Beware of stray flying objects! on Charms

Lily Alexander

January 19, 2013 1:12 AM

Subbing for Levitation Charm (1-2 years) by Lily Alexander

Early September rolled around and the green-eyed brunette pushed her black rimmed glasses further up the freckled bridge of her nose. Her expensive new Kodak camera hung around her neck, her present from Grandpa James for getting a real big girl job, and her two diplomas from the State University of New York at New Paltz sat in front of her on the desk. One, a Bachelors of Science in Education; the second, a Bachelors of Arts in Photography. Both made her proud.

The Administrators of the school had told her just the night before what her first class she’d be teaching was. Beginners Charms. It was right then however, sitting in her new apartment, that she thought of the PERFECT lesson. The Levitation Charm.

It was simple, yet satisfying. It was fun, yet interesting. And could very well be useful.

The last thing Lily Alexander wanted to do, however, was to fail. She was never a quitter, and wanted nothing to do with doing wrong by her Headmistress or her students. Lils wanted her students to learn and grow, both from her and the rest of the school. They would be successful at anything they did if it were up to her, just as she felt when she was with Grandpa James. She hoped she’d be the same type of person that her grandfather was to the children.

She had collected small feathers, pillows, small stones, bits of paper, a few marbles, even a few photographs she’d taken herself and put them in her briefcase before she’d left for Sonora, and now she pulled them out and set them on the desk in front of her. After spending a few moments deciding which items should go to a first year and which to a second year, she went around the room placing items on desks. She put a light item on the desks for the first years and a slightly heavier one for the second years. With her wand, she spelled out the spell they would be learning as well as the pronunciation of it and sat down at the desk to wait for the class to arrive.

With the sound of the door opening, her smile widened again (but not to a scary point) and she welcomed the first student in. “Hello!” As the others shuffled in after the first, she gave a welcoming nod to each one and when all had entered the room, she used her wand to close the door with a small snap.

“Welcome first years! And welcome back second years!” she said in a happy tone. She was genuinely glad to see them, and dressed in her pretty pale blue robes, she knew she didn’t look intimidating. She didn’t want her students to treat her like subs that she’d had through school, but she didn’t want to be too hard on them either. There was a happy medium, and she was striving towards it. “My name is Lily Alexander, and I will be your substitute for Charms Class today. Professor Olivers is unable to make it today, so I have been asked to take over for the day.” she paused and glanced down at the roll call sheet she had in front of her. “I will be taking roll call, so that I can learn your names and see that you are all here, where you should be. And if you are not supposed to be here, you have the opportunity to go to the correct class.”

“Ambrose, Rajid?” she paused for Rajid to answer before going on to the next name. “Andrews, McKinley” Lils waited for McKinley to answer as well, before repeating this over and over again until she’d reached “Francesca Wolseithcrafte”

“Okay, now that we’re all here and in the right class, this is Beginners Charms and today we are going to be studying the Charm for Levitation. Behind me on the board is the spelling of the name of the charm as well as the pronunciation. So, before we pick up our wands, lets say it aloud. Repeat after me, please. “Win-GAR-dee-um lev-ee-OH-sa.”

They repeated after her and she smiled. “Great. Now, this is the wand movement.” She showed them the swish and flick and then spoke again. “Now try that, without saying the charm please.” She waited a moment and watched around her as the students looked like they were listening to her.

“Those of you in first year, should have a light object on your desks. Second years should have slightly heavier things on yours. Either way, the items are not terribly heavy. Please partner up, first year with a second year if it is at all possible please. Second years, use this chance to be like a mentor to your partnering first year. First years, allow the second years to assist you, and all of you, learn from each other.”

Lily looked around at the students, some of which seemed happy about this proclamation, other’s weren’t so happy. She let them express their moans or cheers, whichever, and then spoke again. “First you will watch me, and then you may begin. If you have any questions, please raise your hand and I will be right there.”

Lils pointed her wand, using the swish and flick movement at her diplomas and said, “Wingardium Leviosa.” Her Education diploma was levitated up off the desk and landed right on top of her Photography one. “Please pair up and begin.” She watched the students start their pairing, trying to be sure as many first years had a second year as was possible.

OOC: As in your other classes, at least ten sentences should be in your posts, as per roleplay rules. More creativity, however, gives higher points. Pair up with a student in the opposite year from you and have fun! Tag me in the subject line if you need me!

Subthreads:

Looking for an awesome first year. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari with Omara Hernandez, Pecari, Rupert

Teasing the lower classes by Effie Arbon with William Casey, Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

Beware of stray flying objects! by Wendy Canterbury with Carter Browning, Wendy - Pecari

I'm spinning around! by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw with Jeweliah Dyste

Up in the air by Rajid Ambrose with Enion Whitebriar - Teppenpaw

A reasonable start by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren with Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year

'Stupid letter S' by Analea Thornton with Annette Pierce, 2nd Year Pecari, Analea

What are you subbing for it? by Willow Collins,Teppenpaw

Why? by Amity Brockert, Aladren

0 Lily Alexander Subbing for Levitation Charm (1-2 years) 0 Lily Alexander 1 5

Rupert Princeton, Pecari

January 19, 2013 12:37 PM

Looking for an awesome first year. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari

The summer had been an interesting one for Rupert and, though it had taken a course he wouldn't have originally picked, he was happy with the result. He was free from his house arrest and was able to go out and make friends near his home. He had also received a note from Delphine just before leaving England for school. It was his mother who had delivered it to him with a proud little smile and Rup, who was familiar with the courteous 'thank-you' note after balls, was pleasantly surprised to find it from Delphine Arbon personally. There were also flowers inside, which Rupert had not expected. Mum had raised a brow at her son, but Rupert had tucked the flowers back into the note and put it away. Dancing with Delphine had been fun, but he hardly thought she was the sort of person he would talk to regularly especially if she attended this school.

On the first day his mum had taken him clothing shopping, he had purchased a pair of lime-green trousers which he was now wearing underneath his robes along with a white shirt. He really enjoyed wearing Muggle clothing underneath his usual robes; they were awfully comfortable although a bit restricting at times.

Rup sat down at an empty desk, keeping an eye out for his younger cousin. It was difficult to believe that he had been a first year himself just a year ago. Rup felt like he'd been at Sonora for years and years. The lesson began and he looked over at the substitute, sure that the first years would be confused once their permanent Charms professor came back from wherever she'd gone. Rupert dropped his textbook on his desk with a louder bang than he had expected and grinned sheepishly at the professor, hoping she and the rest of the class hadn't noticed. She was still going through roll call and he replied, "Present and accounted for," with a smile when she read his name.

Finally, with all that done, she finally started on the actual lesson. A levitation charm sounded like fun and so he paid attention. There was no better way to begin the school year, unless there was something even more interesting than the lesson going on.

He repeated the incantation with the rest of the class and practised the wand movement on his own once she began talking again. Rup decided, as a second year, to try levitating his textbook since he had it out already. He was tempted to go pair up with Adam since they were in the same class, but he would let his cousin make some friends of his own before crowding him. Rup looked for another first year he could potentially mentor and approached one that looked more confused than anything. He loved the confused ones. "Hi, I'm Rupert, Rupert Princeton. Do you want to work together?"

0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari Looking for an awesome first year. 0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari 0 5

Effie Arbon

January 20, 2013 1:41 PM

Teasing the lower classes by Effie Arbon

Effie looked the woman who was not Professor Olivers up and down. The fact that she was not an actress was the first thing in her favour. She was fairly young but that did not definitely indicate competence. Tutors, in general, did not come from the most notable families, otherwise they would not be working. Therefore the fact that Effie did not recognise her name did not really count against her, although she had the potential to move up or down in the Crotalus' estimations should she find out more about her heritage.

Effie diligently chanted the charm and repeated the wand movement with her classmates, even though both were very much familiar to her. Levitation had been an early Charm on her home curriculum. She supposed it made sense to teach it to a beginner's class, even if most of the Purebloods should already be familiar with it. It seemed to be the school's policy to to pander to the lowest common denominator, and therefore not this individual woman's fault. At least she had provided a range of objects. Effie herself had a large marble. When they were instructed to begin, the first thing she did was to pick it up and roll it for a moment around her hand. One had to know the weight of the object which one was attempting to levitate. The best way to do this was to feel it, otherwise one had to use one's world knowledge and estimation skills. It was important to know this in the same way that one needed to know whether a cup was full or empty before picking it up. If one was expecting a full cup but it was, in fact, devoid of contents, this tended to result in an excess of force and the cup being jerked too violently away from the surface. The degree of power which one wished to channel when levitating needed to be proportional to the weight on the object.

She placed the marble back on the table, steadying it with her hand. The fact that it rolled could also be an issue. When one started levitation, there could be a tendency for objects to take a sort of run up, skidding a little along the table before becoming airborne. If this happened with the marble, it was entirely possible that its own momentum and tendency to roll would become stronger than the spell and that it would escape her. A perfect vertical take off was necessary.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” she cast, her vowels rounded and perfectly enunciated, her swish and flick well timed. The marble rose steadily into the air in front of her. She smiled, pleased with her result even though it was unsurprising. As she brought it down to rest again, she considered what to do next. She didn't know the first years and was unwilling to go in blindly. She had done her best to attend during the register but she was not necessarily seated near any of the people she would deem acceptable from that year. If any of them wished to approach her, they were welcome to.

She watched the person in front of her. They weren't from a family that she knew and had not yet made their first attempt – or, if they had, she assumed it had been a failure. This was not surprising, given their background. Their object would be harder for her to manipulate, being both further away and one that she could not feel beforehand. But she had completed the assignment so easily that the idea of a challenge appealed to her. She waited until the person looked like they were ready, trying to time it so that her casting would finish halfway through theirs.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” she cast, not needing to keep her voice particularly low due to the clamour of people speaking the same words around her. The person's object danced off their desk, hovering a few inches in the air – poorer than her own attempt with the marble, but still a success and enough to cause surprise - before she let it drop again, smirking a little to herself. She turned her attention to her textbook, pretending to study it whilst trying to keep half an eye on the person for their reaction.

13 Effie Arbon Teasing the lower classes 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Omara Hernandez, Pecari

January 20, 2013 2:29 PM

A First Year. Not sure about the awesome part though. by Omara Hernandez, Pecari

Omara was startled by the second year's voice. She had been mesmerised by the feathers, leaves, books and other objects that were starting to float up into the air around her. The second years, at least, she assumed they were second years, seemed to have a pretty good grasp of this charm business and Omara couldn't imagine how she would be able to make her feather hover upwards using just her wand, her voice and her mind.

She recognised his face from the Pecari common room. His accent was familiar too and when he said his name, a little bell rang in her mind. Adam's surname is Princeton, she thought, and he is from England too...Omara wondered if they were brothers. The problem was, she had the distinct impression that Adam didn't like her. Their conversation at the opening feast had been more than stilted. He had seemed affronted about her taking the mashed potato when he had offered it...and despite being in the same house, had not had much interaction since then. She wouldn't want to wind Adam up even more by working with a family member if he were expecting to do so...

She looked up at the boy who had called himself Rupert, with her wide, brown eyes and asked quietly "Are you talking to me?" She didn't want to assume he was. She would feel silly saying yes if he had been talking to someone else. And even sillier if he then had to pretend that he had been speaking to her when he hadn't, just to be polite. She decided that asking if she were the one he was talking to would give him a good enough get out clause if he needed it.

0 Omara Hernandez, Pecari A First Year. Not sure about the awesome part though. 0 Omara Hernandez, Pecari 0 5

Wendy Canterbury

January 20, 2013 3:38 PM

Beware of stray flying objects! by Wendy Canterbury

Today was the first day Wendy was almost late to class. She barely made it before the professor shut the door behind her. She had run here, stomach grumbling hungrily, after waking up late and rushing to get dressed. Her robes were slightly skewed, but she fixed them up as best she could as she tried to find an empty seat. She saw Carter and waved at him with a breathless smile from all the running she had done and sat down quickly in the back.

That was mistake number two, sitting in the back. Having such a vivid imagination, Wendy was liable to daydream if she already kind of knew what they were planning to do. Before she had started school but had found out she was magical too, Wendy had levitated cupcakes and cookies to herself from the kitchen, maybe by sheer willpower. Now, with a wand, she wasn't sure if it would be any more difficult than that.

She watched lazily with her chin in her hand as Effie Arbon levitated some person's book in front of her. Sometimes she wondered about that girl...and then she realized that they were starting to work. She really had no idea what they were doing except for the Levitation Charm, and so she quickly flipped to that page in her textbook. She studied it carefully, having tuned out her professor's lecture, and raised her wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" she exclaimed, and sure enough, her quill floated up. "Yay!" she said to herself with a small smile and watched as it continued to float higher. And higher. "Uh oh," she breathed and watched till it hit the ceiling. Wendy blinked, unsure of how to get it down, and then shrugged as she lowered her wand. The quill would come down when it wanted to, right?

Now she wanted to try something heavier. Her textbook would do. She cleared her throat. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Her textbook rose and she watched it float up and up. "No, come back!" she said, and then watched in horror as, when she cut off the charm, her textbook came crashing down on someone else's desk. The quill decided to come too, but that was a little nicer. It drifted down into her lap and Wendy put it back on her desk before sheepishly scurrying over to get her textbook.

"I'm really sorry," she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to. My book just kind of got out of control." She smiled apologetically as she tucked her short blonde hair behind one ear. "Sorry."

19 Wendy Canterbury Beware of stray flying objects! 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

January 20, 2013 5:46 PM

I'm spinning around! by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

Charlie had given himself plenty of time to get to class, just in case he got lost. Having navigated the corridors very successfully, he arrived with time on hands. This suited him just fine, as the latest copy of 'Teen Witch USA' had arrived this morning. He had been incredibly restrained in only giving it the briefest of preliminary readings over breakfast. He now dug the magazine out whilst he waited for the rest of the class to arrive, relatively unconcerned about what people would think of him reading a magazine that was primarily aimed at girls. Even if he didn't do that, there were enough other aspects of his family life and personality to make people call him 'gay' and variations thereof. There was, therefore, no point in cutting out individual items, as doing so would not save him. The only option was to change his entire personality, and possibly disown his adoptive parents. He didn't want to do either of those things. He liked himself and he liked his family. And he could usually find girls who were more than happy to hang out with him.

As the teacher entered the room, he reluctantly tore his attention away from the magazine – this month's issue promised 10 top tips on stretching your allowance, a run down of this season's biggest trends and an interview with Justin from Charm Squad, not to mention a free nail varnish in an on-trend colour – and tried to get enthused about the day's lesson instead. Apparently this woman wasn't the aforementioned (by Henny) Professor Olivers. His sister hadn't said too much about the Charms Professor anyway. The levitating charm was kind of cool sounding, even if it wasn't quite so cool as the 'moody one' from the biggest boy band around. It was the kind of thing he expected to learn about and he liked how the teacher explained it carefully, giving them a chance to practice before they were set off on the practical.

He picked up his object, curious as he had a photograph. It was of a statue, twisted bits of metal forming an abstract shape. He thought it looked like two people hugging but that might just have been because he liked seeing the positive in things. It really could have been anything. He placed the photo gently back on his desk.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” he cast, feeling a bit odd now that they weren't all saying it together. He wasn't sure it sounded quite the same either. He was sure he'd said the words right, so maybe he'd just got the emphasis wrong. The photo spun very fast in a circle but it didn't gain any appreciable distance from the desk. It slowed and stopped.

“I made it spin,” he smiled happily at the person next to him, “That's a start, right?” Ok, he hadn't really achieved the aim of the spell but he had made his target move and not explode. That seemed to be generally the right sort of direction.

13 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw I'm spinning around! 252 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw 0 5

Carter Browning

January 21, 2013 4:01 PM

Thanks for the warning by Carter Browning

Carter smiled as Wendy rushed past him on the way to class. He even tried waving back to her as she waved to him upon entering class and shook his head slightly as he watched her rush to a seat in the back. He decided that he would try to find a seat close-ish to hers. He quickly sat down and listened half-way closely as the Professor introduced herself and explained their assignment for that day. Levitation huh? he thought to himself. This should be interesting He studied the items they were told they could work with and decided he would try using his bookbag and his textbook. Although he figured it was probably better to start with the book since the bag was slightly heavier and could hurt someone of he wasn't extremely careful.

He saw Wendy's attempt with her quill and laughed softly to himself as it floated up towards the ceiling. He wanted to offer her some assistance on the matter, but figured it was small so if she lost her concentration on it and it fell it wouldn't actually hurt anyone. He turned his attention to his textbook and uttered the charm "Wingardium Leviosa!" He watched with delight as the book lifted off the desk and began rising into the air before him. He kept his attention on the book to keep it from falling and after letting it float just a little higer he carefully brought it down. it settled onto his desk with a soft thump and he stared at it pleased. He was about to make his next attempt when he heard "No, come back!" from near him. He glanced over just in time to see the look of horror on Wendy's face and was about to ask her what was wrong when his question was answered.

He heard a loud thump/crashing sound as another textbook suddenly appeared on his desk. He glanced at it in surprise and was about to pick it up when he heard Wendy's apology. "I'm really sorry," she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to. My book just kind of got out of control." Carter smiled back at her as he picked the book up and handed it to her. "I wouldn't worry too much about it Wendy," he told her encouragingly. "Its not like it hit me in the head or anything," he teased her. Once he was sure that her texbook was back in her possession he moved to his next item for Levitation. "Lets just hope I don't drop my bookbag on our heads," he told her jokingly. He pointed his wand at the bag sitting by his desk on the floor and spoke the charm. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he commanded, flicking his wrist slighlty to encourage the bag to rise.

His bookbag rose slowly off the floor and began to raise above his head. He grinned over at Wendy. "Hey, check it out! It worked!" he told her half excitedly. He took his gaze off the bag long enough to lose control over it and before Carter could say another word he found himself covered in pencils and a couple of notebooks as they fell from the bag above his head. The canvas bag would soon follow. He grimmaced slightly towards Wendy before starting to laugh. "That actually went better than I had anticipated," he told her, still laughing slightly. 'What do you think? Should I try again?" he asked her as he collected up his belongings.

0 Carter Browning Thanks for the warning 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Rupert

January 21, 2013 5:01 PM

Don't be modest; I think you're great. by Rupert

Rupert was amused by the first year's question. He looked around, pretending to see if there had been anyone else. "Why, yes, I think I was," he said, pretending to sound surprised, and then smiled. "Charmed, m'lady. You can call me Rup, if you want." He gave a short but dramatic bow, and then stood straight again. "Not to be rude, or anything, but you didn't really answer my question. Would you like to work together?"

He didn't wait too long for the first year's reply, but sat down in the empty seat next to her, wand in hand. "How're you liking Sonora? You're in Pecari, right? I think I've seen you around there." Rup had a bit of a soft spot for the first years because they were always so little and confused. He wanted to be all of their big brothers when he didn't have his blood-related younger brother here with him. Leo was going to be here next year, however, and he couldn't wait.

Rup turned his attention briefly to the feathers and bits of leaves on the desk. "I'm always curious where the professors get their supplies from," he said. "For instance: these leaves. Did she just go out and pick some leaves just for this class?" He looked at the girl and shrugged before turning to the task at hand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather he had pointed his wand at rose to a substantial height and he smiled, pleased with himself. "Easy as riding a broomstick." He levitated it back down and turned to the first year. "Your turn, uh, sorry, I didn't catch your name."

0 Rupert Don't be modest; I think you're great. 0 Rupert 0 5

Wendy - Pecari

January 22, 2013 12:38 PM

Should I be worried by our excellent skills? by Wendy - Pecari

Wendy felt really lucky that her book had landed on Carter's desk. He was one of her favorite people at this school and she had been meaning to eat lunch with him sometime. It was just sad that they weren't in the same house. She wanted to say something else, so she just stood there as Carter tried the spell for himself.

She watched, fascinated by magic as always, when he levitated his book bag. "That's so cool!" she squeaked, squeezing her textbook to herself in happiness. "You're really good if you can bring it back down. That's what I seem to have trouble on." Apparently, however, her speaking and him looking over at her had broken his concentration because the bag was dumping itself on her friend's head.

Wendy finally had enough sense to snatch at the canvas bag in an attempt to save Carter from it, but it landed in a heap on her friend's lap anyway. "I tried," she said sheepishly. Carter's laugh made her laugh, though, and he looked so silly covered in his things it was hard not to.

"That was pretty good," she agreed, still giggling. "You should totally try it again! Although maybe just the bag this time." She smiled. "Hold on, I'm going to bring my chair over." She went to her desk and picked up her backpack, zipped it shut, and then swung it over one shoulder. She was half-tempted to levitate the chair over, but seeing how her last two attempts went, that was probably not a good idea.

She carried it over, scraping the stone floor once or twice, and finally plopped it across the desk from Carter. She dropped her bag down on the ground and sat down. "Phew. Okay Carter, now you have an audience. I can go after you." She folded her hands on the desk and smiled, feeling somewhat silly, as if she were interviewing him or something.

0 Wendy - Pecari Should I be worried by our excellent skills? 0 Wendy - Pecari 0 5

Rajid Ambrose

January 22, 2013 5:18 PM

Up in the air by Rajid Ambrose

Rajid wasn’t in the best mood as it was, and somehow he didn’t feel that charms was going to help anything. He slunk into class and picked a spot near the middle so as not to seem too uneager to learn today. The substitute, he noticed, was really young. At least she was young compared to the other professors. He also found it interesting that she didn’t use the title Professor when she introduced herself, and she used the word today far too many times in one sentence. Maybe she was nervous.

The Aladren was slightly insulted that this woman somehow thought that maybe there were students here who weren’t supposed to be. Classes were combined, and if a third year or higher couldn’t figure out where they were supposed to be after two plus years, they probably should give up all together.

“Present.” He said, just loud enough for his voice to carry to the front of the room. He mouthed the spell along with the rest of the class to humor the woman before the substitute drew their attention to the items on their desks. The classroom was littered with different items; but a small feather found itself in front of the Ambrose boy. Rajid removed his wand from his robe and practiced the wand movement with the rest of his class.

Rajid rubbed his temples in an attempt to stave off the headache he could feel brewing behind his dark eyes. He didn’t quite understand the reasoning behind having them work with a partner from the opposite year. It seemed like a one person charm to him. Instead of scrambling off to find someone to work with, Rajid kept in his chair, and watched Ms. Alexander’s demonstration. A few of Rajid’s senses had been affected by his accident, one of them being his eye sight. He couldn’t see things miles away, but the diploma’s the woman was using were easy enough to recognize from the middle of the room. Apparently the young instructor really did feel like she had something to prove; waving around her achievements in case 11 and 12 year olds were concerned with her credentials.

The Ambrose boy merely shook his head and turned his attention and his wand back on his feather. It wasn’t large, or heavy, and drifted easily enough on the wind. This wasn’t going to be terribly difficult.

“Wingardium Leviosa.” His voice commanded with a simultaneous swish and flick of his wand. The feather wobbled a little at first, but soon found itself floating easily in the air.

0 Rajid Ambrose Up in the air 0 Rajid Ambrose 0 5

Carter

January 22, 2013 8:53 PM

Nah...I wouldn't be by Carter

Carter grinned as he watched Wendy pull her chair over and put it in front of his desk. He had to agree...he definately had an audience now. He'd feel pretty retarded if he failed now. He had to admit he really liked her idea of his trying again only with the empty bag this time instead of full. "You're probably right," he told her. "It's better that I try again with the bag empty instead of full." He rubbed his head sheepishly. "That last try really hurt. Who would've guessed pencils and paper could hurt hitting your head from the ceiling?" he joked lightly. He put the contents from his bag on the corner of his desk in a neat little pile. He laid the canvas bag across his lap and prepared to try again. He cast the charm flicking his wrist as instructed.

The bag began to slowly rise from his lap into the air. Carter grinned towards Wendy, but kept his eyes on the bag. It floated up slightly higher and Carter watched it to make sure it didn't float too high. "Wow...that does work a lot better," he told Wendy, without taking his eyes from the flying bag. "It seems to be lighter without my junk in it." He joked openly. Outside of his cousin Kinley, Wendy was fastly becoming one of his favorite people here at school. Carter really found himself enjoying her company. He tried bringing the bag down gently, but lost it at the last second. The bag hit the desk with a soft, clothy thud. It only dislodged a couple of pencils from their spot when it hit. They started rolling off the desk and onto the floor. "Well...that could have gone better," he laughed slightly staring at the motionless bag. 'Luckliy there was nothing in it thanks to you."

Carter picked up the empty bag, grinned approvingly at it and began putting his stuff back into it. "Ya know," he thought out loud. "I've been wondering if we're actually allowed to sit somewhere other than our House tables for lunch and stuff. Might be worth looking into. What do you think?" he asked her nonchalantly. He placed his texbook back on the table and folded his arms across his chest. "Alright Wendy, its your turn. Are you ready to give it another try?" he asked her encouragingly.

0 Carter Nah...I wouldn't be 0 Carter 0 5

William Casey

January 22, 2013 9:24 PM

Being teased by William Casey

Will could hardly sit still the first day of classes, so excited was he about being able to begin studying magic. He had, of course, read through some of his books already, but being able to actually use magic... he just couldn't wait!

After finishing breakfast he headed to the Charms classroom for his first real magic class ever. He walked in to chattering students and an adult behind the desk, who appeared to be preparing for class. Will took a seat in the front, but at the far side of the classroom so as not to seem too eager.

He smiled nervoulsy at a few people who came in and waited for the bell to ring. When it finally resounded through the classroom he was grippinf his wand excitedly. The teacher began talking, and Will frowned slighlty when informed the lady was a substitute. 'Where is the regular teacher?' he wondered quietly to himself before focusing back on the instructor. Will couldn't help but grin when she revealed when that they would be performing a levitation charm. He listened to the instructions and followed the rest of the class through the basic movements.

After the substitute gave free rein, Will glanced around for a second year who he could partner up with. Seeing no one on either side of him he decided to worry about it later and try the charm anyway. He cleared his throat and after practicing the wand movement one more time began the incantation. " Wingardium, Levi-," that was all Will got to before his feather started lightly drifting upward. "What?!" he exclaimed confusedly.

He reached out his hand to touch it, half expecting it to bite him, but it simply settled into his grasp. He looked at the feather before looking back at his wand. He gave the wooden stick a shake or two before shaking his own head and sitting down once again. He glanced around nervously before starting the charm again.

0 William Casey Being teased 0 William Casey 0 5

Wendy

January 23, 2013 12:10 PM

We are pretty excellent by Wendy

Wendy thought that anything hitting a person's head would hurt, so Carter's comment made sense. "Aw, poor Carter," she said, patting his head lightly. She had never really had a sense of social norms, or at least never really stuck to them. She was very touchy-feely sometimes and she hoped Carter didn't mind.

He cast the charm again and Wendy watched, hazel eyes wide, as the bag went up and up. This time he didn't look away from it and brought it back down mostly gently. The bag wasn't all that heavy anyway so it didn't matter if there were books and things in it. The pencils on his desk rolled off, however, although Wendy was able to stop a couple from leaving the desk completely. "I'm glad nothing came crashing down on both of us too."

She smiled and watched Carter pack his things back into his bag. He mentioned exactly what had been on her mind and she bobbed her shoulders up and down. "My older sister sits with her friends in different houses sometimes, so I guess it could be okay. I was always kinda nervous to try. We should eat lunch together though!" She smiled. "I bet we wouldn't get in trouble for it." She hoped he would agree, but she didn't think he wouldn't.

It was now Wendy's turn to cast the spell and she hopped a little in her seat. "Yes, I'm ready!" She picked up her polka-dotted backpack and put it on her desk. It was heavy and probably wasn't safe to levitate if what had happened to Carter's bag and her textbook were of any indication. She hesitated once before looking at her textbook. "Maybe I'll try the book again." She smiled and then concentrated on the charm. She really didn't want to bother anybody else with her book slamming on her desk. She highly doubted anyone else would take it nearly as well.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" she said, watching as her book made its way up. The challenging part for her was getting it back down, and she lowered it slowly, focusing closely on it. The book made its way down very slowly and then landed gently back on the desk. "Yay!" she exclaimed. "It worked!" She slumped in her chair happily and looked over at Carter. "D'you wanna go again?"

0 Wendy We are pretty excellent 0 Wendy 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

January 23, 2013 6:05 PM

A reasonable start by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

Teachers were teachers. Perhaps an exceptional one could be an inspiring role model, but it was scarcely as if they were people to get attached to. They were there to impart knowledge. So long as they were doing that effectively, little else really mattered to Francesca. The only issue with a substitute came if there was insufficient communication between them and the person for whom they were standing in. As this was her first lesson, she had little to judge this potential failing on, other than listening out for sighs of weariness from second years, indicating a repetition of their previous syllabus.

She chanted diligently with the rest of the class and swished her wand through the appropriate motion. She was keen to put it into practice. She knew some Purebloods got away with conducting wandwork at home – a combination of a large, out of the way estate and enough connections or money to quash anyone who came asking. Her family lived in a busy city and, although her parents moved in very political circles, they had no wish to jeopardise that with something as foolish as letting their children flout the Restriction on Underage Sorcery. She already felt an affinity with her wand though, as was to be expected when you believed the old adage that the wand chose the witch or wizard. Her wand was Elm, a wood that represented strength of will. It was not very pliable. She could see why it had chosen her and she felt a warmth as she touched it, even without trying to cast a spell.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” she cast, swishing and flicking. The little ball of paper on the desk in front of her twitched, rocking as if one side and then the other was attempting to take off. It settled back to stillness. She knew that everything had to come together as a single seamless gesture, made of words and wand movement and her will. At the moment, it felt more like several things happening at once but in isolation of each other. She was unsure how to unify them. Practice, she supposed. She focussed on the warm feeling where her skin was in contact with the wand, trying to imagine that she was speaking specifically to that point of her body.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” she cast again, trying to feel that the words were moving through her finger tips and into her wand, which swished and flicked using the same energy. The ball hovered. Just a centimetre or so above the desk and wobbling rather unstably but it was floating. She let it down again, releasing a breath she hadn't realised she was holding.

“How are you progressing?” she asked her neighbour.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren A reasonable start 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren 0 5

Jeweliah Dyste

January 24, 2013 5:31 PM

I've got this funny feeling by Jeweliah Dyste

Jewels was still trying to get used to the layout of the castle. It was huge, and there were so many people to meet; it was easy to get swept up by a crowd and end up in the library when you were meant to be in the potions classroom. She managed to get to class and before they started taking attendance, and let her baby blues scan the room for an empty seat from the doorway.

She liked to know where she was going beforehand, so she could do as little sidestepping through aisles as needed. She was about to resign to sitting in the front when something caught her eye. It was the latest cover of her favorite magazine, Teen Witch USA! IT had come that morning, and she hadn’t had the chance to look at hers yet, but from what she could see, it looked like a promising issue. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see it in the hands of one of her classmates, but admittedly, she wasn’t expecting Charlie to be reading it.

She wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. Sure, it was full of pictures of girls, but tended to be geared towards them as well. Then again, it was a great magazine, so she couldn’t really blame him for reading it. Jewels didn’t know that much about him, but she liked Charlie, and maybe this was just another thing they could bond over.

Luckily, other people hadn’t snatched up all the seats around him yet, so Jeweliah quickly made her way over to claim one of the coveted spots. She didn’t have time to talk to him before the substitute professor began the lesson, but couldn’t help sneaking a peek at the article he was reading.

Jeweliah’s attention returned to the front of the class, and she practiced annunciating the spell and was excited to try out the wand movement. She’d been tempted to bedazzle the handle of her wand, or at least put some glitter on it, but her mom advised her not to. She didn’t see how it would interfere with spell casting, and begrudgingly decided to leave it alone. She’d just have to get a really sparkly holster or something for it later.

The item on Jeweliah’s desk was a peacock feather, which she found rather fitting of herself. It was bright, colorful and just a little shimmery. She decided to watch Charlie try the spell before she gave it a shot. She wanted the photo spin on is desk, willing it to lift off of the surface. Crossing your fingers wasn’t something you wanted to be seen doing in the pageant world, but she did it under her desk as she watched. As the spinning slowed to a stop, Jewels was getting ready to console her classmate, but his reaction was actually quite the opposite of what she was expecting.

“Definitely a step in the right direction.” She said with a smile. “I hope I can do that well!” Jewels added. She wasn’t sure how well casting was going to go for her. Modeling agencies often didn’t hire models with strong accents as they were hard to understand during interviews, and commercials with speaking parts were out of the question if you couldn’t be universally understood. While this wasn’t entirely related, she hoped her accent wouldn’t muddle up the words and make her feather do something crazy.
“Here goes nothing’.” She said with a slightly hesitant smile as she performed the movement and cast in her southern drawl.

“Wingardium Leviosa.” The feather twitched, trying to get into the air. It seemed to jump a little, and Jewels tried to coax it off the desk by raising her wand a bit higher. The feather made it about an inch off the tabletop before floating back down and coming to rest.

“Well hot dang…I reckon we better give it another shot!” She was rather pleased that she at least got it off the table even if it was just a little bit.

0 Jeweliah Dyste I've got this funny feeling 0 Jeweliah Dyste 0 5

Enion Whitebriar - Teppenpaw

January 24, 2013 6:39 PM

Or maybe down on the ground by Enion Whitebriar - Teppenpaw

Last term Enion had grown accustomed to the odd assortment of items that regularly appeared on the desks for Charms class. His light grey eyes trailed over the offerings: feathers, small stones, marbles, bits of paper and the random photograph. What wasn’t usual was the very young looking woman who was heading the class. She didn’t look much older than the average seventh year, and Enion studied her curiously as he took a seat.

His smile grew with hers, pleased with her happy attitude. The Pureblooded boy was friendlier and more open than many of his ilk, and he thought the stuffy adults who tutored the Whitebriar children before they attended Sonora were dead boring. In general, he liked the Professors here, most were interesting and kept their classes exciting.

“Here!” Enion said as he raised his arm when his name was called. When he brought his hand back down, it brushed the marble on his desk, setting it rolling towards the edge. Grinning, he reached out and snatched it out of the air as it fell, imagining that the small glass ball was actually a flitting golden snitch. Putting the marble back in the center of the table, the blond boy flicked it, and again caught it as it fell.

“Please pair up and begin.”

“Oops.” He whispered, his eyes snapping back up to the Professor. Really, it wasn’t Enion’s fault that he hadn’t been paying attention, she should have handed out the stuff after the lecture! The chant of Wingardium Leviosa was taken up by various students as they practiced on the little items on their desks. Enion grinned happily. At least it was a spell he’d seen often enough at home, and not some random charm that no one ever used. “Well that’s easy enough,” He said, his Welsh accent flavoring the words. With a cocky grin he took out his wand.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” he exclaimed as he swished and flicked his wand in an unconscious imitation of a motion he’d seen a million times over as a child. The confident grin wilted when the marble just sat there, refusing to rise. “Wingardium Leviosa!” It rose just slightly before dropping, bouncing once, and falling onto the floor. This time his hand wasn’t swift enough to catch the small sphere. Grumbling under his breath, Enion dropped to the floor and reached under the desk next to him, retrieving the wayward marble.

Bang

“Bloody Merlin!” he hissed as he scrambled back into his seat, rubbing the sore spot on the top of his head.

0 Enion Whitebriar - Teppenpaw Or maybe down on the ground 0 Enion Whitebriar - Teppenpaw 0 5

Omara Hernandez, Pecari

January 25, 2013 2:45 PM

Oh, you're very friendly! by Omara Hernandez, Pecari

"Oh, yes, I'm in Pecari," replied Omara, "and my name's Omara." Rup, as he called himself was such an open, friendly person, she was quite taken back. But she was glad. It was like all awkwardness just went poof and disappeared. She thought it might have been his seemingly silly sense of humour that did it, but Omara almost immediately felt at ease in his company.

"I'm not sure about the leaves...I can't imagine the teachers picking them," she thought this was a funny picture, imagining teachers sneaking out in the middle of the night to pick supplies from the plants... "perhaps they...summon them? With a charm, maybe...?" She watched a feather float upwards at Rupert's command. "I love riding a broomstick..." she said, "but this, this looks tricky."

She lifted her wand and recited the incantation, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather twitched slightly but Omara couldn't be sure that wasn't just the result of a draft, or someone's breath... "How long does it take for this to come? I don't understand how it works..." she questioned Rupert, hoping he didn't mind giving her a bit of help.

0 Omara Hernandez, Pecari Oh, you're very friendly! 0 Omara Hernandez, Pecari 0 5

Analea Thornton

January 26, 2013 3:25 PM

'Stupid letter S' by Analea Thornton

Analea had been really nervous to go anywhere with anyone other than her sisters until she'd met Rory. Rory made her feel comfortable and like she wasn't as strange as people at her old school made her out to be. Charms was her first class in a room, and being confined in a smaller space with people who'd probably make fun of her wasn't something the eleven year old wanted. Even if her slightly older sister Abi and her friend Rory were there.

She walked into the room, silent as ever before and looked at the woman in the front of the room. She looked nice, wasn't too intimidating, which was good. Ana looked at Abi across the room, then at Rory who was nearby, before she sat down in an empty chair. When the rest of the class walked in behind her, the woman said hello to them and closed the door with her wand. She welcomed the first years and welcomed back the second years, introducing herself as Lily Alexander. Ana thought she was a pretty young lady in her pretty blue robes and she was sort of comforting in her voice too.

Professor Alexander started to call roll call, Analea didn't do or say anything until she heard her sister Abi's name get called. Since the Professor was going in alphabetical order, she knew her name was next and instead of saying anything she raised her hand above her red hair, as high as it would go when “Thornton, Analea” was called.

Abi looked at her sister and sighed. Abigail knew that Analea was worried about her lisp, and for good reason with what the kids at their old school had done to her. But here at Sonora, things were different. Abs stared at Ana and shook her head as if to tell her to say something.

Ana glared back at Abi, but said, “H-here.” just loud enough for her neighbor to hear, nobody else. There was a photograph on her desk of what looked to her like the Crown Jewels of England, and Ana smiled at them, then up at the professor again. It was only then that she noticed that Professor Alexander was wearing a Kodak camera around her neck. She must have taken these photos herself... Ana thought as she smiled up at the woman.

Professor Alexander pointed out the name and spelling of the charm and Ana shirked back into her seat so low that she hoped nobody would see her. This was a charm she would mess up, there was no doubt in her mind. That stupid 's'... she thought as she hit her head in her hands. When the others repeated after Professor Alexander, she kept her mouth shut tightly. The wand movement, she did when they were asked, because it didn't involve any talking.

When Professor Alexander said they had to partner up with a second year, she automatically looked to her sister. Abi turned away from her, refusing to work with her little sister. She knew her too well for that, and Abi knew that she needed to make her own friends. Abigail wouldn't let anyone hurt her sister, but she wasn't going to stop her from making friends either.

Ana looked down at her desk and the photo again as the teacher showed them what they were to do. She looked up and watched, before hiding her face again as they were told to start.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and her head shot up to reveal...

0 Analea Thornton 'Stupid letter S' 0 Analea Thornton 0 5

Willow Collins,Teppenpaw

January 27, 2013 5:40 PM

What are you subbing for it? by Willow Collins,Teppenpaw

Willow was sort of excited for Charms. She hadn't really been so for flying, which she didn't really care about one way or another as it was probably the only time in her entire life she'd ever be on a broom. She'd rather use her wand, the one her cousin had made, for the first time.

Though the class she was really looking forward to was Care of Magical creatures. Willow really liked animals, especially fish and other sea creatures. She'd been to aquarium in Chicago a few times and it had been amazing. The Teppenpaw had her own aquarium in her room at home as well as a calico goldfish and a betta, but she couldn't have those at Sonora, just her pygmy puff. She found looking at the fish tank very soothing and had stared at it for hours after she'd found Autumn.

Besides, Willow would get to meet more of her classmates in Charms and she was also looking forward to that. She hadn't really met anyone in flying, she'd wanted to be alone that day after having bad dreams the night before, so once she'd gotten her broom up and figured how to do side saddle without falling-it really hadn't been that difficult for her-she'd taken off by herself. Willow hadn't really done that badly in the class, but she wasn't going to fly again after this year and risk being unladylike. If she did fly again, it would be on a horse not a broom, though she didn't feel she was ready for that quite yet. Willow hadn't flown very high during flying lessons.

However, she was in a better, happier mood today and ready to talk to her classmates and be distracted from all her problems. Willow entered the room and sat down at a desk with a ripped piece of orange construction paper on it. She could only imagine what she was going to have to do with that construction paper. The Teppenpaw looked at the desk next to her which had a marble on it. Apparently, everyone had different objects so the lesson would not be specific to construction paper.

When Willow heard the lesson, she was a bit disappointed. Not that she didn't want to learn the Levitation Charm, that was great, useful if she had to carry anything heavy but that she had to work with a second year. She would prefer to get to know someone in her own class. It was unlikely that any second year would want to become friends with a first year. They probably thought they were too cool for that and had friends in their own class.

Sighing, Willow looked around for an older student. Spotting one that she thought had responded to a name that she hadn't heard in flying lesson, she approached. "Hello, may I work with you?" She asked.

11 Willow Collins,Teppenpaw What are you subbing for it? 253 Willow Collins,Teppenpaw 0 5

Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

January 28, 2013 4:11 PM

Observing things. by Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

The first beginner Charms lesson was so early on Julian’s schedule that she didn’t even have time to feel nervous about it. A little excited, because she had been excited ever since she finished going through the long anxious period where the family had decided together which school she was even going to attend, but by the time she thought to be nervous, she had only just had time to swallow the last few bites of her breakfast before her self-appointed time for leaving the Hall to make absolutely sure she got to her classroom on time.

Twice, she had had to work up the nerve to ask passing older students the way, but in the end, she had pulled it off, only to lose her nerve when confronted with a smiling young woman who seemed to be the teacher. Instead of saying something polite to the teacher – Professor Olivers, according to her schedule – as she had been encouraged to do at home, she smiled, too, and then hurried to a seat, feeling flustered and annoyed with herself for these fits of nerves she kept having. It might have been all right at the Feast, but she had gotten through that all right, so why did everything since that seem so potentially disastrous?

Her heart was still beating a little harder than usual when she found out that Professor Olivers wasn’t here and that this was Professor Alexander, their substitute. When her name was called off the roll, near the very bottom, she raised her hand a little as she said “Present,” and then looked at the few people whose surnames started with something further down the roll than U until the call was finished and she gratefully picked up her quill to start taking notes….only to be told she needed her wand instead.

Okay. It’s okay, she told herself as she took out her wand with one hand, then put down the quill. Levitation didn’t sound very difficult, especially with the light objects on their desks. She would have felt more comfortable if they had had a bit of a speech first, just to give her time to settle into class more, but that they hadn’t really just meant this was easier even than she’d thought.

They were supposed to work with second years, and she thought the girl beside her was one, but she didn’t speak to Julian and Julian wasn’t feeling brave enough right now to speak to her, especially after she got the marble on her desk to levitate on her first try. Julian found the bit of paper she had to work with harder going; it fluttered, but didn’t lift into the air the way the other girl’s marble had.

When the other girl looked like she was going to perform the spell again, Julian watched her closely, hoping to see something she could copy, but the marble didn’t rise at all this time. Instead, a boy in front of them suddenly seemed very confused.

"I don't think - " Julian began, and then her voice fell to something closer to a mumble - "that's really what Professor Alexander had in mind."

16 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw Observing things. 254 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw 0 5

Rupert

January 30, 2013 4:15 PM

You're friendly too! by Rupert

The awkward aura around Omara seemed to disappear and Rup was very glad. One of Rupert's gifts, so he was beginning to see, was his talent for making people of all sorts feel comfortable. He liked people more than they liked him, really, but he did his best to be as likeable and friendly as possible. He held a genuine interest in getting to know everyone, even the snotty pure-bloods. To an extent with the latter, of course.

"You like flying?" asked Rupert, excited to find another girl interested. "I love flying too. You should think about joining the Quidditch team, though there aren't going to be any real matches this year." He sighed, clearly depressed about it. "But it'll be nice to get a few scrimmages or something going. Do you play Quidditch?" Rup could talk about Quidditch all day if he didn't check himself.

Rupert had yet to learn the Summoning Charm, so he couldn't pretend to summon things to himself yet. If Professor Olivers didn't teach it to them soon, he would have to approach her himself during the summer, whenever she returned to school. If this substitute stuck around for any longer, Rup would ask her.

He watched Omara's first try at levitating the feather, and held his breath as he did whenever he was working with light objects. He never wanted to think that his accidental breath had been what made the object move instead of magic. "I dunno, honestly," he replied. "Maybe you've got to be more commanding. Your wand's not going to do any work if you don't tell it to. It's like getting a broom up the first time, I think."

He wasn't exactly the best help, and Rupert was seeing that rapidly. It was difficult for him to describe how it felt performing magic. He had only begun to master it last year. "If you believe in yourself, your wand will believe in you," he said. There was a sort of union between the wand and the wizard which magic brought together. One had to trust the other to make the right decisions.

0 Rupert You're friendly too! 0 Rupert 0 5

Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

January 31, 2013 1:02 PM

What kind of funny feeling? by Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw

“Oh, hey babe!” Charlie grinned when he realised it was Jewels sitting next to him. “How're you doing?” Flying had been fun, giving him the chance to meet quite a few new people and he was looking forward to getting to know them all a bit better. Jewels seemed like she was pretty outgoing and he didn't foresee it being difficult with her.

“Whoa, well done you!” he beamed when Jewels' successfully levitated her feather on the first go. Charlie's enthusiasm about just about everything was so very forceful that it might have seemed over the top at the times but it was always apparent that it was very genuinely meant.

“Right you are, take two,” he nodded, when Jewels suggested they have another go.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” he said, trying to make the words sound big and important and serious, as it seemed like the kind of thing where that might be important, a little like commanding one's broom 'Up' with authority. It was a valiant attempt at grandeur and solemnity for a usually bouncy eleven year old boy who tended towards the camp. He stretched his arm up to its full height, as Jeweliah had done, hoping to exert the maximum pull possible on the photograph. It began to lift but one side was ahead of the other and, hard as he stretched – getting right up on tip toes even - it reached a critical point where it could no longer balance and tipped over onto its face.

“Step by step,” Charlie grinned, pleased with the progress. This was his first time properly wielding a wand, and they were supposed to spend the whole lesson on it, so it didn't seem surprising or problematic to him that he wasn't wafting objects around at ceiling height. It was hard to say what level of failure would have to be demonstrated before he started viewing things with any less enthusiasm but there was definitely no risk of running out soon.

13 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw What kind of funny feeling? 252 Charlie B-F-R, Teppenpaw 0 5

Effie Arbon

January 31, 2013 2:44 PM

And almost mentioning them. by Effie Arbon

Effie observed the younger boy's most excellent display of confusion with some satisfaction. She contemplated repeating the trick but decided, that whilst a noble and educational purpose for herself could be argued for the first time, a second time would just be teasing. She didn't think a little teasing would do the Muggleborns and other lesser students any harm – it would help them, in fact, to know their place – but she was fairly sure such notions were not particularly fashionable. She would have to find something else with which to challenge and amuse herself during the lesson. She had begun to rummage in her bag, in the hopes of finding a series of successively heavier objects when a small voice piped up beside her. She only heard the first half of it before the girl's audibility dropped below that which a reasonable human ear could discriminate.

“I didn't fully catch that,” she stated. She had a good idea what the sentiment had been and was rather surprised to find herself on the receiving end of cheek from a younger student. Or attempted cheek – it seemed the girl's nerve had failed her. Effie was slightly more used to dealing with people younger than her than those her own age, although her entire field of experience was her two younger sisters. She was never sharp with them and it stayed her tongue in dealing with this girl. She had no real wish to belittle her or make her feel bad (unless she was unimportant and deserved to be put in her place). There was the risk that she was Someone. Bianca Stratford, in her own year, was, afterall, a rather retiring creature but not someone in whom one took advantage of that trait. “Perhaps you were introducing yourself? Or asking for some assistance?” she offered, giving the girl the option of a graceful way out of her predicament. “How goes your assignment, Miss...?” she prompted.

13 Effie Arbon And almost mentioning them. 238 Effie Arbon 0 5

Carter

February 01, 2013 4:26 PM

That we are partner by Carter

Carter grinned sheepishly as he watched her retrieve his pencils that had managed to roll off of the desk. He was even a little surprised when Wendy patted him on the head. He grinned amused at her patting and shook his head slightly. Other than his grandmother, no one else had ever pat him on the head before. He found he really didn't mind her patting him on the head. He found himself agreeing with her on the fact that they were both glad he hadn't dropped anything else on their heads. He was glad to hear that apparently Wendy's older sister sat with her friends in other houses here as well. It made the possibility of them having lunch together that much easier. He nodded in agreement at her suggestion. "That would be awesome," he told her.

He was glad to see that she was excited about her chance to try again and grinned slightly as she hopped in her seat. He watched her carefully as she studied the polka-dot bag she had with her and wondered to himself if she would really be willing to try lifting her bag like he had his. He was a tad relieved when she put it down and went for the book instead. He sat back quietly and watched as she put the book down on the desk and prepared to cast the spell again. He crossed his arms over his chest and kept silent so as not to break her concentration. He couldn't help but smile slightly as he wondered whether she would send the book floating away towards the ceiling again. He kept still as she took her turn and was very proud when he watched her get the book up into the air and back down again without any problems. He clapped lightly for her and smiled.

"Awesome job partner!" he told her genuinely excited for her. He couldn't help, but grin at her when he watched her slump happily into her seat. "D'you wanna go again?" she asked him after she was finished. Carter nodded. "Sounds good...only this time I think I'll try something a tad lighter than my bookbag," he joked. He dug around in his bag for a second and brought out three pencils. He lined them up on the desktop and pointed his wand at them. He looked up at her briefly and grinned. "Lets see how this works out, shall we?" he asked playfully. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he commanded.

He watched the three pencils start to slowly float upwards off the desk and directed them upwards slightly higher. He couldn't keep himself from being curious about something. Now that he had them in the air...why couldn't he make them move around? He twirled the wand slightly in a small circle and was pleasantly surprised when the pencils did the same. He laughed slightly out loud and clamped his hand over his mouth to try and keep it in. Unfortuantely he wasn't quick enough and lost control of the pencils. They crashed down upon the desk and went in three different directions. He looked up at Wendy sheepishly. "Well...that sorta worked," he said, glancing around at the spots where the pencils sat. "Perhaps I should stick to one object at a time from now on," he commented laughing to himself. "What do you think?"

0 Carter That we are partner 0 Carter 0 5

Amity Brockert, Aladren

February 04, 2013 8:50 AM

Why? by Amity Brockert, Aladren

Though there was still schoolwork, Amity was glad to be back at school where she had far less to do then she had to do at home. The only fun thing she'd gotten to do the whole summer was Effie's party. Her poor sister hadn't even gotten that and the Aladren had sort of wished Chaslyn could have come along and played with Effie's youngest sister. They looked to be close in age. Then her sister could have had a good time for once too.

Amity knew all too well what it was like to be in Chaslyn's place. They'd been in the exact same one prior to Sonora where the only good times were the holidays and family parties because they got to take a break for those days only. Yule was the only time she'd really ever gotten to play with her new just for fun toys that her aunts and uncles and grandparents got her. Even sometimes on her birthday she'd had lessons in the morning before everyone came over for cake later in the afternoon. Then when they all left, Amity would have to practice the violin or study Latin or something. Or worse, she had to perform something. At her own party. It was bad enough when she had to do that at her parents'. During which she was expected to practice skills while people attended the party downstairs.

Now it was time for the first Charms lesson of the year. Of course, the Aladren couldn't say she was looking forward to it, because even though she wanted to learn magic and be a functioning human being, it did cut into her precious free time. Not only that, but she didn't always like everything about this class in particular because of the weekly essays. Also, it was the first class of the day, and Amity could have been sleeping. Not that she'd ever gotten to sleep in in her entire life, except on weekends at school, which years of conditioning didn't even allow. Her lessons at home started very early in the day so she just wasn't capable of sleeping until noon like Ryan did most of the week, no matter how much she might want to.

She was not bothered at all by the presence of a substitute. They couldn't do anything to really irritate her, because they weren't going to be around for very long. If Professor Olivers came back soon, this sub couldn't even really assign homework or anything because she wouldn't be around to grade it. And of course, no homework was a good thing, but then again, if this woman was going to be around for awhile, she probably would give them some. It was a no win situation really, but for now, at least Amity would have a little bit of a break.

Amity listened as the lesson was given. She raised an eyebrow. Why would they have to pair up to do the levitation charm? And with a first year. The Aladren would have no problem working with them, but if she didn't really need to work with anyone, because the spell didn't call for it, she'd rather spend the class period chatting with one of her friends or getting to be better friends with one of her own classmates. There were so many worthwhile people in her year to talk to that she felt no need to really hang out with the younger students, though there were a few of them whose names she recognized as well.

She turned to the person next to her, not really caring whether or not they were a first year. It wasn't worth the effort to get up and look for one if they weren't when she didn't see a purpose to working on this in pairs in the first place. "Would you like to work together?" Amity asked.

11 Amity Brockert, Aladren Why? 233 Amity Brockert, Aladren 0 5

Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year

February 05, 2013 11:06 AM

Quite Reasonable by Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year

Annabelle Pierce was dressed in a pretty purple blouse with a delicate lacy collar that peeked out over the top on her green school robes. Her hair was neatly styled into a half-ponytail that was adorned with a purple ribbon that matched her blouse. Her fingernails were well shaped and all the same length, each one glossy with clear polish. In leiu of being allowed lipstick, she had applied chapstick, which gave her lips a slight shine as well. A spill of freckles across her nose and cheeks could not be helped, though she continued to hope they might disappear, or at least fade, as she got older.

Aside from the freckles, she thought she looked reasonably pretty. She harbored no illusions of ever winning 'best looking' in the yearbook, but she thought 'nice looking' was well within reach. Her hair was a healthy dark brown that missed black by only a few shades, her features were well proportioned with each other and the size of her face, and her teeth were clean and, well, mostly straight.

Her clothing, too, carried the hallmarks of a young lady who cared about that sort of thing. The school robes were made of high quality fabric and finely tailored to her frame to avoid bunches and sags. No stains, holes, faded spots, or pills marred any part of her outfit.

Mother had put in a great deal of effort and expense to be sure her defamed daughters looked every bit the part of proper pureblood ladies this year, and Annabelle was willing to play along, at least for now. She liked feeling pretty, so it was no real hardship. With Sara Raines as Head Girl this year, even the Pecari badge on her robe did not detract too badly from the desired image.

She sat at a desk with a fine looking marble on it while her sister took the one beside her. They were bookended on either side with first years; a young Aladren for each of them to 'mentor' during the lesson. They did well enough in Charms, at least when they sat together, that they could probably handle that.

The one next to Annabelle answered to Wolseithcrafte, Francesca. The name was unfamiliar to Annabelle, but she looked proper. She wondered belatedly if maybe she should have responded to Annette's name instead. If the invitation to Effie's party this past summer was any indication, Annabelle was the one getting tagged with the Quidditch scandal, and introducing herself as Annette might have made for easier class lesson.

It was too late now, though. Perhaps she could try to mend her reputation. There wasn't any real Quidditch this year, so maybe, just maybe, she could at least temporarily convince Society that she was Reformed.

First, though, there was the levitation charm to get through. She repeated the incantation with the rest of the class, and performed the swish and flick along with the other students after the demonstration. Then they were on their own.

Annabelle looked to her sister and caught Annette's eye. They nodded to each other, then swished, flicked, and said in unison, "Wingardium Leviosa." As it was a reasonably simple charm for second years, and they already had some prior familarity with it, both Annabelle's marble and Annette's rock rose together into the air on the first try. The twins shared a grin of success, then lowered their respective items back onto their desks.

Annabelle turned to watch her first year in time to see the younger girl manage a low hover with her paper ball. "Good start," she encouraged.

In response to the question about her own progress, she lifted her wand, caught Annette's eye again, and cast the spell again once her sister nodded that she could continue. It wasn't quite as seemless as when they had done it together, but the marble rose a few inches over the desk, slid to the left as she moved her wand that way, then returned to the desk as she lowered her wand's tip and released the spell.

When it attempted to roll away, she clapped her hand over it before it reached the edge of the desk. Still holding it captive, she returned her attention to the first year and smiled politely. "I am Annabelle Pierce of the New Hampshire Pierces," she offered in introduction, in case the Aladren had missed it during roll call. "You may call me Annabelle," she added, to avoid confusion with her sister who was sitting right next to her. She opted to avoid the invitation to use the name Ann, since that was the Quidditch playing twin's chosen moniker. Maybe using her full name would emphasize how much more lady-like she was this year and repair at least some of the damage to her reputation.

1 Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year Quite Reasonable 246 Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year 0 5

Annette Pierce, 2nd Year Pecari

February 05, 2013 12:00 PM

Encouragement by Annette Pierce, 2nd Year Pecari

Annette Pierce was dressed in a pretty royal blue blouse with a delicate lacy collar that peeked out over the top on her green school robes. Her hair was neatly styled into a half-ponytail that was adorned with a blue ribbon that matched her blouse. Her fingernails were well shaped and all the same length, each one glossy with clear polish. In leiu of being allowed lipstick, she had applied chapstick, which gave her lips a slight shine as well. A spill of freckles across her nose and cheeks gave her a slightly impish look, she thought, but she didn't really mind them.

She thought she looked reasonably pretty. She harbored no illusions of ever winning 'best looking' in the yearbook, but she thought 'nice looking' was well within reach. Her hair was a healthy dark brown that missed black by only a few shades, her features were well proportioned with each other and the size of her face, and her teeth were clean and, well, mostly straight.

This early in the year, her clothing, through no fault of her own, carried all the hallmarks of a young lady who cared about that sort of thing. The school robes were made of high quality fabric and finely tailored to her frame to avoid bunches and sags. No stains, holes, faded spots, or pills marred any part of her outfit. Annabelle had been sure to tug at it until it fell 'just right' before she had been allowed to leave their dorm.

Mother, too, had put in a great deal of effort and expense to be sure her defamed daughters looked every bit the part of proper pureblood ladies this year, and Annette was willing to play along, at least for now. She supposed she liked feeling pretty, and she certainly wouldn't want people to start being able to recognize her as the messy twin. With Sara Raines as Head Girl this year, even the Pecari badge on her robe did not detract too badly from the desired image.

She sat at a desk with a gleaming, water smoothed stone on it while her sister took the one beside her. They were bookended on either side with first years; a young Aladren for each of them to 'mentor' during the lesson. They did well enough in Charms, at least when they sat together, that they could probably handle that.

The one next to Annette answered (mutely) to Thornton, Analea. The name was Thornton was familiar to Annette, mostly though Amira from Quidditch and Abigail who was in Annette's own year. Not pureblood, which meant Annette didn't need to worry too much about maintaining propriety, thank Merlin. She didn't mind it too much in its place, but sometimes it was nice to have a Charms class where all she had to worry about was Charms, especially one where she might be called upon to be a mentor to a younger student. Throwing in politics and the risk of sounding patronizing to someone she couldn't afford to offend would only complicate things unnecessarily.

She seemed friendly enough, too, if a bit shy as she let Annette get a look at the picture she'd been given to levitate. "Nice," Nettie had offered quietly in response to the jewels depicted therein. She showed off her rock a little, to be reciprocal in her own friendliness, but it really wasn't as interesting.

Once that exchange was complete, there was the levitation charm to get through, to prove she was a competent second year mentor. She repeated the incantation with the rest of the class, and performed the swish and flick along with the other students after the demonstration. Then they were on their own.

Annette looked to her sister and caught Annabelle's eye. They nodded to each other, then swished, flicked, and said in unison, "Wingardium Leviosa." As it was a reasonably simple charm for second years, and they already had some prior familarity with it, both Annabelle's marble and Annette's rock rose together into the air on the first try. The twins shared a grin of success, then lowered their respective items back onto their desks.

Annette turned to her first year and found the girl miserably hiding her face in her hands. Assuming the first year had utterly failed to accomplish anything with her first attempt, Annette put on an encouraging expression and tapped the girl on the shoulder.

"Don't worry if you don't get it right away. This is still brand new for you. I almost thought I was a squib for part of last year until it finally started to come together."

She noticed Annabelle trying to get her attention, and she nodded to confirm she had it. Annette focused her magical energy as Annabelle demonstated the spell again for her first year and willed it to work. Once it had, they each returned their attentions back to their respective first years.

"Try it again," Annette encouraged, "sometimes it just takes practice."

1 Annette Pierce, 2nd Year Pecari Encouragement 247 Annette Pierce, 2nd Year Pecari 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

February 05, 2013 2:43 PM

Thank you kindly by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

It was hard not to notice identical twins, them being something of a curiosity. Francesca had noted not only the twins but the sweet, girlish outfits and their answers to the name of Pierce during the register. Thaddeus had known who she was yet remained polite. Polite but bland was what she expected from these girls, their outfits adding to this suspicion. For now, that was a good thing. She was supposed to make friends with proper people and it would have been a waste of a lesson had she been sat with someone who would have no influence one way or another.

She watched with curiosity as the twins worked in perfect unison. It was a little twee for her taste. However, when the one next to whom she was working made a second attempt, she did not execute it quite so flawlessly. A second year was unlikely to be fatiguing after a first attempt. If it was for more than just show then it became less twee and considerably more interesting.

“Thank you,” she accepted the girl's compliment politely. She was fairly sure she was not being condescended to, which would have irked her. It had genuinely not been a poor start, especially for a city girl who did not have the luxury some Purebloods did of thinking themselves above the law.

“My name is Francesca and I am of the Wolseithcrafte family,” she smiled, giving her introduction in such a format as to indicate her blood status, even though they did not have branches to declare. “And, as you have extended the courtesy to me, I am equally happy in dispensing with over formal modes of address.” There was the possibility that, as a twin, this was more for ease of reference than anything but it would be rude not to match level of informality offered by the other party, especially when they were senior in age. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” she smiled politely. She could do polite – she was, usually, in fact a polite person. For now she could even do society's version of proper. It was a lot easier in a situation like this, where flying was unlikely to be discussed as, in all other ideals and behaviour, she matched most other Purebloods.

“I could not help but observe that your spellwork was improved by acting in unison with your sister. Might I enquire whether that is a usual effect of being a twin? I confess I have never read of such an idea but then I suppose it would not be mainstream to discuss such matters, most people not having that resource readily available.”

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren Thank you kindly 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren 0 5

Analea

February 05, 2013 10:31 PM

I'll need a lot of that... by Analea

Analea saw that there was a girl (one most likely older than her) sitting next to her. The girl was dressed up and looked really pretty to Ana. Almost like she was a porcelain doll type of pretty. The colors she wore made the other girl look almost perfect to the eleven year old who was dressed in hand me downs (of course!) other than her thin sequined tiara. That was hers.

Ana lived in a fantasy world in a way that only a young girl who'd been made fun of her whole life could be. She wished for a life where she'd be treated like a princess, lisp or not. She wanted so badly to find her Prince Charming and for him to take her away from the world she lived in. It wasn't that Ana didn't love her family, she did. It was more along the lines that she was tired of how other people (and her father) treated her. She was a human being, and deserved to be treated better than that.

When the roll call happened, she learned that the girl beside her was named Annette and the girl who was on Annette's other side was Annabelle. They looked like twins, unless one of them was another first year like herself? If one is younger than the other, than the older one is lucky her sister wants to work with her... she thought.

Annette had a water smoothed stone on her desk and Ana looked at it before turning back to the photo of the jewels on her own. The girl looked at the picture of the jewels in front of her and when a positive response happened to it, Ana relaxed a slight bit. Maybe she's not too bad? she thought as the rock was viewed as well.

Sure, to Ana, the photo was much more interesting. She did try her hardest to feel like royalty and the crown jewels were just that. Royal.

When Annette repeated the incantation with the others, Ana still stayed quiet. There was too much room for error here, and she knew it.

The rock rose into the air, and then floated back down to the desk. Ana hid her head in her hands and sighed miserably. She hadn't even tried, but she knew that if she had to, she'd fail.

Miserably.

What if I say something the right way in my head, but it comes out wrong and something else happens? I could do worse than Clara and Bri turning each other into different colors in their first year... I could really hurt someone just because I can't say the words right! she thought, as the girl next to her tapped her on the shoulder. Annette was telling her that it was alright if she didnt get it right away. Ana knew that, but she also knew that this one would be impossible for her to get right...

When Annette had said she almost thought she was a squib, Ana thought about the time where she'd hoped she was just the same thing. She knew that speaking was involved in magic a lot of the time and Ana worried about herself as well as Audi and Ashling.

Ana thought about school, about her sisters and anything that ran through her mind on the hamster wheel that was in her brain until she heard Annette tell her to try it again and that sometimes it takes practice to get right.

"I... I..." Ana said, cheeks blushing to a brighter shade of red than her hair. "I can't..." she said, in almost a whisper. There were no lisp letters in those words, but still, Ana wasn't comfortable really talking to many people just yet and she wasn't sure if she ever was...

0 Analea I'll need a lot of that... 0 Analea 0 5

Wendy

February 09, 2013 7:47 PM

Pick up again another day? by Wendy

As much as Wendy liked the people in her house, she thought it would be nice to eat with Carter for a change. She was sometimes in her own little world during meals, though, and wasn't as talkative as she usually was. Oh well. He'd find out soon enough and if he wanted to keep eating with her, then that was his decision.

Wendy's concentration on levitating her book correctly took a lot out of her, and by the time she was done she was ready to glow in Carter's applause. "Thanks!" she said happily, and then watched as he decided to levitate his pencils. He liked to do more than one object at a time, Wendy was finding, but that was cool. She knew she would be too afraid to try it herself so she was glad to watch someone else try it.

The pencils did just what Carter told them to do, and Wendy watched in delight as he made them twirl around with his wand. It was her second year in school and she was still finding so much new found joy in magic. Being in class was like discovering it all over again. The pencils, however, fell with Carter's laugh and she shielded herself from the haphazard pencils. "Yeah, I think just one at a time would be good," she said decidedly, and smiled at her partner. "I'm kinda pooped out with this for today. I think we both did really well though." She stuck out her hand for a high-five, wondering if the people who had been born in the magical world knew what a high-five was. She was still trying to figure out the differences between the purebloods and the so-called "Muggle world" that she was from.

0 Wendy Pick up again another day? 0 Wendy 0 5

Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year

March 05, 2013 4:37 PM

I have not abandoned you by Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year

In truth, once they figured out why they had been having trouble using magic in class and how to fix the problem, Annabelle hadn't given much thought to the peculiarity. They had thought about confiding their handicap with their Head of House, but that was mostly because they didn't want to get accused of cheating during exams than because they had any desire to find out why it was happening or how to stop it.

In the end, they had opted to keep it to themselves, as one more proof that they were meant to be inseparable forever.

They hadn't really expected anybody to pay them enough attention to notice their magic got stronger when they cast together, and Annabelle was a bit at a loss as to how to explain it to the first year. "I don't think it's a twin thing," she admitted carefully, because her evidence on that was a bit shaky and skirted much too close to acknowledging the dead one's existence for comfort, "I never heard of other twins, even identical ones, having the same problem. Melinda - my surviving elder sister - said she never had any difficulty casting alone, either before or after she lost her twin."

She shrugged slightly, opting to continue talking mostly to close any opening Francesca might see in asking about Melinda or the other one. "We suspect," or at least she did, and assumed Annette thought the same thing, "it has more to do with how close we were growing up. Aside from a few unavoidable occassions like using the ladies room," or changing into Quidditch robes in the Pitch locker rooms, but that was best left unsaid, "we never leave each other's sight. We both even answer to the same name, so if you're not sure which one we are, you can call us Ann. Everyone else does." She smiled, her dark blue eyes sparkling in mischief, "In perfect honesty," she continued in a faux confiding voice that suggested her honesty was not, in fact, perfect, "we are only fifty percent sure I am the real Annabelle since Mother can't tell us apart. We flipped for eldest status when we were four and I have claimed the name since then."

She couldn't remember that really happening, but it was a story they had exchanged between themselves often enough and for long enough that she thought it could possibly be true. It was an amusing enough theory that she could share it as if it were a joke anyway.

Feeling that was quite enough about her, she gestured toward Francesca's paper ball, "You should give the charm another try. Practice will help it levitate more easily and gracefully."

1 Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year I have not abandoned you 246 Annabelle Pierce, Pecari 2nd year 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

March 05, 2013 5:48 PM

I am most relieved by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

Francesca nodded along as the situation was explained. It was definitely most curios and Annabelle's explanation raised many more questions than it answered. However, they were mostly of the incredibly intrusive variety, which treated the twins as a scientific study. That would not be an appropriate way to treat a class mate. Stringent followers of WAIL (which she suspected the Pierces were at high risk of being) also seemed to require that girls were decorative and brainless, and thus showing too much curiosity could possibly be deemed 'unladylike.' She curbed her enthusiasm for the subject, giving a small laugh at Ann's story of how they had decided which was which. She assumed it was meant to be amusing, even if it was also true. It sounded like a very interesting way to grow up, although not one she could easily imagine. However, she suspected that was a rather redundant comment and thus she kept it to herself.

“Yes, you are quite right,” she said, returning her attention to the lesson, “And graceful is, after all, what we should strive to be,” she smiled, the 'we' implicitly referring to themselves as nice young ladies. When she wasn't mud-spattered and diving for a Quaffle she was perfectly graceful – she liked to think she even managed that activity with a little panache, although she mightn't have let it to be put to the test of a photograph.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” she cast again, focussing on her fingertips – they held her wand, her conduit, and connected it to her body. She swished and flicked and watched as the ball once again wobbled just above the smooth surface of the desk.

“I... I feel that all the elements of what I do are correct, unless you have any notes?” she added, supposing that it might well be easier to observe problems from the outside. “It just seems to be bringing them all together, rather than feeling as though I'm doing several separate things at one time. I trust that is a feeling which one eases into...? I understand the theory of the thing well enough,” she added, not wishing for Annabelle to think that she was ignorant or, worse still, not of a magical background. She understood her power. Wielding it appeared to be a different matter entirely.

“Wingardium Leviosa,” she tried again, the ball rising a little higher but definitely still not holding itself very steadily.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren I am most relieved 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren 0 5

Annette

March 08, 2013 2:03 PM

You have not been abandoned either by Annette

Annette tried not to frown as the first year denied her ability to even practice. That defeatist attitude was not going to get her anywhere. Magic was in the mind as much as it was in the wand and you had to believe you could do it.

As the mentor second year, Annette felt it was her responsibility to make sure her first year found that neccessary confidence. "Sit up straight," she instucted, hoping to take the girl by surprise enough to make her forget her can-not mindset. Also, sitting up straight was a simple thing anybody who didn't have a deformed spine could do and her girl's spine looked fine.

"Now smile," she continued, doing so herself in demonstration and reassurance. Risking an invasion of personal space, Annette began adjusting the fall of the girl's robes and hair, and resettled her tiara just so. "There," she declared with conviction when she finished, "you look every bit as pretty as those jewels on your photograph."

"Now pick up your wand and show me the swish and flick."

1 Annette You have not been abandoned either 247 Annette 0 5

Analea

March 08, 2013 6:03 PM

I'm glad to hear that! by Analea

Analea was terrified to speak any words that the stupid letter “S” was in. She didn’t want people there at Sonora making fun of her. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if her roommate, Rory, was with her all the time, but Rory was across the room partnering someone else. Ana knew that it would be impossible for the pair to work together all the time, but this was just not feasible for her to get anywhere. The first year wished again, that she was a Squib. If she was a Squib then she could go back home, and maybe Momma would home school her? At least that was what she’d hoped would happen. When Annette told her to sit up straight, the words almost stung the eleven year old.

She usually took pride in how she sat, but if she wasn’t sitting straight, like royalty, everyone would know how awful she felt! Ana smiled, sort of, but when Annette started fixing her up and told her that she looked as pretty as the jewels in the photograph, her smile widened and her slight dimple shone brightly as her freckles.

But when Annette told her to pick up her wand and show her the swish and flick, her smile fell faster than water from a faucet. Ana beckoned Annette closer and whispered (so that only she could hear), “I have a lisp, the word won’t come out right, I don’t want to hurt anyone…” She looked down at her lap and tried to hold back tears. Coming to school was a really bad idea until she could get rid of this dratted lisp…

0 Analea I'm glad to hear that! 0 Analea 0 5