dark wizards who got enough of a following to start a war in that way. In some places, ‘every now and then’ was once or twice a century, in luckier ones it was every few centuries, but sooner or later, it was inevitable, even the amount of history she’d both been given and absorbed, neither of which was as much as they might have been, clearly showed them that. There was little point in holding a position which was ultimately doomed to be proven false, which was why Theresa never intended to follow any Dark wizards. They never won in the end, did they?

She wondered, if they got to keep the scripts, if she should show it to Arthur. He would be amused, she knew, but she might have to listen to a long, academically-worded and -toned lecture on something related to the subject, whether her cousin actually knew anything about it or not. That could be tedious.

For now, she used it as a fan as she stood to confront a locked trunk, her hand absently turning it back and forth even though it wasn’t really hot. She squinted at the trunk a little, thinking of how awful her life was going to be once her siblings were old enough to start learning this spell. She was already a source of envy for not having to share any of her living space with someone else, and Merlin only knew what Brandon and Diana would do once they got in to satisfy their curiosity but then got distracted by something else….

The thought of her siblings improving with age was not one Theresa gave much consideration to. One day, she would be an adult, and maybe Jay would, too, but the others just would not, or so it seemed to her.

She was distracted from such thoughts, though, by the sound of coughing nearby. Looking around, she found the source and automatically went over. She recognized the other girl, one of the Crotali, one of the second years – the one who was sick all the time, which made her coughing seem like cause for concern. “Are you all right, Miss Lennox?” she asked as Valerie’s fit seemed to subside a little.

0 Theresa Carey, Pecari I'm going to be too busy managing my future husband's career 0 Theresa Carey, Pecari 0 5

Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus

January 30, 2012 10:53 PM

Shouldn't that involve more deadly curses? by Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus

Something about the new seminar layout of the Charms room made Alexandra feel as though she were on the spot, but she dismissed it as something she’d get over as she got more used to it. There was nothing she could do about it, so she really didn’t see another option.

When a play script was passed to her, she regarded it in the same light. Her brown eyes rested for a moment on the cover image before swinging back up to the professor as he began to explain what it was. She had to admit, it did sound funny, enough that the corners of her wide mouth turned up for a moment at the thought, but not for the reasons that Light said it should be. It was just amusing to her that the proposition was that different peoples could be united by greed, of all things, when greed was…well, she guessed it could be organized, like the family always wanting more of any and everything, but even then, greed just wasn’t really a group activity. Everyone was out to improve his own standing by helping the family, and if he happened to plant a particularly sharp knife in the backs of a few other members of the family on the way up, well, that was too bad. And, more to the point, none of this had anything to do with Charms, or even that much with the lesson.

Still, the idea of the unifying factor in the world being that they were all just miserable specimens anyway was funny.

When they were released to work, Alex uncrossed her legs and stood, her dark purple skirt falling two or three inches below her knees. She had gotten lots of new clothes over the holidays, her mother and grandmother trying as hard as they could to dress her like a pretty girl, not one who looked like the father she’d barely seen while she was home, who wasn’t good-looking even for a man. This dress was part of that outpouring, their attempt to make believe that she was what they’d wanted in a girl, if they had to have one at all, but she liked it anyway, which wasn’t always the case when it came to things that her mother and grandmother came up with for her to wear. She had different tastes than they did, but was dismissed as silly if she tried to voice that. She’d learned to just endure them, most of the time.

She looked around for a partner. It was important to get the right one, but unfortunately, she didn’t know many of the second years very well. She had been busy enough getting to know the people in her own year all year, and while the second years were always there, she usually didn’t approach them if they didn’t approach her first. They were older, more experienced, probably touchy about it since there were so many years above theirs and only one below it, and that had all made her wary of them from the start. She had gotten through half a year without really having any problems with any of them, but….

Maybe she could just unlock trunks, and leave it to a second year who wasn’t particularly social either to come after her and seal them back again. She was just persuading herself that this plan was a good one when someone spoke to her, disrupting her thoughts. It seemed she was to have a partner after all – or to be told to get out of the way. It was one of those things which had not happened yet, but she knew it was possible. Lots of things that weren’t likely to happen were possible; she was even willing to assume it was just possible that someday, her parents might decide they liked each other.

0 Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus Shouldn't that involve more deadly curses? 0 Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus 0 5

Jhonice

January 31, 2012 10:31 PM

Yes, but they're not always so practical by Jhonice

Jhonice smiled at the boy next to her. He was one of the new Pecaris, but hadn't paid him much attention. She'd been busy with her other investigations. Well, it was time to see what the Garcias had to offer, she knew there was another in Teppenpaw... how many were there total? There was only one way to find out. "I'm Jhonice, Jhonice Trevear." She looked over the chest in front of them before giving him something of a sly look. "So, you're a Garcia? I have a cousin in Teppenpaw, isn't there another Garcia in that house? Any relation?"

Focusing back on the open chest she remembered what the professor had been saying. "Okay, let's see if I can lock this, then you can open it." She waved her wand around and authoritatively announced the Professor's word at the lock. It snapped shut obediently. She grinned, "Excellent, now it's your turn." There was something about this class that bothered her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She'd figure it out, but for now, it was his turn to work.

2 Jhonice Yes, but they're not always so practical 209 Jhonice 0 5

Sullivan

February 02, 2012 12:07 PM

They saved their Halloween candy forever by Sullivan

Sully nodded as Waverly From Pheonix Just Waverly introduced herself. He made a mental note to call her that at some point. It might make her laugh and most classes were sadly lacking in opportunities to laugh. He wasn't really very funny - he would never make it as a stand-up comic despite his ambition to become one when he was seven; which was fine because by age eight he'd wanted to become an astronaut, at nine he wanted to be a black jack dealer, and by ten he'd advanced that to casino owner, and at eleven he'd figured out he could do magic and since then he'd really had no idea what wizards did as grown-ups but 'comedians' seemed unlikely - but he did enjoy performing light mockery as humor.

He readied his wand, despite her suggestion that Professor Light may not notice his failure, chances were fair that he would. Effort would at least get him partial credit. Unfortunately, Waverly got her spell on the very first try, which was both embarrassing for being shown up by a first year, and discouraging because he doubted he could even get that one right that quickly.

"Ring pop," he said without hesitation when him a choice of the types of candy she'd revealed. He took a deep breath, tightened his grip on his wand, and waited for his partner to move aside then placed himself in front of the chest. He closed it, and stated, "Arr, Matey, we be needing t' protect our booty from yon landlubbers," he agreed, nodded around the classroom to their classmates.

He waved the wand as show and said the spell word and some magic fizzed through the air but when he tried opening the lid again, it didn't so much as stick a little. "Well, Captain Waverly From Pheonix Just Waverly, yon chest is bein' troublesome. Think we ought to have it walk the plank or should we give it another try to listen t' our orders?"

0 Sullivan They saved their Halloween candy forever 0 Sullivan 0 5

Evan Brockert, Aladren

February 03, 2012 8:33 PM

Do we have to fight mummies? by Evan Brockert, Aladren

Evan really enjoyed Charms. In fact he enjoyed all of his classes and pretty much everything at Sonora. The Aladren had yet to find anything that he didn't like about school actually. Except maybe the lesson on arrowspines in COMC prior to midterm. They were too much like porcupines for Evan's taste and porcupines were creepy, with their extremely sharp quills. To step on one would have to be total agony for both human and porcupine. After all, the first year didn't think he would like being stepped on, though in the case of a porcupine he supposed it would be better to be stepped on by one than the other way around.

However, he wouldn't want to be stepped on by something larger, like say a hippogriff or a giant. Evan figured that would be like him stepping on a bug. As he would squish a bug, a giant would squish him. The Aladren didn't like to step on bugs anyway, not because it hurt him but because it ruined the sample. He preferred to trap bugs and butterflies and then pin them for display. Or put them in the terrarium that Adam had gotten him for Yule.

The Aladren wondered what would be the worst thing to step on. He was pretty sure it was a porcupine. Or maybe a diaper. A dirty diaper. That would be gross. But it wouldn't hurt as much as the porcupine. Maybe a porcupine in a dirty diaper would be the worst.

He looked down at the play that Professor Light had handed out. Evan had never heard of it, not because it had been specifically banned but because well, a twelve year old, no matter how much he read, just wouldn't have heard of everything ever written. There were just millions of books and plays out there and when there were that many of everything, nobody could be expected to know of every last one.

The Aladren thought about the subject. Evan did agree with not having wars, because war was violent and he didn't really care for violence personally, hence why he wouldn't have played Quidditch even had he been allowed. Though he supposed it would be better to be with Aladren than against them. One thing didn't especially make sense to him though and that was that uniting in greed was inherently impossible. Because if people or goblins or centaurs were greedy, they wouldn't share with each other and would stab each other in the back. Greedy beings wanted it all. All the money, land, power, glory, all of it.

Evan watched as the professor demonstrated the spell to unlock the chest as well as the one the second years were going to do to lock them again. He didn't quite know why they needed to be locked again, but he figured it was to give the second years a spell to practice.

Now to find an older student. Evan spotted one that wasn't paired off already and approached. "Would you work with me?" He asked.

11 Evan Brockert, Aladren Do we have to fight mummies? 212 Evan Brockert, Aladren 0 5

Nora

February 04, 2012 3:59 PM

Certainly by Nora

Nora nodded. "I am Nora Dobson, of the South Dakota Dobsons." She introduced herself. Of course, the Aladren knew who Cepheus was. She made a point of knowing who people were. For her own interests rather than out of any real politeness. Nora needed to know things about people, in part who she would know was worth associating with.

She did not base this as much on blood or social standing as she did on whom she could tolerate. The second year had very little patience for the stupid or the hyperactive. Granted, she didn't see much of the latter who weren't also the former, but the former was possible without the latter.

Cepheus Princeton, however, qualified. He both appeared to be, if not a bit stuffy, at least relatively well-behaved in class and had an IQ higher than that of a brain damaged puffskien, a creature Nora had never regarded as particularly intelligent. Anything that ate the boogers out of people's noses couldn't be too bright. Though at least in the case of dumb animals, Nora couldn't blame them because that's just how that particular species were. People, on the other hand, were perfectly capable of thought and intellect and she would rather her grade not partially depend on an idiot.

Nora followed Cepheus over to a chest which he promptly opened. She once again appreciated that he wasn't going to fool around. "Not really. I suppose I could take the candy." The second year wasn't one of those who was motivated by stupid trivial things like sweets. In fact, Nora regarded those who made a big deal out of things as less intelligent, interested in the more inane things in life. Not that she hated cookies or candy or anything like that. In fact, the Aladren was rather fond of cupcakes to be honest. She just didn't think things like that were the be-all-end-all. "I'd take the sandwich as well but I'm not really hungry at the moment and it won't keep. Besides, it could be quite old already."

She looked at Cepheus with a bit more interest. "What sort of harder spells?" Nora was perfectly capable of both locking and unlocking a chest herself and she quickly locked the chest again. "I think professors have to gears things to a variety of skill levels. Because some people less capable either to do lack of brains or magical talent."

Nora continued. "Also, I don't really see a point to that whole spiel in the beginning of class with the play, did you? Why did we have to go through all of that just to learn how to do two rather simple spells?" To the second year, it felt just slightly preachy and she hated when people got all moralistic and superior acting.

11 Nora Certainly 197 Nora 0 5

Jorge

February 04, 2012 7:20 PM

I suppose that could be true by Jorge

Jorge’s brown eyes studied the girl beside him. He wasn’t sure why his last name was important. It wasn’t anything special even if they were an extension to the Santoros. It was his extended family who held all the cards. He knew his mother had married down, but that was neither here nor there. He didn’t really care about that sort of thing anymore than his siblings or parents did. The Santoros and Chavez’s still hold some of those Pureblood characteristics where names meant something, but his mother and father took them out of that and they lived pretty comfortably. His eldest sister seemed pretty happy about her life being able to date who she wanted, which was Juri, and he definitely wasn’t acceptable to the Pureblood ‘ways’. If his parents had cared at all about names, Lita would be wallowing in self-pity while attending Julliard.

“There is.” He said lightly, both to the question of a Garcia in Teppenpaw and if there was any relation to one another. “Dulce, she’s my older sister.” Jorge stated with a small shrug. “She’s the Teppenpaw Prefect” He added because he wasn’t sure if ignoring someone’s status was a good thing or not. Besides, he didn’t want Dulce’s wrath in any way. “Who’s your cousin?” He asked more out of curiosity than anything else. He didn’t know names yet of older students, but it never hurt to find out who everyone was just in case it came in handy later on.

Jorge watched as Jhonice try out her spell and was semi-surprised to see how easily she was able to do it. Well, he supposed it shouldn’t be too surprising, these were supposed to be relatively easy spells for them to perform. Jorge had been blessed with the same smart gene as his sister, Dulce, was and had been doing pretty well in all his classes. Somehow, though, he had missed the artistic gene that the females in his immediate family shared and had to figure out what he was really good at through trial and error. At least he always had academics to fall back on. “Nice job.” He complimented as he picked up his own wand to try it. “Alohomora!” He said confidently and watched in satisfaction as the blue light hit the chest evenly. He heard the click of the lock, but the chest didn’t open. “Well, at least it unlocked, so that’s something.” He commented before adding, “I wish I knew how to do this spell a long time ago. Would have been way more successful with opening my sisters’ diaries than using a pick to unlock them.”

0 Jorge I suppose that could be true 0 Jorge 0 5

Waverly

February 04, 2012 7:41 PM

And their Valentine's candy, Christmas candy... by Waverly

Waverly gladly handed him the ring pop and held her new stuffed turtle in one hand. It would be nice to add a turtle to her collection of stuffed animals back home. She stood back, eating her chocolate coin, and watched him. It was probably a good thing he had taken the ring pop. She had a real sweet tooth and it wasn't good to encourage her consumption of sweets. It was partially the reason why she was busy unwrapping another chocolate coin.

Waverly was delighted once more by Sully when he responded to her in pirate speak. A smile burst across her face as she nodded, mouth full of chocolate at the moment. She watched him try to lock the chest, but it was still open. She was really glad that they were partners now. She didn't care if people gave them weird looks. Another smile bloomed on her face at the long name he addressed her with.

"Arr, we best be tryin' agin, Captain Sully," she said. "Walkin' th' plank means defeat! An' we can't give up our booty to them landlubbers like ye said!" She smiled and tried her best pirate face. "Ye can do it this time, I be sure of it!"

She looked over at their professor. "Anywho, Captain's orders are t' grab the treasure and make sure none'a th' others can get back in it, and we best follow 'em or we be tryin' his patience. Best o' luck to ye!" The pirate speak was so much fun Waverly just wanted to keep talking, but they were in class and they really did have an "assignment" to do. So she saluted him with a big grin and unwrapped another chocolate coin.

0 Waverly And their Valentine's candy, Christmas candy... 0 Waverly 0 5

Valerie

February 05, 2012 8:45 PM

I hope I'll be able to do that by Valerie

"Oh, yes, thank you, Miss Carey." Valerie replied. She appreciated the younger girl's concern. At home, her parents and sister and everyone fussed over her. Valerie didn't really expect things to be like that here anyway and was basically all right with that. In fact, she usually tried not to draw attention to herself lest it bring negative attention or scare others away from her.

It didn't make her feel any less alone though. Sometimes, she just wanted a friend. It was so hard to do so when Valerie had to miss class so much though. Even illness aside, the Crotalus didn't really feel she had much in common with the other second year girls. She liked her roommates well enough, but Brianna and Attoria were already best friends and Valerie felt like a third wheel. Plus, she was kind of afraid that they would catch something from her or that she'd irritate them with her constant coughing.

At least next year Melanie would be here with her. The Crotalus couldn't wait. Still, Valerie wanted her sister to make friends of her own. Not be lonely like she was.

Sometimes getting attention was unavoidable as well. Like when Valerie was sick during class and others had to leave, drop what they were doing and take her to Hospital Wing. The Crotalus felt awful about that but she had to admit she genuinely could not always do things on her own. Such as make it to see the medic by herself when she was that sick.

That was not the case right now. Surely she was coming down with something, a cough was never nothing for her but Valerie didn't feel like it was bad enough that she had to leave class right now. She was coughing quite a bit, she had been all day but she didn't have a fever or anything. Though certainly Valerie was going to go the Hospital Wing and get checked out before it got too bad and she had to be a burden to someone. Perhaps she'd also ask to be excused from more the more strenuous lessons too. Valerie didn't want to be a whiny baby, but those were taking their toll on her. She would gladly do any sort of alternative book work that her professors could come up with.

For now though, she turned to Theresa. "Would you like to work together?" Valerie asked. The first year seemed kind to her because she'd asked if Valerie was okay and she was definitely someone that Crotalus's parents would approve of.

11 Valerie I hope I'll be able to do that 204 Valerie 0 5

Cepheus

February 06, 2012 7:45 PM

We'll be fast friends then, I hope. by Cepheus

Ah, another pureblood. Cepheus was glad he was meeting more and more of them. Perhaps America wasn't teeming with mudbloods like his family had assumed. "Lovely name Nora is," he said. He didn't know many people named Nora, and it was rather...unique. Not like Cepheus, of course, but unique for American purebloods, he supposed. He just hoped this girl wasn't like one of his cousins back at home: stuck up on themselves for being so pampered all their lives. It was irritating how stuck up Devon could get. Cepheus mentally scowled at the thought of him.

Cepheus handed Nora the candy after opening the chest and stood back with the rest of the things. He put the trading cards into his robe pocket and placed the sandwich with a grim look on his face. "I agree," he replied to her sandwich remark. He didn't fancy eating a sandwich he'd found in a chest either.

When Nora seemed interested in harder spells, Cepheus leant back against a desk and twirled his wand in hand, anxious to do something more with it. "You know, the one he's offered to teach privately to students. And things like the disillusionment charm, memory charms, protective charms, duelling charms, and the like." He was interested in the duelling part mostly, anyway. Mischief was easier when he had more spells to use, though no one was really stopping him from learning except himself. He just didn't fancy studying on the weekends when he could be sleeping in or playing out of doors.

He was glad when Nora locked the chest quickly. She didn't seem like she lacked any brains or magical talent. "I suppose it's to make us learn more about culture or whatnot. Learn to appreciate it. Though it's strange that they would have something like that in charms class." In Cepheus's experiences with tutors, he'd always had a separate class of literature or art to force him to appreciate culture. He wasn't terribly fond of being forced to do anything, really, so he was glad there wasn't a class like that here. But if they were going to do things like this during charms...

"It didn't seem relevant to the spells either, except to give them context and make this activity seem more adventurous, I suppose." If the professor had wanted to make it adventurous, he should've made this some kind of scavenger hunt. "Anyway, I don't want to dawdle. Let's get this class over with. God, I envy you being a second-year." He sighed and went to open another chest. This one was blue and a bit too close to the first-year muggle-born he had met on a couple occasions for his liking.

When he looked inside, there were more sweets. Cepheus was growing tired of this already. As much as he liked sweets, there was such a thing as too many and he hadn't even had one yet, though he usually didn't trust the sweets he found in classrooms. "Care for some chocolate or the peppermint drops?" he asked.

0 Cepheus We'll be fast friends then, I hope. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Thad Pierce, Aladren

February 07, 2012 11:53 AM

I have questions. by Thad Pierce, Aladren

Thaddeus stuttered his step as he walked into the Charms room. He could tolerate change under most circumstances without undue mental or emotional stress, but changes on a grand scale - such as the sudden appearance of stadium seating where he would normally find flat floor and a series of desks and chairs - did take him a moment to process. He'd been running a mental commentary on . . . something . . . but the derailed line of thought was not as easy to recover as his step. He gave it up as unimportant (if it wasn't, he'd be able to remember it) and opted instead to focus on navigating up to an empty seat in the second row.

He generally chose to sit near the front of the room, but he liked heights enough that given the choice betwen a seat in the front row and a seat on a riser, he would take the seat on a riser. This was not, he decided after a moment of consideration, an indication of height overcompensation. He was not unduly undersized for his age and the sense that the entire school was taller than him was merely an effect of being a first year. Here in the beginner class, shared as it was with students who were in the much smaller range of 11-13 year olds, Thad's twelve years were comfortably average and his height likewise fell somewhere in the middle of the pack. So, therefore, there was no reason for him to feel a psychological desire to select the raised bench simply because he stood less than five feet tall. He selected it because risers were fun.

Thaddeus decided it was possible that he had a strange definition of fun.

Still, he was in an unusually good mood as he caught the script being distributed. Unusual not because he was cheerful in Charms class but because he was experiencing more cheer than Charms class alone could normally inspire. He was inclined to attribute the difference to sitting on a riser but there were other possibilities. The room was more fully decorated than last year, for example, and the extra things to look at could be part of it as well. Mother often said a well decorated house was a happy house.

Thad flipped briefly through the script, initially trying to recognizing it followed by trying to get the basic gist of it when he discovered that it was unfamiliar. As it turned out, this was unneccessary since (a) Professor Light gave them the basic gist of it, and in far greater detail than Thad's quick scan could have provided, and (b) they weren't actually reading the play for class. Thad tucked it away safely in his bag anyway, intending to look at it in greater depth later because if a teacher thought it was important enough to provide to them, the very least he could do was read it properly. He also took notes on the points Professor Light deemed historically significant. Professor Light was one of Thad's favorite teachers because he did range beyond the narrow confines of his subject of choice.

As they moved into the actual Charms related portion of the lesson, Thad's quill dilligently recorded not only the first years' spell focus, but also the the one that the second years would be performing and the advanced on that was beyond the ability of Charms beginners. The latter part, though, was momentarily interrupted as he looked up from his notes with eager interest showing on his face as the Professor brought up the possibility of private sessions. He would totally be signing up for that. It was a far greater treasure to Thaddeus than anything that could be inside the locked chests that were being distributed now.

He didn't have too long to dwell on the excitement, though, and turned back to his notes as the Professor finished explaining how to perform the two spells.

Professor Light made the mistake Thad was always ready to pounce on - saying that if there were any questions just ask - and Thaddeus was torn between trying out the new spells (he usually tried the second year one after he succeeded at the first year level one) and going up to the front to ask about the history of the spells, the legality of the alohomora one, and how differently the advanced locking charm must work if it wasn't affected by alohomora. Also, he'd said most objcts and doors could be unlocked by alohomora when locked by Colloportus, but what were the exceptions?

It was this last question that decided him. He headed toward the front of the room to speak to the professor. "Sir," he began, using the term of respect because he did this nearly every class and he really was appreciative of the answers he received before he was eventually encouraged to go back to his chair and try out the lesson. "The locking spell seemed fairly useless if the unlocking charm is so much easier to cast that it's a first year lesson. Under what conditions does colloportus work well enough that some eleven year old with basic Charms training can't get inside?"

0 Thad Pierce, Aladren I have questions. 0 Thad Pierce, Aladren 0 5

Professor Light

February 07, 2012 5:06 PM

Dude, why are you making me work? by Professor Light

Caesar watched with no little amount of amusement as his youngest students made attempts upon the chest, either opening or closing them. Some of them his hazel eyes slid over faster than others, drawn to the students he considered more exciting to watch. Waverly Canterbury, for instance, always had good cheer and energy and Caesar thought she might have a particular flair for charm-work. Watching her struggle over spells and how she looked when finally mastering them was a continuous reminder to Caesar why he went into teaching in the first place. He loved those moments in his own school among his own peers when he was helping his friends out or absolute strangers or pretty girls he had a valid excuse to hang out with (exhilarating study sessions in the library with the textbook flung off the desk, his lips on hers and they laughed and giggled, telling each other to be quiet so as not to be heard), and eventually assisting a few of his different professors in their classes. Caesar loved that moment of accomplishment flashing across a student’s face - across anybody’s face - and knowing that he was a partial cause of it.

The only thing more rewarding than that, were moments like the one he was about to have with Thaddeus Pierce, another favored student Caesar’s eyes always paused over, eager to see how the boy was fairing. He sat up a little as he watched Thaddeus make his way down the stairs, in between the parted sections of seated and standing students and make his way directly toward Caesar. “Mr. Pierce,” He returned the greeting with an expectant smile. Thaddeus was one of the more inquisitive students, distinguishing himself even from the other Aladrens, and Caesar greatly enjoyed going deeper into any subject with him. There could be no teaching without questions and, even more thrilling, without debate. “Ah, good question.” Caesar sprang up and pulled out his wand to point it at the chair he was sitting in, casting a silent Gemino charm. “Take a seat.” He settled in the original soft blue chair, tapping his wand excitedly on the armrest before reaching for a nearby candy dish from between two textbooks and offering a random magical treat to his student before he began to answer.

“So I profusely apologize for not being so clear before, Thaddeus.” Caesar smiled comfortably across from him. “Alohomora can be used to unlock most things, for instance, anything sealed by muggle methods. Any simple lock can be unlocked by Alohomora if it’s a diary or trunk or door - what you will - if it was originally locked with the only defense being a key. In our world, however, the most commonly used locking spell is Colloportus and that is a spell that can always be broken by Alohomora.” He paused, reached for a candy, popped it in his mouth, and resumed. “They are paired together, the two spells. Now, what I meant to get across was that there are some objects - doors, treasure chests, whatever you like - that are locked by a locking spell much more powerful than a mere Colloportus and that those are the spells that Alohomora cannot always unlock.”

He sucked a bit on his candy as he raised his wand and silently summoned a copy of the play to him, catching it in his hand. “In Corazón de Plata a treasure chest is locked using a more advanced locking spell and in performances the director makes sure that the chest is actually locked by that spell. The Claustrum Charm is only less difficult to perform than the charm used to unlock it, Aperi Rumpivi, which can open anything save for an object guarded by dark magic. For an audience, watching this display of genuine power on part of the actors chosen to cast the spells is quite thrilling. A real treat. It's very risky as there's always a chance an actor will mess up not only their lines, but be too drained or unfocused to cast the spell each performance.” Caesar couldn’t help the wide smile spread across his face, flashing white teeth with every word he spoke. Talking and proving that he was smart had always been a favorite pastime when he was a boy, it was awesome that people decided to pay him to do that. “Does that clear things up for you?” The selfish part of him wanted Thaddeus to have more questions so that they could talk the entire class time, but he had a lesson going on that at some point Thaddeus should take part in.

0 Professor Light Dude, why are you making me work? 0 Professor Light 0 5

Theresa

February 07, 2012 9:46 PM

I just hope I'm more successful than my mother by Theresa

Theresa was somewhat doubtful about Miss Lennox’s claim that she was well, but realized, with a little start of surprise even after half a year of this, that she was in no position to do anything about it, so she let it go. Maybe the other girl had just breathed the wrong way, or gotten into some dust, and that was all that was wrong with her.

She hoped so, and not only for Valerie’s sake. She wasn’t worried about catching something, that wasn’t it, but something about the second year’s apparent and public fragility made her just the tiniest bit uneasy. Her parents were not favorites of their families, nor exemplars of what they wanted members to be, but they both came from families which valued toughness and hiding anything that didn't live up to that ideal, if in different ways, and since she herself had only once in her life been absolutely too sick to make herself do what she wanted or needed to do for a while, it was impossible for her to understand Miss Lennox’s position.

Plus, it was just a shame. She was a pretty enough girl, a quiet enough girl, a nice Crotalus girl and a pureblood girl, but this girl, Theresa was sure, would never marry. Not unless she underwent a drastic improvement. And when a girl could only, no matter how unfair it might seem sometimes, really get ahead, or even stay where she was, through her husband, not having one seemed likely to be even worse than having one.

She nodded when Miss Lennox asked her to work together, though. “Certainly," she said, then looked for and spotted an unattended trunk. “Here we go.” She pointed her wand at it, picturing it opening up for her, just the way she wanted it to. “Alohomora!”

There was a little bang, which she didn’t think was supposed to happen at this stage, the trunk rocked back and forth, and then the lid lifted for a second before it fell back. “I think it unlocked,” she said, unperturbed, and reached for the lid, adding a “Ha” as it came up again. She felt some resistance, but that might have just been its natural weight; she was not short, but she was small for her height.

“It looks like chocolates,” she reported, looking over what it contained with the eye of a connoisseur – some of the tutors used candy as a means of bribery or reward – when she got it opened and looked in. “Maybe those are caramels…hm, and there’s some of those strawberry candies Henry likes.” She liked them, too, but not as much as Henry, so he usually got more of them. She tried not to mind, and almost always succeeded, now. Mother said it was wrong to mind that kind of thing. “Do you want any?”

0 Theresa I just hope I'm more successful than my mother 0 Theresa 0 5

Jhonice

February 08, 2012 9:12 PM

Sometimes you need to find a good 'practical' application by Jhonice

The boy didn't quite carry himself like most of the 'interesting' people she had encountered and heard about, but there was something about him. Something she may need to try and find out. Maybe he was one of their agents, they must have agents don't they? Informers to stay on top of things, people that did what she was trying to do, but reported to 'higher-ups'. She would have to be careful, he was trying to get information out of her now. She couldn't tip her hand and reveal that she was onto him, so she was going to have to do this subtle. Good thing she was good at subtle.

Jhonice smiled at his question. People like to talk about themselves, right? That was one of the key lessons she'd learned from her mother, and how she got most of her information. So, she would have to play along. "Andrew Duell is my cousin. He's the seventh year prefect." This information wouldn't really gain Jorge much, this was Andrew's last year here then it would be irrelevant. Dulce would not be leaving quite as quickly. The advantage was hers!

She watched as Jorge cast the spell and unlocked the chest. "You know how to use lockpicks?" She asked without really thinking. "That is cool!" Maybe she should get him to show her how to do that, get some more information out of him. That might look suspicious though, why would she want to learn such a thing? Obviously it would be nice to know until she was allowed to use magic freely, but how to get him to teach her... hmmm.... "I take it doing it by hand is a lot more difficult than using a wand?" she asked in her best innocent sounding voice.

2 Jhonice Sometimes you need to find a good 'practical' application 209 Jhonice 0 5

Thad Pierce

February 09, 2012 4:30 PM

Because you have a cool job by Thad Pierce

As he sat in the indicated chair and listened to the explanation, Thad was moderately disappointed in the locking charm. This lesson ensured that pretty much anyone at Sonora could get through it. It was really more a symbolic protection than an actual protection. If, say, Evan encountered it on Thad's trunk, he would know that Thad did not want him to get inside, but it would not stop him from getting inside should his roommate feel determined enough to ignore the implicit Stay-Out. It would presumably be effective against muggles (not really a problem on Mount Pierce or anywhere else Thad was likely to spend time) or pre-Sonora aged children (he supposed the Anns would still fit this category for another year and a half, and Winston could potentially grow into a too-inquisitive child once he finished being a baby), so it wasn't a complete waste, but Thad definitely intended to learn the more advanced version that had appeared in the play before graduating.

"Thank you," he said politely, "that clarifies their relative capabilities very well."

He was still contemplating the fact that anyone who knew the more advanced unlocking charm (also in the play) could still get through his advanced locks (as demonstrated by the play) when Professor Light asked if that cleared up things, which was a far more open area than the mere relative capabilities of his first inquiry.

Thaddeus had to assume it was a joke and so he laughed at the absurdity of being out of questions after only one of them. Believing it to be humorously rhetorical, he didn't bother answering that things were not, in fact, perfectly clear yet and chose instead to ask the next most pressing of the uncertainties currently waiting their turns for answers. "What makes the more advanced one so much more effective? Is it that it is so much more powerful and therefore a simple alohamora can't overpower it, or is the complexity doing something completely different at the fundamental functionality level and therefore its foil needs to respond to all of those complexities? Like, is it the difference between a big and heavy lock that breaks a key that could have been used for a smaller but no more difficult lock, or is it like a whole new lock with nearly silent sequential tumbler action that doesn't even have a slot to use a key anymore?"

He waited a beat and then added, "I apologize. I have a historical interest in old time bank robbers." Which was true if somewhat lacking in the socially unacceptable aspects of his own family's rise to wealth during the mid-to-late-1800s when, coincidentally, his great-grandfather did not have a solid alibi for several unsolved bank heists. As a matter of curiosity, Thad wondered briefly if Derwent the First had used the Aperi Rumpivi charm to get into the vaults and whether Aunt Berta would know if he had.

"I meant no offense by my metaphor," he continued his apology. He hadn't specifically mentioned muggles, and the reference to their technology was oblique, but it might be enough to get him in trouble with some of the more conservative purebloods. "I meant only to inquire whether the Claustrum Charm was Colloportus's much larger older brother or if it wasn't even a distant relation."

1 Thad Pierce Because you have a cool job 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Linus

February 10, 2012 12:53 PM

Lucky me by Linus

At Paul's (potentially unintentional) recommendation back in their first year - their very first evening at Sonora, in fact - Linus had made it his business to become familiar with his immediate peers, learning their names and Houses at the very least. Hence he knew he was working with Alicia Bauer, who was in Aladren, and first year. Considering she didn't play Quidditch, wasn't in his house or yeargroup, and was a girl, Linus couldn't claim to know much else about her. Or anything else, for that matter. He knew there were other people in the school who had the surname Bauer, but he'd come to understand that not all of them were directly related to each other. He didn't know how Alicia connected to the other assorted Bauers. He could add to her profile, however, that she couldn't perform an Alohomora charm successfully first time.

"Don't worry," Linus said neutrally, in what he believed to be an encouraging tone. She was looking flustered and like she might need some reassurance. "Just have another go." That was evidently exactly the right thing to say, because her second attempt produced a much more favorable result. "Well done," Linus congratulated her, condescension not once crossing his mind. He had almost forgotten at this point that there would be something hidden in the chest that she had opened. Naturally, Alicia didn't demonstrate an inclination to look in the chest - girls were quite often timid like that (though Linus couldn't actually imagine Katrina being timid in any fashion). He couldn't imagine that the Porfessor would place anything unpleasant in the classroom, let alone booby trap their work. So he graced his partner with what he could only assume was a reassuring smile as he took a step towards the chest. "Don't worry, I'll take a look," he told her, pushing his shoulders back in a subconscious, self-important gesture.

Peering inside the chest, Linus was sort of hoping for some sort of edible treat, but actually spied a fairly familiar object in the form of a simple yoyo. he picked it out of the box and held it out to Alicia. It was wooden and engraved with a pattern, and painted in bright colors. It looked like a toy his father might have owned, rather than the high-spinning, plastic, light-up versions of the toy Linus himself had at home. They'd been popular in his school the year before he'd left to come to Sonora, so naturally Linus had become adept at various tricks. "I think this belongs to you," he said, passing the dated gadget over. He didn't know whether they would take turns to collect the token prizes, but he had no use for the yoyo, and hence he decided it belonged to Alicia.

"Right, I guess I'm up now," Linus surmised as he shut the chest and stepped back away. he knew the spell, he knew the wand movement, and unlike Miss Bauer, the Crotalus actually performed better under pressure. It wouldn't do for Alicia to see him fail, as he was an older and wiser student, and so that simply wasn't an option. Linus cast the spell, checked the chest, and confirmed that it was now locked. He gestured for Alica to verify if she wanted to. "I think you'll find that was successful," he proudly declared. "Let's see if you've mastered that Alohomora spell now. He felt the encouragement come more naturally this time. Maybe he was cut out for mentoring other students, after all.

0 Linus Lucky me 0 Linus 0 5

Nora

February 14, 2012 5:17 PM

That would be acceptable. by Nora

"Thank you." Nora didn't know quite how else to answer that. She'd never thought of her name as lovely or anything else. Nor was she the one responsible for it given her parents chose it. So, she supposed that they deserved the credit. Still, it was a compliment and while Nora wasn't as big a sucker for them as some people, she could appreciate one. "Cepheus is an interesting name." It was and even if he hadn't specifically mentioned being pureblood, she probably would have guessed it by his name and mannerisms.

The Aladren nodded. "I might have to take him up on those private lessons." Nora was typical of her house in that she wanted to learn stuff. She could probably do a lot with the charms Cepheus had mentioned. Plus, if she ever needed a more advanced way to lock up her stuff it would be useful to know the more advanced charm. Not that Nora knew when she'd ever have to. Portia knew well enough to keep out of her things and even Evan had learned to do so and he wasn't around her stuff that often anyway. Of course, Nora trusted Sally to respect her privacy completely. That only left Kitty.

"Personally, I look forward to learning silencing spells myself." The second year commented. When you had a roommate like Nora's, those were an absolute necessity. Though certainly Kitty wasn't the only person like that at Sonora. Pecari was filled with people like the other Aladren. In fact, Nora often wondered why Kitty hadn't been sorted there instead.

The second year paused. "Come to think of it, booby traps might come in handy as well." Nora was not the type to let someone who wronged her get off easily. She was not evil, not like Grandfather, but nor was she going to take any kind of crap from anyone either.

She shrugged. "I guess. Seems like an awfully pointless thing to do though. This is supposed to be a Charms class, not a class on culture. Besides it sounded to me like he was trying to be all up himself about some sort of morality to me." Nora hated being preached at that way. It was like telling them they were all greedy and prejudiced or something because they fought with goblins. "I can learn about culture on my own if I so choose."

"Agreed" Nora enjoyed classes so she didn't care about rushing through this but she would rather practice the spell than waste her time making idle conversation. She followed Cepheus to the next trunk. "I suppose I can take the chocolates." Even if she didn't eat them, she could always use them to bribe Kitty into shutting up. That girl seemed the type to be swayed or distracted by candy or shiny things. "If you don't want either, I can take both."

OOC-Sorry I've been so slow to reply.

11 Nora That would be acceptable. 197 Nora 0 5

Cepheus

February 15, 2012 12:41 PM

Perfect. Shall we shake on it? by Cepheus

Cepheus wasn't sure exactly what Nora meant by saying his name was interesting. The word "interesting" wasn't exactly a compliment in his household, more like a filler word. But nevertheless, he took it as a compliment. "Thank you. I'm named after one of the constellations." Cepheus could see the stars quite clearly back home, but he had never been able to really pinpoint the constellation he had been named after.

Silencing spells. They were so useful. Cepheus had once, in anger, silenced his younger brother with a bit of careless magic as a child before school. Rupert liked to talk, sometimes a bit too much, to the point where it became very irritating. Booby traps were fun to imagine, but he had never tried to make one. It wasn't exactly like he had a reason to make one either. His brothers knew better than to cross him and his mates were perfect. His cousins, well, he didn't live with the annoying ones, and he couldn't set a booby trap for them at family gatherings. That was just irresponsible.

It wasn't difficult for Cepheus to judge someone, but not any more difficult for him to like someone. He liked Nora already. She seemed to have passionate opinions about things and he respected that. It helped that he agreed with her. She would be a strong friend to have. His father's assumptions of Americans weren't exactly true, he was learning. Father hadn't really met an American wizard before, so his opinions about them were rather far-fetched.

"Have them," he said, and handed over the rest of the sweets. He didn't fancy developing a sweet tooth during his stay here. He supposed knowing that Nora had a sweet tooth was a good thing. Father had taught him that it was good to find out ways to compliment a person as well as find out their weaknesses. Cepheus was a little slow on remembering weaknesses, but he didn't find them too important at the moment. "Have you studied different cultures before?" he asked curiously as he leant back on a desk, wondering if wizards all around the world learnt the same things.

0 Cepheus Perfect. Shall we shake on it? 0 Cepheus 0 5

Valerie

February 16, 2012 5:26 AM

That would be nice. by Valerie

Valerie felt relieved when the younger girl agreed to work with her. People were rarely turned down offers to work together, she'd noted and it seemed to be her best chance for social interaction. Especially given that, despite all of the paranoia and anxiety the misleading initial lecture had caused, that this was a lesson Valerie felt capable of completing. She didn't have to worry about hindering Miss Carey, too much. The Crotalus spent most of her free time practicing spells, though she'd have rather spent it with friends sometimes.

But then, she would have to have friends in the first place. Maybe Brianna and Attoria were her friends and maybe Michael was but Valerie wasn't quite sure. She was afraid that her frailty would scare people away and nobody would want to be friends with her. Like they wouldn't think she was any fun because she couldn't do very much so any of the more boisterous students were out. It wasn't so much that she disliked them, Valerie was merely certain that they wouldn't like her.

Not that, she realized, she would have much in common with such people even had she not been sick. Valerie was supposed to be a real proper pureblood lady and therefore, would inherently be more comfortable with same. It wasn't a matter of snobbiness or anything personal against others, it was just that people tended to gravitate towards others that were more like them.

Which still severely limited Valerie's social circle. There only seemed to be three other girls in the second year class who were Proper Ladies that her mother would approve of and one of them was some distant cousin of hers, Nora. Brianna didn't fit exactly either but Valerie really liked her roommate and wanted to be friends with her anyway. Same with Michael, who fit the qualifications of what her mother approved of even less than Brianna did. But like the other Crotalus, Valerie thought the Teppenpaw was extremely kind as well.

It didn't matter, she just wanted friends. Sometimes she was so lonely that it hurt. Like now. Though more likely that was the beginnings of some illness. Valerie could feel a discomfort in her chest. She was extremely tired as well. After this class, the Crotalus was going to take a nap. She would have to go to the medic soon too.

Valerie gave a cough as she followed Miss Carey to the chest. "Oh, no thanks." The second year replied. She wasn't supposed to have sweets. She was only allowed to have healthy food, not just because of her medical condition, but because pureblood girls were supposed to watch their weight. Somehow, Valerie had never had much to worry about in that area. She rarely had much appetite.

"Is Henry your brother?" The Crotalus asked, curiously. She felt it was as good a way as any to start a conversation with Theresa. Maybe that would lead them to be on good terms, if they got to know each other, even if they didn't end up being close friends. Maybe Valerie would feel less lonely then.

OOC-Sorry for taking so long.

11 Valerie That would be nice. 204 Valerie 0 5

Theresa

February 16, 2012 11:33 PM

Is your mother successful? by Theresa

Theresa considered for a moment the possibility that Miss Lennox was lying about wanting some of the candy, but by that point, she’d already popped one of the strawberry ones into her mouth. Thinking around what people said wasn’t one of the things she did well; once, annoyed with her about something, she didn’t even remember what, Arthur had told her she was the most straightforward simpleton he’d ever met, up to and including Arnold. She tended to assume people meant what they said when they made direct statements – not the vague kind Arthur was so fond of, but straight answers, yeses and nos. She was not a mind reader and had no interest in becoming one.

Still, there was plenty of candy left, so she made the gesture. “These might help your throat,” she said, since Miss Lennox was coughing again. Peppermints and actual cough drops were, she thought, usually the best for that, but these would do if Miss Lennox wanted, she supposed. Besides, the girl could use some energy. She just looked tired.

Mentioning Henry wasn’t even something she realized she had done until she was asked about it, but except for a slight flush, she thought she hid her embarrassment about assuming that everyone would just somehow automatically know what she was talking about well. “Yes, he is,” she said. “He’s my second brother. I’ve got two more besides him, and two sisters.” She smiled, aware that though her immediate family size was neither usual nor unusual in her extended family – her uncle only had three children, Aunt Emma just two, but her father had four siblings, and his father had, too, and the Fourth was one of six, just like her – it was pretty big by most standards, especially for all six of them to have been born in only twelve years. “My parents’ way of being good Careys,” she explained.

Everyone, after all, had to have something, even if it did cause problems in other areas, such as maintaining the appearance of wealth for them all. At least they had slowed down finally. She might have another two siblings if Luck wasn’t on her side in that matter, but she was sure she would not be more than the eldest of eight when it was all said and done. Eight was an acceptable number – seven was better, but eight could do – but nine was definitely not. She could just imagine the looks she would get from people if, once she was married and working on her husband's life, she was asked about siblings and had to admit she was the eldest of nine. Her parents would look very strange before anyone even met them.

“Do you have siblings?” she asked, though she knew the answer. Arthur had seen fit to tell her, somewhere between Miss Lennox being in her classes and Miss Lennox having a sister Jay's age. It was polite, though, to let people decide what to say about themselves. She knew that much about it all, anyway, even if she was apparently well on her way to being the latest shame of the House of Carey.

0 Theresa Is your mother successful? 0 Theresa 0 5