Bored and really not bothering to hide it. on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Levy

April 23, 2010 10:26 AM

Lesson I: Intermediate Level (Third and Fourth Years) by Professor Levy

Coming back to a new school year was hard. It meant leaving Torra behind, but it was a good career and between their careers they were able to make the best of the time they did get together. Like this summer, they had gone to the Dominica, which had been absolutely breathtaking. They had opted to stay at the Calibishie Hotel one of the most luxurious hotels available. Just waking up every morning to the smells had been like Heaven. Then, there was the entirety of what to do each and every day from festivals to diving to relaxing on the beach.

Unfortunately, in the beginning fair skin turned out to be no match for the sun and they had both ended up with sunburns. Thankfully, by the end of the trip, she was finally tanning and she was sure that the returning students were probably going to be surprised by how radiant their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor looked today. To compensate for her tanned skin, she had opted for ivory robes, which probably seemed odd on her since she normally wore black.

Of course, a change in robes and skin tone didn’t affect her stern attitude. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a class that had no room for tomfoolery. She nodded to each student coming in. She stood in front of her desk. It was a good day, because she was able to get by without her cane. Last year, she had been practically dependent on it. Now, she only needed it about half the time. She had hopes that one day she wouldn’t need it at all, but doubted she would ever be back in top form, not enough to return to being an Auror.

The lesson today would involve one of her favorite areas. Illusions. Once everyone was seated and ready to go, Erika began, “Welcome back, students. I expect this year to go just as smoothly as it did last year.” Of course, she intentionally left out any actual problems they did have. Each year was a fresh start in her mind. “As most of you know, but for those that don’t, I am Professor Levy and this is Defense Against the Dark Arts. The rules are simple. I only ask that you follow instructions so no one gets seriously injured. All right, that said, let’s begin with role call.” She picked a sheet of paper up from her desk.

“When I call your name, I want you to say ‘Here’ and then tell me something about yourself. We learned a bit about each other last year so I want to know something new like what you did over summer, what you expect to learn in this class, and the like,” she finished with a wave of her hand. She normally wouldn’t have asked the intermediate class to do this since she had asked it of them last year, but she wanted to learn about the newcomers without putting them directly on the spot. This seemed the most appropriate way to do so.

Once they finished, Erika continued on with her lesson plans, “Today, we’ll be starting off the year with Disillusionment Charms.” With a wave of the wand, the following appeared on the board.

Disillusionment Charms

Acclaro Prastigiae – reveal an illusion

Creo Prastigiae – create an illusion

“As the name obviously suggests, they are used to create or reveal illusions. For now, we’ll be working with objects, but if the magic is advanced enough, they can be used on a person as well. Sometimes, they are used to allow the person to blend into the environment, and sometimes, derivatives can be used like glamour. The spells aren’t the best to use given other options like polyjuice potion, but can be used in a pinch. All of this you will learn in more detail if you choose to go into a Defense Against the Arts field such as Auror or Investigations.” She had learned most of this at Sapienti University of Magic, which had a strong Auror program.

“Creo Prastigiae works by casting an illusion over the object, which makes it blend in with its surroundings. To perform the charm, wave your wand as so,” she said, as she flourished her wand towards her desk, “and state firmly Creo Prastigiae. With this, her desk seemingly seemed disappeared. “Now a limitation to the spell is that the object is obviously still there so even though it can’t be seen, it can still be found.” As an example, she took a book from one of her shelves and placed it on her desk. It seemed as though it were just floating in air.

“To reverse the effects, wave your wand like so,” she did another complicated wand movement, “and state firmly Acclaro Prastigiae.” With this, the desk reappeared, the book still on top. “Ta-da!” She smiled at the class. “All right, then, I want everyone to divide up into groups of two. Each person will cast Creo Prastigiae on the given item. Once both people have successfully accomplished this, I want you to switch items with your partner and attempt to reveal the object using Acclaro Prastigiae. If you have questions, raise your hand, and I’ll be around. Otherwise, you may begin.”

Her finger to her lip, she bit her nail. Erika felt like she was forgetting something. “Oh, yes! Before you leave, don’t forget to take the homework sheet from my desk,” she called out over the scraping of the desks as the students rearranged themselves.

OOC: Please remember that standard posting rules apply. Points will be rewarded based on detail, creativity, etc. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Again? by Dmitry Talsky with Juri Dahlgren, Dmitry

Finding other uses for illusion. by Mike Song with Adelita Garcia (Crotalus), Mike Song , Lita

Slow and steady wins the race...allegedly. by Marissa Stephenson with Jose Hernandez, Jose Hernandez (Pecari)

Showing off. by Alison Sinclair with Pippa Brockert

Bored and really not bothering to hide it. by Cassy Brooks with Andrew Duell, Cassy, Cassy

Disillusioned by Daniel Nash II [Aladren] with Charlotte Abbott, Charlotte

Class Closed! (nm) by Professor Levy

0 Professor Levy Lesson I: Intermediate Level (Third and Fourth Years) 0 Professor Levy 1 5

Dmitry Talsky

April 24, 2010 2:46 AM

Again? by Dmitry Talsky

Dmitry had looked at his schedule with a bit of shock, he had been assigned Defense against the Dark Arts. What good would that do for him? He had taken a very different subject for the last three years. He sighed as he walked into the room, a scowl gracing his face. He saw the Professor and rolled his eyes as he walked past. A woman Professor teaching a class like this was a farce in his eyes. He walked back and sat down in the back of the class.

When the Professor insisted they all introduce themselves he sighed. He didn’t want to talk to these people. Yet when Professor Levy called him name, he responded with a very sharp, “Here” in his thick Russian accent. “And for the last three years I’ve attended Durmstrang Institute.” That was all the information he supplied they didn’t need to know his life story.

When Professor Levy started the lesson Dmitry sighed and began to rock on his chair. He had done Disillusionment Charms in his second year, in Charms class. He missed his old school, his old professors sure he probably shouldn’t, if any of them knew he missed him they would give him a good wack across the head. Finally they were released to practice with a partner. “Hello.” He said turning to the student next to him. “I’m Dmitry.” He said. “I guess we are partners.”

0 Dmitry Talsky Again? 137 Dmitry Talsky 0 5

Juri Dahlgren

April 24, 2010 7:41 AM

Apparently. by Juri Dahlgren

While the professor lectured, Juri tapped his pencil against the desk softly. Oh, it wasn’t that he wasn’t listening so much as the constant need to be doing something involving music, even if only in rhythmic form, especially when a new song was forming in his head, but then being a teenager, there was always that angst whether it was girls or any other part of his life that he had to deal with and he had found the best way was through his music. Though, sometimes his new family hadn’t been so happy when that had involved being woken up at two in the morning, but then they all had to make adjustments, so his mother said.

When Professor Levy called out his name, what was new was easy to provide. “My mother got married and I ended up with the three Furies for sisters.” He didn’t really care that one of the girls, Cassie, was in this class. In fact, at the end of his sentence, his eyes had shifted over to the girl. He supposed he should have been nicer. Cassie and Delilah really weren’t so bad aside from Cassie being completely anal about everything like when he had left the peanut butter and jelly out. She had put them away and had even wiped up after him. She hadn’t even considered that he might want to make another one. Completely inconsiderate.

Delilah was more or less in her own head space so that he could deal with, but Veronica. She was the worst. She looked at him like he was the lowest form on the planet, lower than a one-celled organism. And when she wasn’t looking at him like he was dirt, she was treating him like he was. What made it all the worse was that he could barely escape her. Every time he turned around at home, she was there and here, she was in the same House. He thanked the Heavens, they were a couple years apart and opposite genders, otherwise, she would have made a sudden disappearance.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, he wasn’t paying too much attention to the lecture, but it wasn’t as though it wouldn’t be fairly easy to pick up. The class was standard theory, then practical. One only had to look at the board to comprehend what was going on, but then maybe things came too easily for him. That seemed to be a standard problem with Aladrens. He briefly considered why they didn’t have a gifted program like muggle schools had, but shrugged it off easily. If they did, then he would have less time for his music.

Soon enough, they were on to the practical. He gave a sidelong glance from under his blonde bangs to the kid talking to him. “Yeah, I guess so,” he replied. It was the guy, the new victim, that had been talking to Charlotte on the first day of school, which he guessed was a good thing. If he was preoccupied with Charlotte, he would find less time to notice Adelita. He took a moment to look over to where Adelita was. Maybe. But then, he didn’t really know Dmitry. Maybe he should find out what kind of guy he was and if he should be worried. He could be a player for all he knew.

Juri took a minute to focus on the actual object on his desk, a wooden box. He really didn’t want a bad grade even if he acted like he didn’t care. “Creo Prastigiae,” he stated firmly. He wasn’t really surprised to see the box disappear. He slid it over to Dmitry. “So, what was Durmstrang like?” Yes, best to start there since it wasn’t like he could just come straight out and ask if the guy had a girlfriend or not back there. That would just be weird since he wasn’t a girl nor did he swing that way.

0 Juri Dahlgren Apparently. 127 Juri Dahlgren 0 5

Dmitry

April 24, 2010 12:57 PM

How fun. by Dmitry

The slender black hair boy pushed his dark hair out of his face and looked over at the boy. He vaguely remembered his name to be Juri and he now had sisters who were Furies. That did not mean much to Dmitry he would rather have Furies for sisters then Dorian as a brother. The little idiot had made the Quidditch team as a seeker and Father had written a glowing letter about it, like Dmitry cared. He wasn’t surprised when the other boy slid over the invisible object.

“Acclaro Prastigiae.” He said easily and the object reappeared. “Too simple.” He mumbled as he raised his wand again. “Creo Prastigiae.” And the object disappeared. Pondering about Juri’s question for a moment, he frowned. He probably should get used to this question Charlie had asked about it at the feast and now so had Juri.

“Well for one it’s a lot bigger then this one.” He began. “Besides that there is a lot more classes to take and the Professors were a lot stricter. We were never allowed to work in partners.” He said as he pushed the object back to the other boy. “Do you work in partners a lot?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

0 Dmitry How fun. 0 Dmitry 0 5

Mike Song

April 26, 2010 2:55 PM

Finding other uses for illusion. by Mike Song

Mike listened to his classmates describe their summers with crafted detachment, his eyes unfocused. There were so many things he could say to describe his summer. He could be honest:

I ran away from home, lived off the money I stole from my cousin, and found my dad only to learn that fourteen years hadn't changed his opinion on wanting children.

Or he could answer in the typical fashion required by these sorts of questions:

I traveled a bit, went to Disney World, and played a lot of video games.

He was tempted to go with the former, if only to see the expressions on his classmates' faces; the latter was what he chose eventually, especially after his sister's milquetoast response. And to claim he had traveled did technically cover his cross-state journey to Georgia; Mike did actually spend a day at Disney World eating ice cream and going on rides. And then, during the enforced house arrest required by the Department of Family and Children Services after he was caught shoplifting, he did spend his last three weeks of vacation on his Xbox playing video games.

Really, only Euna and maybe the professor would know the truth between the words. Apparently his mother had written the school, as had DFCS, regarding his particular 'situation.' Absently, Mike rubbed the tender skin around his ankle, still bruised from three weeks of wearing the ankle monitor. It had taken repeated reassurances from all areas to DFCS that Mike would be unable to leave the school grounds, or be without authorized supervision, for the ankle monitor to be removed.

Mike shifted his chin from one hand to the next and flipped to the suggested portion of the textbook that covered the lesson's spells. Illusion charms would have been handy on his adventure; he could have just 'vanished' whatever item he had needed to steal with a wave of his wand, maybe even himself, and never been caught at all. He wondered, briefly, how often these spells, Creo Prastigiae and Acclaro Prastigiae, were used for the more unsavory sorts of practices.

Not dark magic, of course, that was pushing it, but for the more general criminal activities. Mike doubted that if he asked his question out loud it would be appreciated.

Once freed to begin, Mike reluctantly turned to the desk nearest him and cleared his throat. "Wanna work on this together?" he asked, his tone equal parts bored and resentful.

0 Mike Song Finding other uses for illusion. 0 Mike Song 0 5

Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

April 26, 2010 8:41 PM

What other uses would that be? by Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

“Um…I did my first partner recital this summer.” Lita told the class when her name was called. She wasn’t really sure what else to say since she didn’t think anyone would care in the long run.

She was happy to hear that they wouldn’t be dueling one another yet this lesson, but would be doing charms instead. Although she wasn’t ‘the best’ at Charms, she was better at that then trying to think on her feet and cast spells at other people. She always hated it when they had to spar against one another. This time, they just had to spar with an object and hope the other person doesn’t get mad at them.

“Geez Mike, it’s nice to see you too.” Lita commented sarcastically because of the tone in his voice. “What’s with the attitude? Hate Defense that much?” Lita asked, this time more out of genuine curiosity than anything else. Mike wasn’t someone that Lita normally talked to. She was friends with his sister. Lita actually really liked Euna. There was something vulnerable about her but at the same time honest and that was what Lita liked most about her. She was real and that was a quality that was rare in people these days. Or, at least, that was how Lita perceived her.

Lita had seen how Mike acted in their previous three years of schooling and had kept distance of him out of fear of him pulling something on her. Of course, maybe she had misinterpreted everything. Lita wasn’t the most observant and what she did notice could have been wrong. Still, Mike didn’t seem the sort to want to be in her company and she had unconsciously respected that just as she had respected not being in Quentin’s line of questioning out of fear of strangling him.

“Anyway, I’ll be your partner for this exercise” Lita indicating the assignment in front of her. “But, I’m not in Aladren, so don’t expect miracles.” Of all things, Lita is always honest about herself. She had no qualms with making fun of her own self in the way that some girls were. So, as long as she joked first, any snide remarks there after didn’t hurt as much as they probably would have.

Lita looked closely at the small snow globe that was sitting on her desk. Snow globes were pretty, but after awhile, they lost their luster and Lita’s attention always drifted onto the next thing. Picking up her wand, Lita tried to mimic the professor’s movement with her wand and said the spell that would cast an illusion, only her’s didn’t. Lita sighed. She could never get it on the first try.

After trying another two times, Lita finally managed to make her object seemingly disappear. “I’m worst at Transfiguration, if you can believe it.” Lita joked lightly to Mike. “Your turn.” Lita said, sliding the snow globe to him.

0 Adelita Garcia (Crotalus) What other uses would that be? 0 Adelita Garcia (Crotalus) 0 5

Marissa Stephenson

April 27, 2010 1:03 PM

Slow and steady wins the race...allegedly. by Marissa Stephenson

“I want to know something new like what you did over summer.”

Most of what Marissa had done over the summer had involved battling for tribal supremacy with the evilest Survivor ever to infiltrate the Heroes’ alliance, but she had a feeling that announcing that in class would not earn her any points with Professor Levy. Plus, most of her classmates had never heard of Survivor. So when the near-end of the alphabet rolled around and she replied to her name, Marissa said, “I hung out with my friends from home a lot and brushed up on my tennis skills.”

It occurred to her that they might not know what tennis was, either, but she’d already said it by then. Besides, she was an open Muggleborn in Crotalus. She had gone for long enough without realizing she should for the idea of pretending to be a pureblood to be viable, so she imagined a certain number of comments many of the other students couldn’t piece together the meaning of was expected from her. With that thought in mind, she listened politely to what the rest of her classmates had to say and then took out her class supplies.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was…odd, she supposed the word would be, as far as her magic-based classes went. On the one hand, it was a magic-based class, so she spent an unhealthy amount of time making each and every written assignment perfect to make up for her lackluster to terrible practical performances. On the other hand, though, her performances in Defense usually fell a lot closer to ‘lackluster’ than ‘terrible’ than they did in any other class. She had finally put it together so her instincts toward self-preservation were overriding her resistance to magic in the face of a world so dangerous it apparently had to teach every single member of it the essentials of self-defense. Deep down, beneath the niceness and politeness and perfectionism, Marissa was at least a mild pragmatist. She wanted to be able to look out for herself, especially in the magical world, where her family couldn’t help her much.

She took careful notes during the lecture, doing her best to imprint every single world that came out of Professor Levy’s mouth onto her brain, and skimmed the notes she’d taken from the textbook on the subject. That was a system she’d worked out over the summer that she was especially proud of. Since there wasn’t really time in class for her to read the text when doing so wasn’t part of the assignment, she’d instead noted the essentials of as much of it as she could finish between when she’d gotten it and when school had started and intended to finish the rest as soon as she could. Once she felt sufficiently aware of the concepts involved for a start – the real work would come later, in private, after she no doubt made a fool of herself here; words couldn’t express her gratitude over no transfers landing in third year Crotalus – Marissa took out her wand and said, “Creo Prastigiae,” over the green coffee mug in front of her.

More than one spark came out, which was nice, but in essence, nothing happened.

“It’s going to take me forever to get it to do anything,” she told her partner, her tone self-deprecating but slightly tinged with humor. Marissa fancied she was well-known, now, for being the girl who answered questions in class and used to blow things up but these days just couldn’t make them work until the day of the exam, when they worked to an extent but seldom exactly as intended. “You don’t have to work with me if you don’t want to.”

16 Marissa Stephenson Slow and steady wins the race...allegedly. 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Alison Sinclair

April 27, 2010 1:07 PM

Showing off. by Alison Sinclair

People, Alison figured, were a lot like undomesticated predators: if she acted like she was completely unimpressed by them, they would assume she had no reason to be impressed by them, and she would therefore be able to progress through however much formal education she was to be subjected to relatively without harassment. She could, dimly, remember enough about Muggle schools to realize that would be an accomplishment, and she’d always fancied herself an achiever.

With this comforting philosophy in mind, she walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts in her normal way, which Amy always said made her look like she thought she owned the place. It wasn’t exactly her intention, but it was better to be seen that way than as someone who didn’t know what she was about and couldn’t handle her situation without assistance. She’d rather bumble through on her own than rely on someone else to help her out all the time, because in her experience, people who relied too much on other people usually got one pulled over on them sooner or later. There were trustworthy people, she believed that, but they didn’t make up most of the world’s population.

The introductory exercise took her straight back to Muggle kindergarten – or at least what she’d constructed in her head as Muggle kindergarten, it had been so long that she couldn’t be sure which memories were real and which ones she was making up – but decided to give the teacher a chance just the same. She taught a class geared toward teaching them how to, in essence, beat other people up, which meant the Barney and Friends routine had to end at some point. When it was her turn, Alison straightened slightly in her seat, ignoring anyone who looked around at an unfamiliar name. “I re-read the complete works of the Bronte sisters,” she said.

Okay. Maybe she was trying to show off a little. Nothing wrong with it.

They got split into pairs to work on a basic illusion exercise. Pairs, Alison was quickly putting together, were all the rage here. She’d heard her parents and brothers complaining about how the Muggle schools liked to jump on every theoretical bandwagon to move through the field, but she had always heard so much about magical society being inherently conservative that it was a surprise to see them fostering cooperation at all. Maybe the liberal factions in the government were the ones primarily supporting the place or something.

Defense interested her – she wanted to be an Auror someday – but the scope of this lesson in it did not. She had already learned the theory of this one and could use it on small objects, though the one on her desk was a little larger than anything she’d tried before. Reminding herself that the size was irrelevant because she said so, Alison tapped the top of a decorative candle and intoned, “Creo Prastigiae.”

Most of it turned on demand, and a second repetition vanished the last bit of wax showing at the bottom. Greta had performed one on her before, just to show them how it worked, and the sensation made her picture it as a temperature-altered sheet being thrown over something – a blanket over the bogeyman, perhaps. Once she was sure it was completely invisible, she turned to the person in the next seat. “Done yet?” she asked.

16 Alison Sinclair Showing off. 140 Alison Sinclair 0 5

Jose Hernandez

April 28, 2010 5:19 PM

So if you're the tortoise, I'll be the hare. by Jose Hernandez

Hernandez put Jose toward the beginning of the list of students in most of his classes, especially since both his class and the fourth years seemed to be weighted toward the middle and end of the alphabet (it wasn't even entirely the fault of the Smythes, either), so he was one of the first ten people to call out "Here!" and tell everyone what he did over the summer.

"I spent entirely too long drawing up my Quidditch Sign-up sheet." Which was as subtle a way as he knew how to tell everyone in his class who didn't already know that he was Pecari's new Captain. "And I worked at a Rennfaire," he added, though that was more afterthought than anything else. That could be pretty much taken for granted most summers, but maybe some people didn't know the California Pierces (or that he was one of them) well enough to have figured that out yet.

Eventually, everyone else finished going as well, and Jose even managed to listen to all of the brief summaries. Afterwards, he honestly couldn't say if it was Daniel Nash II or Juri Dahlgreen whose parents' marriage earned him a trio of evil step-sisters, but he really had been paying attention.

Marissa, who he was sitting next to and whose name he wouldn't have known if he hadn't been paying attention to role call, had played tennis with her friends. Or something like that. As a magic-muggle mongrel, Jose at least knew what Tennis was and had even played it a few times during various gym classes, though he couldn't claim any expertise in the sport. His skill varied between hitting the tennis ball into the net and into (and sometimes over) the fence, and rarely landed in between those extremes.

When she proved not to be much better at casting illusions, he gave her a grin and assured her, "Don't worry about it. I can wait as long as I have to."

He pointed his own wand at the bright yellow comb that was in front of him, and cast, "Creo Prastigiae," with a wave of his wand. The comb sort of shimmered and turned translucent but did not vanish entirely. "I've still got some work to do on mine anyway," he added.

1 Jose Hernandez So if you're the tortoise, I'll be the hare. 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Marissa Stephenson

April 29, 2010 2:51 PM

Looks like the Aesop's going to be disproven. by Marissa Stephenson

Marissa remembered who Jose was for three reasons. One was that there weren't many more people in their year than in a standard Muggle classroom, so she was used to knowing about twenty-odd faces she wasn't especially close to on sight. Another was that his father had once mentioned Sonora was a really good school, which had made her and her parents feel better when, not long after that, Paige had gotten accepted to the same prep school Marissa and Addison had planned to attend together. The third was that he was on the Pecari Quidditch team, and had brought the fact up in his opening comments.

She had not told her mother about it, because Alice wouldn't have been pleased with her lack of sportsmanship, but Marissa had never found an opportunity to politely congratulate him on his performance in the Crotalue-Pecari game the year before. She had thought she was doing pretty well to have only cried a little about it, and that bit not in front of people. Sometimes she faked it better than at others, but Marissa wasn't a very good loser outside of the semi-informal world of academics. It was somehow easier to say fair was fair when someone beat her on a test than when they beat her at a sport, even if she did know that was a stupid way to think about it.

Luckily, the sting had dulled a little since June, so she smiled as Jose succeeded in making his comb change a bit. "Good start, though," she said, trying the spell on her mug again with predictable results. Then, to make up for her lapse in courtesy in their second year, she added, "By the way, congratulations on being the Pecari captain. I hope it works out well for you."

16 Marissa Stephenson Looks like the Aesop's going to be disproven. 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Pippa Brockert

April 29, 2010 4:02 PM

Not so much. by Pippa Brockert

Defense was not one of Pippa's favorite classes, though it was one she probably needed a great deal, even though she naively did not realize it and would not want to admit to it if she had. She would hate to think that Tawny or anyone else for that matter, would want to use the Dark Arts on her . The thought of that would be truly terrifying to Pippa. Especially if it were her own sister .

She didn't especially like the getting to know you exercises Professor Levy-who was otherwise as stern as her predecessor-gave. Pippa always felt self-conscious talking in front of the whole class and it would be difficult for her to come up with something that she'd done over the summer. Pippa had spent most of the summer working on craft projects, and worrying that she'd upset her parents and being tormented by Tawny. Two of those three things were the same things she'd done every summer.

And as her last name was Brockert and she was at the beginning of the alphabet, Pippa had to come up with something rather quickly. "My sister graduated from college and we had a party to celebrate." And two days later, Melora had been off to Nigeria. She had never stayed around very long in the summer. Pippa suspected it was because Melora didn't like Grandmother Royce who was her and Tawny's grandmother but not Melora's. The two did not really get on and Grandmother was awfully critical of Tawny too. She'd never criticized Pippa . Until last summer.

She sighed with relief. Pippa was glad the lesson simply had to do with disillusioning objects and they weren't going to be dueling. She was terrible at stuff like that, but disillusionment was more like Charms, though Pippa understood how it could be used in defense too and Charms was one of her better subjects.

Pippa turned her attention to the object on her desk, a ceramic bird statue. " Creo Prastigiae " She said, while doing the appropriate wand motions. It took her a few tries but she got it.

“Done yet?” .

"Oh, yes." Pippa responded turning to the girl. She was new, obviously one of the transfers. "I'm Pippa." She introduced herself.

11 Pippa Brockert Not so much. 132 Pippa Brockert 0 5

Alison

April 29, 2010 5:45 PM

It's fun. You should try it sometime. by Alison

Alison was impressed to find that the girl beside her had, in fact, finished the assignment as quickly as she had. It seemed that either she wasn't as far ahead as she'd always thought she was or that some people at Sonora were just as smart as she was. Either way, it did something to brighten the prospect of spending most of one to three years at the place.

She smiled with a short nod to acknowledge her partner's introduction. "Pippa," she repeated. That was a nice one for names - very pretty. "I'm Alison."

Pippa's robes indicated she was a Teppenpaw. Alison could remember something from the school catalogue about traits that Teppenpaw valued, all of which reminded her of Amy - well, except the part where Amy wouldn't deign to write a note to explain why she'd apparently suddenly developed a very acute case of agoraphobia at fifteen. But Amy hadn't been that way in all the other time Alison had known her.

Hopefully, Pippa would be more like Old Amy than New Amy. As long as she was around, it would be nice to have a few friends. Alison wanted to go home and figure out what had happened with the ones she already had, but she had to be reasonable and admit that it might not work out that way. Until she was seventeen, Aunt Lauren was the one who made the decisions, with her parents acting as the final seals on the deals. She felt around for her candle and found it in short order, putting one hand on top of it so that she didn't lose it again. Her hand looked strange floating in midair when she could feel the candle under it. "Ready to swap?" she asked.

16 Alison It's fun. You should try it sometime. 140 Alison 0 5

Cassy Brooks

April 29, 2010 5:58 PM

Bored and really not bothering to hide it. by Cassy Brooks

Cassy sat down in one of the desks, opting for one upfront, and grinning. She loved DADA. It was her best subject. It was thrilling and an excellent subject- one of the reasons she was considering becoming an Auror. Professor Levy called roll, and whenever Cassy's name was called, she said, "Here. I'm sixteen, and I plan to become a pro Quidditch player. Or an Auror. I really can't decide."

Professor Levy nodded to her and moved on. It didn't bother her really, there were a lot of people who wanted to play Quidditch professionally. Still, she would become a professional beater. Quidditch was her life, and she would achieve her goal.

Honestly, she was anxious to learn what they were doing for the rest of the class period. Would they be dueling? Oh, she hoped so. She wanted to show off her abilities. Out of all the classes she was in, she was only good in DADA. She had to excel in this class, even if it meant being like an Aladren, AKA Mr. Perfect, Cassy thought with a snort. Still, DADA was an excellent way to release pent up anger. Especially when one was dueling.

Soon the teacher introduced the lesson, and a wave of disappointment washed over her. Really? Disillusionment Charms? Surely she could teach something more... Exciting? Cassy sighed. She supposed not. Still, she listened to the instructions and turned to the rock that was on her desk. Her lip curled. A rock. Well, she could make it look like an egg. Or maybe even a splattered head? Or an eye. Or, she could make it look like a... Cassy shook her head. No, that wouldn't do her a lot of good. Probably wouldn't earn her brownie points with the Professor either.

She waved her hand over the rock and said "Creo Prastigiae.," in a rather bored tone. The rock looked like an egg, but when she picked it up, it still felt like the rock. She did this a few more times, revealing and creating the illusion, before she turned to the person next to her and flourished her wand, saying, "Creo Prastigiae." Their hand look like a horse's hoof. Cassy snorted in amusement.

0 Cassy Brooks Bored and really not bothering to hide it. 0 Cassy Brooks 0 5

Mike Song

May 01, 2010 10:59 PM

I'm thinking mostly of the criminal ones, honestly. by Mike Song

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Mike supplied in reflex. Adelita was an okay sort, he supposed. She was friends with Euna, a fact that would normally bother him, but at least she was a girl, and not some boy. "No attitude. I just hate this whole 'bond with classmates' thing that gets enforced every lesson."

He wasn't sure when he started disliking group work quite so much. Maybe it was when he realized that his previous charms, the very charms that drew in friends by the flock when he was in elementary school, didn't hold the same strength at Sonora. He was on speaking terms with all of his classmates, some a little better than others, but overall, he had none of the popularity he had previously enjoyed. Even his attempts to enisle himself into school activities, like Quidditch and the play before that, hadn't translated into social success.

What also bothered him was that he didn't seem to care as much. Not after his summer, not after having his own father--

"What?" Mike blinked at the snow globe. Adelita appeared to be waiting for him to do something; it took him a few more seconds, time he spent slicking back his hair from his forehead, to realize what that something was. "Oh right, invisibility."

Mike gave his wand a flourish, more out of habit than any real intent, and gave the spell a once over. The snow globe flickered briefly and then returned to its disappeared state. He tried it a second time, and then glared when only the globe's 'snow' came into view. He gave the globe a shake, and then leaned back in his chair and watched as the disembodied snow slowly settled.

"Well, that's kind of interesting, I guess. Want to give it a try?"

0 Mike Song I'm thinking mostly of the criminal ones, honestly. 0 Mike Song 0 5

Andrew Duell

May 02, 2010 7:01 PM

Interesting... by Andrew Duell

Andrew made his way to one of the desks in the front o the classroom. Last year he had gotten stuck way in the back and hadn't gotten out of the class what he thought he should have. The subject intrigued him, and he wondered how much the Dark Arts were really practiced. Sure, his mother had regaled him of stories, but they always seemed to have happened a long, long time ago. Oh well, he thought. If the school thought it was important enough to teach, he would do his best to learn it. When his name was called, he replied with, "Here. Ummm... I like watching old BBC programs when I'm at my Dad's place."

He wrote down the notes as the professor talked. Great, illusions. Definitely not his strong suit. He sighed as he looked over what he had written down and then looked at his rock. Alright, lets give this a try. He waved his wand around the rock and spoke out, "Creo Prastigiae." His wand sparked a bit and the rock seemed to shimmered, but stayed distinctly visible. Great. He glanced over at his partner's progress, Cassy was doing all sorts of stuff to that rock.

Before he could ask her how she was doing that, she turned to him and aimed her wand in his direction. The next thing he knew, his hand was now a hoof. Huh... that was... different. He could still feel his fingers, and hold his wand. "Huh, that's pretty neat, how'd you do that?"

2 Andrew Duell Interesting... 145 Andrew Duell 0 5

Pippa

May 03, 2010 12:19 AM

I'll keep that in mind by Pippa

"It's nice to meet you, Alison," Pippa replied. Maybe the transfers would mean Pippa would finally have a close female friend. Someone she could share secrets and have girl talk with. Tawny's words over midterm last year had really stung and Pippa wanted so badly to have more friends than just Nathaniel (even though she was glad to have him as a friend.)

Thinking about friends, she wondered if Juri was hers and where they stood. They'd gone to the dance together last year and he'd even kissed her good night. It had been Pippa's first kiss, and she hadn't told anyone about it. Especially not her family. Grandmother would have gone ballistic, her parents would be further disappointed and she certainly didn't know what Tawny would have done with the information but Pippa had a feeling it wouldn't be nice.

"Sure." Pippa felt around for her statue and handed it over to Alison, while taking the other girl's objects. "So, how do you like Sonora so far?" Pippa asked. She wanted to know where Alison had went before too and why she'd come here. The last batch of transfers had come here because Salem had closed down so maybe Alison's school had closed down as well.

She went on. "I see you're in Pecari, that's my sister's house." Pippa didn't even know if Alison was in her own year or Tawny's. For all she knew, Alison could be her sister's roommate and if that was the case, Pippa hoped Tawny didn't treat Alison the way she had treated Pippa, for Alison's sake.

"You're a fourth year, right?" Pippa hoped so, both so she could have a female friend in her class and so Alison didn't have to worry about having her stuff broken next time Tawny was mad about something, especially if she was mad about something relating to Pippa . The Teppenpaw would have felt just awful about that.

As for the other fourth year Pecaris, Pippa didn't have a strong opinion really. The one girl was another transfer, Dana Smythe tended to blend in more than even Pippa did and hadn't been around last year and Mike Song scared her a little, even though she'd never spoken to him. She did think his sister seemed nice though even though Pippa hadn't spoken to Euna either.

11 Pippa I'll keep that in mind 132 Pippa 0 5

Alison

May 03, 2010 2:32 PM

I am wise and often-knowing. by Alison

Despite the difficulty in determining exactly where anything was, the object-swap went off pretty well, with nothing breaking at all. Having not paid any attention to what was going on with other students until after she’d finished the first spell, Alison had no idea what she’d just been handed. She would have thought she could guess based on the shape, but though she was sure she had quickly touched the entire thing, she couldn’t put it together. Things weren’t the same when she couldn’t see them.

“Yeah, fourth-year Pecari,” she said in response to Pippa’s questions. She was getting used to them, but the year designations still sounded a little funny to her. More child-like, though she supposed that was because the last time she’d had a grade, she had also only had six candles on her birthday cake. Things had gotten wacky not long after she’d started first grade, and Mother had decided it might be better for her to spend a lot of quality time with her Aunt Lauren and Uncle Arnold that summer. “Pecari. Where do these names come from, anyway? But Sonora’s not been too bad so far.”

Well, that was true. She’d managed to turn up to all her classes on time, refrain from speaking her mind too much, and not make a total fool of herself through ignorance of basic classroom etiquette. It seemed that Greta had made life more normal for her charges than any of them had thought, though it might have helped that they weren’t exactly stereotypical homeschooled kids. Greta Ballard considered learning to dress and behave with style and taste in both the Muggle and magical worlds to be an essential part of any education. They wouldn’t, Greta had always said, be able to stay home forever, now would they?

“It’s actually not as much different from what I was used to as I expected,” she admitted. “Except the uniforms. That’s still a new one. The stuff the lessons are about is different, too, but it’s kind of – “ she gestured a little impatiently; words weren’t her best thing – “the same format, I guess. Have you always been here?” She remembered she was supposed to be doing something. “Oh, yeah - Acclaro prastigiae.”

16 Alison I am wise and often-knowing. 140 Alison 0 5

Cassy

May 03, 2010 9:38 PM

Indeed by Cassy

Cassy shrugged. "Illusion charms aren't only for making something disappear. Vanishing spells are better," she told him. "It's just like Transfiguration. Just picture what you want the object to be, and BAM!" she said loudly, clapping her hands, "There it is. You're not transfiguring it, just making it look different."

Which was true. Her dad had taught her that. He was an Auror, and he said the spell could be useful sometimes, but not always. He had taught her it a long time ago, back in first year, and she spent the entire time using his own want to make things look different. She had made her sister's hair look like snakes. She was crying for weeks. Of course, after that her father wouldn't let her try it again, but it was worth it, seeing her sister's tears. She grinned wickedly for the moment, fondly recalling the memory, before turning to the boy sitting next to her, looking down at his hand.

"I could make your head match, and your other hand too." She winked at him, purely joking. "My name's Cassy, or Caspia, but call me Cassy, or I'll kill you." She said this in her cheeriest of voices. She was still amused with his hoof-hand. "What's yours?"

0 Cassy Indeed 0 Cassy 0 5

Andrew Duell

May 05, 2010 10:05 PM

Hmm... let me try this... by Andrew Duell

Andrew listened to her explain it, but he wasn't quite convinced. She claimed that these illusions were just like transfiguration, but they weren't, at least not in his mind. But before he got started on that subject, manners came first. "It's nice to meet you Cassy, I'm Andrew. I'd shake your hand, but..." he said with a grin while extending his hoof-hand a bit.

"Let me see if your instruction will help. Transfigurations are my strong suit, maybe that will get me in the right 'frame of mind'". Andrew closed his eyes and went through his standard transfiguration process. Nothing happened to his hoof-hand. Naturally he began talking to himself to work through the problem, "Transfiguration is all about understanding the differences between what you have and what you want. This is the same thing... hmm... except you don't change them all. Only the ones you want, appearance in this case, right?" He looked at Casey, "Transfiguration changes the object on every level, this is only affecting perception. Is the spell really on my hand, or is it in our heads?"

2 Andrew Duell Hmm... let me try this... 145 Andrew Duell 0 5

Cassy

May 06, 2010 5:49 PM

You do that. by Cassy

Cassy snorted in laughter, then said, "If you want to be all logical about it, sure." She leaned back in her chair, tempted to do the same thing to other people as she did with Andrew. Oh, she would get a kick out of that, seeing their reactions. She looked to her hand. Hmm... Maybe she should change her own hand? She could go walking around all day with flippers for hands and hooves for feet, and bug eyes. She threw her head back and laughed. People would look at her weird all day! It would be a good prank, especially if she did it to other people.

"I wonder," she said, twirling her wand in her hand, "Would it be possible to make it look different to other people, and not yourself? Like you said, it could be in our heads. But how would we go about it so that the person doesn't realize he looks different, but other people do. You know what I mean?"

She glanced at him, he was still trying to do what she did. "Don't think about it as transfiguration too much. Yes your changing the appearance, instead of the other layers." She paused, and tapped her chin in thought. She decided to go with a different approach.

"Illusions are in our mind. The magic is surrounding the area around your hand and it makes it look like a hoof. It's like a Mirage, you know? With a mirage there is enough heat so our eyes think we're seeing something, but we're not. Imagine what you want, let your magic flow from you to the recipient object, and shape it. Mold it into what you want." She probably didn't make sense, she realized. She has never been good with words. She couldn't explain things like other people could, she would always stumble over what she was saying. It was either that, or people just didn't get her thought process.

0 Cassy You do that. 0 Cassy 0 5

Pippa

May 07, 2010 7:16 PM

Good for you :) by Pippa

Pippa nodded. "I'm a fourth year too, in Teppenpaw." She was really really glad Alison was in her year.Not that she wouldn't be friends with someone in a different year. It was just that if Alison was a third year Pecari, Pippa would have to decide whether or not to warn her about Tawny. She loved her sister really, and would have felt bad saying something unkind about her but on the other hand, she would have felt guilty if Alison was Tawny's roommate and her sister did something to Alison and Pippa didn't warn her.

But fortunately, as Alison was a fourth year, it wasn't an issue.

"The names come from magical towns, old wizarding settlements. Only Aladren is still around today though. It's in Oregon." Pippa explained about the house names. She was glad Alison was enjoying being at Sonora so far.

She nodded again. "Since I was a first year." She wished she knew how to expand on that but really, Pippa did not like to talk about herself very much. She wasn't that egocentric. Besides, what was she supposed to say? That she barely had any friends and didn't really fit in with the other girls in her class? Pippa would really rather not dwell on that. She would prefer to remain positive and hope that Alison would end up her friend.

"Where did you go before?" Pippa asked. She'd rather get to know Alison better anyway. The Teppenpaw would normally rather listen than talk. She hoped she wasn't prying. Pippa was just interested.

Hearing Alison try out the spell reminded Pippa that she was supposed to be doing the same. She really wanted to get good grades this term to compensate for last summer. Pippa just wanted her parents to be proud of her again. The item flickered faintly, not even long enough for Pippa to tell what it was.

11 Pippa Good for you :) 132 Pippa 0 5

Lita

May 08, 2010 8:53 PM

Future job? by Lita

Adelita looked amused for a moment. “We are now into our Fourth year at Sonora.” Adelita declared to Mike, “And you still aren’t used to working in partners? I would be completely caught off guard if we actually have a lesson that doesn’t involve having partners.” Lita commented. Since she started here at Sonora, Adelita really couldn’t remember any lesson she had taken that didn’t require a partner. Sometimes it was annoying, especially when the partner was super smart and made Adelita feel like she was an absolute dimwit. But, most of the time it was fun and that was really how she had met most of her friends.

”What?”

Adelita frowned at Mike. He clearly was not enjoying her company. Lita wasn’t really surprised, Mike was outgoing on a different level than Lita ever was and they didn’t run in the same circles, but she thought that a small conversation wasn’t all that difficult to hold with her. But, Lita didn’t complain. She just sat quietly and watch as he tried to bring the snow globe back into view.

“It’s like your own little snow storm the the palm of your hand.” Lita commented, a small smile playing her lips when she took the globe back from him. Lita read over her notes to make sure she had the right spell before trying for herself. Making it invisible did seem easier than making it reappear. At least she wasn’t alone in finding it difficult.

“Are you okay, Mike?” Lita asked in the midst of her third try with the spell. “You seem…” What was the right word to use here… “unhappy. Quiet. And usually you’ll bust out some jokes or something completely random. – AH, there!” Lita exclaimed when the full globe finally popped into view.

0 Lita Future job? 0 Lita 0 5

Andrew Duell

May 10, 2010 7:28 PM

I think I may by Andrew Duell

Andrew thought about what she had said for a moment. "Creating a magical field around the area, does make more sense. All it's doing is altering the light waves traveling through that area." He paused and examined his hoof-hand again, "If that is true, than the counter simply removes the that magical field, it doesn't change the object at all." He took his wand and tried again, this time focusing not on his hand, but the field around it. His hand flickered a bit and changed back to normal.

"Hmm... Could we make a variable image field? We'd have to assume that the field itself is not generating the image, but the mind observing the field. If the field itself is generating it then we're out of luck, and we'd have to isolate variation in a particular person's eyes..." Andrew's rambling continued and quieted down to near unintelligible muttering as he began digging through his textbook.

A few minutes later he looked up at Cassy, "You're pretty good at this, what do you think?"

2 Andrew Duell I think I may 145 Andrew Duell 0 5

Alison

May 12, 2010 2:28 AM

I do try my best. by Alison

Also fourth year, but Teppenpaw. Alison filed this bit of information away, feeling sure she was going to have many issues of various kinds with all the years and Houses and associations with them. At least the robes indicated what House a student belonged to, but it seemed that, for all practical intents and purposes, the third years were going to be as much her peers as the other fourth years. Hopefully, that wasn't an issue most people were actually quite touchy about that she was just missing the importance of.

The name sources made her laugh. Since she did know enough about the school history to know that neither of the founders had been from Oregon, she had to assume that either big name donors really were as old as history or that they'd led moderately interesting love lives. "I'll make sure to add that one to my post-grad road trip, then," she said. "Ten galleons says there's got to be a sign about it somewhere."

And Pippa was not another transfer. Also good to know. The implied knowledge of how things worked around here meant, after all, that Alison could definitely get more than just companionship out of the potential relationship. "I was tutored at...home," she said, barely pausing before she said the last word. She had never liked using that word; Aunt Lauren's fit the emotional connotations more than her parents' house did, but the places she was most attached to were Amy's house and Tessa's uncle's antiques shop. It was complicated, and Alison disliked complications of that sort. "Me and a few others in the area. We had a good time with it, but we're all pretty much at real schools now."

Having decided, not long after she realized there was no way out of coming, never to flat-out state that she didn't even want to be at Sonora and would hop a bus out of here in a millisecond if Greta said the word, Alison decided to redirect the topic. "Any tips you can give me on how not to stick out like an unsocialized loser?" she asked jokingly. "The whos and wheres of Sonora? I've already seen that you have boys over age twelve here, so I have to assume there's even more differences I'm just not picking up on yet."

16 Alison I do try my best. 140 Alison 0 5

Pippa

May 16, 2010 2:17 PM

That's all anyone can ask by Pippa

"Oh." Pippa wondered breifly what it would be like to be homeschooled, just her and Tawny at home. In fact, it was something that last summer, Pippa had been slightly worried about. "Well, at least you had a good time with it and there were others." She personally would have felt isolated like she and Tawny had been as children. Pippa might not have been the most outgoing person or the most popular person at Sonora but she was glad that she was here, and to be honest, was kind of glad Alison was here now too. Maybe Pippa would have a close female friend at last.

"Well," She considered the transfer's questions. "I suppose you want to know about the people in our class." Pippa wasn't one for gossip but there was no reason not to tell Alison who was who. "My best friend is Nathaniel Leon. He's another Teppenpaw like me." Pippa indicated Nathaniel.

"Juri Dahlgren," she gestured, "took me to the ball here last year." Pippa blushed, remembering how Juri had kissed her good night. She could never tell anyone about that. Her parents might not only pull her (and Tawny) out of school, they would probably lock her up, throw away the key and put a charm on the door so it couldn't be unlocked using magic. Good pureblood girls weren't supposed to kiss boys they weren't betrothed to.

"There are Midsummer events at the end of every school year. There's a rotation every four years. This year is a cultural fair, I think." Pippa further explained. "I don't know much about it because the last time it happened was the year before I came. My first year we had this concert-my cousin Quentin" She pointed Quentin out to Alison. "insists it was a talent show, because some people didn't actually sing-and my second year there was a bonfire and this other school came.

"In your house, there's Dana Smythe and Mike Song...and another transfer, I don't know anything about her, but you probably know her and Dana already since they're your roommates." Pippa and Mike were the only ones in their class who didn't have any. "Mike has sister in our year too, named Euna."

She continued. "My sister Tawny," Pippa indicated her. "is a third year in your house." She bit her lip. "Tawny can be kind of um, difficult." Her voice sounded kind of sad here, suggesting that they weren't particularly close, no matter how much Pippa would have wanted them to be. "The other third year Pecari is Jose Hernandez. He's Quidditch Captain and went to the dance with Tawny last year."

Pippa paused and looked over at Alison. "Is there anything else, specific that you want to know?" She would hate to give the other girl all this information and completely miss telling her what she was really interested in.

11 Pippa That's all anyone can ask 132 Pippa 0 5

Mike

May 17, 2010 10:52 AM

Possibly. by Mike

Mike had made a point, in years prior, to ignore whatever little friends his sister made. He'd play the occasional prank on them, mostly due to their association with Euna. He didn't mean it as punishment, exactly, more like a test. There had been more than one occasion, in their childhood, when Euna had suffered through the realization that her 'best friend' was really nothing more than a girl trying to get closer to him. Mike didn't view his behavior as dysfunctional like previous teachers had described it to his mother, over parent-teacher conferences. He merely saw it as a means to an end; he was a kid then, limited, and the best way to look out for his sister was to make sure she was alone.

But Sonora had made that difficult; first by putting them in different houses, and then by making Mike less popular than he'd been with straight Muggles. Euna had made friends, albeit boring ones, and Mike found himself drifting through the loner lane, coasting on acquaintance with all and intimacy with none. He had his pursuit of Holly Greer, and he blustered through the rest of that void, joking with his male classmates and flirting with most of his female ones. Adelita, though, he'd left alone.

He wasn't sure why, but he had. And now, as he watched her cup the floating snowstorm in her hands, his chest strangely prickled. He hadn't realized it before, but Adelita Garcia was pretty. Unfairly so.

"Okay?" he repeated vaguely, purposely averting his eyes. His neck felt uncomfortably hot.

"You seem. . . unhappy. Quiet. And usually you'll bust out some jokes or something completely random-- Ah, there!"

Mike stared at the now visible globe, his jaw tight. He didn't appreciate the observation, especially when it was so dead-on. He didn't like being seen so clearly; it made him feel naked, vulnerable. Clumsily, he snatched the globe from Adelita's hand, ignoring the peculiar warmth that tingled in his fingers when they grazed hers. He fixed the globe in the center of his desk and gripped his wand.

"Listen, Garcia, just because you're friends with my sister doesn't make us de-facto pals. So why don't you do us both a favor and just keep your thoughts to yourself?" Mike didn't wait for a reply, and with unnecessary effort, he applied his wrist to the necessary movement and uttered the invisibility spell. Once again, only the snow complied with his wishes: the globe stood entirely visible, its contents the only things vanished.

A wave of anger, undercut by a deeper ache, swept through him, and with one curt movement, Mike knocked the globe off of his desk and watched with masochistic satisfaction as the globe hit the ground and split neatly. Something in him twisted as the snow, released from the spell, blinked back into view, and he knew what he felt was not quiet; what he felt was not a tame unhappiness.

He was--

He made the mistake of meeting Adelita's gaze and that twist in his chest knotted tighter.

He was awful, miserable and awful, and Mike knew of no spell to fix that.

0 Mike Possibly. 0 Mike 0 5

Jose Hernandez (Pecari)

May 17, 2010 4:48 PM

Nah, see? I just took a nap in front of the finish line. by Jose Hernandez (Pecari)

As Marissa began speaking, Jose recognized her voice and remembered she was the one who'd sat with him and his parents at that thing at the hotel way back in first year. Feeling simultaneously bad for forgetting who she was and better for realizing he hadn't completely ignored her for two whole years, Jose grinned back at her as she offered her congratulations on his captaincy. "Thanks! I hope it works out, too!" He was a little worried actually; he was beginning to notice two of his players hated each other.

Or, more accurately, he was beginning to notice that Starbuck hated Demelza. Demelza seemed somewhat oblivious to the whole thing, though she also seemed to be twigging to the fact that something wasn't quite right anymore. Jose had no idea what had caused the rift, and suspected Mel didn't either. He should maybe talk to Starbuck about it at some point.

But that was neither here nor there. Now, he was supposed to be getting a yellow comb to look like it wasn't there anymore. And maybe trying to help Marissa who seemed to be having even more trouble.

He supposed he should have a working illusion first, though, before he tried to offer unsolicited advice. "Creo Prastigiae," he cast for the second time on his comb, and once more it shimmered and turned a little more invisible. It wasn't entirely gone, but if you weren't looking for it, he thought it would blend into the desk fairly well. Only the outlines of it stood out a little bit, catching the light differently than the rest of the desk did.

He pushed it over in front of Marissa and decided that was as close as he was going to get. "Maybe it'll be easier to dispel an poorly cast illusion than to make one of your own?" he suggested, hoping that if she could bust his spell, she'd have the confidence to get hers up.

0 Jose Hernandez (Pecari) Nah, see? I just took a nap in front of the finish line. 0 Jose Hernandez (Pecari) 0 5

Daniel Nash II [Aladren]

May 18, 2010 12:01 PM

Disillusioned by Daniel Nash II [Aladren]

Daniel sat in the middle of the room, with a name in the middle of the alphabet, and wished that Juri Dahlgreen had a name that fell after N. Then it would sound like Juri was copying him, instead of the other way around. But "Nash, Daniel," came up well after "Dahlgreen, Juri," and Daniel was forced to raise his hand and say, "Here. My mother also got married over the summer," and give Juri an acknowledging nod because Daniel's roommate got to say it first. "Fortunately, Anton didn't have any kids, so I don't have to deal with step-siblings."

Mom had been careful about that after that one time. That had been a disastrous marriage, and the only one where Daniel and Holly had both been glad to see the step-dad go. Daniel did not share well with others. The only reason he tolerated Holly and Luke as half-siblings was because they pre-dated him and neither of them actually lived with Mom for more than two days at a time. Mom belonged to Daniel more than to either of her other kids, and he liked it that way. They both had other moms, but Mom was the only one Daniel had or would ever have.

Unless, of course, it turned out that Mom couldn't hold onto a husband for more than a year because all this time she'd been looking for Ellen DeGeneres and didn't know it, but Daniel figured that was pretty unlikely . . . unfortunately; it would be incredibly awesome to have Ellen as a step-mom. But impossible. Mom didn't go for blonds. Or girls. She had that in common with Dad. Aside from their careers and Daniel, it was maybe the only thing they had in common. But Daniel didn't like to dwell on the fact that he owed his existence to an abuse of mind-altering substances (which he dearly hoped was limited to the alcoholic variety). So he made himself stop that train of thought and listen to the introductions of the rest of the people who came after Nash on the attendance sheet.

Soon enough, Professor Levy got to the lesson and Daniel was able to turn his attention to that. He took his normal Aladren appropriate level of notes and paid careful attention to the spells' demonstrations, being sure to note down a pronunciation guide and a diagram of the wand motion into his spiral notebook.

Once they were released to the lesson - group work again - Daniel began with the easy part. "Creo Prastigiae," he cast on the candlestick that had been sitting on his desk when he arrived. A fourth year and as equally strong in practical work as he was in theory for DADA (not to mention, he'd read ahead and practiced already), the candle vanished on the first try.

Sitting back with the satisfaction of a job well done, Daniel looked to his side to see who his default partner was going to be. He didn't object to the identity of his neighbor (the Ladies, after all, were now in the advanced class, if they were even still taking DADA, which he doubted), so Daniel asked, "Do you have a partner yet?" The question was more rhetorical than anything else, so he added, with a push of the invisible candle toward his classmate, "I have an object ready for you to reveal."

1 Daniel Nash II [Aladren] Disillusioned 130 Daniel Nash II [Aladren] 0 5

Alison

May 20, 2010 5:45 PM

Well, they can always ask and just not get. by Alison

"Yeah," Alison said, smiling a bit sadly. "We had fun." She shook her head and then had to pull the elastic holding her dark hair up in a loose bun tight again to keep it from all falling in her face. Nostalgia Way wasn't a street she felt the need to walk down right now. Her brain did, but she was not listening to it. She refused to be a sappy moron with a pride level in the negative numbers.

Fortunately, one question was all it took to get Pippa on a roll. There were too many names and associations at hand to have any brain space left over for other people. She hadn't thought of herself as particularly isolated or sheltered in her previous life, but clearly the outside world really was bigger and more complicated than she'd thought. Part of the problem was, no doubt, not having a bunch of family members of her own to keep track of; she was used to being kind of a lone agent. It was one of the few things capable, at this late date, of reminding her that she was technically still considered Muggleborn.

Or something like that. The odds that she and a biological aunt would both be freaks of nature were, from what she'd read, low; while people were still apparently divided over whether or not all Muggleborns were distantly descended from Squibs or something, having two witches in as many generations seemed like a clear indicator that there was magic somewhere not too terribly far back in the family tree. A great-great-grandparent, perhaps. Tessa had suggested doing research on the topic once, but Alison had never felt much interest in her roots. This was one reason why Pippa's rundown concerned her almost enough for her to forget girl talk about the boyfriend.

"Let me make sure I've got all that first," she said, and raised a finger. "Okay. Nathaniel is a Teppenpaw, Juri's your...special friend - " this with a smile to let Pippa know she was teasing her a bit; Alison only knew about boys what she'd read and seen on TV, but that blush had to mean something - "Mike has a sister, Jose is the House Quidditch captain, and Tawny is your sister." Who Pippa hadn't sounded terribly enthusiastic about discussing. Well, Alison could understand that. She doubted she'd sound sad if she discussed Michael and Anthony, but they weren't a topic she liked to dwell on anyway.

She turned the object in front of her idly in her hand, hoping her next bit sounded curious, but basically casual. "So, this cultural fair thing. How does that work? What do they mean by cultures?"

If someone wanted her to participate in some kind of panel on the Muggle world, they were going to have a problem. She wasn't ashamed of where she came from, but that was at least a bit because she knew nothing about it. She was, for all intents and purposes, a half-blood witch from Chicago instead of a Muggleborn girl from Philadelphia; her brothers had been finding her level of tech savvy hilarious since the TV upgrade, and the finer points of the laptop her parents had, in a fit of optimism or temporary insanity, gotten her last Christmas continued to elude her because she had so little time to play with the thing. She liked electric lighting, televisions, and Google too much to give up the Muggle world entirely, but she knew she was the next thing to a Luddite compared to an average Muggle teenager and could probably no more fit into that society than she could sell her name at a pureblood party.

16 Alison Well, they can always ask and just not get. 140 Alison 0 5

Marissa

May 20, 2010 9:42 PM

Kind of you to give me a fighting chance. by Marissa

Oblivious to the issues between the Pecari Quidditch girls, Marissa smiled. "I'm sure it will," she said. "Coach Pierce doesn't seem like the type to pick someone incompetent."

It occurred to her that, if she squinted just so at it, her statement might backfire a little as a compliment, but that was the best she thought she could do. She didn't know Jose well enough to make statements about his perceived virtues unless he started beating himself up right in front of her. Besides, Coach Pierce was Marissa's own Head of House, and wasn't it assumed that she'd think more highly of what her Head of House thought than she did of most teachers? So it should work as a compliment.

Jose was more successful on his second attempt at the spell she was, predictably enough, still failing; even looking at it as it disappeared, she had to look around for what still showed up. "Very nice," she said, trying hers again without much conviction. It was a betrayal of everything she'd been raised to believe, but it was far easier than she'd thought it would be to expect failure and find the expectation kind of comforting.

The corners of her mouth twitched upward at his suggestion about performing the spells in reverse, even as she blushed slightly at the acknowledgment of her failure. Somehow, it was different when she admitted she was no good and when someone else did so. "It's not that bad," she objected as she pushed her own work aside. "You just started this. It's probably as good as I'll be able to do in the end." She concentrated very hard on the comb, trying to picture it in her head the way it had looked when it hadn't been enchanted. "Acclaro Prastigiae."

It didn't revert to yellow, but she thought - thought that she hoped - she had seen it flicker, just a bit. Crossing the fingers of her free hand, she tried again, and got a definite sight of yellow for a second. "Did you see that?" she asked Jose, excited. "It almost worked! Hold on for just one second - "

It did, in the end, take more than one second, but she finally got it more or less consistently yellow. Marissa was beaming as she slid it back across the dress. "That's the second spell I've gotten to work during class this year," she said. "If I keep this up, I might actually do well on a practical exam this year." She had only ever actually failed once, but only because she had learned to function on much less than a doctor-recommended amount of sleep so she could both turn out really good written work and stay up for extra spell practice. If her parents ever found out how much tea and sugar she ingested in an average week here, they'd probably seek an audience with the Headmistress to complain about it. "I'm not getting my hopes up too much, though."

She looked back at her work, trying to hold on to her good mood. She could do this. Sure. Of course. Naturally. It was no problem. Hit by sudden inspiration, she picked it up and studied the desk it was supposed to blend in with, trying to memorize the pattern of the wood so she could picture it while casting the spell. "Trying this again," she said. "Creo prastigiae."

It didn't vanish, but a little bit of the handle was wiped away, the illusion spreading like she had spilled a very small amount of liquid. She smiled, pleased. "This is definitely progress," she said.

16 Marissa Kind of you to give me a fighting chance. 147 Marissa 0 5

Lita

May 23, 2010 1:24 PM

You're doing a fine job of getting there. by Lita

Adelita was lost in appreciation for her job well done on the globe that she hadn’t noticed that she had touched a nerve in Mike. She didn’t even realize Mike was upset with her until he took the snow globe away from her by ripping it straight out of her hands. She jumped in surprise of his moves, but was too shocked by the sudden movement to say anything.

She frowned in anger at his words. She had only wanted to help. There was no reason for him to be such a grouch over it. That’ll be the last time she tried to be nice to him when he looked like he might need a friend. She had no idea how Euna put up with it all. Lita knew that they were siblings, but if Dulce ever behaved the way that Mike seemed to all the time, Lita wouldn’t even acknowledge her anymore.

Lita sulked in her seat while Mike tried the spell again. She only spoke up when Mike purposefully knocked the globe over and smashed it. “What did you do that for?” Lita exclaimed. Waving her want and saying the spell, the snow globe repaired itself. Or, at least, was no longer broken. Some of the water and snow hadn’t been able to make it back into the globe. She still had to work on that spell. “If you don’t want to do the work, you don’t have to go breaking things.” Lita stated, fully well aware that he’d likely to give her a telling off again.

0 Lita You're doing a fine job of getting there. 0 Lita 0 5

Charlotte Abbott

May 24, 2010 1:17 PM

Makes two of us by Charlotte Abbott

Defense had gotten a lot more fun since Old Eerie (as Oliver liked to call him) had left. Charlie might have been a little intimidated by the other professor, and while Prof Levy could be scary if she wanted, mostly she was cool. Charlie's interest in the class was growing, too, since they spells were starting to get more advanced a maybe even a touch on the dangerous side on the odd occasion. She liked excitement in her life.

As was start of the year tradition, it seemed, they had to say something about themselves as an introduction. Charlie didn't plan to pay a great deal of attention to this, and hoped that nobody was paying much attention to her, either, as she started of the role call. "Here. I live in a hotel," she said, and hoped it gave the impression of something glamorous like the kids from Gossip Girl rather than the tourist trap it really was. besides, she barely lived there any more - it was a half-truth.

Charlotte sat in the middle of the room out of preference, and next to Daniel out of habit. Some of the fourth years she didn't like too much (namely Juri) and the third years were all abit weird in Charlie's experience; it was much safer to stick with what she knew. So when he asked if she had a partner yet, Charlie shook her head. "Nope, I'm all yours," she said lightly, then faltered a little, because that had come out sounding weird. "To work with you, I mean." Why was it she couldn't ever seem to have a normal conversation with Daniel?

"I haven't done mine yet," she said, gesturing to the vase on her desk. "I was just finishing up my notes," Charlie pointed at the page where she had indeed just finished making notes on the class. That probably wasn't important; she could still lift the illusion on Daniel's item, then they could work on hers afterwards. "So we'll do mine in a sec, yeah?" she checked for clarification.

Charlotte raised her wand as if to do the spell, and then she stopped, as if the part of her brain that was engaged in the lesson suddenly got taken over by a part of her brain that was much more social. "Are we okay?" she asked. "I mean, I didn't talk to you over the summer, and stuff." Lita had suggested that she'd just talked to Daniel last year. Charlie hoped she hadn't let it too late to start.

0 Charlotte Abbott Makes two of us 135 Charlotte Abbott 0 5

Pippa

May 24, 2010 4:08 PM

True by Pippa

At the mention of Juri as Pippa's 'special friend' the blush deepened. What was he to her anyway? He'd kissed her good night, yes and she was from a world where guys didn't just go around kissing anyone but they hadn't spoke since coming back to Sonora. Furthermore, Pippa would never be allowed to date him. Nor would she be allowed to date Nathaniel. Really, aside from Quentin and maybe the new transfer boy, Pippa's parents wouldn't approve of any of the boys in her class, and Quentin was her cousin .

"Oh, Juri and I just friends." She told Alison quickly. Pippa didn't want Alison to think Juri was actually her boyfriend, he wasn't and he'd only get mad if she allowed Alison to think so. Not to mention what would happen if Tawny found out. Pippa knew her sister might abhor tattle-tales but the rules of tattling were different when it came to her . Even if the younger girl found the information to be,well, not a lie as Pippa didn't lie, but a huge misunderstanding, Tawny might go and tell their parents anyway.

Because, of course, the third year was not above lying and as much as Pippa hated to admit it to herself, she knew it.

"But yes, the rest of that is pretty much correct. Sorry for so much information at once." Pippa apologized. It had to be a lot to absorb in one sitting and she really didn't want to overwhelm the new girl.

"About the cultural fair, well, I've never done it before but I think it's like different cultures in the world. Like from different countries. I'm not entirely sure though." Pippa shrugged. "Sorry that I'm not more help on that. You could ask one of the older students, I suppose. I know its not required though."

11 Pippa True 132 Pippa 0 5

Daniel Nash II

May 24, 2010 4:49 PM

Two's company by Daniel Nash II

Daniel was not actively avoiding Charlotte. He was not actively trying to spend time with her, either, but he had no hard feelings. They had never formally started dating, and had therefore never formally broken up, but whatever had been between them, Daniel was fairly sure had ended irrevocably when she went to the ball with James instead of him. He had been more relieved than anything else that he could finally firmly put a definition on the relationship, and the definition he'd chosen was 'just friends'.

They hadn't really discussed that either, though, so he wasn't quite sure what she thought of him anymore (maybe she thought he'd dumped her without telling her about it, which would have been really rude), and since he didn't like getting rejected, he hadn't really offered her any opportunities to do so.

But she voluntarily sat down next to him in DADA, which seemed to imply she still liked him at least a little, so he'd made the partners offer, and she accepted - a little too strongly. He blinked and she seemed to realize she'd phrased it badly and clarified, which only made things more awkward.

Fortunately, a redirect to the class lesson diffused the subject before either of them could make it worse. He wasn't sure how it could have gotten worse than a fairly blatant reminder for both of them they might have been dating, but weren't anymore, but he had faith that he and Charlie could have done it. They had that kind of skill between them. It was what their entire relationship, such as it was, had been built around.

But then, before she actually did the spell they were supposed to be working on, Charlie went and asked the one question neither of them had asked for over a year. Or at least, Daniel was taking 'Are we okay?' to mean 'So, where, exactly, do we stand with each other?'

"We're okay," he said, then thought maybe a lot of confusion could be avoided if he spelled it out a lot more clearly than that. He really didn't want to go through another two years like last year. "As friends, I mean. We've got obvious communication issues, so we'd never last as a couple. I wish you the best with James or Dmitry or whoever. I'm not going to be a jealous ex."

He shrugged, "And honestly? Every day, I'm thinking more and more that I take after my dad." Charlie knew about Dad and Barry, so he he figured he didn't need to spell out exactly what he meant there. Not here where other people might overhear. But maybe it might make her feel better about their not-quite-break-up.

It wasn't like he was eager to try dating any of the other females at Sonora, so saying as much wasn't going to get him in trouble as a liar any time soon. He couldn't even find one girl he liked well enough to ask to the dance. He figured Charlie would keep the secret - she hadn't told anyone about Dan Nash, which was a much bigger scoop, in Daniel's opinion - but if a whisper spread around, it was hardly going to hurt his chances with a potential date if the school thought he might bat for the other team. He could handle speculation.

He figured it was actually only a matter of time before James or Juri would be the first to start that rumor anyway. Quentin, he assumed, would sooner suspect Daniel of Narcissism before he reached the conclusion that Daniel's obsession with his own reflection's appearance might be a Queer Eye thing going on (Quentin, he was quite sure, though a Queer Eye was an eye that was a little bit odd). Daniel, on the other hand, feared Quentin's deduction might actually be the more accurate.

"I would have written," Daniel added, which was a lie because he didn't want to be rejected by owl any more than he wanted to be rejected in person, "but the summer was crazy." Of course, that was the advantage of being a professional actor. He could make himself sound sincere even when he wasn't. "Between Mom's wedding, and Street Beat, and avoiding Anton's attempts to bond with me as my new step-father, and this science fair thing at Molly's day camp that Holly's dad wanted me to help her with, I barely had time to sleep, never mind write letters to people." And, surprisingly, all of that really was true, so maybe he wouldn't have written even if he had wanted to.

1 Daniel Nash II Two's company 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Charlotte

May 25, 2010 3:55 AM

Company it is by Charlotte

Charlie wondered for a moment if her incorigible verbal outbursts (or perhaps lack of the same) had caused some sort of offense. Then Daniel affirmed they were 'okay' and she could relax again; offending people wasn't something she sought to do. In fact, Daniel went on to make it quite clear in exactly what terms they were okay. Charlotte laughed, pleased to finally have some sort of definition. Lita was right - she probably should have just talked to him from the start. "I'm glad we've got that sorted," she replied, happy to be able to count Daniel amongst her friends.

"And honestly? Every day, I'm thinking more and more that I take after my dad." Charlotte couldn't help the reflexive raise of her eyebrows. In this context, she was fairly sure what Daniel was talking about.

"Really?" she said, because although on some level it probably ought not to be surprising, nobody had ever told her anything like that before. It didn't sound like Daniel was certain, though - maybe he was still making his mind up. Now that was something Charlie understood completely. She knew she liked boys generally, but she was still trying to work out what she specifically was looking for. She was making her mind up in the most sensible way possible - by testing out all the available options. "Well," Charlie said to Daniel, "I think you're genuinely awesome, whatever you decide." By definition, this also included him deciding he still liked girls and wanting to date her again, but she didn't think this was an appropriate time to say so. Friends would definitely work, too - it might even solve their communication problems. Daniel explained that he hadn't written because of his busy summer, but Charlie waved it off. "It's cool," she assured him, especially as she hadn't been anywhere near so busy over the summer and she hadn't made the effort, either.

0 Charlotte Company it is 0 Charlotte 0 5

Professor Levy

June 01, 2010 10:04 PM

Class Closed! (nm) by Professor Levy

0 Professor Levy Class Closed! (nm) 0 Professor Levy 0 5

Professor Levy

Lesson I: Intermediate Level (Third and Fourth Years) by Professor Levy

Dmitry Talsky

Again? by Dmitry Talsky

Juri Dahlgren

Apparently. by Juri Dahlgren

Dmitry

How fun. by Dmitry

Mike Song

Finding other uses for illusion. by Mike Song

Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

What other uses would that be? by Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

Marissa Stephenson

Slow and steady wins the race...allegedly. by Marissa Stephenson

Alison Sinclair

Showing off. by Alison Sinclair

Jose Hernandez

So if you're the tortoise, I'll be the hare. by Jose Hernandez

Marissa Stephenson

Looks like the Aesop's going to be disproven. by Marissa Stephenson

Pippa Brockert

Not so much. by Pippa Brockert

Alison

It's fun. You should try it sometime. by Alison

Cassy Brooks

Bored and really not bothering to hide it. by Cassy Brooks

Mike Song

I'm thinking mostly of the criminal ones, honestly. by Mike Song

Andrew Duell

Interesting... by Andrew Duell

Pippa

I'll keep that in mind by Pippa

Alison

I am wise and often-knowing. by Alison

Cassy

Indeed by Cassy

Andrew Duell

Hmm... let me try this... by Andrew Duell

Cassy

You do that. by Cassy

Pippa

Good for you :) by Pippa

Lita

Future job? by Lita

Andrew Duell

I think I may by Andrew Duell

Alison

I do try my best. by Alison

Pippa

That's all anyone can ask by Pippa

Mike

Possibly. by Mike

Jose Hernandez (Pecari)

Nah, see? I just took a nap in front of the finish line. by Jose Hernandez (Pecari)

Daniel Nash II [Aladren]

Disillusioned by Daniel Nash II [Aladren]

Alison

Well, they can always <i>ask</i> and just not <i>get</i>. by Alison

Marissa

Kind of you to give me a fighting chance. by Marissa

Lita

You're doing a fine job of getting there. by Lita

Charlotte Abbott

Makes two of us by Charlotte Abbott

Pippa

True by Pippa

Daniel Nash II

Two's company by Daniel Nash II

Charlotte

Company it is by Charlotte

Professor Levy

Class Closed! (nm) by Professor Levy