Laughter is good. on Charms

Professor Florence Olivers

August 28, 2012 11:50 PM

Make 'Em Laugh! [III, IV, V years] by Professor Florence Olivers

Florence Olivers burst into class slightly late. She had had a little trouble with her purple robes this morning after a mishap with coffee. She was a little more nervous that she had expected. The black coffee hadn’t helped much with that, hence the mishap. Florence had never taught a professional class before. She had been a Charms tutor for most of her post-academic life even as she had pursued a career in the theatre. She was used to being given a curriculum to deal with, not making her own. Hypothetically, if her husband was still alive, she probably wouldn’t have even considered officially teaching. Though her career on the stage was slowed by thirteen wonderful years of marriage, she had loved everything about her work: the limelight, the audience, the people she would meet. She had met her husband that way. The only reason she could not return to it now was because now she lacked the passion. There seemed to be no point in throwing herself into acting again. It was time to move on.

She had prepared a syllabus for all of her classes with the rules, class expectations, and what she expected from them on a daily basis. It had been interesting creating a curriculum for her class instead of following one, but she enjoyed it. She had more freedom this way. The rules in her class were simple: don’t speak out without raising your hand, work diligently, do not curse, and respect everyone. She just hoped she didn’t have anyone speak out or outwardly discriminate others because of their blood status. She had seen much of that in the students she had tutored back in Chicago.

Since the classroom was already filled with her brand new pupils, Florence walked to the front. On the walls hung posters of the class rules and the different charms that she was going to teach them that she had put up the night before. There was a nice rug on the floor near her desk. She had never liked cobblestone steps or hard floors. They sounded so…ominous.

Her brown hair was neat and tidy like her immaculate purple robes and she was wearing comfortable muggle clothes underneath. Her black boots unfortunately reverberated against the floor as she walked to the front. When she reached the front of the class, she swiveled, opened her arms, and smiled at every student. An actress at her very best.

"Welcome back to another year of Charms class," she said in her theatrical voice. Loud, but comforting. "I am your new professor, Professor Olivers,” that would take some getting used to, “and I will teach you the wonders of Charms. If you excel in this subject, you have come to the right class. If you don’t, this is the class for you as well. We will learn a lot in this course. Now, first things first: roll-call." She called names clearly as she twirled her wand in one hand, the other holding the list of names. It went by quickly and when she finished she placed the list down on her desk next to the pile of syllabi. She would be memorizing these names tonight.

With a swish of her wand, the syllabi were handed out. "This is your syllabus. On it are the rules of the classroom, what I will not tolerate, the grading scale, and what to expect from this class. There will be an essay assigned once a week on a spell that I feel we need to work on. There will be three exams during the course of the term. The first will be in three weeks, another for the midterm, and the final exam at the end. Study hard; I am not an easy grader.” She smiled briefly, showing her straight white teeth. She scanned the entire room in silence before swiveling on her heel and writing the name of the spell with her wand on the chalkboard.

“Today we will be working on the Tickling Charm. It is quite self-explanatory as you all should know how tickling feels like. Can anyone tell me what this charm was created to do?” She picked one student who had their hand raised politely. She never liked any students who spoke out of turn. After a student answered correctly, she nodded. “Very good. It’s a harmless spell to disarm one’s opponent in a duel. It can easily be removed with Finite Incantatem. If you cannot perform the countercurse correctly, then call me and I will remove the spell it for you.

“The incantation for the Tickling Charm is Rictusempra. Let’s say it all together without our wands, please. Rictusempra. It’s very important to pronounce it correctly. The more force you say it with, the more power that your wand will have and the longer the tickling will commence. Let’s say the countercurse together as well. Finite Incantatem. It’s a more advanced countercurse, yes, but I have faith in you fifth-years. To perform the Tickling Charm, one must simply make the shape of a quill with your wand complete with a line going through the middle. A picture of it is in your textbook on page 13.

“However, before you begin, I’d like each and every one of you to write down what you remember from your last Charms classes and what you’d like to learn, or what you expect, from this class. As you all know, I’m quite new here and I’d like to know where you all stand in terms of academics.” Teaching three different years of students would most definitely take its toll since they were in all different levels of mastery, but she wouldn’t let it hinder her.

“Fifth-years, as you all are preparing for your C.A.T.s, it wouldn’t hurt to practice Finite Incantatem on your fellow classmates. Let’s do it this way: I’d like you all to break into groups of three. I’d like there to be one of each year in the group. Don’t be shy. You should all be used to this by now. Fifth-years, I put the extra burden on your shoulders to perform the countercurse. If you need extra assistance, come see me. As for the parchment I mentioned earlier, please put your name and your year on it as well and put it on my desk before you begin.” She looked at them all and then nodded. “Alright, then. If you have any questions, feel free to approach my desk. And if you don’t, well, go ahead and begin.” She smiled again, her blue eyes crinkling, and then she turned swiftly on her toes and went to sit at her desk. She brought the roll-call to her and studied it carefully, looking up once in awhile to see how her students were doing. They were officially her students now. This whole process was going to take some getting used to.

OOC: Welcome back to Charms! Please no god-modding or serious injuries (you never know). Minimum ten sentences, please. Tag Florence in the subject line if any of you need her assistance. Happy tickling!
Subthreads:

Fourth Year Seeks Older And Younger Groupmates by Sullivan Quincy, Pecari with Topher Calhoun, Crotalus, Waverly Canterbury - Pecari

Please approach with caution. by Maximilian Joshua McLachlan - Aladren with Brianna Japos, Crotalus, Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus, Josh McLachlan, Brianna Japos, Cepheus Princeton

Fifth year here by Arnold Carey, Aladren with Ephanie Lucore, Aladren

I'm sure someone will be amused...sometime by Arthur Carey, Aladren with Attoria Covington, Crotalus, Arthur Carey, Arabella Brockert, Pecari

One Fifth Year, requiring a partner or two by Josephine Owen with Paul Bennett, Alicia Bauer, Aladren

Written work followed by mixed year work? JOY! (tag: Mellie) by Michael Grosvenor with Mellie Goodwin

5th year looking for partners by Fae Sinclair, Crotalus with Evan Brockert, Aladren

Inviting a fourth year into the Pierce party by Thad Two (and Derry Four), Aladren with Nora Dobson, Aladren, Thad Pierce, Aladren

Do they then make us laugh? by Russell Layne, Aladren with Valerie Lennox, Crotalus, Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus

Laughter is good. by Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw with Theresa Carey, Pecari, Michael Grosvenor, Teppenpaw

Shouldn't be a problem by Madeline Parry, Teppenpaw with Henny B-F-R, Aladren

Fifth year looking for youngers! by Addison Thornton, Teppenpaw

Closed (nm) by Prof. Olivers

0 Professor Florence Olivers Make 'Em Laugh! [III, IV, V years] 27 Professor Florence Olivers 1 5

Sullivan Quincy, Pecari
August 29, 2012 11:22 AM

Sullivan Quincy, Pecari
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Fourth Year Seeks Older And Younger Groupmates by Sullivan Quincy, Pecari
Sullivan wasn't quite on time himself, but her had apparently still gotten there before the new teacher. Briefly, he wondered if maybe she had gotten lost, then he decided her tardiness presented him with an excellent opportunity to pretend he had been punctual. He quickly sat down in the first empty seat he could find and hurried to get out his wand, pen, and notebook so he could look ready to go when she arrived.

He didn't quite pull it off in time, but he was ready by the time she turned around with a great flourish and introduced herself. Sully liked her immediately. She kind of reminded him of his mom.

He was less impressed by the syllubus (which he would doubtless lose, like he had all the ones Professor Fawcett handed out) and the knowledge that she was a tough grader. There went any hope of passing with anything higher than an A.

When she asked the class to tell her the origin of the tickling charm, he kept his hand down and prayed she wasn't the kind of teacher that liked to call on people who had no clue. The best he would have been able to guess was that an older sister invented it to torture her little brother.

This was wrong, he discovered without surprise, when she fortunately called on a volunteer. He wasn't, however, convinced that the charm hadn't at least been used for his guessed motive, even if that hadn't been its creator's purpose. If Karen wasn't a muggle, he could have totally seen her turning it on him.

Fortunately, she was, so he only had to worry about his classmates doing it to him for a grade. Yippee.

Worse, he had to remember which students were in the year above his and which were from the year below in order to find his group for today.

Thinking he had found one, after they were allowed to begin, he introduced himself, "I'm Sully and I'm in fourth. What year are you in again?"

0 Sullivan Quincy, Pecari Fourth Year Seeks Older And Younger Groupmates 0 Sullivan Quincy, Pecari 0 5

Topher Calhoun, Crotalus
August 29, 2012 5:33 PM

Topher Calhoun, Crotalus
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Now we just need a third year by Topher Calhoun, Crotalus
A new year, a new professor. Topher wondered why they even bothered introducing themselves at this point. He guessed it said something about the stubborn optimism of the human spirit, or something like that. Whatever. He just wanted to get through the next year with grades good enough to keep him in school for his last two years and his sanity intact – well, at least as intact as it was now, he amended. He didn’t care if they got a clown from the circus to teach his classes, or even one of the elephants as long as it could use its trunk to maneuver a wand; as long as he learned what he needed to know to pass his CATS, Topher was content.

Despite these thoughts, though, he was a little impressed with the new lady’s presentation. It took guts to actually give one of those ‘this is a place for everyone’ speeches; Topher was pretty sure he would have choked halfway through if he’d even tried, his internal critic just wouldn’t allow it. He thought it was a Crotalus thing, being inclined toward what he called realism – most people were going to do as well or poorly as they ever had – and other people, who did not share this outlook, might refer to as pessimism. She was good with her voice, too, which was a plus in the most crowded class grouping there was. Better for everyone if they could all hear.

He wrote out what he could remember about Charms on the spot, which was less than he thought he could have with a wand in his hand and a reason to use those skills in front of him, and then looked around for someone he was reasonably sure was a younger student. Good practice, he guessed, for the prefect thing in theory, since sometimes maybe people did turn to their prefects. He never had, but maybe other people did, and would.

A Pecari he was pretty sure wasn’t a fifth year came up to him and asked what year he was in. Topher immediately glanced toward the badge he had put on this morning. Sure enough, it had been covered by the way his robes fell. Thirty minutes ago, that had been the plan, but now it was kind of a letdown to notice.

Part of him had been tempted to spend half the night last night polishing the new badge, and this morning he’d been half-tempted too to place it as conspicuously as possible on his green robes, but Topher had resisted the impulse, instead deciding to play it cool. This was no big deal, and he was not enough of a loser to go skipping through the school, announcing to everyone he came across that he got to wear a piece of jewelry for the next three years. No way. Even if it wouldn’t have been implicitly insulting to Fae and Alice and Phoenix, all of whom he liked, it would have just been a little sad, really. A figure of pity was not something Topher had ever aspired to be during his years at school, and he didn’t intend to ever do so. So his badge was no shinier than it had been when he got it, and was at best always half-hidden by the way his robes fell, and if he felt a little diminished by that, he at least felt diminished in a semblance of good taste.

“Fifth,” he said, and was glad when he didn’t stumble over it. It was still new, being a fifth year, still strange. “Topher Calhoun. I guess now all we need is a third year." And then the show could get on the road. Or lurch down the driveway toward the road, anyway.

0 Topher Calhoun, Crotalus Now we just need a third year 0 Topher Calhoun, Crotalus 0 5

Waverly Canterbury - Pecari
August 29, 2012 6:24 PM

Waverly Canterbury - Pecari
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I'd be happy to fill that position by Waverly Canterbury - Pecari
Charms had always been Waverly's favorite class. Though she could sometimes sense the purebloods looking down on her just for being a muggle-born, she had always been determined to do her best in everything. Since last year she'd be doing really well in her classes (except Potions) and had started a club. Now on her bucket list was Quidditch. Though she wasn't a totally avid flyer, she could learn with experience. She knew enough about Quidditch that she wouldn't go flying towards the wrong goal or something.

Being in Intermediate classes now was kind of exciting. It would be adding a new challenge to her. She was also curious of the new professor. She really hoped she was a good professor too. She had been lucky that Sonora didn't have any really bad professors.

Waverly sat down in the front and as she looked around for the new professor, she realized that the woman wasn't in class yet. Huh. She looked down at her watch wondering if she was early. Apparently not. Waverly shrugged and let herself relax for a little bit and took out her wand and textbook. The door slamming open along with heels clicking on the floor made her jump in surprise and turn back to look at the sound.

As the new professor spoke and took roll call and everything, Waverly wasn't sure if she liked her as much as she'd liked Professor Light. She dressed well and she definitely seemed confident in herself. She also seemed to welcome muggle-borns which Waverly did like. Well, only time would tell. Waverly didn't want to judge her character in only one class.

Writing down the things she remembered from Charms was pretty easy. She loved Charms enough to actually remember every single thing she learned in the class. She scribbled down a long list of the spells she had learned and dropped it off on the professor's desk before going back to her seat.

The fact that they were going to split up into groups of three surprised Waverly just a little, but she was determined to do her best. She never really talked to fifth-years much so it would be good to get to know them. After she had took a long look memorizing the look of the charm they were doing today, she looked up and around for some older students. She noticed two boys in a group and recognized one as a fifth-year. He was the prefect for one of the houses, she wasn't exactly sure. But he was a fifth-year and she could probably guess the boy next to him was a fourth-year since she didn't recognize him much from classes.

Then she noticed that she would be the only girl in their group. She didnt' know why it suddenly mattered, but it did. Ever since she had turned thirteen and had gained a monstrous crush on an old childhood acquaintance, she had been noticing boys more. Of course, those boys probably wouldn't look at her like that since she was only a third-year, but she'd never know. Waverly didn't let that stop her, though. She pushed away those awkward feelings that were starting to rise and bounded over to them, wracking her brain for the fifth-year's name. It had been said during the welcoming feast, she just needed to--Christopher! That was it. Christopher Calhoun. Being good at remembering names definitely came in handy.

"Hi, can I join you guys?" she asked. Her brown hair was tied up in preparation for this class and her wand was in her hand as well as her textbook in the other. "You're Christopher, right?" she asked, subconsciously gesturing to him with her wand. "You're a Prefect." She said it like it wasn't obvious. She just couldn't see his badge all that well from where she had been sitting. She turned to the other boy. "I don't know your name, though. I'm Waverly." She slid her wand into the pocket of her robe and stuck her hand out to shake with a smile.

0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari I'd be happy to fill that position 0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari 0 5

Maximilian Joshua McLachlan - Aladren
August 29, 2012 6:42 PM

Maximilian Joshua McLachlan - Aladren
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Please approach with caution. by Maximilian Joshua McLachlan - Aladren
The first thing Josh noticed when he walked into class his usual five minutes early was that the professor wasn't in yet. He was early, so he didn't think twice about it. But when the professor wasn't exactly punctual, he wondered if she would usually be like this. Josh hated people who weren't on time and Professor Olivers wasn't exactly off to a good start in his book.

However, when she did come in and give her little presentation, Josh was impressed. She would be a challenging professor and Josh could definitely respect that. Charms wasn't the highest on his list of favorite subjects, but he had done very well in it in the past. Perhaps with Professor Olivers's influence that would change.

Josh didn't bother correcting the professor when she called out "McLachlan, Maximilian." It wasn't worth raising his hand and telling her that he preferred his middle name. It was rare that any professor would even care once they learned more about him. Josh turned to the page they were supposed to and read a little about the Tickling Charm as she spoke. It didn't look too difficult and he hardly believed that it was used in duels now. His uncle surely wouldn't. Josh could acutely feel the sting of his black eye right then and raised his hand and pressed his fingers lightly against the healing bruise just to remind himself it was still there. If Josh was the easily understanding type, he would have felt bad for his uncle being trapped in an unhappy marriage and all. But since Uncle Inigo was taking it out on the only person in the house who could take it, Josh didn't see himself forgiving so easily.

After the professor dismissed them, he took out a piece of parchment and wrote down the numerous amount of spells he knew. He was very well-versed with 'Finite Incantatem'. It was times like these he could be thankful that his uncle forced him to learn these spells from experience.

Josh wasn't keen on this partnering thing again, especially since he would have to look for specific age groups. Since he knew all of his classmates by name now, except for maybe the third-years, he could approach them easily. Would he want to? That was the real question. Making an effort to be social wasn't what Josh wanted, but he would do it for the sake of his grade. It would also be easier to avoid getting into trouble or something.

He got up out of his seat and turned to look at his classmates. He saw a lone fourth-year standing around and approached them, eager to get this part over with. "Would you like to be in a group?" he asked politely. He was trying not to come off as horribly rude and so far he was doing a good job of it. Hopefully once he perfected Occlumency he'd be able to act polite, maybe even kind, without thoughts of his awful past experiences coming to mind.

0 Maximilian Joshua McLachlan - Aladren Please approach with caution. 0 Maximilian Joshua McLachlan - Aladren 0 5

Arnold Carey, Aladren
August 29, 2012 7:58 PM

Arnold Carey, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
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Age in Post: 15

Fifth year here by Arnold Carey, Aladren
Arnold stopped outside the Charms classroom, taking a deep breath and then checking to make sure his tie had not taken itself out off or somehow ended up along the path to doing so since breakfast. It was, after all, as good a way of stalling as any, and he needed a moment. The first class of the year was a big deal, after all, even when there wasn’t a new professor and this wasn’t arguably the most important year they’d had yet, with only first really being a competitor for the title.

First year, you save a girl from a mooncalf. Fifth year, you find out you’re marrying her. Wonder what the lesson there is.

Arnold tried to shut down that line of thought as soon as it occurred to him – he was nervous about CATS, nothing more, that was his mantra and he was sticking with it – but he wasn’t completely successful, no matter how many times he told himself he was being stupid because he and Fae had talked about it and had agreed that they were all right. There was, he was discovering now that he’d had some time to process it all, a difference between him and Fae and just him now, and just him had only really started to realize that all this was real and to flip out about that fact in the past two weeks.

Get it together, he told himself firmly, adjusting how his bag of schoolbooks sat on his shoulder as he walked through the classroom door. It’s okay, it’s fine, and this will pass. Just go through the motions and don’t fail anything until then. Flunking the most common RATS class there was because he was distracted by something that didn’t necessarily, if he and Fae really didn’t want it to, have to have a huge impact on his life for years was not what he’d call a smart move in general, and definitely was not a step toward making a good enough impression on Fae’s dad that he and Mrs. Sinclair didn’t feel the need to keep him under Imperius for the rest of his natural life.

He had been hoping to just be able to jump into a lesson with both feet, but not only did the new professor have introductions and a long roll call and a syllabus to go over, but she was a little late on top of that. Then it got worse. Fifth years were being pressured to do everything for everybody, and he really hoped the cast sequence for the spell they were learning awarded points for effort, because Arnold was pretty sure he would end up stabbing, or maybe shooting, someone by mistake instead of tickling them if it went strictly with how much something he drew in the air with the end of his wand resembled a feather.

Unable to think of anything else that she could mean by her request for information about where they stood academically, Arnold wrote down his first four years worth of grades even though he’d also though the staff had access to that kind of information by default. When he saw other people writing more, he added that he was pretty good at some of the first aid spells Professor Light had taught them, but left out how he didn’t think he’d ever really gotten the hang of locomotion charms, not wanting to admit he wasn’t the smart twin up-front. Then he sat there until others started finishing and he picked a nonbusy younger person at random. “Hi,” he said cheerfully. “Want to group?”

0 Arnold Carey, Aladren Fifth year here 181 Arnold Carey, Aladren 0 5

Arthur Carey, Aladren
August 29, 2012 8:00 PM

Arthur Carey, Aladren
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I'm sure someone will be amused...sometime by Arthur Carey, Aladren
As difficult as first days were for him, and in spite of the other things he’d found it necessary to do this morning, Arthur still arrived promptly in the Charms classroom, found a seat up front, and was waiting in it, his desk neatly arranged and his reading glasses on, when the bell rang. This contributed to his frown when the new professor was late for class. People being late for appointments annoyed him anyway, but it was worse when the same person could have punished him for being late to the same appointment while he was powerless to do more than frown at her for a few seconds.

When he heard his name on the roll call, though, he made sure to sound pleasant as he said “Present” and then allowed his eyes to go out of focus as she continued to call the many names that fell after ‘Carey’ in the alphabet. It was easier than continuing to really look at her when he did not have to, since she was not paying attention to him and he did not have to see her to think.

She seemed dramatic, reasonably compelling. Those were not bad traits in a strictly academic sense, but he was curious how she would play into the current situation. He had given Preston the idea of a staff schism to keep him from starting a civil war in the dormitory, but he had started to wonder since he said it if it might not be true. This would make a new professor a potential game-changer or game-solidifier, depending. More likely the second; the professors at Sonora tended toward more progressive thought, as near as he could tell. Did the Heads of Houses have more influence than the other teachers, though? In that case, it was especially interesting, with Coach Pierce and Medic Bailey, perhaps that would cause tensions with the actual professors, who might feel that they were more worthy of respect, a new staff member might be especially likely to feel that way, but it would be difficult for a student to try to exploit that for anything other than the sake of causing chaos, and even chaos wouldn’t be that easy, he thought, enough of the staff was a little distant….

His thoughts blurred together as much as the objects on his desk did when he realized the roll call was over and tried to focus back in to hear what she was saying about the syllabus. Arthur glanced over the document, but found nothing remarkable there. Professors had to know that they could not command him, or anyone, to respect anyone else, but it was a convenient shorthand for ‘act as if you do,’ so he let that one quibble go. It sounded better, too; perhaps it made them feel better about themselves, or they thought that if they made the students act in certain ways for long enough, maybe it would work….

Arthur shook his head a little to clear it. Oh, yes, he should have taken that Awakening Draught on top of the headache potion, even though the combination meant spending the morning sick to his stomach. That would have been easier than wandering off on mental tangents every few minutes. At the very least, he should have eaten breakfast and had some tea or coffee, whichever was closer to hand – or perhaps both. He had already gotten through something this morning, and now he was meandering down the path which would lead to his favorite bed in the hospital wing by evening.

With that thought in mind, he supposed it was almost good that they couldn’t work with others in their year. He had meant to speak with Russell during this class, but it might be better to bludgeon his way through the cobwebs rapidly clouding up his head first and then catch his roommate in the hallway after class. Picking up his quill, he turned it between his fingers for a moment before beginning to write about his knowledge of Charms.

At the beginning of the summer, he wrote, more slowly than usual as he was taking extra care with his handwriting, I took a CATS practice exam, on which I scored an E. I have a good grounding in the general theoretical groups – basic healing magic, locomotion charms, security charms – we learned in years three and four, but am better at some individual spells than others. That, he thought, implied he was much less good at the second category of spells than he really was, but someone who boasted of herself as a hard grader might take a point-blank statement of talent as a challenge, and since he wasn’t planning to involve the staff in anything he did, he didn’t see a use for a conflict like that with a professor right now.

He elaborated a bit, then put his quill down and began to seek out younger people, trying to look on the bright side, where he really did need to cultivate more relationships among those groups anyway. He would have preferred to do it next week, though. Times like this were what made him wonder if his father might not have a point about a boring life being a good thing, but he didn’t see that as an option now. Smiling, he approached a younger student. “Good day,” he said. “Shall we work together?”

0 Arthur Carey, Aladren I'm sure someone will be amused...sometime 0 Arthur Carey, Aladren 0 5

Brianna Japos, Crotalus
August 29, 2012 8:11 PM

Brianna Japos, Crotalus
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Duly noted by Brianna Japos, Crotalus
Brianna didn’t really think her Fourth year was off to a very good start. Somehow, at the Opening feast, Brianna had become stuck between a couple of first years. She had no idea why they had ventured away from the other first years that had been talking with Cepheus, but she figured they probably had been too stunned by the color change to even realize where they were sitting. The girl was a bit strange and at first, Brianna had pegged her for a Muggleborn by the way she was reacting. However, the girl had begun talking and immediately Brianna realized that she was from the same sort of families that the people from the Condominiums were from and Brianna tuned her out. Great. This was exactly what she needed to start her year off with.

She had spent her first night settling back into the dorm room. Even though she was sure these other girls had never lived in such a cramped style with all these people, but to Brianna, it was luxurious. Her room at home sit her bed, dresser, and a small desk. That was it. There wasn’t any additional room to that, besides a small walking space. Her parents room was not much bigger. The apartment itself was one large room that fit a living room, kitchen, and eating table. No place to go. No space to stretch out in. Nothing. This is why Brianna loved Sonora (other than because she wasn’t bullied here, of course). There was so much room. Brianna had her own space. Real space. Sure she had to share a room with other girls, but she still had her own space. It just felt right here.

Since her first day/evening had been a dud, Brianna was hoping she would have better luck in the lessons. Her summer was spent studying up on the school year so that she had an idea on what each lesson would be, but she never knew how it would be taught and that was the real mystery. Take last year’s lesson with Regal. He had tennis balls flying at them that Brianna was barely able to get the shield charm up in time. It had taken most of the lesson, but Michael’s help with practicing it before hand helped get her to react in time. She was not quick on her feet, so it had been extremely hazardous to her.

At least this professor seemed like she’d be more understanding about things. Or, at least Brianna hoped so. She took the time requested to write out what they had learned the prior year before standing off to the side and waiting to see what group would need a fourth year. She didn’t have to wait long though because she was approached by the male who had transferred in last year. McLachlan, if she remembered correctly. “Oh, alright.” She agreed, eyeing his black eye curiously. She had loads of those in the past from the bullies back home. She wondered why he hadn’t taken care of it. Unless he thought such a look was cool or something. “I have salve in my bag, if you’d like some.” She commented nonchalantly. “I bruise easily, so my Mother likes me to carry a little tube around with me at all times.” So, that was somewhat true, but that was about all she was going to tell him.

"So, we just need a third year now, right?"

0 Brianna Japos, Crotalus Duly noted 0 Brianna Japos, Crotalus 0 5

Attoria Covington, Crotalus
August 29, 2012 8:34 PM

Attoria Covington, Crotalus
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Perhaps, eventually. by Attoria Covington, Crotalus
Attoria had chosen Sonora originally as a way to get away from her New York life. Though, now, she had to wonder why she had chosen the school. It didn’t say much for it when the new Charms professor couldn’t even manage to be on time. It was only her first day with them after all, but she supposed that she could forgive that since she had the excellent taste to choose purple robes. She absolutely adored the color purple. For some cultures, it was considered the color of royalty and she fully considered herself to be royal. That didn’t, however, mean that everyone noted that particular quality, especially at this school.

She wondered, however, if the problem didn’t fall with her. She had wanted so badly to get away, but why? So, she could do what? At home, she was one of the ‘It’ girls. Here, nobody really paid attention to her. If anything, Brianna, yes, Brianna, got more attention than she did, but was that really such an awful thing? She wasn’t sure. Attoria wondered just how that had come to happen. Was there something wrong with her? Did she try to punish herself? If she lived home, her parents would have happily ignored here, but here, there was no one to do that, but herself, so was that what she was doing?

Tapping a perfectly manicured nail on the desk while the professor went over the rules, Attoria was lost inside her head. She truly wanted to know if there was something wrong with her. Why couldn’t she be happy? She was never happy. Nothing was ever good enough. Ever. She could get good grades and it didn’t matter. She could be the center of attention or not and it didn’t matter. Nothing ever seemed to matter. Nothing except Brianna. Why? Why did it drive her so utterly mad that someone that was supposed to have nothing had everything? She glanced over to her frenemy, who had become more of neither, and sighed. It just wasn’t fair.

The brunette’s attention was turned back to the professor when the actual assignment was stated. She frowned slightly. She didn’t like the idea of having to work with a fifth and third year. They were going to be at completely different levels. Great. Well, maybe it was. Maybe they could work together and she could just sort of be there. She didn’t really care for the assignment anyhow. Who really wanted to be tickled in class? She knew she would rather not be. Tickling went with laughter and laughter was for when one was happy and she was certainly not that.

Brushing aside a lock of hair, she turned when she heard someone talking to her. Looking up, she saw an older boy, a Carey, she believed, asking if she wanted to work together. Giving him a look over with blue eyes, she shrugged. “I suppose that will do. We need a third year though and I’m not really interested in trying to procure one.” This was meant that he should try to find one. It might have sounded a bit snotty, but to be honest, she didn’t really know any third years and she figured his ‘niceness’ would be taken with more regard than her barking orders at some third year.

0 Attoria Covington, Crotalus Perhaps, eventually. 0 Attoria Covington, Crotalus 0 5

Ephanie Lucore, Aladren
August 30, 2012 12:35 AM

Ephanie Lucore, Aladren
Peripheral
Written by:

And third year. by Ephanie Lucore, Aladren
Admittedly, if Florence Olivers had been mentioned at the Feast, Ephanie hadn’t been paying much attention, which was a regret she now carried when the new Charms professor burst into the room. How in the world had she missed the fact that Florence Olivers was their Charms professor? Anyone that was serious about acting, as she was made it a point of note to know anyone that was anyone within the theatrical lines. Of course, she had never actually seen the professor on the stage since it had been before her time, but it didn’t mean that she didn’t recognize her from all the old stage pamphlets. It was an absolute dream come true! A real live actor here. At Sonora. As her Charms professor! It took every effort to not jump out of her chair and ask the professor every question that was currently running through her head.

Okay, okay, she had to calm down. Florence Olivers was a professor, just like every other professor….oh, except for the fact that she had been an actor! Biting her lip, Ephanie forced her bottom to stay in her seat and to focus on the syllabus that was in front of her. All of it was standard stuff and not really of interest. Instead, she opted to admire the professor as she spoke. She wished she had that kind of control in her voice, the ability to project like that. She wondered if the professor would consider giving her private lessons on how to do that or really how to do anything. Did she still have contacts in the theatre? Of course, she would! How could she not? Could she get her in? Sigh. She was totally getting ahead of herself. She had to get through school first. That was the agreement she had with her parents. School and then university for acting.

Focus. Focus. What were they doing? Oh, yes. They were learning the tickling charm. That sounded like fun! She couldn’t imagine actually using it on an opponent to overtake them, but it could definitely be helpful in theatre when one needed to suddenly laugh. This also meant it would be important to also know how to stop the spell since it wouldn’t due to be laughing on a scene that was supposed to be dramatic. Quickly, she jotted down the spells in her notebook before casually glancing around to try and find a fourth year and a fifth year. Before she had a chance though a fifth year, one in her House, approached her. Oh, good!

“Sure,” the strawberry blonde replied. “You’re Arnold Carey, right? We’re in the same house. I’m Ephanie Lucore,” she said with a smile. “The spell seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? So, I don’t think it will take to long to get it down. I could be wrong though.” She gave a slight shrug of her petite shoulders. “I guess we need to find a third first before we get down to it. I’m in third, so we need to find a fourth year. Oh, I think I see one!” Without an answer, she walked right up to the person and asked, “Want to join our group?”

0 Ephanie Lucore, Aladren And third year. 0 Ephanie Lucore, Aladren 0 5

Arthur Carey
August 30, 2012 1:14 AM

Arthur Carey
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by:

Age in Post: 15

We shall have to wait and see by Arthur Carey
Attoria Covington. New York. An only child, if he remembered correctly, though he would have to double check that to be sure, and from the same place, if not the same social background, as her roommate Brianna Japos, which he found mildly interesting. Their year was a strange one in some ways, especially for Crotalus, but not in a very dramatic way generally. Miss Lennox could present a romantic figure to someone not familiar with what a messy business being sick was, but that was about all, from his perspective.

As good a choice as any, though Arthur was surprised and a little amused – as it was better than being offended – by her manner when she accepted his proposal. He really had no idea what to make of that. It suggested a level of confidence, bordering on arrogance in his opinion, that he wouldn’t have predicted necessarily, particularly – particularly, since Grandfather’s dislike for him was a family secret – when a pureblood girl was dealing with a potential husband. Not a likely one, but still. Arthur found that interesting, too. Perhaps, if he could keep his head together, this class could be less than completely, lethally boring and irritating.

That was a pleasant thought, enough to help him smile. He had done more of that this morning than he normally did in a week and expected his face to be sore tomorrow. That would be unfortunate; he hoped it did not happen. “As you say,” he said. “I will of course be happy to relieve you of the responsibility, Miss Covington.”

Not a girl like Sara, or Fae. They were…soft, like curtains, pretty, elegant, though not exactly like each other. Sara was too much of something, he wasn’t sure what. Not like Alice, either, Alice was…he didn’t know what Alice was, but he liked her, they could talk of interesting things and actually have it be a conversation, not him droning on to a bored audience, as it usually was. He liked that a great deal. He did not know what he thought of Miss Covington’s type, it was another one; he preferred the other two in some ways, but hers had the potential to be interesting as well, in its way.

He found a third year and smiled again after rejecting the idea of introducing himself right away, since he didn't know how familiar most of the third years, who had not been in classes with him thus far at Sonora, would be with who he was. It would be more relevant once the person agreed. “Good day,” he said. “Would you like to join me and Miss Covington to complete the group requirement for today’s lesson?”

0 Arthur Carey We shall have to wait and see 182 Arthur Carey 0 5

Josephine Owen
August 30, 2012 3:33 AM

Josephine Owen
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by:

Age in Post: 15

One Fifth Year, requiring a partner or two by Josephine Owen
The new charms professor was so far scoring high marks on Josephine's acceptability test. She liked the woman's entusiasm, and although she wasn't really sure what the point of learning a spell to tickle other people was, she couldn't deny that she would be pleased to learn it (conversely, she was extremely disappointed to be sharing the class with Jade, who would no doubt try to use this spell on her later, and thus ruin both Josephine's peace and her opportunity to torture her sister with the same spell). Still, introductions to classes were usually dull, and even having a new professor wasn't sufficient to prevent Josephine from doodling in black ink on the inside cover of her dilapidated textbook. Dripping accidentally on her fingernail, Josephine then drew inspiration to coat her nails, instead, so by the time they needed to select partners to begin work, the fifth year had painted all the nails on her left hand in black ink. She thought it looked quite edgy.

Josephine was also a little disappointed by having to work with younger years. A large part of her enjoyment in classes came from pitting herself against the other students and sicovering that she was better than them, in grades if nothing else. The Pecari thought she was often overlooked as being potentially the smartest person in the room, partly because she was in Pecari, not Aladren, partly because she drew so little attention to herself in her second-hand robes and less than ideal figure, and partly because she was lazy, so her graded work didn't always reflect her true capabilities. At least working with those in her own year and beating them - especially people she thought might challenge her intellectually, like Arthur Carey - gave her a sense of satisfaction. Working with younger years wasn't going to instill the same victory.

Besides, some of the younger years were inexcusably annoying. She sent her sister a distint 'No' mouthed across the classroom - Jade always sat in the back if she could help it, whereas Josephine prefered the middle of the room - and turned to one of the students nearby, instead, hoping they could at least master the spell even if they could present no real academic compeition. "Hello," she greeted them with a pleasant smile. "I'm in fifth year, so you can work with me if you like." She brushed her chestnut-colored hair (currently only at shoulder height, as she'd gotten bored with its length over the summer and cut it to about half it's previous extension) back behind her ear and over her shoulder so it didn't obscure her face while she spoke.

0 Josephine Owen One Fifth Year, requiring a partner or two 196 Josephine Owen 0 5

Arabella Brockert, Pecari
August 30, 2012 7:09 AM

Arabella Brockert, Pecari
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 13

I think I can manage amusement. by Arabella Brockert, Pecari
Schoolwork was not Arabella's favorite thing in the world and she wasn't quite ready to get back into the swing of things with it either. The practical aspect of it all, the actual casting spells, wasn't too terrible but the written work just bogged her down. She did nothing but procrastinate on it either. Every time Arabella sat down to work on essays, she just got bored and found something better to do.

The was why she had to resist the urge to show a horrified look of disgust when she heard the new Charms professor speak. Essays every week ? And she wasn't an easy grader. Arabella would be doomed if it weren't for the fact that she wasn't bad at wand work.

So far, Professor Olivers was making a rather poor impression on the Pecari. Professor Light hadn't been exactly her favorite, but at least he could be fun and Professor Regal had been a decent substitute, even though Ryan hadn't liked the lesson they'd had for Intermediates much last term. This woman, despite her theater career, seemed downright boring and strict. Even more so that Professor Fawcett who at least seemed fair and reasonable. Plus, he'd scolded Carrie, so the third year had developed a soft spot for the Potions Professor.

Actually, now that she thought about it, it seemed like Intermediate classes were not only harder-which Arabella wasn't looking forward to necessarily, but was understandable-but unpleasant. Last year, while her class was sort of playing with teddy bears, Ryan's had had weird Muggle contraptions firing weird Muggle balls at them-which the Pecari could have handled probably-and the previous year, Professor Light had declared some sort of stench warfare that seemed downright sadistic. Though it was debatable whether or not Arabella would be rather subjected to that than weekly essays. As awful as that sounded, at least it was a one-off.

Already the writing was beginning too. Ugh. The third year quickly scribbled down a few lines before rising to find a fourth and fifth year. Arabella didn't really know any of them very well, Ryan was close to Valerie but the Pecari wasn't so much. That didn't really bother her that much though, she was perfectly capable of handling new people. Even if she didn't like or understand them, she would remain polite.

A boy that she thought was Theresa's cousin, Arthur-it was as hard to keep the Carey relations straight as it was her own family's-approached with a fourth year girl that Arabella recognized as Attoria Covington, a Crotalus that she knew little about other than she was from a good family and Valerie's roommate. "Certainly, Mr. Carey."

11 Arabella Brockert, Pecari I think I can manage amusement. 217 Arabella Brockert, Pecari 0 5

Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus
August 30, 2012 3:01 PM

Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus
Peripheral
Written by:

Let's not get violent, now. by Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus
Three years now at Sonora now and two different professors had left and two others had joined. Cepheus wasn’t sure if this was normal behaviour for a school, but he would never know. Professors came and went, but their teachings were supposedly supposed to stay. It was easier to say that here than back when he was being tutored. Spells were important enough to be remembered unlike arithmetic, English grammar lessons, and French. Magic was far more important in Cepheus’s book, though perhaps his etiquette lessons were starting to come in handy now that he was an adolescent.

He was running late to class today and Cepheus hurried through the corridor, his black dragon-hide boots reverberating against the cold floors of the corridor. He was dressed sharp with his blonde hair combed and his shirt underneath his robes ironed and starched. His trousers had been ironed too by house-elves and, at the moment, Cepheus had nothing to complain about. Only the fact that he was running late.

As Cepheus approached the classroom, he saw the new professor walk in. He immediately felt relieved that the new professor was late as well and he slipped in after her and took a seat in the back, undetected. Allowing himself to relax now, he listened to her long introduction, looking lazily through the syllabus. He’d never liked professors telling him what or what not to do. These were just more rules to follow which he, a good law-abiding pupil, would do.

Cepheus had to keep himself from groaning when the professor told them to split up by year. He was not keen on making friends with strange fifth years when he had his own lot in this class now. He scribbled down what he’d learnt in the past quickly and left it on his desk as he searched for a group to join, wand in hand.

There were several options, but many that Cepheus wanted to avoid. He most certainly did not want to join either of the twin Careys since one of them had stolen the Snitch from him the year before. He was still sore about that. The other would just remind him of his twin brother. Then there were others, but they already seemed to have full groups. He was now in class with the sulky McLachlan and, as much as Cepheus did not want to interact with the bloke, he decided he had no choice but to join him. At least there was a girl there who would hopefully diffuse the inevitable tension that was to arise.

Cepheus grit his teeth and walked over to them. He was surprised that McLachlan had taken the initiative to greet someone. There was loads he still didn’t know about him except that somehow his bloodline was tied in with the Princetons. Cepheus wanted to know more, but he had forgotten to pursue it in light of his own personal issues. Joining a group with McLachlan in it heightened his interest once again.

He smiled tightly to both parties, but greeted Josh first since he was acquainted with him. “McLachlan,” he said with a curt nod before turning to the other girl. “I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced,” he said. “I’m Cepheus Princeton, of the Surrey Princetons.” He looked at the two again, then brought his hands together. “Well, since we’ve got a full group, we might as well begin. Are either of you well-versed in the counter-curse?”

0 Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus Let's not get violent, now. 0 Cepheus Princeton, Crotalus 0 5

Michael Grosvenor
August 30, 2012 4:39 PM

Michael Grosvenor
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 14

Written work followed by mixed year work? JOY! (tag: Mellie) by Michael Grosvenor
New teachers were kind of a drag. Michael always worried that they had super high expectations of him just because he sat down the front. There was always what felt to him like an awkward adjustment phase when they found that the reality didn't match the expectation, had to go through wondering whether he was having an off day and then, finally, conclude that he wasn't the bright, eager student they had imagined. He kind of wanted to put a little sign in front of himself that said “I just sit here so that I can hear you” so as to avoid the confusion. What was worse, was that he was now dragging his friends into this alarming and difficult situation too. Not that he minded at all when Mellie came and sat with him.

“Good to see you,” he grinned, “How was your summer?”

They had only had a little time to chat when the Professor started up. The rules and stuff were pretty standard. Don't be mean to other kids, don't be a smart-arse to the professor... Michael refrained from rolling his eyes at the mention of an essay a week. Not visibly reacting with profound disappoint at the prospect of work was one trait he'd learnt for surviving sitting at the front. He frowned with slight confusion when asked what the tickling charm was for. Presumably tickling people.

“I guess that means we can't work together,” he sighed to Mellie, when Professor Olivers had given them their assignment. “If I need extra practice, can I come tickle you for homework?” he grinned at her.

Before breaking up into their groups though, there was the written part of the class to tackle. This was probable where Professor Olivers would get the first impression that he wasn't down the front because he just loved learning. Whilst the more eager front row students scribbled around him, he tapped his quill blankly. He smudgily wrote down a list a Charms they'd learnt in the last few classes. He wondered if she wanted more than that. Were they supposed to have had profound revelations about wand movements that they could now discuss in flowing prose? Michael decided to leave it as a list for now and come back to it later if he had any more ideas. What did he want or expect to learn this year? He was very tempted to write 'stuff.' He didn't know what he wanted to learn. He had never heard of most of the things he was taught until he showed up to class, so how was he supposed to know that he might want to learn them? Anyway, there was probably stuff they had to know so did it matter whether he wanted to learn something different?

'I want to learn... he began 'useful charms,' he continued. 'for a 4th year. He guessed that was kind of obvious but he couldn't really think of how to be more specific. ~~I want~~ ~~There is one~~ ~~A charm that interests me is~~. He sighed and gave up on that sentence. It wasn't relevant to anyone else anyway, so he couldn't really put it down. She wasn't going to make a whole class do a totally irrelevant Charm just cos he liked the idea of it. He'd have to learn it on his own.

“I'm stuck,” he complained to Mellie, pushing his piece of paper over for her inspection, “How am I supposed to know what I need to learn? I don't know it yet. What did you write?”

13 Michael Grosvenor Written work followed by mixed year work? JOY! (tag: Mellie) 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Josh McLachlan
August 30, 2012 6:50 PM

Josh McLachlan
Peripheral
Written by:

Who said anything about violence? by Josh McLachlan
It was somewhat of a relief that Brianna hadn’t turned him down. He wondered briefly if introductions were necessary since she was likely to call him Maximilian or just ‘Max’ instead of Josh, but he decided that he would jump that hurtle when it came. It was no surprise that she noticed his black eye, but Josh was surprised by the fact that she offered to do something about it.

Josh didn’t bruise easily as Brianna claimed to, so to have a black eye was rare for him. His uncle had taunted him about Cecilia, the muggle-born he was forbidden to see but was still in love with. Usually Uncle Inigo didn’t bother taunting him about those things, but he had hit a nerve and Josh, in a moment of weakness, had risen to the bait. His uncle was more aggravated nowadays since his marriage was frustrating him and his child was turning out to be a total brat. She was four now, and a four-year-old McLachlan, save Josh, usually meant that they were starting to be trained to be evil. Josh, of course, didn’t have parents to train him that way. And anyway, he stuck to the belief that his parents had been different from the rest of the McLachlan clan.

Unable to bring himself to go to the hospital wing to get some salve for himself, Josh was grateful for Brianna’s offer. “I’d love some, thank you.” He took the offered salve and rubbed a bit over his eye, not wanting to use a whole lot of someone else’s medicine. It helped a little and though he knew he was supposed to apply it twice a day in order to make the bruise disappear faster, he was grateful for even just a little. “Thank you,” he said quietly as he handed it back to her. He wasn’t used to random acts of kindness.

As he nodded in response to Brianna’s question, Cepheus Princeton came over and Josh stiffened. He was not a fan of this third-year, but he could be civil. Josh was used to lying down to insults because it usually didn’t affect him. Whatever his classmates could say to him, Josh had heard much worse from his relatives. Orphans, apparently, were not treated very nicely in the family.

He nodded to Cepheus’s greeting and didn’t say anything more as he watched the exchange between Cepheus and Brianna. Though Josh was now six feet tall, he hardly seemed intimidating to the third-year. Cepheus was a natural leader, it seemed, and Josh was fine to take the backseat in the group.

Cepheus’s question was easy to answer. Josh’s skill in his wandwork was something he was very proud of. One of the few things, in fact. “I’m good at it,” Josh said with no shame or humbleness about him. He was good at it and he knew it. “I can do it if neither of you want to.” ‘Or if you can’t’ was the second part that came to mind, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud and put his foot in his mouth. He didn’t want to mess this up as he had messed up his working relationship with Regina Parker the year before.

0 Josh McLachlan Who said anything about violence? 0 Josh McLachlan 0 5

Fae Sinclair, Crotalus
August 30, 2012 9:05 PM

Fae Sinclair, Crotalus
Peripheral
Written by:

5th year looking for partners by Fae Sinclair, Crotalus
Fae was hoping that her fifth year wasn’t going to be as stressful as everyone made it out to be. And maybe that would have been the case if she didn’t have the extra pressure of wondering what to do with herself or what to tell people about Arnold if they ever asked. It had been announced officially after Jaiden’s wedding. There was no hiding the fact that she and Arnold were betrothed. Since she had spoken to him at the wedding, she felt a little bit better about it, at least when it came to her friendship with him. They had promised each other that they would still be the same. Whatever that meant.

Would people expect them to be together now? Did becoming betrothed automatically mean that they were now dating? What if Arnold didn’t want to date her? And what if Topher knew? Not that he should matter, but she did still like him and having seen him at Opening Feast just reminded her of that and of the fact that he had always been her second. Still, what would he think? Or Alice? Or anyone else that she saw on a daily basis?

Fae had no idea what the expectations were for this. To be honest, if it had been Alice betrothed to Arthur, Fae would have just assumed they were a couple then. Maybe that was just a naïve assumption to make? She only had her family’s betrothals to work from. Shelby and Victor were dating prior to their betrothal (much like Sara and Preston), so they were obviously a couple once the betrothal went through. And, even though Jaiden hadn’t known Elle or anything of the betrothal until the announcement, he had courted Elle until they were married. The only relationship Fae was uncertain of was her cousin, Brier’s, who seemed to hate her husband with every fiber of her being. Not that Fae blamed her. He was twice her age and rather unseemly. But Fae and Arnold had been friends first, so where did that leave them?

Wanting to look good so as to not cast any doubts from Arnold, Fae had worn a dress of a pale pink floral. The length was shorter than she was used too, but the robes cover that up. Silver pumps, blonde hair set in soft curls, and lightly applied make up (Fae had to double check to make sure the wagon ride hadn’t ruined anything), Fae had felt that she at least looked pretty good to make some boys congratulate Arnold on being linked to her and maybe have Arnold looking at her in general. But, she couldn’t tell if he had even noticed. Or anyone for that matter.

Today was the first day of classes and Fae had, again, tried to make herself look decent by wearing an ivory dress that had a tie v-neck collar and a snitched waist that she donned a black belt around, black leggings, and wearing matching black heels (she felt Charms was safe for heels). It wasn’t as pretty of an outfit as it had been the day before, but she still felt like she looked okay. Better than last year anyway.

Sitting in an empty seat, Fae waited quietly for the professor to arrive. It didn’t take her long, but those few precious minutes had Fae second guessing everything and that was never good for her psyche. Not that it really took that much to do. At least the woman had enough flare to keep Fae from falling back into her thoughts.

Fae reviewed the syllabus quickly and then jotted down what their assignment was for the day. She needed a really good laugh, so maybe this wouldn’t be so terrible. Unless, of course, she did something stupid while she laughed, like snorted. At least this was going to be a more pleasant lessons instead of something where they were trying to shoot death spells at one another.

She took a few minutes to write out all the lessons that she could remember doing in Charms (sometimes it was hard to remember what was charms and what was defense) and what she had hoped to learn in the future of this lesson. Once that was all said and done, Fae looked around for partners. Since she couldn’t work with her usuals (not that it seemed Arnold would have worked with her anyway since he didn’t seem much interested in talking to her as it was), Fae had to go for an unknown.

It was difficult for Fae to approach people because rejection was such a heavy feeling to have, but she had to do it for the lesson anyway. “Excuse me,” Fae said, walking up to a younger student, “Would you like to be in a group?”

0 Fae Sinclair, Crotalus 5th year looking for partners 0 Fae Sinclair, Crotalus 0 5

Brianna Japos
August 30, 2012 10:43 PM

Brianna Japos
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by: Amelle Nicchi

Age in Post: 14

No, just a slight caution was all. by Brianna Japos
Reaching into her bag, Brianna pulled out her small tube of salve and gave it to him. “You’re welcome.” She replied, when he handed it back. “I’m sure you don’t fancy having a black eye for the first week of school. I know I wouldn’t.” She commented lightly. Thus far, he seemed okay. Maybe the class wouldn’t go too poorly for her.

Brianna and Maximilian (she thought he went by a different name, but she couldn’t remember) hadn’t been alone long because Cepheus, a good friend of Gareth’s if she remembered correctly, came up to them to form the third member of their group. The way he had greeted Maximilian, Brianna was sure there was something between them by the way they greeted each other and how McLachlan tensed. “I am Brianna Japos of the New York Japos.” Brianna stated, a habit of introducing herself like other Purebloods despite being poor. Most people who were not familiar with her family name because it was Philippine, didn’t know the truth about her family’s wealth and she was hoping to keep it that way until she was gone. It wasn’t because she wanted prestige or status or anything like that. It was because she didn’t want to be picked on or looked down upon like she had her whole life.

Maximilian answered Cepheus’s question first, which was just fine with Brianna. “I can do alright with the spell, but I haven’t really had very much practice with it to say for certain.” She admitted. At this point in her schooling, Brianna was aware of her limitations. Doing things under pressure was not something she was good at. That would make CATS exams next year very difficult for her to take, but she hoped that she would study enough to know the content and therefore, be okay with the practical examinations. “It’s probably better though for Mr. McLachlan to be the one to administer it.” Brianna advised with a smile. She still felt self-conscious about her looks, but she was getting better at accepting her differences. Sure her lips were slightly too large, her eyes almond shaped, and her body lanky, but she liked her freckles that raced across her nose and her long brown hair. With every negative, there was bound to be a positive. Or, that’s what she kept telling herself.

“So… who gets to be tickled first?” Brianna half wondered how it was that she always ended up working with guys.

6 Brianna Japos No, just a slight caution was all. 203 Brianna Japos 0 5

Evan Brockert, Aladren
August 31, 2012 7:54 AM

Evan Brockert, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 13

I'm a partner. Or can be rather. by Evan Brockert, Aladren
Being a rather laid back person, Evan wasn't at all phased by a new Charms professor. In fact, he thought a few others could take a page from his book and become more relaxed. It wasn't that he thought less of them, it was just that he thought it would be better for them . Some people were just too intense. Autumn, of course, for one and Alicia Bauer, for another. Even Thad could stand to be. Sometimes, Evan would just like to take certain people and ship them off to his Grandpa Frank, who was the one person who seemed truly more relaxed than the Aladren himself.

Still, the second year couldn't help but assess the new professor. He'd always rather liked Professor Light given that the man seemed rather creative in terms of lessons. Not that some of them were all that pleasant but they were still creative. Last year's substitute hadn't been too horrible either. Evan could hardly hate someone who gave him the opportunity to make a weirdly patterned teddy bear.

Aside from showing up late however, something he wouldn't fault her for, though he knew others would, Professor Olivers really didn't seem like a lot of fun. Weekly essays? Syllabus? Not an easy grader? That sounded rather strict for someone with a disregard for punctuality. Especially for someone who'd been an actress, which Evan had always assumed were artistic flamboyant types not bound by society. This professor seemed every bit as conservative as Professor Fawcett despite her outward appearance.

Then again, the Aladren did like his HoH and Potions. So, he could definitely give Professor Olivers a chance. Evan usually did with people. He even liked Waverly and Aria despite their blood status. They seemed so much more free spirited than a lot of people Evan knew.

The Tickling Charm, though, seemed a little more fun, though he had no intention of ever dueling. However, it was good to know how to defend oneself in case of attack. The third year was from an important pureblood family after all and directly descended from the family Patriarch.

Once Professor Olivers was finished and he'd written down a few lines,Evan got up so he could look for a partner. He didn't really know any of the fourth and fifth years except his sister and Nora and though the Aladren liked both of them, it would be good for him to work with someone else probably. There was always Hope's friend Russell, and Evan was relatively curious about their new house prefect that his older sister seemed so fond of.

Before he could approach Russell, Fae Sinclair approached him. He didn't know her at all, beyond her being a fifth year in Crotalus and that Hope attended her brother's wedding last summer. "Certainly, Miss Sinclair. Congratulations on your brother's wedding." Evan replied politely. He really had no objections to working with her.

11 Evan Brockert, Aladren I'm a partner. Or can be rather. 212 Evan Brockert, Aladren 0 5

Thad Two (and Derry Four), Aladren
August 31, 2012 12:20 PM

Thad Two (and Derry Four), Aladren
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 15

Inviting a fourth year into the Pierce party by Thad Two (and Derry Four), Aladren
When Thaddeus began at Sonora, his cousin Derry had already advanced to the intermediate level classes. Now an intermediate himself finally, Thad was, for the first time, given the option to work with his cousin, especially since the new professor was requiring them to work with people not in their own age group.

Under ordinary circumstances, Thaddeus might have chosen to sit with his cousin on rare occassions, but seriously doubted he would have done so on the first day. First days were for establishing patterns and putting your best foot forward, especially if there was a new teacher. Thad might only be a third year, but he was bright and an Aladren, and Derry, well, wasn't either of those things. Being a fifth year only got you so far, and glancing over to his cousin's essay, Thad could see that not only was it barely legible and riddled with misspellings, it was also only about a third as long as the short dissertation Thaddeus had written about what he already knew and, much more importantly, what he wanted to learn. She had already started of well in Thad's book by telling them the origin of the tickling charm, but there was so much more to know - had it taken weeks to develop or had it been a spontaneous thing that just happened in the moment of neccessity? These were the details Thad lived for, and Professor Light had always made time to go over all the edges and hidden corners with him while everyone else was working on the practical implementation of a spell. It had been a very sad day in Thad's world when he left.

Between the essay and forming groups, there wasn't really time to talk to the new professor while everyone else was busy, but he promised himself he would give it a try either once his group had been successful in using the lesson spells or after class if Derry was as slow as he feared.

First day with a new teacher or not, today was not an ordinary circumstance. Today was following a summer sorely lacking in male peers and a wagon ride that focused not on Thad's questions but on the Anns.

So despite Derry's traditionally poor academic performance, and his aversion to sitting in the front row, Thad had chosen a seat near his Teppenpaw cousin and taken advantage of the professor's tardiness to interrogate Derry about the things they had not gotten to talk about on the wagon.

That the third years were required to work with students in the older years only simplified the decision. It meant they would only need to find a fourth year.

Derry was the Teppenpaw. He could do that for them as his group contribution. Merlin knew Thad wasn't going to depend on him to do anything more academic.

1 Thad Two (and Derry Four), Aladren Inviting a fourth year into the Pierce party 189 Thad Two (and Derry Four), Aladren 0 5

Cepheus Princeton
August 31, 2012 1:09 PM

Cepheus Princeton
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by: Lily Spencer

Age in Post: 13

If you say so. by Cepheus Princeton
Cepheus wasn't sure if he trusted McLachlan with performing the counter-curse, but Brianna seemed to trust him despite all the rumours Cepheus had heard about him from the grapevine. He noticed the black eye on his face and wondered briefly whether or not he'd gotten into a fight back home. Or perhaps the first day at school? McLachlan didn't seem like the fighting type, but Cepheus could be wrong about him. It wouldn't hurt to tread cautiously around him just in case. And anyway, Ceph wanted to be Head Boy someday and being rude to his fellow classmates, no matter how much he disliked them, wouldn't do.

Brianna's question made Cepheus remember why they were all partnered up in the first place. Getting tickled was not his cup of tea, but perhaps he could delay it as long as possible. He just hoped they wouldn't turn on him because he was the youngest of the group. "Ladies first, of course," said Cepheus with a charming smile. "Mind if I have a go first?" He just hoped that, if the charm was administered incorrectly, that there would be no horrible repercussions.

Cepheus cleared his throat and looked at his textbook to memorise the drawing he would have to make in the air with his wand. A feather wouldn't be too difficult. Cepheus prepared himself mentally, imagining the feather in his mind's eye, and then drew it in the air quickly. It was a little sloppy, but it looked the similar to the one in the textbook, and he sent the spell flying towards Brianna. The charm did what it was supposed to, though it was weak, and Cepheus sighed in relief.

40 Cepheus Princeton If you say so. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Derry Four (and Thad Two), Teppenpaw
August 31, 2012 2:47 PM

Derry Four (and Thad Two), Teppenpaw
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 15

Extending the actual invitation by Derry Four (and Thad Two), Teppenpaw
Derry had never had a lack of friends to sit with in class, but today was the first time that he'd ever had a relative come join him. This was somewhat startling, in part because he'd been saving the spot for one of his friends (not that Thad wasn't a friend; he just wasn't the first person to come time mind when Derry thought the word), but mostly because Thad didn't really interact with him outside of the wagon ride to and from the school.

That was partly because Thad was two years younger and in a different house and partly because Thad didn't want to be accused of having muggle-lover friends. Derry might not have been formally disowned, but he was the next nearest thing to it at formally disinherited. That made Thad the heir and the younger Pierce seemed determined not to lose it as Derry had for 'poor' choice in friends.

Personally, Derry saw nothing wrong with his choice of friends seeing as how the other fifth year Teppenpaws were some of the greatest people he knew, but Thad limited the time he spent with people who did not meet Grandmother's exacting standards. Among those was Derry himself now.

The other reason he was surprised that Thad joined him was that he didn't think Thad thought very highly of Derry's intelligence. He had sort of expected his younger cousin to pick other Aladrens to sit with, since they stood a better chance of being able to answer the no doubt daunting array of questions the third year was likely to come up with.

Derry stopped being surprised, though, when his cousin started fire some of those questions at him before class even began. Fortunately, they were about less difficult things than Charms lessons, so Derry told him about his summer and how cameras worked and whatever else the kid had time to ask before the Professor arrived.

Derry was secretly kind of relieved that the minutes before class were significantly shorter than the trip from New England to Arizona, when such questions would continue to come non-stop for hours with no possible means of escape. The Anns, bless their identical hearts, had rescued him from it this year and Thad had taken the brunt of the questions the girls had, since he had been a first year more recently than Derry had.

Derry wrote out his essay about last years' Intermediate Charms in his best handwriting, taking his time to get the slant the same for all of his letters like Hamlet had taught him. It had been a few months since he'd last used his quill, though, so the ink wasn't coming out very uniformly, making it smear, scratch, and glob a little more than normal, but Derry thought it was legible. He wasn't quite sure of his spelling on some of the Latin incantations, but he sounded them out to the best of his ability.

When he finished writing down all the spells he could remember (which was maybe ten of them from the whole year - hey, his brain hadn't gotten much exercise on Charms trivia over the summer so it was kind of rusty), he glanced over and Thaddeus's essay and wasn't too surprised that his quill was behaving or that he'd written a lot more. Thad was an overachiever like that.

That done, it came time to collect a group. Thad - still a little surprisingly, Derry thought - seemed content to stick with him, so he said, "Partners?" and when Thad nodded, he nodded back, "Cool. We just need a fourth year then."

Derry looked around, trying to remember who had been an intermediate the year before but hadn't been the year before that. Fortunately, he was much better at remembering names and faces than Charm lectures, so he was pretty sure he was addressing a fourth year as he said, "Hi, do you have a group yet?"

1 Derry Four (and Thad Two), Teppenpaw Extending the actual invitation 189 Derry Four (and Thad Two), Teppenpaw 0 5

Josh McLachlan
September 01, 2012 5:49 PM

Josh McLachlan
Peripheral
Written by:

Moving on by Josh McLachlan
Working with partners so far hadn't exploded in Josh's face, and he had started to mind it less. Nobody had outright shunned him yet, or at least Josh had approached them before they could. The only reason why people would not want to partner with him was because he could be rude, easily irritated by their inadequacy, and he was a complete perfectionist. If he didn't get a spell or a potion mix right, he had to do it again and again in order to correct it. Since they were doing the Tickling Charm, it would prove to be slightly more difficult to do that. He didn't think either Brianna or Cepheus would like to be tickled over and over again.

The Tickling Charm also proved to be a little daunting to Josh. He didn't like being tickled, but he wasn't all that ticklish anyhow. He wondered if the charm would work on those who didn't have ticklish spots, but then again this was magic. Magic didn't have too many boundaries, charms especially. Another reason why Josh wasn't fond of this charm was that it was going to force him to smile and laugh. He hadn't smiled once since his transfer to Sonora last year. There hadn't been a real reason to yet. That probably added more to his reputation, that he was a stoic, unfeeling character. Reggie had gone so far as to say that he was "poisonous". But really, what was there to smile about when he lived with relatives who wanted him out, had friends who had turned their backs on him, had a family who wanted to kill Cecilia, and was at a relatively new school where no one liked him?

So he was surprised when Brianna acknowledged his ability to perform the countercurse. She had faith in his skills though she had yet to see it, and Josh commended her for that. Her seemingly trusting personality, though not as bright and peppy as Cecilia's, reminded him of Ceci. He tried not to think too much of it, to wash away those good and awful memories involving her. Instead, he focused on performing the charm and countercurse correctly, running the image of the feather through his head.

Cepheus volunteered Brianna and performed the charm on her. It was weak, something a third-year would perform on his first try. Not bad, just...expected. Josh nodded at Cepheus before raising his wand to perform the countercurse. "Finite Incantatem," he said, and the tickling immediately stopped. He looked over at Brianna, wanting to be kind to her as she had been to him so far. Good deeds, no matter how small they were, didn't go unnoticed by Josh's sharp gray eyes. Still, he was awkward with kindness of any size, both in giving and taking it. "I think it's only fair you get to choose who goes next. And if you'd like, we can take turns with the countercurse."

0 Josh McLachlan Moving on 0 Josh McLachlan 0 5

Paul Bennett
September 01, 2012 8:40 PM

Paul Bennett
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by:

Age in Post: 14

One fourth year, going along with you by Paul Bennett
If he thought about it for a minute, Paul found he didn’t like that teachers could seem to get away with being late to class so much more easily than students could, but that wasn’t his major concern with the new Charms professor. Even if they weren’t subject to being called down in front of the entire class, enough repetitions no doubt drew some kind of retaliation from the Headmistress, and it was more interesting to him to know whether or not she could use tardiness as an excuse to either try to hurry them while they worked on whatever it was she was teaching or to hold them over at the end of class.

If she did either of those things, then he was going to be annoyed. Until then, he didn’t really care. If she didn’t hold them over, those were precious minutes during which Paul hadn’t had to do anything. He failed to see what the downside of that was.

He answered when his name came up on the roll call, pleased by yet more time in which he did not have to pay any special attention to anything, and took his syllabus when it arrived, frowning now at the proposed amount of work. It didn’t sound like a huge amount of work, comparatively, but that was the problem; he would have happily had tests more often if it meant that each test counted for much less. Essays were easy, that was just a matter of spinning things in circles until it sounded like he knew what he was talking about, that was actually kind of fun, but tests were an uncompromising look at whether or not he had been able to will himself to study the night before. That he usually did, at least some, was immaterial; it just wasn’t on, giving them only a few high-stakes tests. CATS weren’t even until next year for him, and were two years away for the third years. It just wasn’t right.

Paul sighed quietly as he put the paper aside. He guessed he was just going to have to spin things so he could call it triumphing in the face of adversity. That was a very Bennett thing to do, at least according to his father and older sister; Paul had never thought that much of it, himself. He preferred to triumph after everything went exactly the way he wanted it to, or, barring that, just stay in the background and not bother with any of it.

He wrote a few sentences about what they’d done in class last year and stated for his goal that he wanted to learn whatever he needed to do well on his CATS, without specifying what ‘good’ was, since he wasn’t too sure about that. Not failing was good, obviously, but Paul hadn’t decided yet if it was good enough – if he wanted to be ambitious enough to shoot for an O or anything like that. There were pros and cons both way, but he wasn’t worried about it yet, and he really doubted she was going to pay much attention to these papers anyway. More interesting right now was the fifth year offering to work with him – Josephine Owen, one of James Owen’s sisters.

“Sure,” he said. “I’m in fourth year – “ she had been at his sister’s party, but Paul knew that was no guarantee that she had a clue or any interest in who he was – “so do you know any of the new kids?” Not that they were literally new, but they were new to this class, anyway, which was good enough for him.

0 Paul Bennett One fourth year, going along with you 201 Paul Bennett 0 5

Nora Dobson, Aladren
September 02, 2012 1:52 PM

Nora Dobson, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 14

Accepting by Nora Dobson, Aladren
Nora looked, with curiosity, at the new professor. The fourth year had heard that she was an actress and she was not terribly impressed. People in the theater might not have been completely stupid, as they had to be at least somewhat intelligent to memorize lines but they were hardly the sort of people she thought would be good at educating others in anything but their chosen field. How did this woman ever hope to be taken seriously compared to Professor Fawcett or Professor Levy? Both of them really knew their subject.

The fact that she had been late meant one of two things, one she was like Evan whom Isabella, his mother, had often dubbed a 'creative genius' or she was a flighty ditzy woman. The latter did not bode well for Professor Olivers as far as winning Nora's respect. She didn't have a lot for those who weren't intelligent and the odds of it were much greater than that she was like Evan. The younger Aladren was what was referred to politely as 'unique' and 'eccentric'.

There was little to tell by the way of her introduction either, nothing to analyze, it was as dry as Potions. However, Nora respected Professor Fawcett, he was a very intelligent man who was an expert on Magisociology-something the Aladren would quite like to take an independent study, though she would prefer psychology if possible-and was capable of teaching many different classes having previously been Sonora's official substitute teacher. This new Professor had yet to prove herself and she didn't have the credentials that Nora's Head of House did.

The syllabus also seemed pretty standard. The only thing that caught her attention was that this professor, like a lot of others, had a thing about respecting others. It irked the Aladren a little, because she knew that was aimed at purebloods. Everyone always assumed that they were the ones who were going to pick on the non-purebloods, and Nora felt that was as disrespectful as the opposite. She wondered if that worked both ways.

Furthermore, the fourth year would not and could not respect stupidity in anyone of any blood status and no piece of paper was going to make her. Period. Nora could refrain from expressing her feelings on the matter but there was no way she would not feel contempt for complete idiocy whether they be pureblood, halfblood, or Muggleborn.

Still, that was not an usual request from a professor, possible double standard or not-and beyond the need Professor Olivers obviously felt to mention it, Nora had no other indications from the woman's demeanor that she was anti-pureblood- everything seemed so ordinary, almost dull, about it all. Nothing that stood out, especially. She almost would have expected someone a bit stranger, more Evan-like, given the woman's previous profession. Professor Light had had much more flare. This lady was very...typical.

Unless...Professor Olivers was playing a role. That made things a bit more intriguing. Perhaps this was how she believed professors were supposed to act and thus that was how she was going to behave. Far more interesting than just being the way she was being right now. Nora liked to analyze people, understand their motives for doing what they did, and this theory gave her something to analyze. Perhaps playing a part was second nature to Professor Olivers because of her time in the theater or perhaps she didn't know or didn't like who she was and had to pretend.

However, the Tickling Charm was an acceptable and appropriate enough thing to learn, though it seemed more like something they should be doing in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Nora briefly wondered if professors discussed that sort of thing to make sure that they didn't teach the same thing before turning back to write down what she'd learned and what she'd wanted to learn. The latter was quite a list.

The Aladren was then approached by the two Pierce boys. Nora didn't know them all that well, though one was Evan's roommate and her cousin had spoken rather highly of him. Though she'd never really heard him say anything bad about anyone other than Carrie O'Malley. The fact that Evan didn't like her almost made Nora curious about the second year. She was sure the younger girl was a psychologically fascinating individual, the way Grandfather was.

Derry Pierce, on the other hand, well, Nora was less than impressed. He was nice enough but though she knew there were large differences in the three Pierce branches, she wondered if he had inherited the same mental defect the one Adam thought the one in his class did.

Besides, he'd been disinherited and respectable girls did not mix with the sort. Derry's disinheritance,though, from what she understood was a great source of consternation for Great-Great-Grandfather who had seen him as a potential betrothal for Hope. The Brockert Patriarch was nowhere near as fond of the idea of Hope and Russell as Hope was. If he realized that was an idea that the Teppenpaw had and she wouldn't put it past him that he did.

Still, Nora could not object to working with them. Not really. Thad was intelligent and while his cousin was not, well, at least the fifth was not likely to act superior to her. Much as she disliked stupidity, she still had a higher tolerance for it than she did someone thinking they were better than her. "Certainly, Mr. Pierce." Nora replied smiling politely.

11 Nora Dobson, Aladren Accepting 197 Nora Dobson, Aladren 0 5

Brianna
September 03, 2012 3:30 PM

Brianna
Peripheral
Written by:

Onto better topics... by Brianna
Brianna had been under the impression that as ‘true gentlemen’ they would have taken the step back to allow Brianna to try the spell first because that would have been the polite thing to do. Instead, Cepheus chose her to be the guinea pig and made it as though he was being polite about it. Brianna just wanted to smack the smirk off his face. Already she didn’t like him. He didn’t even really give her a chance to say no she didn’t want to be the victim first. Brianna was always the guinea pig whether she wanted to be or not. At home or at school, the spells were always thrown at her. In this moment, she thought Cepheus was selfish and not at all what ‘proper’ Purebloods are taught to be. That was her opinion on the matter at any rate. It was strange knowing that he was good friends with Gareth. Gareth was the sort of guy who would offer to play the guinea pig first just so that she didn’t have to. He was a real gentlemen.

The spell hit her and Brianna felt herself lose control for a brief moment as she began to giggle. It felt strange to be laughing when she wasn’t in the mood to laugh. It wasn’t a full on forceful laugh or anything, just giggles, but still, it was unnerving to not have control over oneself to stop that. Thankfully, McLachlan didn’t waste time and force her to giggle for a long period of time. As soon as the counter curse on her, Brianna felt relieved to not be giggling any longer. Her ribs sort of hurt too, but she supposed that would have happened laughing naturally too. Not that she does that very often.

“Thank you.” Brianna said when she caught her breath and could actually speak. She gave a look to Cepheus, “I’d appreciate it if next time you didn’t volunteer me for things. Discussions work just as well.” Brianna never usually stood up for herself, but a summer of not being picked on and raised her confidence enough to have a voice. Even if it was only minimal. At McLachlan’s offer, Brianna took a moment to figure out what it was that she wanted. Although she sort of wanted to throw the spell back at Cepheus, she felt that wouldn’t be fair for the three of them because it meant that Josh didn’t have the spell on him and one of them had to have it twice.

“How about I try the spell on you, Maximilian?” She said his name quietly and hesitantly because she wasn’t sure if that’s what he was actually called. She still thought it was a different nickname, but Max didn’t sound right. “And then you can work it on Cepheus?” She felt this was the best way to go about it and this way, she could do the countercurse on McLachlan too.

“If that’s alright with you.” She wasn’t going to perform it until she got the okay. Unlike certain other students in their group…

0 Brianna Onto better topics... 0 Brianna 0 5

Mellie Goodwin
September 03, 2012 6:10 PM

Mellie Goodwin
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 14

I'm moved by how very sincere you seem. by Mellie Goodwin
Mellie was almost to the Charms classroom when, seeing the door, she hesitated for a moment before taking a detour to the nearest girls’ bathroom instead. Once she was inside again, she stood in front of the mirror for another moment, watching her gray eyes in it uncertainly until she reached into her bookbag, took out a tube of lip gloss, and applied a thin coat to her bottom lip, which she rubbed together with her top lip the way her mother had shown her so both appeared just a bit pinker and shimmerier than usual. Then, embarrassed, she washed her hands, twisted a few loose pieces of her ponytail around her damp fingers, and went on to class.

Last year, Lauren Goodwin had suggested her only daughter try sitting at the front of the room more often during her classes, in the hopes that this would produce higher grades in the intermediate years than Mellie had gathered in the beginner classes, but Mellie thought that two other things had ultimately been bigger deals than the increase in her scores between second and third year. One, which was good, was that she got to spend more time with Michael, who usually did sit up front. The other, which was less good, was that she felt the need to dress up a little today in the hopes of impressing the new professor, so that first she’d been uncomfortable picking out the solid turquoise, v-necked “nice” t-shirt and khaki capris she had on with her green Sonora robe and so that now she felt uncomfortable looking around at other girls, the first time she’d really gotten a good look at anyone not in her dorm since they came back to school, and seeing how boyish she still looked compared to them.

She thought it definitely made it worse that there were probably girls who could have put on the exact same outfit and looked pretty, but most of them wouldn’t have; they would have added a glittery necklace, more make-up, cute sandals instead of white tennis shoes, a belt with flowers on it, and who even knew what else and looked fabulous instead of just pretty, where she would have looked like a clown if she put on any of those things. And most of them wouldn’t have worn khaki or this shirt at all. She tried not to look at anyone as she went to the front and found a seat next to Michael, smiling at him as she did. He might not ever think she was pretty, which she regretted, but she didn’t think he’d be running nasty commentary on her outfit in his head the whole class, either.

“It was okay,” she said when he asked about her summer. “Nothing special.” She doubted he had a deep interest in the gossip of her neighborhood, which had taken up the bigger part of it. She had no role there, but she liked to listen. “How was yours?”

She smiled uncertainly when the new teacher span around theatrically to begin the class once she got there, answered when her name was called off the roster – and didn’t giggle at how her name and Michael’s were always right next to each other, since they had the same initials – and winced when she heard they were going to have hard work and three big exams. That sounded…really hard, especially since somehow she didn’t think that Professor Fawcett was going to stop giving them essays just because someone else had started. Probably both of them would just say, confronted with the others’ practices, that more practice writing would do them good. That was what her dad said, anyway, when she complained about the amount of work she’d had last year – that doing more would make her better. Mellie had her doubts.

The very first question of the class, about the origins of the tickling charm, didn’t do much to remove her doubts. She honestly had no idea what the professor was asking of them. Like, when had it been invented, or by whom, or what had it been invented for…? The last one, it seemed, was the right idea, not that she could have guessed that one, either. The only use she could have thought of for it was people playing around at home, only using wands because it was easier than actually catching someone. If someone was attacking her, making them laugh was, she thought, probably the last thing she would have thought of. She could see how it might work, but she never would have thought of it in a million years, and thought that must have been something in the book that she hadn’t read. That wasn’t surprising; most of the book consisted of things she hadn’t read.

Hearing that they all had to work in different-age groups wasn’t entirely welcome, either, even though she did know people in the fifth and third years. She flushed when Michael’s comment about how they couldn’t work together made her think he might have wanted to, if they’d had the choice, and covered her mouth so she didn’t laugh at his ‘homework’ proposal – another thing she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have thought of. “Sure, why not,” she said jokingly.

The written part of their classwork for the day did nothing to make her think that the troubles she’d had with the first question were going to go away. Instead, she thought she might as well go ahead and get ready for upset letters from her dad when she started doing really badly on…everything. What had she learned in the past three years? What she’d been taught, but…was she really supposed to remember every charm she’d ever learned? She wrote down as many as she could remember off the top of her head, but she was worried, so that wasn’t as long a list as it might have been. Under it, she wrote, I really do know how to do more, but I can’t remember them right now, I’m sorry. For what she wanted to learn, she wrote Anything I can and put a smiley face next to it, as though this might distract the teacher from her being an idiot.

When Michael asked what she had written, then, Mellie really didn’t want to show him. “Nothing very good,” she admitted, showing him part of the paper and keeping her hand over part of it for a few seconds before deciding fair was fair and letting him see the whole page. She didn't even know which part she had been covering. It was all equally bad. “I had the same problem you did, plus, you know, one with the first part." She smiled to mask embarrassment, or try to. "I mean,” she tried to explain, or brush it off humorously, or something, “it’s the first day back, right? I can’t think of everything we've learned for four years.”

16 Mellie Goodwin I'm moved by how very sincere you seem. 206 Mellie Goodwin 0 5

Russell Layne, Aladren
September 03, 2012 6:36 PM

Russell Layne, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15

Do they then make us laugh? by Russell Layne, Aladren
At some point, though the number of subjects he was taking had only changed twice, Russell was pretty sure he had actually lost track of the number of teachers he’d had at Sonora. Most of this he blamed on Care of Magical Creatures, which had seen a lot of turnover since he’d been at the school, but it hadn’t been alone in the game. This year, it was Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, and Charms which were forcing him to learn new faces and new ways of running a class. He was not sure, despite how stable they had been so far, that he would lay a bet in favor of Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts remaining consistent in their instructors for the rest of his time at Sonora.

The second row was Russell’s natural territory, the place where he felt most comfortable in a room, but since he had grown taller over the past two years, he moved back to the third this time, allowing the smaller third years more places where they could see better. It wasn’t, he decided after a few minutes of getting comfortable in the seat, during which the new professor arrived with a name he was pretty sure he had heard before, somewhere at home in Illinois, that bad; he still thought he liked the second row better, but he could be okay here, at least for today.

He flipped through the syllabus when he got it, finding nothing he didn’t think he could handle. Being respectful to adults, particularly those with authority over him, was second nature, not inspiring any of his classmates to hit him was equally good business sense, and he usually thought there were better ways to get his point across than using swear words anyway. No problems there. And studying for exams and writing essays were socially approved behaviors in Aladren anyway as well, so while the essays might be a slight increase in his workload, having fewer tests would make up for it. She couldn’t be a much tougher grader than Fawcett was toward Aladrens, and Charms was easier than Transfiguration anyway, so it was all looking good, a feeling that hearing about her first lesson just confirmed for him. This did not sound bad, even the part about using finite incantatem, since he already knew how to do that.

It was good, he thought, to have something going smoothly, without complications, in his fifth year. Even the part where they were working with younger years and she was going to be watching the fifth years in particular didn’t sound bad to him, since Russell wasn’t too clear about how good the books he was in with his roommates were. He was still pleased about the new badge gleaming on the front of his robes, and he thought it was safe to assume that Arnold didn’t care much since he had the Assistant Captain’s one and Russell had never gotten the impression that Arnold took much interest in school affairs that weren’t tied up in Quidditch, but that still left Preston and Arthur to deal with, and technically Josh, he guessed, though he definitely did not think Preston would ever get together with Josh on anything. As much of a jerk as the guy was, Russell got the impression sometimes that Preston particularly disliked him for some reason.

Maybe I can just play them all off each other all year, he thought with a thin smile to himself. Then they would either destroy each other or at least forget to fight him, too, so long as he kept his head down. There was no splitting up the twins, probably, but he could get the rest of them going if he had to – say this one said that about the other one, bring the girls into it, and voila, chaos. He didn’t want to, but if things got nasty…Well, better them than him.

It occasionally disturbed him to think this way. Today, he sort of found it funny. That, too, was better than something, in this case being annoyed that they might actually be such snobs that four years on good terms, working together, even, on the Quidditch team, would count for nothing against the staff giving him a badge.

He wrote out what he thought was some good-sounding blather for the writing assignment, taking his time about balancing sounding competent with not sounding arrogant and not getting too far into or away from specifics with either part of the question, and then began to look for younger partners. Seeing someone he was sure wasn’t in his year, he smiled and said, “Hey, want to work together?” Hopefully, they’d have a friend to bring along for the other year requirement; it would speed things up for them, and since the years weren't perfectly equal, he expected they were going to run out of fourth years soon.

16 Russell Layne, Aladren Do they then make us laugh? 183 Russell Layne, Aladren 0 5

Alicia Bauer, Aladren
September 03, 2012 8:30 PM

Alicia Bauer, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 13
Birthday: September 15

And now for a third year, to complete your party. by Alicia Bauer, Aladren
Deep down, Alicia was, now that she stood on the brink of actually entering one, a little nervous about entering the Intermediate classes, but she did everything in her power to keep that out of her face and step as she walked into the Charms classroom. It was, then, a bit of a letdown when she looked around it and saw that the professor wasn’t even present yet to witness her entrance.

Other people had been more considerate, though, so Alicia kept her confident smile in place right up to the moment when she realized Thad wasn’t in the front rows, when it faded from confusion until she saw him with his cousin. Not exactly a strategic move on his part; for all they knew, the new professor was going to be hard to work with, someone they’d need every possible second to maneuver into the proper way of regarding them, but maybe they were just talking before class. Using that line of logic, she initially took a good seat, thinking it would be easier to run one person off next class than it would be to do the same to two, but when it became apparent that this wasn’t the case, she moved more toward the middle, in case Thad had lost his mind and they were going to spend their intermediate years sitting in the middle.

As she moved, she could tell she was turning redder than usual from embarrassment. This was not how today was supposed to start.

When Professor Olivers arrived, she smiled as though she appreciated the woman’s dramatics and didn’t mind her tardiness, but Alicia took marks off her for both in her head. When she heard that they had to work with people in years other than their own, though, her façade broke again as she turned just enough to glance toward Thad for a few seconds, suddenly wondering if he had somehow known that was going to happen, and that was why he was with Derry, and he hadn’t told her so she could also secure a fifth year ahead of time, much less told her what his source of information was. A second’s more thought, though, brought her back to her senses – from what she had gathered, his cousin was not known for his intelligence any more than he was noted for his political value, so he would not be the person to choose if Thad was choosing a fifth year ahead of time, not when he knew so many more options from the Quidditch team – and she smiled again as they got the rest of their instructions, none of which she approved of.

She was as much of an Aladren as she possibly could be while doing her written assignment, using her best handwriting and everything she could remember learning or hearing about in answering the two parts of the question, though she did decide to hold back a little by putting some things she had learned on her own time down as things she wanted to learn in the class, to flesh out that part of the question and to not let the professor know everything about her right up front. Alicia wasn’t comfortable with anyone doing that, much less someone she had just, only very technically, met. When she was done, she took a deep breath to compose herself, and then turned toward the fifth year-fourth year conversation going on near her.

“If you don’t,” she said to Josephine Owen, who, if her information was good, somehow kept ending up in a lot of interesting places lately, despite being nobody, “I’d be happy to step in.”

16 Alicia Bauer, Aladren And now for a third year, to complete your party. 210 Alicia Bauer, Aladren 0 5

Valerie Lennox, Crotalus
September 04, 2012 8:40 AM

Valerie Lennox, Crotalus
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 14
Birthday: February 27

I think we take turns. by Valerie Lennox, Crotalus
Entering the Charms classroom, Valerie collapsed into the nearest available seat just in time for yet another coughing fit to seize her. She had been a bit better the last few days, but when she got up this morning seemed to be getting worse again. In fact, the Crotalus was surprised not to be late for class in general, given how she'd kept having to stop along the way due to the fits.

She was also exhausted, overheated and quite short of breath by the time she got to class. Her lungs were starting to feel quite heavy and she'd almost decided to go to the Hospital Wing instead. Valerie got out the bottle of water she'd started taking with her everywhere recently because of her cough and took a drink. She would have been more embarrassed about drawing attention to herself in such away, but she knew that all her classmates had seen her sick before. It kind of couldn't be helped.

Valerie also was a little worried about getting in trouble for carrying water with her.It was just that when she had a bad cough, she was often given it, as well as cough potions. Why not bring water with you if you were going to end up being excused from the room so you could go get a drink anyway? This would save her a walk that would just make things worse on her. Besides, it was important for Valerie to stay hydrated. She needed to take every step she could to not become ill.

The professor handed out the syllabus and began to explain how her class worked, which mostly seemed to be pretty standard. The one thing that worried Valerie, though, was the weekly essays. How was she supposed to do weekly essays, as well as keep up with all her other homework when she was sick with one thing or another so often? Plus, Professor Olivers said that she wasn't an easy grader, which made things worse. If she was a difficult grader, Valerie's essays might not be good enough. When one didn't feel well, the quality of their work suffered to start with.

The Crotalus began to worry, despite that it would likely make her feel worse to do so. What if she couldn't handle this class? She didn't want to flunk out and have to leave school. Being at Sonora meant so much to Valerie and she tried so hard to do her best. Getting to attend here brought something of sense of normalcy to her when all she'd ever felt was different.

The idea of doing a tickling charm didn't exactly thrill her either. What if it aggravated her cough? All the fourth year wanted, even more so than to be like others, was for the fits to stop permanently. Well, okay, that was never going to happen, but Valerie wanted this bout to be over.

She quickly wrote down what she knew and wanted to learn about Charms, which filled about a half a page and then got up so she could go look for a partner. The Crotalus hadn't gotten very far before she was approached by a fifth year, one that Valerie recognized as one of the Aladren Boys. Those might not in general have been as infamous as Crotalus Girls-a definition that fit her literally, but with connotations that didn't quite seem to-but that particular group of them was. All but one played Quidditch and had given the team its notoriety, and that one that didn't, Maximilian McLachlan had a reputation all of his own, on top of the one his family had.

This one, Russell, seemed friendlier than most of the others though and so Valerie was glad and a little relieved that he was the one to ask her. She managed a polite, albeit weak, smile and replied. "Certainly. You're Mr. Layne right? I'm Valerie Lennox of the St. Louis Lennoxes." She introduced herself, just in case he didn't remember her name. Which she sort of hoped he didn't, given he could probably only remember her as 'the sick one'. "

Do you know any third years?" The Crotalus asked. Valerie really didn't. She didn't get all that much chance to socialize.

11 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus I think we take turns. 204 Valerie Lennox, Crotalus 0 5

Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw
September 04, 2012 10:27 AM

Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 15

Laughter is good. by Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw
It was really a bit odd to Hope to be a fifth year. She hadn't gotten prefect, but she still had CATS at the end of the year. That meant that she would soon have to pick which classes she would keep and which she would drop. So far, she was leaning towards Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and of course Transfiguration. Hope had never been crazy about what the others entailed.

However, part of it depended on the new professors for these subjects as well as her grades. If a professor was unreasonably demanding or mean, then the Teppenpaw really didn't want to put up with them any longer than she had to. She still remembered the infamous lesson on cleaning spells that Professor Light gave which Autumn had rushed out of the room during and of course, Chelsea's complaints about Professor Flatt, who smoked cigars during classes and had it in for purebloods. Hope didn't want to take a class where the professor was going to be predisposed to hating her, whether the subject interested her or not.

She hadn't heard much about Florence Olivers, other than that she was an actress and according to Nora, had no academic credentials. The fourth seemed to think that the new professor was inexperienced and would likely be inadequate and not very good at teaching at all. She had been rather derisive of such ideas, but Hope was willing to give the woman the benefit of the doubt.

There were other things that were more important to the Teppenpaw, such as kindness and fairness. Not only would she refuse to put up with someone who was mean to her for her background, but she wouldn't put up with the opposite either. Hope didn't have any friends who weren't pure-though, really the only friends she had were Russell, who despite not being in her social class, was still a pureblood and kind of Sophie but still-and her family's official policy seemed to be to just plain ignore anyone who wasn't but she firmly believed that if you had contempt for someone you shouldn't have a career that put you in a role where you were supposed to be helping them just so you could go on a power trip and make them miserable. And it worked both ways.

So far, though, Professor Olivers seemed decent, nothing too dreadful, nothing Hope couldn't handle, though she could handle most things. She knew she wasn't the best at written work, but not even the professor's declaration of not being an easy grader could get her down. There was nothing that the fifth year could do but her best. So long as Professor Olivers was reasonable about it and didn't put ridiculous expectations on them, Hope would be fine.

Though she was pretty glad that Autumn had dropped Charms due to Professor Light's 'stressful' teaching style. She didn't think her cousin would fair well anxiety wise with this professor either. The seventh surely would have held herself to even higher standards than she already did. That could be very dangerous to someone in Autumn's fragile state.

Once they heard what they were going to do, Hope went to look for two younger students. Nora had joined Derry and his cousin and she saw Evan with Fae Sinclair which was honestly a good thing. The Teppenpaw wouldn't have minded working with her brother that much, but quite honestly, she preferred not to work with the fourth year that much. Nora could get a little...snobby at times. Besides, Hope didn't like to stick with her relatives at school.

She spotted a younger student and approached. "Hi, do you have a partner yet?" She asked.

11 Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw Laughter is good. 186 Hope Brockert, Teppenpaw 0 5

Cepheus
September 04, 2012 1:03 PM

Cepheus
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Written by:

New Topic: Go. by Cepheus
Cepheus was rather impressed by how quick McLachlan reacted to the situation. He certainly did know at least this counter-curse rather well. Still, he would never give him the pleasure of knowing that. He had his pride to keep up. Immediately, however, the thought that perhaps it was the Princeton blood running through him that made him more adept magically. Of course, Cepheus quickly pushed the thought aside. He wasn’t even sure if he and McLachlan really were blood relatives yet.

The female’s chastising angered Cepheus for a moment, but in another moment, it cooled. “Of course, m’lady,” he said, mocking a bow. Of course, he was supposed to be a gentleman, but there was no way he was going to submit himself to the tickling first. Not if he was going to be under McLachlan’s spell. He was proud of himself that his charm had worked on the first try. Brianna wasn’t one he had to worry about much. She didn’t seem like the type that he was supposed to be scouting out here, anyhow.

The way she spoke to McLachlan made Cepheus’s skin prickle. She was sympathetic to him which sort of disgusted Cepheus since he couldn’t imagine any one being sympathetic to this snarky bloke. Of course, not everyone had the pleasure of meeting McLachlan under the same circumstances as Cepheus.

When Brianna volunteered Cepheus to be charmed by McLachlan, he immediately stiffened. He had seen the way he’d cast that counter-curse. There was no way Cepheus wanted to be caught by his wand. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any other way to even it out. Unless McLachlan performed the spell on Brianna. Then she would go twice and Cepheus wouldn’t have to go at all. Of course, all this would be brilliant in a perfect world, but alas, it was not.

It was a moot point, so Cepheus begrudgingly shrugged his agreement. It was best not to agree whole-heartedly, or it would seem like he was inviting McLachlan to curse him. Or charm him, rather. It wasn’t like Brianna or McLachlan would care about his opinion anyway, knowing them as briefly as he had. At least he would be able to see what McLachlan looked like laughing like a fool.

0 Cepheus New Topic: Go. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Josh McLachlan
September 04, 2012 6:10 PM

Josh McLachlan
Peripheral
Written by:

Trembling. by Josh McLachlan
When Brianna took a moment to tell Cepheus that she didn’t appreciate the fact that he had volunteered her for something, Josh smirked to himself, though it quickly disappeared when she turned to him. Sometimes he thought that purebloods like Cepheus, haughty and thinking they knew everything, should be put in their place. Sometimes he wished he could do that to the young cousin he was forced to live with during the winter months. Well, summer in the States. Winter in Australia.

Josh didn’t expect Brianna to volunteer him next. He had half been expecting her to take a little revenge on Cepheus and point the charm at him. Well, if she wanted to practice on him, he had no choice in the matter. The way she was talking to him was also unusual. She spoke gently, hesitantly, as if she wasn’t sure of something. She probably wasn’t sure if he was going be rude to her or snap at her for volunteering him. The way his reputation had gone, it was no surprise. He should probably try and change the expectations his peers had of him, but he wasn’t sure if it was really worth it.

It was also weird to hear his legal first name come out of her mouth. He had never heard anyone call him that to his face except during roll call. He wondered why in the world she would call him that, and then he remembered that he hadn’t corrected the professor earlier. The name “Maximilian” just made him feel uncomfortable. “It’s Josh,” he told her quietly. “And that’s fine.” He had to bear the spell sometime. This was class, after all.

The name “Maximilian” had come from Josh’s grandfather who was deceased by the time Josh had been sent to his grandmother’s in Scotland at a year old. Grandmother was the one who had refused to call him by his first name, calling him by his middle name “Joshua” instead. She had been clear of her reason why, too: Josh needed to prove himself before he started using his grandfather’s name. Maximilian meant “greatest” in Latin, and Josh, in his family’s eyes, had yet to prove himself to be the greatest. But Josh didn’t think he would ever be great in their eyes according to their standards. He would be glad to go by Joshua all his life if that was what his relatives wanted from him.

Josh prepared himself to take the spell, half wary of what might happen if Brianna missed or accidentally performed the charm wrong. He took the defensive stance, his wand facing the ground. Even though he knew he was going to take this spell for academic purposes, he was still anxious. His wand hand was twitching slightly. He had quick reflexes, but he had to mentally prepare himself not to involuntarily dodge nor deflect the spell as it came. He took a deep breath and then nodded his assent to Brianna. “Go ahead.” His wand hand wouldn’t stop trembling.

0 Josh McLachlan Trembling. 0 Josh McLachlan 0 5

Theresa Carey, Pecari
September 05, 2012 7:23 PM

Theresa Carey, Pecari
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Written by:

It's supposed to be the best medicine by Theresa Carey, Pecari
Before the start of class, Theresa spent most of her time looking at the backs of two people’s heads, torn between interest in one and curiosity about the other. Neither, though, seemed to notice her, so she finally gave it up and began making conversation with the person sitting next to her, since she knew that she really did need more practice. It had been made abundantly clear to her on a number of occasions that she was not as graceful in social situations as she should be, which meant she should practice every chance she got, so that they might have some hopes of making something worth having out of her before it was too late and she lived and died as a spinster like her grandfather’s sisters had.

For the most part, she thought it went well, at least until the end of the conversation. Then, Theresa found herself, in a moment of mild impoliteness, glancing around a little, wondering where the professor was. It was time for class to begin, and the headmistress had said very clearly at the Welcome for the year that they had a new Charms teacher, Theresa had heard that herself, and yet no one was here. Surely the new one hadn’t quit already? She knew this was apparently not a very good job, as far as any of them went, but that really did seem a little excessive, especially when the new woman wasn’t even a Head of House and shouldn’t have had any chances to realize what she was getting into yet….

Finally, she appeared, though, and Theresa smiled at her neighbor as she got ready to take notes. She didn’t like the professor’s manner very much, but then, she hadn’t liked her predecessor’s, either, so that didn’t matter as long as she wasn’t completely incomprehensible and impossible to follow in lessons. She was, she was becoming aware, here to socialize more than she had in her first two years, but she was also here to learn as much as she ever had been, and she didn’t have to like her teachers to do that.

The writing assignment seemed strange to her, but she wrote out what she considered to be the only answer, which was that she had passed all her tests last year and that she wanted to learn what third years were supposed to learn, and then she looked for fifth years and fourth years. The fifth year she would have liked to have talked to was too far away and semi-off limits anyway, so she only regretted that for a second before settling on Miss Brockert, who was the sort of person she was supposed to talk to anyway. She was a Teppenpaw, but that House had undergone serious reevaluation since Jane and Lucy – one a lady, and one too frightened of her mother not to be – had both been Sorted there, and the sort of mild, sweet girl everyone wished Theresa was, so she was sure that her family would very much approve if they heard of her talking to Miss Brockert.

“No, I’m afraid I don’t,” she said with a smile when Miss Brockert asked if she already had partners. “Would you mind if I worked with you and…whoever?” She didn’t know any fourth years; there was no one in her family in that year, and the family didn’t much approve of them working together in classes, anyway. They were there to support each other, not be each other’s company so often that other people noticed and decided they were all very clannish and strange.

0 Theresa Carey, Pecari It's supposed to be the best medicine 0 Theresa Carey, Pecari 0 5

Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus
September 05, 2012 7:26 PM

Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus
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Written by:

That sounds fair by Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus
Alex tapped the end of her quill against her parchment for a moment, then looked up to the front of the room as she heard the professor’s steps against the floor at last, reaching up with her free hand to push her heavy dark hair behind her ear where it had fallen forward on the right side. Her lips turned in and her brown eyes narrowed as she watched the class get started. The front of the room, from her third-row seat, looked not so much a little fuzzy as like it was almost a little fuzzy, or should be a little fuzzy; she had noticed it last year, looking at the board sometimes, but hadn’t thought about it over the summer and suspected she wouldn’t think about it this winter, either. She didn’t think she needed glasses anyway, since she didn’t think she always noticed it.

She didn’t feel herself forming an immediate opinion of Professor Olivers, but she could tell that Olivers definitely wanted to make an impression. When a syllabus came her way, she tried automatically to catch it before it could land on her desk, and to her surprise she actually succeeded and smiled a little, even though it stung the skin between her thumb and her palm. She put the papers down and rubbed her hand as she looked over the front page. Overall, it looked pretty standard, though she wished they could have sample essays or something to let them know what she meant about being a tough grader.

Ask about samples or examples Alex wrote on her copy of the syllabus, next to the class requirements. At worst, the professor would tell her to go away, and she would have only lost five minutes of her day by trying. She could spare five minutes here and there for a good cause, and potentially not having to go through as much of an awkward adjustment phase with a new teacher was such a cause in her opinion.

Alex tapped her quill again as she started trying to gather her thoughts about what she knew about Charms, which she thought was a different thing from how many Charms she could rattle off, but couldn’t really think how to put that into words. Finally, she wrote that, added that she could provide copies of essays she had written if Professor Olivers liked, and added that she’d like to learn more about practical, daily-use charms in particular if that was possible as the class began to finish up writing in general and to form groups.

Just down the row from her, she saw Russell Layne grouping with Valerie Lennox. She didn’t know Russell, but she had met Valerie before, and he was an Aladren and a prefect, so she decided that was as good a group as any. Moving down a few seats, she heard Valerie asking if Russell knew any third years and said, “I’ll work with you, if you don’t mind,” and offered them a small smile.

0 Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus That sounds fair 0 Alexandra Devereux, Crotalus 0 5

Michael Grosvenor
September 06, 2012 5:51 PM

Michael Grosvenor
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 14

I hope it shows through in my work too by Michael Grosvenor
OOC - I wasn't sure how to do this, seeing as I'm starting here and ending somewhere else, so I've split it in two along roughly where he leaves, though there's still some talking to you in the other post. If there's anything you want to reply to Michael, it would probably make most sense here. Otherwise, good luck, see you later...

IC

Unless a girl had gone to the lengths of showing up to class in a pink, sparkly ballgown, or applied her make up as ostentatiously and bizarrely as the school librarian, there wasn't a great deal of chance that Michael was going to notice either. If seriously pressed and given several hints as subtle as bricks, he might have been able to say that Brianna was more likely to wear a skirt than Mellie was, or that Valerie and Mellie probably had very different styles, although the latter would only be a tentative guess, based on the fact that they were different people, from very different backgrounds, rather than actual bona fide observations. Therefore, the fact that Mellie's lips were slightly shinier than usual completely passed under his radar. To him, she was just Mellie. And that, rather than any careful choosing of clothes or application of subtle facial improvements, made him pleased that she was sitting next to him.

“Camping, hiking – the usual. It was alright,” he nodded, when she asked about his summer. He really enjoyed his family expeditions but he thought it might be sort of lame to get really enthusiastic about them. Besides which, there wasn't time to exchange much more information than that.

His comments to Mellie about not working together produced blushing, followed by her covering her face up when he mentioned tickling her for homework. This was an odd reaction and he tried to puzzle out what he'd done to warrant it. He wasn't quite paranoid enough to think that Mellie was embarrassed at the thought of working with him, as he had several indicators that she did genuinely like him. Maybe he'd talked too loudly. He didn't always control his volume very well, although it was usually more of a problem when he was competing with background noise and wasn't sure how much he needed to raise his voice to compete with it but that was the only explanation he could think of.

“It's no worse than mine, not that that's much of a compliment,” he said when she passed him her work, taking care to keep his voice quiet this time. “Except you indicate that you're happy about all the work we'll have to do this year,” he added, tapping the little smiley face. “It isn't nice to lie, y'know,” he added, only managing to keep his face serious for a moment before cracking a grin. “I can't really see what else she'd want from us,” he shrugged. If Mellie hadn't been able to come up with anything else, then there wasn't any obvious Muggleborn gaping hole in his knowledge, and that was pretty much good enough for him. He didn't have his friend up on such a pedestal that he thought her answer was going to come top of the class but so long as they were thinking along similar lines, he felt reassured. There was safety in numbers, and all that.

13 Michael Grosvenor I hope it shows through in my work too 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Michael Grosvenor, Teppenpaw
September 06, 2012 5:52 PM

Michael Grosvenor, Teppenpaw
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 14

Let's hope I don't need any of that... by Michael Grosvenor, Teppenpaw
OOC - sorry that this starts rather abruptly. It's continued from my thread with Mellie but, as I end talking to you guys, I thought it would be better for this half to be up here...

IC
“Which brings us onto the joys of finding partners,” he scanned the room, noting that most of the moderately sane people had already formed groups. Most of the moderately sane, and Maxamillian, who was working with Brianna. Maxamillian hadn't been as bad as his reputation made out when Michael had worked with him but he would be keeping an eye on that. If the older, bigger, better-at-spells-than him boy hurt his friend.... Well, it would most likely result in Michael being the one to go to the hospital wing, but he wouldn't stand by and do nothing. The remaining people without groups were all of a certain type. A certain blood type, to be precise. He had nothing against any individual in those who were left looking for a partner but he was intimidated by them as a group. The Laurie thing had thrown him, and had convinced him that the only reason he'd never encountered prejudice at school beforehand was because he'd successfully avoided confronting it, rather than because it didn't exist. “Reckon any of them will have us?” he muttered to Mellie. He wondered whether, if there was an uneven number of people in the year groups, and if the Purebloods refused to work with him, whether he and Mellie could work together. He guessed he had to try and get knocked back first.

It was a difficult decision between the pairs. Girls were supposed to be crazy and difficult but he'd generally been ok with them at Sonora. Most of his friends were female and the only Pureblood to treat him like dirt had been Preston, which made him wonder whether it was the male of the species that tended to get more bothered by that sort of thing. Girls, as well as being crazy, could also generally be kinder than boys. On the other hand, the pair made of two girls included a Carey. He'd heard they were kind of psycho about blood stuff and were fairly high up on his 'avoid' list. That said, he knew nothing about Sinclairs. At least if he went for the Carey, he was prepared. And, if his theory that girls were nicer than boys was right, a girl Brockert was better than a boy Brockert.

“Good luck. See you after,” he whispered to Mellie, giving her shoulder a squeeze before approaching the two girls with genuine fear. What if they giggled at him? He'd heard that girls did that and he wasn't really sure he could deal with it. He hoped they weren't giggly. Or mean. Although he wasn't sure which would be worse.

“Hi,” he coughed, “Would it be ok if I worked with you?” it was a genuine question, for which he was more than prepared to hear a rejection.

13 Michael Grosvenor, Teppenpaw Let's hope I don't need any of that... 199 Michael Grosvenor, Teppenpaw 0 5

Brianna
September 06, 2012 10:18 PM

Brianna
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Are you nervous? by Brianna
Josh! That was it! She knew it wasn’t anything to do with his first name, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what the name had been. Now it made sense. She didn’t know where Josh came from, but assumed it was either his middle name or some name that was important to her family. Brianna’s middle name was her Father’s mother, Mayumi. She wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to answer to that name. It was a beautiful name, exotic, different. But she already felt different and having a unique name would just force her out into the spot light even more. Well, that last part might not actually be true since there were a lot of people in this school who had strange names, but she still felt like she would be shone more attention than she wanted. “Right, Josh, sorry, I knew that.” She said, shaking her head slightly in embarrassment.

She was relieved to find that he wasn’t offended or upset that she asked to try the spell on him. She was being a little selfish because, although she was confident in her spell work because she wasn’t under pressure with it like she was in Defense, and having studied up on it over the summer, she knew she could handle it. But, she also knew that Josh’s spell work was likely to be stronger and, therefore, more worth it to have him charm Cepheus rather than her. But, more so than her selfishness, she knew it was the only way to be fair for each of them.

At his ready, Brianna lifted her wand arm and took a breath. It was easy for her to picture him laughing, even if she had never seen it. How come the kids back in New York City couldn’t use this spell against her? She didn’t think she would mind laughing uncontrollably over having her collar bone shattered or pushed repeatedly into walls, or slapped in the face ‘accidentally’. Laughing seemed so much more doable to her. “Rictusempra.” She stated calmly and watched the effect of the charm as it hit him. It was stronger than Cepheus’s but probably not as strong as it could have been.

She didn’t wait long before stating the countercurse. She didn’t know if she was supposed to let Cepheus try it or not, but she didn’t think Josh would appreciate it if Cepheus couldn’t do it and he was stuck for a longer period of time laughing. Her countercurse wasn’t as good, she had learned it a while ago in the hopes of being able to stop any curse thrown at her at home, but she never actually had to use it because they usually just used their fists. But, it worked enough to at least give Josh the chance to finish it completely.

"Sorry, it's been awhile since I practice that. I'll do better next time." She apologized to Josh, but gave him a smile anyway. "Your turn now."

0 Brianna Are you nervous? 0 Brianna 0 5

Madeline Parry, Teppenpaw
September 07, 2012 11:01 AM

Madeline Parry, Teppenpaw
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Shouldn't be a problem by Madeline Parry, Teppenpaw
Excited as she had been and was about Reggie being prefect and how totally awesome she was going to be at it, Madeline had all but forgotten about how they had some new professors to contend with in their last-few-months-before-CATS classes this year. At least one of them, though, came back to her when she entered the Charms classroom and immediately realized it was more…normal classroomy than it had been, not the different ways Professor Light had kept it during his time at Sonora.

That made her hesitate for a second, but more from surprise than anything, and she moved on quickly, looking for her friends. That made it a disappointment to hear that they couldn’t work together, but instead had to pair with younger years. “Aw,” she said under her breath, doodling on her syllabus with the end of her quill – she had made sure this summer to keep practicing, so it wasn’t completely unfamiliar to her hand when she came back now and had to use one again, or at least the cultural bias was strong in favor of using one instead of a ball-point or even a fountain pen – as she continued to listen to the speech from Professor Olivers. She didn’t mind spending time with the younger students, but after the whole summer in her parents’ college rental house, with no one her own age she really knew around, she had wanted to spend more time with her friends here in the first few days.

Of course, as she thought about it, it occurred to her that Professor Olivers could have seen that coming, from her and everyone else in the class, fifth years and third years alike. That thought made her grin. Well, this was one way of making sure most people actually did the Tickling Charm instead of spending half the class just making up for two months of missed chatter.

Still, tickling did seem more like a friend thing than a ‘people I don’t really know’ thing. Madeline felt a lot more worried about doing something stupid while laughing in front of fourth and third years she didn’t really know that well than she thought she would have with her friends. She wouldn’t be surprised if the people with family worked with them and just hoped for herself that she didn’t end up in a weird position or spit laughing or something like that during the exercise.

Scribbling what she hoped was the kind of answer the professor wanted to the questions about what they knew and what they wanted to learn – the second part was, she thought, especially hard, she’d always hated that kind of thing in Muggle school, too, because if she knew what it was, she would, well, probably already know something about it – she smiled at a younger person as though she weren’t worried. “Hi,” she said. “Do you need a fifth year to work with? Because I can do that.” Since she wasn’t just asking a stupid question.

0 Madeline Parry, Teppenpaw Shouldn't be a problem 0 Madeline Parry, Teppenpaw 0 5

Russell Layne
September 07, 2012 12:19 PM

Russell Layne
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15

Yes, that does make sense. by Russell Layne
On second glance, Russell thought he might have made what Arthur or Preston might have called a tactical error in picking the fourth year he had. He recognized this one, as did, he very much suspected, half the school by now; there was always the concern, when she walked around looking fevered or with a hacking cough or whatever, that this time, she had the plague and was in the process of spreading it to the whole school.

At the moment she looked like she might not live out the class. Not, of course, that this was unusual either; he could only conclude that she wasn’t as sickly as she looked, because otherwise, he couldn’t imagine she’d be in school at all. Sure, if he, or most people, got a cold, they got rid of it within two days by taking a trip to the hospital wing and just gritting their teeth and bearing the few minutes during which the side effects of Pepperup Potion were really unpleasant, but there was still the time before they got there during which they were spreading stuff, and she seemed to have a pretty faulty respiratory system. If it wasn’t at least a little less faulty than it sounded, he thought Sonora sounded like too much trouble to bother with when there was the option of staying home with a tutor.

Since she was here, though, and the lesson was what it was, he had another concern besides catching something, which involved having no idea how Miss Lennox was going to get through the class exercise for the day without putting a rib or two through her lungs, but they did have to do it; he guessed he’d just have to try to be very quick with the countercurse whenever it was her turn to be hit with the spell and hope she had enough water in that bottle to get through the class, since he had only tried the Refilling Charm once in his life and hadn’t managed anything much resembling a success with it.

“That’s me,” he said pleasantly, keeping his thoughts to himself since they could really profit nothing at this point, when she recognized him, though he was a little surprised by it. He guessed, after a moment’s reflection, that he was reasonably recognizable – he was on the Quidditch team, a library assistant, and, probably not least, in a year group full of people that Lennoxes and such would know, which probably meant he had borrowed a bit of their shine by default – but he had just never thought of himself that way, as a person of consequence around here.

Obviously, someone had noticed, though, for him to have the badge, and apparently people he didn’t know among the students sometimes knew him. Before he could think too much about that, though, she asked about third years.

“A few of them,” he said, since he’d helped Alicia – who seemed to put more store on them being related than he did, considering how distant the relationship was, but he’d needed something to do, so it had all worked – out with her group thing last year and had seen her friends at the same time. They, though, all seemed to be occupied elsewhere already. Before he could point that out, though, another Crotalus girl, presumably – hopefully, anyway, since he didn’t recognize her for anything in particular – a third year, came down the row and offered to work with them on this.

“Sounds good to me,” he said with a smile. “If you don’t mind, Miss Lennox,” he added, since he knew Crotalus girls could be…contentious, sometimes, and he had no desire to inadvertently help the dark-haired one set up a fight, if that was what she was doing. He couldn't imagine why she would, but better safe than sorry with certain social classes.

16 Russell Layne Yes, that does make sense. 183 Russell Layne 0 5

Cepheus
September 07, 2012 1:24 PM

Cepheus
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I should be the nervous one. by Cepheus
So McLachlan liked to be called ‘Josh’. That was something Cepheus had known, but had forgotten in the course of his busy social life. He knew it was McLachlan’s middle name, though why he used it was a mystery to him. Then again, Cepheus didn’t really care enough to find out. He and his family didn’t use middle names. Names were supposed to be short and sweet and memorable. Hence the use of constellations as first names.

Cepheus watched Brianna get ready to charm him, eager to see McLachlan at the mercy of someone else’s wand. Perhaps something good could come out of being partnered with the bloke. He smirked as the spell hit him, watching as McLachlan reacted to the charm. Brianna wasn’t too bad at this, and he wondered if she practised it herself in her room or something or during the summer. Ceph bet McLachlan practised the charm in his room all the time or in the bloody library. Ha.

Too soon, Brianna cast the counter-curse, and then Cepheus knew it was his turn. He had never had a reason to learn the counter-curse, and he wasn’t exactly in the DADA class that taught him such things. At home, he couldn’t do magic which irritated Ceph to no end because he couldn’t practise the spells he’d learnt from school nor the jinxes Dorian told him about. It was rather ridiculously sad, but at least he could practise them to his heart’s content here at school without his parental supervision. Honestly, they were breathing down his neck at home now that he was ‘betrothed’ again or some nonsense. He’d rather not think about it.

However, pushing away thoughts of his betrothal lead back to his current situation. McLachlan using a spell on him. Cepheus was a bit petrified—just a bit—at being at the mercy of McLachlan’s wand. He pretended he wasn’t, though, trying to downplay his fear by brushing imaginary lint off his robes and pretending to ready himself. If he was being honest, he would most likely never be ready. Still, better now than later.

Cepheus cleared his throat and raised his head high to try and look down at the fifth year. Of course, it didn’t work very well since McLachlan was so much taller. He cleared his throat again and tried to shape his expression to look bored. “Go on, then. Get it over with, mate,” he drawled, trying not to show his fear of the older and more experienced bloke.

It was one thing to be frightened of McLachlan and his apparent adeptness at wand-work. It was definitely another thing to show that fear. Cepheus had too much Princeton pride in himself to allow that to happen, and so he shut his eyes. At least it wasn’t DADA and at least they weren’t cursing each other. It was just a tickling charm. What harm could it do, really?

0 Cepheus I should be the nervous one. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Henny B-F-R, Aladren
September 07, 2012 2:03 PM

Henny B-F-R, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 13

Should be a laugh riot (in need of a 4th year) by Henny B-F-R, Aladren
New professors didn’t really phase Henny, unless they taught Care of Magical Creatures. Explaining her special circumstances with that class was bad enough, without having to do it on a termly basis. Therefore, she simply took Professor Olivers in her stride. She could forgive her for being late on her first day – the school could be pretty confusing when you didn’t know it – so long as she didn’t make a habit of it. The fact that she was going to set a lot of work and be a tough marker more pleased than worried Henny; she liked a challenge and didn’t doubt her capabilities.

She drew her quill and some parchment, settling into the writing part of the class.

’Over the first two years we have learnt basic spells with broad ranging effects, such as colour changing charms with a whole object target, designed for us to practise channelling our magic to effect, although I did research ways in which to make this spell more targeted and specific. As I am progressing into my first intermediate year, I expect to learn spells which require more delicate or specific wandwork, as well as expanding my theoretical knowledge.

She wasn’t quite sure how she expected to expand her theoretical knowledge so she didn’t expand that point any further. She also added a list of spells they had covered thus far. No one else seemed to have spent long on the written work, so she assumed it didn’t need to be hugely detailed. She turned to looking for people in the other years to form a group with. She wasn’t especially close to many people in her own year, so the prospect of working outside it was not really all that different to trying to pair up within it. An older looking girl approached, asking if she needed a group.

“I do,” Henny smiled, “I’m Henny, and I’m in third year, so we need to find a fourth between us,” she added, scanning around the room for any loan people.

13 Henny B-F-R, Aladren Should be a laugh riot (in need of a 4th year) 211 Henny B-F-R, Aladren 0 5

Josh McLachlan
September 09, 2012 4:05 PM

Josh McLachlan
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You have a right to be right about...now by Josh McLachlan
The moment Josh saw Brianna raise her wand to cast the spell, his body tensed up like a board, bracing himself against...laughing. He was used to dodging and bracing himself for harder curses. His agility skills had been getting better since he was seven years old when he had lived with another uncle in England. Things had been awful there and though Josh felt little pity for anyone, he actually felt bad for his cousins who were forced to call that man "Father" and live under his thumb. At least Josh had been able to escape it after a year.

But that was all besides the point. The charm came straight at him and right on impact, he felt the effects immediately. It was impossible to hold it in. It felt like he was being tickled both inside and out. He writhed around where he stood, laughing unwillingly, his usually cold and unfriendly face brightening with smiles. He could hardly stand the feeling of being tickled. He could see why it felt like a torturous spell.

Brianna cast the countercurse after a moment and Josh was thankful. Even though the spell had been on him for a moment, he was slightly breathless. There were still lingering effects of the charm that made him twitch uncontrollably at random moments. That indicated that the countercurse hadn't been done very strongly, meaning it was going to take a little longer for the charm to fade. He had to take a deep breath and let it all out to feel at least a little normal again. Brianna apologized for not doing the countercurse as well. It was true, she hadn't done all that well if his sudden twitch was of any indication, but he shook his head. "It's not an easy one," he told her. Maybe he'd have her do the countercurse on Cepheus.

It wasn't too hard to see that Cepheus was at least a little afraid of him and it made Josh swell with pride. He was very proud of his magical abilities and his intelligence. He was great with his wand, knew most of the spells they had learned in classes and then some, and was an adept potions brewer. And then the feeling of pride that Josh had felt made him sick to his stomach. He didn't want people to fear him because he could probably curse them into oblivion.

Still, that didn't make the temptation to do so now any less inviting. As Josh pointed his wand at Cepheus, the thought crossed his mind to use the charm on full force against the third-year who had been a thorn in his side ever since Josh had arrived. He could do it, make the charm so strong that Cepheus couldn't even stand. He could make the boy wish he had never partnered with him in the first place.

But he didn't want to.

When Cepheus closed his eyes, Josh swallowed down the seemingly hereditary desire to take revenge when he could do so with no consequences. He didn't want to be like his uncles. He didn't want to be like his grandfather. His parents' mysterious death came to mind, solidifying his desire to stay above the fray the McLachlans liked to start.

With that in mind, the spell left Josh's wand and hit its intended target. The charm wasn't so powerful that it crippled the boy, but it was enough to make the gentle tickling poignant enough to cause twitching and writhing and whatever else someone did when they were tickled. After the spell was said, Josh lowered his wand, watching Cepheus with his sharp grey eyes, smiles gone. He cast a glance at Brianna, alerting her to the fact that he would cast the countercurse, and then did so with a flourish of his wand. It had hardly been a minute of torture.

Now that they had all taken a turn, Josh turned to his group at a loss of what to do next. He enjoyed working with people only when he had a purpose and a goal to reach. If there was no goal, then what were they going to do? Apparently turning to do other homework was not the right way to go according to Reggie's reaction last year to that.

0 Josh McLachlan You have a right to be right about...now 0 Josh McLachlan 0 5

Hope
September 09, 2012 9:25 PM

Hope
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 15

Well, it beats rat spleens. by Hope
"Of course not." Hope assured the Carey girl whom she thought was named Theresa. Truthfully, she didn't really mind working with the younger students much. She might not have gotten prefect-and she really didn't care that she hadn't, she was just happy that her friend got it for Aladren and thought Reggie would do a good job anyway, the other Teppenpaw had done great putting together that zombie thing for the concert last year-but that didn't mean that Hope couldn't help them, if they wanted, especially when that was what she had to do for class.

Besides, Miss Carey was as good a third year to talk to as any and probably better than some. Not that Hope would have been rude to any of them but there were likely to be a few that were more difficult than others. She couldn't remember Evan saying anything the least bit unpleasant about Theresa-though that was probably because the Aladren didn't know his year mate. Her brother had a tendency to be impressed with those who were more relaxed and free spirited. Or at least more at ease with them then with others who were too...intense.

Though, Hope didn't know how Evan could possibly be more relaxed with one sort of person than another. Not in the sense that certain people weren't easier to get along with-she felt that way herself about people she knew-but in that her brother was the most laid back person Hope had ever met, aside from her grandfather. She had no idea how Grandfather was going to manage as the family Patriarch, and she had a feeling her great-grandfather didn't know either. He'd probably stay alive longer because of it, if possible. The fifth year wouldn't put it past Great Grandfather to make a bargain with the Grim Reaper for just that reason.

Before Hope could ask if Theresa knew any fourth years-which the Teppenpaw didn't other than Nora who was already in a group-one of the fourth years from her house approached. She was pretty sure his name was Michael Grosvenor but she didn't know much about him aside from that he wasn't a pureblood-at least not an elite American one-because Hope didn't recognize the last name in that context.

"Sure." The fifth year replied. She looked over at Theresa. "Is that all right with you?" The older girl didn't mind that much but there were some that would throw a fit over working with someone they didn't deem to be 'one of them' and Hope would really prefer to avoid such a scene. Still, it would be awfully mean to just say no especially when people were quickly being snapped up. She didn't want to hurt Michael's feelings just because he wasn't in her social class and of her blood purity or leave him with nobody to work with.

11 Hope Well, it beats rat spleens. 186 Hope 0 5

Brianna
September 09, 2012 11:40 PM

Brianna
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And now onto...? by Brianna
It was a little strange to see Josh laughing. She didn’t know him at all and couldn’t say for certain that this was actually a normal occurrence, but she had never seen it. Of course, some people might say the same for her as well. Brianna didn’t really laugh very often. Here or at home. She wasn’t really sure why. Okay, that was a lie. At home, there was nothing to laugh about. She was laughed at quite often from the other kids, but she didn’t really do much laughing herself. Sometimes she did when she hung around Attoria, but even that was rare. She felt like her slave sometimes and not a friend.

At Sonora, Brianna didn’t feel like she really had friends, so, she didn’t have inside jokes or people to laugh with. She was friendly with people, like Linus, or Michael, and she liked her roommate, Valerie, but she always felt bad for Valerie because the girl got sick all the time. She didn’t want to make it worse for her roommate and joke around with her. Besides, Brianna felt like her roommates was sick more often than not and couldn’t be bothered. So, Brianna just stayed away. Even though Sonora was her safe haven from the world, she was still very lonely here.

Watching him now, Brianna couldn’t help the smile on her face. He looked so nice when he laughed. Forced or not. He was actually really nice to look at. She hadn’t noticed before because she was so nervous. But, he hadn’t ripped her head off or yelled at her or anything, so, she felt more relaxed and now she could see him.

Realizing her train of thought, Brianna looked away from him and tried to ignore the heat in her cheeks. She never thought these things about her classmates. It was too strange to look at them that way. Besides, it wasn’t like anything would come from it. No one would want to date someone like her. She was awkward looking in the face, too skinny, she didn’t have the best of clothes, and she could hardly hold a conversation. There was absolutely nothing special about her that would have anyone remotely interested in her in that way. It was something she realized not long ago when she noticed how all the other girls in her year and the year above her were so much prettier than she was.

Brianna watched the boys quietly as the spell hit Cepheus. She was trying not to find glee in seeing him laugh like an idiot, but there was a part of her that was happy about it. She was bullied so much by guys just like him where they had the attitudes to believe they had rights over everyone else, it served them right to be pushed a peg or two down. But Josh didn’t seem to want to make it last because he sent the countercurse on him and the laughing ended.

And now it was back to the beginning again.

“Cepheus, do you want to try the spell again? Give you a chance to really have it down?” She asked him, figuring they would just do the rounds again until they were comfortable with it. She wouldn’t mind to have another go at it, just to see Josh laugh again, but she also wanted to make sure she had more confidence in the countercurse.

0 Brianna And now onto...? 0 Brianna 0 5

Cepheus
September 11, 2012 12:15 PM

Cepheus
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Revenge! by Cepheus
The spell hit and Cepheus doubled over with laughter. It was powerful as he expected, though not enough to make him start rolling on the floor uncontrollably. Perhaps McLachlan wasn't as good as he thought. Still, he laughed so hard it almost hurt, and Cepheus wanted some revenge when McLachlan used the counter-curse on him. It had seemed like the charm was on him forever. It wasn't a spell he was going to be using on himself any time soon. Merlin.

His side didn't even hurt, but Cepheus put a hand there as he stood up, not even fully breathless. It had felt good to have a good laugh, but still, Cepheus didn't appreciate the fact that it had been forced. He'd rather be in his dorm room with his roommate laughing about something ridiculous instead of here with strangers acting like some ninny.

They were done, but Cepheus wanted to have another go. He wasn't satisfied with the way his charm had turned out after experiencing one and seeing another, both better than his own. Even though Cepheus was the youngest in the group, he didn't want that to stop him from being the best. Of course, if McLachlan couldn't really do his best in class, then perhaps Cepheus had a chance.

Cepheus nodded at Brianna. "Yes, I do." He glanced over at McLachlan. "Would you like to change it up a bit? I do it on 'Joshua', he does it to you, and you can do it on me?" This could go on forever, but, in all honesty, he was perhaps more willing to be under Brianna's charm than McLachlan's. At least he knew Brianna didn't downright hate him as he was certain McLachlan did. And knowing the McLachlan family's infamous reputation, it wasn't difficult to see 'Josh' acting on his hatred and doing something drastic. It was bad enough he'd been under McLachlan's spell once. He didn't want it to happen again.

With that said, Cepheus waited for someone to volunteer or agree, and when they were ready, he said, "Rictusempra!" and the charm this time had a bit more of a kick to it. It wasn't to the degree of McLachlan's, but most definitely stronger than the last. Feeling the magic seep out of him, Cepheus felt proud of his spell this time around. Practise, as Cepheus had discovered, usually made things perfect. Now that he was in intermediate courses, he knew he would have to avoid partnering with McLachlan at all costs. Lesson learned. He just hoped the professor wouldn't force them to partner with different years again.

0 Cepheus Revenge! 0 Cepheus 0 5

Thad Pierce, Aladren
September 11, 2012 2:02 PM

Thad Pierce, Aladren
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Most Excellent by Thad Pierce, Aladren
Thaddeus honestly could not guess with any degree of certainty whether or not Derry had exercised kindness and consideration in selecting Nora Dobson, or if it had been sheer chance and good luck that she had been the first person Derry had approached. Nora fit all of the important criteria that Thad looked for in an ideal partner. She was intelligent, responsible, respectable, and lacking serious physical or mental issues that would make it difficult to complete the assignment safety and satisfactorily.

It was, of course, difficult to wrangle an ideal partner for every lesson, and that had to be endured in as polite and delicate a manner as possible to ensure both a good grade and propriety. Today, though, Thad already had Derry to deal with, so the choice of Nora as their third meant he did not have to carry the whole group by himself when this was his very first intermediate level class.

"Pleasure to have you join us, Miss Dobson," Thad greeted with a polite but abbreviated bow. There was, perhaps, a touch of relief audible in his voice that revealed that he had been a little nervous that Derry might have chosen someone much less acceptable as their third. One of his muggleborn friends perhaps or, worse, someone as plagued with academic failure as his cousin.

Well, non-success anyway. To be fair, Derry had passed all of his classes so far, if only barely.

"Shall we begin, then?" he asked, suspecting Derry was about to launch them into an irrelevant conversation that would serve only to distract them from the task at hand. Thad believed a lot of his cousin's trouble was because Derry had never really understood that there was a time to focus on structured learning and a time to indulge in the exchange of more frivolous information nor how to tell them apart.

"Miss Dobson, do you think you can cast the countercharm, or do we have to count on Derry for that?"

0 Thad Pierce, Aladren Most Excellent 0 Thad Pierce, Aladren 0 5

Derry Four
September 11, 2012 3:13 PM

Derry Four
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 15

Hey! by Derry Four
Derry had been a little more careful in choice of third group member than he might have been if he wasn't working with Thad. There were just certain types of people a nice guy like Derry would not inflict his cousin upon. He choose Nora Dobson for one additional reason beyond that she was the requisite fourth year they needed in their group: she was an Aladren. Derry did not know her particularly well but hoped this fact indicated that she was both smart and tolerant of a lot of questions that she might not be able to answer. Thad had an annoying habit of asking "Why?" until he hit the end of a person's knowledge, so no matter how smart she was, Derry was sure Thad could eventually stump her. He could only hope her status as an Aladren meant she'd offer to go with Thad to the library later to figure it out instead of getting annoyed and feeling stupid, like Derry often did.

Thad seemed pleased with the addition to their group, too, so that was good. Groups where everybody liked each other were much easier to get through the class with. He was about to offer his own expression of gratitude for Nora's presence - it seemed almost rude to not do so after Thad did it - but Thad cut him off before he could and suggested they get started.

Derry couldn't help but feel he was being snubbed a little when Thad asked Nora if she could handle the fifth year part of the assignment, rather than 'counting on him' but the truth of the matter was that finite was a hard spell and Derry didn't always get those to work right away. He was better at charms than all of his other subjects, but he didn't know that it would work until he tried it and it was either something that came to him easily or it was something that he'd have to work on for days before it finally clicked.

"I can try it first," he objected, because he wss the fifth year here, and that was what he was supposed to contribute to the group. "If I can't get it, Miss Dobson can help me then." Normally, he probably would have just called her Nora, but between her Mr. Pierce and Thad's Miss Dobsons, he had instictively mimicked their forms of address. He turned toward her and added, "How about you start by tickling Thad, then if I can't stop it, you can try to end it." Thad did not look pleased by this suggestion, but he did not verbally object to it.

1 Derry Four Hey! 189 Derry Four 0 5

Valerie
September 11, 2012 10:19 PM

Valerie
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 14
Birthday: February 27

Which is a good thing. by Valerie
Alexandra Devereaux, a third year from Valerie's house that she knew to be a friend of Arabella Brockert's, approached and the elder Crotalus smiled nicely. She'd met the girl before briefly and found her to be pleasant enough. Alexandra didn't seem to fit the negative connotations that went along with being a Crotalus Girl any more than Valerie did.

The fourth year didn't entirely think it was a fair stereotype. People always thought they were all like Ryan's sister. Cruel and stuck-up and all together horrible. She didn't know the girl but she knew how neither Melanie nor Ryan had anything kind to say about her. In fact, they'd both done their best to warn Valerie about her and it was a warning that the Crotalus was going to heed. She really didn't need to put herself through that, she just wished that two of the people she was closest to didn't have to be either.

Furthermore, Carrie really didn't appreciate what a great big brother she really had. If Valerie had one, she would him to be just like Ryan, who was very good to her. He was one of the few people she could depend on to help her out and not see her as a burden, other than Melanie of course. He not only helped her to the Hospital Wing when needed and possible, but with Transfiguration as well at times, though Ryan didn't seem to think he was at all good at any other subject.

Her cousin's tales about his sister also made Valerie appreciate her own even more. She really believed Melanie was the best sister one could have ever asked for and the Crotalus felt lucky to have her and it made her wish Ryan was her brother even more, because then he could have Melanie for a sister too.

At least the the sixth year had Sally Manger now for a step-sibling and seemed to like her. Valerie didn't really know the other fourth year beyond that and that she was friends with Nora Dobson, another distant cousin of Valerie's. She had a lot of those at Sonora though not any first cousins, as her dad was an only child. There were other Lennoxes, who were descended from her grandfather's brothers but they didn't attend Sonora and given her medical issues, Valerie didn't really spend much time with them.

"I don't mind at all." She assured both Russell and Alexandra. The Crotalus probably wouldn't have objected even if she did and she hoped they didn't mind working with her either. Sometimes Valerie really worried that nobody wanted her around because of her illnesses which she hated. She worried all the time that nobody liked her-aside from Melanie and Ryan that was. The fourth year considered Brianna and Michael friends as well, and hoped they felt the same. Valerie thought rejection from either of them would hurt more than it would from most people. She knew her sister and cousin would never turn on her, but others weren't the same.

She felt a tickle at the back of her throat "Why doesn't one of you try it on the other first?" The fourth year suggested as she lapsed into another coughing fit. She reached for her water bottle, once again hoping Professor Olivers wouldn't get mad at her for having it, and took a drink. Fortunately, the water seemed to help this time and the fit subsided, though Valerie felt really embarrassed. She hated being sick all the time so much.

11 Valerie Which is a good thing. 204 Valerie 0 5

Sullivan Quincy, Pecari
September 12, 2012 2:10 PM

Sullivan Quincy, Pecari
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That's step one down. Now the actual lesson. by Sullivan Quincy, Pecari
As soon as the guy said his name, Sully remembered why the guy looked kinda familiar in a revent sort of way. He had sucessfully identified a prefect as not-a-fourth-year. Sully was momentarily embarrassed to have needed to ask the guy's year, even if the badge - now that he was looking for it - had kind of been hidden in the folds of the other's robe. The Feast had only been last night. Though, he supposed, that may have very well been why Sullivan had been able to recognize Topher as an older student, even as tentatively as he had.

Fortunately, finding a third year proved much easier and less fraught with social blunders as one just showed up and asked to join them. She did make him even dumber by immediately recognizing Topher's prefect status, but he felt a little better when she didn't know his name any better than he knew hers. He was sure he'd seen here around the Pecari commons before, but he definitely wouldn't have come up with 'Waverly' as her name without some serious hints like It starts with Wave and ends with Early.

"I'm Sully," he repeated since she clearly hadn't heard him make the same statement to Topher. "And it's fine with me," he added in answer to her request to join them, with a look toward Topher because it wasn't entirely his call anymore, though he couldn't imagine that there would be an objection.

"So," he put in after a moment, "Am I understanding the assignment right that the fourth and third years," he gestured toward himself and Waverly as he said their respective years, "throw tickling charms at each other and then as we're writhing on the floor being tortured, you," he nodded to Topher, "the fifth year, rescue us from the inhumanity?"

0 Sullivan Quincy, Pecari That's step one down. Now the actual lesson. 0 Sullivan Quincy, Pecari 0 5

Theresa
September 14, 2012 6:24 PM

Theresa
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What doesn't? by Theresa
Theresa smiled as Miss Brockert agreed they should work together. “Wonderful,” she said, still wondering who ‘whoever’ was going to be. She didn’t think, for instance, that it would be Mr. Bennett – he looked at her strangely sometimes, and she thought he seemed to walk away a little too quickly whenever they nearly crossed paths – but she sort of hoped it wasn’t a relative of the Brockerts’, because she felt it would be awkward to be between two people who knew each other already when she wasn’t very familiar with either of them.

Miss Brockert, though, was a good person to talk to, because Theresa thought they might very well end up related someday. Miss Brockert would be a very good match for Arthur to make – she didn’t think it would be a very happy one, but that wasn’t the point, and once they had a son, he could do whatever he wanted with Muggleborn girls while Hope stayed home and minded the brat if she liked it and entertained herself if she shared Theresa’s view that a child should be handed over to a trained nanny as soon as it was born – and her brother Evan would be an even higher step up for Theresa. She would go from one of the nine or so cousins of her generation’s heir to the sister of her husband’s family’s heir in one ceremony, which would put her close to the money, which was all she really wanted out of life. Evan Brockert wasn’t her first choice, but he would do nicely if her cousin didn’t marry his sister.

Either way, though, Theresa thought she was doing well as far as partners went, at least so far. A boy, presumably – hopefully – a fourth year, since she didn’t really recognize him and that meant he had to be older than her, came up to them and asked to work with them. Miss Brockert didn’t object, so Theresa assumed he was known to be respectable and competent enough to work with.

“If you like,” she said, and curtsied. She had been lectured several times about curtsying over the summer, and had gotten in the habit of practicing it in front of her mirror every night before she went to sleep. The family meant to make up for her mother letting her run too much with the boys when she was small. “I am Theresa Carey, of the South Carolina Careys,” she introduced herself formally, ready to note his name if she needed it, in case it was recognizable and attached to a fortune.

She would be fourteen next month, and that was a little young for someone with no really good position in a very large family to expect to be betrothed, but Theresa didn’t trust her parents to look out for her and knew that being able to do what Arnold had, to present a match to the family which was already all but made in public opinion before the families even spoke, would be much better for her than sitting back and waiting for them to decide things for her. They did not see her as very important; they would not think a thing of using her to secure only a minor alliance, one which would leave her like her own mother, always knowing they were a charity gesture away from complete disaster, always being looked down on by everyone. Theresa wanted to avoid that, which meant that anyone with money and status who was not already with someone – well, at least not already with someone she thought might be too dangerous to make an enemy of, anyway – was fair game, even if she did have preferences.

If this person was a potential husband, she didn’t want to be seen losing her head laughing in front of him, but at least the rest of the class would be just as poorly composed. “So, how does this work?” she asked. “Do we draw for turns?” She disliked working in threes for this reason, because it felt difficult to get anything done without someone ending up being overbearing. It couldn’t be her, she knew, and not just because she was the youngest of them.

0 Theresa What doesn't? 0 Theresa 0 5

Alex
September 14, 2012 6:26 PM

Alex
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Making sense usually is by Alex
Her presence wasn’t objected to, at least not out loud, and Alex guessed they most likely both meant it. Maybe she wasn’t who either of them would come up with if they thought of who they’d like to work with, but they had no reason to object to her, either. She wasn’t pretty – a fact she was more aware of than ever this year when she compared her dull hair, thin, sharp face, matching body, and large nose to, say, Ephanie Lucore, or to a far lesser extent Alicia Bauer, or even, for that matter, Theresa, who did at least lack the bony knees and big nose and whose nearly black hair was at least more interesting than her own very brown locks – but she was smart, and she did not draw attention to herself by blowing things up on a daily basis, so she thought she was as good as anyone else here to work with.

Better, anyway, than poor Valerie. Alex winced slightly as she began coughing before they even started. This did look like the kind of lesson Valerie should have gotten some kind of exemption for; if her parents were smart, they would have established some kind of standing rule about what she could and couldn’t do regardless of the class, but either they hadn’t or Valerie was feeling suicidal today.

Alex decided right then that she wasn’t going to point her wand anywhere even remotely in Valerie’s direction during this lesson. They were neither of them from the most terrifying families, themselves, but they had connections to two of the mega-families, and if Valerie somehow injured herself…well, let the Lennoxes, or the Brockerts, or whoever, take it out on the Laynes. There was absolutely no chance of that starting something that would result in someone being forced into a hurried and very ill-suited marriage just to prevent a small war. Alex had no intentions of ever being anything like either of her parents; things had been strange this summer, for some reason, but most of the time, outside of the very few parties they attended together, her father couldn’t look at her mother without his face, as though by its own volition, moving into an expression that suggested he was trying to think which curse he should use to take her nose off. The only think Alex liked about her appearance was that it kept her from having to think very seriously about whether or not Charles Devereux was, in fact, actually her father.

“I think that’s a good idea,” she said, looking at Russell and resigning herself to what her brain promptly informed her was the inevitable. “I suppose you’ll have to jinx me,” she added to him. “Since you’re supposed to cast the counter-charm as well.” It would be hard for him to unjinx himself if the idea was for him to be laughing too hard to hold a wand, after all, or at least her best educated guess was that it would.

0 Alex Making sense usually is 0 Alex 0 5

Michael Grosvenor
September 15, 2012 6:35 PM

Michael Grosvenor
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 14

I think I might take the rats spleens, if given the choice.. by Michael Grosvenor
He was pleased when the girl in the year above seemed welcoming. He realised he should have known that Brockerts were ok.

“Thanks, it's Hope, right? I worked with your... relative,” he said, realising he wasn't sure whether she and Arabella were sisters or cousins, “for the concert.” Immediately that he'd said it, he realised what a bad move it might have been. What if Arabella's family was like Laurie's and had just been too busy to really work out who her partner had been? What if they'd assumed she'd picked someone appropriate and he'd now landed her in trouble? There wasn't really anything he could do about it now – no way to back track. He shoved his hands in his pockets, fiddling with the lining. He had, over the years, cultivated a number of little replacements for anxiously running one's hand through one's hair. He would definitely have been a hand-hair-runner had it not been for his hearing aids. His wavy blond hair was just long enough to hide them and he didn't feel the need to change that.

If he had retained any comfort from Hope's seemingly friendly introduction, it was promptly extinguished by Theresa's frighteningly formal one. He tried to think whether he'd ever heard anyone introduce themselves that way before. He guessed Laurie might have when they first met but he hadn't heard half of that conversation and everything had been so new and overwhelming that it was hard to remember specific things that had seemed strange and different. Valerie might have too but that was different. It was hard to think of anything she'd done as overly formal and intimidating, even though she probably had introduced herself like that. But Valerie was sweet and he'd taught her about paper chains. He wondered, suddenly guilt stricken, whether that was something she'd had to hide from her parents and whether she would have been in trouble if they'd known. Maybe he shouldn't be talking to people like this as much for their safety as his own. He didn't want to be bullied and he didn't want people to be in trouble with their overbearing parents just because they'd breathed the same air as him. And the Carey girl seemed to be Pureblood with a capital P.

“I...” he began, drawing his hands out of his pockets but stopping with them awkwardly midair, wondering whether he was supposed to bow to her or not. He had never bowed to anyone. But she had freaking curtsied at him and he had no idea what to do. It seemed rude not to bow back after she'd done that but what if it was a thing only Purebloods did with each other – like a sort of not-so-secret handshake? What if he was Impersonating a Pureblood by doing it? “I,” he tried again, deciding not to add a bow into the mix. He dropped his hands, holding them in front of himself and twisting his fingers. A bow seemed like a bad thing to try to add to the mix when he was already having trouble formulating words. With forming his name, even. He knew his name. It shouldn't be difficult. I'm Michael. he said in his head. “I.. I'm nobody,” he said out loud. “Should I leave you alone?”

13 Michael Grosvenor I think I might take the rats spleens, if given the choice.. 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Nora
September 16, 2012 11:55 PM

Nora
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 14

Hello. Now that greetings are done, let's begin. by Nora
Thad seemed pleased to be working with her, and the feeling was mutual. Nora noticed that she personally tended to gravitate towards other Aladrens. There were intelligent people in other houses, but in hers it was practically a guarantee. She preferred that. There were few whose intelligence that she respected more than that of others-which was basically limited to Sally and Arthur Carey-but aside from other roommate, Nora assumed her housemates were all capable of an intellectual conversation.

She was often proud to be a member of Aladren house. It meant she was one of the smartest people in school and the fourth year would rather be known for her brains than anything else and intelligence was the trait Nora valued more than any other.

Maybe her house pride was a bit obnoxious but it was well justified.When Crotali acted like they were better that others, it was because of their bloodlines and ancestry, something that didn't necessarily have to do with who they were. When Pecaris thought themselves superior...well, they tended not to have any good reason whatsoever. Being daring and adventurous for the sake of being so, without any noble purpose didn't make you better than anyone, it made you an idiot. Which made you inferior. Teppenpaws just never acted that way. They were too nice.

At least though, stupid people didn't try to act like they were the best when it came to academics-and if they did, well they just looked even more foolish. She had even less patience for those who acted like they were smarter than her. For example, last year in Charms, several people-none of whom seemed dumb-hadn't done as well on the Shield Charm. It had involved a certain level of athleticism and confidence, the former of which Nora wasn't terrible at and the latter of which she had plenty of.

It hadn't been them she'd had to show she was as good at. If Brianna Japos and Michael Grosvenor had issues with balls flying at them, that wasn't something she needed to stick it to them that she was better at the spell. It was people like Josh McLachlan whom Nora viewed as smug, arrogant, thinking he was better than everyone that she had to match. So he and others like him couldn't say they were the best. So they could be knocked down a few pegs.While there were a lot of people-such as Derry Pierce-that the fourth year viewed as mentally inferior to herself and didn't have a lot of patience for, she didn't necessarily need to rub their noses in it.

Nora was just about to say that she was sure she could manage the counter-curse when Derry interjected that he could do it and came up with an alternate plan. "All right." The fourth year agreed. She turned to Thad. "Are you ready? Rictusempra ."

11 Nora Hello. Now that greetings are done, let's begin. 197 Nora 0 5

Theresa
September 22, 2012 9:25 PM

Theresa
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I've got to admit, this is a little awkward by Theresa
OOC: Hope requested an order-switch, so here we go! BIC:

Teppenpaw House, admittedly, wasn’t a place Theresa watched closely. Lucille was in it, but she was only important when she was actually around and even then thought to use the authority she had just because she was an heir’s sister – often she almost seemed to forget –and Jane was in it, but she was much closer to Arthur than she was to any of the rest of them, Theresa had not spoken to her above five times in the past three years, so it just didn’t register with her unless she happened to find herself working with someone from it, as she was today. From interacting with Miss Brockert and seeing her two cousins in it, however, Theresa had operated under the assumption that Teppenpaws did at least know how to introduce themselves.

This one, however, was acting strangely. Unless his name was ‘Eye-Eye,’ which she really thought it was not, since she was sure she would have connected that kind of name with a face just listening to the roll calls sometime, he wasn’t introducing himself, and was looking like he wanted very much to run away. She glanced at her robes automatically, and then, with less trepidation, at Miss Brockert’s, but no, nothing horrible and embarrassing had happened in the past two minutes. What on earth was wrong with him?

He was nobody. Well, she supposed that if you had that problem, it was better to acknowledge it, than to try to pretend otherwise. She felt a little sorry for him, somehow, and also uncomfortable with a boy acting like that, they were supposed to have more backbone, but she knew that was not appropriate to say.

“We have to do the spell,” she said before she thought, then looked toward Miss Brockert for leadership. Things had seemed fine before Theresa spoke, anyway, so she was guessing that the older girl was the one who could sort them out in addition to being the one who was, just by virtue of her age, automatically the leader. For once, Theresa didn’t mind that; she felt so out of place in whatever was going on that she was sure any attempt she made to handle it would only lead to a disaster, the kind of thing that her family found out about and scolded her for again and then….She didn’t think she could stand for them to all scold her again, and she was no fan of carrying tales about her cousins and brothers just to feel safe, especially when she still thought Arthur might be planning to curse her someday for what had happened in her first year. It was better, far better, infinitely better, for someone else to take the lead in this if she could give it to them. That way, it would be much harder for them to blame her if it all went wrong. It wouldn’t be impossible – they might think she should have taken the lead if she disagreed with things – but it would be much harder.

0 Theresa I've got to admit, this is a little awkward 0 Theresa 0 5

Josh McLachlan
September 27, 2012 1:58 PM

Josh McLachlan
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Why me? by Josh McLachlan
Years of practicing charms, countercurses, and different spells had made Josh less jumpy than most people. He had lived with different relatives for years, each telling him that he wasn’t worth the life he was living. His parents were dead and they all blamed him for it even though none of them would tell Josh just how his parents had been killed, or why. Josh himself didn’t know what to believe when it came to people, she he stuck to books and observations. It wasn’t safe to actually go out on the field for his anthropological hypotheses, and so he was quiet and kept to himself.

Going to school was quickly changing that since he was being forced to interact with his peers. Not all of them had been terribly horrible yet, and few had outright shunned him because of his name. Almost none, actually. Josh was impressed by the people in Sonora, but then he guessed that they didn’t all know of the McLachlans. The McLachlans in America were more on the East Coast, and the United States was a pretty large country. Having spent most of his adolescent life on an island, it was a little hard to imagine just how big the States was.

Hearing his nickname come out of Cepheus’s mouth made Josh cringe a little. It sounded unnatural and Cepheus said it in a sort of menacing way. He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t about to stop him. He probably should have known something like this was going to come about. Cepheus didn’t seem like the guy to mindlessly take a spell standing up without wanting to shoot it back. But Josh held his tongue and told himself to take it gracefully. It wouldn’t be too bad, if Cepheus’s first try was of any indication.

The younger boy was quick to dispatch the charm, and Josh could feel it acting a little stronger than it had looked on Brianna. Maybe this was Cepheus’s desire for revenge making it stronger. Josh tried really hard not to give into it, but he couldn’t help smiling and laughing a little with his mouth closed. It was an uncomfortable sensation, being tickled, and Josh decided that he didn’t like it. After this, he never wanted to experience it again.

The spell was still going on, and Josh felt like it had gone on long enough, so he glanced over at Brianna, wondering if she was going to perform the countercurse any time soon. If she didn’t in the next few minutes, he would do it himself if he could spit out the incantation properly. Though Cepheus’s charm wasn’t all that strong enough to make him incoherent and roll on the floor laughing out loud, it was enough to probably hinder his speech and arm movements a little.

0 Josh McLachlan Why me? 0 Josh McLachlan 0 5

Hope
September 28, 2012 12:35 AM

Hope
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 15

A bit, yeah. by Hope
The Teppenpaw nodded. She didn't know Arabella at all, though she was the first cousin of both Amity whom Hope had met on the wagon and Ryan O'Malley whom she'd had classes with. The Pecari was in Evan's class but he didn't seem to know her well either. They weren't that closely related though it was likely that they'd all played together at some huge family function years ago. People were always getting married, so the fifth year assumed they had been back then too.

However,Hope blinked at Michael's reaction to Theresa's completely standard greeting. Years of living with Addison Thornton had made her rather used to people with low self-esteem and her older brother's had never been too good either but she'd never flat out heard someone introduce themselves as being a nobody. Admittedly, it wasn't one she knew how to deal with. It had never been her job to boost either Adam's or her roommate's self image and in the latter's case, Hope quite frankly didn't really pay all that much attention.

Autumn was another who had terrible issues with feeling good about herself and in her case, the Teppenpaw felt she just didn't have the tools to help, no matter how much she might want to. She worried a lot about her cousin, even though she seemed to be eating again. From what Hope understood, that was being monitored very closely which was probably a very good thing. In Autumn's case, her self-esteem issues were extremely dangerous. She still seemed so unwell.

However, Michael's self-esteem issues were here in her face and quite frankly, she didn't know what to do. She didn't even know the younger Teppenpaw. Her knowledge about him was limited to his name, year, house and that he'd worked with a distant cousin of hers that she didn't even really know in the concert last term. Hope honestly didn't know enough about him help even a little and it made her feel a bit uncomfortable. Her brother and cousin would never be so blatant about it. They were raised in the pureblood way and at least tried not to show their issues.

Not that it had done either of them much good. Autumn had a very serious disease and Adam, though kind to the people he cared about, was angry and bitter about a lot of things, especially his time at Sonora. Whereas at one time, a time Hope could barely remember, he'd not wanted the job of heir, now Adam very much wanted the title, because he felt it was the one way that he was important.

At least, that was Nora's analysis. The Aladren's favorite subject was psychology and she loved to dissect their every complex and offer her theories whether the rest of them wanted to hear it or not. Thankfully, the fourth year had enough decency and compassion to at least not share her thoughts on Autumn with the Crotalus, though naturally Hope had heard them. It was usually her and Evan who got to hear these things the most. They were closest to Nora in age and were old enough to understand and not old enough to scold her for not being nice.

Fortunately, Hope was saved from having to deal with Michael's issues by Theresa mentioning that they had to do the spell. "Of course." She replied, unable to resist shooting the Pecari a grateful look. The best way to handle the situation was to ignore it, like she did with Addison, and move on. Whether she felt bad for Michael or not she really didn't want to have to deal with such things here and now with someone who was practically a total stranger. "Do you want to try the Tickling Charm on me first?" Hope asked Theresa. "Or I could try it on you and then try to stop it." She did, however, have enough sympathy for Michael to let him collect himself before she threw a spell at him or suggest he do one on either her or Theresa.

11 Hope A bit, yeah. 186 Hope 0 5

Michael Grosvenor
September 29, 2012 1:10 PM

Michael Grosvenor
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 14

Well, don't blame me. I was happy to leave. by Michael Grosvenor
He was necessary. He could stay because they needed a fourth year and to get on with the lesson. It was hardly a ringing endorsement. He couldn't decide whether that was worse than having been plain dismissed. If they had turned him away, he could have run back to Mellie. Plus he could have written them, or at least the Carey girl off, as having been a horrible snob. But no, they were going to tolerate – to endure him. Lucky him.

The girls divided the work up amongst themselves, seeming to ignore him. It seemed Hope would rather attempt the counter charm whilst possibly laughing uncontrollably, or get Theresa to do both parts of the spell – or possibly Hope doing both on Theresa was the first option, he wasn't really sure. Either way, she didn't want him pointing a wand at either of them. And Hope had seemed almost welcoming and nice. He knew he couldn't blame either girl for treating him as though he was nothing when that's what he had told them but it still felt horrible. He wondered what they expected him to do. Stand back and be a piece of furniture? Be there, but only as the technical requirement so they could get on. That seemed about the measure of it. He shuffled back slightly, leaning against the desk. He wondered whether there was a Charm somewhere for making the floor swallow you up?

There were useful things he could do whilst he waited. He could practice the charm in his head. He could observe the other groups to try to see examples of good and bad technique. But none of this occurred to him. His brain was too full of being angry and upset and simply not wanting to be there to fit in anything constructive.

13 Michael Grosvenor Well, don't blame me. I was happy to leave. 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Brianna
September 30, 2012 2:16 AM

Brianna
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Better you than me... by Brianna
When Brianna saw the spell hit Cepheus, she flinched. She had never really thought of laughing as being something vicious, but watching Cepheus laugh the way he was without warrant and knowing that the smile was not reaching his eyes was almost scary and painful to watch. She was glad that Josh’s spell work had been used against Cepheus and not on herself. She had never really laughed much in her life, but when she did it was with reason. Laughing to the point of tears for no reason but for someone else’s will just didn’t seem right. She might have hated this worse than being punched in the face the way she often was from the kids back home.

After all of the it was said and done, Cepheus agreed to want to do the spells again…only, he wanted to change the order of things. This meant that although she would be able to cast the spell onto him… Josh would be throwing the spell at her and after watching what happened to Cepheus, Brianna wasn’t so sure she could survive it with dignity. Josh, however, seemed to agree with Cepheus and so, when Cepheus was ready to dispatch the spell, Josh was prepared.

The spell seemed to have been stronger than the one that had been on Brianna, so at least Cepheus really was learning and growing. Brianna found herself watching Josh struggle to not laugh and hoped that he would just let it go and laugh. But then she realized that she was staring and Josh looked uncomfortable beneath the chuckles. She brought up her wand and sent the counter curse at him. Her spell was much better than the last one because she was more confident and since Cepheus’s curse was still weaker than hers had been, it was easier for her to remove. But, now that the spell was removed from Josh, it meant that it was his turn to cast it onto her?

“Er…okay, so, it’s your turn now.” Brianna stated to Josh with an uncertain smile. “Please be gentle. I embarrass easily.” She semi-joked. She really did embarrass easily, but more than that, she didn’t want to hate laughing for the rest of her life if he made her laugh so hard that she cracked a rib or something. Josh apparently had talent with his wand and she did not like the idea of having him point it her way, even if it was for a few laughs.

0 Brianna Better you than me... 0 Brianna 0 5

Addison Thornton, Teppenpaw
October 03, 2012 2:26 PM

Addison Thornton, Teppenpaw
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Fifth year looking for youngers! by Addison Thornton, Teppenpaw
Addison was nervous; more than usual even. This was her fifth year. Her CATS year. And she was more terrified than she ever had been before. If she failed the exams, that was it. She was done. Her heart pounded as she walked down the corridor to Charms class. It felt like she was walking to her death, even though she knew she wasn’t actually.

Addi wasn’t so good in classes, never really had been actually good at much of anything. Arista was risky, Mira was all about Quidditch, Andri was smart and sporty, Brielle was theatrical, Abi was all about animals and the others were a little young to really know.

Then there was her…

Walking into Charms, she sat down in the last row, hoping to be able to follow along in class and still study too. The teacher wasn’t in the room yet when she sat, so she opened up a book and buried her nose in it. When the door opened, she looked up from her book, frantic look on her face. She’d been reading about a particularly difficult charm at the back of their book and her eyes darted around the room as if she was being watched. The woman who walked into the room in the purple robes was obviously the teacher.

The shoes the teacher wore clanged against the floor which made her heart thud to the same tempo. When she swiveled, Addi put her head in her hands. I can’t do this… What am I kidding? Even if I study every second of every day, I’ll never be able to score like Ris did… she thought to herself as the teacher started talking.

Firstly she’d introduced herself as Professor Olivers. Addi shrugged her shoulders slightly, feeling her head weigh heavily on them. Professor Olivers was actually calming. Not as much as Professor Crosby/Brockert had been for her, but still, calming. Maybe Charms won’t be so bad after all…? she thought to herself as the Professor started role call. When her name was called, Addi raised her hand to show she was there and waited for the rest of the list to be read.

When the role was done, the syllabi were in front of them, and explanations had started. Addi listened to her and read the sheet at the same time, nodding in all the right spots until she heard the words, not an easy grader. She moaned a little bit at that, but it was a short one. The name of the spell for the day had been written on the board in front of them. “Tickling Charm?”

“Can anyone tell me what this charm was created to do?”

Someone, Addi wasn’t sure who from the back of their head, raised their hand and answered correctly. She breathed a little easier, knowing she wouldn’t have to speak up about this at least. Addi feverishly took her notes as Professor Olivers spoke.

“The incantation for the Tickling Charm is Rictusempra. Let’s say it all together without our wands, please. Rictusempra. It’s very important to pronounce it correctly. The more force you say it with, the more power that your wand will have and the longer the tickling will commence. Let’s say the countercurse together as well. Finite Incantatem. It’s a more advanced countercurse, yes, but I have faith in you fifth-years. To perform the Tickling Charm, one must simply make the shape of a quill with your wand complete with a line going through the middle. A picture of it is in your textbook on page 13.”

Addi swallowed her saliva, just having realized that she, as the fifth year, would have to do the counter curse on the younger years. Her heart pounded, thinking she’d never get it right, that she’d never do anything right…

When Professor Olivers asked them to write down what they remembered from the last Charms classes, her mind drew a complete blank! Oh no! I can‘t even remember that! How am I going to pass my CATS?! she thought as she looked around her for some ideas for the paper in front of her. Looking at her neighbor, she asked, “Uhm… What are you going to put down on the paper? I can’t remember what we’ve done in here or what I’ve read to study for the CATS…” she asked, hoping that the person wasn’t a third year and that they’d know at least a few things they had actually done in class rather than what she’d read!

0 Addison Thornton, Teppenpaw Fifth year looking for youngers! 0 Addison Thornton, Teppenpaw 0 5

Cepheus
October 03, 2012 5:39 PM

Cepheus
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And better you than me. by Cepheus
Cepheus was disappointed by how quickly his spell on McLachlan was over. The counter-curse Brianna used seemed to work better this time around as well, only adding to Cepheus's disappointment. Anyhow, it was McLachlan's turn and this time he wouldn't be the one under his wand. It was a little daunting to see that Brianna was a bit scared to be under McLachlan's spell too. They were both quickly learning that he was not a force to be messed with, at least in regards to magical ability. But Cepheus knew McLachlan had to have a weakness somewhere. If Cepheus cared enough, he would have looked into it, but he had too much of his personal life to worry about.

'Embarrassing easily' was the least of Cepheus's worries. He hadn't had much hope for a tickling charm, but it was proving to be a force to reckon with. Ceph could just see someone actually getting hurt by a charm like this, though it would be more internal damage that out. He had broken his wrist last year, but that had been with a glorious victory during a Quidditch match. Saying that he had gotten his rib broken during a duel was one thing, but saying that it was the tickling charm that had done it? That certainly would be embarrassing. Perhaps being embarrassed by this charm could happen in more ways than one.

He watched as Brianna prepared herself for the spell and Cepheus almost felt like gritting his teeth in anticipation. It was a lot more frightening being under the spell than watching it happen to someone else, but it was still nerve-wracking nevertheless. It hadn't been so terrible watching McLachlan suffer under the charm, but watching McLachlan administer it to a girl was quite another thing.

Cepheus had never been really into researching jinxes and duelling charms before, so he was surprised to be learning one in his charms class. He only knew jinxes from Dorian, his cousin who had learnt them at his school, and Ceph hadn't really used them on anyone yet. He didn't dislike anyone here that much, and even if he did have a sworn enemy, he would most likely be too scared of the repercussions, though he would never admit that to anyone. It was good to have it just in case, he supposed, though in comparison to some of the harsher jinxes, the tickling charm wasn't one he would use first.

0 Cepheus And better you than me. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Josh McLachlan
October 05, 2012 4:40 PM

Josh McLachlan
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We're all taking turns. by Josh McLachlan
Josh didn't know what to make of Brianna's comment. He wasn't sure if he embarrassed easily, but that hadn't stopped any of them from not administering the charm. Maybe she was joking, but Josh couldn't be sure. He hadn't how cryptic everyone's speech was. A lifetime trying to dig into everyone's words was just so time-consuming and that was one of the biggest reasons why Josh stuck to his books. They were more straight-forward.

In response, he just nodded, as if he was agreeing although he didn't really know how to be gentle with this charm. Casting the charm was easy and monitoring its strength was simple enough, but knowing what the difference was between gentle and not gentle was going to be difficult. Josh considered this charm to be gentle in itself. Tickling was not something that could kill a person, unless their rib cracked or their heart and lungs ruptured, but that wasn't as horrible as some of the other curses he had witnessed in use before.

Maybe he was putting too much thought into it, but Josh was always analyzing and over-analyzing everything. It was what he did. So when he cast the spell on Brianna, he tried to imagine what gentle was. It took a conscious effort to lessen the power of the spell, and it was less powerful than it had been on Cepheus. He realized then that there would be no one to perform the countercurse except for him since he highly doubted Cepheus could perform it right, he just being a third-year.

Josh let Brianna suffer under the charm for just a minute or two before performing the countercurse. The charm this time around hadn't been that horrible. It probably wasn't the most pleasant experience in the world for Brianna and made Josh feel a little strange watching her being forced to laugh, but it was a lot better than practicing curses on each other. "I hope that was gentle enough," he said seriously. "It's your turn now," he continued, nodding to Brianna before looking down at his scuffed shoes.

0 Josh McLachlan We're all taking turns. 0 Josh McLachlan 0 5

Brianna
October 06, 2012 4:54 PM

Brianna
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And now it really is yours by Brianna
Brianna prepared herself to take the spell and when it hit her, she couldn’t help the eruption of laughter that overcame her. She laughed to the point of tears. She wasn’t sure if the spell was less of what he had done for Cepheus, but she still felt rather odd under it. Laughing felt good. Really good. She wasn’t sure if she had ever laughed quite so hard before, certainly not to the point of tears. What did that mean for her? Was it so terrible of a laugh that laughing like a normal teenager was so foreign to her that it scared her?

The laughing didn’t necessarily hurt. She wasn’t in pain or anything; it just felt strange because there was no reason behind the hysterics. It didn’t seem right to be laughing, but she had no control over it and so her laugh was alien and disturbing to her own ears. More so than just having never laughed before.

She felt like she was laughing forever and couldn’t understand why Josh wouldn’t have already placed the counter-curse on her to end this. Brianna had always hated her mouth ever since she was little. Her overly large lips had been the focal point for the kids back home for making fun of her. She had tried very hard to make sure her mouth was not the one thing that people noticed about her while she was here at Sonora. This was the main reason why her long brown hair was always down and usually in her face was to avoid people noticing her mouth. This lesson was strictly focused on her mouth and she was not enjoying it.

And then he finally ended it and Brianna was left feeling slightly winded and a little breathless. She wiped some of tears from her cheeks and taking a moment to compose herself once again. “Yes, thank you.” She replied, even though she really had no idea if it had been gentle. At least she wasn’t on the floor like an idiot. She took a breath and pointed her wand at Cepheus. She didn’t really like him, but she no longer felt a real need to want to see him laugh like an idiot. Still, she wanted to get the spell down and thus, she cast it with as much confidence and ability as she had the first time and watched as her target was hit with the same, if not more, power as before.

0 Brianna And now it really is yours 0 Brianna 0 5

Prof. Olivers
October 11, 2012 1:29 AM

Prof. Olivers
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Closed (nm) by Prof. Olivers

0 Prof. Olivers Closed (nm) 0 Prof. Olivers 0 5