Ugh. on Charms

Professor Olivers

August 25, 2014 12:46 AM

Let's Slow Things Down [III, IV, V years] by Professor Olivers

A new school year meant new faces, new names to memorize, and, as per usual at Sonora, a new professor to welcome into their midst. It kept things interesting. The summer had been well-spent in Chicago with her nephews, niece, and their children. She and her brother were getting old, but neither of them let age stop them from doing what they wanted. Florence had been given an opportunity to act in a friend's play and she had made her relationship with Nicholas official. She never could have imagined having a boyfriend at fifty-one, not to mention a romance with anyone after her husband’s death, but she had come to realize that the death of a loved one did not mean life stopped indefinitely. No, life went on and Florence was obliged to continue with it. And since she had made the decision to move on, to become a professor and to once again pursue theatre, her life had become substantially happier.

Several weeks had passed since the beginning of the term and Florence had fallen into a comfortable schedule. She and Nick kept up a regular correspondence, and a letter from him had arrived just that morning; it was unthinkable to leave the letter unopened on her desk while she taught her classes. She had read it over twice before her first class. Florence didn’t want Nick to distract her from her work, but during the passing periods she imagined what she would write back to him. Something romantic? Simple? Funny? Dramatic? These were the thoughts that mulled around in her mind as the intermediate class began trickling in.

It was three minutes over, and while Florence was normally a very punctual woman, she was feeling merciful. She let two more minutes past, but at the five shut the door. Five minutes extra was more than enough for those who dared to come late to her class knowing the consequences—that is, detention. Today her ensemble consisted of comfortable forest green robes and a feathered cap on top of her short dark hair to match. It was conservative for her, but she tended to dress a little more conservatively these days. Maybe it had to do with her age.

“Good morning, class,” she said, the words rolling out of her mouth like silk. “I’m sure you’re wondering what those things are.” As a half-blood, Florence had come into contact with tools and contraptions from both the wizarding and muggle worlds. Half of the room looked like a batting cage would. There were three different stations with machines that spit out three different types of balls at chest level. It would be a fun lesson so long as no one got hurt.

“Yesterday we learned a spell that slowed down or stopped the movement of an object. Today we will put that knowledge to the test. You all will be using that spell to slow down or stop the movement of the balls that are thrown at you.” During the last class she had given a lecture on Aresto Momentum, the spell that slowed or stopped the movement of an object. Today they would be using that spell to defend themselves. The balls wouldn’t be coming too hard at them. At the worst, the softball might leave a bruise if the fifth-years weren’t fast enough, but Florence was confident in their abilities; they should be, after all, competent and comfortable enough with their wand and spellwork as the oldest group of the class.

Florence gestured to the netted side of the room. “There are three separate stations. Third years, please step in front of the net with the larger machine. Fourth years, in front of this netted area, and fifth years, please stand in front of this one. In a straight line, please.” Once everyone had lined themselves up behind their respective stations, Florence walked over to stand next to the line of fifth-years. “One by one, please take your turn in the cage. Once you are inside, a ball will be shot at you. A beach ball will be thrown at the third-years, a Quaffle for the fourth-years, and a softball for the fifth-years. Your job is to use the spell to slow down or stop the movement of the ball. I will demonstrate.” Florence stepped into the fifth-years’ cage and faced the machine; it sat about one hundred feet away. She had to wait three seconds before a ball spit out at her. “Aresto Momentum!” The force of the spell caused the ball to stop in midair and drop to the ground; Florence’s reflexes weren’t as quick as they once had been, but the softball still had only made it halfway.

She picked up the softball and tossed it into the basket on top of the machine. “When you finish with the ball, put it into the basket that sits on top of the machine. It automatically takes the balls from there.” Florence stepped out of the cage. Her practical lessons were always pushing on the extreme to test her students: she had once made the advanced class walk through fire for the Flame-Freezing Charm. A machine spitting balls at the students was really only indicative of Florence’s way of teaching. It was a side that showed only in her intermediate and advanced classes. “If you feel confident to take on a smaller ball, move to the next line. Please don’t overestimate your ability. I’d hate for anyone to get hurt.” With that, Florence clapped her hands. “The first person, please step into the cage and begin.” She would keep an eye on them, correcting their form or encouraging them.

OOC: As per usual, 200 words minimum. Creative, realistic posts are worth more points. No one should break a bone if a Quaffle or softball hits them as the balls are not going that fast to begin with, but bruises are okay if they miss. If Florence is needed, tag Professor Olivers in the tagline. Remember to please include your house with your name!

Subthreads:

That sounds like a great idea. by Julian Umland, Teppenpaw with Charlie B-F-R

Works for me. by Isaac Douglas, Crotalus

Is this what they call an anxiety attack? by Charlotte Spencer with Serena Brockert, Teppenpaw

Go on. by Leo Princeton, Crotalus with Emrys Lucan, Aladren, Leo Princeton

Bruise #1 for the day. by Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus with Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren, Ginny

Ugh. by Portia Dobson, Teppenpaw with Theodore Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

If I don't mind, it doesn't matter? by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari

0 Professor Olivers Let's Slow Things Down [III, IV, V years] 0 Professor Olivers 1 5

Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

August 26, 2014 1:05 PM

That sounds like a great idea. by Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

As Charms class began, Julian was not sure whether she should add ‘mind reading’ to a list she had never bothered to make of Stuff Professor Olivers Couldn’t Do or if she should track her brother down after class and smack him upside the head for not keeping his habit of finding entertainment in being overly literal to himself. The conflict arose because she was not, as Professor Olivers said she was sure they were, wondering what the things taking up half the classroom were – baseball was not a major sport in Calgary, they hadn’t had a professional team in years, but she’d had enough exposure to it growing up there to get the basic idea. Instead, she was wondering why they were there, even though she thought, remembering the spell they had learned last class, she had a pretty good idea. She wanted said idea to be wrong, because she hadn’t practiced the night before.

She’d meant to. Sort of. Maybe. It just…hadn’t happened. She had gotten busy with her increasing number of official duties, which had somehow derailed into John daring her to read aloud, in the library, parts of the Canterbury Tales that Mom had most definitely not assigned either of them this year, that had taken a while, and then she had done some reading for another class, and then…well, she wasn’t exactly sure where the time had gone, just that it had, and she hadn’t gotten around to practicing that charm, even though her performance in class had been hit or miss.

Now, it looked like her failure at one of the central parts of being a Good Student might shortly make that phrase far more suited to the situation than might be good for her. A cream could take away a bruise in a moment, but that didn’t make getting one any more pleasant.

Professor Olivers confirmed the nature of the exercise, and Julian wondered if she could possibly get out of it by playing Good Prefect: hanging around the third years, helping out, and hoping no one noticed she had failed to confront flying softballs. She suspected the answer was ‘no.’ Professor Olivers was probably a little too on the ball – goodness, was every common expression in the world going to trip her up today? – to let her get away with that. She was just going to have to hope for the best, look on the bright side (she would have been even more likely to end up briefly missing a tooth if they’d done this with bats; there was a reason she had always thrown the ball at her brothers and not the other way ‘round at home) and chalk the actual results up to a learning experience – or something like that. She already knew she was supposed to do her homework properly, after all, so maybe it would be more like…negative reinforcement? She thought that was the right word.

“This is not going to be fun,” she remarked to another student. Complaining was, she knew, a pointless thing to do, but sometimes it sure could make one feel better.

16 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw That sounds like a great idea. 254 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw 0 5

Isaac Douglas, Crotalus

August 27, 2014 8:17 PM

Works for me. by Isaac Douglas, Crotalus

From some perspectives, the pervious school year had been a horrible nightmare, but in the long run (admittedly, only after a few fits from the women of the family; their mother had been really relieved to see him and Alicia when she did, and Alicia’s reaction to the jasmine tea their sister Rachel had made her when they first got home in the winter had been…excessive), Isaac thought his family was going to remember it as relatively profitable. Alicia had not only made up for her failure to become prefect, but had surpassed both of her sisters by using her success to catch a husband, and Rachel had enjoyed some professional successes Isaac didn’t exactly understand but which had pleased Momma, anyway. They were doing the things they were supposed to do, making her proud. Joy and happiness abounded.

For Momma, anyway. Not so much for Isaac. He had spent his whole summer with a parade of dull tutors who were supposed to not only help make up what he might or might not have lost when his teachers were gone, but to make sure he could get through third year without showing any effort, too. It had almost been a relief to get back to school. Here, no one noticed or cared if he showed effort or not so long as his grades were not abysmal, which was how he preferred it.

The interior of the Charms room had broken with reality again, which he was not as crazy about, accommodating three large structures he didn’t recognize and stared at in bewilderment as he entered the room. The lesson didn’t explain what they were, exactly, but did explain that they were for throwing things at them. Fabulous. At least, as a third year, he was in the group getting the ones least likely to leave bruises, by the looks of it.

He still decided to hang around further back in the line, so he could practice the incantation a few times before he had to try it for real. Once he got there, something flying toward his face still startled him, but he remembered what he was doing in time to raise his wand and say “Aresto momentum!” and stop it, so the big, light ball fell at his feet instead of hitting him.

He glanced at it and wondered if he could get back in the back of the line and try it again. No reason why not, he guessed. He hadn’t seen the point as much in the previous class, but now, it seemed like a useful spell to know. It seemed a bit safer than moving over to the next line just now, anyway (none of the options, except maybe the fifth year one, seemed likely to even knock a tooth out, but Isaac was not a masochist. He despised all forms of pain and avoided them at all costs), so he shrugged and walked to the back, assuming no one would even notice this, much less comment on it.

16 Isaac Douglas, Crotalus Works for me. 273 Isaac Douglas, Crotalus 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

August 28, 2014 8:49 AM

My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity.... by Charlie B-F-R

The first thing that Charlie noticed when he walked into the Charms classroom was that Professor Olivers was wearing a very dashing hat. He admired the woman's bold use of head-gear. Not enough people these days wore hats, much less indoors and with no discernible reason, such as a wedding. He wondered whether this would mean Professor Olivers would approve of his own hat making an appearance... Such things trod the fine line between accessorising and breaking with the dress code, but Charlie was one for pushing boundaries, at least when it came to sartorial matters. He thought he had so far shown the utmost restraint when it came to the lumpy, shapeless and frequently not of this season's palette school robes. If it was up to him they would have been charmed magenta, had some fringing added and, above all, been taken to the tailor! He had made minor adjustments every year. This time, it was in the form of rolling his sleeves up to reveal a set of kitschy plastic bangles up one arm, and substituted the usual belt for something of his own design which had a little more bling. Perhaps his current hat wouldn't really go with this look but maybe if he got a new one... The hat changed fairly regularly but he always made sure to have at least one, and it was always adorned by the fabulous augurey feather he'd acquired in Care of Magical Creatures. He was contemplating what type of feather Professor Olivers had used in her hat, and how he would classify the hat type overall, when she began class, telling him he must have been wondering what those things were.

He blinked in surprise. Whilst Professor Olivers was usually fairly fabulous it was unusual of her to give them a run down of what she was wearing, much less to mind read his specific questions about it. It quickly became apparent though that she was referring to the equipment with which she had filled the Charms room. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed it. It had registered on his peripheral vision as he entered – it was impossible for it not to. However, until that point, he simply hadn't cared. On his list of things to be curious about, big nets definitely ranked below millinery matters.

From the very positive hat-based start, the lesson rapidly went downhill. It wasn't that Charlie hadn't got the spell yesterday. He'd been pretty good at it, in fact. But that didn't really mean he was keen to have that tested with balls flying at his face. In fact, he thought, having mastered it pretty well the previous class really meant he was done with it, and quite ready to move onto the next thing. Preferably something in an embroidering charm, or trimming spell.

As slowly as was possibly without demonstrating perceivable cowardice, he made his way up to the line. He knew of various Muggle sports, and had been actively excluded from them by other children at elementary school. He thought he'd even heard of soft ball but beyond the fact that there were balls which were presumably soft he didn't think he could say much about it. He flinched as the ball flew out at Professor Olivers, watching as she froze it neatly. It looked like it had been going rather fast and like the name was not particularly accurate.

“I know,” he hissed under his breath when Julian, who also seemed to favour the end of the line, complained about the class. “Why do people think sport is fun? It isn't. And those soft balls look pretty hard and vicious to me.”

13 Charlie B-F-R My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity.... 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Julian Umland

August 28, 2014 2:09 PM

Doctor's orders versus teacher's, hard decision. by Julian Umland

“They’re not soft at all,” confirmed Julian when Charlie observed that softballs didn’t look very soft. “Trust me. My mom made that mistake once – “ sport was really not Alison Umland’s thing, either; she could hold her own in a very casual game of tennis, but all she’d known about softball when she decided it might be a good thing for the boys to play in the yard was the name – “and I nearly lost a tooth.”

She pressed her tongue to the back of that tooth, but it was still sound. The wonders of magic. Apparently, after Stephen was born, Mom had spent every spare moment for weeks immersed in books of home remedies and patch-up spells; at the time, people had thought she was approaching a mania on the subject and that she needed nerve pills, but it had proven handy when she’d abruptly gone from two kids to five kids a few years later. Now, they all had all of their teeth and extremities and most of their wits, which Julian didn’t think was a job Mom should be ashamed of at all. She wasn’t sure she’d have done as well in Mom’s position.

Sometimes, she wondered if she should put herself in something like it someday. Like maybe she owed it to – someone, something, she didn’t know – somehow to do what had been done for her and her brothers. Sallie showing up had started it, thinking about the sort of life she might have had otherwise; she didn’t know exactly what the social status of pureblood bastards usually was, but if her biological mother had acknowledged her and her biological father failed to do so, she doubted life would have been very good for them at all, and suspected it would have been less than happy even if Richard had claimed and provided financially for her while he was still alive. Julian had never really thought being the protagonist of a fairy tale sounded that great anyway (those girls had too much of a tendency to end up at least temporarily dead) and a disinterested, philandering father and resentful, childless stepmother seemed like a good set-up for a new version of Snow White.

Well, if she ended up with a bunch of money instead of a Prince Charming out of the business, maybe she’d throw some of it at the problems she had with the world instead of interfering directly herself, or try to strike a balance between the two, or…something. Luckily, it would be years before she could do anything about anything; until then, she was happy to let Mom be in charge of everything, even when she didn’t really totally agree with her. She had more pressing problems, like flying sports equipment.

“I think the difference is that softballs are just bigger than baseballs,” she added. “I think that’s what we figured out after a while. Sports are fun for some people, I guess, but…not us,” she concluded, twisting her hair around her finger. She had started wearing it down more, though she didn’t really remember when she had started. It looked, she thought, better that way than pulled into the more practical ponytail, though she still went for that hairstyle in the classes where her hair was more likely to get singed off or prove a crucial distraction to her. Now, she thought she would be okay to just push it back over her shoulders to keep it out of the way for the moment she’d need to try the spell out. “I had fun playing with my brothers, sometimes, when we were little, but make-believe was more fun than stuff like this, and it only worked at all because it was just us.” She let go over her hair and put it back over her shoulders. “Though really, I was just complaining about this because I didn’t practice last night,” she admitted. “You don’t faint at the sight of missing teeth, do you?” she joked. When it wasn’t the excitement of a game, even just one with her brothers, interfering with reasonable thinking, she thought she would have the sense and skill to duck – well, at least fall in the right direction – if all else failed, so her teeth were probably safe today.

16 Julian Umland Doctor's orders versus teacher's, hard decision. 254 Julian Umland 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

August 28, 2014 3:41 PM

Is this what they call an anxiety attack? by Charlotte Spencer

Charms had always been Charlotte's preferred course next to Transfiguration. The two, in her mind, went hand-in-hand. The two professors were her favourite as well. Professor Olivers had the most interesting fashion choices that somehow worked together, not to mention her classes were some of the most interesting, and Professor Skies was a lovely professor who taught her subject well. In either case, Charlotte was looking forward to today's class. Charms was simple enough and she caught on fairly quickly.

There was some strange netting on the other side of the classroom, but she paid no attention to it. Perhaps there was some exercise involving throwing things at the nets. The charm they had learnt last class had been useful enough, but not exactly the sort of spell Charlotte could see herself using often.

Professor Olivers began class and as soon as she revealed what today's lesson was going to be, Charlotte's mouth went dry. They were going to have balls thrown at them by some sort of machine? Charlotte's chest was tightening up and her head was spinning as she floated to her line. They weren't simply going to have balls thrown at them, but Quaffles. There ought to be some sort of merciful being to just allow Charlotte to faint and escape class.

Nothing of the sort happened, however, and Charlotte continued to move forward in line as soon as the activity began. What sort of terrible professor would subject their students to this torture? She could feel her heart racing in her chest; her hands were shaking and her face sported a deathly pallor the closer she moved to the net. "I'm going to die," she squeaked. "How could Professor Olivers do this to us?" Charlotte wanted Adam to get her out of this situation, to talk some sense into their mad professor, but it was almost too late. Her line was moving much too quickly for her comfort. She wanted to ask the person behind her to go ahead of her, but her intense shyness prevented her from doing so. This, all in all, was the sort of situation Charlotte had always wanted to avoid. Not only was she going to be hit by a Quaffle, she was going to be hit by a Quaffle in front of all her classmates.

It was her turn next and Charlotte's hands were shaking so terribly she could hardly hold her wand properly. She stepped into the net, feeling so incredibly woozy she wondered if she would faint. She had never fainted before, however, and it didn't seem as though her body would cooperate with her now either. In a split second, Charlotte watched the machine spit out a Quaffle right at her and her mind went blank. All she could think was to protect herself. Her reaction, therefore, was to duck as soon as possible and cover her head. She did so, nearly throwing herself to the side and crouching down with her hands over her head, and heard the Quaffle hit the back of the netting. She was still alive.

As the adrenaline continued to race in her system, the result of her actions sparked sudden embarrassment. She had just dodged a Quaffle in front of her classmates instead of facing it head-on. Charlotte's pallor changed as the blood went roaring into her face, turning her cheeks an unbearable shade of red. She bowed her head and made her way quickly to the back of the line, wanting to cry. Now everyone would know she was a coward. This was torture at its best for someone like her. Charlotte couldn't even use a proper spell to defend herself and she was a blooming fourth year. What an embarrassment. Her blonde hair created a slightly open curtain around her face as she stared at the floor, enough to hide her red cheeks.

40 Charlotte Spencer Is this what they call an anxiety attack? 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

August 28, 2014 3:43 PM

OOC: Crotalus by Charlotte Spencer

Forgot to add the house, sorry.

40 Charlotte Spencer OOC: Crotalus 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

August 31, 2014 4:27 AM

...where balls fly at my nose by Charlie B-F-R

“So then they hurt more of you,” Charlie commented, when Julian explained what a so-called soft ball was, “Why would anyone invent that, let alone call it that? I mean, really, what's the point? That's not even a new sport, if you just change the size of the ball.”

When Julian asked if he fainted at the sight of missing teeth, he made a noise that was mostly comprised of vowel sounds, accompanied by a shudder.

“It's never been put to the test and I rather hope it shan't be today. I can't say I feel entirely well at the mere thought of it.” The line edged forward and he reluctantly shuffled along with it.

“My face... my poor beautiful face..” he muttered, as he watched his classmate's varying attempts at tackling the giant and violent baseballs.

“Although maybe if I do faint, I won't have to do it myself...” he pondered. Not that he hoped anyone's teeth did get knocked out – the thought of it did make him feel quite woozy, let alone what it would feel like for the poor victim. He tried to stop picturing bloodied mouths, or gaping holes in the fronts of people's faces but now that Julian had put that idea into his head, it was all he could think about.

“Talk about something else,” he requested, “Distract me, please.”

13 Charlie B-F-R ...where balls fly at my nose 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Leo Princeton, Crotalus

September 01, 2014 3:51 PM

Go on. by Leo Princeton, Crotalus

She had to be joking. Professor Olivers had always been one of the stricter professors at Sonora in Leo’s experience. He had learnt quickly to arrive on time to all of his classes in order to avoid detention and, as a result, a lecture from his parents, but Olivers had some sort of mad obsession with time and wore the strangest outfits. Leo personally thought she had gone legitimately mad during her time as an actress. Perhaps performing as one of the witches in Macbeth had gone to her head and she’d never gotten past it.

Yes, Leo had seen Macbeth. It had been one of the more interesting plays his mother had forced him to attend over the summer as a cultural lesson, a lesson that Leo didn’t mind nearly as much as he’d thought he would. Overall his summer had been more than pleasant. A good part had been spent in Italy where he’d met his future sister-in-law’s family and attended a wedding. Not her wedding, of course. Weddings were normally a ridiculously dull affair, but he had actually enjoyed it. The key was to place Leo in a setting where the dominant language was not English and he would thrive. The Renaldis had pleasantly surprised him. He almost envied his oldest brother for the witch he was betrothed to marry. Leo’s goal was to marry a very wealthy heiress and live off of her wealth for the rest of his, or her, life. There was no question he would inherit a substantial fortune from his own family, but attracting a wealthier witch who didn't mind paying all of his expenses would secure him. Leo certainly had the looks to attract such a woman.

That is, if he could keep from getting maimed at Sonora. The last time Leo had been faced with a Quaffle his mouth had been the most unwilling recipient of its disgusting leather exterior. It was a bloody experience he would never forget, the experience that had chased Leo off the Quidditch pitch for the time being if not for good. And now here Professor Olivers was trying to re-enact that traumatising event. As if it hadn’t scarred him enough. Though it wasn’t visible, Leo imagined he could feel the scar that Quaffle and idiot Browning had left. He’d gotten his revenge on Browning last year and he was glad that was over with. Holding a grudge could be quite a burden to carry.

Leo listened to Professor Olivers drone on. The charm Professor Olivers had taught them last class was one he had decided to practise for his own benefit. It would be helpful in case he was falling or if someone threw an object at his face again. When Leo actually wanted to learn something, he picked it up rather quickly. It was lucky he had decided to practise this particular spell beforehand. Mad Olivers was certainly going to be the death of them all if she kept this up.

Once she had dismissed them, Leo took his place in line, trying to stay towards the end of it. "This seems a bit over-the-top, don't you think?" he whispered to his neighbour.

0 Leo Princeton, Crotalus Go on. 0 Leo Princeton, Crotalus 0 5

Julian Umland

September 01, 2014 8:28 PM

Would a helmet help? by Julian Umland

“It might make it a little easier to hit,” suggested Julian. “A bigger target, you know?” Not enough bigger to significantly improve Julian’s own success rate with hitting it, but while she wasn’t as clumsy as she had been when she was younger, she doubted she would have made much of an athlete even if she’d been trained since birth, and hitting small objects with a stick of wood was not one of the life skills her mom had thought of as valuable enough to push on her once it became obvious she did not have much of a natural talent for it. Pity Mom didn’t feel the same way about Latin, really….

“Sports do love their blood and guts, though,” she conceded, since they did. She remembered that a friend of Mom’s had once, in a long discussion with Mom and Paul, probably about the latter’s school reading at the time, used sport teams as an example of a theory about the basic, pre-civilized character of mankind. Julian had been on pouring duty that day, so most of her attention had been on either the level of everyone’s cups or not dropping the teapot, but she thought they had started out talking about the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries before sports, Plato, the Pope, and Parliament had all gotten dragged into it, too. It had actually been sort of interesting, even though Julian hadn’t read most of the books they were talking about yet and suspected the conversation had been a lot more interesting than the background reading for it was going to be next year.

She tried hard not to smile at Charlie’s anxiety about his face. “Er – how’s your sister doing?” she asked when he asked for a distraction. She hadn’t known Henny well, but she had liked her in book club. She hoped she had landed on her feet in the outside world, if university, where she was sure Henny would go eventually, really counted as the outside world. From what she’d seen with her older brothers, they did have more options, but it was still school, so she wasn’t sure if it really counted as that separate from what they were doing now or not.

The line shuffled forward and at last, there was no more ducking it. In a manner of speaking. “Well, here goes,” she said, smiling cheerily, and took out her wand.

Okay. Okay. Watch the ball. Or where it’s going to come out, then the ball. The opening’s right there, so just point the wand there, and –

“Aresto momentum!” exclaimed Julian, and then repeated it when the ball just seemed to slow a little instead of stopping. She flinched, but before she could say it again, the ball dropped to the floor, bouncing at her feet.

“See? Piece of cake,” she remarked to Charlie, then stepped a little to the side to wait for him to finish his attempt. “Just watch where it’s going to come out, point at that part, the opening –“

16 Julian Umland Would a helmet help? 254 Julian Umland 0 5

Serena Brockert, Teppenpaw

September 03, 2014 1:24 AM

I believe so. by Serena Brockert, Teppenpaw

Serena was kind of excited for classes this year. This year was the only year that she and Gemma would be in the same ones and she hoped to get to work with the older Teppenpaw this term. Plus, Oliver Ferguson wasn't going to be in them and when it came to Transfiguration, that was a huge relief. That was actually one class she wasn't looking forward to no matter who else was there. She felt horribly inadequate. Serena still wasn't getting it on the first try and she was sure there was something terribly wrong with her. How could she possibly be ready for the next level in that?

She did not, however, feel that way about any other class, even though she was really not that fond of DADA. Honestly, that...was actually another class that Serena wasn't looking forward to. Scarier, darker things and classmates-some of whom were older and knew more about magic than she did-throwing hexes at her? Somehow that didn't really appeal much to the third year. In fact, she was rather worried that she was going to make a fool of herself in both classes.

Charms, however, had never presented her with too many problems.It was probably Serena's favorite class, actually. There was less pressure and nothing really scary. Well, she supposed Professor Olivers could be scary if she was mad at you, but that never really happened to the Teppenpaw. She just wasn't inclined to make trouble at all. Besides, even though the Charms instructor was strict, Serena liked her. The fact that she'd once been an actress was really cool. The third year would never want to be one herself, she wasn't crazy about performing in front of others, but she loved going to the theater and now that she was thirteen, she was allowed to go more often when she was home.

The professor always had really interesting clothing too. Exotic and unique, Serena supposed there was less pressure on Professor Olivers to dress a certain way than there would be on herself. She wasn't a member of proper society and she'd been an actress, which meant that a certain amount of eccentricity was to be expected.

It was, however, a little unsettling when the usually punctuation crazy professor was late and then still didn't shut the door and start class. Nor was she dressed as flamboyantly as usual, though she had on a feathered hat that Serena would have never had the nerve to wear. The Teppenpaw really didn't want to stand out and risk ridicule or embarass her family any more than she already did in Transfiguration.

However, the differences in Professor Olivers' clothing and mannerisms-she probably just had something else on her mind anyway-were not nearly as disturbing as what she said the lesson was going to be. Balls flying at them that they were supposed to stop? Serena couldn't really prevent anxiety from building in her stomach. She hadn't had any problems with the spell, but that was without things speeding towards her.

She felt slightly relieved when she saw the beach ball. It was not only bigger which was likely why it was chosen for the third years who generally had easier activities going by what her older cousins and sister had said, but it didn't look as....painful to get hit with if she wasn't successful with the spell. Serena didn't know what a softball was, but when she glanced over at it, it...didn't look very soft at all. She was really glad to be a third year. Quaffles weren't something she wanted to be hit with either. Not that she really wanted to be hit with anything .

Serena, not one to ever rush into anything, found herself towards the back of the line. When it was her turn, she raised her wand. "Aresto Momentum" The ball slowed and paused, before returning to its full speed, which was still not very fast. The Teppenpaw was about to go and catch it when she spotted Charlotte. The older girl seemed...more than just upset. She didn't really look well at all. Serena abandoned the beach ball and walked over to her. "Are you okay?" The Teppenpaw asked.

11 Serena Brockert, Teppenpaw I believe so. 272 Serena Brockert, Teppenpaw 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

September 04, 2014 2:54 PM

Thank you for confirming that. by Charlotte Spencer

Charlotte was stewing in her mortification. Her cheeks were scarlet and she didn't know what to do. Had Adam seen her make a spectacle of herself? She could imagine what Mum would say: she would tell her she'd made a fool of herself, that she should have known to defend herself. If she couldn't defend herself from a ball in a Charms lesson, how was she to defend herself in the real world? Adam would tell her to buck up, that he would protect her, but Charlotte didn't dwell on what he would say. He was too good to her when Charlotte was clearly inadequate as a witch.

A voice penetrated through her veil of hair and she looked through, her blue eyes brimming with tears. It was a younger witch asking if she were OK. How embarrassing. "I'm...I will be all right," said Charlotte ducking her head to dab her eyes with the handkerchief she had in her pocket. "I'm just a bit embarrassed, that's all. Thank you for your concern." She wondered if Serena had seen her little episode. If so, she was surprised that the witch was talking to her.

Conversation had never been Charlotte's strong suit and she was trying to overcome her mortification. It caught her tongue and wouldn't let it go, not to mention every word she could think of sounded ridiculous in her head. It might be ridiculous letting this sort of situation get to her, but no matter how much Charlotte tried to convince herself it didn't matter, her cheeks were still red and she still felt embarrassed. The only thing that would make her feel better was seeing someone else getting hit with a ball, but that was a terrible thing to wish on someone.

"M-my cheeks just won't cool down," said Charlotte, trying to be at least a little social and self-deprecating at the same time. Her tears were waiting just behind her eyes. After class she would have to make a quick trip to the toilet and let herself cry. But until then she would have to keep herself under control. Charlotte pressed her trembling hands against her cheeks, but her hands were warm and made no difference to her flaming cheeks.

40 Charlotte Spencer Thank you for confirming that. 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus

September 04, 2014 10:06 PM

Bruise #1 for the day. by Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus

Virginia usually enjoyed Charms class. Of all the lessons that dealt with her wand, this was by far the easiest for her. But these last couple of years had her questioning the professor’s way of teaching. Every class she feared some game that they would play that would end up with her being embarrassed over something. Most of the professors seemed to have a day like this in their lessons, but Professor Olivers seemed to have endless amounts of it. Ginny guessed it was because of her background. She had heard that the Charms professor had a background in drama of some sort. Ginny wasn’t judging her for her background, of course. As a Dancer, she respected all forms of art, she only wished that the lessons the Professor was providing were less invasive to her well-being.

Walking into the classroom and seeing how it was set up, she knew it was going to be one of those lessons. Ginny gave an internal sigh. This would end poorly for someone and she really hoped that someone did not end up being her. Now that she was a Prefect (still something that she was not accustom too nor did she feel she had earned like as the others had), Virginia felt a whole lot of pressure on herself to be absolutely perfect around her peers. She was worried that if she flubbed up anything, they would all believe that the badge did not belong to her and that she was a fake. She wanted to belong with her friends and just by chance she was able to do this with them, she didn’t want to lose her opportunity to be with her friends. She knew that she had joked with Adam about how if she never came back he and Francesca would fall madly in love, but the truth was that she was terrified of that exact thing happening. She would forever be a third wheel and forgotten if they started dating. It was selfish of her to want them both to herself, but that was how she felt. They were her first friends after a life of having no one but the staff of the house she was raised in; she didn’t want that to disappear.

While the professor spoke and explained what they were doing, Ginny looked over the three stations carefully. She had thankfully done the homework and had a pretty good handle on the spell, but she wasn’t so sure she could handle anything sportsman like. There were reasons why she had never joined up in Quidditch (more so than just her parents not wanting her to do it in the first place). As athletic as she was as a dancer, it did not translate well into sports. She hoped she wouldn’t have to be doing anything too extraneous. By the end of the lecture though, Ginny had an idea of what she was doing, she just wasn’t sure if her wand skill was good enough to handle a flying ball (she doubted that it was soft considering they were fifth years and the fourth years had a quaffle…she had no idea what anyone was playing at for calling it such a thing).

She watched others step into the cage and attempt the spell. Some were successful, others were not. Her anxiety grew the closer she was to the cage. She really didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of everyone, especially because she was a Prefect. She really didn’t! Ginny took a deep breath and tried to steady her hands as she stepped into the cage. Even before she had her wand up, the ball was coming quickly towards her. She only managed to shout the spell before turning her face away and bracing herself for the impact. The ball hit her in the shoulder, hard enough for a bruise, but not as hard as it should have. She had at least slowed it down a bit that was something. The ball had just come too quickly for her instincts to react fast enough to stop it. She hadn’t been properly prepared and now her shoulder ached. Rubbing it, Ginny made her way back to the line, trying not to look anyone in the eye and hoped others would do equally as terrible as she did so that she wasn’t the stand alone in failure. “I really hate physical lessons. They never end well for me.” Ginny mumbled to the person nearest to her.

6 Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus Bruise #1 for the day. 0 Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus 0 5

Emrys Lucan, Aladren

September 06, 2014 6:46 PM

What will your verse be? by Emrys Lucan, Aladren

"This seems a bit over-the-top, don't you think?" the boy next to him in line whispered.

Emrys hadn’t really been paying attention to who was around him or really what was going on at all. His mother had written to him earlier that day, saying that Grandfather was really ill and that this winter would probably be the last time Emrys would be able to see him. It was discomforting to the newly turned fifteen year-old, the idea of the family patriarch weak and bed-ridden. Myrddin Lucan had always been a ferocious man, his domineering personality making it so that it seemed as though he had no weaknesses and while Emrys hadn’t always been partial to the man who would one day choose his future wife he also had consistently wished for his approval and the idea that he would soon no longer be around (making his father the new head of the family) was rather disconcerting.

“Hmm?” Emrys asked as he looked around, realizing that he had unconsciously formed a line with the rest of the students. “What exactly is it that we’re doing?”

There were strange machines- three of them to be exact, one in front of each line that was formed. Lines that seemed to have formed according to year. By luck it seemed he had ended up with the rest of his fellow fourth years in the middle line and he craned his neck to see what was going on just in time to notice that it was Charlotte’s turn. A Quaffle shot forward, causing her to duck rather than cast a spell like the front-runners of the other two lines seemed to be doing and he winced, worried for his friend. He wanted to go forward and leave his place in the line to make sure she’d be okay, but a third year student, the Brockert girl, got there first and besides it would have been rude to leave the conversation he was having at present. He’d just ask after her later after class.

Emrys turned his attention back to Leo. While they had been in class together for three years and a bit he still didn’t remember having a substantial conversation with his classmate.

“Perhaps,” he said in reply to Leo’s first question. “It seems like we should have at least reviewed the charm a few times before without the things flying towards us.”

To be honest, Emrys didn’t really care either way as they had already learned the charm in the previous class but he didn’t really have the energy to have a debate and so it seemed best to just agree with whatever it was Leo was getting at and get the lesson over with, check in on Charlotte, and then practice his violin. Music always helped him to calm down when he was stressed or angry and this business with his grandfather was worrying him to no end.

10 Emrys Lucan, Aladren What will your verse be? 260 Emrys Lucan, Aladren 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

September 07, 2014 7:29 AM

First and last - think positive by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

Francesca was pondering the ball as she walked to Charms. It was hard to believe they had cycled through all the Midsummer events and back to this one already. In her first year, it had just been a bit of fun – a party to end a particularly good year on. Four years certainly made a lot of difference... She couldn't help but feel there might be dates this time and she wasn't really sure how she felt about that. Their group was one guy and two girls, which didn't really divide well into dates. She didn't want to be the one left on the sidelines but nor did she want to be part of the reason it happened to Ginny... She wondered about suggesting the three of them went as friends, to avoid having to cross that bridge way before they'd even come to it. But... was it what she wanted? It was sort of nice to think about having a date, even if she wasn't sure how she specifically felt about it being Adam. She'd never got any hassle for being a girl who played Quidditch but having an actual date would be the icing on the cake, point-proving-wise. Of course, she had no idea whether Adam would want to go with her like that. Maybe he wanted to take Ginny.... If she put the brakes on that by suggesting they all went as friends that was rather selfish. If she didn't want Adam in that way (which was still an 'if'... how did you know that kind of thing when you already liked someone plenty to begin with?), why should she mind if Ginny did, or if he saw her like that? It left her on her own, which wasn't nice, but it wasn't exactly fair on them either....

Her attention was distracted from this as she entered the Charms room, which was set out for some sporting activity (at least, she assumed so from the piles of balls – she had no idea what the things they were piled into were). Well, at least this class was off to a good start. She'd practised the spell diligently, as she always did, until she could do it with ease, and applying it in this kind of situation favoured her – it seemed like the kind of pressure she could handle.

She watched Ginny step up and manage pretty well, for someone who didn't have balls flung at them on a regular basis. She stepped up after her friend, wand at the ready. It would be embarrassing to fail at this she thought, and then tried to quell that because it really wasn't a helpful thing to think.

She kept her eye on the... mouth? Could a machine have a mouth? The ball-spitting part, anyway, beginning her incantation as soon as she saw the flash of colour appear in the tube.

“Arresto-momentum!” she cast, swishing her wand to a spot a few inches higher than where the ball would come out. She'd studied the arc they took as she waited for her turn. Her spell sizzled forward. The ball didn't stop dead as it should have done but it lost enough of its speed to start dropping and fall out of the air. She guessed she'd had a lot more to think about in terms of angle and timing than she had when practising. Still, she doubted she'd started any rumours that the Aladren Quidditch team would be a walk-over this year.

She rejoined the back of the line, where Ginny was bemoaning the way physical classes went for her.

“For someone who doesn't often do that kind of thing, you did ok,” she reassured her. “You kept your eye on the ball, managed to hit it and have some effect. Don't do yourself down.”

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren First and last - think positive 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren 0 5

Leo Princeton
September 08, 2014 4:20 PM

Leo Princeton
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by: Lily Spencer

Age in Post: 14

Something forthright, I think. by Leo Princeton
Over-the-top was an understatement. Leo watched his cousin take her turn, wondering how she'd managed to get herself to stand in front of everyone without fainting. He didn't know much about Charlotte, but the few times he had tried to talk with her and from observing her at family gatherings, he'd quickly realised how socially inept she was. It wasn't that she didn't know how to converse with others, she just seemed afraid of people. It was a little ridiculous, she being from such a large family. The Quaffle charged at her and his cousin failed to perform any sort of spell. In fact, she did quite the opposite of what any proper witch or wizard ought to do. She ducked.

"Merlin," said Leo, slightly amazed. "I hope Charlotte's all right." Leo might be a selfish child, but he certainly had some compassion when it came to injustice and an activity he disliked immensely. Despite the blow to his cousin's pride, the queue moved forward and Leo was forced to move forward with it. He turned to look at what others were doing and watched as another witch was hit with what Professor Olivers had called a softball. This lesson was going to end with someone going to the Hospital Wing, Leo was sure of it, and it would not be him.

"Yes, exactly," he replied to Lucan's comment. "Even so, anyone's reflexes might be slower when faced with a ball." He remembered the ugly Quidditch incident and how he had attempted to race out of the way only to inadvertently defend the hoops with his mouth. It was an image he was not going to easily forget.

The Midsummer ball came to mind then for no particular reason and Leo wondered whether or not Lucan had already asked his cousin. He had seen them together often and for Charlotte to be speaking to any wizard as a friend had to mean something more. Leo looked over at his cousin again, making sure she was too engulfed in her own emotions to hear them before turning to look at Lucan. "You're close with Charlotte, aren't you?" he asked. "Have you asked her to the ball?" It was true that he and Lucan had hardly exchanged two words to each other before this, but their mutual acquaintance in Charlotte made the question less awkward. After all, Charlotte was still his cousin even if they weren't particularly close.

It was Leo's turn before he could wait for Lucan's answer and the lad begrudgingly went into the net. "Here goes," he muttered before the Quaffle shot out towards him. Leo's arm moved quicker than his brain and he uttered the spell a little louder than he'd meant to. The ball slowed considerably, but didn't stop completely. It did, however, give Leo ample time to pluck it out of the air and throw it back to where it belonged. His heart was racing from the scare, and Leo made his way to the back of the queue. He was proud of himself for not asking Lucan to go on ahead of him and equally as proud for not embarrassing himself or showing too much skill in front of his peers.

When he was standing next to Lucan again, Leo raised his eyebrows at him. "So, have you asked her?" He hated sounding as though they were close mates, but Leo was genuinely curious. If Lucan turned out to be leading his cousin on, Leo would have a few words with Adam about what to do about him. So far, however, from what Leo could surmise from their interaction, Lucan had something more on his mind than Charlotte and he didn't seem like a duplicitous character. Then again, neither did Leo. Appearances, so Leo believed, could never fully be trusted.

40 Leo Princeton Something forthright, I think. 263 Leo Princeton 0 5

Emrys Lucan
September 09, 2014 2:40 AM

Emrys Lucan
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Mathilde Reinhardt

Age in Post: 14

Perhaps a little too forthright... by Emrys Lucan
Ducking, as Charlotte had done, was a perfectly acceptable reaction to something hurdling at you and one he thought many would do should such an occasion happen outside of Sonora, but he was sure it was embarrassing to do so in front of a classroom of peers when the assignment was decidedly not to duck but to rather use the spell taught in the previous class. Emrys nodded in agreement and then, after answering Leo’s question about the activity being over the top found himself still nodding along.

“There certainly is a reason why not everyone is on their house Quidditch teams,” he found himself saying after Leo’s bit about varying reflexes. It was really more something for him to say until they got to the front of the line- he would have felt awkward to leave the conversation hanging until something else stopped it such as Leo’s turn or the end of the period. He had practiced the charm in the common room the previous night with Ava and did not think that it was a huge deal as the whole thing was a practical demonstration but he could see the other boy’s point. As they were just learning the spell and in a classroom, it did make sense to build up to things. However, he also realized that when in Real Life, things could come flying at you with different speeds and of different sizes and shapes so getting practical lessons (at least in this case where there was a Hospital Wing and a teacher to monitor the activities) seemed a good idea.

In the next few moments, though, Emrys came to regret his continuation of the conversation.

"You're close with Charlotte, aren't you?" Leo looked at him. "Have you asked her to the ball?"

Emrys blinked twice. The question came out of the blue, and while he knew that Leo was Charlotte’s cousin- a fact he would have had to be oblivious to the life of his best friend to not know, he still felt weird answering such a personal question from such a complete stranger. “Um,” he replied, unsure of how to answer the question. He liked Charlotte immensely- he definitely counted her as one of his close friends, if not closest friend, but he had never really fully entertained the idea of being with her as anything more than friends. More due to his unwillingness to explore any feeling that hinted towards anything more. Luckily, Leo reached the front of the lline before Emrys could muster up a coherent sentence and his classmate turned to perform the spell.

Leo was able to slow the Quaffle down, grabbed it out of the air and tossed it back to the spitting machine and the next thing Emrys knew it was his turn again. Having practiced the spell the night before with Ava (they had taken turns throwing one of Ava’s balled up sweaters at each other) he felt fully confident in his abilities to stop the Quaffle. The Quaffle ended up stoping closer to him than he would have liked, however, due to the flustered state Leo’s question had left him in and so he made the decision to back into the Quaffle line though it meant standing next to Leo again and most likely finishing their conversation about Charlotte. He picked up the ball and took his time depositing it in the bin on the other side of the room, but to his luck he was still next to Leo by the time he got back to the line. Perhaps Leo forgot what they were talking about. It was all he could do to hope.

"So, have you asked her?” Leo raised his eyebrows and Emrys internally groaned- any hope of his classmate having forgotten the topic of their discussion as now gone.

"Not yet," he replied, trying to best reply without offending the other boy. He probably should have left it at that but there was too much on his mind to enter into any sort of discussion regarding Charlotte's honor (which, as far as he knew, was still intact) and so despite his best efforts to avoid digging himself into a hole the words just kept pouring out of his mouth. "Not without Adam's permission, of course. Or yours. Not that I think Charlotte needs permission to go. Nor that she doesn't. That is to say, she is her own person capable of making her own decision so if she so desired to go with me then I would be happy to ask her. But I would ask her because I wanted to, not because she did. Er- I mean... If she didn't want to go me then I wouldn't force her, but if she did then great? Not that I'm saying I'm her only option because I'm sure she has many, probably a lot of boys want to ask her. Not that she's a flirt, which she isn't, but..."

He was certain his cheeks were on fire by now. "I'm just going to stop talking," he finally ended. His grandfather would have been ashamed with the way he was acting in front of another student, especially a fellow Pureblood. This thought alone made him rather downcast. The idea that soon Grandfather wouldn't be around to disapprove of his social mannerisms was weird. It was oddly freeing yet at the same time quite unnerving seeing as he knew his father lacked the charisma needed to keep their family in line. It would probably fall on the shoulders of his mother to keep them prominent and the succession within the immediate family. He knew that Grandfather absolutely did not want it going towards Wesley's line (as far as he was concerned though Wesley knew how to handle society better than Emrys, he was the child of divorced parents and therefore not eligible to be in line) nor to any second or third cousins. Emrys frowned- he would miss his grandfather's odd ways.

Something though about the way Leo had glanced at Charlotte before turning back to Emrys to ask the foreboding question of whether or not he was planning on asking her to the ball made him curious. He didn't think Charlotte put Leo up to the task, but he wasn't sure if perhaps she had been dropping hints or if someone else had implied that he had already asked her. Emery and Ava both had thought he and Charlotte would be going together and it was beginning to seem like a common theme. He sneaked a glance towards Charlotte hoping to high heaven that she hadn't heard his shameful ramble- it seemed they were both making fools of themselves in class that day (not that he thought Charlotte had behaved in a silly manner, it was just that- and there he went, rambling again). "Why do you ask?" He replied, desperate to get Leo to start answering some questions.

10 Emrys Lucan Perhaps a little too forthright... 260 Emrys Lucan 0 5

Serena
September 09, 2014 10:06 AM

Serena
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 13

Somehow "You're welcome" doesn't seem appropriate. by Serena
Serena nodded sympathetically. She knew what it was like to be embarrassed, she felt that way in every Transfiguration lesson, hoping she wouldn't be compared unfavorably to her relatives. She'd gotten an E but that might have been because she tried so hard on theory to make up for it. The Teppenpaw didn't feel at all up to her family's standards in the subject and it had been hard to watch Duncan, Tristan and last year, Chaslyn doing it with a lot more ease.

"It's all right." Serena assured Charlotte in a quiet but friendly tone. "I mean, I don't like this lesson much either. If I'd had to catch a Quaffle-or one of those so-called softballs that the fifth years have-I wouldn't have done well at all." She might not have had the reaction that the older girl had but she probably would have ducked it. "There are reasons other than propriety that I don't play Quidditch" She smiled, hoping to cheer Charlotte up a little and lighten the mood. Plus, if you identified with someone they wouldn't feel like the only one. Serena hated to feel that way.

She noticed that the Crotalus looked like she was going to cry and she felt bad. She didn't want anyone to cry and she'd felt like that herself. Like every time that she didn't get a spell in Transfiguration on the first try. Or failed to do anything at all. That was the worst of all. Serena sort of wanted to give Charlotte a hug or something to comfort her, but she wasn't sure that the older girl would be comfortable with that. They weren't close enough though the Teppenpaw liked and wanted to be friends with her. Not to mention that she didn't want to draw attention to the fourth year either, Charlotte seemed embarrassed enough as it was.

"It'll be okay." If Serena didn't already know the Crotalus was embarrassed, she'd be worried that she was sick or something, her hands were shaking and she mentioned her face being hot. "Everyone feels like this at some point." She tried to reassure Charlotte. Well, most people anyway. "At least you didn't get hit." Serena added. That would have been far worse, embarrassing and painful.

The third year didn't know what else to say. Most of the time she was the one being comforted but she couldn't say the specific things to Charlotte that people said to her. They knew her better than she did the fourth year. Still, Serena wouldn't tell anyone about how she wasn't as good at Transfiguration. Ever, though unfortunately, people would see it for themselves, a thought that worried her all the time.

11 Serena Somehow "You're welcome" doesn't seem appropriate. 272 Serena 0 5

Ginny
September 09, 2014 9:14 PM

Ginny
Peripheral
Written by: Amelle Nicchi

I'll be positive when balls stop flying at me. by Ginny
Being a dancer, Ginny was accustomed to pain. She had learned how to take a fall, she had split her lip, broke her wrist, broke some toes one time or another, tore her feet up to shreds, and had endless bruises from bad landings or knocked elbows with other dancers. It was just part of the learning process. Pain was tolerable to her and the bruise that was sure to come after the hit from the ball would just blend into the background for her. She’ll but some salve on it when she returned to her room after lessons. But the feeling of humiliation that occurred after messing up in front of her classmates was not a feeling that she was used to nor was it one that she necessarily enjoyed. Perhaps if it had only been with her fellow Fifth years, Ginny wouldn’t feel so flustered about it, but it had been in front of two younger class years as well. These are the students she was supposed to be a role model to and if she can’t get the spell right, then there was no reason for them to feel like she was worth the badge that she wore.

It didn’t help matters that Francesca had gone in the cage after Ginny and had managed to stop the ball before it attacked her. Francesca always did better. She never seemed to fail at anything. Ginny didn’t know how she did it. Everything just always seemed to fall into place for her while Ginny struggled along behind her. Adam seemed less perfect, which might be why she felt more of an equal to him than she did to Francesca. It wasn’t anything that Francesca had done on purpose, she was just being herself, Ginny just felt like maybe Francesca should have been friends with someone more on her level rather than Ginny, who always felt so inadequate.

“Mmm.” She mumbled when Francesca rejoined her in line and gave positive feedback. “I suppose.” She said. “But you managed to get it to stop, which is great. I can’t seem to ever get my spells to work on the first try.” She stated, dropping her hand from her shoulder to stop herself from rubbing it anymore. “Unfortunately, Charms is not a class that I can drop after this year.” Ginny had been trying to figure out what, if any, lessons she could stop taking at the end of the year. Charms was never an option. This type of magic was necessary for everyday life purposes. That would probably be said for Transfiguration as well (not one of her favorites, but still a manageable subject for her). Defense was definitely out. If Ginny wasn’t married off for a husband to protect her, she might as well just die from whatever it was that was attacking her. At least then she could no longer be a family shame. She was still thinking about Potions, it would really depend on her CATS.

“If lessons continue on this way, I’ll have to write home for a proper wardrobe. Mother wouldn’t like that.” Her mother refused to allow her to wear any sort of pant or sneaker. The closest Ginny came to any of that were dance bottoms and her tap shoes. If her mother saw her in any such garments as pants, she would think Ginny was too masculine and would send her off to learn lessons on how to be a proper lady. Ginny was not exaggerating with these thoughts. Her mother had sworn to her that it was what she would do. However, if Ginny had lessons where it was possible for her to fall flat on her face, she’d rather fall knowing she wasn’t going to show off her knickers than have a scandal like that.

Ginny sighed. She wanted to rub her eyes, but she was wearing liner and didn’t want to smear it. This year was terrible. There was so much stress, what with the badge, the ball, and the CATS? She wasn’t getting very much sleep. “How are things going for you?” Ginny asked her friend. Surely some of the stress was wearing on her friend too.

6 Ginny I'll be positive when balls stop flying at me. 0 Ginny 0 5

Leo Princeton
September 10, 2014 3:15 PM

Leo Princeton
Alumnus
House: Crotalus
Written by: Lily Spencer

Age in Post: 14

I find it refreshing. by Leo Princeton
Leo found Emrys to be quite vague and uninteresting. There was clearly something else on his mind, but Leo wasn't going to bother asking him what was wrong. He wasn't very good at consolation speeches nor did he think Lucan would want one from him. But the topic of Charlotte seemed the quicker route to discovering more of Lucan's character. It was unfortunate that the Charms activity momentarily delayed his companion's answer. Leo's face went blank as he turned to face the Quaffle. His facial features always went blank when he was suppressing a smirk or a laugh. It was clear his question had flustered Mr Lucan.

"Not yet," was the only response Lucan had for him when he came back and Leo nodded. And then he kept talking, and talking, and Leo stared at him as the wizard's mouth continued to move. Emrys was flustered like a chicken in the presence of a fox and Leo decided he quite enjoyed seeing him like this. He was generally uninterested in the romantic affairs of his family members, but this was intriguing, not to mention entertaining to watch. Leo's eyes slid over to glance at Charlotte for a split second, wondering briefly what she would think seeing Emrys Lucan so ruffled. Lucan losing his composure so easily at such a question made him look silly, but it showed him to be the honest sort. Charlotte would like that, but what did Leo care?

It was a little unbelievable how quickly shy Charlotte had found herself someone. Leo was not interested in the dating scene, at least right now, but if he were, the only witch who seemed even remotely interested in him was Eleanor. He had expected to at least befriend one or two witches like his brothers had, but as of now Leo could only count Nellie as his friend and they'd known each other since they were children. It was not his fault people weren't interested in approaching him. He was perfectly civil to everyone, save Carter Browning as a result of that incident, but even that grudge had passed. Leo just couldn't understand Americans sometimes. Nevertheless, the success his cousin had in almost securing a date to the ball motivated Leo to secure one of his own. Nellie would be the most logical choice as she seemed to be the only one here interested in his friendship. But he would save that thought for later when he really had nothing else to think about.

Lucan ended his soliloquy rather abruptly and Leo took a moment to think of what to say in response. Good for you? Ask her quickly? No one else was going to ask Charlotte unless she had been conducting clandestine meetings with another lad. From what Rupert had told him, Adam as betting on Emrys to ask her as well. Otherwise the nice older brother would have the responsibility of asking his shy helpless sister to the ball and forgo his own harem. It made Leo very glad that he was the youngest and that he didn't have any sisters of his own.

At Lucan's question, Leo's lips curled slightly into a non-menacing smirk. "The little I know of Charlotte's character, she doesn't talk much with other wizards other than her brothers. Even at family gatherings she hardly says two sentences to me or anyone else. For her to be spending so much time with you must really mean something." Leo shrugged, playing coy. "I don't know what, really, but I suppose that's none of my business." Leo smiled. "Best of luck to you, mate. I don't know if you've talked much with Adam yet, but he's a nice lad."

40 Leo Princeton I find it refreshing. 263 Leo Princeton 0 5

Charlotte
September 10, 2014 3:23 PM

Charlotte
Peripheral
Written by:

But a 'thank you' from me is. by Charlotte
Charlotte was very glad Serena wasn't a loud sort of witch who called attention to herself whenever she spoke. It was better to be left alone than to be consoled by someone like that. She was also grateful Serena was talking to her at all. Serena even smiled at her, a friendly sort of smile, and Charlotte nodded, looking momentarily at her feet. She wanted to smile back, but she was afraid she would really cry if she looked at Serena for too long. Charlotte was lucky that someone was interested in being her friend despite her inadequacies.

Serena's point was very true. At least Charlotte hadn't gotten hit. That was indeed of some consolation and Charlotte took a deep breath. It really wasn't that terrible if people weren't staring at her openly or whispering about her. She lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, willing the tears behind her eyes to disappear before making eye-contact with Serena. This time she smiled. "Thank you for noticing," she said softly. "I feel better already." The embarrassment would ebb away with time, but right now she really did feel better. "You're very kind."

Since her conversation with her room-mate at the beginning of the term, Charlotte had wanted to be mindful of what she was thankful for, things she had once taken for granted. She was thankful for her parents, for schooling that forced her out of her comfort zone, her siblings and her magical ability. Friends of her own, however, particularly female friends, was one thing she had always yearned for growing up. Though she had struggled at home, here at school her peers and classmates were always so kind and welcoming even if she didn't say much most of the time. She had met Emrys here, and Serena.

Her cheeks finally felt as though they were cooling down, and she no longer felt like running to cry in the toilet. "Your words were so nice it almost made me want to cry again," admitted Charlotte, smiling a little to show she wasn't actually going to cry. "Thank you, really." She turned to tuck her blonde hair behind her ear when she saw Leo and Emrys conversing. That was odd. She wondered briefly what they were talking about, but Charlotte was much too pleased to talk with her own potential friend. That is, if she could think of things to say. "I, um, I hope these classes haven't been too stressful for you. Charms and Transfiguration are the only two courses I'm very good at; I'm just not always fond of the practical lessons."

0 Charlotte But a 'thank you' from me is. 0 Charlotte 0 5

Serena
September 17, 2014 12:07 PM

Serena
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 13

Friends? by Serena
"Thanks." Serena replied, her cheeks warming at the compliment. She hated that the other girl had been upset but inside she couldn't help but feel happy. Maybe she'd made a friend! Oh sure, she had Gemma, which was great, she really looked up to the older Teppenpaw and assumed they'd be in each other's lives even when they were adults because Arabella was marrying Gemma's brother. However, Serena was thrilled to make more. She didn't need to be the most popular girl in her class-of course, there were only three and she figured she was in the middle, probably less popular than Liliana but more so than Ariel-but one could always use more close friends.

"I'm glad you feel better." She didn't want anyone to feel bad, but especially not someone that she liked and Charlotte seemed like a really nice person, not intimidating like some of her own yearmates. Duncan was nice of course and the Pecaris seemed to be enough so too. However, the Crotali did not and the Aladrens were just plain intimidating, though Serena supposed she should at least try to be on decent terms with Leonidas. He wasn't actually going to be her brother-in-law but still.

"Aw, don't." Of course the third year didn't want Charlotte to cry again. She'd seemed embarrassed enough before and Serena certainly didn't want that. It was an awful feeling. The older girl seemed to appreciate her though and it made her feel good that she'd made someone else feel good. Especially someone who was sad.

"Oh, they aren't too bad so far." Serena replied. "This my favorite class too. It's the one I'm best at." She supposed she wasn't bad at COMC or Potions. Those were probably the three classes she was best at and probably the ones she'd continue after CATS. It was unusual for a Brockert not to take Transfiguration but she felt incredibly inadequate next to the rest of her family. The Teppenpaw was simply relieved that none of them-aside from Oliver Ferguson, who had indeed ridiculed Serena for, well, being a Brockert who wasn't amazing at the subject-had noticed. She knew that Chaslyn in particular was only concerned with her own performance. Thankfully.

"Yeah, practical lessons aren't always great in this class. I mean, even if you're good at it, stress can make you not do as well because you're not as confident." She'd been told that confidence was important in casting spells. You had to believe and really want it. Of course, that advice wasn't always so true, as Serena wanted to excel at Transfiguration more than anything. Then again, she definitely lacked confidence in the subject. She certainly wasn't going to mention this to a potential new friend, especially when others might hear, she was too ashamed. "Plus, that is stressful."

OOC-Sorry this took so long, I was pretty busy last week.

11 Serena Friends? 272 Serena 0 5

Charlotte
September 22, 2014 1:53 PM

Charlotte
Peripheral
Written by:

Yes, please! by Charlotte
It was irrational, but Charlotte felt some sort of pleasure at hearing that Serena's favourite class was Charms as well. They had something in common that didn't come in the standard pure-blood witch. Charlotte was most grateful for the few people who did notice her here.

Perhaps she and Serena would become good friends from now on, but Charlotte didn't want to set high expectations for her or her potential friend. She had never been very good at inviting others to study with her or to play music with her. The only reason she felt comfortable enough with Emrys was because he had asked so many times before and Charlotte was confident in their friendship.

Remarks her room-mate had made about her and Emrys had embarrassed her greatly, and even now Charlotte felt her cheeks pink at the thought of it. Eleanor had insinuated there to be something more in her relationship with Emrys and had planted thoughts in Charlotte's head.

But Charlotte couldn't think that way. At least, not until she knew what he thought. She kept herself from looking over again at her cousin and Emrys and instead thought how to reply to Serena. She did very much want to be friends with her, but Charlotte was just so terrible at conversing with acquaintances. Even with her own family members Charlotte sometimes had trouble of thinking of things to say. Not with Adam; never with Adam, but she'd been caught in awkward silences with her cousins, aunts, uncles and even her own parents before. There was pressure to be more than pretty in Charlotte's case, but she just couldn't do everything they wanted her to do. She couldn't dance and sing no matter how much they poked and prodded.

"It's true," she said in reply to Serena's comments. "Confidence is important in spells, so I've been told." She found it true for the most part. Spellwork was about as confident as Charlotte could get. When she looked pretty, she felt more confident in her interactions with others. When she did a spell right, she felt more assured that she could perform other spells just as well with her beloved wand. It was all about confidence, something she had learnt very slowly over the past few years. How she had felt about herself as a second year had changed with age, though she didn't feel particularly adequate now after making a fool of herself in front of the whole class.

"I suppose Professor Olivers is trying to scare us into doing the charm right." Charlotte wanted to talk of pleasanter things, but she had been the one to bring it up. "Are you fond of balls? Not the throwing kind, but the dance?"

0 Charlotte Yes, please! 0 Charlotte 0 5

Charlie B-F-R
September 23, 2014 4:25 AM

Charlie B-F-R
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 15

Does it have a visor? by Charlie B-F-R
“And makes a bigger bruise when it hits you,” Charlie objected, when Julian mused that softballs might be easier to hit owing to their size.

“Urgh, you don't have to tell me,” he nodded, when she mentioned sports loving their blood and guts, “I have to watch Quidditch with my eyes shut.

“She's fine,” he smiled, when she asked about Henny, definitely glad for the distraction. “She's started uni doing a wizarding literature course. Their term starts later than ours but she's there now – I got my first letter from her last week. She's just settled in and had all the orientation stuff and was eagerly anticipating the start of classes – you can take the girl out of Aladren...” he added with a rye smile. “How's your brother settling in here?” he asked, as the topic of siblings seemed to be providing a reasonably good distraction from their impending doom.

However, the trouble with passing the time meant it went by quicker, and soon Charlie was peering from half behind his fingers as a high speed, not-very-soft ball was catapulted at his friend. He squeaked as her spell hit but the ball slowed instead of stopping.

“Duck!” he muttered under his breath, “Duckduckduck!” But Julian held her nerve, readying herself for another attempt... He couldn't watch. And then... then there was a soft thud of the ball hitting the mat, and Julian reassuring him that it was fine. Which meant he was up. He fidgeted as he faced the machine, rehearsing the spell in his head. Except he hadn't finished, didn't feel prepared when it spat a ball at him, lightning fast.

“Nonononono!” he shouting at it, vaguely remembering he was supposed to use his wand to defend himself and slashing it wildly a few times before simply flinging his hands over his head and dodging for cover before the ball came any closer. It hit the back of the net. Charlie straightened up, walking to the back of the line with Julian.

“Dignity is over-rated when it's a choice between that and teeth being in tact,” he informed her primly before she could say anything about his attempt.

13 Charlie B-F-R Does it have a visor? 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Portia Dobson, Teppenpaw
September 23, 2014 4:24 PM

Portia Dobson, Teppenpaw
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 14

Ugh. by Portia Dobson, Teppenpaw
Portia looked at the nets a bit suspiciously. She didn't know what they were doing, but she didn't think it would involve making things look prettier, which was her favorite use of Charms. Part of her hoped they were doing some sort of group project where they all practiced using various charms that they'd learned on the nets, even if she had no idea why Professor Olivers would pick that particular object. Maybe it was what was available to her.

That particular lesson sounded like it would be good review really. Granted it was towards the beginning of the year, so they didn't have much to review yet. Still, Portia was fantasizing about what fun that would be. Maybe the group that did the best could get a prize of some kind. She did like getting new stuff.

She waited for Professor Olivers, surprised that she was late-and when she arrived that she didn't start class for a couple minutes. Portia didn't mind, but she did wonder what the professor was waiting for. She was usually so strict about punctuality. Evan had taken awhile to get the hang of that, and been locked out of Charms many many times.

So, as usual, Portia took the time to critique the professor's outfit. It seemed a bit less...flamboyant today. Which in her books was a good thing. She far preferred classy and elegant and just plain pretty to extremely...odd clothing. Though at least Professor Olivers' outfits usually went together, unlike some people Portia could think of. At her age, she could pull of the feathered hat too. Portia had to give the professor at least an E for effort.

Her heart sank when she learned what the lesson actually was. She had to have a Quaffle fly at her? Ugh. Playing Quidditch wasn't only something she'd brought up to believe girls didn't do, it was something she'd never had any desire to do. Portia was a girly-girl through and through. She did not do sports of any kind unless dancing counted. She was just glad they had to use the spell they learned yesterday rather than catch the ball. That would be a disaster .

Sighing, Portia got in line, feeling really uneager. When it was her turn, she reluctantly stepped up. Despite this, she was really desperate to stop that Quaffle, so she didn't try to duck, or have to catch it. At least it wasn't going that fast though. "Aresto Momentum!" She cried out. Amazingly, the Quaffle had stopped in it's tracks. Satisfied, Portia went to the back of the line, supposing that if she wanted something bad enough, she would get it. A fact that she'd become quite accustomed to over the years.

11 Portia Dobson, Teppenpaw Ugh. 262 Portia Dobson, Teppenpaw 0 5

Julian Umland
September 23, 2014 6:13 PM

Julian Umland
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: December 12

If you want one. by Julian Umland
“I was trying to look at the bright side,” scolded Julian lightly when Charlie pointed out that a bigger target left a bigger bruise. “But you have a point.”

She smiled sympathetically at watching Quidditch with closed eyes – which she guessed was really just sitting in the general vicinity of Quidditch, or listening to Quidditch, instead of watching it, but she didn’t think arguing over the distinction would do a good job of distracting him from his certainty that he was about to have his teeth knocked out by the Softball of Doom. Siblings were a better topic.

“I think it’s a lifelong condition,” she said when he joked about Henny still being an Aladren even though she technically wasn’t anymore. It made sense, she guessed, when Houses were determined based on their personalities, though it did make her wonder about, well, the possibility that people changed. Some did, or so she had always heard. What if someone started to change enough in school that they started to fit in with another House better than their own? What if an Aladren had a nervous breakdown and become codependent and too apathetic to want to learn, or if…something happened to make a Teppenpaw become a misanthrope? How much of a difference was there between being focused on solutions and being focused on cooperation and self-improvement? Cooperation made solutions, a lot of the time, and solutions were necessary to survival, caution helped with survival, too...what if a Crotalus went through some trauma that made him or her become reckless and no longer care about society? Would they be…kicked out or something? “My mom’s like forty-something and she’s still like that.”

“He’s why I’m going to have to watch Quidditch with my eyes shut this year,” she said grimly when he asked about John. “He joined the Aladren team. He’s being very…social.” Since for most people, that wasn’t that unusual, she added, “Normally he hates meeting new people. We were all worried about it, but the only thing I’ve seen him get annoyed about since we got here is the Care of Magical Creatures book. I have no idea what’s gotten into him.”

It was strange enough that Julian almost wondered if it had been worth it to send him to school with her, which she assumed her parents had done so she could look out for him and help him adjust. He might have done just as well back home. It made her feel…oddly unnecessary, though she knew that was silly.

She knew the nerves she and Charlie shared about the task was silly, too, but that didn’t do too much to alleviate it. She winced as he flailed with his wand and then just ducked, as he had been urging her to do a moment before, then struggled to keep a straight face at his justification of the action.

“That makes sense,” she said solemnly. “Our Aladren-type parents might think differently about grades, though. Someone can just charm our teeth back in.” Both of her parents had very particular slight frowns they only used when they were disappointed; Julian would take a softball to the face any day rather than see Dad’s version of it. “You can do it. Just repeat the words a lot before we get back up there.” She shook her head. “Aresto momentum. It sounds exactly like what you want it to do. I don’t know why we even half-Latin it or whatever.”

16 Julian Umland If you want one. 254 Julian Umland 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte
September 23, 2014 10:35 PM

Francesca Wolseithcrafte
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 15

Not really an option for me by Francesca Wolseithcrafte
“Nor can I,” Francesca reminded her softly, when Ginny mentioned never getting spells right on the first try. The theory came naturally to Francesca, she was smart, but she had never been strong at practical magic. The first lesson spent on each new spell was frustrating and often fruitless for her. She put in plenty of out of hours practise to make sure she could do well enough to keep her grades where she wanted them. Ginny, of all people, knew this. She was also the only one Francesca had ever worried to about it – about whether, if her Aladren classmates noticed her slow results, they would think she wasn't good enough to be one of them, about how much it frustrated her to be able to understand but not to do the spells. Yes, she'd hit the ball on the first try, but that was after practising the spell all day yesterday. It wasn't like it came naturally to her.

“Here, you want some of this?” she fished in her pocket, pulling out a tin of 'Beat The Beaters!' bruise balm.

“What are you thinking of taking next year?” she asked. It was a little scary how they were only just beginning their fifth year yet everyone was talking already about what to do next year, or even beyond that. Not that she lacked ideas in that department, it just felt so strange – like they were being hurried out of the door when, to her, that seemed years and years away still.

She grinned at Ginny's comment about a proper wardrobe. She owned plenty of trousers, as Quidditch in anything else really wasn't practical. She was often tempted to wear them to classes as they were a lot more comfortable and easier to get along with than skirts but she had to be ladylike when she was off the field. She was sure that mother wouldn't object to her having worn them to this particular class, had she known in advance what they would be doing but as she hadn't the point was moot.

“I feel there are limitations to how adventurous classes can get given we're supposed to wear our robes, so hopefully that won't be necessary.

“Same as usual...” she shurgged, when Ginny asked how things were going for her, her tone definitely conveying that this didn't mean any kind of walk in the park - the usual meant getting the theory whilst struggling with the practical, all the while balancing it with a tough Quidditch schedule. “But with an impending sense of doom,” she added, in reference to the way no adult seemed capable of going five minutes without reminding them that This Year Really Counts. “I'm glad I'm not AC this year – poor Adam. How about you?”

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Not really an option for me 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Charlie B-F-R
September 24, 2014 4:01 AM

Charlie B-F-R
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 15

Are they in this season? by Charlie B-F-R
“Oh, eek,” Charlie said, with a sympathetic grimace when Julian mentioned her brother joining the Quidditch team.

“Now, whilst it's good to be sociable, is he aware that there are many more less life-and-facial-feature threatening options available to him? Fashion club, for example - I hear that's what all the cool boys are joining these days. It's like... the opposite of Quidditch. It actively increases your chances of looking fabulous.

“What did the Creatures book do to offend him?” he queried, somewhat baffled.

“My Aladren-type parent would be on my side,” he countered. Aladren-type was fitting as Father had actually gone to school in Canada but had he come to Sonora, there was no doubt as to which house he would have been sorted into. “His natural habitat is a dusty room full of books and he only indulges in things as adventurous as fresh air when Dad says he's getting too peaky and makes him. If I had failed to use my magical powers to... I don't know, stop a first edition falling into a puddle, then I'd be in trouble but I'm fairly sure the inclusion of sports is a decent mitigating circumstance in his eyes.
"Not my area of expertise," he shrugged, when Julian mentioned semi-Latinising things, even though he doubted she'd been expecting any revelations from him on the matter. He'd skimmed over any sections he'd come across on the subject and hoped against hope that spell writing wasn't a popular exam topic. Henny assured him it was all deeply fascinating but he couldn't get enthused about it.

13 Charlie B-F-R Are they in this season? 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte, Aladren
September 25, 2014 8:26 AM

Theodore Wolseithcrafte, Aladren
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 13

Not a fan? by Theodore Wolseithcrafte, Aladren
Theodore was settled in his seat, parchment out, quill and wand laid neatly alongside in plenty of time for class to begin. At ten twenty-nine, he picked up the quill and was poised, ready to start when Professor Olivers began. Ten thirty came and went and she continued to simply shuffle about preparing. Theodore double-checked the clock. It was definitely time to begin. He watched Professor Olivers intently, trying to work out whether this was some charade and whether he ought to swap his quill for his wand. They had been working on arresto momentum. Perhaps she was merely feigning forgetfulness and was going to suddenly start throwing objects at any second. However, after a few minutes, she merely began class as normal. Except for the fact that it wasn't normal because she never started late. He fidgeted slightly not enjoying the unexplained deviation.

He queued up where the third years were told to but was disappointed to learn they'd be working with a large, rather squishy-looking ball. It didn't seem very challenging. Professor Olivers did say they could move up if they felt confident but he decided not to disturb the lines and to just join onto the back of the fourth year line once he'd completed this station. The extra practise wouldn't go amiss either. Even though wands weren't allowed on the pitch it would be a pretty poor showing if he wasn't able to stop a Quaffle with ease. People tended not to think about whether or not it was logical when there was an opportunity to snigger at someone.

When it was his turn with the beach balls, he stepped up, easily hitting the large, slow target and causing it to fall from the air. He had the benefit of having practised all the previous day which meant it was really only a case of not crumbling under pressure. That dispensed with, he stepped towards the back of the fourth year line, just in time to see Portia Dobson drop the ball neatly out of the air. Interesting. The skill was not the same, it really was just good, accurate wandwork under pressure but he had been expecting more of the girls from anti-Quidditch families to balk at the task simply because sports equipment was involved.

“An admirable performance,” he commented as he joined the line behind Miss Dobson. “Do you play much sport?” As far as he was concerned, of course, that was a perfectly neutral question, with none of her propriety affected by either answer. Perhaps she would not take it that way, and perhaps he was being a little antagonistic in asking but it was such a good opportunity. The topic rarely came up in such a natural way and he was curious to know what might be going on in head like hers.

13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte, Aladren Not a fan? 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte, Aladren 0 5

Julian Umland
September 25, 2014 5:10 PM

Julian Umland
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Grayson Wright

Age in Post: 15
Birthday: December 12

We'll set a new trend. by Julian Umland
“I really don’t see him taking that alternative,” said Julian when Charlie proposed that John join the fashion club. “The thing John likes about uniforms is that he doesn’t have to remember which shirts he’s already worn this week if the laundry’s ever done before Saturday. The only time he and Mom ever really argue is when she wants him to dress nicely for something….”

His little friends had seemed taken aback when Mom had wrangled him into a jacket and tie for his confirmation last year. There had been some discussion of whether or not he had been replaced by a shapeshifter that didn’t know him very well, which had made her uneasy until he muttered something about Joanie and Rafe liking Muggle some science fiction franchise about mutants, some of whom could apparently change their appearances at will; he’d then started babbling about chameleons and reptiles and how they were different from mammals, at which point she’d stopped listening. At first, when it started with that little group a few years ago, Julian had been glad to see her brother interacting, willingly and amicably, with people outside their immediate family, but she’d gotten a little worried as it went on and he started associating with those kids outside of organized activities, afraid that he would get comfortable, get careless, slip up, and say something he shouldn’t (this possibility was why they were all involved in everything but close to nobody; Julian and Stephen had had acquaintances before school, but not real friends, and she thought Paul still didn’t aside from Steve) but they had just been teasing him about his unusually sharp appearance. None of them suspected anything.

“It failed to be pedantic enough.” Julian grimaced and shrugged. “He wants to be a magizoologist when he grows up,” she said matter-of-factly. “And the book doesn’t talk about – orders and phyla and I-don’t-even-know-what, or convergent evolution, or have any cell diagrams – those are, um, all things from, er, Muggle science,” she said, a little awkwardly. “He’s obsessed with that stuff, how they started trying to explain the world after the Statute of Secrecy, and he thinks they study things better than we do. Our parents, even our brothers, they’ve tried to explain to him that it doesn’t work that way, that you can’t explain things the way he wants to, but…well, he’ll learn eventually, I guess. Or just lose interest.” First years were notorious for losing interest in stuff and ending up somewhere completely different after school. “What kind of classes does Henny have to start with?”

The jump back made sense to her as she remembered the Muggle books in book club – odd that, despite not being people she thought of as very similar, both their Aladren siblings should share an appreciation for the Other Way of Doing Things. Julian appreciated some of the literature, too, but not the scientific stuff; she couldn’t see the appeal of spending one’s life in hazardous situations or in peering at tiny little things through lenses or even peering at hazardous tiny little things through lenses. She had no idea what she wanted to be when she grew up, but she knew it wasn’t someone who did that.

“Be that as it may,” said Julian firmly when Charlie said his Aladren parent would be on his side. “This is a very useful spell for you to know. Imagine that a mean little kid is throwing a big clump of grass and mud right at your best outfit. Our neighbor did that once when I was in my Easter dress, so it happens a lot more than softballs do. You could just do a scouring charm, but by then, your whole day will be all messed up because it did hit it and people laughed, but if you stop it before it gets there, then all the other nasty little brats will know not to mess with you. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

16 Julian Umland We'll set a new trend. 254 Julian Umland 0 5

Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
September 27, 2014 5:07 AM

Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 14

If I don't mind, it doesn't matter? by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
Ji-Eun generally enjoyed Charms and liked Professor Olivers. However, on occasion, the Professor's unorthodox ways of testing their skills made her a little nervous. She knew that real life wasn't always safe and controlled but, whilst she was learning, she would much rather have had... unpainful consequences if her spells didn't work. It was a little like being asked to sample one's own Potion at the end of the lesson without anyone having checked whether you'd accidentally created a poison or not... Whilst she had a degree of faith in her own skills, she didn't really want to put them to critical test.

She lined up with the rest of the fourth years, trying not to imagine how much a Quaffle would hurt if it hit her. She had never been a particularly sporty person, although theoretically that wasn't relevant here... She knew how to do this spell and just had to be able to do it quickly and accurately, both of which she should have been capable of. It was really a case of mind over matter. It was just that under her robes she was wearing a layered lace skirt and a peach coloured blouse with a large bow on the front, which didn't really put a person in the right frame of mind for tackling something of this nature. She definitely preferred classes that were creative.

Still, there was nothing to but suck it up and take her turn. She stepped out with as much determination and conviction as she thought was possible when wearing peach coloured ballet pumps with ruching around the toes. Professor Valson had been talking all term about letting fear be your master being the first step towards defeat. If she thought she couldn't do it, then it was far more likely that she wouldn't be able to.

She jumped slightly at the speed with which the machine kicked into gear and spat a ball with her but she kept her wits about her and drew back her wand.

“Arresto momentum!” she cast firmly. The spell had no light but she could see the disturbance it made, a little like a heat haze but one that moved, rippling through the air ready to knock back its target... and skating just under the oncoming Quaffle. Her spell hit the corner of the machine but she doubted very much that it was powerful enough to stop it working; machines were so much more complex than balls. She was left with no choice but to dodge the ball, which she mostly managed, getting caught just on the edge of her arm.

She walked to the back of the line, clutching her arm a little protectively even though she knew it was paled in comparison to the injuries sustained in a real match. She tried to focus on the positive part – her spell had been performed correctly – but it was hard not to be annoyed at herself for missing that target. Aiming well was beginner's stuff.

13 Ji-Eun Park, Pecari If I don't mind, it doesn't matter? 268 Ji-Eun Park, Pecari 0 5

Ginny
October 02, 2014 9:56 PM

Ginny
Peripheral
Written by: Amelle Nicchi

Well, in a way, it is. by Ginny
Ginny sighed. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She apologized sounding winded. “I’m just so frustrated that no matter how often I practice a spell, it’s never good enough and then the Professors put us on the spot like this and humiliate us in front of half the school… I just…” Ginny stopped talking, her cheeks were burning. She had to be a better critique of herself when it came to her spell work. For some reason, any flaw that happened outside of the classroom she could forgive and get over. But in the classroom was completely different. Making mistakes in front of her peers made her feel like she was worthless to all of this. She just didn’t know how to explain it.

She knew that Francesca had problems too, but her friend always seemed to present herself in the most sophisticated ways that Ginny think any of her peers would find a flaw on her. Even if she did mess up right in front of their eyes. It was just how it was. Or, how Ginny felt that it was. It probably wasn’t like that but Ginny always assumed Francesca was the girl everyone thought was the perfect Proper Pureblood while Ginny was an awkward annoyance.

“Oh, thank you.” Ginny stated, giving her friend a smile. Ginny was surprised that Francesca carried hers around with her. Did she use a lot of it during the course of a day? “Mine’s in my dance bag since that’s usually the only time I end up hurting myself. “ Ginny commented. “But I should probably just start carrying it around like you do as I have a feeling these next couple of years will be very physically demanding to me.” Ginny wondered how Adam had fared in the box. He was athletic like Francesca in a sporty way, if nothing else, he probably dodged it unlike her.

After applying the paste, Ginny returned the container back to her friend. She was grateful that all the spills with dancing made such moments like this easy for her to handle. She was sure if she hadn’t had the dance background, she would have cried at being hit with the hard ‘soft’ ball.

“Definitely not Defense.” Ginny answered without hesitation. “I hate that class.” She admitted, although she was sure Francesca was well aware of her feeling on it by now. “And I may possibly drop Potions. It’s just not something I seem to be able to grasp that well. But Charms and Transfiguration seem like a necessity for life and I enjoy Care of Magical Creatures. What about you? Have anything in mind?” Francesca was an Aladren, were they even allowed to drop classes? Ginny thought that might be a sin for them.

“That’s true.” Ginny agreed, thinking of the robes, “But we may be asked to remove them at some point as well.” She didn’t always enjoy wearing the robes since they hid her wonderful clothes, but if it kept her from having to run around and throw spells at people or objects, she was okay with them.

“Yeah, he has a lot on his plate, but he seems to do it all so well.” Ginny commented. At least, when she was around him even if he complained, he still seemed in such good spirits. “Overwhelmed, underwhelmed, like my head is going to fall off under the stress of all the work.” Ginny told her honestly. It was hard for her outside of class to focus. Being in her own room, not having friends in her own house, she often felt herself becoming distracted. She preferred studying with her friends. They kept her on target.

6 Ginny Well, in a way, it is. 0 Ginny 0 5

Portia
October 04, 2014 7:40 PM

Portia
Alumnus
House: Teppenpaw
Written by: Allegra Brockert

Age in Post: 14

Not really. by Portia
"Why thank you, Mr. Wolseithcrafte." Portia replied, flashing the younger student a smile that she'd practiced. It was one of the sort she'd seen her grandmother wear, the sort that one put on for photographs. The sort that one used to impress others. Not that she wasn't genuinely pleased at the moment. Portia had after all managed to stop the Quaffle. She hadn't gotten hit or ducked out of the way, and she'd completed a spell successfully. Always a good thing.

She knew her companion's family was into politics and hers was too. Granted, Portia didn't know a lot about them anyway, even though she wanted to someday be on the arm of a politician as his wife. It was a lifestyle that the Teppenpaw had been born into and was accustomed to, even if she didn't know much about the issues.

The Wolseithcraftes seemed to focus mostly on the issue of girls playing Quidditch and she...really didn't get the appeal of playing Quidditch in the first place. Well, okay, maybe sending a bludger at Oliver would be very satisfying, but other than that, it did nothing for her. Well, she didn't have a huge problem watching it, she supposed.

"Oh not at all." Portia replied. She didn't think that was so unusual, a lot of girls had no desire to play or were actively discouraged from doing so. Then again, some boys didn't want to either. "I mean, I dance some of course." She added. All proper pureblooded young ladies and gentleman needed to know how to do that. There were many grand balls she'd have to attend in her life and she looked forward to them all. All the beautiful clothing.

Unfortunately, she doubted she'd have a date for this year's Midsummer Ball. It irked Portia even though she knew it wasn't her fault at all. There were never enough boys to go around, let alone proper ones. The only possible candidate in her own class was Leo Princeton as Tristan was her cousin somehow and Emrys would surely ask Charlotte. The Teppenpaw wouldn't really mind going with Leo, she supposed, even though she didn't know him at all.

In fact, Portia didn't really have friends in general and that...didn't really make her too happy. It was just that she didn't really have anything in common with most people. Maybe she could at least be on good terms with Mr. Wolseithcrafte. "You're the Aladren Keeper right?" Portia didn't know much more about him than that. "I suppose you're pretty good at catching Quaffles even without the spell."

11 Portia Not really. 262 Portia 0 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte
October 11, 2014 3:01 AM

Theodore Wolseithcrafte
Alumnus
House: Aladren
Written by: Rhy

Age in Post: 13

I suspected that might the case by Theodore Wolseithcrafte
“You're welcome,” he acknowledged politely, when she thanked him for the compliment. Her smile was a little alarming. It seemed disproportionate to the occasion and he suspected it of being somewhat taught. Although she was undoubtedly very pretty, it took more than being able to flaunt one's teeth in an attractive manner to impress him.

She did not take offence at his suggestion that she might have played sports though, which did notch her up a few points in his esteem. Of course, she was likely to know who his family was, and it was the diplomatic response but he still expected some girls to be so indoctrinated that they would be simply horrified at the suggestion; would treat it as insult in spite of the insult it implied to his sister and the rest of his family for them to do so.

“Perhaps you should take it up,” he tried, deciding to test her reactions a little further. “You clearly have good hand-eye co-ordination

“Indeed,” he nodded, when she mentioned him being on the team, “I hope I am. It can get a little embarrassing otherwise,” he added when she mentioned him being good at catching Quaffles. He was decent at his position but he didn't like to brag. “This isn't quite the same, though I suppose being used to reacting to that sort of situation and, as I said, hand-eye co-ordination still come into play.”

13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte I suspected that might the case 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte 0 5